CDC Yellow category for NA- does anyone have any info as to why?

[topsailgirl]

We are sailing on the new Amsterdam soon and of course I’m keeping up with the CDC color-coded ratings for the cruise ships. I saw yesterday that the new Amsterdam had been put into the yellow category based upon information the CDC had received on July 30. Has anybody heard exactly what information the CDC is relying upon? Has anybody on board the ship currently heard anything about Covid cases? I saw the post about new facemasks being used by crew members. but I’ve not heard any other information about the current cruise. Thank you for any info share. 

[Sir PMP]

Probably from last week's false scare..

[syesmar]

HAL has not yet said why. See Post 137 and on in this Thread for some background: 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2789233-updated-information-for-those-sailing-soon/page/6/ By July 22, she had also been Yellow for at least a day, but went back to Green with that afternoon’s update. Some connected this to the employee test cruise. Then last Wednesday, 7/28, she was coded Orange (based on data submitted 7/27), and remained that way until yesterday, 8/2 (based on data submitted Friday, 7/30). Today’s update will come in the afternoon, based on data submitted yesterday.

 

Carnival has not been informing passengers of cases, unlike Royal Caribbean or Celebrity, for example. Some Carnival passengers also report crew are not always notified, either. I do not know what HAL’s policy will be. Could these color codes be connected to the employee test cruise? Are they connected to the 7/24 sailing? We don’t know for sure. Last week aboard Nieuw Amsterdam, a couple of ill passengers were tested, with negative results, according to this post: 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2792058-laffnvegas-live-from-the-nieuw-amsterdam-first-hal-ship-to-sail/page/37/?tab=comments#comment-61540609 and 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2794096-just-back-from-nieuw-amsterdam-july-24th-sailing/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-61574250

 

During the current sailing, some passengers have noticed extra precautions by crew, as you noted previously: 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2793457-live-hopefully-from-the-nieuw-amsterdams-2nd-alsakan-sailing/page/14/?tab=comments#comment-61574711

 

I agree, it would be nice to have more information on the circumstances for the color coding, beyond the definitions on the website.

 

Safe Travels!

Edited August 3, 2021 by syesmar

[topsailgirl]

Thank you for the summary of the NA’s color-coded history! Very helpful to have those links.  And I agree with you, I wish there was a little more info given as to what the basis is for these determinations. 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Just my opinion, HAL will keep it hush hush. It will be on a need to know basis, and very few will need to know, or at least in their opinion.

[syesmar]

26 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Just my opinion, HAL will keep it hush hush. It will be on a need to know basis, and very few will need to know, or at least in their opinion.

I’ve tried to keep up with the situation since cruising resumed in North America. I prefer the way Royal Caribbean and Celebrity notify their passengers, rather than they way Carnival has done so far. I wonder what HAL will do. I think it would be beneficial to know the reason and circumstances for the yellow, then orange, then yellow. 

 

LAFFNVEGAS, did you happen to see where an isolation wing was on Deck 6?  Someone in another post mentioned it was near them and I was curious about this. Another thing, I know on one Carnival sailing, positive passengers were moved to isolation, though their family members/household contacts stayed in the original cabin, as they tested negative. I was curious about HAL, if guests booked for a specific cabin might be moved to another upon embarkation if that were to happen on the cruise prior to someone in their reserved stateroom.

 

All the Best!

Edited August 3, 2021 by syesmar

[atexsix]

29 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Just my opinion, HAL will keep it hush hush. It will be on a need to know basis, and very few will need to know, or at least in their opinion.

Frankly I'm glad of this, I'm tired of CNN et. al. up the cruise lines bums for every little thing right now. 

[syesmar]

13 minutes ago, atexsix said:

Frankly I'm glad of this....

I agree that news coverage can be unfairly sensational—especially in light of little-to-no reporting on spread in grocery stores, restaurants, etc! 

 

But in those times cases have been hidden from me, only for me to find out later, I much rather would have known about it so that I could make my own decisions based on risk, since I had shared the same air. With delta, sometimes it only takes a few seconds of passing by.

 

All the Best!

Edited August 3, 2021 by syesmar

[atexsix]

2 minutes ago, syesmar said:

I agree that news coverage can be unfairly sensational—especially in light of little-to-no reporting on spread in grocery stores, restaurants, etc! 

 

But in those times cases have been hidden from me, only for me to find out later, I much rather would have known about it so that I could make my own decisions based on risk, since I had shared the same air. With delta, sometimes it only takes a few seconds of passing by.

 

All the Best!

That's true.  Very good points.  I must admit the idea of being moved to some undisclosed part of the ship, probably against my will, is somewhat disturbing to me.  I realize why it needs to be done, but it's hard for me to wrap my head around.  

[syesmar]

The color code is still Yellow after today’s update (based on yesterday’s submitted data). 

Edited August 3, 2021 by syesmar

[cruisemom42]

Does it bother anyone else that there is no information from HAL (or higher up Carnival) regarding the reason for the yellow code on NA (as well as on most other ships now sailing from US or Caribbean)?

 

Maybe I am the only one, but I would be a bit spooked by this, given the various situations that played out last year with COVID on ships. 

 

My feeling is that being informed is being prepared. I guess (reading some threads) that some must feel differently, sort of an "I don't want to know too much" mentality....

[syesmar]

12 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Does it bother anyone else that there is no information from HAL (or higher up Carnival) regarding the reason for the yellow code on NA (as well as on most other ships now sailing from US or Caribbean)?

 

Maybe I am the only one, but I would be a bit spooked by this, given the various situations that played out last year with COVID on ships. 

 

My feeling is that being informed is being prepared....

Yes. I agree with what you’ve said. When Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have notified their passengers, it has been reassuring to see their protocols in action, and has even calmed some of my apprehensions (I do realize the medical evacuations straight home on their dime will end in October). 

I think we all know it’s impossible to keep every ship completely virus-free, and we accept that. A statement from HAL on what’s going on, whether it’s current cases or not, would help.

[topsailgirl]

I could not agree more with Syesmar. Just a little info from HAL would be helpful.  So many of us are sitting at home, getting ready for a cruise, but wondering if we should go, or even more importantly if we go, are circumstances such that we will be stranded somewhere in Alaska or sent back to port on day three. I realize that HAL cannot predict the future, but gee whiz.....with absolutely no info we are left with no basis upon which to decide what to do.

[Destiny0315]

I think especially in Celebrity's cases on Millie and the Edge last week, their hand was a bit forced because of public knowledge of things. When Alaskan media reported Millie's case soon after they arrived in Juneau, and when an ambulance pulled up in Cozumel to remove a pax from the Edge then the hand was dealt, and they had to respond.

[Galley Slave]

The fact that the NA is still in Code Yellow has taken all of the usual excitement of boarding a ship for a cruise.  If they are not in Code Green by Saturday, they should not be sailing.  I am looking at our departure on Saturday with more of a sense of dreading the whole week.  I wonder how all of their disclaimers apply if they sail without a Code Green status.

Edited August 4, 2021 by Galley Slave
correction

[smf81]

The CDC color codes are defined here.  For ships doing "Restricted" voyages, the threshold for yellow status is:

• Cases reported in 0.10% or more of passengers (e.g., if 6500* passengers on board, CDC’s investigation threshold is met if there are 7 or more cases among passengers occurring during the previous 7 days), or
  • This percentage includes passenger cases occurring within 5 days of disembarkation that CDC was notified of by state or local health departments.
• One or more cases reported in crew.

Orange is:

• Cases reported in less than 0.10% of passengers (e.g., if 6500* passengers are on board, it would take at least 7 passenger-cases during the previous 7 days to meet CDC’s investigation threshold), and
• No crew cases reported.

Green is:

• No reports of COVID-19 or COVID-19-like illness (CLI) for 7 days, as determined by a qualified medical professional

So all we can know for sure is that at least one crew member or at least two passengers have tested positive (or had symptoms and inconclusive results) in the last week.

[syesmar]

She’s still color coded Yellow with today’s update (based on data submitted yesterday).

Edited August 4, 2021 by syesmar

[KirkNC]

14 hours ago, Galley Slave said:

The fact that the NA is still in Code Yellow has taken all of the usual excitement of boarding a ship for a cruise.  If they are not in Code Green by Saturday, they should not be sailing.  I am looking at our departure on Saturday with more of a sense of dreading the whole week.  I wonder how all of their disclaimers apply if they sail without a Code Green status.

Maybe it’s crew related and they can offload the crew member. 

[prescottbob]

Current Color coding by cruise line, individual ships (CDC):

 

Cruise Ship Color Status | CDC

 

Be well.

Bob

[Loralu]

[silversneakers]

Noted Carnival has just announced masks for everyone over  2 onboard and now requires COVID test for everyone 3 days prior to cruising beginning 8/14.  Holland America??.

[shipshapegirl]

4 minutes ago, silversneakers said:

Noted Carnival has just announced masks for everyone over  2 onboard and now requires COVID test for everyone 3 days prior to cruising beginning 8/14.  Holland America??.

Are the Carnival cruises sailing with all vaccinated passengers?  I can't keep up with what cruise line is requiring what.

[shipshapegirl]

15 minutes ago, shipshapegirl said:

Are the Carnival cruises sailing with all vaccinated passengers?  I can't keep up with what cruise line is requiring what.

Just seen this article.  It answered my question. 

 

 https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/6364/

[LAFFNVEGAS]

On 8/3/2021 at 8:55 AM, syesmar said:

I’ve tried to keep up with the situation since cruising resumed in North America. I prefer the way Royal Caribbean and Celebrity notify their passengers, rather than they way Carnival has done so far. I wonder what HAL will do. I think it would be beneficial to know the reason and circumstances for the yellow, then orange, then yellow. 

 

LAFFNVEGAS, did you happen to see where an isolation wing was on Deck 6?  Someone in another post mentioned it was near them and I was curious about this. Another thing, I know on one Carnival sailing, positive passengers were moved to isolation, though their family members/household contacts stayed in the original cabin, as they tested negative. I was curious about HAL, if guests booked for a specific cabin might be moved to another upon embarkation if that were to happen on the cruise prior to someone in their reserved stateroom.

 

All the Best!

We actually did not, we did go to aft deck 6 to checkout out cabin for our September 4 cruise which is a Signature Suite not far from the aft elevators but did not notice anything different on deck 6. But we were also not aware so not looking.

[idiebabe]

On 8/3/2021 at 11:55 AM, syesmar said:

I’ve tried to keep up with the situation since cruising resumed in North America. I prefer the way Royal Caribbean and Celebrity notify their passengers, rather than they way Carnival has done so far. I wonder what HAL will do. I think it would be beneficial to know the reason and circumstances for the yellow, then orange, then yellow. 

 

LAFFNVEGAS, did you happen to see where an isolation wing was on Deck 6?  Someone in another post mentioned it was near them and I was curious about this. Another thing, I know on one Carnival sailing, positive passengers were moved to isolation, though their family members/household contacts stayed in the original cabin, as they tested negative. I was curious about HAL, if guests booked for a specific cabin might be moved to another upon embarkation if that were to happen on the cruise prior to someone in their reserved stateroom.

 

All the Best!

My Daughter's Room was on Deck 8 (8111) and about 5 Rooms up on the 1st Sea Day.  Sometime in the afternoon a very "Official" man was standing outside the Door and told a Crew Member cleaning the Rails not to come down into this area.  She met up with us and told us about it.  We all thought something was happening!  Awhile later she was meeting us for Trivia (IIRC) and a man was sitting by the Glass Elevators yelling to anyone who went by that someone was taken out of the Room and everyone had all types of Masks on, etc. and that we all need to demand answers.  My Daughter ignored him and she said a couple just walked by him, too.

 

Another Poster said that the Quarantine Balcony Rooms are located on Deck 6 FWD but he didn't say Port or Starboard.  He talked with a Nurse who said a couple was released after two days and tested Negative.  It was probably the Couple from the Room on Deck 8.  They may have scares like that and is it really necessary to be notified unless there are Positive cases and we need to start wearing Masks, etc.  IMO, I don't think so!  

 

I haven't seen too much of the News but it's my understanding that RCL had 6 or 7 cases Onboard.  In that situation, the Passengers should be told!