Positive Covid test on ship

[J&W92]

Sorry if these have already been covered. 

Me and my wife are scheduled to sail on the Vista on 8/21. While we are super excited, we are also a little worried if a huge covid breakout were to happen. Does anyone think there is any chance of ship not being allowed to dock for several days like when covid first started? I'm thinking w/ all who are vaccinated now that may not be as risky to happen. 

I know the Delta variant seems  maybe spread more so than earlier covid, but there's going to be covid cases pop up all around us no matter if on a cruise, at work, at the store, etc. Maybe just wishful thinking but I really don't think the positive tests will go up substantially on ships due to number of vaccinated.

Also, does anyone know for sure if you were to test positive on the ship but drove to port, would you still have to quarantine before being allowed to leave for home. What are y'alls thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[firefly333]

With pre tests starting the odds should be down, but if you do test positive seems like you are allowed to quarantine. Deck 2 seems to be where they quarantine. 

 

No one can confirm much about positive covid cases as carnival isnt disclosing them publically. Havent heard if we can drive home or not. 

[Babr]

No chance of an outbreak preventing the ship from docking. Those possibilities were addressed in the CSO.

 

Greater chance that you will be required to quarantine before returning home if you test positive.

 

Little chance that you can drive yourself home based on the experience of the last people on Carnival who had to quarantine. They had flown to the port, but at no point were they given the option to drive themselves home in a rent car. That tells me you are required to quarantine regardless of how you got to the port.

[BlerkOne]

I don't think Carnival has any control over whether you could drive home.

 

I don't anticipate a huge outbreak, but if there were, I would expect the cruise to terminate and return to homeport. Per port agreements, I think they have to be allowed to dock 

 

With any kind of a smaller outbreak, ports could bar the ship from docking, or anything else.

[Babr]

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

I don't think Carnival has any control over whether you could drive home.

 

I don't anticipate a huge outbreak, but if there were, I would expect the cruise to terminate and return to homeport. Per port agreements, I think they have to be allowed to dock 

 

With any kind of a smaller outbreak, ports could bar the ship from docking, or anything else.

Cruise lines are operating under CSO and CDC guidelines which spell out how to handle people who test positive. I’m betting that quarantine will be enforced if it is required whether it is by Carnival or someone else, but we may not know unless it is reported publicly. 

[ScottsSweetie]

7 minutes ago, Babr said:

Cruise lines are operating under CSO and CDC guidelines which spell out how to handle people who test positive. I’m betting that quarantine will be enforced if it is required whether it is by Carnival or someone else, but we may not know unless it is reported publicly. 

Carnival originally told the person from the Breeze to make their own travel arrangements to get to the hotel - and once dropped off at the hotel the person could have turned around and left.

 

Pretty sure people would be allowed to get in their own personal car and leave with the intention of quarantining in their own home.

[firefly333]

20 minutes ago, Babr said:

No chance of an outbreak preventing the ship from docking. Those possibilities were addressed in the CSO.

 

Greater chance that you will be required to quarantine before returning home if you test positive.

 

Little chance that you can drive yourself home based on the experience of the last people on Carnival who had to quarantine. They had flown to the port, but at no point were they given the option to drive themselves home in a rent car. That tells me you are required to quarantine regardless of how you got to the port.

She didnt say that exactly. She posted there was no way they could drive 1100 miles and quarantine from each other. She said they did not police that she stayed in the hotel room. 

 

I saw you posted this before and that's not what she said about getting back to CT and her husband and daughter who were negative. They put her in a cove balcony on vista deck 2. 

[balcony bound]

31 minutes ago, Babr said:

 

Little chance that you can drive yourself home based on the experience of the last people on Carnival who had to quarantine. They had flown to the port, but at no point were they given the option to drive themselves home in a rent car. That tells me you are required to quarantine regardless of how you got to the port.

Not true. Read her posts. They could have driven home if they wanted to.  They chose not to as to not mix the two positive family members with the two negative family members for a 3 day drive.

[Babr]

7 minutes ago, ScottsSweetie said:

Carnival originally told the person from the Breeze to make their own travel arrangements to get to the hotel - and once dropped off at the hotel the person could have turned around and left.

 

Pretty sure people would be allowed to get in their own personal car and leave with the intention of quarantining in their own home.

The whole thing was handled poorly since it appears Carnival is giving little assistance to their passengers who test positive.  I would expect that such cases have to be reported and that someone is monitoring them. It appears all of that fell by the wayside so lax enforcement makes anything possible. 

[tidecat]

This is what the CSO says:

[EngIceDave]

Be open minded and flexible 

[Babr]

31 minutes ago, tidecat said:

This is what the CSO says:

Thanks for posting.This is the answer lots of people have been looking for. 
 

It also confirms that the family in question would not have been authorized to drive for three days to get home. That is why they were not given that option and were transported to a quarantine hotel.

 

According to this guidance, the cruise line may consider whether passengers can use their own cars to return home. It sounds as if it is at the cruise line’s discretion, but I expect that they would be reasonable for people who live within a few hours drive. The health department at the passenger’s local jurisdiction would then determine how to monitor the quarantine.

[BlerkOne]

3 minutes ago, Babr said:

Thanks for posting.This is the answer lots of people have been looking for. 
 

It also confirms that the family in question would not have been authorized to drive for three days to get home. That is why they were not given that option and were transported to a quarantine hotel.

 

According to this guidance, the cruise line may consider whether passengers can use their own cars to return home. It sounds as if it is at the cruise line’s discretion, but I expect that they would be reasonable for people who live within a few hours drive. The health department at the passenger’s local jurisdiction would then determine how to monitor the quarantine.

It really doesn't confirm. It just says consider the time it could take. 2 of the 4 people didn't need to quarantine.

 

They didn't choose to drive because they would need to rent 2 cars, and rental car rates are sky high right now, and even higher for one way rentals. They did consider. I don't think anyone monitors quarantining whether at a hotel or home. There were something over 235,000 new cases in the US yesterday.  

[Babr]

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

It really doesn't confirm. It just says consider the time it could take. 2 of the 4 people didn't need to quarantine.

 

They didn't choose to drive because they would need to rent 2 cars, and rental car rates are sky high right now, and even higher for one way rentals. They did consider. I don't think anyone monitors quarantining whether at a hotel or home. There were something over 235,000 new cases in the US yesterday.  

Considering the time it would take so as not to require hotel stays or stops for food and gas, it would not have been authorized. A three day drive would require all of that and would expose lots of people besides the other family members in the car. They chose not to do it for their own reasons, but it was never an authorized choice.

 

The health department is aware of quarantine hotels and their occupants. The appropriate health department will also be notified of any passengers who are authorized to drive themselves home. We may not know how they handle it, but you  can be sure they are notified.

[BlerkOne]

9 minutes ago, Babr said:

Considering the time it would take so as not to require hotel stays or stops for food and gas, it would not have been authorized. A three day drive would require all of that and would expose lots of people besides the other family members in the car. They chose not to do it for their own reasons, but it was never an authorized choice.

 

The health department is aware of quarantine hotels and their occupants. The appropriate health department will also be notified of any passengers who are authorized to drive themselves home. We may not know how they handle it, but you  can be sure they are notified.

Not authorized by whom? There are very few hard requirements, and a lot of recommendations. There is no monitoring. They could have done as they pleased.

 

We agree to disagree.

Edited August 11, 2021 by BlerkOne

[BoozinCroozin]

Breakouts like initially in 2020 will not happen. A breakout now would be 10-20 people. If you test positive, it is illegal to fly. Once positive, I believe your name is on a no-fly list until removed. Someone else can verify the legality. If you fly in for the cruise, you will have to be in quarantine for 10-days minimum at a hotel that was agreed upon with the ship (they have a list). The transportation from the ship to the hotel has to be planned. If you drove to the port, you are permitted to drive yourself home where you need to quarantine for 10-days. 

[Brew12]

10 hours ago, Babr said:

Considering the time it would take so as not to require hotel stays or stops for food and gas, it would not have been authorized. A three day drive would require all of that and would expose lots of people besides the other family members in the car. They chose not to do it for their own reasons, but it was never an authorized choice.

Take a look at this again. This section isn't about authorizing who can and can't leave. It is a guideline on how much shoreside housing a cruise line needs to have available via contract. This section has nothing to do with who may or may not drive home. It is only that cruise lines may consider that people may chose to drive home, but that not everyone will because of the long distances and multiple hotel stays.

In the US there are very few situations in which you can be quarantined against your will. You will always have the ability to travel home. You may not be able to stay in hotels and you can't use public transportation but driving home is almost always an option if you don't need medical treatment. 

[DGNewton]

13 hours ago, J&W92 said:

Sorry if these have already been covered. 

Me and my wife are scheduled to sail on the Vista on 8/21. While we are super excited, we are also a little worried if a huge covid breakout were to happen. Does anyone think there is any chance of ship not being allowed to dock for several days like when covid first started? I'm thinking w/ all who are vaccinated now that may not be as risky to happen. 

I know the Delta variant seems  maybe spread more so than earlier covid, but there's going to be covid cases pop up all around us no matter if on a cruise, at work, at the store, etc. Maybe just wishful thinking but I really don't think the positive tests will go up substantially on ships due to number of vaccinated.

Also, does anyone know for sure if you were to test positive on the ship but drove to port, would you still have to quarantine before being allowed to leave for home. What are y'alls thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I'd suggest everyone have travel insurance that covers Covid as well....in these times a few extra bucks as an ounce of prevention is sure worth the cure.....roll with the punches you can't pre plan the plan that is ev er changing.....we drive to the port - did July 24th on the Horizon and doing the same again on the 30th of Oct......ages 65 and 62.....common sense goes a long way.....

[Babr]

15 minutes ago, Brew12 said:

Take a look at this again. This section isn't about authorizing who can and can't leave. It is a guideline on how much shoreside housing a cruise line needs to have available via contract. This section has nothing to do with who may or may not drive home. It is only that cruise lines may consider that people may chose to drive home, but that not everyone will because of the long distances and multiple hotel stays.

In the US there are very few situations in which you can be quarantined against your will. You will always have the ability to travel home. You may not be able to stay in hotels and you can't use public transportation but driving home is almost always an option if you don't need medical treatment. 

I did see the introductory phrase about determining adequate housing and incorrectly applied the consideration for self-transport in the absence of other guidance. The link provided in the text describes arranging to get people home who are flown by private air transport. While it describes methods for getting people directly to their door, it is not guidance for people who want to drive home from the port.

 

It is reasonable to expect that some people will be able to drive themselves home without intermittent stops. It is not reasonable for people to drive three day cross country even if the cruise lines can’t stop them. To do so would cause them to be less than honest about their status and would expose lots of people in the process.

 

Now that I think about it, people can’t be forced to quarantine in most cases any more than they can be forced to stay in a hospital for treatment. 
 

It takes cooperation to make quarantine work. Comes down to personal responsibility, doesn’t it?

[asalligo]

The OP has valid concerns, Covid is on fire even amongst the vaccinated in Florida. Things are changing very quickly. I would hope that we do not have another no one can leave the ship scenario, but if one sails in with 300 cases. I would no longer rule that out no matter what the CSO says. 

[Jamesatgsu]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Isn't it interesting that even after Florida won their case against the "unjustified" CSO that the cruise lines are still following it.

Not really. The CSO has been in effect, not in effect, been in effect, and once again not in effect in the past month, so nobody knows what will happen ultimately with it. 2nd, the CSO is apparently still in effect for the rest of the country. 3rd, the cruise lines actually want to be safe to avoid being totally shut down again at some point. That is why NCL sued (and won) the right to require proof of vaccination in Florida.

[Jamesatgsu]

39 minutes ago, DGNewton said:

I'd suggest everyone have travel insurance that covers Covid as well....in these times a few extra bucks as an ounce of prevention is sure worth the cure.....roll with the punches you can't pre plan the plan that is ev er changing.....we drive to the port - did July 24th on the Horizon and doing the same again on the 30th of Oct......ages 65 and 62.....common sense goes a long way.....

I'm not overly concerned about my November cruise because we are driving, so we'd just be out a drive, but am still considering it. I'd want a policy that covered deviations, and would I be able to get insurance payout and FCC? I don't know how that works. I've never paid for travel insurance that I can recall.

[Babr]

1 minute ago, Jamesatgsu said:

I'm not overly concerned about my November cruise because we are driving, so we'd just be out a drive, but am still considering it. I'd want a policy that covered deviations, and would I be able to get insurance payout and FCC? I don't know how that works. I've never paid for travel insurance that I can recall.

 

Travel insurance would not reimburse you for a cancelled cruise if you receive FCC. The insurance company considers that you have been compensated - no loss, no claim.

 

 

[Jamesatgsu]

1 minute ago, Babr said:

 

Travel insurance would not reimburse you for a cancelled cruise if you receive FCC. The insurance company considers that you have been compensated - no loss, no claim.

 

 

Which is what I would expect from the insurance company, though obviously FCC does not equal cash.

[LHARTWICK]

13 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

I don't think Carnival has any control over whether you could drive home.

Exactly......and for those of use who leave our car in a paid lot during the cruise, you can bet we'll be getting our car from that lot before they tow it away to make room for the following week's cruisers!  At that point, I guess someone would have to chase us down to keep us from driving back home - LOL!  To the OP:  good luck whatever you decide.  I wouldn't blame you for cancelling - nor would I blame you for continuing with your cruise.  Happy cruising to all!