Help...Still not ready to cruise yet.

[sparkygirlfamily]

10 hours ago, CarolinaMamma said:

Thanks. I didn’t know that. I had heard about people who were deemed close contacts of positive cases on some of the early Celebrity sailings quarantining in their cabins while they waited for test results, so I mistakenly assumed it was that way on NCl as well,

 

I wonder where on the ship they are quarantining people and whether they move the whole family. Four of us moving from a Haven 2-BR to an inside cabin would be terrible. 

There was a breakaway halloween cruise where that is exactly what happened, entire families were moved to balcony and inside staterooms in a separate area on the ship.  This included passenger that had Haven cabins booked. 

[Diver2014]

You do what you think is best for you.  No one else can make that decision.  Covid is going to be around for awhile and you just have to adjust accordingly.  It's a pain in the rear but in order to get on with your life, you have to go thru all the riggamarro if you want to go cruising.  We're going next month.  Got our jabs JUST so we can go cruising. 

[BermudaBound2014]

11 hours ago, CarolinaMamma said:

I wonder where on the ship they are quarantining people and whether they move the whole family. Four of us moving from a Haven 2-BR to an inside cabin would be terrible. 

 

The reports I read indicated all close contacts were move to a row of cabins on deck 9 (Breakaway) and unfortunately families were separated. Let's say you went to bingo and sat next to a person who tested positive. You would be quarantined but your family wouldn't. Of course, this is based on what has been reported, that could change tomorrow because covid protocols are still so fluid.

 

For what it's worth, I don't believe they would move a haven guest to an inside. That just seems like bad business.

 

The whole quarantining due to close contact is the only thing that is stopping me from cruising. You can end up spending 5 nights locked in a cabin just because of where you sat. It appears to be VERY rare so I'm not trying to frighten anyone with a cruise booked, but it is happening on all the cruise lines so it's best to be aware. After all, we do come here for information. Until I run out of land vacations that I have on my bucket list, I'm not taking that chance. Being locked in a cabin literally makes my palms sweat. I never had claustrophobic tenancies but apparently I do now. I think it's new and stems from following all the diamond princess passengers when they were locked up in Japan. 

 

Best of cruising to you. The odds are TOTALLY in your favor of having a wonderful vacation.

[Cruiser933]

My main concern is the HVAC system. We choose hotels with individual heating/AC units in each room, but I assume ships use a central system. I can wear a mask in common areas, but don’t want to wear one in my cabin.

[nferr]

1 hour ago, Cruiser933 said:

My main concern is the HVAC system. We choose hotels with individual heating/AC units in each room, but I assume ships use a central system. I can wear a mask in common areas, but don’t want to wear one in my cabin.

 

If that's a big worry than honestly you probably shouldn't cruise. Obviously a cruise ship has central heating and A/C systems. Same as flying,  trains etc, and most high level hotels. I mean even malls and large stores. 

[GeezerCouple]

3 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

The reports I read indicated all close contacts were move to a row of cabins on deck 9 (Breakaway) and unfortunately families were separated. Let's say you went to bingo and sat next to a person who tested positive. You would be quarantined but your family wouldn't. Of course, this is based on what has been reported, that could change tomorrow because covid protocols are still so fluid.

 

For what it's worth, I don't believe they would move a haven guest to an inside. That just seems like bad business.

 

The whole quarantining due to close contact is the only thing that is stopping me from cruising. You can end up spending 5 nights locked in a cabin just because of where you sat. It appears to be VERY rare so I'm not trying to frighten anyone with a cruise booked, but it is happening on all the cruise lines so it's best to be aware. After all, we do come here for information. Until I run out of land vacations that I have on my bucket list, I'm not taking that chance. Being locked in a cabin literally makes my palms sweat. I never had claustrophobic tenancies but apparently I do now. I think it's new and stems from following all the diamond princess passengers when they were locked up in Japan. 

 

Best of cruising to you. The odds are TOTALLY in your favor of having a wonderful vacation.

 

Unfortunately, we also can't shake the stories and images from the Diamond Princess, and then the other ships including some with "no place to go".  😱

 

I don't think *that* would happen again, but IF a "really, really bad variant" showed up (unlikely but certainly, and very unfortunately, not impossible), who knows what would happen, at least for a while, and perhaps longer.

 

We've finally made a cruise reservation for mid-2023, but we'll rethink that as the final payment date approaches.

 

We admit that we seem to be among the "ultra cautious", but we are older, and both of us have assorted ailments.

 

Also... and this is VERY significant... on our return December, 2019, from our phenomenal cruise in NZ/Australia... we flew home via Hong Kong.  

I got very, very sick on the flight, and was carried off the plane when it landed.  Yes, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats..."

 

I was on oxygen for 10 days, and I've still not quite fully recovered.

 

Lab tests found a "different virus", one that should not have been "this serious".

So... what ELSE did I have 2 years ago?
They didn't test for Covid in the USA in December, 2019.
(And although my physicians slowly began to agree about "what else..." - there weren't the right types of tests for someone previously infected and when there were, they were very limited.  Sure, a few months later, ALL the specialists wish they'd tested me.  One specialist, when I was in the hospital, mumbled something about sending specimens to CDC, but we can't find evidence that happened.  A top pulmonary specialist at a top teaching hospital/medical school... what had he been hearing...?  But I'm not sure that CDC had the right tests back then.

 

That got downright scary for a while.

Nope... that left some psychological scars, once Covid officially appeared.  Not ready to risk being trapped in a small cabin from a large Haven suite, or on a ship sailing in circles.

That reminds us of "Charlie and the MTA".

 

"Did they ever return, no they never returned, and their fate is still unlearn'd, They may sail forever on the seas and oceans, They're on the ship that never returned."

 

I had posted this here on CC for the folks sailing from Boston to Bermuda in October:

 

♫  ♫  ♫  ♫

"Let me tell you the story

Of some hopeful sailors

On a disappointing and fateful day

They set out from Boston

For Bermuda beach time

Went to sail on NCL

 ♫  ♫  ♫  ♫

Did they ever return

No they never returned

And their fate is still unlearned

They may sail forever

On the seas and oceans

They're the ship that never returned."

♫  ♫  ♫  ♫

 

Except... it isn't necessarily funny.

 

And, breaking news but no surprise, Omicron is in California...

 

GC

[MaggieNY]

On 11/30/2021 at 1:36 PM, Waverunner1 said:

😷 My wife and I have been cruising NCL since 2002. Our last cruise was a 14-Day Southern Caribbean From Boston in Oct/Nov 2019 out of Boston, just before covid-19 went viral, literally. We're now left hesitant to cruise, and reading about how refunds, future cruise credits, rising prices, pre-cruise testing, testing positive during a cruise, etc. are being handled doesn't help. So what are your positive experiences since covid-19 that make you feel safe to return to cruising? Conversely, what has kept you hesitant to step back onboard? We're just trying to make sense of it all in these unprecedented times. 

Hey waverunner! We were on the same cruise! Did you take part in the meet & greet set up by Gary & Pauline?

 

My husband and I just came home from a 14-day western Caribbean out of New York (just before omicron hit). Here are some points to consider:

• All crew members were vaccinated, always wore masks, and were tested on a weekly basis.
• NCL - which I've always found to be very clean - seemed even better about cleaning.
• All passengers were required to be vaccinated - which meant NO KIDS!
• All passengers were required to be tested at the port. If you tested positive, no one in your group could board the ship. (I heard that a family of 8 was not allowed to board because 1 person in the group tested positive at the port.)
• If you were tested within 96 hours of embarkation and had a negative COVID test result, then tested positive at the port, you would receive a full refund or credit for your cruise.
• If you tested negative both before the cruise and at the port, but came down with COVID at any point in the cruise, NCL would pick up the cost of quarantining you at the closest port, transportation back home, and you would be refunded a pro-rated amount for the portion of the cruise that you missed.
• Our ship was at about 40% capacity, which meant fewer people and more room to keep a safe distance from other passengers.

However, with all of that said, I'm not sure I would book now with the new variant coming out. I will consider booking another cruise at least 6 months or more from now. It eased our minds greatly to know that NCL had a lot of safety plans in place. 

[Waverunner1]

8 hours ago, MaggieNY said:

Hey waverunner! We were on the same cruise! Did you take part in the meet & greet set up by Gary & Pauline?

 

My husband and I just came home from a 14-day western Caribbean out of New York (just before omicron hit). Here are some points to consider:

• All crew members were vaccinated, always wore masks, and were tested on a weekly basis.
• NCL - which I've always found to be very clean - seemed even better about cleaning.
• All passengers were required to be vaccinated - which meant NO KIDS!
• All passengers were required to be tested at the port. If you tested positive, no one in your group could board the ship. (I heard that a family of 8 was not allowed to board because 1 person in the group tested positive at the port.)
• If you were tested within 96 hours of embarkation and had a negative COVID test result, then tested positive at the port, you would receive a full refund or credit for your cruise.
• If you tested negative both before the cruise and at the port, but came down with COVID at any point in the cruise, NCL would pick up the cost of quarantining you at the closest port, transportation back home, and you would be refunded a pro-rated amount for the portion of the cruise that you missed.
• Our ship was at about 40% capacity, which meant fewer people and more room to keep a safe distance from other passengers.

However, with all of that said, I'm not sure I would book now with the new variant coming out. I will consider booking another cruise at least 6 months or more from now. It eased our minds greatly to know that NCL had a lot of safety plans in place. 

We did go to the meet and greet, and the cabin crawl, and the Haven get together! Bob and Janice.