So I tested positive for covid on Symphony

[cruisebot21]

23 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

I'm curious what type of stateroom you (before quarantine) and your family had?

 

It seems like you were treated better than Star class.  😄

Ha!  I was joking with the wife that it was a Star Ocean View!
We were in an Ultra Spacious Balcony on Symphony - The kids love the bunks in the alcove and when the curtain is pulled for the night, we can still watch a movie with out waking them. The wider balcony with 3 chairs is nice as well

[cruisebot21]

3 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

You are SOOOOOOOO lucky this happened when it did.....I believe anyway. Is it true that Royal will no longer be providing such a service very soon?

My understanding is that we got the plane as policy was changed when we were out floating around on Freedom.  Current policy gave the choice of group or individual quarantine - that may change if more people test positive as well, but I’m just speculating.
 

They may have also looked at the cost of quarantine along with last minute ticket costs and found their contract with an unstaffed med jet wasn’t that much different - particularly if that jet needed to be in the north east soon and was a sort of dead head flight anyway.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I hope your family continues to test negative and that you feel better very soon! It was very helpful to learn exactly how the process goes, even if they are about to change it. Your pictures added a lot of clarity, too. Merry Christmas in the basement, and a Happy, Healthy New Year to you and your family!

[cruisebot21]

38 minutes ago, melbur said:

So refreshing to hear a straight forward and accurate account. Those days are about to over for Cdns though. Wishing you and your family well.

 Thanks - It does indeed look like the lack of onboard pre-travel testing will impact flights home in the future.

Being from an area with unpredictable, snowy, and cold weather, we usually fly in a couple days before - now we’ll probably have to fly home a day after as well, to do shore side testing.

Still going to do it though!

[Pamster]

7 minutes ago, cruisebot21 said:

 Thanks - It does indeed look like the lack of onboard pre-travel testing will impact flights home in the future.

Being from an area with unpredictable, snowy, and cold weather, we usually fly in a couple days before - now we’ll probably have to fly home a day after as well, to do shore side testing.

Still going to do it though!

Glad you all made it home, and hope you’re on your way to good health. Would you be willing to share your vaccination status?  Which vaccine(s) you’ve received and how many doses?

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, cruisebot21 said:

I’m now safely at home with the family and living like a bachelor in the basement while wifey hold down the fort with the kids upstairs.

 

I’ll post some final thoughts later, but in the end, we are home, safe, and eternally thankful for everything Royal Caribbean did for us.

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us.  It's great to hear how RCI handled this.

 

I hope that you recover soon, and also that you and your family have a happy and healthy New Year!

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

 

 

AW but it did happen.  On Nov 17th, Independence coming from P Rico could not dock at 7 am and left. My ship Anthem of the Seas, coming from FLA did get to dock within a window of opportunity.

I am glad I got to see Coco Cay even if very windy an hour later and water in pool was cold.

 

So yes, on a given day one ship can get in and one can't.  Depends on direction and time of day

I imagine it can also depend on the ship. Different hulls, superstructure, power, thrusters, etc., all those things can play into a ship being able to dock or not I would suspect. 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, jerseygirl3 said:

Are you seriously expecting Royal to pay for 2 hotel rooms and allow you all to quarantine and to travel home afterwards together so as not to burden your wife with luggage and 2 kids?  You chose to sail during  pandemic. Royal is being incredibly generous in dealing with your illness. To expect more is beyond.  

With all of his very positive posts you could still come up with something to call @cruisebot21out on?🤔

[Tolkmit]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

Son just showed us the video he took while both Mariner and Symphony were idling off of Coco Cay with the waves crashing over the dock. Symphony tried to dock and ultimately pulled away. The captain on Mariner came on the PA and announced that the sea conditions were too rough and they could not safely dock. Facts is facts.  

 

For some people, facts are irrelevant, they just come to Cruise Critic to trash Royal every thread they post in. Same few posters been doing it for over a year now.

I think the fact Royal didn't start debarking anyone ahead of schedule is proof enough for all the reasonable people that Royal didn't skip CoCo Cay in order to debark people ahead of schedule lol.

[Computer Nerd]

2 hours ago, cruisebot21 said:

Some photos:

The way they treated you makes me think I want to get Covid on a cruise ship. 🤪

[delmom18]

So glad you're safely home and seemingly having very mild symptoms.  I hope the rest of your family stays healthy and you have a quick recovery!

[ReneeFLL]

3 hours ago, jerseygirl3 said:

Are you seriously expecting Royal to pay for 2 hotel rooms and allow you all to quarantine and to travel home afterwards together so as not to burden your wife with luggage and 2 kids?  You chose to sail during  pandemic. Royal is being incredibly generous in dealing with your illness. To expect more is beyond.  

Really? 🙄 I know it would have been much cheaper to keep the family in several rooms, pay for their food, some toys, books or some other things to keep the family entertained and commercial flights back home than it was to charter a medi-vac. Those flights are $$$$$$. 
 

OP, happy to hear you and your family made it back home and are safe. 
 

Edited December 25, 2021 by ReneeFLL

[as3369]

54 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Really? 🙄 I know it would have been much cheaper to keep the family in several rooms, pay for their food, some toys, books or some other things to keep the family entertained and commercial flights back home than it was to charter a medi-vac. Those flights are $$$$$$. 
 

OP, happy to hear you and your family made it back home and are safe. 
 

I think you are absolutely correct.  In Tennessee the cost of a med helicopter transport is approximately 65K and that's for a 45 minute ride.  I can't imagine what this jet cost.  This is going to be a very expensive proposition to maintain over time.  I applaud RCCL for going over and above for their guests!

[Stuart Suss]

CruiseBot21, you were treated very well by Royal.

 

Please inform us whether you are a high dollar, suite-occupying passenger, with a lot of Crown and Anchor loyalty points, and whether normal passengers can expect to be treated as well as you were.

[cruisegirl1]

7 minutes ago, Stuart Suss said:

CruiseBot21, you were treated very well by Royal.

 

Please inform us whether you are a high dollar, suite-occupying passenger, with a lot of Crown and Anchor loyalty points, and whether normal passengers can expect to be treated as well as you were.

I believe he stated his family was booked in a spacious balcony cabin. 
m

[flamingos]

42 minutes ago, as3369 said:

I think you are absolutely correct.  In Tennessee the cost of a med helicopter transport is approximately 65K and that's for a 45 minute ride.  I can't imagine what this jet cost.  This is going to be a very expensive proposition to maintain over time.  I applaud RCCL for going over and above for their guests!

The cost of that med flight was far above and beyond the cost of the aircraft, crew, and fuel.  You're skipping the pure profit.....  😞

[MommaBear55]

2 hours ago, Tolkmit said:

 

For some people, facts are irrelevant, they just come to Cruise Critic to trash Royal every thread they post in. Same few posters been doing it for over a year now.

I think the fact Royal didn't start debarking anyone ahead of schedule is proof enough for all the reasonable people that Royal didn't skip CoCo Cay in order to debark people ahead of schedule lol.

I do appreciate the ignore function. Some people enjoy arguing just to be disagreeable. 

[Merion_Mom]

8 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Well it sure wouldn't have looked good if the one ship said it couldn't dock and then an hour later the other ship docked would it? Mariner took one for the team. 🙂

 

Years ago, one of RC's top-flight HDs told me that building a dock at CocoCay was hardly going to be a panacea.  Building it on the windward side of the island means that sometimes high winds will keep ships from docking.

 

He wasn't wrong.

[cruisebot21]

34 minutes ago, Stuart Suss said:

CruiseBot21, you were treated very well by Royal.

 

Please inform us whether you are a high dollar, suite-occupying passenger, with a lot of Crown and Anchor loyalty points, and whether normal passengers can expect to be treated as well as you were.

No high flier here!  Nowhere near diamond 🙂

The past two times on Symphony we’ve been in 1A - ultra spacious balcony - basically a jr suite where the walk-in closet is now a pair of bunk beds.

The previous week we were on a 4-day Freedom of the seas cruise in the VP Panoramic suite - no balcony, but fantastic views and a bunk bed alcove here as well! ( First suite experience and really liked the room)

 

We have just started cruising again these past few years. We used to live in Calgary and would go to Maui on a sort of regular basis as it was a direct flight.   Now, we find the kiddos at a perfect age to get them interested in exploring more places - cruises are perfect for them and they really enjoy the experience.   
 

And yes, Royal treated us very well!

Edited December 25, 2021 by cruisebot21

[cruisebot21]

Ha - I forgot to mention - we surprised the kids with this Symphony cruise.  We didn’t get a chance to go to Jamie’s Italian last time in 2019 and Freedom has the new Giovanni’s.

 

After we got off our 4-day Freedom cruise, we stayed downtown and kids thought we were flying back home the next evening, the whole time lamenting we couldn’t do a 7-day cruise this time.

 

The next morning I faked making couple phone calls / emails ‘executive style’ to arrange a pass for us to have lunch at Jamie’s via the suite concierge 

 

We joined the mass of people and went through the check in process - assuring the kids we needed to check in for the ships records, but we only had 2-3hrs to dine and get off before the ship sailed sailed - kind of like a travel agent tour

 

We got all the way through check in, onto the ship, made reservations via the app and even walked around visiting spots they remembered from last time- the whole time they were unaware were actually setting sail. We even walked over to Jamie’s to check out the menu - due to our later boarding, it was setting up for evening service 

 

They found out when we checked in at our muster station and the girl let it slip our cards would be on our stateroom door.

 

They looked at each other  ‘stateroom door?!?’
The kids were completely surprised and had tears of joy as we walked up and checked out the room.

 

We did have lunch at Jamie’s the next day and we all loved it 😉

 

And that’s how we surprised our kids with a cruise.

Edited December 25, 2021 by cruisebot21
I’m starting to think English is my second language

[kandj05]

I am glad to hear that The Symphony had their stuff together for you and your family.  I tested positive on the Jewel on Dec 17th.  It did not go nearly as well as your experience did.  The process from testing to getting me in the isolated room was the best part.  Communication was horrible, at best.  Did they take you to Holiday Inn?  

[cruisebot21]

3 minutes ago, kandj05 said:

I am glad to hear that The Symphony had their stuff together for you and your family.  I tested positive on the Jewel on Dec 17th.  It did not go nearly as well as your experience did.  The process from testing to getting me in the isolated room was the best part.  Communication was horrible, at best.  Did they take you to Holiday Inn?  

 

Sorry to hear that you didn’t have the same experience. We were actually flown back to Canada and I’m doing the mandated quarantine at home.

[kandj05]

Just now, cruisebot21 said:

 

Sorry to hear that you didn’t have the same experience. We were actually flown back to Canada and I’m doing the mandated quarantine at home.

I'm so glad they did a fantastic job taking care of you and your family!  My hubby and I are quarantined here at home also.  Merry Christmas!

[D4]

15 minutes ago, kandj05 said:

I am glad to hear that The Symphony had their stuff together for you and your family.  I tested positive on the Jewel on Dec 17th.  It did not go nearly as well as your experience did.  The process from testing to getting me in the isolated room was the best part.  Communication was horrible, at best.  Did they take you to Holiday Inn?  

I'm sorry you tested positive during your cruise.  Many of us would like to know more details about your experience after testing positive.

[nocl]

3 hours ago, as3369 said:

I think you are absolutely correct.  In Tennessee the cost of a med helicopter transport is approximately 65K and that's for a 45 minute ride.  I can't imagine what this jet cost.  This is going to be a very expensive proposition to maintain over time.  I applaud RCCL for going over and above for their guests!

Before I retired my company would use a private jet on occasion.  We paid $4000 per flight hour.  I expect RCL might be able to get even cheaper rates.  So depending upon where in Canada maybe 12-20k for the flight.