Just got off Silhouette 12/13-12/24 Get TESTED!

[Heidi pour another Beer]

Wore a mask throughout the cruise, fully vaccinated with booster. Arrived home  from Ft. Lauderdale and tested at 12:30. Both my son and my self are positive. I don't think were the only passengers who contracted it on board...did not get off at ports. Many had "colds" and/or allergies." Just letting my fellow cruisers so they can test if possible before they visit family.

[teacherman]

Did you receive any information about how many cases were onboard and had to quarantine?  Where did you get a test on Christmas Eve?  We sail from Fort Lauderdale in 3 weeks. Hope you feel better soon.

[melbrook]

It's disheartening to know that people had symptoms and dismissed them as a cold/allergies while possibly spreading to others.  If I even cough around someone I feel guilty.  The other day I took a sip of water and somehow inhaled it and started choking - I instantly started to assure my colleagues it was ok...I was "just" choking!  haha  

 

I am sure your follow passengers appreciate the heads up, I know I would!

[Heidi pour another Beer]

They only told us about the one case and the "negative contacts" nothing else after that. I have a post on here when that occurred. It was business as usual but we the passengers or at least the groups I was in contact with had growing concerns. More and more people with cold symptoms.

I had purchased tests when I booked in September for when I return from cruising. Also my county here in Florida gave them away at a local high school before I left. I know I am very fortunate to have them. When I left we only were dealing with omicron at 1%, now it has escalated to 70% or higher. I would not have cruised right now had I known this would happen. 

I have developed a cough and runny nose as has my son. I believe we will be fine.

 

[Heidi pour another Beer]

6 minutes ago, melbrook said:

It's disheartening to know that people had symptoms and dismissed them as a cold/allergies while possibly spreading to others.  If I even cough around someone I feel guilty.  The other day I took a sip of water and somehow inhaled it and started choking - I instantly started to assure my colleagues it was ok...I was "just" choking!  haha  

 

I am sure your follow passengers appreciate the heads up, I know I would!

Celebrity was not interested in testing, and made no encouragement of social distancing or encouragement of mask wearing. If you don't test, it is not on board. The day we stopped at Bonaire  it had turned to level 4 (Dec 20) we arrived Dec21 no mention of that at all.

[davekathy]

14 minutes ago, melbrook said:

It's disheartening to know that people had symptoms and dismissed them as a cold/allergies while possibly spreading to others.  If I even cough around someone I feel guilty.  The other day I took a sip of water and somehow inhaled it and started choking - I instantly started to assure my colleagues it was ok...I was "just" choking!  haha  

 

I am sure your follow passengers appreciate the heads up, I know I would!

Not me. It's a natural thing. I always cover my mouth and or nose. I did this long before covid. Thanks mom. 

[Spif Barwunkel]

This is a very important bit of information and thank you to the OP for making us aware. Unfortunately for OP and son, their infections preceded the report. Hopefully, Celebrity and friends are not regressing into a semi-conscience state of business as usual. If so, particularly between now and the end of April '22, there will be many more similar reports to follow.

 

Are we cruising for the sake of cruising, because we can? Or are the right people, including you and me, actually paying attention to what is going on? The answer to that question may determine where we go from here. Backwards? Perhaps?

Edited December 24, 2021 by Spif Barwunkel

[chemmo]

OP sincere best wishes for a speedy recovery…

[chamima]

2 hours ago, Heidi pour another Beer said:

Wore a mask throughout the cruise, fully vaccinated with booster. Arrived home  from Ft. Lauderdale and tested at 12:30. Both my son and my self are positive. I don't think were the only passengers who contracted it on board...did not get off at ports. Many had "colds" and/or allergies." Just letting my fellow cruisers so they can test if possible before they visit family.

 

2 hours ago, Heidi pour another Beer said:

Celebrity was not interested in testing, and made no encouragement of social distancing or encouragement of mask wearing. If you don't test, it is not on board. The day we stopped at Bonaire  it had turned to level 4 (Dec 20) we arrived Dec21 no mention of that at all.

 

Thank you for being responsible!

It sounds like the people who should have been, shirked their responsibility.

It sounds like you drove home but can you imagine how many people you would have "shared" your infection with had you flown? I just wonder how many of your fellow passengers did just that.

I hope it stays mild and you recover quickly!

Edited December 24, 2021 by chamima

[Turtles06]

3 hours ago, Heidi pour another Beer said:

Wore a mask throughout the cruise, fully vaccinated with booster. Arrived home  from Ft. Lauderdale and tested at 12:30. Both my son and my self are positive. I don't think were the only passengers who contracted it on board...did not get off at ports. Many had "colds" and/or allergies." Just letting my fellow cruisers so they can test if possible before they visit family.

 

I'm sorry this happened to you and your son, and glad to know that your symptoms so far are mild.  I hope they continue that way and that you and your son feel better soon!

 

My wife and I were on the Silhouette for the ten-day cruise before yours (Dec. 3-13).  We tested ourselves after getting off the ship, before visiting my very elderly mother, and we were negative, as we were a week later several days after getting home from Florida.  Unlike on your cruise,  no one on ours was reported to have tested positive, but with omicron exploding, we feel like we got back just in time.

 

I am going to be writing to Celebrity about this, and I wrote about it extensively on my post-cruise survey, as well as on comments to the Hotel Director *during* the cruise (which received no reply), but the Silhouette was not following Healthy at Sea protocols that are expressly set out on Celebrity's web site:

 

1. We were told more than once that there were no socially distanced tables in the MDR, and in fact at the embarkation day Concierge Class lunch, we were ushered to a two-top that was so close to the neighboring two-top (where people were already eating) that the tablecloths were touching.  We protested and were finally allowed to sit at a more distanced table.  (The huge MDR was virtually empty then, but they were still packing people together.) At dinner, when the same problem arose,  we asked for the Maitre d'; a gentleman appeared and miraculously we were ushered to a portion of the MDR where there were numerous two-tops that were physically distanced, with tables between them blocked off.  It should not have taken the intervention of a supervisor to eat in a safe manner as promised on Celebrity's web site.

 

2.  There were no signs or floor markings limiting capacity in elevators (it's supposed to be four people max, unless you are a family group).

 

3.  Every day of our cruise, we saw numerous crew members in public areas, including serving food and interacting with guests, with masks pulled below their noses or chins.  It was obvious that supervisors were walking through these areas, seeing this, and doing nothing.  Compliance starts from the top. 

 

4. The Celebrity shore excursions we took were on packed mini-buses, no social distancing.

 

It's nice that Celebrity has written protocols on its web site, but the ships need to be following them.

 

Safe and happy holidays to all.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by Turtles06

[chamima]

@Turtles06 Please come back and let us know Celebrity's response.

We have 3 upcoming cruises booked . I was nervous about sailing before but your experience is really cementing my gut feeling that we should cancel.

[asnaleah]

Thanks OP for sharing your story and best wishes for a speedy recovery!

I am holding my breath about sailing on Jan 24.

[happy cruzer]

Thanks for all the discussion.  Just note that all the issues being discussed are happening everywhere.  All travel locations, restaurants, grocery stores, etc.  seem to be having issues.  Did notice that comparing this Christmas to last Christmas things do look better.  Keep taking precautions and hopefully we can get through this at lower rates.

[Heidi pour another Beer]

I too will be filling out the survey with similar comments regarding covid protocols. I walked around in the dining room on our first night saying no to where they were going to sit us. There is a room in the back that has tables that are marked not to be used so we were able to dine with considerable space. One night as we were waiting for our entree to be served, they sat someone directly behind me. I got up and walked out after speaking to the Asst. Maitre D. When I agreed to return there was no longer a table there.  The sad part is there was only 1150 people on this cruise no need to crowd. They (Cruise Line) need to take this Omicron seriously and stop selling the rose colored glasses.

[Stealthdog]

So sorry to see this Heidi and i hope for a speedy recovery.  Its not much but some early analysis suggests Omicron may be less severe than flu, so im keeping my fingers crossed for you.

 

We had our own adventure in the airport and on the plane - portions of the airport sounded like a hospital wing with multiple people coughing in crowded spaces.

 

The two of us are staying by ourselves, so we will isolate the next week and monitor for symptoms.  I hope to hear some good updates from you soon.

[favoritevacation]

We leave on Sunday on the Encore. Since we did not buy insurance, we could not cancel… I tried. This is not going to be the vacation we wanted - no gym- no spa- I plan on wearing my kn95 inside and be outside to eat and only do outside activities. Any other recommendations? I’m so sorry you got sick - other than not going, how best to protect ourselves? 

[Lastdance]

5 hours ago, davekathy said:

Not me. It's a natural thing. I always cover my mouth and or nose. I did this long before covid. Thanks mom. 

I understand the comment because even with my mask on at school, the same thing has happened to me…my DH says that my throat has always been funky.  Sometimes it catches me by surprise.  You are welcome, son…Happy New Year!

Edited December 25, 2021 by Lastdance

[jelayne]

6 minutes ago, favoritevacation said:

We leave on Sunday on the Encore. Since we did not buy insurance, we could not cancel… I tried. This is not going to be the vacation we wanted - no gym- no spa- I plan on wearing my kn95 inside and be outside to eat and only do outside activities. Any other recommendations? I’m so sorry you got sick - other than not going, how best to protect ourselves? 

Are you sailing on celebrity?? They don’t have a ship named the Encore. Additionally with Celebrity you can cancel up to 48 hours before the cruise and get a future credit for your fare.

[Fred321]

Just got off a 10 day cruise on Constellation 3 days ago. Luckily there were only 400 passengers so it was relatively easy to keep our distance. One problem though was the dining venue. We ate in Luminae most nights but because they sold out the suites, it was one area where there was not a lot of room between tables. Because of that we decided not to eat there if we could not be spaced out. It took some doing to get our wishes across and some nights we simply left and tried to get a table in another venue where there was more room available. We felt bad for the staff that tried to be accommodating even when there was nothing they could do to create space in a crowded restaurant. The main dining room was almost empty and able to offer a spaced out table but only after some prodding since they wanted to pack the diners together to make it easier on the wait staff. 

 

We wore masks in the public areas but not many other passengers did so. Almost all crew members did wear masks properly. From what we observed almost all of the passengers acted as if we were back to pre covid cruising. As I said we were lucky that the ship was so empty. Truthfully, I would not have stayed onboard for the current Christmas cruise with the increased passenger count and the virus outbreak. 

 

 

[Fouremco]

38 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Are you sailing on celebrity?? They don’t have a ship named the Encore. Additionally with Celebrity you can cancel up to 48 hours before the cruise and get a future credit for your fare.

I believe that's an NCL cruise.

[favoritevacation]

Yes, Encore is NCL. NCL has a 14 day cancellation policy. Celebrity is 2 day. Believe me, next time I will buy cancel for any reason insurance. Now,  I am reading that Carnival sent a letter to their guests booked on cruises now thru mid January, allowing them to cancel…. I wonder if other cruise lines will follow. The cruise lines don’t want to be shut down by the CDC, the fewer people on board, the fewer cases of COVID. 

[the penguins]

9 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I'm sorry this happened to you and your son, and glad to know that your symptoms so far are mild.  I hope they continue that way and that you and your son feel better soon!

 

My wife and I were on the Silhouette for the ten-day cruise before yours (Dec. 3-13).  We tested ourselves after getting off the ship, before visiting my very elderly mother, and we were negative, as we were a week later several days after getting home from Florida.  Unlike on your cruise,  no one on ours was reported to have tested positive, but with omicron exploding, we feel like we got back just in time.

 

I am going to be writing to Celebrity about this, and I wrote about it extensively on my post-cruise survey, as well as on comments to the Hotel Director *during* the cruise (which received no reply), but the Silhouette was not following Healthy at Sea protocols that are expressly set out on Celebrity's web site:

 

1. We were told more than once that there were no socially distanced tables in the MDR, and in fact at the embarkation day Concierge Class lunch, we were ushered to a two-top that was so close to the neighboring two-top (where people were already eating) that the tablecloths were touching.  We protested and were finally allowed to sit at a more distanced table.  (The huge MDR was virtually empty then, but they were still packing people together.) At dinner, when the same problem arose,  we asked for the Maitre d'; a gentleman appeared and miraculously we were ushered to a portion of the MDR where there were numerous two-tops that were physically distanced, with tables between them blocked off.  It should not have taken the intervention of a supervisor to eat in a safe manner as promised on Celebrity's web site.

 

2.  There were no signs or floor markings limiting capacity in elevators (it's supposed to be four people max, unless you are a family group).

 

3.  Every day of our cruise, we saw numerous crew members in public areas, including serving food and interacting with guests, with masks pulled below their noses or chins.  It was obvious that supervisors were walking through these areas, seeing this, and doing nothing.  Compliance starts from the top. 

 

4. The Celebrity shore excursions we took were on packed mini-buses, no social distancing.

 

It's nice that Celebrity has written protocols on its web site, but the ships need to be following them.

 

Safe and happy holidays to all.

 

 

Such a shame. Slhouette followed all those protocols when sailing from the UK all summer and it didn't spoil the experience. Same virus different response it doesn't make sense not to enforce their own protocols.

[rachiem]

24 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Such a shame. Slhouette followed all those protocols when sailing from the UK all summer and it didn't spoil the experience. Same virus different response it doesn't make sense not to enforce their own protocols.

Yes, they were very strict even to the extent of masks in the solarium (even when laying down)

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

Such a shame. Slhouette followed all those protocols when sailing from the UK all summer and it didn't spoil the experience. Same virus different response it doesn't make sense not to enforce their own protocols.

Agree. We were on Silhouette in September (UK) and protocols were fully respected by both staff and guests. We felt safer on board the ship than when visiting our local supermarket.

 

 

[Ipeeinthepools]

16 hours ago, Heidi pour another Beer said:

Wore a mask throughout the cruise, fully vaccinated with booster. Arrived home  from Ft. Lauderdale and tested at 12:30. Both my son and my self are positive. I don't think were the only passengers who contracted it on board...did not get off at ports. Many had "colds" and/or allergies." Just letting my fellow cruisers so they can test if possible before they visit family.

 

Sorry for your situation, I hope you and your son recover quickly.   Your situation shows how easy it is to catch this new variant of the virus while on board the ship.   I think I'll take a couple of extra tests on my next cruise and I'll test the day before we get off the ship.  If I test positive I'll notify Medical and let Celebrity worry about the quarantine costs and the additional issues that arise with me flying home.