Explorer of the Seas - Positive Cases

[Ocean Boy]

9 minutes ago, zpdw484 said:

Well we are supposed to be at sea tomorrow in route to Bonaire but we are headed east after departure from san Juan  and marinetraffic.com has us heading to st Maarten tomorrow.. 

You have to rely on Marine Traffic to tell you where you are going? How about an announcement from the captain?

[zpdw484]

3 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

You have to rely on Marine Traffic to tell you where you are going? How about an announcement from the captain?

Well.  I'm not going to say for certain that there has not been an announcement.. we have been up on deck all evening and possibly could have missed it.. but everyone (including crew)  seems to think we're heading to Bonaire..

[Ocean Boy]

2 minutes ago, zpdw484 said:

Well.  I'm not going to say for certain that there has not been an announcement.. we have been up on deck all evening and possibly could have missed it.. but everyone (including crew)  seems to think we're heading to Bonaire..

Keep us informed about where you actually end up!☺

[Jimbo]

25 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Keep us informed about where you actually end up!☺

The current position of EXPLORER OF THE SEAS is at North West Atlantic Ocean (coordinates 18.48318 N / 66.12867 W) reported 2 hours ago by AIS. The vessel is en route to the port of Philipsburg, Sint Maarten (NL), sailing at a speed of 9.2 knots and expected to arrive there on Dec 27, 11:30.

[Bfsroyal]

8 hours ago, zpdw484 said:

Well we are supposed to be at sea tomorrow in route to Bonaire but we are headed east after departure from san Juan  and marinetraffic.com has us heading to st Maarten tomorrow.. 

 

Hopefully you don’t mind being in St Maarten today rather than later as it seems you are definitely headed there. I wonder is it an attempt to try and shake off positive staff cases before heading to other places on the itinerary that might be less accepting of positive case numbers. 
 

On the announcement last week in St Lucia it was stated that 1.7% of staff were positive. They obviously would still be quarantining on board but perhaps if they come out this might help ensure they are not denied boarding.
 

Did they eventually make an announcement or send a letter around about the change?

[zpdw484]

1 hour ago, Bfsroyal said:

 

Hopefully you don’t mind being in St Maarten today rather than later as it seems you are definitely headed there. I wonder is it an attempt to try and shake off positive staff cases before heading to other places on the itinerary that might be less accepting of positive case numbers. 
 

On the announcement last week in St Lucia it was stated that 1.7% of staff were positive. They obviously would still be quarantining on board but perhaps if they come out this might help ensure they are not denied boarding.
 

Did they eventually make an announcement or send a letter around about the change?

I think you nailed it.  We are sitting off the coast of st Maarten. Not near the pier but farther over close to the airport. Still no announcement that I have heard. It looks as if we are transferring sick crew members to the Rhapsody which is anchored next to us. I just watched them load up a tender boat with luggage all wrapped in plastic wrap and crew members covered in PPE. 

[Bfsroyal]

1 hour ago, zpdw484 said:

I think you nailed it.  We are sitting off the coast of st Maarten. Not near the pier but farther over close to the airport. Still no announcement that I have heard. It looks as if we are transferring sick crew members to the Rhapsody which is anchored next to us. I just watched them load up a tender boat with luggage all wrapped in plastic wrap and crew members covered in PPE. 

I suppose that makes a lot of sense. With ROTS not being used currently and the large cost of crediting all customers for days of their cruise from denied disembarking. I just hope they have sufficient staffing on ROTS to look after the staff.

 

Im surprised they haven’t made use of ROTS for passengers as well as staff to quarantine. Although seems to be a more recent issue with high numbers - the denied disembarking on our cruise meant 28% of the total cruise fares were refunded to passengers as well as the likely high expense of transport, accommodation and food from on shore quarantining.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, Bfsroyal said:

I just hope they have sufficient staffing on ROTS to look after the staff.

During the Captain's Corner on Anthem last week, Captain Toni (recently off Rhapsody) said there were 350 staff on board and will start her TA to the Med on Jan 7, so she won't be around much longer.

[syesmar]

19 hours ago, Bfsroyal said:

Royal is apparently paying for all expenses hotel and meals…

We asked about flights earlier with the special person dealing with check in, they were unsure.…

Prayers for you all! Will Royal help you get home? I thought they covered the costs to travel home.

[Bfsroyal]

29 minutes ago, syesmar said:

Prayers for you all! Will Royal help you get home? I thought they covered the costs to travel home.

 

I think they do cover it. I think all staff on site at the quarantine accommodation are contracted by RCCL, so they aren’t sure of all RCCL things.
 

As yet we haven’t called the special number yet. The first day has somewhat flown by.

[D4]

Thank you for posting those letters.  

[syesmar]

On 12/25/2021 at 9:02 AM, Bfsroyal said:

…We in the UK are able to obtain free antigen tests…I have been testing 2-3 times a week and on this and our past cruises have always brought some along with us to test along the way….

This morning we took a test each…Mine came back positive…I then did a second, and again this came back positive.

We contacted the medical center and informed them, and the nurse arrived within 10 minutes to take a PCR test of me and my partner and informed us that the results should come back in about 40 mins. About an hour later he called us to inform us that I had tested positive.…

I had been wondering about this very thing: if passengers should go ahead and bring self-tests on board. Your experience indicates this is wise, since currently if an infection is caught on board, RCCL will take care of your medical care, quarantine and travel home.

Best wishes!🙏

Edited December 27, 2021 by syesmar

[Bfsroyal]

27 minutes ago, syesmar said:

I had been wondering about this very thing: if passengers should go ahead and bring self-tests on board. Your experience indicates this is wise, since currently if an infection is caught on board, RCCL will take care of your medical care, quarantine and travel home.

Best wishes!🙏

Yes we somewhat have just brought them for peace of mind. We sometimes as travelling before boarding will mean that it’s the full two days or just slightly more before boarding from the required monitored test. So we do one on boarding morning and then one every 2-3 days. In the UK they have upped this guidance to test before going out anywhere which is a lot easier when they are providing them free (assuming you can get hold of them - they have been hard to request lately)

 

We actually were that morning going to go to get an official ship one done as they were doing them between 8-10am that morning. My partner had enquired if they were complementary in the concierge lounge and they were unsure.

 

My partner is quite the practical joker, so after doing my test I went to get ready in the bathroom and so he shouted in that he thinks I better do it again as there was a faint line on the T. So I actually thought he was joking until I came out and saw it. I then did another and both lines were very clear. 
 

With passengers able to disembark without any testing, I’m sure there is quite a few who may be positive who have easily gone undetected.

 

If I hadn’t of tested I would have travelled to Spain and done a test for flying back to the UK, three days later and it may have been caught then requiring a quarantine stay in Spain - or equally if most people are testing negative after 5+ days may have tested negative and not even known.

 

I’m not sure Royal cover any medical costs as such off ship. They did ask me on board if I had medical insurance as part of my intended original post cruise travel plans.

[Bfsroyal]

There was no menu in the rooms. So we went on a hunt earlier online as it wasn’t on the hotel website either. This is where I presume lunch and dinner food for room service is provided from.

 

Breakfast is provided from another place. We didn’t do breakfast today as the portion sizes are generous and we are probably already eating too much considering lack of exercise.

 

We can order drinks and bottled water. Soft drinks are in small 12oz paper cups from postmix. We also strangely have a microwave in the room but no fridge. It would be handy to have a fridge with snacks or bottled drinks stocked up. We are over ordering water each meal to build up a stock in room as don’t want to run out and have to wait on room service.

 

[bup1224]

11 hours ago, zpdw484 said:

I think you nailed it.  We are sitting off the coast of st Maarten. Not near the pier but farther over close to the airport. Still no announcement that I have heard. It looks as if we are transferring sick crew members to the Rhapsody which is anchored next to us. I just watched them load up a tender boat with luggage all wrapped in plastic wrap and crew members covered in PPE. 

Any idea of the number of passengers onboard now? 

 

[Bfsroyal]

Some not so great news today. I was called by the PR health department to do a telephone interview and contract tracing. 

 

So currently they are stating I must isolate until at least 4th January and my partner until 9th January. There wasn’t any talk of negative tests reducing this.

[Bfsroyal]

Another update has been received from the PR health department. They sent my partner an email saying he must isolate until 12th January. He is not best pleased.

 

We think this is an automated email based on my seat on the plane as they didn’t have my contact details when they rang me.

 

We were given a printed version of the CDC guidance by Royal and a search on Google suggest this has been updated since. This suggests release after 5 days if asymptomatic and technically my partner doesn’t need to isolate unless he has symptoms - even according to the old guidance he didn’t need to quarantine unless showing symptoms.

 

Does anyone know if Puerto Rico is following the CDC rules or if they have separate ones?

 

 

[Bfsroyal]

We tested out the Royal Caribbean Care line number. Unfortunately it seems to be set on our room that we can’t make long distance calls.

 

I managed to log in to Skype and call them from there and there was no wait at all. The woman was fully up on the latest CDC guidelines but hadn’t dealt with any Puerto Rico queries as yet. She confirmed she would investigate and come back to us ASAP.

[nocl]

28 minutes ago, Bfsroyal said:

Another update has been received from the PR health department. They sent my partner an email saying he must isolate until 12th January. He is not best pleased.

 

We think this is an automated email based on my seat on the plane as they didn’t have my contact details when they rang me.

 

We were given a printed version of the CDC guidance by Royal and a search on Google suggest this has been updated since. This suggests release after 5 days if asymptomatic and technically my partner doesn’t need to isolate unless he has symptoms - even according to the old guidance he didn’t need to quarantine unless showing symptoms.

 

Does anyone know if Puerto Rico is following the CDC rules or if they have separate ones?

 

 

Keep in mind when it comes to US states and territories, health department decisions are made at the state/territory level, the CDC can recommend or advise but does not have enforcement authority, except at international boarders or those between states, so the decision made in PR are up to the PR health department.

[zpdw484]

I am so sorry for the mess you are going through.. honestly it isn't looking much better for cruisers coming off this week's sailing either. Nothing has been mentioned onboard but a Puerto Rican local on the san Juan board here (that seems very legit) says from what they are hearing this coming Sunday they will segregate passengers into 3 groups. 1 local Puerto Ricans that are expected to test within 48 hrs of disembarking. 2 us citizens going straight to the airport for a flight home that will just be let go and. 3 us citizens planning on staying post cruise in Puerto Rico and will have to be tested...  We are supposed to be staying two nights post cruise in old San Juan and are totally second guessing that decision at the moment... trying to make the best out of it but honestly wishing we had cancelled this trip..

[Bfsroyal]

2 hours ago, nocl said:

Keep in mind when it comes to US states and territories, health department decisions are made at the state/territory level, the CDC can recommend or advise but does not have enforcement authority, except at international boarders or those between states, so the decision made in PR are up to the PR health department.

I managed to find the Puerto Rico info.

 

https://www.estado.pr.gov/en/executive-orders/

 

It is apparently in an Executive order from November so I will definitely have to isolate until 4th January. My partner may hopefully be able to be released earlier with a test - although that hasn’t been communicated by the health department as yet but is in the executive order so we can only hope.
 

That seems to follow what we were told by the special check in person at the hotel. Who probably is best placed to know as probably has dealt with it previously.

 

I received a call back from the care team who still didn’t have the correct info for Puerto Rico. But she did say that when we are released we can go about San Juan and keep receipts and claim back expenses from Royal. We have seen San Juan quite a few times but when we can go out I think we will be out there - not least to get some non room service food (it’s becoming a bit repetitive) and some bottles of soda (instead of the small cups)
 

We were originally told a test would be carried out on day 5 - but she is under the impression a test will only occur when we are ready to fly home. They will have a nurse come to the property and take the test.

 

She also stated that in Canadian cases they are often unable to fly home on commercial airlines for 14 days from testing positive so they cover the hotel and expenses up to you heading home even if you aren’t isolating the whole time.

 

We obviously want to get home as soon as is safely possible within the rules of the region we are in and going to. As it is likely costing Royal a lot of money to have us here. The hotel rate is $285 a night. They were going to put us in two rooms. That’s almost $8k assuming the 14 days each is required.  Then the crazy expense of food.
 

I have a lot of sympathy with those trying to work out exactly when we can leave isolation as things are changing daily and there are so many rules in each location.

[Bfsroyal]

19 minutes ago, zpdw484 said:

I am so sorry for the mess you are going through.. honestly it isn't looking much better for cruisers coming off this week's sailing either. Nothing has been mentioned onboard but a Puerto Rican local on the san Juan board here (that seems very legit) says from what they are hearing this coming Sunday they will segregate passengers into 3 groups. 1 local Puerto Ricans that are expected to test within 48 hrs of disembarking. 2 us citizens going straight to the airport for a flight home that will just be let go and. 3 us citizens planning on staying post cruise in Puerto Rico and will have to be tested...  We are supposed to be staying two nights post cruise in old San Juan and are totally second guessing that decision at the moment... trying to make the best out of it but honestly wishing we had cancelled this trip..

I have been getting an earful from my partner for going ahead with the cruise as he was wanting to cancel it with the things that were going on. Some flights and hotels were non refundable. It was an amazing rate and couldn’t be lifted and shifted so I was determined to go.

 

Definitely don’t let it ruin your cruise - whatever happens now happens. 
 

Perhaps if it is looking not so good towards the end of the week you could rebook or change flights.

[Bfsroyal]

We have just had a knock at the door from an official looking guy who asked if we are here with RCCL. He told us we have until 12 to get ready and pack as we are being moved and “are being sent home”

 

 

[Bfsroyal]

23 minutes ago, Bfsroyal said:

We have just had a knock at the door from an official looking guy who asked if we are here with RCCL. He told us we have until 12 to get ready and pack as we are being moved and “are being sent home”

 

 

We currently aren’t sure what is happening. We aren’t getting our hopes up. We think home might be being moved to USA. But really at this stage aren’t sure what is actually happening. Perhaps with the numbers of + cases in accommodation here it may be cheaper to put us on a flight to USA where quarantine rules are less severe.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, Bfsroyal said:

We currently aren’t sure what is happening.

You will certainly have memories to last a long time.