In quarantine on Equinox. Ask me anything. I’m bored.

[nocl]

2 hours ago, canderson said:

Quite possibly the most insightful and most useful takeaway of this entire thread, @jelayne.  Having a fully mobile advocate could prove invaluable, concurrently willing to perform the periodic phone wellness checks that X did not perform.

If I got quarantined there is no way my wife would join me if she could still enjoy the cruise, nor would I expect her to.

[nocl]

6 minutes ago, TrulyBlonde said:

I canceled my April 2022, as well. Instead we will hope for Nov 2022 and will try the Edge in an S-1 vs our Equinox suite. 2 land trips planned instead. At least we have control over our lives by doing the land trips in the USA. 

While I have canceled an April TA, it was more about not wanting to have to deal with the varying entry issues in Europe. I expect things to be looking considerably better by mid March.  Though at this point my game plan is to only book no more than 30 days out from the cruise.

[LGW59]

17 minutes ago, TrulyBlonde said:

I canceled my April 2022, as well. Instead we will hope for Nov 2022 and will try the Edge in an S-1 vs our Equinox suite. 2 land trips planned instead. At least we have control over our lives by doing the land trips in the USA. 

I hear that.  We canceled because we planned a one month land vacation in June, I suppose we will wait and see.

[Level six]

13 minutes ago, nocl said:

If I got quarantined there is no way my wife would join me if she could still enjoy the cruise, nor would I expect her to.

I agree somewhat, but I think I would be so worried about my spouse that I wouldn't really enjoy it much.  Also, no one was even checking to see if their conditions were getting worse.  At least if there are two people in the room one person could monitor the other.  I can see it both ways. 

It would be good to have someone on the outside and it would be good to have someone there with you.  

[Spif Barwunkel]

1 hour ago, Parkerson said:

Hello all! 
 

Disembarkation was surreal. Like an episode of Black Mirror. 
 

It was around 10am when they came for me and my luggage. They took my neighbors at the same time, but I’m keeping it simple. 
 

We took the regular elevators down to the 2nd floor, right by Medical, ironically. They had me wait at the elevators while they gathered the Mrs from our old room. 
 

They had a large sheet of paper on the wall with, what I presume, we’re the names of all the Covid peeps. Once we were together, they asked our names and cabin numbers and then checked us off. 
 

After we scanned out with our sea pass card and exited the ship, we found numerous private vehicles waiting dockside.  No Wellness Tent, no CDC, no CBP, no one asking anything about Covid or our well-being. Didn’t even get a Buh-bye. 
 

They asked where we were going (Park n Go), loaded us up in the blacked out Yukon and we were off. Right out of the gate and straight to Park n Go. 
 

It could’ve felt very VIP-like, but was really more Be-Gone like. 
 

The girl working for the private transport company had two large sheets of paper with everyone’s names they were transporting. I did my best to half-ass-quick-count over her shoulder and guesstimate there were 50 names on each of two lists. 
 

We’re about an hour from home and I’m in the backseat pushing my luck on car sickness.  I probably missed some things, but i’ll leave it here for now. 
 

Kind of like a Rod Serling moment, Parkerson. You all were certainly in the zone.

[zitsky]

38 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

LOL--- That's a " good one " .

Hey, I never said I was the " sharpest knife in the drawer ".

No, Please don't tell me " Yes, we noticed that after your first post ".

 

 

" Yes, we noticed that after your first post ".

 

I was just looking up the definition of sarcasm for someone else.

 

@Parkerson glad that it sounds like you are or will be OK?

[PTC DAWG]

Apex this March..no intention of cancelling..

[kidz_rn]

And I hear you can fold a coffee filter and place it inside the mask also.

"Only for decaff covid 😁"

 

This actually had me burst out laughing.  Well done!!

[daydreamer16]

Thanks to everyone involved on this thread, especially Parkerson! I almost didn't want it to end 😜 Lots of valuable info!

[rachiem]

Thank you to all who's contributed and helped me make a decision. We have started cancelling down our cruise for the 30th today.

Travelling from the UK is making the decision easier as we have to test to get back home.

Gutted to be cancelling this sailing for the third time but have rebooked for Dec.

Wishing Parkerson and the gang all the best.

[cangelmd]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

I would be interested to know about the number of positive tests potentially among crew members and what are the plans for the ship to continue on or return?  We tend to think of this from a passenger perspective.  How many crew can be taken out of service and quarantined for 5+ days before the cruise is materially impacted for passengers?  What if the Omicon virus tears through the crew running the ship (engineers? key operational staff?  captain and officers?).  Is anybody worried about this?  I would be for the next several weeks.

Especially since this is the scenario I see - cruise ship full of young healthy crew that have been vaccinated maybe 3-5 months ago depending on contract (plenty of time for immunity to wane), and have been relatively isolated from the rest of the world except the passengers who are almost all unmasked.Complacency hits the crew, there have been very few cases, have to mask all day, can’t get off the ship - when your shift is over, mask comes off and mingle with friends. Now all of a sudden, those passengers that have been low risk start bringing on omicron to a bunch of kids whose immunity is all waning at once and live in those teeny tiny quarters - severe illness will be very rare, but a lot of crew will get a little sick and need to isolate and as you said, what about the skilled people who actually sail the ship?

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, TrulyBlonde said:

I hear you can use a K-Cup 😉

One for each nostril?

[Jeremiah1212]

5 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

Especially since this is the scenario I see - cruise ship full of young healthy crew that have been vaccinated maybe 3-5 months ago depending on contract (plenty of time for immunity to wane), and have been relatively isolated from the rest of the world except the passengers who are almost all unmasked.Complacency hits the crew, there have been very few cases, have to mask all day, can’t get off the ship - when your shift is over, mask comes off and mingle with friends. Now all of a sudden, those passengers that have been low risk start bringing on omicron to a bunch of kids whose immunity is all waning at once and live in those teeny tiny quarters - severe illness will be very rare, but a lot of crew will get a little sick and need to isolate and as you said, what about the skilled people who actually sail the ship?

 

I think Celebrity's main focus is geared towards crew safety. Passengers go home after 4/5-10/11 days and they are out of their hair. COVID or no COVID. You are out of sight, out of mind. But if they can't keep a healthy crew it doesn't matter what anyone thinks about masks or rules or slower service. There is no cruise. And no one wants to be the poster child for canceling cruises because their crew is too sick to operate. 

[tazlover]

1 hour ago, TeaBag said:

I'm even worried and we don't sail till April.

Me too, B2B on the Apex and I’m already concerned 

[AliceS]

4 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

You should cruise Princess then..Celebrity had different protocols..

Let’s not pick on one another here.   Masks are required on Celebrity now.

not a mask fan, but I don’t want to get sick.

[phoenix_dream]

I've done some commenting on this thread, but I don't think I ever said what our decision was.  We have a B2B on Connie coming up 1/14.  Right now we intend to go.  We really don't care much about the ports, so that is not a big deal (although we certainly would like to be able to walk on terra firma here and there along the way!).  The handling of the folks on this thread who were sick does concern me, but not enough to cancel. 

 

We are 66 and 70 years old, triple vaxxed and with no health issues to speak of.  Everyone I know who has caught the Omicron variant (presumably), and is fully vaxxed and in some cases boosted and some not, has either had no symptoms or had symptoms of a bad cold - and I know or know of at least 20 people in that situation.  We are in a Sky Suite, so as long as we do not get sick we have a nice cabin and balcony to spend a lot of time in, which we usually do anyway.  If we do get sick we will do what we have to do.  I don't like having to wear a mask onboard, but given the situation it makes alot of sense to do so and won't spoil our fun - here in the Chicago area we have to wear them everywhere anyway so we're used to it.

 

If we just don't feel comfortable on the first cruise and/or don't like how things are progressing, we will just cancel the second before the necessary deadline.

 

We also have cruises in March, April, and July (not to mention fall).  The Omicron variant should be abated by then and hopefully there will be enough immunity from its rapid spread that perhaps we will have achieved herd immunity, or close to it.  So we would not even consider cancelling those at this time.

 

One thing I remind myself of when anxiety strikes - even if 10% of the people onboard get sick (which is nowhere near what has happened yet), that means that 90% of them don't.  We spend so much time focusing on what can go wrong, we forget that a lot can go right.  I am not meaning this to criticize anyone, I am as anxious as the next person.  I just need to remind myself of this when I get too worried.

Edited January 3, 2022 by phoenix_dream

[Julma]

We are on B2B Apex 1/21-29.  We will be canceling.  After reading this thread (on Apex you end up in a sealed porthole room on deck 3) and seeing pictures from one of the quarantine hotels, that did it for me.  I know the risks of cruising and the risks of getting Covid the variable here is what Celebrity does with you once you test positive.  Doesn't sound like the stay safe and "WonderFULL" they are selling.  The pictures someone took of the hotel they were put into, by Celebrity, to quarantine, would turn your stomach.  Whether people decide to cruise or not is a personal choice and I believe your tread gave them enough information, not over dramatized, to make an educated choice.  Thank you and be well!

[39august]

Where did you see pictures of a quarantine hotel, please?

[jelayne]

54 minutes ago, Julma said:

  The pictures someone took of the hotel they were put into, by Celebrity, to quarantine, would turn your stomach.  

 Where was this hotel?  can you share a link to the pictures?

[Lastdance]

1 hour ago, AliceS said:

Let’s not pick on one another here.   Masks are required on Celebrity now.

not a mask fan, but I don’t want to get sick.

Omicron is an equal opportunity spreader; cloth or 3ply mask means very little to it.  N95 or double 3 ply is the way to go, but if you are eating dinner or at the bar drinking...off it goes and you know the rest.  It just is what it is!  Everyone should be able to accept the fact that they could be in quarantine, but hopefully not!  I agree, as Princes could be loaded with Omicron at any minute.

Edited January 3, 2022 by Lastdance

[twins_to_alaska]

Thank  you for your blog. Hoping you and all the others who were positive/or travel companions who become positive are well soon with mild symptoms. Feeling blessed that I got into FL early November when things were at a low for my 4 day cruise that I'd booked 23 months earlier. No cruises currently planned. 

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

After reading this, I am more concerned than ever.  Their safe sailing website information says that if you test positive they will arrange private transportation home for you (not sure of exact wording but that's the main point).  Reading this, they say they "may be able" to assist you in that regard.  What?!?!  That implies they also may not be able to assist you!!  What kind of baloney is that!  Basically it means I would most likely be stuck trying to find a hotel that would take me, and then being stuck there in quarantine for who knows how long.  And while they apparently would reimburse for the hotel cost, what about meals, what about potentially higher air fare to fly home?  IMHO this does NOT track with what they are promising us!  Is it just me?  Does anyone else read this the same way??

I think the original policy was that if they took you off the ship at a different port than original disembarkation they would make arrangements to fly you home.    This I believe is being disembarked at original port.

[TeeRick]

2 hours ago, cangelmd said:

Especially since this is the scenario I see - cruise ship full of young healthy crew that have been vaccinated maybe 3-5 months ago depending on contract (plenty of time for immunity to wane), and have been relatively isolated from the rest of the world except the passengers who are almost all unmasked.Complacency hits the crew, there have been very few cases, have to mask all day, can’t get off the ship - when your shift is over, mask comes off and mingle with friends. Now all of a sudden, those passengers that have been low risk start bringing on omicron to a bunch of kids whose immunity is all waning at once and live in those teeny tiny quarters - severe illness will be very rare, but a lot of crew will get a little sick and need to isolate and as you said, what about the skilled people who actually sail the ship?

And many of these young folks probably got the 1-shot J&J vaccine and have yet to get a booster.

[delondin]

7 hours ago, Issyalex said:

Boosters are mandatory at the moment  on cruise ships embarking from U.K. 

only on a couple of the longer Caribbean cruises. Not all ex uk cruises. 

[micruiser2002]

1 hour ago, Julma said:

We are on B2B Apex 1/21-29.  We will be canceling.  After reading this thread (on Apex you end up in a sealed porthole room on deck 3) and seeing pictures from one of the quarantine hotels, that did it for me.  I know the risks of cruising and the risks of getting Covid the variable here is what Celebrity does with you once you test positive.  Doesn't sound like the stay safe and "WonderFULL" they are selling.  The pictures someone took of the hotel they were put into, by Celebrity, to quarantine, would turn your stomach.  Whether people decide to cruise or not is a personal choice and I believe your tread gave them enough information, not over dramatized, to make an educated choice.  Thank you and be well!

I believe someone posted that Celebrity is also allowing those who need to quarantine to book their own hotel and will reimburse up to $350 a day.