On Britannia January 1st to 15th. Now in isolation!

[Izzywiz]

Let me say straight away that I am a 'glass half full' person who believes in making the best of whatever situation I find myself so, hopefully, this report won’t scare you too much. It’s been a better experience than I had expected.

My husband and I have both been triple vaccinated.

Background

Firstly a little background which is relevant to the present situation; my husband and I spent a lovely Christmas Day with our son, daughter-in-law and 2 grandsons. We had all done negative lateral flow tests in the morning before meeting up in the afternoon but our son had a bit of a cough and runny nose so we kept as far away from him as was practical.

We both had negative PCR tests on December 29th and negative tests before we boarded the Birmingham to Barbados flight on December 31st.

Once on the ship we deliberately kept clear of close contact with people, sat at a table for 2 for our evening meal, wore our masks and sanitised at every opportunity.

January 1st was a sea day and in the evening my DH said he had a bit of a sore throat and tickly cough so we had an early night and when we woke up the next morning his symptoms persisted together with feeling a bit delicate so we both did lateral flow tests that we had brought from home and these were negative so he put his malaise down to the beginning of a cold like our son's.

We had 2 nice days ashore (Curaçao and Bonaire) during which time we kept our masks on while walking about and his 'cold' didn’t get any better or worse.

On January 4th, the sea day before our stop in St. Vincent, we had to do a ship's lateral flow test (£18pp) because we were only allowed on shore if we were doing a ship’s excursion and the passenger manifest showed us having a negative test result.

The BAD news.

Two hours after our tests there was a public announcement requesting several people to contact Guest Services urgently and our names were there😱😱.

We were asked to return to our cabin immediately and to wait until we were contacted by someone from the medical team. 

The nurse spoke to us and confirmed that my lovely husband had tested positive but although I was negative, we would both have to be quarantined separately. 

It was then that the well practiced protocol was put in place. We were given 40 minutes to pack  everything in our cabin (that took a bit of thought and organisation but luckily we had enough chargers, toothpaste etc for each of us to use) and then DH was escorted away by a team of people in hazmat gear and and one person who followed behind with a disinfectant spray.

The same thing was done for me and I must say it felt a bit like a walk of shame😨😨 but I knew it was for the protection of everyone on the ship so I put my head down and followed along.

The POSITIVE.

We had phone conversations with the doctor and senior nurse who advised us of the continuing monitoring of our health and we receive a daily phone call so we can update the team of our improving conditions.

We were given a thermometer each and take our temperature each morning.

The GOOD.

Part of the ship is blocked off by the fire doors and is used as a quarantine area.

I was allocated a balcony cabin on deck 15 and my DH was put in a similar cabin on deck 14.

My DH is in isolation for 10 days and it is 7 days for me unless I subsequently test positive.

We can wave to each other if we lean out over our balcony rails. We can ring each other on the ship’s phone…..never spoken so often in the last 50years 🤫😁

We have been provided with free laundry, free wifi and free room service where we can also choose from the main dining room menus for lunch and dinner. The meals arrive on real crockery with proper cutlery and the tray is placed on the floor outside the cabin door. We put the used implements back on the tray and place the tray outside the door.

We can request clean towels, bed linen and cleaning products as necessary.

We have been contacted each day by someone from Guest Services and also by someone from the medical team to check on our wellbeing.

We have both received excellent advice from crew members who helped us to access the wifi package as we are both a bit technically challenged.🤫

We have had refunds for all our shore excursions.

We have had some lovely views from our balcony.

DISAPPOINTING.

Not being together but completely understand the reason. If we had both tested positive then we would have been put in the same cabin together.

Missing out on all the places we planned to visit.

FINALLY

All the P&O staff members and crew members have been wonderful and I can’t fault the way we have been treated in what must be a very trying situation for them too.

My husband has not felt really ill, just a bit delicate with a tickly cough and runny nose.

We are both alive to tell the tale!!!!

[Eddie99]

Oh 😕

 

I hope he gets well very soon;  that you remain negative, and that your balconies are always facing the sun.

Enjoy your break as best you can and safe journey home.

 

Thanks for the well balanced report.  A lot of prospective cruisers will find it useful, I’m sure

[grapau27]

9 minutes ago, Izzywiz said:

Let me say straight away that I am a 'glass half full' person who believes in making the best of whatever situation I find myself so, hopefully, this report won’t scare you too much. It’s been a better experience than I had expected.

My husband and I have both been triple vaccinated.

Background

Firstly a little background which is relevant to the present situation; my husband and I spent a lovely Christmas Day with our son, daughter-in-law and 2 grandsons. We had all done negative lateral flow tests in the morning before meeting up in the afternoon but our son had a bit of a cough and runny nose so we kept as far away from him as was practical.

We both had negative PCR tests on December 29th and negative tests before we boarded the Birmingham to Barbados flight on December 31st.

Once on the ship we deliberately kept clear of close contact with people, sat at a table for 2 for our evening meal, wore our masks and sanitised at every opportunity.

January 1st was a sea day and in the evening my DH said he had a bit of a sore throat and tickly cough so we had an early night and when we woke up the next morning his symptoms persisted together with feeling a bit delicate so we both did lateral flow tests that we had brought from home and these were negative so he put his malaise down to the beginning of a cold like our son's.

We had 2 nice days ashore (Curaçao and Bonaire) during which time we kept our masks on while walking about and his 'cold' didn’t get any better or worse.

On January 4th, the sea day before our stop in St. Vincent, we had to do a ship's lateral flow test (£18pp) because we were only allowed on shore if we were doing a ship’s excursion and the passenger manifest showed us having a negative test result.

The BAD news.

Two hours after our tests there was a public announcement requesting several people to contact Guest Services urgently and our names were there😱😱.

We were asked to return to our cabin immediately and to wait until we were contacted by someone from the medical team. 

The nurse spoke to us and confirmed that my lovely husband had tested positive but although I was negative, we would both have to be quarantined separately. 

It was then that the well practiced protocol was put in place. We were given 40 minutes to pack  everything in our cabin (that took a bit of thought and organisation but luckily we had enough chargers, toothpaste etc for each of us to use) and then DH was escorted away by a team of people in hazmat gear and and one person who followed behind with a disinfectant spray.

The same thing was done for me and I must say it felt a bit like a walk of shame😨😨 but I knew it was for the protection of everyone on the ship so I put my head down and followed along.

The POSITIVE.

We had phone conversations with the doctor and senior nurse who advised us of the continuing monitoring of our health and we receive a daily phone call so we can update the team of our improving conditions.

We were given a thermometer each and take our temperature each morning.

The GOOD.

Part of the ship is blocked off by the fire doors and is used as a quarantine area.

I was allocated a balcony cabin on deck 15 and my DH was put in a similar cabin on deck 14.

My DH is in isolation for 10 days and it is 7 days for me unless I subsequently test positive.

We can wave to each other if we lean out over our balcony rails. We can ring each other on the ship’s phone…..never spoken so often in the last 50years 🤫😁

We have been provided with free laundry, free wifi and free room service where we can also choose from the main dining room menus for lunch and dinner. The meals arrive on real crockery with proper cutlery and the tray is placed on the floor outside the cabin door. We put the used implements back on the tray and place the tray outside the door.

We can request clean towels, bed linen and cleaning products as necessary.

We have been contacted each day by someone from Guest Services and also by someone from the medical team to check on our wellbeing.

We have both received excellent advice from crew members who helped us to access the wifi package as we are both a bit technically challenged.🤫

We have had refunds for all our shore excursions.

We have had some lovely views from our balcony.

DISAPPOINTING.

Not being together but completely understand the reason. If we had both tested positive then we would have been put in the same cabin together.

Missing out on all the places we planned to visit.

FINALLY

All the P&O staff members and crew members have been wonderful and I can’t fault the way we have been treated in what must be a very trying situation for them too.

My husband has not felt really ill, just a bit delicate with a tickly cough and runny nose.

We are both alive to tell the tale!!!!

I'm so sorry to hear this Izzy.

You are certainly being very positive.

Thank you for letting us know the quarantine procedure.

Graham.

[Angel57]

Thank you Izzy for an excellent assessment of the situation you have found yourselves in. It’s great to hear that given the circumstances P&O have done their very best for you.

I hope you are both “free” soon.

 

[Izzywiz]

Thank you all for your kind comments and good wishes. I posted the info because I know there is a lot of bad press for the way things are being handled on some cruise lines. I don’t doubt people's feelings but it is very easy to only see the negative side of a situation so I hope this more upbeat report helps a bit. 
We would much prefer not to be in this situation but, hey-ho, it is what it is and it could be so much worse so thanks again. 

[jeanlyon]

You are very brave.  This very situation is why I have moved my 2 cruises to 2023.  Take care and hope it hasn't ruined the whole trip.

[Selbourne]

A well balanced review but I had no idea that couples would be separated if one tests negative and one tests positive. It just goes from bad to worse. We have had several family members where one has had Covid and the partner hasn’t, even though they haven’t been apart at any time throughout. If only one of us tested positive, there’s no way that we’d be happy leaving the other on their own. Quarantine in a small cabin sounds hideous enough without it being solitary confinement as well!

[Harry Peterson]

What a balanced and helpful summary.  Many thanks for the very useful information, but sorry you’ve had to write it.

 

Hope your husband soon recovers fully, and that you remain virus-free. And that you’re both released soon!

[white_bear]

Could you just confirm - was this on the basis of one positive lateral flow test, or a follow-up PCR as well?  Itnis not unheard of for false positives on LFTs.

[kalos]

Thank you for your actual account ,first hand of what it is like to be struck with

covid onboard a P&O ship. Very kind of you to share your experience with us .

Wishing you both a speedy recovery and hope you both get out and about with

the remainder of your cruise 

[purplesea]

26 minutes ago, Izzywiz said:

Let me say straight away that I am a 'glass half full' person who believes in making the best of whatever situation I find myself so, hopefully, this report won’t scare you too much. It’s been a better experience than I had expected.

My husband and I have both been triple vaccinated.

Background

Firstly a little background which is relevant to the present situation; my husband and I spent a lovely Christmas Day with our son, daughter-in-law and 2 grandsons. We had all done negative lateral flow tests in the morning before meeting up in the afternoon but our son had a bit of a cough and runny nose so we kept as far away from him as was practical.

We both had negative PCR tests on December 29th and negative tests before we boarded the Birmingham to Barbados flight on December 31st.

Once on the ship we deliberately kept clear of close contact with people, sat at a table for 2 for our evening meal, wore our masks and sanitised at every opportunity.

January 1st was a sea day and in the evening my DH said he had a bit of a sore throat and tickly cough so we had an early night and when we woke up the next morning his symptoms persisted together with feeling a bit delicate so we both did lateral flow tests that we had brought from home and these were negative so he put his malaise down to the beginning of a cold like our son's.

We had 2 nice days ashore (Curaçao and Bonaire) during which time we kept our masks on while walking about and his 'cold' didn’t get any better or worse.

On January 4th, the sea day before our stop in St. Vincent, we had to do a ship's lateral flow test (£18pp) because we were only allowed on shore if we were doing a ship’s excursion and the passenger manifest showed us having a negative test result.

The BAD news.

Two hours after our tests there was a public announcement requesting several people to contact Guest Services urgently and our names were there😱😱.

We were asked to return to our cabin immediately and to wait until we were contacted by someone from the medical team. 

The nurse spoke to us and confirmed that my lovely husband had tested positive but although I was negative, we would both have to be quarantined separately. 

It was then that the well practiced protocol was put in place. We were given 40 minutes to pack  everything in our cabin (that took a bit of thought and organisation but luckily we had enough chargers, toothpaste etc for each of us to use) and then DH was escorted away by a team of people in hazmat gear and and one person who followed behind with a disinfectant spray.

The same thing was done for me and I must say it felt a bit like a walk of shame😨😨 but I knew it was for the protection of everyone on the ship so I put my head down and followed along.

The POSITIVE.

We had phone conversations with the doctor and senior nurse who advised us of the continuing monitoring of our health and we receive a daily phone call so we can update the team of our improving conditions.

We were given a thermometer each and take our temperature each morning.

The GOOD.

Part of the ship is blocked off by the fire doors and is used as a quarantine area.

I was allocated a balcony cabin on deck 15 and my DH was put in a similar cabin on deck 14.

My DH is in isolation for 10 days and it is 7 days for me unless I subsequently test positive.

We can wave to each other if we lean out over our balcony rails. We can ring each other on the ship’s phone…..never spoken so often in the last 50years 🤫😁

We have been provided with free laundry, free wifi and free room service where we can also choose from the main dining room menus for lunch and dinner. The meals arrive on real crockery with proper cutlery and the tray is placed on the floor outside the cabin door. We put the used implements back on the tray and place the tray outside the door.

We can request clean towels, bed linen and cleaning products as necessary.

We have been contacted each day by someone from Guest Services and also by someone from the medical team to check on our wellbeing.

We have both received excellent advice from crew members who helped us to access the wifi package as we are both a bit technically challenged.🤫

We have had refunds for all our shore excursions.

We have had some lovely views from our balcony.

DISAPPOINTING.

Not being together but completely understand the reason. If we had both tested positive then we would have been put in the same cabin together.

Missing out on all the places we planned to visit.

FINALLY

All the P&O staff members and crew members have been wonderful and I can’t fault the way we have been treated in what must be a very trying situation for them too.

My husband has not felt really ill, just a bit delicate with a tickly cough and runny nose.

We are both alive to tell the tale!!!!

Sorry to hear that your husband has got covid and it's interupted your holiday. Hopefully your husband isn't too ill and you stay covid free and you're out of isolation and quantine soon.

 

[Dermotsgirl]

Thank you for letting us know of your experiences.

 

in various other reports that I’ve seen, it is mentioned that names are read out over the PA after testing has taken place, so this confirms that it’s regarding people who have tested positive or are in the same cabin.  A useful way for other passengers to get an idea of what’s happening regarding infections on board.

 

I have to say, I’d find it quite traumatic to be separated from my husband.

 

I hope you are both able to fly back home as planned on 15th 

[Ardennais]

Oh dear so sorry about it all. I was thinking about you recently and your wonderful photos in the threads last year. 
 

Interesting to hear that you have been separated. That would have upset me terribly on top of everything else. We only take one phone charger, for instance, and my OH is pretty poor in the IT dept! He’s actually been coughing in bed all over me for the past fortnight and I haven’t caught Covid from him! 
 

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. 

[grapau27]

30 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

A well balanced review but I had no idea that couples would be separated if one tests negative and one tests positive. It just goes from bad to worse. We have had several family members where one has had Covid and the partner hasn’t, even though they haven’t been apart at any time throughout. If only one of us tested positive, there’s no way that we’d be happy leaving the other on their own. Quarantine in a small cabin sounds hideous enough without it being solitary confinement as well!

That was our thoughts too.

We will now take 2 phone chargers with us and extra toothpaste and anti perspirant just in case next time we cruise.

We would not be happy at all being separated.

We would rather not get off the ship like our staycation cruises than risk a positive test.

Graham.

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by grapau27

[Ardennais]

29 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

A well balanced review but I had no idea that couples would be separated if one tests negative and one tests positive. It just goes from bad to worse. We have had several family members where one has had Covid and the partner hasn’t, even though they haven’t been apart at any time throughout. If only one of us tested positive, there’s no way that we’d be happy leaving the other on their own. Quarantine in a small cabin sounds hideous enough without it being solitary confinement as well!

Surely they wouldn’t insist on separating you and your wife? Well I would hope not anyway. 

[purplesea]

We normally take our own chargers for our i-pads, but don't double up on toiletries, perhaps it's worth thinking about even if they are travel sized!

[Selbourne]

6 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

Surely they wouldn’t insist on separating you and your wife? Well I would hope not anyway. 

So would I, but I wouldn’t be prepared to risk it. Yet another reason, unfortunately, why cruising is off the table for us until the need for quarantine, either on-board on ashore, has passed. I’m relieved that our next cruises are August and November next year. Even if, God forbid, Covid resurrects itself yet again next year, hopefully any disruption will be restricted to this time of year. 

[Megabear2]

Hello Izzywiz. I'm really sorry to hear your husband is unwell, I hope he makes a speedy recovery and you get to fly home on the day you should. ITT must be very disappointing being separated.

 

May I ask whether any close contact of you both have been tracked and traced to be quarantined as well? On our Britannia Christmas cruise a solo lady tested positive, again in St Vincent, and six other people ended up being quarantined as her contacts through table sharing, a bus in Aruba and sitting on the next table in the atrium.  I just wonder if you are questioned about this or whether they just make a judgement. 

 

 

[Megabear2]

I've just seen on the Cunard board that Queen Victoria is apparently sailing to pick up people from Britannia to quarantine onboard her.  This is apparently from someone onboard Queen Victoria.  No idea if its guests or crew but as Britannia is now on day 8 of her cruise assumedly if its passengers they are well past the St Vincent testing which should have been day 4/5 I think, correct me if I'm wrong please!

[terrierjohn]

⁹Thank you for the first detailed, and rational, report of the P&O quarantine procedures, whilst very restrictive it does at least sound fairly humane. These procedures are of course specific to the Caribbean cruises, and although they will be similar in europe, the Caribbean does not seem to demand the disembarkation of all postive passengers, as happens in Spanish ports.

I do wonder what thay would do with us if only one of us tested positive, my wife's disabilities are too severe for her to cope on her own  so I assume we would be quarantined together.

[wowzz]

8 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

the Caribbean does not seem to demand the disembarkation of all postive passengers, as happens in Spanish ports.

I seem to remember Moley saying that quarantine hotels in Barbados were full, hence allowing passengers to quarantine on board.

[molecrochip]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

A well balanced review but I had no idea that couples would be separated if one tests negative and one tests positive. It just goes from bad to worse. We have had several family members where one has had Covid and the partner hasn’t, even though they haven’t been apart at any time throughout. If only one of us tested positive, there’s no way that we’d be happy leaving the other on their own. Quarantine in a small cabin sounds hideous enough without it being solitary confinement as well!

It is ship preference to separate couples to try and protect the negative testing person. However it is fully understood that its not always possible. Given what I know from your previous postings Selbourne, you would not even be asked by ship crew.

[Selbourne]

1 minute ago, molecrochip said:

It is ship preference to separate couples to try and protect the negative testing person. However it is fully understood that its not always possible. Given what I know from your previous postings Selbourne, you would not even be asked by ship crew.

Thanks. That’s kind of you to clarify. As I said, we won’t be cruising until quarantine requirements are ditched, but that’s good to know for those such as terrierjohn who are still prepared to. 

[tring]

4 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I seem to remember Moley saying that quarantine hotels in Barbados were full, hence allowing passengers to quarantine on board.

 

Yes, that was also mentioned in comments I had seen on FB, in fact because Marella had to keep people quarantining onboard, they had to cancel the next cruise.  Presumably the numbe rof people quarantining were over the allowed 1%, or so near to it that they could not take the chance of taking on more passengers.

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

It is ship preference to separate couples to try and protect the negative testing person. However it is fully understood that its not always possible. Given what I know from your previous postings Selbourne, you would not even be asked by ship crew.

To be honest,  by the time one partner has been found to be positive,  surely it is too late to isolate the other partner ? Personally,  I would  take my chance and stick with Mrs W.