Cruising in the Time of Covid: Explorer January 19 – February 4, 2022, San Diego to Miami

[forgap]

 

With apologies to Gabriel Garcia ***** (Love in the Time of Cholera), we have packed our hand sanitizer and bleach wipes, taken a deep breath, and put on our masks to face our first significant travel since 2019.  With a nod to my friend, Rich Wiseman, I am “setting the table” for this cruise.  My cruise-mates are welcome to join me and post their take on the voyage!

 

I have lost count of the number of cruises cancelled and dreams dashed.  During this cruise we will transit the Panama Canal after visiting and missing ports in Mexico and Central America then missing and visiting ports in the Caribbean (and South America – I’m talking about you Cartagena!)   I’m calling this a faux trans-Atlantic as we may have more sea days than port days.  The surprise element is intriguing! 

 

We are now sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to San Diego.   We are visiting family and friends in Southern California prior to embarkation on the 19^th.  We have an early flight and, in an abundance of caution, arrived 2.5 hours early.  We took an early flight to DC in December and the Atlanta airport was a zoo.  I have never seen so many people in TSA pre-check.  It took roughly 1.5 hours from Lyft drop-off to the gate.  This time, no one was in line.  Go figure. 

 

Our friends think we are a bit crazy to cruise during the Omicron surge.  We have had numerous calls, texts, and emails asking whether the cruise has been cancelled.  I always reply “NO, full steam ahead!  We will continue to practice all the precautions that have kept us healthy for two years.  We took a PCR test on Sunday to make sure we were OK to travel.  We plan on another PCR test next Sunday, 72 hours prior to embarkation.  Then, of course, we have the antigen test at the pier.  

 

I have been reading all the live threads on CC and they have been very helpful to me as I anticipate the cruise.  This is our 9^th Regent cruise but our first on Explorer.  We upgraded our cabin yesterday in order to have a more spacious balcony.  I think we may be spending quite a bit of time out there.  

 

Feel free to ask questions and I’ll do my best to answer.  

 

Jennifer

[DeepFreeze63]

Wow, what a great way for me to start the morning! DW and I are scheduled to join Explorer in Miami on 2/14 for 17 days. It'd be our first at sea since we disembarked the Splendor TA in February 2020 (BTW, Rich Wiseman etal. were GREAT to cruise with). I am within hours of deciding if/when to have surgery on a bum knee; a decision that will affect the cruise decision. At the moment, I'm a  GO to cruise.

These would be our 19th and 20th Regent cruises with about 50 nights already on the Explorer. What I'd love to hear is the feelings of  veteran Regent cruisers about cruising with Regent in these turbulent times.

My best wishes for a delightful and uneventful cruise.

Jim C

[RachelG]

Have a great trip!  So glad you are going and will be following along.

[mrstanley]

We canceled our February 3 cruise on the Splendor. We were not taking a chance getting quarantined onboard.

Next cruise is July 2022. Hopefully we will be going.

[1982CruzStart]

So looking forward to following along with your cruise. Thanks for taking us along with you. Have a wonderful visit with your family pre cruise.

[TV Dad]

I am sorry (NOT SORRY) to say we will be missing the cruise. We were signed up to go with you, but my wife got covid just after Christmas. She has recovered and back at work but will continue to test positive for covid for 12-16 weeks. Therefore, we cannot cruise. Ironic since those antibodies would have made her the safest person on board.

 

We have already rebooked a shorter, more expensive cruise, on Regent Splendor for summer 2023. 

 

I am disappointed at not cruising, but frankly I would have also been disappointed if we had cruised. The three ports I was most looking forward to have been canceled. 

 

I wish you a glorious sun filled cruise with lots of good times and new friends. Bon Voyage.

[GoNavyFamily]

My husband and I are fellow cruisers on the Jan 19th sailing and @forgap and I have already emailed privately about both of us adding impressions of this cruise.  We are from the same metro area and look forward to meeting in person!  She and her husband are experienced Regent customers and this is our first Regent cruise, so our comments as we sail should give some different perspectives.  Having nothing to do with Regent but with cruising on any line right now, I can say that the pre-cruise stress is not enjoyable at all.  We took at home rapid tests today (yay, negative!) and have appointments for official rapid tests on both Sunday and Monday.  I'm glad PCR isn't strictly required as waiting for test results could be even more stressful if not received by boarding time.  We scheduled both Sunday and Monday because, of all times, we in the Atlanta area are predicted to have snow and ice on Sunday.  People who live in areas that typically get snow may laugh, but a couple of inches of snow (and especially with ice, as is predicted) totally shuts down this city. Therefore, tests are scheduled for Monday as an alternate if everything shuts down Sunday.  I will believe we are actually on vacation when we are boarding the ship and I fully expect to enjoy a glass or two of the welcome bottle of champagne when we get to our room!

Fran

[forgap]

We are in San Diego so we have checked off the phase one box of this journey!  Our flight was as smooth as silk and we arrive a half hour early.   Sunrise in Atlanta was beautiful

and the approach to San Diego was equally lovely.  

 

Delta is serving cute little boxed breakfasts. Choices are listed on the flight attendants iphone (very 21st Century!).   This is my first installment of food porn since this group seems to love it so much.  If you haven’t seen Anthony Bourdain’s Food Porn 2 on the No Reservations series, it’s an amusing watch.  Note the bamboo utensils.  All packaging is recyclable.   Good on Delta!   

[cwn]

That looks  surprisingly good for airplane food! 

[Crosspost]

3 hours ago, TV Dad said:

I am sorry (NOT SORRY) to say we will be missing the cruise. We were signed up to go with you, but my wife got covid just after Christmas. She has recovered and back at work but will continue to test positive for covid for 12-16 weeks. Therefore, we cannot cruise. Ironic since those antibodies would have made her the safest person on board.

 

We have already rebooked a shorter, more expensive cruise, on Regent Splendor for summer 2023. 

 

I am disappointed at not cruising, but frankly I would have also been disappointed if we had cruised. The three ports I was most looking forward to have been canceled. 

 

I wish you a glorious sun filled cruise with lots of good times and new friends. Bon Voyage.

Only a PCR will test positive for that long (up to 90 days) - and an alternative to a PCR test will be accepted if you can show proof of infection. A lateral flow (antigen) test will stop being positive after around 10 days from infection (from personal experience!) and Regent only require lateral flow tests. We too have plenty of antibodies and are looking forward to boarding the Splendor on 3 February.

[TV Dad]

27 minutes ago, Crosspost said:

Only a PCR will test positive for that long (up to 90 days) - and an alternative to a PCR test will be accepted if you can show proof of infection. A lateral flow (antigen) test will stop being positive after around 10 days from infection (from personal experience!) and Regent only require lateral flow tests. We too have plenty of antibodies and are looking forward to boarding the Splendor on 3 February.

When I called Regent, the Customer Service Rep told me not to even bother trying. They wouldn't let us board. 

[Pcardad]

2 minutes ago, TV Dad said:

When I called Regent, the Customer Service Rep told me not to even bother trying. They wouldn't let us board. 

I think I would take the advice of your doctor over a Regent customer service rep.

[gcorgain]

2 hours ago, Crosspost said:

Only a PCR will test positive for that long (up to 90 days) - and an alternative to a PCR test will be accepted if you can show proof of infection. A lateral flow (antigen) test will stop being positive after around 10 days from infection (from personal experience!) and Regent only require lateral flow tests. We too have plenty of antibodies and are looking forward to boarding the Splendor on 3 February.

The test that has landed me in quarantine on Regent was described as a PCR test. We weren’t given a choice as to what to take. So Regent definitely does use PCR tests in some circumstances. 
 

Greg

[Gcto]

5 hours ago, forgap said:

 

Delta is serving cute little boxed breakfasts. Choices are listed on the flight attendants iphone (very 21st Century!).   This is my first installment of food porn since this group seems to love it so much.  If you haven’t seen Anthony Bourdain’s Food Porn 2 on the No Reservations series, it’s an amusing watch.  Note the bamboo utensils.  All packaging is recyclable.   Good on Delta!   

wow...you are starting off nicely. Flew Delta a few times last year cross country and to LA and never ever had sushi type. Nice...

[labonnevie]

Like forgap, GoNavyFamily and Gcto, we will be on this cruise providing the testing gods are on our side! We have been like hemits for the past many days.

Also like forgap this is our 9th Regent cruise, first on Explorer and first since May 2019 on any ship. Stopped counting canceled cruises, it was just  too depressing.

For all of the CC posters (and I have counted 17) on this cruise, there will be an umm...(unofficial mix and mingle) on Thursday, January 20th at 2:30 PM in the Observation Lounge, starboard side. With the size of the Observation Lounge we should be able to socially distance. In addition we will all have tested negative 24 hours earlier. Of course, everyone will be expected to buy their own drinks! 🙂

This is shortly after we leave Catalina where Thursday's current forecast is partly cloudy and highs in the low 60's.

For everyone on this cruise, please refer to my post #214 on the roll call if you wish to be included in the list of posters I have been compiling.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2783878-seven-seas-explorer-january-19-2022-to-february-4-2022-san-diego-to-miami/page/9/

As for reporting from onboard, I can't promise much unless I have the great misfortune to repeat gcorgain's experience. 😭 But I am sure forgap and GoNavyFamily will do a fantastic job!

BTW, a sincere thank you to all of the CC posters on the recent cruises - you really have provided important and very helpful information as we get ready to cruise again.

[Crosspost]

7 hours ago, gcorgain said:

The test that has landed me in quarantine on Regent was described as a PCR test. We weren’t given a choice as to what to take. So Regent definitely does use PCR tests in some circumstances. 
 

Greg

Hi Greg,

 

The current requirement to board the ship and the routine tests carried out when required to go ashore are antigen, lateral flow tests. If your lateral flow test shows as positive then they will also do a PCR test as this is much more accurate and sometimes lateral flow tests can return a false positive.

 

So sorry about you catching covid and your quarantine, we were really enjoying reading your posts of daily life on board. The irony is that my husband caught it from his 98 year old mother's care home. She is fine - we both got a very mild version like a cold. However, we are really forward to he Splendor on 3 February.

 

Best wishes

 

Bev

[WesW]

Fair Winds and Following Seas Jennifer and Georges--enjoy your  faux trans-Atlantic and your large veranda.

[gcorgain]

5 hours ago, Crosspost said:

Hi Greg,

 

The current requirement to board the ship and the routine tests carried out when required to go ashore are antigen, lateral flow tests. If your lateral flow test shows as positive then they will also do a PCR test as this is much more accurate and sometimes lateral flow tests can return a false positive.

 

So sorry about you catching covid and your quarantine, we were really enjoying reading your posts of daily life on board. The irony is that my husband caught it from his 98 year old mother's care home. She is fine - we both got a very mild version like a cold. However, we are really forward to he Splendor on 3 February.

 

Best wishes

 

Bev

Thanks Bev.  Agreed the tests to get on board are the antigen tests and it worked as you describe. Also most ports are antigen tests, but some require PCR there as well. Also if you self report (as we did) they use PCR. Not sure what they use for the contract tracing tests and the weekly crew testing. 

[forgap]

Good morning from our California “pre-cruise”!  I have had several days of miserable sleep leading up to our departure from Atlanta yesterday.  Excitement?  Definitely,  Anxiety?  Maybe.  I slept very well last night.  Exhaustion plus the sound the crashing ocean seems to have induced a restful sleep.  
 

Our daughter and family live in the high mountains above San Bernardino.  They worried about snow and they needed a break so they booked a beautiful Airbnb in Encinitas.  This view greeted me this morning.  It is a kind of preview of our cruise, don’t you think?

We visited the Swami Mediation Garden yesterday.  It is well worth a visit.  It is a beautiful garden overlooking the ocean, with meandering paths and verdant nooks in which to contemplate nature, peace, and calm.  There are also several ponds with beautiful, large koi.  

Regent emailed us instructions today to register with Eurofins for our dockside antigen test. 5 days and counting!

[1982CruzStart]

thanks for the beautiful pictures. Enjoy your visit.

[irishwitchy]

Since I’m a Pisces, I love both pictures!  Enjoy your trip and stay healthy!  

[forgap]

Good Lord, woke up at 5am PST to an iPad alert for a tsunami warning!  Should arrive at 7:30 am due to an earthquake in Tonga!  I worry in anticipation about many things, but a tsunami was not on my radar!   
 

Fingers crossed that this will be an event only to delight the dozens of surfers waiting for the perfect wave.  I’ll take a picture when the sun comes up (if our Airbnb is not washed away by then!)

[GoodPam]

We too will be on the cruise. I agree that this pre-cruise time has been very stressful. We have literally not been with anyone in the last two weeks except the occasional trip to the supermarket double masked. My husband had to work two days but he was double masked too. We have an appointment to be tested Monday morning. Why am I so afraid of testing positive?? If we actually get onboard n Wednesday, I think our first stop will be the bar!! Safe travels to all of us traveling to San Diego!

[RJ2002]

59 minutes ago, GoodPam said:

I think our first stop will be the bar!! 

 

This is always a good idea, regardless of the situation.    Safe travels and enjoy your cruise.

[spindrift]

Well Pam, I guess I’ll be seeing you at the bar also. However on the Mediterranean no one can sit at the bar. So maybe I’ll meet you walking around the deck holding a drink. My late husband and I always had our piña colada when we boarded for good luck, so that’s what I’ll be caring. I got on the board to see what’s going on with city staff and the tsunami. Any information?