To test or not to test ….

[seapals2]

Reading lots of social media reports from Caribbean cruise groups it seems many are just avoiding all situations or cruise excursions that might require a test.  With so many asymptomatic passengers ending up in isolation for 10 days of their holiday or 5 days for just being in close contact it’s understandable.  However this must be causing widespread infection. No one now has to test to return back to the UK.  
The true percentage of Covid cases onboard will never be known.  
I suppose in the past no one ever worried about cruising with a bad cold which by all accounts is the worst of the current symptoms .. many getting far less.  You have to think this will be where this ends.  Unlikely the cruise lines will insist on routine testing apart from crew  if it produces a lot of passengers needing isolation cabins.  
Thankfully there has been no reported cases we have read where anyone has been seriously ill or needed hospitalisation.   We have come a long way since the start of this pandemic and Diamond Princess in Japan with its daily news stories of passengers being taken ashore to hospital.  Perhaps it’s time to feel hopeful about the future.  We transferred our January Caribbean cruise but have no plans to move our March sailing.  The reward seems to justify the very small health risk.  We’ll soon be back to worrying more about norovirus again which seems to have gone away perhaps with the increased awareness of sanitisation.  

[ann141]

Just last week I read of a Saga passenger who required hospitalisation so  although for most people it's no more than a cold it can be worse for some.I think one problem at the moment, possibly not in the Caribbean but in Spain and the Canary Islands is that passengers have to be offloaded and quarantine in a hotel and flying home.There are still high number of cases and whilst I can see that in the future testing may not be needed, I personally hope it continues until number of positive cases decreases

Edited January 22, 2022 by ann141

[Mysticalmother]

I have a friend onboard Ventura, who, due to waking up with a head cold, did a self test, and the resulting positive result has now put him in quarantine for 10 days. But he did the test after breakfast and had been on excursions the 2 days prior … It is obvious that he will have passed the virus on, but as they have been at sea since 3 January it is likely he too caught it onboard, or ashore, and there will be many more with it who will not have tested themselves, and are spreading it around. 
 

[Dermotsgirl]

Omicron, the most prevalent variant of the virus is still incredibly infectious, there is still a high level of virus circulating in the U.K. and any virus loves an environment where people live closely together. So cruise ships remain higher risk environments.

 

I think it is now accepted that, in spite of the pre cruise screening, some infections will find their way on board each cruise..

 

As the virus can still make people feel very ill, the virus shouldn’t be allowed to spread unchecked on board, so I believe the cruise companies will continue to take every effort to contain outbreaks on the ships, and this should include testing. It won’t do the cruise industry any good at all if the reputation ‘floating petri dishes’ is reinforced.

 

I am due to pay for my Cunard cruise in the next couple of days. My main qualm is that, by the time I’m due to sail in May, the cruise companies will have relaxed their protocols to follow the way things seem to going on land…..

 

However, if I pay up, I will just have to trust Cunard to do the right thing - after their experience with the QM2 Christmas cruise, I think they will remain vigilant. If I sail in May, I would also do the right thing, and do a LFT every few days 

[Megabear2]

On the subject of testing if the free tests from the NHS end as is being reported and they become paid for how do you think that would impact cruises etc ? A lot of people say they test themselves every few days just in case, would they do that if they had to buy tests?

Edited January 22, 2022 by Megabear2

[wowzz]

On a purely practical note, if you woke up with a slight sniffle, would you alert the medical staff on board, knowing that if you tested positive, both you and your travelling partner would be disembarked,  with possibly major financial implications if your partner tests negative ?

It must be a temptation to say nothing, and keep yourself to yourself.

I know morally you should obviously go for a test, but the cruise  lines and insurance companies are not encouraging passengers to act responsibly.

 

[ohnonotmeagain]

4 minutes ago, wowzz said:

On a purely practical note, if you woke up with a slight sniffle, would you alert the medical staff on board, knowing that if you tested positive, both you and your travelling partner would be disembarked,  with possibly major financial implications if your partner tests negative ?

It must be a temptation to say nothing, and keep yourself to yourself.

I know morally you should obviously go for a test, but the cruise  lines and insurance companies are not encouraging passengers to act responsibly.

 

**This **

not right but will happen. 

[seapals2]

Exactly my point … passengers are avoiding getting tested wherever possible.  The cruise lines are unlikely to push them as they then have to keep numbers onboard low to allow for the isolation cabins.  In some cases a couple will have occupied 3 cabins.  Their original and two more in separate isolation.  The alternative to put passengers ashore into quarantine hotels will be even more of a reason to avoid testing. 
Last year we had random temperature checks on stairs and entrance to restaurant.  Not heard of these checks onboard in recent days.  

[zap99]

On 1/22/2022 at 1:56 PM, wowzz said:

On a purely practical note, if you woke up with a slight sniffle, would you alert the medical staff on board, knowing that if you tested positive, both you and your travelling partner would be disembarked,  with possibly major financial implications if your partner tests negative ?

It must be a temptation to say nothing, and keep yourself to yourself.

I know morally you should obviously go for a test, but the cruise  lines and insurance companies are not encouraging passengers to act responsibly.

 

There will soon be no requirement for the 2 day, post arrival tests so I can't see folk doing them voluntarily.🙈🙉🙊

[grapau27]

On 1/22/2022 at 1:56 PM, wowzz said:

On a purely practical note, if you woke up with a slight sniffle, would you alert the medical staff on board, knowing that if you tested positive, both you and your travelling partner would be disembarked,  with possibly major financial implications if your partner tests negative ?

It must be a temptation to say nothing, and keep yourself to yourself.

I know morally you should obviously go for a test, but the cruise  lines and insurance companies are not encouraging passengers to act responsibly.

 

Good point.

[howmuch!]

There is now no requirement to do a day 2 test after 11th Feb according to BBC

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, howmuch! said:

There is now no requirement to do a day 2 test after 11th Feb according to BBC

The point still remains - if you got a sniffle mid cruise, would you get yourself tested ? 

[watsonbeau]

I had Omicron unfortunately early Jan so was unable to go on the current Caribbean on QM2 that departed on 14 Jan as within the 14 days. It was only because we were checking with lateral flows during our self imposed quarantine pre-cruise that we realised it was Covid ! Neither of us was ill though appreciate others not so lucky. But in the normal course of events I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. I’ve had colds in the past far far worse and still dragged myself into work (own office so not infecting others). 

 

So I can see that people would likely not test. And many get the Cunard cough on boarding so if you’ve had that on a previous cruise you might not think of it being anything untoward. 
 

[howmuch!]

I think everyone on a cruise has a duty to test if you expect others to do the same., and keep Covid numbers down.

 

I've had a sniffle and been sneezing occasionally for past few days, but LFT says negative. With Omicron its difficult to tell what's the cause, hence why testing is important.

I'd be taking LFT tests from home with me, so that would be my first port of call

Edited January 24, 2022 by howmuch!

[Ardennais]

My OH still has a nasty cough 30 days after his positive PCR. 

[Mum2Mercury]

It's wrong to think a person who is asymptomatic doesn't have Covid.  No -- a person who tests positive but is asymptomatic still has the virus and can pass it on to someone else who may or may not show symptoms.

 

No, a bad cold isn't the worst of the current symptoms -- the worst is lingering Covid.  Well, no, the worst is death, and that is still happening, though much less often.  When I had it back last February my symptoms lingered about six weeks.  But it's true that the virus is becoming weaker as it mutates, and fewer people are having serious problems.  

On 1/22/2022 at 7:43 AM, Dermotsgirl said:

... I think it is now accepted that, in spite of the pre cruise screening, some infections will find their way on board each cruise. ...

 

However, if I pay up, I will just have to trust Cunard to do the right thing ...

Yes, even if every person tested in the terminal (imagine that nightmare), a few cases would still sneak onboard -- from people who hadn't yet fully developed the disease and from island stops.

 

If you have insurance and you tested positive, they'd reimburse you, right?  Even if the cruise line didn't?  

On 1/24/2022 at 11:53 AM, wowzz said:

The point still remains - if you got a sniffle mid cruise, would you get yourself tested ? 

Not hypothetical for us. 

 

My husband came down with a cold around Day 5 on Explorer last week, and he did test -- but in our own cabin privately.  No one except me knew.  He tested negative, and we broke out the DayQuil /NyQuil from our first aid kit.  He tested again the next day -- still negative.  Upon arriving home, I came down with the same cold, and I tested negative.  Every sniffle isn't Covid.  

 

I think we did the right thing:  We tested, but we didn't bring ourselves to the attention of the ship's medical crew without good cause.  

Edited September 15, 2022 by Mum2Mercury