Blogging from the Ruby Princess

[geocruiser]

18 minutes ago, ebeluga said:

But once they return to SFO, all (+) passengers are off loaded to finish their isolation on land so it starts fresh.

That s good.  But what about the crew who are positive?

[Pamster]

18 minutes ago, ebeluga said:

But once they return to SFO, all (+) passengers are off loaded to finish their isolation on land so it starts fresh.

Except that any other B2B passengers that didn’t get tested but could be positive are still there. 

[ebeluga]

Just now, geocruiser said:

That s good.  But what about the crew who are positive?

They are in isolation.  What about them?

[ebeluga]

1 minute ago, Pamster said:

Except that any other B2B passengers that didn’t get tested but could be positive are still there. 

Yes, you are correct.  No one from the cruise line wants to know, lol.

[Pamster]

2 minutes ago, ebeluga said:

Yes, you are correct.  No one from the cruise line wants to know, lol.

I wonder if they are still testing all the crew every week?

[tcdcruiser]

I’m on board.  There is no evidence to support this comment. 

 

• On page 16 of this thread Pescado Amarillo posted that all 139 balcony cabins on the isolation deck were full and they were now using inside cabins (likely for crew).

If things were actually this bad we would know.  Plus Pescado’s husband, per her posts, is still aboard

 

 

 

 

[IJustWantToGo36]

41 minutes ago, geocruiser said:

 

 

 

Now that is a lot.  Just a thought.. If 139 PAX were all sharing a cabin for two, that is 278 people have/  or been exposed to covid.  

everyone has been exposed to covid.   A few will get it, most will not

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, tcdcruiser said:

I am aboard the Ruby Princess and have been for the last 14 days 

 

I can assure all that these rumours of widespread covid exposure and confused passengers are NOT being observed.

 

From Cruise Critic posts only we know of a “handful” of covid cases from passengers or SO that have publicly shared their covid test results and quarantine experiences. 

 

As I walk around the ship everything seems calm, and routine.  I base this on this being my 39th Princess cruise. 

 

• Have any have Ruby’s events or tours been cancelled or changed due to covid?  No

 

• Has Ruby Princess changed the mask guidance from “optional” indoors (with a few exceptions) to “required” ?  No

 

• Has the sign at the elevators about masking been changed from “suggested” to “required” ?  No

 

• Have passengers been talking about covid aboard or expressing any worries?  Rarely.  Weather is a more common topic since we never found warm weather. 

 

• Do any of the passengers seem worried or concerned?  No

 

• How many passengers are waiting in the line to chat with guest services?  As of 940am….one.  Seems calm to me. 

 

• Did the Ruby have a covid issue on the PRIOR cruise that visited South America and Central America?  Yes.   During the Panama Canal cruise, not this cruise, passenger masking was made mandatory. 
   

A more believable rumour would be that the barrel chairs removed from the balcony cabins a few years ago have been found!  Rumour is they were hiding with the extra butter pats missing from the MDR. 

 

Maybe your experience all depends on whether or not you've contracted Covid or not. 

[dog]

I appreciate armadillo‘S sharing. As a result, we have moved our booking to 2 shorter cruises. Spaced out quite abit. Less stress for us. 

[PescadoAmarillo]

2 hours ago, bluesea321 said:

 

On page 16 of this thread Pescado Amarillo posted that all 139 balcony cabins on the isolation deck were full and they were now using inside cabins (likely for crew).  So the pax experience is bound to be either great or awful, great if they are not in "covid jail" and awful if they are.

Just to clarify, that was from a post on Facebook from someone who is currently in quarantine on the Ruby Princess and will have to finish quarantine in a hotel on land. There is another person posting on that same Facebook thread that says she is also in quarantine and agrees. Though my husband is still on the ship, he is no longer in quarantine. Our cabin steward is supposed to return home tomorrow and says he has to test negative before he can fly, and he is very concerned about that since he was positive in the past ten days.

[bluesea321]

12 minutes ago, tcdcruiser said:

If things were actually this bad we would know. 

 

From the Roll Call thread:

 

I hear constant coughing in the buffet and people are self dispensing their food with no masks. It’s unbelievable.  While getting tested each morning the traffic for testing is busy.  The covid isolation ward on deck twelve Aloha is apparently full and I understand that some are now on Carib too.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2758384-roll-call-san-francisco-to-hawaii-march-27-2022/?do=findComment&comment=62978215

[geocruiser]

20 minutes ago, IJustWantToGo36 said:

everyone has been exposed to covid.   A few will get it, most will not

Maybe true,🙂  But I don't want to eat dinner with them or be on a ship with them.  So, I be a landlubber for now

[ebeluga]

40 minutes ago, Pamster said:

I wonder if they are still testing all the crew every week?

Let's hope so.  I am thinking sooner or later, on longer cruises anyway, if the ship does not mandate effective mitigation measures to control spread and stops regular testing passengers during the voyage, just buries their heads in the sand, if some ports and/or countries on the itinerary still require COVID case numbers to determine whether the ship can be in port, it might result in some port changes/cancellations.  However, by then it is too late for the passengers on board to cancel and there is no need for compensation.

[Host CJSKIDS]

@PescadoAmarilloWhat are G’s thoughts to how this sailing is compared to his previous 45 days?  Does he notice a big difference or large changes in protocol? Since he is out of isolation and recovered, is he back to cruising normally and going to everything? 

As he was on the ship prior to many covid cases on board, getting his perspective would be invaluable to everyone I’m sure and I know he posts on the roll calls, could you do some arm twisting to get him to come let others know what it’s like before and after?!  So many are wondering whether or not to do b2b or even a b2b2b. Hearing how it is for him may help them make their decision on how it would be if they do get covid and recover and stay on the ship.

 

Hope you are fully recovered from your illness and back to normal.  Hope G is enjoying the rest of his cruise.  

[mellon1]

1 hour ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

@PescadoAmarilloWhat are G’s thoughts to how this sailing is compared to his previous 45 days?  Does he notice a big difference or large changes in protocol? Since he is out of isolation and recovered, is he back to cruising normally and going to everything? 

As he was on the ship prior to many covid cases on board, getting his perspective would be invaluable to everyone I’m sure and I know he posts on the roll calls, could you do some arm twisting to get him to come let others know what it’s like before and after?!  So many are wondering whether or not to do b2b or even a b2b2b. Hearing how it is for him may help them make their decision on how it would be if they do get covid and recover and stay on the ship.

 

Hope you are fully recovered from your illness and back to normal.  Hope G is enjoying the rest of his cruise.  

I agree.  Are you even able to make your "OWN" decision if doing multiple back to backs to stay on the ship for the next one rather than having to go to a hotel?  I am very very interested in this question being answered.  

[PescadoAmarillo]

I don’t think he’ll come here to comment. Having people dispute the experiences he knows he’s had would require a level of patience he’s just not feeling. 
 

But, without a doubt, the protocols on the Ruby Princess changed dramatically from his first cruise (Feb 10 to Hawaii) to the current cruise. Part of that is driven by Hawaii dropping their Safe Travel program on Mar 25, but much of it is driven by the dropping of the mask mandate effective Mar 1 (and more masks were worn on the Feb 25 cruise than later cruises), the dropping of interim cruise testing starting with the Mar 12 cruise and the buffet becoming self serve starting with the Mar 27 cruise. 
 

Or course, he had already booked these B2B cruises before the protocols changed. In fact, I added myself to one of his bookings because he felt safe…before the protocols changed. 
 

We had decided months ago that, for the time being, we would only book last minute cruises, and that’s what we did, last minute being about a month in advance. It’s just that things changed dramatically over the course of that month. If they had changed to tighter protocols, we would have been happy and probably safer, but it went the other direction. 
 

He remained masked last cruise but did share a large table at lunch in the dining room a couple of times. He feels that is where he caught COVID. 
 

The issue with B2B bookings is that you are already on the ship when you are tested at the end of each cruise. It’s not as easy as testing positive 2 or 3 days before a cruise, and simply staying home. Especially when you have a string of B2B cruises booked, testing positive really throws a wrench into your plans. 
 

If he had tested positive the last day of last cruise, he would have chosen to quarantine in San Francisco and I wouldn’t have left home. But he didn’t, and, not knowing for sure that interim testing was going to be dropped or that the buffet would become self serve, we thought that if we stayed masked, and avoided crowds, we would be safe, as we had been for several prior cruises. We didn’t know that he was going to be re-tested and that when he did he would test positive. And by that time I spent two days in close contact with someone with COVID, something I’ve managed not to do for two years. And this cruise had 1000 more passengers than any of the previous cruises. 
 

So it was really a perfect storm of diminished protocols, no social distancing and bad timing, something you just can’t anticipate.

 

This was the first cruise that I’m aware of where positive in transit guests were given the option of completing their quarantine on the ship. I know for a fact that, on a Princess cruise in the Caribbean a month earlier, positive in transits had to quarantine on land. Knowing what we do now, we would NEVER choose to quarantine on the ship. Simple things like soft tissues and OTC medications and hot meals are out of reach on the ship. 
 

I get the sense that he is making the best of the remaining days of this cruise, but keeping largely to himself. Ironically, he doesn’t have to be masked, but he is. He says that in the few conversations he does have with others, COVID inevitably comes up. Maybe he is just sensitive to that (small wonder) but this cruise definitely doesn’t feel the same as his earlier cruises on the Ruby Princess felt. There is no way he would have continued to add more cruises if it did. 
 

He is feeling fine, thank you for asking. I continue to struggle. I am left with a bad cough and severe headache and have only left the house one time since I got home, to get PCR tested (negative). I am getting tested one more time tomorrow and will do a grocery pick up while I’m out. But I do tend to get severely ill from lung infections, which is why, when I was testing negative and allowed to leave the ship in Honolulu, I did. We already realized that there was no medical care being given in quarantine, and knew that is not where we wanted me to end up. At the time, I thought I would eventually test positive for COVID, but perhaps those double boosters did what they’re supposed to do. Unfortunately, COVID isn’t the only game in town. 

Edited April 10, 2022 by PescadoAmarillo

[bluesea321]

@PescadoAmarillo:  Thank you for the thorough and detailed post and thank you for taking the time to share your views.

 

A question if you don't mind.  Is G double boosted?  I know you are.  I am getting my second one tomorrow; this variant while not as severe in illness perhaps is extremely contagious. 

[PescadoAmarillo]

12 minutes ago, bluesea321 said:

@PescadoAmarillo:  Thank you for the thorough and detailed post and thank you for taking the time to share your views.

 

A question if you don't mind.  Is G double boosted?  I know you are.  I am getting my second one tomorrow; this variant while not as severe in illness perhaps is extremely contagious. 

You’re welcome! And I’m sorry, I won’t comment on his vaccine status.  But since the second booster has been CDC approved since he’s been cruising, you can probably guess. 

[boom op]

6 hours ago, CalTexCruiser said:

 

Your positive spin on events is distracting from the gloom & doom; you may even cause us to actually get excited for our upcoming Apr 11 sailing.

 

By the way, as you get closer up the coast towards SF this afternoon, could you let us know how much rolling you are experiencing as high coastal winds/waves are expected.

 

 

Expect rough seas tonight, big storm heading into Northern California Sunday night

[bluesea321]

11 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

You’re welcome! And I’m sorry, I won’t comment on his vaccine status.  But since the second booster has been CDC approved since he’s been cruising, you can probably guess. 

 

Thank you...  😀

[Level six]

58 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I don’t think he’ll come here to comment. Having people dispute the experiences he knows he’s had would require a level of patience he’s just not feeling. 

Honestly, who would?  It is not worth it in a way.  I am glad you have stood your ground and not caved to the people who challenge your experience. 

[geocruiser]

PescadoAmarillo, Thank you for sharing what has happen to both of you.  I wish you both well.  I am sorry to hear that both of you went through all of this.  I met both of you years ago and I remember what fine people you both are.

Maria

[DeeniEncinitas]

2 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I don’t think he’ll come here to comment. Having people dispute the experiences he knows he’s had would require a level of patience he’s just not feeling. 
 

But, without a doubt, the protocols on the Ruby Princess changed dramatically from his first cruise (Feb 10 to Hawaii) to the current cruise. Part of that is driven by Hawaii dropping their Safe Travel program on Mar 25, but much of it is driven by the dropping of the mask mandate effective Mar 1 (and more masks were worn on the Feb 25 cruise than later cruises), the dropping of interim cruise testing starting with the Mar 12 cruise and the buffet becoming self serve starting with the Mar 27 cruise. 
 

Or course, he had already booked these B2B cruises before the protocols changed. In fact, I added myself to one of his bookings because he felt safe…before the protocols changed. 
 

We had decided months ago that, for the time being, we would only book last minute cruises, and that’s what we did, last minute being about a month in advance. It’s just that things changed dramatically over the course of that month. If they had changed to tighter protocols, we would have been happy and probably safer, but it went the other direction. 
 

He remained masked last cruise but did share a large table at lunch in the dining room a couple of times. He feels that is where he caught COVID. 
 

The issue with B2B bookings is that you are already on the ship when you are tested at the end of each cruise. It’s not as easy as testing positive 2 or 3 days before a cruise, and simply staying home. Especially when you have a string of B2B cruises booked, testing positive really throws a wrench into your plans. 
 

If he had tested positive the last day of last cruise, he would have chosen to quarantine in San Francisco and I wouldn’t have left home. But he didn’t, and, not knowing for sure that interim testing was going to be dropped or that the buffet would become self serve, we thought that if we stayed masked, and avoided crowds, we would be safe, as we had been for several prior cruises. We didn’t know that he was going to be re-tested and that when he did he would test positive. And by that time I spent two days in close contact with someone with COVID, something I’ve managed not to do for two years. And this cruise had 1000 more passengers than any of the previous cruises. 
 

So it was really a perfect storm of diminished protocols, no social distancing and bad timing, something you just can’t anticipate.

 

This was the first cruise that I’m aware of where positive in transit guests were given the option of completing their quarantine on the ship. I know for a fact that, on a Princess cruise in the Caribbean a month earlier, positive in transits had to quarantine on land. Knowing what we do now, we would NEVER choose to quarantine on the ship. Simple things like soft tissues and OTC medications and hot meals are out of reach on the ship. 
 

I get the sense that he is making the best of the remaining days of this cruise, but keeping largely to himself. Ironically, he doesn’t have to be masked, but he is. He says that in the few conversations he does have with others, COVID inevitably comes up. Maybe he is just sensitive to that (small wonder) but this cruise definitely doesn’t feel the same as his earlier cruises on the Ruby Princess felt. There is no way he would have continued to add more cruises if it did. 
 

He is feeling fine, thank you for asking. I continue to struggle. I am left with a bad cough and severe headache and have only left the house one time since I got home, to get PCR tested (negative). I am getting tested one more time tomorrow and will do a grocery pick up while I’m out. But I do tend to get severely ill from lung infections, which is why, when I was testing negative and allowed to leave the ship in Honolulu, I did. We already realized that there was no medical care being given in quarantine, and knew that is not where we wanted me to end up. At the time, I thought I would eventually test positive for COVID, but perhaps those double boosters did what they’re supposed to do. Unfortunately, COVID isn’t the only game in town. 

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

I commend you!!!! You are so telling the truth.

We we’re on Ruby as the experiment on 2/19-3/8 Panama Canal cruise! I have already reported that this is our first and last cruise!! I am retired as a DDS and was enjoying our Cruise on Oceania prior in the Caribbean before heading to FLL to take Princess home to San Diego!! No protocols at all!! Crew wore masks and were wonderful mask mandate till 3/1 and a at least 80% of pax 

thought the seas had parted and party time!!

the buffet was awful and was serve yourself right at beginning!! Coughing started a lot after first port and it was everywhere!! We always kept to ourselves and always were masked and we were fortunate not getting sick. Thank God we are home and I am not stressed from such a terrible experience!! Thank you for your honest outlook and experience. 
Denise

[cvpends]

6 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

But, without a doubt, the protocols on the Ruby Princess changed dramatically from his first cruise (Feb 10 to Hawaii) to the current cruise. Part of that is driven by Hawaii dropping their Safe Travel program on Mar 25, but much of it is driven by the dropping of the mask mandate effective Mar 1 (and more masks were worn on the Feb 25 cruise than later cruises), the dropping of interim cruise testing starting with the Mar 12 cruise and the buffet becoming self serve starting with the Mar 27 cruise. 

The buffet actually became self serve on March 12, and suddenly smoking was allowed in the casino, we didn't have to wear masks when walking to our tables in the dining room, they stopped testing a couple of days in, and more.  That was the date when I started shaking my head and thinking "this is a recipe for disaster."  I will actually board again tomorrow with my daughter.  We will eat in specialty dining every day to avoid crowds (we hope) and either be outdoors or somewhere distant from other people.  My daughter is a teacher and surrounded by Covid on a daily basis, and had successfully avoided it, so hopefully her good habits will get her through.  I had my second booster upon returning home on the 27th, so hope that will help. 

 

My friend just returned from a cruise on Celebrity Silhouette, and came home with Covid.  So this problem is certainly not unique to Princess cruise ships, although presumably it is handled better than your experience on other ships.

 

Hope you feel better soon!

 

Claire

Edited April 11, 2022 by cvpends

[JF - retired RRT]

12 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

At the time, I thought I would eventually test positive for COVID, but perhaps those double boosters did what they’re supposed to do. Unfortunately, COVID isn’t the only game in town. 

The vaccine/boosters don't prevent catching Covid. They only mitigate symptoms (maybe) and hospitalization (maybe) and death (maybe). It all depends on your immune response. You can still "catch" it.