Blogging from the Ruby Princess

[pompeii]

12 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

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

This is exactly how we felt on our Grand LA to Hawaii March 10-25.  When we booked, masking protocols and testing at the pier and before reaching Hawaii were still in place.  So we felt pretty comfortable with our decision to cruise.  But masking went away as did the testing, and we wound up on one of the first cruises with these new diminished protocols.  And we both wound up with Covid.  

[partybarbie]

1 hour ago, pompeii said:

This is exactly how we felt on our Grand LA to Hawaii March 10-25.  When we booked, masking protocols and testing at the pier and before reaching Hawaii were still in place.  So we felt pretty comfortable with our decision to cruise.  But masking went away as did the testing, and we wound up on one of the first cruises with these new diminished protocols.  And we both wound up with Covid.  

That was exactly our experience on the March 25 to April 4, sailing of the Grand to Mexico. Three of us got on healthy and all three of us got off with Covid. 

[LACruiser88]

Alongside the Ruby this morning, on a rainy San Francisco day.

[PescadoAmarillo]

This was just posted on the 3/27/12 Ruby Princess roll call. It gives two more perspectives about cruising, and B2B cruising in the age of COVID. I’m thrilled that most people are cruising unscathed and unaware of what is happening on the Ruby Princess, but this is a very real potential on that ship (and, as has been reported on this thread, other ships) and I feel people deserve to be well informed before placing themselves in a potentially risky environment, which clearly cruise ships are. 
 

 

I am currently on the Ruby in isolation. I've been here since last Thursday and my husband joined me yesterday, as he tested positive on his day 4. I had cold symptoms. I contacted medical immediately upon waking up stuffed. At first, they did not want to test me, because I was only congested. Not okay. I lied, and said I had a sore throat too, and they did come test us. I was + with PCR and my husband was - with antigen. He told me that so many people are obviously sick with cold-like symptoms and coughing. We were super careful, but I got sick anyhow. We are staying on for 3 more cruises. I will hopefully enjoy some of this one that starts today. My husband, sadly, will miss all of it. If people would just be more proactive, and less selfish, these widespread'outbreaks' wouldn't be so widespread. I am hoping that with so many people leaving the ship, it will be better in isolation, and there will be fewer cases occurring. It has definitely not beenpleasant, but Princess really didn't think this through. More people, plus, self-serve buffet, no testing during long cruise, less cleaning, and no masks = trouble. Be safe all! 
 

And another:

 

 

I’m still on Ruby now, disembarkment is 45 minutes behind. My traveling friend tested positive 4 days ago and was put on the 12th floor. First day I could contact her by room phone but then they stopped all incoming calls. Thankful that we are texting. She waited over 4 hours and still had not received breakfast or water bottles. My steward took 2 bottles and left it outside her door for me. Grateful that he could do that. The medical team has been very professional and are doing their best. I tested negative 2 days in a row but I had COVID on Valentine’s Day so I am no longer tested. Lack of cleaning public areas has been disappointing but we felt safe in our room. Will not do this cruise again. Very expensive for the experience. I understand that they trying to keep everyone safe and still keep sailing. Bye bye Princess no more!!!

 

 

 

[delondin]

8 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

This was just posted on the 3/27/12 Ruby Princess roll call. It gives two more perspectives about cruising, and B2B cruising in the age of COVID. I’m thrilled that most people are cruising unscathed and unaware of what is happening on the Ruby Princess, but this is a very real potential on that ship (and, as has been reported on this thread, other ships) and I feel people deserve to be well informed before placing themselves in a potentially risky environment, which clearly cruise ships are. 
 

 

I am currently on the Ruby in isolation. I've been here since last Thursday and my husband joined me yesterday, as he tested positive on his day 4. I had cold symptoms. I contacted medical immediately upon waking up stuffed. At first, they did not want to test me, because I was only congested. Not okay. I lied, and said I had a sore throat too, and they did come test us. I was + with PCR and my husband was - with antigen. He told me that so many people are obviously sick with cold-like symptoms and coughing. We were super careful, but I got sick anyhow. We are staying on for 3 more cruises. I will hopefully enjoy some of this one that starts today. My husband, sadly, will miss all of it. If people would just be more proactive, and less selfish, these widespread'outbreaks' wouldn't be so widespread. I am hoping that with so many people leaving the ship, it will be better in isolation, and there will be fewer cases occurring. It has definitely not beenpleasant, but Princess really didn't think this through. More people, plus, self-serve buffet, no testing during long cruise, less cleaning, and no masks = trouble. Be safe all! 
 

And another:

 

 

I’m still on Ruby now, disembarkment is 45 minutes behind. My traveling friend tested positive 4 days ago and was put on the 12th floor. First day I could contact her by room phone but then they stopped all incoming calls. Thankful that we are texting. She waited over 4 hours and still had not received breakfast or water bottles. My steward took 2 bottles and left it outside her door for me. Grateful that he could do that. The medical team has been very professional and are doing their best. I tested negative 2 days in a row but I had COVID on Valentine’s Day so I am no longer tested. Lack of cleaning public areas has been disappointing but we felt safe in our room. Will not do this cruise again. Very expensive for the experience. I understand that they trying to keep everyone safe and still keep sailing. Bye bye Princess no more!!!

 

 

 

They stopped incoming calls. Is this now prison 

[kstaffen]

11 hours ago, cvpends said:

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

Just be extra careful. I tooo am a teacher and managed to avoid this. I can name the ONE night I sat at a bar and talked with someone. That was all it took. 4 days later I am in quarantine. We always wore our masks. I even did outside. We ate in Club Class at a table for two, and only sat at nearly empty bars and talked with our crew member friends. We spent way more time in our cabin this cruise than on others.  I had sailed on this ship 35 days and on the majestic for 7 from Sept to Jan. So much changed. I will find out if I might get out tomorrow, when I test again. We shall see. My husband joined me yesterday, after 4 days of testing negative. I could kick myself for letting my guard down, even once.  We are on this ship until 4-30, so although today starts a new cruise (which my husband will miss entirely) I remain on the ship. Enjoy your cruise. Be diligent, and stay safe. It should be better with fewer people aboard.

 

[PescadoAmarillo]

3 minutes ago, kstaffen said:

It should be better with fewer people aboard.

 

I’ve heard 2000 for the next two cruises. Certainly I would think that quarantine conditions will be given every opportunity to improve, since next up is a 5- and 7-day cruise, and most people will leave before realizing they have caught it. 

[kstaffen]

3 minutes ago, delondin said:

They stopped incoming calls. Is this now prison 

Wow! I was able to talk with my husband all the way up until yesterday morning, when he was waiting for them to come an join me! I am so sorry. I have also gotten calls from a couple of crew members. My husband did have trouble getting food to his room, as he was told not eat outside of his room during the 5 days of testing for being a close contact. I was able to call room service from quarantine and order food and drinks to his room. We also had our server in dining room send him food, so I didn't have to worry about him not eating. Pfft. He is one that would just skip the meal if it was a hassle. That is odd that they wouldn't let you communicate over the phone. 

[kstaffen]

1 minute ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I’ve heard 2000 for the next two cruises. Certainly I would think that quarantine conditions will be given every opportunity to improve, since next up is a 5- and 7-day cruise, and most people will leave before realizing they have caught it. 

Sadly, I believe that is true. 

[waltd]

1 hour ago, partybarbie said:

That was exactly our experience on the March 25 to April 4, sailing of the Grand to Mexico. Three of us got on healthy and all three of us got off with Covid. 

How are you doing now?   It's been 7 days for me and still testing positive

[partybarbie]

2 minutes ago, waltd said:

How are you doing now?   It's been 7 days for me and still testing positive

No fever for two days, but still have the cough and runny nose. I am going to test on Wednesday. In the meantime, I am staying at home.

[Astro Flyer]

2 minutes ago, partybarbie said:

No fever for two days, but still have the cough and runny nose. I am going to test on Wednesday. In the meantime, I am staying at home.

Get better soon…we periodically used at home tests during the cruise & thankfully all were negative as were the ones we took this morning before our 4th shot later today.

 

On Discovery in-transits had to be tested between the 1st & 2nd cruises but were not tested before yesterday’s turnaround. Why the change when passengers are testing positive. Cost savings? Fewer to report to CDC?

[Astro Flyer]

13 minutes ago, partybarbie said:

Respectfully have to disagree with you. My husband and I were both vaccinated and boosted. We are not in the hospital, but I have been ill since 4/1.

Same with cruise friends on Discovery who tested positive & wore KN95 masks in public. After quarantine they were driven an hour home at the end of the cruise by a car service provided by Princess.

[travlin]

I am on Ruby now. They are very late disembarking. I am in Michelangelo. So many people coughing. Lots of people without masks. I just don’t understand why they are not wearing a masks around all these people. Self serve buffet is ridiculous given the number of Covid cases on the cruise right before this one. They should have had a mask mandate at least the first few days of the cruise.  I had a 10:20 disembark time. It’s 11 now. I am listening to so many people complaining about the cruise. Princess did not live up to its usual high standards. As an Elite member, I have had many cruises with Princess. This was very disappointing. 

[delondin]

50 minutes ago, kstaffen said:

Wow! I was able to talk with my husband all the way up until yesterday morning, when he was waiting for them to come an join me! I am so sorry. I have also gotten calls from a couple of crew members. My husband did have trouble getting food to his room, as he was told not eat outside of his room during the 5 days of testing for being a close contact. I was able to call room service from quarantine and order food and drinks to his room. We also had our server in dining room send him food, so I didn't have to worry about him not eating. Pfft. He is one that would just skip the meal if it was a hassle. That is odd that they wouldn't let you communicate over the phone. 

It wasn’t me this happened to. I was reading from the post I quoted that pescado had referred to. I was just shocked to read it. 

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

16 minutes ago, travlin said:

I am on Ruby now. They are very late disembarking. I am in Michelangelo. So many people coughing. Lots of people without masks. I just don’t understand why they are not wearing a masks around all these people. Self serve buffet is ridiculous given the number of Covid cases on the cruise right before this one. They should have had a mask mandate at least the first few days of the cruise.  I had a 10:20 disembark time. It’s 11 now. I am listening to so many people complaining about the cruise. Princess did not live up to its usual high standards. As an Elite member, I have had many cruises with Princess. This was very disappointing. 

 

Wow so sorry you went thru that.  Agree that's Not the kind of cruise you want to be on.

After hearing many such stories like yours, we Cancelled our upcoming Ruby cruise.

 

We have a few more on Ruby booked before the end of this year.

I'm taking them one at a time, keep or cancel?  Depending on reports & better protocols in place.

 

If safety is still lacking & quarantine problems, why pay good money for a trip like that?

 

Just want those of you posting what happened to you? 

Hasn't fallen on deaf ears.

At least in our case. 

 

Thank you all for posting.

 

 

[Astro Flyer]

Princess won’t disclose the actual number of cases but based of these experiences I won’t risk going through quarantine. Dropping in-transit testing & allowing self serve buffets in my opinion is not the way to manage Covid. Our next final payment is in 3 months & unless things greatly improve will cancel those 24 days.

[ebeluga]

Looks like with the current diminished protocol, I should fully embrace the possibility of getting Covid on the ship on my upcoming 7-day on Discovery unless I dine in my cabin, not go to any indoor public spaces, not talking to anyone, etc...this is quite an expensive jail sentence!!  On the up side, if I do get Covid in a mild form, I am "home-free" for the next 90 days to go on more cruises to use up my FCC which is expiring end of 2022.

 

Thanks to this clown (who was formerly the Medallion chief and promoted to president), yep, the credit of this predicament squarely goes to you!

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by ebeluga

[private92656]

57 minutes ago, partybarbie said:

No fever for two days, but still have the cough and runny nose. I am going to test on Wednesday. In the meantime, I am staying at home.

Hope you get well soon!

 

We were also on the same 10 day Grand P to sea of Cortez from Mar 25 to Apr 4. We came down with mild symptoms on day of disembarkation. Got tested on the same day, both positive. I have fully recovered since, my wife still has occasional dry cough. We are also staying home until both tested negative. Graceful that I can WFH and we are also empty nesters.

 

We wore masks when moving around outside of our room, didn't set our foot inside the elevator, in general stayed away from the crowd. We ended up sharing dinners with other people for the last 3 dinners onboard, since the app lost all of our dinner reservations, and it was too late to book private table.

 

We noticed there were many coughers towards the end of journey, more people wore their masks, and more trays left on the hallway. 

 

I sure wish Princess would have kept their more stringent covid policy on those >7 days cruises.

[partybarbie]

17 minutes ago, private92656 said:

Hope you get well soon!

 

Thank you for the get well wishes and the same to you. We're grateful to be retired and able to stay at home. Thank you for posting your story as well. 

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

First day I could contact her by room phone but then they stopped all incoming calls.

It boggles my mind as to why they would cut off the phones.

[boom op]

Why are B2B cruisers that test positive not getting off if things are so bad?

[geocruiser]

2 hours ago, boom op said:

Why are B2B cruisers that test positive not getting off if things are so bad?

I don't really know.  Maybe it could be because they don't know/heard about how bad it is to be locked up those 5 or more days..  

[PescadoAmarillo]

2 hours ago, boom op said:

Why are B2B cruisers that test positive not getting off if things are so bad?

Hard to say. Perhaps because once they’ve tested positive and survived quarantine, they don’t have to worry about quarantine again in the near future. The better question might be why new guests want to take the risk. 

Edited April 11, 2022 by PescadoAmarillo

[Steelers36]

42 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

Hard to say. Perhaps because once they’ve tested positive and survived quarantine, they don’t have to worry about quarantine again in the near future. The better question might be why new guests want to take the risk. 

Soooooo... we're all dying to know.... is G home?