First time Princess Cruiser, Got Covid :(

[maggipie]

Hi all, sharing our experience since reading about others' on CC was so helpful.

 

We are long time Celebrity cruisers, and when Eclipse was cancelled, we decided to change our staycation itinerary/first cruise since pandemic over to Majestic.

 

We're a family of 4, all vaccinated and boosted, and knew the risks going in, but we (okay, really, I) missed cruising and thought for sure we would not be a casualty. We were meticulously careful, wearing our KN95's everywhere (many other cruisers did not), except when we sat down to eat, so just goes to show, nothing is 100%.

 

We boarded Saturday 3/26 and were enjoying exploring a new ship/line; Thursday DD said she had a sore throat, so I tested her with an antigen test we brought along. Uh oh, positive. I called down to Medical and the nurse came up to test me, I was negative, and DH and DS were negative as well. I didn't want DD to quarantine alone, so accompanied her to our new Dolphin cabin (deluxe balcony/cat DB, for those wondering).

 

So the good news is that we did feel well taken care of. We were able to order food and drink from the Medallion app, including from specialty dining, and at meal times, you can call room service to order off the MDR menu. The two times we did not order (lunch Friday and breakfast morning of disembarkation), a meal just showed up.

 

We had a specific guest services person to talk to, to help arrange our travel home. We did not want to quarantine in an LA area hotel for another 3 days, preferring to rent a car to drive home, and they offered complimentary phone calls to help arrange that, but I was able to reserve online. We've been booking air with the cruise lines since the pandemic (3 cancelled cruises, last 2 cancelling air was so easy with Celebrity just cancelling for us), and this one, super easy too, Princess cancelled the return flight for us. They also arranged private transportation (at their expense) to the car rental agency (which was by LAX). Disembarkation was a bit disorganized, we were told we'd be escorted down at 9 am, and would meet DH and DS just outside the ship. But no one came for us until close to 9:30,  then we were asked to walk out to the very rear of the ship, towards the USS Iowa (ship personnel handed us off to a port person, who had no idea where the other half of our family was), where our car was supposed to be waiting (it wasn't) and we had to tell DH and DS to walk towards us. The driver apparently was waiting there for an hour before leaving, but eventually did return for us, and the person escorting us waited with us (vs abandoning us!).

 

I was told to save all receipts and call the 800 Princess number to follow up for reimbursement, but as many of you know, that call is a time suck nightmare, and the two people I eventually talked to, could not help me, instead, both sent me to "Customer Solutions" where I was on hold so long I had to give up.  I appreciated Cruise Raider's post with princess.com/refund-request link (helped me decide to give up on holding), which I used to submit our info. They are obviously extremely busy, because it took multiple attempts before it was accepted (I kept getting a message saying "Service request cannot be created at this time, please try again later"), and I received an email saying standard processing time is 4 to 6 weeks.

 

Hope this helps those of you with cruises planned, as I am sure, just like us, no one is expecting to be part of the dreaded Covid positive cruise ship statistics. (As of now, just me and DD, and it's like a head cold, so we're okay.)

[cr8tiv1]

Thank you for posting.  I am not doubting other passengers’ nightmares.  They have been written by very reliable sources.  I did have contact (texts) from a friend who was also quarantined. It is my biggest fear about cruising now.  The inconsistency between ships and even voyages is scary.  
 

I am glad you shared your experiences.  Wishing you a speedy recovery.  

[caribill]

Sorry your family was affected by Covid.

 

One surprise to me in the letter you received is that smokers are permitted to smoke on the balcony of the quarantine cabin.

[STCKcruises]

Really helpful info and all the best for a speedy recovery. Did all 4 of you have to move to the isolation cabin or just the positive one plus you by choice? Were the negative ones allowed to continue as normal?

[kb4683]

@maggipie Sorry this happened to your family cruise.  Glad the symptoms are/were mild.

 

Could you please direct me to Cruise Raider’s post that you mentioned?  (Title of thread, post #, etc.)

 

Thank you.

[dog]

Thanks for sharing. Very concise and to the point.  Very helpful.  Take care.

[Honolulu Blue]

@maggipie:  Thank you for sharing your experience.  I'll be on the Majestic in two weeks, so your experience especially hits home.  It's nice to know, for both me and your party, that you all were treated relatively well.

 

I have two questions, if you're feeling up to it and have time:

1. Were you ever tested again by ship personnel?  If so, did you get a confirmed positive?
2. Has this experience put Princess on your no-go list permanently?  I know it's a snap reaction, but I've found snap reactions are often the best ones.

Thanks again and get well soon.

[Buckeye10640]

Thank you for posting your experience and I hope your family is doing well. Based on various reports from different ships, it seems some ships are handling this better than others. 

[RLK33853]

Great information - thanks for posting the correspondence you received.

[SomewhereGirl]

Thank you for posting!  I'm relieved to hear renting a car or selecting your own hotel was an option.  The letter noted reimbursing the contracted rate if selected your own hotel.  Did anyone helping you say anything about reimbursement for the rental car?  Just curious.

[Sunwanabe]

Thank you for the post. How passengers are treated in isolation is inconsistent. If this was the standard care and being placed in a balcony cabin, I know for myself this would ease the fear of cruising. 

[arizonaperson]

Maggiepie, nice about posting the letter/ faq. First time i’ve Seen anyone post this.  Sorry that your daughter came down with Covid ,hope everybody’s recovering at this point. And wow this probably would’ve been helpful for those on other ships that were Covid positive, they apparently got no instructions at all. Or very little .

[PescadoAmarillo]

3 minutes ago, arizonaperson said:

Maggiepie, nice about posting the letter/ faq. First time i’ve Seen anyone post this.  Sorry that your daughter came down with Covid ,hope everybody’s recovering at this point. And wow this probably would’ve been helpful for those on other ships that were Covid positive, they apparently got no instructions at all. Or very little .

My husband did not receive anything like the FAQs on the Ruby Princess. Still hasn’t. Here is the total of what he received while in isolation. 

[Calnev1]

6 hours ago, caribill said:

Sorry your family was affected by Covid.

 

One surprise to me in the letter you received is that smokers are permitted to smoke on the balcony of the quarantine cabin.

It is a bit strange, particularly if it increases the liklihood of someone catching COVID from breathing in the smoke on another nearby balcony.  On the other hand, Princess is probably thinking that smokers are going to smoke no matter what, and if you don't let them smoke on the balcony then they are going to smoke inside the quarantive cabin, and that maybe increases the fire danger (and the smell in the cabin for future occupants).

[HaveDogWillTravel]

@maggipiethank you for posting about your experience and especially for that letter. 
 

I find it simply amazing that a standard letter (yours seems to be the model to use) was not developed by Princess Corp HQ and sent to all ships in the fleet.  How can they not consider this a very BASIC and integral foundational piece of the entire Covid response? Stunning, just stunning.   

[PacnGoNow]

20 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

@maggipiethank you for posting about your experience and especially for that letter. 
 

I find it simply amazing that a standard letter (yours seems to be the model to use) was not developed by Princess Corp HQ and sent to all ships in the fleet.  How can they not consider this a very BASIC and integral foundational piece of the entire Covid response? Stunning, just stunning.   

Agreed.  It is stunning!  

 

After all the covid reports on ships, I was a little nervous about going on my future booked cruises.

 

However, now maybe we should go on the Majestic?  
 

 

 

[azbirdmom]

23 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I find it simply amazing that a standard letter (yours seems to be the model to use) was not developed by Princess Corp HQ and sent to all ships in the fleet.  How can they not consider this a very BASIC and integral foundational piece of the entire Covid response? Stunning, just stunning.

 

It very well could be that this IS the new standard letter.  I know in the past Princess has monitored these boards and may have finally realized that they needed to do a lot better.  How ever this came about we can hope that if this current Covid surge continues, Princess will provide passengers who need to isolate / quarantine with clear, concise information about what to expect.

 

@maggipie - best wishes to you, your DD, and your entire family.  Hope you get well soon.

[13cheermom]

Just wondering if Princess wasn't prepared for this occurring again †o this degree and were scrambling to get the proper documentation printed and distributed on all the ships.  I would think going forward that the above letter (which seems pretty detailed) would be the norm going forward.  It is very unfortunate for those that fell through the cracks and didn't receive proper notification of what was going on.  My husband and I both tested positive within 2-5 days after returning home from a recent 10-day cruise.  We were fortunate enough that we were safely back home to isolate.  We have decided going forward no longer than 7-day cruises for us for awhile.  We both were asymptomatic with just a lingering cold after returning home, however decided to test to not infect anyone else. As others have mentioned airports can be just as bad as cruise ships if not worse.  Although masks are required, you still see many not wearing them appropriately and there are no vaccination mandates for flying.  You never know if the person sitting next to has been vaccinated or not.  We spent probably 10 hours flying on our return trip in crowded (spring break week) airports, actually 2 different for connecting flights, with hardly anywhere to sit.  There are so many variable that can play into actually getting covid, who knows for sure?

[tonit964]

1 hour ago, 13cheermom said:

Just wondering if Princess wasn't prepared for this occurring again †o this degree and were scrambling to get the proper documentation printed and distributed on all the ships.  I would think going forward that the above letter (which seems pretty detailed) would be the norm going forward.  It is very unfortunate for those that fell through the cracks and didn't receive proper notification of what was going on.  My husband and I both tested positive within 2-5 days after returning home from a recent 10-day cruise.  We were fortunate enough that we were safely back home to isolate.  We have decided going forward no longer than 7-day cruises for us for awhile.  We both were asymptomatic with just a lingering cold after returning home, however decided to test to not infect anyone else. As others have mentioned airports can be just as bad as cruise ships if not worse.  Although masks are required, you still see many not wearing them appropriately and there are no vaccination mandates for flying.  You never know if the person sitting next to has been vaccinated or not.  We spent probably 10 hours flying on our return trip in crowded (spring break week) airports, actually 2 different for connecting flights, with hardly anywhere to sit.  There are so many variable that can play into actually getting covid, who knows for sure?

How could they not be prepared? They had a year and a half pause to get it together and be prepared for other variants and surges and how to handle that once cruising started again. What the heck were they doing all that time?

[Sunwanabe]

1 hour ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

@maggipiethank you for posting about your experience and especially for that letter. 
 

I find it simply amazing that a standard letter (yours seems to be the model to use) was not developed by Princess Corp HQ and sent to all ships in the fleet.  How can they not consider this a very BASIC and integral foundational piece of the entire Covid response? Stunning, just stunning.   

PC's  PR and or customer relations definitely need to get consistent with their policies. Would seem a simple communication exercise and avoid confusion and the dissatisfaction with passengers. 

[LoriPhil]

I received a call from a Princess Vacation Planner yesterday after we cancelled our B2B Alaska cruise.  I let him know we were concerned about inconsistent procedures in place to care for quarantined passengers, citing examples of experiences mentioned by various cruisers on these Boards.  We will return once Princess has better procedures in place to assure quarantined passengers receive a level of service enabling them to convalesce in better comfort.  I was surprised to get the call, and appreciated the opportunity to discuss.  

[memoak]

1 hour ago, 13cheermom said:

Just wondering if Princess wasn't prepared for this occurring again †o this degree and were scrambling to get the proper documentation printed and distributed on all the ships.  I would think going forward that the above letter (which seems pretty detailed) would be the norm going forward.  It is very unfortunate for those that fell through the cracks and didn't receive proper notification of what was going on.  My husband and I both tested positive within 2-5 days after returning home from a recent 10-day cruise.  We were fortunate enough that we were safely back home to isolate.  We have decided going forward no longer than 7-day cruises for us for awhile.  We both were asymptomatic with just a lingering cold after returning home, however decided to test to not infect anyone else. As others have mentioned airports can be just as bad as cruise ships if not worse.  Although masks are required, you still see many not wearing them appropriately and there are no vaccination mandates for flying.  You never know if the person sitting next to has been vaccinated or not.  We spent probably 10 hours flying on our return trip in crowded (spring break week) airports, actually 2 different for connecting flights, with hardly anywhere to sit.  There are so many variable that can play into actually getting covid, who knows for sure?

In restaurants you don’t know who is vaccinated either. Hasn’t kept me from eating. I will be flying later this month and even if they lift the mask mandate on planes I will probably still wear one

[voljeep]

5 minutes ago, memoak said:

In restaurants you don’t know who is vaccinated either. Hasn’t kept me from eating. I will be flying later this month and even if they lift the mask mandate on planes I will probably still wear one

as will we ... double vac'd, double boosted ( as of yesterday 4/5 ) and yes, please, make mine a double🥃

[Napagirl]

We are getting on board the Ruby in a few days and I've been reading all the threads re: those who have been quarantined to be sure we are going in with eyes wide open.

 

As we prepare our strategy for being reasonably "safe", I have noticed so many of those who got covid said they masked the whole time except when eating. I'm thinking to further reduce our risk, we can do the buffet and eat outdoors or order room service. 

 

I have also seen that in some cases, people were unable to get cough medicine - so we will be packing a small medicine bag just in case. I normally do this anyway, but I'll be sure to have anything that would be helpful for this particular virus.

 

My greatest of appreciation goes out to the OP and all of the others who have shared their experience which is helping the rest of us prepare. And best wishes for a speedy recovery to all.

[ebeluga]

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Agreed.  It is stunning!  

 

After all the covid reports on ships, I was a little nervous about going on my future booked cruises.

 

However, now maybe we should go on the Majestic?  
 

 

 

And don't go to Ruby...