Seeking realistic idea of Covid-related isolation risk for 7-day Fjords cruise this summer

[alj1208]

We're considering a 7-day Fjords cruise, possibly Norse Legends on Rotterdam. My greatest concern is it that one of us would test positive, and we'd end up being moved from our stateroom and isolated. We are a family of 3 (3 adults and a teenager). We're all vaxxed and boosted. I've read the protocols on HAL's website. I can accept them (masks, etc.). I guess I'm interested in people's experiences. Does fear of testing positive (then being moved and isolated) ruin the experience, or is the risk pretty low and not a big deal? Has anyone had the experience of testing positive on a HAL cruise and being moved? How did they treat you? This is the first time we're considering cruising since the pandemic, and if we're going to spend the money, we'd like to be reasonably sure we'll have a good time, while accepting the risk of testing positive. Anecdotally and in your experience, how prevalent is COVID on the ships? There is no way to tell from the cruise lines or news stories. Thanks for any insights.

[Mary229]

I think the isolation issues have been resolved.  The US, which seems to be the most stringent in the western world, has lifted the isolation unit.  You now are asked to say in your room for 5 days.  
 

I think the risk, for the vaccinated, is now similar to other cruise ship maladies like norovirus.  If your health risk is higher than the general population then you should discuss it with your personal physician 

Edited April 10, 2022 by Mary229

[bennybear]

I would check numbers in countries like Norway.  Europe in general is experiencing another surge of the more infectious BA2.  I would book something you could cancel and not lose your money if things are bad at the time.  And be prepared if it does happen. 

[albingirl]

From all accounts here, passengers were treated well when under isolation.  However, it depends on how much risk you wish to take.  There was an outbreak on our recent sailing, which we were thankful to avoid.  But covid is unlike anything we've seen, and it's very hard to predict the future in the cruise industry.

[bennybear]

There is a blog  on the Princess forum from the ruby princess about isolation.  It is eye opening 

Blogging from the Ruby Princess

[OlsSalt]

The risk would be the same if you get "covid" at home or on a ship- you will most likely be down and out for a few days. Does being on a ship increase your risk - that has not yet been well-studied. 

[oaktreerb]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

I think the isolation issues have been resolved.  The US, which seems to be the most stringent in the western world, has lifted the isolation unit.  You now are asked to say in your room for 5 days.  
 

 

The Koningsdam in early April still had the isolation unit.  The isolation unit is for crew as well as passengers so I’m sure that ships will continue to have the quarantine areas.

 

 

[oaktreerb]

@alj1208You should be ok on a 7 day cruise if you are all tested prior to boarding and everyone is negative.  The problems have been for passengers on longer cruises or back to back cruises where passengers have to be tested mid-cruise.   Sometimes passengers have become ill while onboard and self reported to the medical unit where they were tested and came up positive.  In the event quarantine is required passengers have been placed in balcony or obstructed balcony cabins and are provided room service for meals.  If one person in the cabin tests positive the other person has the choice to stay in the original or move to the quarantine cabin.  We know how the ships are handling these issues now, we just don’t if the pandemic will get better or worse.

[Mary229]

15 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

The Koningsdam in early April still had the isolation unit.  The isolation unit is for crew as well as passengers so I’m sure that ships will continue to have the quarantine areas.

 

 

There have been multiple reports that the quarantine areas have been removed.  If I have time I will look up those reports.  
 

that said those rules do not apply to Norway 

Edited April 10, 2022 by Mary229

[bennybear]

The Ruby princess ran out of balcony cabins and also used inside,  IIRC two floors and around 150 cabins in quarantine.  I also read HAL used some inside cabins for quarantine.    I really think anyone considering a cruise now should read what has actually happened onboard, then make their decision.  

Edited April 10, 2022 by bennybear

[alj1208]

These are excellent responses and incredibly helpful. Keep them coming if anyone has more to say. Also wondering if the ships carry Paxlovid in the infirmaries.

[OlsSalt]

12 minutes ago, alj1208 said:

These are excellent responses and incredibly helpful. Keep them coming if anyone has more to say. Also wondering if the ships carry Paxlovid in the infirmaries.

 

Good discussion to have with your physician- taking along recommended therapeutics for pre-emptive response. 

[HappyInVan]

No one can predict what's going to happen in three months time. Best to make a booking, and cancel a month out if it looks problematic. Cancel For Any Reason insurance would be useful.

 

In Norway and Germany, covid cases exploded in February and March. Could happen again.

 

IMO, the most important controllable factor are the precautions you take before, and during a cruise. The CDC has sound advise...

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/cruise-travel-during-covid19.html

 

 

[12cruise2]

We are on Zuiderdam and they still have isolation areas.  IMHO, if you're on for 7 days only and you test negative just before boarding, I think you'll be fine.  As someone said earlier, it's for the longer cruises that we've been tested and then some become positive and have to be isolated or disembarked. 

It's not something that is talked about to speak of on board.  There are several threads on this subject of isolation/quarantine from HAL cruisers who were on for extended periods in late Dec/January who gave detailed accounts of isolation; google cruise critic HAL isolation or quarantine reports or some such to see if you can find them.  (It's isolation if you're positive and have to be put in a separate room).

Predicting what will happen in the summer is impossible.  But 7 days, chance of isolation is very low as I don't know if they will even test you during 7 days, unless a port requires it in advance. . .  . and as others said, apparently the rule may be now 5 days in your cabin vs. isolation--I don't know about that.

[TiogaCruiser]

4 minutes ago, 12cruise2 said:

We are on Zuiderdam and they still have isolation areas.  IMHO, if you're on for 7 days only and you test negative just before boarding, I think you'll be fine. 

That’s interesting. We’re onboard now, and haven’t seen any signs of a quarantine block. But we likely haven’t yet been all over the ship.

[oaktreerb]

The only way you would be aware of those areas is if you walk down a normally open corridor of staterooms and come to a closed fire-door that probably says that it is a crew area.  On the Koningsdam it was deck 4 obstructed balconies and some 

2 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

That’s interesting. We’re onboard now, and haven’t seen any signs of a quarantine block. But we likely haven’t yet been all over the ship.

deck 5 balconies.  Some of these areas are allotted to new crew joining the ship to be quarantined before they join the population.

[12cruise2]

2 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

That’s interesting. We’re onboard now, and haven’t seen any signs of a quarantine block. But we likely haven’t yet been all over the ship.

We were told it was on 6--last cruise it was in the area on 4 where we are, so that's why I asked where it is this cruise!!  Grrr--getting older, I know they told me on this cruise it's in the rear, now I can't remember 5 or 6.

Edited April 10, 2022 by 12cruise2

[syesmar]

As others have mentioned, there’s no way to predict what will happen. But as mentioned, there’s a few Threads over on the Princess board that are not favorable, because the crew on several ships has been short-staffed to deal with the situations. See here and here and here and here for some examples.

 

HAL, for the most part, has seemed to do better than other lines in customer care. There were a few quarantine Threads in the past that shed light on how HAL handles things. The biggest issues tend to arise when the crew gets affected and overwhelmed. 

 

All the Best!

[TiogaCruiser]

14 hours ago, 12cruise2 said:

We were told it was on 6--last cruise it was in the area on 4 where we are, so that's why I asked where it is this cruise!!  Grrr--getting older, I know they told me on this cruise it's in the rear, now I can't remember 5 or 6.

We’re on 6, aft starboard. We have not seen areas closed ( but we haven’t been all over), but new to this cruise are some very tall carts for pick up of room service trays. We MAY have missed them on previous cruises.

 

 

There we’re a number of nice cabins in our price range on 4 when I booked a couple weeks ago. I chose 6, having heard in this community that those who reserved 4 aft got moved to cabins they had not chosen. ( I’m not so confident that HALs taste in a cabin is consistent with ours.)

Edited April 11, 2022 by TiogaCruiser

[TiogaCruiser]

I just walked 6 aft, and there are no areas closed off.

[LewiLewi]

18 hours ago, Mary229 said:

There have been multiple reports that the quarantine areas have been removed.  If I have time I will look up those reports.  
 

that said those rules do not apply to Norway 

Just off the Nieuw Statendam, quarantine cabins definitely exist and were in use.

[Vict0riann]

On Koningsdam there were areas  off bounds on deck 5 and 4, I believe.  We were on deck 5 and one time I used a different elevator than my usual, and turned the wrong way.  I guess I continued aft instead of forward, but there were trays in the hallway, and when I turned around to go where I wanted, there was a firedoor marked "Do not enter", but it was open, so I was able to escape!  But we were in CDC code green, and I think the only people in isolation were new staff doing their quarantine.

 

As insurance, the first thing I did after boarding was go up to the Lido and snag a couple of packages of cutlery.  Pat returned them before we disembarked...  😉

[aliaschief]

My wife and I both contacted Covid on the second leg of our recent Rotterdam cruise. I would say we were pretty cautious but obviously not enough. We had a Neptune suite and we’re sent to a Verandha cabin for isolation. I would say under the circumstances we were treated well. Clinic called us Daily to check on us. We ordered all our meals through the Neptune Concierge and others I supposed ordered through guest services. Everything was served in disposable styrofoam and paper cups. We had cocktails delivered, had a load of laundry done and made our own bed. There was no room service 

 

Was it fun? No but it was what it was. Our symptoms were more like a bad head cold. Naps were often! Movies, internet and reading were the pastime. 
 

Meals were more for survival rather than pleasurable dining experience. One of us ate at  the desk and other from coffee table. Many of the meals were ordered through the specialty restaurants but eating from disposable plating and wooden utensils pretty much ruined what would have been a memorable dining experience.

 

So yes it can happen. You will be sent to the quarantine area of ship. If your roommates test negative they can remain in your regular cabin and will be tested every morning  for five days in a row. As long as they are negative they have no restrictions. 
 

While in quarantine for five days you will be free to return to cabin and enjoy the rest of cruise if you have two negative test in a row!

 

I was also given the option of leaving the ship and doing quarantine for five days in a row in a hotel that would be paid for by Hal. I felt I would be better taken care of on board versus in a strange hotel. My wife and I were able to quarantine together.

 

So that’s what happened to us. You can’t predict this and it’s the chance you take cruising. Can’t wait for our next cruise and the second leg of our Rotterdam cruise will not go in our memory book as a great cruise!

[oaktreerb]

55 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

On Koningsdam there were areas  off bounds on deck 5 and 4, I believe.  We were on deck 5 and one time I used a different elevator than my usual, and turned the wrong way.  I guess I continued aft instead of forward, but there were trays in the hallway, and when I turned around to go where I wanted, there was a firedoor marked "Do not enter", but it was open, so I was able to escape!  But we were in CDC code green, and I think the only people in isolation were new staff doing their quarantine.

 

As insurance, the first thing I did after boarding was go up to the Lido and snag a couple of packages of cutlery.  Pat returned them before we disembarked...  😉

Something similar happened to us on day one.  Our cabin was deck 4 aft and I wanted to go Deck 3 to the aft elevators and up since Deck 4 didn’t go through.  Instead we were told to go to Deck 5 and sent down a passage with trays in the hallway and assured that we could reach the aft elevators.  I should have known better.   At the end we found an empty open room where staff changed their clothes so we walked back down the passage to the double doors which were actually closed but we were able to push them open and exit into the Deck 5 aft elevator area!   It was a scary way to start a cruise.   Like you, I figured that the area must be for staff joining the ship since any Covid positive passengers would have been put off the ship in San Diego.

[WriterOnDeck]

Has anyone heard whether HAL medical has the anti-virals the CDC recommends "elderly" and otherwise "at risk" people take within 5 days of test positive?