Covid Experience on Rotterdam – July

[Primus]

My husband and I just returned from a 14-night Voyage of the Midnight Sun on the Rotterdam, June 26 – July 10.  We learned a lot on this cruise that I wanted to share. 

 

We both tested positive for Covid on July 5. We are double boosted, wore masks, didn’t go to shows or bars, and ate outside when possible.  We didn’t have interactions/exposure in ports since our off-ship activities consisted of hiking and walking.  Our risky behaviors were going to the main dining room, hydro pool, 3 port talks (masked), and 1 shore excursion (masked).  Masks are “required” on HAL shore excursions but this in not actually enforced and guests are not reminded to wear masks.  We may have been the only mask wearers on the return bus ride to the ship after our hike on July 1.

 

This is the second time we have sailed with HAL after re-start.  Both cruises changed from masks recommended to masks required at the end of the first week, specifically on July 2 for this cruise.  The announcements were not consistent about the mask requirements.  Sometimes the CD and Captain would say mandatory and sometimes they would say recommended.

 

Both of our HAL cruises after re-start had a lot of Covid cases.  The Rotterdam had sections of quarantine cabins forward of the aft elevators on decks 4 and 5.  Deck 4 section was blocked off on both sides of the ship at the start of the cruise.  Deck 5 section was blocked off on one side to start and the second side was added after one week.  We were experiencing mild symptoms on July 5 so requested a Covid test.  Medical expected our test results back in an hour but it took 3 hours.  They told us the delay was due to the high number of samples that were being tested.  The ship ran out of quarantine cabins so we got to stay in our original cabin on Deck 4 and saw others on our hall being escorted off the ship at the end of the cruise.  Our 5 days of isolation required by the Netherlands was met by the time we were to disembark.  If we tested positive earlier in the cruise, the isolation period would have been at least 6 days on the ship.  HAL provided no information about Netherlands requirements.  We were on our own to figure that out.  Anyone reporting possible symptoms would be quarantined for at least 24 hours even if the test was negative.

 

After Testing Positive

We each received a dated Covid detected certificate.  Medical sends emails to the various departments after someone tests positive.  Housekeeping and In-room Dining got the memo on July 5 that we were Covid positive.  Guest Services did not.  Medical supposedly sent them the information at least 3 times during the next 5 days.  I called Guest Services the first day to get information about being in isolation and future cruise credit information.  They said they were waiting on instructions from Medical.  Despite calling many times, Guest Services kept claiming day after day that they didn’t know we had Covid which is why no information was given to us.  On July 8, we received the standard disembarkation packet and a personalized invitation to go to a wine tasting while isolated.  I asked Guest Services if we were really supposed disembark with the rest of the guests and go to wine tasting.  It got their attention a little bit but not much.  They finally acknowledged we had Covid on July 9 after I called Medical again.  This was in the afternoon the day before our disembarkation.  We received our first FCC form letter that afternoon.  It was wrong.  I requested it be corrected.  A new one was delivered correctly referencing a 12-month expiration late that afternoon.  And a 3^rd version was delivered after dinner with a slightly different date.  It's just a form letter with our names and expiration date.  No value is included.

 

Overview Letter

An isolation overview letter was finally received at 5:45 pm on July 9, the night before disembarkation.   The details in the letter were not followed.  For example:

-          Staff was to check in with us daily.  This was never done.

-          Someone was to contact us to arrange meals and beverages.  Not done.

-          Stateroom was to be provided with complimentary bottled water.  Nope.

 

Guest Services

Clearly this department has not been trained properly.  The bad information started when I called about getting a Covid test.  I was instructed to go to the Medical Center when they opened up.  Wrong.  If you have any symptoms, you are supposed to call 911 which is what we ended up doing.  Medical was not even open for drop-ins.  Then there was the denial we had Covid and wrong information being sent to the cabin.  So frustrating that we had to continue to call for basic information that was not provided and fight for a FCC letter.

 

Medical Center

The only service we received by Medical was the Covid test.  No one ever checked in with us during the cruise or to see if we were healthy enough to disembark in Amsterdam.  No guidance was provided about isolation off the ship or traveling home.  They have very limited hours.  Sea Days: 09:00 – 12:00 and 15:00 – 18:00.  Port Days 08:00 – 10:00 and 16:00 – 18:00.  The facility was available by appointment only.

 

Symptoms to Report

You are supposed to remain in your stateroom if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms and call 911 immediately: fever or chills, excess fatigue, sore throat, cough, muscle or body aches, congestion or runny nose, shortness of breath, headache, vomiting, difficulty breathing, new loss of taste or smell, diarrhea.

 

Dining

In-room Dining service was excellent.  No one provides information about options but as best as we figured out, we could order from any restaurant that was open.  We ordered from the all-day room service menu, main dining room, Dive-In, and Tamarind.  There is normally a charge for Dive-In room service but that is waived for isolated guests.  There was no charge for our Tamarind dinner since it was one of our 5* Mariner perks.  The hold time to order was 15 – 30 minutes per meal and then delivery was usually 45 - 60 minutes later.  We spent a lot of time on hold for our 5 days of isolation.  I don’t know why there isn’t an option to place an order on the Navigator App.  Standard room service delivery was provided. They knew we were in isolation because that was noted on our order delivery slips.  No paper products were used.  Food was well presented on dishes under cloches.  Cloth napkins and real silverware were provided on every tray.  Glass salt and pepper shakers were also provided with almost every order.  Coffee was provided in a carafe.  The delivery tray was either handed to us or brought into our room.  When finished, we put our tray on the floor outside the door, and let them know through the Navigator App that it was ready for pickup.  We had the Signature Beverage Package and that continued to work in isolation.

 

Laundry

Regular laundry service is available.  We requested a change of towels once.

 

Spa

We purchased a 9-day couples pass to the hydro pool.  Only 3 days were used.  I asked Guest Services about refunding the balance and that answer was we had to contact the spa.  So, I called the Spa and they refunded 1/3 of the charge to our account.

 

On-board Account

We had both refundable and non-refundable balances prior to being isolated.  The refundable amount automatically went back to our credit card after the cruise.  We asked about the non-refundable amount, hoping that would be credited or provided as FCC.  The answer was it must be used on this voyage.  I don’t know how HAL expects us to spend money while in isolation.  Or it could be that answer by Guest Services was also wrong.  What we ended up doing was getting the tip adjust form and making a note to provide that specific amount of non-refundable credit as an additional tip to In-Room Dining.

 

Disembarkation

We were given the specific time of 7:15 am for escorted disembarkation.  They were 30 minutes late.  A crew member followed us to a manned mid-ship elevator and we rode down to A deck with our luggage.  We exited the ship in a different spot than the rest of the guests.  Not a single crew member said goodbye or wished us well.  There was a large pile of quarantined passenger luggage outside the ship.  That surprised us since we were told we had to bring off the luggage ourselves.  Our guess is either that instruction was wrong or they didn’t want our luggage to potentially be mixed up with the rest of the ship since we weren’t in a quarantined section.  Instead of going through the terminal, we had a long walk down to the end of the pier and then around to the front of the terminal building to get our own transportation.  We don’t know if anyone was brought to a hotel for additional isolation since that type of information was never provided to us.  It seemed like HAL just wanted to be done with us.  Not a great way to end a very frustrating experience.

 

Timeline

June 22: Flew from US to Amsterdam (masked)

June 24: Negative medically observed antigen test

June 26: Boarded Rotterdam

July 1: HAL shore excursion (masked)

July 2: Mask policy changed from recommended to required on the ship

July 5: Positive PCR test, isolated in original cabin for remainder of cruise

July 5 – July 9: Contacted Guest Services many times to request Covid isolation information and FCC letter

July 8: Received standard disembarkation package and invitation to wine tasting on July 9

July 9: Guest Services finally acknowledges we have Covid and are in isolation, received 3 different FCC form letters, received welcome to isolation letter at 5:45 pm, received correct disembarkation packet after dinner

July 10: Disembarked ship

[Florida_gal_50]

Thank you for sharing your experience.  I had the same experience on the ship and on shorex back in November when masks were required.  Everyone has their excuse that makes them special.  Guest services is always the weak point on the ship and that never seems to change.

[Tampa Girl]

Well . . . your post confirms my fears that cruising at this time is not going to be the pleasure that we previously experienced.  So sorry that you experienced these problems.

[mcrcruiser]

Your experience is very detailed & we appreciate your efforts  here .This  just adds another reason for us not to cruise any longer .Ships are petrie dishes & imo dangerous to the elderly & those with underlying medical conditions .Additionally ,crews seem totally unprepared to address covid isolation cases

[whogo]

Thank for providing such a thorough, well-written report.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing.

[colin v]

Thank you for sharing. We are boarding on August 21 and are approaching this trip very cautiously. Our precautions don’t sound all that different from yours. We definitely ruled out the spa thinking there are just too many airborne droplets to risk it. 
 

May I ask, what type of masks did you wear?  We are planning on N95 and have some N99 masks for the plane ride over. 

[Bigdadofthesea]

Thanks for sharing your experience. We just cancelled an April Transatlantic on the Rotterdam due to a change of itinerary. We’re not rushing to rebook. It just may not be the time to resume cruising, Holland America seems unprepared to deal with outbreaks.

[flowery]

Thanks for describing everything so thoroughly! Eating/drinking indoors, in a public area, especially on a cruise ship, is a risky endeavor. I guess we will be taking that risk and hope for the best. The magical thinking about wearing masks at all times except while eating/drinking persists. You are only protected while wearing the mask. 

I'm sorry you guys went through this experience. Pulse oximeters are an essential item for all cruisers.  The medical dept sounds woefully deficient. I wouldn't allow a loved one to be alone in a quarantine cabin without blood oxygen monitoring.

How are you feeling now? What were your worst symptoms?

[Mosaic]

Wow, sorry, and thank you for the report.

[iancal]

Exactly why we are not considering a cruise at this time.  Land travel only for now.

[seaoma]

@PrimusThis is very disheartening to read. Thanks for such a current and detailed post. I think you should email this to Guest Relations on shore today, if you haven't already. 

 

I hope you have recovered and hope you will have no long term effects.

[bluesplayer]

Sorry for your experience.  I hope you share with Holland America  guest relations.  Would be interesting to hear their response.  They were certainly not on top of anything.

[loeb]

Thank you for the information, we will be on the Rotterdam at the end of August.

 

This is certainly different than when we were on a Viking River Cruise in Eastern Europe in April.  My wife tested positive on the 5th day of the cruise.  Viking did everything for us at no charge.   Realizing that this is a small ship without a doctor, they provided updates on our what to expect.  Since the hotels and hospital in the area we were traveling were small, they suggested that we stay on the ship (actually a boat) until we got to Budapest.  When we got to Budapest, Viking provided a private car to the Ritz Carlton where we stayed for three days.  Viking assigned a person to assist us (like making arrangements for a Covid test to return to the USA, changing our flights and willing to go shopping for us in case we needed anything) .  The Viking representative assigned to us even followed up with an email when we returned home to make sure we got home safely.  I can't say enough on how we were treated by Viking.

[BermudaBound2014]

Sounds like a frustrating experience with the left hand not knowing the right.

 

Looking at the list of symptoms to report I'm not sure how any cabin doesn't have at least one person with at least one symptom over the course of a week's cruise. That's a long list of symptoms. 

[SumoCitrus]

I hope you had a mild case and fully recovered.

[Balliett]

Primus, I thank you for your candid and helpful report.  Sharing your experience is so valuable to the travel community.  Jim and Grace Sunbury, Las Vegas

[babelfish]

Thanks much for the detailed report and I hope you are fully recovered from Covid.  We are embarking on a twice canceled Rotterdam cruise on July 24th, one of the 'no testing' experimental cruises.  I sure wish that wasn't the case-- I don't mind testing at all if it keeps us and everyone else safer.  I am surprised that HAL didn't treat you better as I always considered them to have superior guest services to comparably priced cruise lines and they have come through for us more than once in the past.  It may be the added pressure of their huge pandemic financial losses and push to fill the ships is blinding them to the long term negative consequences of their actions. 

[canadianbear]

Another one who thanks you for sharing your experience.  We’d love to be cruising again but this just doesn’t make it fun and relaxing any longer.   
 

Take care.  

[syesmar]

@Primus

Thank you so much for sharing the details of your experience. I hope you are feeling better.

 

I’m sure it was incredibly frustrating to have “slipped through the cracks” on this. At a time when clear, consistent information matters most, it’s disconcerting that what you needed was not given in a timely manner. After all this time, you would expect them to be prepared. I would definitely write a letter with these specifics and voice my concerns.

I hadn’t read of running out of quarantine cabins before; I wonder how often this happens? Also, it was my understanding that cruise ship passengers were still subject to a 10 day isolation period, whether in the US or not, but perhaps something has changed with HAL (CDC still lists “do not travel” for a full 10 days after symptoms started).

 

Thanks again for the helpful information.

 

Wishing you the best!

[Primus]

2 hours ago, syesmar said:

@Primus

Thank you so much for sharing the details of your experience. I hope you are feeling better.

 

I’m sure it was incredibly frustrating to have “slipped through the cracks” on this. At a time when clear, consistent information matters most, it’s disconcerting that what you needed was not given in a timely manner. After all this time, you would expect them to be prepared. I would definitely write a letter with these specifics and voice my concerns.

I hadn’t read of running out of quarantine cabins before; I wonder how often this happens? Also, it was my understanding that cruise ship passengers were still subject to a 10 day isolation period, whether in the US or not, but perhaps something has changed with HAL (CDC still lists “do not travel” for a full 10 days after symptoms started).

 

Thanks again for the helpful information.

 

Wishing you the best!

It was hard for us to figure out what isolation rules applied and HAL provided no information.  The best we came up with was 5 days isolation on the ship, then out of isolation if fever free for 24-hours and symptoms improving.  We already had plans to stay in the Netherlands after the cruise so didn't fly back to the US until 10 days after symptoms started.  HAL did not test us again before disembarkation.

[syesmar]

7 hours ago, Primus said:

It was hard for us to figure out what isolation rules applied and HAL provided no information….

Thanks again for sharing @Primus! I hope HAL will make some changes for future passengers to make these situations less confusing. I can only imagine being in this situation with little-to-no information, and not feeling well on top of that!

Best Wishes!

[cathyawagner]

I am sorry you experienced these difficulties. I am curious about how you felt with covid. Did you have symptoms? Feel sick?

[Redtravel]

Not everyone that is positive for Covid is allowed to stay on the ship. Some get quickly disembarked at the next port. That happened on July 4th to a couple on the Rotterdam.  When the husband fell on the ship, he went to the infirmary. Before treated him for his fall, he was tested for Covid. Positive. They were disembarked. Count yourself lucky if you were allowed to quarantine on the ship.  

Edited July 23, 2022 by Redtravel
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[tuolumne couple]

Interesting NPR article. Hope you are all recovered by now....

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/07/22/1112894925/coronavirus-faq-i-got-it-on-a-family-vacay-can-my-relatives-stay-relatively-safe

Edited July 23, 2022 by tuolumne couple