QM2 Med 15th July

[mcloaked]

I guess most people who disembarked today are by now back home, apart from the lucky ones who are now heading across the Atlantic for a week of nice sea days.  The captain did add a reminder at the end of various announcements, saying that wearing masks is still strongly recommended in places where there are large gatherings such as the theatre, and asked passengers to follow the advice in the welcome letter, that includes regular hand washing, since although the Covid situation continues to move in the right direction, it is still important to minimize the number of cases. 

 

There was a small number of people who were coughing regularly during the cruise, and I have no idea if they tested themselves. and continued to go to public places with no mask, despite having Covid-like symptoms, and it is always possible some may have had Covid, not been tested, and passed it on to others. However very few were in this position, and almost everyone who I saw looked happy and healthy (meaning no obvious cough or looking ill).

 

Apart from almost everyone obeying the requirement to wear masks on the tenders, and shuttle buses, around the ship a few had masks, but the vast majority did not, and life on board was largely like before the pandemic, though all crew wore masks, without exception. It was really nice that even the maintenance crew passing in a corridor, or who were working hard to restore the paintwork on the outside in the deck areas, smiled and said good morning, or afternoon. The dining staff were friendly and worked hard to keep everyone happy.  The bar staff were chirpy and did a great job too.

 

The major let-down was the Queens Room orchestra, who were clearly inexperienced in playing and singing for ballroom and Latin dancing. This resulted in the ballroom floor being well filled during recorded music sessions, and as soon as the orchestra were back for their sets, the floor thinned out again. They played music that was quite difficult to dance to a lot of the time, and the dancers gave up on them, which was a real shame. Other than that a lovely two weeks on board.

[July1963]

I developed Covid on the first day so must have picked it up several days before. I was confined to a quarantine cabin on deck 5 forward. After speaking with several people who were also impacted they had a nickname for that are that I will not name here. I was confined for 8 days and it was a truly horrible experience that I would not wish for anyone. My wife and son had to test each day and had very limited access to ship for 5 days. They also had to eat in the cabin. Unfortunately she tested positive on Day 4. This meant I was confined in Quarantine. My wife was told to stay in her original cabin. The Quarantine area was well occupied so do not know if a room was available at that time. Our travel partners also tested positive at roughly the same time as my wife. They were confined to the Quarantine area. The silver lining with my Wife and travel partners is that the symptoms were not bad and had 2 clear tests after day 5 and were released. They still had to eat in the cabins. Our family missed most of the ports but we did manage to spend a couple of days all together at the end of the cruise.

I did speak with a staff member that stated they are having issues recruiting staff. He also stated that they had to sign up for a 10 month contract. Regarding service it was generally very good. I think a few instances when it was not what it should be was perhaps being slightly understaffed, lack of training/experience.

On the return trip my Covid symptoms took a turn for the worse, cough being the main issue. I pretty much went straight to the emergency room where they gave me an X-ray and some medications. The hospital staff mentioned that they are seeing a lot of people coming in after being on a cruise. They said for some people after the initial infection the secondary symptoms can very quickly take a turn for the worse and may need additional treatment as was my case.

We had planned this trip for a year and were so looking forward to it. It was our 6th voyage on QM2. For our travel partners it will the the first and last cruise. I know we will get future cruise credits but at this point I very much doubt we will ever cruise again. Maybe time will change that but the credits will have expired by then.

I think it is important for everyone to fully understand the impact of being quarantined while on board before stepping onboard.

My job now is to get over this Covid thing.

[exlondoner]

What an utterly horrible experience for you. I should have gone mad if quarantined for so long. I hope you fully recover very soon.

[Host Hattie]

That sounds awful @July1963, I hope you're fully recovered soon.