Masks Being Required On Grand Princess

[Keksie]

43 minutes ago, rbtan said:

We HAD to wear them on Oceania in Jan. Didn't bother us. You were able to remove them once seated in the GD. Unlike that crazy "Sip & Cover" thing they did in Princess for a while.

I am glad you didn't mind.  For us it is a deal breaker and make a cruise completely unenjoyable.

[rbtan]

50 minutes ago, Keksie said:

I am glad you didn't mind.  For us it is a deal breaker and make a cruise completely unenjoyable.

We're in the food industry. We had no choice. I'm also one of the owners of the company. We had to wear them like everyone else. If the weather is cool, fine if it was hot, yeah it sucks.

[rbtan]

1 hour ago, capriccio said:

That was the process on the Caribbean Princess in January too and it was being enforced but the ship was about 1/3 filled and at the height of Omicron passengers overwhelmingly complied.  I didn't notice anyone complying - or being asked to comply - with Sip & Cover.  We did see crew reminding unmasked passengers as they left the MDR to put on their masks and crew pointing to their masks when passing an unmasked passenger in the Piazza. 

On the Riviera, you got a few warnings & then would be put off at the next port. A few got booted, but most complied. I know it was tough, but they had to come up with ways to keep cruising. A pain, true. Still better than going bankrupt.

[memoak]

2 hours ago, Keksie said:

I am glad you didn't mind.  For us it is a deal breaker and make a cruise completely unenjoyable.

It was much preferable to being out in covid hell (quarantine)

[satxdiver]

We were on a 16 day cruise last month on the CB.  The captain came on the intercom and said that there was a rise in pax with COVID and asked us to wear masks while inside areas and only to take them off for eating or drinking.  Most complied with the request but there were that few who threw caution to the wind.  Just wondered how many returned home with the virus.  I think think that this is the new situation for the near future.  We will be getting our 4th jab tomorrow at Walgreen's..  

[MissP22]

35 minutes ago, satxdiver said:

We were on a 16 day cruise last month on the CB.  The captain came on the intercom and said that there was a rise in pax with COVID and asked us to wear masks while inside areas and only to take them off for eating or drinking.  Most complied with the request but there were that few who threw caution to the wind.  Just wondered how many returned home with the virus.  I think think that this is the new situation for the near future.  We will be getting our 4th jab tomorrow at Walgreen's..  

I take it that they only asked people to wear them and it wasn't mandatory. 

[san diego sue]

I recently took a very last minute cruise on another cruise line.Booked a few days before the cruise.

There is no Covid threads recently on their Cruise Critic board. Same as Princess regarding pre testing for unvaxed, vaxed none required. never heard any talk from anyone regarding isolation rooms. Crew all wore masks. Very few passengers wearing masks except in the terminal. We wore them when we were in crowds. Never heard coughing in the theatre and we went every night. 4000 passengers on board. Really felt like there was no pandemic at all. We never saw the little tables for food in front of cabins for "sick people" like what we have seen on Princess.No talk by anyone about Covid. Got home last night and we tested ourselves. All good. Will do it again in a couple of days to be sure.There was the usual "covid instruction" in our cabin to read on our first day.

Carnival Panorama out of Long Beach (our first cruise on this cruise line in many years and it was fun).

[Steelers36]

23 minutes ago, san diego sue said:

I recently took a very last minute cruise on another cruise line.Booked a few days before the cruise.

There is no Covid threads recently on their Cruise Critic board. Same as Princess regarding pre testing for unvaxed, vaxed none required. never heard any talk from anyone regarding isolation rooms. Crew all wore masks. Very few passengers wearing masks except in the terminal. We wore them when we were in crowds. Never heard coughing in the theatre and we went every night. 4000 passengers on board. Really felt like there was no pandemic at all. We never saw the little tables for food in front of cabins for "sick people" like what we have seen on Princess.No talk by anyone about Covid. Got home last night and we tested ourselves. All good. Will do it again in a couple of days to be sure.There was the usual "covid instruction" in our cabin to read on our first day.

Carnival Panorama out of Long Beach (our first cruise on this cruise line in many years and it was fun).

An outlier I wonder, or why is Princess so plagued?  Unless we just hear isolated cases.  I imagine it is simply unpredictable and variable no matter what protocols are.

[sueandkent]

***UPDATE*** my friend's husband has now tested positive for covid on the Grand cruise and has been moved to isolation. It is my guess that this ship was already having covid issues within the crew and that is why the stronger insistence for masks. As it left from a Canadian port all pax had to be tested prior to boarding. He was mask compliant and up to date on vax so hopefully that will help limit other pax catching it. What a way to ruin an Alaskan cruise.

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, san diego sue said:

I recently took a very last minute cruise on another cruise line.Booked a few days before the cruise.

There is no Covid threads recently on their Cruise Critic board. Same as Princess regarding pre testing for unvaxed, vaxed none required. never heard any talk from anyone regarding isolation rooms. Crew all wore masks. Very few passengers wearing masks except in the terminal. We wore them when we were in crowds. Never heard coughing in the theatre and we went every night. 4000 passengers on board. Really felt like there was no pandemic at all. We never saw the little tables for food in front of cabins for "sick people" like what we have seen on Princess.No talk by anyone about Covid. Got home last night and we tested ourselves. All good. Will do it again in a couple of days to be sure.There was the usual "covid instruction" in our cabin to read on our first day.

Carnival Panorama out of Long Beach (our first cruise on this cruise line in many years and it was fun).

How long was the cruise on the fun ship?

That can make a huge difference.

[Princessfan20]

1 hour ago, san diego sue said:

I recently took a very last minute cruise on another cruise line.Booked a few days before the cruise.

There is no Covid threads recently on their Cruise Critic board. Same as Princess regarding pre testing for unvaxed, vaxed none required. never heard any talk from anyone regarding isolation rooms. Crew all wore masks. Very few passengers wearing masks except in the terminal. We wore them when we were in crowds. Never heard coughing in the theatre and we went every night. 4000 passengers on board. Really felt like there was no pandemic at all. We never saw the little tables for food in front of cabins for "sick people" like what we have seen on Princess.No talk by anyone about Covid. Got home last night and we tested ourselves. All good. Will do it again in a couple of days to be sure.There was the usual "covid instruction" in our cabin to read on our first day.

Carnival Panorama out of Long Beach (our first cruise on this cruise line in many years and it was fun).

 

If it was a 3 to 7 day cruise Covid will not usually be an issue on the ships but after people get home.  On the 4 cruises we have done from 10 to 30 days it seemed that around day 7/8/or 9 that people who were vaxed and tested started developing symptoms and the spread continued from there.  Length of cruise has a lot to do with Covid on ships.  Carnival cruises out of Long Beach often do not reach that threshold on most of their cruises.

Edited September 18, 2022 by Princessfan20

[san diego sue]

8 minutes ago, Princessfan20 said:

 

If it was a 3 to 7 day cruise Covid will not usually be an issue on the ships but after people get home.  On the 4 cruises we have done from 10 to 30 days it seemed that around day 7/8/or 9 that people who were vaxed and tested started developing symptoms and the spread continued from there.  Length of cruise has a lot to do with Covid on ships.  Carnival cruises out of Long Beach often do not reach that threshold on most of their cruises.

It was a 7 day cruise to Mexico. With the huge crowds and lines on Carnival getting on the ship, anyone sick would have spread it.Never saw such lines on Princess. My husband did get very sick on a 7 day cruise in April on Princess(two days after leaving ship) and so did lots of people on our roll call (Discovery).

[cr8tiv1]

2 hours ago, sueandkent said:

***UPDATE*** my friend's husband has now tested positive for covid on the Grand cruise and has been moved to isolation. It is my guess that this ship was already having covid issues within the crew and that is why the stronger insistence for masks. As it left from a Canadian port all pax had to be tested prior to boarding. He was mask compliant and up to date on vax so hopefully that will help limit other pax catching it. What a way to ruin an Alaskan cruise.

 

Grand left just a few days ago (9/14).  With this very contagious variant, he most likely picked it up on the ship (or while lined up for embarkation).  Need more information.  PCR test (72 hours) or Antigen (2 days).  Flying to port?  Arrived early to Canada?  

 

It's not his fault.  Thanks for sharing.  I was hoping this 12 day cruise would interrupt the cycle since it was not picking up passengers in Whittier.

[sueandkent]

6 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Grand left just a few days ago (9/14).  With this very contagious variant, he most likely picked it up on the ship (or while lined up for embarkation).  Need more information.  PCR test (72 hours) or Antigen (2 days).  Flying to port?  Arrived early to Canada?  

 

It's not his fault.  Thanks for sharing.  I was hoping this 12 day cruise would interrupt the cycle since it was not picking up passengers in Whittier.

Tested with antigen under two days to Boarding. Flew in day of departure, just a short flight from Edmonton to Vancouver. Definitely not his fault but sure ruins a much anticipated vacation. I’ve heard he has a balcony cabin for isolation so at least that’s something.

[Guest ldtr]

10 hours ago, sueandkent said:

***UPDATE*** my friend's husband has now tested positive for covid on the Grand cruise and has been moved to isolation. It is my guess that this ship was already having covid issues within the crew and that is why the stronger insistence for masks. As it left from a Canadian port all pax had to be tested prior to boarding. He was mask compliant and up to date on vax so hopefully that will help limit other pax catching it. What a way to ruin an Alaskan cruise.

Unfortunately from what I have seen on recent cruises is that spread is up, and more passengers are ignoring symptoms and continuing to move around the ship.  A few months ago there was some spread, but passengers seemed to be more conscientious when they started to experience symptoms.  Not so much recently.   Enough active cases and there is little one can do to avoid it on board.

[rocklinmom]

If someone is moved to Covid isolation, do the family members also go with them? I wouldn't want to be split up. And the family would already be exposed anyway. How does that work? 

[memoak]

21 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

An outlier I wonder, or why is Princess so plagued?  Unless we just hear isolated cases.  I imagine it is simply unpredictable and variable no matter what protocols are.

Nothing isolated. We were 2 of hundreds quarantined on a recent southbound Royal trip

[Princessfan20]

1 hour ago, rocklinmom said:

If someone is moved to Covid isolation, do the family members also go with them? I wouldn't want to be split up. And the family would already be exposed anyway. How does that work? 

 

We were kept separate and not allowed to make contact with family member only by message through Passenger Services or room telephone.  

 

Honestly, it was a little nerve racking not knowing what was really happening.  It did wreck what was a good cruise for our family and still dealing with lost luggage and refunds from the ordeal with Princess and insurances.

[UT-Volsfan]

On our August 28 cruise on the Island Princess, we were notified verbally in the cruise terminal and in writing when we reached our cabin that mask wearing by passengers in indoor public areas was mandatory.  It stayed that way for the entire 2 week cruise.  Announcements were made in the Theater and Explorers by the cruise director or his staff before shows that passengers had to wear masks when not sipping their beverage and they went around handing masks to passengers not wearing them.  Some people would refuse to wear them at any time on board, but many complied. Did it ruin our vacation?  No. We still had an enjoyable cruise.

 

They were taking precautions to protect senior staff from exposure.  In March we got photos with the Captain at the Most Traveled Luncheon even though the officers were not allowed to shine with us.  On this cruise, none of the senior staff even made an appearance at the Most Traveled Luncheon.

 

During our cruise, they did relax the buffet restrictions.  On the 4th day we were told that the buffet was back to self serve.  It stayed that way for the rest of the cruise.

 

There were cases of covid reported on board during our cruise. We asked some crew if masks would be mandatory on the Sept. 11 sailing and we were told the answer was yes.

[Guest ldtr]

22 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

An outlier I wonder, or why is Princess so plagued?  Unless we just hear isolated cases.  I imagine it is simply unpredictable and variable no matter what protocols are.

Pretty much the same on other lines. If there is an infection rate of 1%  and people woth symptoms testing you can still manage to avoid. With a higher percentage and many not bothering to test or isolate with symptoms, good luck. After all it only takes one in proximity to infect. All comes down to odds.

 

At this time if one cruises odd of contact is pretty high. Mostly luck of the draw so to speak. Only thing really keeping it down is the percentages of those that have been infected previously within the previous 6 months and the percentage that have some protection from boosters.

[twprincessfirsties]

The Royal Princess Alaskan sailings beginning / ending in Vancouver had a masks required letter in the stateroom as well as a daily announcement from the captain or officer. Masks were required everywhere on the ship except when eating and drinking and in your stateroom. Masks were also required on Princess shore excursions while in transport. Crew did not attempt to enforce. 

 

I would say the compliance rate was close to 10% on this particular voyage.

 

The US CDC stopped requiring cruise ships to disclose COVID cases as of mid-July, so there are no late statistics. Still, for the industry, the COVID incidence rate (up until the end of reporting) is consistently about 1% for passengers and a similar rate for crew with isolated breakouts happening all of the time.

 

With that risk of (1) ruining your vacation by quarantining down on Dolphin Deck (on Royal class ships) and (2) facing quarantine in a Vancouver hotel at the end of the trip, even with the low incidence rate, IMO, you are playing roulette. 

 

 

[MissP22]

14 hours ago, twprincessfirsties said:

The Royal Princess Alaskan sailings beginning / ending in Vancouver had a masks required letter in the stateroom as well as a daily announcement from the captain or officer. Masks were required everywhere on the ship except when eating and drinking and in your stateroom. Masks were also required on Princess shore excursions while in transport. Crew did not attempt to enforce. 

 

I would say the compliance rate was close to 10% on this particular voyage.

 

The US CDC stopped requiring cruise ships to disclose COVID cases as of mid-July, so there are no late statistics. Still, for the industry, the COVID incidence rate (up until the end of reporting) is consistently about 1% for passengers and a similar rate for crew with isolated breakouts happening all of the time.

 

With that risk of (1) ruining your vacation by quarantining down on Dolphin Deck (on Royal class ships) and (2) facing quarantine in a Vancouver hotel at the end of the trip, even with the low incidence rate, IMO, you are playing roulette. 

 

 

I don't think that many of those passengers believed is was all that dangerous.