Covid Experience - Nieuw Statendam September 7th – 17th, Quebec City to Boston

[Benny42]

The day after we boarded, we discovered that the cabins on either side of us had passengers isolated with Covid.  Concerned about the proximity, we discussed the situation at customer service.  We were told this would not be a problem and that the ship was full so they could notmove us to another cabin.  They offered us a dinner at the Canaletto (which I did not take, but found the offer very insulting)

 

A few days later my wife started to feel ill and called the medical number for a Covid test.  Very shortly, a nurse arrived and tested both of us.  We then got a call that my wife was Covid positive, and I was negative.  We were offered to isolate together or separately.  We chose separately.  Within ½ hour my wife was moved to another cabin.   This diagnosis and isolation process was handled very efficiently and timely.

 

It was a good decision to not isolate together, as I was better able to work with the front desk to see what was happening.  I learned that the isolation period recommended a 2 day stay in Boston.  Holland gave me 3 options for flying home on the September 19^th.  I took the first option (horrible middle seats back of plane, Boston flights very full) that would get us home early that evening.

 

Here’s where things got frustrating.  The front desk could not tell me which hotel we would stay at. Friday night my wife got a letter stating the AC Marriott Hotel in Boston.  

 

I met my wife when she disembarked and found we were on our own for transportation.  So we waited in a long line for a taxi.  We then got to the hotel and found there was not a reservation for us.  Plus there were no rooms available.  About another 10 isolation passengers arrived shortly after us and were in the same situation.  A fellow passenger was trying to contact Holland customer service without any success.

 

Needless to say, we were on our own once we left the ship.  

 

(We are both double vaccinated, wear masks diligently, this was our 3^rd cruise with Holland since October 2022 and are 4 star Mainers)

 

 

[Sir PMP]

And hopefully your last one.

[Suzy Bell]

My husband and I were on that cruise and I also became ill and tested positive for Covid, my husband had no symptoms and tested negative.I didn't have to move to an isolation cabin since there were only 2 days remaining of the cruise.My husband couldn't leave our cabin either. He was retested and still negative.

We received no proof of our tests, no documentation as to the dates my quarantine should begin and end. Being from Canada which requires a 10 day quarantine we are having an extended stay in Boston. 

I also received the letter on Friday night with the suggestion to use a different Marriott Hotel in Boston. No transportation assistance provided by HAL. Took taxi to hotel to find no reservations made, HAL had never notified them about any passengers needing rooms. There were several other quarantine passengers there in the same situation.

Fellow passengers tried various other hotels only to be told no rooms were available anywhere and if they heard Covid mentioned they wouldn't take you period.

The front desk clerk at the Marriott Hotel managed to find accomodation elsewhere and ordered 2 taxis to take 5 of us. However it was far from downtown Boston out on a highway and it is not the best place we ever stayed. After spending 2 nights there we were able to book another place, requiring another taxi ride back into Boston.

Our travel agent booked us flights to go home this Sunday, the 25th.

 

We also are double vaccinated, wore our masks except when eating, avoided crowds. This was our first cruise since 2019. We have always cruised with Holland America.

This experience was very frustrating to say the least.

 

I hope your wife is feeling better and that you stayed well.

 

 

 

 

 

[FlorenceItaly]

I am so very sorry to hear this!  HAL seems to have failed miserably.   IMO, there is no reason for this failure as they have been dealing with this for sometime now.   I do appreciate you taking the time to share with us.    It seems the Nieuw Statendam is a bit of a sick ship.  This is based only on my observations of posts on this board.  We are due to sail the NS on November 5.  Against my better judgement I sailed on the Summit Celebrity in July.  Before the sailing, it was my observation that it was a sick ship.  Sure enough, I got COVID.  My husband did not.

[mcrcruiser]

People should document what HAL did to them with proof  ,then go back to HAL for all reimbursements  .If that fails then press charges imo these cruise lines need to be responsible  as any adult is responsible for their actions .

 

 What ever happened to the Contract with the Consuming Cruiser   .The innocent should be protected 

Edited September 22, 2022 by mcrcruiser

[albingirl]

What a nightmare.  It's bad enough that people get sick; there is no coordinated effort to help find lodging when they are supposed to be quarantined.   This whole scene would insure that I never sail again with the cruiseline.  It's insulting how you were treated, particularly since we've all been subjected to endless lecturing about proper precautions. Wear a mask, don't wear a mask, total confusion for passengers right from the getgo.

[PasadenaDave]

All of you got better service than we did.  There was a major ***** session in our meeting room/holding pen as we waited to get off the ship 

[Sir PMP]

This looks like Hal's future:

[oaktreerb]

Does HAL even want to know anymore if you are positive?  CDC Rules are changing and it seems like HAL would prefer you handle Covid according to your personal symptoms and preferences.  Covid is among us  on the ships, on the buses, in the airports and on the airplanes.  Pretty soon HAL won’t offer compensation for those who come down with Covid while on the ship.  Covid will be a factor for travelers to consider when traveling for the near and maybe distant future.

[Tigrou]

4 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

Does HAL even want to know anymore if you are positive?  

No, I don’t think they do. You become an inconvenience they don't want to deal with.

 

I’m currently in isolation on Rotterdam. Other than the young woman who took my PCR swab I have not been seen by any medical staff. My positive result was confirmed by phone, I was told to isolate for 6 days but the cruise ends on day 5. Told to phone Medical if I need medication, contact Guest Services for anything else. No medical or well-being checks have been made despite them being aware that I’m travelling alone.

 

No standard information pack as I expected, nothing to even tell me officially that I have to isolate. 

 

In more lucid moments (between I want to die and/or go home!) I drafted a message asking for basic info and sent it through the app. I specifically asked for a written response, pointing out I have a respiratory illness and don’t feel up to discussion. A few hours later guess what I got? A phone call from Guest Services!

 

I did ask about disembarkation, at which she told me that as I didn’t book transport through HAL I’m on my own. Except I did book flights and transfers through HAL, that’s how I got here! We argued that one back and forth, and finally she appeared to agree but I have no confidence that anything will be in place on Sunday. My flight details I have so that should be okay (actually I must check today while we’re in port and I have internet access) but if they won’t let me on the airport bus I may have to pay for a taxi then try to claim it back. If, of course, I can ever get the required letter for my travel insurance that Medical appear strangely reluctant to provide.

 

 

[rodndonna]

3 hours ago, Tigrou said:

 

In more lucid moments (between I want to die and/or go home!) I drafted a message asking for basic info and sent it through the app. I specifically asked for a written response, pointing out I have a respiratory illness and don’t feel up to discussion. A few hours later guess what I got? A phone call from Guest Services!

 

 

I know people hate it when HAL is defended, BUT, if you have Covid and tell them you have a respiratory illness don't feel up for discussion, you sound much more ill than most people getting Covid these days. I would have been disappointed if they had not called after that exchange.

[Tigrou]

1 hour ago, rodndonna said:

 

I know people hate it when HAL is defended, BUT, if you have Covid and tell them you have a respiratory illness don't feel up for discussion, you sound much more ill than most people getting Covid these days. I would have been disappointed if they had not called after that exchange.

If it had been Medical who called to check then I could perhaps see your point. But it wasn’t, it was someone from Guest Services who I suspect did not fully understand what I had written. She just saw that I’d made contact and followed her ‘script’ which was to phone me. 
 

Fortunately today I am beginning to feel better. However, earlier this week I was thinking to myself, this is far from the ‘just a cold’ that I keep reading about! I haven’t felt so ill since having full-blown flu many years ago. It was a little worrying, especially as I’m on my own.

[rodndonna]

30 minutes ago, Tigrou said:

If it had been Medical who called to check then I could perhaps see your point. But it wasn’t, it was someone from Guest Services who I suspect did not fully understand what I had written. She just saw that I’d made contact and followed her ‘script’ which was to phone me. 
 

Fortunately today I am beginning to feel better. However, earlier this week I was thinking to myself, this is far from the ‘just a cold’ that I keep reading about! I haven’t felt so ill since having full-blown flu many years ago. It was a little worrying, especially as I’m on my own.

 

For sure that would be a scary experience, especially on your own. Good to hear you are feeling better and hopefully the worse is behind you now.

[PasadenaDave]

5 hours ago, Tigrou said:

No, I don’t think they do. You become an inconvenience they don't want to deal with.

 

I’m currently in isolation on Rotterdam. Other than the young woman who took my PCR swab I have not been seen by any medical staff. My positive result was confirmed by phone, I was told to isolate for 6 days but the cruise ends on day 5. Told to phone Medical if I need medication, contact Guest Services for anything else. No medical or well-being checks have been made despite them being aware that I’m travelling alone.

 

No standard information pack as I expected, nothing to even tell me officially that I have to isolate. 

 

In more lucid moments (between I want to die and/or go home!) I drafted a message asking for basic info and sent it through the app. I specifically asked for a written response, pointing out I have a respiratory illness and don’t feel up to discussion. A few hours later guess what I got? A phone call from Guest Services!

 

I did ask about disembarkation, at which she told me that as I didn’t book transport through HAL I’m on my own. Except I did book flights and transfers through HAL, that’s how I got here! We argued that one back and forth, and finally she appeared to agree but I have no confidence that anything will be in place on Sunday. My flight details I have so that should be okay (actually I must check today while we’re in port and I have internet access) but if they won’t let me on the airport bus I may have to pay for a taxi then try to claim it back. If, of course, I can ever get the required letter for my travel insurance that Medical appear strangely reluctant to provide.

 

 

Your experience with lack of customer service mirrors our experience last week.  We were challenged in getting food to the room, fortunately we were laid up for only two days 

[Maisyboo]

Would you like to share the location of quarantine cabins please?. We are booked on NS so I’m curious. 

[silversneakers]

I think in today's environment, we should all expect that Covid will be lurking around us somewhere. Per the statement from our current President, the pandemic is over.  If you have taken all the precautions, then there really isn't anything more that you can control.  When it isn't COVID while cruising, the NORO virus will be popping up.  Do the best that you can and enjoy each day.  

[12cruise2]

35 minutes ago, silversneakers said:

I think in today's environment, we should all expect that Covid will be lurking around us somewhere. Per the statement from our current President, the pandemic is over.  If you have taken all the precautions, then there really isn't anything more that you can control.  When it isn't COVID while cruising, the NORO virus will be popping up.  Do the best that you can and enjoy each day.  

Of course there are things we can control--not cruising for example--at least on HAL.  And NORO isn't nearly the health issue that covid is.  And with experiences again and again reported like the one noted by the OP, I have had it with Holland America and its poor service--telling passengers they have hotel rooms when nothing seems to be booked or apparently no confirmation number provided or requested by the OP, (or the hotel lied to HAL about the passenger having a res. in the first place and didn't want its hotel to be used as a covid isolation hotel).  No help with transportation to the hotel.

 

We've cruised 17 weeks since September 2021, 14 of them on HAL with no incidents (except having to change cabins multiple times because of faulty A/C, the usual with HAL).  But August will be our last HAL cruise for a very long time.

 

When my DH got covid on our very first Celebrity cruise the end of May, they sent us a letter and contacted us immediately--they gave me the phone number of a hotel to call to make reservations myself for the next five nights, I did, got a confirmation number and told Celebrity.  Celebrity arranged a car service to take us from the ship to the hotel.  No problem, reservation made and we were treated wonderfully.  Then with a little work on my part while isolating, I found out the procedure to request reimbursement from Celebrity that they had promised, which I did the minute we got home. 

 

Celebrity told the truth and held up its end of the situation is my point.

 

I think we are at the point where the cruise lines HAVE to test passengers while on board every few days, required, so that the spread we constantly see is controlled.  It's out of hand on the ships.  Passengers refuse to wear masks.  Captains tell folks they have to wear masks at all times and passengers refuse--and the rule is not upheld. 

 

We say, test folks every few days on cruises, required, so that there can be no lying or ignoring symptoms, thereby spreading covid all over the ship.  Charge $30 for the test to the passenger's account.  Isolate those with covid.  Passengers have to pay attention; if they won't wear masks at least, then control the situation as a cruise line.  If they don't like it, then THEY shouldn't be cruising.  This is not the wild west where we can all do what we want--or is it!

Edited September 23, 2022 by 12cruise2

[rodndonna]

8 minutes ago, 12cruise2 said:

 

 

We say, test folks every few days on cruises, required, so that there can be no lying or ignoring symptoms, thereby spreading covid all over the ship.  Charge $30 for the test to the passenger's account.  Isolate those with covid.  

 

We've been very conservative as far as Covid goes, but at this point and where we are at now in the pandemic, even we just wouldn't cruise if those were the requirements. I think the ships would have a very hard time selling enough cabins to be profitable if that is what they required.

[12cruise2]

23 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

We've been very conservative as far as Covid goes, but at this point and where we are at now in the pandemic, even we just wouldn't cruise if those were the requirements. I think the ships would have a very hard time selling enough cabins to be profitable if that is what they required.

So let the cruise lines start having a hard time again--they have some responsibility in this whole situation.

So then it's okay for passengers to go around infected with covid because they don't want to report it to medical, and of course they won't wear masks as required by the captain?  So you're worried about the cruise lines revenue?  On top of it all, the cruise lines don't want to accept reasonable responsibility to have confirmed hotel res., transportation, etc. for those infected as promised to them?  There is something terribly wrong with this picture.  So no one has to be responsible--passengers, cruise lines, etc.? If it's important enough to help protect the cruise staff and passengers for the captain to require masks, then it's important enough for testing to be required because passengers don't have the courtesy to follow the rules.  It's the tail wagging the dog.

Something needs to change--less revenue would make the cruise lines wake up to maybe enforcing the rules set by the captain or taking some responsibility.  Always follow the money.

Edited September 23, 2022 by 12cruise2

[rodndonna]

Just now, 12cruise2 said:

So then it's okay for passengers to go around infected with covid because they don't want to report it to medical, and of course they won't wear masks as required by the captain?  So you're worried about the cruise lines revenue?  On top of it all, the cruise lines don't want to accept reasonable responsibility to have confirmed hotel res., transportation, etc. for those infected?  There is something terribly wrong with this picture.  So no one has to be responsible--passengers, cruise lines, etc.  If it's important enough to help protect the cruise staff and passengers for the captain to require masks, then it's important enough for testing to be required because passengers don't have the courtesy to follow the rules.  It's the tail wagging the dog.

 

I didn't say that. I am speaking to the reality of the business of filling ships based what people are willing to accept. The majority of people at this point have moved to accepting personal responsibility. Sadly, some won't and will go about their day and potentially affect others, but we have hit a point where we have to accept that risk and do what we can to protect ourselves.

[cbr663]

Thanks to OP and others for sharing their experiences.  We have recently started researching cruises again and had discussed booking an ABC Caribbean cruise for Dec and a British Isles for June.  Experiences like this show us that now is still not the time for us to commence cruising.

 

I wish everyone the best of luck.

[12cruise2]

19 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

Thanks to OP and others for sharing their experiences.  We have recently started researching cruises again and had discussed booking an ABC Caribbean cruise for Dec and a British Isles for June.  Experiences like this show us that now is still not the time for us to commence cruising.

 

I wish everyone the best of luck.

I, too, am so appreciative of the OP's sharing their experience.  If only this thread was required reading for everyone who books a cruise.  At least the playing field would be leveled with the majority of the passengers being aware of what's really going on on the cruises; most are completely unaware of the real situation and if they had the info, potential passengers could make an INFORMED decision.

Rodndonna, that's really the whole point--potential passengers aren't aware of the risk involved to make an informed decision, then don't want to abide by any rules that might be set once onboard.

Edited September 23, 2022 by 12cruise2

[johnnyswitzerland]

In general, are passengers subject to quarantine still being moved to verandah staterooms?  Or are they now allowed to remain in the room they booked?  Is it case-by-case at this point?

[HappyInVan]

16 hours ago, Sir PMP said:

This looks like Hal's future:

 

You may be right!

[windsor26]

So sad that a Carnival Group company should behave so irresponsibly when people in their charge are ill.  Knowing that there was covid on board I do not understand their reluctance to ensure masks were worn

 

On Princess this last week everyone without exception (EXCEPT children) had to be masked and there were staff walking around with boxes of masks and giving them to you watching you don them if you had forgotten them.  They were also diligent at the Buffet entrance ensuring that everyone washed their hands.

All areas where there were drinks were sip and cover areas except the restaurants and even there you had to be masked going to and from your table.

To my knowledge there was no covid on board so obviously Princess have in this instance got it right.   Off on P&O Australia next month and hope they are as diligent.