Current status of quarantine cabins onboard?

[WonderMan3]

Does anyone here have some recent reports of Covid quarantine experiences onboard, like in the past couple weeks? Just curious if passengers are still being moved out of their cabins to a specific deck or if they are now allowing you to quarantine in your own cabin? Celebrity never outlines this policy on their own site. This a key issue for me in deciding if I will move forward with my B3B cruises next year.

[mfs2k]

I’m currently on day 9 of my Beyond cruise. 
I will tell you I have heard zero mention of Covid, quarantines and Illness. 
About 2-5% of passengers wear masks. The average age is over 70 on board. Some people are coughing and I don’t see anyone freaking out. 
It’s a nice break to not think about Covid. 

To answer your question though I’d say I have no idea. 

Edited November 3, 2022 by mfs2k

[Georgia_Peaches]

There was a thread last week or so started by someone whose title was Curently in Covid quarantine on _____.  (Can’t remember the ship). The OP detailed their experience and they remained in their original stateroom. 

[Alakegirl]

What is happening now (November 2022) is probably not predictive of what will happen in 2023, even early 2023.  

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 hours ago, mfs2k said:

I’m currently on day 9 of my Beyond cruise. 
I will tell you I have heard zero mention of Covid, quarantines and Illness. 
About 2-5% of passengers wear masks. The average age is over 70 on board. Some people are coughing and I don’t see anyone freaking out. 
It’s a nice break to not think about Covid. 

To answer your question though I’d say I have no idea. 

 

I'd be very surprised if they make anything public since this is the first sailing in the US and their collab with Below Deck; the last thing they'd want is the public hearing about Covid

[jwlane]

4 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

curious if passengers are still being moved out of their cabins to a specific deck

In general, this hasn't been done for several months.

Edited November 3, 2022 by jwlane

[Lastdance]

5 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

Does anyone here have some recent reports of Covid quarantine experiences onboard, like in the past couple weeks? Just curious if passengers are still being moved out of their cabins to a specific deck or if they are now allowing you to quarantine in your own cabin? Celebrity never outlines this policy on their own site. This a key issue for me in deciding if I will move forward with my B3B cruises next year.

Okay…last Apex cruise, 12 day Mediterranean, less than 1%.  People could stay in their cabins.  
 

This cruise, part of a b2b from Civi to FLL, anyone who tested positive with Covid, regardless if they are doing well and on Plaxlovid, received a letter stating that they will be disembarked in the Azores tomorrow afternoon, period.  No other information at all!  This is due to large amount of sea days forthcoming!  Yep!  However, you will be reimbursed the base cruise fare.  Fair enough, I guess, but Azores?   Remember that there are so many variables in play, not to mention the ship’s doctor and captain.  They can pretty much do what they want onboard, especially if it is a TA with lots of sea days.  Can you sign a waiver?  That has not been determined yet.  Is Celebrity providing any help with disembarkment?  So far, maybe help with airlines, but you are on your own!  So, five days quarantine in your own cabin is now changed to you must disembark in Azores, but refund on the way…have a nice day!
 

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by Lastdance

[RichYak]

41 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

anyone who tested positive with Covid, regardless if they are doing well and on Plaxlovid, received a letter stating that they will be disembarked in the Azores tomorrow afternoon, period.  No other information at all!

I was recently criticized on this site for using the word "draconian" to describe Celebrity's treatment of covid positives on board. I may need to come up with an even stronger adjective.

[Arizona Wildcat]

What is being due with those that are Covid positive is not a prediction for the future.  The actions the last few months have been quarantine in your own cabin - often because of few open cabins.  There are also country and port issues that is some cases have had passengers disembarked.  That action was reported as necessary because of a medical concern on TA cruises.  Some sadly accuse X of unreasonable actions.  Do they have knowledge of the medical condition of those disembarked.  A TA certainly creates a period of several days of no outside assistance possible.

No clue for the coming months as to what will happen.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Arizona Wildcat

[dlh015]

6 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I was recently criticized on this site for using the word "draconian" to describe Celebrity's treatment of covid positives on board. I may need to come up with an even stronger adjective.

After reading the post by Lastdance, I was too stunned to post...and I hadn't had my coffee yet and you may remember what happens then 🤪

 

However, I'm still quite taken aback. Why make those folks go thru all that hassle in the Azores when they could just let them ride back on the ship? It's not like they're going to fill those cabins, right?

 

I just don't get it...

[jelayne]

For the Beyond TA there were a lot of B2B passengers and a full ship.  Never heard a word about Covid or anyone testing positive being disembarked in the Azores, which was also our last port before heading to Cape Liberty. 

[goofysmom99]

I'm on Connie.  We definitely have had covid.  Pax quarantined in their own cabins.  A forced disembark in Azores occurred for non covid illness.  Some B2B covid positive pax chose to disembark in Civi prior to TA.  In both those instances, they were the right decisions.  They did have to make their own way home.

[RichYak]

38 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

I hadn't had my coffee yet and you may remember what happens then 🤪

I do, but I'm not going to lecture you about it 😂

[Lastdance]

I have spotty internet, so may not be able to actually post in the future due to our satellite connection in Atlantic, but I will add to this if possible.  Just know that life does not come with a guarantee, along with the fact that you could be caught in the middle of something much bigger than yourself.  The rules can change in an instant anywhere and at any time. Celebrity needs "cabin availability" for those who test positive in the next few days and are truthful, testing themselves and alerting medical.  Bringing Paxlovid and feeling good with great vitals could mean that things are fine, or on a TA, you must get off the ship...it happens, but you leave with your dignity.  We all have to remember that communication is essential and so much is lost in communication when talking with individuals who believe you have a medical condition when you don't...and information based on what you need to do comes from another passenger's medical information.  Wow and what a great idea for a novel!

 

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by Lastdance

[Essiesmom]

41 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

I have spotty internet, so may not be able to actually post in the future due to our satellite connection in Atlantic, but I will add to this if possible.  Just know that life does not come with a guarantee, along with the fact that you could be caught in the middle of something much bigger than yourself.  The rules can change in an instant anywhere and at any time. Celebrity needs "cabin availability" for those who test positive in the next few days and are truthful, testing themselves and alerting medical.  Bringing Paxlovid and feeling good with great vitals could mean that things are fine, or on a TA, you must get off the ship...it happens, but you leave with your dignity.  We all have to remember that communication is essential and so much is lost in communication when talking with individuals who believe you have a medical condition when you don't...and information based on what you need to do comes from another passenger's medical information.  Wow and what a great idea for a novel!

 

 

Or a novel idea?  EM

[Lastdance]

So happy to stay onboard…Covid is real, yucky and not fun on a cruise ship…Thank you for listening to us; we are very grateful for the assistance of so many of the crew.

[buzz031]

Just got off the Silhouette TA yesterday. Rules/protocols change all the time. We can only write what happened to us. There was a tremendous amount of coughing onboard the ship the entire time. We had just had booster 5 before we left for England.

My husband woke up on Oct. 27 (first day of all the sea days) with a head cold. We immediately called medical. Medical came within an hour and swabbed both of us (I did not have any symptoms and we masked up immediately when he woke up inside the cabin). He was positive, I was negative. No offer to move me, even though the ship wasn't full, but to be honest, in most cases the other person in the room will likely become positive (I fully expected to, so would not have moved if offered). The information on the paper that was given to us after my husband's positive was not what happened later (the paper said that he would be retested on Day 5 and 6, but he was not retested, only I was retested on Day 6 of his quarantine). They also told us that since I was negative, I could move about the ship with a mask on. I DID NOT. I quarantined myself along with my husband and did not leave the room. Thankfully, we had a balcony and I spent the majority of my time out there (reading and enjoying the endless ocean). We slept with masks on, showered with masks on, I cleaned with the high-power cleaners that they gave us. Sleeping with a mask on was not fun, but for me to stay negative, I figured it was the only way. He felt better on Day 3 and his symptoms were basically gone. We were diligent about masking inside our room during the 6 days of quarantine (and even after). We ate on the balcony (first several days we ate separately on the balcony even in the rain one day). Room service was rocky at the start and then when I mentioned (on Day 3) that we missed the Blu, the Blu's menu was delivered for dinner. So communication on what you could ask for from room service was lacking. We did have a personal concierge assigned, but I guess we really didn't know that we should be talking/asking him questions regarding room service. On Day 6, they retested me (the negative one). I tested negative again (of course with no symptoms during the entire time). They scheduled a disinfection of our room (I believe she said "fogging" of the room and then deep cleaning, which took two hours). We were let out of our room but continued to mask except when eating for the 1 1/4 days that were left in the cruise. Our stateroom attendant was great about getting any linens/towels/water (we were Aqua class) that I asked for. She just couldn't come into the room at all. We were lucky that my husband's course of Covid was mild and that I stayed negative.

[buzz031]

For anyone wondering, they tested us with PCR test (highly accurate), and we had never had Covid before.

[calicakes]

Not super recent, but on our September 16th Reflection( Italy) cruise there was a couple quarantined in their suite.  We were in a Sky Suite.  We saw them on Day 1, never saw them again.  All meals were delivered.  Trash was left at the door, we saw red bags of linens.  On the second to last day, we saw the nurse visit and administer tests. 

 

We flew home on September 26th, my wife came down with a "cold" the next day.  I tested her and she was negative.  She was negative on day 2 as well.  She tested positive on day 3.  I never tested positive, nor did I become sick.  We both had our 5th booster on September 8th, 4 days before we flew to Rome.  

 

I have to say, if she became sick onboard, I would not have reported it.  We brought Paxlovid with us.  There were NUMEROUS people coughing in the very crowded elevators.  More than a few people on our roll call tested positive when we came home. 

Edited November 4, 2022 by calicakes

[phoenix_dream]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:37 AM, Arizona Wildcat said:

What is being due with those that are Covid positive is not a prediction for the future.  The actions the last few months have been quarantine in your own cabin - often because of few open cabins.  There are also country and port issues that is some cases have had passengers disembarked.  That action was reported as necessary because of a medical concern on TA cruises.  Some sadly accuse X of unreasonable actions.  Do they have knowledge of the medical condition of those disembarked.  A TA certainly creates a period of several days of no outside assistance possible.

No clue for the coming months as to what will happen.

I think that what might be done on a TA, with no reasonable access to emergency health care, will certainly be different than what happens on other cruises where ports are within a days sailing, if that.  No matter how some people feel, Covid is not like a simple cold for everyone.  Anyone coming down with any illness or medical condition that potentially could result in the need for emergency hospitalization would likely have been disembarked as well.

[tinaincc]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:34 AM, RichYak said:

I was recently criticized on this site for using the word "draconian" to describe Celebrity's treatment of covid positives on board. I may need to come up with an even stronger adjective.

 

3 hours ago, buzz031 said:

Just got off the Silhouette TA yesterday. Rules/protocols change all the time. We can only write what happened to us. There was a tremendous amount of coughing onboard the ship the entire time. We had just had booster 5 before we left for England.

My husband woke up on Oct. 27 (first day of all the sea days) with a head cold. We immediately called medical. Medical came within an hour and swabbed both of us (I did not have any symptoms and we masked up immediately when he woke up inside the cabin). He was positive, I was negative. No offer to move me, even though the ship wasn't full, but to be honest, in most cases the other person in the room will likely become positive (I fully expected to, so would not have moved if offered). The information on the paper that was given to us after my husband's positive was not what happened later (the paper said that he would be retested on Day 5 and 6, but he was not retested, only I was retested on Day 6 of his quarantine). They also told us that since I was negative, I could move about the ship with a mask on. I DID NOT. I quarantined myself along with my husband and did not leave the room. Thankfully, we had a balcony and I spent the majority of my time out there (reading and enjoying the endless ocean). We slept with masks on, showered with masks on, I cleaned with the high-power cleaners that they gave us. Sleeping with a mask on was not fun, but for me to stay negative, I figured it was the only way. He felt better on Day 3 and his symptoms were basically gone. We were diligent about masking inside our room during the 6 days of quarantine (and even after). We ate on the balcony (first several days we ate separately on the balcony even in the rain one day). Room service was rocky at the start and then when I mentioned (on Day 3) that we missed the Blu, the Blu's menu was delivered for dinner. So communication on what you could ask for from room service was lacking. We did have a personal concierge assigned, but I guess we really didn't know that we should be talking/asking him questions regarding room service. On Day 6, they retested me (the negative one). I tested negative again (of course with no symptoms during the entire time). They scheduled a disinfection of our room (I believe she said "fogging" of the room and then deep cleaning, which took two hours). We were let out of our room but continued to mask except when eating for the 1 1/4 days that were left in the cruise. Our stateroom attendant was great about getting any linens/towels/water (we were Aqua class) that I asked for. She just couldn't come into the room at all. We were lucky that my husband's course of Covid was mild and that I stayed negative.

Sorry you dealt with this and had not so much of a vacation.

I learned that I have been right in not getting a booster, this is crazy how many I have read with booster then infection within days, including our CDC Director.  Let's get on with it I say.

 

 

[dlh015]

Once again, neither the vaccine nor the boosters are intended to prevent infection. They are intended to keep you out of the hospital and to keep you from dying.

 

ETA: Corrected horrible English...lol...

Edited November 4, 2022 by dlh015

[tinaincc]

1 minute ago, dlh015 said:

Once again, the vaccine nor the boosters are not intended to prevent infection. They are intended to keep you out of the hospital and to keep you from dying.

Ah, OK well we have had it twice so I am good. 

[carolina_yankee]

On 11/3/2022 at 11:45 AM, dlh015 said:

After reading the post by Lastdance, I was too stunned to post...and I hadn't had my coffee yet and you may remember what happens then 🤪

 

However, I'm still quite taken aback. Why make those folks go thru all that hassle in the Azores when they could just let them ride back on the ship? It's not like they're going to fill those cabins, right?

 

I just don't get it...

COVID still carries a risk of getting very serious very fast. They don’t want to deal with a possible need for medical evacuation when it’s not really possible. However, I would think trip insurance would cover most of the costs of being dropped off in the Azores. My plan would cover the physician’s ordered medical rest for up to  seven days and costs for rearranged travel due to trip interruption as well as any medical charges.

 

These things aren’t draconian. They are necessary precautions to protect both the ship and the individual.

 

I also understand why they won’t let an individual sign a waiver. It’s not just the risk to the individual, but the risk to those caring for the individual should things head South as well as tying up their time and resources, which would potentially hinder the care provided for the routine cruise maladies.

 

Paxlovid is not a fail-safe and can cause rebound COVID. It also might not even be effective against the newest variants.

 

People hate hearing this - but COVID is not a personal, private issue. People with COVID affect themselves and everyone around them. A ship, for all of modern technology and comfort, still has limited resources and sea voyages across vast bodies of water are not places where emergency help can be quickly sought.

 

And the Azores is hardly an underdeveloped backwater. It would be very easy to get both quality medical care and flights back home.

[dlh015]

1 minute ago, carolina_yankee said:

COVID still carries a risk of getting very serious very fast. They don’t want to deal with a possible need for medical evacuation when it’s not really possible. However, I would think trip insurance would cover most of the costs of being dropped off in the Azores. My plan would cover the physician’s ordered medical rest for up to  seven days and costs for rearranged travel due to trip interruption as well as any medical charges.

 

These things aren’t draconian. They are necessary precautions to protect both the ship and the individual.

 

I also understand why they won’t let an individual sign a waiver. It’s not just the risk to the individual, but the risk to those caring for the individual should things head South as well as tying up their time and resources, which would potentially hinder the care provided for the routine cruise maladies.

 

Paxlovid is not a fail-safe and can cause rebound COVID. It also might not even be effective against the newest variants.

 

People hate hearing this - but COVID is not a personal, private issue. People with COVID affect themselves and everyone around them. A ship, for all of modern technology and comfort, still has limited resources and sea voyages across vast bodies of water are not places where emergency help can be quickly sought.

 

And the Azores is hardly an underdeveloped backwater. It would be very easy to get both quality medical care and flights back home.

Actually, I thought about it later and came to the same conclusion that it was better there then the middle of the ocean.