Current status of quarantine cabins onboard?

[Alakegirl]

5 hours ago, buzz031 said:

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

You had never had it that you know of.  The insidious thing about this virus is that you can have it and be COMPLETELY asymptomatic.

[miched]

You stay in your own cabin.  
 

No freebie move up for those looking to book a cabin on the deck that they use to isolate passengers on.  🥺 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

[lbenson]

6 hours ago, calicakes said:

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. 

 

[lbenson]

We arrived home October 15 after being on the Edge for 20 nights (back to back). There were people coughing on the ship and on the tour buses. At each port we were told that mask wearing was mandatory on transportation, but very few people wore them - we didn't either. A couple of days after arriving home I tested positive for Covid. Before we left we had the latest vaccine and we have had Covid before, so lucky for me it was very mild -just a sniffle which in a different life I would have never thought anything about. In years past while traveling I would invariably come home with a cold or other bug, so this is similar. It just means that even if you have a mild case, you still don't want to expose others who may not be so fortunate.  

[WonderMan3]

Thanks to those who have provided actual testimonials of recent experiences onboard. So it sounds like people are now allowed to quarantine in their own cabins as a consistent policy. 
 

And yes, I am well aware that “things could change” from what they are doing now but we have been moving in a trajectory of less restrictions which is most evidenced by Celebrity rolling back the testing requirements for pretty much all cruises. While Covid will continue to have peaks and valleys I don’t expect to see Celebrity rolling back the quarantining in your own cabin policy as they are only going to be looking to fill the ships to greater capacity going forward. The only way I see a move backwards in all Covid policies is if a new strain emerges that is far, far worse than what we’ve seen before and is causing a mass increase in infections and severe illness and/or death even in those who are vaccinated. Current trends don’t seem to indicate that will happen but anything is possible of course.

[dadofjessie]

On 11/3/2022 at 6:41 AM, 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. 

Interesting, we'll be on the Beyond in February and we'll be wearing masks.  I agree that it would be real nice to not think of Covid, but with cases going up, we are not going to take chances.  In the past we used to always come home sick after a cruise, then we started wiping down surfaces (remote control, etc.) with disinfectant and we stopped getting sick. For the coming cruise we will have had our 5th covid vaccine (at least), flu and pneumonia shots and we will still wear masks in public spaces except when eating or drinking.

[mfs2k]

16 minutes ago, dadofjessie said:

Interesting, we'll be on the Beyond in February and we'll be wearing masks.  I agree that it would be real nice to not think of Covid, but with cases going up, we are not going to take chances.  In the past we used to always come home sick after a cruise, then we started wiping down surfaces (remote control, etc.) with disinfectant and we stopped getting sick. For the coming cruise we will have had our 5th covid vaccine (at least), flu and pneumonia shots and we will still wear masks in public spaces except when eating or drinking.

We all should be free to do what’s right for us. 
What’s the expression? 
“You be you.”

[coldcdn]

On 11/4/2022 at 9:50 AM, 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.

Thank you for the comprehensive and well described account of your experience.

 

Very much appreciated.

 

[wineoclock]

We always travel with test kits. Our recent Apex cruise we tested half way through in case asymptomatic & when I had a cough. Negative.

 

We’ve both been unwell since we’ve been home (2 weeks) temperatures, cough, sore throat. Still negative.
 

Whatever we’ve brought home isn’t covid. Then we remember that we are usually unwell after a cruise. Unsurprising given the lifts, coaches etc. 

[baggal]

On 11/3/2022 at 9:49 AM, jwlane said:

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

Not at all true.  We were on the October 17 Apex in the Med.  About halfway through the cruise my husband came down with a terrible cough and sore throat.  We self-tested and he was positive.  He asked me to call Medical, which I did.  They moved him to a cabin on deck 3 that they called a "medical" cabin.  It had a porthole.  It was in a corridor that had approximately 10 cabins behind a locked door.  Each cabin had a stool outside where room service left his meals.  He could ask for clean towels, etc. but everything was left outside.  Since I tested negative, I was able to stay in our original cabin.  I was not quarantined in any way.

 

My husband recovered within 3 days.  But, he was not allowed to return to our cabin.  We were scheduled to disembark in Rome to fly home but guest relations informed me that Italian regulations prohibited guests still testing positive from disembarking in Italy.  We would have to stay on the ship for two extra days (no charge to us) until we reached Spain where their regulations were not as rigid.  The ship was beginning a transatlantic.  We disembarked two days later in Valencia.  The ship arranged for a taxi to the airport where we took a flight to Zurich and then a non-stop back to Newark.  My daughter back in the states made the flight arrangements for us.

 

Some lessons learned:  We were completely vaxxed, boosted, and had our flu shots before we came on board.  He could have gotten it anywhere but as the cruise went on, there was a noticeable amount of coughing by the passengers.  Interesting, that the crew had to start wearing masks on the TA portion.  I WILL NEVER STEP FOOT IN ITALY AGAIN.  And we're still deciding what to do about our other upcoming Celebrity cruises.  At the beginning of the TA they moved me from my verandah cabin to a basic inside cabin even though I offered to pay for any other type of cabin.  It was a glorified broom closet.  We all really need to weigh our risks vs. rewards before we book.

[mahdnc]

@baggal,

 

Thanks for your detailed and informative writeup. I re-read it several times to understand your comment about not wanting to go to Italy ever again and I couldn't make the connection as to why. Can you please elaborate a little on that?

Edited November 13, 2022 by mahdnc

[dadofjessie]

21 hours ago, mfs2k said:

We all should be free to do what’s right for us. 
What’s the expression? 
“You be you.”

Agreed!

[jwlane]

2 hours ago, baggal said:

Not at all true. 

Like I said, "In general...".

[baggal]

3 hours ago, mahdnc said:

@baggal,

 

Thanks for your detailed and informative writeup. I re-read it several times to understand your comment about not wanting to go to Italy ever again and I couldn't make the connection as to why. Can you please elaborate a little on that?

Because the Italian government regulations prohibited us from disembarking in Civitavecchia when our cruise was over.  That caused us considerable stress and anxiety, not to mention the $2700 (!) for new flights home from Spain.  We submitted claim to our travel insurance but their already giving us the run around.  I've already been to Italy several times so no need to go back somewhere that wouldn't let us in.

[mahdnc]

1 minute ago, baggal said:

Because the Italian government regulations prohibited us from disembarking in Civitavecchia when our cruise was over.  That caused us considerable stress and anxiety, not to mention the $2700 (!) for new flights home from Spain.  We submitted claim to our travel insurance but their already giving us the run around.  I've already been to Italy several times so no need to go back somewhere that wouldn't let us in.

 

I see.  Thank you for the explanation and obviously I feel for you with regards to the stress and extra cost.

 

We took a Constellation TA last month from Civitavecchia.  I heard that one couple (Cruise Critic members) who was on Constellation on the prior sailing came down with COVID.  They had intended to take the TA as well.  Anyway when Constellation arrived at Civitavecchia on Oct 22, they were taken off the ship.  My understanding is that at least one of them required hospitalization.

[mizzoucns022]

My husband and I did the B2B on the Apex. I was quarantined for 3 days then “disembarked”  in the Azores with 24 hour notice. I am a RN and had a very mild, dry cough. I could have easily completed my last two days of quarantine on the ship. We were dumped off and incurred $3400 in expenses to get home.

[TravelingCircusof5]

8 hours ago, mizzoucns022 said:

My husband and I did the B2B on the Apex. I was quarantined for 3 days then “disembarked”  in the Azores with 24 hour notice. I am a RN and had a very mild, dry cough. I could have easily completed my last two days of quarantine on the ship. We were dumped off and incurred $3400 in expenses to get home.

Did they give you any explanation for being ejected rather than isolating in cabin for two more days?

[mizzoucns022]

I agree with some of the other posters above. Being disembarked was VERY stressful. We had to arrange our own hotels, change flights, etc. Celebrity is working with us on reimbursement for our quarantine and missed days. We filed a claim with Allianz for our travel expenses back.

Edited November 28, 2022 by mizzoucns022

[mizzoucns022]

1 hour ago, TravelingCircusof5 said:

Did they give you any explanation for being ejected rather than isolating in cabin for two more days?

 

Posted just now

Due to the amount of upcoming sea days and higher level of medical care. 

Edited November 28, 2022 by mizzoucns022

[baggal]

34 minutes ago, mizzoucns022 said:

I agree with some of the other posters above. Being disembarked was VERY stressful. We had to arrange our own hotels, change flights, etc. Celebrity is working with us on reimbursement for our quarantine and missed days. We filed a claim with Allianz for our travel expenses back.

FYI:  Surprisingly, Celebrity was very prompt in reimbursing us for days missed due to my husband's quarantine.  United Airlines, too, was very cooperative in refunding the points we used for our original flights home from Rome, as well as taxes, etc.  However, its been 4 weeks since we came home and filed a claim for the new flights which was $2,700. 

 

BTW, we did cancel our upcoming Celebrity cruise in May.  

[Lastdance]

Reading the outcomes of others on the Apex b2b is interesting, but after there is a horrible situation onboard with complications from Covid, I guess Celebrity makes certain changes.  I believe having the crew mask was a good choice, especially because after the first cruise, so many were coughing, but most likely did not self-test because coughing/hacking was "normal" for them. Those who got off in Azores received a letter that their cruise price would be totally refunded, but most likely not the best situation for guests who had to leave.  TA's do present their own unique circumstances...makes me wonder if ships will return to some kind of doctor's note due to underlining conditions of guests and complications with Covid.  Their medical facilities are very good, but not with underlining conditions and complications due to covid, or anything else.  Those of us who have little to no symptoms, but are Covid positive, just pass it along without knowing, or wnting to know.  

Edited November 28, 2022 by Lastdance

[mizzoucns022]

6 hours ago, baggal said:

FYI:  Surprisingly, Celebrity was very prompt in reimbursing us for days missed due to my husband's quarantine.  United Airlines, too, was very cooperative in refunding the points we used for our original flights home from Rome, as well as taxes, etc.  However, its been 4 weeks since we came home and filed a claim for the new flights which was $2,700. 

 

BTW, we did cancel our upcoming Celebrity cruise in May.  

We have still not received our reimbursement. Celebrity told us to expect it in four weeks. 

[mizzoucns022]

7 hours ago, mizzoucns022 said:

 

Posted just now

Due to the amount of upcoming sea days and lack of higher level of medical care (if needed).