Over 800 people have COVID on the Majestic Princess

[caribill]

11 minutes ago, Incognito1 said:

Except on "fully vaccinated" cruises, outbreaks happened, cruises were canceled, people were quarantined.

Unfortunately, the outbreak on the Majestic  was with the vaccination requirements and the same day testing at check-in in place per posts earlier in this thread.

[d9704011]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

Princess changed the parameters. Princess should allow those who booked with the assurance that Covid protocols for boarding the ship would be in place to cancel now with full FCCs for all payments including the use of bonus FCCs that had been used.

I agree, but that wasn't the question I responded to.

[NownZen]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

 

 

We booked a December cruise when Princess said the policy was for at least 90% of passengers to be vaccinated, all passengers needed to be tested before the cruise and 100% of the crew would be masked.

 

That sounded very low risk for catching Covid, so we make the booking. No need for CFAR insurance since our main concern, Covid prevention, was fully addressed by Princess.

 

By the time of final payment, Princess had changed to saying not 90 % had to be vaccinated, but anyone not vaccinated had to be tested pre-cruise. Basically, not quite as safe, but still likely very low risk if we wore N95 masks (as we planned to do) when appropriate.

 

But now, Princess says welcome aboard anyone who is not vaccinated and nobody needs to be tested. Not quite the safe environment we were told the cruise would be when we booked it.

 

Princess changed the parameters. Princess should allow those who booked with the assurance that Covid protocols for boarding the ship would be in place to cancel now with full FCCs for all payments including the use of bonus FCCs that had been used.

You made an assumption and figured you would save some money by not buying insurance. You have nothing to complain about. You need to read the terms and conditions of your booking.

[PescadoAmarillo]

6 hours ago, junglejane said:

Is Princess still moving people to quarantine cabins these days, or having them quarantine in their own staterooms? (I'm asking more as general policy than about the Majestic specifically).

The quarantine area on the Ruby, which used to take up a good portion of Aloha Deck port, is now on Aloha Deck port, just the area in front of the forward elevators. 

[Bluewake]

After reading this entire thread, I'd like to express my appreciation for what I consider to be the relatively balanced responses.   Too often, when a thread such as this emerges on cruise critic, it tends to be populated by posters stating their personal beliefs that vaccines, masks, pre-cruise testing, social distancing, etc. are either 100% effective or 0% effective.  Frankly, I have to assume that many such posters are expressing uninformed or merely anecdotal opinions for how many of us have any actual training in virology or epidemiology?  I would think very few.   Individuals whom I know who do possess such knowledge tell me that none of the aforementioned measures are totally effective or totally ineffective.  Each offers some degree of protection, but none afford 100%.  Thus, we each have to make our own decisions about the risks we are willing to take when it comes to cruising.  Furthermore, we all have to recognize that we can neither trust - nor demand - our fellow passengers to embrace the same beliefs or behaviors we feel are appropriate.  I suspect we will never all be "on the same page".  I've cruised several times since 2021 - nothing longer than 8 days - but have a 14 night cruise on Princess scheduled for fall 2023.  Frankly, spending so many nights on a cruise ship is stretching my risk tolerance but I'll do what I've done so far....taking the precautions that are under my control such as being vaccinated and boosted, wearing a N95 mask in close quarters, maintaining social distance, and self testing.  Frankly, these measures haven't affected my enjoyment of the cruises I've taken in the past year. I do, however, recognize that not everyone feels the same.  All I ask is that my fellow cruisers respect my choices as I will respect theirs.  I've had covid (via a family member) and wouldn't like to have it again.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Bluewake

[1emerald1]

I'm jumping in late to this conversation but would like to share my experience with Covid that I got on the Discovery 10/29 cruise.  I received my fifth booster 3 weeks before the cruise.  There was nearly 0% masking, including passengers and crew.  I disembarked Sat 11/5.  Sunday night/Monday morning I woke up with the worst sore throat I have ever had, followed by cough, fever, aches, chills, etc.  I tested negative.  With my daughter's advice, who just recovered, she told me to test again.  Tuesday, I tested a faint positive.  Wednesday and every day after I am a strong positive, and progressively getting worse.  I sent a message to my Dr. who referred me to the Infectious Disease department and the next day they fast tracked me in for Remdesivir infusions, for 3 days.  Yesterday was my last treatment.  The cough is gone, the sore throat is minimal now.  I am still positive and yesterday I developed oral thrush on tongue.

 

The purpose of Remdesivir is to shorten the length of the virus and to keep me out of the hospital.  Can't wait to be 100% again.

 

I do not think preboarding testing accomplishes much, but I do believe 100% masking would

Edited November 13, 2022 by 1emerald1

[Steelers36]

On 11/11/2022 at 10:48 AM, dog said:

True, off Enchanted Saturday. One in our group tested negative, then positive on Tuesday.

heard from some others with Covid just showing symptoms Wed.

 

wear the masks!  Very few had masks on Oct 28 th cruise.

 

On 11/11/2022 at 1:44 PM, dog said:

I only saw one crew ( in MDR) wearing a mask last week.

we had 1700 passengers & I put my mask on when near others, but most did not.

 

I tested negative Tuesday. Will test again today- I have a deep cough. 4 vax so far.

 

Was the person in your group who became positive wearing a mask regularly?

 

[NownZen]

29 minutes ago, 1emerald1 said:

 

I do not think preboarding testing accomplishes much, but I do believe 100% masking would

Except that, in practice, the "except when eating or drinking" means most passengers spend several hours a day in crowded places with no mask. 

[Steelers36]

On 11/12/2022 at 9:59 AM, adjustman said:

Although i am not a big fan of Carnival owned cruise lines, i do like Princess offerings. i just wonder how come only Princess has such problems. Other cruise lines have Covid on board but not to the degree Princess does. Princess can't be enforcing safety Protocols to have such a large number come down with co-vid. I question whether they are enforcing the mask mandate on board this ship. Their number 1 priority should be the health and safety of their crew and passengers on board their ships.  We have a cruise booked for June on the Majestic Princess. It does give one pause as to whether we should cancel. Australia should prevent the ship from sailing in their waters. That's the only way Princess will get the message. 

I cannot speak to the situation on Majestic, nor as to what might have led to so many cases.  My own logic tells me there were some other factors than simply a lack of wearing masks.

 

We just spent 23 days on Regal and during the voyage, mask-wearing became personal choice for the crew.  There certainly was nothing like 800 cases.  We are just finishing up two weeks on Island tonight and there are very few cases on board.  Again, mask wearing is few and far between (although a higher percentage than on Regal).  Staff are also not required to wear masks and most do not.  So, I wouldn't expand the Majestic situation to the entire Princess fleet as your 3rd sentence appears to.

[Steelers36]

8 hours ago, junglejane said:

Is Princess still moving people to quarantine cabins these days, or having them quarantine in their own staterooms? (I'm asking more as general policy than about the Majestic specifically).

On Regal in early October, there were only a dozen cabins sectioned off.  On Island these past two weeks, guests are isolating in cabins.  I am not aware of any separate deck section.

[SargassoPirate]

Since the restart, I have been in five cruises with various degrees of mask mandates.  I wear a mask when required, but nowhere else.  I've been on planes, trains, shuttles, in taxis, hotels, grocery stores, to a circus, and in many restaurants - all  unmasked.  I am in excellent health, both vaxxed and boosted.  I have never had so much as a sniffle or a sore throat after any of these exposures and I couldn't care less about what people around me do with regards to masking.

 

That's my personal experience.  I will continue to comply with mask mandates - but mask optional means I opt not to.  

 

One should do whatever makes one comfortable. Wear a mask if you want to. 

 

I

[NownZen]

31 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Since the restart, I have been in five cruises with various degrees of mask mandates.  I wear a mask when required, but nowhere else.  I've been on planes, trains, shuttles, in taxis, hotels, grocery stores, to a circus, and in many restaurants - all  unmasked.  I am in excellent health, both vaxxed and boosted.  I have never had so much as a sniffle or a sore throat after any of these exposures and I couldn't care less about what people around me do with regards to masking.

 

That's my personal experience.  I will continue to comply with mask mandates - but mask optional means I opt not to.  

 

One should do whatever makes one comfortable. Wear a mask if you want to. 

 

I

That should be where we are all headed.

[malba2366]

It seems like Princess has more problems with COVID than any other cruise line.  Is there something different that Princess is doing ie. less cleaning of public areas, poor air filtration/circulation in public areas etc.   The top 3 cruises with confirmed covid cases are all Princess (Majestic, Diamond and Ruby) all three had 700-800 cases, and the next highest are 200-250 cases.  Princess has also more COVID related deaths on their ships than the rest of the industry combined.  It would appear that there is something more to this than  just chance.

[cruisingguy007]

2 hours ago, malba2366 said:

It seems like Princess has more problems with COVID than any other cruise line.  Is there something different that Princess is doing ie. less cleaning of public areas, poor air filtration/circulation in public areas etc.   The top 3 cruises with confirmed covid cases are all Princess (Majestic, Diamond and Ruby) all three had 700-800 cases, and the next highest are 200-250 cases.  Princess has also more COVID related deaths on their ships than the rest of the industry combined.  It would appear that there is something more to this than  just chance.

 

It's the longer cruises that Princess takes. It makes sense when you have folks on for long cruises, stopping at multiple ports, high passenger counts and being in close quarters for so long; odds go up dramatically. Most folks also spend much more time inside on longer cruises, in many instances in very close venues like shows and such. Stick to shorter cruises, warmer itineraries where you can spend more time outside and avoid shows/comedy where people are surrounding you laughing, drinking, talking and coughing.  Shorter cruises seem to have way less problems, going on a long cruise is inherently multitudes of risk higher. Anyone really concerned about covid should stick to shorter cruises to mitigate risk or choose another vacation to even further reduce the risk.   

[PescadoAmarillo]

3 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

I wonder if anyone knows, tracks, or even cares about the Covid positivity rate for all cruise ship passengers?  That would tell the real story, but I suspect it wouldn't make a sensational headline.  The last numbers I saw were from Royal Caribbean:  

 

"Royal Caribbean Group, for example, said toward the start of 2022 they had seen about 1.3 million passengers sail and reported 2,500 cases among them (crew cases were not disclosed). That comes out to about 0.2%."

Cruise Ship COVID Status Tracker (July 16): Daily Update Chart & News | Cruzely.com

 

 

I can believe that case counts would definitely have been lower “toward the start of 2022” (that’s a pretty unprecise timeframe compared to a very precise 0.2%) than they are now. There were testing and masking mandates in place then, both of which worked to reduce the spread on cruise ships. But the COVID rate for all cruise ship passengers is as incalculable as it is for plane, bus, train passengers, except to say that it is likely higher due to duration of exposure. As has been mentioned, on shorter cruises, people don't know until they return home that they’re positive. 
 

The Majestic Princess cases are only known because testing was required by a government entity. There’s no reason to believe that many more ships wouldn’t report the same numbers if required. I believe it is not even in the vicinity of 0.2%. 

Edited November 14, 2022 by PescadoAmarillo

[kamelia]

18 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I can believe that case counts would definitely have been lower “toward the start of 2022” (that’s a pretty unprecise timeframe compared to a very precise 0.2%) than they are now. There were testing and masking mandates in place then, both of which worked to reduce the spread on cruise ships. But the COVID rate for all cruise ship passengers is as incalculable as it is for plane, bus, train passengers, except to say that it is likely higher due to duration of exposure. As has been mentioned, on shorter cruises, people don't know until they return home that they’re positive. 
 

The Majestic Princess cases are only known because testing was required by a government entity. There’s no reason to believe that many more ships wouldn’t report the same numbers if required. I believe it is not even in the vicinity of 0.2%. 

In that same vein, it would be interesting to have the numbers that are being reported further defined by a) the number of passengers reporting to the Medical Center with symptoms who tested positive as opposed to b) the number of passengers with positive results from a test required as part of the itinerary, i.e. those who wouldn't have been tested otherwise and could have either embarked or disembarked not being aware of their positive status.  That differentiation in what statistics are being compared might also have an impact on one cruise line appearing to have higher rates than others.  

[Musky Ike]

4 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

I wonder if anyone knows, tracks, or even cares about the Covid positivity rate for all cruise ship passengers? 

Without daily testing of everyone that could not be determined. Many/most are asymptomatic. Many of those with mild symptoms would also not voluntarily test for fear of a positive result.  The cruise lines are not going down that road. They want stay in business.

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

 

800 cases is nothing to make light of.😳

 

I certainly won't be rushing to make more Bookings until they can get a better on handle

on safety protocols..... Again.

 

 

 

 

 

[NownZen]

20 minutes ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

 

800 cases is nothing to make light of.😳

 

I certainly won't be rushing to make more Bookings until they can get a better on handle

on safety protocols..... Again.

 

 

 

 

 

I would expect that as time goes on, covid and norovirus will be treated the same. If you have it, stay in your cabin.

Of course, noro takes care of that for you.

 

[voljeep]

was it a 'somewhat normal' disembarkation and embarkation when the "800" got off?

[kirtihk]

9 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

I wonder if anyone knows, tracks, or even cares about the Covid positivity rate for all cruise ship passengers?  That would tell the real story, but I suspect it wouldn't make a sensational headline.  The last numbers I saw were from Royal Caribbean:  

 

"Royal Caribbean Group, for example, said toward the start of 2022 they had seen about 1.3 million passengers sail and reported 2,500 cases among them (crew cases were not disclosed). That comes out to about 0.2%."

Cruise Ship COVID Status Tracker (July 16): Daily Update Chart & News | Cruzely.com

 

 

Obviously... However, you are dismissed - so they say

[memoak]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

was it a 'somewhat normal' disembarkation and embarkation when the "800" got off?

We were covid victims on the Royal in early September. It took forever to get off. They got everyone not on the covid deck off first and it was past noon when we actually got off. They didn’t want others to see us standing in a huge circle on prom deck

[SargassoPirate]

1 hour ago, kirtihk said:

Obviously... However, you are dismissed - so they say

You've noticed that too, eh?

[debbie311]

On 11/12/2022 at 9:17 AM, NownZen said:

What is the crew masking situation on the other cruise lines?

We were on a Windstar cruise last month. When we boarded, all crew were wearing masks.  About halfway through the cruise, the Captain announced that the crew would no longer be wearing masks because apparently they (Windstar) felt it was safe to do so. The crew was very happy to be mask-free. However, a few days later they were in masks again and the Captain said that there were cases on board.  In fact, I read on a Roll Call post that the Captain himself tested positive on the cruise immediately following ours.

 

My husband and I both tested positive for Covid the day after we returned home. He had a cough but nothing else, I had sneezing and sniffles, no big deal, but the fatigue was something else.  I finally tested negative after 10 days.

[rbtan]

Well, we will have our maks & up to date shots & the proof if needed. Keith came down with the bug in  August. Like a cold for about 4 days or so. Still annoying.