800 Onboard The Majestic Princess Infected With COVID

[Fouremco]

No, COVID isn't finished. 😢

 

https://apple.news/A4XuQsAu8QtG9xImsvE3IlA

[LHT28]

Too bad

Cases are on the rise everywhere

Even those  jabbed & boosted are still getting it   some are very sick some just  cold like symptoms

 

 

[netpj]

Friends in Australia emailed me this news yesterday.  My comment ti them was that in Australia when a ship arrives, (this is not the first with COVID onboard recently), it makes the news front pages. In this part of the world, although there is COVID on cruise ships (first hand experience in October), it hasn't made the headlines, in fact there seems to be little coverage of outbreaks on ships.  As Fouremco states, COVID is not finished.

[LHT28]

11 minutes ago, netpj said:

Friends in Australia emailed me this news yesterday.  My comment ti them was that in Australia when a ship arrives, (this is not the first with COVID onboard recently), it makes the news front pages. In this part of the world, although there is COVID on cruise ships (first hand experience in October), it hasn't made the headlines, in fact there seems to be little coverage of outbreaks on ships.  As Fouremco states, COVID is not finished.

I have  not read of other ships  having that many cases onboard  so maybe it is the number  that is bringing it to the media??

 

[DHP1]

Good morning from Sydney Australia.
We were on that ship and what an experience that was. I feel sorry for the 800+ that tested positive. They tested everyone within 24 hours of arriving back in Sydney. We were one of the lucky ones (negative) because (my opinion) we wear our mask at all times right from the beginning. When we board the ship in Sydney, mask was not a requirement and people were coughing and sneezing. Four days later all crew started wearing there mask and 4 days after that, all passengers had to wear there mask. 
We’re still in Sydney and will fly back to Toronto tomorrow. 22 hours flight home😂

[DHP1]

5 hours ago, LHT28 said:

I have  not read of other ships  having that many cases onboard  so maybe it is the number  that is bringing it to the media??

 

Because this is the first “largest outbreak” on a cruise ship in 2 years so the media decided to report it. When we disembark, media was every where. 

Edited November 12, 2022 by DHP1

[LHT28]

37 minutes ago, DHP1 said:

Because this is the first “largest outbreak” on a cruise ship in 2 years so the media decided to report it. When we disembark, media was every where. 

I agree that is the reason

 Have a safe trip home & hope you do not test positive 

[DHP1]

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

I agree that is the reason

 Have a safe trip home & hope you do not test positive 

Thanks. We loaded up on test kits from Shoppers Drug Mart and have been testing ourselves every second/third day. The cases in Sydney is on a rise. There in another wave here. 

[bookbabe]

Curious as to how many were sick and needed hospitalization as opposed to being asymptomatic with a positive test result?

[Travelexpert35]

I was looking yesterday for any word of this on the Princess Cruise forum and no sign of this anywhere. Found it hard to believe no mention of it with that many people affected. We’re not comfortable booking a cruise yet so I’m going to sit back and read some reviews. I thought I would be cruising in late 2022 but I guess it will be later in 2023. Fingers crossed.

[3Shelaghs]

1 hour ago, bookbabe said:

Curious as to how many were sick and needed hospitalization as opposed to being asymptomatic with a positive test result?

I watched presser from spokesperson. She said of the 800+, most have no symptoms.

[DHP1]

7 hours ago, Travelexpert35 said:

I was looking yesterday for any word of this on the Princess Cruise forum and no sign of this anywhere. Found it hard to believe no mention of it with that many people affected. We’re not comfortable booking a cruise yet so I’m going to sit back and read some reviews. I thought I would be cruising in late 2022 but I guess it will be later in 2023. Fingers crossed.

Tap on the above to go to Majestic roll call for that specific  cruise

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by DHP1

[gold1953]

9 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

As I understand it, 400+ were discovered before mandatory testing at disembarkation. So, there were 400 people ill enough to seek medical assistance. The remaining 300+ were discovered during mandatory testing. So, they may have been asymptomatic at that time. 

 

IMO, the fallout is that the cruise company allowed a quarter of the pax to be infected in just 12 days. I do not have confidence that the cruise companies will protect pax during this winter season. 

 

Gotta wonder if the infected pax were allowed to board flights back to Europe and North America? 

The spread of covid cannot be controlled by a cruise company, It is up to each individual person. What do you want the company to do ; Sew a mask to faces or try to stop each person from getting close to another??? Many people with symptoms do their best to hide them and mingle freely with others because they don't want to be confined to their cabin.

And yes, most likely these people will board flights unless they are forced into confinement by Australia. If they fly, many won't wear a mask if the airline does not require it.

[CDNPolar]

17 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

The spread of covid cannot be controlled by a cruise company, It is up to each individual person. What do you want the company to do ; Sew a mask to faces or try to stop each person from getting close to another??? Many people with symptoms do their best to hide them and mingle freely with others because they don't want to be confined to their cabin.

And yes, most likely these people will board flights unless they are forced into confinement by Australia. If they fly, many won't wear a mask if the airline does not require it.

This has been a major discussion in other forums on CC.  It is well established that many with mild symptoms will NOT step up for voluntary testing because they are afraid of being isolated and losing their freedom.  This is pure selfishness and disregard for their fellow human being.

 

We sail on December 29th and start our travels on December 26th.  We will be PCR tested before leaving home - required or not - and we will be masked except when in our cabin.  

 

This is not the time to trust anyone that they will do the right thing.

Edited November 13, 2022 by CDNPolar

[gold1953]

51 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

This has been a major discussion in other forums on CC.  It is well established that many with mild symptoms will NOT step up for voluntary testing because they are afraid of being isolated and losing their freedom.  This is pure selfishness and disregard for their fellow human being.

 

We sail on December 29th and start our travels on December 26th.  We will be PCR tested before leaving home - required or not - and we will be masked except when in our cabin.  

 

This is not the time to trust anyone that they will do the right thing.

I agree with all of this!. We leave on Nov 26 for B2B Reflection and will be masked as well. Already packed a lot of masks and test kits as well as gloves for self serve buffet. We did manage to pick up covid in London last month and are hoping for enough immunity to get us through this but don't trust these new variants.

[BatchawanaBabe]

12 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

This has been a major discussion in other forums on CC.  It is well established that many with mild symptoms will NOT step up for voluntary testing because they are afraid of being isolated and losing their freedom.  This is pure selfishness and disregard for their fellow human being.

 

We sail on December 29th and start our travels on December 26th.  We will be PCR tested before leaving home - required or not - and we will be masked except when in our cabin.  

 

This is not the time to trust anyone that they will do the right thing.

We just returned from a 21 day Panama Canal cruise. Upon embarkation, everyone was asked if they were sick, had a cold, cough, diarrhea, etc. Although people must have said “no” in order to ge allowed on the ship, many were coughing in the waiting area. You wouldn’t believe how many were coughing a few days later. The medical center ran out of OTC meds and the gift shop had none. Although there were doors in front of the buffet’s shelves, they were useless because people were coughing after they entered and sanitized their hands and when they went back for seconds or another course. I didn’t realize I had brought gloves until I was packing. It’s a good idea. We don’t want to cruise again in the near future. Our ship was only at 50% capacity!  I’d hate to see the spread of germs with more. 

[mom says]

On 11/12/2022 at 2:46 PM, Travelexpert35 said:

I was looking yesterday for any word of this on the Princess Cruise forum and no sign of this anywhere. Found it hard to believe no mention of it with that many people affected. We’re not comfortable booking a cruise yet so I’m going to sit back and read some reviews. 

I'm not sure how you missed this since it's been on the Princess main page since Friday:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2893149-over-800-people-have-covid-on-the-majestic-princess/

 

Our Crown cruise is categorized  as an enhanced voyage so all pax had to provide proof of Vax plus a negative test before boarding. While masks weren't mandatory, the captain asked everyone to mask when indoors for the first 3 days, and the great majority  complied. Then everyone was tested again on the morning of the 4th day. All crew have been masked. Once the test results were in, the Capt. rescinded his mask recommendation, and the number of pax who remained masked dropped dramatically, while most all of the crew remained masked. Since we still have 23 days to go on this cruise, DH and I will continue to mask when indoors and in crowds. I can't control anyone else's actions, but I can do what I can to mitigate our chances of getting ill.

 

[CDNPolar]

4 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

 

We've discussed this over several weeks. Are the cruise companies dropping health protocols too fast?

 

IMO, incidents like the Majestic Princess's mass outbreak is to be expected under the present regime. Re-imposing vax, testing and mandates would help reduce the spread onboard.

 

Here's an interesting thought. The management in the cruise industry aren't stupid. They must expect mass outbreaks on their ships!

 

Could they be transitioning to a new strategy. Transferring the risk and costs to the pax and their insurers.

 

Pax get inflected when they don't follow recommended protocols. Destination requires tests. The infected pax are discovered. The ships unload them. “Check with their insurance company!!!”

 

Transferring the risk and cost to the insurance companies won't last long.

 

Insurance is different in every country, but in Canada in the beginning of the pandemic, no insurance gave any coverage for Covid.  Did not matter what the cause or result was.  Things have changed a bit now.

 

We have coverage for a December cruise and a March cruise.  Both with different insurance companies, but similar.

 

IF we test positive prior to leaving we can cancel and be covered.  IF we test positive during, our interruption is covered.

The only condition now is that if we catch covid during the cruise and we traveled against a no travel or no non-essential travel issued by the Canadian government then we are not covered.

 

Currently there is no travel advisory...

 

Insurance companies will turn this off quickly if they are getting beaten up by claims, and / or the government will issue a no travel cruise warning and essentially take away our coverage.

 

We ONLY have $700 per person hotel and food cost if we were forced to isolate in a hotel in any city regardless of any of the above.

 

[gold1953]

4 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

 

We've discussed this over several weeks. Are the cruise companies dropping health protocols too fast?

 

IMO, incidents like the Majestic Princess's mass outbreak is to be expected under the present regime. Re-imposing vax, testing and mandates would help reduce the spread onboard.

 

Here's an interesting thought. The management in the cruise industry aren't stupid. They must expect mass outbreaks on their ships!

 

Could they be transitioning to a new strategy. Transferring the risk and costs to the pax and their insurers.

 

Pax get inflected when they don't follow recommended protocols. Destination requires tests. The infected pax are discovered. The ships unload them. “Check with their insurance company!!!”

 

I will agree that testing pre cruise should be mandatory. Cruiselines thought maybe more would book without. I expect that they lost more by not testing. 

[ski ww]

The medical experts have been saying for a long time covid is not over. Here in Ontario the chief medical officer is strongly recommending every one wear a mask. But they are stopping short of making it mandatory. There is no political will. 

[broberts]

20 minutes ago, ski ww said:

The medical experts have been saying for a long time covid is not over. Here in Ontario the chief medical officer is strongly recommending every one wear a mask. But they are stopping short of making it mandatory. There is no political will. 

 

I don't understand the lack of political will. It doesn't take that much imagination to realize that the resultant increased health care costs are going to force some even more difficult political decisions in the near future.

 

 

[LHT28]

seems to be a lot of push back from people on the mask issue

we were out today & hardly anyone was masked 

In Shoppers  people waiting for their flu or covid shot  were told to wear  a mask ..maybe 4 out of the 10 waiting  did

 

We wear ours in the shops  ..& the parking lot today  keeps your nose warm 😉

 

[Fouremco]

5 hours ago, ski ww said:

The medical experts have been saying for a long time covid is not over. Here in Ontario the chief medical officer is strongly recommending every one wear a mask. But they are stopping short of making it mandatory. There is no political will. 

Before he became the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Moore did an excellent job in Kingston and was one of the leading proponents of masks, vaccines and other preventative measures. Unfortunately, since his appointment to his current position, he has been forced to follow the political direction imposed upon him from above.

[deepcman]

5 hours ago, broberts said:

 

I don't understand the lack of political will. It doesn't take that much imagination to realize that the resultant increased health care costs are going to force some even more difficult political decisions in the near future.

 

 

They need to protect the healthcare system because everytime someone gets the sniffles they run to the emergency room. People use the healthcare system more than the dentist because it's free and the dentist charges. It's time to implement a small user fee to stop the frequent flyers in the emergency rooms. These days if someone coughs twice, they automatically think they have Covid and run to the hospital.

[broberts]

36 minutes ago, deepcman said:

They need to protect the healthcare system because everytime someone gets the sniffles they run to the emergency room. People use the healthcare system more than the dentist because it's free and the dentist charges. It's time to implement a small user fee to stop the frequent flyers in the emergency rooms. These days if someone coughs twice, they automatically think they have Covid and run to the hospital.

 

Oh, the condescension.

 

I suppose these sniffelers are not smart enough to use the free self tests all the provinces hand out for free? 🙄

 

The very last thing anyone should want is to discourage people from visiting emergency if they think they are sick enough to need it.