At sea with Covid: a positive report about a positive test result

[bnickle]

Welp, it’s been a voyage. Highs and lows of waves, temperatures, and enough phlegm to keep the CDC busy for decades to come. 

 

We’re on the Emerald (comin’ at ya LIVE, ya’ll!) headed from Southampton to Ft. Lauderdale.  We had sipped our way through Bordeaux, enjoyed the Cherbourg Countryside, sampled tapas in Spain, and enjoyed Portuguese pixtos and wine. We were looking forward to relaxing, enjoying some sea days, and heading home after a delightful finish to a long retirement tour. Then….sniff sniff. Cough cough. 

 

I had a sore throat and congested head suddenly one evening. Next morning, called the medical center. They were at the door promptly, and gave each of us a test. I had several self test kits with us, and we had tested every three days since we had left home several weeks before. The last test, taken two days before, had been negative, and we had no symptoms, so when my test was positive I was surprised. And probably a little curt with the poor Princess med tech. “Are you **** kidding me” was probably not a shining moment for me, but there it was.

 

Once you test positive, things move quickly. We were given the choice of my husband staying in the cabin, enjoying some freedom of movement around the ship, and being monitored by testing every few days, or he could come with me to the isolation deck and he would also be completely isolated.  He said there was no choice; he was coming with me. Which was sweet of him (and I already think the sun shines because he lets it) but I have worried the entire time we’ve been in our iso digs that he’d get sick. Anyway…the decision was made, belongings were randomly thrown into suitcases, and we were taken up to the Aloha deck to our new palace on the sea.  

 

That was Tuesday, Nov 15, and we are still in our comfy cozy quarters, awaiting tomorrow morning’s test, which will determine if we stay longer or go back to our original quarters.

 

Things to know:

- I need to write a letter of apology (I was angry and felt crappy and took it out on people who were simply following policy) and of gratitude to Princess. The staff has, without exception, been kind and understanding and patient. All the things I try to be, but failed at this last week. 

- Once you test positive, Princess works hard to soften the sharp edges of a bad situation. The medical staff was in continual contact with us, patiently answering questions. Guest services checked on us a couple of times each day, ensuring that all our needs were met. The room service team was kind and patient and always offered a cheerful query as to how we were feeling. 

- You can order anything off of any of the menus (Supplemental charges still apply for premium restaurants), and Princess does it’s best to see that your choices are varied as if you’re sitting at a table in the Main Dining Room.

- The crew that works the iso floor, delivering food, messages, drinks, laundry, and just random stuff that you suddenly need right now because YOU ARE SICK, DANG IT simply does not get paid enough for the patience and kindness they show in their front-line duties. We are appreciative of their sunny smiles and cheerful tolerance of my sick-bed grumpiness. 

- My outlook improved tremendously when I realized that I may be ill, and feeling crappy, but I’m still sitting on a balcony in 74 degree weather, looking out over a calm ocean, sitting beside my handsome boyfriend and sipping down all the cold water I can get my hands on. Life is still good. 

- Lastly, I did not know the human body could produce so much phlegm. Seriously. TMI, I totally get, but…dude. I’m expecting a call from Ripley’s Believe it or Not any day now. 

 

Any questions, drop ‘em here. Happy to answer ‘em. In the meantime, wash your hands. Then wash them again. And, like we were told at our CC Meet and Greet, if you have the slightest indication something is not quite right, call the med center. That is all. 

[lacy20]

What type of cabin were you transferred to for isolation? Hopefully, a balcony?

[bnickle]

Yes, I think all of the iso cabins have balconies. We’ve been hanging out, chatting with other people along the deck also hanging out on their balconies. It’s a special club. (That no one really wants to be in, but here we are.)

[Cruise Raider]

Thank you for your review as well as your humanity to realize how hard the crew works.  Such a positive report even though you are not feeling the best.  
get well soon and try to enjoy the remainder of your cruise.  

[LidoLiz]

Hey, I think I waved to you yesterday! I think we are four cabins down.

Agreed on how good, and how hard-working our crew is. Nothing but fast service and empathy.

 

 

[Coral]

Looks like you are the 3rd couple from our roll call group to have joined the Aloha deck.

 

I am so sorry! I hope you start feeling better soon. I am glad Princess is taking care of you.

 

Do you know how many cabins are affected on your deck. Someone mentioned 17 cabins?

[chubbypiggy]

Was your original cabin a balcony cabin?  I wonder if one booked a mini suite, if need to go into isolation, will Princess also give them a mini suite?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[memoak]

This is way different from my experience on the Royal where we never heard from medical once we tested positive. Thrown into isolation with hundreds of others, Pilates of dishes pile up for days outside the cabin etc. probably due to how many were quarantined. There were so many of us that when we disembarked the line wound all the way around prom deck

[bnickle]

6 minutes ago, Coral said:

Looks like you are the 3rd couple from our roll call group to have joined the Aloha deck.

 

I am so sorry! I hope you start feeling better soon. I am glad Princess is taking care of you.

 

Do you know how many cabins are affected on your deck. Someone mentioned 17 cabins?

 

I can’t say; the most we can do is poke our head out the door and glance up and down the hallway. They have tables in front of our doors (we call it the DMZ) where the staff puts anything they are dropping off, like dinner, or laundry, or anything we’ve ordered. But when I do the glance, it seems like all the doors up and down the hallway has it’s own DMZ and we really don’t know how many are actually filled.

[bnickle]

8 minutes ago, LidoLiz said:

Hey, I think I waved to you yesterday! I think we are four cabins down.

Agreed on how good, and how hard-working our crew is. Nothing but fast service and empathy.

 

 

 

Yeah! We were all out there chatting yesterday! And totally agree; the crew is full of empathy and kindness and frankly they are working their behineys off.

[Coral]

1 minute ago, bnickle said:

 

I can’t say; the most we can do is poke our head out the door and glance up and down the hallway. They have tables in front of our doors (we call it the DMZ) where the staff puts anything they are dropping off, like dinner, or laundry, or anything we’ve ordered. But when I do the glance, it seems like all the doors up and down the hallway has it’s own DMZ and we really don’t know how many are actually filled.

That is funny - DMZ. At least you are handling this with humor. 🙂 

[Coral]

6 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

Was your original cabin a balcony cabin?  I wonder if one booked a mini suite, if need to go into isolation, will Princess also give them a mini suite?

 

I don't think so. Aloha deck doesn't have mini suites and that is where the COVID wing is.

 

I don't have first hand experience though.

[bnickle]

4 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

Was your original cabin a balcony cabin?  I wonder if one booked a mini suite, if need to go into isolation, will Princess also give them a mini suite?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were in a mini-suite, and we went to a balcony cabin. Do not think a mini-suite is an option. But, in a letter that was given to us when we were moved, several salient points were outlined for our info. Among the information shared was that Princess will pro-rate the cruise into days, and the days that we are in isolation will be applied as future cruise credit. Also, they handle all bookings and cancellations for anything we had previously scheduled and paid for, and no penalties for cancelling. We have access to daily laundry service, Princess waives all costs of care and medications (unless you want Paxlovid, and that really should be considered carefully). 

[bnickle]

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

This is way different from my experience on the Royal where we never heard from medical once we tested positive. Thrown into isolation with hundreds of others, Pilates of dishes pile up for days outside the cabin etc. probably due to how many were quarantined. There were so many of us that when we disembarked the line wound all the way around prom deck

I am so sorry that happened to you! I think Princess has refined and firmed up several policies for dealing with Covid; the medical team is very accessible and they also reach out to check on us.

[chubbypiggy]

Just now, bnickle said:

We were in a mini-suite, and we went to a balcony cabin. Do not think a mini-suite is an option. But, in a letter that was given to us when we were moved, several salient points were outlined for our info. Among the information shared was that Princess will pro-rate the cruise into days, and the days that we are in isolation will be applied as future cruise credit. Also, they handle all bookings and cancellations for anything we had previously scheduled and paid for, and no penalties for cancelling. We have access to daily laundry service, Princess waives all costs of care and medications (unless you want Paxlovid, and that really should be considered carefully). 

That is good info to know.  Thanks.

[sunviking90]

So sorry you are going through this. I really respect your self reflection that you weren’t your best self and that may have affected others. I think we could all use a little self reflection at times! 
We are also on this cruise, and I want to say thank you for doing the right thing and reporting your symptoms. We are no longer attending the shows and avoiding crowded spaces as we hear so much coughing around us. As we’ve heard time and time again, these longer cruises can be especially fertile ground for Covid.

[memoak]

4 minutes ago, bnickle said:

I am so sorry that happened to you! I think Princess has refined and firmed up several policies for dealing with Covid; the medical team is very accessible and they also reach out to check on us.

They can probably handle it since there are only a few of you. On the Royal it looked like most of port side Dolphin deck was filled

[bnickle]

5 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

So sorry you are going through this. I really respect your self reflection that you weren’t your best self and that may have affected others. I think we could all use a little self reflection at times! 
We are also on this cruise, and I want to say thank you for doing the right thing and reporting your symptoms. We are no longer attending the shows and avoiding crowded spaces as we hear so much coughing around us. As we’ve heard time and time again, these longer cruises can be especially fertile ground for Covid.

One thing (not a complaint, just a thought,) my handsome boyfriend and I were talking about, is that it would be nice if they could show the shows on TV like they do the morning show. We have loved the shows so far and would love to see tonight’s. Pretty sure having a separate “covid section” would defeat the purpose of isolation, but we do miss seeing the shows.

[memoak]

15 minutes ago, bnickle said:

We were in a mini-suite, and we went to a balcony cabin. Do not think a mini-suite is an option. But, in a letter that was given to us when we were moved, several salient points were outlined for our info. Among the information shared was that Princess will pro-rate the cruise into days, and the days that we are in isolation will be applied as future cruise credit. Also, they handle all bookings and cancellations for anything we had previously scheduled and paid for, and no penalties for cancelling. We have access to daily laundry service, Princess waives all costs of care and medications (unless you want Paxlovid, and that really should be considered carefully). 

If you wait for Princess to get the FCC’s to you it will take forever. We bugged our CVP who escalated it and it still took 2 months. In our case we had to quarantine in Canada per their laws Hotel and meals close to $5,000 and just got that back last week. Still waiting on checks for our casino winnings since you can’t cash out from isolation 

[sunviking90]

Just now, bnickle said:

One thing (not a complaint, just a thought,) my handsome boyfriend and I were talking about, is that it would be nice if they could show the shows on TV like they do the morning show. We have loved the shows so far and would love to see tonight’s. Pretty sure having a separate “covid section” would defeat the purpose of isolation, but we do miss seeing the shows.

A couple dining next to us (we all have tables for 2 but chat a bit) said they watch the shows on their cabin tv. I looked and have not found them, only the lectures. 

[bnickle]

2 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

A couple dining next to us (we all have tables for 2 but chat a bit) said they watch the shows on their cabin tv. I looked and have not found them, only the lectures. 

Wow. I’ve looked too; seems like it’d be a good idea to keep crowds down a little in the theatre. If you find them let me know!

[MichiganFisherman]

28 minutes ago, DrSch said:

And this is why we cant have nice things.

 

 

So every person aboard should call medical center if they get a sniffle, sneeze, a slight cough aboard is what you're suggesting ? It's almost December and I assure you that Princess wants the opposite of what some are suggesting. They don't want you to come to medical because all that does is make things worse for them if 2000 people shown up at medical on every ship because they sneezed. 

[DrSch]

If you get a sniffle.. no.  

 

If you get a scratchy throat, feel a little out of sorts, tired possibly.

 

If you get  a fever absolutely.  Fever is going to be covid or flu this time of year, both are highly contagious.

 

Princess (and all of Carnival's lines) are going back to requiring masks.. so that should help control it

Edited November 18, 2022 by DrSch

[bnickle]

3 minutes ago, MichiganFisherman said:

So every person aboard should call medical center if they get a sniffle, sneeze, a slight cough aboard is what you're suggesting ? It's almost December and I assure you that Princess wants the opposite of what some are suggesting. They don't want you to come to medical because all that does is make things worse for them if 2000 people shown up at medical on every ship because they sneezed. 

They don’t want you coming to the med center. They want to come to you. Yes, the slightest issue, call them. They will take it from there. Sniffles, cough, headache, anything out of the ordinary. They have beefed up the staff, and they are amazingly quickly responsive and very helpful. Making that phone call as soon as anything seems off is what helps to keep it from spreading at such a rapid rate.

[dog]

1 hour ago, bnickle said:

One thing (not a complaint, just a thought,) my handsome boyfriend and I were talking about, is that it would be nice if they could show the shows on TV like they do the morning show. We have loved the shows so far and would love to see tonight’s. Pretty sure having a separate “covid section” would defeat the purpose of isolation, but we do miss seeing the shows.

Your posts make me smile- first post you talk about your devoted husband joining you in isolation & in a couple of other posts you have that handsome boyfriend with you on the balcony. Lucky!!

Hope you are all feeling better soon!