Cancelled my cruiise

[JohnGc]

Disappointedly I have had to cancel my cruise after keeping an account of the latest covid situation on several cruise ships. Some people seem to handle being positive with Covid and isolation with meals being delivered on time and good medical attention etc and others not so. I have read comments where the blame is entirely aimed at the passengers whom have ignored the rules and rightly so, but I must admit when cruising was at the stage of returning so much was promised by the cruise lines regarding the safety of passengers ie no self serve buffets , air conditioning with HEPA filtering fitted ( has that been done ? and reduced passengers to allow distancing, that also is obviously not happening on embarkation and disembarkation as well. I think short cruises is disguising how much covid is caught on board as it appears to be showing up 2/3 days after disembarkation .I wish the cruise companies would give an honest report of the amount of covid on board to the public to stop any speculation. If my wife and I were not immunocompromised and a lot younger maybe we would have chanced it. Hopefully things will get better in the future. Out of interest I wonder if there are many that have cancelled cruising or the idea of it since the latest cruise cases. These are just my opinions. To all those going on a cruise try and stay safe and enjoy. I would like to thank all those that take the time to give honest reports ( good and bad )  for one, seeing I am not cruising, this forum gives me a bit of a fix.😊     

 

 

[MMDown Under]

10 minutes ago, JohnGc said:

Disappointedly I have had to cancel my cruise after keeping an account of the latest covid situation on several cruise ships. Some people seem to handle being positive with Covid and isolation with meals being delivered on time and good medical attention etc and others not so. I have read comments where the blame is entirely aimed at the passengers whom have ignored the rules and rightly so, but I must admit when cruising was at the stage of returning so much was promised by the cruise lines regarding the safety of passengers ie no self serve buffets , air conditioning with HEPA filtering fitted ( has that been done ? and reduced passengers to allow distancing, that also is obviously not happening on embarkation and disembarkation as well. I think short cruises is disguising how much covid is caught on board as it appears to be showing up 2/3 days after disembarkation .I wish the cruise companies would give an honest report of the amount of covid on board to the public to stop any speculation. If my wife and I were not immunocompromised and a lot younger maybe we would have chanced it. Hopefully things will get better in the future. Out of interest I wonder if there are many that have cancelled cruising or the idea of it since the latest cruise cases. These are just my opinions. To all those going on a cruise try and stay safe and enjoy. I would like to thank all those that take the time to give honest reports ( good and bad )  for one, seeing I am not cruising, this forum gives me a bit of a fix.😊     

 

 

I think you have made a wise decision, under your immunocompromised state and age.  For people like you, it has been a worrying time because no-one likes to cancel a cruise. 

There are so many wonderful places in Australia where you can travel, with less risk at this time.  I was just reading about Cape Tribulation, where the rainforest meets the ocean, such a beautiful place.  

Take care of yourself. 

[Cbtours]

1 hour ago, JohnGc said:

Disappointedly I have had to cancel my cruise after keeping an account of the latest covid situation on several cruise ships. Some people seem to handle being positive with Covid and isolation with meals being delivered on time and good medical attention etc and others not so. I have read comments where the blame is entirely aimed at the passengers whom have ignored the rules and rightly so, but I must admit when cruising was at the stage of returning so much was promised by the cruise lines regarding the safety of passengers ie no self serve buffets , air conditioning with HEPA filtering fitted ( has that been done ? and reduced passengers to allow distancing, that also is obviously not happening on embarkation and disembarkation as well. I think short cruises is disguising how much covid is caught on board as it appears to be showing up 2/3 days after disembarkation .I wish the cruise companies would give an honest report of the amount of covid on board to the public to stop any speculation. If my wife and I were not immunocompromised and a lot younger maybe we would have chanced it. Hopefully things will get better in the future. Out of interest I wonder if there are many that have cancelled cruising or the idea of it since the latest cruise cases. These are just my opinions. To all those going on a cruise try and stay safe and enjoy. I would like to thank all those that take the time to give honest reports ( good and bad )  for one, seeing I am not cruising, this forum gives me a bit of a fix.😊     

 

 

Take care of each other, and enjoy life every day. 🥰🥰🙏🏻

[losfp]

Yeah everyone has to make the choice for themselves based on their own level of comfort and risk.  

 

Best of luck and I hope you can make it on a cruise some time in the future 🙂 

[OzKiwiJJ]

I understand your concerns and think you have made the right decision given your health issues.

 

I think the cruise lines - at least Princess & P&O Australia - did make serious efforts during the restart phase but realistically they probably can't continue at that level especially when local governments have removed all or most Covid restrictions. 

 

There seem to be mixed stories about embarkation, disembarkation, and even port stops. Our first cruise embarkation, in Brisbane, was a bit chaotic but everyone was on a learning curve then with the medallion stuff. Sydney embarkations were much better. Melbourne seems to be having the most issues recently, including when we stopped there for the day on the Round Australia cruise where the ship wasn't cleared until an hour or more later than expected. 

 

I believe HEPA filters have been installed in the public areas air-con on Princess but I don't know about cabins however I don't believe there is shared airflow between cabins - each cabin has to be discrete otherwise you wouldn't be able to change the temperature to suit.

 

I'm sure the shorter cruises do disguise the spread of Covid as it spreads exponentially and people who catch it are usually infectious for a couple of days before developing symptoms. The Omicron variants are very contagious.

 

I'd love to see the cruise lines crack down on inconsiderate passenger behaviour but it would be very difficult. Some people are very self-entitled these days and get quite aggressive if challenged. I'd certainly like to see more mandatory testing onboard, I'm sure having to test before going ashore flushed out a number of people on our cruise who had caught Covid but refused to report having symptoms, or who were asymptomatic.

 

Hopefully you will feel confident in cruising again in the not to distant future. 

 

Take care. 🥰

[JohnGc]

6 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I understand your concerns and think you have made the right decision given your health issues.

 

I think the cruise lines - at least Princess & P&O Australia - did make serious efforts during the restart phase but realistically they probably can't continue at that level especially when local governments have removed all or most Covid restrictions. 

 

There seem to be mixed stories about embarkation, disembarkation, and even port stops. Our first cruise embarkation, in Brisbane, was a bit chaotic but everyone was on a learning curve then with the medallion stuff. Sydney embarkations were much better. Melbourne seems to be having the most issues recently, including when we stopped there for the day on the Round Australia cruise where the ship wasn't cleared until an hour or more later than expected. 

 

I believe HEPA filters have been installed in the public areas air-con on Princess but I don't know about cabins however I don't believe there is shared airflow between cabins - each cabin has to be discrete otherwise you wouldn't be able to change the temperature to suit.

 

I'm sure the shorter cruises do disguise the spread of Covid as it spreads exponentially and people who catch it are usually infectious for a couple of days before developing symptoms. The Omicron variants are very contagious.

 

I'd love to see the cruise lines crack down on inconsiderate passenger behaviour but it would be very difficult. Some people are very self-entitled these days and get quite aggressive if challenged. I'd certainly like to see more mandatory testing onboard, I'm sure having to test before going ashore flushed out a number of people on our cruise who had caught Covid but refused to report having symptoms, or who were asymptomatic.

 

Hopefully you will feel confident in cruising again in the not to distant future. 

 

Take care. 🥰

All what you have said makes sense. It was very hard to make our decision and loose our deposit. We were so excited about the new Brisbane Cruise Terminal opening and were in the mind to do as much cruising as we could while we were able. To see it shut down for so long and cruising banned because of Covid was a massive disappointment. We have a  a cruise booked for next Oct Hawaii / Brisbane on the Quantum. Although it looks like Covid is here to stay I have my fingers crossed that situation might be a lot better by then and we could hopefully take that cruise. Thanks Julie 

[bazzaw]

The first thing the cruiselines should be doing is - closing the Lifts!!!  They were bad enough to ride in pre-Covid. I would avoid them like the plague even moreso now. 

 

[Aussieflyer]

It is disappointing to cancel a cruise but I feel it was the right decision for you at this time. I am not sure how full Quantum will be but I felt a lot more comfortable on Coral where there were less than the max passengers  and it was a smaller ship than on Majestic last week (the ship may not have been full but there were a lot of people on board). I will aim to find smaller ships I think to try to cut down on the total number of people around me.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, bazzaw said:

The first thing the cruiselines should be doing is - closing the Lifts!!!  They were bad enough to ride in pre-Covid. I would avoid them like the plague even moreso now. 

 

Then how do people in wheelchairs, mobility scooters, walkers, or just with dodgy knees, get from one deck to another? As long as everyone is masked there shouldn't be a problem. You are more at risk in theatres, or even bars when people ignore social distancing - like the group of 10-12 people who regularly squeezed themselves into a  space that would normally seat 6 people nicely spaced.

[Ned49]

2 hours ago, bazzaw said:

The first thing the cruiselines should be doing is - closing the Lifts!!!  They were bad enough to ride in pre-Covid. I would avoid them like the plague even moreso now. 

 

Unfortunately not everyone is capable of walking up the stairs so closing lifts is not an option. Masks should be provided outside every lift as sometimes people just forget until they get to the lift. Also if you see somebody without a mask say something!

[JohnGc]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Then how do people in wheelchairs, mobility scooters, walkers, or just with dodgy knees, get from one deck to another? As long as everyone is masked there shouldn't be a problem. You are more at risk in theatres, or even bars when people ignore social distancing - like the group of 10-12 people who regularly squeezed themselves into a  space that would normally seat 6 people nicely spaced.

Yes unfortunately using stairs for some would be impossible, for active people a good way to exercise.  I normally try to get a cabin not too far from the food.😁 

[OzKiwiJJ]

After much experimentation we decided the best place for a cabin on Coral was aft. I have a dodgy knee so use lifts, and the aft lifts were never busy, plus we then had a nice walk several times a day through to midships and back. 😊

[arxcards]

6 hours ago, bazzaw said:

The first thing the cruiselines should be doing is - closing the Lifts!!!  They were bad enough to ride in pre-Covid. I would avoid them like the plague even moreso now. 

 

And the tenders.

[lucymorgan]

On 12/1/2022 at 1:54 PM, JohnGc said:

Disappointedly I have had to cancel my cruise after keeping an account of the latest covid situation on several cruise ships. Some people seem to handle being positive with Covid and isolation with meals being delivered on time and good medical attention etc and others not so. I have read comments where the blame is entirely aimed at the passengers whom have ignored the rules and rightly so, but I must admit when cruising was at the stage of returning so much was promised by the cruise lines regarding the safety of passengers ie no self serve buffets , air conditioning with HEPA filtering fitted ( has that been done ? and reduced passengers to allow distancing, that also is obviously not happening on embarkation and disembarkation as well. I think short cruises is disguising how much covid is caught on board as it appears to be showing up 2/3 days after disembarkation .I wish the cruise companies would give an honest report of the amount of covid on board to the public to stop any speculation. If my wife and I were not immunocompromised and a lot younger maybe we would have chanced it. Hopefully things will get better in the future. Out of interest I wonder if there are many that have cancelled cruising or the idea of it since the latest cruise cases. These are just my opinions. To all those going on a cruise try and stay safe and enjoy. I would like to thank all those that take the time to give honest reports ( good and bad )  for one, seeing I am not cruising, this forum gives me a bit of a fix.😊     

 

 

I am sorry you have had to cancel your cruise but definitely understand.  Despite being very careful on board, a couple of days after disembarking I caught covid and it seemed to be particularly virulent as in the following days my DH and mother and then my DD caught it.  (DD was not on the cruise).  I am also immunocompromised and have multiple health issues and qualified for the antivirals.  I just wanted to mention that the anti-virals were very effective in my case - and made a huge difference within hours (from being unable to sleep lying down because of constant coughing to hardly coughing at all).  I had another cruise booked for next week but cancelled that cruise because I did not want to risk reinfection so quickly.   Here's hoping that this current wave settles down quickly as predicted by the experts.  

[JohnGc]

35 minutes ago, lucymorgan said:

I am sorry you have had to cancel your cruise but definitely understand.  Despite being very careful on board, a couple of days after disembarking I caught covid and it seemed to be particularly virulent as in the following days my DH and mother and then my DD caught it.  (DD was not on the cruise).  I am also immunocompromised and have multiple health issues and qualified for the antivirals.  I just wanted to mention that the anti-virals were very effective in my case - and made a huge difference within hours (from being unable to sleep lying down because of constant coughing to hardly coughing at all).  I had another cruise booked for next week but cancelled that cruise because I did not want to risk reinfection so quickly.   Here's hoping that this current wave settles down quickly as predicted by the experts.  

Oh that is not good. I hope you and your family are recovering well. I am sorry you have had to cancel your next cruise, you must be very disappointed. Were you relieved that you were at home when you tested positive ?  Some people have stated they would rather have Covid on a cruise than at home. I have to be honest the idea of 6/7 days of isolation in a cabin, even if it is a balcony, does not appeal to me. It is inevitable that the wife and I will catch covid eventually so it is good to know the anti-viral pills are effective. Hopefully things will settle down soon and maybe by October 2023  Covid will be even less of a problem and the wife and I can do our booked Transpacific cruise from Hawaii.

Cheers John.