Covid on cruiseships!!!

[arxcards]

21 hours ago, Pushka said:

I guess we take a while to catch up because CDC have revoked all instructions for cruise ships. Surely next season we will be done. Was very unwell from a flu caught on a cruise ship - pre Covid - no one cared yet I suspect for someone who isn't fit then that would have resulted in a serious illness for them. 

Timing is everything. The cruise ban was going to be lifted 3 months earlier, but omicron showed-up the week before the announcement.

 

There were signs that many of the current restrictions were going to lift around Christmas time, but the current spike took care of that. Masks mandates were removed in October, and plenty of ships are cruising without them, but Princess has continued to struggle. With only 4 ships remaining here through the winter, it is a good time to drop all of the pre-boarding restrictions and monitor what happens.

[Dis Mayed]

Just off the Pacific Explorer on Friday 10th Feb from NZ with 100's of other passengers with Covid. I think it's great they isolate people actually, as there are lots of elderly people with health conditions that could die from Covid. Here is a review I just wrote about the Covid side of the trip for anyone interested. 

[Mareblu]

7 minutes ago, Dis Mayed said:

Just off the Pacific Explorer on Friday 10th Feb from NZ with 100's of other passengers with Covid. I think it's great they isolate people actually, as there are lots of elderly people with health conditions that could die from Covid. Here is a review I just wrote about the Covid side of the trip for anyone interested. 

Thank you so much for the time and effort posting this informative review.  After reading, I too feel dismayed.  I hope you are all well or recovering well.

[Pushka]

It’s good to see the preventive action but I also wonder whether right now the old and frail should be cruising just yet. 

[Mareblu]

51 minutes ago, Pushka said:

It’s good to see the preventive action but I also wonder whether right now the old and frail should be cruising just yet. 

Which preventative action?  Also, I agree with your point about old and frail, but how frail, snd how old, and who draws the line?

[MicCanberra]

56 minutes ago, Pushka said:

It’s good to see the preventive action but I also wonder whether right now the old and frail should be cruising just yet. 

They probably shouldn't, but it is their lives, if the ships allow them on, then why not.

[Pushka]

45 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

They probably shouldn't, but it is their lives, if the ships allow them on, then why not.

Of course. But if they decide to take such risks then the responsibility for their own health must also rest with them. 

[Pushka]

49 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

Which preventative action?  Also, I agree with your point about old and frail, but how frail, snd how old, and who draws the line?

As per above. Masks are preventive action. Only required in Australia and NZ and on cruises. It confirms that cruise ships are high risk in the eyes of authorities. Even Singapore has given up the mask mandate now on public buses. 

[Auscruisefam]

57 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

Which preventative action?  Also, I agree with your point about old and frail, but how frail, snd how old, and who draws the line?

No line should ever be drawn...however …
People really need to stop it with the “if I get Covid I’m going to die” line. Because if I had a virus that would literally kill me I wouldn’t waddle my way into a situation where the virus could spread easily … for example a cruise ship, and potentially kill me. It’s not everyone responsibility to keep someone else safe. (I know personally responsibility is controversial). I was on Coral Princess and I heard the “if I get Covid I will die” line one too many times. And lots of passive aggressive mask comments to go along with it. 
If people get on a ship they must be aware not everyone will follow the rules and deal with it. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Auscruisefam

[MicCanberra]

I think it is obvious that people should do what is best for themselves  in terms of health and covid risk because you cannot rely on others to do it for you.

[Fortunatefew]

On 1/29/2023 at 1:30 PM, Auscruisefam said:

I have a cruise booked in a few weeks. It will be our last until the mandates drop or at least most of them. Honestly I’m dreading the cruise,  I booked an ocean view no balcony. If I go into isolation I don’t know how I will cope. The room is small and no fresh air. I have only ever had balcony rooms and I only booked this cabin as a bet with my husband that I can actually cruise on the cheap. Obviously I can not. 
Also it’s on Luminosa, which I’ve had a few friends do and said it was absolutely crap. 
My husband is being positive and saying it’s an “adventure” meanwhile I’m completely freaking out. But it is 100% my fault for not thinking it through and trying to prove hubby wrong. 




 

Try for an upgrade to a balcony 

 

[Fortunatefew]

Having recently cruised with Princess late last year and Celebrity in mid January, it was noticeably different on the mask protocols from different cruise lines,  I liked how Princess enforced or at least tried to get passengers to wear masks.

There hand washing stations and sanitising reminders was commendable.   On the other hand Celebrity only offered sanitiser upon entry into the buffet.  Never mentioned in theatres or public indoor areas to wear a mask, it was quite noticeable to us having been on Princess not long before.   We both tested positive for covid on Celebrity towards the end of the cruise, fortunately we had a balcony.

The Celebrity captain made a public announcement that all crew did not have to wear a mask from January 6, it was up to each individual, 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Fortunatefew

[SinbadThePorter]

On 2/13/2023 at 7:18 PM, Auscruisefam said:

It’s not everyone responsibility to keep someone else safe.

 

Personally I'm a bit more selfish than that.

 

I want to not have my cruise interrupted by intubated unjabbed passengers having to be emergency medevaced from my ship.

 

Since the covid vaccine minimises the risk of that, I'm all for requiring them of passengers.

[Pushka]

3 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

 

Since the covid vaccine minimises the risk of that, I'm all for requiring them of passengers.

Isn’t vaccination a requirement on all cruises? It is on some cruise lines. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

33 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Isn’t vaccination a requirement on all cruises? It is on some cruise lines. 

But only the first two doses, not the boosters. So someone who hasn't had the boosters probably had their second shot sometime in 2021 so would have minimal protection left by now.

[Auscruisefam]

3 hours ago, Fortunatefew said:

Try for an upgrade to a balcony 

 

Yep I was going to but we paid so little for the cruise the upgrade is about 2.2k just for a standard balcony upgrade. I don’t care about this cruise enough to pay that..lol. 

 

[Pushka]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

But only the first two doses, not the boosters. So someone who hasn't had the boosters probably had their second shot sometime in 2021 so would have minimal protection left by now.

Yes, understood. Kind of a pointless regulation then. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

28 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Yes, understood. Kind of a pointless regulation then. 

It was essentially pointless when they first brought it in last year and, from what I've heard, the previous vaccines aren't as effective against the Omicron variants anyway. Still, every little bit helps, I guess. Unfortunately too many people just carry on regardless when they develop symptoms so Covid will spread through a ship anyway.

[Aussieflyer]

I see Viking Mars has been listed as Level 2 by NSW Health for its upcoming visit.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

I see Viking Mars has been listed as Level 2 by NSW Health for its upcoming visit.

Funny, that page was a dead link this morning. The first tier 2 in quite a while.

[Pushka]

4 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

I see Viking Mars has been listed as Level 2 by NSW Health for its upcoming visit.

Interesting. They are doing a channel 9 breakfast program on there Wednesday. 

[MicCanberra]

8 hours ago, Pushka said:

Interesting. They are doing a channel 9 breakfast program on there Wednesday. 

Lol, They will likely do a infomercial for Viking saying how good cruising is.

The on Thursday do a cruises from hell program.

[Pushka]

31 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Lol, They will likely do a infomercial for Viking saying how good cruising is.

The on Thursday do a cruises from hell program.

All of those infected people disembark today. A bunch of newbies arrive later today freshly RAT tested. 
 

We are on Mars in a few weeks going from Mumbai through ME, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, up through the Suez then Cairo and Israel. Bucket list stuff. Covid Vax 5 in a couple of weeks time. 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Pushka

[Emmas71]

On 1/28/2023 at 6:34 PM, bazzaw said:

If you really must get a dose of Covid, just make sure that you don't get it on a cruiseship 🙂  Cruiseing is the only Industry that I am aware of that has mandatory isolation of positive cases . I now have personal experience of this and once bitten, very much twice shy for me -   will not be cruising ever again until this requirement ends - if it ever does! 

 We were on the recent 6-20th Coral Princess. Hubby C positive on Sunday 12th and myself with symptoms all week until also testing positive on the 17th. 

Whilst we had mild cases ( both strong negatives by Monday 20th evening) we couldn’t have asked for anything more from our cruise…

 

Didn’t need to worry about cooking or even how we would get food ( no need to go shopping)

 

felt like a post afternoon nap cocktail or post dinner night cap- room service was brilliant.

 

we weren’t limited to normal room service either, we got the MDR for lunches and dinners to select from, we may have had to make our own bed when we asked for fresh sheets, but we could basically be ill in luxury. We loved it..

[LittleFish1976]

Captain of Queen Elizabeth announced ac ouple of days ago that there had been 'an uptick in covid cases' and that masks would be a good idea. Well, things got serious quickly as he announced yesterday that the advice from their land-based health team was that masks must be made compulsory immediately. Crew have all been wearing masks since we boarded on the 14th February with varying degrees of commitment to covering their noses. Anyway, there are still some hold-outs amongst passengers but most have complied and staff are enforcing compliance in the buffet, at least. Most passengers will disembark on Monday, 27th in Melbourne although some will get off in Sydney tomorrow and there are quite a few on board who are going on to Singapore (and probably beyond).

 

The ship appears to be listed still as tier one on the NSW site.