Covid now a non issue?

[Silkroad]

5 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

LOL, I know I know, that's why I said above to please let me moan and whine one more time and yet, there I go, I just can't seem to stop!  Haha, @RichYak, ok, heard!  I really need to get over this!  However, if one of us does test positive on our B2B tests on our upcoming multiple Eclipse cruises, I will be back, you won't have heard the last of me, LOL!!  

I hope you do come back to start a thread about your experiences with testing on your Australia/New Zealand cruises. We have a similar b2b booked in March/April 2024 so I am closely monitoring posts made by those who are cruising there this season. I hope you have a wonderful vacation!

[ljk76]

On 2/7/2023 at 5:13 PM, judla said:

Does X still require a proctored covid test 2 days prior to sailing?  We are scheduled for a TA in April and want to know if I need to order the kits or not.

Me too! We are on the Apex 4/22 crossing. While looking for a link to the proctored tests I discovered this

 

Pre-Arrival Covid-19 Testing

All guests ages 2 and older must present a digital or physical copy of a negative COVID-19 test result at check-in to board their sailing.  

Guests must present a negative antigen test result taken within 2 days prior to sailing and no more than 2 days before their sailing.

Accepted tests are PCR or antigen tests taken in person, supervised virtually, or unsupervised self-administered. Proof of a negative test can be the printed or digital results, a clear photo of your self-test result, or your actual self-test in hand.  

 

 

not at all sure how I feel about relying on the self administered test…how do I prove the date or even that it’s my test, actually? Wouldn’t mind saving the $ and hassle of the proctored test. Trying to find out what others are doing.

[ljk76]

On 2/8/2023 at 9:13 AM, drakes2 said:

My sister and I are doing a 15 night TA on Apex in April. Requirements for this cruise is self administered testing 2 days prior. 

We are on this cruise as well. Are you doing a proctored test or just a self administered? 

[drakes2]

2 hours ago, ljk76 said:

We are on this cruise as well. Are you doing a proctored test or just a self administered? 

It just requires self test unless something changes.

[drakes2]

3 hours ago, ljk76 said:

Me too! We are on the Apex 4/22 crossing. While looking for a link to the proctored tests I discovered this

 

Pre-Arrival Covid-19 Testing

All guests ages 2 and older must present a digital or physical copy of a negative COVID-19 test result at check-in to board their sailing.  

Guests must present a negative antigen test result taken within 2 days prior to sailing and no more than 2 days before their sailing.

Accepted tests are PCR or antigen tests taken in person, supervised virtually, or unsupervised self-administered. Proof of a negative test can be the printed or digital results, a clear photo of your self-test result, or your actual self-test in hand.  

 

 

not at all sure how I feel about relying on the self administered test…how do I prove the date or even that it’s my test, actually? Wouldn’t mind saving the $ and hassle of the proctored test. Trying to find out what others are doing.

I just got off a Princess cruise Saturday and they didn't need any test at all. 

[cruising teacher]

6 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

I just got off a Princess cruise Saturday and they didn't need any test at all. 

Princess, Carnival, Holland America are not requiring Covid tests on Transatlantics. Are u listening Celebrity?

[drakes2]

Just now, cruising teacher said:

Princess, Carnival, Holland America are not requiring Covid tests on Transatlantics. Are u listening Celebrity?

No but there was quite a few coughing and hacking onboard and crowded elevators.  I'm sure covid was onboard.

[OnTheJourney]

On 2/7/2023 at 11:14 PM, luvtravel said:

I know  this isn’t a popular topic - with me either, but we’re booked on a May cruise with Celebrity and really looking forward to it. I’ve noticed that there is never a mention of covid anymore on ships.   Hoping this means it hardly happens anymore on cruises .. or is it people just don’t talk about it.  Know the ships just don’t want to know in case it costs them $.  We just want to be prepared.  Thanks for any input!

I don’t think covid will ever be a non-issue going forward as long as variants come along. I got covid on a cruise a few months ago and that’s after masking almost all the time. Just completed another cruise and by the time it ended lots of people coughing, blowing nose, etc. Increasing number of people masking by the time the trip ended. Still lots of hotel staff masking where we stayed and a few requirements to mask on buses during a few excursions depending on port policy. This is likely the new normal, IMHO.  

[drakes2]

31 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Hoping this means it hardly happens anymore on cruises .. or is it people just don’t talk about it.  

There's still covid in ships and you are correct.... people do not want to talk about it.  You can mask up, wash your hands and stay clear of others but can still get it, more so on a ship that's almost full capacity. 

[OnTheJourney]

Drakes, I totally agree. Ship crew isn’t masking as much anymore either. I must say that masking takes a good bit of the fun out of traveling. Not the same anymore. 

[Keksie]

1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

Drakes, I totally agree. Ship crew isn’t masking as much anymore either. I must say that masking takes a good bit of the fun out of traveling. Not the same anymore. 

We have been traveling more and more.  This year we have a lot planned including a cruise again.  Except for a plane ride in 2020 we have not had to wear a mask once.  I think covid is only an issue on these boards and on a few cruises that go to a few countries.  Now as in our daily lives it is easy to avoid those protocols that make a trip not fun.

[Jim_Iain]

7 hours ago, lexmiller said:

No B2B testing is occurring for Caribbean cruises or any other cruises though I don't know about Singapore, but I can tell you for sure that the Aussie/NZ/SoPacific itineraries are requiring monitored B2B tests - done by the crew to you. You remain on board the Eclipse if you test positive, you do not disembark.  You remain in your cabin in covid jail for 5 days if Aussie ports, 7 days if NZ ports.  If your partner is positive and you are negative, your covid positive partner has to remain in your cabin, but you get to still proceed as usual - move about the ship, get off in ports - but, you are tested daily to make sure you are still negative, before you are allowed your daily adventures to begin.   And many of the testimonials have been that their partner never tested positive and they the actual positive person, didn't feel sick at all or just minimally. 

The B2B test on the Eclipse is (oddly IMHO) occurring on the turn around day - meaning, the last day of the first cruise, the first day of the second cruise.  You are assigned an appointment time to be tested.  All accounts that I have read on the active roll calls on the alternative social site,  have said that the test occurs late in the afternoon on turnaround day, before the ship leaves port.  This is very different from all of us that have experienced B2B testing on other ships in other ports earlier during the pandemic, but, whatever - this is what is happening now, on the Eclipse, down under.  

 

Thanks for the information.    I'm pleased with them not tossing your off this ship with the hazmat ghost buster squad in front and back of you like we experience last April.

 

Your reports are similar to the protocol on Summit in September TA to Iceland/Greenland and back.  At that time those that tested positive stayed in original cabin for 5 days and spouse was offered to stay in isolation or move to empty cabin.    The difference but potentially the same that if you tested positive again at the 5 day point you were quarantined for the remainder of the cruise.    Have you heard of anyone that tested positive after the 5 days?

 

This cold be concerning as when we caught Covid with asymptomatic symptoms we both tested Positive using our home Antigen kits for 11 days.  

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, drakes2 said:

There's still covid in ships and you are correct.... people do not want to talk about it.  You can mask up, wash your hands and stay clear of others but can still get it, more so on a ship that's almost full capacity. 

I have to agree 100% with you.   When we were diagnosed last April on a B2B we were asymptomatic.  I took a self test at midnight (so I wouldn't worry all night) and was negative  -   7AM tested and was positive -   I honestly thought it was a false positive  but confirmed the next 11 days I was positive.   Had I not been tested by the ship, I would have believed I was Negative.

 

Also as others said the Self Test with Self Report are probably useless except for a good feeling.    It gives me no sense of security or serenity knowing I have to trust everyone on the ship to be responsible.

 

What would stop anyone from taking one test and both people take a separate picture of the same test.   Scenario 2 -  if someone doesn't even swab their nose and just put the sterile q-tip in and run the test.     Scenario 3 -  Someone with minimal technological knowledge changes the metadata of the picture to show the test being taken on a different date.

[nijh]

5 hours ago, drakes2 said:

No but there was quite a few coughing and hacking onboard and crowded elevators.  I'm sure covid was onboard.

Could well be Covid, but remember we used to call it ‘cruise cough’ when we came off a cruise before 2020?  Not every snuffle is Covid, and even if it is you got your vaccine, yeah?

[drakes2]

12 hours ago, nijh said:

Could well be Covid, but remember we used to call it ‘cruise cough’ when we came off a cruise before 2020?  Not every snuffle is Covid, and even if it is you got your vaccine, yeah?

Yes I know some are just colds coughs and sore throats. Feeling much better now fortunately just a slight sniffle and cough and sore throat has gone  Have had 5 boosters including the Bi Valent in November also flu shot.  

[lexmiller]

15 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Thanks for the information.    I'm pleased with them not tossing your off this ship with the hazmat ghost buster squad in front and back of you like we experience last April.

 

Your reports are similar to the protocol on Summit in September TA to Iceland/Greenland and back.  At that time those that tested positive stayed in original cabin for 5 days and spouse was offered to stay in isolation or move to empty cabin.    The difference but potentially the same that if you tested positive again at the 5 day point you were quarantined for the remainder of the cruise.    Have you heard of anyone that tested positive after the 5 days?

 

This cold be concerning as when we caught Covid with asymptomatic symptoms we both tested Positive using our home Antigen kits for 11 days.  

HI, Jim, so the very interesting thing about the Eclipse cruises now down under, is that NO RETESTING is occurring - you are sentenced to your term and you are released "to the minute" exactly 5 days after your sentence was imposed if Aussie ports, or 7 days after your sentence was imposed if NZ ports - NO further testing at all. (which makes total sense in a scientific way, but well, what can I say, I am merely the messenger).  Passengers have reported that for instance, they are supposed to be set loose on whatever day, but not until 3pm because that's the precise time they were found positive, so if that day of release is a port day, they still have to sit around their cabin dawdling until exactly 3pm, missing that day in port.  However if their cabin mate were to test positive say on day 3 of their partner's original 5 day sentence, then their positions are reversed - the original person gets released after 5 (or 7) days, but now their partner is the one who is in captivity.  

[Markanddonna]

Just off the MSC Divina and the cruise director had COVID for five days. We unfortunately had to use the medical center several times and no one there wore a mask. My had three antigen and one PCR test that week with all negative results.

 

Colombia required either a COVID vaccination record or testing before the cruise. The staff never asked to see my card. I asked them about it before I left the embarkation counter, and they said they already saw it. No they didn't!  It was in my purse!

 

It didn't seem like COVID was a big deal on that cruise but there were plenty of hackers who haven't learned to cover their coughs.

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, lexmiller said:

HI, Jim, so the very interesting thing about the Eclipse cruises now down under, is that NO RETESTING is occurring - you are sentenced to your term and you are released "to the minute" exactly 5 days after your sentence was imposed if Aussie ports, or 7 days after your sentence was imposed if NZ ports - NO further testing at all. (which makes total sense in a scientific way, but well, what can I say, I am merely the messenger).  Passengers have reported that for instance, they are supposed to be set loose on whatever day, but not until 3pm because that's the precise time they were found positive, so if that day of release is a port day, they still have to sit around their cabin dawdling until exactly 3pm, missing that day in port.  However if their cabin mate were to test positive say on day 3 of their partner's original 5 day sentence, then their positions are reversed - the original person gets released after 5 (or 7) days, but now their partner is the one who is in captivity.  

That is even better.   Even though still rather restricted.   I'm assuming those joining the TA that test positive will not be able to even board as the requirement is you must show a negative test.    The good news (not really good) is that the Full Refund is still in force for those testing prior to the cruise.   I think it ends after our cruise.

 

I was really concerned about the testing.    We are on a 7 Day Key West Belize cruise followed by a 15 day TA.    I was envisioning getting tossed off in Fort Lauderdale and having to fly to Amsterdam where my SIL and BIL join us for a British Isle Cruise 

 

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, nijh said:

Could well be Covid, but remember we used to call it ‘cruise cough’ when we came off a cruise before 2020?  Not every snuffle is Covid, and even if it is you got your vaccine, yeah?

 

Our December cruise showed "Cruise Cough" very prevalent many not even bothering to cover their mouth.    I came down with it after 13 days onboard and eventually gave it to Iain.  I took a Covid test and was negative and took another a couple days later and was still negative.   We were going to a Christmas party 10 days after the cruise and all agreed to self test before -  again remained negative.

 

I looked up my symptoms by day and was able to diagnose -   I had the Common Cold. 

 

 

[broadwaybaby123]

COVID is still here, I know quite a few people who recently recovered from it.  The thing is, you're just as likely to get it on a ship as you are anywhere else.  Plus, the strains that are out now are much milder than the original strain, even if they're much more easily transmissible.

 

I still wear my mask by choice.  I'm an Activity Director for a 55+ Retirement Community and I want to be sure I don't pass COVID on to my residents.  I'm in contact with hundreds of people daily, so it seems like such a small sacrifice to make to help minimize the spread.

Edited February 11, 2023 by broadwaybaby123

[jerseygirl3]

Hubby and I were due to board a cruise this morning. Hubby tested positive on Thursday so we had to cancel. The first test he took on Wednesday  ( started mild symptoms Tuesday night) was neg. Had he not tested again on Thursday we prob would have gone since today he is feeling better. I wonder how many people don’t bother to test again after one neg and still get on the ship?

[all2me]

Few test at all! So sorry you had to cancel with Covid. You are being considerate of others! My husband has Covid right now. We are home. Tested Thurs. I am still neg…but have a nagging cough? First time ever for poss test. And we cruised 3 tx during Covid!  Thankful he tested before going to visit his mom in nursing home. He has bad cold sypmtoms. Feels miserable. Thankful our nxt cruise is in 4 wks! 

[lexmiller]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

That is even better.   Even though still rather restricted.   I'm assuming those joining the TA that test positive will not be able to even board as the requirement is you must show a negative test.    The good news (not really good) is that the Full Refund is still in force for those testing prior to the cruise.   I think it ends after our cruise.

 

I was really concerned about the testing.    We are on a 7 Day Key West Belize cruise followed by a 15 day TA.    I was envisioning getting tossed off in Fort Lauderdale and having to fly to Amsterdam where my SIL and BIL join us for a British Isle Cruise 

 

Hi, again Jim - So first you are on a 7 day cruise - no test, self or otherwise,  to board that cruise is my presumption.  And to board the TA which is a B2B - walk me through that though I think you already have mentioned this so forgive me for asking you to repeat - if you were only on the TA, you could present a self-test, correct?  But because the TA just happens to be the backside of another cruise, you have to submit to a monitored test, performed upon you by the crew?  Is that correct?  It's the monitored bit that is problematic......

[rmalbers]

I think that covid is a bigger issue for the crew.  Just got of EQ and a couple of MDR crew were wearing masks for the first couple of days then they weren't.  These were not new crew either so I assume they were coming off covid.   The MDR staff was reduced which really caused issues with serving.  

[WonderMan3]

2 hours ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

COVID is still here, I know quite a few people who recently recovered from it.  The thing is, you're just as likely to get it on a ship as you are anywhere else.  Plus, the strains that are out now are much milder than the original strain, even if they're much more easily transmissible.

 

I still wear my mask by choice.  I'm an Activity Director for a 55+ Retirement Community and I want to be sure I don't pass COVID on to my residents.  I'm in contact with hundreds of people daily, so it seems like such a small sacrifice to make to help minimize the spread.

It’s easier to manage social distancing/avoid indoor spaces where you are unmasked when you are not on a cruise ship though. Unless you want to be ordering room service or dining in Oceanview Cafe for every meal onboard, you are going to wind up in an enclosed dining room at some point. Clearly that is the greatest transmission point on cruise ships as I have read countless posts here from cruisers who wore masks everywhere onboard inside or on excursion buses, avoided groups of people, etc.  but they did dine unmasked in the dining rooms and got Covid. It’s just putting 2+2 together.