A coughing fest on Riviera. PSA: PLEASE cover your mouth and nose

[tine-tine]

1 hour ago, Momnipotent said:

Exam, blood work, IV antiviral and antibiotic, meds. 

She says still in shock, please don't tell me that was all to diagnose and treat covid?🤯😱 !!!!

[Badin]

Sorry you have Covid. 🤮

Does Oceania have hand sanitizing stations available?  Do they post prevention information such as cover your cough, wear a mask if you are feeling ill, wash your hands? 

Hope your case is mild....

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, Badin said:

Does Oceania have hand sanitizing stations available?  Do they post prevention information such as cover your cough, wear a mask if you are feeling ill, wash your hands? 

Hope your case is mild....

most O  pax are  old enough to know this   but sadly  they do not follow common sense

 

yes there are gel stations around the ship  also public washroom  sinks  soap  with running water  sadly some people do not know how to use them 🙄

 

[cruisr]

7 hours ago, Momnipotent said:

Exam, blood work, IV antiviral and antibiotic, meds. 

Wow, I am sorry you got covid but the way people were hacking on the July 19 I am not the least bit surprised.  I am shocked about the charges.  I don’t understand the antibiotic meds as they do no work against viruses unless they were give  for a bacterial infection in addition to covid.  Will Medicare reimburse you as it could be described as an emergency treatment.  Blood work seems odd, too.  

[cruisr]

2 hours ago, Badin said:

Sorry you have Covid. 🤮

Does Oceania have hand sanitizing stations available?  Do they post prevention information such as cover your cough, wear a mask if you are feeling ill, wash your hands? 

Hope your case is mild....

Yup, people just ignored those common sense rules.  

[DOJO466]

1 hour ago, cruisr said:

Wow, I am sorry you got covid but the way people were hacking on the July 19 I am not the least bit surprised.  I am shocked about the charges.  I don’t understand the antibiotic meds as they do no work against viruses unless they were give  for a bacterial infection in addition to covid.  Will Medicare reimburse you as it could be described as an emergency treatment.  Blood work seems odd, too.  

My visits to the medical center on my "free cruise" cost me $6900. This was in Oct 2019. I was admitted for 9 days in horrible hospital in Lisbon with Acute Bronchitis. Primary Care and Pulmonologist at home feel it was Covid at the very early days of it in Europe. Permanent lung damage.

   Medicare would not cover the bill but fortunately my travel insurance reimbursed me..

[Momnipotent]

12 hours ago, Badin said:

Sorry you have Covid. 🤮

Does Oceania have hand sanitizing stations available?  Do they post prevention information such as cover your cough, wear a mask if you are feeling ill, wash your hands? 

Hope your case is mild....

Yes, quietly placed all around the ship. We  ran into several that were empty. There are some notices, and I do commend them for not letting guests serve themselves at the buffet. But more should be done. It's our first cruise since 2019. Our 15th with Oceania. We have one more in November and I think that'll be it for us. It's too bad. 

[LHT28]

10 minutes ago, Momnipotent said:

. But more should be done. It's our first cruise since 2019.

Suggestions?

 

 This will be our 1st cruise since 2019

 I am going with EWO

we are taking our masks  & always have hand sanitizer  with us  & do use the  gel stations

We also  try not to use the public w/c we go back to our cabin

We wash our hands after the W/C  (others do not)

We wash  our hands  with soap & water 

we use gel when soap & water are not  possible

We try not to touch the railings  elevator buttons with our hands   If we must we  wash them ASAP

 

not germophobes but  knowing that others  do not have basic hygiene  in their DNA  we try to protect our selves

YMMV

 

[SATaxman]

36 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Suggestions?

 

 This will be our 1st cruise since 2019

 I am going with EWO

we are taking our masks  & always have hand sanitizer  with us  & do use the  gel stations

We also  try not to use the public w/c we go back to our cabin

We wash our hands after the W/C  (others do not)

We wash  our hands  with soap & water 

we use gel when soap & water are not  possible

We try not to touch the railings  elevator buttons with our hands   If we must we  wash them ASAP

 

not germophobes but  knowing that others  do not have basic hygiene  in their DNA  we try to protect our selves

YMMV

 

I did all of this pre-Covid.

Wiped down airplane seats, hotel rooms, cruise cabins. Used a wipe or gel after touching menus. 

[Momnipotent]

6 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Suggestions?

 

 This will be our 1st cruise since 2019

 

 

I would like to see the cruise line require a negative test before boarding, but I realize that won't happen. We never shared tables or went to the shows. You will always have to ride elevators, shuttles and tenders with others. I'm truly at a loss as to how to avoid it because I feel like we were quite careful. 

[LHT28]

22 minutes ago, Momnipotent said:

I would like to see the cruise line require a negative test before boarding, but I realize that won't happen. We never shared tables or went to the shows. You will always have to ride elevators, shuttles and tenders with others. I'm truly at a loss as to how to avoid it because I feel like we were quite careful. 

We avoided  it for 3 years 

DH went to the Legion  in Feb to play snooker  2 days later he was coughing .. took the test

2 days later  I got it

Unless you stay home  where you know your house is sterile (relatively clean in my case) 

You just need to do your best to stay healthy

[cruisr]

Avoid tour buses and the concierge lounges.  Too many people in each and poor circulation.  Don’t play trivia without a mask and don’t wait in the lounge as people were crammed in there waiting for their tours/tenders etc.   Get out of the lifts is someone is coughing and hope you fellow passengers are more considerate than the lot on July 19.

[Heartfelttraveler]

Husband and I went to Costa Rica for two weeks June of 2022.  We were in the rain every day for two weeks.  We wore our mask religiously and sanitized every place we went.  I came home with a cold - not sick.  Husband had a medical procedure the week we got home so we both took covid tests.  I was positive and he was negative.

Stop reading here if you are easily offended....

We shared a bed, food, drinks and kissed a lot.  He never got sick.

 

I only had my cold/Covid symptoms for about 3 1/2 days.  Tested negative after six days.

 

We have been on several trips since then and managed to stay healthy.

 

If we see   people coughing and looking run down, we start wearing our masks.  I don't know how well they actually work, but our philosophy is that it is better safe than sorry.

[ORV]

8 hours ago, cruisr said:

Will Medicare reimburse you as it could be described as an emergency treatment.

FYI, Medicare does not work out of the US. This is why once you go on Medicare it's important to have Travel Insurance or a supplement that will cover you out of the country. I've been spoiled with a medical plan that covers internationally, fortunately never had to use it. That all comes to an end at the end of the month. But I'll save enough on premiums to afford another cruise annually. 

Edited August 16, 2023 by ORV

[1985rz1]

54 minutes ago, ORV said:

FYI, Medicare does not work out of the US. This is why once you go on Medicare it's important to have Travel Insurance or a supplement that will cover you out of the country. I've been spoiled with a medical plan that covers internationally, fortunately never had to use it. That all comes to an end at the end of the month. But I'll save enough on premiums to afford another cruise annually. 

As you say, some Medicare Supplement plans do cover foreign travel.  Ours has a $250 deductible per year and pays 80% of costs to a lifetime maximum of $50,000.  Of course not every plan is available in every state.

Edited August 16, 2023 by 1985rz1

[Protseq]

On 8/16/2023 at 1:54 PM, Heartfelttraveler said:

Husband and I went to Costa Rica for two weeks June of 2022.  We were in the rain every day for two weeks.  We wore our mask religiously and sanitized every place we went.  I came home with a cold - not sick.  Husband had a medical procedure the week we got home so we both took covid tests.  I was positive and he was negative.

Stop reading here if you are easily offended....

We shared a bed, food, drinks and kissed a lot.  He never got sick.

 

I only had my cold/Covid symptoms for about 3 1/2 days.  Tested negative after six days.

 

We have been on several trips since then and managed to stay healthy.

 

If we see   people coughing and looking run down, we start wearing our masks.  I don't know how well they actually work, but our philosophy is that it is better safe than sorry.

This time last year, my wife and I took back to back Princess cruises.  First leg was a Norway cruise, followed by a repositioning cruise back to the States.  We self-tested for the second leg and were 

both negative for Covid.  Repositioning cruise started out fine,  but on the last port visit, many were

coughing and sneezing on the tour bus.  Well, I came down with covid, wife was negative, and I was quarantined in a separate cabin.  Yes, keep those masks handy, avoid those crowded elevators (possibly were I got infected).

[Vineyard View]

Just one more reason for us to not take bus tours. We have always avoided them. We took an excursion tour earlier this year using an bus early on our first sailing since Covid  (not Oceania) and it just reminded us how much we dislike that situation.
No one was coughing for the most part on the entire cruise. Towards the end two women were coughing everywhere, going into all venues, and never covering their mouths. The entire cruise though we avoided crowded areas, used stations, ate outdoors or at tables away from others. Towards the end of the cruise we ended up in a crowded situation in a lounge after we had ordered caviar,  where one of those women sat near us and was coughing her head off and not covering her mouth. We should have walked away from the caviar. I caught it for the first time with symptoms starting on the plane as we were almost home. Isolated 10 days, took paxlovid. This after being so strict no one came in our home for a year during the beginning and only entertaining outdoors for extended times, only for an inconsiderate, selfish human who decided she cared only for herself. Who knows how many people she spread it to. 
I guess my take away is that if we want to travel, we have to accept that there are selfish people in all walks of life about a lot of things, including illness. We risk this or hibernate and stop traveling. DH and I did that long enough, and we aren’t getting any younger. So hopefully we still have some great adventures coming up. We can’t control what others do. 

[SATaxman]

17 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Just one more reason for us to not take bus tours. We have always avoided them. We took an excursion tour earlier this year using an bus early on our first sailing since Covid  (not Oceania) and it just reminded us how much we dislike that situation.
No one was coughing for the most part on the entire cruise. Towards the end two women were coughing everywhere, going into all venues, and never covering their mouths. The entire cruise though we avoided crowded areas, used stations, ate outdoors or at tables away from others. Towards the end of the cruise we ended up in a crowded situation in a lounge after we had ordered caviar,  where one of those women sat near us and was coughing her head off and not covering her mouth. We should have walked away from the caviar. I caught it for the first time with symptoms starting on the plane as we were almost home. Isolated 10 days, took paxlovid. This after being so strict no one came in our home for a year during the beginning and only entertaining outdoors for extended times, only for an inconsiderate, selfish human who decided she cared only for herself. Who knows how many people she spread it to. 
I guess my take away is that if we want to travel, we have to accept that there are selfish people in all walks of life about a lot of things, including illness. We risk this or hibernate and stop traveling. DH and I did that long enough, and we aren’t getting any younger. So hopefully we still have some great adventures coming up. We can’t control what others do. 

This concerns me. We have 8 ports on our next O cruise. 2 we are doing our own thing, have been before. 2 are 16 and under O tours. The other 4 do not have the 16 and under options. Big busses and people coughing sounds like a disastrous combination. Still looking.

[Vineyard View]

We booked one using the credits for Tunisia 16 and under. Wouldn’t have really wanted to explore that port independent. Using the rest of the credits I used for a boat - not sure if it’s a yacht as described or a catamaran as someone else had, but it’s not a bus. It’s DIY or private on the rest of the ports for us. 

[DrHemlock]

21 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

We booked one using the credits for Tunisia 16 and under.

The dilemma remains the same.  "16 and under" doesn't guarantee more space between coughers; more likely, it just means a smaller vehicle designed to carry 16 people in basically the same configuration as a larger bus (if not even tighter, like a big minivan with bench seats rather than individual).  There simply is no better solution than "protect yourself" -- and even that is by no means foolproof.

[Vineyard View]

10 minutes ago, DrHemlock said:

The dilemma remains the same.  "16 and under" doesn't guarantee more space between coughers; more likely, it just means a smaller vehicle designed to carry 16 people in basically the same configuration as a larger bus (if not even tighter, like a big minivan with bench seats rather than individual).  There simply is no better solution than "protect yourself" -- and even that is by no means foolproof.

Cannot disagree with you. Absolutely the truth. There are very few places we sail to that we would feel more comfortable with an organized ship group. Tunisia is one of them, so we will need to be extra careful. The boat in Santorini I am much more comfortable with. 

[roberts2005]

1 hour ago, DrHemlock said:

The dilemma remains the same.  "16 and under" doesn't guarantee more space between coughers; more likely, it just means a smaller vehicle designed to carry 16 people in basically the same configuration as a larger bus (if not even tighter, like a big minivan with bench seats rather than individual).  There simply is no better solution than "protect yourself" -- and even that is by no means foolproof.

We did the small group tour last year in Israel.  Small van and full.  Better off in a large bus sitting in the back..

[jonthomas]

Did you do that with the ship?

[Vineyard View]

34 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

We did the small group tour last year in Israel.  Small van and full.  Better off in a large bus sitting in the back..

That is disheartening to hear, but thanks for the warning. Maybe Tunisia will be an in port sea day. Particularly since it is an 8 1/2 hr day. Will have to think about this. 

Edited August 19, 2023 by Vineyard View

[roberts2005]

Years ago when we did Tunisia, we went by ship tour bus to Carthage and then to souk.  Not to much bus time. Nothing in the port area.