Illness and cabin question.

[debnrick]

If you come down with the flu, norovirus or Covid while onboard .. will they let you stay in your own cabin to quarantine or do they move you somewhere else? 

[jsglow]

You'll likely be asked to stay in your cabin. The days are over for set aside 'Covid wards'.

[eas2225]

On the Horizon this past May, my husband tested positive for covid, while I was negative.  This was on day 3 of the cruise, after my husband was coughing and having difficulty breathing.

 

They offered to move me to an interior cabin (we were in an extended balcony) so I could still enjoy the cruise with our friends, but I stayed with him in our original cabin.

 

Carnival treated us great while quarantined!  We were able to order food from anywhere, even specialty restaurants, and they gave us free wifi and movies.  The medical team called both morning and evening to see how my husband was feeling, and we were given a future cruise credit for the cruise days missed.

 

Since we had insurance, we were reimbursed for our medical costs and trip interruption.

 

Eileen  

 

 

 

[ninjacat123]

42 minutes ago, eas2225 said:

On the Horizon this past May, my husband tested positive for covid, while I was negative.  This was on day 3 of the cruise, after my husband was coughing and having difficulty breathing.

 

They offered to move me to an interior cabin (we were in an extended balcony) so I could still enjoy the cruise with our friends, but I stayed with him in our original cabin.

 

Carnival treated us great while quarantined!  We were able to order food from anywhere, even specialty restaurants, and they gave us free wifi and movies.  The medical team called both morning and evening to see how my husband was feeling, and we were given a future cruise credit for the cruise days missed.

 

Since we had insurance, we were reimbursed for our medical costs and trip interruption.

 

Eileen  

 

 

 

That is great to hear that Carnival took care of you and your husband so well.  Sorry he got sick.  Did Carnival have Covid-specific meds available, like pterostilbene?  TIA!

[Haljo1935]

12 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

That is great to hear that Carnival took care of you and your husband so well.  Sorry he got sick.  Did Carnival have Covid-specific meds available, like pterostilbene?  TIA!

Just commenting - My experience is you will have to pay medical costs, include medications, before disembarkation. Then it's reimbursement via insurance., if applicable. 

Hopefully they'll be able to answer about the availability of specific drugs 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Haljo1935
Typo

[debnrick]

Good question about what meds they have available for covid. Anxiously awaiting responses. And does anyone know what they charge for an office visit? And for the covid meds if available? 

I contracted norovirus about 10 years ago onboard and it was horrible! Sicker than I’d ever been. Only lasted a couple days. Medical gave me meds which helped tremendously.  I quarantined in my cabin and was brought bland food (all in plastic and disposable dinnerware) for my stomach issue. Rice. Chicken broth, jello, etc. …. Which was great when super sick and needing to eat. We did get free movies and onboard credit. But here is the thing ….. we were never charged a penny for anything!! Must have been an error on their part because we waited for a bill or for it to show on our account. It never did. But again, we were treated very well and appreciated it tremendously. 

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, debnrick said:

If you come down with the flu, norovirus or Covid while onboard .. will they let you stay in your own cabin to quarantine or do they move you somewhere else? 

Dont see this addressed but for the flu I am not sure they will quarantine you. I got that respiratory thing last dec on royal and medical sold me cough drops and nightquill but did not quarantine me when I tested negative for covid. 

 

I would guess it's at the direction of the ship medical how its handled for flu or respiratory. I skipped the shows and Mdr but unless I tested positive for covid thru dont waive delivery fees for food to the cabin all the time. A friend did got confined to his cabin. Similar symptoms. 

 

I'm not sure flu is a cut and dried answer.

[eas2225]

3 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

That is great to hear that Carnival took care of you and your husband so well.  Sorry he got sick.  Did Carnival have Covid-specific meds available, like pterostilbene?  TIA!

He was given paxlovid, which was $750.00 and an antibiotic.  Everything was reimbursed.

[eas2225]

The total bill for his visit to the medical facility was $1134.00 and it included the visit, chest xray, blood work, Covid test and medications.

I worked in a hospital for 22 years and was very impressed with the facility and the care we got from everyone on the staff.

[SASA13]

5 hours ago, eas2225 said:

On the Horizon this past May, my husband tested positive for covid, while I was negative.  This was on day 3 of the cruise, after my husband was coughing and having difficulty breathing.

 

They offered to move me to an interior cabin (we were in an extended balcony) so I could still enjoy the cruise with our friends, but I stayed with him in our original cabin.

 

Carnival treated us great while quarantined!  We were able to order food from anywhere, even specialty restaurants, and they gave us free wifi and movies.  The medical team called both morning and evening to see how my husband was feeling, and we were given a future cruise credit for the cruise days missed.

 

Since we had insurance, we were reimbursed for our medical costs and trip interruption.

 

Eileen  

 

 

 

That is good info.    Bravo Carnival.

 

[DrSea]

4 hours ago, debnrick said:

Good question about what meds they have available for covid. Anxiously awaiting responses. And does anyone know what they charge for an office visit? And for the covid meds if available? 

I contracted norovirus about 10 years ago onboard and it was horrible! Sicker than I’d ever been. Only lasted a couple days. Medical gave me meds which helped tremendously.  I quarantined in my cabin and was brought bland food (all in plastic and disposable dinnerware) for my stomach issue. Rice. Chicken broth, jello, etc. …. Which was great when super sick and needing to eat. We did get free movies and onboard credit. But here is the thing ….. we were never charged a penny for anything!! Must have been an error on their part because we waited for a bill or for it to show on our account. It never did. But again, we were treated very well and appreciated it tremendously. 

Norovirus care is usually free on most lines. They have an incentive to quarantine you because ports can refuse the ship if a certain percentage threshold is crossed.  

 

It spreads like wild fire on cruise ships and the elderly can develop complications, like kidney failure. And it's spread just by touch. All those tongs, elevator buttons, door handles, etc. suddenly become sources of where you can contract norovirus. 

[angelsfort]

Here's my advice.

be sure to take care of yourself while you're on board, take control of your own health by making sure don't touch anything on board unless you are washing your hands very soon after.  If you're on your way to the MDR for dinner and hold the handrail as you walk down the stairs, go to the bathroom and wash your hands before you sit down to eat (and use a papertowel or disposable glove to open the door to leave the restroom)

bring some disposable gloves and use them if you are eating at the buffet (or anywhere that you will be serving yourself and touching utensils that others are also touching).  wash your hands before putting on the gloves, grab utensils from the back of the bucket and then when you're done getting your food, etc, take off the gloves before unrolling your napkin, or touching your silverware or anything on your plate.   

 

I also bring my own drink cup, so I don't have to use the cups by the drink dispensors - we get the bottomless bubbles package and get drinks at the bars before we go get our food.  (you often see folks grabbing a cup that is stuck to another cup and they grab hold of both cups to separate them and then put one of the cups back on the clean cup stack - we avoid those!)

don't touch your face unless you've just washed your hands OR you are very sure that you haven't touched anything since you last washed.

 

basically wash your hands thoroughly and often - be sure to use proper handwashing - don't touch your face if you don't have to...  hand sanitizer is good in a pinch but it has been proven that it's not 100% effective against all germs, so handwashing is your best bet.

[carribbound]

I would never even report it unless I needed medical intervention. We pack mucinex, acetaminophen, ibuprofen and nyquil/dayquil. I pack my own covid tests. 

[klfrodo]

I wonder how the rapid spread of diseases get started anyway. Just makes me go hmmmm?

[ninjacat123]

Just now, klfrodo said:

I wonder how the rapid spread of diseases get started anyway. Just makes me go hmmmm?

And how some people are like Teflon and the virus bounces right off of them where as others are susceptible.  Very interesting....

[Tiger0613]

3 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

And how some people are like Teflon and the virus bounces right off of them where as others are susceptible.  Very interesting....

My somewhat uneducated theory is that I am usually in the Teflon group because I wasn't sheltered when I was growing up.  My parents didn't bring me to disease parties, but they also didn't stop me from touching surfaces that were likely unsanitized.  I was able to do all of the disgusting stuff kids do.  My body was possibly able to build immunity because I was exposed to alot of the nasty stuff that didn't have a vaccine while I was younger.

Edited September 14, 2023 by Tiger0613

[MrBill923]

See my Covid post in Holland forum from earlier today, for last weeks sailing.  

[momof3cruisers]

My son came down with Covid in Feb on day three of our five day cruise. They offered to move me to a different cabin which I didn’t want. The kid was miserable and I couldn’t imagine leaving him alone. (He’s 21 but still…) As long as I had no symptoms, I did not have to quarantine and only he received a FCC for those last two days. He also got Wi-Fi, extended free room service etc.  I still spent the vast majority of the next two days in our room with him. 

 

He did not receive Paxlovid on the ship (though we both did end up getting an Rx once we were back in FL. I tested positive the day after we got home.) The test for Covid was $125 though they would do a flu test for free. They gave him Vitamin C, an antihistamine, throat lozenges, Tylenol and a decongestant for free. The stores don’t carry any cold related OTC meds. 

[sparks1093]

On 9/13/2023 at 8:00 AM, debnrick said:

If you come down with the flu, norovirus or Covid while onboard .. will they let you stay in your own cabin to quarantine or do they move you somewhere else? 

I had a touch of stomach bug on Glory this past April and I was confined to cabin. They didn't charge me for the medical visit, gave me some meds, refunded my excursion and gave me a future cruise credit for a pro rated share of the cruise fare that I "lost" by being confined to the cabin. Room service was also included but I was restricted to a bland diet for that. I was happy with Carnival's handling of the situation.

[Butterbean1000]

On 9/13/2023 at 11:59 AM, eas2225 said:

He was given paxlovid, which was $750.00 and an antibiotic.  Everything was reimbursed.

A classic case of travel insurance coming in handy.  It's reassuring that they took such good care of your husband.

[Eli_6]

We weren't on Carnival, but when my husband got Noro on a cruise, we were BOTH quarantined to our cabin.  I never got sick and still was quarantined.  😞

[klfrodo]

4 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

We weren't on Carnival, but when my husband got Noro on a cruise, we were BOTH quarantined to our cabin.  I never got sick and still was quarantined.  😞

Did you file a claim for lost cruise days? Trip Interruption covers being quarantined.

[angelsfort]

On 9/13/2023 at 10:48 PM, Tiger0613 said:

My somewhat uneducated theory is that I am usually in the Teflon group because I wasn't sheltered when I was growing up.  My parents didn't bring me to disease parties, but they also didn't stop me from touching surfaces that were likely unsanitized.  I was able to do all of the disgusting stuff kids do.  My body was possibly able to build immunity because I was exposed to alot of the nasty stuff that didn't have a vaccine while I was younger.

 

Exactly this.

I worked in a daycare for several years and when I FIRST started working there, I was sick for months...  had a constant running nose!  It was so annoying but...   once I got through that short period and my body built up those immunities to the new germs I was being exposed to, I never got sick.  

 

I believe there was a study that showed that if you constantly use hand sanitizer or lysol everywhere you go - that you are MORE likely to get sick when do you get exposed to something because your body has not been given the chance to build up any sort of immunity.  Your body is really good at taking care of you if you only give it the chance to do so!

[ninjacat123]

35 minutes ago, angelsfort said:

 

Exactly this.

I worked in a daycare for several years and when I FIRST started working there, I was sick for months...  had a constant running nose!  It was so annoying but...   once I got through that short period and my body built up those immunities to the new germs I was being exposed to, I never got sick.  

 

I believe there was a study that showed that if you constantly use hand sanitizer or lysol everywhere you go - that you are MORE likely to get sick when do you get exposed to something because your body has not been given the chance to build up any sort of immunity.  Your body is really good at taking care of you if you only give it the chance to do so!

I taught exercise classes for 14 years (really sweaty ones😉) and I think that helped me with staying healthy by raising my core temp and cooking out whatever was trying to make me ill.  Now that's just a theory but I'm sticking with it👍

[angelsfort]

3 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

I taught exercise classes for 14 years (really sweaty ones😉) and I think that helped me with staying healthy by raising my core temp and cooking out whatever was trying to make me ill.  Now that's just a theory but I'm sticking with it👍

 

you never know!!  (it didn't hurt that you were exposed to all the germy people when you were teaching too!  LOL)