Voyager - Rio to BA - Norovirus and Covid

[silkismom]

We have Regents insurance.

[NYC-London]

7 minutes ago, silkismom said:

We have Regents insurance.

Read the thread about insurance - in the future you may want to consider and investigate obtaining your insurance from an entity separate and not related to Regent - CC has some great information regarding travel insurance - it is very informative and worth reading

[Pcardad]

8 minutes ago, silkismom said:

We have Regents insurance.

Sorry, I do not know as we buy Allianz - cheaper and better coverage. I am sure there is a customer contact number in your paperwork.

[NYC-London]

There is an individual on YouTube with a channel dedicated to cruising - he was also on this cruise and got sick with the "stomach bug" the second day and spent almost the entire week isolated in his cabin. It seemed like he had the cruise from h???, with the icing on the cake that Regent sent him to the wrong airport for the trip home. So far he has only provided snippets of information, anxiously awaiting for his full review.

[silkismom]

My TA didn't give me a choice. SS uses Allianz, guess I assumed Regent did too.

[NYC-London]

4 hours ago, silkismom said:

My TA didn't give me a choice. SS uses Allianz, guess I assumed Regent did too.

Then you consider changing TA because they are obviously more interested in earning a commission, which on some insurance policies can be quite generous. Most seasoned travels know to get their insurance independent of the tour operator. There is an excellent thread in this board regarding insurance and the news story in question involves Norwegian cruise lines which is the parent company of Regent. The TA commissions from Regent are quite substantial so your TA should not be insisting that you purchase a specific policy from one specific source. 
 

A good TA does what is best for the customer, not their pocketbook.

[PhD-iva]

15 hours ago, cstein said:

We board on Voyager February 19. Spoke to RTA today, who spoke with Regent, who denies they are under code red.

On Voyager now, embarked in BsAs. Yesterday was FIRST day not under Code Red. Now smth like code orange, if that exists. Things are starting to get back to normal, but captain announced yesterday that it takes another 48 hours of no new cases to completely eliminate all restrictions.

Having a great cruise! Service in CR last 2 nights has been flawless. No complaints!

[ysolde]

We'll be on Voyager March 19.  Keeping an eye on this thread.

[asnaleah]

We highly recommend Steve at tripinsurancestore.com. I wouldn’t ever buy insurance from the cruise line or my travel agent.

[NYC-London]

3 hours ago, asnaleah said:

We highly recommend Steve at tripinsurancestore.com. I wouldn’t ever buy insurance from the cruise line or my travel agent.

I also recommend Steve at tripinsurancestore.com - we have been buying our insurance from him for a few years and have always been very happy and satisfied - he ALWAYS looks after what is best for the customer, which can not be said of cruise lines and some TAs.

[redraider1966]

While we're not on Voyager until late May, we're following this thread closely, particularly with regard to further reports of COVID and noro.  The latter is the first among equals of concerns for us if it is indeed true that pax are normally allowed to self-serve at La Veranda in contrast to Oceania's standard which we very much prefer.

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, redraider1966 said:

if it is indeed true that pax are normally allowed to self-serve at La Veranda

It is true, and we hope that does not change on Regent

[PhD-iva]

Last night at dinner, a staff member confirmed that there is currently at least one case of Covid on board.
Dinner service at compass Rose continues to be excellent. It is not a fast-paced meal; from beginning to end it can take almost 2 hours. The group I have been with are not in a hurry, but I assume if we were, we would be able to accelerate the pace.
Food has been excellent, I am especially impressed with the included wines. When on my first Regent cruise, it was a little bit hard to find something acceptable to me. On this cruise there are a lot of good included wines. 
Due to weather, Port Stanley was canceled. Therefore, we had 8 sea days in a row. Two of those days we spent in Antarctica getting up close and personal to all the wondrous beauty around us. The lecturers have been excellent, and the list of activities is good. The two days we were cruising through Antarctica. The number of daily activities was extremely limited. The purpose was to allow the passenger, the ability to spend as much time as they wanted, enjoying our presence in that unique environment.
I should mention that Super Bowl was a big hit. The constellation theater was jampacked. We “tailgated” prior to the start of the game. I enjoyed having a hotdog, buffalo wings, mac & cheese, and other goodies. 
more later

[redraider1966]

On 2/12/2024 at 10:28 AM, flossie009 said:

It is true, and we hope that does not change on Regent

For those Regentphiles who prefer self-service buffets, I certainly would expect that they maintain good personal hygiene habits to help minimize outbreaks of noro or worse, such as what has led to the quarantining of NCL's Dawn over this weekend, or prolonged code reds.

[silkismom]

Any reports about/from the Voyager lately? We board in about 12 days.

[CardowMD]

With the NCL quarantine now on ship out of Cape Town, wondering if someone supplying NCL ships in Cape Town is a carrier of some type of exotic virus. So far no one has diagnosed the problem and it seems to be a long duration. Would US CDC ever get involved?

[flossie009]

15 hours ago, redraider1966 said:

outbreaks of noro or worse, such as what has led to the quarantining of NCL's Dawn over this weekend

..... the quarantine having proved to be unnecessary and simply based on unfounded rumours

Seatrade report

[redraider1966]

1 hour ago, flossie009 said:

..... the quarantine having proved to be unnecessary and simply based on unfounded rumours

Seatrade report

Fine, so you are still prepared to experience documented outbreaks of noro and extended code red periods just to have your precious self-serve buffet . . . .

[mrlevin]

16 minutes ago, redraider1966 said:

Fine, so you are still prepared to experience documented outbreaks of noro and extended code red periods just to have your precious self-serve buffet . . . .

Yes, this Aggie really likes self service buffet; and, no, in over 700 days of cruising I have never come down with norovirus (or covid) onboard.

Edited February 27 by mrlevin

[flossie009]

29 minutes ago, redraider1966 said:

Fine, so you are still prepared to experience documented outbreaks of noro and extended code red periods just to have your precious self-serve buffet . . . .

Are self-serve buffets really the cause of noro outbreaks?

If so we must have dodged many bullets in our many years of cruising and enjoying buffets on land & sea.

 

[Pcardad]

7 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

Are self-serve buffets really the cause of noro outbreaks?

If so we must have dodged many bullets in our many years of cruising and enjoying buffets on land & sea.

 

It is because people are nasty and can't be bothered to wash their hands.

[CardowMD]

After visiting buffet, Sanitizer your hands when you sit down to eat, make sure silverware wiped and you should be ok. 

[redraider1966]

20 hours ago, CardowMD said:

After visiting buffet, Sanitizer your hands when you sit down to eat, make sure silverware wiped and you should be ok. 

So perhaps you can provide a "medical" view as to why when outbreaks of noro occur and cruise ships that indulge their pax with self-service buffets immediately impose "code red" drills and draft crew members to serve said pax (in addition to other measures such as removing salt/pepper shakers) until the "emergency" is declared over?

[fizzy]

I could be wrong but I think I remember (oddly) that the casino was open during a code red.

[pappy1022]

Could it be because that the casino makes money?