Quirky Cruiser

We traveled on the Harmony last month and my youngest son tested positive on the re-entry test for unvaccinated children on our last sea day. He was completely asymptomatic. If you test positive on the ship, as of today's policies (I will say this because I think they are very fluid at this point) you would be quarantined in a different location on the ship. You do not disembark with the regular passengers. You are escorted off the ship with the rest of your party onto the dock along with the rest of the isolated passengers and family members. Immigration is on the dock and they do have a list of people, but they don't ask anything (or at least in our case) about how you are traveling home. Royal will provide you with a letter that explains what they will cover as far as lodging, transportation, meals, etc and how you will be reimbursed. We lived within driving distance, so we were escorted to the parking garage, but nobody really follows you once you are off the ship. At that point, it is up to you to figure out what you will do and when you will travel. I guess it would be the honor system. Also, we have cruised many times in the past and while we used to have to put our information as to how we were traveling to and from the port, we didn't have to on this last cruise. Try to take a deep breath and realize that Covid is everywhere now and not just on cruise ships. You have just as good of a chance catching it at the supermarket. It's just a risk you have to assume, but don't let it ruin your cruise thinking about it. September is two months away and honestly, lots can happen in that timeframe...

If this is the case, then why would he expect Royal to help them? Had he tested positive onboard you are handed a letter upon disembarking that has all the info and phone numbers to handle post cruise expenses and accommodations. Also, probably shouldn’t jump to conclusions saying there were ambulances that met the ship at the port because of Covid patients. There are many other reasons ambulances can be there. On a cruise prior to Covid, we sadly lost a passenger (according to friends sailing with the family) due to a heart attack. An ambulance met the ship when we docked to disembark because it happened on one of our last sea days.

Also, just a heads up - since they are not considered fully vaccinated, they will need to be tested to re-enter the US on your last sea day. The ship will provide you the time and location for this test. Just keep your fingers crossed they come back negative at that point!

We went to Walgreens and did rapid NAAT tests for all of us. Kids need to be done 3 days prior to sailing and vaccinated adults need to be done two days prior. It was quick and easy and done at the drive-thru. We tested the kids. We had results within 2 hours and they were emailed to us. You can schedule appointments 5 days prior.

It’s not in the rules to have me tested. I had no symptoms, nor did I even get it. I have had it twice before. I tested prior to cruising per their rules and was negative. There is no such thing as a close contact anymore since we were close contacts with 5900 passengers as well. The only people they test are unvaccinated children and those who report symptoms to them. Get off your soapbox of thinking I didn’t follow the rules.

Good grief. We sail with them all the time. Gave an account to the OP of what it was like when my asymptomatic son tested positive on day 7. It will all be irrelevant soon enough since Covid jail will come to an end like all the either mandates.

Respectfully, we will agree to disagree.

Thankfully we didn’t even need to do this, lol. Just said no, we are vaccinated. Made a phone call and then told us we are all set. Easy peasy!

Exactly why the whole thing is laughable. Besides, any doctor will tell you that when you’re sick, the best thing to do is get fresh air and vitamin D. We had a balcony cabin and if my son was indeed sick, he should have been able to sit out there. But instead they put you on a room that offers none of that. In the end my husband didn’t end up there with my son until almost 3pm (6 hours after testing) and we were off the ship by 7 the next morning. The family next to us on the dock got in a van and went to the airport - no questions asked. Again, they satisfied their protocols by checking the box. Once you are down there or off the ship, they look the other way.

I know that you think these are the only people on board that have Covid, but there had to be tons of others. I know two people who we met at one of the bars who said they were fighting head colds and had bad headaches. My kids were in adventure ocean with kids who were sick. We were surrounded everywhere we went by people coughing and sniffling. Elevators were full of people who were. Honestly, I don't even flinch when I hear it because the normal cold still exists. By putting people in quarantine, they have "checked the box". They can say that they followed the protocols set forth. But to think there are people down there monitoring those rooms or even checking in on them is a pipe dream.

I think people have this misconception that the red zone has security or something. They are regular staterooms behind a watertight door. There is a button that opens and closes that door. Medical told me to go up to my room and pack a few things for my son and husband and then my husband called and let me know what room he was in. I walked down, the stateroom attendants opened the door (several times) and I went back and forth. None of it makes sense and this is why they are probably moving away from this and moving back towards quarantining in your own room. Not one person asked myself or others why we were down there. Heck, the woman in the room next to my son with her son had been there for a few days and she even left and went back. My husband called the nurse with a question and never even heard back. Once you're back there, you're on your own.

I told them I am vaccinated. She made a phone call and said that I no longer needed to be tested. We obviously tested prior to getting onboard and were negative. My husband was down in the red zone and they asked him to test and he told them he was vaccinated and she walked away. It was not confrontational at all. The only people they are required to test are unvaccinated children. I agree 1000%. If a person is even remotely nervous about catching Covid, going on vacation in general, whether it be on a cruise, to Disney, to the Grand Canyon (neighbors just came home from there with Covid), or some other place, is probably not the best thing you can do right now. We had Covid in 2020 and we have all had Covid in 2022. It is what it is. We have to learn to live with it. Like the Flu, Norovirus, etc. We lived with all of them before!

I'm on vacation, so we don't connect to Wi-fi. I don't walk around with my phone and I'm certainly not checking my email. They never even told us we could get results that way. Why would I even think he would be positive? He was running around, playing, not even a sniffle. I didn't have the slightest concern. Even when we went to medical, they asked us why we were there! Told us we needed an appointment later in the day. The whole thing was comical. There was no packing for them. I brought things back and forth to them in the red zone, while also talking to other parents standing outside rooms in the red zone. My husband said somebody donned a hazmat suit to bring them down to their room, but then after that, the people in the hallways were all just regular employees with just a face mask. No hazmat suits, no face shields. No biohazard bags everywhere. They would have been better off in our own cabin. By the time we take our next 7-day cruise, this testing will be long gone.

It was laughable at how it was handled. For three hours after the test he was playing in areas with tons of others. He also went to adventure ocean and on two separate nights, children left sick - one with a fever and one who threw up. Medical called both families (we talked to the families) and asked if there were any other symptoms and then stated “oh, they are vaccinated, so they are good to go!” Completely laughable at this point. People hacking all over the place last week. I’m just giving the OP a synopsis of our events. Don’t really care if somebody thinks it was correctly handled or not. My husband and I have to work even if we are positive, so life is moving on.

We just got off Harmony last week and my 7 year old was asymptomatic and tested positive on the last day (our last day was a sea day). His brother tested negative. They were tested at 9am and they sent us on our way. For the next three hours we went to breakfast, swam, went rock climbing, went down the abyss slide, went on the climber, and we were waiting for the aqua show when guest services paged us. They asked us to report to medical and despite our son not having one single symptom, they refused to let him quarantine in our room. They made him go to the red zone with my husband. They asked me to quarantine with our other son in our room. I will warn you, if this happens to you, just know your rights. My son was given a room in a hallway filled with sick people. They had no towels and their toilet didn’t work. My other son and I spent the afternoon going back and forth and bribing them towels, food, clothing, etc. one of the stateroom attendants showed me how to get in and out and we were so grateful. They did page me later that afternoon because they wanted to test my husband and I, but we refused. You are allowed to do this. I needed to stay with my other son and pack. They never checked on us after that. Guest services ushered us off the ship last Sunday and we did immigration on the dock. They handed us a letter detailing how many days we were being reimbursed for and what to do if we were flying home. We drove so they sent us on our merry way. My son never had a single symptom. I spent a long time arguing with guest services and medical over why my son wasn’t allowed to come back to our room and they kept quoting the CDC. I will say, they do believe this is coming to an end soon. They all thought it was rediculous to put him in the red zone. They also think this portion of the testing may be ending soon too since it was more a US requirement and the airline requirement just ended. Hopefully you will never need to go through this, but just know that the results aren’t instant. Had we been at the pool, we would have never heard the page. And no, they don’t send people out to look for you. They paged people all day - same names over and over. They are just checking the box and moving on….