TeeRick

Bo- there is very little protection on an enclosed cruise ship these days from being exposed and infected with the highly contagious Omicron and all of its subvariants. Although milder for most people, it is still treated the same on ship as Delta and other earlier versions operationally. You test positive on ship, you isolate in a lesser accommodation. And the ship struggles to help you because they are overwhelmed. Being fully vaccinated (and boosted) keeps you from serious illness but that's it. The current vaccines were derived from the original virus and they are no match at all for Omicron (for protection from infection). Period. That's why cases on board "fully vaccinated" ships are dramatically increasing as masks and distancing were eliminated. This will continue to be the case (or worse) until newer vaccines (for boosters) are better matched to Omicron. Maybe late this year.

This pretty much sums it up!

Why did you wait so long? I would have left the MDR long before that and went to the buffet.

IMHO- Use Paxlovid only when medically and operationally necessary on board. The ships (eventually) should carry a limited emergency supply of Paxlovid. To be used only in the scenario when a passenger is very ill with COVID symptoms and it would take more than a day or two to get them to a medical facility onshore due to logistics. It should not be given out like an over-the-counter type drug for anybody testing positive. This does not happen on land and should not happen at sea.

They never report an actual number of passengers or capacity in advance. It is sometimes announced on the first day or two of the cruise. They also never report the COVID infection numbers anymore. Just the CDC color code threshold if a US based cruise.

The commentary from @bananavan has been very valuable to me and hopefully to others as well in considering what to do for planning our Europe-based cruises this summer. Thank you!

Yes but the reverse is more the problem. Traveling from Europe to the USA.

Scientific ignorance- always been there. Here we cannot have a scientific discussion by rule. By the way you can catch a cold (or COVID) by standing in the cold and wind with an infected person standing right next to you breathing or talking in your face. 😀

Pfizer reported a phase II study about a week ago showing that pre-treatment (prophylaxis) of Paxlovid did not prevent infection in households with another infected person.

Remember that the 3% is the threshold reporting number by the CDC color system. There may be a higher number of infected on board. Also consider the number of people not reporting their symptoms to medical for fear of isolation.

Actually another risk of infection and contact tracing comes from excursions off ship. If a person on a tour bus (or minivan, or shared ride) becomes infected, and went to medical, then everybody on that tour bus will be tested. These excursions have been reported to be full with no social distancing and very few people wearing masks. I would avoid shared or ship excursions completely and go off on my own.

Yes this is a key point.

So sorry to hear about your ruined vacation and this unfortunate (but now unfortunately common) situation. Best of luck and thanks for posting your experience. How are you getting home?

In current times it should be called Godperson maybe?😀

Thanks! As to your food for thought- I personally agree.

I personally would not want to be isolated for days on a ship in an Inside cabin. An Oceanview would be better but still not good for me. If I had a choice I would want at minimum the ability to get fresh outside air (balcony or IV). I would imagine most would agree with this. But is it wrong to isolate in Inside cabins as you stated? Unpleasant yes, wrong probably not depending on circumstances on board. The ship needs to consider operations, logistics, number of positives onboard, etc. I would give them the benefit of the doubt that they know that infected passengers strongly prefer the ability to get fresh air. It might not be possible in some cases. Unfortunately this is reality of cruising right now.

Thank you for this link!

Instead of "Just in case Paxlovid", there is an option for COVID prophylaxis (pre-treatment of uninfected). For those about to cruise or travel in a high-risk (immunocompromised) category you might want to ask the advice from your doctor about Evusheld. This is a new drug (injectable) approved by the FDA (EUA status) recently for this purpose. Personally if I were severely immunocompromised I would check it out- but I would not likely cruise at all.

So was that the Last Straw?😀

Or just get a booster. Simple. Still no cost in the USA. Why cruise without a booster and pay an extra $42pp for each test? And have higher health risks?

Guppy99 has very good points.

There are also higher global numbers. In some countries it is still quite common.

Yes understood. But you identify yourself as having a medical background. Many here do not. So don't you think it is a rather obvious question for people to at least ask their doctors since they want to understand their options if any before traveling and cruising? So that is why you see it so often on the CC boards. I am not in support of having a just in case prescription of Paxlovid, as I have stated. But I do understand why some here are asking the question. No need to judge them for this IMO.

Everything you say is true and I agree as it seems do the majority of posters on this thread. So why are you saying "so many people"? The discussion mostly was about whether ships would carry it now or in the future- presumably to use it on label for high risk patients only. There was not a lot of discussion or support for getting a doctor to give some out in advance which would not be allowed anyway (in the US at least). One poster (post #25) asked her doctor about potentially bringing some on board but was denied.

Are you positive about the area near Sunset Bar on Summit? There has not been any smoking allowed on M-Class ships aft near the Sunset Bar for a number of years. There are aft cabins with balconies right below. Smoking has been allowed near the Sunset Bar aft portside on S-Class ships.