Will there be electronic onboard contact tracing on X.?

[hcat]

Just read a nice review on Cruise Critic about a 4 day cruise on  an MSC mega ship, Grandiosa .

Reviewer mentioned wearing a bracelet ( standard for MSC?) Which enabled contacts to be monitored..

 

"Like everyone else, I wear the MSC for Me bracelet. It's like having another cruise card, I can also open the door to my cabin. And above all, while respecting privacy, it is able to locate and trace the contacts with the other guests on the ship."

 

Not sure I like that..Covid protection or not.  Seems intrusive.  Does Royal do this?

Hope not Celebrity

 

 

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

So far as I know neither RC or Celebrity use this and I hope they don't start.

[jelayne]

We have not seen them on Royal or Celebrity.  Surprised you asked I thought you had sailed X previously.

[Jeremiah1212]

They are using the MSC for Me wrist bands for contact tracing in case of a positive COVID case. I don’t see any issue with it. You can pretty much guarantee anywhere outside of your cabin you are already being recorded on video, so having record of who you made contact with on the ship doesn’t seem to diminish ‘privacy’. It could be a very useful tool in keeping positive cases at bay without having to quarantine large amounts of unexposed passengers. 
 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5510/

[GeroWA]

1 hour ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

They are using the MSC for Me wrist bands for contact tracing in case of a positive COVID case. I don’t see any issue with it. You can pretty much guarantee anywhere outside of your cabin you are already being recorded on video, so having record of who you made contact with on the ship doesn’t seem to diminish ‘privacy’. It could be a very useful tool in keeping positive cases at bay without having to quarantine large amounts of unexposed passengers. 
 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5510/

I agree wholeheartedly, this is an excellent initiative and should be compulsory on all cruise ships.

It would certainly take the guess work out of who has been in contact with whom and make contact quarantining so much easier for everyone.

 

[sanger727]

As with every other Covid related policy - no, celebrity hasn’t done this on past sailings but there haven’t been sailings since Covid became an issue so no way to predict was the policies will be when they do start sailing. I would assume everything MSC does may be on the table. But I believe MSC already had the wrist bands for charging purposes before this and they have been repurposed them for contact tracing. I haven’t seen wrist bands on celebrity before. So I think it’s less likely they will begin production of wrist bands to implement this policy.

[hcat]

We would not cruise with those types of wrist  bands.  Too much "big brother" .Guess MSC not for us..esp the big ships!

 

It's one thing to mandate mask wearing,  distancing and handwashing, but this goes beyond.  Aside from Covid, they  probabky  track what people do on the ship and use it as a marketing tool...????

[ECCruise]

If you are opposed to contact tracing via wrist bands, do you ever use a cell phone?

[garyl62]

8 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

If you are opposed to contact tracing via wrist bands, do you ever use a cell phone?

Exactly.  We recently took a weekend trip to a resort area and within 5 hours of arriving we started getting ads for things to do and see in the area we were in.  If your phone is on, "big brother" will know where you are.  Besides, even if you don't have a phone, every time you get a drink or buy something your card is swiped so they know what shop, bar or restaurant you are visiting.  Knowing if you went to a show or what deck or corridor you took to get there isn't really much more than they already know.

[amevola]

Why can't MSC, or any cruiseline, simply assume that everyone has been in touch with everyone else on the ship?  Why do they need a bracelet?

 

[amevola]

10 minutes ago, garyl62 said:

Exactly.  We recently took a weekend trip to a resort area and within 5 hours of arriving we started getting ads for things to do and see in the area we were in.  If your phone is on, "big brother" will know where you are.  Besides, even if you don't have a phone, every time you get a drink or buy something your card is swiped so they know what shop, bar or restaurant you are visiting.  Knowing if you went to a show or what deck or corridor you took to get there isn't really much more than they already know.

 

 

There is a difference between doing something voluntarily, such as using a cell phone or credit cards, and being told you have to wear something that will trace your movements.

[ECCruise]

15 minutes ago, amevola said:

 

 

There is a difference between doing something voluntarily, such as using a cell phone or credit cards, and being told you have to wear something that will trace your movements.

You voluntarily go on a cruise and accept the parameters of the passage.  Which may include wearing something that will trace your movements.

Or, you can decide not to cruise.

[Tapi]

We've sailed on MSC a few times with the bracelet. I personally think that they are a wonderful idea. Instead of carrying your card around, you can use the bracelet to do anything from purchasing a drink at the bar, to opening your stateroom door. The only thing that you're required to have the card for is to embark and disembark at ports of call. 

 

We also had bracelets when we sailed on Disney, and it was nice because they could use the technology to pinpoint where our kids were inside the Oceaneer Club and Lab (kids club) that spans half the length of an entire deck.

 

I understand that some people may have second thoughts concerning privacy issues, and I would too if it were government mandated to track my every day activities, but if its limited to track my movements while onboard a cruise ship on vacation, I can live with that level of "privacy intrusion". 

Edited September 11, 2020 by Tapi

[amevola]

10 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

You voluntarily go on a cruise and accept the parameters of the passage.  Which may include wearing something that will trace your movements.

Or, you can decide not to cruise.

 

I was merely pointing out the difference between the two thoughts, not that someone would not have to accept the parameters of the cruise.

 

Again, back to my initial comment, why can the cruiseline simply contact everyone on the cruise should there be a problem?

 

Edited September 11, 2020 by amevola
added a thought

[39august]

A few years ago when we sailed the relatively new RCL Harmony of the Seas, there were wrist bands to use in lieu of seapass card if you wished.  No big deal to us. Whether RCI still does this on the mega ships, I don't know as we  left RCI for good after our first X cruise 3 years ago. 

[Tapi]

14 minutes ago, amevola said:

Why can the cruiseline simply contact everyone on the cruise should there be a problem?

 

Because contact tracing is far more effective in containing any potential infection. It's easier and more effective to pinpoint and contain 50 people that may have come in contact with an infected person, than blindly contacting 3,000. 

Edited September 11, 2020 by Tapi

[ECCruise]

14 minutes ago, amevola said:

 

Again, back to my initial comment, why can the cruiseline simply contact everyone on the cruise should there be a problem?

 

We had a problem with food poisoning on a ship sponsored tour in Morocco.

They only had to contact those that sat at a couple of affected tables, not the entire ship.  Same here.  Or, if there is an infection in a city, contact tracing narrows it down to those potentially affected, not the entire city.

It is all about efficiency and not having to unnecessarily disrupt thousands of people. 

[amevola]

2 minutes ago, Tapi said:

Because contact tracing is far more effective in containing any potential infection. It's easier and more effective to pinpoint and contain 50 people that may have come in contact with an infected person, than blindly contacting 3,000. 

 

Contact tracing may be more effective, but can you imagine the reaction of some of those NOT contacted?  I am not someone who would care, but there are many nervous people out there who would be furious if they were not contacted even if there were "proof" that they had not been in contact with an infected person.

 

In any case, if a private enterprise such as a cruiseline, a grocery store, or a school requires a mask or a bracelet, I would comply.  Otherwise I would not patronize that entity.

[gerelmx]

is this similar to Princess Medallion ?

[Jeremiah1212]

20 minutes ago, amevola said:

 

Contact tracing may be more effective, but can you imagine the reaction of some of those NOT contacted?  I am not someone who would care, but there are many nervous people out there who would be furious if they were not contacted even if there were "proof" that they had not been in contact with an infected person.

 

In any case, if a private enterprise such as a cruiseline, a grocery store, or a school requires a mask or a bracelet, I would comply.  Otherwise I would not patronize that entity.

 

I'm sure you would have the option to voluntarily quarantine or follow whatever protocol is in place for potential exposure if you felt that was the right decision for you. We do take this virus seriously, but if I haven't been within 100ft of a potentially exposed person I'm not going to worry too much. The guidance has always been keep a simple 6ft distance. People struggle with that, but 6ft isn't hard to achieve. 

 

As far as privacy...you have none. Your website activity when you booked your cruise, your social media behavior, your home WiFi, your bank account, credit card, debit card, cell phone, your whereabouts on this ship are all fair game. 

[amevola]

15 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

I'm sure you would have the option to voluntarily quarantine or follow whatever protocol is in place for potential exposure if you felt that was the right decision for you. We do take this virus seriously, but if I haven't been within 100ft of a potentially exposed person I'm not going to worry too much. The guidance has always been keep a simple 6ft distance. People struggle with that, but 6ft isn't hard to achieve. 

 

As far as privacy...you have none. Your website activity when you booked your cruise, your social media behavior, your home WiFi, your bank account, credit card, debit card, cell phone, your whereabouts on this ship are all fair game. 

 

🙂

 

[bama4cruisin]

37 minutes ago, gerelmx said:

is this similar to Princess Medallion ?

 

 

It it sounds exactly like the Princess Medallion.  We cruised Princess last year after several years away due to the itinerary.  The Crown Princess was not yet updated with medallion, but they were starting the process so I read much about it.  You can use the app on your phone or IPad to order a drink, and via the medallion, the server can bring your drink to the correct lounger by the pool or correct table in the atrium, etc.  Would seem to be easily adapted to use for contract tracing.

[davekathy]

My wife wouldn't wear the cruise line bracelet as it wouldn't go with the rest of her jewelry. 

[39august]

LOL. That' s the reason I didn't wear mine on RCL Harmony!

[riredsox]

5 hours ago, hcat said:

We would not cruise with those types of wrist  bands.  Too much "big brother" .Guess MSC not for us..esp the big ships!

 

It's one thing to mandate mask wearing,  distancing and handwashing, but this goes beyond.  Aside from Covid, they  probabky  track what people do on the ship and use it as a marketing tool...????

I’m sure nobody cares who you hang with on a cruise.  This isn’t “big brother”,  there is a pandemic and if this gets us cruising again I’m all for it.   If those that what rather not follow protocol stay home then I figure the rest of us will be much safer.