Quantum returning to port - possible coronavirus case onboard.

[biff-tannen]

5 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

Did you get this from MOH's website?

oops! looks like masteradept was quicker to the draw than anyone else, yet again. Yes, i got some screenshot that looks like it's could be a false positive

 

[biff-tannen]

3 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Oh no, after cancelling the next cruise and all they went thru

it's a circus down here now. 🙂 awaiting further confirmation .... news looks kosher

[masteradept]

7 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

Did you get this from MOH's website?

Yep this is from MOH!

https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/no-new-cases-of-locally-transmitted-covid-19-infection-9decfullpr

 

Just now, biff-tannen said:

oops! looks like masteradept was quicker to the draw than anyone else, yet again. Yes, i got some screenshot that looks like it's could be a false positive

 

Heh was following pretty closely because I've got another sailing coming up in a few weeks, and hoping all goes smoothly from here.

[Ethanol95]

4 minutes ago, biff-tannen said:

oops! looks like masteradept was quicker to the draw than anyone else, yet again. Yes, i got some screenshot that looks like it's could be a false positive

 

Even if it's false positive, at this point the media has sensationalised the high possibility of Covid-19 on these cruises, it probably damaged the image of cruising for a lot.

[biff-tannen]

3 minutes ago, masteradept said:

Yep this is from MOH!

https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/no-new-cases-of-locally-transmitted-covid-19-infection-9decfullpr

 

Heh was following pretty closely because I've got another sailing coming up in a few weeks, and hoping all goes smoothly from here.

I feel for those who booked on 10th Dec and wakes up tomorrow to the confirmation from MOH that, indeed, it was a false positive. Oh no...

[biff-tannen]

1 minute ago, Ethanol95 said:

Even if it's false positive, at this point the media has sensationalised the high possibility of Covid-19 on these cruises, it probably damaged the image of cruising for a lot.

Actually, when I heard the news this morning, I thought to myself that this could go both ways. Either very bad, or very good. Seems that the "overabundance of caution" may have scrapped a whole bunch of people's holiday plans. Let's see how the final round of tests go tomorrow.

[Ocean Boy]

However, whether the test was a true or false result, it appears the response to one possible case, at least for now, is lock down the ship and terminate the cruise.

 

Are enough people going  to accept this risk to get cruising restarted in a meaningful way in the U.S.?

[biff-tannen]

I'm just thinking, again - assuming tomorrow's tests confirm the negative result - what it means for RCI in the aftermath of this whole shebang  - they did follow protocol by terminating the cruise early and cancelling the subsequent 10 Dec sailing, but by doing so, they have now lost 30% of their revenue from the current sailing, and had to do a full refund for all pax booked on the 10th Dec one, ON TOP OF the 25% FCC given out.

 

That's a real bummer.

 

[Ethanol95]

1 minute ago, biff-tannen said:

I'm just thinking, again - assuming tomorrow's tests confirm the negative result - what it means for RCI in the aftermath of this whole shebang  - they did follow protocol by terminating the cruise early and cancelling the subsequent 10 Dec sailing, but by doing so, they have now lost 30% of their revenue from the current sailing, and had to do a full refund for all pax booked on the 10th Dec one, ON TOP OF the 25% FCC given out.

 

That's a real bummer.

 

Some part of me feels like there isn't enough protocols to stop a possible outbreak onboard in the future. They should be quarantining the entire 1680 of them, not just close contacts. 

[bouhunter]

10 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

However, whether the test was a true or false result, it appears the response to one possible case, at least for now, is lock down the ship and terminate the cruise.

 

Are enough people going  to accept this risk to get cruising restarted in a meaningful way in the U.S.?

A very good question.

[Sunshine3601]

I know the guidelines set by cdc will be different than those set for europe sailings by their Ecdc, etc Their cruise procedure was to only isolate/quarantine those that had close contact with any positive case.  And they were simply dropping off those people at next or nearest port to be further tested and/or quarantine, if needed.   Then cruise will continue on.

 

If cruises out of US ports have to put everyone in quarantine and immediately return to home port, that will definitely be a game changer for many cruisers.

[Biker19]

18 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

Even if it's false positive, at this point the media has sensationalised the high possibility of Covid-19 on these cruises, it probably damaged the image of cruising for a lot.

The six false negatives on Tui in Greece two months ago are remembered by no one.

[Ocean Boy]

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The six false negatives on Tui in Greece two months ago are remembered by no one.

You are someone.

[masteradept]

8 minutes ago, biff-tannen said:

I'm just thinking, again - assuming tomorrow's tests confirm the negative result - what it means for RCI in the aftermath of this whole shebang  - they did follow protocol by terminating the cruise early and cancelling the subsequent 10 Dec sailing, but by doing so, they have now lost 30% of their revenue from the current sailing, and had to do a full refund for all pax booked on the 10th Dec one, ON TOP OF the 25% FCC given out.

 

That's a real bummer.

 

 

I feel like although it's a real bummer from the revenu side, hopefully the response by the line helps to inspire confidence in the procedures and safety measures - from the news reports it seems that most of the passengers were satisfied with the way things were handled. It probably doesn't outweigh the negative publicity from the scare, but it might inspire confidence at least that the Diamond Princess won't be repeated.

 

Also, as for revenue, I suspect RCI (and Dream) are working with the government really closely, so while I don't think the government will be reimbursing them, I do think they might be getting some aid (e.g., the govt is paying for the PCR testing for the guests at least). It's a PR exercise for the government as much as it is for the cruise lines here, to show that isolated cases can be dealt with while the activity resumes, especially with the push to resume MICE activities.

[biff-tannen]

13 minutes ago, masteradept said:

 

I feel like although it's a real bummer from the revenu side, hopefully the response by the line helps to inspire confidence in the procedures and safety measures - from the news reports it seems that most of the passengers were satisfied with the way things were handled. It probably doesn't outweigh the negative publicity from the scare, but it might inspire confidence at least that the Diamond Princess won't be repeated.

 

Also, as for revenue, I suspect RCI (and Dream) are working with the government really closely, so while I don't think the government will be reimbursing them, I do think they might be getting some aid (e.g., the govt is paying for the PCR testing for the guests at least). It's a PR exercise for the government as much as it is for the cruise lines here, to show that isolated cases can be dealt with while the activity resumes, especially with the push to resume MICE activities.

Agree on your points. You know the government here well, it's been "Don't worry, we planned for this" the whole day on the local media. I wonder whether they planned for a false positive, though? It's also a darn shame for those on board today, having to sit in their rooms the whole day waiting to be evacuated for a fire that never was. Oh well.  

 

Btw, I know at least some of you must have thought this: Someone bungled the test on board.

Edited December 9, 2020 by biff-tannen

[TheMastodon]

18 hours ago, masteradept said:

Just saw two posts on two separate forums from guests on board that at around 2am local time it was announced that Quantum would be returning to Singapore and guests were asked to remain in their cabins... looks like a positive case on board. Ship tracking also shows the ship returning to port a day early. Hope all goes well... 

 

Can't keep Rona off a ship.  Impossible.  It will simply be shear luck that it doesn't show up on a ship.  

[biff-tannen]

1 minute ago, TheMastodon said:

 

Can't keep Rona off a ship.  Impossible.  It will simply be shear luck that it doesn't show up on a ship.  

Nope. It's looking likely that, for this particular instance, Rona was, in effect, not on the ship. Someone just thought she was.

 

[Iamcruzin]

12 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

When people use the word "risk", I wonder how many mean risk as in getting infected or risk as in someone else getting infected which will cause a lockdown and ruin the cruise.

I'm not willing to take the risk of the cruise ending early and being quarantined. He said he would do it again so I'm guessing he was willing to take both risks.  I understand the stringent policies that were in place but that's not for me either.

[TravelerThom]

13 minutes ago, TheMastodon said:

 

Can't keep Rona off a ship.  Impossible.  It will simply be shear luck that it doesn't show up on a ship.  

It IS POSSIBLE to keep coronavirus off a ship. The International Space Station has remained coronavirus free by multiple weeks of total isolation of new crew and material. The issue is that paying cruise passengers are not willing to give up those weeks of their lives in isolation. 

[Ocean Boy]

6 minutes ago, TravelerThom said:

The issue is that paying cruise passengers are not willing to give up those weeks of their lives in isolation. 

Those folks on the space station are paid. I am not willing to give up those weeks because, among other things, I can't afford to give them up to go on vacation for a week.

[Ocean Boy]

32 minutes ago, biff-tannen said:

 

 

Btw, I know at least some of you must have thought this: Someone bungled the test on board.

It does not necessarily have to do with human bungling. Lab tests all have their issues with inaccuracy. One thing they taught in medical school was that if some test doesn't agree with what you are seeing  then go with your clinical assessment.

[PelicanBill]

54 minutes ago, biff-tannen said:

...  

Btw, I know at least some of you must have thought this: Someone bungled the test on board.

 

Not necessarily.  The tests just aren't that good and there is a known % of false positives and false negatives.  A positive test should be followed by another before reporting to the world that Covid is on board.  Lock down, turn around, Covid's here today - whoops, never mind, carry on.

 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

The six false negatives on Tui in Greece two months ago are remembered by no one.

A test is valid at the instant in time it is taken. It does not mean that you haven't been infected.

 

Remember the 14 (now 10 or 7) day quarantine? That's because there is a incubation period from when you are infected to the time you are symptomatic (or asymptomatic) and have detectable virus that you are shedding.

 

So, a Tui passenger can test negative an embarkation, negative on Day 2, negative on Day 3, and spreading the virus on Day 4. It does not mean that there was a false negative test. 

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I believe @iamcruisin was referring to the 72 hr pretest that is needed by most countries before entry.   Sure that helps but a lot can happen in that 72 hours.

Thank you that was what I was referring to. I also wonder how many false positives come up with those tests. We really don't hear about that. There is too much risk on the table for me to even think about cruising before the majority of the population is vaccinated. I don't want to be turned away before boarding or quarantined with a terminated cruise because one person tests positive.

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

However, whether the test was a true or false result, it appears the response to one possible case, at least for now, is lock down the ship and terminate the cruise.

 

Are enough people going  to accept this risk to get cruising restarted in a meaningful way in the U.S.?

Yes. We have cruises booked in April and May with the full knowledge and understanding that if "something happens" on our cruise, that it (1) will be terminated and (2) that we may be quarantined on the ship beyond our scheduled return date.

 

That' being said, we'll be watching the restart very closely and making an informed decision on whether to proceed with the voyages.