2 PAX ON CELEBRITY MILLENIUM TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID

[atexsix]

I suspect we'll hear about the one or two trips in which Covid was discovered rather than the dozens it was not. 

 

At least the CNN article was free of hysterics and well written in describing the incident and what was done about it.  

[kazu]

16 minutes ago, atexsix said:

I suspect we'll hear about the one or two trips in which Covid was discovered rather than the dozens it was not. 

 

You got that right! 😉  🙄

[POA1]

If you test an entire ship, you are going to see a number of positive tests. This will happen even if everyone's healthy and has been vaccinated. From the FDA:

 

https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/letters-health-care-providers/potential-false-positive-results-antigen-tests-rapid-detection-sars-cov-2-letter-clinical-laboratory

[Aquahound]

1 hour ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

All in all, it was no big deal, and certainly not a Diamond Princess! 
 

 

Agreed.  This....I won't even call it an incident....is getting blown out of proportion.

[AncientWanderer]

It sounds like the pair had to have fibbed about being vaccinated, because two false positives in the same stateroom would be quite unlikely, but Celebrity has a good system in place and is handling it well.  I guess the bottom line for me is that the vaccinated ship is well-protected, and the ships should only make port stops where vaccination rates are high, since there will inevitably be the odd case crop up.  

 

[POA1]

1 minute ago, AncientWanderer said:

It sounds like the pair had to have fibbed about being vaccinated, because two false positives in the same stateroom would be quite unlikely, but Celebrity has a good system in place and is handling it well.  I guess the bottom line for me is that the vaccinated ship is well-protected, and the ships should only make port stops where vaccination rates are high, since there will inevitably be the odd case crop up.  

 

 

Not necessarily. 8 players on the NY Yankees tested positive last month and ALL were vaccinated.

 

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/05/yankees-somehow-have-seven-covid-cases-in-vaccinated-staff.html

[AncientWanderer]

1 minute ago, POA1 said:

 

Not necessarily. 8 players on the NY Yankees tested positive last month and ALL were vaccinated.

 

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/05/yankees-somehow-have-seven-covid-cases-in-vaccinated-staff.html

 

Agree that anything is possible.  I was just thinking of probabilities.  

It doesn't really matter, though.  We kinda have to assume that covid will crop up onboard periodically.  How that is handled and how it impacts the visited ports is what we're all watching unfold.  

I have high hopes that a place like Alaska can still safely receive cruise ships, as their vaccination rate is high in that state.   Personally, I would board a cruise to nowhere right this minute, and am not daunted by the couple of cases that appeared.

[ontheweb]

18 minutes ago, POA1 said:

 

Not necessarily. 8 players on the NY Yankees tested positive last month and ALL were vaccinated.

 

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/05/yankees-somehow-have-seven-covid-cases-in-vaccinated-staff.html

Just a correction, only one player. There were also 2 coaches, and the rest were part of the travelling staff.

[AKJonesy]

3 hours ago, Cruise Suzy said:

Here is today's blog from someone on the ship

 

Live From Celebrity Millennium: A Third-Party Excursion and a Night in Quarantine | Cruise.Blog

 

 

A great blog and straight from the horse's mouth from someone who was in contact with those two passengers who tested positive.  A great response from Celebrity IMHO.

[atexsix]

19 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Agree that anything is possible.  I was just thinking of probabilities.  

It doesn't really matter, though.  We kinda have to assume that covid will crop up onboard periodically.  How that is handled and how it impacts the visited ports is what we're all watching unfold.  

I have high hopes that a place like Alaska can still safely receive cruise ships, as their vaccination rate is high in that state.   Personally, I would board a cruise to nowhere right this minute, and am not daunted by the couple of cases that appeared.

That's how I've felt about it.  I'd be more afraid of being exposed to noro than Covid, talk about a miserable time!  

[AKJonesy]

2 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

The biggest take away is a glimpse of the future normal. Read the blog post.
Yes, two people tested positive.  Neither one got sick. None of their close contacts tested positive or got sick.

Celebrity had protocols and followed them. The two positives were confined to their cabin. They were retested to eliminate the possibility of a  false positive. Close contacts of the two were confined to their cabins until their negative test results came back, at which point they were free to go. The rest of the passengers carried on carrying on.
All in all, it was no big deal, and certainly not a Diamond Princess! 
This is likely to be a normal occurrence  moving forward in real life. Covid is not going away, we’re just learning how to safely assimilate it into our world.

Well said.  I do think after reading many board comments that some people would just love to be proven right...in a negative way.  Someone did comment that "it was probably someone who lied about being vaccinated".  Argh.  I'm really tired of the Debbie Downers, and I hope none of them are on my sailing.  Thanks for the positive post.  

[atexsix]

5 minutes ago, AKJonesy said:

Well said.  I do think after reading many board comments that some people would just love to be proven right...in a negative way.  Someone did comment that "it was probably someone who lied about being vaccinated".  Argh.  I'm really tired of the Debbie Downers, and I hope none of them are on my sailing.  Thanks for the positive post.  

Maybe not outright lie, but it's possible to get something confused, some people have trouble with forms.  That's where I think HAL requiring an upload of the vax card will prevent anybody from misrepresenting their vaccine status, assuming they are still planning on doing this.  

[harkinmr]

3 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

A few random thoughts.......

this was a 7 night cruise.

it takes 10/14 days for the virus to develop.

They may have contracted the virus before travelling.

They may have contracted the virus at their place of work or at a restaurant or shopping while still at home.

They may have contracted the virus on a flight or at the airport.

the two pax are asymptomatic.

False positives are more than possible.

Media will of course blame the cruise lines as they are an easy target.

According to Celebrity’s protocols there was one negative  test required by SXM for an entry health visa taken within 120 hours of arriving in the country.  Then a second negative PCR test was required by the cruise line within 72 hours of boarding the ship. This second test was necessary to comply with Barbados’ testing requirements for a port call. So they were tested twice. Could there have been a delay in reaching sufficient infection levels to test positive. Yes, but probably unlikely. The thing that is so puzzling is that while one breakthrough case is rare in a vaccinated person, two in the same cabin seems extraordinary to me. Word is that these folks are Dutch nationals so little is known about the actual details on their vaccination status. 

[Horizon chaser 1957]

27 minutes ago, AKJonesy said:

Well said.  I do think after reading many board comments that some people would just love to be proven right...in a negative way.  Someone did comment that "it was probably someone who lied about being vaccinated".  Argh.  I'm really tired of the Debbie Downers, and I hope none of them are on my sailing.  Thanks for the positive post.  

You’re welcome. The way it was dealt with was wonderful. Test positive? Quarantine in your stateroom. Have symptoms? Get taken off at the next port, like any one of dozens of conditions that may need hospitalization. None of the above? Keep on enjoying your cruise.

[atexsix]

2 minutes ago, harkinmr said:

According to Celebrity’s protocols there was one negative  test required by SXM for an entry health visa taken within 120 hours of arriving in the country.  Then a second negative PCR test was required by the cruise line within 72 hours of boarding the ship. This second test was necessary to comply with Barbados’ testing requirements for a port call. So they were tested twice. Could there have been a delay in reaching sufficient infection levels to test positive. Yes, but probably unlikely. The thing that is so puzzling is that while one breakthrough case is rare in a vaccinated person, two in the same cabin seems extraordinary to me. Word is that these folks are Dutch nationals so little is known about the actual details on their vaccination status. 

Agree.  Unless they were both exposed to a variant not covered by their vax.  I hate to even go there myself, but in the back of my mind I'm thinking that it might increasingly be an issue year after year based on science, not the opinions of politicians/pundits.  If that weren't the case, we'd only need one flu shot and wouldn't ever have to worry about it again in our lives.  We'd get one or two colds and that'd be the end of it.  

[SumoCitrus]

The most remarkable thing about this news, and the reactions to it, are the number of people who are doubting these folks were actually vaccinated. The Celebrity board has the same comments.

 

A LOT of misplaced faith in that vaccine and a whole lot of misunderstanding about what it can and cannot do.

[kazu]

3 hours ago, mightycruisequeen said:

If it had been an unvaccinated sailing, they would be blaming those two cases on lack of vaccination.

 

No, if it had been an unvaccinated ship, it would have spread like the plague as it did on Diamond Princess and we’d have another Diamond Princess scenario.  

 

And the end of cruising.  Vaccination does protect many - those are the facts.

Compare this cruise to the Diamond Princess and read the blog by the person who shared the experience.  You might get some insight.

[Despegue]

One remark:

 

”the sick sick passengers”...

this is not correct. They were not aware of any indicators, asymptomatic and this not sick/ill at all.

yes, they tested positive, that does not mean that they had any negative experience.

 
 

[HAL4NOW]

2 hours ago, AKJonesy said:

Well said.  I do think after reading many board comments that some people would just love to be proven right...in a negative way.  Someone did comment that "it was probably someone who lied about being vaccinated".  Argh.  I'm really tired of the Debbie Downers, and I hope none of them are on my sailing.  Thanks for the positive post.  

I think we are on the same Alaska cruise as you @AKJonesy, September 18-25.

My wife and I and my SIL and BIL are all fully vaccinated and happy to be cruising this year. Looking forward to a positive experience in a beautiful state.

[mightycruisequeen]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

No, if it had been an unvaccinated ship, it would have spread like the plague as it did on Diamond Princess and we’d have another Diamond Princess scenario.  

 

And the end of cruising.  Vaccination does protect many - those are the facts.
 

This sounds to me like a whole lot of assumption spreading like the plague.

[Grandma7]

I think the cruise went exactly as hoped. The folks that tested positive were probably in the incubation period when tested so were  negative. When they DID test positive, they were asymptomatic  and only had to be quarantined.  That is the good result. 

If people were not vaccinated, much more likely to get very sick. If many of the passengers  are not vaccinate it increases the chance your cruise will be disrupted over and over the next few days with people needing to taken to ports for hospitalization. This is what I have been worried about, not catching  covid.  As far as the people who tested positive,(after working in immunizations gor 30 years) it could be that they were vaccinated but the vaccine  was not stored  properly which decreases its  effectiveness. We just don't  know, but I for one am happy with the way things turned out and am excited to cruise again on a ship, but only with vaccinated passengers  and crew for now. Then reassess in 6 months.

 

[Laminator]

Why don't we wait until we get more info. It needs to be verified that these pas were in fact vaccinated. If in fact they were not theyshould be held criminally and civilly liable. Plus we need to wait the 10 to 14 days to see if any other pax test positive. 

[rucrazy]

7 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

All Cruise line Stocks are down today in the stock market 

CCL closed up 0.13%

[CruiserBruce]

8 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

 All Cruise line Stocks are down today in the stock market 

CCL stock and the Stock Market ended the day up.

[POA1]

4 hours ago, atexsix said:

Agree.  Unless they were both exposed to a variant not covered by their vax.  I hate to even go there myself, but in the back of my mind I'm thinking that it might increasingly be an issue year after year based on science, not the opinions of politicians/pundits.  If that weren't the case, we'd only need one flu shot and wouldn't ever have to worry about it again in our lives.  We'd get one or two colds and that'd be the end of it.  

 

I guess it depends on the vaccine.

 

https://www.boston.com/news/coronavirus/2021/06/09/new-study-shows-why-johnson-johnson-vaccine-works-against-coronavirus-variants/

 

Actual Study Link:

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03681-2.epdf

Edited June 11, 2021 by POA1