Royal Caribbean COVID Questionnaire

[RSpiegCruise]

I was booked on Odyssey of the Seas July 31, 2021 cruise but was denied boarding 1 day before sailing as I answered “yes” on the COVID questionnaire for “difficulty breathing” and “coughing” within the last 14 days based on my daughters recent asthma attack. I spoke with 4 people at Royal the day before and the day of the cruise explaining that I told the truth, and had “negative” COVID tests within the last 24 hours for everyone in my party along with documentation of the doctor visit a week before that my daughter was treated for asthma. I was offered a refund, but no guarantee if I went to the port that I would be allowed on the ship. I’m writing this note to CAUTION EVERYONE about my experience with Royal’s customer service and COVID protocols. 

[Biker19]

4 hours ago, RSpiegCruise said:

I was offered a refund, but no guarantee if I went to the port that I would be allowed on the ship.

? If you were denied boarding why would you even attempt to go to the port?

[RSpiegCruise]

The Royal Caribbean app allowed us to check in 24 hours before the cruise and denied me boarding immediately upon entering the health questions.  After several calls to customer service I was told that I could ask for a secondary screening at the port, but they wouldn’t guarantee that I would be allowed on the ship which is why we didn’t end up going to the port.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, RSpiegCruise said:

denied me boarding immediately upon entering the health questions.  

Didn’t realize the app had that feature. 

[DCL2RCI]

I'm curious, what were the actual questions? Did it say coughing/difficulty breathing specifically due to COVID-19 or in conjunction with exposure, or just in general?

[RSpiegCruise]

The question was “Difficulty breathing in the last 14 days”.  Nowhere did it say that this was to pertain to COVID only.   Once the app gave the message “Denied boarding” I figured that customer service would take my 3 negative COVID tests within the last 24 hours and proof from the doctor visit of asthma, instead the first person told me I wouldn’t be allowed onboard and only upon escalating to a manager did I hear about the option to have a secondary screening at the port.  Note, the manager didn’t give me any assurance at all that a secondary screening would have allowed me on board which would have meant that if I was denied it would have been an all day event via getting there, checking luggage first, requesting a secondary screening and if denied waiting who knows how long to relocate my luggage to be able to make my way back home.  

[Oceansaway17]

well it goes to show that being honest can sometimes cause a problem.

 

I mean if a week or so before a trip something happened but then ya got over it and no worries.

Like if you over did it hiking or breathed fumes of some kind or swallowed wrong.

 

What I mean is use good judgement when answering these questions because being denied could happen.

 

No way in hell would I say yes unless I was truly sick in which case it would be on me to not show up then. A slight sniffle or tickle in my throat I would not admit to and make sure I am sucking on something like Halls when in line.

I guess folks with asthma are allowed to travel as long as you admit to it and have medicine with you.

[helen haywood]

Thank you for sharing your experience.  It’s a strange new weird world these days.  I’m sorry this happened to your family.

[RSpiegCruise]

Thanks Helen. I’m sharing my experience so that others have a better understanding of the ramifications. 

[nelblu]

Sad to have it happen so close to sail time.  Are you and your party vaxxed.

[topnole]

6 hours ago, RSpiegCruise said:

I was booked on Odyssey of the Seas July 31, 2021 cruise but was denied boarding 1 day before sailing as I answered “yes” on the COVID questionnaire for “difficulty breathing” and “coughing” within the last 14 days based on my daughters recent asthma attack. I spoke with 4 people at Royal the day before and the day of the cruise explaining that I told the truth, and had “negative” COVID tests within the last 24 hours for everyone in my party along with documentation of the doctor visit a week before that my daughter was treated for asthma. I was offered a refund, but no guarantee if I went to the port that I would be allowed on the ship. I’m writing this note to CAUTION EVERYONE about my experience with Royal’s customer service and COVID protocols. 

I think it is safe to assume that a yes in any box related to Covid symptoms is going to trigger a denied boarding.  So judgement is probably needed here.  For example, a routine caffeine headache or one due to a hangover the prior weekend may not require a yes in that box.  The sniffles from pollen, etc….   One needs to think about the context of the questions I suppose and learn from your experience.  
 

Sorry you are facing this and thanks for the heads up.  

 

[RSpiegCruise]

I response to the question about if we were fully vaccinated, we informed RCL several times prior to the cruise that we were all vaccinated as they sent repeated questionnaires 

[RSpiegCruise]

I also understand that it was a COVID questionnaire and I thought long and hard about how to answer.  I knew I had real proof of why I was answering the way I was based on the doctor visit and believed that the 3 negative COVID tests all done within 24 hours would have cleared up any issues with RCL.  Hindsight is 20/20 and for my honesty and correctly following everything that was asked of me my vacation was cancelled by RCL. 
 

Note, I’m a Diamond member with over 20 cruises on RCL. Past loyalty and honesty meant nothing as it pertained to RCLs  protocols which in my specific case led to them denying me the ability to cruise. 

[WmFoster]

Thanks for sharing.

[beachnag]

On 8/4/2021 at 5:07 PM, RSpiegCruise said:

I response to the question about if we were fully vaccinated, we informed RCL several times prior to the cruise that we were all vaccinated as they sent repeated questionnaires 

When did you receive the questionnaire and how did you receive it.  

[MommaBear55]

So sorry for your experience and your disappointment! As a severe asthmatic in this time of Covid, it's so hard to know how to answer these questions. 

[mek]

So sorry this happened to you.  The questionnaire is pointless and always has been - this is exactly the reason that most people never answer the health questions honestly, because look what happens if you do.  

 

The only thing that should matter right now is the result from the pre-cruise test.

[RSpiegCruise]

To Beachnag - I received the questionnaire on my phone via the RC APP on Friday July 30 around lunchtime with the sailing scheduled for the next day. My family had all been tested the day before for COVID and all received negative test results which I stated to RC on 2 phone calls on Friday when I tried to explain the situation and get them to assure me that I would be allowed to board the next day.

 

Update,  after my experiences with RC’s customer service, or lack of, on Friday and Saturday, I sent all of my documentation in an email to the office of Richard Fain and over a week later I haven’t received any correspondence back.

[ryano]

Much like people weren't honest on the health questionnaire before and boarded the ship sick, I can see this happening again once news like this gets out.    

[ryano]

13 minutes ago, mek said:

So sorry this happened to you.  The questionnaire is pointless and always has been - this is exactly the reason that most people never answer the health questions honestly, because look what happens if you do.  

 

The only thing that should matter right now is the result from the pre-cruise test.

 

Exactly.  

[beachnag]

7 minutes ago, RSpiegCruise said:

To Beachnag - I received the questionnaire on my phone via the RC APP on Friday July 30 around lunchtime with the sailing scheduled for the next day. My family had all been tested the day before for COVID and all received negative test results which I stated to RC on 2 phone calls on Friday when I tried to explain the situation and get them to assure me that I would be allowed to board the next day.

 

Update,  after my experiences with RC’s customer service, or lack of, on Friday and Saturday, I sent all of my documentation in an email to the office of Richard Fain and over a week later I haven’t received any correspondence back.

Thank you for the information

 

[ZoeyVictoria]

I think they may have refused to have a person with asthma (and a recent asthma attack) onboard for fear of the consequences to that person in the event of a breakthrough case.  Asthma has been listed as a comorbidity for Covid and they are not taking any chances of a bad outcome in the case of an infection.

[DISFANS3]

Good info.

[mek]

1 hour ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

I think they may have refused to have a person with asthma (and a recent asthma attack) onboard for fear of the consequences to that person in the event of a breakthrough case.  Asthma has been listed as a comorbidity for Covid and they are not taking any chances of a bad outcome in the case of an infection.

As far as I know, there aren't any health restrictions concerning any pre-existing conditions  that are currently in effect, nor should there be - especially for the vaccinated.

If they are allowing unvaccinated people people to cruise then they certainly can't prohibit someone who is from sailing.

 

[Biker19]

22 minutes ago, mek said:

As far as I know, there aren't any health restrictions concerning any pre-existing conditions  that are currently in effect, nor should there be - especially for the vaccinated.

There was a thread last week where someone reported that they were denied boarding based on a single response to the health questionnaire in the app (something to do with breathing difficulty). They were vaccinated.

Edited August 11, 2021 by Biker19