Testing + at the end of your cruise - what are the odds?!

[Dr. Cocktail]

I’ve already started a thread about the difficulty of Canadians cruising and quarantine requirements.

 

Living up to my catastrophic reputation, I wondered what percentage of travellers ARE disembarking with a + test result?

 

As none of the major cruise lines are doing debarkation testing unless it’s requested by non-Americans, we can’t really know what that number is….

 

As so few Canadians are cruising as of now, it’s hard to gauge what is the real percentage of on board infections.

 

Have people heard of any debarkation failures first hand?

 

 

[mom says]

WTH is a debarkation failure? Falling off the gangway?

 

And to what end is knowing one or 2 anecdotal incidents? Besides as a means for catastrophizing. 

[broberts]

24 minutes ago, mom says said:

WTH is a debarkation failure? Falling off the gangway?

 

And to what end is knowing one or 2 anecdotal incidents? Besides as a means for catastrophizing. 

 

Even anecdotal reports can prove useful. 

 

It apparently never occured to you that someone might be interested in gauging risk. Cruise lines are loath to let any potentially negative incident see the light of day so we are often only left with anecdotal reports.

[xcell]

I'm curious how many Canadians are cruising and then further to that point, as Dr. Cocktail suggested, how many test positive.  And then what happens if they test positive?

 

I have read on the forums, the cruise lines will get you back home, but that's easier in the US than for us Canadians.  I did write an email to RCCL but nothing yet for a response (that was a week ago).

[If only]

1 hour ago, xcell said:

I'm curious how many Canadians are cruising and then further to that point, as Dr. Cocktail suggested, how many test positive.  And then what happens if they test positive?

 

I have read on the forums, the cruise lines will get you back home, but that's easier in the US than for us Canadians.  I did write an email to RCCL but nothing yet for a response (that was a week ago).

Celebrity clearly states it on their website that they will fly you home by private jet if you test positive on their ship.  

Edited October 12, 2021 by If only

[Dr. Cocktail]

10 hours ago, mom says said:

WTH is a debarkation failure? Falling off the gangway?

 

And to what end is knowing one or 2 anecdotal incidents? Besides as a means for catastrophizing. 

I dunno .... being stuck in a hotel in Miami in a room without a balcony for two weeks and unable to get back to Canada seems like a failure to me.....

 

Isn't CC all about "anecdotal incidents"? As the cruise lines aren't providing us the info, we need to get it elsewhere.

[Dr. Cocktail]

9 hours ago, broberts said:

 

Even anecdotal reports can prove useful. 

 

It apparently never occured to you that someone might be interested in gauging risk. Cruise lines are loath to let any potentially negative incident see the light of day so we are often only left with anecdotal reports.

Couldn't agree more!

2 hours ago, xcell said:

I'm curious how many Canadians are cruising and then further to that point, as Dr. Cocktail suggested, how many test positive.  And then what happens if they test positive?

 

I have read on the forums, the cruise lines will get you back home, but that's easier in the US than for us Canadians.  I did write an email to RCCL but nothing yet for a response (that was a week ago).

This came up over Thanksgiving (!) dinner chatting with guests about returning to travel. I'm less worried about a breakthrough infection (maybe I should be worried more!) but more about being away from home in February and shoveling and animal care duties. As there is no requirement for debark testing, we have ZERO knowledge of how many Covid infections are acquired on a ship. The vast majority of these will be symptom free and even those on board who will be symptomatic will likely keep it to themselves. That's human nature ....

16 minutes ago, If only said:

Celebrity clearly states it on their website that they will fly you home by private jet if you test positive on their ship.  

I quickly looked this up as I was willing to switch my reservation! Celebrity Cruises will cover the cost of your onboard COVID-19 medical treatment, land-based isolation, and private air transfer home for you and your traveling party, if required*.   This is presently only being offered for cruises until December 31st. Notice that it still involves land-based isolation and the "if required" at the end! It basically says that they're covering quarantine.

[If only]

14 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

Couldn't agree more!

This came up over Thanksgiving (!) dinner chatting with guests about returning to travel. I'm less worried about a breakthrough infection (maybe I should be worried more!) but more about being away from home in February and shoveling and animal care duties. As there is no requirement for debark testing, we have ZERO knowledge of how many Covid infections are acquired on a ship. The vast majority of these will be symptom free and even those on board who will be symptomatic will likely keep it to themselves. That's human nature ....

I quickly looked this up as I was willing to switch my reservation! Celebrity Cruises will cover the cost of your onboard COVID-19 medical treatment, land-based isolation, and private air transfer home for you and your traveling party, if required*.   This is presently only being offered for cruises until December 31st. Notice that it still involves land-based isolation and the "if required" at the end! It basically says that they're covering quarantine.

That’s why we are travelling in Nov & our Feb cruise doesn’t have to be paid in full until Dec now so we have lots more time to decide about it.

Edited October 12, 2021 by If only

[Dr. Cocktail]

5 minutes ago, If only said:

That’s why we are travelling in Nov & our Feb cruise doesn’t have to be paid in full until Dec now so we have lots more time to decide about it.

Prudent and logical!  Have a great cruise!

 

My February cruise requires final payment in 2 weeks... we have asked the cruise line to consider shortening final payment requirements which remain at 120 days .....

[If only]

7 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

Prudent and logical!  Have a great cruise!

 

My February cruise requires final payment in 2 weeks... we have asked the cruise line to consider shortening final payment requirements which remain at 120 days .....

Celebrity changed their full payments to 60 days.  Which is probably the only reason we are going in Nov as they will also allow us to cancel up to 48hrs before cruise & they will give you an FCC. 

Edited October 12, 2021 by If only

[lx200gps]

52 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

I quickly looked this up as I was willing to switch my reservation! Celebrity Cruises will cover the cost of your onboard COVID-19 medical treatment, land-based isolation, and private air transfer home for you and your traveling party, if required*.   This is presently only being offered for cruises until December 31st. Notice that it still involves land-based isolation and the "if required" at the end! It basically says that they're covering quarantine.

I also noticed the "...if required" and assumed that it applied only if the COVID positive passenger required medical care, and the insurance company decided it was cheaper to fly someone back in private air transport rather than pay the outrageous local medical costs. I couldn't imagine Celebrity or their insurer agreeing to pay well into the 5 figures for a charter to fly a perfectly healthy asymptomatic passenger home.  That being said, if you look at the Celebrity website, I can't find any other mention of an "...if required" clause and it seems somewhat clearer that if you test +, they will fly you home regardless of the health status. If that is the case, it's pretty awesome coverage.

[lots-of-km2]

10 hours ago, broberts said:

Cruise lines are loath to let any potentially negative incident see the light of day so we are often only left with anecdotal reports.

What he/she said. Exactly. 

 

But -- the CDC certainly collects data on known Covid occurrences on ships that debark in the US or its territories.  I have no idea if the stats are in the public domain.  The CDC does share this:

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html

 

 

[Fouremco]

Celebrity is one of the few lines that will test Canadians pre-disembarkation to facilitate their flights home. Since they introduced the program, I've not read of a single positive case, either on CC or in the news media. I've also seen no cases reported by Don or other YouTube vloggers. That's not to say that not one case has occurred, but it would appear that at worst the percentage would be miniscule.

 

Celebrity ships have also been in CDC's colour coding for some weeks now, indicating no reported cases. Across all cruise lines there are a number of ships coded Yellow, but with the reduced number of passengers typically sailing currently, the threshold for CDC investigating is a single suspected or confirmed case of COVID.

 

With required vaccination, pre-cruise testing, reduced passenger loads and a range of health and safety protocols, I am very optimistic about sailing on Celebrity. I've not been following other lines as closely since the pandemic, so I'll withhold comment on those.

 

My biggest COVID concern, and the only one at this point in time that might make me cancel our March 2022 cruise, is having to cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. 

[If only]

18 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Celebrity is one of the few lines that will test Canadians pre-disembarkation to facilitate their flights home. Since they introduced the program, I've not read of a single positive case, either on CC or in the news media. I've also seen no cases reported by Don or other YouTube vloggers. That's not to say that not one case has occurred, but it would appear that at worst the percentage would be miniscule.

 

Celebrity ships have also been in CDC's colour coding for some weeks now, indicating no reported cases. Across all cruise lines there are a number of ships coded Yellow, but with the reduced number of passengers typically sailing currently, the threshold for CDC investigating is a single suspected or confirmed case of COVID.

 

With required vaccination, pre-cruise testing, reduced passenger loads and a range of health and safety protocols, I am very optimistic about sailing on Celebrity. I've not been following other lines as closely since the pandemic, so I'll withhold comment on those.

 

My biggest COVID concern, and the only one at this point in time that might make me cancel our March 2022 cruise, is having to cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. 

That is also my biggest concern is leaving from Fort Lauderdale.  Plus it’s also my reason for cruising in Nov as we can fly in same day as cruise & leave same day as disembarkation.  Not so easy to fly in on the same day in Feb as who knows what the weather will be like.  If the same protocols are not in place for Feb that could make us change our minds as well.

Edited October 12, 2021 by If only

[Fouremco]

10 minutes ago, If only said:

That is also my biggest concern is leaving from Fort Lauderdale.  Plus it’s also my reason for cruising in Nov as we can fly in same day as cruise & leave same day as disembarkation.  Not so easy to fly in on the same day in Feb as who knows what the weather will be like.

Excellent decision! I'm someone who firmly believes in flying in the day before, but I have to say that avoiding an overnight stay in Florida during the pandemic would be a definite exception. But not for our next cruise, unfortunately, a bit too risky given our frequent terrible March weather.

[If only]

29 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Excellent decision! I'm someone who firmly believes in flying in the day before, but I have to say that avoiding an overnight stay in Florida during the pandemic would be a definite exception. But not for our next cruise, unfortunately, a bit too risky given our frequent terrible March weather.

Oh I hear you it’s always unpredictable living in Ontario, we also booked air through Celebrity for Nov & it was way cheaper than Air Canada but same flights.  Feb we are supposed to be  going in 2 days earlier but not sure now, will have to see how it all plays out.

 

 

 

[AlbertaCruisers]

Coming from Edmonton we always fly in the day before, way too many potential issues!  In August (and we will do the same at the end of the month), we tried to be really careful.  I think people thought we were crazy, but I didn't care!  We wore masks in our Uber, the Uber app says you have to, but I think drivers were mainly doing what their passengers were, we saw one couple get in not wearing a mask and the driver took his off.  Our uber driver put his on as soon as he saw us wearing one.  We wore mask in the hotel (the front desk staff was wearing masks as well), we waiting longer for elevators to get one ourselves, and we only took our mask off on the beach.  We ordered room service only, so we didn't have added potential contact at a restaurant.  Once we were on the ship, we didn't wear masks at all, but we also only took elevators if we were alone in it and we didn't talk to strangers!  🙂 

[Fouremco]

5 minutes ago, AlbertaCruisers said:

Coming from Edmonton we always fly in the day before, way too many potential issues!  In August (and we will do the same at the end of the month), we tried to be really careful.  I think people thought we were crazy, but I didn't care!  We wore masks in our Uber, the Uber app says you have to, but I think drivers were mainly doing what their passengers were, we saw one couple get in not wearing a mask and the driver took his off.  Our uber driver put his on as soon as he saw us wearing one.  We wore mask in the hotel (the front desk staff was wearing masks as well), we waiting longer for elevators to get one ourselves, and we only took our mask off on the beach.  We ordered room service only, so we didn't have added potential contact at a restaurant.  Once we were on the ship, we didn't wear masks at all, but we also only took elevators if we were alone in it and we didn't talk to strangers!  🙂 

Those sound very much like the type of precautions we intend to take to minimize risk. It will change our normal travel routine a bit - taking an Uber rather than the often packed hotel shuttle from the airport, for example - but our normal routines at home went out the window 20 or so months ago.

[AlbertaCruisers]

11 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Those sound very much like the type of precautions we intend to take to minimize risk. It will change our normal travel routine a bit - taking an Uber rather than the often packed hotel shuttle from the airport, for example - but our normal routines at home went out the window 20 or so months ago.

 

I find the Ubers in Florida so much faster and easier than any other option.  

[Magicat]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

Excellent decision! I'm someone who firmly believes in flying in the day before, but I have to say that avoiding an overnight stay in Florida during the pandemic would be a definite exception. But not for our next cruise, unfortunately, a bit too risky given our frequent terrible March weather.

Agree, March weather can be hit or miss in Canada or south of the border.  Now there seems to be a large amount of flights being cancelled.  Southwest cancelled 1000's the other day.  DW had her flight from Chicago to Toronto cancelled while she was in the air.  They moved her to a flight that she had no chance of making.  Luckily there was a flight later she took.  Hope this manpower issue is resolved soon.

[Fouremco]

17 minutes ago, Magicat said:

Agree, March weather can be hit or miss in Canada or south of the border.  Now there seems to be a large amount of flights being cancelled.  Southwest cancelled 1000's the other day.  DW had her flight from Chicago to Toronto cancelled while she was in the air.  They moved her to a flight that she had no chance of making.  Luckily there was a flight later she took.  Hope this manpower issue is resolved soon.

Yes, I'm very happy to be booked on AC. SWA seems to be in real trouble, and I feel very sorry for those who might miss their cruise when their flight is cancelled.

[ladysail2]

15 hours ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

 

 

As so few Canadians are cruising as of now, it’s hard to gauge what is the real percentage of on board infections.

 

Have people heard of any debarkation failures first hand?

 

 

I haven’t heard of any failures first-hand which is a good thing….the only failure I heard was through Don, a Canadian youtube-er and travel agent. His ‘failure experience’ was that his ship Covid test did not get back in time for getting to the airport the day of disembarkation. He had to wait a few days for another test, which was negative. So it was hotel, food, and change fees for his flight. He was on a Celebrity ship and they said they’d pay those expenses. I’m sure his video is still on his YouTube channel.  So, it’s not only a positive test result that can throw a monkey wrench into the plans!

[Magicat]

2 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Yes, I'm very happy to be booked on AC. SWA seems to be in real trouble, and I feel very sorry for those who might miss their cruise when their flight is cancelled.

She booked with Aeroplan and it was a United flight that was cancelled.  AC picked up the ball and made it happen.  Always have great experience with Air Canada.

[Dr. Cocktail]

Some nice comments and concerns with many of us eying potential roadblocks.

 

Just a few days ago, we had discussed changing our winter arrival in Florida to one day before sailing as opposed to arriving a few days before. Same day flights, as discussed, scare me greatly in winter in Ontario!

 

We are scheduled to sail on Regent and they (well, on paper anyway!) have an excellent post-cruise care program stated in writing but their final payment remains at an unreasonable 120 days.  

 

As each week passes, we'll get a better real-world view of what's happening.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Our next cruise is the Apex TA April 30 , I don’t think we will have much to worry about at that time 

we will probably have 3 doses of the vaccine just not sure if we grow a tail by than 😁