In quarantine on Equinox. Ask me anything. I’m bored.

[Kirsten T]

I can tell you what’s currently happening on Reflection. On departure we had St Croix dropped and Nassau substituted. Today we had Grenada and St kitts dropped and Barbados and St Maarten substituted. They’re trying hard to not do a cruise to nowhere and are letting people call tour operators on the dropped islands to cancel, ostensibly for free. If you care deeply about the ports, you might be disappointed. We came knowing everything could change and we’re having a great time.

[Parkerson]

Here is the original itinerary compared to the final for ours. 
 

 

[teacherman]

KIRSTEN:     Hope you can let us know how many cruisers are on Reflection and how many positive cases may be reported.

[jagoffee]

Parkerson, thank you very much for this thread.  Very interesting and educational.  I am fairly certain that your attitude, patience, and approach helped make your situation better.  Very commendable for you to allow your wife to be safe and get some enjoyment outside of the quarantine quarters.  A different attitude likely would have contributed to a different experience. 
 

Testing positive on a cruise it going to lead to a bad experience under any conditions.  We all have to access our risk level.  Many of us are more worried about the impact of a positive test result than the actual impact of the virus.  
 

If anyone thought they had a significant probability of testing positive, they would not cruise. Celebrity can make the experience better, but it will still not be good.  As they gain experience, I suspect the quarantine experience will improve.

 

On the positive side, it does seem that Celebrity did a good job isolating the passengers with positive test results.  A focus  on the protection of the rest of the passengers and minimizing the spread is certainly appropriate.  Something clearly missing in the general population (off the cruise ship) as there are few activities to identify or force people testing positive to isolate.  Just an “honor system”.

Good to hear that you are safely home and on the road to recovery. 
 

Thanks, again.

[Spence32]

Sorry to hear your positive but glad to hear your symptoms are mild. Just curious as to what happens now? Do you get refunded at all? Or a future cruise credit? I am scheduled to leave on the 14th to Southern Caribbean. It’s a huge expense to be quarantined. This is the first cruise and most expensive vacation my husband and I have ever been on. So excited but getting a bit nervous about being out the money with no vacation. 

[D C]

@Pinckerton, 😅 thanks for the continued updates!   

 

Was your wife stuck in your old room the rest of the cruise, or was she totally set free? 

They did TWO tests on her, correct? How long from the first test to second result?  

[Veinless]

Appreciate you, Parkinson.

[Parkerson]

1 hour ago, D C said:

@Pinckerton, 😅 thanks for the continued updates!   

 

Was your wife stuck in your old room the rest of the cruise, or was she totally set free? 

They did TWO tests on her, correct? How long from the first test to second result?  

Yes, she was. They first tested her early afternoon on the 31st and she was negative. They said she had to stay in the stateroom until she tested negative again after 24 hrs.  After that was done, she was free to roam. 

[Parkerson]

1 hour ago, Veinless said:

Appreciate you, Parkinson.

That’s just wrong.  😕

[stunned]

21 minutes ago, Parkerson said:

That’s just wrong.  😕

I love your sense of humor, and thank you for posting all the valuable information.  

[Sunny Pearl]

5 hours ago, jemttill said:

We were on a B2B on this cruise and the one before it.  The first one, also 12 nights, had only 1 case!  I think this cruise was a perfect storm, in a bad way.  There were more pax (I think about 600 more), holiday events on board and Omicron had exploded.  That being said, I was very disappointed in Celebrity's response and agree that they were overwhelmed.  Hopefully, they learned from this sailing and will do better on future cruises.

Interesting point. I hear Disney requires the 2 day prior to boarding (neg. Covid test-per CDC), they also test at the pier on embarkation day, and mid point of the cruise.  I wonder if that is helping mitigation?

 

If passengers have the neg test 2 days before cruise, and then go about their merry way, certainly they could be exposed and then become positive on board.  I think if we're going to live along side this virus, we need to continue to adjust rather than react afterwards.

 

Stay safe friends,

-Sunny

[luv2cruise0611]

5 hours ago, Rayhorn said:

@luv2cruise0611

 

Since CC doesn’t require a login to read the forums, web bots called crawlers can pick up email addresses that are posted and spam them, often in bulk. You may want to edit your post and change LLPs email to the following and also make sure it removes the link. 

 

llutoff-perlo (at) celebritycruises (dot) com

 

This way honest CC members can still send an email to her office but bots won’t pick up her address. 

Good idea ... but at this point, I'm unable to do any edits.  You only have about 15 minutes immediately after posting to do an edit.  I did try, but as I suspected, I couldn't.

Edited January 5, 2022 by luv2cruise0611

[luv2cruise0611]

5 hours ago, Parkerson said:

Exactly. I don’t recall ever being asked where we were going until we were taken down by the debarkation crew. Maybe I had covid-fog, but I truly don’t recall that. When we got downstairs to check our names off the list, they asked where we were going. 
 

Not sure what the process would have been if we had not driven. I hope Mojo65 will check in and let us know what happened with them. 
 

The letter indicated that rental car reimbursement was available. Was there an option to just rent a car and then drive to a nicer $350/night hotel, or was everyone at their mercy of hotel choices. 
 

I haven’t been digging too deep in other threads. Anything like that posted?  

@Parkerson ... Mojo65 is the passenger that a poster earlier referred to, who was put up in the 4 Points Sheraton.  She wrote a wonderful post on FB describing her whole ordeal.  It can be found on FB's -  Celebrity Cruises Captain's Club.  (Hope I'm allowed to say that.) There were other quarantined passengers who also piped in on her post.  It's a good read and very informative.  If you're looking for that post ... it will not be under the name of Mojo65 ... it's under her real name.  This is the post ...

"Happy New Year from the amazing Celebrity Equinox, I was not sure weather to post this but I know there are a lot of hesitant people who are not sure weather to cancel, we are on day 11 of a 12 day cruise, I was traced as a close contact of a covid positive yesterday and tested positive myself, I am now on deck 6 (isolation deck) waiting for room service, I feel absolutely fine, just mild cold symptoms and have connected with others on this deck via our balconies….it’s just boring, close contacts are all tested, and the negative ones have to isolate in their original cabins also until they provide a 2nd negative test, our friends have been in their rooms for 2 days, I am not sure what our homeward journey will be yet, celebrity have not been the best at communicating, any questions then please ask away, but please I don’t want to hear it’s not the time to cruise etc so please keep your opinions to yourself…I just want to post this to help people who are worried….with legit questions!!!!"

 

I suggest reading all the comments that were posted on her thread.  Mojo65 also describes her experience once disembarking the ship.

 

 

167167

 

437 Comments

Edited January 5, 2022 by luv2cruise0611

[#55worktoplay]

17 hours ago, Parkerson said:

***whispers***….you know she reads this thread, right? 🤫

 

The meals are are great here. 😏

All kidding aside, she is taking great care of me, as she always does. She’s the best and puts up with my nonsense.  She does scowls if I get with 27’ of her now, but other than that….😉

Oh….I think you’re looking for this guy.  Not sure if he was on board but you can reach out on Insta if you’re inclined. 
 

Oh you crack me up. 
 

You and your wife sound like great peeps!

[Parkerson]

1 hour ago, luv2cruise0611 said:

@Parkerson ... Mojo65 is the passenger that a poster earlier referred to, who was put up in the 4 Points Sheraton.  She wrote a wonderful post on FB describing her whole ordeal.  It can be found on FB's -  Celebrity Cruises Captain's Club.  (Hope I'm allowed to say that.) There were other quarantined passengers who also piped in on her post.  It's a good read and very informative.  If you're looking for that post ... it will not be under the name of Mojo65 ... it's under her real name.  This is the post ...

"Happy New Year from the amazing Celebrity Equinox, I was not sure weather to post this but I know there are a lot of hesitant people who are not sure weather to cancel, we are on day 11 of a 12 day cruise, I was traced as a close contact of a covid positive yesterday and tested positive myself, I am now on deck 6 (isolation deck) waiting for room service, I feel absolutely fine, just mild cold symptoms and have connected with others on this deck via our balconies….it’s just boring, close contacts are all tested, and the negative ones have to isolate in their original cabins also until they provide a 2nd negative test, our friends have been in their rooms for 2 days, I am not sure what our homeward journey will be yet, celebrity have not been the best at communicating, any questions then please ask away, but please I don’t want to hear it’s not the time to cruise etc so please keep your opinions to yourself…I just want to post this to help people who are worried….with legit questions!!!!"

 

I suggest reading all the comments that were posted on her thread.  Mojo65 also describes her experience once disembarking the ship.

 

 

167167

 

437 Comments

Thank you for the info and the summary. I’ll check it out. 

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, luv2cruise0611 said:

@Parkerson ... Mojo65 is the passenger that a poster earlier referred to, who was put up in the 4 Points Sheraton.  She wrote a wonderful post on FB describing her whole ordeal.  It can be found on FB's -  Celebrity Cruises Captain's Club.  (Hope I'm allowed to say that.) There were other quarantined passengers who also piped in on her post.  It's a good read and very informative.  If you're looking for that post ... it will not be under the name of Mojo65 ... it's under her real name.  This is the post ...

"Happy New Year from the amazing Celebrity Equinox, I was not sure weather to post this but I know there are a lot of hesitant people who are not sure weather to cancel, we are on day 11 of a 12 day cruise, I was traced as a close contact of a covid positive yesterday and tested positive myself, I am now on deck 6 (isolation deck) waiting for room service, I feel absolutely fine, just mild cold symptoms and have connected with others on this deck via our balconies….it’s just boring, close contacts are all tested, and the negative ones have to isolate in their original cabins also until they provide a 2nd negative test, our friends have been in their rooms for 2 days, I am not sure what our homeward journey will be yet, celebrity have not been the best at communicating, any questions then please ask away, but please I don’t want to hear it’s not the time to cruise etc so please keep your opinions to yourself…I just want to post this to help people who are worried….with legit questions!!!!"

 

I suggest reading all the comments that were posted on her thread.  Mojo65 also describes her experience once disembarking the ship.

 

 

167167

 

437 Comments

Can you post a link to the FB page?  When I search for that topic it brings me to a page run by a travel agency, but the last user post was 9/2021

[Parkerson]

2 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Can you post a link to the FB page?  When I search for that topic it brings me to a page run by a travel agency, but the last user post was 9/2021

Not sure if that’s allowed. Just go to the face page and then search the exact quote of the page name. It was the first thing found when I did it. 

[barb-ottawa]

7 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Can you post a link to the FB page?  When I search for that topic it brings me to a page run by a travel agency, but the last user post was 9/2021

It's a private group so you will have to ask to join and read the comments.

[Froufie]

Found the thread on FB and some of the information is most disconcerting!

 

no I do not regret going.....this covid part is just a blip, adds to the adventure, my husband tested negative and flies home in the morning to my puppies which i am so happy about, I will stay here till I can fly home, not sure when that will be, communication for the last 4 days on the ship has been pretty crap, we are now at the hotel and we have been give a care team contact phone number, but no one is answering or returning messages....so communication has not improved....i believe I ca fly home with in the US on day 10, and home to Canada on day 14....or if I test negative before...all these options tho come with its own hurdles....

 

I have heard this problem with other lines as well - RCCL - given a contact number to call yet no one answers to no 'care' provided!  

 

 

And a further update:

 

So an update this morning…..we have not been told much…we don’t know what time we can get off, we can’t just get off we have to wait to be escorted, but no one has told us what time….this was in our door this morning….doesn’t exactly give us the “cruise with confidence” vibe they have promised from day 1….my hubby has woken up and feels crap….he called the medical centre and they basically told him if it’s not an emergency they were not interested and he will be dealt with after disembarkation….

Edited January 5, 2022 by Froufie

[spiritkat090909]

Thanks to the P-man and company in quarantine.  I can now make an informed argument to DH that we WILL separate, should the need to quarantine arise! (My cruise addiction exceeds my Blue Chip Club one.)

 

But...in spite of the bumps, and there were some big ones, like dollyD...yikes!... Celebrity seems to have handled their quarantinee's better than Carnival, NCL, and even the RCI's pinnacle weekend cruiser. Reading these experiences has been enlightening.

[Parkerson]

7 hours ago, canderson said:

Do you have one of those nifty finger pulse/oximeter gizmos that allow you to monitor your O2 sat?  Being a little low on air can be tiring, even if you're not exerting yourself.

 

Hope you're back to normal soon.  And I realize I haven't personally thanked you for detailing your experience here.  There's a chance those that follow will fare better than those on your cruise.  Wouldn't have happened if you hadn't brought your own experience and that of others to everyone's attention.

I do!  The Dr’s office sent me a “covid kit” that had one in it. 
 

Thank you for the kind words. 

[cangelmd]

I think all the lines may have been a bit blindsided by Omicron. They had been cruising for months with a low and manageable level of illness. Then there is this overnight, literally, change. -a much more contagious virus that infects vaccinated people, a crew with waning immunity and increased numbers of passengers because of the holidays. The system that worked well with a handful of people, broke down when dozens had to be accommodated. 
 

Question is for Celebrity is will masking and back to reduced numbers be enough to slow spread and control the virus. Pre-cruise testing helps, but passengers are still going to board with asymptomatic infections and omicron progresses fast enough that will become symptomatic within a 7 day cruise.

[Algebralovr]

I appreciate all the sharing.  The hotel that Celebrity has chosen doesn't sound good.  So, that tells all of us who are from a farther distance away that we should look into where we might want to stay if we need to.  

I want a place where I can access at LEAST a microwave in the room, preferably a stove top.

[luv4cruises]

1 hour ago, Parkerson said:

Not sure if that’s allowed. Just go to the face page and then search the exact quote of the page name. It was the first thing found when I did it.

[luv2cruise0611]

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

Can you post a link to the FB page?  When I search for that topic it brings me to a page run by a travel agency, but the last user post was 9/2021

I don't believe I can actually share a FB link here ... but I just took a screenshot.  Maybe that will help you.  Just do a search for ... Celebrity Cruises Captain's Club. The picture might help.  You have to join the group to see the posts.

A post on this FB group said that at the show last night, they were told there are only 600 PAX on this sailing.  That must be a lot less people than you had on your New Year's sailing.  Hopefully, they'll be a lot less Covid cases and better handling of it ... plus masks are now mandatory indoors.

Edited January 5, 2022 by luv2cruise0611