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Our Gem 12/26 departure nightmare

skeeter195

By skeeter195,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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skeeter195

skeeter195

Posted
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This was our second cruise out of NYC this year.  The first was a Breakaway cruise in October that was great from start to finish. 

 

Here is the Gem story:  We arrived at the pier, parked and went in to get the covid test.  Had the test done for my wife and I.  Her results were back in 15 minutes.  After 45 minutes I went and inquired.  The person at the desk sent me to another person.  That person said that they had no record of me and I would have to take another test.  At that moment another person overhears and said that there was a problem with the system that day for some reason and she would go check on my results.  She comes back within 3 minutes and says that I am OK and go get my wristband, whew.  I go to get my wristband and still no record.  They call over a supervisor.  She checks my number and says to come with her.  We go to a small room with 20+ people in it who are getting retested.  I asked why I was here and she tells me that I had tested positive along with everyone else in here.  I said "are you sure?", I was just told that I was negative?  She said the other person gave me wrong information.  I am now not allowed to leave the room.  There is at least a 2 hour wait to get retested as there are only 8 test stations which take about 1/2 hour each to get results from after getting re-swabbed.  I watch as every person who gets tested comes up positive for a second time.  Right at the 2 hour mark the supervisor brings in another person and comes over to me and asks what my number was again.  I tell her, she says come with me quickly.  I follow her out of the room and she almost started crying.  She tells me that my number and one others were actually negative.  Apparently she wrote ours in her notebook on the wrong line. 

 

Now what?  I am negative and have been exposed for 2 hours in close contact with all positive people.  The whole in there, I stood up in the corner and did not touch anything.  I kept wiping my hands and mask with clorox wipes holding out hope that I may retest negative and still get to board the Gem.  I ask the supervisor who said that I am negative and it is up to me what I want to do.  So, I call my friend who lives in the city and ask him to get me some self tests for me to bring with me on the cruise.  Within 1/2 an hour he drops 5 2 packs off to me.  I go in to check in and before I do I explain the situation to the staff inside.  They say go ahead and go on the cruise.  So, I test myself and my wife on alternating days and we never test positive.  

 

If I had known what stress this was going to cause me on the cruise I never would have boarded.  I made sure to stay clear of every one.  We would not get on an elevator with anyone else and kept our masks on way more than we needed to, often putting them on between courses at dinner.  

 

 

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bbnmom

bbnmom

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Posted (edited)

I have often wondered why they put supposed positive people in the same room waiting for retest. They need to isolate from one another unless they were already together as a couple. Sheesh! Sorry it was stressful. Hopefully it won't happen again.

 

 

Edited by bbnmom
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dobiemom

dobiemom

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3 hours ago, skeeter195 said:

So, I call my friend who lives in the city and ask him to get me some self tests for me to bring with me on the cruise.  Within 1/2 an hour he drops 5 2 packs off to me. 

That’s a great friend. 🙂

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skeeter195

skeeter195

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I have a group of truly incredible friends.  We would do anything for one another at a moments notice.  We have been friends for 40 plus years now.  

 

The testing is done by eurofins at the Manhattan cruise terminal not by NCL.  

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mking8288 "Live from...." Rare

mking8288

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Kudo to OP for sharing the unfortunate incident at MCT prior to being allowed to proceed thru security/pier check-in & boarding ... was the errors caused by 3rd party/outside contractor doing the testing & registration at Pier 90, or was this error by an employee with a NCL name badge or ID at the terminal ??  There should've been protocols and safeguards in place, "timed out" procedures to confirm & re-verify ... apparently, it read like someone finally caught the mistakes, although badly delayed & frightening, able to get onboard.  Not making an excuse for "them" as they should be held accountable - these errors should and would typically be written up & document if this happened in a clinical / healthcare settings and compliance officer would be all over, busy writing up "incident reports". 

 

Under the circumstances, it isn't ideal but given the lack of options, it is terrible but I am not too surprised that everyone that supposingly tested initially positive are under one roof, in the same room - as long as there are safeguards in place, proper & maybe extended social distancing, everyone required to put on & keep their mask on, asked to hand wash in between contacts with others, and, that extra/special air circulations & filtrations are in place (i.e. HEPA air filters ... as negative air flow would be difficult to achieve, unlike specially designed rooms within healthcare facility)  Just saying ... what about other members of the family/household/guests & mates booked into the same stateroom or suites - where & how - do you keep them apart or together.  Yes, the "exposure" risk is there with others ... everyone cruising on NCL are fully vaxxed, right. 

 

This isn't about making excuses for what happened, just to put matters in perspectives - yes, "they" need to do it right and adjust their drills to make it better for the sake of to simply avoiding mistakes.  Medical errors can be very costly and not always reversible. 

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njhorseman

njhorseman

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4 hours ago, Sixtytwo said:

Wow!! What a horrible time that must have been! I hope by April 24th they have their process working better than you described!

Current plans call for the elimination of testing at the cruise terminal prior to boarding effective February 1. (Original date was January 17 but was changed due to the Omicron surge.) Starting Feb. 1  you will have to be tested prior to arriving at the pier.

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njhorseman

njhorseman

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3 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

First of all...I can't even imagine going through something like that!

 

Second...I would have been livid with those people running the tests.  Of course, they may very well have not been cruise staff.  I'd bet they were subcontractors.

A subcontractor does the testing at the pier. 

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skeeter195

skeeter195

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I self tested(CVS kit) Sunday morning and again this morning, and my wife self tested Saturday and yesterday.  We are still both negative.  I feel that the self test kits are the best way to go because there is a greater chance of a false positive than a PCR test. If we self test positive then we get a PCR.  We are basically quarantining also.   

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Viajera7

Viajera7

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Cruises with embarkation dates through February 28, 2022:
All guests will be required to take a COVID-19 antigen test, administered and paid for by the cruise line, prior to boarding and receive a negative result. Any positive antigen test will be confirmed with a PCR test. Guests are also responsible for complying with all local health and safety requirements which may include additional testing.

In addition, while guests will be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival at the terminal pre-embarkation, we highly recommend that guests self-test at home prior to departure.

Cruises with embarkation dates beginning March 1, 2022:
At time of check-in, all guests will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 antigen or PCR test result administered by a verified third party or via medically supervised home test (i.e. https://www.emed.com/ or BioReference's Scarlet service - BioReference sends a trained Scarlet Health Professional to your home to collect your COVID-19 test specimen), within two days prior to boarding for cruises originating in a U.S. port and three days prior for voyages departing from a non-U.S. port. Guests are also responsible for complying with all local health and safety requirements which may include additional testing.

https://www.ncl.com/sail-safe

  • The new date now is February 28, 2022.
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njhorseman

njhorseman

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Posted (edited)
On 1/4/2022 at 8:50 PM, natefish95 said:

Stories like this are why I'm glad NCL is making people due their own tests prior to showing up at the pier. I would hate to get all the way to the pier and then test positive--I'd rather know before I leave home. 

NCL has not been making people do their own testing prior to arriving at the pier and won't be until March 1 (a date that has already been pushed off a couple of times). They only recommend that guests self test at home. The only requirement for testing prior to arriving at the pier is for NCL to provide assistance with expenses related to any mandatory quarantine that isn't covered by your insurance.

Edited by njhorseman
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Tralfie

Tralfie

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Like others have said, I'm sorry this happened and can't BEGIN to imagine how stressful it was. And thank you for, during your time on board, doing the right thing every single step of the way. 

This is a good reminder that it's worth picking up a few extra tests and brining them along, just in case. 

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