Help! My wife tested c-positive pre-sail. What's the best way to re-book?

[Bakedzd81]

We were scheduled to sail (first time cruisers!) on the Encore 1/9 - 1/16. As we were flying from Baltimore to MIA, we tested before we left. What do you know...my wife tested positive (yes, we re-tested). 
We called NCL today and the rep told us they can process the cancellation credit ("credit" is the key word) which would be made manifest in 14 business days.
We want to sail on 1/23, same ship, same itinerary but the credit won't be available by then. 

If we pay cash then we'll have a $4K credit just hanging out which we don't want. 
Has anyone experienced this or can offer advice? 

[coldferret]

Hope you get an answer as this is something that could happen to anyone.

We fly out January 18th and  are very nervous

[smokeymtn51]

With Booksafe cruise insurance, shouldn't testing positive prior to the trip be one of the covered reasons for a full refund?

 

https://affinitytravelcert.com/document/pdfs/NCL-LandingPage-STANDARD-7-2017.html

Trip Cancellation

Reimbursement if you need to cancel your trip for a covered reason - Cash refund up to 100% of the Total Trip Cost

[Bakedzd81]

NCL offered a full refund but said it'd be processed even longer than the 14 biz day. That might be the only viable option though right now. 

It's just fascinating that we can't move our booking from 1/9 to 1/23. 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Bakedzd81 said:

We were scheduled to sail (first time cruisers!) on the Encore 1/9 - 1/16. As we were flying from Baltimore to MIA, we tested before we left. What do you know...my wife tested positive (yes, we re-tested). 
We called NCL today and the rep told us they can process the cancellation credit ("credit" is the key word) which would be made manifest in 14 business days.
We want to sail on 1/23, same ship, same itinerary but the credit won't be available by then. 

If we pay cash then we'll have a $4K credit just hanging out which we don't want. 
Has anyone experienced this or can offer advice? 

Just remember that you can not not fly back home until you test negative. 

[MeHeartCruising]

48 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Just remember that you can not not fly back home until you test negative. 

They tested themselves before they left home. 

[milolii]

First off, I hope she does well.   People do still test positive for sometime after an infection.  So…you want to wait until you both test negative to rebook.  Just a thought.  
 

Smart move testing before you left home.  Good luck 

[RRSeeker]

I would sail much later than your plan. You can test positive for 3 months and I would be worried about a date that close. I would look to February to April if I were you just to be safer.  

Covid stinks but I would rather be safe than sorry. 
 

 

[Middleager]

2 hours ago, Bakedzd81 said:

NCL offered a full refund but said it'd be processed even longer than the 14 biz day. That might be the only viable option though right now. 

It's just fascinating that we can't move our booking from 1/9 to 1/23. 

It's not "moving" your booking.  It's a completely new booking for each sailing.

 

As others have said, testing positive now, can leave the person testing positive for weeks to come, including in 2 weeks.  Good for you to test beforehand, so you won't be stuck somewhere you don't want.

[Rosmerta]

Just to clarify, if you are fully vaccinated and have no symptoms, you are considered recovered and no longer contagious after 10 days. The problem is that the inactive virus remains in your nose and will give a positive result. For the very, very serious cases, this could last up to 3 months. For little, non-symptomatic, breakthough cases, we test negative a lot sooner. However, we never know when that could be. Sometimes it's a week, sometimes two, sometimes more. 

 

I had this happen while I was overseas and had to fly back to the US. In that case, the CDC says to get a letter of recovery from a MD to be allowed to fly back to the US. Is there a recovery letter option for cruising?

[hallux]

1 hour ago, milolii said:

People do still test positive for sometime after an infection.

 

1 hour ago, Middleager said:

As others have said, testing positive now, can leave the person testing positive for weeks to come, including in 2 weeks

 

56 minutes ago, Rosmerta said:

For the very, very serious cases, this could last up to 3 months.

Keep in mind - that's for the more-sensitive PCR test.  For the antigen test it can be negative MUCH sooner as it's less sensitive.  I still wouldn't risk a re-booking in the next 2 weeks though as if the antigen test given at the pier shows positive the PCR re-test almost certainly would as well for a recently-recovered person.

[Karaboudjan]

4 hours ago, Rosmerta said:

I had this happen while I was overseas and had to fly back to the US. In that case, the CDC says to get a letter of recovery from a MD to be allowed to fly back to the US. Is there a recovery letter option for cruising?

 

Per the Sail Safe page FAQs there is no alternative to a negative test.

[Bakedzd81]

18 hours ago, milolii said:

First off, I hope she does well.   People do still test positive for sometime after an infection.  So…you want to wait until you both test negative to rebook.  Just a thought.  
 

Smart move testing before you left home.  Good luck 

Thank you! Indeed, we're very happy we pre-tested before flying. I cannot imagine the frustration and tears had that happened soooo close to the ship. 

[Bakedzd81]

Update/Resolution 🙏: The NCL rep (Giovanni) was VERY helpful and understanding. 

We rebooked for the 2/20 sailing...same ship, same itinerary, etc. The credit $ was not available yet so I paid cash for the new booking with the express confirmation that we'd receive a full refund once the credit hits our account. We'll need to follow up with NCL to make sure this all happens but for now, I'm satisfied. 

Thankfully, my wife is up and about. Some congestion and fogginess but otherwise, feelin good. 

[Bakedzd81]

16 hours ago, hallux said:

 

 

Keep in mind - that's for the more-sensitive PCR test.  For the antigen test it can be negative MUCH sooner as it's less sensitive.  I still wouldn't risk a re-booking in the next 2 weeks though as if the antigen test given at the pier shows positive the PCR re-test almost certainly would as well for a recently-recovered person.

Thank you! We're pushing to 2/20. As it is, NCL told us that we'd need 14 days from any positive tests which would have ruled out 1/23.