SoD- Covid Outbreak

[wowzz]

News on another social media site that there are 17 confirmed cases on board,  with up to 100 passengers having to isolate. 

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by wowzz
Wrong title

[CeaJay]

SOD has been denied entry to last Caribbean port of call due to high covid cases.  They haven't tested all guests for at least 3 days.  My husband and I have been in confinement since 2 nd of FEBRUARY.  He has been told they can't hold us for more than 10 days.  It has been the cruise to no where for us.  We have have been confined for all the ports of call.

[wowzz]

8 hours ago, CeaJay said:

SOD has been denied entry to last Caribbean port of call due to high covid cases.  They haven't tested all guests for at least 3 days.  My husband and I have been in confinement since 2 nd of FEBRUARY.  He has been told they can't hold us for more than 10 days.  It has been the cruise to no where for us.  We have have been confined for all the ports of call.

I feel so sorry for you.

How are Saga looking after you ?

[LondonLad60]

I echo wowzz's sentiments above. I'm assuming the ship isn't sailing at full passenger capacity, so the figures mentioned by wowzz represent a significant percentage of passengers. Has Saga issued a statement of any kind?

 

Bob

[CeaJay]

Thanks for the sympathy guys.  We have been fed and watered.  However two nights running a guy turned up at 7.30 PM. Asking to clean our room.  It would mean us sitting in the dark on our balcony while he sprayed the counter surfaces.  No offer to change the bed linen though.  We have the Saga insurance but can't see anything that covers cabin confinement.  The captain has announced that 7 more guests have tested positive today, but they are only halfway through.

[kruzgal]

That’s really awful. I feel quite concerned now as my Mum is going on her first SAGA cruise in a few weeks. Surely there must be some compensation with their insurance if they are forcing you into isolation for the whole trip? They are not cheap holidays! 

[silversurf]

Celay. Have you actually tested positive for COVID? If so then confinement is necessary to protect the others on board. If only a contact then surely two days consecutive negative tests should release you both. Are you being tested every day to check? As to bed linen, I would ask for clean sheets and do it myself.

We are due on SOD in April and will take our own testing kits to monitor ourselves.

I would be grateful to be kept onboard in a nice balcony cabin with good food, rather than be put in a scummy Spanish hotel.

I do think that some compensation is due to you, either from the cruise line or insurance company.

When I phoned Saga re insurance I was told “Don’t worry, we will look after you’

[CeaJay]

We have now been released. The final words from the captai  yesterday lunchtime was his tip of the day which was don't catch covid!

 

We spoke to guest services about our situation and they said SAGA  are looking into so will let you know what happens

 

 

[paulatsea]

3 hours ago, CeaJay said:

We have now been released. The final words from the captai  yesterday lunchtime was his tip of the day which was don't catch covid!

 

We spoke to guest services about our situation and they said SAGA  are looking into so will let you know what happens

 

 

Hope you enjoy the rest of the cruise .

[kruzgal]

Please do come back and let us know the outcome. As a ‘close contact’ I would have thought regular testing would be more appropriate than confinement at this stage. 

[wowzz]

13 hours ago, kruzgal said:

Please do come back and let us know the outcome. As a ‘close contact’ I would have thought regular testing would be more appropriate than confinement at this stage. 

Isn't the problem that you can be infectious prior to showing a positive test result ? By putting close contacts into quarantine for a couple of days you reduce the risk of transmission. 

[mcloaked]

28 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Isn't the problem that you can be infectious prior to showing a positive test result ? By putting close contacts into quarantine for a couple of days you reduce the risk of transmission. 

 

Is it not the case that if you are exposed to sars-cov-2 then your immune system starts to kick into action. Initially the antibodies start to remove virus particles, and overall there is a relatively low viral load in the body as the virus has not taken a hold enough to start replicating in large numbers - at that stage the LFT would likely still be negative.  then once some of the viruses get into the cells, and depending on how the battle between the immune system and the virus progresses, then some of the viruses manage to get into the cells and start producing new ones.  The immune system ramps up and then whether or not the virus outnumbers the immune cells and antibodies governs whether the person will escape being infected or become infected and ill and at what level. In that crucial time the LFT can begin to show a weak test line as the virus replicates and starts to be shed from the nose and throat, and then the person is weakly infectious, but infectious enough that he/she should isolate - but the weak LFT line is still positive. If the virus overpowers the immune system, then the LFT test line will be strong, the person will be fully infectious, and should certainly isolate. How the symptoms develop will then depend on the persons innate immune system along with protection from recent vaccine jabs giving a boosted antibody level. So it looks like the long and the short of it is that if daily LFT tests are done correctly then only when the test line on LFT is present even if weak, then the person is infectious.

Edited February 13, 2022 by mcloaked
typo

[nosapphire]

31 minutes ago, mcloaked said:

EXTRACTED

So it looks like the long and the short of it is that if daily LFT tests are done correctly then only when the test line on LFT is present even if weak, then the person is infectious.

But post no 2 (Ceajay in quarantine) pointed out that they were NOT carrying out daily testing?

[CeaJay]

You get tested just before stopping at a port.  We were tested five times during our first seven/ eight days and were negative.  We tested positive on 2nd February the day before visiting Tortola so missed all the island stops.  After asking at guest Services yesterday about the possibility that Saga might give us some recompense, there was a letter saying we could have a couple of spa treatments or £300 on board credit.

 

We haven't had the letter we asked for outlining the period we spent in isolation.

 

I also have to say that the crew are not allowed to spend their downtime outside of their cabins. Just work, eat and then back to their cabins. I don't know how they stay so cheerful.

I will be very surprised if we make our stop at the Azores.  We couldn't stop on the way out due to having 4/5 cases.

[kruzgal]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

Isn't the problem that you can be infectious prior to showing a positive test result ? By putting close contacts into quarantine for a couple of days you reduce the risk of transmission. 

But by all accounts it’s not just a couple of days, it’s at least a week if not more. How can they justify that now when people have paid thousands for their holiday and you don’t know what counts as a ‘close contact’. It’s completely ridiculous. Of course if you test positive that’s fair, but not just because you were sat at a table near to another table where someone subsequently tested positive. How are they making decisions about who is forced to quarantine? 

Edited February 13, 2022 by kruzgal

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, kruzgal said:

But by all accounts it’s not just a couple of days, it’s at least a week if not more. How can they justify that now when people have paid thousands for their holiday and you don’t know what counts as a ‘close contact’. It’s completely ridiculous. Of course if you test positive that’s fair, but not just because you were sat at a table near to another table where someone subsequently tested positive. How are they making decisions about who is forced to quarantine? 

Not a good situation, I agree, but it could be even worse if Saga are required to offload these cases as required by some countries.

[mercury7289]

28 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Not a good situation, I agree, but it could be even worse if Saga are required to offload these cases as required by some countries.

Harry, I have friends on this cruise ,if not stopping at the Azores then 11 day straight at sea, not good in these circumstances.

[kruzgal]

Saga cruises are not cheap and if I was forced into quarantine for a week, missing most of my holiday, because I was  identified as a ‘close contact’ by SAGA but didn’t subsequently develop Covid I would be livid and certainly expect compensation.  They do not specify what they count as a ‘close contact’. If it’s someone you share a cabin with fair enough but otherwise it’s completely crazy. I can’t believe people are putting up with this. 

[Harry Peterson]

12 minutes ago, kruzgal said:

Saga cruises are not cheap and if I was forced into quarantine for a week, missing most of my holiday, because I was  identified as a ‘close contact’ by SAGA but didn’t subsequently develop Covid I would be livid and certainly expect compensation.  They do not specify what they count as a ‘close contact’. If it’s someone you share a cabin with fair enough but otherwise it’s completely crazy. I can’t believe people are putting up with this. 

I'm not sure that people understand the risks, because cruise companies (and not just Saga) are underplaying them.

 

This is what Saga told me about having to disembark people in overseas ports, and the insurance position is far from clear for anyone not testing positive:

 

"Thank you for your recent email to us, I was awaiting a reply from my colleague as I needed to check the procedures with him and this is what he has advised me :

 

Dependent on local health authorities we could potentially have to disembark a close contact of the passenger - Spain on our most recent cruise have made us disembark passengers when we wanted to keep them in the isolation zone.

 

I hope this information has been of assistance to you and if I can be of any further assistance then please do not hesitate to contact me."
 

[paulatsea]

I’m not going to Spain again until this changes.

Does anyone know which other countries are insisting on offloading ?

 

thanks

Edited February 14, 2022 by paulatsea

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, paulatsea said:

I’m not going to Spain again until this changes.

Does anyone know which other countries are insisting on offloading ?

 

thanks

Both Greece and Italy have insisted on off loading.  

[paulatsea]

9 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Both Greece and Italy have insisted on off loading.  

Right - thanks very much 

[Wacktle]

I've just found this on the P&O forum. It's interesting, but it doesn't address the offloading question.

 

 https://www.pocruises.com/content/dam/po/pdfs/A-Z-destination-entry-requirements-guide-10-Feb-2022.pdf

[Harry Peterson]

31 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Both Greece and Italy have insisted on off loading.  

It’s based on an EU directive applying to all EU countries, but not all appear to be following it. I suppose it’s going to depend on the individual country’s view of the COVID situation at any given time.

[CeaJay]

Allegedly we are all being tested tomorrow so we might stop at the Azores on 16th after all.  I will write an update as soon as I know anything.