Ovation March 13th and Covid

[Lovetotravel7890]

Well said. 

[AtA]

4 hours ago, geoffieg said:

I definitely get the concerns.  But we have transitioned to the belief that COVID is what it is.  We need to learn to live with it and accept the potential consequences of resuming doing what we love to do...travel.

Kids go to school with no masks and no testing. Restaurants in Florida are packed and no masking.  Life goes on.

 

And Fl had one of the highest infection rates throughout this pandemic. 

[Symmes99]

My wife and I are on the Ovation TA. Very interesting that I’m learning about Covid cases on our cruise from this board and not from the ship’s officers. Now the change on mask policy a few days into the cruise makes more sense, but communication onboard is lacking. 
 

Boarding on  3/27. was simple: show proof of being fully vaccinated (no booster requirement), show negative antigen test done within 2 days of boarding (or negative PCR test done within 3 days of boarding), compete a health questionnaire, and wear your face mask in the terminal until you board the ship. Once on board, wearing face masks indoors was recommended but not required. So once we boarded, we ditched our face masks (as did everyone else, it seems, except the crew who had to wear face masks per company policy). All in all, it felt very normal. 

A letter was delivered to our cabin the next night, after a full day of almost all 457 passengers going maskless. It starts like this: “Please be advised that due to our crossing to Europe, we will now start following the European Health Advisory, this will impact our masks policy.” Later in the letter: “All guests are required to wear face masks while indoors at all times, except when eating or drinking or in their own suites.” And this: “Masks must also be worn outdoors if you are in large gatherings or if physical distancing cannot be maintained.” The letter was from the Chief Health Officer, not the Captain. 

If this change was so important, the Captain should have announced it so all passengers would hear. That letter delivered to cabins blends in with other spam delivered to cabins each night, touting the shops on board, spa treatments, etc. Not a real attention grabber when mixed in with all that other stuff. 

And the cruise line knew the exact itinerary beforehand, so why did they not explain this in the pre-cruise info instead of saying masks would be optional? And we’re so much closer to the US than to Europe, we’ve not stopped anywhere (and will not for 5 more days), so why apply European protocols?
 

But now I know the reason, from this board. Thanks for shedding some light on this. The mask policy change doesn’t seem as capricious  anymore. 
 

BTW, seems like a third of the passengers are not bothering with masks. 
 

[rucrazy]

6 minutes ago, Symmes99 said:

But now I know the reason, from this board. Thanks for shedding some light on this. The mask policy change doesn’t seem as capricious  anymore. 

Thanks for the first hand report. 

[RICHARD@SEA]

2 hours ago, Symmes99 said:

My wife and I are on the Ovation TA. Very interesting that I’m learning about Covid cases on our cruise from this board and not from the ship’s officers. Now the change on mask policy a few days into the cruise makes more sense, but communication onboard is lacking. 
 

Boarding on  3/27. was simple: show proof of being fully vaccinated (no booster requirement), show negative antigen test done within 2 days of boarding (or negative PCR test done within 3 days of boarding), compete a health questionnaire, and wear your face mask in the terminal until you board the ship. Once on board, wearing face masks indoors was recommended but not required. So once we boarded, we ditched our face masks (as did everyone else, it seems, except the crew who had to wear face masks per company policy). All in all, it felt very normal. 

A letter was delivered to our cabin the next night, after a full day of almost all 457 passengers going maskless. It starts like this: “Please be advised that due to our crossing to Europe, we will now start following the European Health Advisory, this will impact our masks policy.” Later in the letter: “All guests are required to wear face masks while indoors at all times, except when eating or drinking or in their own suites.” And this: “Masks must also be worn outdoors if you are in large gatherings or if physical distancing cannot be maintained.” The letter was from the Chief Health Officer, not the Captain. 

If this change was so important, the Captain should have announced it so all passengers would hear. That letter delivered to cabins blends in with other spam delivered to cabins each night, touting the shops on board, spa treatments, etc. Not a real attention grabber when mixed in with all that other stuff. 

And the cruise line knew the exact itinerary beforehand, so why did they not explain this in the pre-cruise info instead of saying masks would be optional? And we’re so much closer to the US than to Europe, we’ve not stopped anywhere (and will not for 5 more days), so why apply European protocols?
 

But now I know the reason, from this board. Thanks for shedding some light on this. The mask policy change doesn’t seem as capricious  anymore. 
 

BTW, seems like a third of the passengers are not bothering with masks. 
 

This entire  covid incident sounds typical Corporate / Carnivore management...get the ships full regardless of passenger health...unfortunately Captains do not have the powers they once had w "their ship"...its all corporate directed these days.  If you can't impress them with your brilliance...dazzle them with your B.S.

 

Everyone needs to keep vigilant for their own good health.

 

If you cruise during these times(and past 2 ears) its your responsibility & the corporations will use that to the utmost extent!!!

[Symmes99]

At the end of today’s (3/31) noontime briefing by the Captain, he said “Just a reminder to wear face masks when indoors and not eating or drinking.” He hadn’t mentioned that in his 3 noontime briefings since the letter was left in our suite. Maybe the lack of compliance with the new mask policy got his attention. Still no mention of any Covid cases though. My wife and I will take some precautions but still enjoy the cruise!

[gwesq]

3 hours ago, Symmes99 said:

My wife and I are on the Ovation TA. Very interesting that I’m learning about Covid cases on our cruise from this board and not from the ship’s officers. Now the change on mask policy a few days into the cruise makes more sense, but communication onboard is lacking. 
 

 

But now I know the reason, from this board. Thanks for shedding some light on this. The mask policy change doesn’t seem as capricious  anymore. 
 

BTW, seems like a third of the passengers are not bothering with masks. 
 

Your comments echo our view exactly - although our first Seabourn cruise was enjoyable, the crew was fabulous, the best CD and ACD at Sea, the food sometimes terrific, and many other positives, it is the fact that we had to learn about health issues on the ship from Social Media that turned us off to Seabourn.  From our discussions with crew, these actions seemingly came from upstairs - Corporate, not the onboard management.  Communication is so important, and that's where they really fell down.  

 

BTW - on our sailing, I'd venture maybe 40 people wore masks, if that many (But the last 2 days, when word started leaking of Covid onboard, we saw that number rise a bit).   But on shore excursions, the operators made sure everyone was masked at all times.

[trips_ahoy]

We were on the March 13th trip. After two years it was great to be back and thanks to the crew it was a great trip.  The only issue we had were the lack of Covid protocols. We had many changes regarding our check in time prior to the cruise. We were surprised that the pre-cruise test was dropped. Everyone boarded at once after waiting together in a room for a couple of hours. Masks on board were optional. Not requiring masks at the buffet while getting food seemed a step too far to us. The crew were masked at all times and it seemed somewhat disrespectful to the crew to remove  all mast requirements for passengers. Leaving the passengers in the dark about cases on board was also a mistake in our opinion.
 

[sfvoyage]

1 hour ago, gwesq said:

But on shore excursions, the operators made sure everyone was masked at all times.

 

And that is highly variable.  In my experience, most local guides would just make a general announcement about mask wearing at the start of the excursion, while one time the guide reminded us every time we reboarded the bus.  However, I have never seen any guide actually enforcing the mask protocol.

 

I just heard from a couple from the March 13th segment, whose wife tested positive a couple of days after they disembarked the Ovation on March 27th.  Based on the timing, they think that she was either infected on the ship or during an excursion.

[SLSD]

6 hours ago, trips_ahoy said:

We were on the March 13th trip. After two years it was great to be back and thanks to the crew it was a great trip.  The only issue we had were the lack of Covid protocols. We had many changes regarding our check in time prior to the cruise. We were surprised that the pre-cruise test was dropped. Everyone boarded at once after waiting together in a room for a couple of hours. Masks on board were optional. Not requiring masks at the buffet while getting food seemed a step too far to us. The crew were masked at all times and it seemed somewhat disrespectful to the crew to remove  all mast requirements for passengers. Leaving the passengers in the dark about cases on board was also a mistake in our opinion.
 

See the topic I just started on this board--which includes an article from the Wall Street Journal about cruise line recovery post Covid.  According to the article, all the cruise lines are really struggling--so advertising Covid onboard is the last thing they want to do. 

[AtA]

16 hours ago, Symmes99 said:

My wife and I are on the Ovation TA. Very interesting that I’m learning about Covid cases on our cruise from this board and not from the ship’s officers. Now the change on mask policy a few days into the cruise makes more sense, but communication onboard is lacking. 
 

This is what truly annoyed me. So much was good on the cruise but corporate trying to pretend nothing is going on is just bad policy.

[AtA]

4 hours ago, SLSD said:

See the topic I just started on this board--which includes an article from the Wall Street Journal about cruise line recovery post Covid.  According to the article, all the cruise lines are really struggling--so advertising Covid onboard is the last thing they want to do. 

I am more likely to cruise on a ship that follows CDC covid protocols. In fact it was based on Seabourn's protocols listed on their website that made us comfortable with the idea of sailing with them. Unfortunately what they wrote on their website was not true.

[mskatiemae]

11 hours ago, AtA said:

I am more likely to cruise on a ship that follows CDC covid protocols. In fact it was based on Seabourn's protocols listed on their website that made us comfortable with the idea of sailing with them. Unfortunately what they wrote on their website was not true.

Glad you stayed healthy, in spite of this nonsense. My issue onboard was for a separate problem with one restaurant  service employee and I handled it as well as I could by communicating with higher ups early and often. Like on the former now defunct cruiseline I did get a response but not fully satisfactory and a real drain on health / enjoyment so I requested a credit on my account for my trouble due to their failures. As Seabourn costs me about 2X the per diem I paid on the former cruiseline I have higher base expectations and if the food failures continue I will ratchet up the $ amount I request as a credit. I feel like I am having to train in another line and it's a lot of work on my part. We all can benefit by being forgiving of errors but I agree that failing on stated expectations is a corporate problem. I can only use my voice as a customer. 

 

On the evening before disembarkation (March 26) I called the medical center to see if I could get ibuprofen since I had run out. They were open for just a few more minutes so I went down and just as I approached deck 4 (taking the stairs) a group of three staff in full PE and one security person came out with a passenger (?) they escorted away. I was concerned I was exposed but my concern was brushed off insensitively. So I continued avoiding crowds and wore my mask through the entire day of disembarkation, transfer, and flight. 

[markham]

Do you really, I mean REALLY, think that Seabourn is gonna fulfill your demands for cash as compensation for some notion that you have been stressed over staff performance? And you are not a manager working for the Hotel Department. This is a first for me, and I have been on lots of cruises. Come to think of it, was this standard practice on the defunct line? If so, and either way, no wonder they failed.

 

Good luck with that.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[cruiseej]

18 minutes ago, mskatiemae said:

just as I approached deck 4 (taking the stairs) a group of three staff in full PE and one security person came out with a passenger (?) they escorted away. I was concerned I was exposed but my concern was brushed off insensitively.

 

For what it's worth, passing someone who's infected in a hallway or stairwell is very, very unlikely to subject you to catching the virus. And in the highly unlikely event that you breathed in enough virus particles to become infected, there's nothing anyone could have done at that moment. A test wouldn't be positive for at least a day or two. What would you have wanted them to do? If it's just that the tone was wrong, I can understand you being put off — they should have at least been empathetic to your concern while assuring you that you weren't at risk — but that seems like a pretty minor transgression.

 

The food allergy issue sounds much more serious, but since you prefer to not go into details here, it's hard to offer you any feedback on whether the amount of your credit request seems plausible or not. No matter what, I'm sorry that you didn't have a good cruise experience with Seabourn due to whatever failure or mistake one of the crew members made. 

[mskatiemae]

53 minutes ago, markham said:

Do you really, I mean REALLY, think that Seabourn is gonna fulfill your demands for cash as compensation for some notion that you have been stressed over staff performance? And you are not a manager working for the Hotel Department. This is a first for me, and I have been on lots of cruises. Come to think of it, was this standard practice on the defunct line? If so, and either way, no wonder they failed.

 

Good luck with that.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

The first person I spoke to about the issue was the hotel director. Next day I spoke for an hour with the guest services manager. 10 days later after repeated failures by that one staff person I requested a credit. As on the other luxury line they gave me the full credit that I requested - I asked for fair compensation for my experiences.

 

Also FYI I spent a LOT of $$ beyond my little bit of OBC, mainly on the premium wines and wine events which were so good I plan to sail again on Seabourn.

[mskatiemae]

48 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

 

For what it's worth, passing someone who's infected in a hallway or stairwell is very, very unlikely to subject you to catching the virus. And in the highly unlikely event that you breathed in enough virus particles to become infected, there's nothing anyone could have done at that moment. A test wouldn't be positive for at least a day or two. What would you have wanted them to do? If it's just that the tone was wrong, I can understand you being put off — they should have at least been empathetic to your concern while assuring you that you weren't at risk — but that seems like a pretty minor transgression.

 

The food allergy issue sounds much more serious, but since you prefer to not go into details here, it's hard to offer you any feedback on whether the amount of your credit request seems plausible or not. No matter what, I'm sorry that you didn't have a good cruise experience with Seabourn due to whatever failure or mistake one of the crew members made. 

I only wrote about my experience on this thread to add support to AtA and the discussion around the failure to alert passengers about presence of positive Covid cases onboard the ship.

[markham]

My point is mainly that it takes 2 to settle a negotiation- no matter what the defunct line did for you as you claim. I have never heard of cruise line giving out cash as compensation for service problems onboard. Maybe a bottle of wine.

 

Good luck with the GSM and HD on board with your claim. And if you are serious and absolutely determined about pursuing a cash award why not go all the way and bring up a complaint through head office and make it a legal matter?

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Edited April 1, 2022 by markham

[Cornet]

It states quite clearly in today’s Herald:

 

For the optimal health of all onboard, our medical centre currently operates by appointment only.

 

Seems clear enough to me!

 

We are on the Ovation  now and are having a great time!

547 passengers, great crew, lovely food, calm seas and warm weather.

 Seabourn is going above and beyond in the most trying of times and giving us a wonderful cruise.

 

[Raiders4Life32]

6 minutes ago, Cornet said:

 

We are on the Ovation  now and are having a great time!

547 passengers, great crew, lovely food, calm seas and warm weather.

 Seabourn is going above and beyond in the most trying of times and giving us a wonderful cruise.

 

Awesome and great to hear!  My parents are both on the ship right now as they've been on since March 13th.  I just spoke to my dad this morning and he said the same thing...having the time of their lives and enjoying to fellow passengers and amazing crew!  There's definitely some COVID cases on board, but they are doing perfectly fine and taking personal responsibility for their own health by masking when necessary.  They don't wait for the cruise line or government policy to dictate to them when it's appropriate to use common sense.  

[mskatiemae]

1 hour ago, markham said:

My point is mainly that it takes 2 to settle a negotiation- no matter what the defunct line did for you as you claim. I have never heard of cruise line giving out cash as compensation for service problems onboard. Maybe a bottle of wine.

 

Good luck with the GSM and HD on board with your claim. And if you are serious and absolutely determined about pursuing a cash award why not go all the way and bring up a complaint through head office and make it a legal matter?

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Please read my post above. I received an in-person apology for the service failures from the F&B manager on the ship and also received my requested account credit before disembarkation. 

 

No lawyers needed! I aim for that when I deal with service issues in all types of businesses. To me it allows them to see what needs improvement (with my input) and I feel like they will take care of me properly in our further business.

[mskatiemae]

On 3/31/2022 at 11:45 AM, sfvoyage said:

 

And that is highly variable.  In my experience, most local guides would just make a general announcement about mask wearing at the start of the excursion, while one time the guide reminded us every time we reboarded the bus.  However, I have never seen any guide actually enforcing the mask protocol.

 

I just heard from a couple from the March 13th segment, whose wife tested positive a couple of days after they disembarked the Ovation on March 27th.  Based on the timing, they think that she was either infected on the ship or during an excursion.

On my three excursions (Costa Rica, Panama, and Guatemala) which I chose partly because they would be in less crowded ports, i.e. fewer tourists, the local regulations were followed and guides very helpful in the protocols and did not "enforce" but made it very clear so we could choose ourselves.

 

I got my second booster yesterday on the first day they were offered at my home clinic. So I hope for continued travels Covid free. My doctor told me that the masking is primarily effective if they are worn by the sick people to prevent them sharing germs with the rest of us. Unfortunately those are often the people least likely to care about possibly getting others sick. 

[mskatiemae]

3 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

For what it's worth, passing someone who's infected in a hallway or stairwell is very, very unlikely to subject you to catching the virus. And in the highly unlikely event that you breathed in enough virus particles to become infected, there's nothing anyone could have done at that moment. A test wouldn't be positive for at least a day or two. What would you have wanted them to do? If it's just that the tone was wrong, I can understand you being put off — they should have at least been empathetic to your concern while assuring you that you weren't at risk — but that seems like a pretty minor transgression.

 

The food allergy issue sounds much more serious, but since you prefer to not go into details here, it's hard to offer you any feedback on whether the amount of your credit request seems plausible or not. No matter what, I'm sorry that you didn't have a good cruise experience with Seabourn due to whatever failure or mistake one of the crew members made. 

Yes I understand the risk would have been low, however it was more being a bit shocked by the sudden encounter when Covid was never mentioned on the ship. I understood they did not have any need to confirm Covid but I also wondered it could have been a drug issue where for instance a risk of physical contact with fentanyl can be very dangerous so I did take that into consideration and knew they weren't going to tell me why the staff were in full head to toe protective equipment. I am not overreacting, only taking care of my health so I just want to have all info possible so I can (as AtA has also stated clearly) be informed enough to make my own risk based decisions.

[cruiseej]

@mskatiemae It might help understanding in this thread if you were to explain what problem you experienced in the restaurant. I had inferred from your vague description that you have some serious allergy issue and a waiter erred in serving you food which could be toxic for you. If that's the case, it might help those who have attacked you here to understand the seriousness of your problem. If that's not it at all, then explaining what the issue is might still aid in understanding, as people have noted that it's highly unusual for some form of service lapse to result in a cash refund.  If you prefer to keep it private, that's your prerogative. 

 

 

[Cornet]

Geoffieg , I have just spoken to Guest Services and was told:

‘Holland America deem it unsafe at this time for their ships to visit Morocco,and for the well-being of passengers and crew onboard have cancelled the stops in Morocco’ 

Hope this helps.