Princess reinstating covid protocols?

[Steelers36]

1 minute ago, ebeluga said:

It isn't so difficult to wear a mask if one is coughing or sneezing, is it?  Unless there is a medical reason not to...

Okay, so public protocols before Covid did not include wearing a mask when having a cough.  And when I posted, I was thinking of the occasional time we all might cough once or twice and not a chronic cough where it may be "coughing fits", or periodic every few seconds.  Nonetheless, social norms have been to cough in a sleeve or if serious stay home.  Mask wearing was never "a thing" in North America and so forth.

 

The last thing anyone should do is sneeze into a mask.  Geez, sneeze into a tissue or something and then discard it in trash.

[ebeluga]

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Okay, so public protocols before Covid did not include wearing a mask when having a cough.  And when I posted, I was thinking of the occasional time we all might cough once or twice and not a chronic cough where it may be "coughing fits", or periodic every few seconds.  Nonetheless, social norms have been to cough in a sleeve or if serious stay home.  Mask wearing was never "a thing" in North America and so forth.

 

The last thing anyone should do is sneeze into a mask.  Geez, sneeze into a tissue or something and then discard it in trash.

Yeah, agree with the sneezing part.  But with coughing, not much is "norm" these days!

[sfaaa]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

The last thing anyone should do is sneeze into a mask.  Geez, sneeze into a tissue or something and then discard it in trash.

The worst offenders are those who would wipe or blow their nose into the cloth dinner napkin. 

[spunks]

Read the April 16 TA crossing thread for Emerald and the May 1 thread.I was on those cruises. After the April 16 cruise, 7 bus loads of Quarantined were taken to the Ibis and Raddison hotels for quarantine...After the May1 cruise over 150 were taken to the Raddison.It was near impossible to get information from the Guest Services from quarantine as the hold times (for your call that was very important to them took 15 min up to one time over an hour.

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, spunks said:

Read the April 16 TA crossing thread for Emerald and the May 1 thread.I was on those cruises. After the April 16 cruise, 7 bus loads of Quarantined were taken to the Ibis and Raddison hotels for quarantine...After the May1 cruise over 150 were taken to the Raddison.It was near impossible to get information from the Guest Services from quarantine as the hold times (for your call that was very important to them took 15 min up to one time over an hour.

I still don't understand why you needed to quarantine?  It is not required in the UK.  Why not go and visit Edinburgh or the Lake District ?

Once you tested negative, you could fly back to the US.   

[Happiest when cruising]

3 hours ago, sfaaa said:

The worst offenders are those who would wipe or blow their nose into the cloth dinner napkin. 

That is so disgusting. My husband worked for company that picked up the linens from restaurants…he said it was terrible. The restaurants were to sort the linens before sending them out for cleaning. They went into large bags and were just dumped into the cleaning machines at the facility.   I’m hesitant to use cloth napkins in restaurants, as I used to frequent a cute little place, but learned the staff took the napkins home to wash and earned a couple of bucks per load. However, your home machine is not good enough. I starting asking for paper napkins after that.😏

[PescadoAmarillo]

6 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I think that is the survey I received maybe two weeks back?  It was so impactful I just can't quite remember the questions.  I probably indicated we have bookings this Fall we plan to keep and no qualms about flying and not particularly a fan of increased protocols - thinking ahead and expecting endemic rather than pandemic.

They must love you. I refrained from mentioning winter days in hell 😆, but made it clear that it really didn’t matter what I thought or what their protocols are. As they have proven in the past, they can change them or ignore them anytime they want, I might have added something about my trust level in their protocols being just about zero. 

[Steelers36]

20 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

They must love you. I refrained from mentioning winter days in hell 😆, but made it clear that it really didn’t matter what I thought or what their protocols are. As they have proven in the past, they can change them or ignore them anytime they want, I might have added something about my trust level in their protocols being just about zero. 

Hah.  I suppose they may - anonymously (I think it was an anonymous survey).  It has to be a love-hate as I have certainly put their feet to the fire over MC App and DMW.  I just look at trends in society with Covid and things are returning to near normal.  I try not to worry too much about what has been going on and is going on as things change frequently and this trend portends well for Fall 2022 travel. 

 

I realize everyone has had a different experience with Covid and I regret that so many folks have suffered, died, and lost loved ones.  At the same time, I have never been particularly worried, concerned, or scared of it.  I did check into the vaccines and decided it was the right thing to do.  But that has been about the limit of my "submission" to the virus unless required/expected to do more.

 

Princess has been consistent in their inconsistency.  Wouldn't you like to understand the thought processes there and what to do and not do? 

 

I can say that through both direct impressions and a compendium of first-hand reports here on CC on a variety of topics and issues, that I feel much less connected to Princess than in the before times.  I am glad I didn't rush back to sea as I don't think I would have enjoyed it much.  But I have been wondering lately if this Fall's adventure will be the last chapter with PCL for the foreseeable future.  I truly hope within 24 hrs of stepping on board Regal on Oct 01, that the old feelings will return and it will be fine.  It's a hope for the best and prepare for something less situation.  If it doesn't work, at least it will be transportation from one port experience to the next with a place to rest my head and food to sustain the body.

 

[kiwimum]

8 hours ago, spunks said:

Read the April 16 TA crossing thread for Emerald and the May 1 thread.I was on those cruises. After the April 16 cruise, 7 bus loads of Quarantined were taken to the Ibis and Raddison hotels for quarantine...After the May1 cruise over 150 were taken to the Raddison.It was near impossible to get information from the Guest Services from quarantine as the hold times (for your call that was very important to them took 15 min up to one time over an hour.

Your estimate of a 150 quarantined from the May 1 cruise is high.   We were included in this group.   One on the positive bus with around 35 people, one on the negative bus with 9 passengers.   None of the buses was a full capacity.

[nini]

On 5/14/2022 at 11:20 AM, Oceansaway17 said:

I agree but go over to HAL and there is a thread all about what is in medical center. I got a bit flamed for saying USA ports should have this medicine. Then others said not approved by FDA. It is becoming a hot topic on several thread from various cruise lines.

What medicine?

[ontheweb]

19 minutes ago, nini said:

What medicine?

Paxlovid.

[Musky Ike]

If some of you could just back off on the perfume a bit, I wouldn't be sneezing nearly as much. 🤧

[Moustique]

We received the survey yesterday and filled it out. I am for enhanced COVID protocol, mostly vaccination for all, testing before boarding and mask indoor.  My reason:  too much impact not just for ourselves when catching COVID on board.  Imagine if we have a bunch of unvaccinated older people on the ship.  This is asking for a lot of medical emergency.  Having COVID on a ship is not the same as catching it on land.

We are about to embark on the Enchanted this coming Friday.  We have to spend those FCCs.  We managed to book a Penthouse suite for less than we have paid for a balcony in the past.  This should help in avoiding crowds.  We just got our 4th shot and no test is required to fly back to Canada.  We hope to have a good vacation.  Looking forward to just sit on the balcony!

[dog]

14 hours ago, spunks said:

Read the April 16 TA crossing thread for Emerald and the May 1 thread.I was on those cruises. After the April 16 cruise, 7 bus loads of Quarantined were taken to the Ibis and Raddison hotels for quarantine...After the May1 cruise over 150 were taken to the Raddison.It was near impossible to get information from the Guest Services from quarantine as the hold times (for your call that was very important to them took 15 min up to one time over an hour.

 

14 hours ago, wowzz said:

I still don't understand why you needed to quarantine?  It is not required in the UK.  Why not go and visit Edinburgh or the Lake District ?

Once you tested negative, you could fly back to the US.   

you quarantined to stop the spread of Covid.

simple, —- protect others.

[wowzz]

45 minutes ago, dog said:

 

you quarantined to stop the spread of Covid.

simple, —- protect others.

I was just saying that you do not need to lock yourself away in a hotel room. Quite easy to mask up and travel without spreading the virus.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

I’ve sailed on Princess 56 days since the very first sailing July 25th where no passengers wore masks & the crew were in cloth Princess masks. I think it’s fair to say I’ve sailed through all the variants and with a wide variety of ever changing protocols.

 

I got the vaccine as soon as I was eligible, the same with both boosters. 
 

I have been more relaxed in my personal safety measures when I don’t need to test positive soon after a cruise and I’ve been extremely strict on other sailings when I was doing B2B or otherwise required a negative test after sailing.
 

 I’ve never gotten so much as a cold let alone Covid on a ship.  I think so much depends on each person’s immune system response that there can’t be a one size fits all approach to staying healthy on vacation. I think I realized I had a strong immune system when I remembered that over 20 years of teaching at the college I had maybe two colds and never the flu in spite of not getting flu vaccines until the very last few years. There was always someone sick in my classroom. I had roughly 150 students each semester.  

 

On my April 23 sailing I was with a group of 4, two early 40’s and two early 60’s. One of the early 40 year olds never masked unless required. He’s the only one who came home with a cold (negative for Covid tested multiple times post cruise). Symptoms didn’t start till last day of cruise and he did self test negative on the ship. The rest of us masked while walking around inside but ate regularly in MDR and sat in bars.  No one went to any shows or other inside activities as we simply were having too much fun!  
 

My medicine OTC kit now includes a half dozen self test kits, kn95s and  medications to relieve cold symptoms.  
 

 

 

[stevenr597]

3 hours ago, nini said:

What medicine?

I believe that we are talkin about Paxolovid which is a combination of two anti-virals.  Studies has shown that while it will not prevent the disease it is effective in reducing serious complications secondary to Covid.  

 

[stevenr597]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

I was just saying that you do not need to lock yourself away in a hotel room. Quite easy to mask up and travel without spreading the virus.

Unfortunately in respect to comments about "masking up" The type of mask does make a big difference.  In addition, I have seen, even crewmen wearing masks "below the nose" which makes it virtually ineffective.

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, stevenr597 said:

Unfortunately in respect to comments about "masking up" The type of mask does make a big difference.  In addition, I have seen, even crewmen wearing masks "below the nose" which makes it virtually ineffective.

 

 Testing has virtually stopped in the UK, covid hospital admissions due to covid are minute, and the majority of the population are no longer wearing masks.  

Once you have gone past the initial infectious stage, going out and about,  even if still testing positive, is of no consequence. 

In fact, the UK government official advice is that you only need to quarantine for five days after first testing positive.

Edited May 15, 2022 by wowzz

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, stevenr597 said:

I believe that we are talkin about Paxolovid which is a combination of two anti-virals.  Studies has shown that while it will not prevent the disease it is effective in reducing serious complications secondary to Covid.  

 

But which can only be prescribed to certain patients - it should not be issued to everybody, just because they have covid.

[dog]

10 hours ago, wowzz said:

 

 Testing has virtually stopped in the UK, covid hospital admissions due to covid are minute, and the majority of the population are no longer wearing masks.  

Once you have gone past the initial infectious stage, going out and about,  even if still testing positive, is of no consequence. 

In fact, the UK government official advice is that you only need to quarantine for five days after first testing positive.

So UK government official advice is that you only need to quarantine for five days after testing positive?

 

On 5/14/2022 at 6:47 PM, wowzz said:

I still don't understand why you needed to quarantine?  It is not required in the UK.  Why not go and visit Edinburgh or the Lake District ?

Once you tested negative, you could fly back to the US.   

Which is it?

[Princessfan20]

10 hours ago, wowzz said:

 

 Testing has virtually stopped in the UK, covid hospital admissions due to covid are minute, and the majority of the population are no longer wearing masks.  

Once you have gone past the initial infectious stage, going out and about,  even if still testing positive, is of no consequence. 

In fact, the UK government official advice is that you only need to quarantine for five days after first testing positive.

You are hilarious….BBC said 1 out of ever 35 in Great Britain had Covid last week which is a very high infection rate…. Maybe you could learn from Australia but Great Britain is no model to the world on Covid prevention….

[jwattle]

13 hours ago, Moustique said:

We received the survey yesterday and filled it out. I am for enhanced COVID protocol, mostly vaccination for all, testing before boarding and mask indoor.  My reason:  too much impact not just for ourselves when catching COVID on board.  Imagine if we have a bunch of unvaccinated older people on the ship.  This is asking for a lot of medical emergency.  Having COVID on a ship is not the same as catching it on land.

We are about to embark on the Enchanted this coming Friday.  We have to spend those FCCs.  We managed to book a Penthouse suite for less than we have paid for a balcony in the past.  This should help in avoiding crowds.  We just got our 4th shot and no test is required to fly back to Canada.  We hope to have a good vacation.  Looking forward to just sit on the balcony!

Make sure to enjoy the Concierge Lounge on Riviera Deck (it comes with the suite) 😃

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, dog said:

So UK government official advice is that you only need to quarantine for five days after testing positive?

 

4 hours ago, dog said:

Which is it?

Sorry, I was not clear. Ideally you should quarantine for 5 days from your first negative test (although this is not compulsory) and once this period has passed, quarantine is no longer recommended, even if you still test positive.   

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, Princessfan20 said:

You are hilarious….BBC said 1 out of ever 35 in Great Britain had Covid last week which is a very high infection rate…. Maybe you could learn from Australia but Great Britain is no model to the world on Covid prevention….

I would agree with you about the UK covid prevention measures in the early days, but we are now in a different scenario with a different variant. 

Latest official figures are 107.9 cases per 100,000 in the UK for the last weekly period. Daily figures are no longer issued.

Basically,  prevention measures in the UK, and most of the rest of Europe have disappeared, as it is recognised that for the vast majority of the population, Covid is no longer a serious medical issue.

Cruise lines should recognise the new reality of covid as being a minor illness  as compared to 2020.