My wife got COVID on a NCL transatlantic cruise. Here's what happened.

[rackingguy]

Mods: If this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it. The article follows the COVID guidelines (I hope!).

 

We recently finished the NCL Escape transatlantic cruise from NYC to Rome. On day 11, my wife tested positive for COVID-19 and had to stay in quarantine until testing negative the day before and the day of disembarkation. Here's her writeup of the experience: https://www.hullfinancialplanning.com/i-got-covid-on-a-cruise-ship-heres-what-happened/

[Markanddonna]

This was such a helpful article. You both handled your situation correctly and graciously. It seems a half year ago the cruise ships were moving people to balcony cabins. That seems to have stopped as we also noted inside cabins were designated on our recent TA RCL cruise.

[rackingguy]

Thank you so much for the kind words! I think my wife said it best that you have to have a good attitude to get through it. Everyone is doing their best. We all know that we're accepting a risk, and occasionally, you roll snake eyes. Thank goodness she came out the other end and recovered quickly; it could have been a lot worse!

[zdcatc12]

5 hours ago, rackingguy said:

Mods: If this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it. The article follows the COVID guidelines (I hope!).

 

We recently finished the NCL Escape transatlantic cruise from NYC to Rome. On day 11, my wife tested positive for COVID-19 and had to stay in quarantine until testing negative the day before and the day of disembarkation. Here's her writeup of the experience: https://www.hullfinancialplanning.com/i-got-covid-on-a-cruise-ship-heres-what-happened/

My friend was on the same cruise and he tested positive also and is quarantining in Rome. I believe he finally got a negative test this morning to end eight days of quarantine. His name is Steve, if you happened to run into him somewhere during all of that.

[iancal]

Excellent.  Thanks.   

 

We are about to travel to Europe next week.   Both of us have had the shots.  Both of us had covid a few months ago. Mild, and recovered.

 

We have made the decision in advance if one of us gets covid only one of us will quarantine.  No point in risking severe covid or long term covid issues for the person who tests negative.

Edited May 19, 2022 by iancal

[rkacruiser]

9 hours ago, rackingguy said:

We recently finished the NCL Escape transatlantic cruise from NYC to Rome. On day 11, my wife tested positive for COVID-19 and had to stay in quarantine until testing negative the day before and the day of disembarkation. Here's her writeup of the experience: https://www.hullfinancialplanning.com/i-got-covid-on-a-cruise-ship-heres-what-happened/

 

This an exceedingly well written  informative article without drama.  It will be very helpful for all who read it.  NCL ought to be congratulated for the way their staff handled the situation and for their attentiveness to your wife's situation.  I appreciate the photos that were added.  Thank you very much.  

[njkate]

Very well written and informative. That is my biggest fear testing positive and quarantined in an inside cabin, I have mild claustrophobia and would absolutely go bonkers 

[rackingguy]

1 minute ago, njkate said:

Very well written and informative. That is my biggest fear testing positive and quarantined in an inside cabin, I have mild claustrophobia and would absolutely go bonkers 

Thanks! All credit to my wife for the eloquent write up.

 

She’s very good at keeping herself occupied. The unlimited internet and PPV helped considerably. She did a lot of FaceTime calls with family as well. Plus, for a couple of days, she really didn’t feel like doing much due to the virus, so she slept a lot. I think if she had day 5 symptoms - minor sniffles and cough - for the entire quarantine period, she would have been a lot more restless.

[missnd]

Thanks for sharing.  It sounds like NCL has learned a lot over the last few months, as this sounds like a much better experience than I had back in January, except that I was moved to a balcony room.  

 

On my cruise, the communication was horrible, the only medicine they provided was generic Theraflu, and room service took hours to be delivered.  

[Karaboudjan]

11 hours ago, rackingguy said:

Mods: If this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it. The article follows the COVID guidelines (I hope!).

 

We recently finished the NCL Escape transatlantic cruise from NYC to Rome. On day 11, my wife tested positive for COVID-19 and had to stay in quarantine until testing negative the day before and the day of disembarkation. Here's her writeup of the experience: https://www.hullfinancialplanning.com/i-got-covid-on-a-cruise-ship-heres-what-happened/

 

Did they explicitly give you the option to join your wife in quarantine?  I ask because I am pretty sure that I have seen it stated previously that that is NOT an option for the negative person.  Of course that could have been wrong information or perhaps procedures have changed.

[Turtles06]

@rackingguythank you for sharing your wife’s very helpful and well-written piece. I’m glad her illness was not more serious, and that you did not catch it. I think she had a great attitude. 
 

I think it’s really important that a ship assign a designated staffer to be a point of contact for those in isolation, and it’s great to see NCL is doing that. I just wish folks wouldn’t be placed in inside cabins. 
 

Stay well. 

[hallux]

39 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

I just wish folks wouldn’t be placed in inside cabins. 

That depends on how much of the ship is designated for quarantine.  If they have enough people to quarantine eventually they will need to use inside cabins in that hall..

[rackingguy]

@missnd - ugh…what a terrible experience! Yes, while their processes aren’t perfect, they’re streets better than your experience. I think my wife had to wait maybe an hour once for food, and that was the extent.

 

@Karaboudjan - I believe the answer is yes because there was another couple in our FB group who went into quarantine together. One had it and the other never tested positive.

 

@Turtles06 - I think the assigned cabin services rep was probably a lesson learned from the experiences of @missnd and others. 
 

We don’t know why the 5th floor was the designated COVID ward, but, on the NCL Escape, there are only ocean view and interior cabins. Our assumption is that they filled the ocean view first and then the interior. There was someone in an ocean view quarantine cabin, as they posted some pictures on the FB group.

 

If you’re concerned about getting put in an interior in the event of quarantine, contact the cruise line beforehand to find out where the quarantine cabins are.

 

I do wish the cruise lines would post numbers. This would help people make informed decisions. A 1:300 chance of catching the virus on a cruise is very different than a 1:30, but, for now, we’re all forced to speculate on probabilities.

[drumming cruisers]

We are leaving on a cruise in 2 weeks. Wea are planning on wearing masks on the cruise and eating at the outside restaurants. Even though will be an Alaskan cruise. Jusr wondering, Did you wear masks? 

[missnd]

7 minutes ago, drumming cruisers said:

We are leaving on a cruise in 2 weeks. Wea are planning on wearing masks on the cruise and eating at the outside restaurants. Even though will be an Alaskan cruise. Jusr wondering, Did you wear masks? 

I got Covid on the Getaway in January.  I drove to the port and was traveling alone.  Back then, everyone was required to wear our masks indoors unless eating or drinking.  I did my best to keep my distance, eat outdoors, or if eating indoors, I went to the MDR as soon as they opened when it was pretty empty.  I didn't go to shows or the casino or drink at bars indoors.  I did everything I could to try to avoid it, but it still got me.

[rackingguy]

2 hours ago, drumming cruisers said:

We are leaving on a cruise in 2 weeks. Wea are planning on wearing masks on the cruise and eating at the outside restaurants. Even though will be an Alaskan cruise. Jusr wondering, Did you wear masks? 

As soon as she started feeling symptoms, we did.

 

After my fourth straight negative test, I stopped wearing one except where required (e.g., Italian waters). NCL communicated the requirement to wear one but did it enforce it.

 

Our reasoning was that we’d both received our second boosters on March 28 and everyone had to have a negative test within 2 days of embarkation. So, while (obviously) not risk free, it was a trade off we were willing to make.

 

If I had to guess, I’d say 1 in 5 wore masks throughout the cruise. I was never bothered by others when I did wear one. I suspect I may have discovered the location of the ship’s brig were I to be harassed while wearing one.

 

That a large number of people went maskless throughout most of the cruise did not bother me due to the circumstances surrounding the vaccination and test status of the participants. That NCL did not enforce the wearing of masks where required by the host countries did bother me, as we’d all agreed to comply with whatever requirements were held by local authorities.

 

Again, this is a situation where clarity and communication could help people make better decisions. I did notice more people masking up during the latter stages of the cruise, even before we were required to do so by local authorities.

 

Let me be clear in that we’re not blaming anyone for her getting COVID. We knew and accepted the risks given our vaccination and test status. There’s no way a cruise line could reasonably provide a zero risk environment.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention one small complaint. I had to cancel my wife’s reservations for things we’d signed up for. Most of the cancellations went smoothly. The one that didn’t was that not only did they cancel her for Choir of Man, but they also cancelled me, and by the time I realized it, all showings were sold out. 😥

[smillerholmes]

Thank you so much for sharing.  I think a lot of the fear with the "quarantine process" is fear of the unknown.  It sounds like NCL has accepted this will be for the foreseeable future and decided to streamline the process.  All things considered the experience described was nowhere nearly as bad as I imagined.  Again, thanks to both you and your wife for sharing and glad to hear she is testing negative and feeling better.

 

 

[rackingguy]

@smillerholmes - That’s why she wanted to write the article. When she tested positive, we searched frantically online for info about what experience she would face and couldn’t find anything. 
 

That said, I’d hope that her experience is the floor going forward and that they continue to refine the processes to make what future cruisers experience even better.

 

Also, we cannot speak to what’s happened/is happening with the people who were still positive at the cruise’s end. It appears some stayed on the ship, and I’m uncertain if all of them were on a back to back cruise, and some went to a quarantine hotel about an hour away.

[Honolulu Blue]

On 5/19/2022 at 6:27 AM, rackingguy said:

We recently finished the NCL Escape transatlantic cruise from NYC to Rome. On day 11, my wife tested positive for COVID-19 and had to stay in quarantine until testing negative the day before and the day of disembarkation. Here's her writeup of the experience: https://www.hullfinancialplanning.com/i-got-covid-on-a-cruise-ship-heres-what-happened/

Thanks for sharing.  I'm sorry for what your wife had to go through.  I hope this is the end of her symptoms and she recovers fully and permanently.  

 

I've read several experiences on the Celebrity and Princess boards.  They varied a lot, but I think your wife's was better overall than most of them.  Yes, it's a bummer to be put in an interior cabin, but it was very nice to have a helpful contact at Guest Services and a blizzard of phone calls asking for and/or providing assistance (though most of the time when I'm sick, I really want to be left alone - unless I'm being properly babied. 😁)

[Pele_Nipsy]

Did NCL offer any kind of pro-rated FCC for the time she spent in quarantine?  I've seen reports of it in the past and was wondering if they are still continuing that.  

[vacation44]

On 5/19/2022 at 6:27 AM, rackingguy said:

Mods: If this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it. The article follows the COVID guidelines (I hope!).

 

We recently finished the NCL Escape transatlantic cruise from NYC to Rome. On day 11, my wife tested positive for COVID-19 and had to stay in quarantine until testing negative the day before and the day of disembarkation. Here's her writeup of the experience: https://www.hullfinancialplanning.com/i-got-covid-on-a-cruise-ship-heres-what-happened/

Thank you so much for posting the link to your wife's article and sharing your experience with us.  Both the article and your responses here are very informative and well written.    Kudos to both of you for handling the situation the way you did.  

 

Glad she is feeling better.

[schoolpsychcruiser]

Thank you so much for this!!! This makes me a lot less scared to end up quarantined for my cruise this summer. 

[queenschick9b]

21 hours ago, njkate said:

Very well written and informative. That is my biggest fear testing positive and quarantined in an inside cabin, I have mild claustrophobia and would absolutely go bonkers 

This is 100% my fear too.  I don't know what I would do, I think i would lose it. When I actually had covid this winter (double vaxxed and boosted) at one point, I ran outside even though it was freezing out just because I could not take being in my bedroom for one more minute and didn't want to get anyone else in the house sick even in my mask.

 

[missnd]

4 hours ago, Pele_Nipsy said:

Did NCL offer any kind of pro-rated FCC for the time she spent in quarantine?  I've seen reports of it in the past and was wondering if they are still continuing that.  

I'm not the OP, but my experience from January was that they had me submit a claim with the insurance I had bought through NCL.  The insurance company denied the claim because I had only purchased the Essentials insurance through NCL.  I sent the denial letter back to NCL, and they refunded me for the days I was in isolation.

 

I thought NCL should have just processed the refund, but I can also understand that they would rather insurance cover it, if possible.

[Ottawa Lynne]

Thanks for posting this well-written, "just the facts" account of your wife's experience. It was really helpful to hear how it went.

 

I hope she fully recovers!