Any U.S. Citizens test positive for Covid prior to flight home from European Sailings and get stuck?

[rockmom]

Now that it's been about a month for sailings out of European ports, I'm curious if anyone has tested positive for Covid just prior to their flight (but have left the ship), and were not allowed to board a flight home.  Our flight leaves the day after we disembark, and we have one night hotel booked, but seeing quite a few posts from people who test positive mid-cruising, it seems Royal assists somewhat with quarantine issues. However, once you're off the ship, I'm not sure how you handle things. For example, we will be returning to Civitavecchia.  If we test positive at a local pharmacy or our hotel, before leaving for the Rome airport, we obviously can't fly back to the U.S. So I'm curious if anyone has experienced this first-hand and what the process was like--who to notify--airline, and?  Not sure what the CDC guidelines are for how long after proctored/official positive test before being allowing to mask up and fly home.  5 days?  10?  Till a negative test happens?  I have Googled a million different things, such as CDC guidelines, airline guidelines and can't seem to find a definitive answer.  I suppose it could vary based on the country you're departing from, in our case, Italy.  

 

Let the speculation commence, but it would be great if anyone out there in CC land has dealt with this recently.  Thanks!  

 

 

[hal2008]

If you browse the threads for various cruise lines, on CC, you will find such cases do exist in spite of proportion of US travelers on Europe being significantly less than that on US based sailings.

 

Some have mentioned that the real probability of getting stuck in a foreign country (after one disembarks) is the major hesitation in booking non-US sailings. (Many sailings have the last day as sea day and one is unable to do testing within 24 hours of the flight). Most flights to US depart in the morning and hence many people take flight back day or two after their cruise. Cruise-lines will naturally wash their hands off after giving you covid with their ultra lax policies. One cant blame them. They are profit oriented businesses and their current paying customers strongly believe in protocols (or lack of) that facilitate spread.  Situation is exactly reverse of what was last fall.   At that time folks who believed in social distancing and masking were on board and and "will not mask" crowd stayed home. And hence that time cruise lines catered to mindset of then paying crowd (govt regulations and self imposed "assurance" policies nudged them too)

 

Situation is unlikely to change in near term. One has to weigh their own risk/rewards criteria.

 

[MLAW]

We are heading to Europe in a few weeks.  We are spending two nights in London after our cruise before flying home so we are in the same situation.  I am flying using a letter of recovery so I do not have to test to come home.  We are taking several at home tests and my husband will test himself the last couple days of the cruise.  He had COVID over Christmas but was asymptomatic.  We want to catch a positive test while still on the ship if possible so the arrangements are managed by the cruise line.    Of course he could test positive the day before we fly but that is about the best plan we can come up with.   Stressful for sure but still worth the risk for us.

[Jimbo]

9 minutes ago, MLAW said:

We are heading to Europe in a few weeks.  We are spending two nights in London after our cruise before flying home so we are in the same situation.  I am flying using a letter of recovery so I do not have to test to come home.  We are taking several at home tests and my husband will test himself the last couple days of the cruise.  He had COVID over Christmas but was asymptomatic.  We want to catch a positive test while still on the ship if possible so the arrangements are managed by the cruise line.    Of course he could test positive the day before we fly but that is about the best plan we can come up with.   Stressful for sure but still worth the risk for us.

Best plan, may be not to go, just sayin. But you do what you have to do to make you happy.

 

Our plan was good for us, got back our deposit before final payment for a September Europe sailing. No stress for us or quarantining in Europe. Happy as hell here. 🙂

Edited June 3, 2022 by Jimbo

[hal2008]

24 minutes ago, MLAW said:

We are heading to Europe in a few weeks.  We are spending two nights in London after our cruise before flying home so we are in the same situation.  I am flying using a letter of recovery so I do not have to test to come home.  We are taking several at home tests and my husband will test himself the last couple days of the cruise.  He had COVID over Christmas but was asymptomatic.  We want to catch a positive test while still on the ship if possible so the arrangements are managed by the cruise line.    Of course he could test positive the day before we fly but that is about the best plan we can come up with.   Stressful for sure but still worth the risk for us.

 

What cruise line will do to help if tested positive  while on board differs significantly on when you made the booking and sailing itinerary. Most on these boards have booked months in advance and hence should be fine.  

[Ashland]

OP...I'm hoping someone with "recent personal experience" will answer your post.

 

We're leaving for a cruise out of Amsterdam mid July RCI Jewel Arctic Circle itinerary. 

We have NO plans to cancel this cruise and are looking forward to it. We booked this cruise and pre-cruise hotel and flights a very long time ago.

Edited June 3, 2022 by Ashland

[rockmom]

1 minute ago, Ashland said:

OP...I'm hoping someone with "recent personal experience" will answer your post.

 

We're leaving for a cruise out of Amsterdam mid July RCI Jewel Arctic Circle itinerary. 

We have no plans to cancel this cruise and are looking forward to it.

We have no plans to cancel either, and fully understand the risks.  It will be my 4th sailing this year, 2nd one for my friend who I'm traveling with.  We booked this sailing in February of 2021, got a great deal on round trip air by booking the day flights were released 11 months ago.  Enjoy your sailing and here's hoping neither of us need to find out the answers to my questions.  But I'll be prepared nonetheless.  My boss knows there's a possibility that I'll be working remotely from Italy.  I also bought a decent insurance policy that covers trip interruption due to Covid.  

[rockmom]

43 minutes ago, hal2008 said:

If you browse the threads for various cruise lines, on CC, you will find such cases do exist in spite of proportion of US travelers on Europe being significantly less than that on US based sailings.

 

Some have mentioned that the real probability of getting stuck in a foreign country (after one disembarks) is the major hesitation in booking non-US sailings. (Many sailings have the last day as sea day and one is unable to do testing within 24 hours of the flight). Most flights to US depart in the morning and hence many people take flight back day or two after their cruise. Cruise-lines will naturally wash their hands off after giving you covid with their ultra lax policies. One cant blame them. They are profit oriented businesses and their current paying customers strongly believe in protocols (or lack of) that facilitate spread.  Situation is exactly reverse of what was last fall.   At that time folks who believed in social distancing and masking were on board and and "will not mask" crowd stayed home. And hence that time cruise lines catered to mindset of then paying crowd (govt regulations and self imposed "assurance" policies nudged them too)

 

Situation is unlikely to change in near term. One has to weigh their own risk/rewards criteria.

 

I fully understand the risks.  I'll be bringing self tests. I understand that the cruise line won't (and shouldn't) offer assistance if the positive test comes after I'm off the ship.   I'll look on the other cruise line boards, but the European season is 'young' and as you point out, not as many U.S. citizens.  But perhaps there's a chance that someone has dealt with this and will answer my question. If not, I'm very good at sorting things out as they happen.  

[Another_Critic]

Did an 11 night TA in May + 5 nights post-cruise.  Negative test the day before flight back to US.  🙂

 

I have the reverse situation in Sept.  Flying overseas and spending 3 nights prior to a 14 night TA.  Will need a plan B if I can't board the TA back to US.

[Jimbo]

5 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Did an 11 night TA in May + 5 nights post-cruise.  Negative test the day before flight back to US.  🙂

 

I have the reverse situation in Sept.  Flying overseas and spending 3 nights prior to a 14 night TA.  Will need a plan B if I can't board the TA back to US.

Would say walk home, but you can't even do that......... Could be a very expensive late buying plane ticket home. 😞 At least you would have money from the canceled cruise for the air ticket.

Edited June 3, 2022 by Jimbo

[hal2008]

4 minutes ago, rockmom said:

I fully understand the risks.  I'll be bringing self tests. I understand that the cruise line won't (and shouldn't) offer assistance if the positive test comes after I'm off the ship.   I'll look on the other cruise line boards, but the European season is 'young' and as you point out, not as many U.S. citizens.  But perhaps there's a chance that someone has dealt with this and will answer my question. If not, I'm very good at sorting things out as they happen.  

 

Many fellow CC-ers have already posted their first hand experience (usually these threads get out of hand with acrimonious posts and get locked).

 

Since season is "young" TA sailings were the first ones to report such cases.

 

HAL's Rotterdam actually had a huge spike and had to enforce mask rule.

Unfortunately, these are considered "negativity" posts here and the famous social media (where roll calls seem to have shifted recently) will give you lot more first hand experience details and more honest picture of reality.

[bonsai3s]

1 hour ago, rockmom said:

Now that it's been about a month for sailings out of European ports, I'm curious if anyone has tested positive for Covid just prior to their flight (but have left the ship), and were not allowed to board a flight home.  Our flight leaves the day after we disembark, and we have one night hotel booked, but seeing quite a few posts from people who test positive mid-cruising, it seems Royal assists somewhat with quarantine issues. However, once you're off the ship, I'm not sure how you handle things. For example, we will be returning to Civitavecchia.  If we test positive at a local pharmacy or our hotel, before leaving for the Rome airport, we obviously can't fly back to the U.S. So I'm curious if anyone has experienced this first-hand and what the process was like--who to notify--airline, and?  Not sure what the CDC guidelines are for how long after proctored/official positive test before being allowing to mask up and fly home.  5 days?  10?  Till a negative test happens?  I have Googled a million different things, such as CDC guidelines, airline guidelines and can't seem to find a definitive answer.  I suppose it could vary based on the country you're departing from, in our case, Italy.  

 

Let the speculation commence, but it would be great if anyone out there in CC land has dealt with this recently.  Thanks!  

 

 

We recently disembarked the Odyssey OTS and flew home from FCO.

 

We were concerned and asked the same questions. Here's what we were told by the GSM, Guest Services Manager:

 

* There are hotels in Civitavecchia and Rome, that Royal Caribbean designated for quarantine.

 

* $250 for hotels/day, $100 for meals/day, and up to $400 for change fees (for flights).

 

* It is highly recommended to test while still onboard. (We tested twice just to make sure...one using the free test, and again using eMed.)

 

* If you test positive after disembarking the ship...you are on your own to find available hotels. (Keep all your receipts)

 

* I'll defer to someone else regarding the number of days required to quarantine...seems to be changing daily.

[Jimbo]

11 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

.

 

* $250 for hotels/day, $100 for meals/day, and up to $400 for change fees (for flights).

 

 

Is this for everyone in your party or just the person that is positive?

 

Meaning others in the party have to get their own hotel room and pay for their own food themselves? and pay their own change fees for flights if they don't leave on their scheduled flight home?

Edited June 3, 2022 by Jimbo

[bonsai3s]

Just the person testing positive.

 

Correct, others will have to pay for hotel and meals.

 

* Fortunately for us, we tested negative.

 

* I would also NOT recommend testing at FCO...long queues...passengers have missed flights.

[Jimbo]

6 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

Just the person testing positive.

 

Correct, others will have to pay for hotel and meals.

 

* Fortunately for us, we tested negative.

 

* I would also NOT recommend testing at FCO...long queues...passengers have missed flights.

That could add up quickly, hope you have very good trip insurance and it covers everything if you need it. Will it even cover you if you aren't positive? interesting would sure want to know that answer?

Edited June 3, 2022 by Jimbo

[trotzoll]

20 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

We recently disembarked the Odyssey OTS and flew home from FCO.

 

We were concerned and asked the same questions. Here's what we were told by the GSM, Guest Services Manager:

 

* There are hotels in Civitavecchia and Rome, that Royal Caribbean designated for quarantine.

 

* $250 for hotels/day, $100 for meals/day, and up to $400 for change fees (for flights).

 

* It is highly recommended to test while still onboard. (We tested twice just to make sure...one using the free test, and again using eMed.)

 

* If you test positive after disembarking the ship...you are on your own to find available hotels. (Keep all your receipts)

 

* I'll defer to someone else regarding the number of days required to quarantine...seems to be changing daily.

We leave for Rome next week and wondering the same thing. Thank you for all this information. 

So quick question...do you know if testing before getting back into the US is 1 day before or 24 hours? Our flight leaves at noon the day after we disembark, but don't think we'd be on the ship to test if it's 24 hours. 

 

Again, thank you for the help.,

[rockmom]

29 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

We recently disembarked the Odyssey OTS and flew home from FCO.

 

We were concerned and asked the same questions. Here's what we were told by the GSM, Guest Services Manager:

 

* There are hotels in Civitavecchia and Rome, that Royal Caribbean designated for quarantine.

 

* $250 for hotels/day, $100 for meals/day, and up to $400 for change fees (for flights).

 

* It is highly recommended to test while still onboard. (We tested twice just to make sure...one using the free test, and again using eMed.)

 

* If you test positive after disembarking the ship...you are on your own to find available hotels. (Keep all your receipts)

 

* I'll defer to someone else regarding the number of days required to quarantine...seems to be changing daily.

Thank you--very helpful.  We are bringing quite a few home tests so we can test ourselves if we have symptom, and the plan is to try and test onboard on the last morning of the sailing using our eMed tests.   It's that pesky 'how long is quarantine' question that has a very elusive answer.  

[rockmom]

8 minutes ago, trotzoll said:

We leave for Rome next week and wondering the same thing. Thank you for all this information. 

So quick question...do you know if testing before getting back into the US is 1 day before or 24 hours? Our flight leaves at noon the day after we disembark, but don't think we'd be on the ship to test if it's 24 hours. 

 

Again, thank you for the help.,

From everything I've read, it's one day, not 24 hours.  We are on the Odyssey 6/12 sailing, so we'll try and test the morning of the 19th using the ship wifi.  Our flight is on the 20th.  

[trotzoll]

14 minutes ago, rockmom said:

From everything I've read, it's one day, not 24 hours.  We are on the Odyssey 6/12 sailing, so we'll try and test the morning of the 19th using the ship wifi.  Our flight is on the 20th.  

Great! Thank you!

[bonsai3s]

13 minutes ago, trotzoll said:

We leave for Rome next week and wondering the same thing. Thank you for all this information. 

So quick question...do you know if testing before getting back into the US is 1 day before or 24 hours? Our flight leaves at noon the day after we disembark, but don't think we'd be on the ship to test if it's 24 hours. 

 

Again, thank you for the help.,

1 day...our flight was 1pm (embarkation day), so we decided to test at 3pm the day before. (our last sea day)

 

* Admittedly, we wanted to make sure in case the airlines (for us Delta/KLM) used 24 hours...they did not.

 

 

[trotzoll]

1 minute ago, bonsai3s said:

1 day...our flight was 1pm (embarkation day), so we decided to test at 3pm the day before. (our last sea day)

 

* Admittedly, we wanted to make sure in case the airlines (for us Delta/KLM) used 24 hours...they did not.

 

 

Thank you! I appreciate your help.

 

[bonsai3s]

39 minutes ago, rockmom said:

From everything I've read, it's one day, not 24 hours.  We are on the Odyssey 6/12 sailing, so we'll try and test the morning of the 19th using the ship wifi.  Our flight is on the 20th.  

rockmom...happy sailing on the Odyssey!

 

* We highly recommend the recent Odyssey live review done by FionaMG.

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, rockmom said:

We have no plans to cancel either, and fully understand the risks.  It will be my 4th sailing this year, 2nd one for my friend who I'm traveling with.  We booked this sailing in February of 2021, got a great deal on round trip air by booking the day flights were released 11 months ago.  Enjoy your sailing and here's hoping neither of us need to find out the answers to my questions.  But I'll be prepared nonetheless.  My boss knows there's a possibility that I'll be working remotely from Italy.  I also bought a decent insurance policy that covers trip interruption due to Covid.  

It'll be our 5th cruise so far this year. Also got an amazing deal on this itinerary the moment it opened for bookings and our first class DL One flights. We'll also adapt to whatever comes our way and be as prepared as we can including what we consider great travel insurance.

Enjoy your trip....Happy, healthy and safe travels to not only you but the many others of us that will continue to live life.

[Ashland]

56 minutes ago, rockmom said:

From everything I've read, it's one day, not 24 hours.  We are on the Odyssey 6/12 sailing, so we'll try and test the morning of the 19th using the ship wifi.  Our flight is on the 20th.  

This is our plan as well...to test the day before cruise ends using eMed. We also fly back to US day end of our cruise.

[Kimboriffic]

What is a good insurance policy???? Seems confusing.I looked at Allianz