Carnival V Royal Caribbean & Covid Policies

[notscb]

Hi Everyone!

 

I'm looking at booking my next cruise, but am a bit torn. RCL is $200 more expensive for the same category room for the same itinerary cruise, but they also offer that guarantee where they'll "get you home" if you test positive onboard. I've been reading around different people's experiences with this program, but ultimately it seems better than Carnivals "good luck fam" policy for what to do if you get covid onboard.

 

If everything else is equal (ish), would that guarantee from RCL be enough to convince you to cruise with them?

[jsn55]

14 hours ago, notscb said:

Hi Everyone!

 

I'm looking at booking my next cruise, but am a bit torn. RCL is $200 more expensive for the same category room for the same itinerary cruise, but they also offer that guarantee where they'll "get you home" if you test positive onboard. I've been reading around different people's experiences with this program, but ultimately it seems better than Carnivals "good luck fam" policy for what to do if you get covid onboard.

 

If everything else is equal (ish), would that guarantee from RCL be enough to convince you to cruise with them?

Sorry in advance, but I would never trust a cruise line to take care of me if I'm ill or hurt.  We have carried annual Emergency Med Evac insurance from MedJet for 20 years.  We only needed them once, 2015 in Paris, and it was a superlative experience.  So I tell everyone to buy the coverage ... it starts out cheap when you're 'young' but progressively gets more expensive ... and I'd pay almost any price for it.  The support they gave me in Paris was incredible; I'm afraid of nothing, but that situation was really scary.

[notscb]

3 minutes ago, jsn55 said:

but I would never trust a cruise line to take care of me if I'm ill or hurt

 

This is a great point- I maybe wasn't clear in that I already have travel insurance, but it seems odd that RCL is offering additional (company funded) support whereas Carnival is not offering any sort of passenger assistance and are basically saying "if you get Covid on our ship, good luck." I know RCL cruises offers a different experience from Carnival, but in this case, my quesiton is really more around would it be smarter to go with RCL with their offering of assistance vs carnival's none.

[jsn55]

7 minutes ago, notscb said:

 

This is a great point- I maybe wasn't clear in that I already have travel insurance, but it seems odd that RCL is offering additional (company funded) support whereas Carnival is not offering any sort of passenger assistance and are basically saying "if you get Covid on our ship, good luck." I know RCL cruises offers a different experience from Carnival, but in this case, my quesiton is really more around would it be smarter to go with RCL with their offering of assistance vs carnival's none.

As long as your travel insurance includes emergency med evac coverage, you should be able to pick whichever cruise is most appealing. 

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, jsn55 said:

As long as your travel insurance includes emergency med evac coverage, you should be able to pick whichever cruise is most appealing. 

You are really understating the COVID issues.  This is seldom an issue of Medical Evacuation (which only works from an impatient setting).  What is more common are folks who are either tossed off a cruise because they are positive and must quarantine for 5-7 days in a hotel.  There is no medical necessity for evacuation.  Another problem are those who test positive at embarkation and are refused boarding.  Again, not a med evac issue.  On our recent cruise (27 days) numerous passengers tested positive and were quarantined on the ship for 7 days.  A few others were tossed off the ship in Lisbon and had to quarantine at a local hotel until they were able to fly home to the USA.  For those folks the issue is who handles and pays for the air changes and flights.  Again, this is not medical evacuation.  No medical evac policy will fly somebody who simply needs to quarantine for a few days (the norm for most with COVID).

 

As to basic Caribbean cruises the rules seem to be constantly changing.  In many cases, if a person tests positive during a cruise they will be quarantined aboard until they return to the USA (where there are currently few/no rules for cruisers).  Somebody coming off a cruise in Florida, who has COVID, can simply go to the airport and fly anywhere within the USA with no testing requirement.   If those folks want to do the right thing, they should quarantine themselves at a hotel until they are either negative or are cleared by a physician.  But many folks apparently do not do "the right thing."  The truth is that folks travel sick all the time and COVID is no exception.

 

But we do agree with you that travelers should have some type of medical evacuation coverage as well as adequate medical insurance.  

[jsn55]

I agree with you about the distinction.  Regular travel insurance should cover some or all of the costs resulting from a quarantine off a ship, but perhaps I'm naive.  If you're quarantined on the ship, you've already paid for it, so really people only need to be concerned about having to use a hotel.  Certainly travellers can't expect 'someone else' to pay for it all ... there are risks to travel and people need to be sure they can pay for whatever issues arise.  People who 'can't pay for all that' should not be travelling unless they are certain their insurance covers every possible issue they may face.  If I were quarantined at a hotel, I would expect to pay for that hotel and for my meals and for anything else I need while in quarantine.  I'd never expect a cruise line to pay my expenses.  Catching the virus or testing positive is a risk we take when we travel these days, and until the hysteria dies down, we need to take responsibility for ourselves.  

[jcl410]

On 6/8/2022 at 10:15 PM, jsn55 said:

I agree with you about the distinction.  Regular travel insurance should cover some or all of the costs resulting from a quarantine off a ship, but perhaps I'm naive.  ...

 

Read your coverage carefully. I flew to the UK for a 7 day trip on the Queen Mary 2 to New York. My trip insurance said it would cover quarantine costs, if I tested positive. What I didn't read closely, was the amount of the coverage. It was about %50 of the cruise cost. If I had tested positive in Southampton, it would cover my hotel costs. It was not enough to pay for hte last minute airline tickets to get back to the USA. (Luckily, we both tested negative. :-)  )

 

Aloha,

 

John

[jsn55]

So I'm confused about the air tix subject when someone has to fly back home in a hurry.  Since there are now no change fees, is it the amount of the new fare that's the problem?  Otherwise, booking with a US-based airline should allow you to change flights whenever you wish. 

[jcl410]

On 6/10/2022 at 9:03 PM, jsn55 said:

So I'm confused about the air tix subject  ....

Are you referring to my previous post? The plan was to fly one way to the UK, and take the ship back to the USA.   If we tested positive, then we'd miss the cruise. The only practical way to get back home would be to take a plane back.

 

Aloha,

 

John  

[jsn55]

Ah, got it. 

[MandyMooToo]

I would go with Royal.  Two reasons, 1. I have read many reports of Royal flying people home, even privately sometimes, and paying for hotels and giving food vouchers while in quarantine and I have not seen that from Carnival. 2. We have sailed both lines and enjoy Royal much more so especially with a difference of only $200 I would pick Royal.

[hueyjudy]

Good point ... I would like to know what kind of cabins those Royal people had booked.  If you're in an expensive suite, I think your experience would be far different than someone booked in an inside cabin.

[jamscckmc]

On 6/17/2022 at 12:55 PM, hueyjudy said:

Good point ... I would like to know what kind of cabins those Royal people had booked.  If you're in an expensive suite, I think your experience would be far different than someone booked in an inside cabin.

My thinking was to only cruise in a balcony in case I ended up quarantined. Then I read  on here that on a Carnival cruise that Covid + passengers were moved to deck 1 (which could be inside or OV). It would be interesting to know if there is a Covid “wing” on all ships or if you could stay in your stateroom. I can see why it would be easier for food delivery and making sure you stayed in your room if all + were kept in one area.

[Ashland]

7 hours ago, jamscckmc said:

My thinking was to only cruise in a balcony in case I ended up quarantined. Then I read  on here that on a Carnival cruise that Covid + passengers were moved to deck 1 (which could be inside or OV). It would be interesting to know if there is a Covid “wing” on all ships or if you could stay in your stateroom. I can see why it would be easier for food delivery and making sure you stayed in your room if all + were kept in one area.

Unfortunately RCI doesn't allow you to stay in your cabin...they have a certain number of quarantine cabins on a lower deck set aside. 

 

RCI (covid policy) makes no distinction based on the category you have booked.

[Ashland]

On 6/17/2022 at 9:55 AM, hueyjudy said:

Good point ... I would like to know what kind of cabins those Royal people had booked.  If you're in an expensive suite, I think your experience would be far different than someone booked in an inside cabin.

This is not true at all...no distinction is made onboard RCI.