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HARMONY SAILING JUNE 19 - JUNE 26, COVID GOT SOME OF US


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DW and I tagged along with our daughter, son-in-law and 2 grand kids on Harmony for a seven-night Caribbean cruise. The passenger count was north of 6000 and even though all must present a negative Covid test taken two days prior to embarkation, you realize that this mischievous viral variant is lurking somewhere just waiting to pounce. Sure enough, three days into the cruise we began hearing, through word of mouth, that some passengers were being quarantined due to the virus. No official announcements were ever made but it seemed that more folks were succumbing each day. 

 

On Sunday, debarkation day, mild symptoms presented to me, my daughter and son-in-law. Fortunately, it is only a thirty-minute drive home for all of us and upon arrival we all took a self-test. DW and the grandkids were negative while we three were positive. It seems that daughter and son-in law are having it a bit tougher than me even though they are 33 years younger. Might have something to do with the second booster which I took but they cannot yet get. On Monday morning I contacted the Veterans Administration and requested the anti-viral drug, Paxlovid. They jumped through hoops to get me a prescription ready for pick-up so I could start the treatment that day. To be effective, you must start the regimen within a few days of onset. 

 

If you are going to fall victim to Covid, you are very fortunate if you are close to home. In May, my wife and I were cruising in Europe and spent three days post-cruise in Rome. With all the testing we had to do before and after the cruise, how nice it was to have only negative results. Although my symptoms are relatively mild, I do not want to experience them again. Not to say that won't happen, but I sure am glad for the vaccinations, and I will definitely get any and all boosters necessary.

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Firstly i hope you feel better.

 

Testing 2 days before is silly. From what i have read and experienced the new variants can take 2 days+ to start showing symptoms. Mine and my daughters was two days from catching it. When you load our NHS app with your covid positive details it assumes you roughly caught it around two days before onset of symptoms. Therefor from my own opinion a lot of people are testing negative two days out then catch it prob through traveling (airport etc) to the port. Hence why a lot of people say they have symptoms a few days into the cruise.

 

Hopefully for most it will be mild 

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6 hours ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

DW and I tagged along with our daughter, son-in-law and 2 grand kids on Harmony for a seven-night Caribbean cruise. The passenger count was north of 6000 and even though all must present a negative Covid test taken two days prior to embarkation, you realize that this mischievous viral variant is lurking somewhere just waiting to pounce. Sure enough, three days into the cruise we began hearing, through word of mouth, that some passengers were being quarantined due to the virus. No official announcements were ever made but it seemed that more folks were succumbing each day. 

 

On Sunday, debarkation day, mild symptoms presented to me, my daughter and son-in-law. Fortunately, it is only a thirty-minute drive home for all of us and upon arrival we all took a self-test. DW and the grandkids were negative while we three were positive. It seems that daughter and son-in law are having it a bit tougher than me even though they are 33 years younger. Might have something to do with the second booster which I took but they cannot yet get. On Monday morning I contacted the Veterans Administration and requested the anti-viral drug, Paxlovid. They jumped through hoops to get me a prescription ready for pick-up so I could start the treatment that day. To be effective, you must start the regimen within a few days of onset. 

 

If you are going to fall victim to Covid, you are very fortunate if you are close to home. In May, my wife and I were cruising in Europe and spent three days post-cruise in Rome. With all the testing we had to do before and after the cruise, how nice it was to have only negative results. Although my symptoms are relatively mild, I do not want to experience them again. Not to say that won't happen, but I sure am glad for the vaccinations, and I will definitely get any and all boosters necessary.

And you didn't go to the medical centre by the sound of it. Good lad.

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3 hours ago, ace2542 said:

And you didn't go to the medical centre by the sound of it. Good lad.

Symptoms did not present until after we arrived home following the cruise. I am pretty sure that the ship's medical center was not anxious to see us return. A good lad, indeed.

 

We are certainly not surprised that some in our cruising party have contracted Covid. In fact, from now on, Covid will take its place right alongside the common cold, seasonal flu etc. as another nuisance to be aware of at all times. Where there are people there are sickening opportunities and no matter how cautious we are, susceptibility is always close by. We have four more cruises upcoming, and we are certainly not complacent about the possibility of future bouts with Covid. You do your thing and hope for the best. 

 

Post #6 makes perfect sense and emphasizes the fact that "I have Covid and I don't know it." In fact, without a test I may never know it. Thank you, FamilyCruiserUK,  for your good words and I hope you and your daughters have no residual effects from your Covid encounter.

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I hope you and your family feel better soon!

It was a moderately tough week for me and DH after our Allure cruise a couple of weeks ago, but we felt better after a week of symptoms and are back to normal now. DS, thankfully, didn't catch it (we wore masks at home and stayed away from him until the symptoms subsided and the test was neg). DH and I had most of the same symptoms, but his cough was not as bad as mine.

Our sense of smell isn't back in full force yet, but I do hope my superior sense of smell comes back fully. That is the only superior sense I have!!! My mom's hasn't come back after two years (original covid).

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12 hours ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

On Monday morning I contacted the Veterans Administration and requested the anti-viral drug, Paxlovid. They jumped through hoops to get me a prescription ready for pick-up so I could start the treatment that day. To be effective, you must start the regimen within a few days of onset. 

Hopefully you will tolerate the Paxlovid better than we did. The virus (at least for us) was no more annoying than a common cold, but the Paxlovid hit us like a freight train.

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26 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I hope you and your family feel better soon!

It was a moderately tough week for me and DH after our Allure cruise a couple of weeks ago, but we felt better after a week of symptoms and are back to normal now. DS, thankfully, didn't catch it (we wore masks at home and stayed away from him until the symptoms subsided and the test was neg). DH and I had most of the same symptoms, but his cough was not as bad as mine.

Our sense of smell isn't back in full force yet, but I do hope my superior sense of smell comes back fully. That is the only superior sense I have!!! My mom's hasn't come back after two years (original covid).

Thank you, I&S. Unfortunately, this latest viral intrusion into our lives is going to have varying degrees of effects on people. Just when you think things are settling down another variation comes along.

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1 minute ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

Thank you, I&S. Unfortunately, this latest viral intrusion into our lives is going to have varying degrees of effects on people. Just when you think things are settling down another variation comes along.

true.

By the way, if you don't have bad comorbidities, Paxlovid may be a bit much, like Orville said. For some side effects aren't worth it. Our doc refused to prescribe it to us, but we are relatively young (just under 50) with 0-1 comorbidities. 

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4 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Hopefully you will tolerate the Paxlovid better than we did. The virus (at least for us) was no more annoying than a common cold, but the Paxlovid hit us like a freight train.

That is interesting 99 and I am sorry for your ill effects. It is unfortunate that the treatment is sometimes worse than what it is treating. I too am experiencing common cold symptoms and I am four doses into the regimen without experiencing any major side effects. Paxlovid is a new anti-viral drug so I would hope that you would pass along to your PCP the reactions that you are having. The Veterans Administration asked me to let them know about my interaction with the drug. As with anything new, data gathering is very important and necessary.  

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1 hour ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

Symptoms did not present until after we arrived home following the cruise. I am pretty sure that the ship's medical center was not anxious to see us return. A good lad, indeed.

 

We are certainly not surprised that some in our cruising party have contracted Covid. In fact, from now on, Covid will take its place right alongside the common cold, seasonal flu etc. as another nuisance to be aware of at all times. Where there are people there are sickening opportunities and no matter how cautious we are, susceptibility is always close by. We have four more cruises upcoming, and we are certainly not complacent about the possibility of future bouts with Covid. You do your thing and hope for the best. 

 

Post #6 makes perfect sense and emphasizes the fact that "I have Covid and I don't know it." In fact, without a test I may never know it. Thank you, FamilyCruiserUK,  for your good words and I hope you and your daughters have no residual effects from your Covid encounter.

I came home on a Sunday and didn't get my sore throat until Wed and then didn't test positive until Friday.  Tested negative Wed and Thursday

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21 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Hopefully you will tolerate the Paxlovid better than we did. The virus (at least for us) was no more annoying than a common cold, but the Paxlovid hit us like a freight train.

We were on vacation with my sister’s family last week, my son, sister and nephew got it, my sister never had it before. She’s boosted, and was very surprised at how miserable she felt (“I thought it’s suppose to be just a bad cold!). She got paxlovid and couldn’t decide which was worse, Covid or paxlovid.

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3 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

Paxlovid is a new anti-viral drug so I would hope that you would pass along to your PCP the reactions that you are having. The Veterans Administration asked me to let them know about my interaction with the drug. As with anything new, data gathering is very important and necessary. 

Actually an existing drug cocktail with a novel new use. One component of Pax has been used for years to prep hyperthyroid patients to suppress thyroid function in advance of surgery, and the other is an existing HIV treatment. The side effects and drug interactions are well documented. I had to stop my statins, and DW had to stop her thyroid meds. We had several of the listed side effects.

 

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13 hours ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

On Sunday, debarkation day, mild symptoms presented to me, my daughter and son-in-law. Fortunately, it is only a thirty-minute drive home for all of us and upon arrival we all took a self-test.

 

1 hour ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

Symptoms did not present until after we arrived home following the cruise. 

Apparently memory loss was one of the symptoms.  😄

 

Hope you have a full recovery.

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1 hour ago, allie3490 said:

This really isn’t news anymore. Everyone will catch it at some point in their lives and probably more than once. Whether it’s on vacation or your local gym or grocery store. And no amount of shots or masks will change that. These posts are tiresome 

Yes, these posts are tiresome just as many hundreds of other posts are that have been around - in one form or another - for many years. In that respect the Covid topic is the new kid on the block. I personally like to keep track of what will affect the important activities in my life, for years to come. It is too soon for me to become blasé about Covid. Because this topic is meaningless to you does not mean that it won't be beneficial to someone else. The discussion on Paxlovid in this thread is a perfect example of what could help people make a decision about whether or not to use this drug. And by the way, this really is news...still! It will continue to be for a long time since this virus is not about to share everything at once.

 

Hopefully, you will never have to participate in a Covid related discussion, and your comments are totally understandable. I, on the other hand, will hang around the outskirts of a Covid discussion ready to join in should I feel the need.  

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Local weatherman here was on that cruise. He mentioned he got sick and some of his family got sick. He also mentioned norovirus as being the cause.

 

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1 hour ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Apparently memory loss was one of the symptoms.  😄

 

Hope you have a full recovery.

In good conscience I cannot use Covid as an excuse for memory loss even though you gave me the opportunity to do so. I need no outside help for that affliction. I do not use emojis, but I am smiling.

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1 hour ago, Another_Critic said:

Apparently memory loss was one of the symptoms

what am I missing? What's funny? they arrived home 30 minutes after getting off the cruise. There is no contradiction in his words: they got mild symptoms on debarkation day after getting home... With a 30 minute difference between these two events, who's to say whether something was a mild symptom or nothing of import.

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2 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

She got paxlovid and couldn’t decide which was worse, Covid or paxlovid.

When we came down with symptoms after our AK cruise, we opted not to get paxlovid.  With my 'luck' I would get the 'rebound Covid' that is a problem for some.  Even though Covid kicked my butt, I didn't want two things to.

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10 minutes ago, BND said:

There was another thread on this subject yesterday that got deleted.  Pretty sure it was the same poster.

I started this thread and this thread only. A duplicate thread could be considered duplicity.

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