Contact tracing and shore excursions

[BunnyLebowski]

What is the current protocol for contact tracing if someone tests positive for covid after being on a shore excursion? Am wondering if all the other people on the excursion will be called in for testing. Anyone experience this lately, or does it seem that this has fallen by the wayside?

Edited July 24, 2022 by law chick
Clarity

[NutsAboutGolf]

Following as I haven't heard a peep about it in a couple of months.  Just got off the Infinity yesterday and never heard a peep about covid on the announcements yet I'd bet there was some positives cases.  It seems some captains are being a bit sneaky (my opinion) by "announcing" positive covid cases by showing up unannounced to the theater just before the show starts and not mentioning anything covid related on their daily announcements.  This is what happened on an Equinox sailing last month.

[Mark_T]

Based on comments from recent cruisers it feels like they have shifted to just self-reporting rather than any attempt at contact tracing other than those sharing a cabin, not sure if anyone has had direct confirmation of that as a policy though...?

[Alakegirl]

How is coming to the theater sneaky?  The Captain is making a public announcement.

Edited July 24, 2022 by Alakegirl

[MISTER 67]

13 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Following as I haven't heard a peep about it in a couple of months.  Just got off the Infinity yesterday and never heard a peep about covid on the announcements yet I'd bet there was some positives cases.  It seems some captains are being a bit sneaky (my opinion) by "announcing" positive covid cases by showing up unannounced to the theater just before the show starts and not mentioning anything covid related on their daily announcements.  This is what happened on an Equinox sailing last month.

We were on the Equinox on the June 12 sailing and the Captain did come out the last night with some remarks about how well the cruise went with the weather and calmness of the seas, in his last remark he stated that there were only 2 cases of Covid for the whole week.

We are sailing again on the same cruise on August 7th, I'm hoping we have the same results.

I am a little concerned that Celebrity has gone back to self service in the buffet, can anyone tell me if this has been a problem with the self serving leading to  more Covid cases.

Edited July 24, 2022 by MISTER 67

[NutsAboutGolf]

Just now, MISTER 67 said:

We were on the Equinox on the June 12 sailing and the Captain did come out the last night with some remarks about how well the cruise went with the weather and calmness of the seas, in his last remark he stated that there were only 2 cases of Covid for the whole week.

We are sailing again on the same cruise on August 7th, I'm hoping we have the same results.

 

Great!  Capt Mat, right?  My opinion, I don't care if the captain announces the number of positive cases or not, most really don't care overall.  For those who do want to know, if wish it was on the TV, app or something.  Will be on her again on Aug 29th for the 10 nighter; 4 sailing on her within 10 months.

[osborne66]

1 minute ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Great!  Capt Mat, right?  My opinion, I don't care if the captain announces the number of positive cases or not, most really don't care overall.  For those who do want to know, if wish it was on the TV, app or something.  Will be on her again on Aug 29th for the 10 nighter; 4 sailing on her within 10 months.

Until your the one locked in the quarantine room for multiple days 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

7 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

How is coming to the theater sneaky?  The Captain is making a public announcement.

 

Showing up unannounced.  Supposedly last month Capt Mat only appeared at a 7pm show and not the 9pm.  This is just my opinion, I know many wish they didn't announce positive cases at all

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 minutes ago, osborne66 said:

Until your the one locked in the quarantine room for multiple days 

 

 

I would "Go Nuts"...lol

[OysterD]

32 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

 

I am a little concerned that Celebrity has gone back to self service in the buffet, can anyone tell me if this has been a problem with the self serving leading to  more Covid cases.

Absolutely impossible to know but I don't know why it would make a difference, you don't catch covid through touch. 

[AbbyCruiser45]

39 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

How is coming to the theater sneaky?  The Captain is making a public announcement.

I never go to theater shows, so I would never hear an announcement made at the show. Announcements meant to be public should be made on the PA system. 

[jwlane]

1 hour ago, law chick said:

other people on the excursion will be called in for testing

Don't think they've ever done this. 

[MISTER 67]

1 hour ago, OysterD said:

Absolutely impossible to know but I don't know why it would make a difference, you don't catch covid through touch. 

Then why did they have the crew serving the passengers for months in the buffet. When Covid first arrived all the experts said you could get it from surfaces.

[MISTER 67]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Great!  Capt Mat, right?  My opinion, I don't care if the captain announces the number of positive cases or not, most really don't care overall.  For those who do want to know, if wish it was on the TV, app or something.  Will be on her again on Aug 29th for the 10 nighter; 4 sailing on her within 10 months.

Yep, Captain Matt, he was the best Captain we've had since Captain Kate in 2019.

[Mark_T]

4 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

Then why did they have the crew serving the passengers for months in the buffet. When Covid first arrived all the experts said you could get it from surfaces.

The science has moved on since then, but the sources of advice move rather slower, and with a little hesitancy and inconsistency derived, I suspect, from not wishing to appear to have set everyone off sanitizing everything in sight unnecessarily...

 

In any event there are still plenty of things that are not coronaviruses which you can catch from shared utensils etc. in the buffet so exercising a little caution and hand washing is still good advice.

[canderson]

11 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

When Covid first arrived all the experts said you could get it from surfaces.

Operative words = "When Covid first arrived".

When COVID first arrived, we were all washing all of the groceries (fresh, boxed, the whole lot) we brought home, too.  As with just about everything, the 'science' changed.

[Jim_Iain]

My understanding is when cruising first returned after Covid they tried close contact tracing first by bracelets (which failed) then by security cameras.  They both proved ineffective and I believe they stopped completely  

 

Having said that when I tested positive they only asked who was in my travel party and nothing about where I had been and who I was with.  

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

My understanding is when cruising first returned after Covid they tried close contact tracing first by bracelets (which failed) then by security cameras.  They both proved ineffective and I believe they stopped completely  

 

Having said that when I tested positive they only asked who was in my travel party and nothing about where I had been and who I was with.  

 

Contact tracing bracelets were only required for certain ports hence why some ships never had them.  No idea if and how they're doing contact tracing now.  On my first two X sailings after the restart (July and Oct), heard over the intercom daily calls for certain pax to report guest services and saw security holding papers with a large pax "mug shots" roaming around the ship.

[MISTER 67]

35 minutes ago, canderson said:

Operative words = "When Covid first arrived".

When COVID first arrived, we were all washing all of the groceries (fresh, boxed, the whole lot) we brought home, too.  As with just about everything, the 'science' changed.

What I know for sure is that it's been 2 and half years and we haven't come down with this crud yet and will still take precautions like wearing masks while indoors on the ships and washing and sanitizing our hands at every opportunity. We have been on 4 cruises since Thanksgiving, one of them was a sell out on the Rotterdam, I was really surprised we stayed Covid free after that cruise. This next cruise on the Equinox in 2 weeks will be the first one with a self service buffet, we just might have all our meals in the MDR or Specialty Restaurants and forgo the buffet.

[Jim_Iain]

2 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Contact tracing bracelets were only required for certain ports hence why some ships never had them.  No idea if and how they're doing contact tracing now.  On my first two X sailings after the restart (July and Oct), heard over the intercom daily calls for certain pax to report guest services and saw security holding papers with a large pax "mug shots" roaming around the ship.

 

Agree - the Tracelets were a failure.    They were marking people in close proximity when there was a wall or window between them,   They also kept falling apart.  

[OysterD]

4 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

 This next cruise on the Equinox in 2 weeks will be the first one with a self service buffet, we just might have all our meals in the MDR or Specialty Restaurants and forgo the buffet.

Feel free, but as others have pointed out, knowledge and science changed in the last 2 and a half years....if you're still concerned about catching covid on a ship, picking up a spoon at the buffet that someone else has touched should be the the very least of your worries. 

[HappyCamper49]

21 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

My understanding is when cruising first returned after Covid they tried close contact tracing first by bracelets (which failed) then by security cameras.  They both proved ineffective and I believe they stopped completely  

 

Having said that when I tested positive they only asked who was in my travel party and nothing about where I had been and who I was with.  

So, Jim, have they discontinued the bracelets you mentioned?

[canderson]

4 minutes ago, HappyCamper49 said:

So, Jim, have they discontinued the bracelets you mentioned?

Indeed they have, many months ago.

[NutsAboutGolf]

19 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Agree - the Tracelets were a failure.    They were marking people in close proximity when there was a wall or window between them,   They also kept falling apart.  

 

Yup!  I recall reports that they weren't waterproof so you had to take them off in the shower, pool, hot tub, etc.  I don't understand how the crew was to enforce them because if you wear long sleeves, can't determine if you're wearing it or not.

[travlr21]

41 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

we just might have all our meals in the MDR or Specialty Restaurants and forgo the buffet.

We spent a week on the Eclipse and never once ate at the buffet, we had all our meals in Luminae save for one lunch in Sushi on 5. Hubby tested positive a couple of days after we got home, we drove to the port so it was not flight related. I believe the scientists who say transmission is airborne.