Covid diagnosis after recent cruises

[susiesan]

Husband and I disembarked Dawn late August after a 10 day Baltic cruise. We spent 3 days in Amsterdam before flying home. 3 days later my husband got covid. Maybe on the ship, maybe on the flight, maybe somewhere in Amsterdam. Who knows, who cares. We are just glad he got and is over it and now has natural immunity for a while. We have another cruise in December planned and will not worry one bit about getting covid on that cruise. BTW, we are both double vaxxed, 1 boost, and no more covid jabs for us.

[DakotaDisneyLover]

12 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Most people catch covid during air travel. And not from the cruise. 

If testing positive the last day or two of a 7 night or longer cruise, or within a couple days of departure, it's caught while on the cruise (the ship, ports etc.).  We mandatory tested on Aug. 4th for an 8 night cruise which began Aug. 6th.  Departed ship Aug. 14, one in our party started not feeling great that day, tested positive on the 15th.  I tested positive on the 16th.  Several reports of this on our cruise FB page.  Note:  We (5 of us) spent a whole day flying to FL on Aug. 5th due to flight issues, were perfectly healthy until the dates mentioned.  So the people always trying to blame the flights instead of the cruise should just stop.  Truth is, no one knows where exactly they catch it.  We have flown both domestic (3 trips) and internationally (1 trip) in the last year and a half and remained healthy.

[SimplyAlbert]

We cruised in February and spent 5 days in New Orleans and then cruised in September and spent 3 days in Miami.  No COVID for either DH or I.   However, we did wear our masks on the bus, airport, airplane and all indoor areas, other than when we were sitting at a table eating.  We're both double-vaccinated and double-boosted.

 

We're not afraid of COVID, but Dh has a heart condition which puts him in a higher risk group.  We've just opted to mitigate the risk as much as possible.   We're also pretty sure he had it in the early days, before testing and vaccines.

[phillygwm]

I've cruised twice -- third one next week -- and tested negative each time.  In fact, I've tested literally dozens of times since this began and have never been positive.  

 

I'm moderately concerned and take all prudent precautions (including all my shots) but I'm not willing to change my lifestyle over it.  The COVID strain going around is virulent but not especially lethal, especially to those who have been vaxxed.  

[PSU78]

DH and I cruised to NE/Canada on Breakaway 9/11-18. I tested positive three days after returning home, but he remained negative. We are both mid-sixties, vaccinated with double boosters, and generally healthy. I had a low-grade fever, headache, and fatigue for three days, but not much more. This was our second cruise in 2022, and we are willing to take the risk of travel related illnesses.

[schmoopie17]

Did people get COVID on recent cruises? Yep

Do people get COVID in restaurants? Yep.

Do people get COVID on airplanes? Yep.

Do people get COVID in grocery stores? Yep.

Do people get COVID in church? Yep.

Do people get COVID in schools? Yep.

 

I realize CC is a cruise-focused website, but COVID can rear its ugly head anywhere. Life is a gamble. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Live your life and don't live it in fear.

 

I'll now go crawl back under my rock (where I'll probably get COVID).

Edited October 7, 2022 by schmoopie17

[victory2020]

I have been on 10 cruise in the last year & have known people who come back positive. I like to ask on the roll calls or FB page to get an idea of how many that I have come in contact with. seems longer cruise report more cases(duh) Short Carnival cruises , nothing. I have not gotten it but also put on a mask if someone seems sick near me, try not to take elevators, & don't go to the buffet unless no other option is available. Also load up with vitamins.

[UKstages]

15 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Most people catch covid during air travel. And not from the cruise. 

 

many people do, yes.

 

most?

 

gosh, i don't know about that. i'd have to see the data.

 

i think an extraordinarily large number of people catch it while waiting in line to check in. there are few to no protocols and people are maskless and packed together, virtually shoulder to shoulder. but i have no data on that. except from studies that show when people are packed together and maskless, more people transmit and catch viruses.

 

in my case, i know i didn't catch it on the flight... i live in manhattan and walked to the terminal.

 

2 hours ago, DakotaDisneyLover said:

If testing positive the last day or two of a 7 night or longer cruise, or within a couple days of departure, it's caught while on the cruise (the ship, ports etc.)

 

THIS.

 

a thousand times this!

 

when i said i got covid after a ten day canada/NE cruise, i should have been more specific. it was actually a back-to-back... five days to bermuda and then a ten day canada/NE. i boarded the joy on 9/1, negative test result in hand from two days prior. i was tested on board on 9/5 and received a negative test result. at some point in the next ten days, i got sick, as did my traveling companion, who was not on the five day bermuda cruise. (she, too, tested negative before the ten day cruise began.) many people on board that cruise got sick.

 

interestingly, while on two bermuda excursions, the otherwise good tour guides announced proudly that even though it was required by law in bermuda that everybody must wear a mask while on the bus, they had no such requirement on their busses. the tour guide at crystal caves had a similar approach, telling those on his tour that they had to wear a mask until they passed the camera at the entrance; then they could take it off.

 

the fact is that many people have a decidedly lax approach to covid protocols now, perhaps correctly rationalizing their actions by saying it isn't a big deal and it is, in most cases, survivable, especially for those vaxxed and boosted. the problem with that, however, is that you have every right to make those decisions for yourself, but not for those around you. so, where covid protocols are still in place, they should be recognized and followed.

 

2 hours ago, DakotaDisneyLover said:

So the people always trying to blame the flights instead of the cruise should just stop.  Truth is, no one knows where exactly they catch it.  We have flown both domestic (3 trips) and internationally (1 trip) in the last year and a half and remained healthy.

 

no one knows where they catch it, that''s true. but most know the risk factors. and know that traveling on a bus or a plane without a mask is a bad idea, that waiting in a crowded terminal with a few hundred other (maskless) people is a really bad idea. and that crowding into an elevator with a bunch of maskless yahoos screaming at the top of their lungs is ill-advised, whether there's a pandemic or not.

 

in closing, let me just say how appreciative i am that so many noted epidemiologists have taken the time out of their busy day to post on cruise critic. we are all forever in your debt. truly.

Edited October 7, 2022 by UKstages

[PTC DAWG]

2 hours ago, phillygwm said:

I've cruised twice -- third one next week -- and tested negative each time.  In fact, I've tested literally dozens of times since this began and have never been positive.  

 

I'm moderately concerned and take all prudent precautions (including all my shots) but I'm not willing to change my lifestyle over it.  The COVID strain going around is virulent but not especially lethal, especially to those who have been vaxxed.  

 Curious as to why so much testing? Assuming you feel fine…I’ve taken two covid tests since this began,  both times to be able to board cruise ships..

[Robkat]

We've been on 6 cruises since we re-started cruising last Sept '21.  

Some with really low occupancy, and some with pretty darn full ships. 

No Covid for either one of us.

 

An interesting fact, we've never gotten off the ships on any of those cruises to go on excursions or even to just walk around the towns or visit shops.   Not for any particular reason other than we'd been to so many of the islands quite often, and (especially in the early cruises), we didn't want to break our own little ship bubble.  

We haven't worn masks since the cruise lines OK'd it, and haven't gone out of our way to avoid people (although we naturally and normally don't hang out in large crowds).

So, could that have played a factor for us having avoided getting it , even when a larger number on a particular cruise did report getting it... who knows, but we have thought it is interesting.

[crazycatlady82]

Husband was diagnosed with COVID the day after our 10 day cruise on the Star (Iceland and Greenland), July 25-Aug 4. He started to have symptoms while we were flying back. 

[Greenpea2]

8 hours ago, spanishguy1970 said:

good because i am going on European cruise in 25 days, transatlantic to be exact, so all i can hope is to have a good time, and come back home healthy. Is my first cruise since 2019. I plan using my mask on the Plane towards Rome and plan on using my mask on the cruise if need be, I've read that some people have a problem with cruisers wearing their masks to that i say, their problem :-).

I think I will probably wear a mask in the elevators on my February cruise. Even before Covid I always felt uncomfortable in those crowded elevators. I take the stairs often, but climbing more than 4 decks is in my more youthful past!

 

[ppcox]

13 hours ago, PATRLR said:

A very tiny bit interesting that I haven't read anyone in this thread say they caught Covid on a warm weather cruise.  Or a European cruise for that matter.   Small sample this thread is, I know.  

I caught Covid on a Panama Canal cruise in April. So that was a warm weather cruise. 

[spanishguy1970]

8 hours ago, Twocoasts said:

You can catch COVID anywhere, any time. And, with flu seasons starting, you can get that too! 

 

I just got back from Vegas. I was with 13 friends. One now has COVID and the flu! She is a flight attendant who is with the public for a living and this is her first time with COVID. Her number was up. At some point EVERYONE will get it unless you fully isolate all the time. 

 

Fun fact: you can get your COVID booster and your flu shot at the same time.

I just did that, covid and flu shot, check :-). I agree with you, my nephew who is 17 years old has gotten it twice. Mild. I believe i got it back in 2020, December to be exact. I lost my sense of smell and taste for 2 weeks, had some problems breathing  but back then there were non tests and no vaccines.. I am looking forward to my cruise.

[LaCal]

We came home with covid and started feeling sick on day 6 of the cruise….Tested negative but still self isolated the last 2 days 

 

Tested positive once home 

 

On our roll call 50 out of 100 guests got covid by a poll they did 🙈🙈

[genealogyfan]

18 hours ago, Greenpea2 said:

I think I will probably wear a mask in the elevators on my February cruise. Even before Covid I always felt uncomfortable in those crowded elevators. I take the stairs often, but climbing more than 4 decks is in my more youthful past!

 

My friend and I took a cruise on Sept 2 and we wore masks anytime we left our cabin, except eating and outside. We also wore them on the planes and at the airports.Neither of us got covid.

 

It wasn’t a big deal or a hardship and nobody ever gave us a hard time or said comments. Security made us remove it when we boarded the ship  or went through security at the airport but that was it.
 

But I have heard of people who didn’t wear masks on cruises and didn’t get covid. .I know people who were exposed to others who had covid and didn’t know they had it and the other people never got it.  It’s so weird how some people get it, some don’t etc.

 

 

[phillygwm]

20 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

 Curious as to why so much testing? Assuming you feel fine…I’ve taken two covid tests since this began,  both times to be able to board cruise ships..

Different reasons.  Sometimes because I did something stupid, like flying to Vegas over Labor Day weekend 2020.  Other times, I was going to be around compromised people and wanted to be confident I wasn't exposing them to anything.  Once, I sat next to a client who lectured my colleagues and me over lunch on the dangers of the COVID vaccine.  Yep, he tested positive that weekend so I tested then.

 

And, of course, it was a prerequisite before going on a couple cruises, coming back to the US from a couple international trips, and prior to some medical procedures.

 

Now I have a bunch of rapid tests (you can get 8/month covered by insurance.)  So whenever I get the sniffles, a stick goes up my nose.  🙂

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by phillygwm

[cruise crazed]

Stop testing unless you have significant symptoms!!!!!!!

[Crazy planning mom]

4 minutes ago, cruise crazed said:

Stop testing unless you have significant symptoms!!!!!!!

I have a cruise scheduled later this month.  3 days after I return, I am seeing my 85 year old Aunt.

I plan to test before I see her.  I would skip seeing her altogether except she will be in my area for 1 night only before a repositioning cruise.

[Crazy planning mom]

1 hour ago, LaCal said:

We came home with covid and started feeling sick on day 6 of the cruise….Tested negative but still self isolated the last 2 days 

 

Tested positive once home 

 

On our roll call 50 out of 100 guests got covid by a poll they did 🙈🙈

50% of a pretty big sample size.

[phillygwm]

13 minutes ago, cruise crazed said:

Stop testing unless you have significant symptoms!!!!!!!

Disagree.  I may not have significant symptoms but I wouldn't want to expose others who may be compromised due to conditions I don't know about.  It's not inconvenient to test, so I do it.

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by phillygwm

[MeHeartCruising]

Noticed my Covid symptoms on disembarkation day of my September 10-day British Isles cruise.   So, PROBABLY caught it on the cruise, but could have caught it in port or elsewhere.  The coughing woman behind me on an excursion vehicle is a suspected cause, but who knows.  On the last night of the cruise, I could hear people in the cabins on both side of me coughing all night.  So I'm guessing they had it too.  

 

I was fully vaccinated and had 2 booster shots (most recently in early June).  My symptoms were obvious, but mild.  You can catch it anywhere, anytime.  It won't stop me from cruising.  Next up... Mexican Riviera in February.

Edited October 8, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[genealogyfan]

36 minutes ago, cruise crazed said:

Stop testing unless you have significant symptoms!!!!!!!

You can have covid without symptoms. As mentioned if you are visiting someone who is high risk, then it’s just being responsible to test  before seeing that person. 

[spanishguy1970]

2 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

You can have covid without symptoms. As mentioned if you are visiting someone who is high risk, then it’s just being responsible to test  before seeing that person. 

exactly. I will going on my cruise in 23 days, we just got the latest booster along with the flu shot, so we are ready. We plan on testing before leaving and after we come back. I have a mother with alzheimers and a centenary plus grandmother and i must protect them, is the right thing to do. We are looking forward to our first cruise since 2019.

[GeezerCouple]

12 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

You can have covid without symptoms. As mentioned if you are visiting someone who is high risk, then it’s just being responsible to test  before seeing that person. 

 

Not to mention, and especially for those who are higher risk of COVID or of complications if they get it, there are meds that can help prevent more serious outcomes (including death), but they need to be started within a few days for the most efficacy.

 

It can be difficult to tell, especially early on or with a mild case if "those sniffles" or "that little cough" is... COVID or a cold ... just allergies...

 

Those tests have a purpose, and the usefulness may vary with different individual circumstances.

 

GC