Covid now a non issue?

[Carried_Away]

My friend tested positive for covid halfway through our cruise on the Reflection two weeks ago. The medical staff said covid cases have decreased significantly, but my friend said the crew member who escorted her off the ship at the end of the cruise had a list of other sick people in isolation who had to be escorted off.

[Born2go]

We disembarked the Infinity on January 28th. Got to our hotel in Buenos Aires…he tested positive. He masked ALOT and vaxed and boosted. The ship was full, because it was an Antartica cruise there were many sea days in cold weather. 
 

Not really surprised. It’s still with us.
 

 

[NMTraveller]

6 hours ago, mahdnc said:

From a cruise planning standpoint for us Covid is still around.  We are hoping to do a Singapore to Hong Kong cruise in December.  Currently there are testing requirements for getting into Singapore as well as people entering the USA from China.

What app did you use?  The HealthHub app?  I have not tried it yet.  Is it easy to upload vax records?

 

We have a flight into Singapore.

[WonderMan3]

5 hours ago, Desert Diamond said:

I’d say COVID is still very much happening. I’m the one who posted today about my husband being quarantined on the Millenium. There have been several other “star code” announcements onboard, which indicate COVID cases coming up from the medical center. Most guests probably just decide they’ve got a cold and don’t  do a self-test. We cruised a year and a half ago when masks/vaccines were still required and we felt safer. This is the world now though, at home and on cruise ships. I’m not the one with COVID but my husband has said he’s done with cruising, at least for awhile. He’s sick,  he’s locked in a room and for the money we spent, this isn’t fun. We’ll switch back to land vacations which give us more autonomy. That’s just us, your mileage may vary. 

Same. Read too many stories from people here about catching Covid onboard and quarantining and it just blowing a hole in their whole very expensive vacation. Probably half the people we know who have cruised since Covid have gotten it while onboard or it showed up right after getting home.
 

My husband and I have traveled multiple times since summer 2021 on land vacations and have had a great time and have still managed to avoid Covid. We’re up with the latest boosters and mask up indoors where there are people around and on public transportation like airplanes, avoid large groups, and almost always do outside dining or take out. The very few times we have dined indoors they have mostly been in dining rooms with few patrons. It does require a bit of maneuvering but I haven’t even had a cold since Sep 2019 and that’s been pretty nice.

[mahdnc]

5 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

What app did you use?  The HealthHub app?  I have not tried it yet.  Is it easy to upload vax records?

 

We have a flight into Singapore.

 

Hi, NMTraveller. I did correct myself in a second post that the requirements are either show proof of vaccination or a negative test. 

 

Anyway to answer your question, I am using my United Airlines app as my source of information. 

[Cruise a holic]

Still some cases of covid on the ships.  Just on the ship in January.  Got covid. Fortunately fully immunized so not serious.

[drakes2]

13 hours ago, cruisinfly said:

People have learned to live with the risk of getting COVID. If you are vaccinated, you have a decent level of protection.

 

Our cruise last June required a negative COVID test. Nobody that I know of got COVID. For my December cruise, no test or vaccine was needed so people did board the ship with COVID and passed it on. Four out of five of my family members on our cruise in December came down with COVID on the last day or after the cruise. We're all vaccinated so didn't really get sick. The worst of us had symptoms almost like a mild cold. If you go to the onboard med-center with cold symptoms, they will likely quarantine you.

 

Yes, COVID is being passed on cruises (and on land). We live with it now thanks to vaccinations.

I just got off a cruise this past Saturday and tested positive on Tuesday.  Very very mild symptoms and feeling better today. 

[Desert Diamond]

6 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

Same. Read too many stories from people here about catching Covid onboard and quarantining and it just blowing a hole in their whole very expensive vacation. Probably half the people we know who have cruised since Covid have gotten it while onboard or it showed up right after getting home.
 

My husband and I have traveled multiple times since summer 2021 on land vacations and have had a great time and have still managed to avoid Covid. We’re up with the latest boosters and mask up indoors where there are people around and on public transportation like airplanes, avoid large groups, and almost always do outside dining or take out. The very few times we have dined indoors they have mostly been in dining rooms with few patrons. It does require a bit of maneuvering but I haven’t even had a cold since Sep 2019 and that’s been pretty nice.

This has been our strategy too and we were successful until this cruise. We did several land vacations including two weeks in Hawaii and stayed healthy. 
 When we got on this cruise, he decided he wasn’t going to mask. He said the odds were that he’d be fine. I kept masking other than eating. I am literally the only person I’ve seen with a mask on, out of thousands. So far, it’s been working. 🤞

[drakes2]

1 minute ago, Desert Diamond said:

This has been our strategy too and we were successful until this cruise. We did several land vacations including two weeks in Hawaii and stayed healthy. 
 When we got on this cruise, he decided he wasn’t going to mask. He said the odds were that he’d be fine. I kept masking other than eating. I am literally the only person I’ve seen with a mask on, out of thousands. So far, it’s been working. 🤞

I did not mask apart from the return flight home on Saturday and was amazed I tested positive.  There were 2700 guests onboard the ship most unmasked. 

[d9704011]

4 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

I did not mask apart from the return flight home on Saturday and was amazed I tested positive.  There were 2700 guests onboard the ship most unmasked. 

Why were you amazed?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

20 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

I just got off a cruise this past Saturday and tested positive on Tuesday.  Very very mild symptoms and feeling better today. 

How was Princess ? 

[drakes2]

4 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

How was Princess ? 

Great!  Food, service etc.as good as it was in 2013 which was my last cruise with them.  

[drakes2]

10 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

Why were you amazed?

Because I usually come down with a slight sore throat after a long day of travel so assumed that's what it was.  Have lots of tests kits on hand so decided to do a self test.  

[lexmiller]

As @Jim_Iain has outlined, updates as of two days ago to Celebrity's "Healthy at Sea" page list very clearly the itineraries that still require testing and for passengers to prove that they are vaccinated.  The tests to board only need to be self-tests, home tests and thus, not monitored.  People on the Eclipse have reported across a 50-50 split, that port personnel often don't even look at the tests - you can show a photo of your test or bring the plastic test kit in a baggie showing the negative line - so it is indeed very simple.  What has been said is the key - it depends upon the countries to which the cruise is going whether testing and vaccines are required.  The Eclipse has been in Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific for several months now, and since that area only relatively recently opened their borders to any sort of travel at all, let alone cruise ships which was even more recent (just a few months ago), their governments are imposing strict regulations on cruising, the effects of which are most seen by the B2B passengers on the Eclipse.  To board the ship in the first place you only need to produce a home test.  Yet, the B2B passengers are forced to do a monitored test administered by the crew.  MANY passengers have been caught in the B2B testing monitored dragnet and are forced to isolate - for 5 days if Australian ports, 7 days if NZ ports.  Many holidays have been dashed, people missing the opportunity to visit once-in-a-lifetime destinations.  I am following the roll calls on a very active alternative social site, as we board the Eclipse for two months, in a few weeks, so we are more than a little freaked out by the B2B testing and we waited too long to cancel - very much our bad.  So to swing back to the original post, in a long winded way, covid testing is still very much alive on the Celebrity Eclipse if you are a B2B passenger.  

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/healthy-at-sea/transatlantic-travel-requirements

[NMTraveller]

4 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

Hi, NMTraveller. I did correct myself in a second post that the requirements are either show proof of vaccination or a negative test. 

 

Anyway to answer your question, I am using my United Airlines app as my source of information. 

Same here.  I am using my United app.  It says HealthHub or another app is required for proof of vax.  Just wondering if you had tried either yet.

[mahdnc]

5 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Same here.  I am using my United app.  It says HealthHub or another app is required for proof of vax.  Just wondering if you had tried either yet.

 

I didn't notice that about HealthHub.  Our flight to Singapore for our cruise is not until mid-Dec and I am guessing that the requirements will change by then--hopefully for the better.  When are you going?

[drakes2]

8 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

I didn't notice that about HealthHub.  Our flight to Singapore for our cruise is not until mid-Dec and I am guessing that the requirements will change by then--hopefully for the better.  When are you going?

My sister and I are doing a 15 night TA on Apex in April. Requirements for this cruise is self administered testing 2 days prior. 

[mahdnc]

16 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

My sister and I are doing a 15 night TA on Apex in April. Requirements for this cruise is self administered testing 2 days prior. 

 

We just completed our first TA aboard Constellation this past Oct-Nov.  That was exactly the requirement that we were subjected to.  It's problematic for those that take a westbound TA and not so much a problem for you.

Edited February 8, 2023 by mahdnc

[wrk2cruise]

5 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

It's problematic for those that take a westbound TA and not so much a problem for you.

Only problematic if you are positive😁

[mahdnc]

1 minute ago, wrk2cruise said:

Only problematic if you are positive😁

 

So true.  However it does weigh in the back of your mind as you are trying to enjoy your pre-cruise time in Europe.

[wrk2cruise]

It weighs on our minds before every trip.

[NMTraveller]

33 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

I didn't notice that about HealthHub.  Our flight to Singapore for our cruise is not until mid-Dec and I am guessing that the requirements will change by then--hopefully for the better.  When are you going?

Same time.  Maybe I will just wait until it gets closer.

[Markanddonna]

Things are changing. We just disembarked after 17 days in the Caribbean, Mexico, and central and south America. We were supposed to be either vaccinated or tested for Cartagena but no one ever checked out COVID vax cards. My DH got bronchitis on day 9 and sort of lived in the medical center (5 times) so we saw a lot. No one in the med center wore a mask and didn't ask for us to be tested until the final days. We did two antigen tests on our own, negative, and then they did an antigen and then a PCR on my husband explaining that He would be in isolation if positive and I would be tested. If negative, I could proceed around the ship as normal.  All negative tests.

 

I asked on the 5th day of the cruise about Covid and the doctor said there was one positive case. Lots of hackers who don't make any effort to cover their mouths at all.  Just open the lips and cough. Yuk.

 

BTW- the crew appeared to have quite a bit of illness as the line for them in the med center was LONG. I think many were new and overworked. 

 

 

[awfw]

Recently returned from an NCL seven day cruise with 7 family members.  On the last full day my daughter and son-in-law started showing symptoms.  Did not go to medical but self-quarantined and masked up to disembark and drive home the next day.  Both tested positive upon arriving home.  No other family members had any problem in spite of spending time together.  We will never know where they were exposed -before embarkation, at embarkation or onboard.  Very few masks during the cruise but that is entirely typical now. 

Both had a few rough days but have recovered now.  I am afraid this will now be with us for the future just like flu and norovirus.  The best we can do is get boosters and hope to keep it with mild cases.  We are certainly exposed to it in our daily lives-stores, restaurants and in the workplace with cruises just one more public space to catch it.  Testing in advance really does nothing but show one moment in time.  If my family had tested it would have been negative-6 days later positive.  

[cruising teacher]

Holland American and Carnival do not require Covid testing on Transatlantics. Royal requires a medically observed Covid test within two days. Celebrity requires a Covid test two days before. I would love to sail on Celebrity from London but can’t risk being stranded without airfare home. Really hope this changes before the fall!