Voyager - Rio to BA - Norovirus and Covid

[CAHW]

We were just on this segment from Rio to Buenos Aires.  I caught the stomach bug going around (norovirus?) but only lasted a day and a half. Thank goodness for room service!  My husband had been feeling like he had a cold the last couple of days so after arriving home today, we did home tests and both tested positive for COVID.  Will post a full trip report once I’m feeling up to it. 

[PhD-iva]

Thanks for posting this. I am on board Voyager now. We are still in Code red, the primary impacts are slow service in the restaurant. I should say slower than usual.

Yesterday at the captains welcome I sat next to the Bridge instructors, and they said that they are not allowed to touch cards. So basically, all they can do is lecture, and they cannot provide any practice play, no duplicate play.

Also, restaurant staff are shifted to the La Veranda buffet line as passengers are not allowed to serve themselves. I view this as an enhanced service. On Oceania passengers are not supposed to serve themselves.

well, there might be a few other impacts, but nothing comes to mind. Everything is wonderful, especially now that I’ve gotten over yesterday’s seasickness. I changed my patch and now I’m feeling better.
 

[Gilly]

@PhD-iva we've sailed under Code Red just once...coincidentally  (or?)  in the same part of the world.  I don't think we were the first to find that - and clearly, not the last.  My lack of medical knowledge means I can't speculate reasons, but I'm sorry to read it's happened again.  Selfishly in this case, because we're due to board Voyager in Rio in five or six week's time.  I hope it's been sorted by then.

 

Our understanding was that it's fairly easy (wrong word, but I can't think of a better one right now) to get into Code Red, which kicks in when a certain percentage of the ship's population has whatever lurgy it is.  However, it's more difficult to get out of it because the required (lower) percentage has to be held for several days running.  In our case, we'd achieve the target number on one day, but then on the next day there would be more reported cases and we'd begin again.  The Captain was quite open about it, shared the numbers in his daily address and we could hear the frustration in his voice.

 

Wishing you well, together with everyone else on board. 

 

(I wrote my blog on one of those days if you're interested) 

Edited February 5 by Gilly

[Bruce61]

I initially misread the opening post,  They did not know if they had COVID until returning home,  Curious to confirm though, they do not force disembarkation on anyone due to COVID?. That is important to know.  Does the medical center stock Paxlovid and know who can and should not take it?

Edited February 5 by Bruce61

[papaflamingo]

6 minutes ago, Bruce61 said:

they do not force disembarkation on anyone due to COVID?

No.  Haven't forced disembarkation for a couple of years now.  Now they quarantine you to your cabin (or a separate cabin if available) for a period (around 5 days) until you test negative (I think 2 days in a row).  Then, I believe, you still have to mask for a few days after you are out of quarantine.  

I believe they do carry Paxlovid, but from what I hear it's pretty expensive on the ship so make sure you have medical in your travel insurance.   As for who can or cannot take it, ask your doctor.  

 

[crispy46]

On a recent cruise we were charged $800 for Paxlovid…one treatment!

 

[Aloha 1]

3 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

 

Also, restaurant staff are shifted to the La Veranda buffet line as passengers are not allowed to serve themselves. I view this as an enhanced service. On Oceania passengers are not supposed to serve themselves.

 

One of the strange mysteries between O and R. Why would you allow passengers to feed themselves from the buffet? And they wonder how norovirus spreads?

[ikelmay]

6 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Thanks for posting this. I am on board Voyager now. We are still in Code red, the primary impacts are slow service in the restaurant. I should say slower than usual.

Yesterday at the captains welcome I sat next to the Bridge instructors, and they said that they are not allowed to touch cards. So basically, all they can do is lecture, and they cannot provide any practice play, no duplicate play.

Also, restaurant staff are shifted to the La Veranda buffet line as passengers are not allowed to serve themselves. I view this as an enhanced service. On Oceania passengers are not supposed to serve themselves.

well, there might be a few other impacts, but nothing comes to mind. Everything is wonderful, especially now that I’ve gotten over yesterday’s seasickness. I changed my patch and now I’m feeling better.
 

thanks for the update - as we are on the next leg, can you confirm if the library remains closed? I'm happy with my tablet, but my OH still loves real books!

[redraider1966]

6 hours ago, Aloha 1 said:

One of the strange mysteries between O and R. Why would you allow passengers to feed themselves from the buffet? And they wonder how norovirus spreads?

Very disappointed to read that Regent apparently allows pax to serve themselves at the buffet.  We're on Voyager at the end of May and would not/not want to experience again firsthand a noro outbreak as we did on an Azamara cruise some years ago.  When full code red was finally imposed, even members of the entertainment troupe became servers in the buffet line as Azamara's staffing was not up to the task.  We would clearly prefer Oceania's approach to buffet service.

[PhD-iva]

Voyager is at Port Stanley today. The captain canceled the port stop because of a poor weather forecast for the afternoon.
We are waiting to debark one passenger for medical reasons, and then we will proceed to half moon island. I’m not familiar with it. 

Food has been excellent, passengers are wonderful and staff is even better. Only a small snafu with this morning‘s room service delivery. The server arrived at almost the end of the delivery window, and he just flopped the tray down on the table in my suite. He made no effort to lay the table. I only mentioned this because I think, it is another signal that they are shortstaffed. He seemed under quite a lot of pressure to hurry up and get a move on.
Also, I think it took us about 45 minutes to receive our dinner drinks and have our order taken at Compass Rose last night. And I was sitting with two titanium passengers. They seem to know all the servers and management, but they had to make repeated requests to receive service. 
I’m still enjoying my cruise, but I’m not sure that other first time pax will appreciate what Regent can offer them if they can’t see past the slow service. 
 

[pappy1022]

I noticed the same issues in September 2023. I also enjoyed my cruise but it left me wondering why these hiccups and missteps were happening so often. Did Regent slip a bit from a service perspective or did my expectations change from the last time (pre COVID) I sailed with them? Some things have definitely changed and not for the better.

[minotaur]

2 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Voyager is at Port Stanley today. The captain canceled the port stop because of a poor weather forecast for the afternoon.
We are waiting to debark one passenger for medical reasons, and then we will proceed to half moon island. I’m not familiar with it. 

Food has been excellent, passengers are wonderful and staff is even better. Only a small snafu with this morning‘s room service delivery. The server arrived at almost the end of the delivery window, and he just flopped the tray down on the table in my suite. He made no effort to lay the table. I only mentioned this because I think, it is another signal that they are shortstaffed. He seemed under quite a lot of pressure to hurry up and get a move on.
Also, I think it took us about 45 minutes to receive our dinner drinks and have our order taken at Compass Rose last night. And I was sitting with two titanium passengers. They seem to know all the servers and management, but they had to make repeated requests to receive service. 
I’m still enjoying my cruise, but I’m not sure that other first time pax will appreciate what Regent can offer them if they can’t see past the slow service. 
 

 

It's not good if service levels are dropping, but there are at least a couple of reasons why you might be experiencing it now. One is that if there is Norovirus/Covid on the ship then presumably some crew members are suffering and out of circulation.

 

There is also the the possibility that staff have been moved to Grandeur and replaced with less experienced crew. 

 

[papaflamingo]

4 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

I noticed the same issues in September 2023. I also enjoyed my cruise but it left me wondering why these hiccups and missteps were happening so often. Did Regent slip a bit from a service perspective or did my expectations change from the last time (pre COVID) I sailed with them? Some things have definitely changed and not for the better.

My guess... it was a combination of "slipping" and Covid.  There are still a lot of issues surrounding the 2 years that the cruise lines were shutdown and their recovery.  Supply chains are still stressed worldwide.  For example, Makers Mark bourbon had to reduce their overseas shipments, and is no longer available on Regent ships. Shore excursion companies went out of business and haven't started back up.  Regent fights with all the other cruise lines for those limited tour companies.   Crew members found better jobs at home as their economies began to recover and job markets opened.  All the cruise lines (it seems) added ships.  That created a demand for thousands of NEW crew members.  Example, Grandeur alone added an additional 550 crew member jobs, and RCCL Icon of the Seas added nearly 2400 NEW crew jobs. That's 3000 NEW JOBS on just 2 ships!! So the availability of crew, especially those with the experience to deliver the service on Regent is hard to find.

So yeah... it seems the ships are understaffed and availability of certain items, food, alcohol, wine, etc. is more limited.  But Regent still seems to respond to any request or try to rectify any issue a passenger has.  And if you compare to other cruise lines, Regent is doing as well or better in delivering their product.  

[pappy1022]

15 minutes ago, minotaur said:

 

It's not good if service levels are dropping, but there are at least a couple of reasons why you might be experiencing it now. One is that if there is Norovirus/Covid on the ship then presumably some crew members are suffering and out of circulation.

 

There is also the the possibility that staff have been moved to Grandeur and replaced with less experienced crew. 

 

I agree with you and Papa. A lot has changed in the service industry both on land, sea and air since COVID. I think some people expect perfection from Regent, after all that’s what they are advertising. A blip here or there has to be expected but there are some alarming issues such as the toilet situation on one of the ships and the noise issue between cabins on the newest ship. On our cruise in September 2023 there were some staff that just didn’t have the service attitude that I expect on Regent. Granted this was only a handful of people but it was alarming to experience. 

[papaflamingo]

52 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

A blip here or there has to be expected but there are some alarming issues such as the toilet situation on one of the ships and the noise issue between cabins on the newest ship.

Coincidently, we sailed Mariner on Dec. 2 and Grandeur on Jan. 8.  We had one day where the toilets were shutdown while we were in port so they could fix the situation.  And another where they shutdown in our cabin for an hour or so, and that was on a 10 night cruise.   It's a shipboard problem for sure, and I don't think anyone really knows what is causing it.  BUT, at one point it was going around that there were some air leaks in seals in the system preventing the system vacuum from working and that was what they were trying to deal with.  Interestingly, my son was a Navy Pilot for 20 years.  He deployed on the USS Bush and the Bush had the vacuum toilet system,  For the 7 month deployment the system never fully functioned.  Each morning they'd announce which "heads" were available for use.  They assigned some personnel to do nothing but keep toilets operating for the entire 7 months!  

As to the noise situation, yes, we could hear our neighbors (I was in an F-2 cabin 811). But ONLY from one side, the side with the couch.  And I was sitting on the couch when I heard them. I suspect he was on his couch too, talking to his wife across the room. But it was maybe 3 times in 16 days and never when we were trying to rest or sleep.  So I agree the insulation issue is there, but honestly we were never bothered by it. And we never heard our neighbors on the "tv" side of the cabin and they never heard us, we were traveling with them and I told them if the tv gets too loud let us know.  They never heard it.  So.... who knows.  

[jeb_bud]

4 hours ago, minotaur said:

 

It's not good if service levels are dropping, but there are at least a couple of reasons why you might be experiencing it now. One is that if there is Norovirus/Covid on the ship then presumably some crew members are suffering and out of circulation.

 

There is also the the possibility that staff have been moved to Grandeur and replaced with less experienced crew. 

 

I think you have two good points there. I have not experienced a general decline in service but I have seen indications of cannibalism of top performers to staff Grandeur. 
 

We have taken four Regent cruises post-Covid. Splendor in July 2022 and Voyager in May 2023 both had excellent service. Then we got on Mariner in October 2023 and experienced a number of service shortfalls. Our toilets always flushed at least. 

 

We cruised on Grandeur in January 2024. Service was excellent, even including Destination Services. We saw a number of staff onboard for whom we had fond memories from earlier cruises. It seemed clear to us that they skimmed the cream to staff Grandeur. 
 

We’ll be on Explorer in June, hopefully after they’ve trained up the staff to normal Regent standards. 
 

Someone mentioned that Makers Mark is not available onboard. I saw that too but I also saw Bulleit which I considered an upgrade. 

Edited February 6 by jeb_bud

[PhD-iva]

Last night the service at Compass Rose was much better, no complaints at all. Could a possible reason be that I turned in my mid cruise survey early in the morning? I mentioned the slow service at compass Rose.

I also mentioned on my survey how thankful I was for a service that was provided to me by the Head maitre’d at Chartreuse on the first evening. This morning the Prime 7 maitre’d came over to me to see if I needed anything. Maybe he’s hoping for a mention on the next survey?

I forgot to mention on the survey that the Internet still s-cks.

[lprp]

On 2/6/2024 at 2:07 PM, minotaur said:

There is also the the possibility that staff have been moved to Grandeur and replaced with less experienced crew. 

I have had this confirmed in writing from RSSC regarding our recent cruise. “When reviewing the cruise reports for this sailing, at this time we did have a large crew rotation around our vessels, with the expansion of our fleet. This meant that across all six of our vessels, we did have many new crew members and I am deeply sorry that you did find that some crew members were insufficiently trained.”

[Gilly]

1 hour ago, lprp said:

I have had this confirmed in writing from RSSC regarding our recent cruise.

Thank you for sharing that confirmation @lprp  I think many of us have experienced similar service shortfalls during "fleet expansion" and have felt similarly sorry! 

[lprp]

1 hour ago, Gilly said:

I think many of us have experienced similar service shortfalls during "fleet expansion"

100% agree @Gilly, we had a not dissimilar experience on Voyager when Explorer was launched. Although I must say the “cruise rotation” on our recent Mariner cruise must have been much higher given some of the “service shortfalls” we experienced 🤔

[Gilly]

30 minutes ago, lprp said:

on Voyager when Explorer was launched.

Oh yes...and we were on Mariner when Splendor arrived and can tell a similar story.  I realise that however much training is done on shore before joining the ship, like learning to drive, it's when one is independent and out on the road that most learning takes place.  However, if we brought all the learner drivers onto the same road at the same time, imagine the chaos!

[cstein]

We board on Voyager February 19. Spoke to RTA today, who spoke with Regent, who denies they are under code red.

[silkismom]

We just got an email from RSS about our Voyager cruise Mar 9, not required, but suggest everyone gets a covid test 3 days prior. Does their insurance cover if you test positive then??

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, cstein said:

We board on Voyager February 19. Spoke to RTA today, who spoke with Regent, who denies they are under code red.

I believe it was lifted...

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, silkismom said:

We just got an email from RSS about our Voyager cruise Mar 9, not required, but suggest everyone gets a covid test 3 days prior. Does their insurance cover if you test positive then??

No...but yours should.