Should I cancel and lose $1400 or go and risk regretting it?

[ZoeyVictoria]

We were fully vaccinated and boosted when we picked up Covid for the first/only time on our 32nd post-pandemic cruise. The ship was the most crowded and had more children than any previous cruise. I have never heard the word “Covid” while on a ship, but plenty on CC a few days later. 

[KKB]

@Eli_6

I would say that is a pretty good stretch of cruising coming up! And some pretty port intensive ones, not your typical relaxing Caribbean cruise!

 

BUT the exhaustion is most certainly mostly from COVID & possibly jet lag (tho less likely heading home westbound). I know the 1st time I had COVID, I had never felt exhaustion like that. Didn't even want to pick up my phone to look at a text. And after flying home from London last month, I had several days over the course of a week where I was just wiped.

 

I would NOT make any rash decisions about future travel at this time. 

Right now rest & take care of yourself--and NOTHING MORE.

Curious why you have to make this decision in a week? (long past final payment)

 

The only regrets in life I have are the trips I didn't take.

Particularly the British Isles cruise that Mom & I cancelled the year before COVID....and then her cancer diagnosis in 2021.

 

Regarding the shuddering/sounds you encountered on this last trip--I have experienced this in various rooms on various ships. You must have been near the anchor, perhaps the engine, so you experienced the unique sounds & shudders that occur when a ship is docking. Lovely so early in the morning, I know. I have discovered I am quite sensitive to some mechanical sounds & vibrations & have had to move rooms on 2 different cruises in the last 2 years (MSC & Princess) as the sounds triggered migraines. Luckily not sold out, so was able to move. 
You could try bringing a small white noise machine to help a bit with the noise.

 

Again--I say allow your body some recovery time before cancelling.

And remember--you could use the cruise to relax & take care of yourself too. 

Perhaps choose shorter excursions that aren't taxing, even taking a port day off here & there to afford your body a break.

This cruise looks to lend itself well to relaxing...half sea days, never more than 2 port days in a row. 
I did the Splendor to New Caldonia & N Zealand in Feb & it was great. 

 

OH--and the "beauty" of COVID now is that it provides you about 3 months of natural immunity. So you are covered for the ensuing trips! 

(I got it on our Italy cruise last Aug. DH & our friends all got it on our Oct Europe cruise...not me!)

 

Edited June 15 by KKB

[Mary229]

Instead of losing money try moving the cruise.  I recently had a husband in the hospital and a death in the family and was no way ready to take a cruise from the mental and emotional exhaustion.  I called HAL, a sister company to Carnival and asked if I could move to a similar cruise later in the year.  They readily agreed and I was even able to keep all of my perks intact. 

[pe4all]

I would still go, but take precautions.  We may be overly cautious, but we wore masks in the airport, in cruise terminal, on cruise when in crowds, upon debark, etc.  We have not come home with a covid souvenir since covid began.  We use lots of hand sanitizer.  Many people have given up and live life as though there is no covid anywhere, but we know there is covid around still, and just live our lives a little differently.

[awhitleycrew]

Like several suggested I would wait a little longer before you decide one way or the other.

 

Covid is an unpredictable nuisance we are now stuck with!

I am an elementary teacher so I got the vaccine and booster as soon as it came out because I'm constantly around germs as it is. The only time I have gotten Covid was on a cruise out of NOLA in late June 2022. A cruise where all 4 of us had to have our vaccines (show proof) and have a negative test 2 days before sailing.  My husband and I stayed in a cabin together and our teen daughter and her friend stayed in their own cabin.  My husband and I both got Covid and neither of them did, even after a 7 hour drive home in a car together as I started to feel sick! 

We have sailed twice since then and none of us got Covid.  Who knows!!!!

[Iamthesea]

10 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

We were fully vaccinated and boosted when we picked up Covid for the first/only time on our 32nd post-pandemic cruise. The ship was the most crowded and had more children than any previous cruise. I have never heard the word “Covid” while on a ship, but plenty on CC a few days later. 

 

DH and I have had 6 shots all together. The two initial that were required for flying overseas, and 4 boosters.  We will get our 5th this fall.  We both got our first known case of Covid after a trip to England and France in July of 2022.  DH came down with it towards the end of our trip.  He tested negative (a home kit) before flying home the next day.  I became sick about a week later and DH was still ill.  I insisted that we both go get tested at CVS.  We were both positive and remained ill for a few weeks.  Thankfully nothing major.

 

4 hours ago, awhitleycrew said:

Like several suggested I would wait a little longer before you decide one way or the other.

 

Covid is an unpredictable nuisance we are now stuck with!

I am an elementary teacher so I got the vaccine and booster as soon as it came out because I'm constantly around germs as it is. The only time I have gotten Covid was on a cruise out of NOLA in late June 2022. A cruise where all 4 of us had to have our vaccines (show proof) and have a negative test 2 days before sailing.  My husband and I stayed in a cabin together and our teen daughter and her friend stayed in their own cabin.  My husband and I both got Covid and neither of them did, even after a 7 hour drive home in a car together as I started to feel sick! 

We have sailed twice since then and none of us got Covid.  Who knows!!!!

 

My daughter is an elementary teacher.  She received her 2 required vaccines.  She refused to get any boosters.  Her children have never received any of the Covid vaccines.  They have all had Covid AT LEAST 3 times each.  My daughter had one bad case that really threw her for a loop.   The children's cases have been anywhere from mild to having to take a week off from school.  The latter after students were allowed to go back to school as long as there was no fever.    There seems to be no rhyme or reason for who gets it, but I can't help thinking that if DD would start getting the boosters, she might stay healthier. I do not blame her for not wanting the children to get vaccinated since there is not enough research about the vaccine and long term problems. The children do get the flu vaccine each year.

[CookieShip]

On 6/14/2024 at 5:49 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

so what?

My DH got covid on our April cruise and last week on our June cruise as well. It was much worse in April. 

Not gonna stop cruising.

Wow I thought there was some kind of immunity period of a few months after getting it, but I guess it might have been different strains?

[Itchy&Scratchy]

11 hours ago, CookieShip said:

Wow I thought there was some kind of immunity period of a few months after getting it, but I guess it might have been different strains?

most likely. The current one is a lot lighter. April one was like our bout in 2022 - with rib-wrenching cough and misery.

[Cruising_Addict]

If you are worried about getting COVID again wear a mask. I wore one on my June 2022 cruise and never caught it. Didn’t wear one on my June 2023 cruise and caught it. Seriously considering wearing one on my July 4th cruise in a couple weeks. When I had it (the only time I’ve ever had it), it made me unbelievably exhausted. So much so I couldn’t function for a week afterwards. 

[VentureMan_2000]

Cancel.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 6/15/2024 at 9:41 AM, Iamthesea said:

I am curious, should any of you decided to share, are you fully vaccinated against Covid, including boosters?

yes, of course, but it's been more than a year and a half since the last booster, so it won't make any difference.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 6/15/2024 at 4:34 PM, awhitleycrew said:

We have sailed twice since then and none of us got Covid.  Who knows!!!!

well, DH now got covid on 3 out of 7 cruises, so...

[KKB]

11 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

yes, of course, but it's been more than a year and a half since the last booster, so it won't make any difference.

We got our last booster last fall🤷‍♀️

[purpleally]

I would absolutely go. You are in business which helps with the flying.

on the cruise you don’t have to go, go, go, give yourself sea days

plus, a great trip with your son

 

i urge you to go

[mkcurran]

On 6/14/2024 at 12:20 PM, Eli_6 said:

You know how when you go to a buffet and you see lots of yummy things and put a bunch on your plate, but when you sit down you can't actually eat everything you put on your plate?  I think I did the same thing with traveling. 

 

We just got back from an 8-day cruise to Italy on the Legend. It was fine except for I came home with Covid and I didn't sleep well because of noise from something related to the ship. (I was in the Vista suite on deck 4 and every time we docked--which was every day save 1 since we only had 1 sea day--I would get woken up early with some weird noise and vibrations.  Could even feel it with ear plugs in.) I am supposed to leave on July 16th to fly with my older son to Australia and then take a 15 day cruise on the Splendor to Australia, Indonesia, and Singapore.  Then I fly home from Singapore the long way (through Manchester, England), promptly have to get my kids ready to start school, and then leave about a week later leave to fly to London again. take my Mom on an 8-day cruise to Denmark and Norway. 

 

I am feeling exhausted rather than excited. Granted, it may be because I have Covid.  But what if I get Covid again after my Splendor sailing?  I can't back out on my Mom going on the Scandy cruise. (It is Princess out of Southampton.) It might killer her. She's been looking forward to this trip for too long. (Lifelong dream to go to Denmark where her Dad is from.) But I can cancel the Splendor sailing which is probably far more exhausting as I will literally be going around the globe.  It would cost me about $1400-something.  However, I know my older son would be very disapointed. (Younger son and husband are going to Colorado fishing for a week during this time. Older son and I have no interest in that.) The plane tickets were purchased with miles so I will have about 400k miles stuck in singapore airlines and another 400k stuck in United--both are biz class--but at least it is just miles and not money and I can always use them later.  The $1400-something is 50 percent of the room cost.   I have to make up my mind in the next week.  What would you do?  I was super excited about this a month ago and now I just feel tired. Really tired. But, IDK, maybe in another month when I no longer have Covid I won't feel so tired...  

How are you feeling today?

[Iamthesea]

4 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

yes, of course, but it's been more than a year and a half since the last booster, so it won't make any difference.

 

Ours (the 6th vaccine) was given 8 months ago. We started to get another between April and May (before the long cruise/trip), but never did.

 

3 hours ago, KKB said:

We got our last booster last fall🤷‍♀️

 

Exactly!!!  We also got ours in October, along with the flu shot, and will do so again this fall.  Which will be the 7th total vaccine - 5th booster.)

Edited June 17 by Iamthesea

[ontheweb]

47 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

 

Exactly!!!  We also got ours in October, along with the flu shot, and will do so again this fall.  Which will be the 7th total vaccine - 5th booster.)

I heard on the news the other day that Moderna has developed a combination shot, flu + Covid booster. That would eliminate having to get 2 separate shots.

[jimbo5544]

On 6/15/2024 at 8:52 PM, Iamthesea said:

 

DH and I have had 6 shots all together. The two initial that were required for flying overseas, and 4 boosters.  We will get our 5th this fall.  We both got our first known case of Covid after a trip to England and France in July of 2022.  DH came down with it towards the end of our trip.  He tested negative (a home kit) before flying home the next day.  I became sick about a week later and DH was still ill.  I insisted that we both go get tested at CVS.  We were both positive and remained ill for a few weeks.  Thankfully nothing major.

 

 

My daughter is an elementary teacher.  She received her 2 required vaccines.  She refused to get any boosters.  Her children have never received any of the Covid vaccines.  They have all had Covid AT LEAST 3 times each.  My daughter had one bad case that really threw her for a loop.   The children's cases have been anywhere from mild to having to take a week off from school.  The latter after students were allowed to go back to school as long as there was no fever.    There seems to be no rhyme or reason for who gets it, but I can't help thinking that if DD would start getting the boosters, she might stay healthier. I do not blame her for not wanting the children to get vaccinated since there is not enough research about the vaccine and long term problems. The children do get the flu vaccine each year.

You do realize there is no such thing as a booster….right?

[Keksie]

On 6/15/2024 at 8:41 AM, Iamthesea said:

I would go!   No way would I disappoint my son or mother.  However, if you are still feeling ill at the end of the first week of July, you should get evaluated by a doctor.  Your insurance should cover you if you are too sick to travel.

 

I recently took 3 cruises within 7 weeks.   One was a week+, including flying to/from Florida with DH.  For the second, we drove 5 hours to/from the cruise, and were gone a week.  The last cruise was 14 days plus an extra week of travel.  We flew Business overseas, so I was able to get a little rest.  However, I was so tired and could not wait to get home!  Stayed tired for a whole week and vowed that we would not be booking an annual overseas trip for 2025.  I still feel that way, but slowly checking our options for other travels.

 

 

 

I am curious, should any of you decided to share, are you fully vaccinated against Covid, including boosters?

I wouldn't  cancel yet.  Wait a little longer to see how you feel.  We got the first two shots and one booster after that.  We stopped wearing masks February 2021 and took several land trips where there were no restrictions.  We have started to cruise again after the protocols were lifted.  So far neither one of have  gotten Covid.  

[Relaxing Robbies]

Your flights to and from Australia are long, but if you are flying business class you should be able to sleep. You are flying towards the west, and that usually results in less jetlag than flying in the other direction towards the east. You seem to have allowed a few days in Australia before your cruise departs, so you can recover from the flight here and do some exploring before boarding your cruise. Sydney has a lot to see, but these days can be fairly relaxed if you need them to be.  

 

Your cruise itself is not very port intensive and should be quite relaxing. There are five days at sea between Cairns and Lombok, so you should sleep well without the early morning docking sounds.  

 

We were originally booked on that cruise, but decided to cancel because it coincides with the Olympic Games and I am a sports tragic who will be glued to watching swimming etc on the television. It was a difficult decision to cancel because it is a popular cruise with a good mix of interesting ports of call combined with plenty of sea days.

 

If your son is looking forward to the trip, I would suggest that you do not cancel, but go ahead and choose activities that are enjoyable but not too exhausting. 

[SPacificbound]

You are sick and you are likely exhausted by it all, so now is not a good time to make this decision. Look at it a few weeks from now. I hope you feel better soon.

[Eli_6]

I am thinking we will probably go. Still have 3 days to cancel and get a 50% refund, but I am feeling better and leaning now towards going.

I have had 4 covid vaccines and also have had Covid 4 times.  This recent one was like a bad cold where I was also really tired. Although, the tiredness could have been due to coming home from the cruise.  I also have a tooth that is really bothering me so that probably doesn't help.  Going to the dentist tomorrow. I hope they can pull it and do an implant before I leave and I don't have to go on the cruise toothless.  I already had a root canal and crown in that tooth. 

[Eli_6]

As an aside, I am not that worried about getting Covid.  More just worried about being so far from home for so long with just me and my kid.  

[loretta]

Wish you good luck at the dentist tomorrow. Several years ago, I had a toothache (upper) and a bad cold. I went to the dentist. Turns out there was nothing wrong with the tooth, it was a sinus infection that was pressing on the tooth nerve. He prescribed antibiotics and the pain went away pretty quickly. 

[Iamthesea]

2 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

I also have a tooth that is really bothering me so that probably doesn't help.  Going to the dentist tomorrow. I hope they can pull it and do an implant before I leave and I don't have to go on the cruise toothless.  I already had a root canal and crown in that tooth. 

 

I am going through the same thing now.  Very back lower tooth had a root canal and older crown.  It was sensitive at times.  Before going on the longer cruise last month, about 3 weeks before leaving, my tooth started hurting.  My dentist noticed a crack/leak in the crown around the gum line.  He gave me an antibiotic to clear up any infection and sent me on my way (with a back-up antibiotic in case the infection came back).  He said that he would rather wait until I got back from the trip to take the crown off and take a look.  Said that would be better than dealing with a temporary while out of the country.  So last week, he cut the crown off.  Screwed a rod (not an implant) into what is left of my tooth, placed dental cement around it, and put on a temporary crown.  I get my new crown in 4 weeks.  So much better than the implant procedure that I had to go through 6 years ago (after a crown and tooth broke off while on a river cruise in Germany).  I had bone loss under that tooth.  Good luck at the dentist tomorrow!!!

Edited June 19 by Iamthesea