Riversedge

There’s been no information about further testing.  And no calls from medical center to check on my health.  They don’t count the first day of quarantine as day one.  They count it as Day Zero.  No chance of early parole so it will be at least 11 days.  I hope all of you who are also experiencing this have mild cases and are as good as new soon.

10 minutes ago, san diego sue said:

I guess I am lucky. We tested positive on Monday for the cruise to Hawaii on Princess  that left LA on Wednesday. Wasn't the only one on my roll call that couldn't cruise. The funny thing was we were on a New Years cruise and someone also on my Hawaii roll call was on it too. He too tested positive for the Hawaii cruise. So good possibility we got it on the other cruise.

I guess I am lucky that I wasn't already cruising and test positive. Doubt that being in isolation on a ship would be a fun cruise. Am anxious to hear how life will be for a isolated person on a cruise ship.

I’m so sorry you missed the entire cruise.  That may be preferable to this where I will only get partial FCC.  But I wouldn’t want to be stuck in San Diego either.   We were on the previous 7 day cruise to Mexico.  I felt safe on that cruise.  900 Mormons who didn’t drink and attended meetings all day.  This ship is overwhelmed with people drinking around the bars and showroom so therefore masks are not required.  We were tested between the two cruises and I was negative.  

2 minutes ago, iflyrc5 said:

Were you tested because you reported to sickbay with your symptoms or did the ship test everyone on board when heading to Hawaii?    Did the move you to a veranda cabin?   Hope you don't get to feeling too bad.

I’ve started a thread with the testing procedure.  I had no symptoms when they tested, only slight symptoms now.  The entire ship was tested over a two day period as well as testing on the dock and they found quite a few positive cases onboard.  I will be glad to report the blow by blow on the Live thread I have started.  Thanks for the well wishes.  My biggest symptom right now is BOREDOM!  

I’ve never done a “Live from” thread before and usually don’t even read them, but out of boredom and possibly being able to impart some information I’ve decided to start one.  I am currently on a Hawaiian cruise and tested positive two days ago.  I was not feeling any symptoms then but now have a runny nose and some fatigue.  Thank goodness they did an onboard test a couple days after boarding.  There are quite a few people that tested positive and I imagine a few positive people still around the ship that were exposed.  
 

I thought I would let you know what it’s like on this ship.  Not sure as I can be quite so positive as the gentleman on the Zuiderdam but I’ll try.  Medical staff called me about 5 minutes after my test.  They said they would send a nurse in 45 minutes to do a PCR test.  In the meantime I started to pack.  She showed up about an hour and a half later and did the test.  It took about half an hour to get a result.  They said the team would come in about 45 minutes and escort me to my new room.  The nurse told my husband he needed to stay in the room for 24 hours and then they would do another test on him.  Front desk called, gave him his new room number and said he could move about the ship.  No one ever tested him again but the next day he used one of the rapid tests we brought and tested negative.  He was given the option to move into quarantine with me or move to another room as they had to sterilize our room.  We decided to have separate rooms so that he didn’t catch it from me (or the possibility we could kill each other with 10 days locked up in a little room) 

I was escorted across the hallway into the freight elevator.  I had to handle all my own luggage and they were spraying around me.  When they got to my new hallway I again had to move my own luggage down the hall.  They had my door propped open.  It felt like I was entering a leper colony which I guess I was.  
 

There was almost no information in my room.  The next day I got a couple letters which I will try and post in a different post.  Again, not much information.   They are putting us up in a verandah cabin.  Mine is on deck 5, midship.  The whole hallway that I’m in contains positive people.  
 

The room is very spartan.  No bathrobes, no pillows on the couch, no wineglasses, ice bucket, no pen, no paper.  I have 4 bottles of Aqua Panna water and 6 bottles of soda.  Extra towels are in the closet.  No one cleans (obviously) or takes out the trash.  Luckily we had stocked our frig in our first room so I had cold beer and soda to bring along.  I’m able to order more.  
 

I’ll post more in another thread.  If we had purchase the cancel for any reason insurance we would never have done this cruise.  We had booked prior to Omicron and didn’t think it necessary.  Cruising is just not a safe sport right now.  No one could have been more careful than us.  No elevators, we dined alone, no crowded bars.  We don’t do indoor dining at home for this reason.  But even though we are at 1,500 passengers, the ship feels crowded.  With the “Have It All” everyone is out drinking so therefore no masks.  We didn’t even go to any shows.   I’ll post some day to day experiences which I promise will be more entertaining than the testing and moving procedure.  Stay safe out there.  

25 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

I feel so bad for you.  Staying in that small space would be tough for me.  Are you in a balcony?

Yes, thank goodness.  I’m looking forward to Hawaiian breezes.  

9 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Are you only a test result victim, or do you actually have symptoms and feel sick? Can you track back your possible exposure?

They did two tests, one rapid and a pcr.  I have a runny nose and am a little tired.   We have been so careful.  Not around anyone, no crowded bars, no elevators.  We don’t do indoor dining at home for this reason or go to bars.  It’s pretty much impossible to stay safe no matter how careful you are.  There are quite a few positive people onboard but of course no information  about actual numbers. 

I’m going to start a “Live From Koningsdam Quarantine” thread but wanted to give you a heads up that the 10 days they say you have to quarantine is actually 11 days.  Even though you might start isolation in the morning, HAL counts it as day ZERO.  As if I needed another day of boredom!  

3 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said:

I am very sorry to hear this.  We appreciate you sharing your experience with us.  Best wishes to you.  I am assuming you need to isolate for ten days?

Yes, but Holland counts day one as day ZERO.  So it’s actually 11 days.  

Take it from a person who is experiencing this now, cruise ships are not a safe place to be.  I tested positive yesterday.  There is no one more careful than me.  I barely came out of the house for 2 years except for a cruise in Europe in the fall when I felt safe.  There were only 800 people onboard. This cruise has about 1,500 and people are everywhere.   I would have cancelled this cruise if we had purchased the cancel for any reason policy. There are several cases onboard the Koningsdam and more all the time, both passengers and crew.  We are not informed how many but they have been steadily moving into my quarantine hallway.  We have worn our mask constantly, not ridden an elevator and mostly kept to ourselves.  I still got it.  Believe me, quarantine is not fun.  

On 1/10/2022 at 4:16 PM, highland cruiser said:

Hi Linda and Ed,

We also had our picture retaken when we checked in.  We are 3 weeks out for our Caribbean cruise and the  navigator just a few days ago has the itinerary on it.  No mention of taking a picture yet!!  I remember doing ours for the Eurodam at the hotel in Venice!!

 

My husband did upload a picture and I did not.  Took me about 20 seconds more to go thru the line. 

We were able to get tested at CVS in San Diego yesterday.  Results in 20 minutes.  We had made the appointment 2 weeks ago.  Very organized.  We had also ordered online tests as a backup.  We will save those for another time. 

We uploaded a picture for our September Eurodam cruise and they took another onboard anyways.  Not going to bother this time.  I’m pretty sure info for the last cruise and the upcoming one showed up more than two weeks out. 

Thanks for your reports.  It’s good to read about the ship as we board when you get off.  If you get a chance, can you ask how many passengers are booked for the January 9 sailing?  We are hoping for the same kind of experience you are having. 

We don’t have our middle name on our vaccination cards. No one cared.  

7 hours ago, NCTribeFan said:

Entertainment:

 

I'm not a big fan of the production shows and I've been reading how people here think HAL has really taken a step back with their shows.  I enjoyed both of the "dance" shows.  As I've said before, I've always felt that the vocalists in these production shows have been the weak point.  I'd much rather have good dancers out there doing their thing than have OK vocalists trying to also dance and have dancers trying to be backup singers.

 

The last show, with the piano bar folks, was something I wouldn't bother seeing again.

 

I did not go to any comedy shows.  I did not attend any talks or demonstrations.

 

The BB King All Stars were good but not as good as on Zuiderdam or Koningsdam.

 

I

7 hours ago, NCTribeFan said:

 

As for music, may I just complain yet again about having bad pop music BLARING in all locations at all times.  I hate this.  I so wanted to be able to go sit up in the Tamarind bar during the day when it should have been a nice, quiet place to sit and relax.  But noooooooooooooo.  Music blasting away.  It's the main reason I was out on the Promenade all the time.  It's the only place I found without the music.

 

 

I’m curious where the music was coming from in the Tamarind Bar?  We went there for drinks every day in September and don’t ever remember music blaring. 

10 hours ago, jer_l said:

We will be taking this cruise in January.  I have a couple of questions:

Does the ship's time change to correspond to local time?  I believe PV is 2 hours ahead of San Diego and the other ports an hour.)

When were you able to print your boarding pass?  I've received an email that ours are ready, but they aren't available even though the HAL website shows we are checked in.  When I called HAL, I was told they could not be printed until the health assessment is complete (available 3 days before the cruise). I just wondered if that is correct. It would be nice to know boarding times ahead of time.

We are on the Koningsdam for the January 9 Mexican Riviera sailing. We have already printed our boarding passes and have our boarding time assigned. 

From our experience on the Eurodam in September, Neptune Suites automatically had their rooms serviced twice.  Those of us in the “cheap” cabins were asked if once a day was ok.  We were fine with that.  I did ask that we still get our chocolates and they showed up on our bed each night with the daily.  

53 minutes ago, doublebzz said:

If you pre-book specialty restaurants, can you change or cancel once on board or are all sales final?

Yes you can. They are very good about letting you change plans. 

On 10/31/2021 at 8:03 PM, WFBgal said:

Actually, I was asking about current cruising…..are passengers less likely to want to sit with 3 other couples. I didn’t make it too clear.

On our 24 Europe cruise in September a lot of people requested tables for two because they didn’t want to sit with anyone.  But there were also some large tables that were full during open seating.  If you want to sit with 6 others they will let you do so as long as enough other people also request a large table.  If they can’t fill it they will start serving, so you may end up with some empty chairs. 

They will love it whenever they get it!  On our recent 24 day cruise we waited until a couple of nights from the end of the cruise.  But I did check with them a couple times to be sure they weren’t getting transferred to a different floor or ship. 

We are looking at a cruise on the Koningsdam.  The cabins that are available in the class we want are family cabins (sleeps 5).  There are only two of us.  HAL said we could book it but if a family needed it they could move us to a different cabin of their choice.  Has this actually happened to anyone?  I don’t want to get stuck over a dance floor if they changed our room.  What are my chances?  Has anyone had this happen?  

14 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Did you transfer from Trieste out of curiosity?

 

Other friends that were on the transfer weren’t even asked as it was such a zoo.

 

But my friends were there early ( they were already in Venice and just proceeded) and I can assure you their wine was taken.  They were completely taken aback and didn’t offer to pay corkage until late.

I think the best attitude to take is to be prepared and pay the corkage if need be.  I’m sure we will hear more on the other threads but my attitude is to “be prepared for the worst and if it doesn’t happen, bonus 😉 “

 

We boarded in Venice.  We only paid 6 Euros for each of our bottles of wine in a Venice grocery store and were prepared to just throw it away if we couldn’t carry it on.  No one said a word.  And it was the best wine we had during our entire voyage😁. We did have the Have It All package so didn’t really care if they decided to take it away.  We just wanted it to drink on our verandah so we could partake while we were relaxing and didn’t feel like running to the bar.  We also brought on another bottle that we had purchased on a Cruise Critic wine tour for 7 euro.  We were prepared to pay corkage on that one but no one asked us and no one was sitting there to collect as we entered the ship.  I guess the moral of the story is…Who knows what will happen??

38 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

This is accurate.  My friends were in Venice and boarded before Vmax1700 ( who had to travel from Trieste).

They had 2 bottles of wine - choice was to pay the corkage or have it taken.

Me?  If I have a nice bottle of wine, I’ll pay the corkage 😉 

We also boarded in Venice.  We had two bottles of wine in our carry on bags and nobody cared.   Pretty hard to tell what the rules actually are now.  

9 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

We had originally booked a tour to the vineyards today in Korcula, but as it is a tender port and to give my back a further 24 hours of recovery, we decided that we would not go.  Last evening (12 hours before excursion due to depart) I went to the Excursion desk and told them that we would not be going.  I didn't want them holding back the tour to wait for us nor did I want to receive a phone call at 7.50 am to remind me of the tour.  So, it was just a courtesy to others (and myself) and I expected the value lost.

However Alejandro at the Excursions Desk, immediately offered to rebook us on a tour for Sunday if we wished.  He said it was too late to cancel but he could do an 'exchange'.  So we have booked a tour to Medieval Piran tomorrow.  I was really impressed with the service that was offered as I fully expected to lose the credit for the excursion.  

Take a bow Alejandro!

We went on a wine tour in Korcula with HAL and it was the worst tour in 24 days.  Maybe you can feel lucky you didn’t go. Not sure it was the same one you booked and can’t look it up as we are away from home for the weekend.  I think they did offer two different winery tours when we did it.  Glad HAL was able to grant your wish.  We got the feeling they were trying hard.  

17 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

“Unless eating or drinking”.   Do people mask up between sips or bites?

I didn’t see much of that on our 24 day cruise.  People either wore them or they didn’t.  There didn’t seem to be people wearing masks by the pool even if the roof was closed.  Pool areas seem to be maskless at both pools and not many people wearing them in the crow’s nest.  Most people had a drink sitting there.  We wear masks all the time when we go to the store, etc at home and always felt they were uncomfortable. But it’s funny how we never felt that way on the cruise.  We thought we would hate it but honestly, wearing them in the hallways, stairs, showroom and to the dining room and lido was not a problem at all.