Jasukkie

I could have tested out of isolation on day 7 or day 8 to return to work as per my employer's policies. Strongly positive on both tests for me. Vaxxed, double boosted, and treated with Paxlovid. You may have tested too early with the "hay fever" symptoms. Antigen tests give a lot of false negatives in the early stages of infection. Hopefully you can produce a negative test and your wife doesn't turn up positive.

Loved having a kettle on my Anthem sailing. I did not make the connection with the UK aspect but that makes sense. I wish that was standard on all ships.

I'm very surprised to read there are hospitals without mask requirements. Still required of all staff and visitors at my place of work.

I'm very experienced with Royal too and loved my Virgin cruise. Kid free is a wonderful thing. Those who need a constant activity schedule may prefer to stick with Royal but when you're over that and want more down time and higher quality food and beverage service VV is a great choice.

I had my second booster about 6 weeks before my cruise. I was sicker than I expected. I'm still sick, but yes, not dead or hospitalized. I'm having to miss an additional week of work and continue isolation. There are a lot of considerations in cruising right now.

It came as a huge surprise to me but staying on the ship was listed on my form letter as one of the possible options for continuing isolation. I didn't inquire about it because my symptoms were bad and I didn't feel safe healthwise staying onboard.

I do remember a long time ago being escorted to the table, forgot all about that. No big deal for me. I do miss coffee service with dessert. And drink service, lol. We have had some comically bad assistant waiters lately.

I broke my own rule about eating inside.

I strongly suggest you stay masked 100% of the time you are not in your cabin if you need to test in for a second leg. Hopefully you have nice weather and can eat outside.

I 100% agree you got Covid on your cruise! I did on mine too. My party came from different places, met up on the ship, and tested positive the same day onboard. Now that people are home they are reporting to the facebook group about positive tests.

Unfortunately the full capacity, no masks thing is leading to numerous positives on every sailing right now. Since the CDC is no longer concerned, it's just going to be this way. At-risk people should not cruise now. The low capacity era was great but it's over.

I think the critique was about getting covid while in port because everyone had a negative test before boarding. One of my party tested negative on the antigen test onboard and they were the most symptomatic. Retested by PCR onboard and voila, positive. Tests may work on a broad screening level to weed out some positives, but they do not pick up everyone reliably.

If the CDC cared about cruising and Covid spread they would shut things down. That ship has sailed. It's now cruise at your own risk and know that you will very likely be exposed to covid on a full capacity unmasked sailing. I would guess testing will go soon. Vaccination will stick around for awhile because the cruise line would rather you not get very sick onboard and they don't have antiviral treatments onboard to give you.

Oh, they definitely know they are placing them in a roomful of people with covid.

There are hundreds of people walking around on every full capacity ship right now in the transmission phase of Covid. The crew are exposed. You don't see them complaining about wearing masks. They know what's going on.

Yes, saw many people doing this on Ovation in Alaska. You can go directly off the ship into the town areas, or on some excursions. I know the train one takes scooters. Just let them know when you book.

Yeah, I can see this point of view, having lived through it knowing people were clearly up above spreading it around. I'm sure the current system will end soon as it's not logistically sustainable. The CDC no longer cares about the role of the cruise industry in transmitting covid. I suspect the industry will drop testing first, and then vaccine requirements. What does need to happen is improved medical care for people who are sick onboard. If it's just sniffles for someone, that's great. But it's not for all. Let the people who are sick be seen by a physician, with follow-up checks. Have antiviral medications onboard. Prioritize care for those who need it. Beyond that, people need to take an honest look at their own health before boarding.

They really don't want people to know how many people are in quarantine. Some crew are honest without being exact. The crew member handing disembarkation flat out lied, which became obvious as group after group came through as we waited for our ride. I'd guess somewhere around 100 people in quarantine on my sailing, plus many, many more reporting positive after the sailing via social media. No doubt more people who just won't get tested and will cough away at work with "allergies," thus getting more people sick.

Quarantine passengers are given disposable boxes, very easy to fit it all on one tray. You could ask for the same.

Facebook groups are where it's at for tracking positives, not that the CDC cares. Doubtful you will ever see a ship go red because it's not really clearly defined what that means.

You will go through the "extraction" process. Crew comes and gets you and brings you to a holding room. You are then released to a black Mercedes van which will drive you home. It's free. No need to have your husband pick you up. Actually, re-reading your question...the scenario I described is if you test positive through the ship. Doing your own, put an N95 mask on and walk off the ship. I don't think they would test you then anyway. I would confirm with a PCR then to get your money refunded on the second leg.

You don't have a cell phone with you? Have your husband call you on the cabin phone to tell you the MDR choices. I had no paper menu in quarantine, just called on the phone. That was the one thing I had no complaints about.

Had a very easy experience recently. Dropped bags, walked through security, straight to check-in and on the ship.

Yes.

Experience will vary by ship and individual. Make sure you get a printed copy of your test result with the date and your name on it. You may need that for insurance reasons later on. Keep a diary of your phone conversations regarding logistics. You may need to advocate for yourself health wise if you start to feel worse. That seems to vary a lot by ship, some reports of daily checks, some have no follow up once you are in quarantine. Enjoy the free movies. You can order from the main dining room, not just the room service menu. You may need to call housekeeping for towels, tissues, red garbage bags. Make sure you exercise and move around and stay hydrated. I hope you have an uneventful recovery.