Denied boarding for Harmony of the Seas from Barcelona- due to Covid positive result at the terminal

[livingonthebeach]

35 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

I’ve read other threads where covid positive guests have been repatriated by private flight. What did this not happen it this case?

 

Weren't those for people who tested positive during the cruise but not pre boarding?  I seem to recall those private charters were arranged for people who tested positive on the ship and not before getting on the ship. 

[CalTexCruiser]

OP, thanks for sharing and so sorry for your ordeal.

 

This is the first detailed account I've seen of an RCCL or Celebrity customer when testing positive prior to embarkation.  

 

We'll be sailing from Athens on the Apex in a few weeks so are quite interested in how RCCL (and by extension Celebrity) would handle this.

 

We plan to take a test before our flight to reduce the chances of a positive test at the terminal--i.e., we will get on the flight only if negative.

 

And with respect to the chartered private jet question posed by another poster, that only happens if you test positive DURING the cruise.

 

 

Edited September 5, 2021 by CalTexCruiser

[JimVB]

Really hope your testing to return to US is all negative.  I'm a bit of a pessimist, but the potential of multiple quarantines is enough to keep my travels as simple as possible.

[Babr]

54 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

I’ve read other threads where covid positive guests have been repatriated by private flight. What did this not happen it this case?

The most generous terms of the assistance plan are for people who test positive during the cruise not before.

 

Those who test positive within 14 days are entitled to a full refund. That is the only benefit specified in writing. Apparently Royal is also paying for quarantine expenses for this family.

 

If they had tested positive during the cruise, they’d be entitled to medical treatment on the ship, any land-based quarantine, and return transportation as well as a pro-rated refund. Nothing in the written policy says they will be returned by charter jet, though we have seen that done from Caribbean ports.

It hard to say what to expect since Royal seems to be departing from their written policy. Perhaps in the future, people who test positive at any point on European cruises will be quarantined until they can test negative for a return commercial flight. That comes closer to the actual language of the policy and surely is more cost effective.

 

It is a tough balance between cost and customer service. A charter jet from the Caribbean starts in the $20,000 range. Even at a contracted rate, a charter jet for a family of four from Europe would cost much more.

 

Edited September 5, 2021 by Babr

[sugarny123]

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Wonder how long Royal is going to keep covering these expenses? I assume you got 2 keys, 2 rooms? One that your husband stayed in by himself for the 10 days

 

Did you and the others at least get a chance to go out and explore Barcelona?

Hi Jimbo,

Yes we got 2 rooms. But they assumed we will equally share a room instead of having my husband stay in one room by himself. We just had to make that decision on our own so 3 of us are sharing one room. They only had 2 twin beds in a room so I requested an extra bed but the hotel said that they are not allowed to enter any of these quarantine designated rooms so asked me to ask the "agency" to book another room. I spoke with the RC care team and the hotel got me an extra twin bed and left it in front of our door. So that wasn't smooth but it worked out. 

 

and yes we did have 2 days to explore Barcelona before getting to the terminal. Thank you for asking!

[sugarny123]

6 hours ago, BSocial said:

thank you for sharing your story.  First, I hope your husband is much better, and that the rest of you are fine,   It’s good to hear that Royal is arranging all quarantine costs for you.   Best wishes for a negative trip and safe return home.  
 

edit.

 

Thank you for your warm wishes!

[ukrccl_a]

1 hour ago, Billy Baltic said:

I’ve read other threads where covid positive guests have been repatriated by private flight. What did this not happen it this case?

If you test positive in Spain then you’re not allowed to leave the country to return home (including on a private flight) until your isolation period ends - and in some regions that must be in a designated quarantine hotel unless you’re a resident there.

[sugarny123]

4 hours ago, steamboats said:

 

Pretty unlikely, they had to quarantine ;-)!

 

No just the person tested positive has to go into quarantine but also the close contacts which means all of the family has to go into quarantine.

 

NCL just recently changed their policy. They now recommend a test before you fly (especially overseas). If you´ve got a pre-flight test result and are tested postive prior to boarding then they cover all expenses of the quarantine. If you don´t have a test done prior to flying you have to pay on your own (unless you have insurance but first you pay and then you might get your money back from insurance).

 

steamboats

Cruiselines will constantly update their policy I guess. We also voluntarily got tested for covid and it came out all negative before our flight. So in matter of 2 days, my husband turned positive. 

 

and you're right, we were considered close contacts as a family so we were also put into a quarantine. 

[sugarny123]

4 hours ago, lazydayz said:

OP, I am sorry to hear about your husband and hope he is better.  Terrible you all missed the cruise but at least Royal is covering the charges.  Did anyone else in your family get it?  Best of luck to all of you in testing negative and getting back home soon.  

Thank you for your warm wishes. My husband was the only one that got tested positive and rest of us were negative. 

[sugarny123]

4 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.  Have you all been retested yet?  How many days prior to flying do you have to be tested?  You’re flying back on Sept 8th?  Safe travels to you and your family.  

RC care team will send a Eurofin testers for us to the hotel on the 7th. Currently you need a negative test 3 days prior to your flight. Thank you for your warm wishes!

[livingonthebeach]

Just now, sugarny123 said:

RC care team will send a Eurofin testers for us to the hotel on the 7th. Currently you need a negative test 3 days prior to your flight. Thank you for your warm wishes!

 

Good luck with everything. Hope the rest of the trip goes smoothly. Thanks again for sharing and please let us know the outcome. 

[sugarny123]

4 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Terribly sorry you missed your cruise but that is great to hear that Royal is covering the quarantine expense.     Hopefully everyone is feeling ok.

 

Had you also purchased Royals travel insurance for your cruise?    

 

 

 

Yes, my husband had some fever but it went a way few days ago and everyone is feeling good for now. Thank you for your concern.

 

I know for US cruises, cruiselines require travel insurance but not for cruises leaving out of Spain as of yet. They have different rules for different countries. I was informed that any covid-related expenses will be covered by RC so we risked to come out here in confidence.

[carolyn22]

OP, I’m sorry to hear about your thwarted trip. Is your husband feeling OK physically?  Hopefully the rest of you will

continue to feel fine and test negative.

 

 

 

 

[Auntiemomo]

5 minutes ago, sugarny123 said:

Thank you for your warm wishes. My husband was the only one that got tested positive and rest of us were negative. 

Was your husband asymptomatic through this whole ordeal?  If so, how would one who is vaccinated  know at the time of embarkation that they caught covid.

[Jimbo]

4 hours ago, Sianli said:

Were you allowed to shift? Or did you just cancel and rebook? 

About 10 days before our final payment was due we made a request to Royal Caribbean to lift and shift our sailing date and to have our Owners Suite's price protected to September 2022 because of a medical condition my wife has with her Compromised Immune System.

 

We both had the 2 shots of the vaccine back in April...............We later each went for  a test to see just how many antibodies we each had to fight off the virus if we ever got it.

 

My results came back with a score of like 550 and her's was only a 3..............So with little to no protection for her we decided no way were we going to take this 1st ever cruise to Europe and take that chance. Protocols on the ship and at each port it would have really been a much diluted  1st time to Europe that we did not want to pay all that money for.

 

Granted we have a great price on the Owner's  Suite , only $3700 with $525 OBC so we really didn't want to lose that either. So that is why we made the request to Royal. They got back to us and allowed the move to Allure of the Seas in September 2022, Harmony does not sail that itinerary next year.

 

So all is good now, look forward to now going next year when hopefully things are much better.

 

Edit: Forgot to add she is now eligible to get the 3rd shot (booster shot)......so hoping that will raise her antibody count which would be great !!

 

Edited September 5, 2021 by Jimbo

[sugarny123]

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Well that sucks, a wasted 10 days and a very expensive flights for 4 people. Hope they had insurance of some kind to cover that?

That will cover all of the Europe sailings for this year at least. We were due to be on Harmony in 18 days but we shifted it to September 2022. Would be just our luck we would have been in same situation as OP coming all the way from Virginia.

Luckily, every extra expense if covered. I booked a flight with no change fee for Covid related changes so I was able to change the flight with no fee with no price difference. I did have travel insurance to cover medical expense but we're lucky to not use that.

 

It's a good call on your end to shift your cruise to Sept 2022. I'm looking into cruising next year as well but I'm holding my thought at the moment. If the same covid rules are in place, I certainly would not want to be in the same situation again. We were all tested negative before we got on the flight to Spain and in two days, my husband turned out to be positive and he is the most cautious person in terms of sanitizing himself. 

 

We might book something from leaving from NJ next year and maybe I'll hold on to Europe cruise til 2023.

[jerseygirl3]

29 minutes ago, sugarny123 said:

Thank you for your warm wishes!

So do you think your husband picked up the virus during your 2 days precruise?  I’m wondering if this contributes to Royal’s decision to have guests provide a negative test within 2 days prior to boarding. 
 

Did he ever develop symptoms? 
 

t

This is my worst nightmare as we will be flying to Italy next Fall for a few precruise days prior to a transatlantic. 

Edited September 5, 2021 by jerseygirl3

[sugarny123]

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

what is interesting is the OP's family member had tested positive at the cruise terminal before boarding the ship and Royal is still covering their hotel/food quarantine expense.       Is that rules for Europe?

 

Curious if a US child under 12 tests positive at pre-cruise test in any US port, will royal pay for that family to stay at a hotel near cruise port if they flew from another state?

 

If yes, this is probably another big reason why Royal is not offering testing for everyone at cruise terminal before embarkment 

Yes, conditions are certainly different in Europe. I know rules are different for US sailings.

Passengers from UK are not allowed to Cruise now and I guess they do need more passengers from US to cruise in Europe. Without that covid assurance, I wouldn't have come here. I believe only 2 families were quarantined at the cruise terminal so even if RC has to pay for the expense- they would rather offer covid assurance than not having passengers at all?

[sugarny123]

56 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

OP, thanks for sharing and so sorry for your ordeal.

 

This is the first detailed account I've seen of an RCCL or Celebrity customer when testing positive prior to embarkation.  

 

We'll be sailing from Athens on the Apex in a few weeks so are quite interested in how RCCL (and by extension Celebrity) would handle this.

 

We plan to take a test before our flight to reduce the chances of a positive test at the terminal--i.e., we will get on the flight only if negative.

 

And with respect to the chartered private jet question posed by another poster, that only happens if you test positive DURING the cruise.

 

 

We also got tested before our flight and we were all negative but this positive situation still happened in matter of 2 days. I wish you the best for your cruise from Athens. It seems like every country had different rules so please double check what their rules are before you head out. 

[sugarny123]

25 minutes ago, carolyn22 said:

OP, I’m sorry to hear about your thwarted trip. Is your husband feeling OK physically?  Hopefully the rest of you will

continue to feel fine and test negative.

 

 

 

 

Yes my husband feels ok now. Thank you so much for your warm wishes!

[ONECRUISER]

5 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Ugh, what a situation.  Seems like everything has worked out as best as possible.  Still sucks though. 
 

On a side note, what a “crazy” first and second post for CC member since 2013.  A true lurker. 

Happen's. From 1997-2013 think had less then 20 posts myself. But yeah, almost a record

Edited September 5, 2021 by ONECRUISER

[Jimbo]

9 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Happen's. From 1997-2013 think had less then 20 posts myself

Says you joined in  the year 2000?

[ONECRUISER]

8 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Says you joined in  the year 2000?

Nope, original Cruise Critic was AOL/Cruise Critic. We all had to rejoin in 2000, was offline for few months that yr, ARMY Deployment, but was still CC Member 300 and something when I to rejoin then. Use be somewhere on here that showed Member # and when we Joined

Edited September 5, 2021 by ONECRUISER

[sugarny123]

1 hour ago, jerseygirl3 said:

So do you think your husband picked up the virus during your 2 days precruise?  I’m wondering if this contributes to Royal’s decision to have guests provide a negative test within 2 days prior to boarding. 
 

Did he ever develop symptoms? 
 

t

This is my worst nightmare as we will be flying to Italy next Fall for a few precruise days prior to a transatlantic. 

we suspect that my husband picked up the virus within that 2 days. God knows where and when but we suspect maybe it could've been from our multiple taxi rides? My husband was the one that sat next to the driver all the time. He started having fever on the night that we were put in a hotel.

 

Prepare yourself to worst situation if you're flying into Italy and make all the possible backup plans as much as possible or at least mentally prepare yourself. Traveling during Covid era is so unpredictable. Getting changeable ticket is a must. Best luck to you. 

[tampadee]

Just wondering, did you both wear masks everywhere?