Please help if you are currently on the Ruby.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

@rwmillerthank you for sharing your first hand experience.

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

On Ktvu this morning they showed Ruby returning to port.

They said, "More to be reported later.... 👀

 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

17 minutes ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

On Ktvu this morning they showed Ruby returning to port.

They said, "More to be reported later.... 👀

 

Hopefully the more will be a lesson on why you don’t sensationalize an unsubstantiated claim. 

[BEAV]

1 hour ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

On Ktvu this morning they showed Ruby returning to port.

They said, "More to be reported later.... 👀

 

 

I saw the same report on KTVU. The way they presented it made me think a current cruise was being interrupted and “turned back” to SF. Immediately came here, only to find today is normal turn-around day with one sailing ending and the next beginning. 

 

At at this point, the only real “news” appears to be the random 25% testing requirement by Port of SF. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

3 minutes ago, BEAV said:

 

I saw the same report on KTVU. The way they presented it made me think a current cruise was being interrupted and “turned back” to SF. Immediately came here, only to find today is normal turn-around day with one sailing ending and the next beginning. 

 

At at this point, the only real “news” appears to be the random 25% testing requirement by Port of SF. 

That testing was most likely a result of one couple complaining.  I am not opposed to testing before getting off the ship, have no thoughts either way about it.  

 

This couple essentially is screaming "the sky is falling". It is just irresponsible reporting by NBC and others.  The crew work so hard to follow all protocols.  I was especially annoyed this couple who stayed isolated in their cabin were saying the crew was lax in this regard.  I spent 15 days on Ruby in late November and am glad that current sailors on her are confirming what I experienced.  A solid and safe experience.  The vast majority of Princess cruisers out of SF are adhering to masking rules and the crew are absolutely following all safety protocols.  

[Ombud]

12 hours ago, nocl said:

Unfortunately people that over react make the news.

 

with almost 3 infections per thousand in Florida and 1.25 per thousand in California, you are likely to see some cases make it on board.  However, this is also not like the early days when there was no vaccine, no effective treatments and little is known. These days the most risk is inconvenience.  The chance of getting quarantined for 5 days, the chance of having the entertainment or ship services impacted by cases with the crew.  As far as Covid  itself, if you are vaccinated and especially if boosted, the cases are pretty mild in most cases.

 

If someone has serious health issues then they might not to cruise for health reasons.  For just about everyone else the issue is more do they want to spend money on a vacation where it might not end up being what they expected.

 

As far as this story it sounds like someone who heard that there was actually Covid cases on board and then proceeded to act like it was the Diamond or the Grand from March 2020.  We will find out the situation with the sample testing.  There will probably be some cases, but probably less than has popped up on some of the RCL cruises out of Florida. Test any percentage of the population at random and you will turn up cases.  

 

Anyone paying attention will expect that there likely be some cases make it on board.  That should not be a surprise.

 

PS I just booked the Jan 19 cruise to Hawaii on the Grand Princess today.

 

 

In fact KTVU is now discussing the dangers of panic reporting. But specifically on this issue:

https://www.ktvu.com/news/cruise-ship-with-positive-patients-docked-in-san-francisco.amp Still safer onboard. Enjoy your cruise and let me know if Salty Dog Gastropub can be the Specialty Dining option (I board 23-April-2022).

 

Adding new info from KTVU2: 12 positive cases all mild or asymptomatic. Out of 700 passengers & crew. 0.6%?

 

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Ombud

[Calif. Cruisers]

We are on the Ruby and about to disembark. It sounds like the complaining couple may have brought on their case and been isolate? If they chose to self-isolate, well that is ridiculous.  This is the emptiest ship we have ever been on.  Totally easy to social distance and crew was completely accommodating if we wanted to sit further way when dining.  
we were in the random 25% tested but had brought on our own tests as we had planned to test before disembarking anyway.  (Since we knew we were on a cruise full of people who had just celebrated with their families before boarding.)

The shows came later in the cruise with the onboard dancers and singer but they did go on and everyone but the primary singers wore masks (those dancers had to work hard!)

sounds to me like they are smart and isolating when needed.  We are not out of the woods yet folks so there will be cases ashore and on ships but there is no ‘outbreak’ news here.  
I agree with a previous poster that we probably told more people to put on their masks than the crew did around us, but really it was the passengers who were not following the sip and cover protocol.  We observed a passenger at a slot machine without her mask on be asked twice by crew to put it on and finally we went and told her too also and she put it on.  Said she was ‘drinking’ and indeed did have a drink but was not picking it up at all to drink it.  If you are not willing to sip and cover maybe it is not time to cruise yet.  Saw same in some other shows but most people were good.

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Calif. Cruisers

[Grover_]

As we disembarked I saw several passengers being escorted off the ship through a separate exit by people in full white jumpsuits/PPE. Presumably these were people who tested positive during the cruise.

[Calif. Cruisers]

People wore a variety of types of masks. My guess is that most people infected came onboard with it and weren’t infected onboard but I don’t have any knowledge either way

[nocl]

9 hours ago, Lucky TGO said:

Good luck to you my friend. I hope you have a safe and great cruise.  I’m still not going to take the chance of getting the Covid Virus and being locked in my cabin for the rest of the the cruise.

Tony

 

 

 

Actually now it is quarantined for 5 days. I just view it as if the low probability event happens, about 1% chance at most, I get my money back for those days. To spend on another trip. We drive to the pier so in case we are still in quarantine when the cruise end, we just drive home.

 

As I said in my post the biggest concern these days is the potential for inconvenience, not serious illness for most, thanks to vaccinations.

[Ombud]

21 minutes ago, Redwing55 said:

I get the requirement about the masks.  But curious, what type of mask did that person have?  If it wasn't  95, it isn't doing much good.  Mayo and others are even stating so.  I'm getting some 95s before I cruise, but I think most masks are more show than dough.

Did staff still freely hand out surgical masks? (Yes I forgot twice. Once just outside my door & went back after my steward tapped his, once got one from another steward)

[Justin_Case]

Getting ready to drive over to board Ruby in a few hours. My previous experiences on her Oct 31 and Dec 6 were positive. Appreciated the crew's diligence during those cruises. 

 

I had reservations about embarking today, but I'm a loner anyway and won't be mingling very much.

 

My travel companion did want to book the Captain's Table but her contact on board advised it wasn't being held. That could be precautions, or it could be because of low demand due to reduced capacity.

[nocl]

34 minutes ago, Calif. Cruisers said:

We are on the Ruby and about to disembark. It sounds like the complaining couple may have brought on their case and been isolate? If they chose to self-isolate, well that is ridiculous.  This is the emptiest ship we have ever been on.  Totally easy to social distance and crew was completely accommodating if we wanted to sit further way when dining.  
we were in the random 25% tested but had brought on our own tests as we had planned to test before disembarking anyway.  (Since we knew we were on a cruise full of people who had just celebrated with their families before boarding.)

The shows came later in the cruise with the onboard dancers and singer but they did go on and everyone but the primary singers wore masks (those dancers had to work hard!)

sounds to me like they are smart and isolating when needed.  We are not out of the woods yet folks so there will be cases ashore and on ships but there is no ‘outbreak’ news here.  
I agree with a previous poster that we probably told more people to put on their masks than the crew did around us, but really it was the passengers who were not following the sip and cover protocol.  We observed a passenger at a slot machine without her mask on be asked twice by crew to put it on and finally we went and told her too also and she put it on.  Said she was ‘drinking’ and indeed did have a drink but was not picking it up at all to drink it.  If you are not willing to sip and cover maybe it is not time to cruise yet.  Saw same in some other shows but most people were good.

 

The way the article stated it, it sounds like the couple had made yhe decision to stay in their cabin on their own out of fear of covid. It did not read that they were being quarantined by the ship.

[luckyinpa]

so after reading an article, id love to know what you people are bringing back. must be horrible...2 headed unicorns...ghosts...mad cow disease?😜

 

"A new COVID-19 concern is steaming toward San Francisco -- a Princess Cruise ship filled with Bay Area travelers. And some say it's been a nightmare at sea, and they worry what passengers will be bringing ashore Thursday. "

[Bgwest]

The first thing the media types learn is “never let a crisis go to waste”.

 

deplorable behavior but completely in keeping with the beast. 

[deadzone1003]

11 minutes ago, nocl said:

The way the article stated it, it sounds like the couple had made yhe decision to stay in their cabin on their own out of fear of covid. It did not read that they were being quarantined by the ship.

If they were quarantined by Princess, they would have been moved to another cabin - a balcony cabin on the aft Aloha deck, port side where Princess is using as the quarantined section of the Ruby Princess.

Edited January 6, 2022 by deadzone1003
spelling

[pris993]

15 hours ago, PrincessLuver said:

This would not surprise me because we are on the Majestic and even though Princess promotes itself as "Healthy Cruising" we have yet to see one crew member in any venue enforce passengers to comply with their own health protocols when they are not being followed or ignored by passengers.....they appear to be all talk and no walk..... our experience on board is that we are left to protect ourselves without Princess showing any concern...I suspect it would be easy for an outbreak to occur.....

I plan to cruise on 1/31 on the Ruby, I don't expect the crew to be police.  If I don't like what is going on I will take responsibility for myself.  Just like you do when you go out in public off the ship.  LIfe goes on.

 

[Grover_]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

Did staff still freely hand out surgical masks? (Yes I forgot twice. Once just outside my door & went back after my steward tapped his, once got one from another steward)

There was a package of blue disposable masks in the cabin when we boarded. We brought and wore kn95 masks so I didn’t use them.

[capriccio]

Not on the Ruby now but on the CB.  All crew are wearing 95 masks and almost all servers are double masked.  The vast majority of passengers wear 95 masks and there was a package of 2 of them in our cabin at embarkation.  If you forget your mask crew hand you a 3 layer surgical mass.  The only scofflaws we’ve seen are in the theater waiting for the shows to begin.  Some (maybe 5% or less) are wearing the mask below their noses or not at all  Luckily with less than 1000 passengers finding seating with more than social distancing is not difficult.

[CruiseSter1ing]

Deleted.  double posted.

Edited January 6, 2022 by CruiseSter1ing
double posted

[CruiseSter1ing]

9 minutes ago, capriccio said:

Not on the Ruby now but on the CB.  All crew are wearing 95 masks and almost all servers are double masked.  The vast majority of passengers wear 95 masks and there was a package of 2 of them in our cabin at embarkation.  If you forget your mask crew hand you a 3 layer surgical mass.  The only scofflaws we’ve seen are in the theater waiting for the shows to begin.  Some (maybe 5% or less) are wearing the mask below their noses or not at all  Luckily with less than 1000 passengers finding seating with more than social distancing is not difficult.

This was our experience in October on the first Ruby to set sail from SF.  We are booked on the Majestic on 1/15.  And plan on still going.  If I see a crew member without proper masking, I would say something.  When I see a passenger without masking (not while eating/drinking) I try to distance myself and if I make eye contact, I just point to my mask.  Trying to drop subtle hint.

Edited January 6, 2022 by CruiseSter1ing

[Ombud]

16 minutes ago, CruiseSter1ing said:

This was our experience in October on the first Ruby to set sail from SF.  We are booked on the Majestic on 1/15.  And plan on still going.  If I see a crew member without proper masking, I would say something.  When I see a passenger without masking (not while eating/drinking) I try to distance myself and if I make eye contact, I just point to my mask.  Trying to drop subtle hint.

Thank you. We're (I'm) human and sometimes forget. (Just 2× over 2 cruises. I'll do better next time 🤞)

Edited January 6, 2022 by Ombud

[deadzone1003]

4 hours ago, Ombud said:

In fact KTVU is now discussing the dangers of panic reporting. But specifically on this issue:

https://www.ktvu.com/news/cruise-ship-with-positive-patients-docked-in-san-francisco.amp Still safer onboard. Enjoy your cruise and let me know if Salty Dog Gastropub can be the Specialty Dining option (I board 23-April-2022).

 

Adding new info from KTVU2: 12 positive cases all mild or asymptomatic. Out of 700 passengers & crew. 0.6%?

 

 

Bad math and facts.  "700 passengers & crew" is very unlikely.  The crew would be 1,200 if ship is at full capacity.  There were only around 700 passengers for this cruise.  The article refers to 25% of 700 (or 175 est) passengers being tested, resulting in 12 positives.  12/175 would be a 6.87% positive rate which is pretty high.  But, this is a virus where if you are sick, you are likely to not know it.

[Dar & Bob]

3 hours ago, nocl said:

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Dar & Bob
Wrong post

[nocl]

Just saw in an article  that SF may require cruise lines to test all passengers whose vaccinations have not been kept up to date,  including boosters, at the end of each cruise there.

 

Will be interesting  to see their definition of up to date will be.