Symphony of the Seas - Update from onboard

[Maitaivegas]

2 hours ago, Klauser10 said:

Hello Flyguy, unfortunately, because this is our first time cruising on this line, we don't have a base to compare. But if I was to compare this line's available entertainment with MSC from two years ago, it's lacking. All I've been able to enjoy is an ISkate show, couple of comedy shows and some jazz. 

 

In terms of food, I'm very happy with the food and the staff. They do not appear to have been stretched thin and we have enjoyed the attentiveness and attention to detail in the restaurants we have been in. They are without a doubt on top of their food game.

 

Covid: Currently, we are at 2.5% covid infections. According to the captain, all those who have tested positive and those close to them have been quarantined. Having said that, my wife and I saw some unusal activity. There were lots of people living the ship on our stop in Saint Martin. We were wondering if those infected decided to go.(that was 3 days ago).

People here do not seem worry but they do wear masks when in montion.

 

All restaurant are opened and if I remember correctly, they were offering 25% off coupons at one point.

 

The two hour late departure email is common, we were also given the xtra time. We liked the idea actually, less pressure. 

 

If you have kids without the vaccine, the entertainment venue will be a nightmare for you. You have been warned.

 

Finally, they canceled Puerto Rico and Saint Thomas for us. We spent those days sailing.

 

Good luck.

 

 

2.5% positive Covid, that may get the ship to Red status with the CDC.

I switched from the Symphony 1/29 to the Oasis 3/6 and crossing fingers, all will be well.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Maitaivegas

[forgotmyCCname]

5 hours ago, detilliondl said:

Here is a link to an article posted online at USAToday.com

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2022/01/06/royal-caribbean-moving-covid-positive-crew-vision-rhapsody-ships/9115818002/

 

I found the U-Tube video by searching U-tube with the title in bold below.

 

Here's a copy of the post I read earlier:

 

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There is a video that was uploaded to YouTube on 1/5/22 by Siegle Media

 

“Royal Caribbean Shuttles Covid Positive Crew to Quarantine Ship in the middle of the night”.

 

They have viewed this first hand as of yesterday evening and their blog was recorded at midnight and they are docked at St Martin.

They are on the Allure of the seas and are docked across from the Symphony.

 

So if the Symphony has nothing to hide why are they doing this in the middle of the night?

These bloggers have counted well over 100 crew members get off. They have seen multiple bus loads of crew get off the Symphony.

They will update as the film more.

 

Not sure what the 1/8/2022 Symphony cruise will be like.

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Not being a cheerleader here- but is it better to panic the guests on board and then have them create false narratives like we have seen here on CC and on that other website in the past few days about 1000 passengers being infected yada yada yada- garbage stacked by the tons  in the hall ( but it turns out to be a bag placed in front of each of the several cabins pictures ,   not a filth -strewn hallway with rotting carcasses)-  or is it better to try to minimize exposure ( in two senses of the word) by transferring Covid positives at night?

This also may be when things quiet down on board and the extra personnel needed  to assist with wrapping and packing and escorting are available and there is the least chance of exposing the remaining crew and guests to the virus during transfer. 

 

Hubs and I are seeing an incredible increase in Covid positive patients. The huge majority are asymptomatic if vaccinated . Many of you have probably had Omicron and don't even know it.

 

I wish that I could convey to you who are planning on cruising that you are  exposed to Covid every day once you leave your home

if you live alone. 

Masking and distancing are not required in our area. On a ship you know that all adults are vaxxed , all crew is vaxxed . We got a memo that cruise lines may soon be requiring the booster( it was a travel related memo). The "peak " is expected within days to several weeks. Exposed and positive crew being removed is a GOOD thing. Spread will be less and the on board medical and nursing personnel will be more available to guests.
 

I don't mean to rant , but if you are afraid of Omicron, stay home alone and don't inhale near anyone. If you are elderly or asthmatic or have any serious underlying condition, Omicron can make you sicker than those with no comorbidities.

I'm not  being an a$$, it's just reality right now. 
 
 

 

 

Not everything is a conspiracy. Can you imagine if they paraded Covid positive crew in broad daylight? Panic is not helpful. 
 

We are not planning on cancelling our two upcoming cruises at this time- February and April. I don't know if Royal will cancel scheduled trips as NCL did , but I hope not.

We have been on a "masked" cruise and it was still fun. We are not concerned with missing stops; sitting on my balcony will be fine .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by forgotmyCCname

[forgotmyCCname]

5 hours ago, Pratique said:

We're boarding on the 8th.

 

I just sampled a few other YT vids from this week and most everyone seems to be having a decent time. One guy was in quarantine showing off his cabin, admits he brought the virus onboard because he got sick within 11 hours of boarding. I'm not concerned about the midnight crew shuffle. They are being segregated from everyone else.

 

We shall see.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[fpsphil]

1 hour ago, Maitaivegas said:

2.5% positive Covid, that may get the ship to Red status with the CDC.

I switched from the Symphony 1/29 to the Oasis 3/6 and crossing fingers, all will be well.

CDC will be irrelevant in this stuff on the 15th

[bajathree]

10 hours ago, bajathree said:

Anyone thinking things are going to change for the better from where they are now in just a couple short weeks may want to rethink that;)

 

 

10 hours ago, Klauser10 said:

 

Covid: Currently, we are at 2.5% covid infections. According to the captain, all those who have tested positive and those close to them have been quarantined. Having said that, my wife and I saw some unusal activity. There were lots of people living the ship on our stop in Saint Martin. We were wondering if those infected decided to go.(that was 3 days ago).

People here do not seem worry but they do wear masks when in montion.

 

 

And I rest my case

[Jimbo]

7 hours ago, forgotmyCCname said:

 

I'm not  being an a$$, it's just reality right now. 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This the last place that likes to hear about reality,  most on here like to read about  happy times, old times. Come here with reality and you get blasted. Most on here can't handle it right now.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Jimbo

[John&LaLa]

3 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

This the last place that likes to hear about reality,  most on here like to read about  happy times, old times. Come here with reality and you get blasted. Most on here can't handle it right now.

 

Rumors and whining get blasted😉

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Rumors and whining get blasted😉

Okay, please define reality and rumor to me?

 

A passenger reports  how their quarantine was handled on Anthem of the Seas and says it was handled terribly on the  December 31st sailing. They leacve the ship as mad as he$$.

 

Now another passenger on the same exact sailing  says the quarantine time on the ship was handled great and no issues at all? Happy as a pig in slop!

 

So what is reality and what is a rumor? So who are you believing? I'm assuming you are going to say the one you don't agree with is just a rumor right?

 

So in the end why do people have to blast the people they don't agree with? That is what is BS.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Jimbo

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Okay, please define reality and rumor to me?

 

A passenger reports  how their quarantine was handled on Anthem of the Seas and says it was handled terribly on the  December 31st sailing. They leacve the ship as mad as he$$.

 

Now another passenger on the same exact sailing  says the quarantine time on the ship was handled great and no issues at all? Happy as a pig in slop!

 

So what is reality and what is a rumor? So who are you believing? I'm assuming you are going to say the one you don't agree with is just a rumor right?

 

So in the end why do people have to blast the people they don't agree with? That is what is BS.

 

I think it was Allure. See, this is how Rumors start?

[Jimbo]

4 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I think it was Allure. See, this is how Rumors start?

I  just made up a ship and date, I don't even know if Athem sailed on that date or not. ship and date has no effect on my question.

 

I guess since you really didn't answer my question, we pretty much know how you feel about the question.

 

Thank you for your response.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Jimbo

[John&LaLa]

15 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

I  just made up a ship and date, I don't even know if Athem sailed on that date or not. ship and date has no effect on my question.

 

I guess since you really didn't answer my question, we pretty much know how you feel about the question.

 

Thank you for your response.

 

And you proved my point.😁

[Jimbo]

14 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

And you proved my point.😁

SMH  and still you didn't answer my question above?

Edited January 7, 2022 by Jimbo

[Pratique]

49 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

SMH  and still you didn't answer my question above?

There is no answer. If I said "I had to wait 30 minutes for dinner" that could be both a fact and a complaint. And it will get blasted unless I also say "it was great."

[nelblu]

14 hours ago, nocl said:

 

 

Also keep in mind that the crew members from that week will be finishing quarantine soon, if not having done so already.  Since they have been infected with Omicron it is rather unlikely that they will get it again, so as they cycle back onto the ships with passengers, the percentange of crew with increased resistance to Omicron will be increasing.

 

I have to somewhat disagree.  My daughter is fully vaxxed and she had a breakthrough case in late October.  It was mild.  Just this week, she was not feeling well tested positive again.  Maybe it's a one off, but I doubt it.

[Jimbo]

50 minutes ago, Pratique said:

There is no answer. If I said "I had to wait 30 minutes for dinner" that could be both a fact and a complaint. And it will get blasted unless I also say "it was great."

Then why do people that post on here get challenged when they post something.

[flyguyjake]

40 minutes ago, nelblu said:

I have to somewhat disagree.  My daughter is fully vaxxed and she had a breakthrough case in late October.  It was mild.  Just this week, she was not feeling well tested positive again.  Maybe it's a one off, but I doubt it.

I know 6 people that got covid in October and 2 got sick again right before Christmas. They tested negative but had the tell-tell signs of Omicron. I know 3 people that have each had to test 5 times before ultimately testing positive. They all knew they had covid. For some reason the binax test doesn't seem to pick up Omicron very soon in the infection. They had symptoms for a couple of days before testing positive.

Edited January 7, 2022 by flyguyjake

[Bobal]

44 minutes ago, nelblu said:

I have to somewhat disagree.  My daughter is fully vaxxed and she had a breakthrough case in late October.  It was mild.  Just this week, she was not feeling well tested positive again.  Maybe it's a one off, but I doubt it.

I personally know 4 people - all double vaxxed and 3 of them boosted - none of them related, who have had Covid twice. So it's not a one off by far

[D4]

10 hours ago, fpsphil said:

CDC will be irrelevant in this stuff on the 15th

I fully expect the CDC to extend the conditional sailing order

[fpsphil]

10 minutes ago, D4 said:

I fully expect the CDC to extend the conditional sailing order

They already said they aren't

[nelblu]

9 minutes ago, fpsphil said:

They already said they aren't

So, what happens next.

[nocl]

11 minutes ago, fpsphil said:

They already said they aren't

They stated that the requirements will become voluntary after Jan 15.  Just as the Vessel Sanitation Program has been voluntary for years, but all cruise lines that sail out of the US subscribe to it.

 

Just because it is voluntary does not mean that cruise lines are going to drop the requirements.

[Teknodude]

My other half is an officer on Symphony and he just said Symphony sailings cancelled for 3 weeks. I assume from next voyage 

[Biker19]

🍿

[ticketsunlimited]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Then why do people that post on here get challenged when they post something.

It's the pattern that you have created for yourself JIMBO.  When they see your name on a post they know its a "negative nelly" kick in the butt for everybody.  You have given yourself the reputation of adding material that is not relevant anymore.  Your creative juices have evaporated into miserable rants and negative digs.  That's why I joke with you about booking a cruise so can have something to look forward to and add some positive input back into your posts.  It just comes across as "I'm not having any fun so I want you miserable also."

Believe me when I say your not the only one.  All you have to do is look at the "likes" you get and the "likes" you give and you can see the pattern.

We are not RCL cheerleaders, we are cruisers looking to get more and more information that will make our cruising experience the best it can be.  Lighten and up and have some fun.

[HicksRA]

4 minutes ago, Teknodude said:

My other half is an officer on Symphony and he just said Symphony sailings cancelled for 3 weeks. I assume from next voyage 

Is that reality or rumor??