Zuiderdam Quarantine

[boze9999]

A couple I met on today on the Zuiderdam said a guest behind them at the ship exit in Port Chiapas said they just got out of quarantine, which they assumed was a 5-day vs 10 day quarantine.....hoping and praying the 10 day Q is shortened for you with a negative test!

[Florida_gal_50]

On 1/7/2022 at 9:49 AM, dmcfad2 said:

This whole post scares me. I am doing a 35 day cruise in February. What if I tested positive on that cruise with no symptoms. Would I have to quarantine for the rest of the cruise or just 10 days? I would love to know the answer to that one. 😳 I would be bummed out if I had to quarantine for a month.

It's been a real eye opener for sure.  I'm very glad I canceled my Panama cruise in February a few months back.

[cosmo1027]

Thank you for taking the time to start this thread and share your experiences. I am sorry this has happened to you and I hope that you get an early release to at least have a couple days left of the cruise to do as you please. You are handling the situation admirably. I am scheduled to sail in a few weeks and the information you have shared helps to know what to expect if I end up in the same position. Thank you and good luck!

[Suzcruz57]

Thank you for sharing. Blessings for continued non symptoms. 🙏🏻 Hang in there. 

[OC PAT]

Hello Makedo,

 

I've decided I am calling you Makedo because that is what you are doing and doing as well as can be expected. We were isolated on a HAl ship years ago when hubby got the NorVo.  I never did.  They made me isolate as well though and gave us credit for each day we were isolated in the cabin we started with. He didn't care because he was so sick.  Humor is my always go to when things are so chaotic, so I thought I'd share a bad old joke to make you smile.

      A 60 yr. old man and a 60 yr. old woman were enjoying a nice tropical beach.  When the 60 year olds spied an ornate bottle on the shoreline their interest were piqued.  Always curious they recovered the bottle with a very fancy cork, so he held the bottle as the 60 yr. old woman pulled the cork. And, yes, a genie magically poured out of the bottle. The Genie smiled upon them and said for giving me my freedom I will grant you both one wish.  The 60-year-old woman request a world cruise, flash and she had cruise, plane, train and excursions tickets in her hands. The 60-year-old man was very happy about the gifts received to the woman and requested with glee that he wanted to be with a woman 20 years younger than him.  Poof...he became an 80-year-old man.  An oldie but can still make you smile.

 

Hang in there Makedo!

[arijsky]

13 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

It's been a real eye opener for sure.  I'm very glad I canceled my Panama cruise in February a few months back.

My wife and I are sailing on Rotterdam February 20th. From my perspective, even quarantine onboard a new ship is better than February at home.  My takeaway is that the situation is troublesome, but I’m comforted that the crew is taking good care of the poster.  

[NMCruiser123]

20 minutes ago, boze9999 said:

A couple I met on today on the Zuiderdam said a guest behind them at the ship exit in Port Chiapas said they just got out of quarantine, which they assumed was a 5-day vs 10 day quarantine.....hoping and praying the 10 day Q is shortened for you with a negative test!

I wish I knew more about that passenger’s story.

[NMCruiser123]

2 minutes ago, OC PAT said:

Hello Makedo,

 

I've decided I am calling you Makedo because that is what you are doing and doing as well as can be expected. We were isolated on a HAl ship years ago when hubby got the NorVo.  I never did.  They made me isolate as well though and gave us credit for each day we were isolated in the cabin we started with. He didn't care because he was so sick.  Humor is my always go to when things are so chaotic, so I thought I'd share a bad old joke to make you smile.

      A 60 yr. old man and a 60 yr. old woman were enjoying a nice tropical beach.  When the 60 year olds spied an ornate bottle on the shoreline their interest were piqued.  Always curious they recovered the bottle with a very fancy cork, so he held the bottle as the 60 yr. old woman pulled the cork. And, yes, a genie magically poured out of the bottle. The Genie smiled upon them and said for giving me my freedom I will grant you both one wish.  The 60-year-old woman request a world cruise, flash and she had cruise, plane, train and excursions tickets in her hands. The 60-year-old man was very happy about the gifts received to the woman and requested with glee that he wanted to be with a woman 20 years younger than him.  Poof...he became an 80-year-old man.  An oldie but can still make you smile.

 

Hang in there Makedo!

Haha!  Thanks for the laugh!  It got me through another minute of my sentence!

[Horizon chaser 1957]

2 hours ago, NMCruiser123 said:

I am not alone

First, I’m happy to see the trays are only on the balcony side, so no poor souls are isolating in the inside cabins!

 

Secondly, if you’re interested in ship trivia, here’s something you will know some of, but maybe not all:

When I was training to work on a ship, we were given a pointer for port and starboard identification. Everyone knows that facing forward, starboard is on your right, and port is on your left. Starboard navigation lights are green, port are red. Our trainer gave us this tip - 

The words related to port are short: port, red, left, even numbered. Starboard is longer: starboard, green, right, uneven numbered.

Everything on a ship; cabins, lifeboats, fire equipment, etc., is numbered bow to stern. Everything on the port side is even numbered, starboard side is odd numbered. This makes it easy to find a specific boat, cabin or fire extinguisher. If there are six lifeboats with four on starboard and two on port, they will be numbered 1, 3, 5, and 7 on one side and 2 and 4 on the other. 1 and 2 will be closest to the bow, 7 and 4 will be closest to the stern. There will be no #6 boat. If you’ve ever noticed, the cabins in your hallway are either all odd numbers or all even, regardless of which side of the hall they’re on. If you’re in an even numbered cabin and see any odd numbered door, you’re in the wrong hallway. It’s handy if you come out of the midship elevator and go the wrong way. If the cabin numbers are going down, you’re  heading forward. If the cabin numbers are all even, you’re  on the port side. More than once I’ve turned the wrong way from the elevator, and noticed the cabin numbers were even and going up, instead of odd and going down. If you’ve never noticed this, have your wife check and confirm.

Edited January 9, 2022 by Horizon chaser 1957

[Florida_gal_50]

7 minutes ago, arijsky said:

My wife and I are sailing on Rotterdam February 20th. From my perspective, even quarantine onboard a new ship is better than February at home.  My takeaway is that the situation is troublesome, but I’m comforted that the crew is taking good care of the poster.  

I do agree partly but being Canadian adds another layer of fun to the equation.  I’m pretty worried about how easy it would or wouldn’t be to get back into Canada after testing positive.  It was not pleasant coming back to Canada in November (multiple tests all negative) with airport workers where I live screaming at you the entire time.  Another one of my colleagues got the same treatment a couple weeks after me and that’s when things were relatively stable.  

[IPB4IGO]

1 hour ago, IPB4IGO said:

I tried yesterday, but the glass elevators block the line of sight between your cabin and mine. Sorry.

 

3 hours ago, NMCruiser123 said:

Lean over the balcony and look for me sometimes!  I’d love a wave

I just realized that it isn't the glass elevator between our cabins that blocks the line of sight between them, but the shape of the ship itself. We are in the narrow "waste" of that deck and can't see past where 6049 juts out. Pity.

[cccole]

22 minutes ago, IPB4IGO said:

 

I just realized that it isn't the glass elevator between our cabins that blocks the line of sight between them, but the shape of the ship itself. We are in the narrow "waste" of that deck and can't see past where 6049 juts out. Pity.

Can you lower down a bucket with a note or something more fun?  Cherie

[VennDiagram]

Thanks SO MUCH for starting this thread, and for all the posts you are making.  I'm so sorry you are in quarantine, and really appreciate your reports 👍 I hope doing this is a decent diversion for you.

[PROCRUISE]

8 minutes ago, VennDiagram said:

Thanks SO MUCH for starting this thread, and for all the posts you are making.  I'm so sorry you are in quarantine, and really appreciate your reports 👍 I hope doing this is a decent diversion for you.

Indeed, thank you so much for "sharing" your isolation time with us and answering questions. We are scheduled to do the Panama Canal west bound cruise on 2/13/22. At the moment we have no idea whether to flip a coin, cancel, or just go! Your insight has been helpful and appreciated.

[willoL]

On 1/8/2022 at 4:06 PM, nocl said:

Apparently the people of those ships either did not know that the tap water on a cruise ship is drinkable, or that they did not consider it to be water if not out of a bottle.

I read one of these stories, and the person meant that they didn't SAVE THE BOTTLE that they got water in at a meal. When the bottle went out with the trash, there was no vessel from which to drink left in the stateroom. Perhaps the usual in-room glassware is removed for isolation to give cleaners less contaminated stuff to deal with after the infected passenger leaves?

 

For this reason, , if COVID is still problematic if/when my family sails, because food is usually reported to arrive in cardboard with plastic utensils, I will pack a set of proper metal cutlery (I still have the toddler sized ones from my kids' childhoods), a camping plate, and a favorite travel mug. (I always have a 1 oz Nalgene of dish soap in my long trip toiletry bag.)

 

Also a couple of mini jigsaw puzzles, fully loaded devices full of entertainment I prefer, and, now learning from NMCruiser123's experience, a set of exercise resistance bands! I've got the fancy exercise bands with handles, but also free ones my physical therapist has given me at sessions. Those won't take much room at all in my bag.

 

A USB powered fan also sounds wise...

Edited January 9, 2022 by willoL

[TrinaLC]

OP, just read this whole thread and wishing you the best!  We have a canal cruise scheduled and am seriously thinking about cancelling. We have a bow balcony room and if we had to quarantine there it would be fine but obviously that wouldn’t happen …

 

I hope the recent spike will cause the cruise lines to think and develop a written policy/protocol “bill of rights” eg if a pax is forced to quarantine (1) [refund policy], (2) room service policy, (3) free internet if not already included, (4) dedicated “concierge” for requests eg dumb bells, books, etc, (4) balcony cabin regardless of original cabin, (5) honoring alcohol packages with delivery, (etc). 
 

OP you might suggest what that would look like. I think it would be a competitive advantage for a cruise line to be clear upfront about expectations with the obvious caveat that a pandemic is unpredictable and for example they might (gasp) run out of “covid” balconies ..

 

 

[bcummin]

1 hour ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

Secondly, if you’re interested in ship trivia, here’s something you will know some of, but maybe not all:

When I was training to work on a ship, we were given a pointer for port and starboard identification. Everyone knows that facing forward, starboard is on your right, and port is on your left. Starboard navigation lights are green, port are red. Our trainer gave us this tip - 

The words related to port are short: port, red, left, even numbered. Starboard is longer: starboard, green, right, uneven numbered.

Years ago my Navy husband taught me that port has four letters, just like left.

Barbara

[bcummin]

Might there be a way for those quarantined with positive test results to socialize in person?  What is there to lose??

Barbara

[Essiesmom]

9 hours ago, NMCruiser123 said:

Thanks for the recommendation!  I’ll see if I can get the kindle version.

Oh that sounds like a fun experience.  I wonder what would happen if I broke isolation and just started running through the ship.  I imagine I would find myself behind a locked door at that point…I don’t think any ports would take me!

Thanks, I’ve never heard of that but I hope to be able to try them.

In a way, this has become my experience journal!  I’ve written way more these past couple of days than I usually do.

Is this on Zuiderdam also?  I’d love to be able to find that.

 

For anyone still interested, I’ve started my 3rd full day of isolation.  It feels like I’ve been here a week already.  To give credit to the crew, things are improving in terms of outreach.  In addition to the daily call from the nurse to check my temperature, I’ve been getting calls from the Guest Services Manager who asks if I need anything, and offered me books if I needed them.  Dining services has also started to call me proactively for every meal to ask what I’d like to order (every time they call I’ve already finished eating, but I tend to do all my meals as early as possible…it is one of the few things I have to look forward to!). Today is a sea day so not much excitement going on past my balcony.  Hopefully I’ll at least see a ship or 2!

 

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but the cabins in the isolation section are on the warm side due to how they change the airflow.  The room can probably get down to 70 - 72 at night, but that’s a struggle.  During the day if the sun is shining on my side of the ship…well it gets pretty steamy.  I asked if there was a fan available, but I might have burned through my one special request with the dumbbells!

The book is available for kindle..  EM

[Nickelpenny]

I just read this entire thread.  I am so sorry this has happened but it is apparent there are lots of people on here giving you virtual hugs and encouragement.  Keep your head high and the weights low!!  LOL!!

[Iris5383]

6 hours ago, NMCruiser123 said:

I am not alone

You got the shot! I guess you're allowed to open your door to contribute to the trash.

[Iris5383]

1 hour ago, bcummin said:

Years ago my Navy husband taught me that port has four letters, just like left.

Barbara

I learned by this sentence: "Is there any PORT wine LEFT?" 

[Iris5383]

13 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

From what I’ve read here on CC, Celebrity also allows a traveling companion who tests negative to accompany the positive-testing passenger into isolation. Every couple will make that decision for themselves, but here are two reasons why both people might not want to go into isolation: (1) it would increase the chance that the non-ill person will become so; and (2) it’s not a bad idea to have someone on the “outside” to advocate for the isolated person if that becomes necessary, especially if the ship becomes overwhelmed with isolated guests. 

Not to mention being stuck in 200 sq ft, too-warm room with a DH that tends to get cranky when he's unhappy. Or is that just me? I wouldn't expect DH to stay with me if I was positive and he was negative. Time is too short, you never know when or if you'll be cruising again. Likewise, for me. He wouldn't ask me to be locked up with him if I was negative. @NMCruiser123have you noticed with the balcony bunch if family members are isolated together? 

[visagrunt]

5 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

First, I’m happy to see the trays are only on the balcony side, so no poor souls are isolating in the inside cabins!

 

Secondly, if you’re interested in ship trivia, here’s something you will know some of, but maybe not all:

When I was training to work on a ship, we were given a pointer for port and starboard identification. Everyone knows that facing forward, starboard is on your right, and port is on your left. Starboard navigation lights are green, port are red. Our trainer gave us this tip - 

The words related to port are short: port, red, left, even numbered. Starboard is longer: starboard, green, right, uneven numbered.

Everything on a ship; cabins, lifeboats, fire equipment, etc., is numbered bow to stern. Everything on the port side is even numbered, starboard side is odd numbered. This makes it easy to find a specific boat, cabin or fire extinguisher. If there are six lifeboats with four on starboard and two on port, they will be numbered 1, 3, 5, and 7 on one side and 2 and 4 on the other. 1 and 2 will be closest to the bow, 7 and 4 will be closest to the stern. There will be no #6 boat. If you’ve ever noticed, the cabins in your hallway are either all odd numbers or all even, regardless of which side of the hall they’re on. If you’re in an even numbered cabin and see any odd numbered door, you’re in the wrong hallway. It’s handy if you come out of the midship elevator and go the wrong way. If the cabin numbers are going down, you’re  heading forward. If the cabin numbers are all even, you’re  on the port side. More than once I’ve turned the wrong way from the elevator, and noticed the cabin numbers were even and going up, instead of odd and going down. If you’ve never noticed this, have your wife check and confirm.

While the port, red and left mnemonic is correct, the odd/even number is not universal.

If you look at deck plans for Celebrity, even numbered cabins are to starboard.

Even weirder, on Disney and RCI ships, outside staterooms are even numbered, regardless of which side of the ship they are on, and inside rooms are odd numbered.

[Casey65]

I just found this thread and read thru all of it. I am so sorry you are having to go through this.  We are scheduled to leave on Jan 22 for b2b cruises. It would be bad enough to get Covid, but being quarantined is my worst fear. I planned on downloading a bunch of books on my tablet but maybe I should double it. Exercise bands sound like a good idea.  There are lots of exercise videos on You Tube. Since you have wifi, maybe you can try that.  Stay strong.  This too shall pass!