How’s Covid cases on cruises?

[Mr and Mrs C]

Us Canadians (we are in Ontario), have been dealing with strict Covid rules and we haven’t cruised since the pandemic and have one booked for next February. I had no plans of going until then so I’m out of the loop how things have been going? has there been many cases, or enough that ships have been turned away from ports recently? Our numbers have been going down, and we are hoping it keeps going in that direction.

We have a really good casino offer for the end of March out of Baltimore on the legend. We would be driving to the port so no flights required. 
 

[1kaper]

I am also Canadian but I am planning to cruise next month.  
I have been following pretty closely for the past few months.  There are no doubt cases on board.  How bad, I don't know. 
But I have been surprised that no Carnival cruises have been cancelled I am aware of (a couple other cruise lines have).  And not many ports being missed. 
I thought it was going to be far worse than what I've been seeing.  But who knows if it will continue the same way. I sure am hoping. 
I am more concerned about contracting COVID  with the Omicron variant than I was when I originally booked but we are vaxxed and boosted and have purchased insurance to cover us if we end up having to stay in the US for extra time.  I also have the work time figured out. 

[crewsweeper]

From reviews I've read, Carnival seems to be holding up fairly well vs Omicron.  That's not to say there haven't been cases, but rather the protocols have helped to keep to down significantly.

 

For Canadians, it's going to be a matter of whether or not Mr. Trudeau decides to lift things.  Based on the Truckers  protest, I'd be reluctant to say he will.

 

As far as catching Omicron, doesn't matter whether or not you are vaxed , unvaxed, masked or unmasked,  had the Original or Delta or not, the pesky thing still seems to seep through.  For most people it's akin to a slight fever or bad head cold in effect.  But those who have immune compromised issues or premorbidic conditions, "milder" may simply be less severe than Delta.

[1kaper]

9 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

From reviews I've read, Carnival seems to be holding up fairly well vs Omicron.  That's not to say there haven't been cases, but rather the protocols have helped to keep to down significantly.

 

For Canadians, it's going to be a matter of whether or not Mr. Trudeau decides to lift things.  Based on the Truckers  protest, I'd be reluctant to say he will.

 

As far as catching Omicron, doesn't matter whether or not you are vaxed , unvaxed, masked or unmasked,  had the Original or Delta or not, the pesky thing still seems to seep through.  For most people it's akin to a slight fever or bad head cold in effect.  But those who have immune compromised issues or premorbidic conditions, "milder" may simply be less severe than Delta.

I agree.  I'm not banking on things changing, but have accepted the requirements to travel next month.  

As for you last one - that is exactly why I am more concerned about catching it now.  But again, fully vaxxed and boosted and no serious conditions, so the bigger risk to me is having to stay longer in the US. 

[Indytraveler83]

We cruised in November, just as Omicron was being heard of.  For that cruise, we didn't hear of any cases, or any need to modify anything based on COVID (beyond current guidelines that is).  That doesn't mean we didn't have cases on board, only that it wasn't high enough to draw general passenger attention.  In all honesty, I felt safe on the ship, but not in the airport...

 

From what I've seen/heard, I think the spread of COVID is likely lower on the ship than in communities.  It can happen, but constant guidelines make it a little less likely.  I work in a very public building though, so I simply see a cruise ship as less risky than going to work.

 

That said, I'm still nervous about any time I have to cross an international border (outside of ship excursions) as you have to really know the rules to prevent getting quarantined under certain circumstances.  

[icft]

If you are in good health I would suggest taking that March cruise. This latest wave is starting to rapidly decline. That is not just opinion, see https://www.covidestim.org/ so the timing is good.

 

We have been on three cruises since reopening and returned from our last on Jan 23rd. We felt comfortable on all of them. But we don't fly to cruises. We are not comfortable with air travel. Circumstances required we fly some months back and while you can social distance on a cruise (other than getting on and off being like going through the security line at the airport) you are forced into close proximity and physical contact with others in airports and airplanes.

[kicia]

There were 0 cases on the Magic last week and the Breeze also had 0 cases.

[cruisin from vegas]

The Panorama also had 0 cases on board last week 

[BlerkOne]

CDC still has a lot of cruise ships with yellow status. This table is updated several times a week, as needed. Last updated February 07, 2022 with EDC data submitted February 04, 2022.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html

 

[Markmom18]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

CDC still has a lot of cruise ships with yellow status. This table is updated several times a week, as needed. Last updated February 07, 2022 with EDC data submitted February 04, 2022.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html

 

  
  BlerkOne, thank you for posting.  👍🏼
 

 🛳🛳

Bobbi 
  

[Pellaz]

9 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

CDC still has a lot of cruise ships with yellow status. This table is updated several times a week, as needed. Last updated February 07, 2022 with EDC data submitted February 04, 2022.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html

 

 

Huh, nifty.  I'm on Sunrise soon and it's one of very few ships listed in Green status -- no cases -- and in revenue service!   

[kdr69]

9 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

CDC still has a lot of cruise ships with yellow status. This table is updated several times a week, as needed. Last updated February 07, 2022 with EDC data submitted February 04, 2022.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html

 

I question the validity of the "Updating".  From Jan 28th to Feb 4 none of the statuses changed.  Either they were some pretty long "observations" or the only thing being updated was the daily date. Over 90 percent of the ships have been investigated and are under observation.  I think the reporting should be done by cruise date and not by ship to get a truer reflection of how many cases per cruise there have been .

[travelplus]

I am going on my Feb 26th Panorama Cruise. The CDC status is Orange meaning cases are below the threshold of CDC monitoring. I am flying to my cruise and have flown during the pandemic and did not get any COVID. I visited Las Vegas in October 2020 for 10 days, Hawaii in July for 2 weeks, Santa Fe NM for a week and 2 4 day trips to LA. I also took a 40 day trip to Israel. 

 

I also went to Carmel for 2 nights in June 2020.

 

So with all of my travels being tested,wearing a mask and getting negative tests I consider myself lucky .

 

I feel confident 

 

 

 

 

[BlerkOne]

3 hours ago, kdr69 said:

I question the validity of the "Updating".  From Jan 28th to Feb 4 none of the statuses changed.  Either they were some pretty long "observations" or the only thing being updated was the daily date. Over 90 percent of the ships have been investigated and are under observation.  I think the reporting should be done by cruise date and not by ship to get a truer reflection of how many cases per cruise there have been .

It is. How do you think the CDC knows whether to investigate or just monitor?

[UpstateCruizer]

13 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

CDC still has a lot of cruise ships with yellow status. This table is updated several times a week, as needed. Last updated February 07, 2022 with EDC data submitted February 04, 2022.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html

 

I’d trust this as a more reliable source instead of here say on the ships. The crew doesn’t a.ways know what’s going on and the cruise lines aren’t putting that information out to the public. However it’s mandatory that it be reported to the CDC. 

[sunonfire]

I just returned from the Pride January 30 - February 5. I was told by a manager on the ship that the CDC was onboard as well as another government alphabet agency. The cleaning crew were phenomenal. They were everywhere and cleaning everything possible. I did not hear of any Covid cases. The quarantine area was Deck 1 Forward Port and Starboard. Per an officer there were 1050 passengers. We felt that Carnival was doing a great job.

[BlerkOne]

2 minutes ago, UpstateCruizer said:

I’d trust this as a more reliable source instead of here say on the ships. The crew doesn’t a.ways know what’s going on and the cruise lines aren’t putting that information out to the public. However it’s mandatory that it be reported to the CDC. 

I don't doubt that the crew is "discouraged" from saying anything negative.

[kdr69]

6 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

It is. How do you think the CDC knows whether to investigate or just monitor?

What i mean is that logically if a cruise ship sails 7 day itineraries then every 7 days that ship should start off as green for the next voyage because there should be no cases on board to report or investigate since all the cases reported were from the previous cruise.  Hardly ever do they return to Green status.

[Mr and Mrs C]

Thanks everyone for all of your helpful info. I booked our cruise this morning, and got a great deal, this will be our shortest countdown ever! 

[2wheelin]

23 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

What i mean is that logically if a cruise ship sails 7 day itineraries then every 7 days that ship should start off as green for the next voyage because there should be no cases on board to report or investigate since all the cases reported were from the previous cruise.  Hardly ever do they return to Green status.

It is based on the prior week, however I also question the validity of updates. Our Panorama cruise last week had no reported cases according to multiple sources. There were no quarantine cabins in use on the lower decks. Yes, I checked!  
Now if you look at the criteria for yellow status, that sailing would have only needed 1 (ONE) crew member test positive or 2 passengers. Pretty high standards and I am sure they are not going to change the status every week.  

[icft]

I also have to wonder about just what the CDC color status really represents. For example, the Glory departed New Orleans the day before yesterday for the first time following a two week wet dock. It was yellow before wet dock and has remained yellow through wet dock.

 

So I wonder, has there been at least one crew with covid all this time? Or, how long does "observation" last? One thing is certain, there have been no infected passengers for the last two weeks.

[Colorado Cruzer]

There is no way that I have seen to report to Carnival you came home and tested positive for Covid within 5-7 days of leaving the ship.  All of the numbers are bogus from every single entity since the beginning. You know the risk when you click purchase on a vacation, sometimes it's higher or lower depending on what is going on in the world but it's up to you to decide if you want to risk it. I'm risiking it all day and if I get it, hope it's mild!

[BlerkOne]

6 hours ago, kdr69 said:

What i mean is that logically if a cruise ship sails 7 day itineraries then every 7 days that ship should start off as green for the next voyage because there should be no cases on board to report or investigate since all the cases reported were from the previous cruise.  Hardly ever do they return to Green status.

Of course there will be cases onboard. Crew that tested positive or was exposed until they are cleared. The crew is regularly tested including turnaround days. I would think especially turnaround days.

 

New crew that was brought onboard that needs to quarantine.

 

etc,.

[BlerkOne]

3 hours ago, Colorado Cruzer said:

There is no way that I have seen to report to Carnival you came home and tested positive for Covid within 5-7 days of leaving the ship.  All of the numbers are bogus from every single entity since the beginning. You know the risk when you click purchase on a vacation, sometimes it's higher or lower depending on what is going on in the world but it's up to you to decide if you want to risk it. I'm risiking it all day and if I get it, hope it's mild!

The conspiracy theorist lives.

[icft]

13 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

The conspiracy theorist lives.

Conspiracy theorist? That is just the way it is. There is no reasonable way to track each cruiser once they leave the ship. I would not want them to even try because in addition to being very costly it would produce no meaningful information.

 

So yes, there are some folks that catch covid on a cruise who are not counted. And there are some folks who catch covid on the flight to the cruise and show symptoms while on board who are counted as cruise covids. That is just the way it is. No conspiracy involved.