Covid Outbreak on Regatta - 50 Cabins Quarantined After Cruise

[njhorseman]

21 minutes ago, Aloha 1 said:

Also big issues at Celebrity on Silhouette and Edge. Many cases, most asymptomatic. Time to start treating this for what it has become, a mild infection. 

There are still people being hospitalized and dying from COVID, so it's by no stretch of the imagination a "mild infection" for everyone.  

If you look at Oceania's passenger demographics the infection is still potentially dangerous to many of O's cruisers.

[ORV]

Have there been any reports on the current cruise?

[susiesan]

6 hours ago, njhorseman said:

  

If you look at Oceania's passenger demographics the infection is still potentially dangerous to many of O's cruisers.

Based on Oceania's passenger demographic O is the new Holland America. I hate to admit it, I'm now in that demo.☺️

Edited May 2, 2022 by susiesan

[PhD-iva]

Just now, susiesan said:

Based on Oceania's passenger demographic O is the new Holland America.

Interesting. Not really sure what you mean. I’ve only been on 1 HAL cruise. 
More details please?

[susiesan]

Just now, PhD-iva said:

Interesting. Not really sure what you mean. I’ve only been on 1 HAL cruise. 
More details please?

HAL used to have the reputation for the oldest passengers at sea. It was joked about having to dodge all the mobility scooters parked in the hall when you went to your cabin.

[Clutj]

HAL.  Holland Assisted Living.  

[curmudgeon98]

1 hour ago, susiesan said:

HAL used to have the reputation for the oldest passengers at sea. It was joked about having to dodge all the mobility scooters parked in the hall when you went to your cabin.

I definitely felt that way on our cruises on Marina and Riviera.  Even more so than on the actual HAL cruise that we did (though that HAL cruise was a 7-day Alaska, so probably not their normal demographic).  

 

But that may be us one of these days.

[pinotlover]

As demonstrated by a cruiser just off a Marina cruise, Oceania has numerous customers that believe cruise ships are indeed assisted living facility. Find any ship’s medical team that will validate that position. They are not, but many won’t accept that fact. 

 

Passenger demographics often dictate the atmosphere of a cruise. This is from the energy on board, to the shorex taken ( if taken at all), to which restaurants they eat in. 

Edited May 2, 2022 by pinotlover

[slgslc]

Last week my husband and I made final payment for the July 22 ten day Alaska cruise on the Regatta.This trip is a reunion of sorts with family members we haven't seen since pre-pandemic. We have been looking forward to this trip very much and will be traveling with 10 relatives of all ages in 5 cabins.

I joined cruise critic to learn more about our boat and itinerary and instead have been very concerned to find out about the high number of covid cases recently on the Regatta. Also troubling is accounts from travelers about the lack of communication about the covid status between Oceania and passengers on the affected boat. The CDC website gives the Regatta an Orange category meaning the boat is being tracked by the CDC because of the high number of onboard covid cases. 

I would be very interested to know how the current cruise is going on the Regatta and if the covid case situation on the 18 day trip from FP to LA was a one off situation or is a continuing one.

I naively assumed when booking the cruise that the covid issues were largely resolved because of the vaccination requirements. Now I am feeling foolish for not looking into this before final payment. I am losing sleep over the worry about family members being exposed to covid and also the prospect of being isolated or quarantined for most of an expensive trip.

Any advice, information, or reassurance would be very appreciated.

 

[Robjame]

7 minutes ago, slgslc said:

. I am losing sleep over the worry about family members being exposed to covid and also the prospect of being isolated or quarantined for most of an expensive trip.

Any advice, information, or reassurance would be very appreciated

No one on Cruise Critic is qualified to advise you on these matters. 

‘The only suggestion I have is to go see your healthcare professional and follow his/her advice.

[MarkWiltonM]

If 10 percent of the guests on the cruise were positive for Covid I can't imagine this wouldn't have made the news. Does anyone know of any verified media reports on this? I'm not doubting the credibility of the OP but it does seem to be hearsay.

[mauibabes]

@slgslc

People get sick, it is not Regatta and this outbreak was on a Tahiti cruise to LA. It is months away before you sail. We have friends on board Regatta now and have heard nothing negative from them. We have friends on her in June in Alaska and he is imunocompromised but they are still sailing.  Just try to block our the fear thoughts and worries for something in the future. Just follow the guidelines at the time you sail and do what you must on board to feel comfortable. We have spent over 8 weeks aboard Riviera and Marina since they resumed sailing and we felt safer on board than we did in our home community. 🙏
Oceania is committed to the safety of the guests and crew so be assured they will be doing all they can to make your family sailing wonderful. 
Ciao,

Mauibabes

[LHT28]

Covid  is not done with people yet   even those vaccinated & boosted  can still get it

 

 People need to still take precautions  if they feel uneasy about getting sick

 

Many people are tired of masking up & will refuse to do it  so look out for yourself

 The SHIP staff do the best they can but if pax are not willing to report   in when they  "just a cold"  then what should the cruise line do??

JMO

[pinotlover]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

Covid  is not done with people yet   even those vaccinated & boosted  can still get it

 

 People need to still take precautions  if they feel uneasy about getting sick

 

Many people are tired of masking up & will refuse to do it  so look out for yourself

 The SHIP staff do the best they can but if pax are not willing to report   in when they  "just a cold"  then what should the cruise line do??

JMO

On a different Forum, with a thread on cruising, there is one that was on that ill fated cruise. He is adamant, that easily realizing a problem, that Oceania should have been doing mandatory Covid tests, for all, at least every three days. 
 

He also believes that the point came where Oceania should have mandated masks. If passengers refused to do so, their outcomes could be the same as with airlines. The “ NO Sail List”.

 

He likewise directed some highly descriptive adjectives, not allowed on CC, toward those obviously ill that refused to test. Definitely not the same as FF regularly describes Oceania’s passengers. 😳

 

Lastly, he made a point of the number on the ship at Embarkment that were already of recognizable frail health . With no mask mandates, he described it as leading the Christians to the lions. Some he thought were questionable as being on a cruise ship during the best of times. This isn’t the best of times.

 

Some of the things O could have done.

[Debbers]

3 hours ago, MarkWiltonM said:

If 10 percent of the guests on the cruise were positive for Covid I can't imagine this wouldn't have made the news. Does anyone know of any verified media reports on this? 

I know of none, but perhaps this falls into the category of no longer a big story.  It might have made the news if people were hospitalized or died, but that wasn't the case, thankfully.

[kirtihk]

On 4/25/2022 at 6:03 PM, MomC said:

Were masks worn by all crew at all times?  Were masks required for all passengers except for when ACTIVELY eating and drinking?  Both Crystal and Regent did that on our two cruises with them in the last 6 months.  Very few cases.

If we envelope ourselves (wrap in a plastic bag, perhaps), there will be no case, and even that is a maybe.

 

Voyage, voyage...

[basor]

On 4/25/2022 at 4:03 PM, MomC said:

Were masks worn by all crew at all times?  Were masks required for all passengers except for when ACTIVELY eating and drinking?  Both Crystal and Regent did that on our two cruises with them in the last 6 months.  Very few cases.

Yes - when we were on Marina for 24 days in November and December, all passengers were required to wear masks except when actively eating and drinking, bar stools were roped off, seats in theater were roped off for social distancing, tables in all eating venues were removed to allow for greater distance or every other table was available for sitting The crew always was masked.  Same experience as yous in the last six months.

 

[ToxM]

4 hours ago, pinotlover said:

As demonstrated by a cruiser just off a Marina cruise, Oceania has numerous customers that believe cruise ships are indeed assisted living facility. Find any ship’s medical team that will validate that position. They are not, but many won’t accept that fact. 

 

Passenger demographics often dictate the atmosphere of a cruise. This is from the energy on board, to the shorex taken ( if taken at all), to which restaurants they eat in. 

I think I missed this post .. which one are you referring to? 

[WESTEAST]

Just checked the CDC site, Cruise Ship Status Dashboard wherein the Regatta remains at Orange (threshold of 0.3% or more of total passengers and/or crew) - CDC has started an investigation and ship remains under observation. Not sure if this status is related to this post of 50 cabins with Covid outbreak or, is for the current sailing which is on the Pacific coast LA-LA?

 

[jondfk]

4 hours ago, MarkWiltonM said:

If 10 percent of the guests on the cruise were positive for Covid I can't imagine this wouldn't have made the news. Does anyone know of any verified media reports on this? I'm not doubting the credibility of the OP but it does seem to be hearsay.

I don’t need the media to tell me what I saw with my own eyes (I was there) 50 CABINS (more people) were held for quarantine.  This was easily verifiable via a walk through the corridors which I did deck by deck.  Quarantine cabins had a sign placed outside that said “late departing passenger” and the tell tail sign of a food tray stand placed outside, I counted 58 such cabins, I walked every deck between 5 and 6 AM on the 24th as we sailed into San Pedro.

 

in addition I conservatively estimate a minimum of 50 people with severe cough or breathing difficulties on deck 5 or the baggage hall.  Some might have been colds or pneumonia but, given the current environment, most were more likely Covid cases which choose not to seek a test.  I would be amazed to hear an actual positive number below 100, something closer to 200 would be entirely believable based on my first hand observations.  
 

Fine, I’m not the news media, just a real passenger who was really there.

 

The suggestion that the actual number might be less that the thread title suggests hit me hard.  Trust me, no hyperbole here, more likely a conservative estimate.

[davencl]

1 hour ago, jondfk said:

I don’t need the media to tell me what I saw with my own eyes (I was there) 50 CABINS (more people) were held for quarantine.  This was easily verifiable via a walk through the corridors which I did deck by deck.  Quarantine cabins had a sign placed outside that said “late departing passenger” and the tell tail sign of a food tray stand placed outside, I counted 58 such cabins, I walked every deck between 5 and 6 AM on the 24th as we sailed into San Pedro.

 

in addition I conservatively estimate a minimum of 50 people with severe cough or breathing difficulties on deck 5 or the baggage hall.  Some might have been colds or pneumonia but, given the current environment, most were more likely Covid cases which choose not to seek a test.  I would be amazed to hear an actual positive number below 100, something closer to 200 would be entirely believable based on my first hand observations.  
 

Fine, I’m not the news media, just a real passenger who was really there.

 

The suggestion that the actual number might be less that the thread title suggests hit me hard.  Trust me, no hyperbole here, more likely a conservative estimate.

Thanks for the first hand observation.  Do you know how many of these cabins may have been close contact but not covid positive?

[jondfk]

2 minutes ago, davencl said:

Thanks for the first hand observation.  Do you know how many of these cabins may have been close contact but not covid positive?

That, there is no way to know.  From my observation there was no attempt to contact trace, but if someone volunteered that they were traveling with others, perhaps they might have been asked to isolate.
 

For example, our cabin steward disappeared mid cruise, undoubtedly either positive or close contact, she never returned for the next 11 days which says “positive” to me, but we were told only “she has a few days off”,   We never interacted with her face to face (she never even introduced herself) logically we might have been considered close contacts, still not a word was said, and certainly no monitoring or testing.  

[jos12]

Just in time I saw this thread. Thanks for posting!

Good reason to cancel my planned cruise in August.

[Nodakboiler]

We are currently on the Regatta sailing LA to LA. We are some of the less than 10% that are still wearing masks. There were at least three members of the entertainment staff that were quarantined and one whom we never saw the entire cruise. A friend of ours did see someone in a hazmat suit at the cabin next-door to theirs. The cruise lines will never give you an exact total of cases because they do not want bad publicity.

[Traveller321Go]

52 minutes ago, Nodakboiler said:

We are currently on the Regatta sailing LA to LA. We are some of the less than 10% that are still wearing masks. There were at least three members of the entertainment staff that were quarantined and one whom we never saw the entire cruise. A friend of ours did see someone in a hazmat suit at the cabin next-door to theirs. The cruise lines will never give you an exact total of cases because they do not want bad publicity.

Stay safe.