Entire Group Got Sick on Celebrity

[buckeyedonna]

3 hours ago, Gia2cats said:

I’m curious (since we have a land tour followed by a cruise on July 15). Did your party have the 2nd booster? The reason I ask is because I will be 15 days post booster and my husband will be 30 days. I’m wondering if getting the booster provides any added protection.

 

Two in our group had two boosters. They both got Covid. 

 

[lovecruzin]

Sure can get it anywhere…DH recently had outpatient surgery, tested negative 2 days prior, didn't go anywhere after his test except the surgery center and tested positive 4 days after coming home. Hmm 🤔 

 

 

[Gia2cats]

12 minutes ago, buckeyedonna said:

Two in our group had two boosters. They both got Covid. 

 

Thanks

[TFree]

3 hours ago, Gia2cats said:

I’m curious (since we have a land tour followed by a cruise on July 15). Did your party have the 2nd booster? The reason I ask is because I will be 15 days post booster and my husband will be 30 days. I’m wondering if getting the booster provides any added protection.

 

Others with a medical background can give a better answer, but my (lay) understanding is that the current variants are highly contagious, and that shots and boosters don't really protect you against becoming infected; they just protect you against becoming seriously ill.  Since we went on three cruises in May/June, I have been following all this closely, and there have been multiple reports on the Celebrity boards of people who have been vaccinated and had two boosters nevertheless becoming infected, and some of those took all possible precautions including wearing masks when outside the cabin.  So in my mind, there is really nothing you can do to absolutely prevent infection if you are going to live a somewhat normal life - all you can do is improve your chances in the way you do things.  In the last two weeks, we have signed up for another river cruise and a European land tour within the next 12 months, so I guess the odds (to us) are good enough to proceed.

 

Tom & Judy

[Honolulu Blue]

4 hours ago, buckeyedonna said:

My husband and I just returned from our dream cruise to Alaska on the Celebrity Solstice. We met up with two other family member couples. The three couples flew in from three different US locations on three different airlines. The day after our cruise ended, all six of us tested positive for COVID.

I'm sorry that all of you caught the virus on this cruise.  And I'm sorry the experience soured you on future cruising.  I hope you all get well soon.

[Gia2cats]

3 minutes ago, TFree said:

Others with a medical background can give a better answer, but my (lay) understanding is that the current variants are highly contagious, and that shots and boosters don't really protect you against becoming infected; they just protect you against becoming seriously ill.  Since we went on three cruises in May/June, I have been following all this closely, and there have been multiple reports on the Celebrity boards of people who have been vaccinated and had two boosters nevertheless becoming infected, and some of those took all possible precautions including wearing masks when outside the cabin.  So in my mind, there is really nothing you can do to absolutely prevent infection if you are going to live a somewhat normal life - all you can do is improve your chances in the way you do things.  In the last two weeks, we have signed up for another river cruise and a European land tour within the next 12 months, so I guess the odds (to us) are good enough to proceed.

 

Tom & Judy

Actually I do have a medical background, 45 years as an RN, and my doctor suggested getting the booster as close to sailing as you can. So I received my booster 15 days before the trip. Whether this will make any difference is anyones guess. I know people who have masked everywhere, cleaned off their groceries, refused to go out to eat and got COVID. I only wore a mask when forced to and nothing else. I’ve been COVID free for 2 1/2 years. I’ll probably get it on the cruise but I refuse to be held hostage to this.

[phoenix_dream]

Question for those who have been paying closer attention than I have to these types of things.

 

Didn't Celebrity initially say that even if you asked for FCC if Celebrity cancelled your cruise (and that is a key point here), you can at any time change your mind and ask for a refund instead?  I thought that was the case?  Or maybe even if it was, by booking another cruise that offer becomes void?

[Babr]

2 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Question for those who have been paying closer attention than I have to these types of things.

 

Didn't Celebrity initially say that even if you asked for FCC if Celebrity cancelled your cruise (and that is a key point here), you can at any time change your mind and ask for a refund instead?  I thought that was the case?  Or maybe even if it was, by booking another cruise that offer becomes void?

 

Any cruise line is obligated to provide a cash refund for a cruise it cancels; however, if you accept FCC and use it to book another cruise, the cruise line considers that you have been compensated and have accepted the terms when you booked the subsequent cruise.

 

Initially, cruise lines offered bonus FCC as an incentive, but it became a trap for people who found the price had increased for the cruise of their choice or for those who needed/wanted to cancel.

 

 

[Lilo813]

How do you know you got it on the ship?  Did you take a plane/stay in a hotel/eat at a dining establishment prior to getting on the ship? 

 

Unfortunately due to incubation periods, it's virtually impossible to determine for sure that whomever was the first to "catch" the virus actually caught it while on the ship and not in the 20 other possible places they may have been at before leaving on the trip.  This is a bummer for you, but travel companies have been extremely flexible for nearly two years now, at some point they need to start drawing a line.  

[Bluewake]

48 minutes ago, TFree said:

Others with a medical background can give a better answer, but my (lay) understanding is that the current variants are highly contagious, and that shots and boosters don't really protect you against becoming infected; they just protect you against becoming seriously ill.  Since we went on three cruises in May/June, I have been following all this closely, and there have been multiple reports on the Celebrity boards of people who have been vaccinated and had two boosters nevertheless becoming infected, and some of those took all possible precautions including wearing masks when outside the cabin.  So in my mind, there is really nothing you can do to absolutely prevent infection if you are going to live a somewhat normal life - all you can do is improve your chances in the way you do things.  In the last two weeks, we have signed up for another river cruise and a European land tour within the next 12 months, so I guess the odds (to us) are good enough to proceed.

 

Tom & Judy

 

My understanding is that your assumptions are correct.   Vaccines, masks, and social distancing are not fool-proof.  Each offers some degree of protection but not 100%.  As you noted,  the latest variants that are the predominant strains in the U.S. are relatively vaccine resistant/evasive, thus dramatically lowering the efficacy of vaccines in preventing transmission but offering some protection against serious symptoms. To me, that is a significant plus.  Sure, I'd prefer total immunity but that simply isn't the case. 

Edited July 5, 2022 by Bluewake

[Crazy planning mom]

2 minutes ago, Gia2cats said:

Actually I do have a medical background, 45 years as an RN, and my doctor suggested getting the booster as close to sailing as you can. So I received my booster 15 days before the trip. Whether this will make any difference is anyones guess. I know people who have masked everywhere, cleaned off their groceries, refused to go out to eat and got COVID. I only wore a mask when forced to and nothing else. I’ve been COVID free for 2 1/2 years. I’ll probably get it on the cruise but I refuse to be held hostage to this.

I believe the Israeli study did say that your chances of catching covid are reduced 4-5 weeks after the 2nd booster.   We got our 2nd booster in late April.  Our son came home from college in mid-May with covid and we never caught it from him.  We also went to an event in May where we were sitting with someone who tested positive 2 days after the event.  We didnt catch it from him either.   Maybe, we were just lucky but I attributed it to  the 2nd booster.

[Bo1953]

4 hours ago, happy cruzer said:

If as you say you do not want to cruise again, why should Celebrity work with you beyond the stated policy?  Probably they think at this point, you are going to share negative reviews no matter what??

To wit... LOL

 

bon voyage

[mfs2k]

2 hours ago, Gia2cats said:

Not sure where I would find those stats. However several months ago there was an Israeli study which indicated that the second booster only offered protection for abou5 a month afterwards.  I was just curious.

 

I don't expect the vaccine or my two boosters to stop me from getting Covid.

I do have high expectations that my vaccines and boosters will prevent me from getting very sick and dying from Covid. 

[Bo1953]

7 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

 

I don't expect the vaccine or my two boosters to stop me from getting Covid.

I do have high expectations that my vaccines and boosters will prevent me from getting very sick and dying from Covid. 

Have you checked with your life insurance agent??? LOL

 

In health and bon voyage

[Gia2cats]

8 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

 

I don't expect the vaccine or my two boosters to stop me from getting Covid.

I do have high expectations that my vaccines and boosters will prevent me from getting very sick and dying from Covid. 

Don’t think anyone expects the vaccine and booster will stop you from getting COVID. We may have thought that for a short time when the vaccines first appeared. That ship has definitely sailed. 🫤🫤

[MamaFej]

Friendly reminder that vaccines work inside your body, not outside of it. They aren't force fields which prevent pathogens from getting in. they are instructions to your immune system as to what to do if the pathogen gets in. 

 

In other words, vaccines don't prevent you from catching cooties, they help your body fight cooties. 

[blackshirt]

5 hours ago, Gia2cats said:

I’m wondering if getting the booster provides any added protection.

Not from getting covid. The protection is hopefully minor to no symptoms and not requiring hospitalization. 

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Crazy planning mom said:

I believe the Israeli study did say that your chances of catching covid are reduced 4-5 weeks after the 2nd booster.   We got our 2nd booster in late April.  Our son came home from college in mid-May with covid and we never caught it from him.  We also went to an event in May where we were sitting with someone who tested positive 2 days after the event.  We didnt catch it from him either.   Maybe, we were just lucky but I attributed it to  the 2nd booster.

I think the current strains of Omicron are so virulent that everyone will eventually catch it regardless of Vax.   What they tell us is we have a natural immunity to it for 3 months from when we got it in April even after having 5 shots (long story short they screwed up on my first and gave me one Pfizer and One Moderna before it was authorized so the revaxed me for both) but that was a year ago.    I had my first official Booster but the second one had not been authorized when we left for our last cruise so didn't have the official 2nd booster.

 

My doctor recommended we wait until 3 weeks prior to the upcoming cruise to have our 2nd booster so have it scheduled for next week.   Since we will have to have a regular test and two B2B tests we can only hope we don't have a repeat of testing positive during a B2B.

[Virginia100]

5 minutes ago, blackshirt said:

Not from getting covid. The protection is hopefully minor to no symptoms and not requiring hospitalization. 

It protects for a very limited time per an Israeli study; 1-2 months. It’s why my second booster is 17 days prior to my departure for my cruise. The biggest mistake is getting the 2nd booster too far in advance of travel. So the question to people is not did you get the 2nd booster, but how far in advance of your cruise did you get it.

[blackshirt]

22 minutes ago, Virginia100 said:

It protects for a very limited time per an Israeli study; 1-2 months. It’s why my second booster is 17 days prior to my departure for my cruise. The biggest mistake is getting the 2nd booster too far in advance of travel. So the question to people is not did you get the 2nd booster, but how far in advance of your cruise did you get it.

I guess that would mean 37 days is too early. Both my wife and I got our 2nd booster May 4. We sailed June 11, 14 day cruise. We tested positive after returning home June 25th. I guess you also wouldn’t want to get that second booster to close to the cruise either and risk a positive pre-cruise covid test due to the booster.

[hcat]

Maybe the older couple can give you their fcc.

Move to the shortest cruise you can find.,5 days..and use up the  fcc

thats what we hope to do..

[Crazy planning mom]

1 hour ago, Virginia100 said:

It protects for a very limited time per an Israeli study; 1-2 months. It’s why my second booster is 17 days prior to my departure for my cruise. The biggest mistake is getting the 2nd booster too far in advance of travel. So the question to people is not did you get the 2nd booster, but how far in advance of your cruise did you get it.

I am hoping to get a 3rd booster this Fall.

[RichYak]

38 minutes ago, blackshirt said:

risk a positive pre-cruise covid test due to the booster.

I'm not in healthcare, but I don't think the booster does this.

[prmssk]

38 minutes ago, blackshirt said:

I guess you also wouldn’t want to get that second booster to close to the cruise either and risk a positive pre-cruise covid test due to the booster.

The booster/vaccine doesn't cause positive PCR or antigen covid test results.  There's no live virus in it.

[Lena11033]

14 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

I am hoping to get a 3rd booster this Fall.

I can't even get a second 😞

Here only over 60's can get a second booster