Do not underestimate how awful it is to be in quarantine on board for 10 days....

[jg51]

On 7/24/2022 at 11:59 AM, busymumofthree said:

Hi All

 

I am a long time poster - I think I've been here for over 10 years and we've now done 11 cruises with Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, P&O and Princess.  We love cruising.  The time allowed for me to complete my Celebrity survey has expired and I want to share some thought son our experience on the ship - both as a warning to other passengers and as feedback to Celebrity - I'm sure you're reading this.  ...

.

Dear "busymumofthree,"

 

We want to apologize most sincerely to you for not thanking you well enough for the great service you performed in posting a huge amount of detailed information about your experience.

 

We want to apologize most sincerely for failing to show our compassion for the suffering that you and your husband endured, as you so eloquently and movingly  described.

 

We want to apologize most sincerely for, in a sense,  "hijacking your thread" unjustly -- to ask for everyone's input in regard to our own personal concerns for the future.  We should have started a new thread, instead of "jumping aboard" your very special thread.

 

Please forgive us.  JG51

.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

9 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Up grade room service 😱

the food my wife got for 9 days was mostly terrible, cold , the orders were mostly wrong  wine spilled all over the tray 

 

It been 3 months and only last week did I talk with someone in the executive office, and they will look into the matter 

I was in quarantine, on deck 6, at the same time your wife was. Our food experience while not the same as dining in a restaurant....was OK. Yes...sometimes things were missing or food....but brought fairly quickly with a phone call, wasn't "piping hot" but our wine always stayed in the glass. LOL....under the circumstances we felt Celebrity was trying. I learned to be specific in my order and mention "don't forget" if there wasn't something that had been missed for a previous meal. One thing I would have liked was a decent table to eat from. DH and I alternated with the desk and my "make-shift" table. 

Did you use the # I sent you via PM to reach the Executive Office. Hope you get resolution soon.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

25 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

I was in quarantine, on deck 6, at the same time your wife was. Our food experience while not the same as dining in a restaurant....was OK. Yes...sometimes things were missing or food....but brought fairly quickly with a phone call, wasn't "piping hot" but our wine always stayed in the glass. LOL....under the circumstances we felt Celebrity was trying. I learned to be specific in my order and mention "don't forget" if there wasn't something that had been missed for a previous meal. One thing I would have liked was a decent table to eat from. DH and I alternated with the desk and my "make-shift" table. 

Did you use the # I sent you via PM to reach the Executive Office. Hope you get resolution soon.

They are suppose to get back to me this week, I will give them a call on tomorrow 

[busymumofthree]

Dear JG 

 

Please don’t give it a moments thought! I posted my report so others could hear what it was really like for us, and that seems to have hit home.  In turn, I’ve heard how it was for others.  These threads always move in different directions and that’s the way they should be - so we can all hear others’ points of view and experiences.  
 

Wishing you safe travels, everyone

 

 

[BratDet]

On 7/26/2022 at 8:10 AM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

That was the difference, Celebrity treated people differently when you book a suite compared to a standard room 

Room service would tell her the bar was closed when she ordered a drink ! 
she order an omelet with a side order of spinach, she would get 2 cold omelettes , one was spinach, but no side order of spinach 
I would than have to get most of eatable food from OV  cafe , but since she was at the bow of the ship the food would be cold 

And since I could eat and drink in my cabin , by the time I could my food to the cabin it was also cold 

 

[quicklabs]

On 7/25/2022 at 1:15 PM, MarKay525 said:

Also - potentially 10 days - locked in a room together - even the best of relationships might begin to show strain.

I was quarantined in a porthole cabin on Deck 3 on the Apex.  My husband joined me 4 days later.  We've been married for 42 years.  We did so great together locked in an airless room for 6 days, I told him it was clear we are ready for the next 42 years together.

 

That being said, I agree heartily with the OP.  10 days in quarantine was incredibly stressful psychologically.  I grossly underestimated how difficult it would be.  I don't think I could do it again.

Edited July 28, 2022 by quicklabs

[quicklabs]

On 7/24/2022 at 11:59 AM, busymumofthree said:

For those actually in locked down isolation, 10 days is a long time to be in one small room - no walking up and down the corridor was allowed and even if you wanted to you could not get past the big bulk head door which locked off both side of deck 6 from the rest of the ship - that's a lot of cabins with people in isolation.  My husband commented that even if he was in jail, there'd have been access to an exercise yard.  It took 11 paces to walk from the door to the edge of the balcony - and there's only so many reps of that walk you can do each day.  If you were minded you could of course do some strength and floor exercises but nothing aerobic.  

This says it so well!  In a room without a balcony, it feels like torture. 

[Luv2Crus40]

Thanks for all the reporting and information.   Now we're glad we cancelled our b2b out of Miami next April to a 10 day cruise r/t out of Bayonne on the Summit.   We live 45 minutes from Bayonne port.  We were on  the QM2 earlier this month and my husband got Covid.  I refused to leave him alone due to his age and severity of the covid.  We were isolated together in a balcony room for last 36 hours of cruise.  Then booted off at our home port in Brooklyn.   Our son picked us up and we drove straight to the ER of the hospital near our house.  I had a mild case, he is still recovering. 

[kirtihk]

On 7/24/2022 at 2:01 PM, Virginia100 said:

I pushed out my Rome cruise from this  August to next September for same reasons. Going in February out of Ft Lauderdale as more comfortable with 7 months out and in the US. That one is 9 days. 14 days cruising  in this environment may be a little long.

How many more years shall we wait?  Our friends have been waiting for 2.5 years, scheduled 3 cruises with us starting December through January 2024, and now they cancelled ALL of them (and a few more that they booked without us) due to a deteriorating health of one of them.  Life is too short!  And losing almost 3 of them is not acceptable no matter what!  Too much sacrificing for the entire world!  I understand gain (no arguing about it) - however, life of billions on halt?

[di T]

On 7/26/2022 at 8:59 PM, jg51 said:

.

Needless to say, "di T," we are thrilled to read what you just told us about your June experience ... and we hope that the same will be true for us in August: NO testing for back-to-back guests!  Unfortunately, Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity sometimes do things a bit differently from each other ... so we cannot be certain, at this point in time.

 

May we ask this:

What were your RCI ship, your embarkation port, and your disembarkation port?  Thanks.

.

We were on the Wonder of the seas round trip from Barcelona, Hope Celebrity do not require the testing for b2b as we are on Reflection in September Rome round trip. I’m going to email my travel agent in the states to see if she can find out! 

[wrk2cruise]

Why waste your TA's time.  Any change of policy for Sept won't be known for at least another month.  The current policy hasn't even taken effect.

[jg51]

2 hours ago, di T said:

We were on the Wonder of the seas round trip from Barcelona, Hope Celebrity do not require the testing for b2b as we are on Reflection in September Rome round trip. I’m going to email my travel agent in the states to see if she can find out! 

.

On another thread (on Sunday, July 31), a CruiseCritic member said that he had phoned someone at the Celebrity corporate office ... and was told that there would continue to be onboard testing, on the last full day of each cruise, for back-to-back guests.  As of now (he said), the plan is to continue this throughout 2022.  Of course, plans/policies can change.

.

[di T]

3 hours ago, jg51 said:

.

On another thread (on Sunday, July 31), a CruiseCritic member said that he had phoned someone at the Celebrity corporate office ... and was told that there would continue to be onboard testing, on the last full day of each cruise, for back-to-back guests.  As of now (he said), the plan is to continue this throughout 2022.  Of course, plans/policies can change.

.

 

3 hours ago, jg51 said:

.

On another thread (on Sunday, July 31), a CruiseCritic member said that he had phoned someone at the Celebrity corporate office ... and was told that there would continue to be onboard testing, on the last full day of each cruise, for back-to-back guests.  As of now (he said), the plan is to continue this throughout 2022.  Of course, plans/policies can change.

.

More stress wondering if we will miss these cruises due to the testing! This b2 b has been changed 4 times, 3 different ships and 3 different itineraries over 2years.We have had to change flights to different countries to embark and at a high cost, really thought things would be better by now.

[di T]

6 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

Why waste your TA's time.  Any change of policy for Sept won't be known for at least another month.  The current policy hasn't even taken effect.

Because if it looks like they will test before the second cruise I will book alternative accommodation as backup. This travel agent as been the worst I’ve ever had and I would not of used her again but I had six long time booked cruises that were cancelled or changed and she took over from the original agent two year ago.Time all the testing was gone!

[Cachecara]

On 7/29/2022 at 1:22 PM, kirtihk said:

How many more years shall we wait?  Our friends have been waiting for 2.5 years, scheduled 3 cruises with us starting December through January 2024, and now they cancelled ALL of them (and a few more that they booked without us) due to a deteriorating health of one of them.  Life is too short!  And losing almost 3 of them is not acceptable no matter what!  Too much sacrificing for the entire world!  I understand gain (no arguing about it) - however, life of billions on halt?

Everyone has their own value system and threshold.  So yours could be 180 from your friends.  That’s ok.  Each of us has to be comfortable and live with our own decisions. 

[kirtihk]

55 minutes ago, Cachecara said:

Everyone has their own value system and threshold.  So yours could be 180 from your friends.  That’s ok.  Each of us has to be comfortable and live with our own decisions. 

Agree in general; however, it's impossible to comfortable and make positive decisions when your health goes drastically down (and for people after 80 that happens so quickly for the most of them - again, that's why I made 3 years notation).  As to me, I stay positive (mentally, not virus-shvirus - ha-ha!) until I die. 

[higgib]

On 7/24/2022 at 4:59 PM, busymumofthree said:

Hi All

 

I am a long time poster - I think I've been here for over 10 years and we've now done 11 cruises with Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, P&O and Princess.  We love cruising.  The time allowed for me to complete my Celebrity survey has expired and I want to share some thought son our experience on the ship - both as a warning to other passengers and as feedback to Celebrity - I'm sure you're reading this. 

 

We were on the Celebrity Reflection out of Rome on 13th June, for 11 nights.  Everyone had to provide proof of a negative test from within the last 48 hours and I'm sure you all know the rules about vaccinated/ up to date etc - so all of the right precautions were taken by everyone on board.

 

Before we sailed we were aware that if you tested positive while on board you had to isolate, but I think we didn't know the details.  We knew that Covid rates on all ships according to the CDC's list of 94 ships under their watch were running on average at 1 to 2%.  So with a passenger cohort of around 2000, just less on our sailing, the chances of catching it were very small and not at a high enough risk for us to consider cancelling - it was very unlikely to happen to us.  

 

But although the chances are small, the consequences are HUGE.

 

Each day the captain makes an announcement at some point about health and safety on board.  His typical comment would be ' we have 2 passengers tested positive today and they are fine and they are being looked after'.   At no point does he say exactly how many in total have Covid and how many are in isolation.  Latterly, we understood that 19 passengers from the previous cruise were positive and had to stay on for this cruise, and the most we heard about was 50 at one time in isolation (both passengers and crew).  This came directly from one of the medical team who visit each 'isolatee' each day.  At the change over of our cruise, we understood that there were 35 passengers in isolation needing to stay on - this comes from observation in the venue were all of the partners were gathered on disembarkation day to find out our new cabin assignments for the next cruise.

 

Our sequence of events was that on day 7 of the 11 night cruise, my husband had a sore throat and a headache and thought he might have Covid.  The instructions given to passengers are very clear - if you have any Covid type symptoms phone the medical centre - it is the right thing to do and we still think that.  We are certain that not everyone on board followed this - there were many coughers and sneezers around the ship.  We went to the medical centre, my husband tested positive and was told, nicely and professionally, that he had to pack immediately and would be escorted to isolation.  Within 10 minutes 2 crew from housekeeping arrived to take his luggage and he was taken down via the crew access corridors to deck 6, to a cabin with a balcony, where he did not leave the cabin for 10 whole days.  

 

Under the balconies of deck 6 is the promenade deck so depending on the location of your partner along that deck you could be lucky and be able to have a chat.  Not so for us - my husband's cabin was above some kind of big blue engineering structure which meant we could see each other at a distance but could not talk - we relied on speaking on the phone.  So at least I saw him most days, at a distance of maybe 30 feet.  I say most days as the access to that deck was on occasion, seemingly frequently, blocked for maintenance, disembarkation, the chance of winds....  

 

For both the 'isolatee' and their partner, Celebrity immediately upgraded the Wi-Fi from basic to premium - this was much appreciated as it was then possible to keep in touch with family back home on video calls.

 

The quality of meals delivered to my husband was brilliant if sometimes entertaining - eg 4 boiled eggs for breakfast one day! - but the dining room menu was available to him.

 

The standard spiel from Celebrity is that all movies including pay for view movies would be available.  Reflection had the worst TV and Movie options of any ship I've ever been on and there were no pay for view movies.  And even the premium Wi-Fi is nowhere near good enough to stream on your Netflix account.

 

The CDC protocols changed during my husband's isolation - it was the case that you need TWO negative tests on consecutive days after day 5 to be 'released' but it changed to being ONE negative test after day 7.  In any event, it didn't matter to us as my husband never did test negative - freedom came at day 10 no matter what the test result.  As it did for most people.....

 

As a partner of someone in isolation you are also restricted.  The requirement was for me to be tested for 5 consecutive days and I remained negative throughout.  All of the partners were tested in the same place at the same time each day - so we got to know each other a bit - that is why I can say of the group of us on that cruise, most did not test negative before day 10.  But for partners, restrictions were also in place - we were not allowed to use the dining rooms for 10 days and had to wear a mask anywhere out of the cabin.  Wearing a mask was not hard, but 10 days of room service, alone, was no fun.  I admit that I preferred to lunch up at the open air burger bar on deck where I thought I was no danger to anyone - especially after 5 days of consecutive negative tests.  And a group of us did towards the end of the 10 days (all of our husbands were within 1 or 2 days of each other going into isolation) meet at the open air end of the buffet for an evening meal where we would again be no danger to anyone.

 

But partners can and did get off the ship at the ports - we were not that restricted.  Personally, I choose to be as far away from others as possible whilst still going to the theatre and the game shows - that was allowed. So I could participate to a certain extent - but I would describe it for me as being 'lonely in a crowd'.

 

However, having been in a changing group of maybe 20 partners and talking among ourselves for a few days it was obvious that the rules were not enforced - some never had the letter saying they should have room service and so carried on as normal.  So it is clear that those rules were never 'policed'. 

 

For those actually in locked down isolation, 10 days is a long time to be in one small room - no walking up and down the corridor was allowed and even if you wanted to you could not get past the big bulk head door which locked off both side of deck 6 from the rest of the ship - that's a lot of cabins with people in isolation.  My husband commented that even if he was in jail, there'd have been access to an exercise yard.  It took 11 paces to walk from the door to the edge of the balcony - and there's only so many reps of that walk you can do each day.  If you were minded you could of course do some strength and floor exercises but nothing aerobic.  

 

It was particularly harsh for couples were the second partner tested positive a few days after the first partner - they would be placed in separate cabins - not necessarily near each other.  I only found this out after someone who had been in isolation came 'out' and said his wife was still 'in' in a different cabin.  

 

When it got to our scheduled disembarkation day, which was only day 5 for my husband so he was not yet free to leave isolation, we were given the choice to continue isolation together in an Italian hotel (were we would be escorted by guards) for a minimum of another 5 days.  We would lose the chance of getting out on day 7 (which didn't happened anyway but it was still a chance at this stage).  I don't know of anyone who took that option. 

 

Celebrity did many, many things right on this trip.  I imagine they have no choice but to follow the CDC rules.  We stayed on the ship at no cost (except gratuities and drinks of course) until after the 10 days isolation and then onto the most sensible port for getting home (which was Naples for us, on our day 20,  - flight timings from Dubrovnik and Kotor were impossible with the ships docking and tender times).  

 

But the non financial cost for us was huge.  Once my husband was in isolation my holiday was damaged too - OK I could see Athens, but not the way we hoped to do it together; I could go to the theatre but with no one to share it with.  And I dined in my room alone.  But for him, the physical impact was horrible too - he was a only bit poorly for just a few days (for which we are thankful of course) but with no way of getting any exercise and with very little mental stimulation or entertainment.  

 

He was well supported by the medical team and the food and beverage service but there were quite a few things which went wrong which were not in themselves overly significant - and for those things which he reported, he'd like to thank Antoinette for her attention.

 

For those partners who found themselves unexpectedly alone - which left me tearful once or twice in public - it was a lonely time trying to navigate through a changed  holiday alone.  I would not have expected there to be any support in place for me in those circumstances so I am grateful to 3 people in particular who went out of their way to check in on me once they knew the circumstances - thank you Byron, Annadulce and Cranston - I really appreciated someone thinking to ask me how I was doing.

 

With all that in mind, under the same circumstance, knowing what the real consequences would be, would we have gone to the medical centre and self reported?  And especially knowing that others were obviously sick around the ship.  My answer is - we can't honestly say.  We'd like to think we'd still do the right thing and get tested but we certainly wouldn't want to do that again.  For sure though, we won't be cruising again until such time as the isolation requirement on board is removed or significantly reduced.  Different countries are different and we know Italy is strict and the CDC rules are strict.  I think our next trip will be here from the UK where there is no legal requirement to isolate, just a common sense duty to isolate if you're obviously poorly. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were on Silhouette round the UK and Iceland in June. We both tested positive halfway through the cruise and had to isolate. We were ‘fortunate’ to be allowed to remain in our balcony cabin (I think this was because the isolation cabins were already full) but were not allowed out for anything. As you say, a truly miserable time. We were allowed to disembark in Southampton at the end of the cruise (under escort and with our luggage wrapped), but have no plans to cruise again anytime soon. Btw, don’t forget to claim on your insurance for cabin confinement for your husband. 

[wrk2cruise]

5 hours ago, di T said:

Because if it looks like they will test before the second cruise I will book alternative accommodation as backup. This travel agent as been the worst I’ve ever had and I would not of used her again but I had six long time booked cruises that were cancelled or changed and she took over from the original agent two year ago.Time all the testing was gone!

 

They only accurate answer they can give you right now is YES you will be tested prior to the second cruise as that's the current policy and the one starting August 8.     So you should just go ahead and have a backup.

Edited August 1, 2022 by wrk2cruise

[gelormbi]

On 7/24/2022 at 2:20 PM, suzyluvs2cruise said:

@busymumofthree thanks for sharing your experience. Here's a link to mine from my experience in May. From what I know the CDC was not monitoring covid rates on ships sailing from Europe. We were told the ship had reached the 3% rate but I'm convinced it was higher than that. 

 

 

So sorry to read of your horrible ordeal. Hope you and hubby are fully recovered. I am not sure if I read whether or not you would cruise again, but would you cruise again with Celebrity and in this current environment? Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

[gelormbi]

On 7/29/2022 at 12:54 PM, Luv2Crus40 said:

Thanks for all the reporting and information.   Now we're glad we cancelled our b2b out of Miami next April to a 10 day cruise r/t out of Bayonne on the Summit.   We live 45 minutes from Bayonne port.  We were on  the QM2 earlier this month and my husband got Covid.  I refused to leave him alone due to his age and severity of the covid.  We were isolated together in a balcony room for last 36 hours of cruise.  Then booted off at our home port in Brooklyn.   Our son picked us up and we drove straight to the ER of the hospital near our house.  I had a mild case, he is still recovering. 

Hope he recovers quickly!

[djbarnes]

Wow, I am sorry about what you went through.  Thank you for posting.

We just returned (yesterday) from the Celebrity Flora with a 1 day pre-tour in Quito.  I was one of the few who realized (and confirmed with Celebrity) that despite Ecuador and the US not requiring testing, Celebrity does and if you test positive then you are in quarantine for 10 days.  That freaked us all out before the cruise.  We worked from home and got our own PCR tests the day before leaving just to be safe.  We masked and took precautions the flight legs down and were given a PCR test at our hotel that evening.  We passed that and then did a 7 hour city tour the next day with other passengers who didn't wear masks despite being told they should.  That didn't excite me because I knew we had an antigen test the next morning before heading to the ship.  We passed that and as we boarded the Flora the Captain told us we could be mask free.

 

Well that lasted about a day before an announcement was made that a passenger tested positive.  Masks began appearing.  A day or so later, another announcement and more masks.  By the end of the 7 day cruise people were coughing all over and I am convinced they didn't want to report to the medical center for fear of quarantine.  I am also convinced that most passengers do not know the risk of quarantine and that they are then risking everyone else on the ship if they aren't careful. 

 

Before leaving the ship I asked the staff how many people were supposed to be on our ship and how many ended up on it.  We were supposed to have 92.  We ended up with 83.  I know of at least one who remained in Quito.

 

This morning (day after flying home), my wife and I tested positive for covid.

 

So be aware of this before you cruise in 2022.  We had a great trip, but the covid stress leading up to setting foot on the deck was more than I needed - even worse than how I feel as I type this with covid.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

4 hours ago, gelormbi said:

So sorry to read of your horrible ordeal. Hope you and hubby are fully recovered. I am not sure if I read whether or not you would cruise again, but would you cruise again with Celebrity and in this current environment? Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Thank you for your concern. Fortunately my husband was never sick....he chose to quarantine with me. My symptoms were very mild and only lasted a couple of day. I did not post whether we could cruise again or not in this current environment but will say we have b2b cruises in Europe mid-Oct. 1st one if the Holy Land followed by a TA back to Florida. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

Thank you for your concern. Fortunately my husband was never sick....he chose to quarantine with me. My symptoms were very mild and only lasted a couple of day. I did not post whether we could cruise again or not in this current environment but will say we have b2b cruises in Europe mid-Oct. 1st one if the Holy Land followed by a TA back to Florida. 

We are leaving end of the month on Voyager of the Seas ,b2b,  a Baltic cruise than the Arctic TA 

it should cold enough to kill any virus , right 🤔😉😁

[gelormbi]

On 8/2/2022 at 3:59 PM, djbarnes said:

Wow, I am sorry about what you went through.  Thank you for posting.

We just returned (yesterday) from the Celebrity Flora with a 1 day pre-tour in Quito.  I was one of the few who realized (and confirmed with Celebrity) that despite Ecuador and the US not requiring testing, Celebrity does and if you test positive then you are in quarantine for 10 days.  That freaked us all out before the cruise.  We worked from home and got our own PCR tests the day before leaving just to be safe.  We masked and took precautions the flight legs down and were given a PCR test at our hotel that evening.  We passed that and then did a 7 hour city tour the next day with other passengers who didn't wear masks despite being told they should.  That didn't excite me because I knew we had an antigen test the next morning before heading to the ship.  We passed that and as we boarded the Flora the Captain told us we could be mask free.

 

Well that lasted about a day before an announcement was made that a passenger tested positive.  Masks began appearing.  A day or so later, another announcement and more masks.  By the end of the 7 day cruise people were coughing all over and I am convinced they didn't want to report to the medical center for fear of quarantine.  I am also convinced that most passengers do not know the risk of quarantine and that they are then risking everyone else on the ship if they aren't careful. 

 

Before leaving the ship I asked the staff how many people were supposed to be on our ship and how many ended up on it.  We were supposed to have 92.  We ended up with 83.  I know of at least one who remained in Quito.

 

This morning (day after flying home), my wife and I tested positive for covid.

 

So be aware of this before you cruise in 2022.  We had a great trip, but the covid stress leading up to setting foot on the deck was more than I needed - even worse than how I feel as I type this with covid.

So sorry to hear you have COVID, I hope you and your husband don’t have a bad case of it. My husband and I returned from a cruise on the Allure and both tested positive. It’s not fun, but for us it was like having the flu. Good luck 👍 

[gelormbi]

On 8/2/2022 at 7:45 PM, suzyluvs2cruise said:

Thank you for your concern. Fortunately my husband was never sick....he chose to quarantine with me. My symptoms were very mild and only lasted a couple of day. I did not post whether we could cruise again or not in this current environment but will say we have b2b cruises in Europe mid-Oct. 1st one if the Holy Land followed by a TA back to Florida. 

Hope you enjoy the Holy Land cruise, I know it will be fabulous! And enjoy your TA back to Florida! Best wishes for smooth sailing!!