Live from Coral Princess - Round Australia October 2022

[OzKiwiJJ]

34 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

Sorry, meant to add:  I hope you’re feeling much better today, Julie, and you won’t have any lingering, bothersome symptoms.

Thanks. Yes, I am feeling better today but still a bit tired. I didn't get sneezes or coughs this time. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, Pushka said:

I'm on a dedicated blood thinner Xarelto, kind of like warfarin, as I have an auto immune illness that makes me throw random DVT's. I had one in my internal jugular vein. It is listed on the TGA contraindications for the main anti viral. I understand aspirin etc are perfectly fine but the medical people will check if you ever need the antivirals. 

They checked all my meds before prescribing the antivirals. I had to stop taking the cholesterol meds while I was taking the antivirals.

[MMDown Under]

15 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

They checked all my meds before prescribing the antivirals. I had to stop taking the cholesterol meds while I was taking the antivirals.

Take it easy until your next cruise. 

[Pushka]

1 hour ago, Mareblu said:

If it helps, you may not need the antiviral.  Because I tested positive aboard, and I’m in the right age group, I was immediately given Paxlovid, together with some complementary prescription meds, including an antibiotic for the chest infection caused by the virus.  Within two days, I was registering Negative on  self-administered RATS (in UK they’re called Lateral Flow Tests).  My husband didn’t register a Positive till just before disembarkation, so he missed out on the antivirals, etc., even though he’s five years older than I.  He sailed (pun again) through Covid, with a slight head cold and croaky (but not sore) throat for three days.  He recovered completely almost immediately after that, and six weeks later is still in robust health.  

Just over a week after my Negative, and feeling quite clever, I did another RAT out of curiosity, and was dismayed to register Positive.  I’m still coughing weeks later, although I’ve had no other symptoms at all.

Lots of research being conducted now on Covid Rebound for those who have been prescribed antivirals.  Our doctor friend who’s also suffered Covid Rebound after antivirals said the thought is that although the powerful antivirals successfully attack the virus, tiny pockets can remain in some taking the antivirals, leading to a resurgence.  This does not seem to apply to all who’ve taken the medication.

My point is that in the long run, my husband, without antivirals, fared much, much better than I.

Yes, I had covid in June from a trip to the UK and I'm on a few meds for Lupus etc,  even the Trump favourite, Hydroxychloroquine, I had no symptoms at all. I only tested as my husband was positive and symptomatic. I joke to my friends that Trump was right. 😆

[Mareblu]

 

22 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Yes, I had covid in June from a trip to the UK and I'm on a few meds for Lupus etc,  even the Trump favourite, Hydroxychloroquine, I had no symptoms at all. I only tested as my husband was positive and symptomatic. I joke to my friends that Trump was right. 😆

Shhhhh...say it quietly😱

[OzKiwiJJ]

52 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Take it easy until your next cruise. 

I am! It's only five weeks until we fly to NZ for our Westerdam cruise. Aargh! 🤣🤣🤣

[MicCanberra]

One thing that has become very clear is that everyone is different, some get covid while others don't, even in the same situations. Some get very sick from covid, some have mild illness, others don't have any symptoms.

Some have long covid or lingering unwellness, others don't.

Antivirals work for some , not others. After effects of taking Antivirals may occur, or not.

 

We are all being affected differently, one thing we all have the same is try and stay safe.

[LittleFish1976]

19 hours ago, Jacster99 said:

 

I know this forum is not supposed to be about medical questions, but do you have more information about what sort of blood thinners, and was it a doctor who told you that? Aspirin & fish oil thin the blood, and maybe Statins.

 

It's about the interaction between the medications (so fish oil is fine as far as I recall). It's not about your blood being thinner. If you google 'paxlovid drug interactions' there are lists of what you mustn't take with it.

 

The antivirals work by blocking the virus from reproducing itself so when you finish the 5 day course you may still have some virus left that has been hanging around since the beginning.

[arxcards]

8 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

One thing that has become very clear is that everyone is different, some get covid while others don't, even in the same situations. Some get very sick from covid, some have mild illness, others don't have any symptoms.

Some have long covid or lingering unwellness, others don't.

Antivirals work for some , not others. After effects of taking Antivirals may occur, or not.

 

We are all being affected differently, one thing we all have the same is try and stay safe.

And take advice from your own doctor, who should be all over this and has your medical history and wellbeing at heart. Doctor CC can be misleading.

[Port Power]

On 11/9/2022 at 2:45 PM, Pushka said:

It's not just cruises but travel in general. Everyone I know who has travelled overseas has come back with covid despite precautions. And all recovered quickly without antivirals. It's interesting reading the Viking cruises whose ships are starting to wind their way south to Australia. Suddenly after months of 'what is covid' life, they are facing testing and restrictions and given there are no covid testing requirements coming to Australia by plane, are finding it all rather ridiculous the requirements of cruise passengers.  I can't take the antiviral anyway as I'm on blood thinners. 

I just returned from Europe and do not have COVID.  I tested a couple of times onboard and twice last weekend after returning home. (Just to be sure, and also because I have heaps of RAT kits!)

 

I absolutely agree that testing to board a ship in Australian ports is senseless.  People can still contract COVID between testing and boarding, and many do.  While most people will report when unwell, there are always some who don’t want to isolate for 5 days when they have paid to cruise.  
 

Oh…….now I realise why ports want passengers to test prior to leaving the ship on stopovers!  But still not why the need to test before boarding?

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, Port Power said:

Oh…….now I realise why ports want passengers to test prior to leaving the ship on stopovers!  But still not why the need to test before boarding?

To reduce the risk.

Embarking passengers fall into three categories:

A. Have caught Covid, may or may not have symptoms, test positive.

B. Have caught Covid, may or may not have symptoms, test negative.

C. Don't have Covid, test negative.

Every person who tests positive and therefore doesn't board the ship lowers the risk of transmission onboard. 

 

Then it's all down to how those Category B passengers behave onboard. Since they may be infectious but have no symptoms it's very important they follow the onboard protocols, especially about wearing masks and reporting any symptoms to the Medical Centre. Unfortunately a percentage of these passengers won't follow the protocols and that is why Covid spreads onboard.

[kenexx]

We just did the Sydney Brisbane part of this cruise.  Had a great time but a staff member at the front desk said every passenger was getting a 15% credit on their next cruise due to not all facilities being available.   Does anyone know more about this at all?

[bvm49]

7 hours ago, kenexx said:

We just did the Sydney Brisbane part of this cruise.  Had a great time but a staff member at the front desk said every passenger was getting a 15% credit on their next cruise due to not all facilities being available.   Does anyone know more about this at all?

This was offerred to the passengers on the 28-night cruise as a goodwill gesture. I doubt if it would apply to the following 2-night cruise.

[Cbtours]

10 minutes ago, bvm49 said:

This was offerred to the passengers on the 28-night cruise as a goodwill gesture. I doubt if it would apply to the following 2-night cruise.

It was because we missed 3 ports, as a goodwill gesture, to my understanding

[austromyrtus]

i just looked at the nsw covid website & saw majestic princess is now tier 3. it is due to disembark in sydney tomorrow so i imagine this will get some press coverage as all other ships listed have no covid or are tier 1. we aree going on this ship december 8 so keeping an eye on it...

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, austromyrtus said:

i just looked at the nsw covid website & saw majestic princess is now tier 3. it is due to disembark in sydney tomorrow so i imagine this will get some press coverage as all other ships listed have no covid or are tier 1. we aree going on this ship december 8 so keeping an eye on it...

They triggered tier 2 yesterday, and in keeping with protocols, everyone was required to complete a pre-arrival RAT this morning. The results of those tests tipped it up to tier 3, a considerable number.

 

Good news is that all that are positive will be managed according to the protocols, and most of those passengers will disembark and go home. What happens on the following cruise(s) will depend on how many crew are infected, but for passenger numbers they pretty much start again with a clean slate.

[kenexx]

13 hours ago, bvm49 said:

This was offerred to the passengers on the 28-night cruise as a goodwill gesture. I doubt if it would apply to the following 2-night cruise.

That’s what I was thinking.   I didn’t understand when she said all passengers were getting it.   

[kenexx]

13 hours ago, Cbtours said:

It was because we missed 3 ports, as a goodwill gesture, to my understanding

That makes sense.  Hope you enjoyed it all the same. 

[Cbtours]

Just now, kenexx said:

That makes sense.  Hope you enjoyed it all the same. 

We loved the cruise. Even though Frank contracted covid it was mild like everyone else. Couldn’t fault princess for their service, generosity and care for everyone.

[OzKiwiJJ]

14 hours ago, arxcards said:

They triggered tier 2 yesterday, and in keeping with protocols, everyone was required to complete a pre-arrival RAT this morning. The results of those tests tipped it up to tier 3, a considerable number.

 

 

Which is not surprising as the spread is exponential and people are usually infectious before they show symptoms or even test positive. Plus it would spread much faster on a ship as it's a closed environment populated by a few too many people who think mask rules don't apply to them or who cannot seem to understand that 'cover nose and mouth" means exactly that.

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, Cbtours said:

We loved the cruise. Even though Frank contracted covid it was mild like everyone else. Couldn’t fault princess for their service, generosity and care for everyone.

Ditto. 

 

We still had a great cruise regardless of the few days in isolation. 

[arxcards]

On 11/12/2022 at 12:21 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

Ditto. 

 

We still had a great cruise regardless of the few days in isolation. 

We also had a great cruise on Majestic, and figure we had to catch it at some stage. I now have a tinge of regret. In the one day of work before testing positive, one of my work mates managed to catch it from me, and I don't wish it upon anyone. I have had a rebound of symptoms, and am currently fighting a bout of tiredness and fatigue after short simple tasks. I will get over it, but the benefit of our relaxing holiday has just about gone.

 

Testing positive 2 days after arriving home, feel like crap but get no insurance or cruise day credits, and I am glad we don't have another cruise till February.

[Cbtours]

6 hours ago, arxcards said:

We also had a great cruise on Majestic, and figure we had to catch it at some stage. I now have a tinge of regret. In the one day of work before testing positive, one of my work mates managed to catch it from me, and I don't wish it upon anyone. I have had a rebound of symptoms, and am currently fighting a bout of tiredness and fatigue after short simple tasks. I will get over it, but the benefit of our relaxing holiday has just about gone.

 

Testing positive 2 days after arriving home, feel like crap but get no insurance or cruise day credits, and I am glad we don't have another cruise till February.

Take care 🙏🏻🥰

[MMDown Under]

7 hours ago, arxcards said:

We also had a great cruise on Majestic, and figure we had to catch it at some stage. I now have a tinge of regret. In the one day of work before testing positive, one of my work mates managed to catch it from me, and I don't wish it upon anyone. I have had a rebound of symptoms, and am currently fighting a bout of tiredness and fatigue after short simple tasks. I will get over it, but the benefit of our relaxing holiday has just about gone.

 

Testing positive 2 days after arriving home, feel like crap but get no insurance or cruise day credits, and I am glad we don't have another cruise till February.

Sorry you are having a rebound of covid symptoms and are fighting tiredness and fatigue.  Thanks for the wonderful job you did sharing information on your cruise.  Now is time for you to relax and take good care of yourself.  

[Mareblu]

9 hours ago, arxcards said:

We also had a great cruise on Majestic, and figure we had to catch it at some stage. I now have a tinge of regret. In the one day of work before testing positive, one of my work mates managed to catch it from me, and I don't wish it upon anyone. I have had a rebound of symptoms, and am currently fighting a bout of tiredness and fatigue after short simple tasks. I will get over it, but the benefit of our relaxing holiday has just about gone.

 

Testing positive 2 days after arriving home, feel like crap but get no insurance or cruise day credits, and I am glad we don't have another cruise till February.

So sorry you were caught in the net.  It has no laws or rules.  I'm so sorry for your rebound symptoms.  I've found that aspect far worse than the few days of Covid itself.  If it helps, my cough is slowly dimishing after six weeks.  I've had no fatigue, but coughing itself can be exhausting.  It eventually peters out.  Good luck, and best wishes.