In Covid Quarantine on Beyond

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, colliercruiser said:

On our Summit sailing, there is a staff member with the enviable title “COVID Concierge” who is readily available to answer questions and help resolve issues.

I'll be on the Millennium next month; I'll have to see if I can find the equivalent on that ship.  They may not have one, as it seems to make too much sense. 🙃

[JHLH821]

17 hours ago, MarkWiltonM said:

Curious if medical offered you Paxlovid to help with your Covid? I was wondering if cruise ships are stocking this medication.

We were prescribed it, but not all cruise lines are. We stopped the regimen after 4 days/1 day(in my case). We read everything we could about it before agreeing to take it, but the data is not all positive and our reactions outweighed its' benefits as we were not exhibiting severe symptoms. Have been home almost 2 weeks now and we've both tested negative several times. 3rd booster scheduled next week.  It is really no fun being sick so far from home.

 

[hcat]

2 hours ago, chemmo said:

Totally understand your stress levels, I think many of us feel more relaxed if we can do things to reduce our risks. We still wear masks in crowded venues, choose to sit away from others in bars and restaurants, still frequently gel…It surprises us when out and about that so many people act as if covid never happened and isn’t still with us.
 

Hope you have a great first suite cruise. Being in a suite can help with social distancing. For example, Luminae does have fairly good spacing anyway but in our experience it  is quieter early or late usually so if you want to avoid being too close to others that can be a simple aid. Breakfast time it is usually quiet until the last 15 minutes of service…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the good ideas.  

After this cruise, we have no others booked.

We will re-evaluate cruising overall, and eventually look for short cruises out of Tampa..close to our Fla winter base.

I will post a short review from Beyond as better bloggers will be  on board!

[hcat]

For our recent  Covid  bout we believe we  contracted it in Airport or on airplane..Fl to NY via Balt,  we are triple vacinated but guess it does not provide full

protection.. we were sick for abt a week but nothing as terrible as what we think we had pre testing  & vaccinations.  We isolated for 10 days..no prescription meds given.,   hoping  for immunity into November

 

Just took the 2nd shingles shot and  next up is senior flu shot!

Edited October 16, 2022 by hcat

[wineoclock]

We also have to remember that there are still other viruses out there. I am just getting over a bad cold. I’ve been testing every other day but the symptoms are very similar. So my immune system is already down so who knows? I’ll just be careful on board. 

[jmdlv1]

17 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I have heard that some Doctors will prescribe it.    I talked to mine and he said he couldn't as it would be a violation of the Emergency Approval of the drug that don't allow off label prescription to someone who has not tested positive.  

I had Covid in early July. This was the second bout with it despite being triple vaxed.

I asked my doc about Plaxovid right after I tested positive.

He said he would get it for me but explained the side effects ,many , and the potential rebound factor.

Friend of mine took it and had a bad rebound.

I decided against it and was back to normal in about 4 days.

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, dlh015 said:

Thanks for that, Jim. I have a great relationship with my doctor and would not want to put him in that position of having to say no...though I know he would say it with tact...lol...like your post.

 

I shall follow my original course and leave that discussion to a time when I may need it...

 

Thanks again!

 

I am the same and respect his decision and professionalism.   .   

[mfs2k]

24 minutes ago, jmdlv1 said:

I had Covid in early July. This was the second bout with it despite being triple vaxed.

I asked my doc about Plaxovid right after I tested positive.

He said he would get it for me but explained the side effects ,many , and the potential rebound factor.

Friend of mine took it and had a bad rebound.

I decided against it and was back to normal in about 4 days.

 

 

 

I had Covid 2 months ago and took Paxlovid. I rebounded after 2 days of testing negative.. i then tested positive for another 5-6 days. I wasn’t very sick with either bout but it was annoying. I’ve heard of quite a few rebound cases but perhaps the Paxlovid is what kept my symptoms mild. 

[lorimay]

I made it out of quarantine today. They will not budge on the five full days for my husband and no one can explain how he was not tested for four days despite sharing the cabin. They did offer me a solo cabin if I wanted but I turned it down. All the crew is now masked so I suspect there may be quite a few cases. I heard quite a bit of coughing in the Oceanview today. 
 

Meanwhile, our stateroom attendant cheered when I walked out today and the room service supervisor who calls about meals told me how happy he was and seemed genuine. He gave me his direct number so we can call about my husband’s meals directly. 
 

I spoke with guest relations about the credit for quarantine. Most likely we will get one day of the 9-day cruise and 9 days of the 12-day cruise refunded. So probably a substantial amount. 
 

i don’t know what we could have done to prevent this. Probably should have gotten the variant booster before leaving. However, Europe is going through a major Covid wave at the moment. Last year our European cruise on Oceania required masks. Our Caribbean one did not. I managed to avoid infection until now and lived through the pandemic in no mask Florida so I think it’s all really a crap shoot. I suspect I caught it on the plane from the Italian woman behind me who coughed the whole trip. But who knows - the ships tour in Cinque Terra was packed on buses, ferries and trains. 
 

I guess it’s a story to tell at parties now -

[gold1953]

18 minutes ago, lorimay said:

I made it out of quarantine today. They will not budge on the five full days for my husband and no one can explain how he was not tested for four days despite sharing the cabin. They did offer me a solo cabin if I wanted but I turned it down. All the crew is now masked so I suspect there may be quite a few cases. I heard quite a bit of coughing in the Oceanview today. 
 

Meanwhile, our stateroom attendant cheered when I walked out today and the room service supervisor who calls about meals told me how happy he was and seemed genuine. He gave me his direct number so we can call about my husband’s meals directly. 
 

I spoke with guest relations about the credit for quarantine. Most likely we will get one day of the 9-day cruise and 9 days of the 12-day cruise refunded. So probably a substantial amount. 
 

i don’t know what we could have done to prevent this. Probably should have gotten the variant booster before leaving. However, Europe is going through a major Covid wave at the moment. Last year our European cruise on Oceania required masks. Our Caribbean one did not. I managed to avoid infection until now and lived through the pandemic in no mask Florida so I think it’s all really a crap shoot. I suspect I caught it on the plane from the Italian woman behind me who coughed the whole trip. But who knows - the ships tour in Cinque Terra was packed on buses, ferries and trains. 
 

I guess it’s a story to tell at parties now -

My husband has never had covid  even when I had it in  July. It was also in our house 6 weeks ago. 3 weeks ago he got the new bivalent and we left for a UK land trip. Well, we masked on public transportation and in doors. He got covid!!! Mild case but a totally unexpected surprise. At least we can relax a bit on our Nov  cruise

[hcat]

2 hours ago, lorimay said:

I made it out of quarantine today. They will not budge on the five full days for my husband and no one can explain how he was not tested for four days despite sharing the cabin. They did offer me a solo cabin if I wanted but I turned it down. All the crew is now masked so I suspect there may be quite a few cases. I heard quite a bit of coughing in the Oceanview today. 
 

Meanwhile, our stateroom attendant cheered when I walked out today and the room service supervisor who calls about meals told me how happy he was and seemed genuine. He gave me his direct number so we can call about my husband’s meals directly. 
 

I spoke with guest relations about the credit for quarantine. Most likely we will get one day of the 9-day cruise and 9 days of the 12-day cruise refunded. So probably a substantial amount. 
 

i don’t know what we could have done to prevent this. Probably should have gotten the variant booster before leaving. However, Europe is going through a major Covid wave at the moment. Last year our European cruise on Oceania required masks. Our Caribbean one did not. I managed to avoid infection until now and lived through the pandemic in no mask Florida so I think it’s all really a crap shoot. I suspect I caught it on the plane from the Italian woman behind me who coughed the whole trip. But who knows - the ships tour in Cinque Terra was packed on buses, ferries and trains. 
 

I guess it’s a story to tell at parties now -

Prevention is what you can try to do and not catch it, but mostly luck..folks can pass it on before they know they are sick..we cri ge when folks cough but that could be allergies,

 

Congrats on your freedom.  Confusing however.....you can stay in cabin with him and also go out and about and bring him  goodies from the bar and  buffet???

 

Policy seems wierd! Hope you hang in til its over and done with and your husb feels better!  Do you know how they will handle disembark? Or post cruise cleaning of your cabin..

[C4HCG]

I live 

3 hours ago, lorimay said:

 

 

IHowever, Europe is going through a major Covid wave at the moment. 

Is it? I live in Europe (unfortunately) and was unaware

Edited October 16, 2022 by C4HCG

[wineoclock]

17 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

I live 

Is it? I live in Europe (unfortunately) and was unaware

Same I don’t know anyone with it. In March so many people I knew had it. 

[dlh015]

What? The news media here somehow failed to spread that news all over the US nonstop every day for a few weeks???  Will wonders never cease...

[mfs2k]

It’s nice to read so many stories of people with mild cases of Covid. 
I remember so well the death stories and the fear just 2 1/2 years ago. The morgues in NY  full of bodies. So much dying. 
Thankfully that’s no longer the predominant story. 
No politics here. Just a story of then and now. 

Edited October 16, 2022 by mfs2k

[lexmiller]

Testing has got to stop.  The cruise world is such a weird subsection of society - nowhere else, for any reason whatsoever, is testing occurring.  Land based vacations are becoming more and more appealing as testing to cruise oddly persists.  We all need to be fully vaxxed and boosted to protect ourselves, to take responsibility for our own health.  Those that are immunocompromised need to do the same-take responsibility for your own health, know the risks, act accordingly- it’s your life, know how to protect yourself.  

I honestly don’t understand why testing to cruise and to do back to backs, is still occurring.  There is no doubt in my mind that Celebrity does not want to test, and it definitely does not want you to self report - self report your cold symptoms, your sore throat?   The cruise lines are suffering financially because of it, having to reimburse cruise fares, not to mention the drain on the already super strapped understaffed crews.  As @mfs2k posted just now, it’s so wonderful to hear about all of the mild cases of covid.  The covid of today is not the covid of 3 years ago.  The strains themselves are milder plus being vaxxed and boosted, you are going to experience mild symptoms, if any at all.  And thus, the rest of the world has moved on - all except the cruise community.  Fear persists, not sure why.  Media hype?  Even that has lessened.  Back to back cruising has absolutely become something to avoid - the newer strains of covid are so mild you can have them and not even know it and yet, be caught up in the b2b testing dragnet - the anxiety that the b2b testing produces makes it such that you can’t enjoy the first cruise - I’ve seen people on the boards reporting that they are cancelling their consecutive cruise plans because of the anxiety of testing, as there is a fair chance you can test positive and yet feel great, and have your holiday plans dashed.  Back to back testing is a huge crap shoot and should be avoided as long as testing persists. 

[zitsky]

Like many I canceled two cruises because of Covid.  Greece still required testing and that was a hassle.  But I’m not ready to say that all testing should stop.

[lexmiller]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

Like many I canceled two cruises because of Covid.  Greece still required testing and that was a hassle.  But I’m not ready to say that all testing should stop.

All opinions respected always, but I do believe that all testing must stop - cruise industry will continue to suffer until it stops, until the cruise industry catches up with the rest of the world.  And testing against what?  Covid if vaxxed and boosted is just not what it used to be - thank heavens!

[dlh015]

Testing, for almost all intents and purposes *has* stopped. Airports, airplanes, concerts, bowling alleys, ports, etc, etc are open. The few remnants serve absolutely no purpose. Time to get with the program and be done with it. The barn door is open...and has been for a while...

 

That doesn't mean I don't take what steps *I* deem necessary to protect myself. As we all should. I'm going to stay vaxed and boosted and keep a wary eye out. Not going to live life in a bubble...  

[zitsky]

So if you wake up tomorrow and there is a new variant with higher risk of complications like it was at the beginning.  Would you still think we should throw our test kits away?

[Sigyn]

On 10/15/2022 at 8:15 PM, dlh015 said:

Thanks for that, Jim. I have a great relationship with my doctor and would not want to put him in that position of having to say no...though I know he would say it with tact...lol...like your post.

 

I shall follow my original course and leave that discussion to a time when I may need it...

 

Thanks again!

I had Covid for the first time ever three weeks ago and it was on a weekend and I didn't want to wait until Monday to get Paxlovid. I went to Plushcare online and reported my positive case over FaceTime to a doctor, and they prescribed Paxlovid to me. I only had to pay $69 for the online visit. More than my usual $35 co-pay, but worth it to get Paxlovid quickly. And Paxlovid has a $0 co-pay. 

 

I didn't have to show any proof of my positive status to the doctor to get Paxlovid, so you could just do that if you're comfortable lying for the purpose of saving $800 if you contract it on the cruise, and get the backup prescription. 

Edited October 17, 2022 by njsmom

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

So if you wake up tomorrow and there is a new variant with higher risk of complications like it was at the beginning.  Would you still think we should throw our test kits away?

Hypothetical posts like this are pointless.

[zitsky]

1 minute ago, RichYak said:

Hypothetical posts like this are pointless.

Isn’t that like saying, it’s a hypothetical whether or not I’ll get the flu?  If you don’t get a flu shot do you really think you’ll just get lucky?

[RichYak]

3 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Isn’t that like saying, it’s a hypothetical whether or not I’ll get the flu?  If you don’t get a flu shot do you really think you’ll just get lucky?

No. Though it's also pointless, this comment didn't make up a new pretend variant.

[Fly and Sail]

I don't get why someone who voluntarily reports to medical for a Covid test then expresses dissatisfaction with the (well known) process and how bad the experience was. If you suspect you have Covid do what you have to do and not give all power to the cruise line by having yourself tested by them. OP could have gotten off in BCN or elsewhere at their own schedule and then do whatever they want to do.

 

This example proves once more that reporting to medical bay on the suspicion of Covid is the worst idea and nothing anyone should ever do.