Covid!...Is it just us?

[Galesa]

Every second post on our local cc forum is Covid related it seems. Understandable as there's lots happening in that space here in Australia.

 

By comparison, the cruise line specific forum (fora?) on CC, particularly Princess and HAL, which seem to have a significant US contributing community, are concerning themselves more with the usual and more mundane cruise related topics,  with only the odd Covid related post.

 

Additionally, popular YouTube cruise vloggers such as UK based Emma Cruises and Gary Bembridge, eg, rarely mention Covid these days. Even in their live stream Q&As they're rarely asked about Covid issues 

 

Is Covid on cruise ships a bigger problem in Aus/NZ than in other places?

 

Are we more prone to Covid for some reason?

 

Is it just us?

Edited December 1, 2022 by Galesa

[MMDown Under]

No, I don't believe so.

I follow a world cruiser (14 years) who cruised the Caribbean this year instead.  She caught covid and was transferred with her husband to a hotel in Fort Lauderdale.  This kept the covid on board numbers low and allowed the ship to continue visiting Caribbean islands.  She and her husband returned to the ship after she was negative.  I had concerns for people visiting that hotel not knowing covid patients were living there  In a nutshell, i believe there is a lack of honesty.  I have lost trust in our State and Federal Governments keeping the public fully informed re covid.  The Wesley Hospital, a private hospital in Brisbane, is the first hospital to launch a Long Covid Clinic.It has now expanded to the General Public.  

My girlfriend and her son in NY were the first people I'd heard of who caught Long Covid early in the pandemic..  This is not new. They live in a community where a local Orthodox Jewish community doesn't follow any rules (my girlfriend is Jewish).

[Cruisers47]

Hi

 

yes I wondered that.

 

we have done three cruises since they started again.

 

one around the UK, out of Amsterdam.   We are Diamond on RC so attended the diamond lounge where there was quite a few people and nobody mentioned Covid.  Not many wore masks!

 

then we did two out of Rome and again went to the diamond club and met a few pinnacle pax..who tend to know everything that is going on…nobody mentioned Covid.

 

have to mention that on the new RC ships there are sinks and somebody asking you to wash our hands before you go into the buffet and most people did.   Only a few did not!

 

is it just because of this new Covid variant that has just hit Australia.

 

Eileen

[Cbtours]

9 minutes ago, Galesa said:

Every second post on our local cc forum is Covid related it seems. Understandable as there's lots happening in that space here in Australia.

 

By comparison, the cruise line specific forum (fora?) on CC, particularly Princess and HAL, which seem to have a significant US contributing community, are concerning themselves more with the usual and more mundane cruise related topics,  with only the odd Covid related post.

 

Additionally, popular YouTube cruise vloggers such as UK based Emma Cruises and Gary Bembridge, eg, rarely mention Covid these days. Even in their live stream Q&As they're rarely asked about Covid issues 

 

Is Covid on cruise ships a bigger problem in Aus/NZ than in other places?

 

Are we more prone to Covid for some reason?

 

Is it just us?

Our personal opinion……… (I’m sure others will have different opinions but this is ours and our experience)

it is mainly government restrictions aimed at cruising! It is mainly Australia that is affected by these rules. And only cruising.

 

After debarking 28 day round Australia nov 8th, (where my husband had tested positive and iso for five days, I was in same cabin whole time and never got). He only had mild cold symptoms like many we spoke too. We know it is real but it has to start being treated like cold/flu. Some immunity compromised people will die from flu and respiratory illness too and that’s sad, but covid and the whole handling of it has produced a fear in people that doesn’t seem to want to let go.

 

we are now in South Africa having traveled back to my husband’s home country for first time in three years due to travel restrictions. To fly here, We did not have to provide any tests whatsoever, no mask’s required and very rarely did we see one. Those are Australia rules btw. Remember it’s only cruising that is restricted.

 

Our main flight was 14 hours long.

nothing needed to enter this country either. South Africa is 6.5 times smaller than Australia but has 65 million people. They had approximately one year (ie 2020) of restrictions. No one mentions covid, no one wears mask, no distancing etc! Life if totally normal. People are not dying any, no mass panic, no mass people with covid. It’s not reported, figures? Fear? None of it.

and the vaccine rate is currently about 46% of the country fully vax, with two doses.

 

so I know covid is real, we lost friends here in South Africa at the start. I am not negating it at all, but the world has basically moved on and I can’t wait til Australia catches up. 
 

our next cruise is in may to Alaska. Canada have dropped all restrictions for cruising. We can’t wait 🥰🥰🥰

[arxcards]

We do have a somewhat unexpected surge. That has turned it into a hot topic again, with many contributors here catching it aboard, or taking it home at the end of a cruise. A few of the posts here recently have been from overseas contributors, so it isn't just us.

 

Our local forum page is largely unmoderated, and much of our covid discussions are off-topic vs CC rules. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2786315-policy-regarding-covid-related-discussions/ If we were to have the same topics on the various cruise line boards, they would be moderated & removed. That accounts for much less covid content, as those rules were created to take away the covid dominance from those boards that was present 18 months ago.

 

Vloggers and social media "influencers" do not talk about covid. In fact, they could catch it on a cruise and not even mention it. When you are given free cruises in return for social media influence, you are soon removed from the invite list if you comment much about any negative sides of cruising. When viewing/reading their content, you need to think about the things that have been glossed over or not mentioned at all. Often it is because it was something they didn't like or enjoy, but dare not bite the hand that feeds them. They are not telling porkies, but not telling the whole truth either. The whole if you can't say something good, don't say something at all rationale - so everything is awesome!

 

Just my thoughts. It is a bit much at present, so I hope it all dies down soon. It is still an issue everywhere, but we are at the head of the class ATM.

Edited December 1, 2022 by arxcards
spelun

[bazzaw]

Here in Qld, we used to get daily FB posts from the Govt - detailing cases, deaths , hospitalisations and Icu admissions. The daily numbers caused great fear ( AND paranoia) in the Community. For me I ignored completely the "case" numbers as there was no way to gauge the impact of those case numbers on me personally - I ignored the hospitalisation numbers soon after I realised that they were including positive cases who sheltered at home as being "hospitalisations" - I ignored death numbers as most older people die with many  "causes" - so I only took notice of ICU admissions  , on the basis that people are not admitted to ICU unless there is a VERY good reason ! Wife and I (76 and 70yo) have not yet caught the virus - don't know what we are doing that all these thousands of so-called cases are not doing , maybe the same thing we have done all along to avoid ever getting Norovirus when it was rampant on ships? And my personal strategy has prevented us from getting that highly contagious Paranoia virus. 

[Elorac123]

Interesting also that passengers in Uk and US no longer are required to be double vaccinated (these two original vaccinations have long since lost there potency)

Cheers Carole

[Duck Creek]

When cruising restarted overseas, there were many, many  posts on CC about Covid for a lot of the cruise lines. This included people who were quarantined on ships and others asking general questions. 

 

But remember that their restart was many months ahead of Aust/NZ. So now that subject has started to wane.

 

Also a lot of cruises out of the US are quite short ie 4, 5, 7 days. So if people get sick they usually find out after they get home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DenGNNJ]

Hi.  Our Australia / New Zealand cruise starts on Jan 4, so I’ve naturally been reading the CC boards in earnest to get a sense of what’s going on with you fine folks that we’re so excited to meet and visit for the first time.

 

For what it’s worth, this will be our 3rd cruise since the opening and here is a little perspective… our first post-Covid cruise was Alaska and everyone in our group were super cautious about Covid.  Even though the mask mandates had lifted by then, I still carried a mask in my pocket for the elevators and other places where social distancing were impossible.  Despite recommendations of elevator occupancy limits, people still piled in unmasked and when that happened I simply waited for the next.  I also used the stairs whenever possible because of this.  This cruise was at 70%-80% capacity and the cruise line made provisions to enforce social distancing in enclosed spaces (roped off seats in the theater, put signs on sofas and other seats, etc.)

 

Next cruise was Mexican Riviera and it was easy to do the prudent thing because we were on a 2850 capacity ship with only 1200 passengers on it.  Lifts were empty all the time and so we’re the restaurants, theater, and other social spaces.  Our previous cautions though were thrown out the window so to speak, and masking up for anything wasn’t even a thought.  The ship was so empty that one did not have to actively social distance… it more or less happened organically and the roped off theater seats and signs in inside spaces were gone.  Plus, we had a greater sense that nothing bad was going to happen anyway, so why bother?

 

To answer the OPs question… “I don’t think so and I sure as hell hope not”.  If you are in fact experiencing a spate of positive Covid cases on board cruise ships down under, there’s likely plenty of blame to go around… the cruise company’s sense of over confidence in their protocols by running at full capacity, nonexistent or non enforcement of common sense mitigation measures, and the plain old fashioned stupidity and absentmindedness of a good portion of our fellow passengers would be where I would start pointing the fingers.

 

Now for our 3rd and longest cruise yet to come, to say we’re nervous about Covid would be an understatement.  We’re planning on going back to our cautious ways before (because of a pre cruise test requirement), and during our cruise (because we don’t want to have to quarantine on board), even though we’ll be on a smallish Azamara ship that likely won’t be at full capacity.  
 

Regarding masks… of course being maskless 100% of the time while cruising would be great but mandate or no mandate, we’ll have our masks at the ready so we can help protect ourselves as best we can.

 

Seems to me we went through a period of 10 to 1, where 10 = the strictest Covid measures and 1 = the most lax, whereas you folks are starting at a 3.

 

Oh well, thanks for reading through… I feel better now … LOL!

 

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by DenGNNJ

[DenGNNJ]

1 hour ago, DenGNNJ said:

...and the plain old fashioned stupidity and absentmindedness of a good portion of our fellow passengers would be where I would start pointing the fingers.

By the way, you can include us in that lot sometimes.  Nobody's perfect, especially us. 🙂

[capriccio]

@DenGNNJ Very well said!  We have the same concerns and a similar cruising history: 

 

• January 2022: at the height of Omicron here in the States my DH and I took a 7 day Caribbean cruise on the Caribbean Princess.  There were fewer than 900 passengers (33% capacity) and over 1,100 crew.  Masking for all was enforced. That was easy to do when there were that few passengers.  Those not wearing a mask or wearing it incorrectly stood out and were called out (politely) by the fully masked crew.  

 

• March 2022: we took a 10 day Caribbean cruise on the Enchanted Princess at 66% capacity with my 2 brothers and their spouses (all vaccinated and double boosted).  Masking was required at embarkation, disembarkation, in elevators, on tenders, in the theater (although many removed them when the lights went down), and on Princess excursions (the only kind we took since many private excursion operators had gone out of business or not yet resumed business).  Mask wearing was recommended elsewhere on the ship.  Some of the ports had mask requirements and took temperatures upon disembarkation.  On the last day one brother and his wife started feeling bad (one had a headache, one had nasal congestion) and tested positive when they got home.  They had spent lots of time in the gym unmasked but that is just a hypothesis that they caught Covid there.  Their cases were very mild and the rest of us didn't catch it (we tested to make sure we weren't asymptomatic).

 

• March and April 2023:  We have a once in a lifetime vacation planned with my sister, two brothers, and all their spouses that involves flights from Washington, DC to Sydney, 4 days in Sydney, flight to Christchurch, 7 day private tour of the South Island, flight back to Sydney, 2 days in Sydney, 28 day Round Australia cruise on the Coral Princess (which has been sold out for the most part since the day bookings started so we're expecting it to be at capacity), 1 extra day in Sydney, and flights back to Washington, DC.  We've all had the new bivalent booster (and the flu shot) this fall but realize that immunity will have lessened by then so that's a concern.  We will be wearing our masks in airport terminals, on planes, in enclosed public transportation, and on the ship and hoping for the best.

 

Wishing you and all cruisers in Australian and New Zealand waters good health!

[losfp]

Six of one and half a dozen of another. 

 

IMO covid is pretty much present on all ships worldwide, and no region is particularly covid-prone compared to another. The main difference is the reporting in the media and the government restrictions in place.

 

Now, the EU and US have had a good 12 month head start on us so it's not that surprisingly that we have more reported cases. The longer cruises seem to have more reported cases (makes sense, given the few days that it takes for covid to become detectable) and the ships that order ship-wide testing seem to have more reported cases (again, makes sense).

 

What we can control is our own response. We're sailing on Majestic Princess on 3 Jan for a NZ cruise. We'll bring masks and sanitiser and do our best to protect ourselves and others. We don't tend to hang out in bars etc so that likely won't change much.  Fingers crossed anyway.

[Cbtours]

12 hours ago, capriccio said:

@DenGNNJ Very well said!  We have the same concerns and a similar cruising history: 

 

• January 2022: at the height of Omicron here in the States my DH and I took a 7 day Caribbean cruise on the Caribbean Princess.  There were fewer than 900 passengers (33% capacity) and over 1,100 crew.  Masking for all was enforced. That was easy to do when there were that few passengers.  Those not wearing a mask or wearing it incorrectly stood out and were called out (politely) by the fully masked crew.  

 

• March 2022: we took a 10 day Caribbean cruise on the Enchanted Princess at 66% capacity with my 2 brothers and their spouses (all vaccinated and double boosted).  Masking was required at embarkation, disembarkation, in elevators, on tenders, in the theater (although many removed them when the lights went down), and on Princess excursions (the only kind we took since many private excursion operators had gone out of business or not yet resumed business).  Mask wearing was recommended elsewhere on the ship.  Some of the ports had mask requirements and took temperatures upon disembarkation.  On the last day one brother and his wife started feeling bad (one had a headache, one had nasal congestion) and tested positive when they got home.  They had spent lots of time in the gym unmasked but that is just a hypothesis that they caught Covid there.  Their cases were very mild and the rest of us didn't catch it (we tested to make sure we weren't asymptomatic).

 

• March and April 2023:  We have a once in a lifetime vacation planned with my sister, two brothers, and all their spouses that involves flights from Washington, DC to Sydney, 4 days in Sydney, flight to Christchurch, 7 day private tour of the South Island, flight back to Sydney, 2 days in Sydney, 28 day Round Australia cruise on the Coral Princess (which has been sold out for the most part since the day bookings started so we're expecting it to be at capacity), 1 extra day in Sydney, and flights back to Washington, DC.  We've all had the new bivalent booster (and the flu shot) this fall but realize that immunity will have lessened by then so that's a concern.  We will be wearing our masks in airport terminals, on planes, in enclosed public transportation, and on the ship and hoping for the best.

 

Wishing you and all cruisers in Australian and New Zealand waters good health!

Wow awesome trip. Hope it’s as amazing for you 🥳

[kernow]

No you are not more prone, in our opinion just about a year or so behind us with your attitude to covid.

 

We are from the UK currently in Sydney. We flew out nearly 3 weeks ago to do a b2b on Ovation, we've already done 3 cruises from the UK since the restart. The first 2 were with limited capacity and masks and social distancing, the 3rd in May more or less back to normal bit still with a test to board. We didn't catch covid onboard or think there was much of it about but did hear of people with it after disembarkation. In the UK now it's more or less just treated like any other illness, similar to flu and most otherwise healthy people don't make a fuss about it.

 

We did our first cruise on Ovation, it was obvious staff and passengers were going down with it but nothing was ever announced publicly. I'm still doing a live report on the RCL page if you want more detail. On the last sea day of that cruise I tested positive. All b2b had to do a test and we heard of quite a few others who were also positive. We had to leave the ship( they did say they could try for an exception for me as I was an international guest but I would have had to isolate in the cabin for 7 days).

 

I'm fairly sure that if the cruise was in Europe or US there would have been no testing, no positives and we would have all just ignored it. It's not for me to say whether that is right or wrong but that is what is happening in the rest of the world.

 

 

[hiriser21]

On 12/1/2022 at 3:38 PM, Galesa said:

 

Are we more prone to Covid for some reason?

 

 

We shouldn't be since Australia has the highest population % that's vaxxed 🤫😳🤔.

Unless everyone's immune systems have been destroyed and not yet boosted.

[buchhalm]

On 12/1/2022 at 3:38 PM, Galesa said:

Every second post on our local cc forum is Covid related it seems. Understandable as there's lots happening in that space here in Australia.

 

By comparison, the cruise line specific forum (fora?) on CC, particularly Princess and HAL, which seem to have a significant US contributing community, are concerning themselves more with the usual and more mundane cruise related topics,  with only the odd Covid related post.

 

Additionally, popular YouTube cruise vloggers such as UK based Emma Cruises and Gary Bembridge, eg, rarely mention Covid these days. Even in their live stream Q&As they're rarely asked about Covid issues 

 

Is Covid on cruise ships a bigger problem in Aus/NZ than in other places?

 

Are we more prone to Covid for some reason?

 

Is it just us?

...the cruise line specific forum (fora?) on....

Fora conforms to the original Latin and forums is the Anglicized form

[pully8]

Interesting to read first hand reports.

We are yet to do a cruise post pandemic.

Our preferred cruises are small ship and river cruising.

We did a short Murray river on Proud Mary last year.

Flooding may strict those cruises. Time will tell.

Good to read most are reporting mild symptoms.

Streamlined access to antivirals will assist.

 

 

[Suzcruz75]

Just remember Australia is behind the rest of the world with regards to Covid. We didn’t really start getting the outbreaks and numbers of it until 2 years after the rest of the world. We had restrictions for a lot longer than the rest of the world with regards to borders, travel and that includes Cruising. 
 

Cruising only started back here in May and still has to follow all the government guidelines. It’s literally the only thing in the entire world now that has vaccination and testing requirements. If you get Covid on a ship here you are isolated but come end of cruise, off you go in a taxi, on a plane out into the world. 
 

Also I think the Media are still thinking it’s a money spinning story. I feel a bit like Princess is being scrutinised by the media due to the Ruby Princess saga at the start of Covid.

 

We have done 3 cruises this year since the start of cruising and not caught covid, happy to wear masks and very happy to keep cruising 

[MicCanberra]

Because AustraliaNZ cruising is still mandating covid testing, no where else is doing that anymore.

[LittleFish1976]

On 12/1/2022 at 4:03 PM, Cbtours said:

Our personal opinion……… (I’m sure others will have different opinions but this is ours and our experience)

it is mainly government restrictions aimed at cruising! It is mainly Australia that is affected by these rules. And only cruising.

 

After debarking 28 day round Australia nov 8th, (where my husband had tested positive and iso for five days, I was in same cabin whole time and never got). He only had mild cold symptoms like many we spoke too. We know it is real but it has to start being treated like cold/flu. Some immunity compromised people will die from flu and respiratory illness too and that’s sad, but covid and the whole handling of it has produced a fear in people that doesn’t seem to want to let go.

 

we are now in South Africa having traveled back to my husband’s home country for first time in three years due to travel restrictions. To fly here, We did not have to provide any tests whatsoever, no mask’s required and very rarely did we see one. Those are Australia rules btw. Remember it’s only cruising that is restricted.

 

Our main flight was 14 hours long.

nothing needed to enter this country either. South Africa is 6.5 times smaller than Australia but has 65 million people. They had approximately one year (ie 2020) of restrictions. No one mentions covid, no one wears mask, no distancing etc! Life if totally normal. People are not dying any, no mass panic, no mass people with covid. It’s not reported, figures? Fear? None of it.

and the vaccine rate is currently about 46% of the country fully vax, with two doses.

 

so I know covid is real, we lost friends here in South Africa at the start. I am not negating it at all, but the world has basically moved on and I can’t wait til Australia catches up. 
 

our next cruise is in may to Alaska. Canada have dropped all restrictions for cruising. We can’t wait 🥰🥰🥰

 

There are almost no covid restrictions apply to cruising any more though - are there? No proof of covid status required (people seem to be ignoring the requests for same); no masks required; no distancing enforced. And look how badly affected the cruise ships are by covid! I'd rather they had more restrictions or at least enforce some, such as having to prove you don't have covid before boarding - that would make a real difference. And why not test the pasengers on board every few days or so, so those who are positive aren't sharing their 'little gift' around with people who are trying to avoid it. Even if people were required to wear masks on their mouth and nose when boarding and disembarking when they're crowded together and breathing each others' air.

 

It can be very serious for many people including the consequences afterwards such as the sudden heart attacks etc. And yes, I have had covid (not thrilled about it) and would have ended up in hospital without anti-virals. My two adult kids also had it and were both quite ill.

 

The fact countries have dropped restrictions says more about the economic outcomes which preoccupy them and the fuss so many people have made about restrictions than that covid is so unimportant that it can be ignored.

 

 

[LittleFish1976]

9 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Because AustraliaNZ cruising is still mandating covid testing, no where else is doing that anymore.

 

Do you mean the negative test that is requested to be carried out prior to boarding but not checked for most passengers?

 

[MicCanberra]

3 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

Do you mean the negative test that is requested to be carried out prior to boarding but not checked for most passengers?

 

Yes.

[LittleFish1976]

3 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Yes.

 

I've been disappointed to read that because the cruise lines are not checking most people's results, that people are now not even taking the test-taking seriously. Either not doing it or not doing it properly.

 

 

[MicCanberra]

15 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

I've been disappointed to read that because the cruise lines are not checking most people's results, that people are now not even taking the test-taking seriously. Either not doing it or not doing it properly.

 

 

What I meant is that a test prior to boarding is not required for overseas cruises but it is still required here