Navigating Covid on Koningsdam

[fellswoop]

Just was on Jan 14th to Hawaii and got back Jan 31st. We are vaxed and triple boosted. My husband tested positive on Tues Jan 24th day 11 of cruise. We went on the cruise with an open mind knowing the possibilities.  We've been on over 30 cruises. I am a nurse and decided to decrease our risks by masking in elevators,hallways theater, and crowded venues. We masked in our two excursion vans too and in 2 Ubers we took in ports. I'd say fewer then 4% were masking.  We followed protocol and notified Guest Services that we had a positive self test. They then notified Medical and they called us. They accepted his positive self test but because mine was negative (and no symptoms) I was told to report 9a next day to Medical for another test. This started the isolation protocols and our room stewart or anyone could no longer enter our room. They sent expanded menus which were ok. ( I mean eggs benny for breakfast)The next day and on one additional day they sent liter water bottles.  Guest Services called daily to check on us and see if we needed anything like linen, towels, trash pickup. I tested negative again next morning. I called Guest Services and asked if there was another room I could move to but they said they don't do that anymore.  Ok so I'm expecting to test positive any day but I ended up with 5 negative tests. How? I dunno. But I wore a mask in room (not at night), washed my hands a lot, and because I was NOT in isolation I could still leave the room. Bummer for him but luckily he only had a cough for 4 days and fever l01.9 at worst and he was feeling good by day 5 of 6 day isolation. I asked  Medical about paxlovid on his day 2 and it would be $750 plus $90 to see MD. We decided against it cuz he wasn't that bad and paxlovid isn't without problems. So I had to test 2 days in a row in Medical then every other day. Plus I tested with tests I brought just to double check. Luckily (and I highly recommend this to everyone) I brought 8 test kits plus mucinex, dayquil and niquil, advil  and cough medicine for "just in case" and it was all needed. On day 6 which was our last full day at sea (and arriving in Ensenada at 3p) the nurse came to the room in the morning and he tested negative.  We were glad cuz if he was positive we were going to cancel our flight next day and rent a car to drive 5 hrs home from San Diego.  Also we avoided all the protocols in place to disembark. Overall we made the the best of it. I wish room service would have picked our trays up more timely. We were required to but them in hallway and our room attendants were not allowed to touch them. Once we had breakfast  lunch and dinner trays in hall all day and we had made 6 calls for pickup over the course of the day including reporting to Guest Services  but they just did not have enough help.

Oh...on day 2 he got a letter saying fcc for days in isolation would be put in his account.  We'll follow up on that

Made it home and he started with sinus issues and we tested again and he is positive and back in isolation. I saw the test the nurse took and it was clearly negative but I can't speculate. Anyway our prevention measures were in place but things happen. Doing a transatlantic in April and we will still do the same masking.

 

Any questions?

[julia]

Thank you SO much for your timely and informative post.  I'm sorry that your cruise was impacted, but you both handled the situation well.  We sail on the K in two weeks, and I will now beef up my already packed med kit.  Best wishes to you both.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Sounds like you did the best you could do to avoid catching it. But sometimes COVID happens and you don't really know when/where you caught it. I find it interesting that two people sharing a rather small space can end up with only one getting sick. But there are a lot of those stories, so it shows that different people have different susceptibilities or resistances. 

 

I also travel with tests and a med kit for alleviating symptoms. Not as extensive as yours, but enough for my usual "caught a cold" needs. I also travel with saline nasal spray because dry air makes me more susceptible to respiratory infections. 

 

I got COVID toward the end of a cruise in September. I wore a mask in elevators, shows, most of the time except meals. But it got me. Slight scratchy throat on a Monday, chills Monday night, was a zombie and slept all day Tuesday, but no other symptoms. I tested Tuesday, and it was negative, so I didn't ask about Paxlovid. And by Wednesday, I was out and about in port. I thought it was the flu because I hadn't got my flu shot yet and I "wasn't sick enough" for it to be COVID. I tested on the Friday, after I got home, mainly out of curiosity, and I was positive although I felt fine. 

 

I suspect the sinus infection was the result of flying home. Those changes in air pressure can drive even a light resp infection way into the sinuses, where they're hard to get rid of. 

 

I do have a question about the tray pickup. Since you weren't moved, you were in a hallway with nonquarantined passengers. Did they give you any kind of cover to put over the tray? Not that I expect anyone to poke around in someone's leftovers, but if they're quarantining a passenger and not letting your steward take your trays, they should be more attentive to pickups. I also think you should have been given a bottle of water every day. 

[fellswoop]

Also wanted to add I was allowed to leave room but only with a mask.

[57redbird]

22 minutes ago, julia said:

Thank you SO much for your timely and informative post.  I'm sorry that your cruise was impacted, but you both handled the situation well.  We sail on the K in two weeks, and I will now beef up my already packed med kit.  Best wishes to you both.

Yes, thanks...& I am also adding to what I've already purchased.

[fellswoop]

15 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Sounds like you did the best you could do to avoid catching it. But sometimes COVID happens and you don't really know when/where you caught it. I find it interesting that two people sharing a rather small space can end up with only one getting sick. But there are a lot of those stories, so it shows that different people have different susceptibilities or resistances. 

 

I also travel with tests and a med kit for alleviating symptoms. Not as extensive as yours, but enough for my usual "caught a cold" needs. I also travel with saline nasal spray because dry air makes me more susceptible to respiratory infections. 

 

I got COVID toward the end of a cruise in September. I wore a mask in elevators, shows, most of the time except meals. But it got me. Slight scratchy throat on a Monday, chills Monday night, was a zombie and slept all day Tuesday, but no other symptoms. I tested Tuesday, and it was negative, so I didn't ask about Paxlovid. And by Wednesday, I was out and about in port. I thought it was the flu because I hadn't got my flu shot yet and I "wasn't sick enough" for it to be COVID. I tested on the Friday, after I got home, mainly out of curiosity, and I was positive although I felt fine. 

 

I suspect the sinus infection was the result of flying home. Those changes in air pressure can drive even a light resp infection way into the sinuses, where they're hard to get rid of. 

 

I do have a question about the tray pickup. Since you weren't moved, you were in a hallway with nonquarantined passengers. Did they give you any kind of cover to put over the tray? Not that I expect anyone to poke around in someone's leftovers, but if they're quarantining a passenger and not letting your steward take your trays, they should be more attentive to pickups. I also think you should have been given a bottle of water every day. 

We probably could have gotten more water had we asked.  But we did have the drink package so I asked if we could drink the  mini bar refrigerator contents for no charge and was told no by Guest Services. So I asked our room steward if he throws away mini bar after we leave and he said they sanitize the bottles. 

Luckily because I could still leave with a mask, I was bringing drinks back from the bar. 

Regarding the trays....they all came with the covered metal tops on most things so when we put them in the hall we made a point of not having any food visible. Plus they were identified with blue napkins which we then spread out over the trays to cover everything. I'm guessing our hallway neighbors could figure out we were in isolation. Only once that I noticed did someone put a bunch of their trash on our trays in hall. Also food delivery people could not come in room so we had to hold door and bring in food items one at a time till tray was light enough to carry it in.

[deepwater]

We were also on this cruise and we wore masks when in public areas except when eating or drinking.  We got strange looks from some of the unmasked people. We managed to stay healthy.  We also had a supply of tests and meds but didn't need them.  I'm sorry for your covid situation.  I wondered why food trays would set outside doors for so long. 

[Josie201]

22 minutes ago, fellswoop said:

We probably could have gotten more water had we asked.  But we did have the drink package so I asked if we could drink the  mini bar refrigerator contents for no charge and was told no by Guest Services. So I asked our room steward if he throws away mini bar after we leave and he said they sanitize the bottles. 

Luckily because I could still leave with a mask, I was bringing drinks back from the bar. 

Regarding the trays....they all came with the covered metal tops on most things so when we put them in the hall we made a point of not having any food visible. Plus they were identified with blue napkins which we then spread out over the trays to cover everything. I'm guessing our hallway neighbors could figure out we were in isolation. Only once that I noticed did someone put a bunch of their trash on our trays in hall. Also food delivery people could not come in room so we had to hold door and bring in food items one at a time till tray was light enough to carry it in.

Were you by any chance on deck 5 aft ….?   We had someone across the hall we assumed was positive because of the trays, the blue napkins and all the menus in the mail box.  

[fellswoop]

25 minutes ago, Josie201 said:

Were you by any chance on deck 5 aft ….?   We had someone across the hall we assumed was positive because of the trays, the blue napkins and all the menus in the mail box.  

We were 5 mid in a Vista Suite. No one across from us. Wished we could know how many were testing positive but they were tight lipped. I asked twice. I can say on our last evening meal before getting out of isolation we had ordered 8p delivery for our dinner and it arrived at 7:25p with an apology from the isolation tray delivery person that he had to come early as he had too many trays to deliver. 🤔

[DoorCounty]

COVID cabins have a red dot on the plaque next to door. Our VOV cruise had over 200 cases & we were masked except outside. Never got COVID, not even at home.

[fellswoop]

1 minute ago, DoorCounty said:

COVID cabins have a red dot on the plaque next to door. Our VOV cruise had over 200 cases & we were masked except outside. Never got COVID, not even at home.

We had no designations whatsoever on our door nor should we. Everyone who came to our door were ship staff and they were aware and wearing masks.

[SilvertoGold]

Just now, fellswoop said:

We had no designations whatsoever on our door nor should we. Everyone who came to our door were ship staff and they were aware and wearing masks.

Your description of your adventures with Covid is really excellent.  It hits all my questions and is a very valuable read for anyone cruising on HAL in the near future.  Thanks for taking the time to write this up!

[DoorCounty]

That’s how Zaandam handled it. One day was too wet to walk the Promanade so we walked the 7 decks counting the red dots. 

[Josie201]

Thanks for sharing your experience.  There was so much coughing on the ship including ourselves.  But we never tested positive.  

[seaoma]

@fellswoop Thanks for your comprehensive post. I also appreciate you following protocol by calling about your husband's positive test. It seems to me that having one person in a cabin that isn't positive makes some of the quarantine a little better, if for no other reason, than a drink runner. 😄 

 

 Hope your husband is doing well.

 

Do you mind answering some of my questions? Where did you dine most often? Did you see the shows or spend time in the clubs? Did you spend much time in the casino or the Crows Nest? Do you have any idea where you think people are the most vulnerable on the ship?

[J&Dhighdesert]

I was also on this cruise and on deck 5.  There were two blues trays near the rear of the ship.  My travel campion now has Covid.  Her nephew sent her with medicine to take in case she had it on the ship.  She did go to the shows, but did not wear a mask.  For breakfast, we ate breakfast by the pool.  She had lunch in the Lido and dinner in the dining room.  Our table mate had Covid.  Because she spoke so softly, I was very close to her so I could hear what she was saying.  One member of our CCgroup had Covid, and his wife not.  She also shared a room, but she wore a mask also.  They definitely kept the cases hush, hush.

[fellswoop]

33 minutes ago, seaoma said:

@fellswoop Thanks for your comprehensive post. I also appreciate you following protocol by calling about your husband's positive test. It seems to me that having one person in a cabin that isn't positive makes some of the quarantine a little better, if for no other reason, than a drink runner. 😄 

 

 Hope your husband is doing well.

 

Do you mind answering some of my questions? Where did you dine most often? Did you see the shows or spend time in the clubs? Did you spend much time in the casino or the Crows Nest? Do you have any idea where you think people are the most vulnerable on the ship?

We were Club Orange so ate there except for a dinner and lunch at Pinnacle. Orange Club dining is more closed in than MDR but we seemed mostly distanced.  We had not eaten in the buffet at all however we had walked thru several times. Breakfast in our room daily. Lunch on all those sea days was pizza and burgers or Dutch Cafe and once in MDR. The riskiest venue that we attended was twice at the Rollin Rock. That is a very crowded low ceiling packed in venue. We wore our masks to our table but then took them off for drinks. Who knows? 🤷‍♀️  Also it could have been in Waikiki though even there we masked whenever going in shops and in Uber. We went to one show at World Stage and wore masks plus our 3 excursions met at World Stage and we wore masks while waiting in there. Walked thru casino but never stopped. Up in Crows Nest and had mask off for a drink but when I went there alone (before he tested pos)and  I wore mask the whole time. I know someone mentioned some people looked at them funny for wearing a mask but being an RN, I didn't care about that. I'm a firm believer in you do you. However  you would not catch me in a packed elevator without a mask. And we go on Niew Statendam for a TA to Barcelona in April and we decided we will not be going to any music venues. 😥

One nice thing was during isolation we had a scheduled dinner at Tamarind which was part of the Have It All package and we had to go thru Room Service but ordered off Tamarind menu (and 3 appetizers) and it was all delivered still fairly warm. They did tell us we could order from any restaurant but charges applied when applicable. 

Most vulnerable  places in my opinion....crowded music venues, theater, elevators, sitiing next to others directly at a bar counter. Ocean Bar and Tamarind Bar seem more social distanced. PS... Tamarind bar is a beautiful secret and not crowded but is out of the way.

[seaoma]

29 minutes ago, fellswoop said:

Most vulnerable  places in my opinion....crowded music venues, theater, elevators, sitiing next to others directly at a bar counter.

 

I agree with you about the places that you find risky and we also wear masks(N95) and will continue to do so. I like a nurse that wears a mask! Thanks.

 

I think HAL could easily add some additional ventilation to some of those risky areas that would help.

 

On our last cruise we didn't use the elevators when we were masked. We walked the stairs. Needless to say, after 3 weeks, my pants were loose. 

 

I also felt uncomfortable in Pinnacle one evening but they were busy and there was one lady a few tables from us that coughed every 6 minutes. i thought for sure one of us would get sick. Never mind that it bothered me, but I couldn't understand how she thought she was having a nice dinner. I would not sit in any restaurant, anywhere, and cough that much.

 

We have actually upgraded our next cruise cabin because we anticipate spending more time there than in the past. Yep, no evening shows or music clubs for us, either. And now that you put the idea of ordering from the specialty restaurants in my mind, we won't be going to the dining room much either. I hope it's just not for those in quarantine. 

 

It seems that there were several cases on the Koningsdam. Actually, I wish the captains would let passengers know when there is covid circulating onboard. Maybe more people would increase their precautions then. 

 

We cruise the Caribbean in March just because we were going to be in Florida anyway so we will see how successful we are in avoiding the virus. 

 

I hope you and your husband have a nice, healthy TA in April. 

[seaoma]

1 hour ago, J&Dhighdesert said:

I was also on this cruise and on deck 5.  There were two blues trays near the rear of the ship.  My travel campion now has Covid.  Her nephew sent her with medicine to take in case she had it on the ship.  She did go to the shows, but did not wear a mask.  For breakfast, we ate breakfast by the pool.  She had lunch in the Lido and dinner in the dining room.  Our table mate had Covid.  Because she spoke so softly, I was very close to her so I could hear what she was saying.  One member of our CCgroup had Covid, and his wife not.  She also shared a room, but she wore a mask also.  They definitely kept the cases hush, hush.

 

You didn't say whether you wore a mask or not.😁

 

Yes, the cruise lines don't want you to know how many people on your ship have covid, so people will keep booking cruises. They don't see any reason to help mitigate the number of people onboard that get covid so they are fine with having people sick onboard cruises that need additional help from their already shorthanded crew. 

[rubytue]

8 minutes ago, seaoma said:

We have actually upgraded our next cruise cabin because we anticipate spending more time there than in the past. Yep, no evening shows or music clubs for us, either. And now that you put the idea of ordering from the specialty restaurants in my mind, we won't be going to the dining room much either. I hope it's just not for those in quarantine. 

We did an Alaskan cruise over the summer, and every meal save one Pinnacle Grill, was either outside on the back deck or room service. The dining room food for room service was excellent! We also masked in elevators and the couple shows we went to. No Covid. 

 

Just got back from another cruise on another line, where I threw caution to the wind and lost. 3rd cruise post Covid, my 1st case of Covid. 

[seaoma]

4 minutes ago, rubytue said:

We did an Alaskan cruise over the summer, and every meal save one Pinnacle Grill, was either outside on the back deck or room service. The dining room food for room service was excellent! We also masked in elevators and the couple shows we went to. No Covid. 

 

Just got back from another cruise on another line, where I threw caution to the wind and lost. 3rd cruise post Covid, my 1st case of Covid. 

 

OH NO! What did you do differently? 

[rubytue]

Just now, seaoma said:

 

OH NO! What did you do differently? 

Oh, pretty much everything. 🤣 

 

It was a rock music charter, I went with girlfriends not my husband. Crammed into elevators, shows, etc. Eating indoors. Half of my girlfriend group are MDs or DOs. And, I pretty much looked around at everyone not wearing a mask and acting like nothing to worry about, and decided if they could and be fine, why can’t I?  *sigh*  Out if 10 of us, 5 got Covid, 1 flu. 

 

I’m completely recovered now (thanks paxlovid!). So that’s good. 

[seaoma]

2 minutes ago, rubytue said:

Oh, pretty much everything. 🤣 

 

It was a rock music charter, I went with girlfriends not my husband. Crammed into elevators, shows, etc. Eating indoors. Half of my girlfriend group are MDs or DOs. And, I pretty much looked around at everyone not wearing a mask and acting like nothing to worry about, and decided if they could and be fine, why can’t I?  *sigh*  Out if 10 of us, 5 got Covid, 1 flu. 

 

I’m completely recovered now (thanks paxlovid!). So that’s good. 

 

Well, I have to laugh. If that were me, there would have been alcohol involved, so I can understand.

 

I'm glad you've recovered but I'm going to use your story. The percentage of sickness in just your group is horrible! What must it have been on the ship? 

 

Well, I'm convinced that I will keep my plans for my behavior in March. Another, boring, waited on hand and foot cruise in the Caribbean. It could be worse.

[rubytue]

32 minutes ago, seaoma said:

I'm glad you've recovered but I'm going to use your story. The percentage of sickness in just your group is horrible! What must it have been on the ship? 

Well, in our group, I think I was patient zero. Only 3 people tested positive while on the ship (known because we debarked together). I tested positive on day 4. 
 

Based on only the people answering a poll in the group, 4% of the passengers ended up with Covid. But that’s a guaranteed undercount. Based on this post versus my experience on the other line (NCL), well, let’s just say I much prefer HAL in so many ways. But, it’s a whole ship charter, and the charter company is a subsidiary of NCL… 

 

 

Edited February 6, 2023 by rubytue

[Ingnacious]

I was on a Viking cruise in November. Because of port requirements, we had to test everyday.I really believed the testing helped keep the numbers to under 14 (only know this number since 2 ports refused us even though we had less than 1% infection rate of all souls aboard per the captain). Very few masked. My friend and I did mask on elevators and when on excursions or in other closed areas. Never got Covid. The tell tale sign of those who had it were the trays and menus on the outside of the cabin,

 

I know the bigger ships can’t afford the testing, but it really helped stop the spread.