QE in Aus - Covid

[Flickit]

If you have any health concerns MASK-UP as much as possible... 

 

I disembarked the QE today after a 14-day NZ cruise, there seemed to be quite a bit of covid and other illnesses onboard... 

 

There was a lot of coughing around the ship from day-1, my travel partner ended up with flu/covid-like symptoms around day-3, they had a chesty cough and a runny nose for the whole trip, but they tested negative for covid all the way through (probably thanks to the 6 covid shots they've had)...

 

Day-5 in Dunedin, and Day-6 in Wellington, ambulances arrived to take passengers away.

 

Around day-10 the captain made an announcement about the level of 'respiratory illness' onboard and over-emphasized the need to sanitize and such... 

 

Towards the end of the cruise I noticed the 'HIT Squad' in the halls, I believe they're a deep-clean room sanitizing crew... 

 

I ended up with covid around 5-days into the 14-day cruise even though I was very OCD with hand sanitizing & hand washing, we mainly ate in the MDR, and we avoided crowds for the most part... I suspect I caught it from people coughing on the shuttle bus between Melbourne airport and the port on day-1, or from a guy that coughed in my face in the elevator at close range on day-2, ugh...

 

I've only had 2 covid shots, back in 2021, I regret not getting a booster before this cruise, young (52) and foolish !... 

 

 

[Host Hattie]

Sorry to hear about the Covid, I hope you're fully recovered  now.

[Flickit]

Just now, Host Hattie said:

Sorry to hear about the Covid, I hope you're fully recovered  now.

 

I'm testing negative but I'm certainly not over it, I wonder if it's lingering symptoms or if I may have caught the flu in the last couple of days, lol... 

 

I've never had covid before so it's all been a bit of a learning experience... 

 

On the upside, it hasn't turned me off cruising and I'm looking at booking another QE cruise before she stops home-porting in Australia 🙂 

[Flickit]

A correction: The cruise was the 3rd to the 17th of Dec, the Captains announcement about 'Respiratory Illness' was on the morning of the 15th, here's the last half of it: 

 

 

 

A couple of other things:

- I went into this cruise prepared for covid, case numbers in Aus have been picking up slightly in recent times so I was expecting there to be some onboard... 

- I embarked with 20 Covid test kits (Most Aussie states still hand them out for free), we used most of them.. Due to my travel partners early symptoms, and with me testing positive, they tested every day from day-3 onwards.. I tested for 7 days, from getting a sore throat and testing positive, until I tested negative... 

- I embarked with a good supply of throat lozenges (thankfully!), Anticol, Soothers, Fishermans Friends, Vicks-Vapodrops, and 'Strepsils Anaesthetic', I found the Anticol and Fishermans-Friends the best for taming the sore throat and cough, my travel-partner preferred the Vicks for their non-covid cough/tickle... 

- I had a good supply of ibuprofen, (I prefer them over Panadol), I went through quite a few, 2 morning, 2 early PM, and 2 at night, from testing positive until the end, I believe they helped with the body & head aches... 

- I took on a couple of packs of anti-bacterial wipes, from testing 'positive' until the end I frequently wiped down the cabin and bathroom surfaces in an attempt to prevent my travel-partner catching it also...