Covid & Disembarkation

[Nukesailor]

Just off the Ruby Princess Dec. 30, 2023 - Jan. 9 2024 Half-Panama Canal out of Ft. Lauderdale.  Came down with Covid on Day 8; self-tested positive.  Isolated in cabin Day 9 after reporting the Covid to the Guest Relations Desk.  Got a call back from their medical asking questions about severity, symptoms, etc.  Was told to isolate in our cabin (both of us).  Looks like there was a lot of Covid on the ship; nobody would give me a straight answer about this. Some interesting observations:

• Because we were isolated, room service meals included anything from the dining room menus (not that I really felt like eating), not just the usual limited room service menu.  And it was complimentary.
• I didn't see anyone checking to see if we remained in the cabin, then, again, with the medallion, they know where you are.
• For disembarkation, we were placed in a separate group of other Covid sickies and were to be off the ship at 7:30AM.  The night before, one of the Guest Relations people came around to photograph our passports - per arrangements with Customs & Immigration, we were to bypass customs to avoid crowds.  Also, they were giving out special instructions & luggage tags, Red #1, for this; she had quite a stack of these.  At 7:30AM, they came to our cabin and escorted us to the conference room near the Princess Theater.  A number of other Covid passengers also showed up.  We were then escorted to the crew gangway on Deck 4.  This led immediately to the dock at a gate near where the shuttle busses parked.  We were then escorted across the dock to the gate and allowed to leave.  I noticed a stack of red-tagged luggage there (we were walk-off).  That was it.  No customs or passport check.

 

Should have worn our masks more.  Very few were.

 

Art

[DHP1]

Covid is not going away and we all need to be careful.  

[tonit964]

Masks are no guarantee you won’t get it. 

[mthomp5]

51 minutes ago, Nukesailor said:

Just off the Ruby Princess Dec. 30, 2023 - Jan. 9 2024 Half-Panama Canal out of Ft. Lauderdale.  Came down with Covid on Day 8; self-tested positive.  Isolated in cabin Day 9 after reporting the Covid to the Guest Relations Desk.  Got a call back from their medical asking questions about severity, symptoms, etc.  Was told to isolate in our cabin (both of us).  Looks like there was a lot of Covid on the ship; nobody would give me a straight answer about this. Some interesting observations:

• Because we were isolated, room service meals included anything from the dining room menus (not that I really felt like eating), not just the usual limited room service menu.  And it was complimentary.
• I didn't see anyone checking to see if we remained in the cabin, then, again, with the medallion, they know where you are.
• For disembarkation, we were placed in a separate group of other Covid sickies and were to be off the ship at 7:30AM.  The night before, one of the Guest Relations people came around to photograph our passports - per arrangements with Customs & Immigration, we were to bypass customs to avoid crowds.  Also, they were giving out special instructions & luggage tags, Red #1, for this; she had quite a stack of these.  At 7:30AM, they came to our cabin and escorted us to the conference room near the Princess Theater.  A number of other Covid passengers also showed up.  We were then escorted to the crew gangway on Deck 4.  This led immediately to the dock at a gate near where the shuttle busses parked.  We were then escorted across the dock to the gate and allowed to leave.  I noticed a stack of red-tagged luggage there (we were walk-off).  That was it.  No customs or passport check.

 

Should have worn our masks more.  Very few were.

 

Art

Thank you for your report and hope you feel better soon! Do you know if the ship had Paxlovid onboard if a passenger needed it?

 

[Coral]

Thanks for your report. I hope you have a mild case and feel better soon.

 

This gives us a feel for what would happen if I get sick on a ship.

[Tonye60]

Thoughts and prayers 

[skynight]

Once off how did you arrange to get home?

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, Nukesailor said:

Just off the Ruby Princess Dec. 30, 2023 - Jan. 9 2024 Half-Panama Canal out of Ft. Lauderdale.  Came down with Covid on Day 8; self-tested positive.  Isolated in cabin Day 9 after reporting the Covid to the Guest Relations Desk.  Got a call back from their medical asking questions about severity, symptoms, etc.  Was told to isolate in our cabin (both of us).  Looks like there was a lot of Covid on the ship; nobody would give me a straight answer about this. Some interesting observations:

• Because we were isolated, room service meals included anything from the dining room menus (not that I really felt like eating), not just the usual limited room service menu.  And it was complimentary.
• I didn't see anyone checking to see if we remained in the cabin, then, again, with the medallion, they know where you are.
• For disembarkation, we were placed in a separate group of other Covid sickies and were to be off the ship at 7:30AM.  The night before, one of the Guest Relations people came around to photograph our passports - per arrangements with Customs & Immigration, we were to bypass customs to avoid crowds.  Also, they were giving out special instructions & luggage tags, Red #1, for this; she had quite a stack of these.  At 7:30AM, they came to our cabin and escorted us to the conference room near the Princess Theater.  A number of other Covid passengers also showed up.  We were then escorted to the crew gangway on Deck 4.  This led immediately to the dock at a gate near where the shuttle busses parked.  We were then escorted across the dock to the gate and allowed to leave.  I noticed a stack of red-tagged luggage there (we were walk-off).  That was it.  No customs or passport check.

 

Should have worn our masks more.  Very few were.

 

Art

Sorry to hear your cruise ended this way.

 

Did they Instruct you to wear

masks getting off?  You had to find your way then to get home, even though you were infectious?

At least they separated the covid from others, during the debark.

 

Hope you feel better very soon.

[azbirdmom]

Hope you feel better soon.  It's getting harder to avoid getting sick with Covid, Flu, RSV, and other respiratory illnesses in full swing.  Be careful out there folks!

[Nukesailor]

One thing I forgot to mention was that included in the COVID debarking (sounds like something a dog does) information was the interesting item that, if a passenger had reserved a transfer to the airport through Princess, it would be canceled and alternate arrangements must be made by the passenger. Compensation would require submitting a claim with the travel insurance. 

 

Yes, we wore masks during this. Escorts had bottles of sanitizer to spray anything we touched.

Wonder what kind of cleaning our cabin got. 

 

 

[AZjohn]

Sorry you got Covid and appreciate your report.

 

Have many people at work out with Covid and they didn’t do any cruises (that I know of). Just typical now of Holiday seasons and agree, its not going away.

 

Cheers

[cr8tiv1]

Princess has a different crew that cleans the cabin.  

 

Thank you for being so conscientious to self test AND report.  Without visiting the medical center, i am not sure how you will be compensated for the one night of isolation.  

 

Take care.  5 days is all that is required now for isolation.  5 days more if you are still testing positive, but you can leave your house as long as you wear a mask.  

 

1 hour ago, Nukesailor said:

One thing I forgot to mention was that included in the COVID debarking (sounds like something a dog does) information was the interesting item that, if a passenger had reserved a transfer to the airport through Princess, it would be canceled and alternate arrangements must be made by the passenger. Compensation would require submitting a claim with the travel insurance. 

 

Yes, we wore masks during this. Escorts had bottles of sanitizer to spray anything we touched.

Wonder what kind of cleaning our cabin got. 

 

 

 

[Nukesailor]

16 hours ago, mthomp5 said:

Thank you for your report and hope you feel better soon! Do you know if the ship had Paxlovid onboard if a passenger needed it?

 

I didn't feel the need for any additional medication at the time and didn't ask about Paxlovid.  However, the medical office did ask if I needed any medication, so I assume they would have some.

[Nukesailor]

By the way, I think there was way more Covid on board than was officially recognized.  We could hear the people in the cabins on both sides of us hacking away.  The official isolation requirement, we were told, was 4 days; however, we only had to isolate 1 day because of when I tested positive.  Good thing we had a balcony; I can't image how it would be isolated in an inside cabin.

 

They also billed me $38 for a Covid test they never administered.  I could challenge it or collect from our insurance, but it's not worth it.

 

Feeling much better today, probably because we are up to date on vaccinations.  We drove to/from the cruise, so it wasn't too hard to get home.  No idea the difficulty for any who had to fly out.

 

Art

[memoak]

9 minutes ago, Nukesailor said:

By the way, I think there was way more Covid on board than was officially recognized.  We could hear the people in the cabins on both sides of us hacking away.  The official isolation requirement, we were told, was 4 days; however, we only had to isolate 1 day because of when I tested positive.  Good thing we had a balcony; I can't image how it would be isolated in an inside cabin.

 

They also billed me $38 for a Covid test they never administered.  I could challenge it or collect from our insurance, but it's not worth it.

 

Feeling much better today, probably because we are up to date on vaccinations.  We drove to/from the cruise, so it wasn't too hard to get home.  No idea the difficulty for any who had to fly out.

 

Art

Coughing really has little to do with Covid in many cases. I have had Covid twice and never had a cough or major symptoms that matter. Many people cough frequently due to allergies or lack of complete lungs due to surgery 

[Nukesailor]

5 minutes ago, memoak said:

Coughing really has little to do with Covid in many cases. I have had Covid twice and never had a cough or major symptoms that matter. Many people cough frequently due to allergies or lack of complete lungs due to surgery 

This is my second bout with Covid.  Minor cough with this one, major cough with previous.  Also body ache, headache, etc.  Yes, there are people who cough for other reasons, such as smoker's cough, and some with Covid who are asymptomatic. In this case, we could hear both occupants of the adjacent cabin coughing.  Didn't start until a few days out.  In the cabin on the other side was a completely different, loud cough that sounded more serious than Covid.  This version of Covid (Omicron, I believe) also can include gastrointestinal issues, as I can attest to.  Pretty nasty.

[mthomp5]

2 hours ago, Nukesailor said:

This is my second bout with Covid.  Minor cough with this one, major cough with previous.  Also body ache, headache, etc.  Yes, there are people who cough for other reasons, such as smoker's cough, and some with Covid who are asymptomatic. In this case, we could hear both occupants of the adjacent cabin coughing.  Didn't start until a few days out.  In the cabin on the other side was a completely different, loud cough that sounded more serious than Covid.  This version of Covid (Omicron, I believe) also can include gastrointestinal issues, as I can attest to.  Pretty nasty.

Hopefully, if your ship neighbors had COVID, they did the right thing like you and isolated. I’ve had to isolate before too..,self-reported gastro issues and the ship personnel called to check in on me twice a day until I had no symptoms for 24 hours. We were lucky to have a mini suite that time.  Now, we will always book at least a balcony in case we have to isolate.  

[Go-Bucks!]

I was on the cruise just before yours (Dec 20-30) and there was a good deal of coughing around the ship although much of it seemed to be from children...it was the Christmas cruise so lots of kids. Some people were wearing masks but those don't prevent catching or spreading a virus so the illness could have been left by some of our passengers for your sailing. Hope you're feeling better and have a good 2024.

[mrell345]

17 hours ago, Nukesailor said:

One thing I forgot to mention was that included in the COVID debarking (sounds like something a dog does) information was the interesting item that, if a passenger had reserved a transfer to the airport through Princess, it would be canceled and alternate arrangements must be made by the passenger. Compensation would require submitting a claim with the travel insurance. 

 

Yes, we wore masks during this. Escorts had bottles of sanitizer to spray anything we touched.

Wonder what kind of cleaning our cabin got. 

 

 

 

[JF - retired RRT]

22 hours ago, tonit964 said:

Masks are no guarantee you won’t get it. 

So true. We masked all the time...everywhere, except while we were eating in the MDR. Still got it.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

5 hours ago, Nukesailor said:

They also billed me $38 for a Covid test they never administered.

I would challenge it.

 

Other people even got a refund for the days they had to isolate.

Edited January 10 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 hours ago, Go-Bucks! said:

Some people were wearing masks but those don't prevent catching or spreading a virus so the illness could have been left by some of our passengers for your sailing.

that's not how covid spreads. And yes, masks prevent spreading the virus.

[Nukesailor]

2 hours ago, mrell345 said:

 

 

You laugh (and it is funny), but on a past cruise I have seen crew wearing hazmat suits enter a cabin just down the hall from us.  Noro.  An eye-opener.

[Nukesailor]

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I would challenge it.

 

Other people even got a refund for the days they had to isolate.

Good point.  I see the Princess policy is to issue a refund for the day(s).  I'll have to check into it.  Thanks.

 

Art

[mrell345]

4 minutes ago, Nukesailor said:

 

You laugh (and it is funny), but on a past cruise I have seen crew wearing hazmat suits enter a cabin just down the hall from us.  Noro.  An eye-opener.

I remember having issues once after eating bad food, when I went to the ships med center I asked if it might be noro.  She asked me if I made it to the toilet, when I said yes, she said no it’s not noro 😳