Covid cruise ship just docked in New Orleans

[athena53]

Cruise ships are not the only venue that I would not trust. Most any business will typically do the least necessary when it comes to their bottom line. This would be especially true if it were difficult to trace back to them.

What I found scariest on my trip to Alaska last August was Seattle airport. Overcrowded trams, same as always. Compliance with masking was good but I felt uneasy being elbow-to-elbow with people I didn't know in a small space. I desperately wanted an adult beverage but couldn't buy an airline lounge pass (they were restricting entrance only to people who had annual memberships) and the bars were also elbow-to-elbow but unmasked. We did have 2 people out of 50 passengers on my ship test positive and were all sent home early (with a 50% refund). The rest of us, including crew, tested negative. All of us were vaccinated and had had negative tests beforehand (and they checked) but one couple had gone out bar-hopping the night before.

I tested again a couple of days after I got home, more out of concern about the airport and the flights than the ship. Negative, thank heaven.

 

[ElizabethT]

We are taking a 100% vaccinated Christmas cruise, leaving in two weeks. The difference in the time of COVID is pretty dramatic - we can drive to the port in under an hour (in case the cruise gets cancelled last minute, or we turn up positive enroute and are thus unable to take public transportation back home), we bought COVID travel insurance (in case we test positive pre-cruise, or get ill enroute), we bought a mini suite verandah room (in case we get ill and quarantined enroute), and we don't care if any of the planned port stops get cancelled (because we've been to them all before).

Our goal for the cruise is simply to soak up the warm sun (Mexican Riviera) around the pool or on our private verandah, and enjoy not cooking for a week. Anything else is a bonus.

It's difficult to imagine taking any cruise that we'd have to fly into at this point in time per all the reasons discussed here. Or any cruise where we'd actually want to get off and explore at the various port stops. It's just a whole different world from 'before.'

 

[ShokWaveRider]

What I found scariest on my trip to Alaska last August was Seattle airport. Overcrowded trams, same as always. Compliance with masking was good but I felt uneasy being elbow-to-elbow with people I didn't know in a small space. I desperately wanted an adult beverage but couldn't buy an airline lounge pass (they were restricting entrance only to people who had annual memberships) and the bars were also elbow-to-elbow but unmasked. We did have 2 people out of 50 passengers on my ship test positive and were all sent home early (with a 50% refund). The rest of us, including crew, tested negative. All of us were vaccinated and had had negative tests beforehand (and they checked) but one couple had gone out bar-hopping the night before.

I tested again a couple of days after I got home, more out of concern about the airport and the flights than the ship. Negative, thank heaven.

After reading this and others, I honestly do not know why folks bother. It does not sound like fun at all. Do folks dislike where they live that much they just have to leave for a while? I don't think so.

Sooner or later things will sort themselves out, either by herd immunity with folks being scared or forced into immunization, or natural selection by going the way of the DoDo. Be patient and enjoy where one lives.

 

[mpeirce]

After reading this and others, I honestly do not know why folks bother. Do they dislike where they live that much they just have to leave for a while? I don't think so.

I have no problem with folks who want to continue to hunker down. Have at it.

Other folks want to get out and do things.

Covid isn’t going way. Take prudent precautions and live the life you want.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I have no problem with folks who want to continue to hunker down. Have at it.

I did not say hunker down, far from it, that is being a bit extreme, just do things where you are fully in control of your surroundings. Generally, Cruise ships are not those places. I guess we are a little fortunate living in a somewhat resort area with an abundance of choices.

We probably do not appreciate (anymore) what it is like waking up to dreary overcast cold in the winter months. That would get old after a while.

 

[JoeWras]

I have no problem with folks who want to continue to hunker down. Have at it.

Other folks want to get out and do things.

Covid isn’t going way. Take prudent precautions and live the life you want.

+1

 

[ElizabethT]

After reading this and others, I honestly do not know why folks bother. It does not sound like fun at all. Do folks dislike where they live that much they just have to leave for a while? I don't think so.

Sooner or later things will sort themselves out, either by herd immunity with folks being scared or forced into immunization, or natural selection by going the way of the DoDo. Be patient and enjoy where one lives.

I think you either have a bad case of that explorer gene, or you don't. If you have it, it's hard to ignore the call. I'm sure we all try, but many (most?) of us clearly fail as threads and posts here show.

ETA- I live in a resort area as well - coastal S. California. Still doesn't cure the explorer in me.

 

[nwsteve]

We are just completeing a Viking Caribbean cruise. Everyone on board is vaxed AND receives daily PCR spit tests which are processed on board. Protocol also includes regular temp test at stations scattered around the ship and health questionnaires.
All tour providers are required to use similar protocols. All countries visited practiced rigorous mask usage and hand sanitizing.
In some ways, our ship seems more secure than going to a super market at home where mask usage is haphazard at best. We lost one port of call, oddly enough Key West.

 

[MrLoco]

I have no problem with folks who want to continue to hunker down. Have at it.

Other folks want to get out and do things.

Covid isn’t going way. Take prudent precautions and live the life you want.

Agree 100%. Some of us want to live our lives. Remain cautious , but live our lives.
LAst year, had a neighbor down the road. Ultra cautious pre- vaccine. Wore mask, gloves ( outdoors as well); had all groceries and essentials home delivered ( UPS and Amazon and Grocery deliveries on an almost daily basis).
Even rescheduled Dr and Dentist appointments.
Of course he was in a fatal car wreck last summer.
But.....he avoided covid!

 

[athena53]

After reading this and others, I honestly do not know why folks bother. It does not sound like fun at all. Do folks dislike where they live that much they just have to leave for a while? I don't think so.

I love where I live but I also love getting a complete change of scenery, learning new things, sharing experiences with other people. I can't kayak past glaciers in KC! Yes, getting to and from my far-flung destinations is more trouble than it used to be but it's always been something I put up with because the destination is the reward. Business Class on long-hauls takes a bit of the pain away.

 

[cathy63]

Just playing with some numbers ...

Feb 2020 - Diamond Princess

per Wikipedia "Of the 3,711 people onboard, 712 became infected with the virus" and "As many as 14 are reported to have died from the virus"

0% vaccinated population, 19% infection rate, 2% death rate​

Dec 2021 - Norwegian Breakaway

per news reports 3200 people, 17 infected, apparently all asymptomatic, so obviously 0 deaths

100% vaccinated population, .5% infection rate, 0% death rate​

If the Norwegian Breakaway had the same infection rate as the Diamond Princess, we'd expect 608 infections and 12 deaths. So the combination of vaccines, pre-tests, and whatever other precautions they took on the ship has so far been 97% effective against symptomatic illness and 100% effective against severe illness and death. That's pretty amazing!

The situations are not equal since the Diamond Princess cruise was longer and there may be cases from the Breakaway cruise that just aren't testing positive yet. But even if the number of cases from the Breakaway were to triple over the next 10 days, that would still be an 85% effective rate for vaccines.

 

[athena53]

Just playing with some numbers ...
<snip>

If the Norwegian Breakaway had the same infection rate as the Diamond Princess, we'd expect 608 infections and 12 deaths. So the combination of vaccines, pre-tests, and whatever other precautions they took on the ship has so far been 97% effective against symptomatic illness and 100% effective against severe illness and death. That's pretty amazing!

Thanks- I LOVE intelligent use of statistics! This is reassuring. It doesn't eliminate the "hassle factor" of testing, masking, getting to the port and back, changes in itinerary, etc.- but it's a good sign that you aren't putting your health at substantial risk by taking a cruise.

Ironically, DS and DDIL are fully vaccinated, DS works at home, DDIL home-schools the kids, they go nowhere even vaguely high-risk (except church with proper precautions) and COVID is going through the family now. DS and my 7-year old granddaughter are pretty much over it. DDIL and the 5-year old have it- also apparently mild, thank God. Only the 2-year old has escaped. So far. I'm the one traveling- have made quite a few road trips to SC since Dad was in LTC, was in Alaska in August and flew to Ohio in October- and they got sick.

 

[CardsFan]

Just playing with some numbers ...

Feb 2020 - Diamond Princess

per Wikipedia "Of the 3,711 people onboard, 712 became infected with the virus" and "As many as 14 are reported to have died from the virus"

0% vaccinated population, 19% infection rate, 2% death rate​

Dec 2021 - Norwegian Breakaway

per news reports 3200 people, 17 infected, apparently all asymptomatic, so obviously 0 deaths

100% vaccinated population, .5% infection rate, 0% death rate​

If the Norwegian Breakaway had the same infection rate as the Diamond Princess, we'd expect 608 infections and 12 deaths. So the combination of vaccines, pre-tests, and whatever other precautions they took on the ship has so far been 97% effective against symptomatic illness and 100% effective against severe illness and death. That's pretty amazing!

The situations are not equal since the Diamond Princess cruise was longer and there may be cases from the Breakaway cruise that just aren't testing positive yet. But even if the number of cases from the Breakaway were to triple over the next 10 days, that would still be an 85% effective rate for vaccines.

Seems like there is a pretty optimistic headline in your numbers, just waiting to be published.

Alas, the media prefers the fear headlines.

 

[sengsational]

... She and her husband have a good attitude- you understand the risks when you get on board, you throw away the itinerary and take each day as it comes and you appreciate how hard the cruise line works to give you a good experience ...

Sounds much more like travel in the old days. At least listening to my dad talk about travel when he was young. He did a "Cairo to the Cape" and they'd stay an extra day somewhere or skip a place because of something that didn't go as planned. It was all a part of the travel experience. He used to say "if you want all the comforts of home, stay home".

... whatever other precautions they took on the ship has so far been 97% effective against symptomatic illness and 100% effective against severe illness and death. That's pretty amazing!

Indeed! It's not quite a "free pass" to get on with your life, but it's a pretty good indication that it's becoming more possible. I'd add that it's not just the precautions, but the nature of what's circulating. From what I read, omicron just isn't affecting people severely, whether they have vaccine induced immunity, natural immunity from an earlier strain, or no immunity. If immunity induced by acquiring the omicron variant prevents the variants with more deadly consequences from being acquired, this might just be the beginning of the end of this pandemic. That's a big "if", though.

I like the cruise ship case studies, because they are the closest thing we're likely to get as a form of a "challenge study". This is the type of study where you take willing volunteers and purposefully expose them to the virus, in a controlled way, and study the results. A lot can be learned in a short time, but somebody might die, which is generally frowned-upon by the IRB's. So as long as we have people with the "exploration gene", we have a stand-in for the challenge study: cruises.

 

[anethum]

Seems like there is a pretty optimistic headline in your numbers, just waiting to be published.

Alas, the media prefers the fear headlines.

Those are interesting statistical comparisons but are nonetheless anecdotes. It tells me more about how the Norwegian Breakaway is handling the pandemic than about the cruise industry as a whole.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Americans are dying each day from Covid, the vast majority of whom declined to get vaccinated. And the 7-day rolling average of new Covid deaths in the USA has increased 40% over the past week. Source:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/grap...us-us-cases-deaths/?itid=hp_pandemic&state=US (the website is updated in real-time, so the 40% figure is at the time of this posting)

 

[Sunset]

We are just completeing a Viking Caribbean cruise. Everyone on board is vaxed AND receives daily PCR spit tests which are processed on board. Protocol also includes regular temp test at stations scattered around the ship and health questionnaires.
All tour providers are required to use similar protocols. All countries visited practiced rigorous mask usage and hand sanitizing.
In some ways, our ship seems more secure than going to a super market at home where mask usage is haphazard at best. We lost one port of call, oddly enough Key West.

I like that Viking does daily PCR testing , it's easy and will catch a problem before it blossoms out of control.

How did the Caribbean countries handle the cruise ship showing up in terms of accepting everyone was considered vaccinated and safe, and if you visited 1 country and the next day visited another was there any difference ?

When you lost Key West, was it on the return, where maybe all the testing from visiting another country had not been complete yet ?

 

[nwsteve]

I like that Viking does daily PCR testing , it's easy and will catch a problem before it blossoms out of control.

How did the Caribbean countries handle the cruise ship showing up in terms of accepting everyone was considered vaccinated and safe, and if you visited 1 country and the next day visited another was there any difference ?

When you lost Key West, was it on the return, where maybe all the testing from visiting another country had not been complete yet ?

Avtually lost Key West prior to even departing. IIRRC, Key West had an outbreak and had locked down.
All Caribbean countries welcomed the return of cruising and in most cases had only just begin accepting cruise ships in the last several weeks. Viking had pre-vetted all tour operators on required protocols but all the host countries had independently implemented mask and sanitizing requirements. Interesting we saw better and more uniform mask implementation than we had in W Wash where we live.

 

[5Miler]

DGF and I are booked to sail on the Breakaway out of N.O. in March, yes, the very ship and itinerary that is the subject of this thread. We have both been boosted and have no thoughts of cancelling or rescheduling our cruise. Our October Med cruise through Greece, Italy and Croatia had similar Covid protocols and I did not hear of any issues during the cruise. We believe Covid will be with us from now on so we might as well get on with living our life while we are still able.

 

[NW-Bound]

We are just completeing a Viking Caribbean cruise. Everyone on board is vaxed AND receives daily PCR spit tests which are processed on board. Protocol also includes regular temp test at stations scattered around the ship and health questionnaires.
All tour providers are required to use similar protocols. All countries visited practiced rigorous mask usage and hand sanitizing.
In some ways, our ship seems more secure than going to a super market at home where mask usage is haphazard at best. We lost one port of call, oddly enough Key West.

That means the ship carries its own PCR machines. Very nice.

And what happens to the people who test positive? I expect that they will be isolated and life goes on as usual for the rest of the cruisers? It would be a bummer for those affected to have their cruise ruined, particularly if they are asymptomatic as the people on the Norwegian ship we talked about.

"Hey, lemme out of my cabin. I feel fine. Do you see me coughing or sneezing?"

It would be a dilemma.

 

[Scuba]

Avtually lost Key West prior to even departing. IIRRC, Key West had an outbreak and had locked down.

All Caribbean countries welcomed the return of cruising and in most cases had only just begin accepting cruise ships in the last several weeks. Viking had pre-vetted all tour operators on required protocols but all the host countries had independently implemented mask and sanitizing requirements. Interesting we saw better and more uniform mask implementation than we had in W Wash where we live.

Yes, when we went to the USVI this past spring, they were very strict about mask wearing and testing prior to entry. Their healthcare facilities are very limited and they really need to avoid spreading COVID.

 

[W2R]

So far, Frank and I have no plans to go out of the house today. I am hoping that I can persuade him to stay home for a few days but that is probably a losing proposition.

Actually we DID stay home for a while until we realized we weren't seeing any scary stories in the news, about Norwegian Breakaway passengers dropping dead on the streets shortly after disembarking.

Then we started eating out again, but after only a few days our favorite restaurant decided to convert to take-out only. This was not due to Covid, but due to staffing shortages. You can't win. And, I'm [-]cheap[/-] [-]stingy[/-] frugal enough that H*** will freeze over before I pay full price with no table service.

 

[athena53]

And what happens to the people who test positive? I expect that they will be isolated and life goes on as usual for the rest of the cruisers? It would be a bummer for those affected to have their cruise ruined, particularly if they are asymptomatic as the people on the Norwegian ship we talked about.

"Hey, lemme out of my cabin. I feel fine. Do you see me coughing or sneezing?"

It would be a dilemma.

I can tell you what UnCruise did on my trip to Alaska in August. All of us had been vaccinated and tested and had to provide proof. One passenger picked it up when he and his lady friend went bar-hopping the night before we embarked. We sailed out Saturday and Wednesday we got the announcement at 6 AM. One other passenger had tested positive- they had sat at dinner with Patient Zero. The rest of us and the crew tested negative but we had to stay in our cabins till Thursday AM. The crew went above and beyond, distributing menus, bringing food, adult beverages, DVDs and books. The passengers who tested positive were taken off the ship and went somewhere to quarantine.

Thursday AM they told us the cruise was terminated; it was supposed to go till Saturday. We were back in Juneau where we'd started and which was also our planned end point. We could stay till Friday at noon but if we left the ship we couldn't come back on.

We got a 50% refund- not a credit, an actual refund.

I got a late- afternoon flight out Friday but was able to leave my bags at the UnCruise office and take a nice long hike up into the mountains and throw some more money into the local economy at the shops before heading back to the airport. All in all a good trip despite what happened, and everyone on the ship pretty much said the same thing- they were mostly angry at the bar-hoppers' risky behavior, especially since the guy hadn't been feeling well when they came down to dinner Tuesday night.

I got tested a couple of days after I got home- still negative.

That was a 50-passenger ship so bigger lines may do something different. I was very happy at how they handled a bad situation.

 

[kgtest]

Very sad/frustrating if folks lied, and concerning if they are breakthrough, although we know that can happen. So far, no one reported seriously ill or hospitalized from the cruise, so that is good.

I'll never forget when neighbors family was stuck home because their private school and daycare closed due to known exposure. As we discussed the unfortunate circumstances, my neighbor said something super resonating...they say "Don't these parents know you aren't supposed to get your kids tested to keep the schools open and life moving."

At first I thought they were joking, but quickly realized they were not. I remember thinking, sure being home for a week is a little inconvenient, but being sick or dead is way more inconvenient.

I honestly didn't think it would go on this long.

 

[kgtest]

My DM, DF 2 sisters (one who had cancer) and their children were all on a cruise ship when COVID broke ground. It was business as usual and they docked at their intended target and time. But they were all super worried and at that time there was no test available obviously. Everyone ended up healthy thankfully. Many around my town who have "had it" mentioned they lost taste and smell with varying levels of symptoms, none too bad compared to hospital stays or long COVID effects like I hear about in the news. Such baffling variance that constantly reminds me "We are all the same, but shockingly different."

 

[Badger]

Then we started eating out again, but after only a few days our favorite restaurant decided to convert to take-out only. This was not due to Covid, but due to staffing shortages. You can't win. And, I'm [-]cheap[/-] [-]stingy[/-] frugal enough that H*** will freeze over before I pay full price with no table service.

+1 The few times we have gone out to eat in the past 2 years was after full vaccination and only outside. A week ago when out of town helping a friend (who is also triple injected and very careful due to being a cancer patient) we had to stop for a meal. Even though the restaurant had outdoor seating it was totally enclosed with heavy plastic sheeting. It was no different than eating indoors except for not having heat. I was very disappointed. I would have been OK if it had been left open. Since there were no other alternatives I kept my nose covered with my mask while I ate and left as soon as I was finished. Is that being overly cautious? I really don't care what others think. It is my life and health and it is none of their business. It is too bad that venues that cater to groups of people are having a hard time but it is not my responsibility to support their bottom line.


Cheers!