Cruise and Covid

Princess cruises do not require a test before embarking.

Jaxjacky

Princess cruises do not require a test before embarking.

So wrong and irresponsible. But then it is a very different story to the one in the OP- where OP has tested positive for Covid, told the Cruise line, who told them not to worry and still come along. THAT is bordering on the criminal as it will put vulnerable people (and we know that statistically those on go on Cruises, especially outside school holidays, are in the 'older' age groups.

Crowded restaurants, bars, shops, buses, trains etc are just as likely to be full of people who may have Covid as cruise ships. Wear masks, sanitise, do your best. It's all anyone can do.

Jaxjacky

Princess cruises do not require a test before embarking.

If your cruise is under 16 days you have to test at home and confirm you have a negative result. It is based on trust.
We are doing a longer cruise with Princess and have to do an observed test 2 days before embarkation.

Aveline

Crowded restaurants, bars, shops, buses, trains etc are just as likely to be full of people who may have Covid as cruise ships. Wear masks, sanitise, do your best. It's all anyone can do.

Fair enough. But would you go into restaurants, bars, shops, etc, if you had tested positive for Covid- risking infecting others?

I don't think (I hope) so. The OP is Covid +.

I’m disappointed to read the words” petri dish”further up this thread. As someone who has already been on 2 cruises this year and is about to go on another I really disagree with the policy of that cruise line and wouldn’t travel at the moment with one where a negative test wasn’t required. It’s a simple thing to organise and helps to put peoples’minds at rest. For those of you who don’t wish to cruise please allow the rest of us to enjoy what we like. I don’t fancy many of the holidays mentioned on GN but wouldn’t say so.

The 'petri dish' comment is such a cliche and is trotted out every times cruise thread is started.
Fleurpepper it seems that lots of people don't have Covid symptoms so could easily be in any and every crowded space without knowing they could be infectious.
I'm surprised at this cruise ship allowing people known to have Covid to board. I expect they'll be quarantined on board. Some of the larger ships have special cabins for this and medical staff to check on them.

You meant that company would accept them on board, having been told they have Covid- and then immediately quarantine them WOW.

I don't know. Judging by the various cruise messaging boards it looks like it.

I am due to board on Sunday. You wouldn't know I have Covid. They are not going to ask for any test results, so they wouldn't know I have it either. I think that since Aug 1st, this is probably the norm.

I thought you weren’t going?

I aren't going, but that's my decision, not the cruise line's.

Please update us about any refunds. What will the policy be if it is your decision, rather than theirs? How complicated!

Although other passengers aren't being asked to test, I think they'd assume that the company would not allow someone to travel whom they know has tested positive.

I asked friend who are going on a cruise today, around the Med. They said no testing required. But as you say, FarNorth, in this case the clients tested, for whatever reasons, and were positive.

I am sorry if the 'petri dish' comment offends- but for me, it is a perfectly apt description in the current circumstances.

Every bus is a 'petri dish'!

I wouldn’t exactly say that the comment offends but it is incorrect and inappropriate. A cruise ship is like a large hotel except with a much higher standard of cleanliness and hygiene. You can catch covid or any other contagious illness anywhere. As I said before it’s my belief that a negative test should be necessary before boarding a cruise ship. I know that some people on GN may wish to make comments about outbreaks of norovirus or other problems. These are rare which is why they get into the papers. Also cruises have got a bad reputation because of what happened in Japan at the beginning of the covid outbreak. If some cruise lines aren’t asking for tests then this is because their industry guidelines must have changed. I believe this to be a mistake but it’s the authorities who are at fault here.

Some friends who live here in France went on a 4 or 5 day cruise on the Gironde estuary. They returned on the Friday morning and were supposed to come to lunch the next day. That morning they received a call to tell them that one of the other people on the cruise, with whom they'd become friendly, had got covid. They had already cancelled lunch because they had flu like symptoms and didn't feel too well.

So, not a good idea to go if you have covid.

Until the end of lockdown I knew of nobody who had covid. Now I now more than a dozen people who;ve become ill, some not too bad but others quite severely.

Fleurpepper.....I tested because I had covid like symptoms and was due to board a cruise liner with 4000+ potentially vulnerable people on it. Would you have tested? As a result I am now at home, while 6 family members are enroute to the airport. I stand by my decision to test...but I wonder whether I am in the minority under the circumstances......my original question was 'would you go?'...........let me now ask....would you test?

Not quite the same as a cruise, but I didn't test earlier this month to sail 12+ hours to France with Brittany Ferries, carrying capacity around 3000 people.
I went on board with a supply of masks because the CEO had sent emails to say they were re instating them to protect their staff. Fair enough. However, less than 5% of people were actually wearing them. It seems like a thing of the past.
On a long cruise I probably wouldn't have tested beforehand unless I felt ill, but reading this thread maybe I now would.

Lynker it must be such a disappointment and you should be commended for your responsible attitude and consideration for others. I hope your symptoms remain mild and that you are able to treat yourself to something nice while you’re stuck at home. Fingers crossed for you to receive a refund or alternative dates. ?

Lynker

Fleurpepper.....I tested because I had covid like symptoms and was due to board a cruise liner with 4000+ potentially vulnerable people on it. Would you have tested? As a result I am now at home, while 6 family members are enroute to the airport. I stand by my decision to test...but I wonder whether I am in the minority under the circumstances......my original question was 'would you go?'...........let me now ask....would you test?

Definitely, you did the right thing, and the right decision not to go. But have the other members of the family been with you last few days?

Aveline

Every bus is a 'petri dish'!

You don't eat, drink and chat to others generally on a bus, do you? Gel before, wear mask, gel after. Not the same at all.

Fleurpepper...no.
Granny....thank you.

I do chat to others on the bus and sit in closer proximity to strangers there than at any other time! Plenty of space on cruise ships. By all means trot out the cliche of 'floating Petri dishes' if it makes you feel safer. Good luck in bars and restaurants btw. People eat and drink in them on land too!