2 passengers test positive

[Weedy]

2 passengers test positive for covid on Royal Caribbean test cruise

Two guests onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise test COVID-19 positive

Cruise operator Royal Caribbean (RCL.N) said on Thursday two guests onboard its Celebrity Millennium ship have tested positive for COVID-19, but are asymptomatic and currently in isolation.

www.reuters.com

 

[lovedisneycruise]

I just read this on CNN and came here to see if anyone posted. I think they required proof of vaccination and testing upon boarding; I know it’s only two but I don’t find it reassuring.

 

[Weedy]

Here’s another article that says everyone was required to have a vaccine
They tested positive but were asymptotic

2 passengers test positive for COVID-19 on Royal Caribbean cruise ship

Two guests sharing a room on Royal Caribbean Group's Celebrity Millennium tested positive for COVID-19 toward the end of the cruise, the company said.

www.marketwatch.com

 

[Maggie'sMom]

It'll be interesting to see how this is handled. 2 passengers, that are asymptomatic, on a cruise with all crew and all 16+ yo passengers fully vaccinated. I think we need to wait and see how this develops. Do more passengers test positive ultimately? To me, I'm not overly worried by a couple asymptomatic cases. If more passengers ultimately contract it, then I'll be more worried.

 

[Intr3pid]

Comparing a grocery store to a cruise ship - and I thought I had heard everything.

A couple of positive cases here and there aren't a whole lot meaningful. There will always be some. The key is to see how Celebrity/RCL manages it so that it doesn't become an outbreak.

In fact, this is a really good test of their protocols. The CDC will also be keen on seeing how this is handled. Think of it as the curveball question on your exam. Answer it correctly, and get an A.

What's interesting is how they found the asymptomatic cases. Were these just randomly tested?

 

[gotomu212]

I think it's way too early to start drawing conclusions. However from someone on the ship (cruise critic thread) they were told by the captain's announcement that 200 tests have been conducted so far and of those 2 came back positive. This cruise has 600 passengers. So far that's 1% of the tested passengers. Whether that comes down as the sample increases or not is important and whether it stays isolated to this one traveling party and to see how the port handles this will be vital.

For those wondering, this cruise is out of Saint Maarten and they are requiring all passengers be tested before disembarking. If the islands continue to require that we will see a lot more positives. Whether that starts to hit the CDC's criteria for an outbreak or not will be important as will seeing how the lines react to this.

 

[AquaDame]

Reminder of the new COVID policy posted in the sticky:

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www.disboards.com

Key point: " In summary: COVID related discussion should be limited to actual policy and practical application, and NOT veer into opinion or debate."

Thank you!

 

[Sakura1017]

They need to find out when these people were vaccinated. Article says fully vaccinated so they either got both doses of pfizer or moderna, or 1 dose of johnson. But it takes about 2 weeks after second dose to get over 90% protection. So maybe some people just got second doses few days before cruise left??

 

[Maggie'sMom]

They need to find out when these people were vaccinated. Article says fully vaccinated so they either got both doses of pfizer or moderna, or 1 dose of johnson. But it takes about 2 weeks after second dose to get over 90% protection. So maybe some people just got second doses few days before cruise left??

My understanding is that for the cruiseline to consider them fully vaccinated for purposes of the cruise, they had to be beyond that 2 week window. We know the vaccine isn't 100% effective. No vaccine ever has been 100% effective.

 

[BartmanLA]

I'm going with either they lied about being vaccinated or they used fake vaccine documents.

 

[anjuan]

Just because they tested positive doesn't mean that the passengers lied. As others have said, the vaccine isn't 100% effective. However, according to news media the passengers are asymptomatic. We'll have to wait to see how this plays out.

 

[kanerf]

Since they are asymptomatic, there is also the possibility that the tests are faulty.

 

[mevelandry]

2 passengers test positive for covid on Royal Caribbean test cruise

Two guests onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise test COVID-19 positive

Cruise operator Royal Caribbean (RCL.N) said on Thursday two guests onboard its Celebrity Millennium ship have tested positive for COVID-19, but are asymptomatic and currently in isolation.

www.reuters.com

*Edited*

Honestly, I don’t know what the CDC is going to make of it.

If it ends up being only two (which would mean they didn’t spread the virus) from the same cabin, and they remain asymptomatic… I don’t think it’s going to have a huge impact. That being said, authorities may determine that it is too risky to have unvaccinated guests on board…

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

Since they are asymptomatic, there is also the possibility that the tests are faulty.

And if high cycle thresholds were used for the Covid tests, false positives are more likely to occur. I wonder if these passengers’ tests used the lower cycle thresholds that are (interestingly) now supposed to be used specifically for vaccinated people.

Regardless I am encouraged to hear they have no symptoms.

 

[AgentMama]

If they are asymptomatic, I would assume they're vaccinated. As others have said, the vaccine isn't 100% effective, but if you do contract COVID its supposed to reduce the severity of your illness.

 

[belle032]

So Celebrity is sailing with 100% vaccinations and RCL is planning not to? Interesting they aren't keeping the same requirements across their fleets.

I mean it's definitely not great news, but I guess the silver lining is that they are asymptomatic and are 2 guests traveling together in the same cabin. So fingers crossed it's been contained.

Details & updates would be appreciated for all of us waiting not-so-patiently to cruise!

 

[I_love_Cruising]

If they are asymptomatic, I would assume they're vaccinated. As others have said, the vaccine isn't 100% effective, but if you do contract COVID its supposed to reduce the severity of your illness.

But if they both are vaccinated what are the chances that both their vaccines failed? Seems strange to me.
Maybe one of them is under 16 and not vaccinated, but then again what are the chances that a vaccinated adults transmits it?

I hope they release more information about what happened and how they are dealing with it.

 

[meggers628]

There are probably many more “positive” cases in people vaccinated for Covid than we all realize. These cases were caught by mandatory testing, similar to the Yankees “outbreak.” Many more vaccinated asymptomatic (and minimally contagious) positive people are waking around everyday. We just don’t know, because they have no reason to test. They also pose very little threat to anyone else.

This doesn’t mean the vaccines aren’t working. They are working as well as advertised, even surpassing expectations.

 

[AussieFan8]

An infectious disease doctor I follow on Twitter (Monica Gandhi) has suggested that asymptomatic individuals should not be tested because the vaccine fights the virus in the nose. Thus, you could be fighting off the disease as intended by the vaccine and test positive.

 

[gotomu212]

Articles are coming out from media on the ship. one in particular was identified as a close contact and had to quarantine. They’ve been told by officers it is an adult couple; they were retested after the first positive and received a second positive as well.

We really don’t know how common breakthrough cases are since most of us aren’t tested on a regular basis. However 9 Yankees had breakthrough cases which lends a lot to the idea that it wouldn’t be unheard of for vaccinated close contacts to both be positive in a small cabin for several days together.

For lines increasing their testing requirements, or for those with children that have increased testing requirements, I think we’ll hear of increases cruisers being denied boarding or to have their stay extended by quarantine. Everyone will have to decide if that risk is high enough to deter them from cruising.