Experience of testing positive at port

[OoflowerbudoO]

To the OP, very sorry about your situation. As a physician (critical care), I have to agree that using a PCR for pre-cruise testing is overkill and will pick up far too many asymptomatic and recovered patients. In the hospital, we know how extremely sensitive PCR is and stratify positive patients based upon the PCR cycle threshold (CT value) to determine whether they are infectious or not.

I cruised on Virgin last month and antigen testing at the port was quick and easy, plus you can have the added comfort of performing a home antigen test prior to leaving. Granted, no kids on that ship, but I think antigen testing would be more than adequate for DCL.

Yes, as we know even PCR testing will miss some who are in the very early stages of infection. There is no perfect way to do this. But the delivery could change. Nice seeing all these physicians, Rns and their input, please stay safe.

 

[closetmickey]

I have to wonder about the positive test at the port, if you all weren't tested at Christmastime. If you've had COVID, it's quite possible to test positive for weeks, even months, afterward.

That's one thing that I'm worried about. Being vaccinated/boosted it's possible to actually have COVID and show no symptoms. But could still test positive later (after recovering). I'm thinking of getting a PCR test soon, just to make sure I'm negative, before actually traveling next month.

YES!! Definitely get a PCR test more than 14 days out (but close to that) so you have time to "recover" and get an expemption before sailing if necessary. I PCR tested my college age kids (thought they may be the ones most likely of testing positive from prior unknown exposure) 3-4 weeks prior, then we all PCR tested 3 days prior, then tested at home the morning we flew out- which was the day before the cruise. Flying from the west coast we were quite nervous....

 

[closetmickey]

This wasn't "your" nurse or doctor. It was just someone working at a covid testing site on a cruise ship. My level of disappointment would have been the same regardless of how I got the news. I don't think any amount of empathy or sympathy from a complete stranger would change that. Fortunately, kids seem to get over things quickly.

Yikes. It was disappoointing to the OP and her family....can we just let them feel that way and let it go?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

YES!! Definitely get a PCR test more than 14 days out (but close to that) so you have time to "recover" and get an expemption before sailing if necessary. I tested my college age kids (thought they may be the ones most likely of testing positive from prior unknown exposure) 3-4 weeks prior, then we all PCR tested 3 days prior, then tested at home the morning we flew out- which was the day before the cruise. Flying from the west coast we were quite nervous....

Sadly, I'm not going on DCL next month. We're headed for Europe, and I'm not sure there's the COVID recovery option with the company we're traveling with.

I'd just like to know whether I need to be prepared for some sort of cancellation/future trip option if I'm positive now. This trip has already been postponed from Mar 2020 (twice), I'd really like to get it done.

 

[HombreDeLaMancha]

Thanks for sharing and the lessons learned. I never thought through what would have happened if we were positive. I'm sorry for how they handled the incident.

 

[DCLMP]

In this situation it was not the privacy concern of course. The sun is 9, so the parents are to be involved and present etc.

Discussing medical information with the patient is more complicated than just bone privacy. In the training they always bring that the whole situation always has to be assessed at a given moment.

And in the typical situation like this (I am sure it was not the first case) - there should not be the "whole situation assessment" involved at all. And the test result was not a life threatening decease type etc. The person who gives the results of the Covid test to the family don't have to be a doctor, and I am 90% positive it was not even a nurse. They possibly weren't even trained and paid to make any decisions.

The person who tells the results to the family should not need even to think and access the situation. They should just go by the rules.

Disney is the cruise line who mostly caters to families. So they should have come up with the protocol, that for example the results should not be announced to the whole family, but just the parents should be informed, or something like this.

So basically no privacy rules were violated.

 

[Cheburashka]

OP, I'm so sorry this happened to your family, especially your son. What a burden to put on his shoulders. That "nurse" should be fired.
I am an RN and I would never, never say something like that out loud.
I hope your son is ok and realizes he was not at fault. Shame on disney.

You don't think the nurse actually said that her son ruined the family vacation? Read the original post again, and it's clear that wasn't a quotation. That was the OP projecting. The nurse simply stated out loud the fact that the son was positive, while the OP had apparently wanted to keep it secret (without having told the nurse that).

Honestly, the OP should have warned the kids that this was likely going to happen when they got the consult instead of clear message next to their names, instead of leaving them in the dark. The OP was clearly in denial, hoping that it was all a misunderstanding, and still not wanting to burst the kids' bubbles. As the OP herself says, it was a mistake to take the kids out of school, travel far away, for something that was this much of a risk. Especially without a backup plan & making it crystal clear to them (and herself) that not being able to board the ship was a very real possibility.

It's sad this happened, but not the nurse's fault. Don't shoot the messenger. Sailing right now is a roll of the dice, and DCL hasn't kept that a secret.

 

[DCLMP]

Yikes. It was disappoointing to the OP and her family....can we just let them feel that way and let it go?

I feel for the family and their disappointment is just. It's the nit, picky stuff about how they were told that just seems petty. Every thread that has been started by someone that was denied boarding has one common theme "it was a bad experience". How could it not be awful? Hopefully, the OP's story will help other families with young children be prepared.

 

[lilmc]

I’m hoping that this post helps people mentally prepare for this incredibly unlikely possibility.

I don‘t think it’s that unlikely. We sailed Jan 22 and from the numbers we heard it sounds like 7.4% were denied boarding and the cruise afterwards was about 9%. Granted we were much closer to the peak of omicron than OP, but we were very much aware that it was possibility at port. We had back up rental car in place, we had a ”consolation roadtrip” planned, podcasts we would listen to, snacks, everything ready as a contingency plan. We also very much discussed we were a family group and we wouldn’t single out whoever tested positive knowing it could be anyone of us. Travel, especially a cruise, during these times really seems to emphasize the need for “plan for the worst and hope for the best” mentality.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I feel for the family and their disappointment is just. It's the nit, picky stuff about how they were told that just seems petty. Every thread that has been started by someone that was denied boarding has one common theme "it was a bad experience". How could it not be awful? Hopefully, the OP's story will help other families with young children be prepared.

You don't think the nurse actually said that her son ruined the family vacation? Read the original post again, and it's clear that wasn't a quotation. That was the OP projecting. The nurse simply stated out loud the fact that the son was positive, while the OP had apparently wanted to keep it secret (without having told the nurse that).

Honestly, the OP should have warned the kids that this was likely going to happen when they got the consult instead of clear message next to their names, instead of leaving them in the dark. The OP was clearly in denial, hoping that it was all a misunderstanding, and still not wanting to burst the kids' bubbles. As the OP herself says, it was a mistake to take the kids out of school, travel far away, for something that was this much of a risk. Especially without a backup plan & making it crystal clear to them (and herself) that not being able to board the ship was a very real possibility.

It's sad this happened, but not the nurse's fault. Don't shoot the messenger. Sailing right now is a roll of the dice, and DCL hasn't kept that a secret.

I concur with these. Largely just been reading these types of threads but overall when it comes to a positive result there is always an issue with how the news was delivered, whom it was, who was in the room, the events leading up to someone discussing their options, what they do afterwards, etc.

I've read stories where I agree there was some more egregious things but I think most of it is just the huge incredible disappointment with getting a positive test at the port after all the planning, money, time and excitement. Who wouldn't be disappointed?? But when giving advice to others that should be kept in mind. It's usually an in-the-moment criticism. A lot of the grievances concentrate on how the kids have felt but in fairness to cruising (and travel in general) is it NOT a time to be traveling without risks involved and that is a parental choice to take on the risk. A kid (well and adults too) are going to be disappointed by any trip that has disruptions that lead to a cancellation or heavy alteration of it but with this pandemic there is just more inherent risks.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

As I read about the nurse I didn't agree with the harshness towards them plus the OP didn't want to even let their son know they were positive (they said "maybe later once everything had settled down" but we all know what one should do (according to CDC advice) when you're positive so either way the kid would need to know why they were told to quarantine and wear a mask.

I do appreciate the OP sharing their experience and they at least did put in there more of a hindsight 20/20 discussion with all the things you'd need to have lined up should someone traveling with you ends up positive at the port. That's something that is good to have in each of these "positive at port" experiences to really let people know to think about it (something you really likely didn't think much of pre-pandemic).

 

[Cheburashka]

I don‘t think it’s that unlikely. We sailed Jan 22 and from the numbers we heard it sounds like 7.4% were denied boarding and the cruise afterwards was about 9%. Granted we were much closer to the peak of omicron than OP, but we were very much aware that it was possibility at port.

This. In terms of transmissibility, the Omicron variant is no respecter of vaccinations, masks, etc, so "taking precautions" isn't a good buffer against a positive test result at port. It's a roll of the dice, whether or not you get it.

 

[daisyx3]

I do feel sorry for the OPs son. 9 is a pretty emotional age. I just hope the testing protocols are done before we sail in November. Since the government seems to be dropping rules now, it's just a matter of time.

 

[JoieNsk]

I don’t see why people get snarky about suggesting that Disney needs to have a special protocol about breaking the bad news to families.

We all love Disney for the “magical experience”, and we are willing to pay DISNEY PRICE for it because it is special.

And it is a lot of work to make the experience as “magical” as possible. I am sure Disney has a lot of different protocols for its employees that other business would not even think about. And they should, otherwise the experience will not be Disney anymore.

 

[Cheburashka]

I don’t see why people get snarky about suggesting that Disney needs to have a special protocol about breaking the bad news to families.

I didn't see anyone being snarky. I saw serious criticism of someone who vilified a nurse (falsely suggested she told the boy he ruined the family vacation) because the nurse didn't happen to break the news the way she preferred, all the while she herself neglected to prepare her children for this outcome, even when the writing was on the wall. Classic shooting of the messenger.

Legitimate criticism and snark are two different things. Snark is sarcastic. I and other critical posters are serious.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don’t see why people get snarky about suggesting that Disney needs to have a special protocol about breaking the bad news to families.

We all love Disney for the “magical experience”, and we are willing to pay DISNEY PRICE for it because it is special.

And it is a lot of work to make the experience as “magical” as possible. I am sure Disney has a lot of different protocols for its employees that other business would not even think about. And they should, otherwise the experience will not be Disney anymore.

You sorta have to look at things though without the Disney name in front. It's still the real world. I know that may not be what people want to hear but expecting some sort of special thing when it comes to a cruise ship with potentially thousands of passengers coming on board for a particular cruise with testing all of those (unless they are exempted) that need to be tested due to a global pandemic whilst also trying to do the normal boarding process just because it's Disney is well..maybe we need to reevaluate our perception of the situation.

Plus with several of my DISer friends having gone on several cruises since fall into December and last month and this month the prices right now are usually quite low (which is why people are taking on the risks of going on a cruise). 3 of the friends live in FL (2 are a couple) so it does make it easier for them but they've absolutely booked them because of the low price.

Also agree it's not really snark, asking for someone to be fired well that is a bit over the top and there was a lot of angst aimed at the nurse from the OP and some other posters. I know if I was in the OP's shoes I could have easily felt like my frustration would be directed towards an outside party but in hindsight that wouldn't be fair. All the nurse did was confirm the positive test and who it was for, the rest was just emotions in the moment.

 

[JoieNsk]

I guess I don't even know what Disney prices are right now. And to tell you the truth I didn't even know that Disney does PCR testing at the pier.

We just went on Royal Caribbean cruise with my friend in January. The cruise was leaving from Galveston (TX), so all the adults on board had to be vaccinated (which is not the case with Florida, from what I understand). Unvaccinated kids were getting additional testing at the terminal too. But I don't know what kind of test was used for that.

Royal required everybody to get tested 48 hours before the cruise. And it didn't have to be a PCR test. I still did PCR and I was mentally ready to test positive, especially that I do work in a hospital and get face to face with positive Covid patients on regular basis. So I intentionally did PCR test instead of rapid, to make sure.

And we both were fine, the cruise was great. We didn't test positive, we didn't get sick, and we didn't hear about any Covid cases while on board (though I assume there were some). So we got lucky.

But my friend who is an adult - when I was telling her that we needed to make a plan of what we were going to do if one of us turn out to be positive - she didn't even want to think about it. As she doesn't get to go on a cruise often, and she really wanted the cruise to happen. I can only imagine how kids would feel.

I can see how the parents would try to ease the disappointment and frustration for their kids as much as possible. It doesn't have to be thrown into their faces. The parents can deal with their kids. It would be easier even for Disney in that way.

 

[JoieNsk]

BTW I didn't feel that the OP vilified the person who was giving the test results. She was just sharing their experience for other families to benefit from that.

I really appreciate her being brave in that way. The more that she was probably ready that people would through stones into her personally, and she still went ahead and posted her experience.

 

[Intr3pid]

This. In terms of transmissibility, the Omicron variant is no respecter of vaccinations, masks, etc, so "taking precautions" isn't a good buffer against a positive test result at port. It's a roll of the dice, whether or not you get it.

That's factually incorrect. Current vaccinations maybe, but proper masks are the key defense against any airborne virus no matter how transmissible.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I guess I don't even know what Disney prices are right now. And to tell you the truth I didn't even know that Disney does PCR testing at the pier.

Yeah that's the thing I know that Disney gets the premium brand label and there's nothing wrong with that but they've been consistently giving pretty darn good rates. The DISers I mentioned (well the ones that live in FL) have been using these cheaper cruises to bolster their level with one being Gold as of their last cruise (and the price dropped $600 just before their cruise so they switched from inside to veranda) and one being 1 cruise away from Platinum after their last cruise which ended a week or so ago. But even the non-FL resident got a really good rate. I'm not saying that under normal circumstances paying a high premium means you sorta go in with high expectations but right now they are doing a lot of enticing to get people to cruise

BTW I didn't feel that the OP vilified the person who was giving the test results.

IDK about vilify (there was a lot of angst though not just from the OP though) but it wasn't about just sharing experiences as added background emotions were added to the post. I too appreciate (like I said in my prior comment) the OP sharing because it does help others to know "okay this is what this person went through and they were boots on the ground".

I can see how the parents would try to ease the disappointment and frustration for their kids as much as possible. It doesn't have to be thrown into their faces. The parents can deal with their kids. It would be easier even for Disney in that way.

I don't disagree with that desire at all but that doesn't mean that's how it has to be done because of that desire and it has to be done that way because "it's Disney". Just imagine how it is at the port and you (general you) expect each and every perceived family (because they do not necessarily know the relations of everyone in a traveling party) with all the other stuff going on in what is already a chaotic experience . There are likely many traveling parties that don't have an issue with the way things are done or don't think it's an issue.


However the OP said "after this nurse loudly broadcasted that he was the one that ruined our vacation" but in the next breath said "We had prepped our kids for this possibility and understood that this can happen". The nurse didn't loudly broadcast that the son ruined the vacation, they just to the point said who the positive case was, one of which the parents knew in advance already as they had looked up the results. The OP could have in the time between seeing the results on the screen, looking up on the app to see who was positive and waiting for the nurse, taken that opportunity to tell their son what was up especially as they had prepared them in advance.

At that point the parents DID control the narrative. I do actually understand hoping it was all wrong but talking with the 9 year old about their test being positive even allowing for "we'll wait for complete confirmation but honey it looks like you are positive" was reasonable and further realistic. The OP mentioned that they wanted to control the narrative and they had the option to do so in the moment before the nurse even came, they did not use that opportunity (and I get that again in the moment emotions running) and so all of that disappointment got shifted onto the nurse. I appreciate the honesty that the OP said they were essentially blindsided by just how it all felt in the moment but that did play into how they likely viewed the verbal messenger.

Speaking broadly not every family is going to be in that situation to have known/looked up/chose to look up but I do think they are taking the most clinician way of doing this by just telling matter of factly what the situation is. I do completely agree that in the moment what many want is a sympathetic tone of voice, I don't think this amounts to having to separate people out to tell them in some hushed voice secret way who is a positive result.