Experience of testing positive at port

[dianerroy]

yes, and if it’s still positive 14 days prior you can get a doctors note to exempt you from testing as well!

Make are you get your PCR test 11-90 days before your cruise or it won't be valid no matter if it reads positive

 

[Intr3pid]

We recently went on a RCL cruise over Christmas. We did the required rapid antigen test 2 days prior and it was negative. We went on the cruise and a couple of days into it my daughter developed symptoms and tested positive. They then gave us free WIFI and she found out that 6 other girls on her swim team tested positive. I believe that she got COVID from her swim team and think that testing at port would have caught this. The ship staff then asked about close contacts and 2 of the 4 kids she hung around with also tested positive but didn't have symptoms at that time. One developed symptoms a few days later and the other didn't. My daughter was the most upset because she felt that she spread COVID to her friends on the ship. (The physician onboard had an amazing bedside manner and told her it wasn't her fault.)

I'm not saying that shoreside testing will catch every case, but I think it would have caught our case and we wouldn't have been stuck in a small room for several days at sea. We also experienced DCL testing in October and agree that both methods have positive and negative points.

To the OP: I'm sorry you experienced this. It's no fun to have your vacation plans turned upside down.

The downsides of port testing are for those who test positive. But it's a great service to the rest who get on board. There are dozens of stories of outbreaks on Carnival and RCL ships and ensuing quarantines.

 

[CamColt]

Im so sorry this happened to you.

 

[mdurette]

Thank you very much for sharing this. Your advice is noted and appreciated.

Thinking about the whole concept of testing at the port (which I am in favor of) I think the bright side is that at least you can make plan B. You get a refund, you can still go home if drivable, or find a great VRBO on the beach to isolate in. Finding out someone is positive mid cruise has got to be worse, isolating on the ship and I'm thinking no refund????

 

[RedHead0186]

While that is certainly true, it's not like other ships are having massive outbreaks or anything bc they are testing 2 days out instead of at the port. Plus the current guidance for cruises allows for testing 2 days out (it says either testing before, or at the port, are both acceptable). While testing at the port may weed out a few more cases, I personally doubt there are that many people with low viral loads or early stage covid that it makes a statistically significant difference (though I admittedly have NOT stats to back this up, so I could be totally wrong). If it did, the cruise guidance would only allow for at the port testing.

I certainly see both sides of the argument of at the port vs 2 day advance testing. When I read stories like this though it really breaks my heart. I personally just think 2 day testing would allow for SO much more flexibility and peace of mind, but, that's totally just my opinion.

FWIW, Norwegian is now switching from at the port to 2 day testing. Will be curious to see if DCL sticks to their guns of if they make the move soon too.

Does it matter what percentage of the ship is vaccinated? I ask because I cruised Princess in November and we could do the 2 days prior testing. But, ours was a fully vaccinated cruise. I always kind of thought that DCL took the day-of testing route because they had higher percentages of unvaccinated passengers (because they cater so much more to families). But, I don't know what other lines are doing so maybe my logic is off here . . .

 

[Kwami]

Thank you very much for sharing this. Your advice is noted and appreciated.

Thinking about the whole concept of testing at the port (which I am in favor of) I think the bright side is that at least you can make plan B. You get a refund, you can still go home if drivable, or find a great VRBO on the beach to isolate in. Finding out someone is positive mid cruise has got to be worse, isolating on the ship and I'm thinking no refund????

You get a partial refund for the days that you're quarantined. So, if you spend three out of five days in quarantine, then you'll get a 3/5 refund. Disney wants you to be honest about symptoms and other signs of Covid so that you don't spread it around the ship.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

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.

We started doing just that before our March 4 WBPC sailing. We didn't do it for our last 2 cruises, but our kids are grown and weren't sailing with us.
This time, there isn't a future sail date we can simply move it to. This is the only PC sailing for '22 and '23. I don't want to roll the dice and take any chances. We took a PCR a month prior to sail date, just in case we had an asymptomatic case and didn't know it. It was negative, so that rules out an old infection causing a positive PCR. We plan to take another PCR this weekend and the following weekend. I might even take one more the day before we fly down.

For everyone considering getting tested prior to cruising, be sure to get at least one PCR test. A rapid antigen test might be negative for an active infection, but if you had an infection a month prior, the PCR done at the port can still test positive. So using the same type of test (PCR vs. antigen) that DCL uses would mean no surprise positive test at the port unless it's a very recent infection. In that case, there's nothing anyone can do.

 

[MomOTwins]

Sorry yes the original post was three pages back. The other sibling and a "disney rep" were present in the room. I am an MD also. Providing test results in front of siblings or a "rep" is 100% a privacy violation unless consent was explicitly provided. I am VERY careful about delivering test results to families - esp siblings. This could be fodder for years to come, and is totally avoidable. Mom and dad should have been given the option to have privacy with the child. (maybe they did - who knows?) Was speaking in general about our duties as medical professionals.

I do actually recall having to sign a waiver to this effect--that Inspire diagnostics would notify disney cruise line and anyone in your travel party of the positive result. That's why when you have friends driving together to the port or an extended family group that all traveled together they can be turned away even if they're in other staterooms.

 

[DCLMP]

I do actually recall having to sign a waiver to this effect--that Inspire diagnostics would notify disney cruise line and anyone in your travel party of the positive result. That's why when you have friends driving together to the port or an extended family group that all traveled together they can be turned away even if they're in other staterooms.

I think I signed several pages of waivers that I didn't read. LOL. My guess is most of the nurses doing this are contract workers doing I side gig for extra money. There is probably not a lot of training or specific protocols. These jobs are a dime a dozen and nurses like everything else are in short supply these days. Cruiselines might be the only industry that is well-staffed.

 

[OoflowerbudoO]

Im so sorry this happened to you.

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

 

[Geomom]

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

Thank you for posting about your experience, I'm so sorry this happened. How is your son doing? Did he end up with any symptoms? Our cruise is not until June, but it's stories like yours that made us book a rental car for our entire trip vs turning it in at port...so we have part of a plan B, but no idea where we would stay during the isolation period if we tested positive.

 

[OoflowerbudoO]

Thank you for posting about your experience, I'm so sorry this happened. How is your son doing? Did he end up with any symptoms? Our cruise is not until June, but it's stories like yours that made us book a rental car for our entire trip vs turning it in at port...so we have part of a plan B, but no idea where we would stay during the isolation period if we tested positive.

Thank you so much for asking. He’s doing well! Actually he felt fine, aside from being very sad, that first day we were turned away from port, but he started getting some GI symptoms on the second day into the 3rd. I think he had only gi symptoms, nothing else. He’s fine now. We have been spending a lot of time on the beach looking for shells and shark teeth. Having a backup rental care would’ve made it easier for sure rather than having to wait in that tiny hot trailer without internet trying to figure out a back up plan. We are glad that he didn’t tested negative and then manifest symptoms on the ship. We are glad that we didn’t expose him to anyone else on the ship! The rest of us are all fine.

 

[dreynolds1982]

Does it matter what percentage of the ship is vaccinated? I ask because I cruised Princess in November and we could do the 2 days prior testing. But, ours was a fully vaccinated cruise. I always kind of thought that DCL took the day-of testing route because they had higher percentages of unvaccinated passengers (because they cater so much more to families). But, I don't know what other lines are doing so maybe my logic is off here . . .

That definitely might factor in, not sure. I mean I'm sure DCL has their reasons to do it and I definitely understand both sides if the argument.

The new CDC cruise opt in guidance deadline is Feb 18. From what I've read there's been some pushback and negotiations between cruise industry and CDC as the guidelines don't seem in line with what's happening stateside (as many places begin to ease restrictions). It will be interesting to see how the next few days unfold, what cruiselines do what, etc. I have a feeling the guidelines for cruises in late March, April, etc may be different than what we have now. We'll see...

 

[HeatherLassell]

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

I'm definitely going to work on a back up plan with my daughter JUST in case. So we're prepared.

 

[OoflowerbudoO]

I'm definitely going to work on a back up plan with my daughter JUST in case. So we're prepared.

Yes! Hype it up so she thinks both options are great! Like I said, chances of you testing positive are super low from what I saw but being prepared would bring peace of mind for sure!

 

[HeatherLassell]

Yes! Hype it up so she thinks both options are great! Like I said, chances of you testing positive are super low from what I saw but being prepared would bring peace of mind for sure!

I'm lucky that she's older but still it's a cruise for her 16th birthday! But yeah I really hadn't even thought about the possibility of being denied boarding before! So we'll work on a backup plan just in case so it's just a little less devastating.

 

[JoieNsk]

I feel very strongly that when things like this happen, it’s generally a system/protocol issue and not an individual issue. A very simple fix would be to pull the parents aside for 2 minutes, and let them decide how to do this.

edit: also give us the internet access sooner so we can get out

I completely agree with the OP. There just should be a protocol in place, and it would have fixed it right there. Healthcare workers do get trained extensively about privacy and discussing patient's information in front of the others. But with nowadays stuff shortages and a lot of agency and side workers had to get involved, there should have been just simple protocol in place to avoid situations like the OP described. This is not about empathy or not empathy, it's about a job duty.

Thank you very much to OP for telling this story, so hopefully other families who get to similar situation can have it easier.

And hopefully Disney will take note if the OP wrote to them too. Disney is the one who should be concerned the most n this situation, as no matter if the test was done by the side business or not. This was part of the Disney Cruise experience, and the customers would still associate this terrible test in their mouth - with Disney, not with whatever the name of the lab was.

 

[DCLMP]

I completely agree with the OP. There just should be a protocol in place, and it would have fixed it right there. Healthcare workers do get trained extensively about privacy and discussing patient's information in front of the others. But with nowadays stuff shortages and a lot of agency and side workers had to get involved, there should have been just simple protocol in place to avoid situations like the OP described. This is not about empathy or not empathy, it's about a job duty.

Thank you very much to OP for telling this story, so hopefully other families who get to similar situation can have it easier.

And hopefully Disney will take note if the OP wrote to them too. Disney is the one who should be concerned the most n this situation, as no matter if the test was done by the side business or not. This was part of the Disney Cruise experience, and the customers would still associate this terrible test in their mouth - with Disney, not with whatever the name of the lab was.

I'm still confused about what privacy issues were violated?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm still confused about what privacy issues were violated?

I think it has to do with telling the whole family together that the son was positive. Instead of first telling the parents (since he was a minor), or, at least, without the younger siblings present.

 

[JoieNsk]

I'm still confused about what privacy issues were violated?

In this situation it was not the privacy concern of course. The son 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.