First (small) ship in the Caribbean - already 1 pax COVID pos

[Starwind]

Except that the bubble was broken when they boarded the new passengers.

I wonder if they just didn't properly understand the concept of an incubation period that could be upto 14d long and the implications of that. And then add to that the possibility of false negative [even multiple times] tests.

Or perhaps they did, and decided the risk was low and it was "worth it" to give a "normal" cruise experience.

Either way, it appears it didn't work out so well...

 

[_auroraborealis_]

As to testing 2000 folks -- colleges have been doing that plus more on a regular basis this fall, so it's clearly possible. The logistics of how, where, when will come into play - such as staggered arrival and boarding as well as staggered debarkation. Not sure how that works in port, though maybe fewer people will debark in port especially with only cruiseline-led excursions.

Well, yes. But when people start considering the changes, the test protocol and flow is probably another reason to restrict excursions. It is not going to be a situation where you do express walk off at the end, or get out early for the beach at a port.

While clearly possible, it is a whole bunch of queuing and probably some weird timing stuff because of the space limits for queue on ship.

 

[jane01jp]

There's a movie, "The Masque of the Red Death,' based on an Edgar Allen Poe short-story entitled "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy," in which nobility go hide out in a castle to ride out an epidemic.

Everyone is free from the disease when they enter the castle, yet everyone succumbs to it during a macabre costume party.

The efforts to segregate groups into "clean, tested people" and everyone else sometimes don't work.

 

[jane01jp]

A negative test 3 days prior (at home? before flying to port city?) And then a negative test upon boarding won't show an infection if the person was exposed on the flight. Or in the taxi from airport to ship.

Exactly. You would have to isolate everyone in a containment bubble for a couple of weeks or more to really know.

 

[gotomu212]

As to testing 2000 folks -- colleges have been doing that plus more on a regular basis this fall, so it's clearly possible. The logistics of how, where, when will come into play - such as staggered arrival and boarding as well as staggered debarkation. Not sure how that works in port, though maybe fewer people will debark in port especially with only cruiseline-led excursions.

You’re right and the cohort testing they do that allows big groups to test together is a possibility (And really cool). The problem I think they’ll have is with resources to administer the tests. Not a problem at embarkation ports since you can bring a large number of local support personnel in, but if they need to do onboard testing (because of outbreak or because the local port of call isnt doing it) your working with your available staff to test huge numbers and thats where I think you get the big bottlenecks.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

This shouldn’t be a shock to anyone. There isn’t a way to guarantee no one becoming positive while on board unless everyone strictly quarantines for 2 weeks at the port before embarkation. And logistically that’s just not going to happen.

There will always be the chance that someone tests positive days after they get the negative test needed to board.

Unfortunately, Disney won’t even be attempting to sail anytime soon. We won’t see a Disney ship sail until the transmission rate is drastically lower.

 

[DCLDVC1]

This shouldn’t be a shock to anyone. There isn’t a way to guarantee no one becoming positive while on board unless everyone strictly quarantines for 2 weeks at the port before embarkation. And logistically that’s just not going to happen.

There will always be the chance that someone tests positive days after they get the negative test needed to board.

Unfortunately, Disney won’t even be attempting to sail anytime soon. We won’t see a Disney ship sail until the transmission rate is drastically lower.

Agreed. I think it's going to be a very long time until all 4 ships are sailing again. I wonder if they'll even try to bring all 4 back once the Wish is completed?

 

[otten]

This once again highlights the difference between feeling safe and BEING safe. What testing and sanitation protocols really do is make people FEEL safe but they don’t actually make them safe.

Relying on testing to keep the virus off cruise ships is pointless. It is very very easy for someone to have been exposed too recently for the test to come back positive. Any cruises that take place during the pandemic that don’t have any cases is just going to be luck.

 

[KashasMom]

Oh my, this puts a stop to my daydreams of being able to cruise sooner rather than later! I don’t think my March cruise will sail.

I was really hoping that things would be moving along. We have until the end of April to move our cruise to 2022 without losing our deposit. I think I'm going to be too nervous not to move it. So disappointing. I guess we'll just wait and see what happens between now and then. Nothing else we can do.

 

[mmmears]

Now it's up to 5 people on the SeaDream. Not that many of us didn't see this one coming, but here's the latest.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1327002005148151814

 

[Starwind]

Now it's up to 5 people on the SeaDream. Not that many of us didn't see this one coming, but here's the latest.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1327002005148151814

Yep. :-(

Some additional details here: https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/...positive-covid-19-tests-on-seadream-ship.html

 

[randumb0]

2021 is looking more and more bleak

 

[o&smom]

Why did they say no mask in the first place? Did they think mask wearing would turn people away?

I thought that was crazy from the beginning, especially with the fact that Covid rates are going up, not down. I hope that their choice does not damage the industry being able to move forward.

 

[DisneYE]

I thought that was crazy from the beginning, especially with the fact that Covid rates are going up, not down. I hope that their choice does not damage the industry being able to move forward.

Also did you see the size of the ship?
It's a dinky, little, yacht-type ship. With no balcony rooms. Crazy that they'd sail in such an environment with little ventilation.
imo, if/when cruises start, they should do it with balcony-only rooms for a few months to see how things are.
how do they quarantine ppl in inside rooms with no ventilation? recipe for disaster.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Agreed. I think it's going to be a very long time until all 4 ships are sailing again. I wonder if they'll even try to bring all 4 back once the Wish is completed?

Pretty sure they wouldn’t have invested in the changed over in Brest France. Once they have the safe plan in place I would bet that they will be one of the fastest growing cruise lines. But then when you go from four ships to five it seems like 120% growth.
Those other cruise lines with five times the ships might take a while to get them all running. I suspect Disney will not take that long. Although they might have to shorten a few trips in the earlier days.
But they could help rebuild their losses with the older PIF ships. Keep the extra distance available with extra ships so it can be spread out. I see it as a win-win to keep the older ships for several years. Keep those ports that only want smaller groups during visits still in the loop.
But I’m just spit-balling like everyone else I suppose.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

As to testing 2000 folks -- colleges have been doing that plus more on a regular basis this fall, so it's clearly possible. The logistics of how, where, when will come into play - such as staggered arrival and boarding as well as staggered debarkation. Not sure how that works in port, though maybe fewer people will debark in port especially with only cruiseline-led excursions.

yes- my kids. Tested twice weekly at their college- asymptomatic surveillance testing is the lingo. Program run by the Broad institute. Very successful. Not to say there were not outbreaks. Couple college students Uber to another campus for a party. Well, you know the outcome. 60+ person outbreak in a dorm and 300 kids get sent home for 2 weeks. And the kids have to/highly recommended to stay on campus, so that bubble is preserved. Not sure how that translates to a cruise ship where we all go out to sea, stop at places, get/off on. I guess if you cruise to nowhere? Not sure how that would work. And expensive too. The cost of it all added on to the tuition bill.

 

[vakamalua]

This once again highlights the difference between feeling safe and BEING safe. What testing and sanitation protocols really do is make people FEEL safe but they don’t actually make them safe.

Relying on testing to keep the virus off cruise ships is pointless. It is very very easy for someone to have been exposed too recently for the test to come back positive. Any cruises that take place during the pandemic that don’t have any cases is just going to be luck.

This is the most true common sense statement I've seen on these boards and applies cruises and currently to Disney Parks and Resorts who are offering a perceived sense of security while requiring a waiver of liability on exposure to COVID. Everyone has their own level of risk tolerance if they travel now but must be prepared for any consequence.

 

[MomOTwins]

The testing concept is really quite silly given the virus’s typical 5-7 incubation period after exposure, as others have pointed out. I even wonder if the testing requirement may INCREASE the odds of having infected people onboard. Where I live, testing sites are not drive thru: you have to go inside an urgent care or hospital to get tested—i.e. an indoor location where at any given time, you are likely to share air with several actively sick people being tested or treated. If cruise lines require this to occur within 72 hours of sailing, they are essentially requiring healthy people to undergo an extremely high risk activity immediately prior to cruising, in a time period too close to embarkation for a person infected at the test site to show up positive during embarkation testing—but just in time for them to become highly contagious a couple of days into the cruise. I am truly flabbergasted by the stupidity of this.

 

[mevelandry]

This is so disappointing. A small ship started sailing Saturday - several COVID tests/ precautions in place and already 1 passenger tested positive. There are less than 120 passengers on board. How are they ever going to handle several thousand passengers/crew?

https://thepointsguy.com/news/caribbean-cruise-covid-scare-seadream/

They were not wearing masks. This could have made a difference... At least when it comes to spreading the virus on board.

 

[Starwind]

Media is reporting they are now up to 7 cases, with one now hospitalized for observation. The 7th case is apparently a close contact [family member] of one of the previous cases.