Mediterranean cruise - positive COVID test

[mullysisters]

My thoughts too, as long as testing is here to stay cruiselines have to offer this. I personally would not be sailing if I risked losing all that money because of a positive TEST. Granted they could force the burden on insurance policies, but I dont know if they even cover that right now.. The risk for them is too high for a positive test already at port.. Maybe somebody knows if insurance already covers this.. I know if you are sick.. there are cancel for any reason.

Sadly, “Cancel for any reason“ only pays out 80%. And, of course, you lose your premiums. We thought that this type of insurance was the answer to our problems beacsuse we might have to cancel for an pet related issue, not usually covered. In fact you lose so much of your vacation dollar it’s hardly worth the risk. If Disneys refund or rebook policy wasn’t so generous we couldn’t travel with them. We have a farm load of pets and livestock, not to mention C*vid and the fact we are both very healthy but seniors. If I test positive 48 hrs before our cruise that will be it for cruise travel for us until testing goes away. I’m not sure the vacation will make up for the weeks of stress it has caused me.

 

[katietoth]

Wanted to provide a summary of our experience with someone in our party testing COVID positive

Our family of 4 arrived at the port for the June 10 cruise at 1130. We did the initial testing and were cleared to board at 1230.

We went to eat and then to our staterooms. They then called at 2 and asked for our son to come down to customer service but didn’t offer any reason.

Once down there there’s told us there was a problem with his test and had to go back to the port and re-test. No one would give us an answer on why the re-test. No one from Disney was around…it was only the Testing company people. He took the test and didn’t get new results (positive) until 330pm when they realized no one had spoken to us yet.

It then took another hour for someone from Disney to tell us what is going to happen.
This pattern was similar with all the others waiting as well.

They then called the rest of our party off the boat along with our luggage. We waited in the port until 7pm. At that time, we were shipped off to a hotel near the port to serve our 7 day quarantine sentence.

It literally feels like we were thrown out with trash. The lack of empathy, coordination, and communication from Disney was very disappointing especially given the circumstances. I never thought I’d say that they let us down from a Customer Service standpoint

Hopefully they will improve the process and shift to self reported testing soon so other won’t have Similar experiences. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

I am a travel agent and have a family with 12 staterooms. Same thing happened to the grandmother who paid for everything. She was on, unpacked, playing trivia and then was forced off the ship. They felt the very same as you did. I haven't received a follow up email yet from them as part if the family is still on the ship and part was forced off.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I have little faith in the rapid antigen tests. The day before I tested with a PCR test, I did a rapid which came back negative. Still pursued the PCR test a day later which came back positive. There is a higher incident of false negatives with the rapid. It takes more antibodies present to detect than with a PCR.

Same for me when I had covid. I took the at-home test because dh was exposed to a positive coworker, tested positive, and I started getting a sore throat. Still the rapid antigen test was negative at 10pm. The next morning I work up at 5:30am for work and was sick as a dog. The PCR was positive.

 

[mousefan73]

Is this a recent development where people are actually allowed on board, start their vacation and then are told they have a positive test? Is this something only on European sailings and may be due to that provider whose name I can’t recall right now. I know it’s a different one than stateside and Canada. Here in the thread now we write about two parties where this has happened to. And then the months before I have never recalled reading something like this. I’m just curious what’s going on now with testing where they are letting people slip through and then catching them later. Either you’re cleared to board or not, correct?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Is this a recent development where people are actually allowed on board, start their vacation and then are told they have a positive test? Is this something only on European sailings and may be due to that provider whose name I can’t recall right now. I know it’s a different one than stateside and Canada. Here in the thread now we write about two parties where this has happened to. And then the months before I have never recalled reading something like this. I’m just curious what’s going on now with testing where they are letting people slip through and then catching them later. Either you’re cleared to board or not, correct?

It shouldn’t be such a difficult concept. They shouldn’t tell people that they’re cleared to board unless they’re 100% certain that their test is negative. How are so many positive tests being overlooked then noticed later? Even just one is one too many.

 

[otten]

It shouldn’t be such a difficult concept. They shouldn’t tell people that they’re cleared to board unless they’re 100% certain that their test is negative. How are so many positive tests being overlooked then noticed later? Even just one is one too many.

For one thing it kind of defeats the purpose of preboarding testing since the positive person was able to walk around the ship.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

For one thing it kind of defeats the purpose of preboarding testing since the positive person was able to walk around the ship.

^^^^ No kidding. What is the point if they are allowed on board?

 

[Sakura1017]

Thank you for sharing your experience. It sucks that DCL didn't really have a good plan for those that tested positive and this is why I'm weary of going on a cruise international.
I'm sorry your family didn't get to travel. I hope your son and your family are doing well now. Originally on the day of test or the day before did he experience any symptoms? Also did you bring any otc testing kits to test before getting onboard? That would have been a plan of action would be to test with one of your kits.

 

[Sakura1017]

For one thing it kind of defeats the purpose of preboarding testing since the positive person was able to walk around the ship.

I agree it definitely defeats the purpose but it makes me wonder if they accidentally missed a test. I heard when the Hawaii cruises began it was a disaster of a test in Vancouver. Samples were definitely not getting ran in time or maybe they came back inconclusive originally and then they were reran. You would think if your were all cleared to board that that would be the final result. Hence why I would bring otc kits just in case and run them yourself in front of them to confirm the result.

 

[Kwami]

I agree it definitely defeats the purpose but it makes me wonder if they accidentally missed a test. I heard when the Hawaii cruises began it was a disaster of a test in Vancouver. Samples were definitely not getting ran in time or maybe they came back inconclusive originally and then they were reran. You would think if your were all cleared to board that that would be the final result. Hence why I would bring otc kits just in case and run them yourself in front of them to confirm the result.

You can run as many tests are you'd like, but they're not going to accept any of them. If you get a positive result from the test that Disney makes you take, then you don't get to cruise.

 

[tgrunewald]

I'm really sorry that this happened to you. We are on the Aug. 10 Northern Europe and doing Paris before hand for a week; so now I'm nervous.
Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions, given your recent experience?
- We are taken a bunch of rapid tests, what happens if anyone in your party reports a positive to DCL prior to board date (1 or 2 days beforehand), do you still get refunded?
- Did you have a choice of quarantine hotel? Who pays for the hotel?
- I assume quarantine means not leaving the room for 7 days, correct? (a nightmare scenario with kids)

Thank you so much and again, I'm sorry you had to go through this

~breathe~

Thanks!
Not sure on how they would handle the refund if you self tested positive on the day before arriving at port - it might be a good idea if they allow it. I’m sure it would have to be validated somehow though

We did not get to choose our hotel. Disney did pay though. Now after having lived it, you could probably say you want to get your own. The pro would be flexibility and no one would know where you are (ie not reported to govt). The con is Disney likely wouldn’t pay.

The 7 day quarantine in isolation is what we were told initially by the hotel the first night. As time went on we started to learn things like the negative guests were allowed to come and go. We also found out that we could leave after the positive person submitted a valid negative test. They initially said it must be from a doctor or pharmacist in the city but we were able to eventually use a video observation self test from Azova. I met other guest who use eMed as well.

Of course none of this info came from Disney. It was pieced together from experiencing it and talking to the other guests also stuck at the hotel

 

[tgrunewald]

I am a travel agent and have a family with 12 staterooms. Same thing happened to the grandmother who paid for everything. She was on, unpacked, playing trivia and then was forced off the ship. They felt the very same as you did. I haven't received a follow up email yet from them as part if the family is still on the ship and part was forced off.

Hi Katie - was it the family from Montana? I think I met the son in law at our hotel. If so, I know their experience was even worse. They broke up the family. He was with us at the port and the grandma and others were shipped off closer to Rome because there was no more room availability. Good news was he got out early too and was headed back to get her and try to go home. Good luck to your party

 

[lanejudy]

Not sure on how they would handle the refund if you self tested positive on the day before arriving at port - it might be a good idea if they allow it. I’m sure it would have to be validated somehow though

No, DCL does not require any documentation for the Flexible Refund Policy. While rules could change, up until now DCL has simply allowed guests impacted by Covid (positive test, exposure, or symptoms) to call and either change their cruise date or cancel for a refund.

I expect you are correct about DCL not covering any quarantine expenses if a party cancels in advance (DCL doesn't cover quarantine expenses at US ports anyway, I'm not sure about Canada).

 

[Geomom]

Thanks!
Not sure on how they would handle the refund if you self tested positive on the day before arriving at port - it might be a good idea if they allow it. I’m sure it would have to be validated somehow though

We did not get to choose our hotel. Disney did pay though. Now after having lived it, you could probably say you want to get your own. The pro would be flexibility and no one would know where you are (ie not reported to govt). The con is Disney likely wouldn’t pay.

The 7 day quarantine in isolation is what we were told initially by the hotel the first night. As time went on we started to learn things like the negative guests were allowed to come and go. We also found out that we could leave after the positive person submitted a valid negative test. They initially said it must be from a doctor or pharmacist in the city but we were able to eventually use a video observation self test from Azova. I met other guest who use eMed as well.

Of course none of this info came from Disney. It was pieced together from experiencing it and talking to the other guests also stuck at the hotel

Sorry you are going through this! Still can't believe multiple parties got pulled off the ship after being cleared to board! It's great that Disney paid though, I know for Port Canaveral when testing just before boarding was required they just dropped you off wherever you wanted to go and then you were on your own--which is definitely not what you want in a foreign country. I think you're on the first sailing out of Civitavecchia, which might account for some of the craziness. We were originally going to be on that cruise and switched to a US one in December due to the testing regs at that time... didn't want to get stuck in Italy and there has not been any info on what happens if you test positive at port--so thank you for sharing your experience! How many days did you spend at the quarantine hotel before your son tested out (once you learned about that option.)?

 

[mevelandry]

Wanted to provide a summary of our experience with someone in our party testing COVID positive

Our family of 4 arrived at the port for the June 10 cruise at 1130. We did the initial testing and were cleared to board at 1230.

We went to eat and then to our staterooms. They then called at 2 and asked for our son to come down to customer service but didn’t offer any reason.

Once down there there’s told us there was a problem with his test and had to go back to the port and re-test. No one would give us an answer on why the re-test. No one from Disney was around…it was only the Testing company people. He took the test and didn’t get new results (positive) until 330pm when they realized no one had spoken to us yet.

It then took another hour for someone from Disney to tell us what is going to happen.
This pattern was similar with all the others waiting as well.

They then called the rest of our party off the boat along with our luggage. We waited in the port until 7pm. At that time, we were shipped off to a hotel near the port to serve our 7 day quarantine sentence.

It literally feels like we were thrown out with trash. The lack of empathy, coordination, and communication from Disney was very disappointing especially given the circumstances. I never thought I’d say that they let us down from a Customer Service standpoint

Hopefully they will improve the process and shift to self reported testing soon so other won’t have Similar experiences. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

Ready this breaks my heart.

I hope you are all okay (emotionally and physically).

 

[Tiffsoo]

Thanks!
Not sure on how they would handle the refund if you self tested positive on the day before arriving at port - it might be a good idea if they allow it. I’m sure it would have to be validated somehow though

We did not get to choose our hotel. Disney did pay though. Now after having lived it, you could probably say you want to get your own. The pro would be flexibility and no one would know where you are (ie not reported to govt). The con is Disney likely wouldn’t pay.

The 7 day quarantine in isolation is what we were told initially by the hotel the first night. As time went on we started to learn things like the negative guests were allowed to come and go. We also found out that we could leave after the positive person submitted a valid negative test. They initially said it must be from a doctor or pharmacist in the city but we were able to eventually use a video observation self test from Azova. I met other guest who use eMed as well.

Of course none of this info came from Disney. It was pieced together from experiencing it and talking to the other guests also stuck at the hotel

Do you know if you had somewhere else to stay if they would have let you do that? We have a stand-alone whole house Airbnb booked, as a back-up plan, but it sounds like they’d make us stay in the hotel? I’m guessing by the lack of communication you don’t know.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

prenetics is the worst. I'm sailing Saturday, as from the day my profile should have been available I started e-mailing. First my reservation was not available, then only my friends profile was available... the e-mail came to different agents who would always send me two sentence e-mails without looking into the history with the same advices:
1. check again later
2. make sure the spelling/capitals are the same as our reservation
3. try to make a new account with a different e-mail
Yesterday, around 24 e-mails later I still had NOTHING submitted or available.... that's when I decided to e-mail them every hour and frop disney's customer service an e-mail with my experience with prenetics in cc so they knew I was reporting... and guess what: this morning I got an email saying they had esacalated my case to a manager who had created my account (may be you could have done that at the 4th e-mail??) I uploaded docs and literally two minutes later they were approved... so if they are the same type of people working for them in the terminal I'm not surprised reading these kind of stories..so sorry you had to go through this

 

[Chickadeesgrl]

Thanks!
Not sure on how they would handle the refund if you self tested positive on the day before arriving at port - it might be a good idea if they allow it. I’m sure it would have to be validated somehow though

We did not get to choose our hotel. Disney did pay though. Now after having lived it, you could probably say you want to get your own. The pro would be flexibility and no one would know where you are (ie not reported to govt). The con is Disney likely wouldn’t pay.

The 7 day quarantine in isolation is what we were told initially by the hotel the first night. As time went on we started to learn things like the negative guests were allowed to come and go. We also found out that we could leave after the positive person submitted a valid negative test. They initially said it must be from a doctor or pharmacist in the city but we were able to eventually use a video observation self test from Azova. I met other guest who use eMed as well.

Of course none of this info came from Disney. It was pieced together from experiencing it and talking to the other guests also stuck at the hotel

Thank you for your update. What an ordeal. I feel for the family with 12 rooms booked and then separated. From your post, I assume that you and your family tested negative and were allowed to leave quarantine. How many days did you have to quarantine?

Given that Italy just dropped all entry requirements this week, I assume rules will change again.If your party is fully vaccinated and negative, they would be able to leave and visit the local area. I am Canadian and my husband who had covid isolated but we were allowed to go to work/school etc. If you are sick, you are sick and don’t want to sightsee anyways!

Are staying in Italy or just heading home?

 

[kps7795]

Wanted to provide a summary of our experience with someone in our party testing COVID positive

Our family of 4 arrived at the port for the June 10 cruise at 1130. We did the initial testing and were cleared to board at 1230.

We went to eat and then to our staterooms. They then called at 2 and asked for our son to come down to customer service but didn’t offer any reason.

Once down there there’s told us there was a problem with his test and had to go back to the port and re-test. No one would give us an answer on why the re-test. No one from Disney was around…it was only the Testing company people. He took the test and didn’t get new results (positive) until 330pm when they realized no one had spoken to us yet.

It then took another hour for someone from Disney to tell us what is going to happen.
This pattern was similar with all the others waiting as well.

They then called the rest of our party off the boat along with our luggage. We waited in the port until 7pm. At that time, we were shipped off to a hotel near the port to serve our 7 day quarantine sentence.

It literally feels like we were thrown out with trash. The lack of empathy, coordination, and communication from Disney was very disappointing especially given the circumstances. I never thought I’d say that they let us down from a Customer Service standpoint

Hopefully they will improve the process and shift to self reported testing soon so other won’t have Similar experiences. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

Could you please tell me if you swabbed yourself like at Port Canaveral or does someone swab you?

 

[brentm77]

Could you please tell me if you swabbed yourself like at Port Canaveral or does someone swab you?

I'm on the med cruise this week. You swab yourself.