COVID aboard ship

Personal Finances Budget Travel/Vacations
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Cruise lines faced an existential threat when COVID first hit them hard and then shut them down. They started up again under strict CDC guidelines - all of which have been dropped one by one until all that is left is “recommendations”.

I have recently completed a six month trip aboard a cruise ship. While the ship can carry 700 passengers, for all but the last month of the trip, there were 250-300 passengers. The trip started with strict COVID defenses - mandatory vaccinations (almost all were also boosted), mandatory social distancing and masking frequent testing and so on. By the end of the cruise, these restraints were lifted and the cruise director told me that they wouldn’t have had as many COVID cases if they had done less testing. I am also in email contact with a number of people currently on ocean and river cruises.

So, in effect, I was able to observe a COVID “laboratory” aboard a ship. By the end of the cruise, over 75% of the passengers and crew had tested positive for COVID. So, here’s the deal (pretty much confirmed by JohnEBgood’s recent experience):

Regardless of the length of cruise, under current ground rules (basically no rules after August 1st), unless you have had a COVID infection over the past few months, you have a near certainty of becoming infected aboard (and because testing is no longer done, bringing it home if you caught it close to disembarkation).

You know the drill.

The more vaccinations/boosters (and the closer to the time you take the trip), the more likely you will get an infection with fewer symptoms

The mRNA vaccines (Pfizer or Moderna) are more likely to leave you with less symptoms than the others

Co-morbidities (diabetes, renal issues, lung issues, immunosuppressed, older ages etc.) mean a higher likelihood of increased symptoms

Masking and social distancing reduces the likely virus load (and, if lucky, even catching the plague)

If infected, you join the lottery of which symptoms you get, whether you need hospitalization or end up with long-COVID. The above information can help you with better odds when you play the game, but taking a cruise today will likely (almost certainly) enter you into the contest.

Jeff

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By the end of the cruise, these restraints were lifted and the cruise director told me that they wouldn’t have had as many COVID cases if they had done less testing.

Sounds like a familiar political statement at the beginning of COVID. They would have less known cases and more transmission.

We have a week long cruise scheduled at the end of February. I’m hoping that the Omicron booster will be available by that time.

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…unless you have had a COVID infection over the past few months…

My reading indicates that there is no reliable evidence that infection (by any variant) precludes re-infection by one of the newer variants, even within a few months. Unless you have credible evidence to the contrary, I would not make the assumption that you’re reasonably safe under such circumstances.

As noted previously here, DW and I had Covid in June of this year, even though vaxxed and double boosted. We were wicked sick for 10 days, and “long Covid” or permanent damage was a real concern. Almost certainly, we contracted it on a trans-Atlantic flight home. We’d tested negative the day before the flight, as then required, and were well masked continuously in public until we arrived inside our home … except for approx. 15 minutes in-flight to eat. That was sufficient time to get infected, apparently.

So when we travel, which we do, we wear N95 masks for the entire time we are in an enclosed space with other people from the moment we leave our front door until we arrive inside our destination lodging, other than for a few seconds periodically to take a drink or a bite of a meal bar. We do not eat in enclosed public settings. We mask indoors (e.g., shops, museums, stations) and on public transport.

For now, the precautions we’d require to feel safe on a cruise–eating outdoors or in our quarters exclusively, masking when not on deck, keeping windows wide open in our cabin to provide adequate fresh air ventilation, etc.–are such that a traditional cruise experience is probably out of bounds for us, although perhaps some sort of Windjammer or river cruise operation might be able to meet our requirements.

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We have three cruise credits to use. They all expire by next year.

I have had reservations (concerns!) about cruising. Yours and JBG’s posts aren’t helping that. :expressionless: We are slated for an Alaska cruise soon. We’re vaxxed, and one booster. We wear masks everywhere. And I won’t be going to any lounges or other crowded venues on the ship.

I think after our credits are used or expired, we won’t be sailing again anytime soon. Maybe never. We like cruising, but they seem to have problems with viruses, even before COVID. I think it’s just not a good idea going forward.

We have reserved another cruise early next year, but depending on how this one goes, I may just cancel and let the credits expire.

Glad you guys managed to avoid the Ruby Princess scenario. I can’t even imagine having been on that ship.

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We wear masks everywhere. And I won’t be going to any lounges or other crowded venues on the ship.

I urge you to figure out a plan for meals. Mere “social distancing” in an indoor dining room every day for multiple meals isn’t sufficient when everyone has their masks off, chewing and chatting. Personally, I’d contact the cruise line and ask about possibilities for eating on deck.

I’d also want a cabin with an openable porthole for ventilation. (HVAC systems on ships are a vector for all sorts of “bugs.”)

The key factor is having lots of moving fresh air around you. If you can lounge in a deck chair in the shade all day with a pina colada and snacks at your side, that’d be great.

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We have a balcony. For Alaska it is warranted (plus I prefer being able to get air). We usually prop the door open a bit so we can hear the water.

Interesting idea about dining on deck. I can try to explore that.

Hopefully the ship won’t be that full. We’ll see.

1poorguy

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Yours and JBG’s posts aren’t helping that

If you haven’t already, definitely p-box me. I am happily traveling and enjoying my life and since I had Covid at the beginning of May, no longer that concerned about it.

Next up, heading to Halifax on Thursday for a bike trip on Prince Edward Island.

But I’m not a fan of big ship cruising anyway :wink:

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Almost certainly, we contracted it on a trans-Atlantic flight home. We’d tested negative the day before the flight, as then required, and were well masked continuously in public until we arrived inside our home … except for approx. 15 minutes in-flight to eat. That was sufficient time to get infected, apparently.

Your timeline might be one scenario on how/when you got infected.
It is also possible that when you tested negative on the day before the flight you were already infected AND possibly infectious. DW still tested negative when she had severe symptoms and did not test positive until the next day…meanwhile I was infected by her the day or two before when there were no symptoms as I lagged 2 days after her in symptoms and testing positive.

Mike

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It is also possible that when you tested negative on the day before the flight you were already infected AND possibly infectious.

Possible but quite unlikely. We spent the vast majority of our time in Paris either in our apartment or outdoors. (We typically spend 4-6 hours/day walking or sitting in parks when we’re there.) We were masked the few times we were indoors or on public transport. (We went to the Orsay on a weekday morning, and it was virtually empty.) We ate either in the apartment or outdoors, well away from others. We went to no indoor bars or restaurants.

It may all sound a bit spartan–and perhaps it was in some respects–but we had a thoroughly enjoyable time and have reserved the same apartment for a month next spring.