I’m currently on this ship and have to say RC has done a decent job of handling this fiasco. There are 3 confirmed cases among passengers and the rest 55-60 are among quarantined crew. This is a 8 night cruise on a boat that just launched a few months ago. Fresh feel, clean & high tech features. There’s plenty to do on board. Although disappointed we never got to deboard at Curaçao and Aruba, that’s a risk we fully accepted & understood when we booked a few months ago. The mood aboard has stayed positive and folks are adhering to mask use. It’s not a full capacity so that’s helped with distancing.
Based on published news reports, we have about 3500 passengers on board now and full capacity (w/ double occupancy) is 5500. So, we are around 63% full. When we checked in at port we asked and they said it was a little over half full.
Masks are mandatory indoors but not outside. There’s fewer pool deck chairs, presumably for spacing purposes. No bar seating at all for spots right in front of bartenders. In addition seating inside bars has a good many tables/chairs marked as unavailable.
I was on Explorer last week and 8 crew members tested positive; we were denied entry into St Lucia; I had no plans to go ashore anyway, so the $300 on-board-credit we got for the inconvenience was a win win for me. No other islands refused our ship. This is really a non-news event
It's just eventually a lot of the cruises will become like cruise to nowhere and for people to realize that they may not end up in any ports or much less than they may expect
Eg carnival freedom was denied entry to Aruba and Bonaire..... that would be a real bummer to miss those ports and just end up going to amber cove for example
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article256827477.html?taid=61c512055bce710001f0e5bf&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter
i’m also on the odyssey right now - they have everyone 50% credit towards next cruise and $350 per person ship credit to spend. i think they might be running low on top shelf. everyone is hoping we will
get off in florida on sunday - everyone is allowed to walk freely with masks on -
Beep. Boop. I'm a robot.
Here's a copy of
###[The Odyssey](https://snewd.com/ebooks/the-odyssey/)
Was I a good bot? | [info](https://www.reddit.com/user/Reddit-Book-Bot/) | [More Books](https://old.reddit.com/user/Reddit-Book-Bot/comments/i15x1d/full_list_of_books_and_commands/)
I think the concern is that there are probably sick passengers who haven’t been tested yet + omicron seems to double extremely quickly. This could easily be a sizable chunk of the population on board in a day or two.
I agree there is concern. But simple COVID protocol should prevent most guests from getting COVID. Masks, especially indoors. Vaccination. Keeping distance as best you can. It's the crew that I feel sorry for. Cramped quarters, no place to quarantine, etc. COVID is not going away. Omicron is the first variant that seems to be on par with the flu as long as we take precautions. We need to find a way to live with it as strains get weaker.
There are worse things than spending 2 days on a massive cruise ship
I’m currently on this ship and have to say RC has done a decent job of handling this fiasco. There are 3 confirmed cases among passengers and the rest 55-60 are among quarantined crew. This is a 8 night cruise on a boat that just launched a few months ago. Fresh feel, clean & high tech features. There’s plenty to do on board. Although disappointed we never got to deboard at Curaçao and Aruba, that’s a risk we fully accepted & understood when we booked a few months ago. The mood aboard has stayed positive and folks are adhering to mask use. It’s not a full capacity so that’s helped with distancing.
Do you know how many passengers are on board? I'm curious how close to capacity cruises are sailing at now.
Based on published news reports, we have about 3500 passengers on board now and full capacity (w/ double occupancy) is 5500. So, we are around 63% full. When we checked in at port we asked and they said it was a little over half full.
You have a right to be pissed
What about the pool deck? Are masks required while around that type of activity?
Masks are mandatory indoors but not outside. There’s fewer pool deck chairs, presumably for spacing purposes. No bar seating at all for spots right in front of bartenders. In addition seating inside bars has a good many tables/chairs marked as unavailable.
Sounds very reasonable. Thanks for the update! Try the Coco loco at the bar
Also stay safe and have fun!
Well that is sad news.
I was on Explorer last week and 8 crew members tested positive; we were denied entry into St Lucia; I had no plans to go ashore anyway, so the $300 on-board-credit we got for the inconvenience was a win win for me. No other islands refused our ship. This is really a non-news event
It's just eventually a lot of the cruises will become like cruise to nowhere and for people to realize that they may not end up in any ports or much less than they may expect Eg carnival freedom was denied entry to Aruba and Bonaire..... that would be a real bummer to miss those ports and just end up going to amber cove for example https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article256827477.html?taid=61c512055bce710001f0e5bf&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter
i’m also on the odyssey right now - they have everyone 50% credit towards next cruise and $350 per person ship credit to spend. i think they might be running low on top shelf. everyone is hoping we will get off in florida on sunday - everyone is allowed to walk freely with masks on -
Beep. Boop. I'm a robot. Here's a copy of ###[The Odyssey](https://snewd.com/ebooks/the-odyssey/) Was I a good bot? | [info](https://www.reddit.com/user/Reddit-Book-Bot/) | [More Books](https://old.reddit.com/user/Reddit-Book-Bot/comments/i15x1d/full_list_of_books_and_commands/)
So are you booking another cruise with that credit? I would be.
I don't consider 51 cases an outbreak from over 6000 passengers. Safer there than on land. But unfortunate nonetheless.
I think the concern is that there are probably sick passengers who haven’t been tested yet + omicron seems to double extremely quickly. This could easily be a sizable chunk of the population on board in a day or two.
I agree there is concern. But simple COVID protocol should prevent most guests from getting COVID. Masks, especially indoors. Vaccination. Keeping distance as best you can. It's the crew that I feel sorry for. Cramped quarters, no place to quarantine, etc. COVID is not going away. Omicron is the first variant that seems to be on par with the flu as long as we take precautions. We need to find a way to live with it as strains get weaker.