tonyfsu21

We had the same thing on oasis 12/26 and it didn’t leave until closer to 6:30-7pm from what I remember.

There were pretty serious waves too. I recall the ship being pounded and you could see the MSC & NCL ships getting it even worse.

While RC tightens the mask policy on the ship, the tour operators in Mexico tell you “you can take your mask off on the bus once you leave the port, Tequila!”. I really think the issue will be a weak link somewhere else.

So I haven’t seen this seemingly unique approach mentioned yet in this thread but my sister in law taped a luggage tag to a 24 pack of water and handed it to porter w/ her luggage. The water arrived to her cabin w/ the luggage. I personally wouldn’t do this but I can confirm it does in fact work.

Also as follow up: Not a single symptom from all four of us to this day. If the kids didn’t get a PCR to confirm then it would not be obvious even to us that we had Covid or had been exposed to Covid.

That’s how I felt, they should know this information w/o me constantly having to repeat myself. My only gripe was communication. So funny you mention the parking payment. There was the usual attendant next to the machine at the auto exit gate that takes your ticket & card and pays for you. Unfortunately he clearly was not been briefed on the fact that the Covid crew was rolling through the garage. He came to my closed window to take my ticket and I had to tell him through the window to stand back. It was a strange exchange.

We didn’t really interact with any of the other groups that were sitting in the chairs so I don’t know much other then the fact that the majority of them appeared upset and anxious to leave the ship. There was no telling if they had a 12 hour extravaganza like we did or multiple days in isolation.

Haha it was a mission. Not so much logistically but in regards to communication it was tough. I couldn’t seem to get them to understand the fact that we were not getting on an airplane. So basically to set the scene there’s the haz mat squad fogging everything (including exterior of nearby vehicles), 2 customs agents, 3-4 security guards and a woman with a clip board asking for flight information. After re-explaining the fact that we were driving (showed the woman my car keys) she passed us off to the customs agents. The customs screening took less then 30 seconds because the agents were probably scared of the COVID. Moments later a gentlemen in a black suburban pulls up (post fogging as he was part of the line of SUVs on the pier) says nothing and puts our bags in his trunk. The security guard tells us he will drive us directly to our vehicle in the terminal garage. We drove from the pier to our vehicle and hauled a$$ of of there!

I am not well versed in the protocol for flying w/ Covid but I assumed you had the choice of: 1. Quarantine at a hotel for 10 days paid for by RC and then fly home based on the paperwork I received. Unknown if it’s 5 or 10 days at this point. 2. Rent a car and drive home at RC expense. Unknown what the cap is on miles and how they would deal with potential hotel stays for long distance travel.

Day 2 would be a whole different story from Day 7 isolation. I don’t think I would go through that and opt to cruise again until COVID19 is no longer a burden on cruising or different protocols are in place. This can easily happen if your traveling with a large group (multiple families) because if one person ends up sick they contact trace & test everyone associated which could lead to isolation before day 7. We as a family can deal with 12 total hours of isolation considering the fact that most of that time was overnight and we were sleeping but you can only watch so many movies and eat so many cold hotdogs before you go mad.

And your right, the plague type treatment is a bit much especially when your already presumably at “vacation rock bottom”.

I would strap an N95 on and walk home as a preferred option!

Yes, it appears they would pay for the stay.

Here’s some more interesting information from the pamphlet regarding the amenities & how they accommodate smokers:

Here’s the document. It may have been presented to us in error:

As previously mentioned, on day 7 (1/1) my two kids went for their last Covid test and the results came back positive. All 4 of us had/have no symptoms. RC performed a PCR on the kids & it confirmed the positive result. 1/1 @ 4:00pm: phone call from guest relations asking for our return flight info, home address, phone number exc. I kindly I formed them we had a vehicle at the port and we lived in Fort Lauderdale. The guest relations follow up question was once again “what is your flight number”. This question was asked a total of 3 times in a 5 minute phone call and each time I informed them we had a vehicle at the port. 1/1 @ 4:30pm: phone call guest relations informing us that security was coming to get us & our luggage and move us to “another floor”. We were told they would be there in 30 minutes. 1/1 @ 5:30pm: knock on the cabin door. It’s 2 security guards and 3 crew members in full PPE (haz mat suits) with fog guns. The security guard passes me a folder with documents including final invoice, some kind of FCC for the day and a full 10 page document indicating we would be taken via special transport to a hotel to be quarantined for 10 days. There was a section for adults to sign & consent to the terms. The crew members grabbed our luggage and walked us through the interior crew passageways to an area where they fogged the luggage. We watched them spray the luggage and then we’re directed to a freight elevator to the 6th floor. Room 6304 balcony. There was 1 king bed and a small couch (which at first I assumed pulled out into a bed). Door closed behind us and no further instructions which we figured was odd. 1/1 @ 6:30pm: kids were hungry so I called up room service which was a limited menu (burger, hotdog, salads, fries, some desserts, sodas). There are small tables set up outside the cabins where the food is left and you just get a knock on the door when the food is delivered. I ate outside on the balcony and you could hear nothing but coughing kids outside and all around us. My kids are bored at this point & asking when we can go to sugar beach. We still have no clear game plan for the following days disembarkation. My wife is a pit bull attorney and you could see she was starting to get into full lawyer mode and about to go ham on guest relations for some answers. I called down and was told a “supervisor” would get back to me. This never happened. 1/1 @ 10:00pm: kids watched a movie and finally fell asleep. Still no word from anyone with a plan. I totally forgot about the sleeping situation and when I went to open the small mini couch it became clear that this was not a pull out bed. Since the kids & wife were asleep it was just me and the tiny couch. No blanket just a pillow. I’m 6’ tall so my legs had no where to go. I found some large bath towels and laid them out on the floor and just went to sleep on the floor. What an interesting way to really feel every single shift in engine RPM and bow thruster operation! 1/2 @ 6:30am: phone call from guest relations to get our luggage together and prepare to disembark Oasis. No other information given, although based on the previous days process I figured the goon squad would be back with their entourage to escort us off the ship. 1/2 @ 7:15am: Security & the haz mat crew show up to take our luggage and escort us down to deck 2 exit through a designated passageway. We get down to the area where you normally get off the ship at ports and there is an area set up with 20-30 chairs (all filled up with adults and children). We are told to sit and wait. We are asked once again what are flight number. I pulled my car key out of my pocket and mentioned we are leaving this ship and going to the parking garage to get our car. Still no further direction and at least 20 crew members standing right outside the ship with 2 customs officers. It’s now just a waiting game. There’s now a line of SUV’s being fogged by the haz mat team right outside the ship. 1/2 @ 8:30am: Crew member asks for our sea pass cards and we exit the ship. A young lady once again asks us our flight number and at this point it’s just annoying. I asked them to stop with the questions and explain to me EXACTLY how this plays out from this moment until the moment I press the unlock button on my cars key fob in the parking garage. They fumbled a bit and still continued to mention the hotel accommodations and ride directly to the hotel. We reexplained the entire scenario & finally a gentlemen in a black SUV grabbed our luggage and took us from the pier directly to the 4th floor of the terminal parking garage. 1/2 @ 9:00am: Home in Fort Lauderdale. Thoughts: We as a family understand the risks of cruising during a pandemic and we’re willing to take on the risks because we love cruising. We followed all mask protocols and still things like this happen. RC did what they had to do to mitigate the risk of a possible infection outbreak. I think there could have been improvement in the communication from guest relations to the parties in isolation. While at the ship exit the crew member rattled off 2 cabin numbers to us. Confused I asked why they had us in 2 cabins on the 6th floor???? It turns out they had put us in adjoining cabins so we would all have beds and this was not communicated to us. This is another example of a communication error that could have been avoided. Oh well, I’m thankful all 4 of us are in good health and we will certainly revisit cruising in the future. The 12/26 Oasis sailing was excellent and the ships crew is great! If you have any further questions please let me know. - Tony

Part of deck 6 on Oasis is designated for quarantine.

For this voyage, yes.

The kids tested + this morning on the last day before departure tomorrow. Can anyone with experience run me through the process regarding logistics for getting off the ship & to our car located in the terminal parking garage? I will answer any questions re: Isolation once we are home safe (appx 20 minute drive from port of Miami to house in Fort Lauderdale). So far what I have read they escort you off the ship and directly to a bus waiting on the pier. Obviously I am not getting on a bus and being forced into isolation at a hotel for 10 days. How do they deal with customs & getting us to our vehicle so that we can go home to isolate there? Thanks in advance. This was an amazing cruise until about 5pm when they moved us to another floor for isolation.

Personally I would avoid a card tied directly to a bank account under almost every circumstance. The negatives outweigh the positives and most credit cards offer excellent fraud protection.

Yes, not really sure why other then the venue was open due to show cancellation. For NYE the aquatheatre was transformed to a location for the unvaccinated to watch the ball drop thus no Phoenix.

For NYE is was back to the music hall. Great show!

NYE Phoenix!

I played the machines all night w/ a beer in hand and a lowered mask. In between beers walking around casino I had my mask on. Not really sure about the tables but I’m assuming the same. At the end of the day, there are no police and this is not like a prison it’s vacation and the staff knows that.

Unfortunately I talked to their manager last night and the contract has 2 more sailings taking them into early January. Maybe they re-up?