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Interesting account of TUI experience


Jill

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A few questions answered by a TUI passenger: 

 

‼️Hi again! Today I read through your questions about our recent cruise onboard TUI Cruises - Mein Schiff 6! I will start to provide answers to 9 questions:‼️

What did we have to do before the cruise?
- informed about travel cancellation and health insurance with corona protection
- reserved excursion
- reserved seats on the plane
- reserved on-board entertainment
- completed the Greece entry form for the QR code
- filled out the Helios Hospital data protection 
form and made an appointment for the test
- filled out the TUI Cruises health questionnaires before driving to Munich Airport

Did you have to do a COVID-19 test? ??
TUI Cruises is requiring that all passengers test negative for COVID-19 before boarding. The test could be taken at one of 86 Helios Hospital locations in Germany. The test's cost was included in the cruise fare. We had to drive 1,5 hours to the next Helios Hospital. They did a nose and throat swab test. Our results were sent directly to TUI Cruises. 

How was the flight?✈️?
To get to the cruise ship was only possible with a chartered flight by TUIfly from 6 German airports (Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, Dusseldorf, Munich, Frankfurt). No individual arrivals. No public flights! Only access to the plane with negative COVID-19 Test.

How was the boarding procedure??
At the check-in counter of TUIfly we had to show the TUI Cruises health questionnaires and the valid QR Code for entry to Greece (received at 11pm the day before). After arriving at Crete we had to show the QR Code to the Greek authorities at the airport. Randomly other flight passengers were chosen for another nose and throat swab test - but not us. We got our bags and were then shown to the TUI Cruises Bus and driven to the cruise ship. To decrease the amount of people inside the cruise terminal we had to wait for ~30minutes inside the bus, until we were allowed to proceed to the cruise terminal. First we had to present our health questionnaires form, then we got our temperature measured with a digital thermal imaging camera. After the security check we went directly to one of the check-in counters, which were fitted with plexiglass screens. We had to show our set sail pass and passports through the plexiglass screen. The employee made a picture of our passports, then we were allowed to take shortly off our mask for our „ship picture“. Afterwards we could walk straight to the ships gangway, where we had to show our set sail pass for entry and for a short moment our face without mask. 

How was the Muster Drill?
Onboard we went straight to our stateroom, where our sea pass cards were in a sealed envelope at the door. We put our hand luggage inside the stateroom and walked straight to Deck 5, where the muster drill took place. We were shown to our designated area. By that time we were the only ones there. So the two employees made a „private muster drill“ just for us. We could ask questions and were finished within 5 minutes.

How many people were onboard?
TUI Cruises operates their ships at just 60% of their regular capacity. Mein Schiff 6 regular capacity is 2534 passengers - on our cruise we were in total 922 passengers. TUI cruises canceled all their cruises until end of October - the Greek Isles cruise was released on August 13 with the new regulations. TUI is only selling balcony staterooms and suites at the moment! No inside or window cabins are sold! 

Did you have to wear masks??
Yes! All guests and crew members are required to practice social distance of at least 1.5 meters in the public areas of the ship. Wherever this distance cannot be maintained without hesitation, wearing a proper mouth and nose mask (masks NOT allowed you will find on the picture) was compulsory. This applied to elevators, stairwells and cabin corridors, for example. Whenever we were talking to crew (guest services, bars, towel station) - we wore masks. Also on the Pool Deck, when we couldn’t keep the social distance - we wore masks. As soon as we sat on our sun lounger/chair -  we didn’t have to wear a mask. At the restaurants we wore a mask until we sat down at the table. When we stood up to get more food - we wore a mask! By arrival at our stateroom we found 5 masks per person on the bed - in a sealed package. You could get more from housekeeping.

How many people were inside the elevators?
Inside the elevators were allowed 4 people!
On the floor of the elevator were marked spaces, where one was allowed to stand. If the elevator was full, we had to wait for another one. Thankfully everyone respected these rules! Before the elevators were placed hand sanitizer - so after touching buttons, we could easily sanitize our hands before and after our elevator ride.

Did you get a temperature check???
Everyone had to have their temperature measured with a digital thermal imaging camera. This was repeated every morning between 9-12 inside the disco (which was closed anyways). We had to sanitize our hands and then walk in front of the camera. It took less than 2 minutes. 

I am aware that there are many many more questions, which I will happily answer tomorrow!????
https://youtu.be/3lIxj6iFH68

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6 hours ago, mattymay said:

Need a vaccine. Die hards will do this, your average family wont.

 

Covid-19 is a strain of the many cold and flu viruses we humans can get on an annual basis. Even if a vaccine can be developed for this one strain, the virus will mutate like all other viruses do. People have to start to understand this will be with us forever as just another virus that can make you sick. We are going to have to live with this beast. However it got into humans will be debated for years but the one thing we do know is it is not going away anytime soon. ?
 

I ventured out for a Flu vaccine last year because I knew I was cruising in March 20 on Oasis and low and behold I get the flu 5 days before the cruise and had to shift my cruise to Dec 20 on Harmony which now I have subsequently cancelled with a refund.  I got Influenza Type A and the vaccine last year was for a different strain. It’s going to be like this in the future with the many different strains that will mutate. 

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2 hours ago, VACruiser said:

Covid-19 is a strain of the many cold and flu viruses we humans can get on an annual basis. Even if a vaccine can be developed for this one strain, the virus will mutate like all other viruses do. People have to start to understand this will be with us forever as just another virus that can make you sick. We are going to have to live with this beast. However it got into humans will be debated for years but the one thing we do know is it is not going away anytime soon. ?
 

I ventured out for a Flu vaccine last year because I knew I was cruising in March 20 on Oasis and low and behold I get the flu 5 days before the cruise and had to shift my cruise to Dec 20 on Harmony which now I have subsequently cancelled with a refund.  I got Influenza Type A and the vaccine last year was for a different strain. It’s going to be like this in the future with the many different strains that will mutate. 

To be clear, COVID-19 is the disease that presents through infection with SARS-CoV-2. While SARS-CoV-2 is related to the common cold in that it belongs to the family of coronaviruses, it is markedly different, hence the term novel coronavirus to identify it. The main difference is how the virus attaches to human cells, predominantly in the respiratory tract but also others.

So far, studies of the novel virus indicate it isn't mutating. This and the novelty of the virus and particularly the spike protein that is the mechanism for attachment to the host cells, makes it a strong candidate for a vaccine that will be highly effective. While studies underway demonstrate that a COVID-19 vaccine will work and that side effects are mild (the typical arm soreness, some mild fatigue). We do not know yet how long an immunized person will be protected. However, it is known that the virus is not mutating, would not require new vaccines to address that, but rather booster shots.

There are different types of vaccines in development but not yet FDA approved to prevent COVID-19. All of them target different features of SARS-CoV-2 to prevent it from replicating inside host cells or that prompt an antibody response so that humans have a head start when exposed to SARS-CoV-2. The common cold has no such novelty and attempts to promote immune responses to prevent a cold have not proven to work.

Influenza, on the other hand, is susceptible to vaccines even though every season produces new, mutated flu strains. There are two ways influenza vaccines work. The first is by using an inactivated (killed) virus whose presence when introduced to the body by an injection, prompts a robust immune response. The second is by injecting a specific protein analog that prompts a human immune response. These vaccines are not always perfect protection but studies demonstrate that if it does not prevent symptoms, it lessens them often in significant ways. Neither of these types of vaccines give you the flu.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/misconceptions.htm

Bottom line: get a flu shot and in the pandemic circumstance this is a doubly important public health preventative measure. Also, when vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 become available, especially if you are at higher risk for serious complications from COVID-19, avail yourself of it. The importance of getting a COVID shot in contributing to herd immunity and allowing a return to social and economic activity is absolutely essential.       

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2 hours ago, JeffB said:

Bottom line: get a flu shot and in the pandemic circumstance this is a doubly important public health preventative measure. Also, when vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 become available, especially if you are at higher risk for serious complications from COVID-19, avail yourself of it. The importance of getting a COVID shot in contributing to herd immunity and allowing a return to social and economic activity is absolutely essential.       

I'm getting my second shot as part of the Pfizer trial tomorrow! Trying to talk myself out of going in for an antibody test the week after to see if I actually got it or not... But the curiosity is killing me. All of the anecdotal stories I've read say that people report worse side effects after the second shot. Maybe then it will be more definitive (I feel all of my "symptoms" after the first shot could easily have been psychosomatic).

One bad part about being a trial participant: I'm supposed to delay my flu shot by a few weeks after the last trial shot. Normally I'd have my flu vaccine by now (always early in Oct). Masks should help me dodge the bullet a little better I til I can get the flu shot.

Thanks for posting such sound and reasonable advice here. 

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11 hours ago, VACruiser said:

Covid-19 is a strain of the many cold and flu viruses we humans can get on an annual basis. Even if a vaccine can be developed for this one strain, the virus will mutate like all other viruses do. People have to start to understand this will be with us forever as just another virus that can make you sick. We are going to have to live with this beast. However it got into humans will be debated for years but the one thing we do know is it is not going away anytime soon. ?
 

I ventured out for a Flu vaccine last year because I knew I was cruising in March 20 on Oasis and low and behold I get the flu 5 days before the cruise and had to shift my cruise to Dec 20 on Harmony which now I have subsequently cancelled with a refund.  I got Influenza Type A and the vaccine last year was for a different strain. It’s going to be like this in the future with the many different strains that will mutate. 

My point was that it's easier to just show documentation that myself and my family have had the vaccine, get on the ship and enjoy the cruise. Not jump through all the hoops before, during and possibly after that are mentioned above.

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25 minutes ago, mattymay said:

My point was that it's easier to just show documentation that myself and my family have had the vaccine, get on the ship and enjoy the cruise. Not jump through all the hoops before, during and possibly after that are mentioned above.

The vaccine almost certainly won't be 100% mitigation, you will most likely still have a chance of becoming infected despite getting a vaccine.  

Until numbers are down across society the hoops above may be with us for a while.

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2 hours ago, mattymay said:

My point was that it's easier to just show documentation that myself and my family have had the vaccine, get on the ship and enjoy the cruise. Not jump through all the hoops before, during and possibly after that are mentioned above.

Vaccines are not 100%. There are people who will never mount a response to a vaccine. They will show no titer. Vaccines can be useful in many cases but they are never a guarantee against disease. I fear too many don’t realize that efficacy can not be guaranteed. False sense of security. 

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9 hours ago, Jill said:

Vaccines are not 100%. There are people who will never mount a response to a vaccine. They will show no titer. Vaccines can be useful in many cases but they are never a guarantee against disease. I fear too many don’t realize that efficacy can not be guaranteed. False sense of security. 

Yes, I realise, but at some point the industry needs to say ok you've had the vaccine, that's all we need to allow you on our ship.

I live in Australia and pre-covid we often travel to Florida to board cruise ships. I can tell you now we wont be travelling all that way just to be told we can't board because one of us has a high temp, etc.. 

I'm not sure the average ratio of overseas passengers per cruise but I would suspect there would be many people in the same situation.

I was feeling terrible last time I boarded Ovation of the Seas in Sydney around Nov last year. Took some medication the morning of boarding and was feeling fine the next day. What would happen these days? Would probably be denied boarding. In my opinion this makes cruising not a very desirable option as you don't really know if you can actually go on your holiday until you wake up that morning and are lucky enough that everyone feels ok. For those that don't live near a cruise port it can be quite costly just getting there (flights, hotel, etc). Is the cruise line going to reimburse me for that? 

 

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1 hour ago, mattymay said:

Yes, I realise, but at some point the industry needs to say ok you've had the vaccine, that's all we need to allow you on our ship.

I live in Australia and pre-covid we often travel to Florida to board cruise ships. I can tell you now we wont be travelling all that way just to be told we can't board because one of us has a high temp, etc.. 

I'm not sure the average ratio of overseas passengers per cruise but I would suspect there would be many people in the same situation.

I was feeling terrible last time I boarded Ovation of the Seas in Sydney around Nov last year. Took some medication the morning of boarding and was feeling fine the next day. What would happen these days? Would probably be denied boarding. In my opinion this makes cruising not a very desirable option as you don't really know if you can actually go on your holiday until you wake up that morning and are lucky enough that everyone feels ok. For those that don't live near a cruise port it can be quite costly just getting there (flights, hotel, etc). Is the cruise line going to reimburse me for that? 

 

I would imagine you would get the two normal options - Future Cruise Credit or refund in which flights and hotels are on you and I agree that would be the hard pill to swallow. I too live quite a distance from a cruise port, not Australia mind you, but nonetheless, still costs money to fly and I need a hotel.
 

Pretty much over the years I budgeted a thousand U.S. dollars for movement to the port and hotel with restaurants. Sometimes it may not cost that much but other times I’m pretty close to that number. Cruising isn’t cheap so the thought of not making it on a ship gives me anxiety when what I’m looking for is fun in the sun. 

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