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Oasis 12/26 Sailing: Covid Isolation 1/1 - 1/2


tonyfsu21

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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

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This is another thing that has to change after the CSO. The quarantine protocols and quarantine reaction (hazmat suits and foggers) is extreme overkill and is March 2020-level.

There shouldn't need to be a "quarantine deck" especially if you already have a balcony. Just quarantine in your room.

 

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4 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

Are kids required to be tested at the end of the cruise because they are non-vaccinated?  Is it a US requirement or a cruise policy?

On cruises greater than 4 nights and if unvaccinated, yes, they get a Covid test at the end of the cruise.

If kids are vaccinated, no end of the cruise test required.

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22 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Ugh, the thought of being moved out of my Owner's Suite due to a positive result on board just sickens me.  I have some thinking to do....

I'll never be able to get a deal like this ever again.  

Why would you be tested? Ive been on 2 cruises no random testing that I was aware of.

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5 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

10 days.  I'd find a way to rent a car and drive home, no matter how far I'd have to drive, than sit in a hotel being treated like I have the plague for 10 days.

I guess we may consider canceling our flight and driving, but that does take 2 days down and 2 days back, and driving from Minnesota in the winter is tricky.

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6 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

10 days.  I'd find a way to rent a car and drive home, no matter how far I'd have to drive, than sit in a hotel being treated like I have the plague for 10 days.

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

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20 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

If we started to show symptoms .. if we had a close contact who tests positive...

1. Pack Nyquil, Dayquil and some nose drops.

2. Order room service more than usual; you can included in the owners correct? 

3. Sit in that balcony sunshine, drink your juice, order the fruit plate every day.

4. Be mindful of your personal space, when our concierge disappeared we knew it was covid related, heck a family in the lounge was hacking up their lungs, it was disgusting. We avoided them and the lounge for most of the time. They did eventually disappear, hummm?   I was comfortable enough that we would be okay due to being hyperaware of people like this, the concierge always stayed so far away, like I said we were told she was just put away for being in close proximity to someone who tested positive. 

5. It can be done and you can enjoy it. We dined in the room and on the balcony. we watched the free movies they provided. It's not what we imagined but it was enjoyable. When we went to the shows we sat where the "families" with unvaxed kiddos sat, not afraid of kiddos and they had every other row blocked off, it was spaced better then the vaxed area downstairs. No one in front of me, no one behind me @SpeedNoodlesenjoy that OS! Please, it hurts my heart to hear you may cancel. Whatever you decide I am routing for you!!

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5 minutes ago, Neesa said:

1. Pack Nyquil, Dayquil and some nose drops.

2. Order room service more than usual; you can included in the owners correct? 

3. Sit in that balcony sunshine, drink your juice, order the fruit plate every day.

4. Be mindful of your personal space, when our concierge disappeared we knew it was covid related, heck a family in the lounge was hacking up their lungs, it was disgusting. We avoided them and the lounge for most of the time. They did eventually disappear, hummm?   I was comfortable enough that we would be okay due to being hyperaware of people like this, the concierge always stayed so far away, like I said we were told she was just put away for being in close proximity to someone who tested positive. 

5. It can be done and you can enjoy it. We dined in the room and on the balcony. we watched the free movies they provided. It's not what we imagined but it was enjoyable. When we went to the shows we sat where the "families" with unvaxed kiddos sat, not afraid of kiddos and they had every other row blocked off, it was spaced better then the vaxed area downstairs. No one in front of me, no one behind me @SpeedNoodlesenjoy that OS! Please, it hurts my heart to hear you may cancel. Whatever you decide I am routing for you!!

With Delta I was ok with these mitigation.  With Omicron? I'm not sure. Because Mr. SpeedNoodles got boostered less than a week before he tested positive it's assumed his booster ended up being ineffective.  I'm waiting to see how fast this Omicron dies down, though.  Not ready to throw in the towel.

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4 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

With Delta I was ok with these mitigation.  With Omicron? I'm not sure. Because Mr. SpeedNoodles got boostered less than a week before he tested positive it's assumed his booster ended up being ineffective.  I'm waiting to see how fast this Omicron dies down, though.  Not ready to throw in the towel.

plenty of people who are considered "fully boosted"-2 weeks past booster date-have contracted Covid, assumption is it's Omicron.  This is why the numbers are so high.  

 

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9 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Ugh, the thought of being moved out of my Owner's Suite due to a positive result on board just sickens me.  I have some thinking to do....

I'll never be able to get a deal like this ever again.  

Amen sister! We have an owners suite starting Sunday but not bringing any kids so I am just hoping we don't get tested as part of contract tracing and be asymptomatically moved. If god forbid one of us felt a cold coming on I'd rather just stay in my room and order MDR room service. We've already lifted and shifted once, I want that room and got a steal on it while the world was panicking.

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43 minutes ago, Temeculaguy said:

Amen sister! We have an owners suite starting Sunday but not bringing any kids so I am just hoping we don't get tested as part of contract tracing and be asymptomatically moved. If god forbid one of us felt a cold coming on I'd rather just stay in my room and order MDR room service. We've already lifted and shifted once, I want that room and got a steal on it while the world was panicking.

Ha, that's exactly how I got ours - Empress to Odyssey at under 1/3 the cost!  Happy sailing to you!

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I could only imagine what this would feel like if it occurred on Day 2 of the cruise vice the last day.  And, if I had to give up a suite like SpeedNoodles is talking about it would be more insult to injury. I would hate feeling like I am patient zero of a plague that is ravaging mankind and I'm the cause of it all. Of course this is not the case and the OP indicated that his family had little to no symptoms. I walk around daily with allergies so my symptoms often mimic Covid so unless I positive I would probably never know.

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3 hours ago, VACruiser said:

I could only imagine what this would feel like if it occurred on Day 2 of the cruise vice the last day.  And, if I had to give up a suite like SpeedNoodles is talking about it would be more insult to injury. I would hate feeling like I am patient zero of a plague that is ravaging mankind and I'm the cause of it all. Of course this is not the case and the OP indicated that his family had little to no symptoms. I walk around daily with allergies so my symptoms often mimic Covid so unless I positive I would probably never know.

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. 

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