‘They think $100 per room is enough compensation?’ Caribbean 8-day Christmas cruise denied entry by ports due to COVID-19 outbreak

MarketWatch ^ | Updated: Dec. 26, 2021 | Quentin Fottrell

[Capt. Tom]

An undisclosed number of passengers tested positive for COVID-19 during a Christmas cruise, curtailing the cruise’s scheduled stops.

Take a cruise during a pandemic at your peril.

One Carnival Freedom passenger, Ashley Peterson, shared a letter from the captain offering a $100 gift voucher, apologizing for cutting two of the three stops, and assuring passengers that all protocols were being followed to keep them safe.

“People have spent thousands of dollars on this cruise and picked this cruise for the ports,” she tweeted “Now on an 8-day cruise we will have only gone to one place on a delayed schedule. They think $100 per room is enough compensation?”

Carnival Freedom, which is carrying 2,497 passengers and 1,112 crew members, was due to dock in Miami on Sunday after the eight-day cruise. Passengers were required to be vaccinated and test negative for COVID-19 before departure.

The captain’s letter read in part: “The rapid spread of the Omicron variant impacts how destinations are responding to even a small number of cases,” adding, “We know these unexpected changes are disappointing.”

‘People have spent thousands of dollars on this cruise and picked this cruise for the ports.’

Royal Caribbean said all passengers were required to be vaccinated and have negative COVID-19 tests. Those who tested positive were quarantined; their close contacts were also quarantined and monitored for 24 hours prior to testing.

Carnival Freedom did not immediately respond to comment regarding the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 or the compensation offered by the company. Royal Caribbean was not immediately available for comment.

Travel on cruise ships is particularly popular among families and the elderly, and the risk of contagion is relatively high on a ship. Younger children with strong immune systems have the lowest fatality and hospitalization rates from COVID-19.

[dforest]

No. They got the clotshot and figured life was back to normal.

[dforest]

Well, you could get on a plane and have some crazy Karen hitting you and spitting in your face.

[entropy12]

Enjoyed our MSC cruise in September this year. Ship was less than full, but staff was in full force. They pampered is more than usual.

Enjoyed next cruise in November this year on Independence of Seas Royal Caribbean ship. Sanitary protocols on ship were much more superior than any restaurant on land. Again half full ship, no lines, price was a bargain.

Next cruise booked in January on Carnival, and one more in February. Prices are amazing bargains. Hoping ships are less than full.

[cgbg]

There you are....

See post 16—sound like anyone you know?

;-)

[Capt. Tom]

I was reading the Royal Caribbean forum on Cruise Critic last night. Some interesting factoids:

There will be plenty of disgruntled passengers who will be getting off ships today and next week to give the press all the ammo they need to cripple the cruise lines.

Myself, right now, if I was fully vaccinated, I would not be willing to spend my money on a cruise that entails such aggravation. -Tom .

[entropy12]

I have already done 38 cruises, and 2 more coming in next 2 months.

The LEAST crowded ship ever was Oasis of Seas, with 6000+ passengers on board. The ship is so huge, and there are so many more restaurants and shops on ship, no crowds anywhere. There was a forest of living trees near our cabin, called Central Park, and it had so many trees and bushes, birds live there permanently.

[entropy12]

I love AVOIDING cooking and cleaning dishes at home.
And the cooks on ship can cook much better than me LOL.

[entropy12]

Capt Tom, for less than $475, 2 of us did a 4 day cruise on RCCL last month. If we just ate the same food in Restaurants, the bill would be double. And we got to see amazing shows, especially the ice dancing shows on Independence of Seas were simply great.

[Ezekiel]

Carnival Freedom

"Never submit. They will never stop if you do."

Looks like an ironically named circus.

Ya cruise ya lose!

[Phil]

So this individual had to have a test before boarding an international flight and he tested positive.

Wonder how many of the others that tested positive had to have a test before boarding international flights?

Wonder how many of the tests will turn up false positives?

[Ann Archy]

We just got back from Celebrity EDGE today.....3 covid cases and some people who had contact with them. But ALL the stops you had to wear masks INSIDE AND OUTSIDE!!! Plus all these stops look the same.

[CommerceComet]

This willbe the first of many anti cruise articles we will be seeing later today and next week as the cruise lines return to Florida TODAY.-Tom

I never could figure out the mindset of some who are so opposed to cruises. Just because they don't like cruises or had a bad experience on one, doesn't mean that everyone else has to hate cruising, too.

[Political Junkie Too]

This passenger assumed about 30 other people, based on the collection biowaste bags seen in the quarantine hallways as the passenger was being taken off the ship by the hazmat crew. Also, this passenger was the last to be taken off, and watched from his window as the others were processed on the dock.

-PJ

[dragnet2]

When I get away, I like to take a cruise on one of those floating apartment buildings, jammed with thousands of cootie carrying loud obnoxious tourist...Gak~!

[KarlInOhio]

The vaccines basically put ‘rabbit catchers’ in one’s body ahead of actual infection.

That's the one thing no one seems to ask about all the other vaccines we got as children (polio, mumps, measles, rubella, whooping cough, chicken pox, smallpox [if old enough]) or even later after exposure (like tetanus or rabies). What is the body's reaction if fully exposed to the disease? If someone with polio coughs on you, do you get enough polio to test positive? Get a fever? Be able to spread it? How fast does it happen? What is your likelihood of getting a full blown case if you have been vaccinated but are exposed? How do those numbers compare to the current Wu-Flu?

No one other than a few infectious disease specialists really worried about it until now - most just lined their kids up for shots or got one themselves after stepping on a rusty nail or playing with the foaming raccoon.

[Allegra]

Myself, right now, if I was fully vaccinated, I would not be willing to spend my money on a cruise that entails such aggravation. -Tom

Exactly. It’s supposed to be relaxing, not a hassle.

Plus, I heard some cruise lines are pushing masks and that’s a definite show-stopper for me.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Ashley Gets Around
@ashleygetsround
·
6h
If you catch covid on the ship and are quarantined in a room on deck 2 
with no balcony you’ll get a future cruise credit or $76.25 to use on 
your next Covid cruise. @CarnivalCruise

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Ashley Gets Around
@ashleygetsround
·
Dec 24
Don’t forget @CarnivalCruise not only gave us $100 per room in 
an onboard credit AND a free game of bingo with a chance to win 
another 8 day cruise. 

That is not a joke. #covidcruise

[dsrtsage]

Wow, how did one unvaccinated guy get past their security protocols and ruin it for everybody?

[MayflowerMadam]

Hahaha! And he wishes that we unvaxed would die. He posted that very thing.