Covid Cruise Day 9 Update

 Wasn't worth the wait.

Covid Cruise Day 9: Friday June 3 2022

Well, a few days have passed by and we were fortunate to have tested negative twice and cleared to move, as Laura has shared. The day after Estonia we stopped at a Swedish island and visited the quaint historic seaside town of Visby. We walked 5.5 miles that day (Wednesday) exploring the town and found the lovely town center square and had a real off-board lunch, sitting outside, enjoying the view and the distinctly different cuisine.

Thursday was an at-sea day, not much to report. We did go to one of two “martini glass” jacuzzis, freestanding jacuzzis that are 20-30 feet in the air, surrounded by glass. It was a brisk 52 degrees at sea with a strong wind, so jumping into that jacuzzi was cold, but getting out wet was much, much colder. We lounged around for a few hours in the solarium in our swimsuits and robes. Very relaxing and a nice change of scenery.

We arrived this morning in Copenhagen, our final destination (though the ship sails onward on Sunday back to Amsterdam). Today we will do some sightseeing in Copenhagen and then we’ll come back and pack to disembark tomorrow. Tonight, we have dinner reservations at a restaurant in Copenhagen a few miles from the port. Tomorrow, we will leave the ship.* We will check into our hotel for the night and head out to Tivoli Gardens, the proto-urban amusement park, that opened in 1843. Early Sunday morning we will head to the airport. 

* - We HOPE we will leave the ship tomorrow. We got a call yesterday from Guest Services asking if we had received the information letter about our disembarkation on Saturday. She said she personally delivered it to our stateroom. I told her we had no letter. She said they would supply a taxi for us to get to our hotel and wanted to know where we would be staying. I told her and she said she would let us know what time to plan on taking the taxi on Saturday. Later, she called back (still no letter) and said, “The taxi will only go to the airport, so we will arrange to get you transport from the airport to the hotel.” I told her the hotel is 2.5 km from the cruise terminal. Why on earth would I take a taxi to the airport only to come back to essentially where we are now. And what taxis “only go to the airport?” She apologized and said that was what they could do. I said we weren’t interested in that option. She said she would get us the letter. It is now Friday and we are in Copenhagen and still have no letter. After breakfast, I went to Guest Services and told them we were scheduled to disembark tomorrow. What time do we do that? Do we get luggage tags? When can we expect our certificate? He said, “You will get a letter.” I said, “I was told one was ‘personally delivered’ to our room yesterday and there is no evidence of a letter.” The Guest Services guy said he would speak to the woman I had spoken to and we would receive a letter. So, that’s why there’s a footnote. I assume we are disembarking tomorrow I just don’t have the details. 

Update: As I wrote the above we got a call. It was Guest Services saying they had heard I had stopped by to inquire about our disembarkation. I said that was accurate, I had. She said she had spoken to Laura and had given her the information, but the information was also provided in a letter. (No one called and spoke to Laura yesterday.) I said there was no evidence of a letter. She said, “You are disembarking tomorrow, yes?” I confirmed that was correct. She then said, “You will get a letter.” 

Once we disembark tomorrow:

• We’ve been on the ship for a total of 22 days.
• We’ve sailed a total of 4,305 nautical miles.
• We’ve stopped at a total of 12 ports in seven countries (not counting Northern Ireland or Scotland in that tally).
• We’ve eaten around 62 meals on board. 
• I can’t count the number of boulevardiers and espresso martinis, two of the most reliable cocktails on the ship.

Day 6: Continued

Nearly five hours passed between our "release" and our move to our new stateroom on another deck. We spent only a few minutes "whirlwind packing" because we had not anticipated waiting so long from when we were told we were moving to the time it actually happened. It took so long, in fact, that I broke into my hoarded supplies - drinking apple juice and eating a hard boiled egg saved in the fridge from breakfast. We did not order lunch from room service because we expected to leave earlier at any minute.

We were finally moved to our new stateroom at 2:30 pm. We were given room keys, so we could come and go from this room as we pleased. We dropped our bags and went immediately to the buffet for a late lunch.

I've never enjoyed eating at a buffet so much in my life. So many choices! All of it reasonably warm!

Unfortunately, this newfound variety of food did not make up for the lack of food for hours. So I spent the first afternoon of freedom battling a headache. We returned to our room. We unpacked, deciding to keep out the things we would need for the rest of our trip and repack everything else. We sent out a few things for laundry service.

Our new stateroom is an almost-mirror image of the isolation stateroom. Due to the configuration of the rooms, this mirror image floor plan has a different bed placement. The bed in our new room is between the lounge area and the veranda. This is less than ideal. Though the rooms are probably exactly the same size, this room feels smaller. In the other room, the lounge area and veranda area blended together into a much larger living space. At least we aren't trapped in this room.

After several calls and at least one trip to guest services, Craig managed to acquire new room cards that included a "classic beverage package." We were informed that we could eat only in the buffet or order from the limited room service menu. Our app still does not work, so we don't get ship information on our phones. But we did learn that we should be able to exit the ship at port and explore the cities we visit moving forward - so we might get even more variety in our meals!

As we were unpacking and settling into our new room, the captain made an announcement. I stepped out into the hall to listen to it. I missed the first part, but he seemed to be apologizing for the inconvenience. He mentioned that we were still experiencing a global pandemic due to covid-19 and asked for our patience. He also said there were 11 symptomatic cases of covid on board. He asked guests again to wear masks in the casino and theater, and to practice social distancing where possible.

We took a walk around the ship in an attempt to calm my headache. It was during this walk that we noticed signs requiring masks at the casino. (We did not visit the casino during our previous cruise, but we walked through it several times. There was no sign about masks and no one was wearing them in the casino during our previous cruise.) We decided to walk down to the theater to see if there was a sign there as well. The theater was closed because rehearsals were in progress, but we could see the same sign through the glass doors. This was another change from our previous cruise.

We enjoyed cocktails before dinner at the Martini Bar. Watching guests aboard, far more people are wearing masks now as compared to last week. The staff is, as it was before, wearing masks. We saw a few guests wearing masks, but it was a very small percentage. I would estimate that fewer than half the guests are wearing masks now, but we did not visit the casino or theater to see how well the requirements there were being followed.

We wandered to the buffet for dinner. Very few people eat at the buffet for dinner. I assume that at least a few others were recently released from isolation and, like us, had no other option. A few people obviously did not want to change into even the "smart casual" required for dinner (this is a very low standard of attire, but to each his own, I suppose). We saw one very large group, over a dozen people, who either could not agree on which restaurant to visit or could not be accommodated there in a reasonable time (we assume, we did not interrupt their dinner to ask).

When we returned to our stateroom for the night, we found the daily program! Typically, I feel that this piece of paper is a waste of good paper, but after not getting one for six days, it was fun to read about the port we were visiting next and to get such important information as the time change that would occur. 

This program also included a letter from Celebrity Cruises which stated, among other things, that there are 12 covid-19 cases among the guests, which has reached 1% of the guest population. I assume that we, and the other guests released from isolation with us yesterday, are not counted among that number. I feel like this is an odd approach to take: it's like they are trying to ask people to take it seriously and wear masks as requested, but also please don't freak out and demand to leave the ship with a full refund. 

If I had not JUST "recovered" from covid (having never had symptoms of any kind, it's hard to feel like I've "recovered" from an illness), I might find these changes aboard somewhat concerning. I believe that if I were still traveling with my parents, I would be more than concerned, despite the precautions they've taken. I wonder what other people aboard think. And I wonder, now more than ever, what the true numbers are and have been.

Day 6: Big News - We are "released" from isolation!

Yesterday, we got a call in the morning telling us that a nurse would be around to perform our Day 5 covid test. No time estimate, of course, but the nurse did arrive a couple hours later. We were emailed with log in information to a website to get our results. An hour or so later, our first test results came back negative. It would be another few hours before medical called and, after some confusion, confirmed that our covid tests had come back negative.

This morning, there was no warning call, but a nurse knocked on our door and took a quick swab from both of us. Online, we can see that the results our negative again. But, of course, we've heard nothing to clarify what this means for us. 

The letter we received before moving into our quarantine room on Deck 6 said that we would be tested on Days 5 and 6. If we remained asymptomatic and tested negative on both days, we would be allowed to leave our room wearing masks.

As a practical matter, however, this is ridiculous because the room keys we have from our previous cruise do not work on this stateroom door. So we cannot both leave the room if we plan to return to it. Further, being aboard a ship without credentials is, as Craig has described it, a bit like being a ghost or a stowaway.

Craig called the medical office and was informed that the doctor was reviewing results and would be calling with more information. The nurse who performed our tests on Day 5 told us that if both tests were negative, we would be "released". But again, we do not know what that actually means.

UPDATE: The medical office called us! We have been released from isolation. We were told to pack up all of our things and guest services would call us to move us to a new room.* Or, if we were packed before we got a call, we could call guest services and tell them that the doctor has released us.

We packed up the room in record time and called guest services...

Just to learn that the new staterooms are not yet ready (they may have told Craig that they had to assign and ready more than ten rooms this morning, but he isn't entirely sure that's exactly what the man was grumbling). So we have unpacked our computers to play games while we wait for a phone call.

*This move certainly suggests that the other dozen-plus rooms we can see down the hall, with trays outside after every meal, contain one or more guests who are within the first five days of isolation, still testing positive, or have symptoms.

Covid Cruise Day 5: Monday May 30 2022

Woke up to a knock at the door. I was so deeply asleep that I thought it was down the hall. 

Laura: “Did somebody just knock on our door?” 

Me: “I don’t think so.” 

There was a second knock then, clearly on our door. 

Laura: “Is it room service? They didn’t call.” 

Normally they phone the room to alert you that breakfast is coming, likely just in case you are asleep. We had no call. A third knock was barely cognitively registered in our waking fog. I got up to the go to the door. It was breakfast, delivered at 6:35 am instead of the indicated on the hangtag time of 7:30-8:00.

As I maneuvered the tray into the narrow hallow of our cabin and closed the door, Laura was turning on the TV. “I wonder if we changed time zones. But even still, why didn’t they call?” Before I had the tray to our little makeshift dining table she confirmed it: “Yeah. We are an hour ahead now. It’s 7:35.”

Well, gee thanks, Celebrity. As I’ve mentioned before, we feel like ghosts on this ship. Our cruise app stopped working because we aren’t registered for a cruise right now. We don’t have room keys. We don’t get the daily printed events program that is carefully placed on the corner of the bed each evening. Because of all that, we had no way of knowing there would even be a time change. They even make tasteful little table tents that exclaim the importance of knowing ship’s time will be changing, so you can plan accordingly.

But that doesn’t pertain to covid ghosts. 

Talking of ghosts, look at this cool photo
I took when we arrived to port in Helsinki.

Late morning Medical came by and swabbed our noses for the Day 5 covid test. If this test turns out negative we then test again on Day 6 and if that one is negative as well we will able to leave our room with masks on. Don’t know what that means exactly as we have no room key. 

An hour or so after our tests the lab results came in via email. We are negative! This is a great first step toward freedom!

Onward to Estonia…

With a time change (an hour later from the EU) sunrise is at 3:45 am and sunset is at 10:35 pm. The last of these amazing sunset photos was from around 11 pm local.

Covid Cruise Update: A tour of our spacious accommodations

 

Covid Cruise Day 3: Saturday May 28 2020

We have begun to settle into a more normalized schedule, I believe. Breakfast came as ordered on our breakfast room service hangtag. Around 10 am we got a call from room service to order lunch, and it showed up around 12:30. Late morning we got a call from guest services if there was anything we needed and we gave them a short list (towels, robes, an order form for laundry). 

After lunch, Gene, our old butler, called to see how we were doing and if we were still asymptomatic. He asked about “Mr. & Mrs. Thompson” and I told him they were fine and had made it back home. He was happy to hear that. He offered to help us, should we need it. (As a side note, we had thought about calling Gene to request a bottle opener when it was our sole focus of frustration, but we determined we had one favor with Gene and to hold out for something serious, not waste it on Day 2 on a bottle opener.) We told Gene we truly appreciated his call and went back to playing video games, reading the book Sapiens aloud to one another, and working on Laura’s Stardew Valley mod.

A passing ship and some distant islands
were all we saw this day.

I’ve decided to try to make a short dramatic film, starring me!, and taking place in—of all places!—a ship’s stateroom. I did some test footage this morning and toyed with it in my video editing software for a bit to see if the idea might be feasible. Now, I just need a story…

The rest of our at-sea day was quiet with nothing to report. They brought us a bottle of wine without incident and they brought us one set of towels, not two, but tomorrow we will try for a second set.