COVID CRUISE CONTINUED

 COVID CRUISE CONTINUED

...For a start the line’s efforts in promoting hygiene, mask-wearing, social distancing etc on board and on official excursions before the situation got out of hand was pretty ordinary, But this was far overshadowed by its pathetic response once COVID hit. True, PRINCESS had cabins set up on deck 9 to isolate the infected, And it worked a charm as their PR bumff claimed on media outfits after the cruise.

Trouble was these measures only took care of the first 10% infected, maybe 100 of 800. PRINCESS severely underestimated the problem and were caught pathetically short.

The rest of us were banished to our cabins and told to isolate there. No meds given apart from a bag of RAT tests (i think they had anti-virals but were saving these for serious cases). Luckily THE LADY tested positive a day later than me which allowed her to shop a packet of cold and 'flu tabs in Auckland.

‘Isolate’ is the key word, because after a few 'phone calls from the medical center, no-one seemed interested in us – we saw about 1 crew member each day (I suspect there was a similar COVID outbreak among the crew at the same time, and Princess decided to limit crew exposure to us in order to leave enough crew for the following trip) no-one would answer 'phone calls to room service or guest services and no-one gave updates over the p.a. I thought the latter broken until on the last day it gave a burst of disembarkation info – wrong in its timing of course – we actually left the ship 4 hours later than the info suggested.

The only reason we were fed was because LADY T had pre-cruise uploaded the cruise ap which allowed us to order from room service – but every meal was delivered at least 2 hours after ordering (our record was 5 hours late ). This ap was a blessing because it allowed LADY T to communicate and swap war stories with other isolationers who were having a similar or worse time than us. It also allowed the lucky few who had got the special deck 9 cabins and treatment to lord it over us and the usual PRINCESS apologists free reign (“EXAGGERATION - YOU GOT THE 'FLU….” - “DUNNO WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU - IMAGINATION!" 

At last we left the ship at abt. 1430, walked 500m to Circular Quay station, caught a train to Sutherland where LADETTE TEZZA was waiting to drive us the final hour to out south coast home.

We have used this ship before -  on our last pre-Covid cruise - details up page a short distance .

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EARLY DECEMBER ‘22 – OVATION OF THE SEAS TO NEW ZEALAND.

This was only a fortnight after the PRINCESS MAJESTIC disaster.  How come we exposed ourselves to more risk so soon? Thing is this was another replacement for an earlier  cancelled COVID trip and was a case of use it or lose it. Plus OVATION was a new experience – we have never been on a ship this big. And we bounced back well after COVID and thought if we are very careful we can avoid reinfection.

So as much as possible we avoided confined crowds (didn't use the lifts once which was pretty good seeing our cabin was on deck 7, gym on 16, buffet on 14  and some popular public places we used a lot on 3/4/5), scrubbed up frequently and well, and social-distanced when possible. The crew was good - always masked. But the patrons varied - many seemed to think COVID was over instead of half into a new wave or that their 3 injections assured non-infection (our 3 didn't). 

The ship is a  ripper - its extra size means public places are very spacious and there is extra room for things like dodgem cars and a big arm with a gondola on the end which boosted patrons high above the ship. The service was very good as was the food. I thought entertainment up to scratch in this era of scarcer ship- board entertainers due to Covid.

Not everything was perfect. Getting off the ship and into waiting buses (buses needed because ship berthed in working port area a few km from city center) at  Auckland was a time-consuming effort: so much so, I gave up. Hard to tell who was at fault although I personally think it was Princess' shore-agent's neglect or inexperience. Similarly, the line to get off in Sydney (no buses involved) was an 800m, 3 hour nightmare. Once again apportioning lbame is difficult - some said it was the cruise terminal whose fancy gangplanks malfunctioned, others the ship who should have had a backup organized, still others border farce who maybe were late as usual and have form when it comes to screw-ups. Who knows? But here Princess can be criticised in not having enough security people police the disembarkment  line - people were pushing-in frequently leading to frayed tempers.