What’s it like taking a luxury cruise onboard Holland America’s Koningsdam during Omicron?
“Cruisers Eager to Come Back Aboard -Amid Onboard COVID Challenges”
I am reporting on a Mexican Riviera cruise we returned from 2 weeks ago. Post departure Covid level status of Mexico turned to red. Two days later, the CDC changed cruising guidelines to avoid cruise travel, regardless of vaccination status.
Here’s my personal experience of our 7-Day New Year’s cruise to the Mexican Riviera onboard Holland America Koningsdam.
We awoke the morning before our much-anticipated cruise, to find out that our ship was in the news, for being unable to disembark at Puerto Vallarta–due to COVID cases among the crew. This alarmed us a little. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2021-12-24/small-coronavirus-outbreak-sends-koningsdam-cruise-ship-back-to-san-diego However after much internal deliberation, we recommitted ourselves to getting on that cruise.
It was quite an experience cruising during COVID. Amplified with a warning message from the CDC, on our second day at sea, December 30, 2021, stating:
The COVID-19 Travel Health Notice level has been updated from Level 3 to Level 4, the highest level. This reflects increases in cases onboard cruise ships since identification of the Omicron variant. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-4/coronavirus-cruise-ship
A day later, we learned that crew members and passengers aboard our ship were in “hard quarantine”. Yikes! Well, this is what we had prepared for. We were armed with plenty of personal protective equipment. In fact, we carried a suitcase full of masks, sanitizers, disinfectant wipes, plastic face shields, and a sanitizing wand. We decided to behave as if COVID was right outside our door.
Rather than the usual 2,650 there were fewer than 1,700 passengers aboard the ship. Crew numbered near 1,000. I’ll share my candid conversation with a crew manager that I spoke with on the track during a day at port. Which reinforced our decision not to get off at any Mexican ports.
We discovered what happens to passengers and crew who test positive for COVID-19. We learned where they go during quarantine. Armed with this information, we elected to hunker down in our stateroom, for the last couple of days at sea. I’ll share the ups and downs of that decision.
Lastly, I will disclose the part about post-COVID cruising that nobody is talking about. As eager as we were for an exceptional food experience, to our dismay, it was not delivered. From the shredded apple slice in my muesli, to the Baked Alaska on New Year’s Eve, I will share the good and the bad.
Speaking of New Year’s Eve, there was barely an indication of the holiday celebration Nothing marked it as special. It was a non-eventful New Year’s Eve cruise.
