What it's like to cruise during Omicron
Francesca Street, CNN · Published 23rd January 2022

在奥密克戎病毒流行期间,乘游轮航行是什么样


Cruise ships turning around mid-voyage. People placed in quarantine cabins on board. Voyages abruptly canceled. Crew members trying to appease unhappy customers.
It all feels a bit like deja vu, but the cruise industry is soldiering on as the Omicron coronavirus variant makes its presence felt at sea as it has on land.

游轮航程中,人们分立在甲板上的隔离舱室内,航程出人意料的终止了。船员试着安慰那些不开心的顾客。这是种似曾相识的感觉,但是游轮业正在厉兵秣马坚持工作。而奥密克戎新冠变种正试着席卷于海上,就像它在陆地上(肆虐)一样。

In the early days of the pandemic, cruise ships became synonymous with Covid-19, as virus-hit vessels struggled to disembark passengers and crew. The cruise industry subsequently shut down for months, and while some European journeys recommenced in summer 2020, cruise ships didn't navigate US waters for another year.

在大流行的早些日子里,乘游轮旅行——下船前的船员和乘客成为病毒容器——这种旅游方式,被新冠病毒弄的臭名昭著。之后游轮业的运转遭遇了数月的中止,同时一些欧洲旅行社建议,从2020年夏天起直到明年,游轮不在美国水域航行。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


When cruising did return, it was with stringent rules designed to mitigate the impact of Covid-19. This combination of mask-wearing, testing, vaccinations and increased medical facilities led Martyn Griffiths of industry body Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) to tell CNN Travel in June 2021 that cruise ships were "one of the safest vacation environments available today."

当航运业开始恢复,(业者)设计了严格的规则以减轻新冠流行的冲击。这些规则包括了戴口罩、测试、接种疫苗和增加医疗设施。国际航运协会的马特格芬告诉CNN记者,自2021年6月起,乘游轮航行的环境是非常安全而可得的。

Vessels weren't guaranteed virus-free, CLIA said, but the goal was to avoid severe illness and major disruption.

国际航运协会表示,游轮上无法保证没有病毒,但是他们的目标是避免严重的疾病和(航程)中途中断。

Six months later, as the highly transmissible Omicron spreads around the world, the situation seems a little more precarious.

六个月后,鉴于高度传染性的奥密克容病毒席卷世界,情况看起来变得有一点不稳定。

Health and safety

健康和安全

"There is no doubt that the Omicron variant has cast a great deal of uncertainty into the travel and tourism sector overall," said Bari Golin-Blaugrund, another CLIA representative, in a recent CNN Travel interview.

在一次近期CNN关于旅游业的会晤上,另一位国际航运协会代表巴里-郭林布拉格鲁德说:“毫无疑问,奥密克容变种给予旅行和所有旅程单元较大的不确定性”。

Golin-Blaugrund made the case that while there have been several recent reports of Covid outbreaks on board the world's cruise ships, Covid cases are a "minority."

关于近期有关环游世界游轮上新冠爆发的报道,郭林布拉格鲁德表示新冠病例数是“少数”。

She said cruise lines remain confident in their health and safety measures, adding that these measures "are proving successful to virtually eliminate severe outcomes," as hospitalizations are minimal.

她说游轮航线保持着对他们健康和安全措施的信心,补充说这些措施“经过模拟试运转,能够消除较严重的情况”,尽管医疗设施较少。

While fully vaccinated people are not immune to Omicron, Dr William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University, told CNN Travel that "booster shots improve the individual's protection against getting severe disease."

当完全接种者不能对奥密克容免疫时,威廉沙夫那医生,一位范德比尔特大学的传染病专家告诉CNN旅游频道:“加强针提升了个体针对严重病情的保护”。

However Schaffner cast doubt on cruise lines' ability to control the spread of the virus on board, even with fully vaccinated passengers and crew, and additional levels of protection in place such as mask wearing and regular testing.

即使乘客和船员都完全接种,还启用额外的防护措施包括戴口罩和常规测试等,沙夫那医生仍然表达了对航运航线控制病毒在船上流行能力的怀疑,。

"It's not so clear how much boosting helps to diminish transmission, especially in such high potential transmission circumstances where people are so close together for such prolonged periods of time," he said.

“还不是很清楚,加强针能够在多大程度上减少病毒的传播。特别是在潜在的高传播环境下,人们长期紧密的接触在有限的时空环境里。”他说。

Schaffner suggested any traveler who chooses to go on a cruise at present is likely aware of the potential risk and uncertainty, and will have weighed this up before boarding.

沙夫那建议任何选择游轮航行的旅客认识到潜在的风险和不确定性,并在上船之前仔细衡量。

"I think they must share a certain confidence in what it is that both the cruise line industry, as well as their fellow passengers are doing in order to mitigate the risk," he said.

“我认为,就像航运业及乘客设法减轻他们的风险一样,也应分享给航运游轮工业信心一种确定的信心。”他说。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


"And to a degree, they must feel themselves if not invulnerable, but likely to survive an infection. I mean, you would have to go through that kind of thinking before you decided to go cruising at the present."

“在某种程度上,他们应该认识到他们并非不会受到伤害,而只是有可能在感染中幸存下来。我是说,在决定乘游轮旅行之前,你有必要进行这类的思考。”


Certainly, unlike the passengers caught up in the Covid fallout of Spring 2020, those on cruise ships today are aware Covid-19 is a risk, in the sense that they could catch it and fall ill, or the virus could disrupt travel plans.

确定的是,与2020年春天那次在游轮乘客中的新冠病毒爆发不同,当前在航运游轮中已经认识到新冠病毒是种风险,在这种情况下他们有可能感染并患病,或者病毒有可能中断航行计划。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


British traveler Joy Bailey experienced first-hand what happens during a Covid outbreak at sea when she flew with her husband from the UK to Florida to embark on a Christmas/New Year sailing on board the Celebrity Equinox in late 2021. The 2,850 passenger capacity vessel operated by Celebrity Cruises was sailing at 60% capacity.

英国旅行者乔伊贝利与她丈夫于2021年晚些时候,也就是圣诞到新年期间,搭乘一艘名为菁英春分号的游轮进行从英国到佛罗里达的航行,经历了第一手的海上新冠爆发体验。这艘能搭乘2850名乘客的航船上客率大概为60%。

Bailey told CNN Travel that she accepted "we're all going to get Omicron at some time," but hoped the decreased capacity and other measures enforced by Celebrity Cruises would mitigate the likelihood of her catching the virus on board.

贝利告诉CNN旅游频道,她接受了那种关于“我们迟早都会得奥密克容的观念”,但希望在减少的载客量和其他措施的增强下,菁英春分号的航行能够减轻她在船上得新冠的可能性。

From the outset, Bailey said she was a little uncomfortable as many passengers ignored Celebrity Cruises' face mask policy.

从一开始,贝利说她就有点不舒服,因为看到很多乘客无视了菁英游轮的口罩政策。

Five days into the journey, she tested positive. Bailey spent the rest of the voyage confined to a quarantine cabin, joined there by her husband when he tested positive a few days later.
Isolating on the ship was "good and it was bad," according to Bailey.

旅程的第五天,她病毒测试结果为阳性。贝利在隔离间里度过了剩余的旅程,她的丈夫于之后几天检测阳性并加入了她(的隔离)。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


The couple had a balcony cabin, so they could sit in the sun to pass the time. But they also describe waiting an hour on the phone to order meals.

这对夫妇有一个带阳台的舱室,所以他们可以坐在阳光下消磨时间。但是他们在电话点餐后仍然需要等待一个小时。

When the voyage came to an end, Bailey told CNN Travel she was advised by Celebrity Cruises to head to a hotel she and her husband had pre-booked in Fort Lauderdale. The couple now faced a longer stay there before their return to the UK, as Bailey's husband was still isolating.

当航程到达终点时,贝利告诉CNN旅游频道,她被游轮建议入住他们之前预定的劳德代尔城堡酒店。这对夫妇在返回英国之前,面临长时间等待,而贝利的丈夫还在隔离。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


The cruise company told them to contact its "care team" on shore to get assistance re-arranging their flight, but according to Bailey, the couple struggled to get through to the number provided. When they did get through, they were told no help could be given because they weren't in Celebrity's designated isolation hotel.

旅游公司告知他们联系公司的岸上“关怀团队”以取得帮助,重新规划他们的飞行航程。但据贝利说,这对夫妇与公司提供的电话号码搏斗了很久,终于打通了电话。他们被告知无法提供帮助,因为他们没有入住菁英号指定的隔离酒店。

"That was a crazy moment," said Bailey. In the end, they contacted their travel agent, who contacted Celebrity directly and changed their flight.

“那是个疯狂的时刻,”贝利说。最终他们联系了他们的旅行社,旅行社联系菁英号直接更改了航班。

Celebrity paid for Bailey's stay in isolation. She and her husband were also offered up to $100 a day to spend on food. The cruise line is also covering the days they lost on the cruise itself.

菁英号支付了贝利的隔离账单,这对夫妇还收到了每天100美元的餐饮费用。航运航线也补偿了他们在航线上损失的天数。

"All in all, it wasn't too dreadful," said Bailey. "But the experience with Celebrity on the ground in Miami was awful. I think they were just overwhelmed."

“总而言之,(这次旅行)并不是太过可怕,”贝利说。“但是菁英号在迈阿密地面上提供的服务很糟糕。我认为他们是过誉了。”

This was Bailey's first cruise in the wake of Covid. Pre-pandemic, she would cruise every couple of years. Testing positive on board hasn't put her off traveling by sea, she said, but she'd like to see better coordination between the ship and the ground staff.

这是贝利在新冠流行期的第一次航行。在新冠流行前,她每隔数年会选择航行旅游。在船上测试阳性并没有使她远离海洋上的旅行,她说,但是她喜欢看到从船只到陆地上衔接协调更好的服务。

"We deeply regret this guest's experience as it was not in keeping with the high levels of care and service we pride ourselves on providing," a Celebrity Cruises spokesperson told CNN Travel in response to Bailey's claims.

“对于没能向顾客提供我们所声称的高水准关怀和服务,我们深深的致歉,”回应贝利的声明,一位菁英游轮的发言人告诉CNN旅游频道。

"We quickly learned from the experience and have since introduced a dedicated concierge team to ensure the needs of any guests impacted onboard are met every step of the way."

“我们从经验中迅速学习成长,立即引入一只礼宾团队以保证任何顾客到岸后的需求得到满足,在任一步骤下都得到满足。”