I went on a singles cruise in April 9-16, 2022 on the Celebrity Apex with 170 other singles. What a wonderful ship. It was also my birthday cruise. On the 4th day (the day after my birthday) two of my girlfriends and I went on a train ride in St. Kitts. I suspected that I might be getting a cold while on the train. By the time I got back to the ship, I was pretty sure I was getting a cold. I went to the buffet, got a quick dinner alone, and then I went back to my cabin.

That night I read on a Facebook group for the Celebrity Apex that the Captain had announced that there was a Covid breakout on the ship. I thought OY VEY! Early the next morning around 6:45am, I called Medical, and I asked for a Covid test. She came and gave me a Covid Test. One hour later, she called to tell me it was positive. I was told to quarantine in my cabin, which I would have anyway. They allowed me to call out for free on my cabin phone, and they called me to find out what I wanted for each meal. It was always delivered within 45 minutes. I was also told that I could not fly home, and that they would book a hotel for me until I finished the 5 days. I would have to pay, but they would refund me. Later on, she told me that I should book the hotel, because I might not like the room. She also told me not to tell the hotel that I had Covid. Since check in time was not until 3pm, I asked her what I was supposed to do in the meantime. She said to go hang out at the pool At this point, I had a horrible cold. I wondered how I was going to be able to hide this from them. I also did not want to infect anyone. As luck would have it, an angel from heaven (my friend Chrissy) offered to drive me home 3 hours out of her way. I am so grateful to her.

Since I was quarantined the last two days on the ship from Covid, I had to wait until 2 medics in hazmat suits knocked on my cabin door to take me off the ship with my luggage AFTER all the passengers were off. They looked like two moon men with their huge green spray guns. I was half expecting them to spray me down. They took me off in the crew elevator, and into a black car with the driver being in a hazmat suit himself. There were many other black cars waiting as well for others who had Covid. He told me that 25 had been diagnosed with Covid, but he knew for sure that there were a lot more who had not been tested. There were many in our group that had it or found out they had it after they got home. He dropped me off at my friend, Chrissy’s car. She was parked at a hotel with free parking . He got out of the car in his hazmat suit to help me with my luggage. I prayed that no one noticed, but how could you not.

It took me 10 days to receive a negative Covid test, and two weeks later I am still tired. I will be getting the second booster for sure in a few months. I managed to go 2 years without getting Covid, and this was the 4th cruise I was on since November of 2021.