Honolulu Blue

It sounds like you got my offer! I'm glad you could use that offer for three separate but linked cruises. I was wondering about that. I did have a single tax, but it only boosted the base fare from $30-50 to $50-$100 per cruise. Bon voyage!!

The first YouTube video I've seen explaining the Onpoint testing process with iHealth tests:

Aw, this is disappointing. ☹️ I was one of the few people that liked the Hasbro shows. Thanks, OP, for sharing. And thanks, others, for delivering the bad news.

Hi. Michigan again. Cases are starting to increase after several weeks of being stable or declining. In other news, Pfizer is investing $120 million in their Kalamazoo plant so they can make more of the active ingredients in Paxlovid. You can read the press release at https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-invest-120-million-produce-covid-19-oral-treatment . On a personal note, the cruise on Carnival I was supposed to go on last month went... but I wasn't on it. Long story, made a post about it. I'll eventually get back to Carnival, but it might be a while.

UPDATE: Another poster announced being offered Paxlovid onboard another Princess Ship (Majestic Princess). NOT for free, and they didn't end up getting it there. Here's the thread:

UPDATE: Another poster announced that they were offered Paxlovid onboard another Princess ship (Majestic this time). Here's the thread:

Very helpful, thanks. 👍

I'm a little surprised that the Optum Store is showing as out of stock. Oh well, there's always eMed. When I checked just now, not only did they have the 6-packs, they also have 2-packs for $70 (plus shipping). Here's the link to their tests: https://store.emed.com/s/category/covid19-athome-test-with-verified-lab-report-emed/0ZG8c000000LZXk?c__results_layout_state={}

Thank you for sharing your story. I'm sorry you got infected and I'm sorry for the mess that followed. Get well soon. One question, if you're feeling up to it... did either you or your wife get the Paxlovid that was offered by Princess? I'm most curious about this because there have been some discussions here about whether this medication is available on cruise ships.

You don't sound pathetic at all. You sound like a normal person trying to connect to other people. There's nothing wrong with that. You've been given great advice by others about how to socialize. Here are a few of my suggestions from someone who's done more than a few solo cruises: Cruisers are generally a friendly lot. Go ahead and say hi to as many of them as you like. It doesn't matter whether they're alone, a couple, or in a big group. Some of them won't want to talk for whatever reason, and that's fine. Don't blame yourself. Keep going until you find someone that will talk and keep talking until one of you has to go. Concerts on music themed cruises are great places to start conversations (while in line or before the show - obviously don't talk during the show 😬 . Clearly you both like the act enough to see them live, so start with something like, "I think (biggest hit) is their best song. What do you think?" Trivia sessions are good for finding people to talk to, especially if you're fond of the theme. There can be opportunities for solos to join groups as a third/fifth wheel. You can also go talk to the winner(s) about the questions you missed. I like saying a lot without saying anything. One of my favorite T-shirts during the pandemic was one that said "Don't Stand So Close To Me". There was a double meaning there - it's one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands, and it's what we were all reminded to do during the pandemic. Sometimes people wanted to talk about this message with either of its meanings - great. And some people took the advice on my shirt to heart and stayed far away - and that's fine too. 😁 Compliments are always appreciated. If you see someone with an interesting T-shirt (as I explained above), go ahead and say "nice shirt". Maybe they want to talk about it. If on formal night you see something that appeals to you, go ahead and mention it to them. Be careful about complimenting specific body parts unless you're in serious flirt mode, but you probably know that.

Good for you! Have fun! I actually got a similar offer a couple of weeks ago for an interior guarantee. I couldn't fit it into my schedule, so I had to decline. Here's the thread and posts I did on it:

I didn't get this survey. ☹️ Carnival's TV offerings, IMHO, seem to have taken a turn for the worse in about 2018. Before then, they had some local stations and a few cable networks of more interest to me. I think this was about the time they got rid of the channel that read off (literally) the Fun Times.

A couple of months ago, a person on a Carnival Corporation (Princess) ship was offered a Paxlovid treatment onboard. Here's their story: I haven't heard of anyone else posting about receiving such an option before or after this, so take from that what you will.

Thanks for sharing. Good to hear about the embarkation process and the Cucina MDR options, bad to hear about the sea day brunch and Cucina's opening hours. I had heard Cucina was supposed to be open for every lunch.

I've heard of Matt. I read his blog and sometimes watch his vlogs. He is NOT a Royal Caribbean employee, merely a satisfied customer. He rarely talks about any cruise line other than Royal, and can come across as sounding like a fanboy at times. But mostly he's on point, and many of the tips he supplies can be applied to other cruise lines.

I don't think any others do, though it might not be a bad idea for some. Mr. Heald answers those complaints because someone has to. The complainers can either scream at him or one of thousands of service reps on the ships and on land. He often says, after Carnival or one of its employees does something that a passenger doesn't agree with, to blame him. That can be a useful deflection at times.

I'll answer the question you posed in a little bit, but let me first touch on your first sentence. I'm surprised that you're surprised that some cruisers have cruises that are hundreds of days away. After all, 200 days is less than 7 months. It used to be standard, pre-pandemic, to book cruises a year or more in advance. That's less true these days, but I wouldn't be the least surprised to have cruisers who have booked 1000+ days (a bit under 3 years) in advance. But anyway, your question. I found a nice air miles calculator online, which I needed because three of my embarkations involved trips of between 1800 and 2000 miles - to Vancouver, Los Angeles, and San Juan. San Juan turned out to be the farthest of the bunch (though not by a lot), so that's my answer for now. This may change in the future. The disembarkation port that's farthest away from me... well, that cruise from Vancouver ended up in Honolulu - 4400 miles away. Those flights weren't much fun. ☹️

He apparently likes to cruise and he admires the ship. And his current position as Brand Ambassador doesn't take him on cruises very often these days, just a few weeks a year.

I don't know either, but that's the person Mr. Heald has been since I've known him. Being on a P&O ship will help. I wish him the best.

Hi guys. Happy 4th of July for those of us in the U.S. I have a simple question today - considering all the factors that are important to you, what is your favorite location to embark a cruise ship? I didn't want to put in a poll because it would be unwieldy with all the possible choices. My choice is San Juan, Puerto Rico. Yours probably is not. Tell us all about it! Thanks.

WARNING: Long post. Lots of numbers. May be dry at times. There's a TL,DR at the end. I won't be offended if you move on to the post about dress codes. All right, for the other person that's actually reading, I saw an insane price for one of my cruises listed under my VIFP number. I'm not a gambler at all, so it's not related to that. Let's list the details: Carnival Splendor (I've been on her twice before, nice ship, missed Guy's though) All sailings from July 12 through August 30 Interior guarantee cabin All sailings round trip from Seattle Sailing to Alaska and Victoria, BC Port fees about $255 per week Gratuities about $100 per week Normal stuff so far, right? Now let me get to the insane parts: The cabin price for me, single occupancy, is between $70 and $100 PER WEEK. Not per day, and certainly not PPDO. $100 or less for the cruise fare FOR THE WHOLE WEEK! I don't even think I could stay in a hostel for under $15 a night. In addition, the offer gives me $200 per cabin per week And I also have some CCL shares that would provide $100 per week in OBC So, if I wanted to do a B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B, the net cost would be... about $1150. That's insane to me, the best offer I've ever seen from Carnival. Yes, there are some extra costs (any excursions, COVID-19 tests, airfare, various shuttles) And I'm going to have to turn it down because I have a job I enjoy too much to go on an adventure like this. 🙁 This particular rate and offer expires tomorrow, and I don't expect to see it repeated unless I go completely degenerate in the casino. This would be really fun to watch some vlogger do this and watch them slowly go insane. Story of my life. Thanks for reading. TL,DR: I could take any or all of a string of cruises in Alaska this summer for under $150 per week. No thanks.

I was inspired by a member a couple of weeks who posted that they were offered Paxlovid onboard. Here's their post: I should stress that this is the only post I've seen that mentioned the availability of Paxlovid for a customer on a cruise ship. But since the U.S. federal government is trying to scale up availability, there's a chance that it could be available for cruise lines in the future. I'd like to turn the question over to you - is the availability of Paxlovid onboard an incentive for you to choose one cruise line or ship over another? The poll has three options - Yes unconditionally, Yes only if available for free, and No. Thank you for your interest in this topic.

From Brand Ambassador John Heald's Facebook page, which I'll quote directly and in its entirety: During the last two years we have seen the end of some of the Fantasy class ships in such sad circumstances. These ships meant so much to me and I know they did you too and I wish I had been able to give them a special send off. Well I am determined to do that with CARNIVAL ECSTASY a ship I was Cruise Director on in 1994. So her last ever cruise with guests on board will be from Mobile, Alabama on OCTOBER 10TH . The cruise is a 5 day to Progresso and Cozumel and I will be there to host this final cruise and to have a chance to say cheerio to the ship and all the brilliant memories she has given to the the many, many thousands of people ho have sailed on her. Now I will be working with the fabulous people at the Port of Mobile to make sure we give the ship a proper send off. And on board I will be there to host some shows and get a chance to spend some special time with you. I see the rates are very special indeed so I hope some of you will come and join me for this Fun cruise and poignant goodbye. Cheers -------------------------------------------------------------- I know some of you are interested in saying goodbye to the Ecstasy, and I know some of you are interested in meeting Mr. Heald or watching him up close. This is your chance to kill two birds with one stone. This isn't my thing, but does anyone want to say they plan to attend?

I recently returned from a side-to-side musical adventure on two musical themed cruises - the Ultimate Disco Cruise on the Celebrity Summit, and The 80s Cruise on the Mariner of the Seas. For the long version of that adventure, head to this thread: (head to page 7 for my reports on these cruises) TL,DR: I had a wonderful time and wanted to repeat as much of it as I could. So I booked both cruises again for 2023. I started a thread in for the UDC '23 in the roll call section here: I'll eventually do the same for TEC '23 if someone else doesn't do it for me. I put relatively small deposits on both cruises and put them on separate payment plans. So essentially I have car payments for the next few months. There's not a lot for me to say for now on either of these cruises, but I'll keep an eye on future developments and put posts here about them. I'm also eyeing concerts on land that interest me and might attend; I'll let you know what I do with those. Thank you for stopping by. Feel free to ask questions or comment. I hope I can keep your interest.

Princess announced some themed cruises for this month and next. You can read the details at Themed Cruises – On Board Special Events - Princess Cruises . To summarize, there will be 80s themed cruises this month and next on the Grand Princess (October 18 and 23) and the Regal Princess (November 29). All are either 4 or 5 days. There will be some 80s tribute bands, 80s movies on the big screen, 80s TV shows, and other items. I'll be on the November 29 sailing and hoping for a good time. There will also be comedy-themed cruises over the next few months on the Grand Princess (October 14 and November 1) and Regal Princess (November 19 and December 9). They promise classic comedy sitcoms in the cabins (does "The Love Boat" count? It's certainly a classic!), classic comedy movies on the big screen, movie and TV trivia, and comedy-themed game shows. I haven't heard of any of the comedians they currently have listed, but I'm sure they're good. I don't think Starvista, ECP, or Sixthman are worried, but I think it's an interesting ploy by Princess to fill up their ships. I hope it goes well for them.