CruisinCindy

We were on the SF Mexico cruise and live in Alameda Co.  Is there anyone here who was on our cruise and also lives in Alameda Co who has been contacted by the County Health department?  We have not been contacted by anyone yet.  Placer Co contacted all their cruise residents yesterday.  The counties got our passenger list on Wednesday from the Governors Office and were supposed to be contacting all the Mexico passengers.

4 hours ago, christieSF said:

I wish they were tabulating the cases from the past sailing of the Grand.  Living in San Francisco, I would really like to know what the numbers look like.  So far, it seems like 2 in Placer, 2 in Santa Clara, 2 in Toronto, 1 in Alberta, and now these 2 new ones in Contra Costa.  I have yet to find a single source so I've been trying to keep track on my own.  

I tried to, but am starting to lose track.  Your list is good, but add 2 from Sonoma co., 1 from Reno NV, and 1 from Colorado.  These are confirmed from the Grand.  Pending are 3 from New Hampshire (or Maine, can’t recall) who disembarked from a unnamed cruise ship around Feb20 .

5 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

sort of late...I assumed that was standard on embarkation on all ships...guess not.

We thought there would be enhanced screening or taking temperatures when we boarded the Grand on Feb 11, but there was not.  Just filling out the little questionnaire asking if you were recently sick or traveled to Asia, etc.

7 minutes ago, AWorldCruise4Me said:

 

That makes sense. But this couple has symptoms.

 

From the article "Cummins said her husband has been very ill in recent days with no appetite, trouble breathing, and a fever at one point as high as 103 degrees. She told ABC7 News they have been self-quarantining at their Santa Clara home. Mrs. Cummins also said at one point she felt weak and fainted."

 

I just posted it so people can be prepared if they get the same run around. When your sick it is often hard to make good decisions, especially when everyone tells you to go someplace else. A sick person might just give up and get sicker at home. It looks like someone notified abc news and the news outlet is attempting to get them headed in the right direction to get tested but are also having no luck.

I agree, I can't believe with all the coverage and involvement of the healthcare agencies that people with symptoms are having this much difficulty.  I can see why they didn't want to test us, but this couple needs to be tested and taken care of before they get any worse.

8 minutes ago, flyguyjake said:

 

Princess is supposedly trying to contact all of the prior passengers for testing. Perhaps give Princess a ring?

The CA Governor announced last night that his office has the passenger manifest for our cruise and will be working with the county health authorities to contact the passengers in each of their counties.  Princess turned over the manifest to the Governor, so I don't think Princess will be contacting us.  Haven't heard from anyone yet, and I imagine it will take some time to coordinate.

1 hour ago, flyguyjake said:

Wow that sounds very promising. Let's hope the tests come back negative!

We contacted our doctor yesterday to see if we could get tested, but they said no, even though we were on the Grand with confirmed cases.  The doctors are still requiring that you be symptomatic before they'll test, even though there are some people who can be positive but show no symptoms....

19 minutes ago, glam mistress said:

A couple new links

 

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health, provided details about the patient, who is a woman in her 50s and was on the cruise ship currently under quarantine off the coast of California.

She is a resident of Calgary and is currently in self-quarantine at home.

"This person returned to Alberta on Feb. 21 and went into self-quarantine on Feb. 28."

 

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/alberta-reports-first-presumptive-case-of-covid-19-1.4841008

 

And this:

 

 

 

Oh no, that would be #5 and #6 from the Mexico cruise...

20 minutes ago, flyguyjake said:

 

I know it's already been 2 weeks since your cruise but do you remember anything unusual about the cruise? Were there more coughs & sneezes than usual? Any medical emergencies?

You know, after over 30 cruises, my husband and I are very conscious of the cruise coughs and following sanitary practices.  On this cruise, it seemed like more people than in the past, were complying with the staff's reminders to wash their hands, especially at the sinks by the Horizon Court.  We used to see people just walk by and ignore the staff.  Not this time, either due to increased health consciousness or peer pressure, most people washed their hands and used the Purell.  We actually noticed that there weren't many coughs or sneezes, or people hacking away.  We usually see it more during the last days of the cruise, but not this time.  We thought maybe all the precautions had helped more people stay healthy.  But for this virus, as we know from Diamond Princess, it only takes 1 person to bring it onboard... No medical emergencies that I recall.

EDIT:  I just noticed you added questions to your post:  Yes, we attended everything as normal, theater shows, ate in the MDR every night (but we had a table for 2 that had a little breathing room around it).  We did try to avoid people who coughed or sneezed near us, just by leaving the area when it happened.  We washed our hands every time we returned to our cabin, without fail, as well as any public restroom stop or entering any dining area or theater venue.   When I went to the gym, I used the available sanitary wipes and towels to wipe handrails of the equipment as well as washing hands after I was done exercising.  On this particular cruise, we did not disembark on any of the ports, we were on the ship the entire time.   I don't know how we avoided staying clear, but even Diamond princess had just 700 out of 3000 get infected, not everyone, so there are decent odds to stay healthy.

53 minutes ago, bateau4 said:

CBC is reporting that a Peel Ontario man who was on the Feb 11 sailing tested positive for COVID-19:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-confirms-3-new-cases-coronavirus-1.5486670

Thanks for posting that, that’s the 4th person from our Mexico cruise to test positive....we  are  approaching our 14th day tomorrow and are feeling fine.  I hope no more cases come up and everyone stays well.

1 hour ago, pris993 said:

self quarantine is meaningless. my dh and I have no symptoms... we have going to medical appts routine, shopping, banking etc., since we returned.  Got Princess notice today, 3/4 -- Wed, two weeks up on Friday... so no quarantine really.

Same here, we've been going out and about since our return home....we are feeling ok, no issues.

EDIT:  I just saw that the Grand passenger from Placer Co. has passed away today...so sad, prayers to the family and all involved...

Here’s the email we received from Princess today:  

Dear Princess Guest:

I wish to advise you that we have been notified by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that they are investigating a small cluster of COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases in Northern California connected to your Grand Princess voyage that sailed roundtrip San Francisco from February 11 to February 21. We are working closely with our CDC partners and are following their recommendations.

Please be assured that the health, safety, and well-being of all guests and crew are our absolute priority. The CDC is continuing to actively collect information and we have shared essential travel and health data with the CDC to facilitate their standard notification to the State and County health authorities to follow up with individuals who may have been exposed to people who became ill.

The CDC has asked that we share with you an information card on COVID-19, which you can view by clicking here.

COVID-19 causes mild illness in about 80% of cases, typically with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath, like the common cold or flu. About 20% of people develop more severe symptoms. The more severe symptoms typically occur in more susceptible individuals that have higher risk factors, such as older adults and those with chronic medical conditions, as it does with regular flu. The illness is mainly spread by droplets from close person-to-person contact. It is possible for the virus to spread by hand touch surfaces, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. Updated information on the illness can be found at the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.

As with all respiratory illnesses, particularly during cold and flu season, you can take steps to reduce your risk of illness: 

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds.
• Supplement hand washing by regularly using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Avoid close contact with people suffering from respiratory illness.
• Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze using a tissue or your bent elbow.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

If you have experienced any symptoms of acute respiratory illness with fever, chills, or cough since your return home, please immediately contact your medical provider.

Thank you for taking the time to read this important information.

Yours in health,

Grant Tarling, MD, MPH
Chief Medical Officer 

Oh dear, we’ll be following this development closely...there’s another article on NBC Bay Area that mentions the SF to Mexico cruise which ended roughly 10 days ago, it has to be the Grand they’re referring to....but I hope the exposure was after the cruise....

On 10/20/2018 at 12:15 PM, Arno. said:

The chart is a summary of information posted by fellow cruisers.  There is no way of predicting the staff who may be onboard any given sailing.  However we will be onboard that sailing as well so I'm also interested.  Both the Cruise Director and Hotel Director have just changed but I have no info who the replacements are.

 

Thanks for the updates, Arno.  It's been a long time, glad to hear we will be seeing you and Joanne on 1/4 sailing!

Cindy and Jim

We just got off the Grand Princess on Sunday, and when we boarded, we were surprised to learn our 6pm MDR dining time was changed to 5:15pm.  When I spoke with the asst. M'd, she said that the dining times were adjusted to 5:15pm and 7:15pm.  The showtimes were also changed to accommodate the new dining times so that no one would miss a show.  The show times were now 6:30pm and 8:30pm. We ended up changing our time to 7:15 because the 5:15 was just too early, especially on port days or formal nights, we'd be getting dressed at 3:30pm if we wanted cocktails before dinner..... We saw a couple shows at 6:30, but by the time we got out of the show, it was 7:30 before we could get to our dinner table.  The only thing bad about that was not being able to have a relaxing drink before dinner.  We liked going to the show after dinner on the old schedule, but now were able to go to other activities, like music or dancing after dinner since we had already seen the show.  It does make for an early start to your evening, but the asst. M'd said it was in response to Princess passengers' high demand for more early dining times.  Very few people were going to the 8:15/8:30 late seatings, so the 5:15 and 7:15 times have proved very popular and the pressure has lessened on the Anytime dining demand because people can now have traditional dining at the popular time of 7:15pm.  

From today’s Cruise Industry News, VV talking about their focus on “Vitamin Sea” and well-being:

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/19511-virgin-voyages-concentrates-on-well-being-philosophsy.html

Virgin just selected Plantation, FL for their headquarters with an estimated 300 jobs so far....here’s the article:

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/18527-virgin-voyages-to-create-300-jobs-in-ft-lauderdale.html

Was off the Infinity Jan 21st and did not receive the online survey either. I called the Captain's Club number as I wanted to commend several members of the crew. Julie was very appreciative that I took the time to place the call. She told me an outside vendor was responsible for sending the surveys out, don't know what happened, they have my correct email address. Was able to leave comments about the crew I wanted recognized. Mentioned that it was time the bath towels on the ship be replaced. Received a follow up email for a survey on my contact with Julie.

I can relate: We got off the Eclipse Jan 21st, and I was also waiting to receive the survey email. Others on our cruise received theirs, but mine was nowhere to be found. I called Celebrity Post-Cruise services and Tammy was very nice and offered to send me an alternate survey since she had no access to the main ones that are sent out. She said she had no way of finding out why we didn’t get one.

I received the alternate survey and started to fill it out, starting with the sailing date. Unfortunately, I didn’t get very far because the drop down menus for sailing date didn’t include “2018”. Only cruises in 2016 and 2017 could be entered......I debated dropping the whole thing, but the feedback is so important to the crew members that I wanted to make sure they got their credit, so I decided to send Tammy a return email to let her know her alternate survey was out of date. Ironically, before she could reply back to me, I received an automated email survey to rate how well Tammy had done in resolving my concerns in calling Post Cruise Services. As you can imagine, I was a bit frustrated with Celebrity’s surveys by now and it reflected in my survey responses. I made sure to say Tammy was fine and as helpful as she could be, but the electronic survey system is lacking. About an hour after I filled out that survey, I got a phone call from Tammy in response to my email to her and she apologized profusely about the outdated survey. She offered to take my review over the phone, but I said there were so many people and things I wished to comment on, it would be too complicated and I’d rather do it in writing. She then said to email my full review to her and she would forward it directly to the right people and email me with confirmation that she’d done so. I said okay, and wrote it and sent it to her on Sunday, so we’ll see if it gets through....

Too bad. I hope that it's still up and running on the Eclipse in March.

I am not sure how much longer it will be on Eclipse. We just got off last week, and had attended two Hot Glass Shows. At the last day glass auction, they announced that the Corning team would be heading home soon and there wouldn’t be any more glass auctions like that. It sounded like this was their last one, but they didnt give us any specifics. They just said goodbyes. A new vendor would be making glass, but it would be for sale in the shops, not charity and scholarships fund raising like Corning does.

thanks I drink Heineken and Corona so all good :p

it looks like there is a Prosecco on the classic package so wife will be thrilled too

We just returned from the Eclipse and we both initially had Classic packages. DH likes to try the higher end wines and bourbons, so for $10/day, we upgraded his to Premium. This worked out great for him and he had everything he wanted to try/drink. I am a Prosecco fan, and the Prosecco they pour onboard was very nice, so I was happy with that for 14 days. The classic pkg also provides some nice selections for spirits, and the Don Julio Blanco was perfect for tequila sunrises.....I wish we were still onboard.....

No, your DH can upgrade but you do not have to.

Great! Thank you Mary Lou! DH has more discerning liquor tastes than I do...:D

Your information is quite out of date. Price ceilings are $9 for Classic and $13 for Premium. And you only pay the difference plus 18% with both packages. So for a $15 drink, the surcharge would be $6x1.18 = $7.08 with the Classic and $2x1.18 = $2.36 with the Premium.

Good to know - my husband would like to upgrade from Classic to Premium if it's only another $10+18% per day, but my question is, do I also have to upgrade my Classic to Premium just because he did?

I just signed up today, #1360! We enjoy flying Virgin America, too bad it’s going away now that Alaska Air bought it, they had such a fun and slightly upscale attitude. We are intrigued by the big yacht and adults only idea, and we love our dining and cocktails!

Generally, it's Caldera Costa Rica, thru the Panama Canal, then the Gulf side, New Orleans, and Key West, then ending in Miami.

Interesting, we booked a b2b and didn't get a discount for that. Maybe because we went inside cabin. Only discount was from booking on board.

It depends how full it is. If the M'D determines that Select is very popular and was booked full, he won't let you transfer from your Main Dining assignment to Select. This happened to us on our cruise in September. I was going to switch to Select once onboard so that the gratuities would come from my OBC. We couldn't transfer to Select, and we just stayed with our early seating table. It was fine, we only go to the dining room half the time anyway because we like going to the other venues too.