leck57

That is photo shopped. No Souffs supporter drinks Crownies. He also doesn't have any tatts.

The wake up call on the ship phones works a treat. I never bother to set an alarm on my tablet/phone anymore.

Watched the Wake Show once or twice in our early cruise days. On our recent cruise it was on but never watched it as it's a bore. I just wonder how many actually watch it and whether it is worth the effort.

I was on the same cruise and I must say I drank plenty of wine and it always looked like a standard size to me.

I thought OBC could be used for Princess excursions. I am referring to the excursions that are listed on the Personalizer for each port, and often include a bit of sight seeing on the way back to the airport. Apologies if we are referring to different types of transfers.

They announce on board shortly after mooring when tender tickets will be available and where from but I also recall it listed in the Patter which you get the night before.

Hi Brad, We did the UK cruise in mid May on Emerald, and had a great cruise. We ate most nights in the Botticelli DR and had the same wait staff. Friends of ours had booked but I'm not sure whether they used DMW or called Princess to arrange. The wait staff we had were outstanding and meals good, especially the lobster. Had no trouble with tenders, although two of the three tender ports we had Princess excursions so they get priority. The other port no issue and the process was as per majortom explained above. When we were on board only starboard of Aloha was used for quarantine. Not sure re transfers but I think you can book these now on the Personaliser and use your OBC. Might be risky waiting until you are on board. I will try and find a Patter and post but generally I don't keep them. I would refer to the thread about the Emerald cruise from 9 May on here written by @ROWSEwhich will give you a comprehensive summary of this cruise. Plenty of meal photos are included.

I'm not sure that you should have cruised in the first place. Not wishing to sound harsh but your posts about this cruise just seemed to focus on Covid and the protocols, or lack of, in place (yes I know the thread is about Covid and Emerald) rather than having a good time. I was on the cruise two prior to this and mixed with many people of whom none were giving Covid a second thought. You seemed concerned from the outset which makes me think cruising wasn't right for you right now. I'm sorry that you didn't have an enjoyable cruise.

We were Group A, green status etc. recently but no one ever checked. I'm sure people were there to board at 11am who either had a later time or just showed up anyway. Plus there are heaps of people who don't even use the App who wouldn't have a clue that there's such a thing as Arrival Groups. At present it seems to be just turn up to board when you want.

I'd love to know the percentage of people that watch the Wake Show. I didn't even consider watching it when I was scrolling across the tv on our recent Emerald cruise. At a guess I'd say well under 10% watch it. I've never heard it mentioned when we have met up with a group on cruises.

That's precisely why we booked. As soon as the UK decided it was time to get on with life we had flights to there booked as well as a cruise within days. Had a great time.

Wouldn't it be higher than that? Australia with about a tenth of your population had 800 flu deaths in 2019.

That's really quite surprising to me. On our cruise that started 9 May we were not expecting to wear masks but on check in we all received a letter stating that due to cases on the previous cruise, masks were required indoors except when eating and drinking, and at all times on the tenders. On our cruise it was well complied with and there were masks available at the tender boarding areas if you needed one. I know it can be more difficult to enforce mask wearing around the ship but I would have thought a no mask no tender rule would be quite easy.

And the loudest who insist on telling us all. Guess what? I cruised on Emerald a few weeks ago, had a great cruise, was in crowded lifts and tenders, and didn't catch Covid. No news there.

Further to the above I often ordered 4 beers at a time to our cabin. I occasionally like to have a drink on the balcony and it was good to be able to order extras and put them in the fridge. One day I ordered 4 and they arrived in a bucket full of ice. It's strange that I couldn't order 4 drinks at a bar when there is just me and my wife yet I could get 4 delivered to the cabin.

Hi. We were on the same cruise as @ROWSE We used the self service laundry and the laundries are open certain hours. From memory it is about 6am to 10pm, or something like that. That is the sign on the doors but I don't know if a crew member does lock them. These are busiest on sea days, especially if sea days are late in the cruise. Boarding day is quiet and is when my wife likes to iron a few things that have crushed in suitcases the day we board. Cost is $3 per wash and $3 per dryer and tokens are available in each laundry. Laundry powder is about $2 for a small box. You present your Medallion to the reader on the dispenser and the cost is charged to your cabin.

I was on Emerald from 9 May and wearing of masks on tenders was near 100% and the theatre not much different. I'm surprised they simply not enforcing it only a couple of cruises later.

Looks like Arrival Groups mean nothing. We were on Emerald two weeks ago and had selected the first boarding time of 11am. There were heaps of people in the terminal at that time and no one ever checked our supposed boarding time. Why have boarding groups if they don't bother with them.

Exactly. I get sick of pandering to the minority. We are way past the stage when this virus was a major concern. Of course people are still getting severe complications, as we have with many other diseases/illnesses. If people are worried about catching Covid then take your own precautions or choose another form of holiday.

We were on the 9 May Emerald sailing and when we checked in we received a letter detailing these requirements. Obviously they have been relaxed in the two sailings since then. My observations were that for our sailing mask compliance as the per requests was good. Certainly very good compliance on the tenders and in the theatre. Still didn't stop Covid cases on the ship though. Now that the US has caught up with most of the world and not requiring testing to return, it must soon be time to just be like the UK and have no requirements/restrictions. We just spent 10 days there after our Emerald cruise and it was great not to ever have to worry about masks. Of course, if people have personal health reasons to keep wearing masks then do so. If you are worried about Covid on cruises, then don't cruise. JMO.

We saw that from a HOHO bus. Very clever. I just didn't have time to get my camera out.

We also spent time in London after the cruise. We thought we did London pretty well but had not read or heard about the canal area as in your photos - we will need to go back! We were there for 9 days and never even saw this area! Just a tip re the Oyster cards. There is no need to get these anymore as your credit or debit card just works the same way. Just present your card at the reader as you would an Oyster card and and away you go. We were tipped off about this before we left. We had no incorrect charges and all worked fine. Most Metro systems around the world are going this way so there will be no need for Oyster Cards etc.

Same with us. With all the better food options on the ship, as if we needed pre dinner snacks in a largely deserted room. We also declined the Captains function - as soon as I saw formal, forget it.

Thanks for not having the lobster on formal night. Probably explains why I was able to get two!!

You can defend LHR as much as you like but as far as our experience was just last week, it was the worst international airport we have ever been through. There were many Brits in the line ups with us who were equally stunned by the chaos. As for dynamic gate management I have not seen it at any other international airport. In our case we went through security and just stood around waiting for a gate number to appear for a flight due to leave in 45 minutes. Couldn't head off for a coffee in case we went the wrong way in what is a large terminal. Arriving at Singapore on the way home was such a pleasure. There is a comparable airport that LHR could learn from.