Torfamm

There were none in the Emerald 

We were both tested at Walgreens the day before yesterday. There were many Walgreens in the Fort Lauderdale area with available appointments

7 hours ago, kearney said:

The rapid tests results are available within an hour.. how long do you have to wait for NAAT results? I ask because we take two days to drive to Floridia...so in the past I get the CVS rapid test as we start our drive and before we are even out of town..I have gotten a text with the results.  Now if the NAAT is that fast I would rather go to my closer Walgreens... but I don't want to wait until I am in Florida to find out if I can cruise.... thanks in advance

We have had it take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours 

1 hour ago, mbddisney said:

Just checked the walgreens site to see about testing and I now see the Rapid Naat test instead of the ID Now test.  Does any one know if this acceptable?

The Celebrity website says yes https://www.celebritycruises.com/healthy-at-sea/faqs

3 minutes ago, rjack22 said:

Just curious, when did Princess switch from cruise cards to medallions?

I think the last ships were switched over during the pause in sailing 

They didn’t offer them on the Emerald on our recent cruise. They also ran out of many wines

Just got off the Emerald this morning. The buffet was not self-serve

7 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Traditional dining was picking early or late seating and then Princess would pick the early/late seating times to coordinate with Princess Theater showtimes.

 

Traditional dining meant you could pick a table size and it was usually what what assigned.

 

Traditional dining meant having the same table and wait staff throughout the cruise.

 

Traditional dining meant if others than your traveling party were at the table that the others would be the same people the entire cruise.

 

None of these things is true with DMW.

a) You must guess what time to dine to match with showtimes that are not determined until months after you can book your dining time.

b) Per this thread you are unlikely to get the same table and table size and waitstaff each evening even though you selected what you wanted months in advance.

c) Nothing has been posted about having the same other people at your table each evening, but I suspect that is also not happening.

I think the issue of having the same people at the table each night is what made traditional dining impractical now that there are so many options for dinner other than the MDR. So many seats can be empty at a table on a given night. I would be curious to know what percentage of passengers eat in the MDR every night of a cruise.  

I’ve heard many who like traditional dining say they were unhappy to be sitting alone at a large table many nights. I know I wouldn’t like that.

It all seems very unpredictable. We were on the Emerald in January and were told on the first evening getting the our preferred table each night was not possible. We got it about half the time and a similar table several times.

Currently aboard again and requested the same table on night one and the Restaurant Manager was able to arrange for us to have it each night. We did have to agree to 7:20 rather than 7:00 as he was concerned that people seated at 5:30 would not be finished that early. It has been great

Emerald had one show, at 8:30 I believe in January. Now it is 7:00 and 9:00

1 hour ago, skynight said:

No cigar bars in any open area. Besides the proven second hand health hazard cigars and pipes have a very unpleasant smell that lingers in the air and penetrates into surrounding furnishings. Difficult enough to pass by the doors of the cigar lounges now.

Cigar bars have never been in an open area on any ship I’ve been on. I’ve only seen one behind a closed door. The responsible thing to do would keep all areas smoke free to protect the health of the crew but at least with Churchills or others shipboard bars that allow smoking, non-smoking passengers can avoid second hand (and third hand) smoke. Having a smoking area in the casino is awful.

We had that happen boarding the Emerald last week. It took less than a minute to say we’d travelled in the last two weeks before we were escorted around the green lane line and directly to a check-in agent

12 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

There should be zero smoking indoors.  Not happy to see suggestion to open up some bars for smoking.  Fuhgeddaboudit.

I agree with you but if Princess is determined to allow smoking indoors they should at least create a space for it that is more suitable than the casino. I think a lot of the ships had some sort of cigar bar

2 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Completely agree with you.  I was hoping the casino would stay non smoking.  It will be interesting to see how soon the Princess website will be updated to include the new policy.  It still shows no smoking allowed in the casino and also that masks are REQUIRED there.

We are on the Emerald and there has been no change to the smoking policy. I have no problem with Princess having a bar or two designated for smoking but making the casino a smoking area is a very bad idea

You can see which nights are scheduled as formal nights by checking the JourneyView Activities Timeline in the app. Once it populates every evening will with show either “Casual, fun portraits” or “Formal portraits”.  It can be as early as 6 weeks before your cruise or a few days

15 hours ago, patrickmoran said:

These are my go to cabins when booking the Emerald, Ruby or Crown (all sister sisters. If you look at the deck plans you will see there are cabins labeled as obstructed that have no obstruction in forward or aft (E102-118, E101-119, E630-702, and E631-E701). I usually try to book one of the aft cabins.

Any of the obstructed oceanview gives you more room (17 sq ft) than an inside cabin at a reasonable cost difference. Plus the layout is better which gives more usable space. (This does not apply to any that are quad cabins) Bathrooms are the same for all cabins until you book a minisuite or suite.

We have been in E416 and E415. Both are very nearly unobstructed. There are photos from E415 in post #336 in the cabin review thread

I am having trouble finding a link that shows which pier ships will be using that goes out for more than one week. I know Celebrity normally uses the International Pier but I see that they have a ship at one of the other piers this week. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?

14 hours ago, as3369 said:

Absolutely... I really dislike the plastic curtains!

I stand corrected. On the Emerald Princess at least, they are cloth, not plastic.

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Could be more people figured worth it to take the dress-up clothes for a longer voyage (unless you are really on B2B 7-nighters).  But there is the Circle Caribbean for 14 nights straight if that is running right now.

Yes, it’s the 14 night. I’ve always noticed Caribbean cruises tend to be less formal than Europe, for example but you could be right about longer cruises being more conducive to packing formal wear.
 

Longer cruises do get a different demographic though, especially during the school year. I’d be much less likely to pack formal clothing if I were traveling with kids. 

12 hours ago, azgrandmax3 said:

Last Sunday we returned from a Emerald Princess Cruise.  Yes I saw some men wearing shorts in MDR for diner.  Once seen my brother in law did also.  So with this happening by next cruise to Alaska in June it will have become more acceptable and I will see more men doing so. Formal nights are also far less formal then years gone by.  Many men wearing dress shirts, ties and sweater.

It’s interesting how unpredictable it can be. We were on the Emerald for a 10 day Panama Canal cruise in January and I saw a number of men wear shorts into the MDR and very few tuxedos on formal nights. This 14 day Caribbean is the opposite. I haven’t seen shorts in the dining room but there were quite a few tuxedos and long dresses on formal night.

4 hours ago, basenji56 said:

I liked Princess but found the buffet to be underwhelming compared to Celebrity's buffet.  MDR was not as good either.  Entertainment was better on Princess.  Medalion class is pretty good--internet is better on Princess.  Pizza on Princess was superior.  

Agreed- Princess has really good pizza. One thing I forgot was that Celebrity has shower doors, not plastic curtains 

I agree that they are much more alike than different. Celebrity does win on food in my opinion. A few differences in addition to no smoking anywhere indoors - Celebrity does not have formal nights. They call it Chic evening and I have not seen any tuxedos or gowns on my cruises since they made that change. Cafe Al Baccio is similar to the International Cafe but only has pastries and desserts, no savory food. There is also no self-serve laundry,

10 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

If masks are required in the casino are they going to be allowing smoking again? I really hope not though.

My understanding is that there is no smoking when masks are required but I hope Princess will make the casinos non-smoking permanently too. It’s the only big negative I see in choosing a cruise with them over Celebrity for example.
 

I was disappointed to hear that Royal Caribbean is allowing smoking again. Many more people want to avoid smoke than want to smoke in the casino. It’s remarkable how times have changed. I’m always a little surprised at how many smokers won’t smoke in their own home or their car. 

Just now, LGW59 said:

But not wearing one is much more comfortable

That goes for many things. Lots of people feel that way about clothing too! 😎

50 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

I have switched to the KF94 from Korea.

I find those the most easy to tolerate but my husband still likes the KN95.

 

I also find those very comfortable.