ladychater

I am a Carnival cruiser, but I have to say that the worst cruise, people-wise, that I ever went on was a Carnival Caribbean cruise out of New York. We called it the "rainbow coalition of trash" cruise. Name any age group, race, class, ethnicity, profession, religion, etc., they each sent their most loathsome members and loaded them on that boat (kind of a reverse Noah's ark!). From moment one, there was a large family pitching a fit in the lido swearing that their bag had been stolen, the one with EVERY MEMBER'S wallet and passport in it, and what was Carnival going to do about it (I'm assuming they were scamming to get a free cruise). People were rude, cut lines, loud, had no social graces, no decorum, there were a lot of almost-fights breaking out. It was vile. I'm a New Yorker, and I hate to say bad things about my town - I'm just hoping they were all out-of-towners! Meanwhile, I've been on 2 New York to Canada Carnival cruises, and the clientele was LOVELY.

Your birth certificate MUST have a RAISED SEAL. Please be sure it does. Anything else isn't considered official.

I had the same experience with my November Carnival sailing. I think they're having some serious website problems and fixing the customer service forms is probably secondary to fixing the bookings parts of their websites.

Thanks! Phew, I was going to wait until I boarded, since the price I saw didn't proclaim itself to be a discount. Much appreciated, ProgRockCruiser.

Ah, thanks. I'll book now then - the price is high enough, don't want to pay more on the ship!

Hi, I'm booked on the Magic's 8/4 Bermuda cruise. I'm seeing some discounts for spa treatments and excursions, but nothing for internet. Do they ever offer internet discounts pre-cruise or should I just book my internet now?

My partner and I used eMed for our November and May cruises, and for two flights to Europe and back. All of them seemed fine. All supplies there and results seemed correct. The one test I took that came up as positive was double-checked by the cruise line's antigen test and then their PCR. So, yeah, I trust eMed.

Last week I could have done a 7 day trip to Alaska for $38. I never use the casino. The price was available for 3 days (along with some other amazingly cheap cruises under $100) but then disappeared. Keep checking your emails!

Yeah, the website is REALLY janky. I booked a cruise through a travel agent and had to really work overtime to pull up the same cruise on the Princess website. If I hadn't known for a fact that the cruise existed, I would have given up. Princess needs a lot of IT help.

Could you please explain what the lane colors mean? I'm about to go on my second Princess cruise,but my first was in 2010, so I don't remember. Thanks.

Puffs (or other lotion-included) tissues. On my last cruise I had a runny nose for days (turns out it was covid, not allergies) and those tissues they give you are murder after a day or two of constantly wiping your nose.

Regarding the original topic, I just got off the Wonder Of The Seas in Barcelona. We did the eMed proctored test on the ship. The VOOM internet was pretty lame, but the lady at Guest Services assured us that we should be able to do the test with the basic package (not the special streaming package). My boyfriend was able to do his, but the internet got too jumpy when I did mine, and eMed wouldn't let us start the test. My boyfriend went over to the internet desk to say that we were having trouble doing our test and they bumped us up to the streaming internet for free (after all, it was 3pm on the last day of the cruise!). It worked! So, yes, I would say that it's safe to do the eMed test on the ship.

And they can give you a tray to make it easier to carry. Again, just ask the folks standing in the doorway telling you to wash your hands.

And now, a little covid story (turn away now if this stuff pisses you off). On the last day of the cruise, my partner and I took covid tests. I'd had the sniffles since the previous Friday, when I'd taken my pre-embarkation covid test, and assumed it was seasonal allergies (orange trees make me sniffle, and they were in full bloom across Spain and Italy). I was wrong. I tested positive, my partner was negative. This was in the afternoon of the last sea day. I told my partner that I was going to be moved to an isolation cabin, so I packed my bag, then called down to medical to report that I had covid. I was told to sit in my room and that someone would get back to me. About 45 minutes later, a nurse called and directed my partner and I to go down to Medical, using the midship elevator. That was it. Not told to wear a mask, not told to ensure that no one else boarded the elevator. We masked up and went down. They gave us antigen tests and sent us to our room, asking that we stay there. 30 minutes later, we got a call saying that I was positive, my partner was negative and that they were going to use my sample to run a PCR test. My boyfriend was free to move about the ship, but they asked me to stay in the cabin. An hour later, I got a call saying that I was positive, and that someone from Guest Services would contact me. Eventually Guest Services called and said that I was to stay in my cabin for the rest of the cruise and that someone would come to escort me off the ship. My partner was free to choose whether he wanted to go home or not. We said he'd go home and that he was taking the ship's shuttle to the airport. They were fine with it, didn't even ask him to wear a mask or anything. I was told to go online and find myself a hotel in Barcelona. Royal would pay up to 250 euros per night for 5 nights and up to 100 euros per day for food. I was to gather my receipts and was given an email address to send my expenses to. Other than that, I was on my own. The lady said I was lucky because I'd be able to move about freely in Spain, they have no quarantine policy. I was to find my own tests, or doctors, or whatever I'd need to be cleared to fly home and was to reach out to Air To Sea when I was ready to go (I'd booked through Air To Sea). SCARY! How was I going to navigate eating 3 times a day without spreading my illness? How was I going to keep getting tested? What if I was positive for more than 5 days? In a panic I asked "if I test negative tomorrow, can I still go home?" I was told yes, and that it would be great if that happened, but that I would still get escorted off the ship (I'd even be allowed to get on the shuttle bus with my partner). Well, miracles do happen, and I tested negative on the morning of disembarkation! Maybe it was a false negative, maybe it was because I'd probably already had covid for 9 days. Anyway, I got my proof of negative QR code, strapped on my KN95 mask and bolted for home! Luckily, the plane was empty so I could distance myself and I kept that mask glued to my face. I'm quarantining at home now, assuming that I still have covid. I'll take a home test tomorrow to know for sure. But that's what happens if you get covid at the end of a cruise in Barcelona.

Hi, I'm home now. People did indeed dress up in the evenings, but we saw all sorts, everything from a guy in a beer t-shirt in the MDR to ladies in sequined dresses. There were 2 formal nights. We missed the second one. With this itinerary, you're so busy during the day that it's hard to get too excited about the nightlife. At least that was true for us. We were up at the crack of dawn every day, usually off the ship by 9am and not back on until about 7pm. In between it was walking, walking, walking! I'd like to recommend Tap Factory (the Stomp-esque dance show) and 365 (the ice show). Both were FABULOUS. The Aquashow (inTENse) left us a bit cold. It was okay, but not phenomenal. Maybe we were too tired to appreciate it. Don't sit under the overhang, or you'll miss the highwire act and the platform divers.

Here's today's Cruise Compass. In answer to 2 other questions, no, I haven't been in the pool so I can't come.ent on the depth; and we're all talking about covid because Americans who catch covid abroad can't fly home -it's kind of a huge deal. Also, the Ultimate Abyss dry slide is really fun -I've done it twice -as is the zip line. And the Solarium buffet is super swanky. They seat you and waiters bring you your beverages and bring you a wine menu. It's a lovely hybrid between the experience of the MDR, but all the fun of a buffet (albeit a mostly Mediterranean buffet - think hummus, feta, felafel and grilled veg). I'm loving it.

I saw a guy practically cough up a lung with crew nearby. No one approached him. There is the sound of coughing, sniffling and sneezing everywhere.

No forms for the ports. It's very easy getting in. Only Palms has checked our temperature. No one has checked anything other than that we had our cruise cards.

I forgot to mention that on Royal Caribbean's app you have to upload images of your vaccination records before you sail and answer some health questions the day before your trip.

If you're leaving from Barcelona, you need to fill in a form with the Spanish government in order to fly into Spain. Other than that, bring proof of vaccination and booster and proof that you tested negative for COVID in the past 2 days. Easy peasy. Boarding was a breeze.

I'm on Wonder's maiden Mediterranean voyage. Ship is great, we're sailing with only 3300 passengers and the shows are terrific -awesome cruise so far. However, people are coughing and sneezing like crazy. There are lots of Brits and Spaniards, for whom catching COVID is no big deal, but as an American, I'm very nervous that I won't e able to fly home. My bus trip today was supposed to be masked, but many took their masks off and were coughing and sneezing away. Yikes. But, man, this ship is grand.