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Unfortunately, I think many Cruise Critic members are living in the cruise world bubble where faults, issues, and oversights by the cruise industry are dismissed and ignored, attributed to financial limitations, logistics, etc.  I understand that point of view and accept it.

But when it comes to matters like this - perception trumps facts.  The perception and PR being broadcasted to the world by cruise companies are:

• Not keeping their passengers safe.  To be blunt, cruise passengers are dying in substantial numbers in a short period of time.
• Have no (apparent) safety protocols.
• Cruise ships are efficient vessels to spread coronavirus.
• Quarantining on board cruise ship doesn't work - you don't want to be quarantined on a cruise ship when an outbreak occurs.
• Have medical staff that are overwhelmed, incompetent, understaffed.  Lack of medical equipment on board, etc.
• Governments don't care about cruisers.
• Cruise lines indeed don't have much, if any responsibility (as mentioned by @sparks1093) to protect its passengers.  Many ignored or were ignorant of this in the past.  But no more.

We can argue whether all of this is actually true or not.  But there's no doubt this is the perception in 99% of the world who are not CC forum members or hard core cruisers.  The original point of my post is cruise lines need to battle this horrible perception and regain trust by taking steps that show they're trying to improve.  They have done little to nothing of this sort in the last few months.

I would love to see and witness CC forum members and hard core cruisers prop up the industry when it start operations again.  Perhaps the hard core cruisers can keep the industry afloat - for a while.  But there is a difference between keeping a cruise industry on life support vs one that is thriving.  Repeat cruisers are not enough for the latter.  The cruise industry needs to take action now to reassure the other 99%.  I would love to be wrong here, but let's see what happens when operations start again to see what the drop in revenue and passenger volumes will be.

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Not true. Some have Bachelors, some don't. A smaller number have Master's. There are 2 year and 3 year RNs. Depending on the state and educational requirements. 

Yes, that's correct.

However, let's ignore their medical backgrounds for now.  The medical staff and facilities/equipment have failed the cruise passengers.  For example, the stories coming out of the Zaandam are horrible.  Supposedly, staff are ignoring infected crew and cruise passengers.  I've also read the medical staff are "intimidated" by the entire situation and are at a loss as to what to do.  I don't necessarily blame the medical staff for being overwhelmed as this is an entirely new situation that few have ever encountered.  But it is still very worrying the cruise line medical staff seem entirely incapable of even partially dealing with the situation.

7 hours ago, iancal said:

Money talks.  

 

Besides the jurisdictional issues, the cruise lines spend hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying and  donating to federal election campaigns.    Don't forget, these are not US Corporations.  Anything but.  And the CLIA certainly has no interest in promoting any of these since they represent cruise line interests alone.

 

Do you really expect change?

I definitely agree money talks.  Do I expect change?  Perhaps not in the next few months.  But when people are avoiding cruises like the plague, when the second wave of coronavirus hits - and ultimately, when the financials are going to be even worse than they are now (when money is screaming), they will be forced to change, at least a little.

What I originally posted are "aspirational ideals" that could possibly be adopted by the cruise lines.  I understand the cruise lines will not adopt a great majority of these suggestions nor are they bound by any law to do so.  However, I have the feeling that some governments and the marketplace (possibly the lack of customers) will eventually force cruise lines to adopt many of these guidelines.

At an absolute minimum, I am hoping for the following below which should not cause an inordinate amount of money and are guidelines which can be implemented relatively quickly:

• Cruise lines must have pre-existing agreements (published and reviewable by cruise passengers) in place with countries (where the ship is visiting) for handling and offloading sick passengers

• Cruise lines must have strict protocols (published and reviewable by all passengers) in place for another COVID-19 or another similar medical outbreak
• Protocols must be known by all crew members.  Training must be performed to adhere to protocols.
• Doctors and nurses must have practiced their craft in reputable hospitals and/or settings (and must be trained in infectious disease/quarantine handling).
• Surgical masks (and if necessary, N95 masks) must be made available to all crew and passengers.  Cruise ships must travel with a minimal number of masks per passenger/crew/ per day for the duration of the cruise.
• All passengers must be tested for COVID-19 using rapid COVID-19 test kits (when it eventually becomes available) before embarkation and disembarkation
• Buffets must not be self serve.  Buffets can still be all you can eat, but all items must transferred to the passenger's plate by the food service crew.

I believe (and yes, I understand this is a guess) COVID-19 is not going away any time soon.  I believe many people and cruise lines are under the impression this is a one-time event that lasts a few months.  Unfortunately, the virus has gotten such a foothold on the planet where we can expect to have at least a few infection waves.  Worst-case scenario is this becomes a seasonal event.  Flattening the curve has only prolonged the pain, transforming this into a multiyear/wave event rather than a one time event.  Even if vaccines are available, I can imagine the vaccines will work as well as the flu vaccine, which is to say it will only be partially effective at best.  Just recall the success in a vaccine for the common cold...  I hope I am wrong though!

Thus, the question for cruise lines is how do they deal with such a threat?  There will be another COVID-19 outbreak (if it's not COVID, then perhaps something similar) on a cruise ship when the ships start sailing again.  What will the cruise lines do to prevent another outbreak on board a ship?  Will there be effective protocols, training, equipment, etc. in place when this does happen again?

Cruise lines haven't demonstrated I should trust them if an outbreak does occur on a ship.  The only actions I've heard from the cruise lines (at least actions I've heard publicly espoused to a large extent) include temperature screenings upon embarkation and requiring passengers over 70 years old to have a doctor's note.  I have yet to hear - and maybe I have to look for this information, but cruise lines need to be publicizing this information front and center - protocols implemented by the crew when the next outbreak occurs.

Cruise lines can and should take the medicine now.  Take the short term pain for a long term gain.  Or they can bury their heads in the sand and hope this goes away.  Consumers will be scared of the cruise lines for years to come and the cruise industry will not get back to its peak of the last few years until a decade or so pass, if ever.  I don't want to see that happen.

I am looking forward to the day when I can get back on a cruise.  However, I need to know cruise lines have made significant steps in improving their handling of medical issues among other things.  I haven't heard much from the cruise lines in how they will deal with COVID-19-like events in the future.  What follows are my suggestions for cruise line passengers before they step foot on-board another cruise.  I understand cruise lines may not be able implement all of my suggestions.  I also understand adopting these suggestions will increase the cost of cruises and/or may decrease the level of service.  However, they need to take concrete steps towards prescribed solutions rather than ad hoc, chaotic responses.  Cruise passengers need detailed action plans rather than cosmetic changes.  This is what I could come up with right now.  I'll add more if I come up with more ideas.  What's your Bill of Rights?

Medical

• Cruise lines must have pre-existing agreements (published and reviewable by cruise passengers) in place with countries (where the ship is visiting) for handling and offloading sick passengers
• Cruise lines must have strict protocols (published and reviewable by all passengers) in place for another COVID-19 or another similar medical outbreak
• Protocols must be known by all crew members.  Training must be performed to adhere to protocols.
• Cruise ship doctors and nurses my be educated and licensed from first-world, developed nations.  They must have graduated from reputable universities (for doctors), reputable institutions for nurses.  Doctors and nurses must have practiced their craft in reputable hospitals and/or settings.
• Cruise ship doctors and nurses must be directly employed by the cruise line, i.e. not contracted out

• Each cruise ship must have a minimum doctor and nurse/(crew + passenger) ratio
• Medical facilities must be expanded, with the number of beds/facilities proportional with the number of crew and passengers on the cruise
• Cruise ships must include medical care/evacuation within the cruise price  or at the very least, provide medical care/evacuation at reasonable and customary rates
• Surgical masks (and if necessary, N95 masks) must be made available to all crew and passengers.  Cruise ships must travel with a minimal number of masks per passenger/crew/ per day for the duration of the cruise.
• All passengers must be tested for COVID-19 using rapid COVID-19 test kits (when it eventually becomes available) before embarkation and disembarkation
• The cruise ship must have an adequate supply of rapid COVID-19 tests on the ship

Cruise Ship Design

• Certainly not an expert in this, but consider installing HEPA filters and/or UV light cleaners in ventilation system. 
• Again, certainly not an expert in this - for new ships, all staterooms should have negative pressure ventilation

Crew

• Crew members, especially those with significant customer contact, can work at most 60 hours per week with at least one day off per week
• All crew members need to be trained and retrained in personal hygiene techniques
• All crew members get paid sick leave while on board/during contract
• Max number of crew members per crew cabin (2-3?)

Food Service

• Buffets must not be self serve.  Buffets can still be all you can eat, but all items must transferred to the passenger's plate by the food service crew.
• Self serve drink stations should be eliminated - food service crew can deliver drinks to the cruise passenger.

Customer Service

• Better cancellation policies, with the ability for passengers to cancel (for any reason) within 72 hours with a minimal fee.
• If a pandemic has been declared, no fee will be assessed upon passenger cancellation of cruise.
• Refunds must be processed and deposited in the passenger's credit card account with 72 hours.

Cruise Line Financial Operations

• Cruise line companies must be incorporated in a developed, first world country with strong cruise line regulations and customer protections
• Cruise ships for the cruise line companies must must be registered to a developed, first world country with strong cruise line regulations and customer protections
• Cruise line companies must have a minimum amount of cash on their balance sheet, in proportion to the number of passengers/days/revenues

60 additional coronavirus infections on board Diamond Princess, bringing the total to 130 now:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-09/china-to-spend-10-billion-who-sends-team-to-asia-virus-update?srnd=premium

I'm thinking of going on the 14 day Voyage of the Midnight Sun cruise on the Nieuw Statendam.  I definitely want a verandah stateroom - and the obstructed verandah staterooms seem to be a good deal.  However, the nonobstructed verandah staterooms don't seem to be that much more expensive.  How obstructed are the views?  Is it worth it to save a few hundred dollars on an obstructed verandah stateroom - or should I just bite the bullet and get a nonobstructed verandah stateroom?  I'm leaning more towards the latter because I would make full use of a nonobstructed verandah stateroom on a Norway cruise as I can imagine the views will be spectacular.

Thanks for your help. How expensive were the transfer to town and were any of them free?

The cost of the transfer from Copenhagen port to Copenhagen Kastrup airport was $39 per person. I waited to book the transfer until approximately 3 or 4 days before the end of the cruise.

Thank you. I'll check Princess transfers. is there a way to check how many ships in port that day?

Check out the two links listed in the thread you quoted.

Can you please let me about the taxi from the port to CPH airport? Should we reserve it in advance and if we can pay with CC or cash only? TIA

I would suggest looking at the port/terminal schedule before deciding on whether to take a taxi or perhaps use the Princess shuttle to the airport:

http://www.cmport.com/en/ships-in-port/cruise-ships/copenhagen

http://crew-center.com/copenhagen-cruise-port-schedule-2018

The day of our disembarkation, there were only one or two other small cruise ships. Thus, there were PLENTY of taxis available at the terminal. Unfortunately, I made the decision to take the Princess shuttle as I was worried beforehand, but there was nothing to worry about. The Princess shuttle is a bit more expensive for two or more people.

However, I can imagine there may be a dearth of taxis on disembarkation day if there are multiple large cruise ships disembarking on that same day, so please check the cruise port calendar. If you have any doubt, I would probably suggesting just booking the Princess shuttle.

If you do take the taxi, I believe they do accept credit cards - but you have to tell the taxi driver immediately upon entering the taxi that you want to use a credit card. I used cash the two times I used the taxis. The two taxi drivers seemed pretty friendly and honest, but that was just a small sampling of two taxi drivers...

- Removed link - I guess cruisecritic doesn't like people posting links. But take a look at cruiseadvice dot org... Then click on Best Cabins Advisor.

I was on a recent Baltic cruise on Princess and just received my cellular phone bill. I'm on the T-Mobile One plan and needless to say, I was surprised when I received extra charges on my phone bill for 12 text messages. I had my phone on the entire time and never put it in airplane mode. I wanted to be available at all times and I knew the ship would sail close to land during many points in the voyage, so it would be nice if my phone could connect to the land-based towers from time to time so I could get my emails, connect to the Internet briefly, etc. And yes, I did not pay for wifi on board because I wanted to save some money.

Luckily, I was only charged $6.50 for the 12 text messages. I had previously discussed this with another T-Mobile customer support person before my trip and the person indicated I would not have any charges! Anyway, when I mentioned this to the T-Mobile customer support person, she generously removed the $6.50 charge from my account.

I was also very lucky that the cruise ship cell station only offered voice and text. If it also offered cellular data, then I probably would have accumulated very large charges as I was not on airplane mode and also did not block cellular data!

However, this is definitely a word of warning for those who cruise. If you want to use T-Mobile while you cruise, want to stay connected all the time, and still be able to use free international texting and data (while on the partner T-Mobile international carrier network), I would suggest the following:

• Set up your blocking options on the T-Mobile website as follows. This will allow you to use the T-Mobile international partner carriers for free texting and 2G/3G data. There will not be any roaming charges. However, you would still need to pay for phone calls. Remember, when you're connected to the cruise ship cell station, this does NOT apply! Go to Profile > Blocking:
  
  • Block international roaming: off
    
  • Block charge international roaming - This will prevent the selected line from incurring any international data roaming charges that can be incurred in countries not included in your plan: on
    

  [*]To be sure that you do not incur additional charges while your on the cruise ship AND you are connected to the cruise ship's cellular station (I think they will typically have the name * Maritime - I think mine was Telenor Maritime DK), turn on airplane mode while you are on the ship.

  • If you are not on airplane mode while you are on the ship, at least block cellular data on your phone or make sure the ship's cellular station does not support cellular data (only supports voice and text). Remember, you will still be charged for incoming texts and calls while connected to the ship's cellular station, but at least you won't be accruing data charges at a per kilobyte basis which would be really difficult to track and the data charges can pile up quickly!
    
  • If you still want to allow the phone to be able to connect to land based cellular networks on T-Mobile's partner networks AND the ship's cellular station only allows voice/text - make sure you don't send any texts or initiate calls while on the ship's cellular network. Be very careful and check the cellular network you're on before initiating calls or sending texts as well! You will also want to make sure your friends don't send you any texts or make calls to you when you're on the ship's cellular network (at least don't pick up the call) as you will be charged the ship's rate for the incoming texts and calls. According to the T-Mobile customer support rep, the ship can charge whatever rates it wants!
    

The lesson is, although T-Mobile advertises Free overseas texting & roaming, this does not apply when your cell phone connects to the cruise ship's cellular station!

they 'should' have - have your friend check the deck plans for her specific ship ...

 

$3 wash, $ 3 dry - use your cruise card to get tokens

 

I know they have detergent - but my wife brings our own pods and dryer sheets...

An alternative to pods are laundry detergents sheets (LG laundry detergent sheets on Amazon). I tried the detergents sheets on a recent cruise and they worked great. They're really portable as they lay flat, so you can just put a few sheets in a ziploc bag - and you can use them for handwashing clothes as well. You can also cut the sheets to control how much you use.

welcome home..

i do have a question for you. please tell me if you had the princess excursion or private tour in st petersburg.. i am booked with alla tours in a few weeks and i am concerned about waiting to get off the ship until after all the princess tour have gotten off.

I was on the 5/21 cruise and booked the 2 day grand tour with Alla as well. I have some info here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2519620&page=26

To summarize, I had no problems getting off the ship and getting through customs. Went to the Concerto Dining room at 7:30 AM, waited 5-10 minutes. Then I was sent down to customs where I then stood in line for approximately 15-20 min. I was through customs and outside the terminal by approximately 8:10 AM. It probably would have been faster if I found a faster line. The Russian customs agent was certainly all business, but I didn't have any problems. There will be an Alla Tour person with a sign when you exit customs and enter the main cruise terminal. Just talk with that Alla tour person and she will direct you outside where another Alla tour person will meet you to get you to the proper tour bus.

I think we didn't have any issues because the ship arrived in port early - around 6:30 AM. I wonder what would happen if the ship arrived at 8 AM and if Princess would have forced the non-Princess tour passengers to wait 90 min before disembarking. I believe one trick you can use is if you can procure a Princess tour sticker (perhaps by participating in a previous Princess shore excursion or perhaps asking another Princess passenger for their tour sticker after the completion of their tour), just stick it on your shirt, then just pretend to walk out with the other Princess tour/shore excursion participants into Russian customs during the morning of your St. Petersburg disembarkation. However, I would think that Alla tour would understand your predicament and they would wait for you!

BTW - the second day's disembarkation will be much, much easier and faster! :halo:

It's been 11 years since my last cruise. During that time, I've traveled to many places without taking advantage of a cruise, always preparing my own vacations. I've been on two other cruises, both on Princess - Alaska (Coral Princess) in 2003 and Panama Canal (Island Princess) in 2007. I loved the Alaska cruise but am a bit lukewarm on the Panama Canal cruise as it was boring at times and the service seemed a little lower than it was on the Alaska cruise. Thus, this resulted in an eleven year wait till my previously completed 11 night Baltic cruise (roundtrip Copenhagen). I've compiled some thoughts on the cruise - and bear with me as I clear my head of my opinions.

Positives

• I got a great price on the cruise. I was preparing to buy tickets on Celebrity but then came across a seeming fire sale. $1529/pp with $42/pp OBC for a mini-suite was a great deal and I got the absolute lowest price that was possible - at least that's what I believe. I decided to splurge this time. I only had inside rooms in my previous two cruises. I could have gotten a balcony for $1200 this time, which again is a great deal, but I decided to spend the extra money for the mini-suite. I can never go back to an inside room! I've worked hard enough so I can upgrade to at least a balcony now. I timed the purchase of the tickets perfectly (around six weeks before the cruise) to get the best possible price.
  
• The mini-suite itself was great. Large sitting area, large bathroom. Very comfortable beds. Room was on the Marina deck forward, so I had great views. The room was quiet even though it was a connecting stateroom. Two large screen TVs. Balcony did seem a bit cramped as it was difficult , though it wasn't too big of a deal. The in room entertainment was pretty good, though the selection of live TV was limited and not in true HD. Room could use more electrical outlets though!
  
• Service in general was great (with the exception of the MDR service). Our room attendant knew my name early on and kept the room in tip top cleanliness. Service was generally good throughout the ship.
  
• The buffet was really good! It was a lot better than what I remembered from 2003/2007. I understand the Coral and Island Princesses are smaller ships and thus had smaller buffets, but the quality and selection were quite good this time! The breakfast selection did get boring after a while, but the lunch and dinner selections were really good. There was always something different and good to eat. The quality is up there with a very good Vegas buffet (similar to Bacchanal at Caesar's although it may be slightly lower in the quality of ingredients). I didn't try the pizza/burger options on the Lido deck though.
  
• Pastry selections were plentiful and excellent! The Pastry shop was really good and always had a large selection of pastries. Most of the pastries were good. I really liked the day where they had a large selection of chocolate pastries. The MDR dinner desserts were typically good as well, though there were a few misses.
  
• The kitchen tour (on the next to last day of the cruise) was really good. The cooking demonstration between the executive chef and maitre'd was really funny and informative, although the chef did seem to be very liberal in his use of olive oil.
  
• The nightly entertainment was really good. I'm definitely not a show/Broadway type of person but the shows were good. It was definitely an improvement from my cruises in 2003/2007 - I can see the level of professionalism among the singers/dancers as well as the content of the shows have definitely improved.
  
• Highlight of the shows was definitely the Beatlemaniacs. They did a great job with their performance.
  
• Embarkation and disembarkation days for the first and last days of the cruise went smoothly. Disembarkation for the tour days also went smoothly. I was really surprised the disembarkation for St. Petersburg went very smoothly. Princess handled it very well. I only waited around 5 minutes in the dining room before going down to Russian immigration, where there was a fairly short line. I was able to then get past Russian immigration in 20 minutes. I recall some disasters in my Panama cruise where we weren't even able to get into Panama City/Fuerte Amador because of problems with tenders.
  
• Alla Tours. I would give them 4/5. I used them for both the St. Petersburg 2-day tour and also in Warnemünde for the Hanseatic Rostock and Fairytale Schwerin Tour. I was trying to decide between Alla and SPB for my tour, but decided to go for Alla because SPB didn't have the Schwerin tour. Both guides were good. The St. Petersburg tour was definitely rushed, but I knew that going in. The guide did seem to know all the shortcuts in the various palaces we went to. The lunches were quite good, especially the sit down restaurant on the first day. The Warnemünde tour was good as well. Alla used a tour bus instead of public transportation for our transportation because there were issues with the rail lines. One thing to note for this tour is that I ended up with 20,000 steps for that tour day! I do wish the tour guides were slightly friendlier and warmer, especially the St. Petersburg tour guide, but they still did a great job.
  

Negatives

• 6.5 hours in Stockholm is too short! Yes, I understand the schedule - and the cruise through the Swedish archipelago was beautiful, but it was definitely too short. I wish the ship could have been there the full day, at least until 4 or 5 PM. With the later departure, we could still see the Swedish archipelago in the evening departure. Yes, I know that could have delayed the arrival into Copenhagen though...
  
• I only booked one Princess tour and that was the Old Town/Tallinn/Rakvere tour in Tallinn. It was horrible! The drive through the Estonian countryside is nice, but the time in the Rakvere castle was pointless. I don't think the castle had any historical value. There was not much to do at the castle as well. There were some goats, a cannon, some old rooms. There was also a horror house type series of rooms that I walked through - totally pointless. I didn't pay to walk through a horror house... The bad thing was that the drive from Tallinn to Rakvere took 1.5 hours, so 3 hours out of the 8 hours available were lost that day just to the drive. 2.5 hours were spent in the castle. The lunch was decent though. That only left us two hours for old town Tallinn! Two hours is not enough for old town! If I were to do this over again, I would either book an old town exclusive tour or better yet, take a free walking tour in old town and explore the rest of old town by myself in the afternoon.
  
• MDR food was in general worse than what I remembered from 2003 and 2007, but was still good. There were definitely ups and downs. But the last dinner I had in the MDR on the last night of the cruise was horrible. The New York steak I ordered (as a medium) was entirely overcooked and tough. My guess was that the steak quality was poor to begin with, but then overcooking it to a level beyond well done made it inedible. It was the only meal where I disposed of any food - I left half of the steak on the plate. The other food was hit and miss. The lobster on lobster night was good. Quality of ingredients overall seemed to decline vs 2003/2007 as cheaper ingredients seemed to have been used.
  
• One thing I always remember from 2003/2007 - Princess opened me up to the world of souffles! I have always craved souffles since then and have never found a restaurant that matched the quality of the souffles served on Princess. So when I went on board this time, I had high expectations. In general, the souffles were still good, but not as good as I remember them in taste. The presentation of the souffle was definitely worse, as I remember the waiters back in 2003/2007 would take the souffle out of the souffle bowl by flipping the bowl, putting the souffle contents in another plate. It looks like the waiters don't do that any more...
  
• As I recall from 2003/2007, dinners were served as five courses - salad, soup, appetizer, main, and dessert. However, Princess has now shortened it to a selection of appetizers/soups/salad that one could get as the first course (though one could theoretically get multiple starters), main, and then dessert. It's not too big of an issue, but it does seem to cheapen the experience a little.
  
• MDR service by the waiters/waitresses was definitely poorer. I ate in the Symphony MDR as I had the anytime dining option. I only had one good waitress - Janie C - she was absolutely superb! But all the other waiters/waitresses ranged from decent to bad and some were horrible. I literally had the menus shoved into my face on a few occasions and some of the waiters/waitresses were just plain rude. There were also times when I noticed the waiters/waitresses would be away from their booths for minutes at a time (sometimes 10 min. plus), which I presumed was probably talking or relaxing in the kitchen while waiting for the food to be made available. The level of attention and detail just didn't compare to 2003/2007. I always chose anytime dining, so I understand the level of service may be decreased compared to choosing traditional dining times. However, I think the maitre'd really needs to review the level of service in the dining room.
  
• Water pressure in the mini-suite bathroom, especially the shower, was horrible. I guess Princess wants to save water so I don't blame them for that, but the shower water pressure was way too low.
  
• I did have the Medallion, but I decided not to pay for Internet service. However, the SocialOcean applications are supposed to work even if we did not pay. I installed the app on my Android phone but never got it to work properly. I was able to connect via wifi to at least see my shore excursions, account info, albeit the connection was spotty at times. The messaging via the website didn't seem to work either.
  
• Copenhagen Airport (Kastrup) is absolutely horrible. The seating arrangements absolutely make no sense. Air conditioning was barely working on the day we flew out of there. Eventyr Lounge was quite nice for a lounge though.
  

General thoughts

• Weather was absolutely spectacular. It didn't rain a single day during the cruise nor the few days I was in Copenhagen before the cruise. Every day was in the high 60s, 70s, or low 80s. I know I was lucky...
  
• Princess should somehow break apart the back to back days among the stops in Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm. It was difficult and exhausting to wake up at 5:30 AM every day for five straight days.
  
• I still wish Princess could relax the dress code a little for formal night. I understand how a formal night does make things special. However, given the baggage fees airlines now charge, it would be nice if I didn't have to pack a suit. I was able to get away with packing just a 22 inch suitcase along with a small carry-on this time and stuff my suit in it, but it would have been nice if I didn't have to carry the suit around. And yes, I understand I could probably get into the dining room on formal night without a suit, but it would still be awkward to walk in without wearing a suit or tux.
  
• More nickel and diming than there was in 2003/2007, although I don't think Princess went overboard. I don't recall having to pay for juice drinks during lunch/dinner (perhaps I'm wrong here). Also, I thought that I didn't have to pay for wine during dinner in 2003/2007 - though I could be wrong!
  
• A tip for laundry. I've previously brought my own liquid laundry detergent in a small bottle for handwashing. I haven't brought enough for a washing machine. However, I've found a new product which will help with both - Lucky Fiji (LG) laundry detergent sheets (search Amazon). The laundry detergent sheets dissolve in water. One can easily cut the sheets into smaller pieces for handwashing or for smaller loads. Moreover, the sheets are easy to transport and don't count towards your 3-1-1 liquids.
  
• I think the show "Mighty Cruise Ships" was on board the Regal during the cruise. Looking forward to seeing this episode in the near future...
  
• All in all, I would definitely do the cruise again in a heartbeat. However, I would possibly consider going on Celebrity or another premium or luxury cruise line instead just to see what the experience is on another cruise line. I felt the food was good/very good, though not great. It is definitely a good cruise for the value, though I got lucky with picking a date where prices were definitely cheap. I will probably never get an inside room again - it's going to be a balcony from now on!
  

Thanks for bearing with me on this extremely long post!

FYI, Schwab got back to me to indicate that they would cover ATM fees that I am charged. Interestingly, they didn't directly state that they would cover ATM fees charged while using a cruise ATM machine, but I think their language covers that. I also looked elsewhere online and other people have the experience that Schwab will cover ATM fees would be covered for cruise ship ATM machines.

These are all interesting questions. You might call Chuck to find out about their policy.

 

I bring cash. 😀

Yep, I have a question out to Chuck right now and I'm hoping they will reply to my message soon. :)

I have a Charles Schwab high yield investor checking account and thus my ATM fees and foreign transaction fees are covered. I've used the card in various places in the world and my fees have always been covered. However, this will be the first time I will use it on board a cruise ship, specifically the Regal Princess. Will Schwab cover fees for usage on board a cruise ship? Are there any additional fees imposed by Princess that may not be covered by my Schwab ATM card?

Moreover, do the Princess ATMs dispense US dollars only? Are there on-board ATMs that would possibly dispense Euro or any other currencies? I wonder what the exchange rate would be if I used my Schwab ATM card withdrawing money on board the cruise in a currency other than US dollars?