Desert Diamond

Hi Dennis! We had an aft cabin on an Alaska cruise and loved it. The 180 degree view was amazing while in Glacier National Park as the ship slowly rotated. It was also more protected from the wind while underway.

For travelers concerned about safety, anywhere in the world, enrolling in the U.S. State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program is a good idea. If there are natural disasters, civil unrest or safety concerns, this allows them to reach you and even assist with evacuation if necessary. It's a free service. Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (state.gov)

We'll be sailing on a seven day cruise in April with our kids and grandkids. The cruise planner currently shows the iSkate show at 7 pm and 9:15 pm on the first night of the cruise. Is it usually only offered that one night or is it performed on additional nights? It can't be booked in advance on the planner so I'm assuming that it has to be reserved ASAP after boarding on embarkation day. Is there a charge for it? Thank you in advance to anyone with knowledge/experience. 🙂

We’ve done the Mexican Riviera several times and had both smooth seas and choppy seas but have also had rough seas in the Caribbean. The other posters are right that heading back north from Mexico to California is choppier. The prevailing winds on the west coast are usually from the northwest so when the ship is headed north, it’s moving into the wind. I get seasick too. As long as I keep a steady level of meds in me, I’m fine.

I have a Swiss Army knife that is always packed in my toiletries kit with my checked luggage. It's never been a problem on any cruises. Can you put yours in your checked luggage?

Generally speaking, CFAR insurance almost always has to be purchased within 21 days of when the initial deposit was made. I learned this just this week while trying to purchase it. It’s referred to as the “time sensitive period”. It’s possible that deadline might be different if buying directly from the cruise lines.

I don't know if they stock it on Celebrity ships but do have some recent experience. My DH developed Covid on our Millenium cruise two weeks ago. We opted to go to medical to confirm with one of their PCR tests after a positive home test in our room. Our family Dr. had prescribed Paxlovid ahead of time for us and we'd brought it along. The Dr. in the medical center advised against taking it since my husband was "healthy" and not in a high risk group. (Being that we're both over 65, we are considered high-risk by CDC standards). But on the advice of the ship's Dr., my husband thought he'd skip taking it. He takes a statin and baby aspirin daily. He then had a really bad night of fever, aches, shakes and chills so he decided the next morning he wanted the Pax. He had to wait 36 hours after taking his other meds but within about a day and a half, he said he felt dramatically better. Until it kicked in, he was feeling worse by the moment. He was very happy we'd had it with us and that he'd started it. He is now experiencing the "rebound" effect so many get. He tested negative at home for two days and is now positive again but with very few symptoms. He says that he'd take the Pax again in a heartbeat due to his dramatic improvement. When we got the Pax in December, our insurance covered it 100%. I have seen reports on some CC Princess boards that it can be obtained onboard their ships. I've seen costs mentioned anywhere from $750 to $1200. Much better to get it ahead of time and have it and not need it. If you know ahead of time how to adjust your own daily meds, there are many people who can benefit from it. There have also been some studies that show by lowering the immediate viral-load in the body, it may lower the risk of developing long covid. Our experience only. YMMV 😉

There is so much information shared on this thread and it is great to learn from everyone’s unique perspectives and recent experiences. Nice to see respectful sharing 😊

When we do land vacations, we usually drive ourselves. We stay in timeshares so do our own cooking with occasional outdoor dining. There’s no maid service. We generally have less contact with others. And if one of us got sick, we could head home early. (Not from Hawaii of course). If one doesn’t let medical know on a ship, there are more people put at risk. It’s a personal choice and has been discussed ad nauseum on here. The morning we went to medical, we were about to head out on a bus for our excursion. Knowing he was positive, we couldn’t do it.

I’m basing this on information from a retreat host. They asked me how my cruise was going and I told her. She said, “oh, you were one of the star codes to the midship elevators”. When I asked what that meant, she said that was the code for Covid transports going back to their rooms. But it would make sense if it’s also a general medical code. FWIW, there are crew members quarantined in the same section as my husband. Our steward told us they still quarantine covid +crew in regular cabins. They don’t have tables outside the doors anymore either. They knock and hand deliver any items. So you’d never know it’s a quarantine area while walking down the hallway. There are non-quarantined passengers a couple of doors down.

This has been our strategy too and we were successful until this cruise. We did several land vacations including two weeks in Hawaii and stayed healthy. When we got on this cruise, he decided he wasn’t going to mask. He said the odds were that he’d be fine. I kept masking other than eating. I am literally the only person I’ve seen with a mask on, out of thousands. So far, it’s been working. 🤞

I’d say COVID is still very much happening. I’m the one who posted today about my husband being quarantined on the Millenium. There have been several other “star code” announcements onboard, which indicate COVID cases coming up from the medical center. Most guests probably just decide they’ve got a cold and don’t do a self-test. We cruised a year and a half ago when masks/vaccines were still required and we felt safer. This is the world now though, at home and on cruise ships. I’m not the one with COVID but my husband has said he’s done with cruising, at least for awhile. He’s sick, he’s locked in a room and for the money we spent, this isn’t fun. We’ll switch back to land vacations which give us more autonomy. That’s just us, your mileage may vary.

For anyone curious about how Millenium is handling COVID now, we are onboard and experiencing it. My husband had a sore throat on the second day of cruise. We self tested/negative. Third day of cruise, his throat was worse, self tested but positive. So we did what was the right thing for us, and reported it to medical. Their PCR test confirmed it. I tested negative. Our choice was to isolate together in our current room or he could isolate in a balcony room. We chose that so I’d still have my freedom. Yesterday, he felt fairly good other than his throat. Last night and today, he’s miserable. We’re relieved he got a balcony for the fresh air although he’ll be there for the rest of this 8 day cruise. This cruise had shown sold out for balconies and above before we sailed. So it appears they still had a few, either held for quarantine or from cancellations.

We’re on the beach north of Ft. Lauderdale and watching the Disney Wish on her way into port here. Anyone know if there’s a maintenance or medical issue? Hope everyone’s ok 🤞

We've stayed at two hotels in Vancouver; the St. Regis, pre-cruise and the Blue Horizon, post-cruise. The St. Regis includes a very good breakfast. Both hotels were in walkable neighborhoods, with the St. Regis being a bit closer to the port. Blue Horizon is right on Robson so close to restaurants and bars and only a few blocks to the seawall with it's great views and scenic walking path.

There was an interesting video on you tube recently from Chris Wong, a team member on Royal Caribbean. He was explaining that most ships, Royal anyway, are now running at 100% occupancy. Staffing issues are still present and apparently, Royal has hired over 10,000 new crew members since the beginning of the year, across the entire fleet. He explained that having that many new crew members will very likely affect passenger's cruising experience. He said many passengers are expecting cruising to be back to the pre-pandemic experience and that that is probably unrealistic. Between crew members quarantining if they get the virus and/or being new, there are still challenges.

According to the CDC chart, 81 out of 92 ships are now orange which means a minimum of .3% of passengers and crew are positive. The ship counts typically follow what's happening on land. It's a risky time to do any large group activities including cruising and yet, most of those afflicted seem to be mild cases. We've bumped our scheduled cruises out until next year and are doing land- based trips for now. Everyone has their own comfort level for risk. I'm not as worried about the initial illness, I'm more concerned about the long-term effects that are showing up in 20% of cases. But again, everyone has their own issues with risk. 🤷‍♀️

FWIW, there is no right answer on this, I know. I recently read an article in our local newspaper (which I couldn’t find to link) that explained that the aircraft HEPA filtration system works best when the aircraft is at cruising altitude, works much less effectively during ascent and descent and isn’t working at all during boarding and disembarkation. It stated that the greatest exposures to everything on a plane happen at these times. It was suggested that window seats are a bit safer since you’re not exposed as much to breathing the air of passers by. Makes sense but I’d never heard that before.

This link is from a Celebrity roll call for a cruise currently due to end in Vancouver on 5/13. https://bc.ctvnews.ca/there-will-be-lines-vancouver-airport-warns-of-delays-due-to-security-screening-staff-shortage-1.5884017

Correct. My shock has gradually morphed into more of a reluctant understanding of this viewpoint.

I can relate to the issues the OP has picked up on. For my DH and I, it comes down to, what do we love about cruising? It's getting off in the ports, sitting on our balcony, savoring beautifully presented, delicious food,, wandering around the ship, seeing shows and comedians, meeting new people, etc. If one or both of us were in isolation, most of those things are gone. For the amount of money a cruise costs, it isn't worth the risk for us at present. I agree with Bellagio Cruiser. Eating cold food out of cardboard containers is not luxury cruising. We've booked a few land based trips after canceling a May cruise so that we will be in charge of ourselves if we do get sick. Reading through comments here on CC, I've frequently been shocked by those who say they wouldn't get tested if they began to have symptoms while onboard. The way quarantines are actually being handled, though, is no doubt encouraging this behavior.