cruzmore99

On 11/20/2022 at 5:30 AM, Coral said:

I noticed more people masking up yesterday and also a lot more coughing.

 

We still wear masks when we go into stores or other crowded places at home (Toronto, Canada). We are taking masks with us for our January cruise on Crown and 29 days cruising in March on Emerald. There is a lot of flu, RSV (virus) and Covid around. I''m enjoying your photos and other posts.

On 11/14/2022 at 3:38 AM, LidoLiz said:

Alas, DH tested positive for COVID this morning. (I am still negative). He has a mild but persistent cough that started last night.

We have both had five shots, including the most recent Pfizer bivalent three weeks ago, plus flu shots.

And so our next trip begins, down to Aloha deck. I have opted to stay with him…my other choice was to stay in my cabin, but wear a mask at all times outside of it and no dining venues.

We have packed up what we need (most everything) for the next six days. The med guy was up to check hubby’s vitals (all normal). We are just awaiting the moving crew.

Hope to see Lisbon and the Azores on another trip! 
😷

 

 

Sorry to hear about DH; hope he has only mild symptoms. We are on the Emerald in March so  I've been reading the posts here. Should put rapid test kits on my packing list for January on the Crown and for March.

4 hours ago, Jilliebean28 said:

I was on this same cruise as Tracie and we were all tested in one of the dining rooms just a day or so before turn around day.  It was very easy....a message was left in our cabin telling us to report to the dining room at 2:30pm the next day.  It was quick and easy.

I hope that is what happens on our January B2B cruises. Things are changing a lot right now because of the Omicron variant so we will wait and see. Just looking forward to cruising again.  

On 12/1/2021 at 11:21 PM, TracieABD said:

We were Covid tested the day before turnaround.  We did not ever receive results and have assumed no news is good news.  
 

We get tested again on Friday for the next leg… turn-around day is Saturday. 

We're hoping we get tested the day before turnaround when we do B2B on the Emerald in January. 

On 12/1/2021 at 8:37 PM, Waynetor said:

Tracie - reading your turnaround morning post it looks like you did not need to be covid tested.   Is this correct, as others on different ships doing B2B have said they were tested while in the terminal and if positive the crew would pack everything in their cabin and their cruise would be over 

We also read the info that Princess has on their website about getting tested in the terminal on turnaround day so if that is the case when we do B2B in January on Emerald, we plan to take all important stuff off the ship (medications, empty the safe of cash and credit cards, and of course passports). That way, the crew will be mainly be packing up our clothes.

On 11/30/2021 at 1:04 AM, TracieABD said:

November 29, 2021

Day 8

Fort Lauderdale

 

Oops! I Did It Again!

 

Hi friends-

 

We woke to a sunny day in Florida- and Jon waving coffee over me... It is transit day. This is our first ever B2B- and I was a little nervous- I know that may seem weird, but I just did not know what to expect.

 

We did the last minute packing things, and said our goodbyes to Richard, the cabin steward. He was such a helpful guy... I think he will do great a guest steward, for sure.

 

We were told to leave everything in the cabin in suitcases or on hangers... I wrote the new cabin number on our luggage tags- and we headed on to breakfast. We are such rookies- we brought our backpacks with us... Not sure why- We only needed our passports, vaccine cards, medallions, and transit cards. Rookies. Total rookies.

 

We had breakfast in the CC dining room. I had a half a bowl of cereal, which is pretty par for the course for me. Jon had bacon and eggs and hash brown triangle-thingies. No one said goodbye to us... because- we are in transit! Yay!!!!

 

Our next stop was Club 6. We were to meet there at 9 am. There looked to be between 80-90 transit passengers. An officer checked us off on his list and we waited for a bit for a couple of last minute stragglers. They must have zero-ed out the departing passengers quickly, because we were led of the ship at 9:15. In one long line, we were brought down to immigration, had our faces scanned, and were directed to an area off to the side to sit. There was plenty of room, even with the separation in the seats. We waited another 20 minutes or so, and then were brought back on the ship- where we had our medallions scanned.

 

We went up to our new digs... a mid-aft penthouse suite on the Riviera deck. So, did I mind changing cabins after 5 days. Nope. Not one bit. The door was not reading our medallions, so we headed back downstairs to have them “activated”. Sometimes, this is necessary. Sometimes, not. They also gave us the traditional cards- in case the medallions did not read... but they did! The cabin is lovely. Our steward are wonderful. We had no luggage- and asked if we could just grab one or two of the suitcases to get started in the nesting process... They helped us bring it all. It took me a whopping 24 minutes to completely unpack and start a load of laundry. (Not everything can go out for laundry- some stuff you just want to wash yourself).

 

So this decision I have been hinting at... we are having a great time, like a really GREAT time... and we started batting around the idea of staying on for a third lap around the pond. We knew it wouldn’t be the stellar deal we got from CAS- but it also was pretty doable. There were a couple of barriers to work through- primarily the puppy (Remember Luca? I refer you to page 1 for pictures of the little mess) and a couple of social obligations. We started chiseling away at the To Do list- and then pulled the trigger on booking. By 12:30, we were fully unpacked, booked another cruise and changed flights, squared away our land lives for an additional 5 days- and had ordered lunch in the CC MDR. Mischief Managed!

 

And finally, we could relax and lean into the next 10 days. There will not be a fourth cruise- it just won’t work with our schedules. So there are no more decisions to work through- unless you count whether or not to have one or two desserts in the dining room.

After our busy morning... Jon headed to the Sanctuary and I folded laundry. If you have ever read any of my other blogs, you will know that laundry is a preferred activity for me. I love all things laundry- including ironing. We even customized a laundry “center” in our new home! This was my way of relaxing.

 

Once I was finished, I brought a drink to Jon up in the Sanctuary. We have a favorite mock tail called “Strawberries on Fire” or something like that. It is really delicious and refreshing. WeD toasted our good fortune- and watched the ship move through the canal. We were following behind the Celebrity Millennium and the Emerald Princess. And just like that... we were fully immersed in Leg 2!

 

We opted out of specialty dining- as we knew they were having shrimp and lemon risotto in the CC MDR. I had a small portion of the risotto for my app and a lovely pork dish. Jon had a big old portion of the shrimp and yummy rice. We have got to cut out the bread. But it is sooooo good. I am worried my clothes will shrink.

 

I went back to the cabin and Jon wandered around the ship. We have heard that there are 887 on board for this twirl. It is a veritable ghost town. But I don’t mind. It works for me.

 

I guess this is where I will leave it.

 

Anyone like laundry as much as I do?

 

Thanks for following along.

More later-

TL

Great decision to add add another cruise!!! I'm glad it worked out. We have read that we will be tested on turnaround/in transit day in or near the terminal (not on the ship) and if we test positive that we will not be allowed back on the ship. Perhaps that is because we are doing 10 + 10 day cruises in January??  I prefer the way it was with you; getting the test done on the ship before turnaround day. Happy cruising.  

On 11/30/2021 at 2:37 PM, TracieABD said:

November 30, 2021

Day 9

Somewhere Headed East- Sea Day

 

Sailing into the Sun

 

Hi friends-

 

Another day, another day at sea... It is going to be very easy to lose track of time. Is it Tuesday? Wednesday? Is it November? December? Sea day? Port day? Who knows?!?! Who cares??? We made a decision at the beginning of this adventure that the destination is the ship... not the ports. And while we may get off the ship for a few minutes- we are not doing any excursions or beach stops.

 

Princess has “stolen” an hour from us as we sail east. Neither of us slept well last night- too much late afternoon coffee. We slept til 9:00 which was actually 10. By then Sabatini’s was closed and we were left scrambling. Well, sort of... this was actually a gift.

 

Some personal notes- at home, we normally only eat one big meal, one small meal, and a protein shake. We also do IF- which has been really effective. In doing this, we both lost weight durning the pandemic lockdown. We brought all of the stuff we would need to continue this practice, but we have been totally distracted by shiny things- like menus and glass serving counters. I have spent the last day or two trying to reset. Missing breakfast this morning gave us the opportunity to have a protein shake and coffee... which is our norm.

 

After that, we planted ourselves up in the Sanctuary for the day. It is lovely and quiet. We have a preferred corner... and it is just perfect up here. There a enough people to remind us that we are not on a ginormous private yacht, but there is so much space and distance between passengers.

 

Jon headed to the Buffy for lunch. I ordered from the Sanctuary “spa” menu. Gazpacho, chicken salad, and pineapple with granola and cottage cheese... except the cottage cheese is really different- in texture and taste- more like ricotta cheese. We have started calling it “ricottage” cheese. I like it. Jon does not. I absolutely inhaled my lunch and promptly fell asleep. Gotta love a day in the Sanctuary.

 

And this is where I will leave you. Tonight is formal night- with Jon’s favorite menu. And Bravo! In the Princess Theater- one of my favorite performances. We shall see what the sopranos sing for us tonight!

 

Anyone want to sing the “Flower Duet” with me?

 

Thanks for following along-

More later-

Tracie-Lynn

We do B2B all the time; we don't do "short vacations" since we are both retired. Our thinking is the same as yours for January, that the ship is the destination (Emerald Princess Jan 8-28). We may get off a few times in 20 days, but it's the food and entertainment that we are looking forward to the most. Is there any dancing allowed on your cruise? We are allowed to dance in some places at home right now as long as we wear masks. 

On 11/23/2021 at 6:48 PM, TracieABD said:

Tests are back…

Let the hi-jinx commence!

Did you need a PCR test to board?? We understood it could be an antigen test done within 2 days of boarding so we were going to do that at home in Toronto, Canada which also covers getting on a plane here and going through U.S. immigration. Our cruise isn't until Jan 8 and of course things can keep changing 

On 11/19/2021 at 10:37 PM, wrongwaywatson said:

We are still scheduled to stop in CR.  I will screenshot the port guide when we receive it.  Excursions are still going on.   I will report back after we go there

 

Yesterday DH and I ordered a drink with our app when we were in the pool area.  I ordered it at 1:46 and it was delivered at 1:48.  I was impressed!  Now, we were sitting close to the bar, but I still thought that was quick

 

The comedy show tonight was a different comedian, Tom Briscoe.  We enjoyed it very much.  HUGE improvement from the first guy. 

We are booked to cruise on the Emerald Jan 8 - 28  (10 plus 10) so it's interesting to read all the comments here. We want to get away from winter weather in Toronto and we are looking forward to being back on a ship after almost 2 years of staying home.

20 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

As for now, you won't need reservations, thus I believe they changed the wording on the app from 'reserve' to 'bookmark'.  People tended to reserve everything they might want to do and you couldn't reserve it once it was filled up.  Then, people would just not show up to the events they reserved and others that didn't have a reservation tended not to go because they wouldn't be allowed in.  

 

Now, when you go into Journeyview, click on the event that you may want to attend, then, click on Bookmark and then click on ok.  You should see the number of guests bookmarking it update on the screen. You can also 'cancel bookmark' by tapping on the event again. 

At the bottom of the screen, you can pull up ALL or MY EVENTS.  What is nice is that if you don't have your phone or tablet with you, you can use one of the large screens throughout the ship and it will pick up on your medallion device.  You can go to MY EVENTS on these digital screens and it will also pull up your bookmarked events as well as where they are and even directions on how to get there from where you are.  

It's really just like a highlighted paper patter without wasting paper.  

The large digital screens may also have a surprise for you if you are celebrating a special occasion.  It really is kind of special!!  I love the medallion's and app's capabilities .. others may not have the same opinion.  

At home, I am really not a phone person at all.  As a matter of fact, my phone might be dead for a couple of weeks and I won't even notice.  But, my neighbor gave me a leather phone case with a shoulder strap ... wow!!  I'd never leave the room without it.  I still don't use it at home but it was second nature for me to strap it like a cross body bag on me while on a cruise.  It was very handy as I love to take photos and always had my phone handy to do so if I ran into anything I wanted to take a picture of while out and about.  

Cruise Raider, you are a fountain of information. I still hope to get more things entered on the MedallionClass app that have not worked so far (Passport info, arrival time at terminal, etc). Our cruise isn't until Jan 2022 so I have time to try, try again. 

22 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

The nice thing is, you can bookmark all the events, shows, activities, etc on your tablet.  Then, on the large white screens that are located all around the ship, you can pull up only your bookmarked items.  

I didn't know that you could use the large white screens to bring up what you have bookmarked, so I might try this. We're generally "old school" so on past cruises we've used a highlighter to mark things on the Patter that we were interested in and carried the paper Patter with us on the ship. 

16 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

 

Thanks for the info. We bought a new tablet in October so we could download MedallionClass. It downloaded but there have been several problems (too many to list).  

21 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

It was delivered nightly to our cabin. 

21 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

It was delivered nightly to our cabin. 

Thanks for answering; we prefer a paper copy and will not be carrying around a tablet after we board.

On 10/23/2021 at 9:32 PM, trbarton said:

Does the 1st day patter include the list of officers anymore?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom😀

Was the Patter delivered to your cabin or do you have to ask for a printed copy at guest services?

6 minutes ago, bjkTX said:

I haven't had much luck trying to use the manual - it was written assuming you already knew the basics (from having a smart phone I guess).  But I have had good luck just asking the question in Google and watching videos.  There are a couple of good videos with tips for this tablet if you haven't seen it yet - like  how to keep the screen from going dark every 30 seconds 🙂

 

I didn't find the manual very user friendly either and the quick start guide was useless. I found a place somewhere in Settings so I changed the screen timeout from 10 seconds to 5 minutes. Learning some new things is good for this 72 year old brain and Google has been really helpful. 

53 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Sorry... I know the App has a lot of issues.  @bjkTX has good tip above.  Just bring id and proof of vaccine and test and you should be okay.

We will have all the paperwork, passports, proof of vaccines and test results for sure. It's been somewhat reassuring that other people are having similar problems and are trying different things. We just want to get away from some of the winter weather in 2022 after staying home in 2021.

46 minutes ago, bjkTX said:

I bought the same tablet a month ago because of the cruise we just booked.  We have never even had a smartphone so it took a lot of help from a friend I met here on CC and a LOT of YouTube videos to get me going.  When I went to scan our passports I had all kinds of issues because I didn't know how the scanner worked in the Medallion App - along with an abundance of user error.  But once I watched a video and it told me that I didn't have to push a "scan" button (because I couldn't find one) all I had to do is adjust the picture until the green bar showed and it scanned automatically - got it done.  The last task was taking our pictures.  Getting mine was fine - basically a selfie.  But when I went to take my wife's picture I couldn't figure out how to turn the camera so that it took a picture going the other way - so we played twister and I got her picture taken in selfie mode 🙂  I still don't know how to turn the camera in the Medallion App - it's easy in the normal Samsung camera mode - there is a button.  Don't think I'll use the Medallion App to take any more pictures so no big deal.  But the technology dinosaur just got the Green Lane 🙂  I know this isn't helping you - just wanted you to know you weren't suffering alone 🙂  Good luck!!!

We don't have a smart phone either (although our kids and grandkids think we should have one by now). Maybe I'll look at a few more videos about scanning the passport; I was feeling good when I discovered a way to enter the info manually, but then it didn't accept it. We haven't tried to put in a photo yet. The online Samsung user guide is ONLY 99 pages (not good for bedtime reading).  I was hoping to get the Green Lane, but we may just wait for several things to get done at the terminal, but we will have all the paperwork, proof of vaccines and negative test, etc. We have to pick up the medallion there because they don't ship to Canada.  Thanks for the info; take care

18 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I know this may be a dumb question, but did you enter the date format correctly?

We worked on it together so everything that was entered was checked twice (actually checked 4 times after the first attempt didn't work).  Dealing with the app has been an extremely frustrating experience so we are trying to enter as much info now so we can look forward to the 20 days of cruising in January.  Thanks for all the info you are giving out to many cruisers. I believe you let us know we didn't need a PCR test to fly into the States and get on the cruise (and I thanked you previously for that info).

We bought a new Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite 3 weeks ago because our old tablet wouldn't take the App. The app is downloaded, but certain things don't work. Scanning the passport didn't work but when I entered all the data manually it puts a red line under the expiration date and states "expiration date must be after the end of the cruise" and the "save" button is not dark so it doesn't save the info. The exp. date is 18 months after our cruise ends!! We have tried this 4 times with the same result. Is there an email address for Med help? 

22 hours ago, dardan said:

We are platinum and we’re on the October 9 sailing. The discount was $10 per day or $37.50 for the five day cruise. That is per person. I signed up for it on my phone and my husband could check his email. Plus when we were in Port, I could use the Mexico cellular as my plan includes Mexico and Canada roaming. 
You connect to the Wi-Fi for the medallion and the medallion app, but can’t surf the Internet or check email. Just for the record, I love the medallion and it’s app. Worked great for me.

I'm wondering if the 50% discount would apply if we only want to buy for 2 days out of 10 instead of paying $100 for 10 days; Platinum members used to get 250 minutes free internet on a 10 day cruise and we never used all the minutes. We will have a tablet with us, not a cell phone. 

17 hours ago, LuvKruzn said:

We just got off the Grand from the Oct 9 Cabo cruise and the Elite 50% Internet discount does apply to the Daily rate.  It shows up on the Medallion app when selecting the Internet section as $10 per day as the discounted rate.

.

Thanks for the info; we are not cruising until Jan. 2022 but we are trying to get some things sorted out now. We did set up our dining yesterday to have the same time every day. On a scale of 1 to 10 re: computers/internet, I'm about a 5, so things take time. We "love cruising" too. 

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

You can purchase individual days for $20/day (not sure if you get 50% off that rate, but perhaps).  You can buy whole voyage for $10/day (in advance of the cruise) and get 50% off.  If you only want a bit of internet - less than 1/2 the voyage days - then just buy it on the day(s) you want it.

 

Thanks for the info; maybe we'll just buy it for a few days out of the 20. We just check email and do a bit of browsing. We enjoy shipboard life much more than spending time on the internet. I bet the 50% discount is only if you buy for the whole voyage. We just spent 2 hours putting info on MedallionClass app and also learning how to use a new tablet (our old tablet worked fine for everything except the app). Happy Cruising.

With Platinum we each used to get 250 free minutes for a 10 day cruise which was more than we needed. The only package I've seen mentioned is for unlimited internet (which we don't need); are there cheaper packages available ?  

On 6/4/2021 at 2:57 PM, pompeii said:

Exactly.  Even if the new internet is unlimited, I'm not happy to have to pay for a benefit that was previously free.  

I'm not happy with this for the same reason; previously, we would each get 250 minutes of free internet on a 10 day cruise which was more than we ever used. Now we have to pay.  

We tried to put the MedallionClass app on our tablet so we can get the dining, etc set up (even though our cruise is not until Jan. 2022) . Our tablet states "your device isn't compatible with this version". Did anyone else have this problem and is there any way to get around the problem other than buying a new device?  Our Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 works fine for everything else but I guess anything that's 6 years old is obsolete. We don't want a smart phone.