alirat153

I was on the Majestic but disembarked at Auckland after I tested positive. I was on Dolphin deck an to begin with there was a quarantine area on Dolphin that was sealed off. By Tuesday (8/11/22) there were the tables and dirty dished outside a lot more cabins. By this stage I had started to feel unwell so did a RAT test at 5am.  I think it spread farily quickly. I only attended 1 show on about the 6th and people were coughing all over the place. That's the day the Captain advised everyone to wear masks in public places.

I think Princess did the best they could, but a lot of passengers went maskless. The staff were all masked up from about day 2 and most of them were masked the whole time.  The washing of handrails was continuous.

I was initially quite ill but seem to be getting better quite quickly so that’s good.

I received my cancellation notice for 26Nov Auckland to Sydney on the Royal. Have opted for the replacement which is the Majestic on 31 October 2022 Sydney to Sydney.  Which does mean an extra flight to Sydney, but on the plus side they are not increasing the price for the transfer and just looking at that sailing it does look like $1K more for the same cabin type, so swings and roundabouts. 

On 9/22/2020 at 3:07 PM, Rodbarry said:

Hi, just booked the Dover-Auckland segments of this world cruise leaving 9th July 2022, and hope we might some like minded souls onboard!

Regards Rod and Barry

Hi Rod and Barry, are you still booked on this one?  Many have changed to the 2023 WC - but not I. We are booked Dover to Auckland leg also. Me (L) and my partner Chrissy (T).  It would be super fantastic to find Family on this cruise!

On 4/13/2021 at 3:46 AM, CntPAcruiser said:

There has been some discussion of this in other threads on this board, and generally we've found that people have a "live and let live" attitude on board. There will of course always be less accepting people, and even ugly ones, but the worst we've had has been a couple at dinner who did not join us again after the first night. And the staff should also have your back--they do want everyone's experience to be a positive one. 

 

If her passport identifies her as pretransition, she may need to board presenting that way, but once on board, I hope you and she will feel comfortable with her cruising as a woman.

 

As for LGBTQ meetups, they vary a great deal from cruise line to cruise line and sailing to sailing. We've been on sailings where they were very popular, moderate, or no one else showed up or interacted at all. It's the luck of the draw. Hopefully you will find allies on board, and if you feel comfortable with revealing information on your roll call, that may help, too. I'd be more inclined to do that on an individual basis, though, after getting an idea of how that individual seems to be. 

Thanks for your answer, I feel reassured by it and will do a search on this forum.

Hi family

I am more lesbian than bi - but that's a whole other story. My partner and I are planning a World Cruise (or half of it anyway) and my partner is a transitioning trans woman.  The transition road has been very bumpy, for a variety of reasons - and she still goes under her bio passport and spends some time in her male form. Whether this is ideal or advisable is not the issue here. I would much prefer her to be free to cruise as a woman but she is uncertain about the response of other passengers - its a whole boatload of strangers, literally.  It would be great to find other LGBTQ passengers on the same cruise, but on previous cruises where there has been a 'friends of Dorothy' meetup we have never managed to find anyone else. Whether they turned up and hid, or there were no others turning up - who knows?

My question to you, kind strangers, is how do we get support. Should I tell all to the Roll Call in the hope of finding an ally? All we really need is one friendly face to start that confidence.  By the way, she is smashing looking.

Just now, MicCanberra said:

Cruise ships are not included in the bubble as yet, mainly as they are neither from Australia or NZ.

OK thanks!

Does anyone know the status of cruises between Australia and New Zealand?  I'm booked on one for November (ever the optimist) but with the announcement of the Trans Tasman bubble there was no mention of cruise ships.

On 1/30/2020 at 4:24 PM, alirat153 said:

Sailing 8th April 2020 on the Golden Princess from Auckland to Los Angeles (transpacific)

Not sailing 8th April on Golden Princess any more. Instead add me to sailing Sapphire Princess 29th November 2020 Melbourne round trip 14 days.

My understanding of the new temporary policy is that if we decide to cancel in the period in which we normally lose 50% of the fare (Cancellation fee) and in which we normally get refunded 50%... Now we would be refunded 50% (in cash) and the other 50% - the cancellation fee, would be held as a FCC on our account.  Is this what other people understand?

Does anyone know how many are left on board? I imagine a lot of Japanese pax would have taken up the offer of quarantine on land, but we have no news in that regard.

1 hour ago, bluesea321 said:

 

Passenger 0, the initially infected passenger, left the ship in Hong Kong on Jan 25. It has been 17 days, well past the so called 14 day incubation period. If 14 days is accurate (reports now say up to 24 days) then the new infections were new passenger to passenger infections on the ship and not from the original pax.

Ok lets say passenger  0 was infectious the whole 5 days he was on board, the incubation time is variable so hard to say with certainty, but say he infected 20 people in that 5 days to the 25th January. Then say the virus becomes contagious before symptoms show, those 20 people then go on to infect people up to the time of the start of quarantine on 3rd Feb.  The people they infect also have time to infect people before the quarantine kicks in. The spread is exponential.  As the incubation period is between 5-14 days (although now they are thinking it may be longer) those infections won't show up immediately.

All I am saying is that it may be jumping to conclusions to say that the virus is spreading after the quarantine started.  Do we have any mathematicians out there that can rustle up a model? 

The disease takes days to become serious (around 9?) if its going to get serious, the other patients begin to recover, but if the figures are right it looks like a 3 week illness before the all clear. I am gathering this from the charts of infections/deaths/recoveries.  Outside of China it does appear the mortality rates are a lot lower. Possibly because the sheer volume of cases means patients aren't getting the necessary treatment in the serious stages.

In summary, I don't think the additional cases mean that the infection is spreading post quarantine. Medical staff are at a particular risk as they are on the coalface, as are the crew. I think the crew should be being monitored very closely.

@Pushka  Trolling 101 - edit posts after person foolishly tries to argue. I'm done.

Just now, Pushka said:

And hence my point at the get go. This virus, in itself, is no worse than the flu. It is just we don’t have a vaccine for it. And that is the priority. It is not like Ebola with an extreme fatality rate. 

Ok you didnt read my post, or you disagree with what I said. I can't see the point of further discussion.

Just now, Pushka said:

 

If people are immunised then all this is irrelevant. 

Of course but there is no vaccine for this virus  yet .

9 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Yes, but people (thousands of people in every country) die from the influenza every year. The only difference with this epidemic is that there is no immunisation to prevent it. That is the only reason why this epidemic is getting the media headlines and is regarded as more significant. The flu virus mutates every year and that is why we need a new jab every year.. As far as the death rate in China versus the rest of the world - currently the stats speak for themselves. 

I most certainly did not mean to imply that smokers are more at risk of contracting this virus, but if they did get it, then there is an increased chance of death from it. And if you read my original post it is in the context of death that I posted it. t is a disease of the lungs. And smokers do not have healthy lungs. Regardless of what you might think. 

 

This is a common argument I have seen on the internet. However I beg to differ, however, for these reasons.  The incubation period is 2-12 days in which time the person is infectious before showing symptoms, so the spread is alarming. Second, the time a person is sick seems to be a lot longer.  Looking at the statististics shows currently around 600 people have died and around 1700 have recovered.  That's 33% ish.  A person is unwell for quite a while before they either get better (or not) and so the mortality rate is hard to tell at this early stage.  Remember there were only a couple of hundred cases on the 20th Jan, not even a month ago. That doctor who just died (the one who tried to warn the govt) showed symptoms (I think) in the 21st Jan but was not confirmed until the 31st - and he passed away 8 days later.  Just looking at the time frame from initial contact to symptoms showing to eventual recovery seems to several weeks, maybe a month. so the 'flu, although indeed it is fatal, in some cases, comes on a lot quicker and recovery is quicker, but the mortality rate is about .095% in 1st world countries.  So I don't think the two can be used as a comparison.

Just my thoughts on the matter. I think quarantine is a very good idea to stop the spread. As we learn more about the virus and its lifespan and mortality rate then we can draw comparisons. Hopefully the scientists will come up with a vaccine soon - but the logistics around manufacture and distribution seem pretty mind boggling.

In regards to cruising at this time, what I am doing with  my cruise booked for the 15th April is waiting to see what the Cruise line does.  I wouldn't want to cancel at this point as even though I have cancel for any reason insurance I only can claim 75% of the fare back.  If the cruise line cancels the voyage they will give me a FCC. I will be bitterly disappointed of course, but its not worth the risk of catching the virus, or being quarantined on board.

Indeed, I would hate to be manoeuvring luggage in that area. It's a shambles.

33 minutes ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

Has this one closed down?

 

https://www.shoretripsandtours.com/Product/Luggage Storage Princes Wharf.php

It does appear to be still there, just very confusing when looking up the location. There are so many changes in that area of the wharfs its hard to know - google wasn't helpful.  Best to check things with a phone call.  I'll shut up now.

Sorry just checked about which wharf cruise ships berth at. They are berthing at both. I will depend on which ship you are on. Heres the schedule. http://www.poal.co.nz/operations/schedules/cruise

19 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

There are luggage storage at Princess wharf ( cruise terminal) - Shed 23/145 Quay Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland

Not sure thats true any more. I believe the main wharf for Cruise ships changed to Queens Wharf and a lot of the facilities on Princes wharf are now apartments.  There are no luggage lockers at the Ferry terminal, the nearest is at Britomart across Quay Street. Worth asking around some more as I have never checked luggage there so cannot be 100% certain.  

Have to agree about Auckland Airport, as an Aucklander who uses it a lot.  Travelling round and seeing other airports is a real eye-opener. For example Taipei airport is top notch, efficient and super clean.  Auckland airport is small and has not got much to offer in the way of food apart from takeout type things like sandwiches and fries. Overpriced at that. I think they are overhauling it, but they are always doing catch-up rather than building for the future. Just my opinionated opinion.

On the other hand if you compare it with say Aitutaki in the South Pacific which is basically a coral strip in a field I guess its pretty good. (BTW I love Aitutaki and not throwing shade).

On 12/7/2019 at 2:51 PM, Kiwi Kruzer said:

Bon Voyage to those sailing away in December

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sailing 8th April 2020 on the Golden Princess from Auckland to Los Angeles (transpacific)

My first Solo cruise I was about 50 and my 2nd solo will be in April and I'm 66 now. I have only done 2 cruises in between with my partner, so not exactly a frequent sailor. Loving travelling solo though.

Leaves Sydney 8th April whizzes round NZ then leaves Auckland 15th April. Would love to meet other Rainbow folk on this voyage to LA. I am travelling solo (not an invitation!!) so it would be great to hang out with family for some of the time at least. 

11 minutes ago, leck57 said:

That's a huge difference @alirat153. Our cost to add Net and Beverages is about $31 per day and yours $81 and our dollar is not that far apart. Something doesn't seem right.

 

I'm pretty sure its because I'm solo and have to pay the supplement. I don't think they should add the supplement to the extras, but as they say they are inclusions thats what they have done.

Thanks Leck57, for your reply. (Yes I do pay grats so no need for anyone to get flustered LOL) I did enquire about adding that deal to my fare, which would have added another $1800 (approx) and this is NZD I'm talking, but its all relative, which is an additional $81 per day.  It could have been worth it if I drank a lot of soda and mocktails, but I'm a fairly boring person with my drinks except for coffee...  I can buy 2x coffee packages at 56.25 each ($112.50) but If I were to buy the amount of internet to bring my expenses up to $81 per day as per the upgrade say 5x packages at the cheapest rate 680min x 5 = 2.5 hours a day - approximately.  I'm not trying to cheap out here, and obviously if I can afford a cruise I can afford all the extras - my niggle is the inequality of costs.  I took the best price offer as I was assuming that this cruise would have the same deal as the one I just got off - internet at a daily rate of US19.95 per day - which while pretty darned expensive is at least within the bounds of reason.

It is a massive difference to 'pay for by the minute' packages and 'by the day' packages.  

Anyway as I said earlier I am resigned to it and will just get the 680 minutes package (30mins per day) and be very frugal with my internet time. So I'm happy with the outcome. I kept replying because people seemed to misunderstand my position - possibly the deals are different in the states. I was keen to hear from people on board currently on a non-medallion ship to see what packages they were offered.

Funny thing is when I went to look for the Oceans of Offers deals (to check again the increase I would have to pay as a solo traveller,) the Best Value Deal was no longer available on that voyage.