BIG TIME CRUISER

36 minutes ago, CaribbeanIsland said:

Not fair since I don't think cruises will sail this year.

That was my thought exactly.

Unless there's a vaccine, 2020 doesn't look all that promising. 

18 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

I wish all the folks that are "never cruising again" would go find another forum to discuss their future vacation plans! 

Why?

Many of those people have been cruising for many years now & wish to express their feelings. Myself, I doubt if we'll even be cruising in 2021 unless they find a vaccine or the virus dissipates itself on it's own.

Which I seriously doubt.

Being on a ship wearing a mask & having to distance one's self from everyone doesn't sound like much fun. 

On 3/12/2020 at 9:23 PM, Crystabel said:

Did anyone get an email from Princess titled “Privacy Notice Updates: Your Carnival Corporation MedallionClass™ Account”? It went into my junk mail folder, and I’m hesitant to open the link. 

Since it's going to be a long, long time before we sail again I gave it a pass.

Even if it wasn't a virus things will change numerous times before they're sailing once again.

35 minutes ago, c-boy said:

hey ! we made the news, at least the mention in the article. 

I think I'll wait until they retrofit all the Princess ships with better filters & they develop a vaccine. 

On 4/11/2020 at 8:43 AM, RocketMan275 said:

I've never understood why pants upset so many people. 

Some folks seem to take dressing up to heart but why they want other folks to follow their lead is puzzling. Dress up for the enjoyment of others if you like or simply dress casual & sit by yourselves at a table for 2 and it shouldn't bother anyone else.  

7 hours ago, tgwabd said:

The United States Government said no bailout for Cruise lines since they are from foreign countries...

Perhaps when they begin to pay US taxes they might consider it in the future but for now I can't see them doing so. 

It's possible that that person contracted the virus after they left the ship.

On 3/21/2020 at 7:17 AM, hunt182644 said:

As I posted on page 11 I talked to two doctors about the form. Both said for liability reason's they would be hesitant to sign it.

My appointment is a few weeks off yet.

Who knows, maybe Princess will even come out with their version before then.

My doctor is very liberal so perhaps he'll have a different view of the version they posted right now. 

15 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Could be, but I expect Princess will very much continue with offering Formal Night opportunity.  They will probably rightly figure folks will be ready to fancy it up after being cooped up due to Coronavirus/COVID-19/Wuhan Flu.  We will most likely continue to spruce up some for formal night but we are not the tux or dark suit fans.  To each their own.

That very well could be the case but I see a possible decrease in people willing to book cruises just after this virus incident. The cruise lines will be happy just to see people willing to return to sailing once again. 

I suspect most of the people on Cruise Critic aren't an example of the typical cruiser since most of them seem to be dedicated lifelong cruisers. 

8 hours ago, NorthwestCruiser said:

I guess I just can't imagine why anybody would *want* to go to a formal dinner without dressing formally.   Seriously, help me understand -- what is the point?   It would be like going to the symphony and whistling and humming (or talking, which people do) because you don't like music.  OK, great, I get that you are indicating that you are a rugged individualist, but why did you make the choice to go?  What is the pleasure in it?   Just to annoy people?

People cruise for different reasons and having a decent meal to some doesn't mean having to dress up for it.

I doubt if it's done to annoy anyone.

8 hours ago, NorthwestCruiser said:

 

Honestly, I am not that crazy about dressing up, or even formal dinners.   I think we have done it twice, but when I am on a ship I want to feel like I am on a ship and would rather take in the view or whatever is going on.   I can eat out any time, but if people like to dress up and eat out while ignoring the reason that so much fuel has been spent to get them to Aruba rather than Queens,  that is their business.   At least on the large ships that I have been on there are plenty to eat informally and that is where we usually eat.   The same on land, if I am going to a nice place I make some effort to dress up because the people who work there have to dress up, so it is a measure of respect.   

 

The point of living isn't to prove that other people are wrong by being annoyed by your actions.     Mostly I crusie on my own boat now, and I find it interesting that a very tiny minority of people will take a great deal of effort to get to a beautiful, remote place with a few other boats or kayaks, crank up the tunes really loud and roar around in their dinghy like they are in Lake Washington during Sea Fair.   Sometimes they are rather aggessive about it, as if they are taking pleasure in spoiling the experience for other people, and I seriously do not understand why they go to the effort.   

Actually the crew who work on the ships don't have a choice of the uniforms to wear. They're told how to dress for every occasion. If given a choice they might not dress up at all and just wear their casual clothing every night.

8 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Love all the optimism.  I have been an avid cruiser since the mid-70's and had two cruise lines (Regency and Renaissance) go bankrupt with some of my money.  So it does happen.  Will it happen to CCL?  It is unlikely but anything is possible, especially if the cruise industry shut down lasts more then a few months.  Given a choice we would now want a cash refund as opposed to taking a FCC.

 

Hank

We sailed Regency and they had many so problems with their crew and ships I can understand why they disappeared. CCL is a completely different story.

5 hours ago, satxdiver said:

I have been on two ships now one to HI and one in the Caribbean where they were allowing jeans on formal night in the MDR.  Both were allowing shorts on non-formal nights as well.  Things to come?

 

We've also found this to be true on a few of the ships in the last few years. I would expect things to get more casual in the future once cruising begins again. I doubt they'll want to irritate any of their customers going forward about how they choose to dress. 

On 3/15/2020 at 7:49 PM, caribill said:

 

Which is why some doctors may be reluctant to sign the form.

I'll be visiting my doctor within the next few weeks & I'll bring a copy for him to sign even though it doesn't apply to Princess at this point in time.

Just to see his reaction to the form. 

Hopefully the situation will have turned around by the fall season. 

1 hour ago, WYB! said:

Here's the thing, I don't believe cruise lines ban bicycles primarily becuase they may pose a hazard or for safety reasons.

I think cruise lines ban bicycles because they don't generate additional revenue for the cruise line.

I was thinking the same thing but I can't really imagine that it would take away that much revenue.

On 2/20/2020 at 8:49 PM, Cruiser933 said:

 

My husband used the medallion to track me down once. He said he had a little difficulty finding me, but I may have been on the move at the time.  We used our tablet to order our free drinks. It was easy.

I had the same experience. It's vague at best for location. 

On 2/20/2020 at 8:49 PM, Cruiser933 said:

 

Other than that, we didn’t take advantage of the medallion at all.  It opened the door fine, but the problem was that when we left the room the door wouldn’t lock until we were pretty far away. We are people that like to check that a door locks when we leave, and that was difficult.

Our door would lock immediately. If you wanted to go back in you had to walk down the hallway 20 feet & return to have it open again. 

On 2/20/2020 at 8:49 PM, Cruiser933 said:

 

If you lose your medallion, anyone can use it on the boards near the elevators to find out what room you are in.

That problem hasn't changed. It seems to be common on all the ships. They don't seem to think it's a security problem.... at least until someone gets their cabin broken into & a lawsuit follows.

On 2/20/2020 at 8:49 PM, Cruiser933 said:

 

3 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

I carry a bottle of spray-on alcohol. It's better than nothing. I use it after serving my food in the buffet OR handling the menus in the MDR.

From what I've observed in the MDR, the menus are NOT cleaned between uses and definitely not between passengers during the same meal service.

I suppose it might be better than nothing against other peoples germs but I'll be darned if I'm going to rewash my hands because I sneeze. 

I've come to accept that traveling during flu season I'l going to catch something. 

2 hours ago, tanzer22pilot said:

So, where do you draw the line?   

When breaking a "rule" subjects others to inconvenience or dismay. 

As I view it there's not much that you do to cause it in a dining room, especially not a choice of clothing. If a choice of someone else's clothing is that upsetting to a person, perhaps their sailing on the wrong cruise line. 

1 hour ago, pink845 said:

Not a matter of choice.  The right and decent thing to do is to cough or sneeze into ones  sleeve or into the crook of one's elbow if they do not have sleeves and to promptly wash their hands for twenty seconds including the space between their fingers with hot soap and water.  If not able to do wash their hands after said cough or sneeze; then clean hands with sanitizer which is readily available in tiny bottles that can easily fit into almost any pocket.     Yes, it might mean leaving the buffet line and washing ones hands, but the food is not going anywhere!

Sorry but that's not an option for me. I'm not putting my plate down for 5 minutes while the food gets cold just to wash my hands.

16 hours ago, pink845 said:

And is seems that when someone is coughing  up a storm or sneezing uncontrollably in an elevator or simply walking into the buffet, on a ship, they DO NOT COUGH INTO THEIR SLEEVE OR cover their mouth with a tissue, instead they continue on their merry way basically advertising to the rest of the ship, that they are shucks sick, but that they paid for this cruise and that they are going to enjoy it so who cares about the rest of you.  Such a selfish attitude.  Every time I witness this type of behavior, I have the mind to take that person aside and give them a talking to.    But my husband always stops me.!

What other choice do they have on a ship other than voluntarily confine themselves to their cabin? 

Lots of items to be corrected.

https://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryTool/InspectionDetailReport.aspx?ColI=MjEyNjAyNTU%3d-TVijKssWTGY%3d

54 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

 

This is us now.  We used to do it at $25/pp on the formal nights to not have to deal with formal wear, but after the price increase and the additional charge for another entree, we decided it just wasn't worth the money anymore, so we only eat there when we have the BOGO.  It's worth $29 to me, but not $58.

We use to dress for formal nights in the DR but no longer. Just dressing a bit above casual is all that's necessary lately & since the better meals are always on formal evenings we just use our BOGO coupon on the first night and are done with specialty restaurants for the rest on the cruise.

7 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

It should be enforced by the maitre d or whoever is in charge of each dining room. That would make it only one person who "took the blame" and not put any pressure on the wait staff. Make the guy in charge deal with it. If you are the boss then act like the boss and take the heat for enforcing the rules.

I won't argue with who's responsibility it is but all I know is that things are working very nicely on all the ships we've sailed on for many years. 

Yes, they do have a so called dress code & if people want to fully abide with it, then fine. Otherwise even the modified dress code that people choose also works very well. 

I'm sure all the Maitre D's have fought with many people over this thought the years and have just chosen to ignore all but the most offensive violators.

11 minutes ago, CruiseVA said:

Pretty much the same NFC & BLE

The Ocean Medallion contains 13.56 MHz NFC RFID technology, as well as BLE to enable multiple services. NFC ensures secure short-range reads, while the BLE technology offers a longer range to help users access location-based content.

 

Very interesting.

It says "

Once the device confirms that individual's identity based on the ID transmission, the system automatically unlocks the door while also greeting the guest by name on the screen. The BLE transmission enables cruise-line personnel to know whether passengers are in or out of their rooms. That information allows the staff to identify the best time to service a particular room. In addition, passengers can use the app to set their room's requested temperature or lighting conditions. Each time they access their stateroom door, the room's settings will then automatically adjust to their needs."

I don't think it worked that way on the ships we've been on. The room temp remained at what we set it on when we left. I would hate to have the room get warm & then wait until it got cooled off again. 

1 hour ago, jdechter said:

Which night would be best to book Sabatini's? Trying to avoid Caribbean night.

Yea I know. It's not all that great.

We wind up at the buffet that evening. 

It's not often that we get the chance to eat breakfast in Sabatini's but yes, they still offer it & it's definitely a step up in service & quality.