marie94949

Did they put new mattresses in the staterooms? For me a firm supportive unworn mattress is my highest priority.

I don't see any tables in front of any doors and our steward said there are people quarantining on our floor.

Update to the closely guarded secret of Princess Covid policy and procedures. It seems they have some cabins reserved for Covid quarantine but its a limited number. They can fill up fast. Then if your cabin mate tests positive everyone in the cabin has to quarantine together whether they are all positive or not. I was wondering why a number of cabins on my deck always seems to have a large stack of dishes outside the door. They must be under quarantine. The ship reports Covid status to the receiving port country. Some countries want to limit their exposure to Covid positive visitors. I was told that is why the Majestic Princess tested every passenger this week. The numbers went up to such a level that the country of New Zealand required Princess to test every passenger and make sure the positive ones did not get off the ship in New Zealand. Its something to think about for me in booking more cruises. Am I willing to be locked in my cabin and not able to leave for 7+ days?

Most passengers are wearing masks where required. The exception is the gym where masks are required but almost no one is wearing one.

We are half way through our 13 day cruise around New Zealand. Last night they reported a high level of Covid infection on the ship. Passengers are not sick or not very sick. Everyone must test, there are cleaning crew everywhere and two KN95 masks were left on our bed last night. And..they closed the laundry room.

As I posted elsewhere, my theory is the laundry room uses a lot of the ships ventilation capacity to get rid of the moisture from drying clothes. The ships total ventilation capacity (fan power, exhaust and fresh air intake) has an upper limit. They want to use this ventilation elsewhere in the ship to reduce covid transmission.

Great question. I like dirty martinis - lots of olive brine. Of course Bloody Marys. Diet coke and rum. I think I will bring my own bottle of sugar free simple syrup, then add at the table. Soda with a splash of Campari is a beautiful drink, not very alcoholic so you might be able to drink 14 of them. Sparking wine is typically low in sugar.

I looked it up.. "Bloody Ceasar" requires clam juice. Sounds yummy but doubt the Princess bars are stocked with clam juice.

I had Covid last month and got Paxlovid. My HMO does not wait to see the severity. You want to take the Paxlovid right away, but within 5 days at the most. Especially if you are older. They already know if you have kidney problems so no testing. They just want to make sure you stop taking any interferring meds like statins and anything with a steroid like the nasal sprays. Me, my case was mild so I saved the Paxlovid for the cruise should I need it.

I am going on that ship next week. 13 day cruise plus three days travel to Australia and back no laundry? You don't catch Covid from a ship - you catch it from other people. Of course they will change the sheets but I still need laundry. I can't bring enough clothes for 16 days no laundry.

Gee...I should ask my Dr. for a prescription to take with me.

What blood tests do they need? What are they looking for? $1,000 sounds like a $$ maker.

Seems bizarre and passenger unfriendly. Why is the laundry room a high risk area? Worse than elevators? Please explain Princess.

Is this a new policy? I am packing for a 3 week trip including 13 days cruise on the Majestic Princess. A guest on the current Nov. 20th sailing is reporting... Last night we got a notice under the door reminding us about masks and also advising that guest laundry facilities will be suspended until further notice and bed linen and towels will only be changed on request. The self serve laundrette is also closed. Guess will have to buy more clothes as we are on her for 26 days!

Winds are against you returning to SF which always feels cold.

Thank you for this information. How does the testing work? They leave a test in your cabin to self test? Or you line up to get swabbed? Who do you report the test results to?

Carnival, bigger more comfortable staterooms and beds, more lively especially the dinners, younger, chocolate melting cake and towel animals on your bed. Carnival ship interiors also tackier, more gaudy, cheaper looking.

Having just experienced a mild case of Covid at home, I found that the US CDC does not consider a negative test necessary or relevant to end isolation. As I read it you can leave the house with a mask after 5 days if you are not sick, and you can drop the mask after another 5 days (total of 10).

So sorry you were not cared for after you tested positive. I would have expected Princess to have a "what can we expect now, the guidelines for isolation and what are your options going forward including leaving the ship before the cruise end?" information packet. Also do we all have to carry our own Paxlovid? Did the ship's medical staff share your Covid treatment options? I would also expect the ship to have a "Covid" ombudsman to help with requests.

I only know a two groups of people who have gone on a cruise this year. Two caught COVID at the end of a Caribbean cruise ( a few weeks ago) and one's traveling friends caught COVID on their Alaska cruise in June. Also it seem that close to half of the people I know who have gone on vacation this year with long flights caught covid. In my personal circle of friends travel has been a main source of covid transmission. No one has gotten seriously sick and everyone is vaccinated and boosted. For me I just hope I get it at the end of the trip and not the beginning like a friend who just returned from Italy. She thinks she got it from her seatmate on the flight out. She said lots of people on the flight were coughing, etc.

Guess I am just too dumb to ask questions on Cruisecritic.

Gee thanks for your comment 1cruiselvr. Finished my year of cancer treatment and thought I would take a cruise. My excitement about this cruise is now in the rear view mirror.

have. not been on a princess cruise since 2010

Also this is a very good reason NOT to book direct with Princess. In hindsight that was a big mistake. They did not disclose that this could happen. Really no fare disclosures at all. I upgraded to Princess Plus on the web site and now I can't get that $$ back even when I cancel. I I feel that if we had had a TA would have gotten some useful information. At least you would feel you had someone looking out for you rather than Princess direct whose only concern is to extract $$ from you without looking out for you. Also its very difficult and time consuming to reach anyone at Princess at all. Call and wait on hold forever, leave your number and not get a call back.

Hi there, what is OBC? What I think is especially distressing is the lack of transparency of the fares. They go look in a special place to find my, higher fare than the ones on the web site. They treat current customer worse than new customers. If I had know this would happen I would not have booked or I would have waited until the last minute. Live and learn I guess but really it does make me feel mistreated which is not a great way to start a vacation.