tip

We are snowbirds from New Hampshire and have been at a condo on Hollywood Beach since the beginning of the year.  We have pretty much been in self quarantine by choice for the past two weeks.  We did make one final trip to the grocery store on March 15th and went out again on St. Patty’s Day tp pick up a prescription and get a take out corned beef and cabbage dinner.

The beach and condo pool have been closed for almost two weeks now.  We have read a great deal and have watched way too much television.  We try and take a walk daily and have enjoyed the warmth of our balcony for hours each day.  The weather  during the past two weeks has been awesome.

The car is packed and we are heading straight up I-95 to New Hampshire tomorrow morning.  We expect to be home by mid-week.   We have a good supply of disinfectant wipes to use each time we stop. I think that we shall be fine until we reach Delaware.  After that I am concerned with traveling  what will be a short distance through New Jersey and New York, but we do not intend to make any stops there.

Life as we know it has changed and it will be sometime before we all get back to normal.  We have a cruise booked for November.  Right now I am inclined to cancel, but we shall wait until mis summer to make a final decision.

Fort Lauderdale Beach and South Beach in Miami have closed their beaches.  Folks are prohibited from going on the dry sand.  Restaurants and bars are still open, but must close early each night.  Maximum capacities have been reduced.

  Dania Beach has closed their beach as well.   We are snowbirds staying in a condo on Hollywood Beach.  The beaches here are still open, but my guess would be that they are on the block as well.  Life as we know it has changed folks, at least for a while.

Bail out the cruise industry?   How about paid family leave?  How about taking care of the little guy instead!

We drove along Fort Lauderdale Beach and over the 17th Street Bridge on Monday and again earlier today (Wednesday).  Thousands of spring breakers were on the beach, thinking only about today and not tomorrow, go figure.  When we drove over the bridge on Monday, we saw the Regal Princess tied up and today, the Caribbean Princess tied up at dock #2.  It was rather eerie knowing that both ships were void of passengers and would not sail again with passengers until May.

16 minutes ago, tiptip said:

 

Absolutely, as much as possible. As should everyone. I have canceled all non-essential events, travel etc.  It's not an all or nothing situation, no one is arguing that it's possible or reasonable to reduce social contact to zero, but minimizing it as much as you personally can is the responsible thing to do. 

 

That's obviously an unusual circumstance, and a far more difficult one at that. Your decision would have to contend with a different set of considerations than most of us. For the majority of people, cruising is a luxury or a vacation, and thus non-essential. 

 

 

True. But I'd argue that cruising for anyone who doesn't do so for work is, inherently, not practicing social distancing. A cruise ship is not designed to minimize contact between people.

I am “tip”, not “tip tip” and I am not related to nor do I know him/her.  I have posted on these boards since 2007.  I must say that “tip tip” is making sense here.  It is important that we not overreact, but use common sense.  
 

Right now we are snowbirds who are residing for the winter just south of the cruise port in Fort Lauderdale which I believe is the busiest cruise port in the country.  .  According to local television news, four individuals have been tested positive for the virus in this county.  All of them are in their sixties and have been employed by the cruise industry or related vendors.  Right now the Regal Princess is tied up empty of passengers after having returned to port late this past weekend.  Local port authorities claim there is a shortage of cleaning supplies.

In my opinion, now is not the time to take a cruise.  Right now, however, people are free to do as they wish.  Good luck to those who choose cruising.

You will certainly have less daylight than you would in June.

The problem is restricted to Fort Lauderdale and has pretty much impacted residential neighborhoods and along the New River due to an aging infrastructure which has not been maintained by the city fathers.  Other communities have their own water supplies including Dania Beach.  We are snowbirds who have been in Hollywood Beach for the past seven weeks with no problems.

3 hours ago, darknightsdespiser said:

For goodness sake, how hard is it to wear a pair of trousers like normal people in a normal restaurant?

Although I have never worn shorts to dinner in the MDR on a cruise, I consider myself to be a “normal” person and I have worn shorts to a “normal” restaurant on land.

23 hours ago, dweeb said:

For Breakfast and for Lunch, I have worn shorts into the Dinning room without a problem.  I have not worn shorts into the dinning room for dinner though.

 

 

The same here.   I have never understood why folks get so worked up about what folks choose to wear.

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I am anti buffet on sea and land.

Then don’t go to them.  For many of us, they meet our needs quite nicely.

Me darling wife and lots of paperbacks, but then again, those have come with me on every cruise!

Yes, I go barefoot in my cabin and at home too.

On 2/4/2020 at 7:52 PM, MJSailors said:

 

 We have now reached the age where we try not to accumulate any more stuff.

Exactly!

ilikeanswers,

Thank you for being the voice of reason.

I suppose that we all could confine ourselves to our cabins and hide under the covers for the entire cruise.  That being said, we have been on thirty-one cruises and use public restrooms, eat in the buffet, push elevator buttons, hold onto the handrails and have never been ill.  Of course we wash our hands with soap and warm water after using the restroom and before entering a dining room.

4 hours ago, DarrenM said:

Three things.

1. I am male.

2. I have nevr been pregnant.

3. Who is Sheldon Cooper?

4. Why do you ask?

 

OK thats 4.

Two Things:

1.  Watch “The Big Bang Theory” or “Young Sheldon” (U.S. television sitcoms) and you will no doubt recognize Sheldon Cooper’s mother.

2.  Do you also believe that the Earth is flat?

On 1/15/2020 at 12:21 PM, DarrenM said:

As god only created the world 10,000 years ago global warming is utter nonsense.

Are you Sheldon Cooper’s mother by any chance?

3 hours ago, cb at sea said:

NOTHING we do contributes to the climate in any way.  The climate will run it's own course, just as it's done for 4.5 BILLION years....long before humans were here.

Denial is not a river in Egypt.  Science is real.

16 hours ago, workermom said:

Maybe Princess will read these comments and reinstate the libraries ???

One could only hope, but I doubt it would happen.  Libraries do not make any money for  Princess and unfortunately today, it is all about the money.

2 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

Some of you put way too much thought into other people’s pay. 

Some of us have a social conscience.

On 1/27/2020 at 12:22 PM, Earthworm Jim said:

 

Well, I'd say snow in late September/early October is very unlikely. Unless you're on the top of Mt. Washington or something.

Your snarky comment notwithstanding, I have lived in New Hampshire for almost seventy years and have experienced some severe ice and snowstorms in October.

The OP was talking about arriving in Quebec which is colder than New Hampshire.  Snow and ice unlikely, but possible.  It is a roll of the dice.  As others have said, be prepared especially if you plan on spending any time on a balcony, the promenade, or top decks.

1 hour ago, chrysalis said:

could be warm, could  be cold....might rain or it might snow...be prepared for anything.

 

Also, various websites give historical weather info, including temps. Check those out.

I live in Southern New Hampshire.  The above is right on target.

Fryes Beach in Antigua is beautiful.  There are chairs and umbrellas to rent and there is a restaurant with bar and restrooms overlooking  the beach.  We have not found it crowded, but there are enough folks there to make it safe.  The sand is nice, but depending upon winds, the surf may be a little rough.  You can take a cab and agree upon a time for return pickup.  You could save a few bucks by sharing a cab.

in St. Lucia we took a cab to a beach across from the airport.  It was similar to that in Antigua.

Back in the 50’s when I was a young lad we would get an 8 ounce bottle of milk each day with our lunch at school,  It only cost three cents!  We also were provided with paper straws.  Somehow the sun still rose and set each day.

Yes to both for me darling wife and me as well.