dfb

Dave, Thanks.

2 hours ago, DaveinCharlotte said:

...we found a nice hotel (Hampton Inn) within walking distance of the riverfront, saving us the expense of the costly Hyatt at the ship's docking site.

Dave, Is this across the river from the Hyatt? Did you walk to across the bridge with luggage to the Hyatt dock area?

Thannks, Debbie

Yes. If you don't find one, just ask. I have found them at the top of a closet or in the bathroom, etc. 

In my past experience, ACL gives you a menu for lunch and dinner at the breakfast service. You fill out a form for lunch and dinner with your requests. If you don't see anything you like, in my experience, you can write in pb&j or grilled cheese, potato chips for example. Not lobster! If I thought I wanted 2 portions, this is where I would request it, on the form. They can only say no if you ask. If you wait to ask until at the meal you are eating, they may not have the food available or the time to prepare it.

1. The ACL cruises we've been on have been very casual and we eventually found there was no need to change clothes for dinner in the evening. I guess it depends on how much wear and tear the day provided. I think you should be fine if you are bringing a dinner designated pair of nice jeans.

2. I know you can't smoke inside anywhere or on your balcony. Other than that each ship has designated smoking areas but I don't know where. All the ships are small so it should be difficult to find your spot.

I have been on Queen of Mississippi and Independence. Both had ice buckets available for in cabin use. I remember finding the bucket on the closet shelf aboard Independence and I think QoM's was by the TV. They do not fill them. It is easy enough to keep the bucket filled yourself from the ice machine in the lounge.

I don't ever remember seeing a wine list. That said they usually offered 3-4 varieties each of red and white and usually a rose was available at cocktail hour. If you don't find something you like, ask for it and in my experience they will try to get it aboard when they can. At dinner time, they were usually pouring only 1 white and 1 red. Again, if not to your liking, ask for what you liked at cocktail hour and they'll usually bring a bottle down for you. 

Based on my experience, you're not asking the right question. Yes, the staff and crew are all Americans. The difference is that most of those foreign-born cruise workers you are trying to compare with are professionals and ACL runs a 28-week internship program for lack of a better term. That means all the workers onboard are pretty inexperienced in their jobs. Service has been all over the range in our experience, but rarely good. Both ACL ships we cruised on experienced a worker walkout while we were aboard.

See question 4.

Self service beverage station in Terrace has reopened. Barf bags out due to high seas, BTW Dominican Republic tender port canceled due to surf overwashing Riviera's tender platform.

Following up, we started our 2nd Riviera segment in Miami on 2/4. Embarkation procedure at Terminal E was exactly the same as on 1/26 in the same place. There was no temperature scanning evident on 2/4 that we were previously notified by Oceania would take place for all embarking passengers.

The same letter we had received on the first segment about eliminating self-service food went out on this 2/4 segment. This afternoon the self-serve food is back in Baristas. The Terrace beverage station is still off-limits. We were docked in Nassau today with 5 other cruise ships.

On 1/31/2020 at 6:25 PM, DeeniEncinitas said:

Thank you so much for your reply’

Enjoy your wonderful cruise.

Denise😊

Today we received a letter from Capt. Romtveit. It stated that no guest or crew who have visited mainland China in the past 30 days have been permitted onboard. It reminded about standard health and sanitation precautions. In highlighted yellow it had a paragraph stating that they are temporarily suspending self-service of food and beverages around the ship and increased the frequency of cleaning and sanitation of all commonly touched surfaces.

They stopped self-service ice in Terrace yesterday. This afternoon they had moved food in Baristas behind the counter.

1 hour ago, Nachosdelux said:

I received a memo from my travel agent today, with a slightly modified version of the above statement.

 

The difference is below:

 

This new policy is in addition to non-touch temperature screenings for all guests. Any guest who registers a body temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius or higher, will not automatically be denied boarding yet may be subject to further screening by the ship’s and/or local medical professionals. If a guest is deemed to be medically at risk, they may be denied boarding. These guests will not receive a refund and will be advised to open a travel insurance claim with their insurance provider. 

This is much more reasonable and fairer. I wish we'd gotten this one from our TA!

20 hours ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Can you let us know how things are going on board? Has the Captain sent out notices about the concerns or how Oceania will take care of everyone! So they have the non-touch thermometers ? 
Just asking.

will be on her doing 2 cruises on 3/29.

Denise😊

There has been nothing announced onboard about coronavirus. We got the same notice above from our TA regarding the 2 following cruises. They have no thermometers onboard that we've seen. I assume there are some in the medical office. I took the Oceania public announcement to mean that they'd be adding temperature taking to the health screen at the embarkation port that they already have in place. We answered a questionnaire in Miami on 1/26 that included noro and corona virus queries. It was just a short set of questions that we checked boxes and dated and signed on 1/26.

11 hours ago, Shawnino said:

Very poor that there's no refund if they deny boarding. 

Who knows how well-calibrated these machines are?

+ 1

We're onboard Riviera now and continuing for the next 2 cruises. 

On Independence, missed port of Falmouth, Jamaica yesterday due to high winds and dock overwash. We've been in 40 knot winds since sailing Thursday. Mostly in 15 foot seas, so some movement but not too bad.

Thanks!

Oops, I meant Riviera!

Does anyone recall if the bathroom outlet stays powered when the lights are switched off?

Thanks.

Dave,

Thanks for the correction. It appears Blount does sail the Hudson River much later in October than we've scheduled. As well, they are one-way to Rhode Island as repositioning cruises. I think we've probably made a better choice for us as the cruise we have booked starts 10/3 and the entire week is spent on the Hudson River RT NYC.

Debbie

To the OP, thanks for your thorough and detailed trip report. I am sad to say that it sounds like our 3 ACL cruises as well. On 2 of our 3 ACL cruises, we also experienced a partial crew walk-off as well. I am afraid that as long as ACL refuses to hire professional service people to work in the dining room and servicing cabins that service will never improve. We did have a training manager report onboard our last cruise after a crew walkout and that helped. If ACL wants to work all trainees, they need to be closely supervised and trained and not just thrown in to sink or swim on their own. We have a 4th cruise booked on the Hudson River because as we know on many North American waterways ACL is the only choice. You just have to adjust your expectations because your experience will not be in line with ACL's prices. 

Debbie

We did that itinerary on that ship last year in November. Here is a link to the trip journal we kept as we sailed.

http://roadtripswithbob.blogspot.com/2018/11/boarding-acls-independence.html

Debbie

Just off Independence. No room service.

It seems like I recall boarding and disembarking in Manhattan via something like an airport jetway, so no stairs.

We are taking an evening flight and arriving at the Miami airport the morning of our departure on Insignia at 6:00am. We are planning to just wait in the airport until our ship boarding time, which is 1:00pm. :rolleyes: I just realized that we will be waiting down by the baggage claim area (not the main airport) because we will need to pick up our suitcases upon arrival. Any suggestions for us beyond just waiting in the baggage claim area for 6-7 hours?

thanks!!

If you are taking O's included air without any deviation, aren't they responsible for delivering you to the ship? If O is transferring you to the ship, then maybe ask when that happens. Maybe they have something planned for you already.

What used to be CSA still has a pre-exist waiver at final payment policy.

https://www.generalitravelinsurance.com/