SargassoPirate

I wonder what the science behind that one is?

I've been on five cruises since the restart. I am vaxxed and now double boosted. I jumped through whatever testing hoops there were (finding my own or testing at the port) and wore a mask whenever required, but ditched it when it wasn't. I didn't wear a mask on the planes or in terminals after that mandate was dropped. When required I only wore a single layer face diaper mask, which met the requirements. I trust the vaccines and therapeutics. It was nice to be back at sea.

A WC has been on my bucket list for years and after two cancellations during the pandemic I finally have a deposit on the 2024 Princess WC. The most important item to me was to book a full circumnavigation. Second, a nice mix of port and sea days and a nice mix of places I've already been to and new ones. After these needs are met, I lead a fairly simple and easy-going life on board. Give me a real promenade (although on the Island Princess one has to cut through the aft lobby to do walking laps), an inside cabin for sleep and showers, someplace to get something to eat when I'm hungry, a shady place to read, someplace to get a wee dram or three in the evening with some light entertainment and I'm good. Nice pluses for me on the Princess WC are guest laundromats, and the Princess Plus package that includes wifi, prepaid tips, drink package, a specialty dining, and $1,000 OBC. It all depends on what your expectations are.

I've had reasonably smart people tell me that caught a cold from getting cold.

Karen, Many, many thanks. I was torn between C710 and B727. I'll stick with C710. I sort of figured the door was on the little corridor and I'm always suspicious of blank areas on the deck plans. Sounds like it will work well for me. BTW, what part of Virginia are you in? I'm working on a fall "Appalachian Backroads" Harley trip this fall. I've already ridden the Blue Ridge Parkway from Front Royal to Maggie Valley and looking for something a little different this year. Thanks again.

Oh geeze, I thought this was going to be a thread about over-amplified production shows and Melanoma Deck Caribbean bands. Nevermind.

Did I say I was advocating we all just spread it around? No. But since you seem to miss my point, I'll restate it: "If others are concerned about someone else spreading covid to them, they should be wearing an N95 from the moment they step outside their home regardless of their vaccination status. And if they are unvaxxed, I'd say they are not too concerned. The virus is here to stay. The vaccines and therapeutics are working and I place my trust in them to keep me safe, not other people." What will you advocate during the annual flu season? Will it be that we all wear a mask so that we don't " just spread it around in the hope that those who think they might be vulnerable take precautions?" I am vaxxed and double boosted and wear a mask when required. I do not, however, feel compelled to wear a mask in the virtue signaling guise of protecting others. Let them wear a mask to protect themselves.

I am looking at a cruise on the Island in the future. Would you be so kind as to take a look at an interior cabin on Caribe for me, C710, and see if you can tell what the big blank space between C710 and the elevators is? Are there any scullery or storage doors forward of C710? From the deck plans, it looks like there is a big blank space forward of C710, a narrow corridor on the other side, and behind C710 is another interior cabin. Many thanks, and the Pirate will owe you a beer or a wee dram.

Spreading to whom? The vaccinated? The unvaccinated? If others are concerned about someone else spreading covid to them, they should be wearing an N95 from the moment they step outside their home regardless of their vaccination status. And if they are unvaxxed, I'd say they are not too concerned. The virus is here to stay. The vaccines and therapeutics are working and I place my trust in them to keep me safe, not other people. Anyone waiting for zero cases is going to have a long wait.

I gave blood at a Red Cross a couple of weeks ago and no masks required - and the nurses were not masked either. A couple of days later I went to the dentist for a checkup. Masks still required in the waiting room with no magazines" because of covid", but then the mask comes off for the exam. Must be some sort of special air in the exam rooms. Some entertainment venues have not changed their mask requirements posted online even though masking is not required by the local authorities. I always ask when traveling - such as before a walking tour of the French Quarter - and consistently found that they are just slow to update the requirements. The only thing that is consistent is inconsistency.

You got that right. I had posts deleted when omicron first surfaced in Africa and I pointed out that the sick were presenting with flu-like symptoms and being treated at home. Each new variant is another brick in the wall of covid prison.

Over the years I've found it very easy to cruise and avoid the crowds, but one has to march to a different drummer. I get up early and do my exercise walk - inside corridors if it's really hot outside, promenade if it's not. By then I'm ready for breakfast as the buffet opens or I can wait a bit and eat in the MDR. Then I grab a good book or my tablet, a cup of coffee,t and find a shady spot on the promenade to read. I avoid the lunchtime crowds and grab something in one of the snack bar or coffee bars. If I'm a little more hungry, I'll eat lunch in the MDR. Then it's time for an afternoon walk on the promenade before it's time to shower and get ready for the loyalty lounge with some finger foods and a wee dram. I avoid crowds by staying out of the buffet at peak times, away from the Melanoma Deck with too loud music or movie, skipping the evening meal in the MDR, and avoiding the over amplified production shows. This has never been a covid thing, I just prefer to avoid crowds and have found it easy to do on ships of every size.

I need to have my immune system checked for some sort of super immunity. I never got the flu shots until I was into my 60s and I never got the flu. I've had one head cold with a runny nose in the past 40 years. I have been vaxxed and boosted for covid, but have only worn a mask when required - including trains, buses, ships, and airplanes. Even then, it was a single layer cloth mask - or what I call a face diaper. The folks waiting for zero covid cases or zero covid deaths are going to have a long wait. Maybe longer than their wait for zero seasonal flu deaths.

Oh, but they do. $top $ending $hips to those ports and see how long it takes them to relax their testing mandates.

Shhhhh. Don't tell everyone. Let's keep it our little secret as long as we can.

Since I can't even log in to my Princess account and get a red warning not to call their agents about it, why would their computer system be suspect? (Sarcasm)

Someone posted on CC that some people have built themselves a Covid Prison, are two years into their sentence, and are afraid to breakout. In criminal justice it's called being institutionalized whereby the prison environment with everything being controlled for you is more comforting than being on your own, making your own decisions, and being responsible for those decisions. Some of those folks are waiting for zero cases. They'll have a long wait.

I check my Princess bookings every morning because they have proven to be untrustworthy regarding "upgrades" and cabin reassignments. So far so good, but my next cruise isn't until January and there's a lot of time for them to foul things up. I like the trick of putting a hold on the previous cabin if it's still available.

That's what I was told when our kettle disappeared. I raised a mild stink at the desk, but they were adamant. Fire hazard. Right. Just like when some new change is for "your convenience". Why not just be honest and say the UK and OZ market demands them but they don't want the extra expense in other markets. Follow the money.

Well said, daniel. I trust the vaccines and therapeutics to keep me safe. I'm not hesitant to book any future travel right now and will roll with the punches. I got stuck in Australia in March 2020 when they started closing their internal borders and was put off a train halfway to Sydney. Finally managed to get to Sydney and after several days there get a flight to the US as the airlines were shutting down. Compared to that adventure, the rest is childs play

Generally, those dangerous, fire hazard kettles are only provided for the UK and Australia market, where, because of some sort of unknown phenomenon, they are not fire hazards. I did a cruise around OZ and followed by a transpacific on the same ship. As soon as we hit Hawaii, the kettles disappeared.

Book a GTY is you don't mind a cabin under the gym or pool deck, above the disco, or across the corridor from the room steward scullery. There's a reason some of those cabins are unsold.

The vaccines do not prevent covid. It's still possible to catch the virus, but your symptoms are less severe and are treatable with the therapeutics. Safe cruising.

The worst thing about covid right now is the angst of trying to get a test within the timeframe mandated by the cruise lines. If you are vaxxed and boosted you have little to worry about. Think about it. The cruise lines require the vast majority of passengers to be vaccinated. What other venue requires that? A cruise ship is one of the safest places you can be and if you are truly concerned, wear an N95 the whole time you are on board - and in fact, if you are that concerned you should wear an N95 everywhere because the virus is here to stay in one mutation or another. I put my trust in the vaccines and the therapeutics.

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you to learn that the media is biased and would try to sensationalize a non event.