SargassoPirate

1 hour ago, easyqueasy said:

It’s also unbelievable that in my area they announce they’re in need of blood donations but will reject anyone not vaccinated from donating, vital as it may be. 

I wonder what the science behind that one is?   

19 hours ago, SunnySideUp100 said:

I hope you enjoyed your cruise!

What steps did you take on the ship to avoid getting Covid?  Did you hear of anyone on the ship coming down with Covid?

I'm planning a cruise for next month. 

 

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.

On 5/1/2022 at 2:04 PM, islandwoman said:

DH and I are looking for a World Cruise that is preferably port intensive and also with an onboard casual atmosphere. We are retired, so the length doesn't matter.  We are Elite on Princess and have considered her World Cruises, but it seems that the port calls are few and far between. We've already been to many of them.  Oceania's world cruise has, to me, a very interesting itinerary, but having been on one Oceania cruise previously, I find that DH and I don't fit into her "Country Club" atmosphere.  

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.  

3 minutes ago, gkkapp said:

Funny you should mention that cabin........That was our cabin on our June 29-July 13 cruise.  The blank space is a storage area and we only heard occasional bumping and thumping.  Quiet at night.  The cabin was in good order.  Looked like the carpet was new.  The door is not on the main passage aisle but rather facing down the center.  This was nice as we never heard people passing by the cabin.  Rather a long walk to the dinning room and to get off the ship but still doable.  We liked the cabin so much that we have it booked for a cruise next year.

 

<<<Karen>>>

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.

8 minutes ago, Fjord4Fun said:

So are you advocating that we all just spread it around in the hope that those who think they might be vulnerable take precautions?  Isn't that rather selfish? I guess you are happy to have people coughing on you at close quarters or on the buffet food on the grounds that 'we should just live with it?'  If not what is your point?

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.

5 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

With all of the Princess doom and gloom I have been reading in the past few months, thought I would share some positive news about our current cruise.

 

We are only a few days in of our British Isles cruise but we are having a blast.  Here are some quick thoughts:

 

Embarkation - very well organized at Southampton.  We walked right on the ship within 5 - 10 minutes.  Plenty of people to assist.  One of our pieces of luggage got to the cabin before we did!

 

Food - great food and service at MDR.  Food is subjective so YMMV.  Delicious red snapper last night.  We are pleased with quality and quantity.  Have had breakfast at buffet, it is ok.  Prefer dining room, but not always the best choice on port days.  Have reservations for Bayou Steakhouse and Sabatinis later in the week, so will post again. Our waiter Angel is very good.

 

Medallion - works perfectly fine for us.  We have successfully ordered food and drink to different locations as well as been able to locate each other on the ship.

 

Internet - no problem.  Communicate home via WhatsApp and text.  Checking emails is fine.  Have not done any streaming, not our thing on vacation!  As a matter of fact, please remove the gigantic tv from our stateroom !!

 

Island P - Yes, she is an older ship with some bumps and bruises.  BUT we are on a fabulous vacation and can overlook some minor cosmetic blemishes.  And we love the smaller ships.

 

Staff - Everyone.  Yes, Everyone has been extremely kind and courteous and professional.  They are so happy to have us onboard.  Plenty of staff everywhere.  In fact, in the short time I have been composing this message, three servers have asked if I wanted more orange juice.  (No, thank you).

 

Cabin - This is a very port intensive journey and we snagged an interior at a good price at the last minute.  Perfectly clean and fine for our needs (sleeping and changing).  Our cabin steward, Karina, is a jewel.  AC works great.  No toilet issues.  The safe was a little wonky if you used the number 2, so we switched to a different combination.  Easy fix.

 

Passengers - It was announced there are about 1600 pax, so about 70% full.  We were surprised to hear that the vast majority (900) were from the US.  Mask wearing is everywhere, even though in most places it is recommended only and not required.  Very rare to see a passenger without a mask on which surprised us.  (In a good way.  We are B2B to Iceland/Greenland and didn't want to see them from a cabin in isolation).  Masks are required in the buffet, Princess Theater and compliance is very close to 100%.

 

I will post more during the week.

 

Any questions ?

 

🙂

 

 

 

 

 

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.

1 hour ago, Fjord4Fun said:

Testing might have been scaled right down.  However, the number of case is still soaring.  You might not be worried about catching Covid on a cruise but you might well be spreading it.

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. 

12 hours ago, BND said:

Ours all do.  DH gave blood this morning at a church and had to wear one.  All medical facilities require them.

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.

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

You and I are on the same page, but the CC rules do not allow me to even begin to say what I think about all this stuff. 

Hank

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.

6 hours ago, vacationlover16 said:

 

Can't tell if you are being snarky or not. Obviously I don't avoid all other places in life as I noted I have a cruise booked. As a matter of fact, I have been to Disney (X2), St. Louis, Asheville, Savannah, New Orleans, Atlanta, Gulf Shores, Panama City Beach, Smoky Mountains (X3), Charleston, Louisville and Braselton, GA since 2020 on leisure trips/vacations. I have never had Covid either. So believe it or not, there are people who can believe in testing before a cruise who aren't "living in fear holed up at home in Covid Prison". However, I do believe that cruises are a unique type of vacation because of the inability to avoid crowds like you can on land vacations.

 

Also, never said I was worried about everything and everybody. But I do have concerns that folks won't stay home if sick on my cruise....one worry about one subject. 😉

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.

6 minutes ago, Keksie said:

I thought it was closer to when you arrived that he became ill.  You are probably right that he was exposed once in Florida.  I know a lot of people are coming down with covid lately.  Practically everyone I know has gotten it in the last couple of months.  

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.

1 hour ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Of course Royal has no control over what another country might require. 

 

m

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

7 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

And is the best place for embarkation day lunch

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

13 minutes ago, skynight said:

Do you think a faulty computer program could be doing this rather than an actual person?

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)

9 hours ago, dada2199cc said:

Folks, RCL and the other cruise lines have had tens of millions of passengers sail since the restart.

 

They have tons of data on who gets sick, when, how long, etc.

 

All the cruise lines know we are already endemic with covid and it doesn’t matter anymore.  They know because their databases prove it.  Vaccinated, not vaccinated, antibodies, recent infection, boosters, whatever: the jig is up and it’s time to get back to life.

 

The big and only problem is that so many of you were suckered into believing that covid today is covid from Dec 2019.  It isn’t.  It’s nowhere close.

 

So RCL has to make an eyewash that is nothing but water, but it’ll convince people they’re slowly returning to normal, even tho they literally could return to normal tomorrow and nothing would change.

 

It’s over *except* that 30-40% of customers are still stuck in March 2020, so the corporation needs to convince them that they’ll take it slow.

 

If you haven’t had covid 2-3 times by now, you haven’t been living life.  Time to go back to normal.  I’m sure I’ll have it for my 4th time in February.  And like the prior 3 times, it’ll be a non-issue.

 

Royal’s data proves it is time to go back to normal.  So does every other cruise line and every hospital and government database.  

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.  

7 hours ago, Heymarco said:

How are they a fire hazard? Last time I checked, boiling water does not cause fires. Have not ever heard of kettles being an issue. They get pulled because the market demand outside of UK and Australia is significantly less. Too much cost and effort to maintain outside of those markets.

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.

55 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Per the Princess website:

"Princess Cruises continues to operate cruises that meet health authority requirements for sailing with at least 95% of guests fully vaccinated. These cruises are available for guests who have received their final dose of an Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved or recognised COVID-19 vaccine, with the last dose being administered at least 14 days prior to the beginning of the cruise and can provide proof of vaccination. In addition, where local regulations allow, we’re managing a process for exemptions. Guests with medical contraindications to the vaccine and children under the age of 12 who are not fully vaccinated are permitted to travel, subject to pre-approval by Princess Cruises."

 

There are more questions and answers relating to sailings from Australia on Princess' website here:

 

CruiseHealth™ FAQ: Sailings from Australia - Princess Cruises

 

Keep in mind that February is a long way off and protocols are subject to change in response to then current conditions.  Just keep checking those FAQs up until final payment date and make your final decision then.  FWIW, I know several people who have contracted covid more than once and they have said the symptoms were less severe than the earlier infections.  Use common sense and practice good safety measures and you can decrease the chances of contracting covid again, but nothing short of living in a bubble will eliminate the risk. 

 

Make sure you purchase a good insurance policy, just in case.  I hope you enjoy your cruise.

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.

11 hours ago, Muffinz said:

thanks - we're both double vaccinated and boosted, but still managed to get covid.... it wasn't that nice for me and I'd hate to get it again

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.

24 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

thanks for that.... we're still thinking about this cruise, as we're both a bit nervous with the whole covid thing....

there was a ship in Australia recently (not sure if it was Princess) that had quite a few covid cases on board.

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.

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

We've seen this playbook before.  Reporters find one disgruntled passenger and they put his/her face on the television and the print media runs with the story as well, all without conducting further interviews with other passengers.  

 

I also think that often times it is the disgruntled passenger who contacts the media first.

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