Bonnie Voyager

We've always stopped at Labadee while doing the Eastern Caribbean, never Coco Cay. And the last 3 times we've been there, the Independence has been there with us. That was on the Grandeur and Explorer. The Grandeur in March.

 

Gwen :)

That may be, but on the March 28, 2014 itinerary (the week the Noro showed up on Grandeur) Grandeur was at CocoCay. Here is their specific itinerary that week (it was a Bahamas Cruise though, not Eastern ;)) But, the point was simply that Grandeur and Indy were not together at any point during Grandeur's Noro outbreak (either week) so it is not likely that there is a connection. Hopefully Indy will fair better than Grandeur did though, and will not have multiple weeks affected.

Good news for 4/19 Grandeur passengers...we are boarding Grandeur today and we were NOT notified of any outbreak on the returning ship! Yay! :)

Here is the itinerary Grandeur sailed the week of her first Noro outbreak...

Days Ports of Call Arrival Departure

1 Baltimore, Maryland 4:00pm

2 At Sea

3 Port Canaveral, Florida 10:00am 10:00pm

4 Nassau, Bahamas 1:30pm 11:59pm

5 Cococay (Cruiseline's Private Island) 8:00am 5:00pm

6 Key West, Florida 9:00am 5:00pm

7 At Sea

8 At Sea

9 Baltimore, Maryland 7:00am

You may be closer to the truth than you think :D Grandeur shares Labadee with Indy on the 8 day cruise. Thus, they shared the buffet on the island with Grandeur passengers and crew...

But the 2 weeks of Grandeur's Noro outbreak they were not at Labadee, so I doubt there is any connection. Grandeur was doing Eastern Caribbean the first week and Bahamas the second week and they stopped at CocoCay both weeks, not Labadee. ;)

Looks like noro has jumped ship. Horrible for Indy passengers, but relief for Grandeur. Bonnie, Bon voyage!

 

Karen

Thank you Karen! :D

Update :D Looks like Grandeur must be in the clear! It is after 4pm EST and no e-mail from corporate asking us to delay embarkation tomorrow! However, I saw this post on another thread regarding Independence of the Seas, and their cruise is not until Sunday!

danny8826 danny8826 is online now

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Join Date: Oct 2009

Location: San Francisco, CA

Posts: 422

Default Should We Be Worry? We Got This Notice From Roayl Caribbean

We received following email, a phone call, and a text from Royal Caribbean for our upcoming trip on the Independence of the Seas starting 4/20. Do you think they might cancel the cruise? Here's the email...

 

Hello, this is Royal Caribbean International. We would like to provide you with some important information regarding your Sunday, April 20, sailing onboard the Independence of the Seas out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. During the ship's last sailing, a number of guests experienced a gastrointestinal illness. We will conduct enhanced sanitizing onboard the ship and within the terminal to help prevent any illness from affecting your cruise. Therefore, your check-in and boarding will be delayed. Because space and seating in the terminal is very limited, we ask that you not arrive to the port before 1:30 PM. Check in will take place between 1:30 PM and 4:30 PM. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation and we look forward to welcoming you onboard.

Bonnie, thanks for posting this. It's exactly what I've been watching for on CC this morning -- a current status report. I'll be on Grandeur in 5 weeks and hope by then that noro is a distant memory.

 

Please keep us updated if you get the dreaded "come later" message. I've got my fingers crossed that you don't!

It's almost 2pm and no "come later" message! :D Don't want to feel too confident yet, but it's looking good! ;)

Just curious to see if the GOS will be the first ship to be cited by CDC

for 3 consecutive cruises with over 3% pax recorded showing noro-virus-type symptoms!

 

Al

We are boarding Grandeur tomorrow, and so far we have not been notified by Royal Caribbean to expect a late embarkation like the 2 "Noro Cruises" had to deal with! I'm hoping that no news is GOOD NEWS! :D

We got our email/phone call Friday around noon.

That's good to know! I will be waiting for it! But hoping it doesn't come! ;)

I hope the ship will be clear as well! I think it is a good sign that it is Thursday and nothing is on the CDC website yet :) Fingers crossed for everyone sailing now & going forward!

I am boarding Grandeur in 2 days (4/19) and so far we have NOT gotten the "dreaded" e-mail delaying our embarkation for extra sanitation. It still could come tomorrow, but I am optimistic due to the fact that no reports of "Noro" have popped up on Cruise Critic yet from the current passengers, and no reports are listed on the CDC website!

I am a school nurse and I can tell you that the general population overall has seen an increased amount of stomach bugs this Winter/Spring! Our percentages at my school have been MUCH higher than the numbers on Grandeur were those 2 weeks that reported the Noro outbreak in < 5% of the population.

On the bright side....at least at MY school...those numbers have been steadily decreasing and are pretty much back to our normal instances of absences. I am hoping what I am seeing in my school, reflects what is going on in society in general and that we are nearing the end of this "sick season"! ;)

Selfish follow up question to your PC update from your neighbor as we sail on Saturday. Did she provide a status on the noro risk and how they are handling food service and other precautions?

Not a selfish question at all AeroBaldness! I am curious too! ;) I'm sure if her neighbor didn't mention it, the last thing in the world Donut23 would want to do is bring it up! :eek:;) Being a first-time cruiser, the neighbor probably wouldn't know what is "normal" and what isn't anyway. And, if she isn't sick herself, she probably forgot all about the "Noro" risk unless there are reports of illness, of which I am CERTAIN she would have complained about to Donut23! :p

So, for those of us boarding the ship this Saturday, the apparent lack of complaints from Donut23's neighbor about sickness, is a good sign! :D (Unless, of course, she DID complain and Donut23 just didn't mention every little complaint in her post). ;)

Hey Donut23! Keep us posted if you hear from your neighbor over the week! I am praying that they have the best vacation of their life! My prayers are twofold though, as I am boarding Grandeur next Saturday when your neighbor disembarks! I am hoping to see SMILING faces at the terminal! No hazmat suits...PLEASE!!!! :eek: ;)

:subscribe: and hoping for a not so bumpy ride starting on 4/19.

I hear ya neighbor! ;) There's a few things we are hoping we don't experience on our 4/19 Grandeur cruise, right? :eek:

But, if ever we were to be quarantined in our cabins...You and I both have the best cabins to have to do it in! I could spend the week hanging out on that awesome aft/corner balcony! How 'bout you over there on the opposite corner? ;)

I think we will be fine though! Two thorough cleanings of the ship will help! I am a school nurse, and we have had soooo much illness this Winter, but it IS starting to decrease now! Thank goodness! And I don't see any precarious weather in the next week either, so with any luck, the seas will be kind to us!

And, of course, even a bad day on a cruise is better than a good day at work! :D Hmmmm, maybe having "noro" on a cruise isn't better than a good day at work! But I am going to remain optimistic!

Sorry to hear that there were sickies on this weeks cruise too! That stinks. :(

My son got a massage on Oasis 4 years ago, when he was 15 years old, and I had asked them up front if he was "eligible" since he was only 15. They said "no problem".

Hoyaheel, Check out the "baby department" for car seat strap covers! I had a similar problem and found the typical seatbelt strap covers to be much too large for my needs. I resolved it with a baby-sized lambswool strap cover! It worked beautifully for me. Some of them are "cutesy" and some are just plain. Mine is something like this...

They measure about 2.5" x 5". Target.com sells some of these in various designs! http://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=baby+car+seat+strap+covers&category=0%7CAll%7Cmatchallpartial%7Call+categories&lnk=snav_sbox_baby+car+seat+strap+covers

I just love being on the ship (any ship) and the Quantum itinerary is an after thought for me. I love days at sea, so these itineraries work just fine for me. Would I like better itineraries? Of course! But, I am a quick 2-hour drive from my door to the ship. Then I am on vacation! I don't care if it is cold when I leave. There is so much to do inside the ship, I appreciate being a captive audience for a day or two! I am not a pool person anyway, so not being able to sit by the pool, has no bearing on my plans. The ship could sit docked in New Jersey for 7 days, but as long as I am ON it, then I am having a good time! :D

Oh, and I got a great price on my balcony cabin on Quantum for Easter Week 2015! Much cheaper than what we would have paid to fly to Florida to board some other ship!

The pride is supposed to be getting Guys burgers, a water park , ea sports bar, blue iguana cantina.

 

 

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My husband and I LOVED "Guy's Burgers" and "Blue Iguana" on Glory last summer and would sail Pride (for the right price) just for that reason alone! ;)

Looks like a beautiful ship, looking at either that ship or the Carnival Pride where we can get a balcony for two in 2015 out of Baltimore for 1300 with tax for two people, just wondering if any can compare the two ?

 

 

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I have also sailed on both ships. They are probably more similar than different. I do find the decor more appealing on Grandeur (she is a very pretty ship). However, I didn't mind Pride's decor, it just isn't my taste. Both are similar in size and layout in my opinion. I think food and entertainment is similar as well. I suspect the itinerary's are similar as well. So, I'd go where you get the biggest bang for the buck! And if that happens to be Pride, then go for it! :D

I just wanted to point out that the summer I was in Alaska, it was 90 degrees in port! :eek: I ended up wearing flip-flops and shorts! :D It was VERY cold on sailing days though! Especially near the glaciers!

Thank you for your review. We will be sailing on Grandeur on 4/26. I'm glad you mentioned the delayed flushing. It will save a call to guest services.

 

I saw a video of the interior with the beds put together and realized that if I didn't want to trip over furniture they need to be separated. You could have had your room steward do this at any time. I expect an interior to be tiny. Our ocean view on the Enchantment was tiny. Especially the bathroom. We brought a hanging toiletry case and it worked out fine. Plenty of other storage space.

 

I am just happy that I can sail at all and going interior will allow us to do it. I think maybe you are trying to compare apples and oranges. We are used to a smaller ship and as was previously posted, not an amusement park. The older crowd may be due to mobility issues where a bigger ship might be an issue.

 

All that being said, I would like to try a bigger ship at some point. Sailing out of Baltimore is driveable for us...I refuse to pay highway robbery for airline tickets.

 

Cruising is very subjective. I am going with an open mind. Your review was very helpful- thank you for posting.

Hey Janice! I'll be disembarking Grandeur as you are getting on! I'll take good care of her! I promise! :D

I like Clarks sandals for comfort and support. http://www.clarksusa.com/eng/categories/womens/sandals

Hey Sherilyn! Great to "see" you again! I hope you are doing well!

Thanks all, I'll just stay with what I've been doing and continue with true afts so we can see both sides. :)

That is always my answer to the dilemma too! I always sail aft when possible!

We cruised the Med in Liberty and was on the right (is that starboard !) some ports we had lovely views in Naples we woke up to a brick wall of the terminal building - you never can tell in the Med, also most Med cruises are very port intensive with maybe 2 sea days out of 7, so just go for the position on the ship i.e. Hump, Aft etc - enjoy the experience whichever side you choose

And I too was on Liberty but sailed on the Port side of the ship. Like "crafty sue" we had lovely views in some ports and not so lovely views in others! So you can see that either side is hit or miss. I wouldn't worry about it too much. And also keep in mind that booking a cabin on the "port" side doesn't actually mean that this is always the side of the ship that the port will be on! (Not that you actually thought that, but I know some newbie cruisers do believe that to be the case). Port side is simply the left side of the ship if you are in the ship facing forward. Starboard is the right side of the ship. The actual PORT where the ship docks, can be on either side of the ship! :D On a Mediterranean cruise the best place to be is anywhere ON the ship! ;) (versus home!)

Never been west of Pittsburg so I'm really looking foreword to seeing California and this seems like the perfect way. I went to Disney World in October and decided I had to get to Disneyland. 2015 is the 60th anniversary and it just happened that in October a RCCL showed up in LA's port schedule making it the perfect time. I originally booked the 26th round trip from LA but switched to the 18th. I figured that if we have to fly all the way to and from the west coast we might as well get to see a little more of it. It should be a lot of fun. Never done a radiance class ship or a port intensive itinerary before though so it'll be a new experience for me. We booked cabin 8088 on deck 8 on the hump next to the glass elevators.

 

 

 

Wow, really didn't expect anyone else from PA to be flying to the west coast, great to know it won't all be BC and CA people onboard. I know the Grandeur is almost all MD and PA people. I've been enjoying all these snow days at work, but I'm so tired of shoveling! I wouldn't mind some bursts of spring between the snow just to get it melted. We've just got too much to drive or park anywhere lately.

And I am another East-Coaster (Delaware) headed to Vancouver to sail on the September 18th Jewel of the Seas Pacific Coast cruise! Have you joined our roll call yet? http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1993096 Come on over! :D

I envy that signature!

 

Maybe one day I'll get there.

 

Michael

You'll get there! One cruise at a time Michael, one cruise at a time! ;)

It seems the main staple in draft beer for the bars on RCI ships is Heineken and Amstel light. The pubs usually have two more drafts, Murphy's and I don't recall the other. My only wish is they expand the pub selection a little to include a nice IPA, porter, and/or stout. Don't be fooled by Guiness Draught either. If they have it, it's in the can.

Yes, the Guinness Draught is indeed in a can...but it tasted mighty fine to me! Almost as good as drinking it from the bar at the top of the Guinness Factory in Dublin! :-)

I did a Baltic Cruise several years back (in August) that embarked in Stockholm. I found that wearing layers was the way to go for me! I can't say that it was truly "hot" or "cold" on any given day, but it could go from comfortable to chilly all in one day!

St. Petersburg was definitely cool and wet when we were there, so add a lightweight water resistant layer as well, just in case! Preferably something with a hood, as it was not always convenient to open up an umbrella! (Although I did carry my small umbrella with me!)

I wore a lot of capris with lightweight tops throughout the cruise and then layered them with sweaters/jackets as needed. Good luck and have fun! It was a wonderful itinerary! :)