bnickle

Totally agree with you. I admit, I’m biased because we’re from the KC area, but I still agree with you. Unless I find out you have a Raider’s t-shirt in the closet. Then we have a problem. But honestly, if the biggest problem one has in life is that the guy at the next table has on a baseball cap, then those people are lucky for the lack of real problems to deal with.

At the end of the day, Spellbound sounds like a wonderful experience with caveats that do not appeal to some. That’s the way of the world. Nothing needs to change or to be done; attending or not will not make or break our sailing experience. One of the things we enjoy about cruising is that it is a Choose Your Own Adventure style of traveling. For example, wearing a sport coat on a plane is, indeed, a good way to transport the jacket (and keep it from getting crushed and wrinkled) but wearing a sport coat on a plane sounds like the seventh level of hell to my husband; ditto a necktie. For some people, Water Picks are a necessity. We live, for better or worse, in a world that increasingly calls for an abundance of electronic devices. Some people like to decorate their doors, some bring festive accessories for special holidays, some find a power strip useful. Some people can pack for a month long holiday that touches on all of the seven continents and stuff it into a carry on. More power to them. For magic, go to the Magic Castle. For a sad reminder of how we’ve drained empathy and kindness out of our interactions, just read Cruise Critic.

My husband retired from a long career in banking operations. His hard and fast rule now is he only wears a suit when he’s paid to. Also, personal opinion, suitcase real estate is getting to be more and more expensive. We can’t afford to pack things we only wear once or twice on a trip.

That reminded me of our BI cruise in 2018. There had been several complaints on here about the quality of the coffee onboard. I was outside, sitting on a deck outside the buffet, about 7:00 in the morning, sipping coffee and enjoying some calm and quiet. One of the crew members wandered by and paused to say good morning and to ask me how the coffee was. Honestly, in that moment, all I could think was that I was on a cruise with my Handsome Boyfriend (aka my delightful husband), the weather was perfect, the waters danced slightly in a mesmerizing ballet, and my heart was full of contentment. It was the best coffee I have ever had, and that had nothing to do with the coffee. Perspective.

TBH, Princess seems to be able to bombard us with ways they hope will entice us to spend more money without the use of the Medallion. I’d say they are pros at it. With or without the Medallion we are reminded, minute by minute, that cruising is a for-profit business. It’s not that hard to ignore what you’re truly not interested in. The Medallion worked great for us. I liked that it enabled staff to know our names, and for interactions to be more personal. I liked (because I’m goofy) being welcomed to our stateroom. I loved that it made so many transactions in shops and venues touchless. If the powers that be are interested in where I am on the ship at any given moment, have at it. Maybe that tracking will help them determine that several people got bored in a show that just was not working well, and got up and left. Or that a show or activity should be moved because it’s so well attended and currently in a venue that doesn’t fit the demand. There are all kinds of ways the information gathered could be used for the betterment of the experience. But I truly do not believe Princess has nefarious plans for knowing that I’m enjoying a cocktail at Vines.

Totally get you. We had the capability to look at daily menus for a day or two, then that link stopped working on the tv so up in Isolation Land we’ve had lunch and dinner menus sent to us daily. We had to explain a few times that yes, we know how to reach the menus link for daily info, but that no, it does not work on this tv for some reason. Also, some of us “of a certain age” are tech immigrants, those born later are tech natives. And it wouldn’t hurt to please remember that when offering helpful tips.

Not gonna lie. From our perspective Princess has stepped up for this. Guest Services has called at least twice a day to check on us, the Med Center has been in daily contact via phone in addition to the face to face testing, and everyone has been understanding, cheerful, and empathetic. There is one more thing I think Princess could do to help. We have the dining plan that I am too lazy to look up that you pick the time and place and yada yada yada. We had, until the positive test, standing reservations at the Botticelli every night at 6, at table 56. (Good lord we miss Dennis. He was delightful.) our table for two was placed uber close to other tables for two, and any hope of social distancing is gone. The cruise is 2/3 full, leaning towards 1/2 full, so losing some tables to spread people out for this cruise would not have been a bad idea.

UPDATE UPDATE READ ALL ABOUT IT!!! And that sounded way more chipper than the direction this is going to go. So they have been testing me every morning since Friday, and every day the test has come back positive. So we are still in quarantine, and today the ominous words were handed down, “Guest Services will be contacting you to talk about disembarkation.” So that’s where we are at, and we have been brainstorming scenarios. Foremost in the brainstorming is the idea that I am not even thinking about boarding a plane if I have a positive test Wednesday morning (we have self-tests left) because…other people. Also, our chances of getting an air schedule readjusted the freaking day before TG are probably non-existent, even if I do test negative. And my understanding is that testing positive buys you a Last Off Of The Ship pass at disembarkation. So even under the best of circumstances on Wed morning, we will not make our flight. So…car rental may be eminent. We’ll see. I’m really not going to worry about it, because it’s going to be what it’s going to be. A nice road trip from Ft. Lauderdale to Kansas City, MO sounds…well it sounds like what we may have looming on our horizon. We’ll see. Plan B is to try to find a hotel room in Ft. L and hunker down a day or two, and Plan C is that we just drink heavily and let the next few days pass in a blur. I’m open to all three plans. In any case, now we get to notify our adult aged kids that this is all happening (didn’t want to worry them, and two of them are coming for TG dinner to our house), and that will not be pretty. All of that parenting of teenagers (“We just want you to be honest with us. Be open. You will never be judged for being honest” is going to come back to bite us in the behineys big time.)

Thanks for helping with my thinking, but I think we got it. Ya’ll simply take a different approach than we do. It’s all good.

Indeed, but one can take all possible measures to the best of their ability. We have traveled the last two months, and this is our ride home. We tested continually to better our chances of catching it quick and early if it happened. In the end it’s gonna be what it’s gonna be, but why avoid doing things that could help mitigate all factors?

Ok, coming at you from my own perspective, which is a of a case of covid likened to a bad head cold, treated with over the counter drugs and requiring no further intervention. That is, I was never at a point where ventilation or hospitalization should be considered. Paxlovid had been recommended for me to look into by another passenger, and I did. What I learned from my research is that it’s approved by the FDA on an emergency basis, and that long term side effects are not known. It’s recommended that Paxlovid be introduced to the patient if the patient is in imminent danger of mechanical intervention or whose body is defying other treatments. Also, it needs to be used within a certain number of days of being diagnosed. It’s better for patients already suffering from chronic auto-immune illnesses or with chronic respiratory issues. Princess will cover all other meds and treatments, but not Paxlovid, and the cost of the first three treatment regimen is $700. That last bit I got from the med office on board the ship.

This is just my understanding, but if I test neg starting tomorrow, I get the boot back to my original cabin. They’ve been monitoring my handsome boyfriend, and he’s negative so far. If he tests positive I think that yes, his clock then starts ticking. We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.

Also, Princess DOES want exactly what we said. They told us so, almost in those exact words, at the CC M&G. Call the med center with anything that seems off, even if you just start sniffing a little or your throat suddenly feels a little scratchy. That’s from the source. They’d rather catch it early and nip it than have the ship turn into Dawn of the People Who Wouldn’t Think of Anything Other Than Their Own Selfish Momentary Pleasure So That Now Everyone Is Hacking Up A Lung And No One At All Is Having A Good Time. You know. THOSE people. Don’t be THOSE people.

Same guy. Not ready to jump in the throuple pool. But boy howdy if the Rock ever becomes available…

They don’t want you coming to the med center. They want to come to you. Yes, the slightest issue, call them. They will take it from there. Sniffles, cough, headache, anything out of the ordinary. They have beefed up the staff, and they are amazingly quickly responsive and very helpful. Making that phone call as soon as anything seems off is what helps to keep it from spreading at such a rapid rate.

Wow. I’ve looked too; seems like it’d be a good idea to keep crowds down a little in the theatre. If you find them let me know!

One thing (not a complaint, just a thought,) my handsome boyfriend and I were talking about, is that it would be nice if they could show the shows on TV like they do the morning show. We have loved the shows so far and would love to see tonight’s. Pretty sure having a separate “covid section” would defeat the purpose of isolation, but we do miss seeing the shows.

I am so sorry that happened to you! I think Princess has refined and firmed up several policies for dealing with Covid; the medical team is very accessible and they also reach out to check on us.

We were in a mini-suite, and we went to a balcony cabin. Do not think a mini-suite is an option. But, in a letter that was given to us when we were moved, several salient points were outlined for our info. Among the information shared was that Princess will pro-rate the cruise into days, and the days that we are in isolation will be applied as future cruise credit. Also, they handle all bookings and cancellations for anything we had previously scheduled and paid for, and no penalties for cancelling. We have access to daily laundry service, Princess waives all costs of care and medications (unless you want Paxlovid, and that really should be considered carefully).

Yeah! We were all out there chatting yesterday! And totally agree; the crew is full of empathy and kindness and frankly they are working their behineys off.

I can’t say; the most we can do is poke our head out the door and glance up and down the hallway. They have tables in front of our doors (we call it the DMZ) where the staff puts anything they are dropping off, like dinner, or laundry, or anything we’ve ordered. But when I do the glance, it seems like all the doors up and down the hallway has it’s own DMZ and we really don’t know how many are actually filled.

Yes, I think all of the iso cabins have balconies. We’ve been hanging out, chatting with other people along the deck also hanging out on their balconies. It’s a special club. (That no one really wants to be in, but here we are.)

Welp, it’s been a voyage. Highs and lows of waves, temperatures, and enough phlegm to keep the CDC busy for decades to come. We’re on the Emerald (comin’ at ya LIVE, ya’ll!) headed from Southampton to Ft. Lauderdale. We had sipped our way through Bordeaux, enjoyed the Cherbourg Countryside, sampled tapas in Spain, and enjoyed Portuguese pixtos and wine. We were looking forward to relaxing, enjoying some sea days, and heading home after a delightful finish to a long retirement tour. Then….sniff sniff. Cough cough. I had a sore throat and congested head suddenly one evening. Next morning, called the medical center. They were at the door promptly, and gave each of us a test. I had several self test kits with us, and we had tested every three days since we had left home several weeks before. The last test, taken two days before, had been negative, and we had no symptoms, so when my test was positive I was surprised. And probably a little curt with the poor Princess med tech. “Are you **** kidding me” was probably not a shining moment for me, but there it was. Once you test positive, things move quickly. We were given the choice of my husband staying in the cabin, enjoying some freedom of movement around the ship, and being monitored by testing every few days, or he could come with me to the isolation deck and he would also be completely isolated. He said there was no choice; he was coming with me. Which was sweet of him (and I already think the sun shines because he lets it) but I have worried the entire time we’ve been in our iso digs that he’d get sick. Anyway…the decision was made, belongings were randomly thrown into suitcases, and we were taken up to the Aloha deck to our new palace on the sea. That was Tuesday, Nov 15, and we are still in our comfy cozy quarters, awaiting tomorrow morning’s test, which will determine if we stay longer or go back to our original quarters. Things to know: - I need to write a letter of apology (I was angry and felt crappy and took it out on people who were simply following policy) and of gratitude to Princess. The staff has, without exception, been kind and understanding and patient. All the things I try to be, but failed at this last week. - Once you test positive, Princess works hard to soften the sharp edges of a bad situation. The medical staff was in continual contact with us, patiently answering questions. Guest services checked on us a couple of times each day, ensuring that all our needs were met. The room service team was kind and patient and always offered a cheerful query as to how we were feeling. - You can order anything off of any of the menus (Supplemental charges still apply for premium restaurants), and Princess does it’s best to see that your choices are varied as if you’re sitting at a table in the Main Dining Room. - The crew that works the iso floor, delivering food, messages, drinks, laundry, and just random stuff that you suddenly need right now because YOU ARE SICK, DANG IT simply does not get paid enough for the patience and kindness they show in their front-line duties. We are appreciative of their sunny smiles and cheerful tolerance of my sick-bed grumpiness. - My outlook improved tremendously when I realized that I may be ill, and feeling crappy, but I’m still sitting on a balcony in 74 degree weather, looking out over a calm ocean, sitting beside my handsome boyfriend and sipping down all the cold water I can get my hands on. Life is still good. - Lastly, I did not know the human body could produce so much phlegm. Seriously. TMI, I totally get, but…dude. I’m expecting a call from Ripley’s Believe it or Not any day now. Any questions, drop ‘em here. Happy to answer ‘em. In the meantime, wash your hands. Then wash them again. And, like we were told at our CC Meet and Greet, if you have the slightest indication something is not quite right, call the med center. That is all.

Pretty sure it will be. I know it’s been four years, but it was televised on our 2018 BI cruise.