TXcruiser13

I was on the same 3/12 - 3/28 TA cruise. It was challenging. lol. The busted internet/wonky Medallion app/TV reception issue was annoying as hell, plain and simple. Princess needs to do better on that end. THAT they can fix. 
 

The missed ports was a big blow. I’ll never make it to the Azores now. Ouch. It hurt to be so close and then watch the ships’ direction abruptly change . Not Princess’s fault, but still painful. Missing Morocco was a huge blow. We KNEW we weren’t going, long before the captain finally fessed up that we weren’t, because anyone could see that NO cruise ships were making their calls there. Still, it sucked to not make it. They should have been more transparent! 
 

We enjoyed most of the adventure all the same. Our ship got plastered with Sahara mud, we broke a line coming into Gibraltar, tons of people onboard caught covid …. All part of the adventure. We made the best of everything, got home in one piece, and already made a couple bookings for next year. 🙂

Regardless of the reason for their return we are THRILLED to have them back in Galveston!!!

We took advantage of their $1.00 deposit and booked on two of their four sails next year, including a16 day Panama Cabal ocean to ocean. 

We just got off the 16 day Sky Princess transatlantic and between that and the other two cruises we’ve been on the past four months we are burnt out of cruising for the moment, we’ll be raring to go again by next year! 🙂

I was on this Moroccan Passage cruise and the lack of internet also zapped the Medallion app plus made our cabin tv unusable much of the time. It really sucked! We felt isolated and frustrated. Without internet we couldn’t reach family back home, couldn’t get any work done, couldn’t confirm travel arrangements, or research excursions/ports. Without the app we couldn’t order food or drinks, couldn’t check our shipboard accounts, etc. These features might not be such a big loss on a seven-day cruise, but we were on a 16 day Transatlantic, with stops in several countries. Not having any access to information, maps, etc was a big problem. Our flight home from London was canceled and we just had to wait until we got to a port to re-book. This caused some very real anxiety during this trip. We arrived home late last night just utterly wiped out. 
 

We had a lovely time for much of this trip, but the combination of missed ports, bad weather, covid cases, and zero communications whilst onboard were challenges that detracted from the voyage. Unfortunate. 

I feel very fortunate that we both got clean test results. We are flying back home tomorrow am. 
 

Some advice to those who tested positive: Princess doesn’t care what you do the moment you leave their ship. Pick your own hotel, test daily if possible, and then go home the day you have a negative result. There’s no law that you must stay 10 days!!!!!

Just off the Sky Princess, sitting in our hotel in London.
 

The internet problem really really sucked, and affected the whole trip. Our flight was canceled, but we were not able to rebook due to the lack of internet. We were not able to use the Medallion for anything but opening our door after the first week. Eventually they took the app offline entirely. 
 

Room TV fritzed out regularly and the ship’s location and weather pages didn’t work much of the time. 
 

Guest Services used the guilt trip method of “we don’t have internet either” to dealing with upset guests. They just didn’t care. 

It’s 2022. People aren’t always afforded the luxury of unplugging in this day and age. A 16 day absence from home requires some communications. Princess dropped the ball in the worst way on this - and then chose to remain oblivious to the challenges it created for so many guests.

Grrrrrr. 

I noticed that Princess’ testing policy has quietly been tweaked to inform passengers that even if you tested in the two-day period prior to your sail that you now might be tested AGAIN at the dock before being allowed on the ship. This is in addition to the mid sail testings that passengers on longer voyages can look forward to. 
 

I want to sail in safety and I want to be ensured that my fellow passengers are healthy too, but I also believe that these policies are a bit of overkill that really detract from common sense. They’d be better off just quarantining all incoming passengers for five days than forcing passengers to participate in redundant multiple testings throughout their “vacation”.
 

I’m having a real hard time getting excited about our 16 day sail in March, thinking about this obnoxious overload of testing requirements. 
 

Sigh. 

We have been unable to access our account online. It simply won’t accept our information, though it did before. Even fifteen minutes with customer service on the phone accomplished nothing. We’ve paid 17k for a cruise we can’t even access the paperwork for online. Frustrating. 

There is a QR code on the box. If you’ve already downloaded the NAVICA app you just point your phone at it, take a picture, and it fires up the app and takes you directly to a rep. It’s very straight-forward from there; they will guide you through it all.
 

Have your ID available! Do not open your test box before you have a rep on the line! You’ll open the box and remove a swab, small bottle of liquid, and a test card. You’ll drop six drops of liquid into a hole in the card, then swirl the swab around both nostrils, then insert the swab into a second hole in the test card. You then seal up the card, and wait 15 minutes, and the first rep who helps you then passes you on to a second rep, who will confirm your test result at the fifteen minute mark. Then they will immediately email you your result. It’s a seamless transaction. 
 

it’s that simple!!! The reason people recommend a back up test is because some tests have the tiny vials of liquid dry out. It happened to us! They sent us another test to replace it, but we needed our results right then and there - the back up test was a lifesaver. 
 

So far we’ve done these tests at home, in a hotel room, and onboard, with no problems at all. 

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Love this forum, so many great ideas!

 

Our internet around Europe has been very good, except the trip between Portugal up to the UK.  Patchy.  Close to the UK is usually good.  You never know.

Some of the ships have done testing OB for those leaving the next day to fly back to the US.  Maybe medical could do those ahead?  If you’re staying over, of course, it wouldn’t work.

Having testing done on the last sea day onboard would be SO ideal. I truly hate the thought of the usual disembarkation chaos, with covid tests tossed in for fun.  Blah! Worth the money to do two proctored tests in our cabin, unless Princess offers testing the day before. That’s great by me!

2 hours ago, nini said:

Are you concerned about any communication issues when doing this from the ship in or out of port? I apologize for my ignorance regarding theses tests, but a Roll Call member mentioned that she "would hate to have the call dropped when in the middle of the ocean". Can a medical officer on the ship be the "proctor"? Thanks

I’m not too worried about internet accessibility. We have managed a myriad of functions online while cruising without issue. I know some people have reported some issues, but that hasn’t been our personal experience. By the time we take our tests to fly home the ship will be close to or already in port. Internet shouldn’t be an issue at all. 

We’ve used at-home proctored Binax tests for cruises in Nov and Dec with zero problems at all. We just ordered six more for our 16 day TA cruise in March. Although Princess will cover the required testing before we can fly back home from Southampton, we feel that taking our own tests in our cabin the day before disembarking will be MUCH faster and easier, and allow us to leave Southampton right away after disembarking rather than sitting on the pier for who knows how long, waiting for results. 

We are here in FL now and took the tests in our hotel room. The entire process took about 20-25 minutes and was as easy as pie. They have a well-organized online system and it was very easy to follow along. We were both negative and received easy-to-read documentation on the NAVICA app as well as via email. 
 

cruise time! 

I mean no offense to anyone in particular, but if you have genuine strong concerns about COVID, a cruise ship simply is *not* an appropriate vacation choice for you at present. A vacation home rental, camping, etc. are far better choices if one is concerned about sharing space with large groups of people right now. 
 

I honestly can’t blame a soul for going maskness as much as possible while on an expensive cruise at sea after having been vaccinated AND tested prior to departure. 

Still haven’t been able to select a time for our 11/06 Emerald departure. Will probably just show up around 1-2 pm. 

Thank you for your updates, Pescado!!! We are on the Emerald on 11/06. We’re retooling our usual cruise strategies to accommodate the least amount of mask wearing. Pool, decks, a small lounge here or there, and our balcony will be the mainstays of our trip. 
 

I hope the cabin vibration stays minimal for you!!!! Enjoy your trip and thanks again for sharing! 

I will absolutely respect all mask requirements up until the moment I sit down with a cocktail. I plan to enjoy it with my mask off, as cocktails in my hands don’t have a shelf life long enough to repeatedly put it down and remask. Hehe! Hubby and I will most likely spend most of our time around the pool and on our balcony where we needn’t worry about it. 
 

We are on the Emerald Princess for 10 days on 11/06, then on an RCI cruise for Christmas, then the Sky Princess Moroccan Passage TA next March, an American River Cruises Columbia River cruise in May, and a big 18 day ME cruise on Norwegian in Feb ‘23. 
 

I won’t make it on all these trips if these mask mandates remain. I’ll happily cancel them and choose a more freedom-loving form of vacation. I am a practical woman, but these silly on/off masking rules have little scientific data to back them up. They are simply feel-good measures for the most part. 

“Sip and Cover” is absurd for a few reasons. 
 

Firstly: Any environment that genuinely requires a mask is an environment where a mask shouldn’t be removed at any time.
 

Secondly: you shouldn’t be repeatedly handling your mask. It really negates the use of it to contaminate it. 

Lastly: what’s the difference between removing your mask to eat a meal, or removing it to drink a cocktail? 
 

None of it is logical. None of it. 

Princess updated the mask policy yesterday; it’s on the Health Advisory landing page of their website.  
 

Yes. They are mandating that everyone on cruises longer than 10 days now wear masks AT ALL TIMES while indoors. 
 

“All guests must wear face masks covering their nose and mouth while indoors at all times. Exceptions are made while they are eating or drinking, receiving spa treatments relating to the face, during high-intensity exercise, in pools, whirlpools or sauna, as well as in their stateroom.”

I’m subscribed! We leave on the Emerald on 11/06. I hope you report a wonderful journey!!!

Masks are mostly useless unless one is wearing a KN-95 or better mask. It’s simply a feel-good measure. Their ship; their rules, but I think it’s overkill to take vaccinated and tested people, quarantine them basically on a ship, but then force them to be masked at all times while indoors. 
 

We are leaving in 3 weeks for the Panama Canal. We will follow their rules, but pending the experience, we’ll cancel our next three cruises lined up. I’d rather rent a beach house somewhere than keep my face miserably covered. I’m just over it. 

I think I’ll just take to constantly sipping from a bottle of water, just so I can breathe and try to enjoy some semblance of a normal vacation. 

Hi,

We are on the 11/06/21 sailing on Crown and just today received notification that we are being moved to the Emerald. I suppose it’s no big deal as long as we receive the same cabin as booked on Crown. 
 

Anybody know why this happened?

I cancelled our 3/13/20 cruise a week before the departure date. STILL waiting for our refund of onboard purchases (WiFi and room purchases). We rescheduled our cruise for January of next year, but neither of us is feeling good about things right now. Will Carnival even be in business by then? 

5 hours ago, drsel said:

I think it's a very generous offer.

600 OBC with more than two and half years to Cruise is a very good deal

 

 

I agree! We were scheduled to be cruising 3/14 -3/22. We canceled a few days before we were to sail and immediately rebooked a twice-as-long Panama Canal Cruise for next Jan at a very nicely reduced rate. And then they gave us $600 OBC on top of it. I’m glad we rebooked early and I think Carnival is doing a really great job. 

I canceled two weeks ago. Received my main credits, but all Funship purchases for our cabin have not yet been refunded. I called this morning and was told “90 days”. Whaddaya gonna do?