KruzPrincess

Thanks for this. Just rounding numbers, but it looks like about 40% have tested positive. That’s a lot to me. I have a cruise booked for this fall and can’t decide if I should go. I probably would have cruised already if I could drive to a port, but I worry about all the time spent in airports, planes, shuttles, taxis, etc.  I hope more people answer your poll. It’s very illuminating. For me, 40% is a lot. Thanks. 

The Sapphire was my favorite ship for years before they moved her away from the US. As for reviews, no one has traveled on the Sapphire for a couple of years. It’s difficult to guess on condition at this point, but the crew will be completely different so old reviews really don’t apply. Personally, I would pick the Sapphire just because I loved the ship before and I prefer a smaller ship to Alaska. I like the Royal class ships, but not for Alaska. I’ve been on Princess, HAL and NCL to Alaska. Others mentioned the NCL Bliss which I enjoyed, but the Bliss didn’t go to Glacier Bay when I was on it. I liked the observation lounge, but outdoor viewing wasn’t that good. 

The Crown is scheduled to do the 28 day RT to Tahiti in November 2022 and March 2023. I read skepticism in previous posts that these propulsion problems can be fixed in the October dry dock. It sounds like something to be concerned about. 

13 hours ago, san diego sue said:

I will hesitate ever going back on the Discovery. Those  two weeks on the Mattress made of concrete was enough for me ever. If those mattresses required  additional padding, then should have been on in the first place. We had a balcony cabin mid ship on Caribe deck.New ship, cheap mattresses, a real shame.

The ship looks beautiful, but it’s no good if you can’t sleep. 

23 hours ago, mrobinson said:

I just read an update from the cruise critic roll call organizer on our April 16 roll call ooat

 

She said 2 buses were take. To the IBIS hotel - there are 50 rooms occupied by Princess and 8 cruisers from Celebrity. Some of the people left IBIS and booked different hotel since the rooms are right for a couple. IBIs wasn’t aware that Princess was covering cost for first hotel so they are putting cost of hotel on their own. Credit cards. There weee 5 buses if people taken to Radison Blue. Everyone has to stay 19 days ans then test negative to leave. They aren’t able to change airline reservations until they either test negative or have the sixties certificate of recovery. But no one has been notified how to get the certificate of recovery 

Is that a typo about 19 days?

21 hours ago, NevadaJo said:

We were in a premium suite on Discovery. Our mattress was very hard. Nothing like the one I remembered on Ruby when she came out of dry dock.  Wish we had asked for extra cushioning.

 

 

9 hours ago, Kineticoh20 said:

Just got off the new Discovery and there is absolutely nothing luxury about the mattress worst cruise bed ever by a long shot.

9 hours ago, 1emerald1 said:

I was on the inaugural cruise and was so looking forward to a good night sleep on the Princess bed, no such luck, was like sleeping on concrete, with lumps!

Thanks for responding. These are similar to other reports I’ve been reading. Reminiscent of the old days. 

20 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

I was on Discovery’s inaugural & second cruises in different cabins. In the first cabin the mattress was somewhat uncomfortable but after my cabin steward added extra cushioning it was as comfortable as all other luxury mattresses. The 2nd cabin was comfortable from the start & both were the same type of cabin (obstructed view balcony). On the last morning looked at the setup & it was the same as other luxury mattresses. Maybe the first cabin was missing the padded mattress pad & was added when we requested more padding? 🤔

 

Great pictures. Thanks. 

Thanks everyone! I could never get a good nights sleep on the old mattresses. I would really be sad not to have the luxury mattress now. 

I’ve read reports that the Discovery doesn’t have the Princess luxury mattresses. I’ve read about very hard mattresses on the Majestic, too. I’m wondering if there are supply chain issues with the luxury mattresses and some lesser quality mattresses are being used instead. Does anyone have any personal experience with this?

9 hours ago, Jimmys Chippy said:

Due on the Enchanted in a couple weeks and I’m unsure as to the current situation regarding buffet service, I am surprised though that cruise lines are going back to self service anyway. I should imagine that cruise lines have saved a fortune on wasted foods when those with eyes wider than their bellies have been prohibited from piling up their plates, only to leave a large portion of it uneaten.  That, coupled with the reduced potential for Covid/Norovirus being passed on through unwashed hands, it seems a bit odd to go back to old way.

I think it’s more about the shortage of crew than the worries about wasting food. 

I looked up the cruise and it looks like fun. It’s only four days. Personally I can always find something to do. I’ve been on several cruise lines and none of them have a lot of activities onboard on port days. They’ll probably have trivia and maybe some other activities. You will be able to get a chair at the pool. I think it’s a great opportunity to try something different. 

That second room is tiny and the bed is hard as a rock. It would be okay for children. Just my opinion. 

I like NCL. I went the first time because my friends like it. I fully expected to hate it, but I was pleasantly surprised. I’m happy to go on NCL now. Some of my friends are Haven people, so I’ve spent a lot of time there over a few cruises. It’s great, but I don’t want to spend the money for it. Non-Haven pool space is limited. I’m not a pool person, so it doesn’t bother me. The major shows on NCL are far better than Princess. Lots of food options on NCL. It’s different. I love Princess because it’s what I am used to, but definitely not perfect. I’ve only gone on the bigger new NCL ships, so I don’t have experience with older ships. 

3 minutes ago, VibeGuy said:

I would be happy with guests being handed a paper napkin to interpose between their grimy mitts and the utensils.  
 

Simple. Elegantly non-plastic.  Courteous. 
 

That’s a good idea. I know there’s the excess plastic thing.

10 hours ago, sfoh said:

This recent video from Discovery Princess clearly shows it's back to self-serve, at least on this April Mexican Riviera sailing. I'm guessing this is a lunch buffet?
 

 

Thank you. 

Still wondering about other ships, too. 

9 hours ago, VibeGuy said:

We all know that fomites / surface transmission aren’t a thing in COVID, right?   *RIGHT*?

 

While I’m a big fan of hand hygiene and particularly enjoy the small plated bites, CDC has been clear for over a year that the risk of surface transmission is one infection for every 10,000+ contacts with a contaminated surface.   Worry less about COVID risk from buffets and more about shorex bus travel. 
 

The single most important step Princess has taken to improve microbial safety in the Horizon Court is putting the serving utensils on a time control to limit how many sets of hands use them. It’s also why I sanitize *after* I go through the buffet line, before I unwrap my cutlery. 

I agree completely. I went to a buffet today and people put on plastic gloves if they were worried about touching utensils with their bare hands. Bring plastic gloves. I bring sanitizer with me. We should all know how Covid is spread. I’m ore worried about sitting close to people in the MDR than a self service buffet. 

I read that the Discovery Princess has self-service buffet now, too. That’s in addition to the Ruby. Are there any others?

I haven’t had personal experience. It sounds like it depends on how many people are in quarantine. If it’s not a lot you’ll be okay. They will bring you food, but it will take time. Is your cruise 7 days? If so, you’ll probably be okay. It sounds like they start to have real problems on longer cruises or ones where there are a lot of people doing B2B cruises. You should be prepared. Take some healthy snacks like nuts and granola bars. Make sure you have fruit in your cabin and take it with you. Take OTC meds with you. Make sure you have a plan if you have to quarantine in a hotel before you can go home. Call early for your food. Hot food will not be hot when it arrives so you may want to order cold food. Make a plan. 

They haven’t had trays for several years, but they had platters. You could put a couple things on the patter, but it wasn’t big enough to carry food and a drink. Maybe people who recall a tray are thinking of the platters. 

12 hours ago, Cruiser933 said:

Interesting. The one NCL ship currently orange is Pride of America which is currently crew only and scheduled to return to service this weekend. There was at least one other orange yesterday.

NCL stopped requiring masks before the majority of other cruise lines and has had self service buffet from the beginning. In other words, they never switched to having staff serve the food in the buffet. I have two groups of friends who got off NCL cruises on different ships in the last week. So far none of them have gotten sick. One group cruised for 10 days and the other cruised for 7 days. 

12 hours ago, Daniel A said:

 

It can be 5 days at the ship's discretion.  From the CDC website (updated March 18, 2022 emphasis is mine) :

 

Discontinuation of Isolation for Travelers (Crew and Passengers)

• To calculate the traveler’s isolation period, day 0 is their first day of symptoms or the day of their positive viral test if asymptomatic.
• Isolation may be discontinued for symptomatic travelers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 after 10 days from symptom onset, if they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and their other symptoms have improved (loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation). Isolation may be discontinued for asymptomatic travelers with confirmed COVID-19 after 10 days from their first positive viral test.
• Alternatively, at the cruise ship operator’s discretion, isolation may be discontinued for:
  • symptomatic travelers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 after 5 days from symptom onset, if:
    • they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and their other symptoms have improved (loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation), and
    • they have two negative antigen ^[12] tests collected at least 24 hours and no more than 48 hours between tests.
      • If either test result is positive, traveler should continue to isolate for a full 10 days.
      • If both test results are negative, travelers can end isolation, but must continue to properly wear a well-fitting mask when outside of cabin (indoors and outdoors) during days 6-10. During this time, these individuals must have in-cabin dining and also wear a well-fitting mask inside their cabin if any other person (e.g., a crew member) enters the cabin.
  • asymptomatic travelers with confirmed COVID-19 after 5 days from date of first positive test, if:
    • they have two negative antigen tests collected at least 24 hours and no more than 48 hours between tests.
      • If either test result is positive, traveler should continue to isolate for a full 10 days.
      • If both test results are negative, travelers can end isolation, but must continue to properly wear a well-fitting mask when outside of cabin (indoors and outdoors) during days 6-10. During this time, these individuals must have in-cabin dining and also wear a well-fitting mask inside their cabin if any other person (e.g., a crew member) enters the cabin.

 

 

Technical Instructions for Mitigation of COVID-19 Among Cruise Ship Crew | Quarantine | CDC

 

 

Thanks for that update. I hadn’t seen that. 

I’ve seen some comments saying quarantine time on a cruise ship is 5 days, but it’s actually 10 days because the CDC considers cruise ships as congregate living situations. Quarantine will end sooner if your cruise ends. 

35 minutes ago, wrongwaywatson said:

But the OP said that there were 100 people taken off the ship when they docked, before the rest of the passengers got off?  That number included traveling companions of the person infected.  

The person said that his wife counted over 100 and we don’t know if that was the total group. B2B people were allowed to stay on the ship. There were people who are just finding out when they get home they have it. There were probably people who self tested on board and didn’t report it. Someone said there were 120, but it’s obvious that there were more. Less than 1600 passengers and more than 120 people have Covid.  Imagine what could happen with 3000 passengers. 

I don’t want to be a killjoy here, but we aren’t post-Covid. The majority of people don’t catch Covid on a cruise, but it’s possible. You must be prepared for that possibility which includes being put in a quarantine cabin. I just finished reading 10 pages of comments about several people being sick on the Ruby Princess right now on their current cruise. You might want to read through that. Only a small percentage of people may test positive onboard, but it’s not a fun experience for those who do. I’ve read some of these same stories on HAL, too. This happens on all cruise lines. Check out the CDC site for the color coding of ships. Several are at orange level. I’m not telling anyone not to go, just be prepared and know what the possibilities are. 

I was booked on the Ruby Princess tomorrow, but I cancelled before final payment. I’m glad that I did. I know that the majority of passengers don’t get sick. I know everyone makes their own decisions based on risk versus reward. I just wouldn’t enjoy myself worrying about this stuff every day. That’s just me. 

Adding that NCL and Celebrity are sailing mask free. NCL has self serve buffet. I don’t know about Celebrity. I don’t blame Princess for being competitive. Everyone going on a cruise ( or the grocery store, shopping mall, movie theater, etc ) know they could catch Covid. It sounds like some people are blaming Princess. Each individual is taking a risk when they get on the ship. And, that’s why I’m not cruising. Sadly. 

I hope everyone gets well.