LIVE! B2B on the Grandeur March 7-27, 2020 with Dragon of the Seas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Greetings—Dragon of the Seas and DH here from central Virginia. [Agnes and Alan] We are doing a B2B on the Grandeur of the Seas and we invite you to join us. . . . and wish us luck.

 

I often do a live thread if we are taking a cruise that we have not done before. [i.e. new ports, B2B, TA, etc.]  Since we sailed Grandeur last Spring for a B2B with a similar itinerary I had decided not to do a live thread this time. I was not sure people would be interested in hearing about the Grandeur since she is being sold. However, the whole coronavirus situation has changed my mind.  I know I am reading everything I can to get more information.  So, here I am to share what it is like to sail in uncertain times. DH and I are looking forward to lazy sea days, warm temperatures and sunny beaches. 

 

We leave from Baltimore, MD on Saturday March 7, 2020 and return on March 27, 2020. The first cruise is a Southern Caribbean cruise and the second cruise is a Southeastern US and Bahamas cruise that includes Coco Cay. [More on the itineraries later.]

 

 

First let me say that we are relatively healthy sixty somethings that do not have any of the underlying conditions that would put us at a greater risk.  We always get a flu shot and have had the pneumonia shot. We realize none of that would keep us from getting the virus if there is an outbreak on the ship.

 

I am not a germaphobe and have not made it a practice to wipe down my cabin on arrival.  However, I am going to wipe down the phone, door handles, nightstand and chair back when we arrive in the cabin on Saturday.  The TV remote will get Lysol spray and be put in a ziplock bag for a few hours. 

 

 

I have purchased hand sanitizer, pre-packaged individual sanitizer wipes, Clorox wipes, Lysol spray, antibiotic hand soap to put by the bathroom sink and extra meds.  I have also decided I am not shaking hands with anyone this cruise.  I know all of this may be a little extreme, but it does make me feel as if I have some control over my own situation. 

 

 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Here are the itineraries for the cruises:

 

On Monday we got an email:

 

Dear Guest,

We look forward to welcoming you onboard Grandeur of the Seas for our March 7^th, 2020 sailing. Before we begin our adventure, we have an important itinerary change to share with you.

St. Lucia's travel restriction for certain nationalities differs from ours. They prohibit ships from visiting that have guests or crew from Italy, Singapore, and Japan. As a result, we are replacing our call there with a visit to Dominica. We’re terribly sorry for the last-minute change, but we’re confident you’ll have a great time in Roseau. . . . 

Any pre-paid Royal Caribbean International shore excursions for Castries will be refunded back to your Onboard Account as a refundable credit. This refundable credit can be used anywhere onboard, and any unused amounts will be refunded back to your credit card on file about 3 - 5 business days after the sailing ends. Then, once onboard, feel free to pass by our Shore Excursions Desk to plan the perfect escape in our new port.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation during this unexpected situation. We are more than confident you’ll have an amazing time with us exploring the Southern Caribbean!

Sincerely,

 

 

We have never been to Dominica and we have been to all of the places on the original itinerary.  So, we are fine with the change.  The reason is a little unsettling.  We just hope it is not the start of a trend. 

 

There have not been any changes to this cruises.  Fingers crossed!

Edited March 5, 2020 by DragonOfTheSeas

[tcmagnum]

Have you have a relaxing/fun cruise.

[susieatsea]

My only suggestion is to not spray the TV remote.  Use wipes on it and then put in baggie.  My husband sprayed TV remote one time and then it would not work as the liquid from the spray got inside of it.  🤣

Edited March 5, 2020 by susieatsea
deleted extra word

[dixieva]

Hope you have a great time on your B2B!  Say hi to our other friends cruising with you.

 

Looking forward to your updates.

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

1 hour ago, susieatsea said:

My only suggestion is to not spray the TV remote.  Use wipes on it and then put in baggie.  My husband sprayed TV remote one time and then it would not work as the liquid from the spray got inside of it.  🤣

 

Thanks, good to know. I don't want to do that. 😮

2 hours ago, tcmagnum said:

Have you have a relaxing/fun cruise.

 

Thank you!  We plan to.  I am a glass half full person.  . . . We are cruising-- what more could I want? 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

21 minutes ago, dixieva said:

Hope you have a great time on your B2B!  Say hi to our other friends cruising with you.

 

Looking forward to your updates.

 

 

I think there are 6 of us from the usual group of Baltimore cruisers on this cruise.  I will take a pic in the diamond lounge one day and post it for you. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

One thing I can say about this cruise is that I have NEVER had so many messages before I boarded.  We have gotten an email every couple of days and sometimes one a day.  It has been a drip, drip, drip of information--most of it unsettling. The emails typically added a country to the 15 day exclusion list or an additional region of Italy as the virus expanded. Eventually all of Italy was added to the list

 

We just got another email.  It seems we will all get a temp check when we check in on Saturday. I am Ok with that. Here is the text of the email:

 

ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING TRAVELS

Dear Guest, Over the last few weeks, we’ve implemented new and enhanced health & safety protocols, along with travel regulations, to ensure we maintain a healthy environment onboard as developments related to coronavirus COVID-19 continue to change globally. While we continue to assess the impact, we’ve decided to add a new health screening which supports all our initiatives put in place to help keep you healthy & safe! So, starting March 6th, 2020 on all Royal Caribbean International ships, mandatory temperature screenings will be conducted for all guests and crewmembers on embarkation day. If your temperature is above 100.4°F or 38° C, you and those in your party will undergo a secondary health screening. Temperatures will be taken with a digital, no-touch thermometer. So, no need to worry. If you require a secondary screening, this is what you can expect: Your temperature will be checked again. You’ll undergo a pulse oximetry reading. This means, a small device will be placed on your finger to measure your oxygen level. If you happen to have a chronic lung illness, like asthma, please bring a letter from your medical practitioner that indicates your normal baseline oxygen saturation levels. This will help ensure you are not denied boarding if you are healthy otherwise. Then, a medical professional will check you for flu-like symptoms, respiratory illness, etc., and would make a final assessment to understand if you’re fit to sail. If it is decided that we must unfortunately deny you boarding, you’ll receive a 100% Future Cruise Credit for your cruise fare paid, and any precruise Royal Caribbean International purchases and taxes and fees will be refunded to your original form of payment. And, if for any reason, you happen to have a fever before your cruise, we kindly ask you to not come to the port. Please contact us or your Travel Advisor immediately and we will happily provide you with a credit for future travel. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation while we do everything possible to keep our ships safe for you! We look forward to seeing you onboard! Sincerely,

[breezy_carol]

Looking forward to following along.  We have the southern Caribbean booked for February 6, 2021.

[NH_Skier]

Looking forward to your updates as I board the Grandeur on March 27 for a Southeastern US and Bahamas cruise

[DELTABLUE]

Signing on to cruise along!  I'm cruising with Dragon and DH and trying to maintain my sanity while trying to maintain my health.  Not sure about the glass half full or half empty but if it is an 8 oz glass, I'm the 'it has 4 oz in it' type.😉  It is what it is and we will keep washing our hands and rubbing elbows.  I've also packed liquid hand soap (and a spare), sanitizer gels in many bottles, sanitizer wipes, a bag for the remote and lots of extra meds.  Also loaded my kindle with as many ebooks as I am entitled to by the library and cut lots of SuDoKus from the Post to bring along.  On a normal cruise, I never read or do SuDoKus, other than to teach them.  Hopefully, this will be a normalish cruise.

[dixieva]

Have a great cruise Delta!  Stay safe and healthy!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

14 hours ago, DELTABLUE said:

Signing on to cruise along!  I'm cruising with Dragon and DH and trying to maintain my sanity while trying to maintain my health.  Not sure about the glass half full or half empty but if it is an 8 oz glass, I'm the 'it has 4 oz in it' type.😉  It is what it is and we will keep washing our hands and rubbing elbows.  I've also packed liquid hand soap (and a spare), sanitizer gels in many bottles, sanitizer wipes, a bag for the remote and lots of extra meds.  Also loaded my kindle with as many ebooks as I am entitled to by the library and cut lots of SuDoKus from the Post to bring along.  On a normal cruise, I never read or do SuDoKus, other than to teach them.  Hopefully, this will be a normalish cruise.

Glad that you migrated to this thread. Please add your 2cents anytime. (I know it is worth much more.) 😁

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We just got another email. Ugh! Our check-in is delayed until after noon. The email says there was gastro illnesses on the last cruise and they are doing an enhanced cleaning. I would think the cleaning they were going to do for CV would have taken care of that, too

[DELTABLUE]

Dragon...When did you get the last missive?  I've not gotten anything like that yet.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

5 minutes ago, DELTABLUE said:

Dragon...When did you get the last missive?  I've not gotten anything like that yet.

just 5 min ago. Text and email. email

 

Edit. Sent. You via email

Edited March 6, 2020 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DELTABLUE]

Dix...thanx!  Will try and comply on both counts.😉

[DELTABLUE]

Just got the new notice.

[Wildcatfish]

It’s CRUISE DAY, Dragon! Time to hoist anchor and sail on!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

12 minutes ago, Wildcatfish said:

It’s CRUISE DAY, Dragon! Time to hoist anchor and sail on!

 

Yes, I can't wait.  I love to cruise.  🚢 Traveling is my favorite hobby.  😁

 

I was relieved to see I did NOT have an email from Royal Caribbean today. I was dreading looking at my inbox. 

 

Here is a picture of the beautiful Grandeur of the Seas I took last April when we were in Charleston.  

 

 

Since they delayed our boarding to noon DH and I plan to arrive between 11-11:30am.  I am sure there will be a long security line . . .  we need to get a temp check and I would imagine there will be a longer health form than in the past.  [I will let everyone know]   That should get us to the check-in near noon. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I wanted to share with you my 20 for 2020 goals for the year. In December I read a couple of postings [on the other social media board we can't mention 😜] about setting goals for the new year.  I am not one to make resolutions because I find I don't keep them. 

 

So, the idea is that you select 20 things you want to do in 2020 and do it/them 20 times.  Some are bigger goals and others are small--or even silly. I created a chart and I am keeping track. 

 

I am mentioning this because I plan to make progress on several of these on the cruise. What I have found is that I go out of my way to achieve the goals  . . . I am not doing the same old thing all the time. LOL

 

These are some of my goals:

Take an overnight trip

Take a day trip

Reach out to an old friend/extended family with phone call, note or visit

Eat at a restaurant we have never been to before

Visit a historical place

Go clothes shopping [I do not enjoy shopping]

Buy something that is a non-necessity/non-clothes item [you see a theme here]

Dance with DH

Give a gift to our children/grandchildren that is not a birthday/Christmas etc. gift

Do an afternoon of yard work 

Attend entertainment or cultural events [plays, sporting events, concerts, etc]

Have a totally tech-free day

Go to the beach

Go swimming 

Use our pedal boat [we did not take it out on the lake even once last summer]

Try or do something you never done before

 

I am making good progress. I think these 2 cruises will really help me. We have reserved the hot air balloon ride on Coco Cay and we took DD out to a new restaurant last night.  Wish me luck.  

 

[DELTABLUE]

Bonne chance, Dragon!  Sounds like a wonderful plan.  Now, laissez les bon temps rouler!

 

[nc350]

Excited to read this thread! Getting me ready for my cruise in 2 weeks 🙂

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

4 minutes ago, nc350 said:

Excited to read this thread! Getting me ready for my cruise in 2 weeks 🙂

 

 

Time to start packing!   😁

[nc350]

Just now, DragonOfTheSeas said:

 

Time to start packing!   😁

Yes!!! You should see the bed in our spare room 🤣  There are clothes, all the sunscreen etc and then as of yesterday......There may be wipes, lysol, sanitizer, more packages of wipes there.... I HAVE NEVER cleaned places extra like the cabin or the airplane seat etc...... I have always trusted ..... This time I have decided to.... I think I caught the fear that is going around 😞