Currently on Coral Princess ....

[onboard2005]

Blessings to all the passengers of the Coral. Prayers for those lives that have been lost throughout the world. This has made all of us appreciate the comforts of home and also value our friends and loved ones.  I hope the world is free of this virus in the near future. It's changed all of our lives in some way. Best wishes to everyone. 

[clan]

For Pammy S:

 

I'm so glad you are home safely.  I can answer a couple of your questions from your earlier post.  You are correct that there were three deaths--two prior to docking and one at the hospital.  I think around 5 people were taken to the hospital initially, but don't know if others were taken in the last few days.  On the Princess website, at the very top of the page, there is a link that says "View current Travel & Health Advisories,"  Click on that, and you will see a list including "Coral Princess Updates."  The update from Tuesday indicates there would be  90 international guests remaining after the debarcations scheduled for that day.

 

 

[Wichard]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

when you were  confined to your cabin, could you still order room service adult beverages, and did they charge you for them ?

My wife ordered a couple Diet Cokes a day and they were brought up but I did not try to order any adult beverages under. the circumstances.  There was no charge for anything, Coke, tooth paste, Band Aids, or laundry for a few pieces.  Our luggage was on the pier and therefore not available.

 

A funny story, she would call down and order Coke and ice and they would bring up the Coke and 4-5 ice cubes.  Americans like lots of ice but apparently the ship was of the European thinking that only a small amount of ice is required.  Then there is the problem that the second Coke will not stay cold because the refrigerator is not a real refrigerator and it only "cools" and not very much cooling at that.  So one time it followed this pattern and an hour later she called down for more ice.  Shortly thereafter a knock at the door showed a gallon and a half jug full of ice that lasted a couple days.  

 

My impressions are that they did everything they could under difficult circumstances to make our quarantine less onerous.  No nickel and dime and always courteous.  I am worried about the crew on board since I am not sure how or when they will get off.  I expect there will be an extended period of time where cruising is halted or a tiny fraction of ships will actually sail with passengers.  Until they perfect a vaccine I do not expect very many people will want to cruise.  This was a experience that I am not anxious to repeat and I was one of the luck ones to be able to walk down the gangway.

[LunaSeaRetreat]

1 hour ago, Wichard said:

 

My impressions are that they did everything they could under difficult circumstances to make our quarantine less onerous.  No nickel and dime and always courteous.  I am worried about the crew on board since I am not sure how or when they will get off.  I expect there will be an extended period of time where cruising is halted or a tiny fraction of ships will actually sail with passengers.  Until they perfect a vaccine I do not expect very many people will want to cruise.  This was a experience that I am not anxious to repeat and I was one of the luck ones to be able to walk down the gangway.

 

I certainly agree with this.  We are home and safe. 

 

Some answers to questions.

 

Adult beverages

 

I know wine and beer were available.  We bought a wine package and had 3 bottles left when we were confined to our cabins. We just called and they delivered a bottle.  Also in the Patter there was a number  listed to call for wine and beer delivery.  I saw our neighbors on the balcony with beer.

 

Sick taken off

 

I personally saw as many as 8 ambulances take people off on I believe Monday --maybe more.  Some I saw were in wheelchairs and got up and walked into the ambulance. I saw a couple more on the morning we left.

 

American crew

I believe 6 or 7 got off.  They were put in a bus behind us but were on our plane and left in Atlanta.  Some one came on the bus and explained who we were waiting for.  It was taking them extra time to clear customs.

 

Sincerely hope everyone is home very soon.

 

[Steelers36]

6 hours ago, LunaSeaRetreat said:

Adult beverages

 

I know wine and beer were available.  We bought a wine package and had 3 bottles left when we were confined to our cabins. We just called and they delivered a bottle.  Also in the Patter there was a number  listed to call for wine and beer delivery.  I saw our neighbors on the balcony with beer.

Based on what I have read of accounts of this ship and other, I would have insisted they charge me for a beer or whatever.  They were already giving free ship-to-shore phone calls, internet, food, etc.  I'd want the crew to get their tips as well.

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by Steelers36

[Papa Yoda]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Based on what I have read of accounts of this ship and other, I would have insisted they charge me for a beer or whatever.  They were already giving free ship-to-shore phone calls, internet, food, etc.  I'd want the crew to get their tips as well.

 

 

Agreed!  But how could one get a couple hundred into the tip pool vs. getting a free beer?  🍷

Edited April 9, 2020 by Ferd Berfle

[suzyed]

33 minutes ago, Ferd Berfle said:

 

Agreed!  But how could one get a couple hundred into the tip pool vs. getting a free beer?  🍷

We went to the Customer Service desk to ask if we could put our tips back on our account and we were told "no".  We said we were concered that the staff was not getting paid.  They told us that they were taking care of them.
Just the same, we gave our room steward a tip after the first half of the cruise, when we thought we were going to get to fly home.  When that didn't happen, we tipped him before we got off the ship in Miami.  Those guys worked their butts off while we were confined to our cabins.  They deserved something extra.

[caribill]

12 hours ago, Wichard said:

 the refrigerator is not a real refrigerator and it only "cools" and not very much cooling at that. 

 

If you have a refrigerator that is not doing a good job of cooling, look inside on the back. There is a dial that controls the temperature level. Make sure it is turned all the way to the cold side.

[skynight]

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

If you have a refrigerator that is not doing a good job of cooling, look inside on the back. There is a dial that controls the temperature level. Make sure it is turned all the way to the cold side.

For the future, make sure the vent is not blocked. Sometimes leaving the cabinet door open helps.

[Live2Cruise-Cruise2Live]

Those refrigerators use an ammonia based refrigerant, not going to get as cold as Freon based at home but quieter as no compressor noise...FYI

[pms4104]

11 hours ago, suzyed said:

We went to the Customer Service desk to ask if we could put our tips back on our account and we were told "no".  We said we were concered that the staff was not getting paid.  They told us that they were taking care of them.
Just the same, we gave our room steward a tip after the first half of the cruise, when we thought we were going to get to fly home.  When that didn't happen, we tipped him before we got off the ship in Miami.  Those guys worked their butts off while we were confined to our cabins.  They deserved something extra.

Put the tips back on account?  Did Princess remove them frpm eveeyone's folio?

[suzyed]

1 hour ago, pms4104 said:

Put the tips back on account?  Did Princess remove them frpm eveeyone's folio?

The first part of the 32 day voyage...the first 14 days, the tip was left on of course.  When the cruise was stopped but we still had 18 days to go til it ended, the grats were taken off our account along with port charges and a few other items....since it was "not a cruise" and we were no longer going into any ports (as much as we tried to).   We worried that since it was "not a cruise" that the dining room staff and the room stewards, etc. while still doing their jobs, were not benefitting from the grats.

[pms4104]

28 minutes ago, suzyed said:

The first part of the 32 day voyage...the first 14 days, the tip was left on of course.  When the cruise was stopped but we still had 18 days to go til it ended, the grats were taken off our account along with port charges and a few other items....since it was "not a cruise" and we were no longer going into any ports (as much as we tried to).   We worried that since it was "not a cruise" that the dining room staff and the room stewards, etc. while still doing their jobs, were not benefitting from the grats.

Thank you for clarifying ... hopefully Princess really is taking care i

of all those hard-working folks

[bluesea321]

"Coral Princess passengers should all be off the ship by Thursday night, company says"

 

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article241872576.html

[beg3yrs]

16 hours ago, suzyed said:

We went to the Customer Service desk to ask if we could put our tips back on our account and we were told "no".  We said we were concered that the staff was not getting paid.  They told us that they were taking care of them.
Just the same, we gave our room steward a tip after the first half of the cruise, when we thought we were going to get to fly home.  When that didn't happen, we tipped him before we got off the ship in Miami.  Those guys worked their butts off while we were confined to our cabins.  They deserved something extra.

Gratuities that are collected by the ship go into a fleet-wide pool. It's from this pool of money that tips are distributed. This was done to spread out the risk of any particular ship's crew getting a significantly lower tip distribution if there's some kind event on an individual sailing that causes many passengers to remove their auto-gratuities. As such, even if you were able to add back your auto-gratuities, it wouldn't have made a big difference to what the crew on your sailing would have received.

 

In your case, Princess probably added their own funds into the fleet-wide pool. I believe this is what occurs when we get 'free-grats' as a booking benefit.

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

Gratuities that are collected by the ship go into a fleet-wide pool. It's from this pool of money that tips are distributed. This was done to spread out the risk of any particular ship's crew getting a significantly lower tip distribution if there's some kind event on an individual sailing that causes many passengers to remove their auto-gratuities. As such, even if you were able to add back your auto-gratuities, it wouldn't have made a big difference to what the crew on your sailing would have received.

 

In your case, Princess probably added their own funds into the fleet-wide pool. I believe this is what occurs when we get 'free-grats' as a booking benefit.

Yes, we know how it works but wanted to make an attempt to contribute.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Well I just looked outside and the Coral Princess is gone.  I didn't even notice it leaving!  Guess they got everyone off.  Not sure if they are one of the ships currently anchored right off 

 

I'm not quite sure what happened as the original agreement made with our Mayor was that those who were ill would be required to stay on board and not come into Miami.  I did hear that 24 other people required hospital rooms which was not expected. I know that Princess kept trying to get hotels rooms and I'm not quite sure what all happened with that because that again was not part of the agreement. 

 

 

[Daniel A]

14 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

Well I just looked outside and the Coral Princess is gone.  I didn't even notice it leaving!  Guess they got everyone off.  Not sure if they are one of the ships currently anchored right off 

 

I'm not quite sure what happened as the original agreement made with our Mayor was that those who were ill would be required to stay on board and not come into Miami.  I did hear that 24 other people required hospital rooms which was not expected. I know that Princess kept trying to get hotels rooms and I'm not quite sure what all happened with that because that again was not part of the agreement. 

 

 

Let's hope everyone on board is safe and well.

[bluesea321]

1 hour ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

Well I just looked outside and the Coral Princess is gone.  I didn't even notice it leaving!  Guess they got everyone off.  Not sure if they are one of the ships currently anchored right off.  I'm not quite sure what happened as the original agreement made with our Mayor was that those who were ill would be required to stay on board and not come into Miami.  I did hear that 24 other people required hospital rooms which was not expected. I know that Princess kept trying to get hotels rooms and I'm not quite sure what all happened with that because that again was not part of the agreement. 

 

According to USA Today 13 Coral international passengers are still on board as arrangements could not be made for them.  More details here:

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2020/04/09/coronavirus-carnival-valor-crew-ruby-princess-raided-coral-princess-disembark/5120542002/

[Sam n Janet Evening]

Good evening,  According to the Princess Website.  The ship left Port Miami at 5:30 PM ET. 

This is from the Princess Web Site.

 

Despite continued efforts through diplomatic channels, current travel restrictions by home countries will prevent homeward travel for 13 international guests, and local authorities will not authorize the use of local hotels. These guests will join the Coral Princess crew members for a self-imposed 14-day quarantine to monitor symptoms and to reduce the possibility of transmission if they became symptomatic. Additional Princess Cruises crew members will be boarding today to aid the quarantine.

https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/notices/coral-princess-updates.html

I checked  the cruisemapper.com website and the Coral Princess is located just off  Fort Lauderdale.  It is not as far out to sea as the other Princess Ships at this time.

[Papa Yoda]

Looks like Coral is doing a holding pattern - AIS says heading for PE anchorage.  Will they just hang out for 2 weeks vs. heading to somewhere to disembark those 13...

[downsmead]

I wonder which countries have prevented their citizens from travelling home.

[Essiesmom]

3 hours ago, downsmead said:

I wonder which countries have prevented their citizens from travelling home.

Wondering this, too.  EM

[railman]

We were on this cruise two years ago and met a couple from North Korea.

[suzyed]

14 hours ago, downsmead said:

I wonder which countries have prevented their citizens from travelling home.

Well, Brazil for one!   As we sat in the waters outside Rio waiting for permission to dock, there was a Brazilian man onboard trying to disembark.  When we were denied, that poor man dropped to his knees, crying in agony.