mini-live from the Grand Princess: first Hawaiian sailing post covid--Jan 4-19, 2022

[travelin.sisters]

5 hours ago, Chris Lo said:

My wish is … may cruise passengers get along, be tolerant and respectful to everyone on board.  I do know it’s not a perfect world! 
I'm with you Any Major Cruise Dude! 

The majority of people I have encountered are doing just that...the few that I have heard loudly complaining about what used to be but isn't, are definitely the minority...even those who have struggled to find the help they need with the technology of getting their QR codes & other necessities for Hawai'i landing have been patient & gracious in their frustration. It is a good cruise.

 

[travelin.sisters]

4 hours ago, pris993 said:

Assume the TV lights off on sleep program, is that correct? 

yes lights off for the duration however after the 8 hours & some minutes, when it ends the TV lights back up

[travelin.sisters]

SEA DAYS 2 & 3: FORMAL NIGHT—SAILIING 40% FULL—CHANGES SINCE WE LAST SAILED—RANDOM THOUGHTS

 

So, as I stated earlier, I was up early yesterday & wrote the best ever, Pulitzer Prize worthy post which refused to load…here is the less profound version. 😉🤣

 

The 6^th was our first formal night (& in our group even the Stanley Bears dressed for the occasion). For the most part people were dressed up, although I personally did not see any Tuxes. There were people in the MDR who were not dressed up (Hawaiian shirts, knit shirts, etc.) I share this not to start a tangent about what people SHOULD wear for formal nights, but just as an observation of what WAS allowed. The next two formal nights are next week on Thursday (13^th the day after we leave Hawai’I) & the 16^th.

 

Last night we also turned our clocks back an hour & again tomorrow (the night before Honolulu). We turn them forward the night we leave the islands & 2 nights later. The crew I spoke with all appreciated the extra sleep but is not looking forward to the 2 nights with less sleep on the way back. I was told no crew parties are happening due to covid restrictions (traditionally the crew have a nice party the nights we turn the clocks back).

 

The captain announced that we are sailing with 1188 passengers (capacity is 2600). I did not catch the number of crew from his announcement (between his accent & the PA system sometimes I have trouble understanding him), but I did have one crew member tell me they were sailing with about 70% of normal crew & are expecting more in July.

 

The crew is all working hard but there are some definite changes for whatever reason (covid, # of passengers, staffing, cutbacks—I don’t know). I think everyone is probably aware that evening turndown service is only available if you request it (our steward asked if we wanted it on the first day, but you can also request for one time or the whole voyage on the medallion app). Venues are not open as long, sadly the International Café closes at 1AM instead of being open 24/7. The Michelangelo Dining room has been closed for the whole time so far. Bars seem to be open fewer hours & have fewer staff. A lot of traditional activities are not happening, I have noticed fewer games and crafts. There is no smoking anywhere indoors including the casino & the cigar lounge. We are having 2 shows a night (7 & 9) but there have been no production shows yet. Formal night was a magician. This has been mentioned on many threads, but the buffet has foods either in individual portions (plates, cups, bowls) or served by staff (breakfast buffet photos below). They are back to handing out plates/silverware (most of the time) & about half of the time someone is at the sink station to ensure that people wash their hands on entering. We haven’t been to the buffet often except for early breakfast, but it seems like there are more jobs than crew so sometimes there is a wait for someone to come from another station to serve your food.

 

I will probably do a whole post with my thoughts/experiences with the medallion on the way back bit I did want to share that you can easily have it set up to open other doors. We went to the customer service desk & asked if your medallions could open both doors for our travel group & this was no problem, they just entered the info into the computer & when we returned to our rooms both rooms were unlocked by either medallion.

 

Looking forward to Honolulu on Sunday (although we were disappointed that they changed our itinerary was changed as we picked a cruise that was scheduled on a day the Polynesian Cultural Center was open…oh well, an excuse for another Hawaiian cruise). We are booked for a luau so probably won’t do a post until after Kauai but will try to let you know that we were able to disembark.

[travelin.sisters]

breakfast buffet...they do still have the made to order omelets & crispy bacon (if you ask), but also some less traditional choices like pasta salad 

 

[CruisinNan]

On 1/6/2022 at 12:05 PM, KLM3164 said:

Is this on the television? I haven’t heard about a sleep program.

Is this on the TV? I am very interested in knowing about this. We are booked for Ruby Princess on February 10th going to Hawaii.   Thank you so much for doing this!

 

[CruisinNan]

Following along, wishing you an amazing cruise!

[mousefan73]

I have a question to the itinerary change. Is there a reason why you guys are stopping first in Honolulu? I believe I had read somewhere that that’s  a requirement now - all cruise ships need to stop in Honolulu first? Can anyone confirm this and why? One can only assume that if there was a larger outbreak that Honolulu would be more able to handle such a situation than smaller port cities. I ask because I’m booked on a different Cruise line in April and it’s not a round-trip , where the final stop is Honolulu where they turn the ship around for the return passengers. I’m getting all nervous now and wondering if  there’s a potential that my DIY car  excursions are messed up now. I’m getting paranoid and now thinking I should just book a car in Honolulu for the first part stop planned on our itinerary even if it’s right now not Honolulu.

[mousefan73]

I have also recently sailed since Covid and I actually enjoy buffet services  now set up that way. I thought I would miss not being able to just grab food myself but I actually like it this way. It’s much more calmer and cleaner

Edited January 8, 2022 by mousefan73

[loan lady]

Thank you all for the wonderful information.  We are on the Ruby January 16th, hopefully, headed for Hawaii.   I am still wondering how cool is the pacific crossing so far? Trying not to over pack.  Thank you in advance.

[SteamboatWillie118]

Makes sense from a medical standpoint to stop in Honolulu first - if there are sick passengers (not just COVID-19 positive), they can be disembarked and transferred to the hospital. Except for Oahu, most islands don't have huge medical facilities and can only deal with so many COVID-19 cases. It's also the only place to have consistent direct flight connections to mainland US in the case that people have to/choose to return home, rather than isolated/ quarantined for the entire cruise.

[Lido deck main]

1 hour ago, mousefan73 said:

I have a question to the itinerary change. Is there a reason why you guys are stopping first in Honolulu? I believe I had read somewhere that that’s  a requirement now - all cruise ships need to stop in Honolulu first? Can anyone confirm this and why? One can only assume that if there was a larger outbreak that Honolulu would be more able to handle such a situation than smaller port cities. I ask because I’m booked on a different Cruise line in April and it’s not a round-trip , where the final stop is Honolulu where they turn the ship around for the return passengers. I’m getting all nervous now and wondering if  there’s a potential that my DIY car  excursions are messed up now. I’m getting paranoid and now thinking I should just book a car in Honolulu for the first part stop planned on our itinerary even if it’s right now not Honolulu.

I am not on this cruise but a later one, in my opinion Honolulu will be the first port for all of us, this would be for administrative purposes, I believe that the Honolulu port will have more staff, larger port terminal area  in order to check passengers details such as do they have the Hawaii Safe QR code, to check passengers vaccination records, etc.  To see their negative covid test results.  I think all passengers will also have temperature taken once by the port staff.  I would go as far as to think that each passenger will be "observed" and each passenger will go face to face with a port official.  In my opinion anything less would be too risky for Hawaii, if I was an Hawaiian official that is what I would require.  This is just all my opinion, of course I could be totally incorrect. 

[nocl]

Princess seems to be using one of the mid ship dining rooms for staff dining to help spread on the crew more. That is probably why Michelangelo dining room is closed.

[castle1]

Thank you so much for taking the time to fill us in.  We are scheduled on the 2/13 departure and watching the news constantly for changes and updates.  Your information is very much appreciated!

[travelin.sisters]

3 hours ago, CruisinNan said:

Is this on the TV? I am very interested in knowing about this. We are booked for Ruby Princess on February 10th going to Hawaii.   Thank you so much for doing this!

 

yes, I answered earlier & posted photos of how to find it on the stateroom TV...someone else also said you can find it in the app

 

[travelin.sisters]

2 hours ago, mousefan73 said:

I have a question to the itinerary change. Is there a reason why you guys are stopping first in Honolulu? I believe I had read somewhere that that’s  a requirement now - all cruise ships need to stop in Honolulu first? Can anyone confirm this and why? One can only assume that if there was a larger outbreak that Honolulu would be more able to handle such a situation than smaller port cities. I ask because I’m booked on a different Cruise line in April and it’s not a round-trip , where the final stop is Honolulu where they turn the ship around for the return passengers. I’m getting all nervous now and wondering if  there’s a potential that my DIY car  excursions are messed up now. I’m getting paranoid and now thinking I should just book a car in Honolulu for the first part stop planned on our itinerary even if it’s right now not Honolulu.

there have been a couple of responses to this, but I will add my bit as well...I believe I read that all the scheduled cruises this winter/spring have switched to Honolulu first (you can read about the port agreements....my assumption was that it was that Honolulu would have the resources to do the arrival checks for several thousand people...I understand that we only have to do that at the first port...I would check with your travel agent or cruise line (you can also look at the port agreements that Carnival & NCL have signed at the Hawai'i DOT website, it looks like the cruise ship is responsible for evacuating or housing any sick crew/passengers so as not to overload the health care system. look here: Harbors | First port agreements for restart of cruise travel in Hawaii signed). 

 

For your cruise if you are not on a Carnival line or NCL they will need to do a port agreement unless you fly in & out there are different rules for interisland only cruises. I would check with the .cruise line or your TA. You can also check here: https://hawaii.portcall.com/#!?port=Honolulu - Oahu for when/where your ship is scheduled , you can look at all the islands

[travelin.sisters]

1 hour ago, loan lady said:

Thank you all for the wonderful information.  We are on the Ruby January 16th, hopefully, headed for Hawaii.   I am still wondering how cool is the pacific crossing so far? Trying not to over pack.  Thank you in advance.

it has been in the 60s outside & windy occasionally...inside has been comfortable or even a little on the warm side. I have not needed even a sweater (t-shirt weather, my sister who gets colder has worn long sleeves but not a sweater/jacket...I have seen more shorts than jackets onboard), I would imagine coming from Michigan it would be comfortable...you will want something for potential rain in Hawai'i

[MishelleMcc]

13 hours ago, Chris Lo said:

My wish is … may cruise passengers get along, be tolerant and respectful to everyone on board.  I do know it’s not a perfect world! 
I'm with you Any Major Cruise Dude! 

Absolutely!! ❤️

[MishelleMcc]

I also thought that the first port change to Honolulu was for administrative purposes.  Specifically the Port staff to mange the incoming cruises and checks!  Thank you everyone!

[loan lady]

1 hour ago, travelin.sisters said:

it has been in the 60s outside & windy occasionally...inside has been comfortable or even a little on the warm side. I have not needed even a sweater (t-shirt weather, my sister who gets colder has worn long sleeves but not a sweater/jacket...I have seen more shorts than jackets onboard), I would imagine coming from Michigan it would be comfortable...you will want something for potential rain in Hawai'i

Thank you soooooooo much. Travel a lot but this one has had me stumped !  

[JIMBO1950]

Going on the Grand Jan 19.  Curious if the Wake show is still on.  And do they do "shout out" and jokes submitted by passengers?

 

[kiwimum]

Honolulu is required as the first port of call to complete all health documentation.    How long it will take to clear the ship is anyones guess.

 
We are from San Diego and have the weather rather cool.  Definitely needed a sweater or long sleeves.    It has been very windy with access to outside decks closed off periodically.   Today the sun is out and the outside temperature is warmer, still wjndy.   We have done this trip many times and this is the coolest and roughest we have had.   Usually 2 days out of the islands the weather warms up and the seas flatten out.  Just a little late this time.

 

[travelingbears]

I am concerned about the testing done.  Were there any positive tests results and if so what happens then?  

[nocl]

1 hour ago, JIMBO1950 said:

Going on the Grand Jan 19.  Curious if the Wake show is still on.  And do they do "shout out" and jokes submitted by passengers?

 

We will be on it also

[san diego sue]

3 hours ago, JIMBO1950 said:

Going on the Grand Jan 19.  Curious if the Wake show is still on.  And do they do "shout out" and jokes submitted by passengers?

 

We were on the Grand for New Years 5 day cruise. The wake  show was boring and no shout outs. Cruise Director was not a dynamic person, he was dead.

We are coming back on board for Hawaii Jan19th

 

[travelin.sisters]

3 hours ago, travelingbears said:

I am concerned about the testing done.  Were there any positive tests results and if so what happens then?  

I have only heard of one person (on social media...no ship's announcement about test results or such) who tested positive, he is in isolation with his wife who decided to isolate with him even though she was negative...they were moved to the quarrantine section on the Aloha deck...he said they can get what they want through room service & the app...he thinks they will retest in 2 days but will not be able to get off in Honolulu even if they are negative then