Sky Princess denied entry to St. Thomas March 8, 2022

[antsp]

1 hour ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

Sorry, I do not know.

The whole of deck 9 is closed off

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

Last night's RockOpera production show was wonderful !

I have been disappointed to not see that show mentioned on any other ship.  Hopefully, it will spread around more as the year goes on.

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, bj24 said:

The service on Sky has been much below what we experienced on Enchanted in February.  Maybe it is because many crew are out sick

And maybe it is also because there are now more passengers to take care of, so it would seem slower for sure.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

Just got the all clear to disembark in St. Maarten.  Guests must be onboard by 3  am (!)

 

Tomorrow can disembark starting at 6 am and all on board by 5:30 pm.

 

St. Maarten requires masks indoors as well as outdoors in all public spaces according to the announcement we just heard from the cruise staff.

 

Update - an "Important Announcement" just advised that we need to be onboard by midnight tonight and can disembark tomorrow at 5 am.  😃

These outdoor mask rules are nuts.  Are people really wearing masks at the beach, for example?  Please report back if you can.

 

ETA:  I've seen bikinis that are smaller than many masks. 

Edited March 8, 2022 by Steelers36

[sergel02]

Thanks for the information. 
 

We were in port today at St Thomas. Sorry you guys weren’t allowed to disembark but 2 days in Saint Maarten seems nice. 

[Steelers36]

3 minutes ago, sergel02 said:

Thanks for the information. 
 

We were in port today at St Thomas. Sorry you guys weren’t allowed to disembark but 2 days in Saint Maarten seems nice. 

Are people really wearing masks everywhere outdoors, including the beach?

[PrincessLuver]

5 hours ago, julia said:

Without getting onto a debate on the subject, the increased cases onboard "could be" the result of the relaxed masking.  Just my 2 cents.

I think you are spot on and it will only get worse for Princess and their crews.....they are the ones who get constant exposure cruise after cruise.

[echoshipmate]

11 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

And maybe it is also because there are now more passengers to take care of, so it would seem slower for sure.

And maybe because there are fewer crew to take care of passengers due to crew covid or crew covid isolation.

Doug

[Steelers36]

14 minutes ago, echoshipmate said:

And maybe because there are fewer crew to take care of passengers due to crew covid or crew covid isolation.

Doug

I used the word "also" in my post to indicate that there very well could be two factors affecting the perception of slower service.  After all, folks who sailed on ships +/- 50% full were spoiled.

[echoshipmate]

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I used the word "also" in my post to indicate that there very well could be two factors affecting the perception of slower service.  After all, folks who sailed on ships +/- 50% full were spoiled.

Count me as spoiled! 56 days on board since the restart, with 5 more booked, ah, the good old days. 

[sergel02]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

I used the word "also" in my post to indicate that there very well could be two factors affecting the perception of slower service.  After all, folks who sailed on ships +/- 50% full were spoiled.

I wanna go back to being spoiled 😢

[emmak8]

Me too.

[sergel02]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Are people really wearing masks everywhere outdoors, including the beach?

Wearing it outdoors it was like 50% because St. Thomas requires them, regardless of vaccination status. I only glanced at the beach and not many seemed to be wearing them.
 

Admittedly not every resident was wearing one  either but most seemed to be so I figured I wouldn’t be a stereotypical tourist and follow the rules. 

[bj24]

7 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Can I ask where the quarantine cabins are on Sky at the moment. Thanks

Deck 9

[bj24]

48 minutes ago, sergel02 said:

Wearing it outdoors it was like 50% because St. Thomas requires them, regardless of vaccination status. I only glanced at the beach and not many seemed to be wearing them.
 

Admittedly not every resident was wearing one  either but most seemed to be so I figured I wouldn’t be a stereotypical tourist and follow the rules. 

I walked in port area only today in st Maarten and masks were only “required” indoors. 

[Mike_DeA]

Yes, we docked at about 4pm local time.

[Mike45LC]

4 hours ago, PrincessLuver said:

I think you are spot on and it will only get worse for Princess and their crews.....they are the ones who get constant exposure cruise after cruise.

The long hours, hard work and limited sleep all conspire to make the crew more vulnerable as well!

[jeanandjim]

6 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Are people really wearing masks everywhere outdoors, including the beach?

only cover-up required on Orient Beach. 🤣

[caribill]

18 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

Well, it looks like COVID is still affecting vacation plans.

 

 

 

He advised us there have been positive COVID cases both among the passengers and the crew.  He said all were asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic.  Actual numbers not divulged.  However, that number was enough for us to be refused entry to the port.

 

As far as mask-wearing, since it is now optional, I would guess that at this point approximately 10 percent of the passengers are doing so.  Every single staff member wears a mask.

 

 

 

To me this proves that wearing masks inside (except when in your cabin or eating or drinking) should still be mandatory.

[USCcruisecrazy]

Just curious what numbers look like in those island nations.  In SC, a state with 5 1/2 million people, we had 90 reported cases yesterday...that's 0.0016% of the population.  Are the islands still having big numbers?  How about where you folks are coming from?  And in SC we haven't worn masks except if you wanted to (or in medical facilities) since June of 2020. 

[We_like_to_cruise]

21 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Are people really wearing masks everywhere outdoors, including the beach?

No, definitely not.  Only a tiny percentage are wearing masks outdoors.  Many shops have signs posted that masks are required for entry and pretty much everyone we saw had masks on inside.

 

Tried to get a pic of a couple at Orient Beach wearing - - only a mask !  But, chickened out at the last minute, haha.

 

🤣🤣

[We_like_to_cruise]

Here is the notice that was read to us over the PA in the ship and also provided in our cabin at embarkation.

 

 

[sergel02]

18 hours ago, bj24 said:

I walked in port area only today in st Maarten and masks were only “required” indoors. 

That was the only part I didn’t really visit today lol. 
 

The rest of the island most of the locals where wearing masks it seemed, except it seemed to be less in Marigot. Otherwise I’d see shopkeepers, schoolchildren ect. masking. Most of those going maskless seemed to be tourists (there were 6 ships in port today, possible up to 10,000+ passengers).

[coo359a2]

21 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I have been disappointed to not see that show mentioned on any other ship.  Hopefully, it will spread around more as the year goes on.

Rock Opera was on our Enchanted Princess cruise in Dec  and our Emerald Princess cruise in Jan/Feb..  It is a fantastic production show.  If it is on the Emerald next week, it will be my 5th time to see it.

[sergel02]

5 hours ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

Just curious what numbers look like in those island nations.  In SC, a state with 5 1/2 million people, we had 90 reported cases yesterday...that's 0.0016% of the population.  Are the islands still having big numbers?  How about where you folks are coming from?  And in SC we haven't worn masks except if you wanted to (or in medical facilities) since June of 2020. 

For Sint Maarten, I believe their vaccination rate is around 75% give or take (though that doesn’t include boosters) and I think their 7 day average was like 3 cases, much lower than the surge they (and most of the world) had a couple months ago. 
 

I think a big aspect is they want to mitigate and keep numbers low as much as possible. When another surge happens, if it ends up being worse they don’t have the same kind of medical facilities other countries have. Our tour guide said if they get really sick or need a major surgery they may go to another island or have to be flown to France or the Netherlands. 
 

Other island nations have the same issue. If someone in Fiji gets really sick they have to usually go to Australia, New Zealand, or Singapore for treatment. 

Edited March 9, 2022 by sergel02