Memory Lane - First Cruise Post-COVID

[Tom and Ingrid]

My wife and I took a Southern Caribbean X cruise when things were first starting back post-COVID shutdowns.  The glorious 50% full sailings 😄 that were brief but spectacular.

 

Anyway, on board, my iPhone was connecting with no issues to the internet, but my wife's was not, so after messing with it for a while, I remembered they have the Apple folks on board in the Internet cafe (iLounge?), so we set off in search of some help.

 

We got to the deck, and weren't at the proper stairway (we were at the front, but needed to be at the back), so we popped into the cabin hallway, which we didn't really notice was half-closed by the big doors.  We started walking towards the back of the ship, and it was eerily quiet.  We kept walking, and started noticing some cabin doors being open, and a couple workers walking in the hall. As we got to the iLounge area - closed doors.  Same with the elevator area just past.  We kept walking - now past the elevator bank but intrigued by the sense of "strangeness".  To the back, around the rear hallway, and then headed towards the front again.  We realized this was essentially a "ghost" floor - completely empty of passengers.  After a bit, we reached an open door to the elevators & the iLounge (so almost a half+ lap) where, oddly, we actually breathed a sigh of relief despite not being "trapped" or even truly alone. We found a very helpful (and likely bored) tech person who figured out how to get my wife's phone working.

 

Anyway, it was the only time I've been on a cruise with at least one whole deck empty of passengers.  It was super neat but very eerie.  

 

Boy was 50% sailing fun, though. 🙂

[cbfb]

22 minutes ago, Tom and Ingrid said:

My wife and I took a Southern Caribbean X cruise when things were first starting back post-COVID shutdowns.  The glorious 50% full sailings 😄 that were brief but spectacular.

 

Anyway, on board, my iPhone was connecting with no issues to the internet, but my wife's was not, so after messing with it for a while, I remembered they have the Apple folks on board in the Internet cafe (iLounge?), so we set off in search of some help.

 

We got to the deck, and weren't at the proper stairway (we were at the front, but needed to be at the back), so we popped into the cabin hallway, which we didn't really notice was half-closed by the big doors.  We started walking towards the back of the ship, and it was eerily quiet.  We kept walking, and started noticing some cabin doors being open, and a couple workers walking in the hall. As we got to the iLounge area - closed doors.  Same with the elevator area just past.  We kept walking - now past the elevator bank but intrigued by the sense of "strangeness".  To the back, around the rear hallway, and then headed towards the front again.  We realized this was essentially a "ghost" floor - completely empty of passengers.  After a bit, we reached an open door to the elevators & the iLounge (so almost a half+ lap) where, oddly, we actually breathed a sigh of relief despite not being "trapped" or even truly alone. We found a very helpful (and likely bored) tech person who figured out how to get my wife's phone working.

 

Anyway, it was the only time I've been on a cruise with at least one whole deck empty of passengers.  It was super neat but very eerie.  

 

Boy was 50% sailing fun, though. 🙂

It was amazing! We sailed on the Summit when things opened up and there were 360 people onboard. The captain referred to it as our private yacht!! 

[Torfamm]

29 minutes ago, cbfb said:

It was amazing! We sailed on the Summit when things opened up and there were 360 people onboard. The captain referred to it as our private yacht!! 

We had a similar experience on the Summit in late 2021. It really was fantastic.

[Lastdance]

Yes, it is amazing how times have changed, not always for better, but for being able to find joy and a quiet place onboard when cruising...my own private balcony/veranda.