Allograft

Just now, RocketMan275 said:

And, exactly how would that have made a bit of difference?

Rather than them appearing to hide it like they did, it could have had a semblance of responsibility and care taking to document that they were aware on the prior itinerary that x or some y estimate of people were ill and that they took a,b, and c measures to try to manage the illness. The specific measures that they employed were d, e, and f. Unfortunately, the illness spread beyond our manualized caution procedures, and spread aggressively. At least that would sound like they were trying to be responsible. In my estimation (which of course any and everyone is free to completely discard) they covered it up to prioritize profits over people.

22 hours ago, graphicguy said:

NCL (and the other cruise lines) really do have very cautions protocols they practice.  Some people just feel that the protocols don't apply to them.  This seems to be a "cruise thing".  Rules just don't apply with some people.  We read it every day in these threads how some try to circumvent the rules or ignore them entirely.

Well, I was on the Cape Town loop right before this from Feb 1 - Feb 12, and regardless of the protocols that they use, they knew about the illness on that cruise. Lots of people were sick and they were already taking measures, such as keeping condiments away. Really unfortunate that they allowed it to fester than to nip in the bud.

21 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Exactly what additional information should NCL be providing?

It probably would have been appropriate for them to have shared that it spanned multiple itineraries until it came to a head of sufficient severity it could no longer be managed.

20 hours ago, Asawi said:

More info as well in that article.
This measure comes in the wake of 15 passengers being isolated and tested for the disease, some showing mild stomach-related symptoms.
 

There was a whole lot more than 15 people than that ill on the prior Cape Town loop on Feb 1 - 12. It seemed like every 10th person was complaining about diarrhea .

17 hours ago, denise143 said:

I will never use ncl again. I'm surprised anyone said with them twice 

For other reasons, but certainly now reinforced by this, I am also in the never again Norwegian crowd. I've tried twice and both have been unpleasant. 

8 hours ago, denise143 said:

I would never cruise with them again.  There organisation is a shambles and they don't seem to are about customer satisfaction 

The organization at embarkation, disembarkation, and for excursions was really, really bad, amongst other organizational issues throughout the voyage on the prior Cape Town loop on Feb 1 -12

8 hours ago, denise143 said:

Obviously you have enjoyed ncl cruises.  I did not.  To each their own, I'm glad you had a nice time 

Sing it. I'm in your camp.

8 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

But this just shows how volnurable the rest of the passengers are if ONE person shows up wit a "hidden desease"..... 🤔

 

But to blame the cruise line as some seem to be doing, is to take it a bit far in my opinion. 

The bigger issue from my perspective is that they knew that they had a problem because there was a whole bunch of people sick on the prior Cape Town loop Feb 1 - 12 that I was on, as evidenced by the measures that they took.

7 hours ago, Gaycruisecouple99 said:

We have spoken to people on board who have said that the cruise were aware of illness almost immediately after departing Cape Town. NCL could have quarantined said guests then and there, to prevent any spread but they have only taken these precautions after being denied entry to Mauritius. Sounds like a greedy company trying to avoid their responsibilities to care for their customers until they have no other choice but to do so.

Concur, they knew it about ton the prior Cape Town loop from Feb 1 - 12. As someone else posted in this thread, the Dawn took the measures of removing condiments, placing more sanitizer around, etc. They knew that they was an issue then.

41 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Personally, I'd be very irritated at the person who lied on their health questionnaire and spread Noro on the ship.  OF course, who knows who that was.  But, these procedures and there for a reason.

I'd be more irritated at the staff for not taking action when they knew that there was an issue on the prior loop...if not before.

Apologies if this is asked and answered before. I did a couple of searches but couldn't find what I was looking for. I seem to recall a website from a few years back that gave reviews of specific rooms. Cruisedeckplans seems to be close, but I don't see any user reviews. Does anyone know what am I talking about. If yes, assistance and getting pointed in a direction would be great. 

11 minutes ago, bretts173 said:

Do you think they make changes like this without doing the analytics on it first. They couldn't care less if you went somewhere else. When 50% of cruisers are first timers they will come back next time only expecting 1 service. of the other 50% most couldn't care less about the change. the small majority are the ones making all the loud posts about it. Some of these will still cruise because of their status and others who may leave might end up at their subsidiary anyways. A very tiny drop in the ocean.

Sadly, this point for the win.

5 hours ago, mpdog42 said:

🤪

I was talking about "Cops the Cruise edition or Live PD :Carnival Live"🤪

I think that most every celebrity is pretty miserable inside. Always begging and trying to get peoples' attention must mean that the existential hole inside the psyche is deep, enduring, and unable to be quenched.

2 hours ago, bretts173 said:

AVG income in the USA in 2013 63k now 87k. Things go up.

I doubt any stewards are US citizens and require US average salary requirements. Remember, cruises rely on cheap imported labor. Separate from the modern day colonialism and global exploitation of resources argument, the fact is cruises always have at least one International stop to get away with stay that is nearly entirely a foreign labor force.

5 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

This also means no more cute towel animals on the bed.

My kids would not like this.

5 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

We usually tip the steward a few extra dollars at the end of the cruise.  I guess that will also go away.

Indeed.

5 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

The line has gone significantly downhill since COVID.  

Almost everything has. Costs more and get less. 

4 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

Just another nicety that will disappear "due to covid", never to reappear.  I guess we can also include personal service in the "shrinkflation" that we are experiencing.

The decadence of the 80's and 90's of the West is declining. The middle class is getting squeezed from all angles. We always paid for the rich, now we're being made to subsidize and pay for the bums to bring us all to the same level...except that only one group works a 9-5 or more...

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Pretty soon......BYOT  ??

Already see some doing that on Booking.

2 hours ago, vettprincess said:

lmao at this comment!!!!!!

Not once you experience the reality that some are already doing this.

1 hour ago, as3369 said:

And I don't mind paying the same gratuities...  

As it should be. People can pay whatever they want in gratuities.

1 hour ago, cube1982 said:

Yeah, I'm definitely going to guest services to remove the tips. First they raise it, now they're cutting services. Ridiculous. If your ok with this then your nuts. They won't stop at this....soon the main dining room will be counter service and they'll bring back the guest talent show to save on entertainment.

Second this.

14 minutes ago, SG65CB said:

When we have more than two people in the cabin the attendant opens the extra bed at night - whether it's a sleeper sofa or a pullman bed, and in the morning they put the bed away for the day. I would expect this twice-daily service to continue. I don't want to have to figure out how to put a pullman bed away and not have it drop on someone's head, and what height and strength are even needed to get it up into the ceiling?

...

I vote to continue twice-daily cabin service. 

Indeed. Several Asian countries appear to still understand service. It's not like we're asking to purely waste things like the guy that recently ranted against charges for the thirds in the MDM and said that he should get to order and throw away as many lobster tails as he wants. There's a difference between living it up a little during a vacation that one saves and pays for versus just wasting things....but I suppose that the executives' bonuses trump everything else to make sure that they are getting the most and the middle class just continues to pay the bills.

On 12/3/2022 at 3:13 PM, bretts173 said:

Under 45 on princess head to kids club.

I resemble that comment

On 12/3/2022 at 8:11 PM, Ozwoody said:

You do not offend people by asking questions, people make replies, which get replies, you then take from it what you will. That's the point of forums.

Have a great trip.

 

Regards

Meh, either risk offending or be a doormat. Either way, can't please everybody.

On 12/4/2022 at 1:51 AM, Ozwoody said:

For me the test every second day was voluntary, they did not ask me to, just did it as I thought it the right thing to do. I got the impression they wanted me to do the three times a day trip to save them doing it.

Did Princess supply tests or expect you to do it?

On 12/5/2022 at 12:52 AM, Sallyandtex said:

There was many from USA aboard.

There were SO many maskless people coughing and blowing noses all around us! Even saw people leaving their used tissues on the dinner plates in the Lido and MDR for the staff to clean (YUK). A good percentage seemed to be doing what they wanted with disregard for fellow passengers. (My guess is they didn't test so they could continue as normal.) So, the numbers would be out of skew.

This made me so anxious I am reluctant to cruise again for a while.

That is so not Japan. There are still masks there EVERYWHERE. Occasionally, you'll see a maskless local, but it's mostly obviously tourists without masks in Japan these days.

22 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

On Coral everyone is RAT testing tomorrow morning. I assume the NZ government is insisting.

Who is supplying the tests?

20 hours ago, Gwendy said:

Princess is testing, other lines are not.

Are they supplying them or asking you to or otherwise charging passengers for them?

On 8/25/2022 at 9:21 PM, Hugahav said:

Princess updated their protocols on August 24th for all voyages departing September 6, 2022 and beyond (copied and pasted from the Princess website):

 

Vaccination Status	Definition by Country's Health Authority	Pre-Travel Test Type &  When to Take Test Before Boarding Age: 5 Years and Up
		Voyages from the U.S., UK, EU	Voyages with Enhanced Guidelines^
Fully Vaccinated*	Received primary series of COVID-19 vaccines with final dose at least 14 days before embarkation.	Testing not required	Medically assisted Antigen or PCR within 3 days
Not Vaccinated	Not fully vaccinated are welcome to cruise. If cruise includes a Canadian port, an additional medical exemption is needed.	Self-administered Antigen OR medically assisted PCR within 3 days	Medically assisted Antigen or PCR within 3 days

Thanks. Nothing yet for Antarctica. Will have to check back.

On 8/9/2022 at 9:40 AM, 5:00_Somewhere said:

Those are not crawfish but "chicken" or small (1-2 lb) lobsters, which are very common for New England Lobster and Clam Bakes. You can tell by comparing them to the length of the full ears of corn next to them. I live in Boston, by the way, and have been to many a Bake with lobsters that size. Nice and sweet. 👍🦞🤤

Thanks for the tip. I gotta eat some of 'em

26 minutes ago, jolinda said:

Family verandas on Celebrity Solstice class ships can sleep 5.

Well, there you have it!

8 hours ago, Ombud said:

So do you still have 1 iHealth rest kit per person?? Test #1 unwitnessed 24-48 hrs before test #2 (retest) witnessed. Cost $20 pp

Thanks, I will look into this

2 hours ago, Ombud said:

If you're in SF (think i read that somewhere) there's several free-to-you test sites.

Indeed, there are. However, we're getting to Chile several days before embarkation, so we'll need to test in Chile if we're going to have to test. I was hoping that some of the tests my tax dollars paid for could fill a need

22 minutes ago, suzyed said:

We did 19-20 knots... how much slower is that than normal?

I believe that's about normal, but the problem is as reported below by a prior poster:

13 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

The worst we’d seen was her totally losing all power .. just dead in the water.

That's much slower.

25 minutes ago, Yehootu said:

My Wife gave me that nickname 35yrs ago and the morality police would censor me if i actually posted what that meant. 😎

Tease

35 minutes ago, Moondogy said:

I plan on packing some painters tape to cover them 🤣

There’s the pro-tip of the weekend!

Apologies if this has been asked and answered before...but 77 pages is a lot to scroll through. 

Does anyone know if any of the tax-payor funded (i.e. not free) USA government corona tests can be used to satisfy embarkation testing requirements? I've read that emed and optum are options, but I'd rather use ones that my tax dollars already paid for.

On 8/5/2022 at 7:27 AM, Heidi13 said:

Note - many ships have 3rd, even 4th berths in many cabins, so the total pax could be higher.

There are even a few with a 5th berth in a cabin. My wife and I managed to squeeze us and three kids in one room, ha! Haven't found a 5 berth cabin with a balcony though, yet.

From what I read above, I would guess...again guess...that there is a sensor in the room that detects a medallion's presence. Much like cars that unlike when the matched fob is in a certain proximity.

7 minutes ago, Ombud said:

😶

🙏

Does this also involve less heating? .... I'm asking for the Antarctica cruise

17 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Bigger catchment area for people who drive to the port... Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio are all within roughly four hours driving distance. 

True, and likely high revenues per passengers also from those metro areas as opposed to my people, the Walmart folks, from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama

54 minutes ago, Tapi said:

Galveston may be more profitable than New Orleans. It probably draws more people from large cities like Dallas and Houston since that's their closest port of embarkation, while people living closer to New Orleans are also close to Florida ports so they have more options...There's probably more money to be made out of Galveston.

Indeed, money makes the world go 'round, and it's a fair point about the already existing options for Gulf Coast customers.

54 minutes ago, Tapi said:

New Orleans has very limited itineraries

True, certainly compared to Florida embarkations.

54 minutes ago, Tapi said:

New Orleans has ... dumpier ships.

While I'm a Walmart guy, I get your point. I do prefer Princess over Carnival for a more refined experience.

54 minutes ago, Tapi said:

And just my personal preference, but the New Orleans scene isn't my cup of tea.

Ironically, my wife and I don't drink and whore, but we really like the food, the art galleries, and late night coffee at Cafe DuMonde after walking around the quarter or coming back on a long walk from the Garden District. We dig the architecture of the buildings and all the little shops.

54 minutes ago, Tapi said:

Also, I'd rather start my cruise seeing blue ocean, than going down a brown, murky river for hours. 

As you said above, individual choices vary. I really like the departure experience, whether it's leaving the San Francisco Bay and passing Alcatraz and underneath the Golden Gate Bridge or the Mississippi delta. I really like the delta, and I'm on the observation deck above the bridge taking it all in while I can. I'm not really a fan of just departing into the ocean. To each their own, and I'm pleased that we each have our appreciations 🙂

I'm in San Francsico. I just really like New Orleans and the whole Louisiana area. I'm sure it boils down to finances and projected revenues based on passenger calculation models. Bleh.

In particular, why does Princess use Galveston rather than New Orleans?