auburn77

We're on the Hawaii cruise in Feb. We have to, for now, test 2 days before, get tested at embarkation and 2 days before docking in Hawaii. May have to have a booster, also.

A good friend and his wife went on a river cruise in France this fall - 14 days. They were tested every day.

And the one free drink only during seaday brunch. Why not just give a free drink voucher, period. It's only one free drink! Why does it have to be at brunch?

On a 14 day cruise, one of our perks is a total of ten bags of laundry. Who needs 10 bags of laundry? Two wash and press would be better.

On 1/10/2022 at 7:16 PM, DeanDeeDee said:

The Miracle left yesterday for Hawaii.  They had to have proof of a negative  vaccination two days before sailing (as every one does).  They also were given a test at embarkation and will be re-tested two days before their first port in Hawaii.  I do not think there was a charge.

Wow! Three times in a week! They're serious. 

I just read, on the Princess board, that on the Hawaii cruise that docked yesterday, the room steward monitored the required test before arriving in Hawaii. This makes sense. 

2 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

Carnival doesn’t test on the ships unless there’s an outbreak. You can board with an antigen test.

Is Carnival's onboard test an antigen? I have just gotten over covid. We sail to Hawaii 02/20. I will take an antigen test before boarding, but, apparently, we will be tested by Carnival prior to arriving in Hawaii.  

We are booked on the Miracle 02/20 Hawaii cruise. I see that the one leaving tomorrow is still online for booking. Ours is no longer listed. 

Can you really book a cruise the day before sailing? It may be tough to get the required test. And, is ours off the board because it is possibly sold out?

We are booked on the Miracle to Hawaii and, apparently, Hawaii is requiring testing on board prior to docking, in addition to the pre cruise testing. I don't know the details, but I hope we don't have to pay for the test.

On 12/29/2021 at 4:36 PM, BasicSailor said:

That's one cruise I wouldn't bet the house on.

That's what everyone said about our Alaska cruise in August. It was a wonderful cruise!

But, to be honest, I  wouldn't bet the house on it either.

I notice the January 9 cruise is still on the website for booking. Is Hawaii even allowing cruise ships to dock in January? 

I assume Carnival is planning on sailing if it's still listed. With their new guidelines on missed ports, and if they can't dock, its's just a long ride over there and back.

9 hours ago, hapytobehr said:

What does bacon have to do with Elegant dress??🙄

It was supposed to be a quote  connected to an earlier post in this thread by wgeddings. How it became a post by itself, I don't understand!

On 12/18/2021 at 2:29 PM, wgeddings said:

Oh the inhumanity!   Horrors!😄  everyone knows bacon is nature’s natural vaccine. 

I heard a guy on the radio say that you lose 8 minutes of life for every piece of bacon you eat. If that's true, I should have died in 1987!

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

2 elegant nights with a possible optional one if a journey cruise. Not very formal, though.

It's a journey cruise. Hope they don't have 3. Thanks

I forgot. How many are there on a 14 day. Hopefully, just one a week.

Just my luck if Hawaii says no. We got a Grand Suite a long while back during a flash sale. The price now for an ocean view is about the same as what we paid for the suite. We usually don't get a suite and I don't think we'll be able to get this deal again. 

At least the airfare is refundable up until departure.

But, then again, we got another great deal (before the maritime law was suspended) on an August '21 Alaskan cruise and never thought we would sail. We did. 

24 minutes ago, Computer Nerd said:

I book most of my cruises 18 to 24 months out. That being said, it was Benjamin Franklin who said "A penny saved is a penny earned.".

You can add prepaid gratuities anytime before the cruise. Doesn't affect the booking at all. I would guess you, like most, only pay a deposit 18 to 24 months out. I always add gratuities with the final balance due, which is about 90 days out. 

By the way, I'm doing this all in fun. Benjamin was a pretty bright guy!

7 hours ago, Computer Nerd said:

IMO there is no valid reason to pre-pay other than the possible peace of mind it may give the person knowing they can walk off the ship without paying anything. But by pre-paying the cruiser loses control of that money for the amount of time they pre-paid and interest earned on that money.

The current 'interest' on, say , $200 , is about half a percent per year ($1). For a few months, it is about a quarter.

We have this on our next cruise. What happens when you just go to the casino, put $ in a slot machine, order a drink, play slow until it arrives, stop playing immediately and leave after getting the drink? Not going to do this (not much of a drinker). Just curious.

11 hours ago, BallFour4 said:

To speculate, and that's what most here would do is it would depend on how you paid them. I would guess it would go back to your card.

 

 I wished cruise lines would change it to a resort type fee. If you have been to Las Vegas in the past few years you'd see those published prices have tiny print that explains they are going to add a per-day, per-person charge as resort fee. I wished it were mandatory.
 

 Your mileage may vary!
.

 I agree. Just make prepaid gratuities mandatory and nonrefundable when booking.

A couple of months ago, on Princess, masks were required in the casino. There was a maskless drunk man yelling for an hour at the craps table and no one said a word to him. He didn't even have a mask in sight. Smokers had to be playing to let their masks down to smoke. Nope! They walked around smoking and spouses stood behind the playing spouse and smoked, which was supposed to be prohibited (once even in the non-smoking area). It was hard getting away from smoke.

All I'm saying is the mask rules are a joke in the casino and if you go in there, you'll have to put up with smoke no matter where you are in there. And, they seem to place the machines no one wants to play in the non-smoking area.

I would love a separate non-smoking room.

We just sailed on Princess, first time, the end of August. We have sailed many times on Carnival. I was disappointed with the food all around on Princess compared to our pre-Covid Carnival cruises (especially desserts). But, I gave them a little leeway because of the current situation (and they did have unlimited bacon every morning!).

I think, maybe, all cruise lines are having problems with food service.

I got an email about a casino rate (we're not huge gamblers) flash sale last week for a 14 day out of Long Beach early next year. I booked a GS quickly (last one left) because of the ridiculous price. The day after the sale, Insides were only a few hundred less than what we booked. 

Worth taking a gamble that 14 day cruises will be allowed by then.

I saw no difference in service (except for masks) as before the pandemic. We only had once a day on our cruise the month before the pandemic struck. We hung our towels up to dry on both cruises.

Just got off the Majestic this morning. Our first Princess cruise and we had a Club Class on the 14th deck under the Sea View bar. We loved the location, the cabin and the Club Class dining. The wait staff was wonderful and we never waited for a table. However, we did book last November and got a great price. I guess they needed the money at the time.

3 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

@auburn77

Your gifted meal may just show up as a credit on your account, so yes, you could use it for anything.

Check your portfolio when you board.

Thanks