farmersfight

23 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

Pearl Sea Cruises offer some small ship cruises in the Great Lakes and have solo cabins with balconies.  Not inexpensive, however.  But, the itineraries that I have seen are attractive

Yeah, I have looked into Pearl Seas Cruises previously. The Pearl Mist cruises up here (Toronto to Milwaukee and vice-versa). She has 12 single staterooms (category SGB) that are spacious, over 200 sq ft. That's quite a significant # of single staterooms on a small cruise ship (RCL's Quantum-class ships have 12 studio balcony staterooms) and they all have their own balconies, as you said.

I would opt for the 11-night Great Lakes & Georgian Bay cruise, as it transits the Welland Canal where as the 7-night does not (kind of weird, you have to disembark in Midland, Ontario and you are bussed down to Toronto. No thanks.). I've never been up into Georgian Bay and never been to the port towns of Little Current, Parry Sound & Midland.

You're right, definitely not inexpensive. Pearl Seas has a couple of cruises that are discounted $800 (June 24, 2021) & $1,000 (May 29, 2022), but for a single stateroom (SGB) you're still looking at $11, 605 (June 24, 2021) or $11,405 (May 29, 2022).

Even at that price ($11.5K), I'm still tempted.  I live up here on the Great Lakes and ironically, one of the port stops is Muskegon, Michigan, right where I live (not sure why a cruise ship would want to stop here in Muskegon. Not much too offer tourists here). Also, this cruise would either start or end in Milwaukee which would mean I would take the Lake Express high-speed ferry from or to Muskegon to or from Milwaukee. Getting to or from Toronto would be a short flight.

Hmmm...still tempted. This June (2021) is wide open for me...

https://www.pearlseascruises.com/cruises/great-lakes-cruises/great-lakes-and-georgian-bay

6 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

1) You will have access to the solo lounge regardless

I think this was "bantered about" before but if I'm not mistaken, you have to be booked in a studio cabin to have full access to the studio lounge? I think as a solo booked in a regular stateroom (i.e. an inside) you can still attend the solo meet ups in the studio lounge but you don't have full access like those who are booked in studio cabins.

9 minutes ago, mianmike said:

 

Right now there's this deadly pandemic the world is trying to eradicate.  To do that we need herd immunity.  To achieve herd immunity we need to get everyone vaccinated and we need to slow the variants, because if we don't there will eventually be a mutation that defeats the vaccines and we'll be back to square one.  A virus needs transmission for it to mutate.  Stop transmission and you stop the mutations.  If everyone did their part, we could crush this thing.  It's so simple.  It's maddening people can't comprehend the concept.

I'm with you. But I think by saying "end covid starting now"@macandlucy meant to end the political "back and forth" (i.e. masks) about covid on this thread and get back to discussing cruising.

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Sooner than later cruise lines take control

 

I think the cruise lines are fed up and tired of waiting on the CDC to issue the technical guidance to allow them to restart out of U.S. ports. They are giving the CDC "the double rods". I wouldn't be surprised to see Carnival Corp. follow suit.

7 hours ago, macandlucy said:

Come on y’all .., we’re all on the same team here. End covid starting now, right? 😊

6 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

Yes!  And let’s get back to cruising and seeing the people in our lives that we love.

6 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

When I do go out (which is rare because I have risk factors) I wear a single, well fitted mask, that I make with high quality quilting cotton, a 16 merv filter fabric, and silk lining (for the electrostatic benefit).  I think that is better than two poorly fitted, or poorly fabricated masks.  

6 hours ago, macandlucy said:

Can't complain about that mask!  Good for you; you're protecting yourself and others with a good mask. I wouldn't be upset if you added a surgical mask underneath, but I might be overly cautious. (I'm impressed that you know about electrostatic benefits of different fabrics.)  It's true that some masks, maybe many masks don't work, but it's not true that good masks don't work.

 

I also wear a good mask, and spent most of March last year researching filtration effectiveness and fit and then making them when you couldn't buy them anywhere. One good test -- if you can smell anything (aside from your own breath :|) while your mask is on, it's not as effective as it should  be. 

 

For the mask naysayers, please ask yourself this: if masks are useless, why the desperation to save them for healthcare workers? Because they don't work? Or because they know they do?

I thought we we supposed to "end covid starting now" and "get back to cruising" a few posts ago. And now it's droning on and on about masks. I don't get it.

2 minutes ago, ohiocruisemom said:

Since this one is really a repositioning cruise from Seattle to Miami I don’t think I would read anything in to it regarding PoA.  More related to no repositioning needed if ship not in Seattle for Alaska. 

Thanks, good point. Yeah, I forgot about the Canadian Govt shutting down their ports to cruise ships until what, Feb 2022?, effectively wiping out the 2021 Alaska cruising season (due to the PVSA).

I booked the PoA first, in part because I thought it might have a better chance of sailing since she never leave U.S. waters and doesn't have to worry about whether foreign countries ports are open.

5 minutes ago, ohiocruisemom said:

Our October 28th Panama Canal cruise on Encore is now showing sold out in all categories.  I had a little hope it would go, but that is now gone.  Our 5th cruise cancelled.  We will keep trying!  😢

Sorry to hear that. Was that cruise from Seattle to Miami via the Panama Canal? I'm booked on this cruise on Encore on Oct 23 - Nov 13, 2022.

If NCL is cancelling late Oct 2021 cruises, it's not looking good for my Oct 23-30, 2021 PoA cruise.

21 minutes ago, 3kidsncats said:

But, I have zero problem continuing to wear a mask even though I’m vaccinated (not fully yet, but will be).  

Why just one mask? Be like Dr. Fauci (who is fully vaccinated) and wear two.

3 hours ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

That was a joke, not a personal attack! 

Sorry, I was mainly replying to what you had in parenthesis. The way this thread has become so hyper-politicized, I took it the wrong way. I'm a person who loves a good joke so I'm kind of surprised I missed it.

3 hours ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

Do you know how hard it is to get a reservation at the French Laundry?? It's like the Cagney's of real restaurants!! 

(also, the dinner was outside)

Don't know, don't care.

(I don't consider a room enclosed on three sides with the fourth side open to be "outside". Plus, the fourth side was eventually closed making the dinner inside).

"Newsom apologized on Monday and described the dinner as outdoors. But the photos show Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, sitting maskless around a crowded table of 12 inside a room that was enclosed on three sides. The fourth side was open, though the woman who took the photos and provided them to Fox 11 said a sliding glass door eventually was closed after Newsom’s group became loud. The woman was not identified by the station."

Source: 5 KPIX CBS SF BayArea article dated Nov 18, 2020.

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/11/18/covid-gov-gavin-newsom-remains-on-hot-seat-over-french-laundry-dinner-party-after-photos-surface/

5 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

So, I doubt I'm going to change your mind, but here's why I think his approach to Covid was disastrous - he's being RECALLED! Governors doing their jobs well don't get recalled. And the organizers have reportedly surpassed their goal in terms of signatures collected.

Yeah, they got over 2.1 million signatures and needed only 1,495,709. As long as there are no "shenanigans" with the California Secretary of State's office validating the signatures, it looks like there will be a recall election.

5 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

I work from home and am going out of town tomorrow (to Florida, as it happens).

Have fun in the "sunshine state", a state who's governor did it right responding to the covid pandemic in his state.

4 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

 I’m also not currently a die hard believer in the CDC.  Over the past year, it has dropped the ball considerably.

At least we agree on something.

4 minutes ago, paddy Anne said:

I just want to get something on the books. I have 2022 and 2023 booked but think I need something this year

I've also got cruises also booked in 2022 & 2023 (see my expanded signature block). I'm hoping cruising is back up and running by summer or even early fall so that my Oct 23-30, 2021 PoA cruise will go, as well as my Dec 18-26, 2021 Mardi Gras cruise. Fingers crossed 🤞.

37 minutes ago, HowardK said:

Closet is I don't know maybe 5-7 feet wide

Are you sure it is the closet and not the studio stateroom itself, lol? Just kidding. I'll be trying out the NCL "solo experience" on Breakaway's sister ship, Norwegian Getaway (9-day Baltic cruise, Aug 15-24, 2023).

4 minutes ago, paddy Anne said:

Right?  They are both sounding WOW.  

Agree. And the price for either experience is also WOW. I find it amazing that solos book these suites. Can you imagine paying double (100% solo supplement) for a Haven or YC suite? Ouch...

18 minutes ago, bobbisailsolo said:

yes farmer.  i agree about acl being pricey. and probably boring, from what i’ve seen.  i was really thinking european waterways.  

European waterways, gotch ya. That sounds pretty cool, especially going as a solo cruiser. I never really thought about river cruising in Europe. Heck, I never really thought about river cruising right here in the USA.  I know there are numerous companies that do cruises on European rivers and I'm sure someone here on CC will be able to recommend one (or 2), especially ones that are "solo friendly". Good luck!

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

The YC is an exclusive area mostly in the forward part of the ship that has its own dedicated pool/pool deck/pool grill for breakfast, lunch, and snacks during the day.  It has its own restaurant and lounge. 

You had me at this point, lol. How does NCL's Haven experience compare to MSC's YC experience, in your opinion?

1 hour ago, macandlucy said:

because one could make the argument that Cali would have had many more infections had they not locked down as hard as they did. 

And one could make the argument that Cali's case rate (cases per 100K people) would've been about the same if they had opened up like Florida. Keeping beaches, schools, businesses, etc open in Florida would have the same non-effect (of the case rate) in California. A beach is a beach, a school is a school, a business is a business whether it is in Florida or California.

O.k., I'm done. I agree, this thread has become too political so I will do my part to stop the political bickering.

21 minutes ago, 3kidsncats said:

Pretty much — but definitely not limited to him.  Seems a lot of restaurants catering to wealthy clientele didn’t think the restrictions applied to them. But why are you making it political??  This is a major public health issue not a political one, and since none of my neighbors is the governor, nor any of the people we encountered not masking at the grocery store, IKEA, TJ Maxx, etc., I don’t see how trying to divert the topic to a political one is helpful.  

 

I personally think your comparison of California and Florida was entirely too simplistic to be anywhere near accurate.  While FL has a lot of tourism, I would hazard a guess that both CA and NY have far more international and domestic influx than FL, more multi-generational households, and more congested living arrangements. We had a more contagious local variant, as well as the UK variant (apologies to the UK, I can’t remember the the viral designate) spreading undetected in the state over the holidays when people foolishly opted to have gatherings.  There are so many variables, and many that rely on compliance by the population to be effective.  From reading your comments in this thread, I don’t really see any point in trying to engage in facts with you, but if I provide food for thought to someone willing to consider more, then that works for me.  

Sincere here, if I made this thread too political, I apologize. If you read back through this thread, there are other political posts, so it wasn't just me.

Yeah, my comparison of Florida to California did have a potitical component to it, but it is hard not to when the Governors of each state make the calls with regard to shutdowns, mask wearing, etc.

As far as my comparison of California vs Florida being "entirely too simplistic to be anywhere near accurate", you better tell that to the CDC because I used their Covid data tracker (linked below). When I first made my comparison, I highlighted the total # of covid cases. Someone on this thread correctly pointed out that you can't look at total #'s of case because California's overall population is greater than Florida's (as you also infer by pointing out that CA has more multi-generational households). I agreed with this point. So, if you look at the rate (# of cases per 100K of people), California & Florida's case #'s are very similar. At the risk of being too political again, you can't tell me California kept schools, businesses, etc as open or more open than Florida.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_casesper100k

4 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I'm sorry, but seeing the Governors of CA and NY in hot water (one about to be recalled and the other under investigation) is an irony I find absolutely delicious. I knew karma would catch up with them sooner or later. Serves 'em right for their heavy-handed, disastrous response to Covid.

What he said. Karma can be a b#$&*, can't it?

4 hours ago, bobbisailsolo said:

Does anyone know of the best river cruises for solo travelers?  where the single supplement isn’t 100%?

You may want to check out American Cruise Lines. They have new river vessels that have single staterooms for the solo traveler. These staterooms are quite roomy (250 sq.ft.) and each comes with a private balcony.

I was looking at American Cruise Lines for a Grand Pugent Sound cruise in a single stateroom on the American Constellation (coastal class) but when I did a mock booking, I found the cruise to be quite pricey and too rich for my wallet. With that said however, ACL is "solo friendly" with their single staterooms even on their river vessels. Good luck!

https://www.americancruiselines.com/

7 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

We had restaurants having illicit indoor dining for their regulars, and many, many people refusing to wear a mask.

Sounds like your governor dining with lobbyists at a posh Napa Valley restaurant; indoors, not wearing a mask.

42 minutes ago, aimish said:

What is the difference between breakaway class and breakaway plus?

 

I haven't sailed either class of ship but if you look at the exterior superstructures of both ships, the Breakaway + class ships are taller (more decks high), meaning more staterooms (at a minimum).

35 minutes ago, paddy Anne said:

Yeah Celebrity is not what I am thinking is upscale but I have heard the food is to die for!!!  I love upscale food too lol.

Yeah, Celebrity is definitely not a "luxury" cruise line. A sister company of and one step up from RCL.

2 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

I want to stay in one on Carnival, as I understand it they are on deck 2.

That's what I understand, as well. You know your cove balcony cabin is close to the water when your cabin is below the lifeboats.