Rancher Dave
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Posts posted by Rancher Dave
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Looked at pier cam and see Magic still there. Wondered what happened while we were off adopting another dog. Worst of the weather gone just cold now. Oh well better than ice and snow.
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I've won it twice. The money goes to charity so I didn't worry really how much or it it was only one.
Agree if advertised as one and a second identical one was given away that should not have happened. Not sure what you want Princess to do to make it right. Depending on what you want you may gets many different responses here.
Glad you got the gift for your dad.
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The few times we had delayed boarding they let us stay in the room until 2:00 and opened up the conference room with coffee, tea, and sandwiches. Really nice way to treat folks......:cool:
On the positive side only one ship swapping out pax today. Also weather not conducive to lots of Houston folk to spend a weekend in Galveston today. Figure many who spent night probably headed home early today.
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Thanks Dave. That is good news for the folks out there waiting to board.
And those wanting to get aboard and sail. Wonder if the hotels are granting late checkout for those with no place else to go.
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Magic is on way in per marine traffic.
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Looks like they are underway now.
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The latest in our seemingly endless string of cold fronts is moving through Houston right now, so it should help Galveston in a couple hours.
It was much cooler when I grabbed newspaper an hour ago. Now it's read and ready to go in pile to take to CAP for animal use. As for Galveston pic from webcam not so pretty but likely improving in time for arrival today.
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Web cam shows her at dock still also. Triumph made it out before the fog. Sad for those stuck at dock.
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A quick glance at marine traffic shows a quiet port. Don't think I ever looked at it before when shut down.
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Could be but that seems like old news. This release says "add30" and I am wishing out loud :). We will see.
I just don't see a surprise second ship this Summer or Fall as it's not already scheduled. I think the year round is now contractual in the deal as opposed to the space was open yo dock every Sunday so book it... It makes a good sound byte for POG.
With the fog tonight I guess it may be a blessing no changeover day in the morning.
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Standing by for news. :)
The CC news said RCI will add 30 calls to Galveston in 2014. Anyone read that as another ship for part of the season? :confused:
Think it's the move from part time to full time by Navigator.
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Sounds like a good plan for pier 21 for sure.
How big or tall a boat are you thinking of.
Also
There is a new upscale restaurant on offits bayou
Called Thirteen that is great and at a new marina for the big boats!
It looks south towards moody gardens with great views day or night.
Ideally a nice offshore fishing cruiser. Flying Bridge. Etc. but may be forced to go with ski boat style for first couple years.
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Galveston is a nicer option than port of Houston with all the fun activities adjacent to the cruise terminal.
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Ref the links posted by CARIBILL:
It always amazes me that out 4,000 plus people, passengers and crew, on that ship the TV talking heads found two that complained about being confined to their cabins while sick. They wanted to run around the ship spreading the illness to other passengers.
I am surprised that they did not start off demanding two free cruises and chocolate cake due to the confinement.:rolleyes:
They don't realize how lucky there were. They had a warm cabin, visits from the medical staff and meals brought to them.
Bob
Have you ever noticed the kinds of folks that get interviewed in many situations such as this, tragic car crashes, fires, etc...always seem to get the ones who sensationalize the situation.
Last cruise where I saw an outbreak someone in cabin next to us and a few down the other direction got sick...never saw them in an out, just crew working hard to keep it contained and get them food. No guards at the cabin doors or anything horrible like that, just folks healing up.
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The norovirus is designed to get you sick. If someone has it, and vomits, and you walk in the area shortly thereafter, there are droplets in the air around you. If they flush a toilet, and don't close the seat cover, it is in the air as well. If it wants to infect you, it will.
The hand cleaner on the ships doesn't kill it. You need to use either bleach, or a hydrogen peroxide wipe to clean your hands. Regular lysol won't kill it either, you need to use Lysol formula 3.
People who are blood type A or O tend to have a better chance of getting the virus. People with blood type B are supposed to have some natural defense to it. But I wouldn't risk daring it to infect you if you are blood type B.
Noro takes 2 - 3 days to hit. So the first 2 - 3 days of the cruise are the most dangerous. Be extra careful those days.
So for those with AB blood type it's a crap shoot?
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The prices doubled since first released but now some are coming back to reality. Inside final payment they are getting back near the original release in some categories. There have also been some random drops for a week or two. My advice, watch carefully and often. :)
Specials come out ever week. That is what is driving the possibility. The deal would be too good to pass up.
Likely would be me and mom and perhaps several of her friends (in their own cabins) that would come aboard. I will post on the M&M you started once I have it confirmed.
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No carrier will pay out when you had something such as cardiac surgery since deposit before final payment, if cancellation is related to that. It would be like buying car insurance after the accident. Sorry the news is not better.
Being before final payment, perhaps if more rest is needed a swap of cruise dates would work better than risking not going. Book it as a new cruise and buy a third party insurance at the time you rebook so then pre-existing coverage would apply, subject to the policy provisions, namely that when you book the doctor says he should be able to travel on chosen date.
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May have to take advantage of some good rates on an upcoming Navigator sailing to see the redone ship.
Also better sail her from Galveston before she sails off to be replaced...
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That number is extremely high, not just "only". When there are 30+ cases reported, most cruiselines go into high gear for precautions.
I would remind everyone to wash your hands well in your cabins/staterooms (sing Happy Birthday twice) and don't touch the bannisters/rails unless absolutely necessary.
What most people don't think of is THE MENUS. You are handed a menu that has been held by four dozen people if they cleaned them today, hundreds if they haven't. Make your menu choice and then use hand sanitizer.
Agree when there are several cases the cleaning activity kicks up. Have sailed thru more than one outbreak...lets say I am pretty good at the stairs without using the handrails.
The menus are gross enough without an outbreak...agree during an outbreak ideally they go to one use printouts of the menu. Of course what I see at many shore based restaurants is far less frequent cleaning of menus...some are sticky and have junk on them...at least I don't see that too much on any cruise.
I sure do hope folks are washing hands more than just after bathroom use. Captain on a prior Princess sailing had to announce twice per day that folks needed to wash hands after going to the bathroom...that got kind of old hearing, but apparently it was not sinking in as more people got sick as the cruise went on.
Hopefully everything will be clean enough and nobody will be continuing to shed the virus onto the ship to spread it around next cruise.
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I'll put in a vote for Freedom as well.
One story I saw made it sound like we may have a year round, and possibly a second ship part time. It was clear though we have full time thru at least end of 2015 and in 2015 we are to receive a larger ship.
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We are also on this coming Saturdays sailing, the fog thing does also worry me a bit. Would it affect the ship leaving this Sat? Also what about next weekend, anyways to find out if there will be any fogs next weekend when we return? I sure hope we dont have to come back a day early also, that would really suck =)
Well...if there is fog like could occur, i.e. one of the reasons for the early return...fog Friday thru Sunday or Monday, that would likely affect the sailing. The Port Captain(s) for Houston and Galveston basically get to decide if the port will be open or closed. If closed no ships can transit in and out, at least if they require a pilot. (I've seen a crew boat head out at high speed in the fog trusting their radar alone. Lets say I saw it from my ship balcony and we couldn't see too far in the fog.)
The pilots get some input with the port captain about the decision to open or close the port(s). There are two ports which share the channel from the sea buoy into the Texas City Channel and Galveston turn. From there on up it is Port of Houston. So, depending where the fog is located it could be one or both ports closed. More specifically if the fog is from the island offshore and the bay is clear, POH could be open but getting from the Sea Buoy into that area could be closed off.
The channel is somewhat narrow and shallow, as compared to what is found in many ports. It is plenty large enough for safe passage of the cruise ships. Its a bigger channel into the Galveston area than into parts of Houston. In some parts of the Houston Ship Channel I've heard pilots say its like playing a game of chicken with tankers and container ships.
Only time will tell about Saturday. I am sure you are anxious to get aboard etc...I'd plan to shoot for mid afternoon given the later boarding time after the cleaning job gets completed. That will cut down on waiting etc...should make it smoother and calmer. Just know you could be seeing the same scenery for a while if there if fog closing down the port. Even if there is Fog in the morning it does not mean it will be there at sail away time. Cruise ships do tend to get priority sailing and returning when fog is messing up pilotage schedules.
Go forth and enjoy. Don't worry about next Saturday until about this time next week...even then don't worry unless you have life saving surgery scheduled on Monday...then you should ask the captain before your last port in case you want to fly home instead...but really you should be fine. You will get home soon enough, so unless you have something you can't miss on Sunday etc...no stressing out.
Have a safe and fun cruise. Remember to wash your hands frequently.
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CNN has a pretty balanced writeup.
Summary:
Short sailing was due to fog, not the virus per Princess Spokesperson
161 passengers, 11 crew affected (around 5 percent - RCCL was over 20 percent)
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/30/travel/princess-cruises-illness/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Re other issues, I was on with two different folks at Princess this evening...both offered up NORO before they ever mentioned fog. One read thru the email he had about it all and the email apparently said more about fog first then about the NORO but their system note was about NORO, barely a mention of fog.
Oh well...I think that with only 165 sick folks they could have kept on going if there was no threat of fog. Getting stuck possibly until Monday at the Sea Buoy waiting to come in with lots of sick folks aboard would have probably played out as a much worse scenario.
Just glad I didn't have to make the call to go back early or get stuck a few miles off shore...either way there will be upset passengers and plenty of folks second guessing the decision.
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Talk about the press, KHOU shows it not in until around 1am, which is later than it really is, the ship is at the port already. KTRK shows only 5 sick, despite CDC reports to the contrary. Oh well, better to take the press with a grain of salt.
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Marine Traffic Link of Caribbean Princess:
Another "bumped out of chosen cabin" story - would this make you cancel?
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted
So true