SargassoPirate

We carry an annual policy that provides coverage for all trips over 150 miles from home.  For anything beyond the limits of the policy we self insure.  We've saved a lot of money over the years by not taking the cruise line insurance and have been covered  while traveling on land in the US and worldwide.

Those health assessments are pretty much worthless.  Who is going to be standing in line to board and admit they are not feeling well?

1 hour ago, cruising sister said:

Unfortunately hand sanitizer does not work on noro. You would need to go wash with soap and water before eating. That is why it is so easily spread. 

Although anecdotal at best, I've been on over 50 cruises, many many flights, buses, trains, taxis, and traveled in third world countries.  Never had Montezuma's Revenge.

I practice rigorous hygiene, wash my hands frequently, AND sanitize after going through the buffet or after handing back the menu in the MDR.  

3 minutes ago, Seaworthy71 said:

• Thank You good to know they kept blaming it on me (even we I told the booking agent for health reasons it was imperative to try and keep room), so she marked it anyway.
•  

I don't have a lot of experience with cruising, but I do remember Holland America (years ago) offered an upgrade. They gave us a choice, the original cabin was still present and kept in tact.

Do You not pay more for choosing Your cabin and choosing mid ship when You book?

Yep, you pay more for choosing your own cabin and THEN Princess may still decide that you need an "upgrade" to a cabin in a less desirable location.  There's a good reason those crappo cabins are vacant and if they can quietly move you there and you don't notice, the better location is available for sale.

Another step to take to protect yourself is to be wary of food workers wearing plastic gloves.  The only thing those gloves prevent is the wearer's hands from getting dirty.  They are, however, an excellent vector for cross contamination when they are worn for hours while touching multiple surfaces, including food contact surfaces and food. 

And if you want to have some fun, ask them why they are wearing gloves.  Better yet, ask the supervisors.  I've been doing this since the "magic disinfecting" gloves became ubiquitous during the pandemic.  The common answer is to protect the customers.  That's the perfect opening for my next question - how does touching dirty surfaces and then handling my food protect me?

Not trying to be snarky, but since noro is spread by the fecal-oral route, it's easy to prevent.  Break the chain of transmission by washing your hands frequently and sanitize just before you start eating.  Sure, you may washy washy on the way in, but how many surfaces do you touch before you grab that roll to butter it?  The menu?  The bottom of your chair as you pull it in?

16 hours ago, Prost said:

It's been a while since I checked, where in my cruise confirmation listed "no upgrade" or "accepted all upgrade"?

You can't see it in your booking with Princess, but my travel agency shows it on their booking page.

I usually book directly with Princess and work to select the perfect cabin - passengers above, below, and across the corridor.  Then, I transfer it the booking to my TA and after the transfer is in effect I call and we go over the booking and the TA is able to mark it "No Upgrades".

And then, after I learned Princess is so slippery with their "upgrades", I check my bookings every morning to ensure I haven't been moved to an "upgrade": under the Melanoma Deck.  It happened once in the past and the TA was able to get me back to my perfect, "downgrade" cabin.

Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.

33 minutes ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

Unless you request “do not upgrade” at the time of your booking, Princess assumes you are open to having your cabin upgraded. 

My TA explained that "accept all upgrades" is one of Princess's default settings.  

I have traveled worldwide, including third world countries, for over 30 years on planes, trains, buses, taxis, and cruise ships.

Noro is spread by the fecal-oral route.

I have never had noro. Why?  Because I wash/sanitize my hands.

It's easy to tell those who don't.  They get noro.

5 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

@sns1 "They'll reach out to you?" Hope they wash their hands first. 

Transmitted by contact. Knuckles on elevator buttons, use back of hand on stair hand rails. Be mindful until it becomes habit. We were on X's Mercury during it's big outbreak. Both of our careers were in heathcare, we are careful by habit and neither of us affected. Good luck to you!

I worked in public health and safety for a large organization before I retired.  I offered several opinions on another thread about noro and will repeat them here:

"The real key to preventing noro is to simply break the chain of contamination by washing your hands and not touching your food with your hands or sticking your hands in your mouth.  Sanitize your hands last thing before you eat since you have touched all sorts of common surfaces since that last handwash.

I couldn't care less about that or others washing their hands, etc.  I treat every surface as contaminated and break the chain of contamination by washing my own hands and sanitizing before I eat.  I don't depend on the hygiene habits of others to keep me from getting sick.

And while we are on the subject, those ubiquitous plastic gloves that you see on food staff are more theater. They only serve to keep the wearer's hands clean and are excellent cross-cross-contamination vectors especially when worn for hours at a time and touching multiple surfaces."

And while we are on the subject, those ubiquitous plastic gloves that you see on food staff are more theater. They only serve to keep the wearer's hands clean and are excellent cross-cross-contamination vectors especially when worn for hours at a time and touching multiple surfaces.

Think about it.  Better yet, sit and watch food workers to see how many surfaces those gloves touch.

10 hours ago, bronzey214 said:

...while also hoping the person in front of you at the buffet salad bar did the same.

I couldn't care less about that or others washing their hands, etc.  I treat every surface as contaminated and break the chain of contamination by washing my own hands and sanitizing before I eat.  I don't depend on the hygiene habits of others to keep me from getting sick.

Sound harsh?  50 plus cruises and no noro so far.

On 4/8/2023 at 10:30 AM, wrongwaywatson said:

I just got off.    I was told that there were several gastro cases on board.  After a few days into the cruise, they stopped letting you get drinks yourself, and they removed the sugar/creamer section at the IC.  No salt/pepper sitting out in the buffet, either.  They poured the cream in for you.  The last few days they were dishing out the bread and butter in the dining room, instead of putting the baskets on the table.  The last day they were dishing out the food in the buffet.

All of which is theater to make passengers feel safe and for it to look like the ship is being proactive.

The real key to preventing noro is to simply break the chain of contamination by washing your hands and not touching your food with your hands or sticking your hands in your mouth.  Sanitize your hands last thing before you eat since you have touched all sorts of common surfaces since that last handwash.

3 hours ago, caribill said:

They can do that even if you selected a cabin and managed to have it marked no upgrade.

That's why I check any bookings with Princess every morning in hopes that if I did get an unwanted "upgrade" I can have my TA get my original cabin back.  It's a bit of a pain to have to keep such a close eye on their shifty ways, but it's better than spending a cruise in an "upgrade" cabin right under the Melanoma Deck.

12 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

That is interesting ,as we are now dissolving our  time share  with Marriott . The time frame according to a letter we received is to be out of the time share in 120 days closing .We no longer can make effective use .When you are young it is the next best thing to ice cream .Especially  going to foreign countries where time share trades are readily available

On the flip side, we just added to our time share points with Hilton.  We have been working that system for almost 20 years and when coupled with the Hilton Honors program points, and the affiliated AmEx card points, we feel we have maximized our value.  We rarely pay for a hotel room anymore and our resort stays are booked with points.

They key, though, is to pay off the AmEx card every month and not pay any interest.

21 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I've often said slide in late with $10 left in the bank!

 

So you take SKI vacations--Spending Kids' Inheritance.

You got that right.  And to their credit, with our expectations set as they were, the kids have been totally independent and never asked for help financially.  By saving and living below our means, we got them launched with no student loan debts and now it's our time to live it up. 

48 minutes ago, nini said:

The reason for booking arrival at LHR just one day ahead of embarking and leaving the day of disembarking, was the nightmare we endured last May regarding covid testing. Never again.

 

Oh yeah.  I feel your pain there.  My only cruises since the restart have been from US ports and eventually I was able to get a test at the port, which helped travelers with the pre-cruise testing deadlines.

It's been an interesting three years and we can only hope some lessons have been learned.

17 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

That's easy advice to take until you taste several wines blind and later learn that the one you really liked is $200 per bottle!!  

Yikes!

What did you do?  Go for choice #1 or drop down a notch?

I had a buddy in college who used to joke that the best wine was drunk from a brown paper bag behind the store where you bought it.

Don't know whatever happened to him. 😁

5 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I would characterize myself as more of a saver than a spender. I don't spend more than I'm comfortable with, but I'd rather sit on a deck chair than a pile of gold or palladium. 

After we got the kids through college we told them they are on their own and to not expect a big inheritance.  With any luck we'll slide in late for our own funeral and that last check will bounce. 

13 minutes ago, nini said:

 

I booked our flights basically on day one of availability, getting them at at least $2,000.00 less than they would have been now to re-book.

However, I appreciate your suggestion.

I understand.  Since we retired, we tend to not get in a big hurry about most anything and have been scheduling extra time before and after cruises in the departing/arriving cities so that we don't feel rushed or stressed if there is a flight disruption.  We also started combining land tours with a cruise to get there or back.  

The gift of time sure helps and time is the most precious commodity. 

Safe travels.

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Not quite, but close. 

We stopped going to the free wine tasting a while back as we disliked all of their wines. 

I suppose we just don't know good form bad.

We just drink what we like.

I've seen a couple of TV shows in the past where wine snobs participated in blind taste testings and more often than not, the cheaper wine won and fooled their sophisticated palates. 

One of the wineries in the Napa valley summed it up on a tour when the guide said that one should drink the wine they like regardless of the price or the label.   I think it was Beringer's, but it may have been Charles Krug.  

Cheers.

On 4/2/2023 at 1:12 PM, nini said:

Our flight from LHR departs at 4:15 pm. We will be docking in Southampton as well. This is just too close for comfort for us, as much as we would like to visit Stonehenge someday.

Take the stress out of it and stay overnight after the cruise at one of the Heathrow terminal hotels.  Then you can enjoy the post- cruise excursion to Stonehenge and get dropped off at Heathrow with no clock watching stress. Stay overnight and then you have a range of flight times the next day to choose from.

14 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Considering the cheep stuff we buy, I don't think it makes that much difference. 

Two buck Chuck?

Benjamin Franklin — 'The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.'

One more thought, I had a World Cruise booked prior to the pandemic, as well as a South America cruise, and a cruise to Norway.  Covid took care of those.

As the market started to reopen and schedules were nnounced, I now have the World Cruise booked, the Norway cruise booked, and the South America cruise booked.  When I compared the current bookings with those that were cancelled, the prices are all in the same ballpark.  No major jumps in prices.  And, at prices I am willing to pay for the adventures.

Thank goodness, we still have a free market economy.