Galley Slave

Thanks for the info on the Nieuw Amsterdam.  I will track it on Vesselfinder.com so we can see it as it comes into Puget Sound.  Now I am really sorry we canceled our 8/7 cruise!

We just saw Serenade of the Seas from our porch!  Looks like they are starting a test cruise.  Haven't seen a cruise ship for months!  

We always bring our own luggage onboard due to their size.  Will we have to check them so that they can be sanitized?  Lots of unknowns for our cruise on 8/7 to Alaska.

We are considering a cruise on the Volendam which would be in Spain and Portugal during August 2022.  I read reviews from prior to the shutdown that indicated some issues with A/C and plumbing.  I am wondering if these concerns are still apt to be an issue due to the age of the ship.  The A/C at that time of the year in these countries could be a problem.

15 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

Oh no 😞  Yes, keep trying!  I did it 2 hours after Inslee announced we were moving forward, maybe it got bogged down later in the day. 😞 

If you have ever seen a doctor at UW you can set up appt. through ECare.  If you don't have that account, you can set one up.  Just go on UW Medicine for info.

Turks and Caicos have just listed requirements for travel.  People need a test five days prior to arrival and travel insurance with Medevac coverage.  I wonder if the other islands will have similar requirements.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/turks-and-caicos-updates-travel-requirements/ar-BB16E749?ocid=msedgntp

This is an interesting article from the Seattle Times:

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/the-worlds-cruise-ships-cant-sail-now-what-to-do-with-them/

7 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

The article says it was a 5 day quarantine.

I was remembering the posting from April 17th when the Times wrote about the Trident Seafoods, Island Enterprise fishing boat.  They did quarantine for 14 days with security insuring their quarantine was valid, meals were delivered to their cabins.  They couldn't even walk in the hallways of the hotel where the quarantine was taking place.

There is a Seattle Times article that describes having the crew of the fishing trawler American Dynasty quarantine in a hotel, testing the 126 crew during the two weeks and before they left Seattle.  They have returned with 85 crew members testing positive for the Corona virus..  It sounds like they were not all wearing masks.  We think the crew quarters may be as close as the crew quarters on a cruise ship.  It sounds like only a few had symptoms upon their return, but still tested positive.  This makes being tested at the port before a cruise departure sound less reliable.

They need to bring back more wait staff in the MDR so people can have dinner in less than two hours and get to the show.

The crews for the Alaska fishing fleets are going to quarantine in a hotel for two weeks, monitored with guards and daily temperature checks by nurses.  Two days prior to departure they will have tests for Covid 19 and take tests with the boats.  They next step is to keep the processing plants from having an outbreak.  This is their attempt to "avoid what happened on cruise ships."  This is in today's Seattle Times.   

go to WSVN-7 News website

They have corrected this travel restriction.  It does not apply to U.S. citizens, only people from Europe.  Citizens and family from U. S. Can still fly home. 

The Seattle Times reported today that the first cruise ship due on April 1st is the Grand Princess.  The CDC and the Coast Guard will determine if it is able to dock here for the day.  It sounds like it may skip Seattle and go on to British Columbia.  They should keep the crew onboard as Seattle is a hot spot for the virus.

They just talked about the cruising season in Seattle on our local news.  It sounds like the Port of Seattle is not sure if there will be as many passengers cruising out of Seattle starting on April 3rd.  Patient 0 had taken group transportation from the airport.  So pack your Purell to use as you head to the port.  Not sure if  would go to crowded places like the Pike Place Market, locals are avoiding crowds.

It has now been reported by The Washington Post that the coronavirus has been spreading around the Seattle area for the past six weeks.  This is bound to affect the cruises from Seattle to Alaska if it becomes more widespread.  People could pick it up and be asymptomatic and spread it on their cruise.  

Thanks for the information.  Not sure we are going to cruise this year with the coronavirus concerns.  

Are there any ways to get into town on your own from the cruise port?  It would be great to know how often they run.  Someone mentioned that taxis are cheap, so that is an alternative.

We are considering this cruise for September 20, 2020.  It sounds like the weather was not too bad for your cruise, the rain mostly in the northern ports.  I wonder how often the ship misses getting into Falmouth?  If you could take this over, would you go earlier in the year?

20 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

When you get your invoice after the initial booking with the payment of deposit the port times are listed. I think that also happens if you just request a hold on a cabin. Viking will do a courtesy hold for 24 hours  ( I think that is the time frame) and send you a quote that has that information as well.

Thanks for the prompt reply!  Today is supposedly the last day to Book Now and Pay Later, not sure if Viking will extend that offer.  

We are looking at this cruise for 9/20/20.  It sounds like the weather can be less cooperative later in the fall.  How soon did you find out the port times?  If we want to plan independent excursions we need to know the arrival and departure times from each port.  

There is a new Salish Sea boat that goes between Vancouver and Victoria.  V2V Vacations.

https://www.v2vvacations.com/cruises/

We saw this service last summer.

33 minutes ago, 4starHollandcruiser said:

I just finished a 35 day cruise on the Maasdam and would not book another cruise on that ship.  Many of us could not get our rooms cooler, and many public rooms were too warm.  They cannot fix the system and have been trying since September 2018.  The plans for selling the ship mean that it has 2 more years at the most.

Thanks for the honest input.  We were considering the circumnavigation of Australia, so that is very helpful information.  Would not want to go to a climate that is hot and humid without good A/C.

30 minutes ago, dfish said:

What are the dates on those reviews?   I was on her for 14 days last summer and did not notice any of those problems.  I'm booked for this summer as well and board in 20 days.  

 

There was a drydock done in the fall of 2017.   See if the reviews were from before drydock or after.

Some of the reviews were from April and May of 2019.  There is a mix of good and bad reviews.  I think people write reviews if they had a very good or very bad experience!

There are some concerns expressed in the Ship Reviews under the header Research.  Has anyone who has been onboard recently heard about or noticed problems with the ship.  Rust would not bother me, but plumbing, AC and heat issues would keep me from booking if they were widespread.