SS Future Re-Open Plan: Timing, Testing Needs??!!

[crusinbanjo]

On 3/2/2023 at 12:34 PM, TLCOhio said:

 I am also old enough to remember telephone "party lines" that needed to be shared and the early days for long-distance calls when you talked very, very fast as it was so very costly.  

Wow, now that you mention it, it is really weird that I am old enough to remember Party Lines as well.  Thanks Terry for reminding me!  LOL

[Stumblefoot]

8 minutes ago, crusinbanjo said:

…I am old enough to remember Party Lines as well.

FYI… considering party lines existed well into the 90s, I don’t think that qualifies you for being old. I know a Generation Z youngster whose parents had a party line when she was born.

Edited March 3, 2023 by Stumblefoot

[crusinbanjo]

5 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

On one of our last cruises on Holland America before we switched to Silversea we happened to go by an inside cabin that was being cleaned. It was a back-to-back cruise for us and the door was open while they finished getting it ready for the next cruise and passengers.  We stayed in the hallway but looked inside the cabin such as it was.  Small and dark was my impression, Mrs K’s comment was “nice if you don’t mind the stalactites hanging from the ceiling”.  😬  One of those spousal comments that says “don’t even think about it”.   🙂

We saw one of the inside cabins on another cruise line as well.  Mrs Banjo just said "I would rather not cruise at all".  But, I do remember our very first cruise in 1990 on the Island Princess.  Our cabin on Fiesta deck, (5), was VERY SMALL, and the sofa turned into a bed each night, but we did have a porthole, so all was good.....Until she saw a suite....

[crusinbanjo]

1 minute ago, Stumblefoot said:

FYI… considering party lines existed well into the 90s, I don’t think that qualifies you for being old. I know a Generation Z youngster whose parents had a party line.

Thank you, that makes me fell better!

[Daveywavey70]

What’s a party line? 😉🥊👞

[Catlover54]

4 hours ago, crusinbanjo said:

We saw one of the inside cabins on another cruise line as well.  Mrs Banjo just said "I would rather not cruise at all".  But, I do remember our very first cruise in 1990 on the Island Princess.  Our cabin on Fiesta deck, (5), was VERY SMALL, and the sofa turned into a bed each night, but we did have a porthole, so all was good.....Until she saw a suite....

 

On the other hand, this delightful and loving  couple is doing a *world cruise* on an inside cabin on HAL, and they seem to be having a wonderful time.

They spend very little time in their cabin, and the money they save on that allows them to take wonderful excursions, drink terrific wine, and otherwise live it up OUTSIDE the cabin.

 

 

DH and I spend a relatively large amount of time in our suites when we cruise, for a variety of reasons, including our desire to avoid the noise in the public areas (e.g., when there is piped in pounding music and/or people nearby are talking loudly and/or face-timing or watching sports on their ipads without headphones).  Having an inside cabin with no window, and very little room to move about, much less room to let DH set up his cruise photography and computer equipment,  and my small pharmacy, would not be very enjoyable.

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

…much less room to let DH set up his cruise photography and computer equipment, and my small pharmacy, would not be very enjoyable.

😅😂🤣 Thanks for the laugh.

[TLCOhio]

13 hours ago, crusinbanjo said:

Wow, now that you mention it, it is really weird that I am old enough to remember Party Lines as well.  Thanks Terry for reminding me!  LOL

 

For Mr. Banjo, the "GOOD NEWS" is that we can remember those details and specifics from the past in our "Way-Back" memory brains.  

 

Really loved Catlover54 saying: "Having an inside cabin with no window, and very little room to move about, much less room to let DH set up his cruise photography and computer equipment,  and my small pharmacy, would not be very enjoyable."  

 

The good news for me is that I can do it "ALL" on my laptop.  I can get up early, go elsewhere on the ship, open my laptop and being quickly set-up to edit pictures, post, write on Cruise Critic, surf the web, etc.  Like Silversea as the ships are smaller, easier to quickly move around, have many comfortable locations to sit down and enjoy, etc.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

[Randyk47]

14 hours ago, crusinbanjo said:

We saw one of the inside cabins on another cruise line as well.  Mrs Banjo just said "I would rather not cruise at all".  But, I do remember our very first cruise in 1990 on the Island Princess.  Our cabin on Fiesta deck, (5), was VERY SMALL, and the sofa turned into a bed each night, but we did have a porthole, so all was good.....Until she saw a suite....

My “mistake”, if you want to call it that, was on our honeymoon.  My bride had never cruised before so l booked a nice suite, very comparable to Silversea Silver Suite, for a 11-day cruise.   Kind of set the tone and the expectation for our 25 years of cruising.  We have had Silver and Medaliion Suites on Silversea but she will cruise in Deluxe and Superior Suites as we have gotten a bit more conservative since I retired.  No way no how would she cruise in a non-verandah cabin.

[Stumblefoot]

4 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

No way no how would she cruise in a non-verandah cabin.

She hasn’t really lived yet. 😁

 

Don’t book one for her.  I promise, you’ll become even more conservative than you already are.

[Mr Luxury]

23 hours ago, crusinbanjo said:

Wow, now that you mention it, it is really weird that I am old enough to remember Party Lines as well.  Thanks Terry for reminding me!  LOL

Can you put your phone down I need to make an urgent call.😁

[TLCOhio]

On 3/4/2023 at 7:47 AM, Randyk47 said:

My “mistake”, if you want to call it that, was on our honeymoon.  My bride had never cruised before so l booked a nice suite, very comparable to Silversea Silver Suite.   Kind of set the tone and the expectation for our 25 years of cruising.  She will cruise in Deluxe and Superior Suites as we have gotten a bit more conservative since I retired.  No way no how would she cruise in a non-verandah cabin.

 

Great family history and enjoyable follow-up from Randy.  Yes, as we get older and money is now always flowing as quickly, we get a little more "conservative" as to what we book, like and/or can afford.  

 

For us a verandah is nice, but not always "worth it" for the added costs.  On smaller, easy-to-navigate-quickly ships such as with Silversea, we can do a Vista and have some added money to re-allocate towards certain excursions in a better, more creative manner.  

 

Funny and true history from Mr. Luxury about "Can you put your phone down I need to make an urgent call."

 

From a financial news website and MSN News early this afternoon, they had this headline: “Here's What Royal Caribbean Has Cut Since Its Covid Restart” with these highlights: “Royal Caribbean has made some big cuts that passengers may not be happy about.  Royal Caribbean made some major dining cuts and some that were more subtle. The smaller changes include minor cutbacks like using smaller shrimp in Chops and cutting the size of the sushi roll portion in half when passengers order the fixed-price menu at Izumi.   The biggest dining change, however, was a massive overhaul of the cruise line's main dining room menu. This wasn't a tweak or cutting the size of portions. Royal Caribbean basically got rid of its past menus and created new ones.  Now, each night has a theme like 'Italian,' 'Mexican,' or 'American Favorites.'  That's a change, but it's not the big one. Along with offering nightly themes, Royal Caribbean also got rid of its 'Classics' selections. It removes some passenger favorites from the nightly menu and offers fewer choices on a nightly basis. Royal Caribbean has also now charges for a second lobster tail (and any after that). Guests will pay $16.99 plus an 18% gratuity for each lobster tail they ask for after the first one.”

 

Here is more from this report: "Royal Caribbean room attendants no longer leave a printed copy of the 'Cruise Compass' daily schedule in your room.  On some ships copies can be requested while on others no printed edition exists at all."

 

Hopefully with Silversea does not follow too closely these food cut-back and less selection/quality trends as are being tried/done with its parent Royal Caribbean's mass-market sailing lines.  YES, I am kind of "old-fashioned" in liking to have that printed summary for the next day to review and soak-up after returning in the evening after dinner and entertainment.  Plus, I like to save those daily summary to do up any live/blog summaries, answer future questions, etc.  

 

Full story at:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/heres-what-royal-caribbean-has-cut-since-its-covid-restart/ar-AA18kDkF

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio   

 

Barcelona/Med: June 2011, with stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Great visuals with key highlights, tips, etc. Live/blog now at 256,133 views.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1362155-solstice-livefirst-timer-reportspix’s-italycroatian-june-7-19/

[A Tucson Guy]

Thanks for starting this thread and also for keeping it going. This has been a lot of good information Terry!!

[crusinbanjo]

23 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

For us a verandah is nice, but not always "worth it" for the added costs.  On smaller, easy-to-navigate-quickly ships such as with Silversea, we can do a Vista and have some added money to re-allocate towards certain excursions in a better, more creative manner.  

Thank Terry for all the great responses and info.  As for a Vista suite, almost never for Mrs Banjo and I. Mrs Banjo always want to enjoy the Veranda, in fact, in October when we cruise the Norwegian Fiords, it will be our first SS cruise, (and only the 2nd time ever), that we cruised without a Veranda.  For this one occasion, we felt the weather would prohibit the use of the veranda, so instead we booked a Panorama Suite because of its location on the ship and the oversized window.  

 

Also, we booked Port to Port using the prepaid option for a 20% discount giving us a significant savings over a Superior Veranda and a better location than a vista suite.  We can't use the Blacklane service from home, because they don't operate in our home area and we normally book our own flights, so the door to door doesn't make much sense for us anyway. The prepaid option savings, after buying private trip insurance,  was just icing on the cake.

[Stumblefoot]

43 minutes ago, crusinbanjo said:

…in October when we cruise the Norwegian Fiords, it will be our first SS cruise, (and only the 2nd time ever), that we cruised without a Veranda.  For this one occasion, we felt the weather would prohibit the use of the veranda…

Smart strategy.

[TLCOhio]

On 3/7/2023 at 5:15 PM, A Tucson Guy said:

Thanks for starting this thread and also for keeping it going. This has been a lot of good information Terry!!

 

Appreciate all of these great comments and follow-ups.  Keep it coming!

 

From Time magazine yesterday, they had this headline: “Cruise Industry Is Back—and Breaking Pre-Pandemic Travel Records” with these highlights: “The pandemic sent the cruise industry into a 15-month shutdown. But it has gradually recovered in the time since—now ships are fully back in business, with new protocols in place. The Cruise Lines International Association forecasts that the number of passengers this year will surpass 2019 numbers—with an anticipated 31.5 million passengers embarking on cruises in 2023.  For those still hesitant, Richard Simms, staff writer for Cruise Radio, notes that many lines are investing in a 'ship within a ship' concept, like 'The Haven' from Norwegian, where travelers can pay a premium for more secluded amenities like a pool, bar, and dining area. 'Those were always popular before the pandemic, but I think they might be even more popular now because you’re removed from the rest of the ship,' he says.”

 

Here is more: "Simms says cruise lines have returned all ships to service, and many have plans to expand to attract younger customers and first-time cruisers. 'A good sign for the future of the industry is how many new ships are in the works,' says Simms. 'The industry knows it can recover.' "

 

Full story at:

https://time.com/6263225/cruise-covid-19-protocols/

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 246,501 views.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1172051-livesilver-cloud-norway-coastfjords-july-1-16-reports/

[Randyk47]

Really can’t say our experience on the Dawn was typical or unusual but it was the lowest percentage of Venetian Society passengers we’ve ever experienced on Silversea. Our cruise, actually two 7-day back-to-back cruises, were 92-95% passenger capacity with less than 10% Venetian Society members.  I’m guessing that the low percentage of Society members was probably driven by the two legs only being 7 days and it was in the Caribbean.   Certainly our Med cruises have been dominated by Society members and several cruises have been 50-60% returning passengers.  The upside for Silversea is that these shorter Caribbean cruises are a great way to attract new passengers to Silversea and obviously there were a lot of newbies on board.   We booked our next cruise with the future cruise consultants….there were two on the Dawn….and they were busy every time we walked by.   Bottom line is if our cruise was any indication Silversea bookings are alive and well.   

[Lois R]

55 minutes ago, Randyk47 said:

Really can’t say our experience on the Dawn was typical or unusual but it was the lowest percentage of Venetian Society passengers we’ve ever experienced on Silversea. Our cruise, actually two 7-day back-to-back cruises, were 92-95% passenger capacity with less than 10% Venetian Society members.  I’m guessing that the low percentage of Society members was probably driven by the two legs only being 7 days and it was in the Caribbean.   Certainly our Med cruises have been dominated by Society members and several cruises have been 50-60% returning passengers.  The upside for Silversea is that these shorter Caribbean cruises are a great way to attract new passengers to Silversea and obviously there were a lot of newbies on board.   We booked our next cruise with the future cruise consultants….there were two on the Dawn….and they were busy every time we walked by.   Bottom line is if our cruise was any indication Silversea bookings are alive and well.   

Hi Randy.😀...ok, will give you a shout out......what 2 cruises did you book? Asking because I have multiple upcoming ones on the Dawn too.................

[Randyk47]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

Hi Randy.😀...ok, will give you a shout out......what 2 cruises did you book? Asking because I have multiple upcoming ones on the Dawn too.................

Actually the only firm booking we have is the 19-day Shadow trans-Panama Canal cruise.  It starts in Ft Lauderdale and ends in San Francisco.  Leaves Ft Lauderdale December 27 and ends in San Francisco January 15, 2024.  A full transit of the Panama Canal and New Years on a cruise ship have always been in our bucket list.  Will be our longest cruise by one day.   

[Lois R]

23 minutes ago, Randyk47 said:

Actually the only firm booking we have is the 19-day Shadow trans-Panama Canal cruise.  It starts in Ft Lauderdale and ends in San Francisco.  Leaves Ft Lauderdale December 27 and ends in San Francisco January 15, 2024.  A full transit of the Panama Canal and New Years on a cruise ship have always been in our bucket list.  Will be our longest cruise by one day.   

Ohhh....sounds wonderful😀. Guess I misunderstood your other post. I thought you had 2 cruises booked on The Dawn and thought maybe one of them would be when we finally meet....oh well........

[TLCOhio]

57 minutes ago, Randyk47 said:

19-day Shadow trans-Panama Canal cruise.  It starts in Ft Lauderdale and ends in San Francisco.  Leaves Ft Lauderdale December 27 and ends in San Francisco January 15, 2024.  A full transit of the Panama Canal and New Years on a cruise ship have always been in our bucket list.  Will be our longest cruise by one day.   

 

Great, Randy, that you are planning a full transit of the Panama Canal.  As detailed below, we did that FLL to SF sailing in 2017.  It was not on a Silversea ship, but we found the Panama Canal "adventure" to be very fascinating.  In preparation for this journey, I did a significant amount of prior history research and reading.  Happy to share more if that background for how it "ALL" happen with this canal building would be of interest to you.  Of importance, the Panama Canal was built under the supervision of the United States War Department at that time.    

 

During that period, building the Panama Canal was considered a "Wonder of the World".  Not an easy project then in our construction history, plus with the challenges of that terrain and the health issues in those days for that swampy region.  We also loved San Francisco at the end of our cruise and spent three extra days there.  Now, however, I am not sure how enjoyable time will be there in the Golden Gate City.   Things keep changing in the world.  Right? 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Panama Canal? Early 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through Panama Canal.  Our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Now at 31,843 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

[Randyk47]

15 hours ago, Lois R said:

Ohhh....sounds wonderful😀. Guess I misunderstood your other post. I thought you had 2 cruises booked on The Dawn and thought maybe one of them would be when we finally meet....oh well........

Short of jointly picking a cruise I think we will always be one cruise off of actually being on the same ship at the same time.  🤪😀  For those of you who don’t understand what Lois and I are up to it goes back to when Lois was just considering Silversea several years ago.  Myself and many others answered her question and offered advice and experience.  At the time we said we hope to meet and cruise with her in the future.  Subsequently Lois has taken several Silversea cruises and is now one of the resident experts.  The funny thing is that probably four or so times one of us has been getting on either the Wind, Spirit, or Dawn in the Med or Caribbean while the other is getting off.  We’ve obviously had the same general interest in ships and itineraries but not the exact same timing,   Close but no cigar.  Maybe some day.     

[Randyk47]

15 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

 

Great, Randy, that you are planning a full transit of the Panama Canal.  As detailed below, we did that FLL to SF sailing in 2017.  It was not on a Silversea ship, but we found the Panama Canal "adventure" to be very fascinating.  In preparation for this journey, I did a significant amount of prior history research and reading.  Happy to share more if that background for how it "ALL" happen with this canal building would be of interest to you.  Of importance, the Panama Canal was built under the supervision of the United States War Department at that time.    

 

During that period, building the Panama Canal was considered a "Wonder of the World".  Not an easy project then in our construction history, plus with the challenges of that terrain and the health issues in those days for that swampy region.  We also loved San Francisco at the end of our cruise and spent three extra days there.  Now, however, I am not sure how enjoyable time will be there in the Golden Gate City.   Things keep changing in the world.  Right? 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Panama Canal? Early 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through Panama Canal.  Our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Now at 31,843 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

I’ll have to go back and check but I think our last night on the Shadow is actually an overnight in San Francisco.  In my younger years I was living in the Seattle-Tacoma area and San Francisco was one of my favorite cities to visit.  Back in the late 70’s I was attending the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, CA and used to drive up to San Francisco every time I had a spare minute.  Not really a foodie but the choices of restaurants in San Francisco were incredible and I think the credit card company sent me my bill in a box rather than an envelope.  🤪😬  In a case of bad timing my son just sold his condo in San Francisco two weeks ago and is now a resident here in Texas….part of the California exodus.   He and I had always wanted to go to the House of Prime Rib on Van Ness in San Francisco but could never get the time worked out.  Work permitting he might even fly in to San Francisco next January while we overnight just so we can make that happen.   

[crusinbanjo]

16 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

Actually the only firm booking we have is the 19-day Shadow trans-Panama Canal cruise.  It starts in Ft Lauderdale and ends in San Francisco.  Leaves Ft Lauderdale December 27 and ends in San Francisco January 15, 2024.  A full transit of the Panama Canal and New Years on a cruise ship have always been in our bucket list.  Will be our longest cruise by one day.   

Mrs Banjo and I have 4 bookings currently.  This is the most we have ever had in any 12 month period.  First is an Egypt tour and Nile River cruise on AMA, then on a SS cruise in Norway, October, (hoping to spot Northern lights), on Azamara in January Ft Lauderdale to Lima, (our 3rd full transit through the Panama Canal), and finally Lima to Papeete, a B to B.
 

This final B to B itinerary, oddly enough, was the trip we had booked on SS for Jan of 2021, canceled because of Covid.  We are booked on Azamara only because SS has not reproduced this IT.  I had been looking for a similar IT ever since and came across this quite by accident.  This cruise will be our first on Azamara and is a bucket list cruise for us as it includes a 2 day stop at Easter Island and a long overdue return to the islands of French Polynesia.

[TLCOhio]

4 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

In my younger years I was living in the Seattle-Tacoma area and San Francisco was one of my favorite cities to visit.  Back in the late 70’s I was attending the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, CA and used to drive up to San Francisco every time I had a spare minute.  Not really a foodie but the choices of restaurants in San Francisco were incredible and I think the credit card company sent me my bill in a box rather than an envelope.

 

Excellent follow-up and background from Randy about your long history and connections for San Francisco and the super scenic Monterey area.  Lovely!!  I go back to early January 1969 in first "leaving my heart" in San Francisco when flying up to the Bay area after being in Southern California for an Ohio State National Championship victory in the Rose Bowl against USC and OJ Simpson.    

 

From AARP yesterday, they had this headline: “5 Illnesses You Can Get on a Cruise Ship (Besides COVID)" and this sub-headline: "Plus, tips on how to avoid getting sick while at sea and ports of call.”

 

Here are some of their reporting highlights: “Concerns over the spread of COVID-19 have loomed over the travel industry for the last three years, but with the public health emergency coming to an end and a robust menu of preventive tools and treatments available, many of those fears are fading.  A new AARP survey shows 81 percent of adults 50-plus who plan to travel in 2023 believe it’s safe to do so now, up from 77 percent in 2021. And while interest in cruising is down slightly among the 50-plus population this year compared to last, a recent AAA survey finds that, overall, the share of travelers considering a cruise vacation in 2023 is up."

 

This story also noted: " 'Indoor densely populated places where we’re exchanging exhaled breath with one another is still going to be a concern for me,' says Wilbur Chen, M.D., adult infectious disease physician and director of the University of Maryland, Baltimore Travel Medicine Practice.  That concern isn’t limited to COVID, either. Flu spreads in a similar way, Chen points out."

 

They details protections and cruise tips for dealing with norovirus, flu, seasickness, burns and bites etc.  

 

Full story at:

https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2023/common-cruise-ship-illnesses.html

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 242,542 views.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1896175-solstice-live-australianzhawaii-many-pix’s-jan-20-feb-3/