Future of cruising /elevators?/ buffets?/main diningroom?/shows?

[Lionesss]

3 hours ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Perhaps many passengers will discover the stairs on a ship....and benefit from the healthy exercise of using them on the way to eating, eating, and eating...

 

 

Excellent post.

 

I am currently struggling with a Bakers cyst behind my left knee.

 

Since I do not currently want surgery and hoping that drainage and steroids remain the treatment, I am game for that.

 

I have to keep moving to keep the muscles from getting weak around the area. Which has been my doctors recommendation.

 

I can only walk the neighborhood or the mall for 2 miles, currently.  I was upto 6 miles before the covid event grounded us. And the weather sucked.

 

I just started back doing stairs this week.  When I go down stairs I am fine, but when I go up stairs I have to be cautious because the area gets sensitive.  (On a pain scale maybe a 4/10).  I do not need pain medicine, it is more of a nuisance.

 

So when we cruise, I can easily go down the stairs, and take my time going up.  Or could actually need to ride the elevator.

 

Hopefully by August (if we cruise) it will be recovered.  And use the elevator only as a backup.

 

Stay healthy.

Edited May 23, 2020 by Lionesss

[lenquixote66]

8 hours ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Perhaps many passengers will discover the stairs on a ship....and benefit from the healthy exercise of using them on the way to eating, eating, and eating...

I am disabled and cannot walk up and down stairs anywhere.I have no choice ,I have to use elevators. 

[LXA350]

8 hours ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Perhaps many passengers will discover the stairs on a ship....and benefit from the healthy exercise of using them on the way to eating, eating, and eating...

You have to watch out with such statements on the forum, things that could lead to a healthier lifestyle or seing things critical are not something people like to hear here 😉

 

Now we can get to the subject scooter, yes there are people disabled and really need them to be able even to go on a cruise, however a quite high number seem to just use it as a excuse not to even walk 1 foot although they would be capable to do so,which is quite sad. Why are so many scooters in the US and in other part of the world these are almost inexistant except in old age homes for instance.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

58 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I am disabled and cannot walk up and down stairs anywhere.I have no choice ,I have to use elevators. 

Well of course...elevator use should feature disabled passengers first and foremost.

[mets123]

12 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Well of course...elevator use should feature disabled passengers first and foremost.

You would think that should be the norm, but in reality it's not. My wife is a stroke survivor and uses a scooter so she can get around. I can't say how many times we were late for dinner and shows because people just cut in front of us.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

8 minutes ago, mets123 said:

You would think that should be the norm, but in reality it's not. My wife is a stroke survivor and uses a scooter so she can get around. I can't say how many times we were late for dinner and shows because people just cut in front of us.

Sadly we've seen that happen plenty of times...

[9876]

12 hours ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Perhaps many passengers will discover the stairs on a ship....and benefit from the healthy exercise of using them on the way to eating, eating, and eating...

No doubt the stairs are great however consider the size of these ships.  Oasis of the Seas has 18 decks.  That is not a quick trip up the stairs.  

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, mets123 said:

You would think that should be the norm, but in reality it's not. My wife is a stroke survivor and uses a scooter so she can get around. I can't say how many times we were late for dinner and shows because people just cut in front of us.

I have had the same experience with elevators on cruise ships .People can be so inconsiderate .

Is your screen name the baseball team ?

[mets123]

5 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have had the same experience with elevators on cruise ships .People can be so inconsiderate .

Is your screen name the baseball team ?

Absolutely. I've been a fan since day one in 1962.

[compman9]

On 5/22/2020 at 10:33 AM, livingonthebeach said:

In addition to eliminating self-serve in the buffet, these other measures have been thrown out there as possibilities:
 

• Fewer passengers per cruise - maybe 50% of capacity.
• Staggered embarkation and disembarkation times (perhaps by appointment only).
• Advanced pre-boarding procedures. 
• Health and temperature checks at embarkation.
• Masks require of all passengers and crew.
• An expanded medical crew. 
• Cabins allocated for potential quarantine cases.
• Social distancing around the pool  (Loungers more spread out and possible scheduled pool times) 
• Spread out seating in the ships' theaters.
• Spread out seating at casino tables and slot machines.
• Spread out seating at MDR.
• Constant cleaning and sanitizing.
• Smaller groups for tours. 

 

You have just described my dream cruise 

[bigrednole]

RCL is going to cater to what the CDC requires of them and nothing more. They will do what they can to mitigate as much risk as they can. However, they are not going to be able to accommodate to the lowest common denominator. It almost sounds like you want a completely private experience. You want to be able to go or be where no one has been or no one can possibly contaminate what you are going to have to use. That is not going to happen. People are going to have to either accept that it is out there, you may be exposed to it, and you need to asses your risk level of contracting something. 

[MikeC1610]

Here's an idea.

 

So from what I understand the problem with the buffet is mostly to do with multiple hands touching the same serving utensil be it tongs, serving spoons etc.

 

How about we keep the buffet as is but:

 

ensure that everyone, and that means everyone thoroughly washes/sanitises their hands on entry, then slip on a pair of thin sanitised rubber gloves

each individual then picks up their own sanitised silicon utensil handle cover that they slip over the utensil they are using to serve their own food.

When finished with the utensil handle cover they drop it in the containers stationed around the buffet where they are taken and re-sanitised to be re-used.

If an individual wants a second serving they take a fresh utensil cover from one of the many stations around the buffet.

 

Surely this approach would eliminate 99% of any possibility of contamination through people handling the same utensils.

Sure it would be an inconvenience but IMO would work and be a much more acceptable and way less inconvenient approach than converting the buffet to a MDR style eatery.

 

Tables could still be spread out to a safe distance if required.

 

[time4u2go]

26 minutes ago, MikeC1610 said:

Here's an idea.

 

So from what I understand the problem with the buffet is mostly to do with multiple hands touching the same serving utensil be it tongs, serving spoons etc.

 

How about we keep the buffet as is but:

 

ensure that everyone, and that means everyone thoroughly washes/sanitises their hands on entry, then slip on a pair of thin sanitised rubber gloves

each individual then picks up their own sanitised silicon utensil handle cover that they slip over the utensil they are using to serve their own food.

When finished with the utensil handle cover they drop it in the containers stationed around the buffet where they are taken and re-sanitised to be re-used.

If an individual wants a second serving they take a fresh utensil cover from one of the many stations around the buffet.

 

Surely this approach would eliminate 99% of any possibility of contamination through people handling the same utensils.

Sure it would be an inconvenience but IMO would work and be a much more acceptable and way less inconvenient approach than converting the buffet to a MDR style eatery.

 

Tables could still be spread out to a safe distance if required.

 

So for every single item that a person wants, they have to slip this utensil cover over the serving utensil for that item? How do they do this without touching the utensil in the first place, which is the original problem?

Edited May 24, 2020 by time4u2go

[LXA350]

15 hours ago, mets123 said:

You would think that should be the norm, but in reality it's not. My wife is a stroke survivor and uses a scooter so she can get around. I can't say how many times we were late for dinner and shows because people just cut in front of us.

 

It would also help that only people would be allowed to use the scooter beacause they really are disabled such as your wife, but not ones that use their obesity as an excuse not to walk even 1 foot although they would be capable to do so.

 

There should be strict rules that elevators only to be used by elderly, disabled and ones with "real" health issues, especially during peak times. If no one is waiting for an elevator and it is empty no problem for other passengers to use it as well.

[boscobeans]

8 minutes ago, LXA350 said:

 

It would also help that only people would be allowed to use the scooter beacause they really are disabled such as your wife, but not ones that use their obesity as an excuse not to walk even 1 foot although they would be capable to do so.

 

There should be strict rules that elevators only to be used by elderly, disabled and ones with "real" health issues, especially during peak times. If no one is waiting for an elevator and it is empty no problem for other passengers to use it as well.

 

I can see in the future ships built with escalators at each end and an elevator in the midships area for motorized scooters, wheelchairs and those who cannot navigate an escalator.

Escalators have no real wait time and spacing would be no problem. 

[LXA350]

4 minutes ago, boscobeans said:

 

I can see in the future ships built with escalators at each end and an elevator in the midships area for motorized scooters, wheelchairs and those who cannot navigate an escalator.

Escalators have no real wait time and spacing would be no problem. 

 

It's an option, although I doubt we will see escalators to cover all decks, they are heavy and costly. But I could see a concept of escalators to cover the main decks covering the MDR, Shops Guest Services, Entertainment and gangways.

[ThirstyCruiser]

On 5/23/2020 at 6:06 AM, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Perhaps many passengers will discover the stairs on a ship....and benefit from the healthy exercise of using them on the way to eating, eating, and eating...

All those people on the stairs, many who normally might do one flight of stairs a day if that. 

"Hold on, just gimmie me a minute.....only 4 more flights to go.....OK, lets go"

Huffing. And puffing. And wheezing.

 

Theater show lets out.  ("C'mon Abner, its only 5 flights to our room") x 500

 

All while trying to mitigate a disease primarily spread thru people expelling breathe.

 

I love and miss cruising. But I cannot think of a more challenging use case to solve than cruising. 

 

Start with a contagious disease spread in the air. OK, now come up with a worst case scenario.

• Lets start with a few hundred people. Naw, make it a few thousand.
• Put them together for a few hours. Naw, make it a few days, even a week.
• Restrict them from driving home should conditions warrant it till the end of the 7 days.
• Now then, this disease, does it affect some more than others? OK, lets make most of this population that demographic.
• OK, if (when) people get sick let's make it so there is only one little hospital with a couple beds/doctors for a few thousand people. No, no ICU. Ventilators? Maybe one or two.
• Anything else? Oh right, lets make this group of people pay thousands of dollars to participate so there is incentive to NOT skip the experiment no matter how bad they feel before starting.
• The only way they can move about is in crowded elevators or many, many flights of stairs with a lot of huffin' and puffin'.
• And lets add more than a few you-cant-tell-ME-what-to-do-on-MY-vaction types.
• Add alcohol and simmer for a few days.

Good. Luck.

 

OK, I can think of one worse use case - Times Square on New Years Eve.

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by ThirstyCruiser

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, ThirstyCruiser said:

OK, I can think of one worse use case - Times Square on New Years Eve.

Nope, that's well ventilated, only a few hours, less susceptible demographic and maybe less of an issue than an enclosed space on the ship.

Edited May 24, 2020 by Biker19

[CRUISEFAN0001]

16 hours ago, 9876 said:

No doubt the stairs are great however consider the size of these ships.  Oasis of the Seas has 18 decks.  That is not a quick trip up the stairs.  

No doubt one of the "side effects" of changes will include people's choice of cabins...and which deck they're on.  Just watch.

[LXA350]

11 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

No doubt one of the "side effects" of changes will include people's choice of cabins...and which deck they're on.  Just watch.

 

But then it's not like one specific level has most features needed for the cruise, will be difficult to implement that wihout helping to reduce the movement around the ship. On the top levels you have the pool and Windjammer then 4-5 decks down you have the shops and other restaurants etc. Already now the cabins for disbaled are located close to the elevators, not much more they can do. Only if taking the evacuation into consideration, then all these cabins should be on the lower levels close to the muster stations.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

1 minute ago, LXA350 said:

 

But then it's not like one specific level has most features needed for the cruise, will be difficult to implement that wihout helping to reduce the movement around the ship. On the top levels you have the pool and Windjammer then 4-5 decks down you have the shops and other restaurants etc. Already now the cabins for disbaled are located close to the elevators, not much more they can do. Only if taking the evacuation into consideration, then all these cabins should be on the lower levels close to the muster stations.

Kinda reinforced my point...people will take more of a note as to location based on most-used activities. Those who can use stairs with regularity may choose "middle-level" decks...others doing regular excursions choosing lower decks.

 

Stairs...not a first choice, but an alternative to the confined small spaces of elevators.

 

Rest assured...changes on cruises will happen...they won't guarantee people don't either abuse or misuse options.

[LXA350]

4 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Kinda reinforced my point...people will take more of a note as to location based on most-used activities. Those who can use stairs with regularity may choose "middle-level" decks...others doing regular excursions choosing lower decks.

 

Stairs...not a first choice, but an alternative to the confined small spaces of elevators.

 

Rest assured...changes on cruises will happen...they won't guarantee people don't either abuse or misuse options.

 

They can't force the people into this but on what you mentiond I wouldn't be suprised that during the booking process there will be extra options to answers on the main interests / activites someone has on board and that they would then suggest deck levels / cabin location that meet best their criterias by helping people choose their cabins.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

46 minutes ago, LXA350 said:

 

They can't force the people into this but on what you mentiond I wouldn't be suprised that during the booking process there will be extra options to answers on the main interests / activites someone has on board and that they would then suggest deck levels / cabin location that meet best their criterias by helping people choose their cabins.

Agree they won't force things...but they can use survey questions to thelp people "come to their own choices".  In general, people tend to be attracted to what's easiest and/or best based on their onboard activities anyway.

[Diver2014]

We just returned from eating brunch at a local restaurant.  Not ONE person wearing a mask.  Every other table removed and no condiments on the table were the only things I saw different from pre-virus.  Tourists are flocking in by the car and boat load.

Restrictions have been lifted in most of South Carolina except for bowling alleys, movie theaters and bars and non private swimming pools.  It's almost as if people are saying 'what virus?'.  Very few masks being worn in the stores as well.  While living on an island does eliminate a lot of the risk, I'm surprised that things have returned to pre-virus normal so quickly.  I elected to stay home the last month and a half due to my age (although we did take our camping trailer to a state park in Georgia two weeks ago - the only person wearing a mask was the park ranger). My point is,  I doubt that the cruise lines will be requiring any sort of mask or social distancing after cruising resumes this year.  People are quickly getting back to their normal routines.  Friends and relatives in Miami, Georgia and North Carolina are telling me the same sort of things are happening there.  I think the mob media is having a field day making people paranoid.  Not that we should let our guard down but the hysteria seems to be centered more in the urban cities of the northeast.  Even in Seattle where my mom lives in an assisted living facility, things are starting to relax.  These are just my observations.  I have no second thoughts at all about cruising in November, as long as we can get to the port (we have to fly) and the ports of call are opened to tourists.  Too early to tell.

[coffeebean]

On 5/22/2020 at 9:56 AM, LuCruise said:

.........For Elevators, you have the sanitizing but I think the issue is also many people in a small space Wonder if they will limit to one family at a time?  I'm always one that likes to take the stairs when we can....esp on a cruise with all the eating and treats...but for many it's not a choice.

Elevators are easy.......no one gets on an elevator without wearing a mask. EVER. My mask protects you and your mask protects me. They will have to have a crew member enforce this and ride in the elevator with the passengers..... just like the old days of elevator operators.

 

I'm afraid to think of the resistance to wearing a mask that could arise with passengers who are drunk, giving the crew member a hard time.

Edited May 24, 2020 by coffeebean