Social Distancing as a solo

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

I'd rather wait until after [forbidden political rant] or never cruise again for the rest of my life, than wear a mask, scan QR codes, and twiddle my thumbs all by my lonesome the entire time on the ship.

 

Don't mind the idea of scanning QR codes; that's one of the reason for me buying a smart phone a couple of months ago (now, how to do that:  I have yet to learn).  Having to wear a mask by me and the crew?  That remains a "bridge too far" for me to cross.  However, I think it is reality that there will be fellow guests who will be mask wearers for quite some time in the future.  Even if they are not required or really needed.  

[Lois R]

rka, you just got a smart phone? I am not a technical person but I have to tell you, it is really easy peasy🙂.......If I can do it, anyone can😃Did you get an apple or android? I have a Samsung Android.  It is very easy to use.

[LandlockedCruiser01]

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

rka, you just got a smart phone? I am not a technical person but I have to tell you, it is really easy peasy🙂.......If I can do it, anyone can😃Did you get an apple or android? I have a Samsung Android.  It is very easy to use.

 

Let me say something: I work in IT.  So I'm around technology for 8 hours a day every weekday, plus a sporadic Saturday.  So when I'm on a cruise, I want my phone to sit in the safe until debarkation. I want the REAL cruise experience:  paper menus, paper schedules, and mask-free faces.  The cruise lines that won't give me a paper menu can kiss my hairy, sweaty tuchus, and lose me as a passenger forever.

[Lois R]

12 hours ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

 

Let me say something: I work in IT.  So I'm around technology for 8 hours a day every weekday, plus a sporadic Saturday.  So when I'm on a cruise, I want my phone to sit in the safe until debarkation. I want the REAL cruise experience:  paper menus, paper schedules, and mask-free faces.  The cruise lines that won't give me a paper menu can kiss my hairy, sweaty tuchus, and lose me as a passenger forever.

Tell us how you really feel😃.........I rarely use my phone on a cruise. I was just trying to explain to rka that learning how to use one is not difficult. 

[rkacruiser]

21 hours ago, Lois R said:

I have a Samsung Android.  It is very easy to use.

 

I bought a Samsung Android, but I am timid in exploring its features.  In the first few days I had it, somehow, I screwed up the phone's ability to make calls (which is the main reason I have the phone).  Lost the keypad and couldn't find a way of getting it back.  I had to hire a tech person to finish getting it set up and get the keypad back.  My plan has only 1GB of data and I am surprised at how quickly that amount of data gets used.  Probably need a plan that has unlimited data so that I feel less constrained on "exploring".  

[NSnJW]

rkacruiser,

I am not recommending them, just giving price info.  I have an unlimited plan for seniors with T-Mobile and it is $50 a month for a single line.  It even gives me 2G internet service in much of the Caribbean and 25 cents a minute calls there too.

Edited February 25, 2022 by NSnJW

[cruisemom42]

On 2/24/2022 at 8:02 PM, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

I want the REAL cruise experience:  paper menus, paper schedules, and mask-free faces.  The cruise lines that won't give me a paper menu can kiss my hairy, sweaty tuchus, and lose me as a passenger forever.

 

This is one of the stranger declarations I've read here on CC. The "REAL" cruise experience?  It's constantly changing.

 

I started cruising back when ships had almost no balcony cabins, no buffets whatsoever, and no "anytime" or even specialty dining. People were required to dress according to the daily code. Cabins had no televisions, some did not even have a private bathroom.  Was that not "REAL" cruising?  And if it was "REAL" cruising, then what are we to make of cruising today where some ships have given up formal dining entirely, menus have shrunk from 9 courses to 4, and some lines have even stopped using tablecloths in the MDR.

 

Ships are evolving in ways that are more environmentally friendly, with or without COVID. Already they are taking steps to reduce paper and single-use plastics that have nothing to do with the pandemic.

 

The world is in a constant state of change. We can't fall into the trap of thinking that how we experienced something initially is the only or "REAL" version.  We cannot stand still, we must also evolve or risk being left behind.

 

[rkacruiser]

19 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

The "REAL" cruise experience?  It's constantly changing.

 

Well, of course, the experience is changing, but not always in a way that some cruisers enjoy.  I understand what the poster you quoted is saying and I agree.  I don't want to have to use a smart phone to read the menu, to read the daily activity information, etc.  

[cruisemom42]

10 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Well, of course, the experience is changing, but not always in a way that some cruisers enjoy.  I understand what the poster you quoted is saying and I agree.  I don't want to have to use a smart phone to read the menu, to read the daily activity information, etc.  

 

I understand what both you and the other poster are saying, but there are some who indulge in nostalgia to such an extent that they are, in effect, "cutting off one's nose to spite one's face."  (Or alternatively who are constantly drawing lines in the sand and saying "If cruise lines do this, I won't cruise anymore!"  But years later, they're still here...)

 

Cruising is both getting better and getting worse. Some things are very good -- more balcony cabins available, a variety of sailings offered year-round, a fleet of ships that are almost all relatively new, etc. A host of different dining choices. Some things are not so good. The same can be said of everything the world over. 

 

All my life I've tried to keep an attitude of not making absolute statements or drawing false lines in the sand. I keep an open mind and accept that change my not always be to my liking, but my alternative might be to end up like my elderly parents, who made ill-advised choices NOT to adopt just about any technology introduced after around 1980, including computers and cell phones. As a result they have cut themselves off from a number of enjoyable possibilities as they've become increasingly unable to get out, travel and do things on their own. As lifelong cruisers, they would love Cruise Critic, for example. And they'd certainly hear from their only grandchild more often if they used email, texts, etc.

 

As for the OP's "line in the sand":  What percentage of one's cruise is actually spent reading a menu? If you look at 3 menus a day for perhaps 5 minutes each, that's only 15 minutes out of 1440 minutes a day. And for that you're going to give up something that you seem to really enjoy if you can't have a paper menu?

 

I'm sorry, but it just smacks of someone stamping one's foot and saying "No, no, no!"

 

[rkacruiser]

22 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I'm sorry, but it just smacks of someone stamping one's foot and saying "No, no, no!"

 

A very reasonable post; thank you.  I am one who entered this new tech age "kicking and screaming" when I had to do so during my career.  Most confusing for me at first, but my the tech person at my school was very patient in helping this "dinosaur" teacher (as one of my students called me--she got suspended incidentally) learn.  I found I liked it (that's when I discovered CC "playing with the computer" in the after school hours).  After retirement, because of my family issues, if I wanted to keep in touch with my Nephews, e-mail was required and that is when I bought my first computer.  I am very glad that I did not say "no, not ever, etc."  Now, that I have crossed another tech bridge and have a smartphone, given time, I hope to be able to learn how to make it a more useful tool than just make phone calls.  

[cruizergal70]

On 2/24/2022 at 8:02 PM, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

 

Let me say something: I work in IT.  So I'm around technology for 8 hours a day every weekday, plus a sporadic Saturday.  So when I'm on a cruise, I want my phone to sit in the safe until debarkation. I want the REAL cruise experience:  paper menus, paper schedules, and mask-free faces.  The cruise lines that won't give me a paper menu can kiss my hairy, sweaty tuchus, and lose me as a passenger forever.

The cruise lines aren't shedding any tears. Covid aside, technology was already marching on. Paper going away was already on the timeline someday in the future. 

 

Enjoy your road trips.

Edited April 18, 2022 by cruizergal70

[LandlockedCruiser01]

2 hours ago, cruizergal70 said:

Enjoy your road trips.

 

I did!  When "they" locked us all down in spring of 2020, I rediscovered how fun road trips can be.  (Come to think of it, I had more fun on road trips in my 30's, than I did during college, the stereotypical road tripping age.)  I drove with like-minded friends to Wisconsin Dells, when my state was a maximum security prison; it was like 2019 there!  People were all shaking hands, hugging, and just enjoying being human.  Crossing the state line back into Illinois was depressing as hell.

Edited April 18, 2022 by LandlockedCruiser01

[DaisyGoldberg]

On 4/5/2022 at 4:02 PM, rkacruiser said:

  I am very glad that I did not say "no, not ever, etc."  Now, that I have crossed another tech bridge and have a smartphone, given time, I hope to be able to learn how to make it a more useful tool than just make phone calls.  

 

I think one of the very best gifts I ever got just out of college was working with an older woman who would refuse to take 10 minutes to learn a computer task that would literally save her hours of work weekly (Merging a list with a WordPerfect document for sending a mass mailing she did every few days). She had just reached the point where she would rather do the difficult thing the difficult way it always had been done rather than try, and that amazed me when I knew I could show her in minutes.

 

Now in full middle age, I get it. But when I have that "i just don't FEEL like learning that whole stupid thing" I FORCE myself, because I know that if I don't keep up, eventually it WILL be beyond  my capacity to catch up. None of it is hard incrementally - children do it. But if you slack off staying current, boy do you need to scramble!