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Princess Only Shore Excursions Confirmed


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21 hours ago, K.T.B. said:

I'm perfectly ok with this.  When I'm in new ports, I tend to do ship excursions anyway.  And my next cruise will be entirely brand new ports for me.  Plus there are excursions you can book that allow for shopping as well.

 

This is a general response and not one specifically to this post.  How are they going to include shopping as part of a bubble tour.  Are they going to have shops that are only available to bubble tour groups which will not allow any locals or tourists who are not part of bubble groups into the shops?  Are they going to allow anyone into the shops and then deep clean the shops before the bubble groups arrive?  

 

The same sort of question applies when a bubble group visits a tourist site.  Are they going to keep all the locals out of the museum or cathedral or are they going to kick the locals out of these places when a bubble group arrives.

 

Final there is the question of public rest rooms.  How public will the public rest rooms be.  Bubble groups may sound good in theory but how they are going to be implemented is less obvious.  I suspect that bubble groups will be like airport security - meaningless but good theater.

 

DON

Edited by donaldsc
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38 minutes ago, darknightsdespiser said:

Not the same if you can't just go for a wander, check out local bars etc.

For us its more local museums (DW is an art teacher), but the same principle. It would not be the same.

 

Or wander around the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh.

Edited by ontheweb
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16 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

This is a general response and not one specifically to this post.  How are they going to include shopping as part of a bubble tour.  Are they going to have shops that are only available to bubble tour groups which will not allow any locals or tourists who are not part of bubble groups into the shops?  Are they going to allow anyone into the shops and then deep clean the shops before the bubble groups arrive?  

 

The same sort of question applies when a bubble group visits a tourist site.  Are they going to keep all the locals out of the museum or cathedral or are they going to kick the locals out of these places when a bubble group arrives.

 

Final there is the question of public rest rooms.  How public will the public rest rooms be.  Bubble groups may sound good in theory but how they are going to be implemented is less obvious.  I suspect that bubble groups will be like airport security - meaningless but good theater.

 

DON

Yes, and since selling excursions is a profit center, how long will it take to eliminate this requirement when it becomes unnecessary (and that's assuming it is necessary now).

 

And I have never seen anyone even try to answer any of the questions you posed.

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This will be a dealbreaker for my friends who just go to the beach and shop in every port. I could probably go on a cruise and stay on the ship, but it would get old. I like to be able to get off and just go for a walk. This isn’t new information, but thinking my friends won’t be cruising and I’ll have to decide if I want to go solo. 

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I just noticed the Princess statement is dated  March 4, 2021, so this isn’t new information. There are rumors about vaccination requirements that are coming by May 1, so I guess I’ll wait to see if they change anything else in the near future. 

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I can't see how 'bubble shopping' could work. Try telling the local businesses that, "This store gets the cruse people spending money but your store can't have any". That would be sure to engender some pretty harsh feelings.

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23 minutes ago, USERBOYD66 said:

Just booked a Princess cruise, through Princess.  The representative said you can still get off and walk around, it is just excursions that they ask you to not do unless it is a Princess excursion.

if only ... wishful thinking 

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22 minutes ago, USERBOYD66 said:

Just booked a Princess cruise, through Princess.  The representative said you can still get off and walk around, it is just excursions that they ask you to not do unless it is a Princess excursion.

That does not sound logical. And I wonder if you spoke to a different Princess representative would you get the same answer.

 

And in many places there are vendors at the port. How would they stop you from getting off the ship, and then walking up to one of them to book an excursion?

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It's quite obvious that Princess, and most other lines for that matter, have yet to set the excursion policy in stone. Until then, all is nothing more than speculation and premature clutching of one's pearls.

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Cabo San Lucas in Mexico is open but following safety measures such as masks while inside, lots of disinfecting, sanitizer, 50% capacity and social distancing. Wouldn't you think the cruise lines would allow groups, perhaps led by guides, to visit shops, bars and restaurants? Especially if fully vaccinated? 

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25 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Wouldn't you think the cruise lines would allow groups, perhaps led by guides, to visit shops, bars and restaurants? Especially if fully vaccinated? 

Why would you need a minder form the ship if fully vaccinated?

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15 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Why would you need a minder form the ship if fully vaccinated?

Right, that is sort of my point. If passengers are fully vaccinated why can't we enjoy ports on our own? I threw in the guide part as another option. We just got back from Cabo, went to bars, shops, restaurants, excursions without any issue. We are fully vaccinated and tested negative for C19. 

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8 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

Shops, bars, restaurants are places where covid-10 is widely spread even fully vaccinated epilepsy should still be following some of the health & safety procedures for the near future. If these are important to wools they should delay cruising. 

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13 hours ago, OCruisers said:

Are other cruise lines doing the same?  

 

A friend booked a Royal Caribbean cruise and was given a seven page document listing all the requirements, including only doing ship excursions. So I guess they are all the same. 

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39 minutes ago, dog said:

Shops, bars, restaurants are places where covid-19 is widely spread even fully vaccinated should still be following some of the health & safety procedures for the near future. If these are important to one they should delay cruising. 

Correcting fat finger errors.  
should proof read before submitting. 

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I encourage you not to think that this will be for the long term.  It will be in the early days of start up.  If you find it cramps your style then wait until things open up more securely in the area you are travelling to.
I hear sweeping general statements but situations will be different depending on destination and time of travel.

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9 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Why would you need a minder form the ship if fully vaccinated?

 

Fully vaccinated with a vaccine that has 95% efficacy means that each vaccinated person has a 95% less chance of catching (and passing on) the virus compared to those who were not vaccinated.

 

So it is possible that a fully vaccinated person going "outside of a bubble" in a port could come in contact with infected people and bring the virus back to the ship and then back home. With 7 day cruises, chances are any such person would not be able to spread it to others before the cruise ends.

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14 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

This is a general response and not one specifically to this post.  How are they going to include shopping as part of a bubble tour.  Are they going to have shops that are only available to bubble tour groups which will not allow any locals or tourists who are not part of bubble groups into the shops?  Are they going to allow anyone into the shops and then deep clean the shops before the bubble groups arrive?  

 

The same sort of question applies when a bubble group visits a tourist site.  Are they going to keep all the locals out of the museum or cathedral or are they going to kick the locals out of these places when a bubble group arrives.

 

Final there is the question of public rest rooms.  How public will the public rest rooms be.  Bubble groups may sound good in theory but how they are going to be implemented is less obvious.  I suspect that bubble groups will be like airport security - meaningless but good theater.

 

DON

 

It has been several months since I read the posts on a thread for another cruise line, but some of your questions were answered there.

 

Some of the tours were walking tours and they did keep away from other people. When they went into a venue such as a church, they stayed away from other people. But....when they needed to use a rest room at a venue, other people could be in there also.

 

And yes, some shops were just for the tour group at the time they were there. However, they could not go to other shops on their own or even approach a street vendor.

 

Many foreign ports do have shops within the perimeter of the port itself. I can envision (but not know if this is being done) that the shop personnel within that area could be tested (and maybe vaccinated) to be sure they are virus free and thus passengers could be allowed in that limited number of shops. Of course these tourist traps are not the shopping experience that most people want.

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16 hours ago, USERBOYD66 said:

The representative said you can still get off and walk around, it is just excursions that they ask you to not do unless it is a Princess excursion.

 

Often when I'm walking around some tourist area, someone approachs me, and says:

Island tour?

Beach?   Leaving right now!

Or, the dreaded ... opportunity to buy a timeshare...

 

If I am allowed to walk around on my own, how will princess know if I decided to take an island tour?

 

The honor system?

I think we've seen how well that works with liquor smuggling, and dozens of other topics posted here.

 

Me first trumps the honor system.

 

 

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I get what they're doing and why. It does make sense. But it doesn't make sense for me. I wont cruise until I can get off the ship and wander on my own, exploring and doing things I want to do when I want to do it. 

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17 hours ago, USERBOYD66 said:

Just booked a Princess cruise, through Princess.  The representative said you can still get off and walk around, it is just excursions that they ask you to not do unless it is a Princess excursion.

Well, the reps on phone do not always give out correct information. If this is true then they won’t be able to say you are denied re boarding. 

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6 hours ago, dog said:

Correcting fat finger errors.  
should proof read before submitting. 

Or if you read it right after posting, you can still edit. They did make the feature harder to find, but it is still there. Click on the 3 dots in the upper right for your post, and edit will come up within a certain time limitation.

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