Check Your Cruise Every Week for Requirements/Policy Updates

[Sthrngary]

"Things they are changing!!"  I just came back from a 7-Day cruise to the Bahamas on Crystal Cruises.  My next cruise is on the NCL Joy in the Haven at the end of November 2021.  This NCL cruise has been cancelled four times due to covid and was supposed to be my 40th wedding anniversary cruise with my entire family.  If I learned anything thing from my "During Covid-19 Cruising Experience" it was to check the updated policies every single week.  With my Joy sailing, there is now a requirement for every guest to have their picture taken and uploaded.  Everyone should have gotten an email on this.  It took some time to get every member of my party of five to comply.  Doing this check-in process is a big part of everyone's pre-cruise responsibilities.  

 

During my pre-cruise Crystal sailing, the Bahamas changed their requirements for a Bahamas Health Visa three times.  Crystal changes protocols several time.  Pre-Cruise Testing requirements changed three times. I have a saying, "Everything is ok as long as I know the rules to the game."  All of this has happened because of Covid-19 and every single cruise brand wanting to travel safely for their guests and crew.  One more thing that needs to be mentioned,  the week prior to our Crystal Cruise, a few crew members had covid. This was a fully vaccinated cruise. They were isolated however this increased the need for wearing masks onboard.  Not that big of a deal but still not ideal.  

 

The point of this post is that it really is up to each of us to know the rules better then we ever had in the past.  That way, you get to the port, take a Covid-19 test and all your documents are ready to go.  You get on the ship and know the "Rules to the Game" so you are not disappointed.  Establishing cruise vacation realistic expectations is critical to the success of any cruise.  One of those pre-cruise details is "Buy Travel Insurance".  I did and it was a good thing.  I had to cancel my cruise 8-days prior with a 50% penalty.  The Insurance company has my money back in my account in 12 days.  We rebooked immediately.

 

Folks, I learned a lot from cruising during Covid-19.  It was very similar but not the same as it used to be.  Not just social distancing, testing and mask wearing.  There was an emotional element that I can not clearly describe.  When one is isolated for 18 months, then all of a sudden you are again eating in a nice restaurant, sitting by a pool, having a drink at a bar and watching a live show; it takes some time to re-adjust.  It was an extremely weird feeling which after the second day lessened.  Before you ask, "Yes I would do it all over again".  I just wanted to provide this information from a guest standpoint.  

 

Everyone Cruise Well When You Cruise.

[ChiefMateJRK]

Good advice Gary.  Technically, I don't believe uploading a picture prior to the cruise is a hard requirement, just something they are asking folks to do in order to expedite the check-in process.

[Sthrngary]

24 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Good advice Gary.  Technically, I don't believe uploading a picture prior to the cruise is a hard requirement, just something they are asking folks to do in order to expedite the check-in process.

@ChiefMateJRK, not hard for sure.  Just different and no issue except I had for some reason to do it from my Iphone or Computer camera.  The site hated my picture files.  Simple solution to a complicated issue.  Simple is best.  

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

The site hated my picture files.

Same here.  The first time I uploaded a photo, it said every photo was to big.  I retook yesterday and uploaded again.  This time it said everything was too small.  It was a trial and error process to figure out the right one.  I took the photos with my iphone and sent them to my email to get them onto my computer.  When you send them via text message, the iphone asks for scaling instructions (small, medium, large or native).  It seems to like the "large" now, which my phone tells me is a 620KB file size.  NCL's crappy webpage should just tell you the acceptable file size like every other photo upload site on the internet.  NCL's website requires:

• Uploaded photo dimensions: larger than 500 x 500 at 300dpi

Yeah, that's really meaningful.  🤣

[milolii]

Glad you had a great time.  Princess does this as part of their Medallion program.  The main benefit I saw besides time saved at the pier, was a superior onboard internet connection as the ships were wired for the program. 

[MsTabbyKats]

@SthrngaryThanks for the update.  

 

Were the masks mandatory onboard or recommended?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sthrngary]

11 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@SthrngaryThanks for the update.  

 

Were the masks mandatory onboard or recommended?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mandatory in certain areas.