any recent first hand on board experience ?

[Bluemoose]

hi all.... has anyone been on board recently (or still cruising ?)  and can share their experience ?  specifically, how safe is it ?  do people wear masks while walking the halls and main public areas ?  how is the dining experience in terms of covid safety ?  around the pool /deck area ? entertainment seating at capacity etc  ?   we cancelled 2 cruises last year and are considering jumping back in sooner than later, but still have some concerns !  much appreciated

[Potstech]

Went on a 10 day cruise the first week of December. Seemed very safe to us. Many people did wear masks but as anywhere there were some who did not. The dining experience was great and with a smaller passenger load they tried to keep good separation between tables. Pool decks are out in the open so no masks were required in those areas. Entertainment seating as fairly full and staff constantly suggestd mask wearing there and would even provide one if it as "forgotten"

We are scheduled for another cruise in May and have no qualms about going on it.
 

[Cruisingrampy]

16 minutes ago, Potstech said:

Went on a 10 day cruise the first week of December. Seemed very safe to us. Many people did wear masks but as anywhere there were some who did not. The dining experience was great and with a smaller passenger load they tried to keep good separation between tables. Pool decks are out in the open so no masks were required in those areas. Entertainment seating as fairly full and staff constantly suggestd mask wearing there and would even provide one if it as "forgotten"

We are scheduled for another cruise in May and have no qualms about going on it.
 

If i may ask where did you go? 

[Fouremco]

There are several LIVE threads on the Celebrity board. You might want to pose your questions to the OPs of those threads.

[Potstech]

5 hours ago, Cruisingrampy said:

If i may ask where did you go? 

Southern Caribbean - St Thomas, Aruba, Dominica, Curaçao.   Grenada was cancelled on us.

Edited February 5, 2022 by Potstech

[Waynetor]

I am currently doing 9 weeks on Caribbean Princess and have a live thread going on the main Princess board.  Passenger count has been in the 25 - 30% range for the first 4 weeks.

 

With low numbers there is no crowding.  Passengers are for the most part following rules.

[sunviking90]

We are currently on the Majestic Princess Mexican Riviera cruise. We were to finish tomorrow, but on the 2nd day we booked for another week. It has been wonderful. We booked late December and honestly we were changing our minds almost daily as to whether we would actually go, and are so glad we did. We are recently retired, so we figured we could handle the possibility of a positive PCR delaying our return home. We also picked Princess, because they seemed to consistently have the stricter protocols with masking, etc.

We sailed out of LA, which meant we had only single short flight from Vancouver, and flights out of Canada as we all know mean all pax are vax and tested. This was important to us feeling safe. LAX was a bit bizarre after being at a nearly deserted YVR. It looked like normal times there, so busy! We stayed in a hotel the night before our flight and were glad to see also that vaccine cards were required to dine in the hotel restaurant, and masking everywhere that we saw in LA. We were much more comfortable cruising from California than Florida as it seems the protocols were similar to home. 

The cruise has been great! Service is amazing and the crew are all so kind and really happy to be here. 
Passengers for the most part are very good with the masking. We saw an old man tonight walking around with it in his hand, but that’s a rarity. Princess is providing N95 masks in our cabin and I’d say half the passengers are wearing them, with the rest choosing to wear their own masks. With the low passenger loads currently (we were only 900 this week and they’re guessing 1200-1300 next week) it’s very easy to distance. Whole seating sections of the buffet are deserted so it’s easy to sit with no one around you.  LOTS of space to sit around the pool or above the pool easily with no one around you. 
Walking by the bars you’ll see people unmasked, but once again, they’re not very busy so it’s easy to be far away from anyone. In the hallways ALL that I have seen are masked. The crew also take this very seriously and all wear N95s. We haven’t noticed any “disappearing” (ie, sick) crew members, and I would be surprised if there are any COVID cases on this ship. Deck 9 is blocked for quarantine, and I was told by our coffee barista that they have 105 crew who joined the ship in LA who are on that deck in isolation for 10 days before they can start work. All new crew are required to do this. He said he loved it when he started because it was like a vacation and chance to get over jet lag, after a long flight from India.
In the dining room, it is busier and you do end up near people,  but for me I just had to think where else am I going to be around people who are all vaccinated, mostly boostered  and recently tested and that made me feel more at ease.  We stay at a table to ourselves and sometimes end up with a neighbour, but they are still about 3 feet away. I was told you can ask to be more socially distanced if you want.

My advice to anyone on the fence, is to do it. This is a very unique time, with amazing prices, great experiences with low crowds, and the crew are so happy to have the passengers here. It has also been such a nice break from the “real world” where Covid is all we ever talk about. Even though we are masked, etc, it feels surprisingly normal.

I hope I was able to answer your questions.

[Cap'nFlapjack]

20 hours ago, Bluemoose said:

hi all.... has anyone been on board recently (or still cruising ?)  and can share their experience ?  specifically, how safe is it ?  do people wear masks while walking the halls and main public areas ?  how is the dining experience in terms of covid safety ?  around the pool /deck area ? entertainment seating at capacity etc  ?   we cancelled 2 cruises last year and are considering jumping back in sooner than later, but still have some concerns !  much appreciated

Hi Bluemoose,

I have posted on a couple of threads. Click my Maple leaf to check recent posts. I was on a 14 day from Barbados on Royal Caribbean Grandeur. As others have said most abide by the rules some do not.

No real enforcement unless you complain to staff. 25% capacity so lots of room , chose my seating area and was a good 20 ft. from nearest table. Of the 628 passengers about 40 positives at end of cruise. I am assuming these were from the unmaskers...so about a third if them ...I felt that if you do what doctors and nurses that deal with covid daily do and wear an N95 you are pretty safe. You can get a picture of crew infections at cruiselawnews . They have RCCL at 4 hospital ships rounding up sick crewmbers from the sailing with customer ships in Caribbean area. Quote from them follows...

"The number of infected crew members in the Royal Caribbean fleet is staggering. Royal Caribbean refuses to disclose the official numbers, but there is reliable information that there are a minimum of 1,500 infected ship employees transferred to the Vision and Rhapsody each and over 700 diseased crew members to the Jewel. Add in the several hundred transferred from the Liberty of the Seas to the Serenade late on Wednesday, and the total number of infected crew transferred transferred to these four ship is currently at a minimum of 4,000 and probably a few thousand more."

Even with this info we never felt threatened and enjoyed our cruise. If you are not an avid mask wearer then I would reconsider. You must be prepared for the costs of quarantine if you or your partner become positive.

Hope this helps.. 

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by Cap'nFlapjack

[Magicat]

We were on Royal's Adventure of the Seas over Christmas and was very comfortable with fellow passengers wearing masks while wandering about the ship.  There were a few but the vast majority followed the rules. Going again in 2 weeks.