Face masks are back on North and Southbound Alaska

[P23r23s23]

13 minutes ago, sunsetme said:

can you cancel a cruise that requires masking now and get a refund?

Yes - either as a FCC or if you bought insurance, I believe you get up to the % of your limit as refund (75% or 80%). 

[Steelers0854]

Princess has apparently made a last minute change and now requires masks at all indoor locations on sailing southbound from Whittier to Vancouver. 

[erber]

We got off the Southbound trip on the Grand on Wednesday. The mask requirement was adopted just a few days into our trip. Complimentary kn95 masks were provided as well.  

[memoak]

20 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

Princess has apparently made a last minute change and now requires masks at all indoor locations on sailing southbound from Whittier to Vancouver. 

This was announced a week ago. Not new news. It also advises except when eating or drinking so I am betting that it will be like our last cruise when we wore masks moving around the ship, in elevators and walking into bars, restaurants and casino but removed them when we sat at our table or slot machine. Was not a big deal and felt pretty safe 

[Steelers0854]

21 minutes ago, memoak said:

This was announced a week ago. Not new news. It also advises except when eating or drinking so I am betting that it will be like our last cruise when we wore masks moving around the ship, in elevators and walking into bars, restaurants and casino but removed them when we sat at our table or slot machine. Was not a big deal and felt pretty safe 

not sure where it was announced but we only received this when we got our COVID testing info today. Before that I haven’t seen anything posted. Things continue to change quickly and I wanted people to be aware of the change. We only brought 1 mask since it wasn’t required anywhere including inflight when we left for our cruise tour. 

[Jeter02]

I posted that information I think about a week ago. June 3rd, Princess updated their health protocol on their website. This is why it's always a good idea to always check right before the cruise anything that's been updated Health Wise that was the surprise I found which I'm totally cool with because I'd rather be safe than sorry while enjoying myself and having a good old time. 

 

I believe we are actually on the same exact cruise that leaves this Saturday I'll be on for a few weeks. Looking forward to it 😊

[beg3yrs]

On the Royal southbound right now. Just noticed today the staff stopped wearing masks onstage. Previously they wore them 100% of the time.

[Steelers0854]

19 minutes ago, Jeter02 said:

I posted that information I think about a week ago. June 3rd, Princess updated their health protocol on their website. This is why it's always a good idea to always check right before the cruise anything that's been updated Health Wise that was the surprise I found which I'm totally cool with because I'd rather be safe than sorry while enjoying myself and having a good old time. 

 

I believe we are actually on the same exact cruise that leaves this Saturday I'll be on for a few weeks. Looking forward to it 😊

Yea you had posted that after we had left which is why I didn’t catch it. Not a big deal for us but I know it’s a big deal for some. 

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Steelers0854 said:

not sure where it was announced but we only received this when we got our COVID testing info today. Before that I haven’t seen anything posted. Things continue to change quickly and I wanted people to be aware of the change. We only brought 1 mask since it wasn’t required anywhere including inflight when we left for our cruise tour. 

It was posted on the Princess website on June 3 and discussed on this site starting on June 4

[BobbySu]

It currently is for both north and southbound ships.  We are hoping it calms down a bit by our northbound trip on the 18th.  

[Dar & Bob]

2 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

Princess has apparently made a last minute change and now requires masks at all indoor locations on sailing southbound from Whittier to Vancouver. 

Well the first post on here was on Saturday,  

 

[Dar & Bob]

I wonder if Princess will rescind this masking since the requirement to test going home has been lifted.  What logic (yes I know I shouldn't be expecting logic) do they have that only the Whittier/Vancouver Vancouver/Whittier ships need to mask?  I hope this is gone soon, counting the days!

[cruisemel]

Still dont understand why this is only for northbound/southbound. Why not all Alaska cruises? Wish they would drop it before my cruise.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, cruisemel said:

Still dont understand why this is only for northbound/southbound. Why not all Alaska cruises? Wish they would drop it before my cruise.

A lot of it has to do with land portions from Whittier   Plus the fact that air travel has nothing to do with cruising. 

Edited June 10, 2022 by memoak

[Dar & Bob]

44 minutes ago, memoak said:

A lot of it has to do with land portions from Whittier   Plus the fact that air travel has nothing to do with cruising. 

So they shoud test those doing their land portions when they get off the ship  Making the rest of us wear masks is just ridiculous. Shows that they only care about covering their butts 🙂 if that is the reason.  

[beg3yrs]

5 hours ago, cruisemel said:

Still dont understand why this is only for northbound/southbound. Why not all Alaska cruises? Wish they would drop it before my cruise.

Are there any Alaska cruises that don't go north or south? If so, where do they go? Just askin'?

[memoak]

3 hours ago, Dar & Bob said:

So they shoud test those doing their land portions when they get off the ship  Making the rest of us wear masks is just ridiculous. Shows that they only care about covering their butts 🙂 if that is the reason.  

I am referring to those getting on the ship after land tours. Also these cruises are very port centric. Also up to 10% of passengers might be unvaccinated

[hapster85]

4 hours ago, Dar & Bob said:

So they shoud test those doing their land portions when they get off the ship  Making the rest of us wear masks is just ridiculous. Shows that they only care about covering their butts 🙂 if that is the reason.  

 

The masking was added as a precaution, until they determine that the pre-travel testing is reducing the number of positive cases at the end of the land tours. Testing only those individuals who did land tours when they get off the ship would do nothing to catch others on the ship the land tour folks might have infected during the cruise. So no, not ridiculous.

 

Would I rather go maskless? Of course. Is wearing a mask going to ruin my trip? No. If it's going to ruin yours, you might want to consider staying home.

 

1 hour ago, beg3yrs said:

Are there any Alaska cruises that don't go north or south? If so, where do they go? Just askin'?

Round trips out of Seattle.

Edited June 11, 2022 by hapster85

[AE_Collector]

North / South Alaska cruises are typically a reference to the one way Vancouver to Whittier OR the one way Whittier to Vancouver cruises. These are the ones that now have the mask mandate. They are also the cruises that have significant numbers of passengers doing a land portion before or after the cruise. And the Alaska ports probably have limited ability to house hundreds of passengers from each ship needing to quarantine.

[generichandle]

They are obviously having more Covid, so trying to lower their quarantine costs. Reality intrudes, doesn't it?

[caribill]

1 hour ago, generichandle said:

They are obviously having more Covid, so trying to lower their quarantine costs.

 

Or trying to lower the number of passengers that contract what can be a serious illness.

[generichandle]

25 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Or trying to lower the number of passengers that contract what can be a serious illness.

Exactly. I am missing many cruises because I have several serious comorbidities. I have canceled and pushed back. I am glad to see any restrictions, though I understand those who are more willing and able to take the risks. Maybe next year .............

[MissP22]

There are to many other cruise lines/ships that don't require masks so we can enjoy ourselves without having to wear one all the time. 

[Willwils]

On 6/11/2022 at 8:13 AM, MissP22 said:

There are to many other cruise lines/ships that don't require masks so we can enjoy ourselves without having to wear one all the time. 

Then that's your prerogative to not go on a Princess  Whittier to Vancouver cruise. I for one prefer to be safe wearing a mask with others wearing a mask, that are also vaccinated & negative tested. 

[memoak]

The question for me is are the bars going to be open. On our last cruise we masked walking around ship, in lifts and in public restrooms.  However we removed them while seated at a bar, at a table in a lounge and at slot machines and ordering drinks. What we need is someone who’s on one of these sailings to come back and tell us exactly how things are working in real time not speculation