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bobkat12

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Posts posted by bobkat12

    Independence Norovirus Outbreak?

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    On Indy now. I love reading the CC posts. They are very entertaining! No is going hungry on the ship. Yes some fresh selections are limited like salad toppings. (Tomato’s, cucumbers, etc). But still a lot of food that is normal RCCL quality. Which has declined over the years. The Captain on the first day announced that the previous sailing had norovirus, they are not hiding anything. The crew is cleaning everything all the time. I think it’s great to have a clean ship. So far I have not heard if anyone on this sailing has norovirus. Hopefully that continues, they are making sure we clean our hands. Again I have had more than enough food and getting my money’s worth on my drink pkg. Great weather and fun times!

     

     

     

    Thanks for giving us an accurate take on this! Much appreciated.

     

     

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    Independence Norovirus Outbreak?

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I am currently on the ship now. The issue actually made the front page of CNN. It looks like almost 6% of the passengers on the previous sailing reported suffering from symptoms of a gastro-intestinal illness. That doesn't include the ones who probably never went to medical.

     

     

     

    The ship is in some level 3 protocol, so you are served everything by crew. This includes needing to ask for salt,pepper, and condiments. As a result, every line is pretty long no matter when you want to eat. Main dining room seems to be a more "normal" experience, but everywhere else it definitely takes longer to get anything done. Staff won't set drinks out for people to grab, so you are served individually. The staff literally can't keep up, so I gave up trying to get _anything_ to drink at breakfast. At times the drinks would only be half full to try to keep up with demand.

     

     

     

    I don't know if Indy normally has self-serve soda machines, my last cruise did on a sister ship, but it was almost 5 years ago. In any case, it is very hard to get your money worth out of a drink package since you need to allow quite a bit of time to wait in line. My kids have given up on using it outside of seated dining with adults. It is hard for a minor to get through the line to get any drink at all.

     

     

     

    The staff is doing a good job, and they seem to be friendly as usual. Unfortunately, because of the situation the _feeling_ is that the first priority is keeping people from getting sick, and providing the traditional cruise experience is secondary. I'm not sure if they really have any choice, but we definitely feel like we lost the lottery on this one. I still get served alcohol whenever I want it pretty quickly.

     

     

     

    So, you haven't seen or heard of anyone on the ship with any illness symptoms?? That would be terrific!

     

     

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    Independence Norovirus Outbreak?

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I can help you out with that. The ship experienced an outbreak of Norovirus and at least 400 passengers were affected. The ship will be super sanitized prior to the next cruise. There is no effect on the passengers boarding for the next cruise other than a delay in boarding (for which Royal is paying each passenger $20.00 for their lunch eaten ashore) and the ship is delaying departure for a few hours.

     

     

     

    There...what else could you possibly want to know?

     

     

     

    I also am hoping to hear from someone who is currently aboard and the conditions aboard as we cruise on Indy Thursday!

     

     

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    Independence Norovirus Outbreak?

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    On Indy now. No sights or sounds of sickness so far but just a feeling that things are off. This Diamond Plus couple going to look into different cruise lines. Overall everything with Royal - food and cabin quality especially so subpar anymore. Realize this ship going into dry dock but with lack of new itineraries and yucky food it's time for a change. No more Mud Pie or red velvet in Chops was truly a disappointment last evening. Seems like being "loyal to Royal" should be reversed - Royal needs to be loyal to their clients - Those sailing with them for a long time see the difference. Sailing balcony this time but even suite status on Oasis last year felt things were not of quality of years prior. Weather great so far and with lots of family so will enjoy that. AND most of all - no one is sick that I can see so far... so here is to that GREAT news.

     

     

     

    Good to hear about healthy ship. On Indy Thursday, diamond plus also.

     

     

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    Wow but not in a good way

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    You know, from my very first cruise, to now around 30, I never once felt pushed to do something, or discriminated against because of what ever category I was at the time. Now, at diamond plus, and after spending tens of thousands of dollars to RCI for my cruises, I don't feel that a few perks tossed my way is such a terrible way to treat a loyal customer.

     

     

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    >>Celebrity Edge<< - Exterior Views

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    We are D+ on Royal too but now find Celebrity SO much better. A Sky Suite is very similar to a JS, however....the Sky Suite comes with a Butler and suite perks, which is really nice.

    We concluded the JS on Royal really didn't have any great perks with it, other than the size of the cabin.

     

     

    You talked me into it! Booked a sky suite, couldn't get one the week prior so we are going on February 24. Not really a butler person, but will suffer through it I suppose[emoji57].

     

     

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    1610 on Navigator. Things I wished we known before.

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    We were also on deck 10, 1278, a grand suite. I guess we were fortunate. There was a bit of noise early in the evening, but wasn't for long, and didn't impede our sleep. We thoroughly enjoyed our room, the entire staff, and ports. We like the newer and larger ships, but this was a pleasant surprise for us. The smoke and noise from a hot tub would have definitely put a damper on things. Sorry.

     

     

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    >>Celebrity Edge<< - Exterior Views

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    You have a GREAT memory! I have taken my folks on a few cruises. :D

     

    We have been long time Royal cruisers but we really like the value/perks we get from Celebrity. If you like the JS on Royal, you will love the Sky Suite on Celebrity. We are going on the Edge Jan 27, 2019. I don't think we've ever planned a cruise so far in advance!

     

     

    We are thinking January 13,2019. It is far off,but what he heck, we just booked a GS on Symphony, November 2018. Crazy.

     

     

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