Earthworm Jim

Just now, brisalta said:

 

If you want to know what happened and why and that it is a multi-day job to fix it and has to be done at sea then read if not do not bother.

On the other hand I have heard earthworms do not know how to read.

 

I never made any mention of whether it was a hard or easy job or anything of the sort. My post merely suggested that the cruise line's financial distress during Covid could have had an impact on whether they fixed it or not.

Typically, when one responds to a post they address the subject discussed in that post. Not an irrelevant non-sequitur to the point at hand.

On 4/30/2022 at 6:34 PM, brisalta said:

 

I suggest you read this thread:

 

OK , what's your point? If you have one, just say whatever it is. Don't just direct me to a 4 page thread about heat exchangers. Is there something in there that makes one believe my suspicion that expensive repairs might have been delayed during the Covid shutdown due to financial pressures are definitely incorrect?

My suspicion may well be incorrect. But you saying "Read this long thread" isn't enlightening as to why it is incorrect.

On 5/2/2022 at 9:19 AM, kwokpot said:

I'm surprised you would say that. Transferring that to a land vacation,would you rather stay at a Motel 6 or the Four Seasons Hotel? Do you feel they're the same thing? 

Or looking at it another way, would you prefer to stay at hotel which is brand new or one that hasn't been renovated for 15 years?

You're discussing quality. I'm discussing style. If it was new stuff of similar quality in a new hotel, but in a style from 15 years ago, no it wouldn't bother me much compared to new stuff in a new hotel with a modern style.

I'm surprised to see the decor is apparently such a make or break issue for many people. I might have an opinion about the decor, but to me it's a small thing that wouldn't really impact my decision on which line or ship to cruise.

On 4/27/2022 at 8:27 PM, fpsphil said:

Ya this is ridiculous. They should have “scheduled the maintenance” sometime in the past 2 years that ship has been sitting idle.

I suspect they were too busy trying not to go bankrupt to be doing any expensive maintenance during those 2 years.

It wouldn't bother me, but I think that ship has sailed. (So to speak)

On 4/21/2022 at 5:29 PM, MudderBear said:

OK,  how would anyone know if you came down with Covid?  For example, if I'm on the cruise and I start not feeling well (like not like I"m dying or anything but sore throat, cough, etc) how will anyone know?  That's the part that scares me.  Do you have to report in and get screened or anything?  

Are you asking if a person would get away with not reporting cold or Covid symptoms, and therefore not getting tested for Covid on the ship? Yeah, they probably would get away with it.  And it probably happens fairly regularly on cruises.

Of course, such actions could greatly increase the risk of a significant Covid outbreak on the ship.

On 4/21/2022 at 10:00 AM, Cruiser933 said:

Ultimately, the cost for what could be a less than ideal cruise experience and potential quarantine just made it not worth it.

Fair enough, but the cruise experience under Covid can cut both ways. You're absolutely correct that it could ruin the whole thing. But on our cruise about a month ago on another cruise line had only 55% capacity. Not due to capacity limits, but because many people are still reluctant to cruise.

I have to say 55% capacity made for a rather ideal cruise experience in our case.

However, I'd guess for the OP's June Alaska cruise they will see much closer to full capacity than my experience last month.

I don't know any details, but having some people on a cruise ship come down with Covid isn't anything unusual. Unless this is a large outbreak.

Will the no charge dining room be able to accommodate the additional Anytime Dining passengers that previously went to Chibang/Cucina because it was free?

9 hours ago, RichYak said:

And a statement of recovery from your doctor.

Documentation of Recovery consists of the positive Covid test from at least 10 days before but less than 90 days according to Carnival's FAQs:

Documentation of Recovery is accepted from both fully vaccinated and unvaccinated guests (with a Carnival-approved exemption) and consists of the paper or electronic copy of the positive viral test result from a certified laboratory (dated no more than 90 days ago).

https://www.carnival.com/Legal/covid-19-legal-notices/covid-19-guest-protocols?icid=advisory_cruisehealth_040122

So from that It sounds like you do not need a note from your doctor. Though it also says in the Guest Protocols for Covid-19:

...present documentation of recovery from COVID-19 from their healthcare provider. Please visit our COVID-19 FAQs for complete information.

That says "healthcare provider" not doctor, but either way it doesn't seem the same as in the FAQ's. However it does refer to to the FAQs for a definitive answer, and as I quoted above the FAQs just say the documentation of recovery is just the old positive test. Perhaps they consider the certified laboratory to be a "healthcare provider"?

Walgreens doesn't have the antigen test in any of the Walgreens I have been tested in in New York State or Florida. They do have the Rapid NAAT test, which they used to call ID-NOW (same test, different name) and that is definitely accepted by Carnival.

You will be cruising, you just don't know whether it will be on Escape or one of the other NCL ships they are offering as alternatives (with your money back).

On 4/6/2022 at 7:49 AM, capriccio said:

Wow!  I'm seeing "From $289" on the LaQuinta website!  What booking agent is charging less than half that amount?

Now I'm seeing 'Not available" for Friday night. Either it changed or I made some mistake the first time because I was on the LaQuinta site too.

I don't know what hotels you looked at, but even at this late date I see my go-to Ft. Lauderdale hotel, La Quinta Ft. Lauderdale Airport, at only $125 for Friday 4/8 for 1 night. But perhaps rates were higher previously.

On 3/12/2022 at 8:54 PM, MoCruiseFan said:

Not allowed on the ship at all, leave your little model airplane toy at home.

That not really fair. They are definitely more of a toy helicopter.

They're sort of weird devises in that when you see a good drone video your reaction is "Oh that's cool!" But when you're there when the drone operator is actually making such a video your reaction is "What a jackazz."

Or maybe it's more accurate to say my reaction to drones is what is weird.

From the title I got the initial impression you wanted to bring your goldfish with you on your cruise.

More days for less money with better ports. What's to think about? Magic.

5 hours ago, sanger727 said:

I have tested a couple times at Walgreens. I use them as my primary pharmacy and have gotten flu shots there so they already had my insurance on file. There was no discussion or showing insurance when I got tested but I saw the claim for it with my insurance; so if they have it they will bill it.

They haven't billed our insurance. But if the state is willing to pay for it in my case, maybe they just send all their Covid testing bills to the state and don't bother tracking down your insurance.

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

I heard the rules are changing soon so that COVID positive guests can quarantine in their own room, so they won't need to reserve rooms for quarantine either. That opens up the rest of the rooms to sell.

Are you talking about some new rumored quarantine guidance, or the updates released last week? The new CDC quarantine guidance which went into effect on March 18th were for quarantine (for close contacts of infected passengers), not isolation (which is for infected passengers). And the stay in your room for quarantine is only if you were exposed the last 36 hours of the cruise. So they definitely still need cabins for quarantine and isolation for the moment.

But since you said "soon", maybe you're talking about something new that hasn't happened yet and just confused quarantine and isolation. (Which I daresay most of us misspeak on, including me)

Maybe it's by state, but I've never had to give insurance info to get a Covid test at Walgreens. Neither in New York nor Florida. Testing is free.

(Free perhaps meaning covered by the state you are in. So perhaps this isn't true in all states? Don't know.)

48 minutes ago, dlm0920 said:

I’m disappointed and frustrated with the lack of communication by NCL. Even if they don’t have all the answers right now, they could let us know when to expect another update and share what they do know.

NCL is in somewhat of a tough spot now though. Their official position on the matter is March 19th was canceled, but March 26th is happening. So what else can they say, "We are still sailing on March 26th as has been the plan all along"?

If there is any doubt that the sailing will go, they probably don't want to admit it any sooner than they have to so as not to give them any bad publicity until they know for certain it won't go.

On 3/18/2022 at 10:44 AM, Ottawa_Cruiser said:

 an alternative route is to get a PCR now and have that as proof of your positivity date, then no need to worry either.

Wait, what? Does NCL have a Documentation of Recovery option to board? I know the CDC operations manual permits it, but I haven't seen anything that said NCL is allowing it.

(CDC: "Passengers with documentation of recovery from COVID-19 must present a positive viral test result dated no less than 10 days and no more than 90 days before date of embarkation in order to be exempt from the above screening testing.")

21 hours ago, RichYak said:

I think it's fair to say you have no understanding of the math behind the CDC's warning level for cruising.

I think it's fair to say you have no understanding that the number of crew cases had already already dropped before the CDC released their new crew cases number risk warning criteria, and lowering the warning level didn't automatically make that good news even better.

20 hours ago, RichYak said:

They're the same thing. How could one be important and the other not? The warning level is based solely on the number of positive crew counts over the last 14 days. It's just an easier to understand (or I guess in your case not easier to understand) number for people to digest.

OK, I give up, you win. The fact that the warning level went down is what's critically important. And until the day the CDC decided to tie the warning level to the crew case numbers and drop the warning level, the drastic drop in crew cases was meaningless. The drop in crew cases only became important once the CDC dropped the warning level, and if the warning level hadn't been dropped, the decrease in crew cases still would be unimportant. It's only important because the warning level dropped. Thus making the warning level super-duper important. 🙄

Have it your way.