canderson

It's not size, it's density that matters when you talk about spreading disease, but I'm sure you had considered that. Gross tonnage per passenger (how many people packed into how much space) isn't all that different. Viking's ships are a good deal smaller.

Definitely the 'stream' (fast) package, not 'surf' if you want to be able to use your phone for native voice text apps. You can find apps that will allow you to text through the app using 'surf', but 'surf' won't normally support your phone's native texting app or voice calls -- though we've heard of times where it was working when it ought not to have been (freebies!) from some aboard with us.

I'd estimate your 'not-safe-in-cabin' time to be no more than 16 hours per day x 7 days = 112 hours. Most people in service industries (e.g., restaurants) were happy to get back to work, and most have put in more than 112 hours every 3 weeks since re-opening occurred (some a LOT more due to short staffing). Gotta keep things in perspective here, and keep cumulative exposure time in mind in more than just cruising environments. If you're talking COVID, working has been a lot riskier than taking a cruise.

I gather you weren't excited when you were finally able to go to a restaurant 'infected with a highly contagious virus', either. Some of us simply have a different risk tolerance. We've been eating out ever since it became possible again. Some people still haven't returned to restaurants.

And there's the rub. Since omicron's easy transmission assures that many people (including crew) will likely to continue to test positive even while asymptomatic, this could go on pretty much forever. Is it worth it? Locally, our positivity rate jumped from 4% in the second week of April to 13% now, and THAT'S just of those who have received PCR tests. Heaven knows what the real positivity rate is given the number of asymptomatic cases wandering around in addition to those who have mistaken their symptoms for allergies in what has turned out to be a very high pollen season here. And yet ... our death rate is down substantially (about 1/6) from the first of the year when case counts were much lower. If positive tests, especially of asymptomatic individuals, which are the only metric that seems important to the lines right now, aren't a good predictor of consequences due to omicron, is it the right metric?

Fully understand. Not a butcher, though, so don't know what cut the back winds up in!

Won't bother saying "I beg to differ". It happens. A small but tasty little cake (probably an 8" square) was delivered to our cabin, unannounced and unexpected, for our anniversary on Constellation last November. We were asked early on whether we were celebrating anything in particular on that cruise, and we had told them, but that was the extent of the conversation. Then again, the service on that cruise was the most extraordinary we'd ever experienced on an X ship.

FWIW, selected Barcelona, attempted to select any date, and site kept replying with "Ocurrió un error, por favor vuelva a intentarlo." (An error occurred, please try again.)

If you're an espresso guy, and you do happen to land a Lavaza aboard Celebrity, I think you'd enjoy that coffee. Anyway, my reply was in response to all of the 'have it delivered' comments. Not knowing exactly when I might want it on a given morning and not wanting to wait for it so as to 'get my day started' is why I prefer to use the in-cabin machine rather than ordering via room service. I have the Via tubes for emergencies (like when I'm working in the office at the P.D. and the resident pot of coal tar has been sitting on the burner for four hours), but haven't taken them traveling before. Not bad for iced coffee, either, once you get it properly dissolved in cold water (in a jar with much agitation).

1) No fire hazard. 2) The Lavaza units used by Celebrity take something akin to a K-Cup, and these units 'store' the spent cartridges in a 'box' inside devoted to this. The cabin steward (or the guest) just pulls out the 'box' and dumps the results in the bag lined trash can. No issues. At the risk of becoming involved in TMI, but since no one has brought up the obvious, some people have specific reasons for wanting to fire up a cup or two first thing in the morning, at whatever time they choose to arise, to get the day started. Some of us don't leave the cabin in the morning until after we've showered, and on a given day (especially on a TA with a lot of sea days with no special morning commitments) may have no advance idea when we will be getting out of bed. Some of us also have other morning habits that we prefer to precede the shower, and coffee can facilitate this. Being able to run our own morning schedule without waiting for someone else to become involved in coffee delivery is a real convenience, even when on vacation.

Right you are. I took the Goop SPFwhatever to task in the "Goop" thread here for exactly this reason. Not really a big deal that they don't use oxybenzone when they DO use avobenzone in some of their products. You have to read the content labels VERY carefully. As with many things, there's no standard for "Reef Safe", and many companies are using ingredients that are proven not to be.

On Connie, we had the full complement of 3 waiters, the 'bread person', and the sommelier. If anything out of the ordinary needed doing, the restaurant manager took on those issues. Never a service issue over the course of 15 nights, and these were the two Connie restart cruises. No doubt running even smoother now, if that's possible.

IIRC, it's called "streaky" there.

Still confused. Must have been more to the story. How did publishing freely available shipboard info turn into a CC "crime"? I had previously posted that scan above for someone wondering who would be in charge on Connie in December. Is this a problem?

Ditto. Sometimes I am forewarned with a 'confirmation email' pre-cruise that shows a different time than that which I had scheduled online. Unfortunately, it takes a phone call to clean up the mess. In November, I had scheduled a massage for the first day of a cruise at 4pm, and the email came back with a scheduled time of 12:00! Would be pretty tough to make that happen on embarkation day.

The vinegar solution is primarily to avoid hard water scale buildup in the coffee maker. That's not something we've had an issue with aboard, especially on certain longer journeys where an increasing percentage of the potable water is being generated on the ship.

Haven't seen a piggy-back ride, and can't recommend that, but when you're on a board and they give you a high speed push at your feet, it's a pretty crazy experience.

Many thanks. Like an idiot, after 15 nights, I neglected to get his email. He sure was looking forward to seeing that cute kid of his again.

It was an insert, not part of a regular page, so I can see where that might have happened. Have you heard anything about where Anu landed after his break after Constellation? We are hoping we run across him again.

Randy - That scan above was from the day 1 daily from the sailing we shared in November.

In some venues, it's been that way for many years. I recall the first time we visited Xcaret (across the bay from Cozumel), over 15 years ago, and they were checking sunscreen at the entrance.

Not since November. Is that too far back? 🙃

A Royal ship, too. Bet that's going to cost the shareholders a few bucks! https://www.kcaw.org/2022/05/12/damaged-mooring-dolphin-leaves-cruise-ship-terminal-at-half-capacity/#:~:text=The newly expanded Sitka Sound Cruise Ship terminal,a cruise ship struck an outer mooring dolphin.

It appears so for up to 100% of fare, but if a 125% was received, it appears there's still a time limit for the extra 25%.

Just curious ... what was the big deal. They provide details and photos of the top level officers in the 'daily' upon embarkation. It's not like it is any secret.