GlamorousGirl

I’m booking everything on my bucket list by Dec. 31 so I don’t get locked in to the outrageous new rate. They clearly don’t understand the point of a tip as a reward for exceptional service after verified exceptional service has been provided. If they really understood this concept we would be paying cash tips piecemeal to deserving staff members. This higher tip rate will discourage people from providing additional cash tips to the staff members who really deserve it.

Get a stem to stern tour of the beautiful Norwegian Jade cruise ship! This is my own video and it is not sponsored by NCL. Enjoy!

Watch the full tour!

Grand Cayman TOUR!

I finally got around to uploading my video for my pre-COVID excursion in Grand Cayman. I took a "Best of Grand Cayman" excursion through Norwegian Cruise Line. I had a great time, and hope you enjoy the video!

Christmas Cruise Ship - NCL Dawn at Christmas!

Last I checked Hilton and Marriott relaxed their cancelation rules, as long as you don’t book a pre-pay, no cancellation rate. I’ve taken advantage of this twice already because of canceled cruises.

On 7/21/2020 at 9:02 AM, chengkp75 said:

Then those people are ignorant of the facts and the science.  Let's say social distancing reduces potential exposure by 50%.  Let's say wearing a mask reduces potential exposure by 50%.  So, doing one or the other gives you a 50/50 chance of getting the virus.  Fine, if that is your risk threshold.  But, when combined, with both people wearing a mask, and social distancing, you reduce the risk to 12.5% (50% three times), or a 87.5% chance of not getting infected.  That is a much more preferred risk threshold.

 

You are correct, that masks cannot work in restaurants and bars, so there, social distancing must be enforced, but you then have to accept the higher risk factor from that behavior (eating or drinking in public).  And, it has been shown that in public places like restaurants and bars, and even grocery stores, that air currents from HVAC systems can transmit the virus further than the accepted "cough/sneeze" radius that is the accepted social distance.  So, social distancing is not the panacea that you proclaim.  It is important, as is mask wearing, but both need to be practiced to slow the spread of the virus.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.huffpost.com/entry/face-masks-do-not-replace-social-distancing-why_l_5e970b37c5b65eae709d3fc7/amp
Ignorant? The effectiveness of masks is “inconclusive.” The effectiveness of social distancing is conclusive. Masks are reducing social distancing because of people’s false sense of security. That’s a real problem. And that’s why I won’t go where they’re required.

On 7/20/2020 at 12:24 PM, donaldsc said:

 

I find it interesting considering your mask attitude that you come from St. Petersburg Florida.    Florida is one of the Covid hotspots in the country.  Pinellas county had 12,000 new cases on July 19.

 

DON

When I was in Florida I didn’t go out. I had everything delivered. I won’t go out to areas where social distancing isn’t practiced, and I did not get sick in Florida. Now I’m back to staying in because where I am now masks were mandated a couple of days ago and people aren’t social distancing anymore.

On 7/19/2020 at 1:32 PM, K32682 said:

 

You mentioned in another thread that you are married to a Canadian and are currently in Canada under the spousal exemption. Where are you located? If Quebec masks are mandatory indoors across the province.  In Ontario, most of the province requires them or soon will.  It's great that you social distance.  Put on a mask too. 

I’m in a small town in Ontario where they weren’t required until this week, after London mandated them. Since, in my experience people don’t social distance while wearing masks, I no longer feel safe going out to public spaces and have remained on private property ever since. Thank goodness for delivery services. Social distancing is the most critical factor in preventing the spread. That’s what should be mandated. 

I have and would again. I’ve found that most, not all, that I’ve met on cruises just love cruising in general and may have a favorite but aren’t 100% loyal to any one line. And of the rest, no one has ever said they took offense to my rival company shirt. Although, I have had it inspire them to ask questions about the other line out of curiosity.

I was scheduled for French Polynesia on the Jewel in November. NCL canceled it out about 2 months ago. And from what I’ve heard that part of the world expects to open up to tourists. Thanks for the clarification that the problem was a mechanical issue.

56 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Thank you for doing your part

How many daily cases  where you are in  Canada?

 

Obviously  some in Florida  do not feel the need to do  what is  sensible 

10,000 cases  daily  of Covid in Florida  alone 

There’s 22 reported cases in the town I’m in, which is a half hour outside of London. It’s important to point out those are only the reported cases because there’s no testing sites here and unless you have symptoms you can’t get a test. So who knows how many a-symptomatic cases there are?
 

Thank you for your wording “some in Florida” instead of “all.” I came from Florida. I had my groceries and all other needs delivered. Only went out to take walks in areas sparse of people, and always maintaining social distance. I never went out on social calls. The death rate is many times higher in New York and many other places. And the testing rate is among the highest in the world in Florida. I wish the whole world could have the same amount of testing so everyone would have a more accurate picture and be comparing apples to apples. But I don’t disagree that a lot (not all) are being irresponsible.

”Some” people are irresponsible everywhere. I see people here in Canada congregating in groups, not social distancing, and frequently going out for more than necessity purposes. Its on the news regularly. My husband takes more risks than I do. And I would argue testing should be more accessible in Canada. But I would never judge Canadians in general or all Canadians based on the actions of those being irresponsible.

4 hours ago, Nic6318 said:

Hi Glamorous Girl

 

Can you point to what exactly to you are considering "both discrimination and stereotyping huge groups of people".

 

Also can you expand on your thought of,  "By the way - I did not bring COVID here", what are you talking about? 

 

Discrimination: banning a group of people because of something they had no control over: their place of birth. Only allowing Canadians is discriminating against others. That’s no better than banning a gender, certain ages, or certain races - also things that the person had no control of.

Stereotyping is accusing “Americans” of being irresponsible, rather than judging each individual based on their own behavior. Stereotyping is taking a group and attributing negative traits to them as a whole, judging people you don’t even know personally. Like Hitler did.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a forum post where a Canadian assumes every American is irresponsible and/or has COVID. So I was pointing out that neither applies to me, despite my place of birth.

So you’re apparently in favor of both discrimination and stereotyping huge groups of people... I have news for you. I’m American and my husband is Canadian. I’ve been in Canada since Trudeau exempted spouses from the border ban. I followed the 14 day quarantine obediently. I always social distance, even when Canadians around me aren’t. It’s a good thing my husband and I judged each other as individuals instead of stereotyping each other based on something we had no control over: where we were born. Doing that is no better than racism. By the way - I did not bring COVID here, did not have it before I came (I stayed in and got everything delivered to responsibly social distance back in the States) and have not gotten myself or anyone else sick. Don’t judge people you don’t know personally, because if you don’t you don’t know them. Stereotypes of everyone in any group is NEVER accurate.

In my experience wherever masks are being worn people do NOT social distance. They assume the mask is protecting them and use it as an excuse. It is social distancing that is the critical factor. I always social distance.

I don’t throw fits in public stores. I just refuse to give my business to anyplace that requires masks, so they lose money. Any cruise line that makes the same requirement will also lose my business until the requirement is lifted, that simple. There’s other cruise lines and other ways to travel. 
 

How do the pro-mask people expect this to work in the dining room or at bars? It can’t! But what CAN work is social distancing. Use every other table in the dining room and make menus contact-free (scan with your phone.) In other public areas enforce social distancing. Put more loungers on the promenade and less at the lido. Close off every other chair in the theater. Etc. that’s the ONLY way to effectively handle it, not masks people take off every time they eat or drink - which some people like to do non stop on cruises.

I had a stop in Kusadasi, Turkey on my Norwegian Jade cruise from Rome to Dubai in November. In this video, I'll show you what the port area and town are like!

On 5/8/2020 at 5:14 PM, Sunseeker810 said:

So, I just got off the phone with NCL.  I asked if they were planning on sailing with a lesser capacity in order to social distance on the pool deck.  The answer was no.  They do however plan to space out the chairs.  I said that it can be impossible to get a chair as it is.  I was told to go out earlier.  I am usually out there by 7AM.  Perhaps I should go out at 3AM???

What they need to do is put more loungers on the promenade deck and other areas away from the lido. Every NCL smaller ship I’ve been on there were hardly any loungers on the promenade. I like peace and quiet, and feel there should be more loungers out there COVID or no COVID for those of us that don’t like crowds.

I filmed the amazing ancient Roman city of Ephesus, Turkey on a cruise excursion I took while sailing on the Norwegian Jade. The city is amazingly preserved and restored!

A lot more exploring Europe by train. Longer stays in interesting cities with day trips to nearby cities (rather than constantly switching hotel rooms - not having to do that was one of my favorite cruise travel perks). More road trips. I’ll never stop traveling.

I enjoy “virtual” travel only to get my “fix” when I can’t physically travel. Whatever form of physically traveling opens first, I’m doing. I’d be road tripping it right now if the attractions weren’t closed. So I won’t be waiting until cruises start to start traveling. As for Dubai, I disembarked from a cruise there and stayed for a week, and LOVED it. One of the coolest places I’ve ever been.

I’m ready to “rush back” faster than the cruise lines: they’ve canceled 4 cruises I had booked already and 2 more are imminent. I already had a cruise booked that hopefully won’t be canceled like the others (It’s in January) to use FCC on. I booked that one at Black Friday prices last year. I also re-booked 2 casino vouchers which I had cruises cancel for which I can use FCC on port taxes and fees for, so cabin prices are irrelevant. I also found current offers very appealing actually,  and booked new cruises for later knowing if there is a price drop - like Black Friday when they typically have the best prices of the year- I can get price drops until final payment which won’t be due until 2021 and 2022. So some of us choosing FCC have very good reasons for doing so. You do you and let us do us...

I won’t go there until they relax these requirements... 

7-8 weeks a year. It contributes to my livelihood as a travel writer and creator. Of course not this year!

The problem is we have a lot more testing - which inevitably means more cases. We did the right thing offering testing to anyone who wants it, symptoms or not, and other countries are punishing us for it. What’s really mind-blowing is that they’re closing the border to the US but not China! I guess we should have done a lot less testing like almost everyone else.

The most important thing I hope they do and keep is staggered muster drills, so everyone isn’t crowding into one packed drill, or let people watch the drill on Cabin TVs. Second, I think self-serve at the buffet should go permanently. With servers would be fine. And I’d like to see more social distancing measures in general - I prefer peace and quiet to large, noisy crowds anyway. The meetup points for excursions also get too crowded, and disorderly with pushing and shoving - a solution to that would be nice! I do NOT want masks to be required on board, temporarily or permanently.

They canceled our November Papeete to Sydney on the Jewel a couple weeks ago. No email, just disappeared on the app. Extremely disappointed. I can’t find the same itinerary in 2021 to replace it.