TeeRick

I think you are on track here in dealing with COVID on ship in the future. Eventually people will need to be involved in the self-decision to isolate in their own cabins if they feel ill. As you say, like Noro or anything else. Perhaps that will be more effective than mandatory isolations - as that policy is not really working if people don't report their symptoms because of that threat. There will be very good cruise citizens that self-isolate. Maybe they do a Covid test kit in their cabins. There will be others (in the minority I think) that will ignore everything and go about the ship. I'm not saying that is OK IMO, but this will be a risk that we will have to live with on cruises. I am hoping less of a risk when true variant-specific vaccine boosters are used, and updated every year. The cruise lines cannot go on much longer bearing all the responsibility for quarantine and isolation. Passengers need to take their own responsibility. But cruise ships are also subject to procedures for the ports visited.

I have family members and friends (not judging here) that have refused to get the vaccine. All have come down with COVID at some point (from one or another of the Omicron variants). None of them got serious COVID symptoms. I know others do get very sick. But I think with Omicron variants the cases are milder in near everybody.

Give it a year. Said this in 2020. Said this in 2021. Now again in 2022. Maybe you should change the outlook to decades instead of years. More likely. So let's just treat it like every other infectious disease and move on with it. Exercise some caution when and where necessary. But move on with it.

I used to ride the Green Line to school (BU). There was the Red Line and the Orange Line too. They all happen to be the CDC ship color codes! So maybe the Green Line is COVID-free? Stay away from the Red Line. Ha Ha. Not sure what to think about the Blue Line! No CDC color for that one.😁

I have no idea how many people or workers in my grocery store or workplace or anywhere else for that matter (on land) are walking around with Covid or asymptomatic Covid. No color codes. No reporting. The CDC in general reports COVID community color codes. Also kind of useless. Time to just get away from all of this and know we will just live with COVID around us for years to come. Luckily it has mutated to highly infectious but mild disease (for most). I can quite literally live with that.

Well maybe now that the CDC "voluntary" program has ended..........

In suites sometimes the laundry bag is made of cloth with rope ties. Better than ripping the paper bag.

There has never been any meaningful transparency on numbers of cases on ships. Or severity. So the system was pretty much useless anyway. Glad it is gone.

Many people avoid quarantine and isolation by just choosing not to report their symptoms. I am not condoning this. Just a fact.

If the new Omicron-specific booster vaccines are introduced soon, and then seasonal boosters after that matching the COVID circulating strains, it will be very much like managing Flu. It remains to be seen if cruise lines will require cruisers to be Up To Date on Covid vaccines. I hope so. But they have no requirement for Flu vaccines. It is our personal choice.

Just like every other business in the USA. About time.

In general if you are in a suite you cannot order from the Luminae menu or MDR menu for delivery. But ask your butler. Sometimes exceptions are made.

Chips in individual sealed bags- yes please. Chips in an open bowl in the buffet or at a bar - no thanks,

Excellent!🤣

OP mentioned Old Fashioned as one of the go to drinks. The WCB has the Ron Zacapa Old Fashioned on the menu and it is delicious.

We like the World Class Bar and it is usually pretty quiet. But it only has a specialty drink menu. The Old Fashioned is my favorite there.

It would be helpful to know which ship you will be on. - Sorry just saw Solstice in the title.

Responding to the title of your thread? --- and Ducking.

You will pay for bottles of champagne if you order them - but perhaps some brands are included in upper level suites (above SS and CS). The butler will arrange for appetizers and light snacks for your get together with similar items to what you would find in the Retreat. We have never been charged for this. If you order anything special (other than the room service menu) you might get charged.

Quack Quack Quack😃

If close, there might be good reasons to get to D+ on RCCL, regardless of your matching status with Celebrity.

Yes everybody has a tier if part of Captains Club.😃

Trivia in Blu? Do you play on teams? Just kidding - I know it was a typo!😃

Actually I would bet that all of us frequent cruisers have at least one (if not many) stories of people on surrounding balconies (including above and below) smoking illegally on a cruise. I have run into this frequently - but admittedly less in recent years. It is annoying. So is playing loud music on your balcony. It is all about common courtesy to those around you. Perhaps akin to those with COVID-like symptoms reporting to medical vs walking around the ship and coughing everywhere. It is too bad that people cannot be just good cruise citizens. But why should we expect that these days!

Never had the issue that our request with the SS Concierge was not fulfilled. Yes the butler is always helpful.