maryann2

34 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Yaayyy!  Another Spirit class ship for Carnival!  Just been over on cruise deck plans checking her out.  I know she is another Farcus design, but looking at the cabins, the interiors are pure Carnival.  Same colors, couches, etc.  since she will be spending our summers in Alaska, might be an excuse to do it for a third time.  EM

All the older Costa ships have the same layout and furniture. 

She would be really good for Alaska. Would be good if Carnival sailed from Vancouver. A much better experience doing the Inside Passage rather than the open sea first day from Seattle.

8 hours ago, nwcruiselover said:

This is a much better rate than I saw with a dummy booking.  That’s an incredible offer actually. Too bad you can’t take advantage of it! I live on the west coast and the only decent offers I get are on the east coast.

Same here.  Lots of east coast offers for me too. Such long flights to get to them though.

20 hours ago, prissy said:

Can you tell me how strong the internet is up there in Norway? Thanks

Possibly why we haven't heard from him??

On 6/12/2022 at 4:54 PM, mz-s said:

 

No. It's just a small token to entice people to go to the steakhouse on the first night, the wine is certainly not worth getting excited over.

14 hours ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

We actually enjoyed the red wine. As you can imagine we are not picky at all. 

I enjoyed the white wine. Not too picky either.

I love the steakhouse.

45 minutes ago, gambler said:

Is the free or 50% bottle of wine only good if you book the steakhouse on board? or is it good if you pre book and pay ahead?

You still get the wine when you pre-book and pay ahead.

2 hours ago, Putting on the Ritz said:

Wow! I thought they issued the results electronically. Did they overnight them?

Mine came to my email .Not straight away but there was a number to call if they hadn't arrived after two hours so then I received them.

My cousin used them last week to fly to USA and received them after 20 minutes.

Yes I used Azova to board the Carnival Pride In April.

I usually book the steakhouse the first night of the cruise to celebrate being back on board again. 

Next month the first night was full except for very late times so booked the second (elegant) night.

First night and elegant night a free bottle of wine is included.

I always really enjoy it.

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

 

If it's voluntary, however, the other guests don't really have any right to make such a demand.

I agree.

However I wish Carnival would designate one elevator MASKS ONLY.

Wonder if that would work.

2 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

Sorry for linking to the wrong article. I saw the new requirement on my phone and googled on laptop and tried to link to the same article, but looks like I got a different one. 

Easily done. Don't worry about it.

It is such good news.

3 minutes ago, Dadofsix said:

The linked article is a couple days old. The current mandate will expire at 12:01 a.m. Sunday June 12th. and will eliminate the mandatory testing for boarding international flights headed back into the U.S.

I see that now.

This is the link

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/10/biden-administration-to-drop-covid-testing-requirements-for-international-air-travel.html

13 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

Woo-hoo!  This is a very big deal for those of us cruising in Europe and one I am very glad to see has come to pass. 

 

https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/3516154-airline-officials-press-biden-to-end-covid-19-testing-for-international-travelers/

 

Has not happened yet.

You still need to test to return .

1 hour ago, M&A said:

There are regular trians from Dover - they stop at Charing Cross, Victoria or St Pancras stations - 2 hours.  If you buy your tickets on-ine in advance it's only around $20

Wouldn't it be easier to stay at a hotel in central London instead of going all the way out to LHR and then back into London ?    LHR is a long way out.

There are also National Express coaches, much easier than dragging luggage on and off trains.

From Dover Central to London Victoria for as cheap as 6 pounds per person.

9.35 bus gets into Victoria at 12.50.

Take a taxi from the port to Dover Central pick up.

Then Victoria Coach station to Heathrow the next day for flight home.

Lots of hotels around Victoria.

https://book.nationalexpress.com/coach/#/choose-journey?journeyType=single&departureStopId=57366&destinationStopId=65136&departureDate=06%2F12%2F2021&departArrive=DepartAfter&outboundTime=09:00&returnDate=06%2F12%2F2021&departArriveReturn=DepartAfter&returnTime=00:00&adults=1&children=0&infants=0&euroAdults=0&euroChildren=0&euroSixtyPlus=0&euroInfants=0&ouiAdults=1&ouiChildren=0&usingCoachCard=false&youngPersonCards=0&seniorCards=0&disabledCards=0&partnerId=NX&campaignId=DEFAULT&request_locale=en

13 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

@stephen@stoneyard.co.uk Do they sell hard liquor in the grocery stores in the UK?   I live in Texas where they do not do this.  You can only buy wine/beer. Or is my best bet to find a liquor store? I was just wondering because we will have a car when we are in Scotland before the cruise and I was hoping to pick some up. 

Not Stephen,  but yes they do. Obviously better selection in large supermarkets.

Here in Canada , no. Not even wine or beer.

3 hours ago, ashkir said:

Who do you use for the outside coverage? I'm interested in that. I'm always afraid I might end up in rejection of my organ in the middle of nowhere and may need to get to a major hospital ASAP 

You might want to re-consider doing a Transatlantic cruise. For several days you will be out of reach of helicopter evacuation. Perhaps discuss it with your physician.

Cruises in Europe would be fine as you are never far from land.

2 hours ago, katiel53 said:

If you are sailing in Europe on Pride, the following info applies:  

The following voyages require fully vaccinated guests who are more than 6 months past the last dose of their initial vaccine series to be boosted in order to sail.

• Carnival Pride® and Carnival Celebration™ Europe – All 2022 departures
• (This info is from the Carnival website)

The booster, as stated above, is also required on the Celebration TA from Southampton in November.  All 2022 departures.

19 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I can’t speak for everyone else but I don’t think I picked it up in the airport. I flew first class. I was in the front row. My airport time was spent in a huge lounge. Nobody was sitting next to me. And it’s only the return flights where people are catching it otherwise these covid symptoms would be on the ship. I’ll don’t think it’s the airport.

 

No I think you picked it up on the cruise probably from someone else who had no symptoms who may have picked it up from the airport getting to the cruise.'  Who knows and we can go round and round wondering.

  Testing for USA flights before flying home is picking up positive cases in Vancouver.  Who then need to quarantine.

I think the Alaska cruises seem to be hit harder because of the long flights most people need to take..

Waiting in airports , crowded no masks etc.  Also crowded inside , few outside on deck etc.

I know I picked up Covid in Heathrow airport after the Pride TA. No masks , people from all over the world coughing etc.

It does mean that I am now immune for about 3 months so I will be able to enjoy my cruise on the Splendor next month.

10 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Cough got kind of bad last night. I had to talk on the phone a good bit yesterday evening. I’m wondering if that aggravated it because I really haven’t talked much since my quarantine started.

 

Its better this morning.

 

Sorry to hear that your cough was bad but glad it is better this morning.

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

This might be true, but our experience is with the additional reviews needed it would have been easier and quicker if we had produced a negative test. 

 

Eli6, keep those positive test documents.  Contact your Doc and ask for a letter of recovery.   We were able to secure ours via a telemedicine visit.  The content requirements for a the letter of recovery are short and pretty straightforward, but I suggest you look them up at the CDC site.  That way you can make sure your Doc covers all the points.   

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

That is a good point.  Carnival and other cruise line requirements for a COR do not really even follow the CDC at this point.   In at least in one sense, I think they are more strict.    I had a COR that met the requirements for boarding a flight to the US.  It would not have met Carnival's requirements because my positive test document was under 10 days.  

This is an interesting read about what happened to a person in Vancouver after testing positive on a Princess cruise.

The COR was 10 days after the initial positive test.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/cruise-covid-isolation-hotel/

7 hours ago, kwokpot said:

 

The worst part about the rooms are those with balconies. The balcony floors are filthy (I don't use that word lightly) and everything about it is grungy. I fir one don't feel comfortable hanging out on the balcony because of it's condition.

Before anyone goes on about being out in the ocean I just spent 14 days in April on the MardiGras and the balconies we're spotlessly clean. I actually saw them clean the balconies on the MardiGras. I've been on the Pride for 17 days and no one has cleaned the balconies even once since I've been onboard. This cruise is currently my 96 cruise on various cruiselines and I've never seen balconies as in poor condition as on the Pride. Definitely due to deferred maintenance.

 

I was in cabin 6309 and the balcony was clean and the floor was fine. They were washed one day when we were in port.

Sorry to hear that yours was grungy.

7 hours ago, 80sGal said:

Just wondering about the temp in the cabin.   Are you not able to adjust this individually in each cabin?  Traveling on her in July ... DH is ALWAYS cold, even when I'm sweltering.  😞

6 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Yes, you can adjust the cabin temps. We're on a b2b2b, and had to switch cabins for the 2nd cruise. Our first cabin was too cold and never sent warm air even after turning it all the way to hot. On day 2 we asked for maintenance to check it out,and indeed it was malfunctioning. They fixed it and we were able to make the cabin a little warmer ( we even received an apology letter for the thermostat malfunction,so that was a nice gesture!) As a point of reference, here's a pic of our thermostat setting of our room on the Pride. As you can see, we definitely don't like cold air blowing on us, lol. 

 

My cabin was also very cool. One night the really cold air was blowing on the bed and even my hands were cold. I called guest services and they sent someone who tested the air above the motor of the fridge . I said no, check it on this side by the bed. It started dropping and he said I will send maintenance to check it out. Maintenance came, wanted to know how long the thermostat was on the highest setting and I told him since Tampa.  They provided two extra blankets to put on top of the duvet and the room did gradually warm up..

1 hour ago, M&A said:

Clarification - as of May 2nd - "Unvaccinated guests will be tested on board in between voyages. From time to time, vaccinated guests may be tested in between voyages."

Thank you. 

So just unvaccinated getting tested.

May 8th they were not testing vaccinated guests doing B2Bs.

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

That would be nice since I’m less than 90 days out from Magic but it would require some work. I don’t have a positive test Carnival would accept. I just took a home test. What’s a document of recovery? A letter from a doctor? I haven’t seen a doctor. I do have a video appointment with my doctor this week. I guess I could ask her about it then.  I don’t know if I want to put a positive test on my official record though. 
 

Not sure why you wouldn't want a positive test on your record?? 

You could do a proctored test using your own home tests with companies like Azova . $20

My cousin just used them to get an official negative test to fly home.

50 minutes ago, M&A said:

We are sailing on the Pride back to back Sep 2nd - an email from Carnival that testing is required for this B2B, required for all Euro/UK sailings

Is this a recent email ?  They were not testing B2Bs on the Pride in Europe last month.