Teacher42

Dear Iam,   Got  free Wi-fi 3000mb and $150 obc from cruise line, turned over to our TA and she gave us the extra $500 obc.  On another booking on board,  total cost $12,261, came with $300obc, $250 bonus obc, wi-fi unlimited for 2, prepaid gratuities for 2, premium beverage package for 2, then turned it over to our TA and she gave us extra $500 obc.  To OP, my DW is also OCD and leaves the bookings to me.  Another poster on another board boasted that his TA gives him a flat 10% off his favorite cruise lines posted tariff rates. TA also books in advance our dining and show times,but being in suites only dinner time is important.

voila ! We spent $13063 to get $500.

Rhinoviruses thrive in alcohol based sanitizers . According to Dr. J. Owen Hendley, professor of pediatrics, Virginia school of medicine, there is no right or wrong way to wash your hands.  "Simply rinsing your hands and rubbing your fingers together will wash the virus away".  From an episode of NPR's Science Friday with Ira Flato.

Dear Km,   Bring with you attachable to lounge chair umbrellas should you wish to enjoy shade on the One Pool deck. Also bring 'Boca Clips' or something similar to keep your towels from blowing off your lounge chairs. Some enterprising YC guests were able to provide for shade by 'clipping towels' to the glass wind partitions on One Pool deck.  We defer to others to report to you on bars and buffets which we shun on any cruise ship.

Any YC cabin is more advantageous on deck 15 for calling an elevator. Being on deck 16 YC and calling the elevator we found that it would pick up those YC guests on 15 first and immediately  descend to deck 7 without calling on deck 16. We would have to wait for the next elevator and it happened a second time, stopping to pick up deck 15 and descending to 7 without calling on 16. As long as someone on deck 15 pressed the descend button they had priority. We got frustrated and took the stairs from 16 to 15 to catch the elevator. This is on Divina.

The recommended way to go is by deck 7 to Le Muse. On the first outing to Le Muse on Divina your butler will escort you and show you how to use your key card to hijack the center two elevators on deck 7 under Le Muse deck 15.

Dear dex,   I tried that route just once. 'Lady Aster' was adverse  to using it again. She felt uncomfortable in the narrow hallway, having to stop and go, allowing other guests to get by, whether they were walking faster than we were or coming from the opposite direction. No conversation so as not to disturb cabin passengers.  And,of course, always getting in the way of stewards cleaning cabins with their carts in the hallway.

Dear Km,   We ate all our meals in Le Muse, breakfast, lunch and dinner and we do not tour. So we were on the Divina quite a bit. Being this last Christmas cruise, the ship was packed with a lot of inconsiderate cruisers. Leaving the YC enclave, decks 15 or 16 and walking outside on deck 14 for lunch in Le Muse you might find it impossible to navigate the deck. The inconsiderate lot of sun bathers like to rearrange their lounges blocking your path on this deck. I am not one to meekly keep quiet and climb back up to deck 15 and find another route. I voiced my indignation to these loungers that there was not other route around them, without going back up the stairs and over to the other side. It was the first and last time we tried the outer deck at lunch time when at sea. We do not go on  any cruise to become upset or trip over sunbathers lounge chairs. This was our first MSC voyage and aside from this incident we booked 4 more MSC cruises on the Seaside and Meraviglia, all YC.

Dear Togo, Your dh has good taste. I found the ossobuco my favorite dish, followed by the musaca, the leg of lamb,must have got a more chewy, gristly . ENJOY!

Although the carry-on has wheels, they are still getting heavier with each passing year. It was a pleasant moment when the escort butler grabbed  and lifted our carry-on luggage up off the floor onto the X-ray belt. There is no one else there that will do this for you. It was such a pleasant experience at that moment that it is hard not to tip, but we waited til he escorted us into our cabin and explained about our butlers, room steward, etc. Once in the room I was able to get my self situated so I would not drop something important out of my pockets while fumbling around for the tip money I set aside for these moments.

Dear Cheese, We booked our first MSC Divina cruise this Dec /18 on the recommendations from the same posters you see here on this thread. We can not speak about the various packages, only can tell you that the Yacht Club is the only way to sail.Period!

     We only get off the ship to stretch our legs. We got off the ship early in one port walked around a bit and decided to return. Problem was the entire ship was unloading at this time and was impossible to go against the flow of passengers coming off the ship. To our amazement, stationed at the bottom of the gangway was a butler from the Yacht Club that recognized us as Yacht Club passengers. He hailed the gangway crew at the top to stop the flow of passengers getting off so that we could get back on and he escorted us back on. WHAT SERVICE!  He was about to escort us all the way back to the Yacht Club when we recognized a threesome in the Yacht Club in distress trying to get off so as not to miss their tour. We said to the butler we are okay, but these people are Yacht Club and they need your assistance to get off for a tour. They thanked us and the butler again stopped 'traffic'

and proceeded to guide them to their tour.

      When we first entered into our cabin for the first time we were dismayed to see the size. It was quite small for a Royal Suite and we verbalized this to our butler. He said he knew, but that they would make it up to us in service. And boy did they! We booked 2 more MSC cruises on board and when we got home we booked 2 more, ALL YACHT CLUB! We are keeping our Celebrity Equinox CS suite, and our Symphony of the Seas GS suite booked , but we did cancel our Celebrity EDGE until they work out if the will be supplying lounge chairs in their S1 balcony.

      We are just going to have to make do with the smaller size of the YC cabins in order to take advantage of everything else they offer only to YC passengers.

The worst rust we could find on board the Divina was in the Royal Suite on the bottom of the bathroom door. The chair on the balcony looked like bird poop, but was just stained.

To All, Just FYI, the CDC has a handy list of cleaning agents effective against norovirus.  https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/list_g_norovirus.pdf

How is the stomach flu transmitted (norovirus and others)?

Annie Pryor, Ph.D. Sourced from http://www.stopthestomachflu.com/Home/how-is-the-stomach-flu-transmittedI found this on RCI site Norovirus from two great CC posters!

Dear All,  In spite of some negative posts we found a number of very positive tips that were posted by our fellow cruisers. Thank you all. I bid you adieu.

Dear Nou,   The salient point for me in the CDC presentation is "given the lack of evidence", which to a person with any affliction  is a professional's way of saying  'we have no answer to your condition at this time'. Quite a 'bedside manner' for someone suffering the effects of any disease. The 'placebo effect 'may even come into effect, working in conjunction with our own immune systems, using something as innocuous as oral peroxide, which was stated in the presentation as killing norovirus. This prophylactic measure in the very least can give the patient a hope and perhaps a feeling that they are doing something for themselves to make themselves well again; which is something mere brushing of ones teeth will not accomplish.

To all, Having gone to the recent post by NouCruzer  and the link most graciously provided. The CDC has a protocol for sanitizing using bleach and hydrogen peroxide for norovirus. Since other prior posts have reported that the norovirus remains present in the saliva for up to 3-4 days after symptoms pass, perhaps it would be advisable for those with symptoms to begin brushing their teeth with glyoxide, an oral antiseptic of 3% peroxide, as an added prophylatic.

Dear CEO, Sounds more likely that the culprit in your case was that 'nice' Greek restaurant in Athens. Since doctor reported zero cases on board at that time. More than you, must have had the watery gf cake and gelato.  Brings to mind a gentlemen in our travel group who had a last delightful meal in Vietnam before our flight back home after our cruise. He developed symptoms on the flight, we shared our car service with him on the way from the airport. We had the driver pull off to the side of the road so he could jump out and vomit.  It is no joke and no amount of immunity is built up at our age for this kind of thing. When we arrived at his home he called his son  and had himself checked into the hospital.

     We learned that should you desire to eat in a foreign country it is best to get or go with a local that frequents the establishment regularly, or in our case we invited the piano player on board to take us all to his favorite restaurants in ports, our treat. He always recommended what or what not to eat. Perhaps we were just lucky or perhaps not.

Dear Sarg, I do not disagree, but all the 'washy-washy'  in  the world is not going to help us all if your infected fellow passengers do not follow decent protocols. Like in prior posts, quarantined passengers sneaking out of their cabins, not washing their hands in the restrooms, coughing in our faces, or just coughing all over the furniture, vomiting on the floor in front of us and splattering our shoes or just walking through it unaware we are tracking it back to our cabins. How can an avowed misanthrope, like myself be so sensitive of such insensitive  actions of others?

To RCCL/RCI,  Perhaps the returning passengers on b2b should all have their footwear sprayed down with antiseptics just before re-boarding the ship. Or take it one step further and have all passengers footwear sanitized before boarding as well as returning crew members. This occurred to all passengers on our excursions in Antarctica. The cruise line did not want returning passengers tracking penquin guano all through out the ship. One would think penquin guano is most innocuous compared to everything else being tracked on board. The Japanese have a great cultural habit of leaving their 'street' footwear outside their homes and thus not tracking the filth of the outside world into their inner sanctums. Or are you all of the sort that believes that your contact with filth and disease is great because it builds up your immunities.

Dear cool,  I am not on trial here. The burden of proof lies elsewhere.

boscobeans !

Dear olya, Thank you for your kind and most gracious defense of my original post.

To All, Tape or no tape? That is not the question! Take it upon yourselves to take the time to sanitize your cabin. Do not rely on the stewards to keep you safe. They could be just one vector spreading the contaminates. You are not dealing with Kellar scholars on board cruise ships.

To All, The phrase "do not kill the messenger" comes to mind reading some posts attacking one of the best posters on this CC boards, because their personal anecdotal experience to date has rendered them free from the ravages of mankind. We are all trying to help our( non-)fellow man by our posts. We are not trying to lure you into a false sense of security. We are just trying to point out good hygienic procedures and habits that we all can benefit from. Obviously 500 or so of us failed to follow proper hygiene , unless it can be proved otherwise.

Dear ry,  Please see post #214, or are you of the 'ilk' that feels everything you 'catch' just builds up your immunities . This thread happens to be very informative. Have you ever heard of the term 'dumb luck'.