CoolNickname

On 2/22/2021 at 4:26 PM, adstz said:

This is the host hotel for the first night of our Memphis to New Orleans cruise.

Has anyone got personal knowledge of this hotel? It has pretty crappy reviews.

We are coming in a few days early. I had hoped to just check in and stay until we board the ship.

Now I'm thinking we should find someplace else for a few days then move to the Sheraton for the last night before the cruise.

Thoughts?

I fully admit this is just first world whining.

The Sheraton Hotel is just ok. The gathering rooms they used for our pre-cruise photos and testing and whatnot were fine if a bit dingy and dated. Our room was clean and the water in the shower was hot. The beds were fine. We had trouble getting drinks at the bar. It seemed like they had staff shortages which given all that is going on we could excuse that. Breakfast was actually quite decent.

All that said, definitely a step down from the Peabody. Or to be more accurate the Sheraton is just your average downtown business hotel. The Peabody is the kind of place a vacationer who paid top dollar expects.

We went over to the Peabody for lunch on Sunday prior to boarding and really wished we'd been lucky enough to draw a room at the Peabody. The level of quality and service was just far better. I guess if we hadn't seen how beautiful the Peabody was we wouldn't have felt so bad. I thought at the time we just got shuttled to a lesser hotel because of Covid limits on capacity but found out they do this all the time even pre-covid. My advice if you plan to sail out of Memphis find out what hotel you will have first or just don't even look at the Peabody's website. 

11 hours ago, beshears said:

I recently "renewed" my Passport through the Post Office. I did not pay EXTRA to expedite it.  We plan to cruise the 2nd week in January.  If you have "renewed" your passport through the Post Office within "this" year, can you give me an idea "how long" it took to get your passport back?

My daughter renewed her expired passport last fall via her local post office. It took around two weeks without expedite. Recently my next door neighbor received theirs which was renewed before it expired via our local post office. It took over six months. Her sister renewed hers the same day same post office and got it back about six weeks earlier. Best information I can gather is how long it takes is all over the place. Someone said you can call and pay to have expedite added in a solo travel forum I visit but this is unconfirmed.

On 4/14/2021 at 1:27 PM, Glitchlo said:

Has anyone stayed in these suites on the back of the Duchess. we would need the Accessible suite 340 or 341 but interested in noise issue from wheel or anything else.

Just an update. We ended up in two of the suites on the very back of the Countess. I think the Duchess is going to be similar. The noise was not bad at all in that area of the ship. It didn't even keep my Mother-in-law from sleeping and she's a light sleeper so we were concerned. There was some noise and vibration but it was more in the vein of white noise and she actually said she sleep very well.

On 4/23/2021 at 8:50 AM, Lois R said:

Good morning girls🙂 this is just an observation about the dressing up part and being excited about not having to wear a dress and heels.  Actually, I never wear dresses or heels anymore.  When cruising, I will bring a nice pair of slacks (usually black) with various pretty tops and I have a pair of black sandals with about 1/2 inch heel (they would be flats) but are quite nice looking and that would be my dressier outfits and I have always felt totally appropriate. Some jewelry and make up and I am good to go👍

 

All good ideas!

This one I did not do as a cruise tour, but you can do it as a cruise tour out of Cozumel. Parque Xcaret is amazing. Swimming in an underground cave, seeing their aquarium that does rescue work for several animals including sea turtles and rays, and doing Sea Trek there was just beyond amazing. And if you've done that one do Xplor or Xenses next time. Xenses has a sensory thing where you walk through different regions of Mexico in the dark that is pretty intense. Xplor has souped up gokarts you drive through the jungle and more caves to swim in.

On 3/10/2021 at 7:42 PM, Cyberchomp said:

Greetings -

 

The Missus and I are booked on a AQSC cruise from Clarkston to Vancouver WA this July.  Not entirely committed to it, but we like the AQSC mandate for complete COVID vaccinations prior to boarding.  We have had ours.

 

Which leads me to this question: if you have sailed the Columbia previously on AQSC (and there are a few of you on this board that have), what are the shore excursions like?  Is everyone crammed aboard chartered buses?  I read another posting that AQSC uses HO-HO buses, but I am not sure if those are related to the actual complimentary tours.  Although everyone will (hopefully) had their vaccine, we are a wee bit leery about sharing a crowded charter tour bus.  The tours listed on the Web site give no logistical details.

 

If you've previously done the excursions, please give me your thoughts about how they are conducted.  Also, were there any tours you liked (other than the Pendleton Pilgrimage)?  Thanks, in advance.

The HOHO buses are not technically running at this time. Currently they're going to carry only half capacity on the buses at any one time for one thing meaning it will take longer to get everyone to the provided excursions.

Secondarily they don't want people "breaking the bubble". By bubble they mean everyone on the ship plus the HOHO drivers and anyone pax may come in contact with during the provided excursions is tested to ensure no spread of covid as much as possible. They could not offer that level of security if they let anyone just wander off wherever they like.

Additionally the owner said in his Interview on the first sailing of the American Countess staff isn't even allowed to get off much. They even have to arrange for one person to do all the shopping for everyone on the ship if anyone needs anything picked up.

I don't know how much any of this will change when everyone is vaccinated. 

On 4/11/2021 at 2:47 PM, MSEm said:

Thank you. My husband will probably take a sport coat for warmth.  It will be a good change from wearing a vest all day.  In cooler temperatures such as Alaska we usually wear "layers" of long sleeve shirts, maybe a sweater vest and/or a  vest and always our rain/wind jackets on excursions.

He will probaby wear long sleeve collared shirt, sports coat and dress pants.  I usually wear black pants with colorful top and light jacket at night.

Sounds like you will make a well dressed pair perfect for dinner any night on the ship.

I don't personally have experience and our cruise isn't until next week, but u/Floriduh posted up a review of his experience on the American Countess sampler cruise here. Quoting from his report:

Wheelchair access:

Once on the ship there are no issues with my wife's scooter. Getting on and off the ship for boarding, excursions and debarkation was nearly impossible. The staff was always there and willing to help, but it was bigger than that. Four inch thick water hoses in front of the debarkation ramp meant my wife's scooter had to be lifted over the hose. And they are not light. 

The ramps often had angles that were hard to get over without getting "beached".

Once off the boat, most of the docks were covered with gravel. And, in one case, about 8 inch high railroad tracks. Most of the elderly crowd had to be helped over the tracks. Walkers, wheelchairs and scooters didn't stand a chance.

On 4/11/2021 at 9:37 AM, Glitchlo said:

Would love to hear any input on a Lower Mississippi cruise in December with one person in a wheelchair. I cannot tell from websites how much time is spent cruising vs how long you are in port as i want some time enjoying the water views.  Considering downstream (from Memphis Countess) or upstream (from NOLA Duchess).

Also how long are the HOHO bus trips from start to finish.

 

thank you in advance.

You should probably read this review of a Lower Mississippi cruise on the Countess. He specifically mentions difficulties navigating getting on and off the ship at some of the stops due to cables, but said crew helped them. He also mentions a train track being a bit of an issue at one stop.

Another thing he mentions is the HOHO buses are not running currently as part of the Covid strategy with no idea how long before the return. From seeing a review with the owner of the line on Youtube it sounds like they've cut the HOHO buses to encourage passengers not to mingle with too many other people along the cruise route. Everyone working for the cruise line including bus drivers is having regular covid testing and is getting vaccinated. The owner did not specifically state this included the people involved in the few tours they're still doing but it was definitely implied.

On a Youtube review of the first cruise they said someone discovered they could get no appointment necessary Johnson and Johnson vaccines at one of the ports on their cruise so all the staff took turns going over to get it. On the same review he also mentioned anyone who got off the ship to do anything but one of the ship sponsored tours had to meet with staff to do some sort of contact tracing paperwork.

I'm actually doing the lower Mississippi cruise from Memphis to New Orleans on American Countess next week. I'll do my best to take some photos of any obstacles and post them here on my review. It sounds like they're happy to help passengers make it work but I'm sure if you're aware in advance it will be easier to arrange to have that help available easily.

On 4/14/2021 at 1:27 PM, Glitchlo said:

Has anyone stayed in these suites on the back of the Duchess. we would need the Accessible suite 340 or 341 but interested in noise issue from wheel or anything else.

Is the paddle wheel fixed on the Duchess? We were supposed to sail on the Duchess in one of those cabins back in March of last year. Our cruise was the first cruise American Queen Steamboat canceled so we did not get to sail, but we did find out there had been some major part of the paddlewheel break so we weren't likely to have it working for our cruise from someone here on Cruise Critic. I don't know whether to assume they used the time out of service to repair it or they waited since they didn't have money coming in so I have no answer. 

As far as noise level goes again can't speak to it directly since we never got to sail, but I talked to people who said they were bothered and others who said it wasn't actually much noise more of a vibration which they actually found relaxing.

On 4/19/2021 at 9:19 PM, clo said:

I think everything you describe sounds just right. I think the Vans sound just right. If I had any - and I'm getting ready to - and got invited to country club, I'd wear them. Have fun.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I tried them on with a couple of my outfits last night and if you don't look too closely and kind of squint your eyes they almost look dressy enough what with them being so sparkly.

On 4/20/2021 at 7:50 AM, shipgeeks said:

I've been reading some AQ posts, as the boat will be in our hometown in the fall, and the consensus seems to be that CCC is right.  I'm sure your shoes, and the rest, will be perfect.

Are you reading those posts re all the other onboard questions, as well?

Have a wonderful time!

Thank you I'm sure we will!

Do you mean the post from U/Floriduh who was on Countess for the Sampler Cruise when they started sailing again in early April? So many changes due to Covid but it sounds like they have things well in hand.

On 3/8/2021 at 5:49 PM, shipgeeks said:

Here's a variation on the "knee socks and sandals" that I witnessed on a formal night on a very elegant ship:  A woman in the lounge was wearing a long gown with a slit up above knee level.  Lovely dressy heels.  Then she sat down, and it became very obvious that her sheer black stockings were the knee-high type.  She sat all evening on the velvet sofa with her bare knees detracting from the glamor of the rest of her look.

I would say that was probably me, sorry, but we always go dancing after dinner so it definitely wasn't me just sitting. 🤣 I've given up completely on any sort of hose finally. I just rub some fake tan on my legs prior to the cruise and hope I tan as the fake tan rubs off.

I've definitely done a few cruise don'ts in many people's books. On Caribbean cruises I take some nice summery cotton maxi dresses and wear those to dinner instead of a formal. Even on formal night I haven't had a problem getting into the dining room and most cruises most of the women I see are similarly dressed, but I do know that isn't really formal wear. Last couple of cruises before pandemic were Caribbean and I think they even dropped the formal and called it something else on those nights.

As far as the menfolk go I'm just happy to see them in a nice pair of slacks and a dress shirt on a Caribbean cruise at dinner. The dining room is always just a tad warm which is why I wear something cool and cotton. I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I didn't cut the guys some slack, too. Other than that I let my husband wear whatever he likes. He mostly does ok. Mostly.

On 6/26/2020 at 2:40 PM, iancal said:

Our bags are 10 years old.  Some faded obscure travel agency freebe from a friend.  They have been around the world criuses-beachs-African safaris.  One broken zipper.  They fold up into a pouch but we just squish them up and shove then in our carry on bag. 

 

 Looking for a replace but they all seem to have more weight and logos.  Going to look in a low end bargain store where we will be certain to find a replacement that lasts for the next ten year.  We figure $5 or less will do  the trick.

If you are still looking try Walmart. I just got two of those packable daypacks for $3 each on clearance. They're smallish backpacks made of pretty thin fabric that you can squash into the inside pocket of the backpack. I was able to get two beach towels and a dry change for my hubby and I in them. Besides the generous inner pocket they've got a zippered front pocket. I rolled up our wet suits in the beach towels and put my book in the front zip pocket. It did not get damp. 

Packing for my first river cruise next week and I am beyond excited. The cruise line I'm cruising on is American Queen Steamboat Company and reports are dinner is country club casual. No jeans, shorts, or flip flops, but otherwise quite casual. Husband is all set with khakis and polo shirts but I've been back and forth over what to take. I've got some nice slacks in navy or black and a houndstooth jacket that looks good with any one of several jewel tone tops.

My question is do you think it would be acceptable to wear them with my black glitter vans so I don't have to pack my heels?

The Vans seem awfully casual but they pack in less space than my heels. That way I could wear my good grey tennis shoes with the good arch support for daytime wear and only pack one pair of shoes. Plus they are super comfortable. Definitely more comfortable than heels. 

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I'm not opposed to a class system, as long as it is transparent and open to anyone who can qualify.  My dig at Princess was because there is a perception that Princess doesn't have any class system.  They do, so it shouldn't be used as a criticism of Celebrity or MSC.  [Azamara doesn't really have a class system – everybody gets the first-class treatment.]  My biggest complaint about Princess is that their class system doesn't go far enough:  suite passengers don't get a special high-end dining room or a private sun deck.

 

[Full disclosure:  when this trend to separate suite areas first started, I posted against it.  At that time, we were working our way up from Insides to Verandas and didn't appreciate how much more suite passengers are paying.  Now I think they should get more than just additional space – suite prices on mass market lines are as high as sailing on luxury lines, so suite passengers are paying for a luxury experience.]

 

I didn't keep or post a blog from our 2019 Celebrity Edge cruise in a Sky Suite.  We still enjoyed all the extra benefits of suite class, but we hated the new ship so much [and the 'promise' (threat) that all the other ships are going to be renovated with its bad ideas] that we have written Celebrity off.  We are now following through on the small-ships-only pledge with seven cruises currently booked:  Noble-Caledonia (3 cruises; 188, 95 &118 pax), Oceania (1; 1,250), AMA (1; 162), Scenic River (1; 124), Azamara (1; 702).  All these cruise lines have some minor added amenities for the top cabins but basically provide the same high level to everyone.

Haven't looked at Celebrity Edge so now I'm curious what they've done. We've been looking at an Oceania cruise for 2022 or 2023 but haven't quite had the nerve to bite the bullet. Those ships sure do look marvelous but we'd really like to do a Med cruise. So much goings on in the EU regarding when cruises will restart and if they'll be allowed in certain places they previously sailed to like Venice. I can appreciate the reasons for the concern in Venice but hate to book without knowing what's what.

On 1/14/2021 at 5:55 PM, TinCan782 said:

Can't one still be a carrier (asymptomatic) even if successfully vaccinated? Don't know how this plays out with regard to testing.

 

Wearing of a mask is still recommended for those who have been vaccinated.

I saw a new story that said Pfizer vaccine has proved not to have significant risk of asymptomatic carriers in a study of people who were vaccinated with it early. Moderna vaccine showed a 2/3rds drop in asymptomatic carriers after the first dose in early testing.

Just received our packet for our April 25th cruise on on American Countess. I was pretty sure it would be showing up soon as my mother-in-law is on the same cruise with us and she got her packet last week. For some reason ours got mailed to our TA while hers went directly to her? I guess it doesn't really matter as they got it sent right out to us. So excited to be cruising again!

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Thanks for the link. I must admit that I did not look into the Pfizer incidents that much as at first they looked and were kind of addressed in the media as being anecdotal or at least an individual risk that is standard when you vaccinate older people and many across the board, i.e. high numbers and all ages down to 50. Nothing flagged as a risk with the authorities that needed investigating as a general "flaw" of the medicine/medical procedure. I will try to give you some info but it is in German only. From the official report of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut dated 9 April. Up to 2 April Comirnaty (BioNTech/Pfizer) had been administered 10.722.876 times, 6.562.591 first dose, 4.160.285 second dose. Moderna just over 700,000, AstraZeneca (Vaxzevna) nearly 3 million. This is the table I have mentioned before, about thrombosis:

 

 

This is the other condition that has been in the news:

 

 

Most of the people who have died after a vaccine and their death having been reported to the PEI had comorbidities (or where of old age) so that it was not related to the vaccine as declared by the authorities, i.e. things like strokes or heart problems were often not directly associated with the vaccine or cannot be seen as a direct result of the vaccine in many cases. Seeing that more people have been given the Comirnaty in Germany and those were of an older age than the with the other two vaccines more patients were recorded as having died within a certain time frame after having been administered the vaccine.

 

Most reported side effects after the Pfizer vaccine are pain at the injection site, headaches and tiredness.

 

The Paul-Ehrlich-Institute has an English website but I am not sure how comprehensive it is.

 

I expect the CDC has such reports as well.

 

Hope this helps.

 

notamermaid

 

Not sure what government agency but likely it was the CDC that had a chart about the vaccines on their website used on the news last night. It detailed side effects pretty extensively but I can't seem to produce a link to it. I did find this story put out yesterday saying Moderna has more mild side effects like fatigue and headache than Pfizer. 

On 4/12/2021 at 4:29 PM, Floriduh said:

Well, I am finally home and ready to write some more. Long details are hard on the phone.

 

I will start out by saying we had a great time. The boat is beautiful, the food delicious, the entertainment fabulous and the staff very friendly.

 

But, I do need to point out some very major issues. 

 

Dining:

Due to a combination of staffing issues and Covid there are two major problems. One, the River Grille is NOT open for dinner and only has limited offerings for breakfast and lunch. This is NOT what was stated on web site and advertising materials. And, two, there is NO ROOM SERVICE. Room service is advertised as 24 hour.

What this means, in reality, is that unless you go to dinner and sit in your assigned seat at your assigned time, you are not getting dinner. I never knew what a blessing it was to have 24 hour pizza available on Carnival ships.

 

Wheelchair access:

Once on the ship there are no issues with my wife's scooter. Getting on and off the ship for boarding, excursions and debarkation was nearly impossible. The staff was always there and willing to help, but it was bigger than that. Four inch thick water hoses in front of the debarkation ramp meant my wife's scooter had to be lifted over the hose. And they are not light. 

The ramps often had angles that were hard to get over without getting "beached".

Once off the boat, most of the docks were covered with gravel. And, in one case, about 8 inch high railroad tracks. Most of the elderly crowd had to be helped over the tracks. Walkers, wheelchairs and scooters didn't stand a chance.

 

Internet:

Guess what? There is no phone/Internet coverage while floating down the Mississippi. The ship has free wifi, but it is slow and unreliable.

 

Booking Excursions:

The new app doesn't work. We made our reservations and the next day they were gone. I added them back, printed my tickets and they were gone again. But I then had my tickets in hand and they worked with us to get our tours.

 

Again, I don't want to "bad mouth" the company or the cruise. We had a blast. The dining issues will be fixed with staffing and the app will be fixed soon, I'm sure. But, the wheelchair access was something that may be a deal breaker for some.

 

Hope you enjoyed my updates. I did what I could with the limited internet. It was great meeting Cindi and everyone else.

 

So good to be cruising again.

Thanks for all the photos and information! Really appreciate a boots on the ground report.

How was the quality of the food served? Sorry, I did not see where you mentioned.

On 4/11/2021 at 9:26 AM, uktog said:

As a matter of interest can you send a bag of laundry out to be done. We will have been traveling on land for a few weeks before we board. 

I would probably call and ask where they have you stay the night prior to your cruise, then look online. The hotel may have a self service laundry or there may be a laundromat nearby. One of our ocean cruises we were able to send all our laundry out to be washed for a pretty nominal price just by searching for laundry by the pound services. We just dropped our laundry on the way to the hotel and walked over to pick it up the next day. You may even find a laundry service with pick up and drop off.

11 hours ago, Floriduh said:

We had a great time. The food is excellent.

I shared my entire experience on this thread. 

Should answer most of your questions.

Thank you for the link! Somehow search function for the forum didn't pull that one up when I searched for the line, or maybe just buried it.

3 hours ago, Floriduh said:

Just got off the American Countess. The app is not really working. Everyone had to make their tour reservations over and over because they were erased or changed overnight.

 

Hopefully it will get fixed soon.

About to board the American Countess on 4/25/21. How was the food? Did you have a great time other than the app not working?

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Your family is blessed.  My experience, and that of my friends and neighbors, is that all three of these vaccines can provoke side effects similar to Shingrix – but there is no pattern to predict who will get them and who will not.  I have read that women are more likely, and thought it might be because women are generally smaller than men but all doses are the same size [and DW suffered more than me, which seemed to fit my theory] – until some very slim women we know had no side effects but a really obese one suffered greatly.  There is just no knowing!

I hadn't read women were more likely. I'm sadly not a slim woman anymore so maybe that's what saved me. Who knew a little extra padding could help ward off vaccine side effects? 🤣 I expect we will know more before long with so many reporting their experiences. I'm sorry you and your loved ones and friends wasn't as good as ours. I read Moderna and Pfizer are already looking at potentially doing boosters to cover some of these new variants. Perhaps they'll get it sorted by then.

What cruise to do again is so hard to pick.

I'd probably do our first again even though in many ways it was a wild ride. I sometimes see that particular sailing mentioned here on CC boards as the infamous sailing. It was the first passenger cruise of a new ship with all the bugs needing ironing out you'd expect and then some, and we hit some awful weather. When we hit the bad swells in the middle of the night a bunch of pax got thrown out of their beds on the upper levels so breakfast the next day was full of pax sporting new slings for sore arms and shoulders as a result. 

Still we made so many good friends we still chat with and have cruised with a couple of times since. The food was great, our room steward took the best care of us, and everything was new and clean. They gave out free wine because the electronics to charge us for it failed. We discovered we don't suffer from motion sickness and we were too new to know half of what should have happened that first cruise. It has led us to do a lot of cruising since. It probably helped we were low in the ship and not so affected by all the weather, too. 

I'm not certain if my husband would pick our cruise on Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan, Puerto Rico or our ferry from Scotland to Ireland, though. Both really had boarding and disembarkation down to an art with us walking practically straight on and off with no muss or unnecessary fuss. The ships were clean, everything during our stay was handled very efficiently, the food was pretty good, and we had a great time the entire cruise. He is a bit shy so although he likes our friends from our first cruise he's more into quite, calm cruises whereas I love the meeting people and the adventure.