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3 minutes ago, CruisinCrow said:

I don't see how it could be an actual COVID-19 test.  Doesn't it take 2-3 days to get results back?  They must be using some other measurement.

There are tests that itself need less than 2 hours. It depends how many places can conduct the test and how the transport is organised for the total time. 

I wish all cruise lines would have a similar rule like that. I mean isn't the part of loyalty being a frequent guest at the same business? And three years is really a damn long time. I haven't cruised with RCI for four years and am still Diamond... that makes no. 

Damn has this company changed. I have rarely the need to contact them but when I needed around 2010/2012 their responses were different. I had my TA forward a letter as I am not happy with the offer after cancellation. Especially the capped airfare credit and the conditions of the 10% FCC (45 days / one year). Not even sure how the $300 per cruise works when you have a b2b booked as two separate cruises and only one flight ticket. Just got a standard response without even elaborating on the details I asked.

Dear xxx, 

Thank you for contacting Norwegian Cruise Line. 

I am sorry to learn that your guest is feeling that way. 
As a company we can assure you, that we do not take such changes lightly and that we would only amend or cancel an itinerary when absolutely necessary as we understand the impact on our valuable guests and how much this could affect their plans.

However, such changes are often required in this industry for so many reasons, we never can guarantee that it will be 100% delivered, as you can may appreciate that cruising can be unpredictable, especially when planning so far ahead.

We do cover such possibilities in our Terms and Conditions, and without wanting to dismiss your concern I would have to advise you that as per ABTA guidelines we are not able to provide further compensation than the compensations than you have received in the letters. 

I am sorry for any further disappointment this news may bring.

Should you have any doubt, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours sincerely,
yyy zzz | Contact Centre Guest Services Agent
Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line Group UK Limited | Company No. 04083983
Mountbatten House | Grosvenor Square | Southampton | SO15 2JU

17 minutes ago, Dreamingdaze said:

I cannot believe they have cancelled April onwards for the Spirit and think somehow that imminent cruises are a lesser risk! 
I just hope someone intervenes because no one cares, they certainly do not care about our health.

Exactly. People really need to understand that they don't care about your health or financial bearings but about the booking numbers and revenue. Spirit=not in asia now so more money when not getting deployed there. Jade=in Asia now, hardly able to get much high money booking when allowing full refunds or changing much of the itinerary and then having to pay for refunds or flight changes. 

2 minutes ago, Bonobochick said:

I get the point you're trying to make but in this case, they're carrying passports from countries affected which means their residence is in affected countries. 

For the vast majority sure, but not necessary. They already had the standard restriction of not having traveled to Greater China in the last weeks. Whatever passport you have doesn't change anything.

What it does change is the perception to protect their US customer base who wants to cruise out of an American port, visit places like the Caribbean or Mexico and feel safer with announcements like that. Yes I believe that fuels xenophobia and there have been reports of people with asian descent in western countries getting treated differently since the outbreak. That is exactly what it is about and I don't think it is appropriate of a global operating company to act like that. And stuff like that shouldn't have a place in our world anymore. 

Banning people because of their passport regardless of the fact if they even have been to an affected country. If that isn't xenophobic what is it. Hope RCI gets the backlash they deserve for that. 

Not gotten mine yet. Will be interesting to see if the offer through a UK TA will be different. Got two cruises booked b2b that will be cancelled, flight way more expensive and one on ticket, so at least both airlines change fees need to get combined for one $600 refund. Two single FCC that can't be combined and then just 45 days of booking not going to work, as there isn't much interesting to book now and those were booked during the 20% latitudes promotion. 

The problem is not so much the virus. Just look at the Costa Smeralda, Aidaperla and now Diamond Princess. A couple of people reporting to medical facilities and the cruise could get quarantined with the risk of missing flights, additional vacation days needed, rerouted to different disembarkation port, ...

Or the chinese guests who were forced to disembark during the sailing because the disembarkation port changed immigration rules after the cruise was underway. 

germaphobe anyone? how do you survive in public spaces where someone might have sneezed into their hands and then used the handrails at a train station, pushed elevator buttons in a building or a box of milk and put it back before you buying it?

47 minutes ago, jkgourmet said:

 

You purchased insurance that would cover you if you had a health related cancellation, right?  

Isn't the point that you don't have to cancel because of medical reason but get refused boarding because you coughed at the wrong time without being sick in the sense of unable to travel in the insurance policy sense?

Apart from all the practical questions. Will the personal in the terminal give you anything in writing? Will that have a quality that the insurance accepts? If you are not sick and test show you don't have flu or corona virus, how to get a doctor to give you the proper documentation needed for the claim later? 

Be careful what you wish for. From my experience on a GI affected cruise where such procedures were in place it will put an additional stress on the crew that can't be sustained for several weeks or even longer without severe impact on the service quality and mood onboard. 

The idea of meal frequency and metabolism has been debunked long time ago https://examine.com/nutrition/do-i-need-to-eat-six-times-a-day-to-keep-my-metabolism-high/

46 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Royal Caribbean included in the email that anyone who traveled in mainland China or Hong Kong 15 days or less prior to the cruise will not be allowed to board the ships.  This applies to all RCI cruises world wide.

After consultation with medical experts and public health authorities, we’ve decided that regardless of nationality, any guest or crewmember traveling from, to, or through mainland China or Hong Kong less than 15 days prior to their sailing will be unable to board any of our ships.

1 hour ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

Yeah, I'm sure people lie on those all the time.  I guess they could check your passport to see recent travels.

In many countries you can have more than one valid passport for visa or entry stamp reasons. And it doesn't even matter when you have a virus that spreads from person to person and has a two week incubation period. 

Just because 800 cabin numbers are open to select doesn't mean that 800 cabins are available. The time to observe like that is long over since their guarantee/upgrade/assignment algorithms in the background.

Going on a cruise next month, flying to Sydney with layover in Hong Kong I am only worried about air travel disruptions, immigration problems, missed ports and extreme measures on board. On some roll calls I saw people are already bombarding NCL with panic mode questions.

Not worried about the virus itself. 

9 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

The problem is that China isn't restricting travel of their citizens to other countries. They banned some travel within China but leaves the rest of the world so vulnerable.

China has implement regulations and actions that put more burden on their own people than any western country would have ever even considered.

Apart from that, the virus luckily so far is extremely mild and the media panic completely baffling. Look at the figures comparing it to other diseases, especially the seasonal flu.

25 minutes ago, lisiamc said:

What eating better-quality, lower-carb food CAN do is boost one’s metabolism, so that more calories are burned just maintaining the body.  

Actually you need to replace carbs through protein for that, the TEF of fat is lower than carbs:

"The thermic effect of food, also called diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT), is a metabolic response to food. Food intake results in a transient increase in energy expenditure attributable to the various steps of nutrient processing (i.e. digestion, absorption, transport, metabolism and storage of nutrients). The DIT is mostly indicated as percentage increase in energy expenditure over the basic metabolic rate (BMR). DIT values are highest for protein (~15-30%), followed by CHOs (~5-10%) and fat (~0-3%)"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4258944/

Which once again is the essence of calories in - calories out. 

Oh and I know Jason Fung. He is kind of famous for his rants on his blog and you can find responses on other website questioning his rants with quotes of actual studies easily. 

To get back to the origin of the discussion, as any caloric restrictive diet (low carb, low fat,...) works[1] when it is supplemented by behavioural changes and physical activity I don't think it is wise to encourage anyone to follow through with a diet that shows negative effects on the body. 

[1] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1900510?utm_source=Silverchair Information Systems&utm_medium=email

1 hour ago, crystalspin said:

By your logic, a highly processed calorie is the same as a "clean" calorie. You can't have it both ways.

But we wouldn't want you to spend money on something that would challenge your established beliefs.

The graphic shows exactly that. A calorie is a calorie.

Quote

the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water through 1 °C, equal to one thousand small calories and often used to measure the energy value of foods

 

A calorie never defines how healthy food is or how satisfying. 

But if the calories in doesn't matter you can safely triple the amount of non-carb or non processed food a day regardless of the calories without gaining weight, right? 😉

The "problem" of overeating on potato chips are not the carbs but that you already spend most of, or even the whole, caloric budget of the day and severely lack protein, vitamins, minerals and so much more nutrients important for the body. As you will then feel hungry and cranky you will eat additional food, aka more calories, having a caloric surplus and gaining weight. All because of the damn energy value measured in calories 

43 minutes ago, lisiamc said:

Humans are so much more complex than cars or other machines that simple thermodynamics can be misleading. If you haven’t read any of Gary Taubes’ books as Crystalspin suggests, you might find them interesting. Also The Obesity Code by Dr Jason Fung is very helpful. The whole calorie deficit idea is very much complicated by human hormones, especially insulin. 
 

The advice we’ve been given for the last 40-50 years, “eat less, move more” has resulted in record levels of obesity.  I don’t buy the theory that there’s just been a lapse of willpower in every country following a diet similar to the Standard American Diet. All calories are not created equal. 

Not that I will spend any money on books like this. Lets be honest they are written for a specific audience to make them buy them. If there is a referenced peer reviewed study that shows people losing weight while maintaining a caloric surplus as long as it is with "good calories" I am happy to reconsider. 

A calorie is a calorie, as it is defined as the energy needed for a specific reaction. What is not the same is the nutritional value of foods that have equal calories. 

I don't mind when people follow whatever trend. But spreading the idea that losing weight on a ketogenic diet actually comes from cutting out carbs on itself and not from changing the caloric intake by removing caloric heavy "empty calories" with no nutritional value and more important that are not filling and induce overeating and replacing them through protein or dietary fiber which has the opposite effect is just plain wrong.

That is why you can have the same effect when changing from a "I don't care diet" to a planned paleo/vegan/clean eating/... diet as soon as you start being aware of what you eat and how much and removing highly processed foods you will have a positive effect. Because the caloric intake changes. Yes it is so easy. 

7 hours ago, crystalspin said:

Ignore the "calories in, calories out" theory; it has been discredited for decades, or longer. Read Why We Get Fat (and what to do about it) by Gary Taubes for a technical but understandable explanation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_law_of_thermodynamics

It is science. Most people underestimate the difficulty in correctly measure, calculate and assume energy intake and even more difficult so energy expenditure. I haven't seen any study that suggests you can sustainable gain weight on a caloric deficit or gain weight on a caloric surplus. 

Quote

The indicated method for energy balance maintenance is the prevention of overeating and the most successful method for weight loss is eating less.

 

https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article/68/3/148/1910457

Or a more recent one

Quote

Review of the literature does suggest that some fad diets and exercise plans do lead to weight loss; however, the studies are quite limited and are all based on the concept of caloric restriction.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11894-017-0603-8

 

imho

• eat in a moderate caloric surplus/deficit depending on your goal
• eat non-processed clean foods
• make sure to get the needed macro and micro nutrients
• exercise for cardiovascular health and functional strength

Thats it.

On 11/28/2019 at 9:48 AM, perakcruiser said:

Ridiculous. MSC is the most popular cruise line of the world and not because of the yacht club. Why you think they are so successful? Because of a couple of cuisers in YC? They are extremely popular in all parts of Europe as well as North and South Africa, East Asia, the Middle East, Brazil, Mexico, the US ... 

 

The reason is [...]

At least for Europe the reason is their dirt chip price on regular cruises especially for families with kids. And the easy access through chartered bus and planes. They are not successful because of quality or service. When you offer cruises that include meals and entertainment for a price less than you would have to pay in a touristic European city there are enough people to fill the ship regardless of quality and standards. 

Being on the cruise as well I wonder if that has been observed on other affected cruises as well that NCL has been pushing back the time to the “no self service at all” escalation level until after breakfast of the last port of call to ease operations. As with three sea days now the crowds are easier to stretch over the opening times of dining venues than before port arrival times and excursion starting times. 
 

I never got the rationale behind how it can help to take away the ketchup and napkins on the tables but still have everyone use the same things and push the same buttons for juice and coffee. 
 

Service and mood have already been difficult so far and I expect not getting any better the next days with the extra stress on crew and guests. 
 

Has been a long time since staff member avtively approached me to vent about other guests and the on board management lol 

ducks? there is just one way to do it: