lobster1313

On 1/11/2022 at 4:00 PM, groundloop said:

 

From my recent experience I believe it 01 through 04 for each letter.  And yes, I'd arrive within your assigned window (even though many folks for some reason think that arriving an hour or more before their time slot will get them on the ship sooner when in fact it just clogs up the terminal).

We had B10 on the Mardi Gras and there were more after us.

10 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

 

The concept is the same.  Where someone is from or what their expenses are has no bearing on what level of gratuities is given for a personal service

This has nothing to do what I was responding to which was on wages.

6 hours ago, famof4togo said:

If you are on the fence about tipping extra or not, maybe look into the wages of the employees on the ship....you might be surprised how little they make and how far tipping helps them.  You will also figure out why you see so few American employees on the ship.  

Look at the wages compared to the wages in their home countries. The cost of living is much less so they do very well compared to what they would back home and they probably do better than a lot of the people cruising.

If 18% was added at your local restaurant would tip extra?  I typically do but most people don't so why would you do on a cruise if you're not doing it at home.

7 hours ago, groundloop said:

 

I was wondering about that because there have been several references about certain types of OBC not being eligible to be used for gratuities.

The OBC from a cancelled cruise was used on my daughter's account for tips. My wife's and I went over so there was no to tell on our accounts.

The OBC just comes off automatically as you charge on the ship.

17 minutes ago, cscurlock said:

I think Carnival thought that if they had the 95% threshold they could let the rules slide with regards to the virus.  If it was the original virus that is probably true.   But as it mutates it becomes a more effective killer and the safeguards you thought were going to work before will not work in the future.  With this variant we are seeing that. 

Carnival didn't let any rules slide. They're following the guidance from the CDC.

25 minutes ago, abby1257 said:

Thank you for your reply.  I appreciate it....I need to find out if they put the $500.00 owed to me....on my sign and sail card....or do they split it up between all guests in the room....I hope that's not the case.....That $500.00 has no other person's name attached to it....ps...it shows all the credits....but not whose name they are under!

Our promotional OBC was divided 3 ways and each person had to spend their own.  It didn't show that way until we were on the Horizon. 

5 minutes ago, Shayhooper said:

Thank you, that is very reassuring.  The project manager in me is still looking for a plan B just in case something happens but it does feel good to hear other's experiences.

Plan B depends if your flying or driving. Most airports have a location for same day PCR tests. There were a couple people  who got the wrong test and had to have their kids tested at the Miami Airport.

3 minutes ago, bdever said:

Ugh 😣 Panorama is orange and it’s crew only. 

I wouldn’t stress. Orange is better than yellow and it could have just been a false positive.

5 minutes ago, Shayhooper said:

That is what I have currently booked for 3 day before our cruise, which is a Wednesday..  The website said you can expect results one day after the sample is picked up.  Assuming the sample is picked up the same day, I should receive the results either Thursday or Friday.  As someone who manages risk for a living, this time line feels both tight and risky.

 

Personally I'm hoping that they will announce that the ID Now tests are also acceptable because in my area it is easy to get those and the results are within 20 minutes.

I felt the same way but the results were in my email 20 hours after my daughter's test. 

4 minutes ago, Brew12 said:

Walmart's by me are also offering PCR testing with 24 hour turn around. Might be worth looking into.

I used Quest in July for a PCR test and they used a Wal-Mart drive thru pharmacy location for the test.  

1 minute ago, audcc77 said:

How do you specifically designate extra tip to someone using OBC?

If it's a server than you can just add it in as additional gratuity.

1 minute ago, rtazz17 said:

Well I think this explains it if its actually factual.

14 hours ago, scendro said:

Just some observations….

 

I was on the Horizon July 24-Aug 1st.  Our Facebook group has posted over 10 cruisers on our cruise that have tested positive for COVID since they’ve returned home and many more have symptoms and are in the process of getting tested.  Everyone that posted that they or their spouse has tested positive all state that they were fully vaccinated. 
 

The Horizon was pretty packed (I heard 80% capacity) and there was no social distancing at all.  The shows, buffet, MDR, bars, comedy clubs were all packed with guests side by side.  
 

There were a good number of young kids on the ship and 99% of the time they were not wearing masks indoors (especially in the elevators).

 

In the MDR they would pack guests next to each other at the same table when there was plenty of open seats to allow for distancing and I’m sure this was because their wait staff would have too much room to cover.

 

This cruise was loaded with Casino guests and smoking was unbearable in the casino.

The ship had problems with the HVAC in many areas (buffet near Blue Iguana, the stateroom hallways on some areas, the casino) and there was inadequate cooling/ventilations. 

 

There was no active encouragement of hand washing or sanitizer use.  A few machines hear and there but no workers encouraging the use.  And of course your stateroom had that horrible bar soap that is no fun to use after day 2 because it’s a sticky slimy mess so I imagine that doesn’t encourage hand washing. 
 

The buffet was a free for all and you could serve yourselves with shared utensils (well except the bacon, cakes at lunch and the prime rib, they dolled that out).

 

I personally witnessed many guests getting off the ship and on the ship (in port) without abiding by the mask policy even when told to mask these guests ignored the staff.  I can’t imagine how the staff will have to handle mandatory masks in more areas.

 

I witnessed several guests on the ship actively coughing in the MDR and other indoor areas of the ship in front of staff and nothing was ever said.  
 

 

We had a few fake posts that were eventually removed on my July 10th Horizon sailing that said something similar.

10 hours ago, CthyC said:

Just a quick question…you said you got a third dose, how did you do that? I am also interested in getting a booster but it is not available yet.  Just wondering if I missed a way to get the 3rd shot?

Just make an appointment at a different location than you had your other shots.  I went to Walmart in March and received the J&J.   Then in June I made an appointment at CVS to receive Phizer.  They didn't care that I had already had been vaccinated.

28 minutes ago, grillinchillin said:

3 hours ago, ajm said:

I am immune compromised as well and my doctor advised me to hold off for now until they know more.  In my case, I take medication to suppress my immune system and they don't want a booster shot to result in firing up the immune system.  I expect soon we will get approved for the booster.

I am also and received the J&J the first week of March.  The original plan was for me to get a Phizer booster in June and then at my Dr's appointment last week I was told to get the 2nd Phizer.   

8 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

The problem is that if your lab is backed up, you may not get the PCR test results back in the 72 hour time frame.  Can't take that chance.

If it's for travel they put in the bag with the sample a "priority" label so the results come back first.

Just now, lazydayz said:

 

Too bad they didn't know that.  It sure cost them a lost of money to close those shops on a prime shopping day.  

Not only that but there were a lot of people at guest services because they had OBC left that they had planned to spend in the shops on the last sea day.

6 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Throw them a bone and give them 1 unvaccinated adult and make the rest kids. The CDC is requiring 5% max, not that a certain percentage need to be adults. 

The higher percentage of unvaccinated adults on board equals the higher percentage of a possible Covid positive person on board.  It would behoove Carnival to keep those unvaccinated adults on board to a minimum.

There are definitely by a far margin more unvaccinated kids than adults and from speaking with them they all heard within the last few days before sailing. The children were mostly approved between 2 and 3 weeks out.  The adults were getting 50% off a future cruise offers at the end so Carnival was trying to limit the number of unvaccinated adults.

5 minutes ago, sailingships said:

I thought there was. Dont they have a separate seating area in the MDR? And separate seating at the events they are allowed to attend?

Not on Carnival 

4 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

The only unvaccinated are children aged 11 and under. No separation.

There are also unvaccinated adults sailing. I had 4 in front of me in the exemption line and 2 behind me.  There were also a few that posted on the roll call that I saw on the Horizon.

45 minutes ago, sailingships said:

Maybe the unvaccinated are up there They are suppose to be seated separately.

There's no separation on Carnival for unvaccinated. 

12 hours ago, groundloop said:

As someone else pointed out in another thread, the health department / healthcare provider which administered your vaccination isn't allowed to share health related data with Carnival unless you specifically list them as having permission to receive your information.  I wish Carnival would address this in order to prevent any possible last minute issues which could keep someone from their cruise.

They do in the ticket contract.

(9) the required completion by Guest in a timely manner of any written authorizations or consent forms required for Carnival to carry out its COVID-19 Guest Protocols (including but not limited to medical information, medical privacy, or personal data privacy consent forms), (10) vaccination of guests with documentary proof satisfactory to Carnival, according to the criteria set forth in the COVID-19 Guest Protocols in effect at the time of sailing; and; (11) other policies and procedures deemed by Carnival in its sole discretion to be necessary to reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19.

12 hours ago, ScottsSweetie said:

It's my understanding that masks are encouraged for unvaccinated. . . but only required in certain areas. I could be wrong, though.

This is from my daughter's exemption letter that we received yesterday.

No. Just get the info for local health department that ran the site.  Carnival didn't ask for the contact info on my sailing.