groundloop

I and my family caught Covid on a cruise a couple of weeks ago. My wife and I are both vaxxed and double boosted and for us it was definitely worse than any cold or flu and I'm still not totally over it. I hear that modified boosters should be available soon which should help. For those who are unvaxxed it's just as bad as ever, with the saving grace being that doctors and hospitals have gotten better at treating it. That's not surprising. While not technically the correct way to approach it I think I'd have taken some test kits and if positive self isolate in my cabin.

It's no guarantee, but test after test has shown that masking helps tilt the percentages in your favor.

Absolutely correct. Canada isn't messing around.

I got off a cruise a bit over two weeks ago and all three of us caught it. All of our symptoms were considered "mild" (we're vaxxed and boosted), but it still wasn't a pleasant experience, I'm just now getting back to normal. My daughter had a tracking app on her phone and she had at least 6 notices of close encounters with others who had tested positive while on the cruise. In hindsight I wish we'd have masked up while in shows, clubs, elevators, etc. As far as any changes to vaccination policy, anything will just be pure speculation until Carnival makes an announcement.

Couldn't have been as bad as New Orleans when there's an even at the Convention Center.

Some countries may still require proof of vaccination to get off the ship, we had to show either our vaccine card or else a photo of it on our phone in Costa Rica late last year. That situation is in constant flux, so just be prepared. Once on board you should get notifications as far as what's needed at each port. Follow those guidelines and you'll be good.

That's good to know. Mobile is the closest port to me but in the past they just haven't had any itineraries that caught my eye. With the Spirit going to Mobile next year I've booked an 8 day on Spirit and we're really looking forward to it. I agree on New Orleans also, have cruised out of there twice and both times it was a mess.

As I'd mentioned earlier, I was on Magic for my first post-Covid cruise last September. I noticed the same thing, just a lot of little items that needed repair. Burnt out light bulbs in the atrium, a broken drawer in our cabin (although thankfully it was still functional), the fridge wouldn't get cold (although that's pretty common on most Carnival ships). I'd have thought basic stuff like that could have been sorted out during the shutdown. But hey, it sounds like Magic has invented a new sporting event for the rowdier crowd - Early AM fights.

I just got off my first Holland America cruise, and yes, you'll be disappointed with what you find on Carnival's in-room television. In addition to the TV offerings on Carnival being horrible compared to HAL, the TV itself will be a big disappointment to you. It's almost like putting a television in the cabin was an afterthought. (maybe the Vista or Excel class ships are better, haven't been on any of those yet).

Why's that? The catch all excuse, labor shortage?

If they had a 10:30 AM arrival time they must have had a very early boarding group. In every one of my 6 post startup cruises the ports have been totally lax about allowing people into the terminal regardless of assigned check-in time but Carnival has strictly enforced boarding groups.

Which port are you sailing out of? We'll be on Miracle this September out of San Francisco to Hawaii, my first time ever in California and really looking forward to it. On the rare occasions when I have to fly to a cruise I always allow a LOT of time both before and after. I've been on too many delayed airline flights, and I've also seen a few cruises that are delayed getting into port and/or debarkation takes a lot longer than usual. Just before the shut down, for instance, Elation got into some really rough weather and we were close to 4 hours late getting into port.

Oh, but I bet the CD did a bang up job on the PA pushing bingo card sales. 🤣 Out of curiosity, who was the CD. I was on Pride twice last fall, I really doubt if it's the same CD we had since I thought he did a pretty good job. OH, speaking of in-room television offerings, we did our first Holland America cruise a couple of weeks ago and I was really impressed by all of the free offerings they had on TV which included on-demand movies.

I'd never heard of that..... It's good to know that Carnival is being proactive on this.

I've been through this one time in the past, Carnival insisted that the person who has the offer a cabin is booked under must sail. If not then the booking is re-fared at full price. They absolutely will not budge on this.

In this instance that seems to be the best option. The only way to add people outside of your cabin to a steakhouse reservation (at least that I've been able to figure out) is if you're paying for everyone.

Now that I managed to catch Covid on our cruise that ended a week ago I'm thinking ahead to our Hawaii cruise in 2 1/2 months. I know that most of the time people won't be testing positive that far removed from having Covid, but it's not totally unheard of either (thankfully we've both been vaxxed and double boosted so our symptoms aren't real bad). I don't want to take any chances with not being able to go on our next cruise so am thinking it would be a good idea for us to get a Document of Recovery letter. If anyone else has been there / done that - what are the steps involved in obtaining one. I'm seeing conflicting information on the internet (no surprise there) so any information from someone with firsthand experience would be appreciated.

Excuse all the rookie questions..... despite having over a dozen cruises under my belt this is my first time on HAL. Our daughter is cruising with us and has her own cabin (Eurodam out of Seattle in June). We were given a boarding time of 1:00 and she has 2:20. Is it possible for her to board with us, or will we have to wait and board at 2:20 with her?