CruzRamirez

I would suggest switching.

I am very sorry to read about your experience. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Glad to hear about the return of self serve.

If Princess does not work to attract the next generation of cruisers, then another cruise line will. There are adult only cruise lines for those who don't want kids on board.

Vaccines are not 100% effective. Having testing and isolating protocols tried and true  in place for passenger cruising, will be key. I doubt May 2021.

I wish everyone on the ship the best outcomes possible, pax and crew.

No calls from NCL but Viking comes knocking all the time.

I do not think that a COVID 19 vaccine, even one proven effective in clinical trials, is going to be the magical solution or the silver bullet that people think it will be.

I applied for refund May 7  for June 7, 2020 roundtrip Alaska cruise on the Norwegian Bliss. I just got fully refunded (it came back in bits and pieces over the past two weeks).

I agree with chipmaster, cruising will not look like pre-COVID for numerous years, even with a COVID vaccine. Get used to a new Cruising Normal, when it is rolled out.

On 5/8/2020 at 5:14 PM, Sunseeker810 said:

So, I just got off the phone with NCL.  I asked if they were planning on sailing with a lesser capacity in order to social distance on the pool deck.  The answer was no.  They do however plan to space out the chairs.  I said that it can be impossible to get a chair as it is.  I was told to go out earlier.  I am usually out there by 7AM.  Perhaps I should go out at 3AM???

I think NCL plans upcharge for the ability of you the cruiser to be able to be more socially distanced from others. Like pay them more to be able to be at least six feet from others at the pool deck. Pay even more to be able to stay 20 feet from others not in your group. Or at the restaurant. Or in the theater.

NCL should lower their prices and then profit off selling add-ons like COVID 19 tests for $500 and fashionable cruise PPE.

I have just been fully refunded by NCLH (by credit card and by check that showed up in my mailbox today - these were the original forms of my payment to Norwegian), for 6/7/20 Alaska Cruise that was to be on Norwegian Bliss roundtrip from Seattle, that was cancelled on me. I applied for refund on May 7 when the refund request form 'window' opened. I am glad to get my full refund.

5 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Incorrect.

 

Each agent has a Magic 8 Ball to use for supplying an answer to the question.

Signs point to yes.

Mass cruising will skew towards an overall younger demographic going forward. Cruise lines will need to adjust their marketing strategy and what the overall advertising and messaging to potential customers, they will put together  in the future.

I like your QRS code idea.

In the process of making embarkation & dis-embarkation safer in a COVID world, I hope the cruise line can leverage technology to make the process more efficient than what I have experienced. Which was a lot of waiting around and in the middle of a lot of people crammed together in the cruise terminal building.

I am glad to read about these safety measures that NCL is going to put into place. I miss cruising and hope that I can feel safe and with some confidence to go back to doing that which I enjoy. There will need to be civility and setting aside of “me-first” mentality for the new-look cruises to be successful and enjoyable. As far as passengers wearing masks, I find it improbable that will be a cruiseline requirement. Unlikely that the captain and crew will be able to enforce such a thing.  And passengers policing each other will result in words and fisticuffs- I am not even talking about the masks, but I fear confrontations arising from disagreements about proper social distancing within the ship’s confines.

I have concern that temperature checks even done frequently will not pick up the asymptomatic person who does spread the coronavirus even without showing overt symptoms of infection. Temp-check can be useful, when together with asking a person their recent symptoms and travel history before boarding. But there you rely on the honesty of passengers who won’t get to enjoy their time (and possibly not get all their money back) if they are refused boarding. Same with the honesty of crewmembers (with their pay on the line).

Some questions  this news article raises for me:

COVID 19 RT-PCR and antibody tests have been developed by different companies. Right now in general, the diagnostic accuracy of some  are not good. The poor ones should be weeded out. The better assays giving the least false-negative results  need to be identified and scaled up for use. Can they be sufficiently be scaled up to be distributed for ships’ use, in time for resuming cruising  once other aspects of ensuring safe-cruising like evacuation agreements w/ports are put into place?

Hypothetically, let’s say a passenger (or crew member) develops symptoms during the cruise. Let’s say a rapid COVID 19 PCR test can be administered onboard right away. It comes back negative. Does the captain and medical staff believe the result and let the individual stay on the ship? How about if they test again and a 3rd time  and still negative? What if the individual does not want to stay in the ship’s medical infirmary, stating that she/he tested negative?

Along the lines of medical evacuation agreements, I think cruise lines will need COVID-specific dis-embarkation agreements with ports of call. How and when to test  for the people to be allowed off the ship  to enjoy the ports of call.  If twenty passengers test positive for COVID 19 via rapid-test  on the day the ship reaches a port of call before the final dis-embarkation port: Do those 20 people leave the ship at that port of call, to be driven home? Will they do contact tracing on those people before they leave the ship? In what time frame  is the captain’s obligation to notify the other passengers of the details of the situation? And how detailed?  Do the twenty stay on the ship in some locked-down fashion, until the ship reaches final? How would you feel about that as a noninfected passenger on the ship?

What if a port reneges on a previously-made agreement to be able to dis-embark 1) COVID-19 negative-tested passengers (for shore activities etc) and/or  2) COVID-19 positive-testing passengers? Should backup plans be put in place to anticipate such a possibility? How does a cruise line respond to that then  and in the future?

2 hours ago, bmwman said:

Outside I find them oppressive uncomfortable and a nuisance. I will not wear one unless a legal requirement.  Indeed if you touch them it renders most masks useless.

 

A doctor has said to me that a mask will not protect myself but may protect others. 

 

It has not been suggested yet other for public transport, but from my observation it is very few people wearing them on busses and trains. The mayor of London knows  that it would be unenforceable due to widespread non compliance. Just look at  number of fines for breaking lockdown alone

 

It may also be partially ( and I generalise here) a British thing. We do not like being told what to do and I would suggest this is supported by the following from todays papers 

Ryanair boss: Most Brits will ignore quarantine rules and write 'Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney Street' on arrival card

 

Not just a British thing. Americans also do not like to be told what to do.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/packed-in-shoulder-to-shoulder-hugging-in-spokane-is-america-too-rebellious-to-beat-the-coronavirus/

COVID 19 RT-PCR and antibody tests need to be improved in terms of their diagnostic accuracy.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/86734

I am not sure when I will cruise again. One step at a time. See first  how land based socially distanced vacations go.

15 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Imagine if cash tipping due to the physical contact is banned?  "What's your paypal/venmo?"  lol

I think that cash tipping may be discouraged in the future. I am averse to handling bills and coins now. In a COVID world some crew members will have the same concern.

14 hours ago, mugtech said:

So USA no longer paying them to not recognize Taiwan.

USA also blaming WHO for not shutting down sooner. Brazil president sacking two consecutive health ministers for not doing what he wanted. Et cetera, the list is long.  Politics, and the end goals of the politicians, dictate what public policy is carried out globally.

Sad to hear about the layoffs.

I am saddened to hear of another malady besetting the crew of the Ruby Princess. That is a wonderful ship with a great crew. Hopefully no passengers from the March sailing(s) are affected by this.