NownZen

I have been on a number of cruises where the itinerary changed. For instance, when Putin invaded Crimea, suddenly we could not go to Yalta or Odessa. And yes, we just accepted that.

Not all cruise lines cover you now. Oceania says to have enough insurance to cover your expenses.

The names of the people in a cabin are on the screen in front of the doors. Pre medallion, they put cards with your names and loyalty levels in a holder by the door. It seemed very impersonal on other lines to not have signs of actual humans on the doors.

I am happy that you were not sick and the only suffering is a short delay in getting reimbursed.

Our last cruise had the medallion show the wrong loyalty level. We went to the front desk and had a new one in a couple of minutes, complete with name and date engraved.

With the elimination of the testing and vaccination requirements along with the desire to get a higher occupancy rate, they may have decided that this may be the time for them to no longer have a quarantine section.

Historically I saw a lot of fare movement seemingly as part of their load management. There is a fill percentage versus time to cruise and if they are below that, the prices come down. Above that they go up. I remember seeing some cruises where balconies were cheaper than inside rooms for awhile.

I know it was unpleasant for you but were you very ill? Or was it the inconvenience? People who are not very sick will not volunteer for the inconvenience. With the lifting of the covid rules, no one will be looking to be quarantined unless they are ill.

This was not in the US.

If you ask for the same time every night in the choices, it only shows private tables. If you choose the next option, you can specify shared tables as well. The first night, ask to have the same table assigned and they will do that.

Yes, to see that "Any reason" does not mean "Any reason".

I enjoy the use of english here: "If you need to cancel for any reason not listed in the plan, under the “Any Reason” Cancellation Enhancement feature..." Interesting to redefine Any Reason in the two halves of the sentence. Or maybe the quotes means to not take it seriously.

Well, it is all still available. You just have a lot more flexibility than the old system had. You can have the same table at the same time with whoever you want.

We did some in depth research on this in the various bars at different times. What we found out is that there was a mix of scanning the medallion or not. If it was quiet at the bar, it was ok. With crowds we sometimes had to have the medallion scanned (they bring the readers with them). A few times they just asked for the room number. There are two circuits in the medallion. The bluetooth works at a longer range but often does not work if it is inside your shirt against your skin. The scan up close is done with an NFC reader which only has a range of an inch or so. In either case, the reader should show your pictures for the server to verify.

It is not clear from various reports that there is still an isolation deck. The ships are approaching full occupancy so it will be more isolation in your cabin if that comes up.

You made an assumption that all the restrictions in place at that time would remain. That was not an obligation on the part of Princess to oblige you.

I am curious. Is this only for time in florida waters or the whole cruise?

Given the amount of coughing on our last cruise, you are in the majority.

I think the only issue on the Sapphire is Chile which has been very strict. I do not expect a problem as I had covid recently and no virus is stupid enough to make Mrs Zen mad.

The question I have is since we test before the Dec 2 cruise, do we have to test again for the second leg from Santiago on Dec 19.

Oceania, for instance, says that you need to make sure your insurance covers you as they will not. Agree that isolation will probably disappear soon or at least go to the levels that norovirus and such have.

I was lumping the Crown (Nov 9) and Sapphire Dec 2, 19) together.

They went to a hotel as planned for one night and then flew home.

I see. This is for the normal set of cruises but has no effect on Australia or the enhanced guidelines cruises. It is not much of a change since the unvaccinated only needed a self administered test. But it is a step forward. So there are only two cruises from the US that fit this (and I am going to be on one of them).

To us, yes. Someone from the cruise line apparently thought it had some point. Maybe they were just giving the passenger special treatment and the only staff they had available just happened to be wearing the bunny suits.