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13 hours ago, torpeedo said:

 Thank you for volunteering for the Pfizer vaccine tests.  Appreciate it very much.  Hopefully we, older couple, will be able to receive the vaccine VERY soon!!  Thanks to your help and all the other volunteers. 

I am 68, and my wife will turn 70 next month.  It's been an interesting experience.  And, if we got the real vaccine (this is a double-blind test, so you never know), our experience is that we didn't even have much soreness at the vaccination site.  Pfizer has told us that when they unblind the test (which they will do when the vaccine is approved) that if we got the placebo, they will have us come in and get the real vaccine and transfer us to the safety-followup protocol.  The good news is they pay us $119 each every time we have to go to the testing site, and $5 every time we use their app to report our health for the last week. 

A funny thing:  Pfizer says the control group took longer than they expected to reach the 150 or so infections they needed to judge efficacy.  Apparently those of us who volunteered did not assume we were immune and continued with good health practices.  Remember, there were 45,000 people in the test, half of whom they gave a placebo.

They are still recruiting young people 12-17.

But I have yet to hear of anyone receiving an invitation.

I volunteered.  And I volunteered (and was accepted) into the Pfizer vaccine test.

On 8/27/2020 at 2:41 PM, xDisconnections said:

When Carnival is ready to tell you, they will.

Ready, and able.

10 hours ago, Out of Iowa said:

My heart goes out to the people who had their Vista cruises cancelled!  What on earth can you do with non-refundable airfare that puts you in Galveston, TX for the week?   [Not all of us are within reasonable driving distance of any cruise port.]  Rent a car and explore Waco?

 

So sorry to all of you who will have a "much-less-than-anticipated" vacation week.

Galveston has long been a vacation destination for Texans, and you CAN have a good time there, probably for a price similar to a cruise, if you book a reasonably priced room.

23 hours ago, FLACRUISER99 said:

 

NO the Pilot only acts in an advisory position, the Captain is in command of the ship, The only place that the pilot takes command is the Panama Canal.

This is true.  However, captains who do not take the pilot's advice in any form or fashion may find their next visit to that port very unpleasant.

I guess the first question I would ask is, "Is Volkswagen still in business in the U.S. and the rest of world?  Why?"

The second question I would ask is, "How willing is the judge to make a major financial hit on millions of stockholders?"

The third question I would ask is, "Is it legal for a public official to make radical threats just to make a point?"  (Before you answer that, check the news the last few days.)

49 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

even if you use three for every drink to avoid them going soggy is still way better than one plastic straw.

Really?  Where did the paper come from?  And where do the paper straws go?

On 1/22/2019 at 2:36 PM, TomCruise48 said:

When I was growing up, all we had we're paper staws.

Yeah, I was just going to say, I remember a time when all straws were paper.  Apparently Mr. Robinson was right, and invested wisely.

They have taken a drug dog aboard the Vista in Galveston several times, recently, and at least two weeks in a row, they removed several people from the ship in handcuffs.  And did you see the instance of the drug dog that was overdosed by fentanyl on a recent inspection?

On 1/19/2019 at 4:40 PM, Stacie. said:

😮I need to remember to pack a pair of dress pants for DH. I'm trying to convince DH that we should wear the outfits we purchased for a Gatsby themed fundraiser last year, which would have him in black dress pants, crisp white shirt, black bowtie and suspenders (we'd leave the fedora at home) and I would wear my sparkly flapper dress and pearls (but probably not the feathered head piece as I don't see it making the trip unscathed). 😉

 

I think that would be great.  For the boys?  See if you can't find them some zoot suits.  I've seen teenagers dressed that way, and it looked great.  And I don't see a good reason not to wear the feathered head piece, unless, as you say, it's too delicate to make the trip.

On our cruise (next week, on the Vista), there will be pirates in costume on formal night.  I have been tempted to wear wizard's robes, as proprieter of "Olive and Her Wands" store.  (If you're a Harry Potter fan, say it quickly.)

I wear a tux, but it's kind of joke, the dirt-poor kid, retired trucker, sticking it to the man, so to speak.

On 1/19/2019 at 7:01 AM, Aplmac said:

.

I was wondering the same thing myself.

People get dressed-up for the food?

No, people get dressed up for the tradition, as much as anything. 

I say, ask yourself why you wear anything at all to elegant night.  Once you've answered that question, you know why you should follow the printed dress code, right?

Guys should take this word of advice.  It is the very rare woman who does not want to dress up, when they get the chance.  She may tolerate your "casual" protestations, but don't think for a moment she likes it.  Do yourself a favor, take at least a tie and a jacket, and let her show off.

It is possible to make a very good "mock-steak."  They might even be able to get one in advance from Guy's, who now has vegetarian burgers.  But I'll bet they'll have an answer for you, if you go and talk to them.

9 hours ago, rukkian said:

It says 4.4, but if anybody is still using something older than that, I feel sorry for them.

Thanks!  I just went to check, and one of the old phones is 5.1.  I may throw another one in, just in case.  But that one is small, so that would be my wife's preference.

I have heard you have to be updated to a certain level of Android for it to work.  Does anyone know what the minimum version of Android is required?

2 hours ago, Ziggy7 said:

It worked on my tablet that is not connected to a data plan, so I am guessing it would work for the HUB only.

That's pretty much what I was thinking.

Lots of useful information here.  I see that the menus have been added to the Hub app, and I understand you can also use it on some of the ships (specifically, the Vista was the subject of the post I saw on the subject) to get seats in the YTD without going to the 5th deck office to check in.

Now, I have a question.  Since this is a wi-fi based app, will it work on an unactivated phone?  Specifically, I don't really want to carry a $1000 phone around on the ship, when I have a number of perfectly good, but no longer activated phones in my closet.

They also had a hold-up due to a low water level, so at least the crew gangway was unusable much of the day.  (I asked how "sea level" could be low, especially when they don't have tides there.  The apparent answer is that when they have a north wind, the water level is low at the dock.  Who knew?)

Then there was some sort of glitch with the luggage scanners. 

But yeah, ultimately they were less than 90 minutes late.

I see on the Galveston CruiseCam that the Vista is delayed in departing.  Apparently they had a number of problems today.  The lines are just being brought in now, so it should be departing soon.

We cruised a couple of times with a couple who ordered EVERY soup on the menue with every meal.  And ate them.

In my experience with large companies, the moment you mention a lawyer, or have a lawyer write a letter for you, the corporation will stop talking to you and wait for any papers to be served.

It depends on what you mean by "disappointed."  It's a different experience, no doubt.  The food will be about the same.  The shows will not be as spectacular, but they may be just as enjoyable, and the seats may be easier to find.  The ports will be just as good, and getting off in them will probably be easier.  You will be twice as likely to see the same people.  The ship may show her age, to some extent.  All the public areas will be smaller. 

Now, to be honest, our all-time favorite cruises were all on smaller ships, even smaller than the Elation.  Just go, enjoy it, and put it in your "computer" as another experience to compare with the others you may have in the future.

We have sailed on the Elation, and we had a good time.

If you are on an excursion provided by the ship, they WILL wait.  It is extremely expensive for them to leave without you.  At the very least, they will have to get you to the next port.  That alone would probably cost more than your cruise. 

You've seen the pictures of the fire on the Princess ship, and you still wouldn't report it?

A very wise principal I once worked for used to tell the students before every field trip, "The banana that leaves the bunch gets peeled."

A simple warning that would help a lot of people, I think.