Cruising89143

I also wonder how many crew members have tested positive for Covid at a given time and have been quarantined? Just a few crew members in the same department can cause havoc and severe shortages. There is no way to just replace crew members at the last moment. Two weeks ago one of our favorite bartenders on the Navigator disappeared after Tuesday. Did not see him again the entire cruise. I’m sure that this story repeats itself over and over. If guests are testing positive as we have read then there’s no doubt that the crew is experiencing this also. We may see some health protocol changes soon by the cruise lines to try and slow this down. Not sure that there is an easy answer at this time.

Thanks.

Hope that your symptoms are mild and you get over this quickly. How many nights was this cruise?

I would guess that testing will go by the wayside. Vaccines will not.

We were to fly out to Italy on Saturday. We canceled the entire trip. We will see how things look spring 2023. We are sticking close to home and only cruising from our home port of Los Angeles which means we’re cruising on RCI a good bit. Celebrity later this year.

Was mentioned above but the crew shortage is just more than Celebrity. Other lines now making adjustments. https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27508-staff-shortage-carnival-to-limit-dining-options-across-fleet.html

Looks like Carnival is making a few changes concerning a few dining options due to crew shortage. Wonder if we will see something similar to this on some of the RCI fleet? https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27508-staff-shortage-carnival-to-limit-dining-options-across-fleet.html

The heaters if they’re actually heaters on board are not working. No pools or slides is currently heated.

Delta also blocked out the middle seats for a long time.

I was thinking the same thing. Similar to the new MSC World Europa.

So this just your “opinion” and nothing else. Thought so.

You seem to know this as a fact so I would like to see proof please. There is a difference between giving an opinion and stating something as fact.

Part snipped for space….. I can give you an example. My husband retired from his job at the age of 57 about three and a half years ago. Plan was to take some time off and relax before finding a PT job with less pressure. I decided at the last minute to retire at age of 59 in February of 2020 right before all hell broke loose. Again, my plan was to take some time off and find a PT job working around 24 hours a week. Fast forward to now. Like just about everyone else we have spent two plus years hunkering down and dealing with this pandemic. We were lucky that financially we could stay at home. We still think about getting some time of PT to help fill time but Covid has made us think twice. I think many people who maybe were going to a little longer changed their plans. No, this does not answer for the younger age group but I do think many in my age group just decided it wasn’t worth it right now or to not go back to work period.

Same thing can be said about restaurants, grocery stores, department stores, airlines, hotels and the list goes on. If positions was easy to fill then we would not be seeing this as widespread as it is.

Navigator MDR was not open for general seating lunch on our last two cruises including last week. Only open to those with the “Key” and B2B cruisers. Your choices will be the Windjammer buffet or El Loco Fresh (quick serve) or fee included Jamie’s Italian or Johnny Rockets Express.

Yes they did. Specialty dining too. I have never known the cruise lines to give advance warning on raising prices. At least that has been my experience. Same with cruise rates.

I feel for everyone that has become sick with this virus and moved to quarantine. After reading this thread and several others, we know that we made the correct decision to cancel our trip to Italy next week. Even though our cruise was only seven nights we were spending almost three weeks in Italy/cruising. Too many opportunities to catch this virus and the need to quarantine or become very I’ll too far away from home. I hope that all affected get better soon. What’s been described here by some on the way X is handling the situation is almost criminal.

I also think part of the issue with crew shortage is coming from those testing positive and being held in quarantine. Last week our favorite bartender went missing after Tuesday. I asked the next evening where he was and I could tell from the bartenders answer and his reaction that the person must have tested positive. Our room steward was handling more staterooms than usual and told us he was moved back to our area at the last minute to cover an area. None of us have any idea of how many crew members are in quarantine at one time. Edit to add that we were on the same ship the first week of March. We were the first week of cruises on RCI with no masks required. Service was outstanding in all areas. We were told that the ship was fully staffed. Move ahead to last week and there was a slight difference in the overall service. Especially in dining.

I had a conversation last week with our bartender while on the Navigator OTS. He told me that most of the crew on the ship had their contracts coming up as most had brought the ship back into service. Many contracts are being extended simply because there is no one to replace them. I asked what the issue was on obtaining more crew. 1. Many potential crew members had vaccines that are not recognized by RCI. They have to start over with vaccinations. 2. Health paperwork/documentation needed which in some cases is due to situation #1. 3. Many former crew members found employment during the pandemic and have decided not to return. They like being closer to family. 4. And this seems to be the biggest issue. Getting the necessary visas need to come back to work. Appointments are hard to get. I was surprised to see that we had the same room steward as we had the first week of March. He was to have been on vacation. His contract had been extended for the third time. Hopefully he left this past Friday but he wasn’t sure if it would happen. I heard this same story over and over. The pandemic has hurt everyone and it’s going to take time for things to settle back into place. We all have a choice. Either be prepared that things as we knew might not be the same for a while or maybe now is not the time to cruise or take any type vacation as this pandemic has not only affected the cruise industry but the travel industry in general.

It’s not just a Celebrity issue. It’s an industry issue. https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/people-opinions/cruise-lines-pushed-their-limits-staffing-recruiting https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/cunard-caps-occupancy-some-cruises-due-crew-shortages https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27378-royal-caribbean-group-to-launch-major-recruitment-drive-in-antigua-and-barbuda.html

I’m with the majority. Stick with it. We’re not a fan of the MDR. Rushed and packed is the way that we see it. Others don’t which is fine. On the other hand, specialty dining you can take your time and enjoy your meal, the smaller venue and much higher quality food. Also, know that you don’t have to eat everything on the menu. You can choose exactly what you want. Sometimes we might drop a course if we’re not that hungry.

Since you have cruised on the Reflection prior then no need to tell what a great ship she is. Personally Michael’s Club is not one of our favorite places. We enjoy cocktails at either the martini or World Class Bar (miss the Molecular bar🙂). We just don’t enjoy the feel of Michael’s. I like that Luminae is adjacent to the MDR as you can order from the MDR as well. Unfortunately the ship hasn’t been revolutionized so no proper Retreat. Having a Retreat Attendant (Butler) is nice. We don’t use the a lot but mainly for room service in the mornings for things such as coffee, etc. They can help with many areas. Don’t be afraid to ask them for something. Have fun.

I agree with some. The cruise industry is a business. They need to fill ships to stay afloat. I hold no negative feelings about this. It’s up to each and every one of us to decide if we want to board a ship. If it’s not right for you then don’t cruise at this time. Also, if you’re fully vaccinated and boosted then that should take some of the high risk away. Covid is not going anywhere. We all just need to try and stay as safe as possible and learn to live with it. Whatever health and safety protocols are put into place by the cruise line, we will gladly follow. We were supposed to be leaving a week from today for Italy along with a cruise on the Edge. We planned this trip for almost a year. After looking at all things possible, we made the tough decision to cancel the trip due to not wanting to have the possibility of being quarantined that far away from home. That was a hard and sad choice but in the end we felt that it was the correct decision for us. Celebrity was very good to us. We’re now booked on the Solstice out of San Pedro in December. It’s not Italy but it will be a great cruise and we made it work for our situation. 🙂🙂 Like many others we have missed cruising over the last few years so we have decided to do the shorter cruises out of San Pedro on RCI’s Navigator OTS. We can cruise on B2B cruises (7 nights) and drive a short distance to the port. If we get sick then its a 90 minute to two hour drive home to rest and get well. No flying involved. I realize not everyone has that option but we’re trying to make the best of what’s currently happening while still getting some time on a cruise ship. We will be back on the NV in less than three weeks for another cruise. Happy cruising to all.

Having cruised in the CLS on three cruise in different locations, I would choose one on either the port or starboard side. They are much more quiet. I would try to find one located closer to the middle of the group and not further aft. We did book one that overlooked the aft sports deck and was directly over the Boardwalk “alley” and it was noisy day and night. Especially when the Aqua theater show was going. We liked the CLS for two people.

We haven’t tried purchasing the UDP as we like being in charge of booking the restaurants, days and time slots prior to the cruise. On RCI we dine just about every evening in a specialty restaurant and I don’t like waiting until I’m on the ship to see if we will be able to book what we want.