heidikay

It does seem they are cleaning more but it has been a long time since I've cruised Princess so I really don't know.   But earlier before they took salt shakers away. I watched as each one was wiped at the end of the meal.  I don't think I've seen that before.  

So sorry. I didn't know this posted.  I was going to post about Coronavirus precautions onboard but thought I aborted and must have posted instead.  

We did not dock in Falmouth due to bad weather.  The seas have been rough.  We came a day early to Cartagena and are staying until our scheduled departure tomorrow. 

We are washing in the sink before going to buffet.  Everything is being served by waiters in the buffet.  In the dining room, bread is served, cream is poured, salt is shaken all by the waiters.  We touch nothing but our glass, silverware and delivered dishes.  This has all changed starting the 2nd day of the cruise.   The library books and games are locked.   I watched entertainment staff, try to collect all the pencils from trivia without touching them.  He said they are all sanatized after use.  These are the things I have noticed.   

So so far the cruise has been pleasant.  

Sorry again for the confusing start. 

We started our cruise 3/7

27 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

It might be a good time to buy. 

I'm considering.  

3 hours ago, Not a username2 said:

 

To me, it’s the possibility of infecting my innocent little 2 yr old. Also other loved ones.

It doesn't seem to be impacting children much.  I assume your 2 yr old is healthy.  I'd be more concerned about the elderly.  They are the ones that seem to be impacted the most.

Anybody watching the price drop?  Oh my I wonder it where it finish.  It is now at 82.28.

1 minute ago, Markanddonna said:

I traveled on the Seaside last week and there were many ill passengers by Friday. I just wanted off by then!  I also pondered how tragic it would be for these poor islands to have a new illness to contend with. Heaven help the poor places we travel to!

 

Third world countries that don't have resources to treat or stop spread will be hit the hardest.

Watch the news.  It would be certainly irresponsible to take passengers to Hong Kong right now.  Their medical workers are on strike!  What if someone has a heart attack, appendicitis, broken ankle?    Coronavirus is the least of your concerns.  It is putting everyone in danger to travel there. 

What are the prices for sanctuary if you book it for the whole week?  Any opinions about the sanctuary on Island Princess?

1 hour ago, Bo1953 said:

h - I believe that X is offering a full refund and/or FCC pending meeting certain conditions and thresholds for a few 'near term' departures and will roll out additional conditions/thresholds going forward for each sailing as they figure out the best approach.

 

Which, at this moment, is all they can and need be compelled to do, IMO.

 

I Am sure that they know and understand that this process will make many passengers nervous and upset - to be clear, cruise lines have been through this type of situation before and will again in the future.

 

All cruise lines understand and know what is on the line in these situations and as such will not rush to judgement or quick solutions which are not in the passengers, crew and their best interests... sailing by sailing while the situation is evaluated daily.

 

I have rarely seen or heard of any cruise line giving FCC for more than one (1) year from the date of sailing, two (2) years would be very generous and very unusual.

 

good luck and bon voyage

I got a full refund for a cruise and a FCC good for two years from Carnival so it isn’t that unusual for me.  It is my only experience.  But that is what Carnival did for me. 

But I’ve been following the roll calls and even those that are choosing FCC are in a difficult situation because this was an expensive cruise and they have to use all the credit on one cruise.  And different people are hearing different things.  Celebrity is not explaining this clearly.  So even what I wrote above might not be accurate.  

8 hours ago, Alsmez said:

 

Vent all you like, but directing your ire at the cruise line is totally irrational. Celebrity had nothing to do with the outbreak and they are doing all they can to provide their customers with safe alternatives or financial compensation.

The cruise line is NOT doing all they can.  I'm not suggesting they should. I get Celebrity is a business and this is a difficult situation.  But offering full refunds would certainly be more than future cruise credit that must be used in one year.  Even extending the cruise credit for two years would be more generous.  

8 hours ago, jelayne said:

I’m sorry that you daughters honeymoon hasn’t worked out as they had planned and that Halong Bay has been changed to other Vietnam cities.  Celebrity is offering to cover $500 p p in airline change fees, and the airlines hopefully will be flexible in allowing changes.  
I hope they have a wonderful wedding and go on their honeymoon with the revised itinerary and have a lifetime of good memories. 

Thank you,  That is very kind.  I'm sure they will have a great honeymoon.  Just not exactly like they planned and with the stress of making all these last minute changes and not knowing what exactly what is happening.  I keep thinking thankfully they weren't on the 2/1 sailing.

Thank goodness they already had their wonderful wedding last month.  I can't imagine the stress of dealing with last minute wedding planning and all the changes to this honeymoon.  OH MY!

8 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

Understood, does their travel insurance and/or credit card insurance cover this type of instance or not?

 

Long way to travel from home without it, as you say, '...not a typical Caribbean cruise..' for most, except for the most of us who do travel to other parts of the world for cruises, which can be typical.

 

bon voyage

They bought insurance so they could cancel for any reason with a 75 percent refund.   

55 minutes ago, Alsmez said:

 

Given that they are offering everyone a refund in the form of future cruise credit, there is no question of forfeiting your payment unless you choose not to book a future cruise. Furthermore, they have published a changed itinerary with substitute ports to avoid health risks. Beyond simply refunding your money, which they are understandably reluctant to do given that you have already spent these dollars with X, I don't understand what else they should reasonably be expected to offer.

My point is understand if people want to vent or are upset.  This is my daughter and son in laws honeymoon.  They don’t have the finances to do something else right now and let Celebrity hold onto their money in the meantime. They planned this cruise around my son in law’s top bucket list spot - Halong Bay.  That stop was cancelled.  

Many people have planned a long time.  This is not a typical Caribbean cruise for most people.  It is a big deal.  

I can relate to the OP's post.  I wouldn't say shameful but I would say Celebrity could have communicated this situation much better than they have.  I tried to get answers for my daugher who is on the 2/15 sailing and is trying to figure out what is going on this morning.  Celebrity told me at 10:11 she would be receiving an email soon.  She got her email 4 hours later.  

Because of this health emergency someone is going to lose money.  Everyone has flights booked to the scheduled embarkation/disembarkation ports.  IT can cost big money to change this.  

It is a bad and upsetting situation for so many reasons.  Sometimes people need to vent.  

Thank you Spif for the review.  I wonder if the street peddlers are getting worse?  I booked a tour in Cartagena and my tour guide said he had booked a police officer to accompany us.  

I took it earlier this month.  It was small only 12 people that was nice.  We went to market and got to choose two tacos to eat.  The tacos were very tasty.  We were told which fruit to select for the margaritas and the fruit was banana which would not have been my choice.  We then saw an old church and home.  This did not impress me much.  At this stop we had some food which I can't remember except the amount was on the small side.  We also did a tequila tasting.  Next we stopped to make the margaritas.  We were given a brief history of chocolate and then we made chocolate by crushing cocoa nibs by hand.  This is not what I envisioned in making chocolate.  The chocolate we made was not good.  I threw mine away on the ship.  I pictured getting to make a gourmet chocolate bar.  Then we made three maragaritas.  That was fun but too much alcohol for me.  I'm a lightweight.  But I made some tasty margaritas.  They were good.  I was feeling no pain by the end of the tour.  It was enjoyable but did not completely live up to my expectations.  The day I was there the weather was poor and it was a good choice for a day like that because it was mostly under shelter.  

3 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

Sure:

 

Roundtrip Transportation private tour for your group would be $250.00 total.

 

On your arrival at the venue you would pay the fees $30.00 each at the rafting and $25.00 each at the great house.

 

Dan

Thank you

On 9/30/2019 at 4:33 PM, The Fun Researcher said:

Thanks for the suggestions all, we're going with Ricardo Riley of Liberty Tours Jamaica.  We have a custom tour setup. 

 

Our tentative plans so far:  Doing the Martha Brae bamboo River Rafting, Touring the Rose Hall Great House and then hitting up Scotchies for some authentic jerk chicken or fish.

Dan

Do you mind sharing how much that costs? Sounds like a fun tour. 

I think we are going to avoid all of this and book the cabin without free perks and buy specifically what we desire.  We aren't big drinkers so I think this might be the right option for us.  The free perks sound good until you start looking into it and it really doesn't fit what we want.

34 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Last December on the Star. 

Thank you.  Guessing that their policy has changed since December or perhaps the rep was misinformed.  I'll try again when I book it. 

Anyone here have luck recently upgrading their dining package??

9 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

I called NCL and they were able to add a night to our package bringing it to 4 nights. Not a problem. Enjoy your cruise!

How recently did you do this?  I am ready to book a cruise and talked to a rep today and she said it was not possible.  I think it stinks because it should only cost 50 to upgrade to 7 meals but have to spend $114 to buy a 4 meal specialty package.  

How does the specialty package work in a la carte restaurants??

Yes it is and Carnival's continuous commercial is annoying as well.  

3 hours ago, hamrag said:

 

Interesting to see much still 'artists impression' content in the video....the real photography, with people and other stuff moving around could have been taken anywhere! Really do wonder if this island remains a figment of MSCs' imagination, or is it real?  

I thought about this while watching the video and I almost choked on my coffee.  I'm hoping it is real because the private islands are always my favorite port.  I got to remember to wear all white and my husband too so we can cavort on the beach as shown.

IF you like frozen drinks, I really loved the Frozen Toblerone.  YUM!