Stevie17

The Pearl is still in port at Quebec according to the bow webcam. I wonder if they will just stay in port until the worst of Fiona passes and then set sail for Boston.

Just now, capriccio said:

@Justaguy33 Have you heard any predictions on how many passengers are expected to be on the CB cruise departing this Sunday?  We are booked and will be on it assuming we pass our Covid tests tomorrow.

I haven't, but estimates from prior cruises appear to be about 40% capacity. Given the new CDC announcement, it would not surprise me at all if people were cancelling today and tomorrow. We might end up having a VERY low capacity ship...which would be a very good thing.

Excited to be following along! We board on Sunday and cannot wait. Thanks so much for posting!

24 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

We are on your cruise.

CVS isn't testing on Dec. 31 or Jan 1 - has nothing to do with them being full.

We found a private clinic that will test us (in Michigan) on the 31st.

I got the Optum tests as a back up.

But you should check clinics near you for available openings. I did a quick Google search and came up with this.

https://centerforcovidcontrol.org/locations/

Thanks. We do have a private pharmacy that we can book at as well and it's open on the 31st, but it's not free. We would have to send in paperwork for reimbursement. We used one of the Binax Now kits this week (as a trial and because one of my daughters had the sniffles), and it worked perfectly. We are going to wake up very early on the 31st and test. If something goes off the rails, we can always book at the private pharmacy. Fingers crossed that this all goes easily for all of us.

12 minutes ago, Coral said:

Most of my local tests did not open up until 4-5 days before the day I could test. I really didn't think I would have options because it was the weekend. My local hospital has a professional building that does tests but only Monday-Friday. It turned out I could test with Walgreens but I couldn't schedule it that far out.

 

Good luck. I stressed about this but found 2 places that would test locally after punching the at home test.

 

I had the best luck at a drive through option that all they do are COVID and flu tests. The company was Nomi Health and my friend in another state used them also. Test was done in 2 minutes including scanning bar code, verifying my information and asking me health questions (any current symptoms, etc...). She quickly swabbed and I had test results in less than 20 minutes. Walgreens results took 5 hours (and I know their test is a 20 minute test). Someone on the ship with me, their CVS test took probably 48 hours. They tested Saturday and the results came back the day she boarded after she flew to the port.

 

Princess really needs to invest in testing at the port and paying for it.

Yep, and that may happen in our case as well (the opening up a few days prior part). The glitch may be the actual DAYS on which we would need to test...New Years Eve and New Years Day. I will certainly check as we get a bit closer, but I feel good knowing that we have the Binax tests in our back pockets, so to speak.

So here's a "real case" scenario for late January/February cruisers. We are booked on CP for January 2nd. We are a family of four, and months ago I ordered the Binax Now with AG Card self-test kits for us. I ordered 2 per person and figured that we would just have them on hand as back up. I was sure that it would be super easy to find a rapid antigen tests at CVS or Walgreens and that we wouldn't need the Binax at all. 

Fast forward to today. Anyone on that January 2nd cruise has to test on either December 31st or January 1st. I live in the Chicagoland area, and you can't find any open testing at CVS or Walgreens. Everything is booked solid OR they simply aren't testing on those dates. The combination of soaring cases coupled with the holidays are making it virtually impossible to find any availability.

That back up Binax option has now become our primary, and only, option.

Buy the Binax and stick them on your shelf. I know it's expensive and that you may end up spending money on those tests and never use them. But they may also be your only option. 

11 minutes ago, nocl said:

it is possible that we could be past the Omicron peak by March

Oh no, I'm sorry. I wasn't clear. What I meant was that I feel today how I felt in March of 2020 when Princess canceled our cruise on board the Regal. We are currently schedule to sail on CB on January 2nd, and because of the huge uptick in cases, I feel like I'm having deja vu. 

22 hours ago, hsmom said:

We board the CB the week after you. This all feels like a rerun of March 2020 where our original cruise was canceled.

That is exactly how we feel! We were supposed to sail on Regal in March 2020. 

7 hours ago, JoRoy218 said:

We’ve just booked our third cruise for March 26 (two former cruises cancelled due to COVID) and now that the numbers are rising again, am afraid our CA Coastal cruise may have the same fate. Oh well, worse things can happen. Will just ride it out like everyone else. 🙄

Yeah, we're supposed to be on the Caribbean Princess two weeks from tomorrow. I feel like with these skyrocketing cases, anything is now possible. The first "hurdle" will be to see if my family of four all tests negative two days prior. We're all vaxxed, and we mask up regularly, but who even knows at this point whether it's enough. 

1 hour ago, Babr said:

Do not cancel your cruise based on a positive test alone. Contact your doctor. He may do additional testing to confirm the diagnosis. He will provide documentation of the diagnosis and “do not travel” orders necessary to file an insurance claim. Under those conditions, your insurance will reimburse you in cash for lost prepaid non-refundable expenses. 
 

There is no need to cancel under the CFAR provision. You’ll get only a percentage in the form of FCC that way.

This is very good counsel. Thank you.

I would love an answer to this as well. We sail on January 2nd and will test on the morning of December 31st. I too have multiple testing options in place for our family of four. Crossing my fingers (and everything else) that none of us tests positive, but if we do, I'd like to know what my next steps are. We also have the Princess Cancel For Any Reason Insurance, but what would my immediate next step need to be if the unfortunate happens?

27 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Well NCL just tightened things up

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/6639/

 

The mask requirement was only for the current sailing of the previously infected ship. They have not instituted a mask mandate ship-wide. The article indicated that "it was unclear whether they intend to do so".

5 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

This is like the main stream media. Take text out of context to try and get a reaction. It article said "The cruise line immediately instituted new rules for guests who opted to board the ship on the next sailing, which embarked Sunday, Dec. 5." It would make sense that with the potential of crew and B2B guests carrying the virus, that masks on the next cruise would include additional risk mitigation. 

 

 

I agree with you. My post was not meant to take anything out of context but rather to provide an excerpt from the link that was posted above as there has been speculation on whether NCL would alter its mask policy. As of today, it appears that they haven't.

1 minute ago, GonzoWCS said:

This folks

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/6639/

 

"Norwegian Cruise Line requires all guests to be fully vaccinated and to undergo Covid-19 tests within 48 hours of their sailings. Up to this point, masks were not required. It was not clear if the incident on Norwegian Breakaway would lead to changes on other sailings."

Will be interesting to see if this impacts their entire mask policy. 

2 minutes ago, roger001 said:

Will just have to wait and see how this mask thing goes.  I’m scheduled next week.  I absolutely cannot do a cruise with masks.  They bother me just to much.  Each have their tolerance I guess.  Guess I’m out the bucks then if this comes to pass. Have insurance but it won’t cover this I assume.  What a mess.  

I wonder if you could get a future cruise credit given the change in policy so close to your sailing? 

3 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I've heard a pcur test can tell if it's the new variant or the one we are fighting now. The results are missing something that the current variant has. Has to be a pcur not a rapid test but they can tell it's the new one fairly easily. 

 

Well that explains why 10 positives they got so crazy and late boarding. .. makes sense.

That's incorrect. A typical PCR test can detect COVID, regardless of of the variant, but current PCR tests as they are administered cannot detect a specific S-Gene dropout (which is what you are referring to above). That currently requires gene sequencing...not a simple PCR test.

3 minutes ago, Juncti said:

They just announced the ship has omicron. Looks like we're still sailing but now we need to sign a form(waiver I assume).

 

And now there's new restrictions, but no idea what they are. 

 

They just announced you can go get a refund and leave if you want

Huh? How could they possibly know that the new Omicron variant is circulating on that ship? 

Awesome! We will be on the Princess on January 2nd! I look forward to reading your posts.

I just watched her leave Port Everglades. It looks like she's going to sail around a bit and be back in port on Sunday. We will be aboard on January 2nd...can't wait! I just happened to be looking at some of the port cams today, and low and behold, there she was!

24 minutes ago, Electricx said:

Hello Everyone!

 

I just booked my first Princess Cruise (YAY!!); however, I may have run into a snag.

When filling out my full name, the form states to put the name as it appears on your passport.

I have 2 long middle names. They both do not fit in the space provided. So I put in just 1 middle name and called.

She said unfortunately there are only so many spaces, so just got to put in what you can.

So now the form states (for example) instead of Mary Katherine Joanne it is Mary Katherinejoa

 

Is this going to cause a problem when I board?

 

Any insight would be appreciated!

Nope. Our daughters were both adopted from China and have both American and Chinese middle names, and they are LONG. We have been on many cruises with them, and their names on the ship reservations have never matched their names (as they fully appear) on their passports. It's never once been an issue.

4 hours ago, CruisinFinsUp said:

We are experiencing a global pandemic.  Its obvious that the rules may change any day.  
Cruising is not an essential service and is very much responsive to worldwide government health protocol rule changes, not at the forefront or a catalyst to those changes.   Two weeks has been a very long time during this pandemic! 

 

We have a cruise booked for January, as we are trying to do a bit of "normal" in this not normal time.  However, we have full expectations that rules will change between now and then, perhaps many times.  In addition, we have insurance in place in case we are no longer qualified to travel due to future unpredictable but expected rule changes.    That is the world we live in now.   Any other expectation is unrealistic, in my opinion.  

 

 

We are sailing on January 2nd, and I'm of the same mindset. We bought the "Cancel for any reason" insurance through Princess, and are frankly prepared for just about anything. I feel like so many things have fallen through in the last 19 months that I wont truly believe that we're taking this cruise until I'm stepping onto that ship. We're vaxxed (and boosted), we will take our Covid tests before hand, we wear masks, and we are essentially putting ourselves into a self-imposed quarantine for the week prior to the cruise. That's about all we can do. The rest is out of our hands. 

1 hour ago, HBCcruiser said:

 

Yes. We checked in at the Muster Station, got a glass of wine at Vines and watched the video on our phones while we relaxed. Nice! 

Oh man, this is truly the way to do it. I LIKE this process! 🙂

I've used Insure My Trip before and have been very happy with it. 

16 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I actually agree with Stevie17s analysis and will admit that we have had no love of Nassau for about the last 40 years:).   There are plenty of times,  when we cruise in the Caribbean, that DW and I think our best option is to simply stay on the ship.   On one Celebrity cruise which went to 9 Caribbean ports we did not bother getting off during stops at the first 8 but did finally get off at the last stop of St Maarten because that is a port we enjoy.  So, when you say "make the best of it" for some folks that is actually enjoying a near empty vessel when it is in a port that might not offer much of interest to the cruiser.

 

Hank

This is exactly what we will be doing in Nassau. If we had more time, we might have considered going to Atlantis (which we have done...it's fun), but with a departure time of 1pm, that's not practical. We've all been to Nassau multiple times, so staying on the ship and getting in another sea day is the option we will choose. 

17 minutes ago, Tak8 said:

I go for the beaches, so I have to agree the changes are a big downgrade.  I like my water warm and January in the Bahamas, I tend to wait for later morning or afternoon before going into the water.  With a 1pm departure, you swim in the morning or you don't swim at all  (or fill in with whatever you do in the water).

Precisely. I don't even see us getting off of the ship in Nassau.