larrywizzit

On 10/19/2022 at 12:29 PM, Mary229 said:

My BIL rents a business room from a hotel while in port.  His work requires large data transfers of video files.  It works very well for him and he travels frequently 

I have thought about this. I already experimented with tethering to my mobile phone and it seems adequate. I’ll probably stay aboard to work if the signal in port is decent.

But, yes, I did think about renting time in a hotel’s business centre if the need arises. As long as the company approves the expense of course. 🙂

I see that it’s « suggested », but I don’t think it’s mandatory. I was curious about this too.

Based on the reviews for the app, your experience doesn’t surprise me. 

On 10/11/2022 at 4:25 PM, true45 said:

We were on the Celebrity Summit and The Apex this past year and the entertainment was super.  The Apex has differing entertainment in several venues from the main theater (example — contemporary violin show), smaller theater (ex Motown full band with horns & great lead singer & dance floor) Eden with funky quirky innovative theatre type show and the Atrium area band, music at the pool etc.

We are looking forward to trying our first HAL sailing in the NS next month.  Variety is the spice of life.  
 

Happy sailing

 

I honestly couldn’t care less about entertainment. We don’t go too much except maybe to listen a band play in BB King or Rolling Stone. We rarely even eat in the dining room. I’m going to be in the warmth, eat well, read and get my work done.

I still work remotely for my old company, so this is an experiment to see if I can do it from a cruise ship. Obviously, mostly while in port for mobile internet access. 
 

Ship’s internet is too flaky for that. 

People, I genuinely appreciate the feedback!

Sounds like what we were hoping to hear.

Thank you all.

On 10/7/2022 at 10:23 AM, Mary229 said:

I think we are all too giddy with the pleasure of sailing again that we are likely very forgiving of any flaw or fault.  The one I thing I know with certainty is cruising in the Caribbean is far better than dealing with the Canadian winter.  
 

 

Which is why we’re going.

We stopped cruising and traveling since the pandemic, and are only now ready to begin again. So I haven’t been aboard since March 2020 (We were  on a cruise that ended on March 8, just before the mess hit the fan)

In any case, I just booked a back to back to back - 32 days in the Caribbean just to avoid as much Canadian winter as possible.

So my question is, has anything changed greatly? Is the food and service still as good as ever, or have things slipped a bit?

I know that CCL is undergoing some financial hardship, so I wondered if this is reflected in the onboard experience? 
 

In any case, we’re going. I just want to know what to expect.

We too were long-standing Celebrity clients. We decided to give HAL a shot about 2 years before the pandemic, just based on a particular itinerary that we liked. 
 

The higher level of service and noticeably better food sold us on them and we’ve stayed with them since.

i also discovered that I prefer smaller ships, which was something that surprised me. 
 

As we’re not drinkers, I can’t really comment much on that. My wife likes an occasional glass of Pinot Grigio and was happy with what she was served.

If I had to sum up the difference between the two lines, I would say that Celebrity leans a bit more towards the big mass market cruise experience and HAL a bit more towards the luxury experience. 
 

Overall, the lines are comparable, both with some pros and cons, but overall I would give X a 4.0 and HAL a 4.5 on 5.

I Hope this is helpful. 

39 minutes ago, EvaDestruction said:

We will be sailing on the Rotterdam for a B2B cruise (21 days) in November.  I work remotely from home and wondered if anyone knows if the strength of the internet with the Premium WiFi package will be sufficient to be able to work remotely as we cruise the Caribbean?  We just returned from an Alaska cruise on the Eurodam a couple of weeks ago, and although we could look at various websites and check email, I never could log into my remote site to work and I sure would hate to lug my work stuff if I won't be able to work.  

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Are we talking a VPN? I doubt it will support that. 
 

Remote Desktop, maybeee?? I don’t know and I’m not hopeful. I’m on the same boat for 32 days in February/March and I have a few days per week to work. At worst I’m going to wait for port days and use my mobile as a hotspot. 
 

Also when in port, I expect less usage and better internet when not moving. 

We mostly sail HAL.

They’re not terribly “family friendly” so we see very few children or minors aboard. 

13 hours ago, Destiny0315 said:

I have no solid evidence to back this up but my guess would be the more time you spend logged in the HAL website searching various sailings you may be interested in and even leaving some incomplete bookings, the more the computer analytics tells them that this person is actively searching for cruises and deals. Calling your PCC or TA and telling them specifically what you want to book doesn't leave the same trail that the computer website searches do.

You might be correct. I recently began looking at cruises again and these offers began coming in one after the other. My wife is 3 star and I’m 2, so we’re surprised that I was the one to receive the offers. 

Yup. It’s a great deal. The final line of the small print says that you’re allowed to use one stateroom per cruise for up to 3 separate cruises.

We booked back to back to back on the Rotterdam, so we will be onboard for 32 days for about $CAN 3500.

i can’t imagine a less expensive way to be out of the snow in Canada for a month.

edit: I forgot to mention that we get $US 400 per cruise, so it’s cheaper in that pretty well covers the gratuities. 

3 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

While we really wanted to visit St. Petersburg, I think that Carnival is doing the right thing!

 

I always wanted to see it as well, but I doubt that I will now unless perhaps I outlive the big P.

Kyiv is definitely on our bucket list. 

7 minutes ago, ShipFan13 said:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/30/eu-travel-restrictions/

 

The restrictions “can vary from state to state, but it is widely expected that fully vaccinated Americans would still maintain unfettered access” to the European Union, said an E.U. diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

That's certainly hopeful, but it's no guarantee. Member states of the EU have different attitudes towards their pandemic response. France, Germany and the Netherlands seem to be more strict, as are some of the Nordic countries. The Southern European countries that are more dependent on tourist dollars seem to be a bit looser. i.e. Portugal, Spain. Italy, Greece, etc.

Anyways, it's all guesswork right now. I guess they will begin announcing their individual policies in the next few days. One big caveat is, I doubt that you will be welcome anywhere in the EU if unvaccinated.

Randy, no. Countries on the list are subject to testing and quarantine. At no point is vax status mentioned, I’m afraid. 

I'm sorry if this has already been pointed out, but I haven't the time to read through the entire thread.

I note that the story says 26 of the 27 are crew members. I can't help but think that the crowded conditions below deck might be partly responsible for this outbreak.

I feel that full protocols including social distancing should be applied throughout all cruise lines. Will this leave less room for passengers and hence higher prices? Yes, absolutely.

But as Covid is now endemic with doubtless future waves to come, everyone has to play a part in reducing the magnitude of said outbreaks and thusly the potential for more dangerous variants.

1 hour ago, Aloha 1 said:

 

No, that's a "breakthrough" case. breakout means a large number of people have come down with the disease.

 

As to the UK, yes you are correct but I believe the study previously referenced was conducted before a majority had received the second shot.

You are absolutely correct. I used the wrong word. I meant breakthrough. Sorry, I'm bilingual and even though English is my  first language, the constant switching throws me off.

16 minutes ago, Aloha 1 said:

What "breakout"? Asymptomatic means they are not sick. Most likely a tiny trace amount of the virus was detected Not enough to cause the disease.

A "breakout case" is when a fully vaccinated individual tests positive for Covid 19. It does not refer to symptoms.

13 hours ago, gerelmx said:

How could it happen if they were vaccinated and before arriving at St Marteen they had a negative PCR test?

 

And now what is going to happen to these two people will they be denied entry to St Marteen or the USA because the test is positive? Are they going to be confined in the cabin until the test is negative?

Well, I'm gonna come right out and say it. While breakthrough cases of Covid are possible in fully vaccinated people, they are exceedingly rare. In that the same couple travelling together BOTH came down with it, I must look askance at their vaccination proofs.

I’m a bit confused on one issue and forgive me if this has been addressed already in this rather long thread.

Didn't the governor of Florida refuse to allow businesses operating there to require proof of vaccination? Yes I know that cruise ships are flagged in other countries but Florida Port Authorities are local to the State.  

Hé might want to approach this by particular cruise line and their demographics. Maybe not for Carnival per se, but for Holland America it might be wise. 

28 minutes ago, BigJohnL said:

For what it's worth, the Port Everglades shipping schedule currently has the Zaandam arriving at Pier 2 April 2 at 6:00am, and the Rotterdam arriving at Pier 4 at 7:00am. Confusing things, it shows the Emerald Princess also arriving at Pier 2 at 7:00am. 😐 Of course, none of this is written in stone. Very, very tentative. I see these schedules changed many times. I just thought this was interesting enough to share here.

 

https://pevvesseltraffic.broward.org/webx/

They won’t be allowed to dock I’m afraid. 
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/coast-guard-cruise-ships-stay-sea-sick-onboard-69915070

The order now is to stay at sea. 😞

2 hours ago, JC5240 said:

They better do the right thing by those that have already canceled and got the "Peace of Mind" FCC for cruises during this time, ie: 125% FCC or revoke the FCC and give a cash refund. 

 

I love NCL, but I am totally nervous about the future of this company with the US Senate letter, and now this.

Take the cash before they 're-organize'

42 minutes ago, disneykins said:

Just arrived FLL for tomorrow's Adventure. Thanks for the info. Since we drove down from Canada, now what do we do? Disney? I guess not . Hope Royal reimburses something but not holding my breath. 

Well, you're in warmer climes. Enjoy the beach?

1 hour ago, chipmaster said:

Reactionary and late, but necessary given all the travel bans and what happened already on Diamond and Grand, lawsuits and governments would have forced it if it didn’t do it.

 

It took a couple months in China,  figure a quarter at least for the Western world 

We have been too slow to react. We need to institute the draconian methods that China did immediately and that Italy is trying (but later than they should have). If we don't want to see overloaded hospitals and rationing of equipment and services, it's the only thing that will save us from ourselves. Hopefully, there's still time. Shut it all down right away.

1 hour ago, tcha said:

Respirators will be rationed to those who have a better chance of survival.

This is the nightmare scenario. It's what I fear most. Apparently it is already happening in hospitals in Italy's quarantined north.