tailspintom

On 5/24/2021 at 9:48 PM, c-boy said:

what ! ... damn that's it , I'm out. I can't take this anymore, this needless nickel and diming of me, do they think I'm made of monopoly money. I didn't spend thousands of dollars on a cruise just to be manipulated and sucked dry.  I'm certainly not going to pay twenty dollars for corkage fee on my three hundred dollar bottle of 17' Lafite Rothchild Carruades, that's just absurd ! I will have a nervous break down should I decide to take a case or two aboard. 

 

     This certainly brings things to light, for now I know they are on to me.  I see myself scheming a new angle so as not to be takin for a ingrate unwilling to pay my fair share.  Perhaps if I don khakis and a loose button down shirt on formal night I may be able to smuggle my 2019 Estancia.

Nice sarcasm.  I love it.

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

And, for the most part, "scattering" ashes is not allowed, only dropping the urn and flowers.

Any time I  see the term scattering of ashes, my mind goes to the sea cliff scene in The Big Lebowski. 

Back in the sixties,  I was on ship for a Naval burial at sea for a veteran.  A touching service that i will never forget.

9 hours ago, Thrak said:

Am I just too old or what? Stuph like this on my phone makes me crazy because it's so small.

 

Sigh... Maybe I am getting old. I loved DOS 3.3. (DOS 4 stunk. DOS 5 was good and DOS 6.* was awesome.) I only installed Windows when Netscape was invented and there was a graphical Internet interface. It was mind boggling. (It had been Unix and all text until then.) Most stuph on my phone is too dang small. (No, stuph is not misspelled...) Here's an old Dilbert strip that totally applies to me...

 

This strikes a familiar note. I recently got a similar response as poor old Dilbert when I told a Dr.'s office that my video appointment will be done on a laptop. I had to explain that using my phone would render the video appointment to be an audio appoitment and I would like to actually see who I was speaking to.

It really makes no difference. The cruise is good on any side. We have done it four times. We are targeting this cruise when we decide to resume.

15 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I ask for extra Hollandaise on the side. Works pretty well. However, the English Muffin is generally tough as fiberboard. Princess just doesn't seem to have a clue... The only way to actually improve their Eggs Benedict is with the extra Hollandaise and a few dashes of Tabasco. (Really, sad to say but that can help their EB a lot.)

I really like well made Eggs Benedict. I have found that Caribbean Pincess improved their product significantly in the aft section by making smaller quantities. Waiting for the freshly made eggs was well worth it. For the other mass produced ones, I just skip them for the reason you cited.  My Celebrity experience was quite similar.

10 hours ago, caribill said:

 

And this is not Princess' fault. The entire evacuation and its procedures is being run by the US Government.

Not quite. The States are coodinating and executing their own activities as well. Hence you have California, Nevada and Texas securing transportation and setting up quarentine quarters within their States. 

4 hours ago, voljeep said:

how does the ban on gatherings effect/affect cruise ships docked in CA ?

 

NBA - SF Warriors will play their next game without fans in the seats … Whoa 

That bodes well for the Nets. They are used to playing with no fans in the seats.

48 minutes ago, Taseko said:

I think the point being made is that gatherings of any size should be cancelled at this time.  

Well, there goes my Easter family gathering .

7 minutes ago, sunshine 229 said:

What idiots suggested this??

The CLIA. It says it in the post and in the link.

4 hours ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

I agree....at least for the next 2 months at least because now the cruise lines are putting passengers on ships and they have no idea if they are super carries or not.......they are gambling with 1000's of people's lives and their practices are going against what is being suggested by the experts to not allow large gatherings of people to prevent the spread of COVID-19....and cruise ships meet the criteria of a large gathering!!!  As a matter of Princess basically brought the disease to the USA!

So, have you a bit of data on that last sentence? The CDC shows the desease entering the US in January. Exclamation points do not make something true; nor doe the word "basically" excuse an inaccuracy. 

As far as canceling cruises, if you and the person you replied to are speaking of individuals canceling,  I likewise would agree. If you are speaking of govenment institutions mandating cancellations, I disagree.

43 minutes ago, CruizinCupcake said:

I was wondering the same thing.  Why no results are being released about the Royal crew member test results.  All the other ships seem to have results in hours not days.  As someone who was on one of the sailings with the crew member I really would like to have some information 

Possibly waiting for a second negative test? I seem to recall that Japan was getting some false negatives out of their testing.

8 minutes ago, fiestafatty said:

IWe are going to Alaska in June. Any thoughts of canceling bc of corona virus

 

 

I wouldn't, but that is me.

9 hours ago, matadams4u said:

Actually, the Chinese agreed to allow the US participate as a part of the WHO.  I am not certain of the current status of US membership in the WHO - 2-3 years back the US was downgraded from a voting member to an observing member due to the failure to pay dues.  This may have been rectified.  Under the rules, if you don’t pay your dues you just don’t have the same access as others.  Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons (there are more than one) the US has had a habit over a long period of time of jeopardizing it’s ability to participate in international working groups for one reason or another.  Under international protocols - WHO is the point group, those that aren’t in compliance with WHO rules just don’t get to participate.  This provides some background on the reason there might be some friction and this is just one area of many.  It is the right of the US to not meet its obligations with international agencies, but there shouldn’t be any complaint when excluded from the party.

Here is a link that addresses the US contributions to WHO.  The US continues to be the largest assessed contributor to WHO at 22%. The US has never failed to pay their "dues" since the inception of WHO in 1948. The US contributes some 17% of WHO's total budget.  it remains  a member of the executive board, representing the Americas. https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-u-s-government-and-the-world-health-organization/

As someone else commented, I share the opinion that China's reluctance to have other nations involved in their outbreak is a perceived need to control the narrative and information flow within their country.

37 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

That may be your view but experts would disagree, and are predicting infection rates of around 50%.  Of no concern to most people, unless you’re old or have existing health issues. 1-2% is a very small percentage, but it’s a large number out of 30 million.

You may want to read this somewhat dated assessment of the risk for transportation.  The risk is for the disease to be transported out of the China quarantine area. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/20-0146_article

1 hour ago, esper10 said:

Hi all, hope I can get some help. We are taking the emerald princess to Hawaii in April. I was trying to call princess for excursions but they don’t answer so I thought may be you all can help me. I’m trying to sigh up for an island tour in Maui, Hilo and Kauai. I’m looking for around 4-5 hours mostly in the bus easy to moderate. Any recommendations? Also I have to have surgery in the beginning of March so if from any reason I can’t make the cruise will they refund my excursion money back, I do have insurance. Thank you

I have used the big box store store excursion provider on the Hawaii cruise(s). They provide a smaller group size for all of the islands with excellent guides.  They likewise will reimburse you upon notification if you do not make the cruise.  Their pricing is similar to Princess but the tours are in smaller groups with the ability to semi-customize according to the wishes of the group as a whole.

52 minutes ago, Grburkart said:

People are dead because of this illness. I’m sure the disease doesn’t care where you live. As you said, people with significant health issues are at a higher risk INCLUDING death. 
I haven’t seen or read anything that suggested smokers are higher risked people. Some/most smokers are healthy people. But maybe I’m the uneducated one. 
I'm thinking some people are naive to believe it’s not serious. Especially if you’re worried about $1000.00

 

Glenn

It may be that Pushka is extrapolating the smokers' vulnerabilities because this virus seems to attack the pulmonary system.

For what it is worth, this may be the first time I have seen smokers referred to as healthy people. Had I known that I was being healthy, I may not have quit. That black stuff I was coughing up when I stopped must have been little bits of health.:)

We just went through the process after my wife incurred a serious injury.

Our TA started the process with Princess and we received our 25% refundable amount promptly through a credit card credit. AON's claim process was all done on line with scanned docs. The AON payments were sent to each of us about 4-5 weeks later in a check form. Everything was covered, inluding my EZ air costs. 

In all, the process worked quite well at a difficult time for us.

On 1/17/2020 at 5:23 PM, cruzsnooze said:

The Bears have been reported to be an obnoxious group of cruisers no matter what venue they are in.  

We cruised when the Jets fan group were doing their cruise.  Both couples were lovely.

6 hours ago, RMMariner said:

There's no sunshine when she's gone, and she's always gone too long, whenever she goes away.

Ah, another Bill Withers fan.

It seems that it has changed slightly in recent years.  Just the texture in my opinion. It remains one of my favorite appetizers, along with the sweetbreads and chicken tartlet.

Forget the weather. Nobody is going to be able to predict it a year or years in advance.  Nor is anybody going to predict it weeks in advance for that matter. The cruise is one of our favorites. We've done three of them to date and will do more, God be willing. 

October in Canada  and New Englad is spectacular.  You don't know what is going to presented. That is an aspect of its beauty. A late wet fall will allow the maples to  get to their magnificent reds and oranges. A dryer fall not as much. In any regard, it will be different than a typical Sacramento fall. 

 The Eastern Canadians will be as welcoming as the the Western Canadians. The New England folk will be as welcoming as the Western Americans. Just book it and find yourself longing to spend more time in this part of the Americas after experiencing it.

Just slightly off topic, but you can choose to put some of your OBC into the staff's gratuity pool. We have done that rather than buying something we really didn't want. The customer service desk has a form.

Order two. It comes with defibrillator paddles. And, definitely worth the risk.

We have done the circle Caribbean. Typically you will have some hot days in all seasons. I would suggest that the balcony curtains be pulled during the afternoon if the sun is on that side and you are not in the room enjoying the view. It just makes the air conditioner more efficient.

2 minutes ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Remember being escorted to your cabin?

I do. And having a bunch of friend in the cabin and on the ship for a bon voyage. A safer time then.