bookmama22

Enjoyed pub lunch on the Ruby Princess in 2013 but didn't seem to be offered earlier this year on the Regal Princess on Eastern Caribbean cruise

We were on Regal Princess in Feb in a deluxe balcony room and our deck had 2 chairs and a small table. The deck was small and I think actually smaller than the regular balcony room we had booked on Ruby Princess several years prior.

Neither deluxe balcony or regular balcony room compare to the deluxe balcony room on Norwegian which offered a spacious balcony and two lounge chairs and a small table. Instead of a worn-out looking love seat we had a very comfortable banquet type sofa which I think converts to a bed at night if there are 3 in the room as was the case with the family in the room next door to us. Although there were things I didn't care for on the Norwegian cruise, the room was far superior to similar rooms on Princess.

We had done HAL in Feb 2009 during the recession for 10 day Panama Canal trip and the ship seemed to be very limited in staffing but the timing might explain that. This was pre Anytime Dining and so we had the late dinner seating. The absolute best thing about that cruise was the indoor pool area with comfortable lounge chairs as well as the incredible library. Very comfortable leather sofas, tables to open and explore books and magazines and a full inventory of books you would want to read. The Regal Princess library was an embarrassment and quickly became the joke of the ship.

I haven't personally had a soda in about 5 years but I do appreciate that Princess allows you to bring water onboard. It just so happened that we had bought a large bottle of water on a St Thomas stop about 7 years ago on Eastern Caribbean Cruise towards the end of the cruise and we came down with Norovirus on the sea day back to FLL. Having that large bottle of water available was really appreciated. We also enjoy bringing the 2 bottles of wine aboard with us and appreciate the cabin steward bringing us wine classes on a similar cruise this past February.

When we cruised on Norwegian a few years ago to Bermuda they don't permit anyone to bring anything on board with them and wanted you to sign up for a water package in which they delivered what looked like Costco cases of water bottles to people's rooms upon boarding. We also need to have water in our cabin to drink and so I can only assume that the ship provided it in some way or another but don't recall if they delivered pitchers of ice water on a regular basis.

We did the. Voyage of the Glacier cruise out of Vancouver in 2012 as an add-on to a trip to Vancouver. We loved Vancouver and we also had a great cruise, first time on Princess. There were many people onboard who were doing back to back cruising and others with cruise tours to Denali. We had a Princess charter bus to the Anchorage airport and I don't think there were any other options. People who were doing back to back cruises had a different bus that was a tour of the sights around Whittier. The drive to Anchorage very scenic and our bus driver was very informative. Easy to locate your luggage at the terminal for the long drive home. Others who were touring on their own either picked up rental cars at the airport or took cabs to downtown Anchorage hotels.   Would love to do this trip again someday and do the Denali cruise tour.

I have seen people turned away from the dining room for wearing shorts at dinner on several cruises. Anyone can wear shorts at breakfast and at lunch.

I was attacked by many people on this board when I complained about people wearing ratty looking jeans and  t-shirts on this board in another discussion regarding dress code on formal nights. For me, I usually wear a simple dress with flats on those nights and enjoy doing so. My husband will wear a jacket, dress shirt but usually no tie on those nights. 

I would also add the lack of a Promenade deck was very disappointing. This was the first ship that I have been on without a deck to walk around on. We walked around in the morning upstairs on the sports deck and sometimes stopped to practice our putting and hit some golf balls. 

We had a deluxe balcony room that didn't seem any larger than the regular balcony room we had on other Princess ships plus the decor was very drab, as all in brown tones with an uncomfortable sort of love seat to sit on. It did not compare to the deluxe balcony room that we had on Norwegian Breakaway that was spacious, a deck that accommodated two lounge chairs, a large bathroom, a large banquette sort of couch and more pleasing decor. The deck we had on the recent cruise was on M deck, I forget what that stands for. 

Just make sure to bring plenty of reading material as this ship has truly the worst "library" of any of the Princess ships I have been on. The entire "library" consisted of what looks like books left behind by passengers and crew. 

I have family in Israel and have been there several times but never on a cruise. We have traveled with a guide one on one as well as traveling with our own rental car even in parts of the West Bank.  Have never felt unsafe anywhere however as with so many places in the world you always need to be aware of what is going on around you. Yes there are many checkpoints but issues to deal with but so worth it. The last time we were there you were permitted to to up to the Al Aksa Mosque from the Wall to walk around the outside as not permitted in the mosque itself although we were able to visit other mosques in other areas of the country. My husband was wearing shorts which were not permitted even to walk around outside and the Jordanian guards wanted to "sell him" a shawl to wear around his legs but conveniently he had long pants in his backpack as we were leaving for the airport for an 11 PM flight later that day. The guard took him around to another area and watched him put on his pants over his shorts. In some of the synagogues in Safat you need to have your arms covered with either a cardigan or they will give you a shawl to wear while inside. If there on your own you will need to make reservations for English tours at the museums such as Museum of the Diaspara, Menahem Begin and so on. Hotel concierges are very helpful with all of these arrangements.

Yes I realize that! However other posters had indicated booking a 14 day Caribbean Cruise so that one would likely or possibly included a stop in Nassau.

Just posted on another thread that I read an interview with the Nassau Port Director stating that if/when cruising resumes, passengers will not be permitted to disembark and wander around at will as has been done since the beginning of cruising. Not sure what they will be proposing but stay tuned for those considering Caribbean cruises next winter. You never know with the Caribbean as we have a forecast for more storms than usual as we head into Hurricane season on top of everything. 

Not planning any cruises for a long time but with the Caribbean cruises that I have been on, always booked as a last minute deal. 

If any of your planned ports are Nassau in the Bahamas, don't expect it to be port stop as usual. Just read an article in which the harbormaster or port director was interviewed and he said that they will not permit cruise ship passengers to disembark and wander around at will as has been the norm since cruising began I suppose. Not sure what they were proposing to do to handle the port stop... so stay tuned as I don't think this will be the only one with information like this.

Greetings

I wouldn't be planning any cruises until there has been an approved vaccine with some data behind it to see if truly is effective. I had a very mild case of the virus in mid-March with my symptoms resembling a cold and low-grade fever. I did test positive and self-quarantined for 14 days. My husband and I were never in the same room of our house for the entire time but what if we had been on a cruise in our room, wouldn't have been possible to social distance too much from each other. He tested negative as he was with me when I had an appointment for a drive through site from NYS at Jones Beach, maybe the second day that testing was available. I was able to get an appointment as I had been exposed. Went for antibody testing earlier today. 

I don't see cruising coming back in the near future. Perhaps in the fall of 2021 or the winter of 2022 but there would be so many factors and whenever cruising comes back, the cruising of the past decade will be a thing of the past. Cruise ships will reduce the # of cabins to decrease the amount of passengers, buffets will be a thing of the past, you will have more of a fixed seating for dinner or dinner reservations required so that people can be socially distant within the dining rooms, same with shows if offered at all. Masks worn at all times in public spaces. Not sure how they will handle gyms, pools, spas, shops, etc.

Here in NY we are only in phase One so no restaurants open for dining other than take-out. In my neighborhood, everyone is wearing masks at all times other than kids I see on bikes,  supermarkets only admit people in groups of about 15 or 20 and lines outside are spaced six feet apart to enter. We did however go for walk on boardwalk in Long Beach, NY several times and sadly many are not wearing masks at all as maybe they think because they are outside? Benches are blocked off with construction fencing so only every other bench is available. Our beach has parking reduced by 50% so that you can more easily social distance yourself with your family group from others. Masks are required in the parking lot and if you are walking around on the beach, but not when you are seated with your family. 

Working conditions for all crew are very poor for the most part. I had a relative who had a position on one ship working on lights for the shows for a one year position and unfortunately i do not know the ship. A significant portion of the crew on that ship was was in the Pacific Ocean having departed from Vancouver  became ill with norovirus which easily spread throughout crew housing areas but beyond that the working conditions for performing his job were inadequate and unhealthy, in cramped spaces where you could barely move, let alone perform your job adequately and safely. 

On the other hand in 2009 on the Panama Canal cruise that I was on that was a HAL ship and I have no memory of the name of the ship we had an oceanview room, not a balcony and there was a crew member, perhaps front desk or position similar to that who was in an interior room across from ours.

I cannot imagine anyone planning to cruise this year or even next year or in many cases, ever again. We are not making any vacation plans for the rest of the year and just learned that a family wedding in Miami that was moved to October from April is now moved to next April. 

While we have enjoyed cruising for the most part especially the memorable Alaska cruise from several years ago,  it is hardly our favorite vacation. We much prefer driving trips either in the U. S, Eastern Canada or Europe. 

So sad to read yesterday that Tanglewood is officially canceled for the summer as spending time in the Berkshires is one of my most favorite vacations. We love Tanglewood and the summer theaters such as Barrington Stage and the fine restaurants and the museums and historic homes. We suspected as much and hadn't booked any tickets or made any reservations anyplace. Every few summers we head up to Maine for a week as another all-time favorite vacation spots along with New Hampshire. 

So all of that is on hold..  glad we had a coastal California driving trip last June as part of an extended vacation to attend a wedding in Big Sur and we always enjoy a weekend in San Francisco whenever we can.

Currently my heart breaks for the estimated 100,000 crew members still on ships, many past their contracts and not getting paid and no plan to repatriate them. While no one could have anticipated dealing the magnitude of this situation and had a plan in place, it is hard for me to consider wanting to give my money to cruise ships until all this is resolved and extensive plans are in place for moving forward.

There was a segment about the crews that are still on cruise ships on the Today show including a Skype interview with the singer profiled in the Miami Herald article. Hopefully that will spur some action.

I saw earlier that Norwegian may be the first cruise line to declare bankruptcy. It was from USA Today. They state they have "substantial doubt" about their ability to "continue as a going concern" in the wake of the pandemic.There is a more in-depth statement as part of their SEC filing.

There is another article in the April 30th issue of GQ that is specific to the situation on the Diamond Princess.

Read a summary of an interview with the CEO of Carnival as he must have appeared on FOX in which he said for now they are continuing to book cruises but in reality have no idea when they will begin cruising in the future. They have 10,000 stranded crew members as well as some passengers that are on various ships and not allowed to disembark as Carnival cannot reach an agreement with the CDC. They want to try to organize charter flights so that they are not paying for individual flights for various places but have no way yet to organize any of these plans until they can reach agreement with the CDC. It is a giant mess and some of these crew members have been moved from ship to ship and forced to share sleeping quarters with people from other ship crews that are unknown to them.

Not having done this cruise however I have been to Quebec City as part of vacations and road trips several times. Quebec City is so charming and it is a location that is definitely worth your time to explore. Several of the destinations mentioned above, the church St Anne de Beupre and Montmorency Falls are east of the city. Not sure how you would get there without a car. There is also a park with walkways and gorges although fairly steep climbs that is not far past the church. Cannot come up with the name beyond Chutes. 

Princess would need to step it up in a big way and cruises of the past are a thing of the past.  I just saw a posting several days ago on a respected news magazine site that Royal Caribbean has applied for a patent for RC branded face masks that passengers will need to wear when cruising. 

I personally would doubt that there will be any cruise ships sailing in 2020.

Vaccine? Best case scenario is 18 months but usually vaccines take much longer to be created/developed/tested/distributed. 

My thought about the buffet has always been that you don't know how long the food has been sitting out or who might have sneezed into the food. Plus for me at breakfast and I have only been on 3 Princess cruises,  the coffee is seemingly always fresher when you are served in the  main dining room and the service is most attentive. My other recent cruise has been on Norwegian and service in main dining room for breakfast was good and easy to be seated. Older cruise experiences were on Celebrity in 2002 and HAL in 2009. 

Well.. I am a baby boomer so I have been wearing jeans since the 60's. I work in an office that is business casual and I only go into my office now 2 days a week. Only time I have worn jeans to my office is if I am one of the few people coming in to do work at my desk during a holiday like Christmas break when I know a lot of people are not around. There are plenty of people who come in very casually dressed including team jerseys, mostly for the Rangers as we are right near MSG and we are not dealing with the public. A lot of hockey fans in my office and a lot of people head to games after work. 

When asked how you know if people are wearing jeans.. well if you are seated at a table you generally glance up at people walking by you.  I am talking about people you see who literally look as if they slept in their jeans, sometimes wearing jeans with what looks like stains.

We were on the Eastern Caribbean cruise from FLL Feb 2 to Feb 9th. All was fine. We were very careful on the ship as we had down this same cruise a few years prior and had a norovirus at the end of the cruise and so this was the first time we were willing to take another one on Princess. When we got sick on the previous cruise and we had reported to the ship's doctor our symptoms and the cabin steward, we never heard anything from Princess as a follow-up and there were many people that became ill. Learned from these boards that the likely source of the outbreak had been the beach stop at the Jimmy Buffet location Turks and Caicos and no follow-up of any kind from Princess whatsoever.