emeraldcity

I did not have a very good experience with the Florida hospital, but my care here in Cleveland has been top notch. The plane was met by an ambulance waiting for me on the tarmac and I was taken directly to the Fairview satellite of the Cleveland Clinic. After several days in the hospital here, I went to a 5-star skilled nursing facility where my daughter-in-law works. It was a little taste to what life might be like down the road if I ever need long term care. They were very warm and welcoming, and I valued the caring staff and the stories they shared of their lives. My PT and OT sessions went well. I have transitioned to the Cleveland Clinic Home Health Care group and I anticipate they will be very effective. I am highly motivated to get my life back and intend to do everything they tell me to do.

Being non-weight-bearing on both legs is particularly challenging, but I've become pretty proficient with the use of the transfer board to move between the chair and the bed or the commode. But transfer to a car is weeks away. If I have a doctor appointment that becomes necessary before I can handle that, I have arrange another very expensive ride in a vehicle that can take a wheelchair bound passenger.

Three hours after checking into my pre-cruise hotel 2 days prior to the cruise, I was returning to the hotel after lunch. There was no crosswalk in view in either direction, so I crossed the highway and started to cross the dividing medium strip. What appeared to be a concrete sluiceway in the medium strip to handle excessive rain runoff ended in what looked like a scattering of leaves. It was actually a hole filled with leaves. (My cruise friend checked it out later and told me it was 7 inches deep,) I went down hard and broke both ankles.

It was to have been a girls cruise ... the three of us hadn't seen each other since a cruise group get-together in New York City two and a half years earlier. Once I got confirmation that the ankles were broken, I had to cancel my reservation. I'm still awaiting the FCC. I urged my friends to go on the cruise and have a wonderful time and send me lots of pictures.

I spent two days in a hospital in Florida before flying home after a great deal of work on the part of friends and family to get me back to Cleveland. As the plane took off from FLL, I kept saying to myself "Don't look. Don't look. Don't look." But of course, I looked. And there was the Odyssey with the unmistakable Northstar stretched across the top ... and I buried my face in my hands and sobbed for quite some time.

I finally got home yesterday to a house that has seen considerable modification by my mobilized family to accommodate a mom in a wheelchair.

I have subsequently cancelled my March cruise and am holding out hope I can go on the one in May.

When I was on the Anthem last week they said that the TWO-70 show is a "C" show right now, which means no aerial portion. Apparently when all the ships started up pretty much at the same time, there was a shortage of riggers to set up the aerial equipment. Looks like Odyssey managed to have riggers, since you have one shot of an aerial performer. 

Thanks for all the tips on seating selection. I'll keep that in mind next week.

I was on the NCL Breakaway in November and discovered they have thoughtfully installed lighting that illuminates the safe when you open the door. Maybe they got tired of trying to return lost items.

2 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I weighed 171.2 on Friday morning.  We'll do damage control next Monday

I was rather delighted when I weighed in for iFly ... I was only up two pounds. And then we had that rough day at sea and I scaled things back to eat light and be on the safe side. I weighed in this morning to find that I was back to my pre-cruise weight after 11 days at sea.

So very nice.

21 minutes ago, msuspartabigten said:

I am still confused why these are necessary if you have to be vaxxed to get on the boat. If it's because kids 11 and younger don't have to be vaxxed, then maybe just everyone under 18 should wear them. You can't tell me you might mistake a 21 year old for an 11 year old lol

The problem there is that those youngsters would just cut them off. And it is possible (although highly unlikely) that someone who is not vaxxed could get an exemption for medical reasons to sail.

OK. I finished reading the whole thread. I got a kick out of the iFly pictures. Everybody looks the same ... cheeks bunched up around your eyeballs. They shunted me off to the photographer after my flight to give me the sales pitch ... $30 for this action shot in a great leatherette folio with a certificate of the event. I passed on it. The only reason I could think of for getting the photo was for the amount of merriment it will provide my survivors when they come upon it while they are going through the estate. I can see the two oldest literally falling out of their chairs laughing.

Anyway, if you don't get a prime iFly reservation, consider my experience. I stayed on board the Anthem at one of the ports and was walking laps when I passed the Ripcord. "Oh, what the heck", I figured. Might as well check out what is involved. The schedule was wide open for the day and I could do one minute for free at 2:00. So I booked it. I was the only one in the time slot. One of the guys who was standing around agreed to be my official videographer and he filmed the entire minute, along with some still shots. I did just fine, but my damn butt checks were sore for two days afterward.

One and done.

The photos of me look like what you see when you peek out your sideview mirror at speed and get a view of your dog in the back seat hanging his head out the window.

Just logging in to catch up on things, having just returned yesterday from my first cruise on a quantum class (the Anthem). Loved the layout. Looking forward to the Odyssey ... which coincidentally is the next 8-day cruise to Aruba and Curacao sailing Feb. 12. I need to shoot a message off to my cabinmate Kathy so she can tune in on this thread as well. Hopefully you make the ports as planned. I came home to an email of a cancelled excursion for Curacao.

Last cruise? Got off Anthem yesterday. It was fantastic.

38 minutes ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Hey thanks guys. Now, do they still have formal nights, repeater's party, meet & greet other CC's members an is the stinkin mask also worn?

Formal night? Yes.

Top Tier Event? Yes

Meet and Mingle? I was on a 6-day, so it wasn't a "thing" anyway, but it's apparently in suspension for my upcoming 11-day.

Stinkin Mask? You bettcha! Bring some extras so you can swap them out periodically to avoid the grossness.

And bring an upbeat attitude -- you'll have a great time (despite the mask). I had a wonderful cruise and am so very much looking forward to the next one.

My cabin steward advised that they don't have the hard copies anymore ... and when he saw the look of dismay on my face, he quickly said that he'd be happy to come up with one for me each day. And he did.

Thank you for the replies. I think I'll go with the booster date then, since that was November.

Getting my ducks in a row for my upcoming cruise. As I recall from last month's cruise, I will be asked to note the date of my last covid shot and I put down the date of the second shot (as advised by a poster on this site) ... not the booster. Has that advice changed? Should I enter the date of the booster shot?

Unless you plan to add a chunk of time in Paris at the end of this vacation, I side with everyone else who says you might want to rethink this.

I intend to go with the flow ... and I'll have a great time. I just found out on the roll call that St. Lucia has been switched out. Too bad. I was hoping to get to the Pitons this time, but I have to say that the view of the harbor in St. Thomas is one of the most beautiful in the Caribbean. It just takes my breath away.

And hey! I may get to the Pitons yet. I just checked My Calendar and it shows that my shore excursion is still there for "Cruise to the Pitons". I expect they may have to extend the timeframe a bit or get us a jet boat. 🙂

Another poster who starts a new account just to see how many responses he can score. While some of you out there have genuine issues ... I really doubt this person has any and I question whether he(she) has any cruises booked at all. Most of us get it ... and are just reading along for entertainment value, but I feel badly for those of you who have been stung by cancelled cruises ... I've been there and it is painful.

Thank you for posting your experience. I've actually been trying to figure out how I'd get home if I tested positive and couldn't fly ... and a rental car was what I was toying with. You mentioned that they actually offered you a rental car? I was thinking I'd have to cover the cost of a one-way rental myself?

The other thing I'm wondering about, would be whether I could get any flight credit for the return flight I wouldn't be able to take home. Since you didn't fly in, I understand you can't help out there, but maybe someone else following this thread has some idea. I booked my flights through Air2Sea, so I'm hoping they would assist me with that as well.

I took my five-inch one on my last cruise and it just didn't move enough air. I'm thinking I need to up my game.

Isn't missing the ship like a "thing" for Nassau? There are so many reports of pier runners and videos of same ... I have a video myself from a Majesty cruise. The guy ran up the pier waving his arms madly ... like he was hailing a cab.

I haven't gotten the email yet for my January cruise ... but then I'm still waiting for the emails for my cancelled Enchantment and Radiance sailings from last fall ... oh, yeah, and the New Zealand cruise in two months time.

But I support the move wholeheartedly. It's just not a big deal to make the accommodation in order to be cruising again. I look back on that cruise I took last month, and my memories are about how great it was to see my friends again and the wonderful time we had together. And I can't wait to do it again ... mask and all.

Balcony originally booked for Allure 2020 Fall TA ...L&S to Odyssey 2021 Fall TA ... L&S to 2022 Fall Arctic Crossing ... Paid about $2200 for a cabin that continues to be priced between $10,000 and $11,200+.

That beats my old bargain ... a three-day repo from Colon Panama to Miami for $94/pp in a JS.

I'm probably in the minority position and will get slammed for saying this move makes a lot of sense. I don't see it as a means to manipulate numbers. I see it as a means to put people who should be quarantining in separate rooms onto a ship that can provide that.

Kudos to you for taking the time to use social media to thank them. I hope they manage to see it, but even so ... it's one of those feel-good stories -- of which cruisecritic has so few in number.

FYI ... it is not a true that the entertainers don't have access to passenger areas. I chatted with ice show performers in the Windjammer a few weeks ago.