Cairn Mom

1 hour ago, Mura said:

We took my mother with us on a very early Oceania cruise (early 2004 I think) when my sister suspected she was early Alzheimer's but Mom wasn't actually diagnosed until shortly after that.  Everyone was very solicitous of her.  There was a 7 foot tall waiter in Terrace who made sure she had everything she needed.  She didn't leave the ship but made many friends on board.

 

The only real problem was when she returned home to Los Angeles, for which my sister blamed me.  Only we were continuing on the ship!  I had asked two separate friends of hers to look out for her on the way home (since she would be traveling alone) but once she got to LAX they evidently were very busy with their own plans to get out of the airport.  One airport worker was very impatient with her when she was clearly puzzled.  Finally another worker saw that she was still sitting in the airport after a few hours and he got her into a cab that took her home.

 

On a 2012 Black Sea cruise (I've mentioned this before on CC but probably not here) we had an ad hoc Roll Call group of about 16, one of whom was into Alzheimer's.  We all took care of her!

 

I think you will find that many passengers will be understanding and look after your husband should it come to that.

 

Mura

That’s some story about the airport. I’m glad your mom made it home ok.
I have found that people are generally kind. Today, while I was out for my walk,  I found my neighbor wandering around. She has some form of dementia and left the house while her husband was in the bathroom.  I really don’t know how long she was out there before I happened upon her. Fortunately, I had her daughter’s phone number. They were so grateful. I am glad fate put me there at the right time. She was a little shaken and confused  but totally fine.
I don’t think I’m exceptional. I believe most people would have taken care of my neighbor until help arrived. Maybe I’m naïve but I don’t think so lol

Some years back, my husband was diagnosed a mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to strokes. Unfortunately, although still considered MCI, his condition has progressed. We recently took a Princess cruise to Norway & Iceland that had been planned pre-pandemic. He couldn’t manage to navigate the ship by himself. The Sky is a big boat! We made it work, but such an active itinerary was too much for him.  
Based on what we learned from our time on the Sky , we booked a Mediterranean cruise on the Riviera for September. We have been to most of these ports many times before. I deliberately took a concierge cabin on the same floor as the lounge. This way, he could go down the hall for a snack.  He doesn’t wander. If he doesn’t want to go, he’ll sit in our stateroom and watch TV while I go to an activity or walk around in port. I plan to tell the concierge about his condition after we board. I like the magnet idea. I am going to order one now. I chose half-day ship excursions for us. He went on all our excursions on the last cruise. They were longer and more strenuous so I expect he’ll participate in these as well. I am very hopeful that this trip will go well. After reading this thread, I feel even better about our decision to cruise with Oceania. 

I was happy to learn that the Regal was replacing the Grand for our cruise. The Grand is my least favorite of the the grand class ships. I selected the cruise for the itinerary which is Norway and Iceland. I believe the switch was made for health reasons. Since the virus is airborne, I think Princess  wants as many cabins as possible to have access to fresh air and the Regal is mostly balconies. The ventilation systems on the newer ships are probably easier to upgrade than those on the older ships. These were my first thoughts when I heard about the ship swap. I doubt they’ll ever tell us.

18 hours ago, bookmama22 said:

I knew we were heading down this road from Day 1 as this was not simply going to go away. I agree that all leisure travel should be suspended. The NY Phil, Carnegie Hall, the Met Opera have all cancelled performances for the rest of the month, the Met Museum and other museums are following suite, St Patrick's Day Parade, and so on

 

I am in self quarantine as I was exposed to my niece who tested positive upon her return to Israel earlier this week and is hospitalized. My office just announced that beginning tomorrow everyone should work remotely although office and office building will remain open for those who want to come in. 

 

As for me I have already done a phone intake with NYS Coronavirus hotline and waiting for call back from them as well as doctor about testing. 

I hope you don’t catch catch it and that your niece feels better soon. These are trying times!

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwjYl7a6z4HoAhUDlHIEHZBaCroQxfQBMAB6BAgBEAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cruiselawnews.com%2F2020%2F03%2Farticles%2Funcategorized%2Fcovid-19-grand-princess-under-quarantine-for-coronavius-after-passenger-on-prior-cruise-becomes-critically-ill%2F&usg=AOvVaw299q_ySqcXFmFqTILtdOw8

The US plan was to repatriate everyone who wanted to go. They knowingly took people who were positive, but asymptomatic, with Corvid 19. Regardless, all passengers were going into a 14 day quarantine once back on US soil.  I think 13 passengers are at a special facility in Nebraska. The rest are segregated on two military bases. 
I’m way more worried about the 143 other people on the plane with the lady from the Westerdam. They were all exposed and they all got on other flights to go home. That’s a potentially huge mess.

I have been following David from the beginning. Both he and Sally have been coughing for days. Early on, David was also sick to his stomach. I highly doubt they are in the beginning stages of Covid 19. I think they’ve had it for awhile. There’s been some reports that it gets better and then comes back. I hope that’s not the case for them. David & Sally  are my first and only reality show. I want a happy ending- they get better and go home! Then, no more reality shows for me!

The Princess Platinum insurance “Cancel for Any Reason” is credit toward another trip. It for the cruise fare only not ez-air.

Singapore just raised their threat level to Orange. I assume they will soon close their cruise terminal as well.

Apparently Princess isn’t feeding the passengers aboard the Diamond. It sounds insane but listen to this guy

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/10-coronavirus-cases-confirmed-cruise-ship-quarantined-japan-n1130296

https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/141062/Two-more-preliminary-positive-cases-for-coronavirus
The cruise passenger was on the 1/17 sailing of the Diamond Princess. He potentially infected all the passengers and crew on his sailing. He went to the buffet, stood in crowded elevators and went to shows.Think about these people. Hopefully Princess contacted them and gave their names to the appropriate health authorities so the could be monitored, They are still in the incubation period. They were in all sorts of public places and visiting with family and friends. They may, unknowingly,have infected thousands of other people. 

15 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

I was in Hong Kong last week,  I travel to Hong Kong 5 to 6 times a year and have done so for the last 10 years. Jamietravelstheworld  post is correct really nothing to worry about. In fact I found it to be much better than normal times, tourism is way down, so prices are down.  If a protest can cause  traffic and transportation issues but overall easier to travel because less people. 

 

Have run into several protesters and they are very much pro American Pro Western World.  They showed me nothing but kindness and respect.  I have no issues traveling to Hong Kong now I will be back in Hong Kong in less than two weeks, long lay over so I will leave the airport and have a great lunch  in the city..... looking forward to another wonderful trip. 

 

I do not see risks for cruise passengers. If a protest it will be in a small area. If Protest near Ladies Market for example you have three or four other markets  you can go to. I would not recommend getting between the protesters and the police, or going someplace with a active protest but no problems outside of those types of things.

What a relief. Thank you and Jamie for posting.

Our cruise is docking in Hong Kong. We plan to fly to XiAn for two days in order to see the Terracotta warriors. Fly back to Hong Kong for a few days and return to the US. Can we use this new visa?

Hi mking,

Thank you so much for sharing information with us. Our ship, the Majestic Princess is scheduled to dock on Saturday and overnight in Hong Kong during the middle of March. The current plan is to go to Macau on Saturday and fly to XiAn on Sunday. We are using cruise ship transfers to the airport on Sunday. Given the situation, we felt that was the safest bet.
We are thinking of hiring a car and driver on Saturday to take us to Macau. On the way, we want to drop our large suitcases( so we don’t have to deal with them on the plane) at the HK Sheraton which is where we plan to stay , for two nights, when we return from XiAn on Tuesday.  Given the current situation, do you think this is a good plan?

On 10/17/2019 at 1:12 PM, jamieandsam said:

Cairn Mom, what ship/cruise are you on? I'm on Regent Seven Seas Voyager that arrives in HK on 2/29 - I'm doing Lantau Island tour that day. I disembark on 3/1 in HK and am scheduled to be there until Tuesday the 3rd, but depending what's going on, may change that.

We’ll be on Princess in March. 

35 minutes ago, 2aussiegolfers said:

Hello

We have never been to HK before, we disembark our cruise, in HK early January, then we have 2 days before we fly out, just wondering, if anyone could advise,

1. If we should stay near the airport, or

2. Change our departing flights to the same day as disembark, or

3. Stay in HK on the harbour as originally planned and hope for the best.

 

Thank you 

If you are supposed to be in HK on a weekend then it might be best to go directly home. Currently, I’ve heard the weekends there are dreadful and nothing is open. However, apparently, it’s business as usual during the week. 
Our ship docks there over a weekend in March. Plan is to take a ship excursion to Lantau Island on Saturday and fly out on Sunday.Hope the situation is resolved before then. I have great sympathy for the protestors in HK.

We diy in the ports you will be visiting. They are very easy to navigate on your own. You can hire a taxi for an island tour. We always plan to return to the ship at least an hour before sailing. That really shouldn’t be an issue for these islands. 
If you want to go to the beach, I recommend that you look into a hotel day pass. It is usually easy to get a taxi to the hotel and it’s very easy to get one back to the pier; if a taxi isn’t waiting, the desk will call one for you. We have done this a few times. Shopping in St. Thomas is super fun. No excursion necessary if you enjoy that lol. 
It is a special vacation for you. If you really aren’t comfortable then splurge and take the Princess excursions. Life is very short. Make beautiful memories and enjoy your trip.

Excursions are finally available. We booked overland to Angkor Wat. Very excited!

11 hours ago, cruise209 said:

We are doing Singapore to Japan 14 day cruise, 06 - 20 Jan 2020, on the Diamond and have pre-booked all of our excursion with no issues...

My TA called today. The person she spoke with told her that excursions won’t be ready until 90 days prior to the cruise. Apparently, this is now true for all Asia cruises. Perhaps it has something to do with Hong Kong?  

I received an email from Princess stating that I could pre-book shore excursions for my Asia cruise. I tried to book them online for my Asia cruise in March,2020 but the system wouldn’t process them. I then called Princess and was told that shore excursions could no longer be pre-booked for Asia. Has anyone else had this issue? We often book private excursions, but many of the sights we want to visit are far from the ports so we prefer Princess excursions.

i think we’ll probably cancel the trip. 

I found out today that passengers can’t pre-book shore excursions on Asia cruises. I got an email that from Princess that shore excursions could now be pre-booked for my Asia cruise in March 2020. I tried unsuccessfully to pre-book them online so I called Princess and was told that the policy for Asia changed this summer. Shore excursions can only be booked onboard. 

I am not going all the way to Asia only to discover that the shore excursions I want are unavailable. I often book private tours but for this trip, many of the sights are a long way from the port and I would not take the chance of missing the boat lol. 

Does anyone know anything about this?

Thank you,

Nancy

14 minutes ago, deec said:

We are doing a Viking Post extension to Nice late October.  Any  suggestions of day trips, dIY or tour guides from there and restaurant suggestions?

St. Paul de Vence, Eze and Monte Carlo are wonderful places to explore. St. Paul de Vence & Eze are walled towns. They are easy to do DIY as is Monte Carlo. I think you can visit on your own via public transportation. We had a car. 

We enjoyed the restaurant at, La Columbe D’Or in St. Paul de Vence . The hotel is part of history. It was frequented by many famous personalities. Enjoy your trip. 

We visited Honfleur & Bordeaux on the Crystal Serenity. That was an amazing cruise!!

On 7/5/2019 at 2:39 AM, Sacramento2012 said:

I just spent a week in Paris in April, and to respond to your question about taking the time to visit Versailles, my humble opinion would be to skip it, particularly since you've been to Catherine's Palace. I was underwhelmed by Versailles. We stayed in an Air BnB in Montmartre and really like staying there. We were about 3 blocks from Sacre Cour on the other side of the hill, and loved walking around the neighborhood. Lots of restaurants and little shops that the locals shopped at. We took a walking tour that was really interesting, and took us to places in that neighborhood that were a bit off the dense tourist areas. We were a five minute walk from the metro station (Lamark) from which we could get all over Paris. 

We skipped it when we went this past March as we were only in Paris for two full days. We’d been twice before.