Live(ish) report: First real cruise this year - Greece with TUI Cruises Mein Schiff 6 - 9/27

[Life Buoy]

have a really wonderful cruise! 

[Germancruiser]

I just got all the information needed to get tested. Online check in was avallaible now. So monday will be the day. First a little journey about 85 or so miles to the next clinic- the test can also be made- at ones own cost - by ones own doctor. I prefer the little journey to the next Clinic.

So I will start my " Live (ish) from..." in weeks time.

[Miaminice]

Corona PCR Test

After waiting outside the hospital for about an hour we were called inside (household by household). In a waiting area we were handed multiple forms to complete. After filling in the requested information like sailing date, arrival time and personal data, staff picked up the sheets again and processed them. 
 

Then, person by person, we were called into a small room where two nurses in full gear took the sample (throat swab). That didn’t even take two minutes...

So after about 2 hours we drove home again. If we don’t hear anything from them by Saturday 4pm we can close our luggage and get ready to cruise 👍

[groryjm]

5 hours ago, Miaminice said:

......If we don’t hear anything from them by Saturday 4pm we can close our luggage and get ready to cruise 👍

we've got our fingers crossed 🤞 for you. We all need a vicarious cruise 🙂

 

If in the unfortunate event that you or one of your household turns out to be asymptomatic and shows a positive result does the cruises lines corona insurance cover your flights and fare?

[Miaminice]

35 minutes ago, groryjm said:

If in the unfortunate event that you or one of your household turns out to be asymptomatic and shows a positive result does the cruises lines corona insurance cover your flights and fare?

 

Only an additional trip insurance including corona protection would cover it.

TUI cooperates with a large insurance company offering such a trip insurance. The extra protection is 50 Euro for the trip. 

[BCHappyGal]

Thank you for taking the time to write the vry factual and interesting reviews

 

Look forward to the next installment

[Miaminice]

Since we did not receive a call until 4pm our test was negative as expected. So we are good to go! 👍😁👍

[bama4cruisin]

15 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

Since we did not receive a call until 4pm our test was negative as expected. So we are good to go! 👍😁👍

Great!  Enjoy your cruise.

 

i look forward to the info you can share, whether from your cruise or a review on your return home.  Spend your time enjoying your cruise!

[rvlandandsea]

Bon voyage!

 

Johanne

 

[Von & John]

Fantastic news Miaminice...

Cheers to an amazing cruise!

Edited September 26, 2020 by Von & John

[MandL]

Miaminice,

We can’t thank you enough for taking the time to share this experience with us.  So happy to hear you are good to go.  Have a fantastic voyage.

All the best,
Mark & Lauren 

P.S.  We sailed on the Celebrity Mercury in Alaska many years ago.  She was a beauty.

[Hugahav]

Have a wonderful trip and thanks so much for virtually taking us along, lol!

[Miaminice]

Covid Policy Cruise - Mein Schiff 6 - Greece
Since (as expected) we did not receive a call until 4pm our PCR test was negative and we were good to go 👍

We drove to Frankfurt Airport where we always use a park & fly offer of one of the hotels - stay the night before the flight and park the car for the duration of the trip.

Warming up for all the food we’ll have on board we went to a local steak & burger place and had a pre-cruise dinner. 

After that we went to bed thinking: Greece here we come...

 

 

[GlobalMethod]

On 9/22/2020 at 5:40 AM, Shadow9612 said:

Any idea as to the reasoning behind this limitation?

Regarding no b2b cruises ... I think their rationale may be, based on my b2b experience, because we usually had to leave the ship for a short time as cruise ship policy ... this would be unsupervised so it would allow a person to be vulnerable to the COVID19 and bring it on ship ... just my guess

[Miaminice]

15 minutes ago, GlobalMethod said:

Regarding no b2b cruises ... I think their rationale may be, based on my b2b experience, because we usually had to leave the ship for a short time as cruise ship policy ... this would be unsupervised so it would allow a person to be vulnerable to the COVID19 and bring it on ship ... just my guess

That wouldn’t be a problem. They could take people to a transit area at the cruise terminal. 
 

The reason has been mentioned by TUI (and also MSC, Costa). 

They run the cruises with a “bubble concept”. So they don’t want to mix passengers of one cruise and another. In case an infection is missed despite all precautions, it’s limited to one group of passengers.

Edited September 27, 2020 by Miaminice

[GlobalMethod]

3 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

That wouldn’t be a problem. They could take people to a transit area at the cruise terminal. 
 

The reason has been mentioned by TUI (and also MSC, Costa). 

They run the cruises with a “bubble concept”. So they don’t want to mix passengers of one cruise and another. In case an infection is missed despite all precautions, it’s limited to one group of passengers.

Makes sense ... thanks

[zippy12]

Have a lovely holiday ...... thanks for reporting


Sent from my iPad using Forums

[ipeeinthepool]

2 hours ago, Miaminice said:

That wouldn’t be a problem. They could take people to a transit area at the cruise terminal. 
 

The reason has been mentioned by TUI (and also MSC, Costa). 

They run the cruises with a “bubble concept”. So they don’t want to mix passengers of one cruise and another. In case an infection is missed despite all precautions, it’s limited to one group of passengers.

 

I'm not sure I understand the bubble concept since the crew carries over from cruise to cruise.  In any case if that's the rule, then we need to adapt.

 

One quick question about the charter flight.  Was social distancing followed on the flight with middle seats empty or was it a packed flight?

 

Enjoy your cruise

Edited September 27, 2020 by ipeeinthepool

[Miaminice]

2 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

I'm not sure I understand the bubble concept since the crew carries over from cruise to cruise.  In any case if that's the rule, then we need to adapt.

 

One quick question about the charter flight.  Was social distancing followed on the flight with middle seats empty or was it a packed flight?

 

Enjoy your cruise

Of course crew can’t be exchanged on every cruise! However, they had to quarantine before going on the ship (not on the ship), they are regularly tested and have temperature screening several times a day.

 

The charter flight was as booked out as any other flight I was on the past few weeks (quite a few!). However, the major difference was: everyone on this flight has been tested before.

[Miaminice]

Covid Policy Cruise - Mein Schiff 6 - Embarkation Crete

First of all, let me start by saying we can’t tell you how glad we are to be on a ship again!

In the morning we had breakfast at our hotel. Around 9 am we took the shuttle to the airport. At the check-in counter they looked at our passports as usual plus a QR code that we received after filling in a form for a Greek immigration/health department. It’s called a passenger location form. That way they track you and make sure you are tested.

The charter flight to Crete took about three hours. Everyone on board was headed for the cruise. Of course masks had to be worn as on any other flight. The difference was, everybody on this flight had been tested before.

 

 

After picking up our luggage at the airport in Crete, we were met by representatives of the cruise line outside, who lead us to one of the buses. The ride to the port only took about 10 minutes. Our luggage was delivered to our stateroom straight from the bus. We had to walk past a temperature scanner, show our passports and sea passes and go through security. The actual check-in process didn’t even take five minutes.

We were told that we could go straight to our staterooms. Much to our surprise, our luggage was already waiting for us

in front of our door.

 

 

Next thing we did was go to our muster station. There was no set time for a muster drill. We could go any time before 7 pm. They waited for a group of eight people to be complete and did a short personal explanation. The whole process took just about two minutes. After that we were free to go.

 

We went to the buffet restaurant to have a little snack. The buffet is set up just like on a Celebrity ship. The difference now is that you choose your food, tell them what you like and they will put it on a plate for you. While doing so, I stepped over a line on the floor with as much as my toe, and in no time was I kindly asked to step back. They really take their policy seriously. I’m glad they do.

 

After having a little snack, we went past the pool and looked at a few other places on the ship. Birgit went back to the stateroom to unpack while I continued exploring. As you can see from the photos, the ship is very similar to a Solstice class and in parts even to Edge. And I am sure we will feel just fine on board.

 

I will show you more of the ship as we go along. So stay tuned…

 

 

 

[Beachlover1989]

Thank you again for taking us along on your cruise!  Your time and effort is appreciated by so many of us who can't wait to go on another cruise!

[dani negreanu]

@Miaminice Beautiful, beautiful ship. Enjoy and thanks for taking time from your precious vacation to "report back"😁

[portofrome]

Very beautifil ship! Thanks for your photos.

Have a great cruise.

[TeaBag]

What a gorgeous ship.  I would be happy going nowhere on that ship.  Love the blue decor in the staterooms.

Bon Voyage!

Edited September 27, 2020 by TeaBag

[Maya_C]

Thank you for taking the time to post your photos and give us hope that cruises can resume again. As long as they're not filled to capacity, there are many safe, open spaces on them. The ship is a beauty. Have a wonderful cruise.