Do not Board - Currently on the Symphony of the Seas 8 day Holiday Cruise

[Oceansaway17]

5 hours ago, RoyalC said:

Doubt they have captains corner right now.

 

they had it on the Nov 14th Anthem sailing.  But perhaps ships may be canceling them now in late Dec due to all the new issues.  I gotta believe the captains and officers are bothered by all these ports and new cases of covid.  They truly want happy passengers on board.    hoping 2022 gets better.

[A&L_Ont]

50 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Floating Petri Dishes, media term invented post Diamond Princess outbreak in Japan. It is unfair.

This expression existed long before the Diamond Princess. Still unfair, but not new. Any noro cruise got stuck with that label. 

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, CalTexCruiser said:

 

And likely the January numbers will be another big jump, due to the exponential spread nature of this virus.

 

I'm pulling the plug on my Jan 8 cruise, coz I don't want to have a front row seat to this potential train wreck.

 

I love a good train wreck😁

 

We board Harmony in 10 days, Odyssey end of January 

[John&LaLa]

18 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

This expression existed long before the Diamond Princess. Still unfair, but not new. Any noro cruise got stuck with that label. 

 

You ever do a Noro cruise?

 

Good times

[NSWP]

Just now, John&LaLa said:

 

You ever do a Noro cruise?

 

Good times

I got noro a couple of times, trips to the ships doc, confined to cabin, not fun.

[John&LaLa]

Just now, NSWP said:

I got noro a couple of times, trips to the ships doc, confined to cabin, not fun.

 

I think I got it on Oasis, but never officially designated. Trips to infirmary definitely no fun

[NSWP]

2 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

But how many ships is that for? 

91

[A&L_Ont]

Just now, NSWP said:

I got noro a couple of times, trips to the ships doc, confined to cabin, not fun.

Knock on wood, we have had it twice but both times on land.  Once from our son’s daycare and another time from our relatives on Boxing Day.  Definitely not a great Christmas exchange. 😉 Not fun at all, but at least we had more than one washroom, unlike on a ship. 
 

I have coined the expression of “mass evacuation” to describe noro. Basically it squeezes your body of fluids, no different than squeezing water out of a sponge. 

[CruisinRoxy]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

Knock on wood, we have had it twice but both times on land.  Once from our son’s daycare and another time from our relatives on Boxing Day.  Definitely not a great Christmas exchange. 😉 Not fun at all, but at least we had more than one washroom, unlike on a ship. 
 

I have coined the expression of “mass evacuation” to describe noro. Basically it squeezes your body of fluids, no different than squeezing water out of a sponge. 

Lol!,  Glad the Noro is not delegated just to the ships!! It’s land born too. 

[Morecruisesplz]

On 12/25/2021 at 8:13 AM, Gissi6 said:

Hi everyone,

 

I’m a long time lurker, and have gotten so much advice from reading posts from this forum over the year, so this is my attempt at giving back. 
 

Is Christmas day and I wasn’t expecting to be doing this but, is important for me to warn others.
 

I’m a long time cruiser, been on the Allure, Harmony and this week boarded the Symphony to introduce my fiancé to  cruising. My mistake!

 

He is having a good time overall, but we are bored out of our minds.

 

This is what we are currently dealing with, and this is a warning for others that are

on edge about cancelling their cruises. 

 

NO Aquatheather shows at all

NO Broadway shows

NO Latin Band or music whatsoever in Boleros

NO Parades (expected)

NO Dazzles

NO other clubs aka. the Attic (usual late venue)

NO On Air activities 

NO Sailaway party - we departed very late due to 2hr push on everyone’s check-in time for enhanced cleaning 

 

Entertainment is extremely thin, only Comedy shows, Headliners and the Ice Skating shows. I’ve visited guest services to complain and they say the entire entertainment crew is quarantined due close contact in prior sailing.

 

I understand the situation and I boarded expecting changes, but this is extreme. I haven’t visited the kids areas but, heard a mother having similar complaints due to kids/teens entertainment being closed. 
 

We’ve asked guest services to be allowed to disembark in Puerto Rico 4 days early and we are waiting on a reply. It seems to be against protocol so wish me luck… This will request if fulfilled is without any promise of a refund for the days unused. So it is completely on my expense.

This is my warning to others, do not board. Is not worth the risk/reward analysis. IMO

 

Happy to answer any other questions you have while I’m in the ship. I don’t have tons to do at night other than having dinner… 

Tonight was the last straw. Cruise Director should be fired! Announced all day a Beatles tribute in Agua Theater at 8. Auqa Theater started filling up early and people on balconies ready to watch.

8 came, no show! No announcements. People were excited to finally see some entertainment but just disappointed again.

PS. This is for informational information only for upcoming guests. Comments about font size, how stupid I am for booking  holiday, etc are not required.

[MrMarc]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

Knock on wood, we have had it twice but both times on land.  Once from our son’s daycare and another time from our relatives on Boxing Day.  Definitely not a great Christmas exchange. 😉 Not fun at all, but at least we had more than one washroom, unlike on a ship. 
 

I have coined the expression of “mass evacuation” to describe noro. Basically it squeezes your body of fluids, no different than squeezing water out of a sponge. 

Nothing personal, but I don't ever want to borrow a sponge from you.

[Morecruisesplz]

On 12/25/2021 at 8:41 AM, Jasukkie said:

How are they handling dining? I would imagine proportional number of food service crew are also out? 

 

 

A lot of officers and blue coats serving food in windjammer. Tables take forever to get cleaned. Not nearly enough staff.

[Morecruisesplz]

On 12/25/2021 at 8:21 AM, Plum Happy said:

I know this is your opinion, but you gotta chill.

 

You do realize that many people don't care about all that, it's the getting away and being at sea.  Many go away to beaches just to relax and not have a carry in the world to deal with for a week.  If they only went away because of shows, they would be in a world of trouble years ago when there weren't all those activities.

 

Most of the people who were infected will probably be released from quarantine after 10 days, so, things will be looking up since this is a mild infection.

They were all moved to the Radiance in the dark.

[coffeebean]

On 12/25/2021 at 8:46 AM, Plum Happy said:

Is that why you are cruising?  The shows?  Not the get away from everything at home and chill?  No beds to be made, no food to prepare or the cleanup?  Tropical sun hitting your face or body?  Time away to read that book you always wanted?

 

The full production shows is why you chose to cruise?

There are two main reasons hubby and I cruise and they are #1 the food and #2 the entertainment, including the production shows. Being at sea is a huge bonus while enjoying the two main reasons we cruise.

 

We have completed two cruises post Covid, one on Serenade OTS and the second one on NCL Joy (last cruise before mask mandate was put in place) Whew!!!. We will not be cruising again until this pandemic is in our rear view mirror. We do not wish to have a diminished experience and that includes having to mask up indoors, missing ports and all the other issues cruise lines are dealing with right now.

 

 

[Moonarino]

4 hours ago, CalTexCruiser said:

From the CDC

 

CDC cruise travel warning raised to 'level 4' amid COVID omicron surge (usatoday.com)

That's not from CDC, it's from USA Today. I couldn't find a link reference to CDC with that info. Maybe I missed it, but all I found for CDC was a link to a November 1 article titled "Cruise Ship Travel During Covid-19" . . . again, dated November 1, but which the USA Today article linked as "The CDC _said on its website Thursday_" . . . . but it doesn't specify exactly which Thursday, so . . .

 

3 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

You ever do a Noro cruise?

 

Good times

I heard rumors of Noro here and there for years (300-400 cases on a ship sometimes) but managed to sidestep it every time. Several years ago a cruise-friend of ours did get dog-a** sick halfway through our cruise. I don't know if it was Noro or not because she never got checked out. She just borrowed my lady's Tylenol Cold and "survived" on that. We never got sick ourselves, so apparently it wasn't Noro. Or Covid (lol).

Edited December 31, 2021 by Moonarino

[SandySetsSail]

1 hour ago, Moonarino said:

That's not from CDC, it's from USA Today. I couldn't find a link reference to CDC with that info. Maybe I missed it, but all I found for CDC was a link to a November 1 article titled "Cruise Ship Travel During Covid-19" . . . again, dated November 1, but which the USA Today article linked as "The CDC _said on its website Thursday_" . . . . but it doesn't specify exactly which Thursday, so . . .

 

I believe this is the link for the most current cdc info. It does have today’s date (Dec 30, 2021).
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-4/coronavirus-cruise-ship

[Moonarino]

4 minutes ago, SandySetsSail said:

I believe this is the link for the most current cdc info. It does have today’s date (Dec 30, 2021).
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-4/coronavirus-cruise-ship

Yes (thank you) but I still don't see/can't find anywhere that CDC mentions "5,103" cases. I see where USA Today says it, but not CDC.

 

If anybody can link the page where CDC itself cites the number of covid figures this month on cruise ships, specifically "5,103" or anything close to that, or maybe some place where CDC lists numbers that add up to that total, please enlighten me? Otherwise it's only what USA Today says that CDC said, without providing a direct reference.

[rich_cathybrock]

5 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

This expression existed long before the Diamond Princess. Still unfair, but not new. Any noro cruise got stuck with that label. 

Notice how you don't hear about Noro now?  The unintended consequence of Covid is that people actually started washing their hands!

[DevonfromAcme]

Norovirus is a gastrointestinal virus. If she was taking cold meds for her symptoms, it wasn’t norovirus. 

2 hours ago, Moonarino said:

 

I heard rumors of Noro here and there for years (300-400 cases on a ship sometimes) but managed to sidestep it every time. Several years ago a cruise-friend of ours did get dog-a** sick halfway through our cruise. I don't know if it was Noro or not because she never got checked out. She just borrowed my lady's Tylenol Cold and "survived" on that. We never got sick ourselves, so apparently it wasn't Noro. Or Covid (lol).

 

[joeyancho]

On 12/25/2021 at 5:46 AM, Plum Happy said:

Is that why you are cruising?  The shows?  Not the get away from everything at home and chill?  No beds to be made, no food to prepare or the cleanup?  Tropical sun hitting your face or body?  Time away to read that book you always wanted?

 

The full production shows is why you chose to cruise?

Harsh. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. 

[A&L_Ont]

6 hours ago, MrMarc said:

Nothing personal, but I don't ever want to borrow a sponge from you.

Sponges are so 80s, but the imagery sure worked. 😁

 

2 hours ago, rich_cathybrock said:

Notice how you don't hear about Noro now?  The unintended consequence of Covid is that people actually started washing their hands!

For sure. Hopefully people have their hands away from their eyes, noses and mouths, along with that hand washing.  

[ocdb8r]

On 12/25/2021 at 2:46 PM, Plum Happy said:

Is that why you are cruising?  The shows?  Not the get away from everything at home and chill?  No beds to be made, no food to prepare or the cleanup?  Tropical sun hitting your face or body?  Time away to read that book you always wanted?

 

The full production shows is why you chose to cruise?

The onboard entertainment and the ports are ABSOLUTELY why I choose to cruise.  There are plenty of places I can go to get away, have my bed made, eat good food and have the sun hit my face for as good or better value than a cruise.  If I'm left only with a small room and miniscule pool (compared to landside options) I don't see the point.  With BOTH on board entertainment and ports (even their own private island stops) being cancelled, I don't see what cruises have to offer. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

54 minutes ago, ocdb8r said:

The onboard entertainment and the ports are ABSOLUTELY why I choose to cruise.  There are plenty of places I can go to get away, have my bed made, eat good food and have the sun hit my face for as good or better value than a cruise.  If I'm left only with a small room and miniscule pool (compared to landside options) I don't see the point.  With BOTH on board entertainment and ports (even their own private island stops) being cancelled, I don't see what cruises have to offer. 

Hard to argue with that tbh

[gumshoe958]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Hard to argue with that tbh

This.

 

I can only guess the folks telling us we should be grateful to be paying Royal full price for a product that falls far short of what they advertised are either desperate stockholders or TAs who’ll do anything to try and convince us it’ll still be an amazing experience.

[CalTexCruiser]

10 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Tonight was the last straw. Cruise Director should be fired! Announced all day a Beatles tribute in Agua Theater at 8. Auqa Theater started filling up early and people on balconies ready to watch.

8 came, no show! No announcements. People were excited to finally see some entertainment but just disappointed again.

PS. This is for informational information only for upcoming guests. Comments about font size, how stupid I am for booking  holiday, etc are not required.

 

The font of this post is spot on.