Anyone out there on a ship right now?

[mssandora]

Just curious what your experience is like. I was recently chatting with a woman who is on the escape or encore (was there for New Year’s Eve) who posted a picture of a massive crowd for a party—all of the partygoers were supposedly unmasked and not masked during most of the cruise. She said that NCL was not enforcing the mask policy, which I find hard to believe, so I’m curious for anyone who is currently on a sailing or just returning from one to give me some additional perspective since I’m leaving on the 16th fully vaxxed, boosted and 100% ready to mask up. 

[ColeThornton]

Read through the forum, there's tons of information from people who have sailed recently.

[rnfulk]

I'm on the Encore now and it is just leaving Miami. Honestly, the ship feels like a ghost town. It is early days so mask compliance may slip, but so far people have been good about wearing masks. It is very easy to avoid the people who aren't masking or wearing their mask properly. 

[Dirtdevil71]

4 hours ago, rnfulk said:

I'm on the Encore now and it is just leaving Miami. Honestly, the ship feels like a ghost town. It is early days so mask compliance may slip, but so far people have been good about wearing masks. It is very easy to avoid the people who aren't masking or wearing their mask properly. 

Keep us posted, we leave on 23, we are going to make the best of it,  sun and fun can always be found somewhere!! Happy cruising!! 

[Smileonboard]

I just got off the Gem today and I would say most people had their masks on everywhere. The majority of people took it off when they sat for a meal or drinks. In the theater some took it off but most kept them on the whole time. Everyone wore one at the buffet. I saw a few crew members ask the passengers to put the mask over their nose and to some that didn’t have them on they were asked if they needed a mask - it was all very civil and everyone was just happy to be in a cruise - 

[missnd]

I am currently on the Getaway and waiting in my room to be tested as I woke up in the night with symptoms.  I have been extremely careful as far as masking and social distancing.  I have eaten indoors, but tried to go early when there were fewer people and only drank at the bar outside while trying to keep distance.  With this variant, I don't think the precautions that worked before are enough.  It seems to be spreading quickly and easily.  I was told that it may be a couple of hours before someone can come test me as they have a lot of people requesting tests this morning.  Although I don't feel well at the moment (which isn't any fun), I am triple vaxxed and am sure I will be fine.  I do worry about others on the cruise who are elderly or have comorbidities, and I don't want to contribute to spreading it around any more.

 

To be honest, I wish they had made it easier to cancel before this cruise and I had postponed until a later date.  If I had to do it again knowing what I know now, I would not have come on this trip.

[bassmaster150]

9 hours ago, Smileonboard said:

I just got off the Gem today and I would say most people had their masks on everywhere. The majority of people took it off when they sat for a meal or drinks. In the theater some took it off but most kept them on the whole time. Everyone wore one at the buffet. I saw a few crew members ask the passengers to put the mask over their nose and to some that didn’t have them on they were asked if they needed a mask - it was all very civil and everyone was just happy to be in a cruise - 

So we are on Escape (11 day cruise)…just docked in port canaveral as cruise is over.  The quote above is the same as our experience.  Masks indoors unless eating or drinking (you can keep mask off for entirety of your dinner or drink…no sip and put mask back on).  Outdoors you could take mask off.  In ports of call, they were mandatory and enforced in some ports.  Also on excursions you had to wear them.  Now if your excursion included a boat ride most kept them off.  But onboard everyone complied and they would remind you to put your mask on. Hope this helps.

[Javajitterz]

I'm not on a ship yet but I'm watching intently,planning on cancelling our Jan 8th cruise on the Escape. This letter was just posted on another site from someone currently on the Escape

[CiaraMissed]

When I sailed on Epic Dec. 19-26, 80% mask wearing in public areas, 50% in elevators (drink typically in hand, but lots more who didn't wear them at all, even without a drink), entertainment venues (including bingo) probably the lowest.

 

I did not see a single instance of a crew member reminding someone put on their mask.

 

Shore excursions varied in terms of mask enforcement, depending on the activity and operator.

[mssandora]

Thanks for this information. I've been hearing varying stories and I imagine that's the way it's going to be. 

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by mssandora

[jeffw67]

11 hours ago, missnd said:

I am currently on the Getaway and waiting in my room to be tested as I woke up in the night with symptoms.  I have been extremely careful as far as masking and social distancing.  I have eaten indoors, but tried to go early when there were fewer people and only drank at the bar outside while trying to keep distance.  With this variant, I don't think the precautions that worked before are enough.  It seems to be spreading quickly and easily.  I was told that it may be a couple of hours before someone can come test me as they have a lot of people requesting tests this morning.  Although I don't feel well at the moment (which isn't any fun), I am triple vaxxed and am sure I will be fine.  I do worry about others on the cruise who are elderly or have comorbidities, and I don't want to contribute to spreading it around any more.

 

To be honest, I wish they had made it easier to cancel before this cruise and I had postponed until a later date.  If I had to do it again knowing what I know now, I would not have come on this trip.

Please let us know how you are doing. It would be helpful if you could let us know what protocols NCL used as you went thru the testing process.(did you stay in your original cabin? And if you did test positive how that experience was) I hope you're doing better and test negative.

 

[Sand and Seas]

11 hours ago, missnd said:

I am currently on the Getaway and waiting in my room to be tested as I woke up in the night with symptoms.  I have been extremely careful as far as masking and social distancing.  I have eaten indoors, but tried to go early when there were fewer people and only drank at the bar outside while trying to keep distance.  With this variant, I don't think the precautions that worked before are enough.  It seems to be spreading quickly and easily.  I was told that it may be a couple of hours before someone can come test me as they have a lot of people requesting tests this morning.  Although I don't feel well at the moment (which isn't any fun), I am triple vaxxed and am sure I will be fine.  I do worry about others on the cruise who are elderly or have comorbidities, and I don't want to contribute to spreading it around any more.

 

To be honest, I wish they had made it easier to cancel before this cruise and I had postponed until a later date.  If I had to do it again knowing what I know now, I would not have come on this trip.

Thank  you  for sharing  your  experience  with us.    Please  let us know what  NCL  does  for you.    I hope  everything  works  out  OK for you. 

[rnfulk]

22 hours ago, Dirtdevil71 said:

Keep us posted, we leave on 23, we are going to make the best of it,  sun and fun can always be found somewhere!! Happy cruising!! 

We are still feeling pretty safe on the Encore. There are a little under 1900 passengers (~47% capacity). We saw Choir of Man tonight and had a 2 seat buffer between us and the next group. Everyone near us was masked for the whole show, but I did spot some naughty people in the crowd. At Cagney's there were empty tables next to us. We've either been taking the stairs or waiting for an elevator with 2 masked people or less so that we can space out. Tomorrow we stop in the DR. It will be interesting to see how things are in port.

[JennyM75407]

13 hours ago, bassmaster150 said:

So we are on Escape (11 day cruise)…just docked in port canaveral as cruise is over.  The quote above is the same as our experience.  Masks indoors unless eating or drinking (you can keep mask off for entirety of your dinner or drink…no sip and put mask back on).  Outdoors you could take mask off.  In ports of call, they were mandatory and enforced in some ports.  Also on excursions you had to wear them.  Now if your excursion included a boat ride most kept them off.  But onboard everyone complied and they would remind you to put your mask on. Hope this helps.

@bassmaster150 someone on FB said they were among 50 cases of C19 onboard your sailing. Did you hear anything about that? 

[limeyalchemist]

On 1/2/2022 at 5:02 PM, rnfulk said:

I'm on the Encore now and it is just leaving Miami. Honestly, the ship feels like a ghost town. It is early days so mask compliance may slip, but so far people have been good about wearing masks. It is very easy to avoid the people who aren't masking or wearing their mask properly. 

We’ll be on the Encore next week.
 

If you don’t mind sharing any notable news on which shows are still being scheduled, we’d be very grateful. How easy is it to book the comedy shows? Is Kinky Boots running this week?

 

much appreciated. 

[bookbabe]

On 1/2/2022 at 3:33 PM, mssandora said:

Just curious what your experience is like. I was recently chatting with a woman who is on the escape or encore (was there for New Year’s Eve) who posted a picture of a massive crowd for a party—all of the partygoers were supposedly unmasked and not masked during most of the cruise. She said that NCL was not enforcing the mask policy, which I find hard to believe, so I’m curious for anyone who is currently on a sailing or just returning from one to give me some additional perspective since I’m leaving on the 16th fully vaxxed, boosted and 100% ready to mask up. 

She must have been on Escape, because I was on Encore for NYE, and the pool deck party was pretty lame and deserted, at least around 11pm when we walked by.  Maybe a hundred people, spread out in little groups?

 

The only venue that felt even remotely full all week was the main theatre for Choir of Man, and even then there were enough empty seats to leave a space or two between parties.

 

The buffet was also pretty crowded around 11am on the first sea day, but I think that was because we’d had to set clocks ahead the night before so a lot of people slept in, and only the buffet and Local were open at that exact moment in time.  It wasn’t as bad later in the week when we visited.

 

The pool deck was also pretty full on sea days, but there was enough room to leave a few feet between groups of loungers.

 

For a holiday cruise, I was pleasantly surprised at how uncrowded it still felt.  More crowded than our early Nov Bliss trip, but nowhere near as crowded as that Xmas-NYE week usually is.

[rnfulk]

7 hours ago, limeyalchemist said:

We’ll be on the Encore next week.
 

If you don’t mind sharing any notable news on which shows are still being scheduled, we’d be very grateful. How easy is it to book the comedy shows? Is Kinky Boots running this week?

 

much appreciated. 

No Kinky Boots, but it is the only thing canceled so far. 

[missnd]

14 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

Thank  you  for sharing  your  experience  with us.    Please  let us know what  NCL  does  for you.    I hope  everything  works  out  OK for you. 

Thank you.  I outlined a bit of what happened next in another thread, but in summary, I did test positive and they moved me to another balcony room in an area where they seem to have other isolating guests, crew, and surprisingly also seemingly well guests.  

 

As for what NCL is doing, honestly, I'm not very impressed.  I feel like they see my situation as a burden and are doing the bare minimum before they can get me off the ship and be relieved of a positive passenger.

 

There has been very little communication.  No one has said anything about credit for the days I've been quarantined or anything else.  I would have loved to have provided some documented instructions, process, etc. to reference.

 

Room service is free and they said I can order movies for free, but other than that, it's just stay in your room.  I'm not feeling horrible, just a bit of headache, some congestion, and a bit of a cough.  I asked for a decongestant and spoke to a doctor on the phone briefly yesterday, and hours later, they delivered a generic version of Theraflu.  The guy delivering also had 2-3 other boxes of it with him with other names/room numbers on them.

 

I am driving home from the port tomorrow and have been told I will be among the last to leave the ship. 

 

If anyone has other questions, I'm happy to try to answer.  I have nothing else to do today. 🙂

[classy_cruiser]

9 minutes ago, missnd said:

Thank you.  I outlined a bit of what happened next in another thread, but in summary, I did test positive and they moved me to another balcony room in an area where they seem to have other isolating guests, crew, and surprisingly also seemingly well guests.  

 

As for what NCL is doing, honestly, I'm not very impressed.  I feel like they see my situation as a burden and are doing the bare minimum before they can get me off the ship and be relieved of a positive passenger.

 

There has been very little communication.  No one has said anything about credit for the days I've been quarantined or anything else.  I would have loved to have provided some documented instructions, process, etc. to reference.

 

Room service is free and they said I can order movies for free, but other than that, it's just stay in your room.  I'm not feeling horrible, just a bit of headache, some congestion, and a bit of a cough.  I asked for a decongestant and spoke to a doctor on the phone briefly yesterday, and hours later, they delivered a generic version of Theraflu.  The guy delivering also had 2-3 other boxes of it with him with other names/room numbers on them.

 

I am driving home from the port tomorrow and have been told I will be among the last to leave the ship. 

 

If anyone has other questions, I'm happy to try to answer.  I have nothing else to do today. 🙂

Hope you are feeling better soon! I read somewhere that they aren’t letting guests in quarantine use their beverage package to get alcoholic drinks delivered, is that true? 

[missnd]

Just now, classy_cruiser said:

I read somewhere that they aren’t letting guests in quarantine use their beverage package to get alcoholic drinks delivered, is that true?

I haven't asked for any alcohol, as I haven't felt up for it, so I'm not able to answer specifically to that.  I have ordered Pepsi with my meals and have had that delivered with no issue or extra charge.

[TNcruising02]

9 minutes ago, missnd said:

I haven't asked for any alcohol, as I haven't felt up for it, so I'm not able to answer specifically to that.  I have ordered Pepsi with my meals and have had that delivered with no issue or extra charge.

It's a good thing you drove to the port so you don't have to quarantine when you get off of the ship.  We are considering driving to the port, even though it's a long drive.  I hope your symptoms remain mild.