Has anyone else wondered this?

[lenquixote66]

1 minute ago, LobsterStalker said:

To 'live'or not to 'live' THAT is the question ...

 

Cheers

Aha,Nova Scotia ,one of my favorite places on the planet.I was there in 1976 for the first time .

[LobsterStalker]

5 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Aha,Nova Scotia ,one of my favorite places on the planet.I was there in 1976 for the first time .

There is definitely some beauty here but funny how no matter where we live we will spend thousands to be somewhere else 

 

Cheers

[lenquixote66]

1 minute ago, LobsterStalker said:

There is definitely some beauty here but funny how no matter where we live we will spend thousands to be somewhere else 

 

Cheers

I live in a very small town in NY that is paradise in the Spring and Summer seasons .In the winter we enjoy traveling to other places even those that have cold weather.

[orville99]

28 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

So a question for you on this 

Are you saying that on a B2B you are allowed to go back to your cabin ?

 

Cheers

Yes. We are permitted to go back to our cabin as soon as we re-board after clearing customs - usually by 10:30-11:00 depending on how many people are doing B2B's. There have been occasions where there were only about 25-30 people doing B2B's and we never actually left the ship. Customs cleared us in the Schooner bar and we were back in our cabin before 10:00.

[bucfan2]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I live in a very small town in NY that is paradise in the Spring and Summer seasons .In the winter we enjoy traveling to other places even those that have cold weather.

Sounds like 10 months of solid travel to me. 😉

[lenquixote66]

9 minutes ago, bucfan2 said:

Sounds like 10 months of solid travel to me. 😉

Clarification :My area is great from April to September.We cruised or traveled from October to March.

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

Clarification :My area is great from April to September.We cruised or traveled from October to March.

October is typically a very nice month also. November tend to be the transition month.

[lenquixote66]

4 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

October is typically a very nice month also. November tend to be the transition month.

I was referring to the area where I live .It tends to get cold in the latter part of September.When I was physically able to we cruised and went on non sea vacations during the course of the year.

[LobsterStalker]

21 hours ago, orville99 said:

Yes. We are permitted to go back to our cabin as soon as we re-board after clearing customs - usually by 10:30-11:00 depending on how many people are doing B2B's. There have been occasions where there were only about 25-30 people doing B2B's and we never actually left the ship. Customs cleared us in the Schooner bar and we were back in our cabin before 10:00.

So logistically ... How do you get to your cabin?

As in , are you escorted back? 

Can you come and go ?

How does the crew recognize to know you are allowed ?

Very curious as we are considering B2B , but as of yet have only hopped off one ship to hop on another same day ... And that was a nightmare , did not happen anything like the smooth transition we were assured we would have 

 

Cheers

[orville99]

18 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

So logistically ... How do you get to your cabin?

As in , are you escorted back? 

Can you come and go ?

How does the crew recognize to know you are allowed ?

Very curious as we are considering B2B , but as of yet have only hopped off one ship to hop on another same day ... And that was a nightmare , did not happen anything like the smooth transition we were assured we would have 

 

Cheers

 

No need for any escorts.

 

You can go back to your cabin on your own any time you want - all you need to do is open the door to your corridor (it will close behind you)

 

If you are doing the second leg in the same cabin, the housekeeping staff that you have seen all week will still be working on adjacent cabins, and they know that you are doing consecutive cruises.

 

If you are changing cabins, your room steward on the first leg will have already moved your belongings to your new cabin. On the rare occasion where we are not staying in the same cabin for both legs (one of the main reasons why we book early and usually while on board is to insure we have the same cabin on both legs), we go to the new cabin towards the end of the first week while the cabin stewards are working and introduce ourselves to the steward that has responsibility for that new cabin.

[LobsterStalker]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

all you need to do is open the door to your corridor (it will close behind you)

So no staff ever questions whether or not you are suposed to be there ?

 

[kirtihk]

On 5/18/2023 at 9:32 AM, Tntt said:

On disembarkation day, most people are off the ship by 9am, and then as early as 10:30 am the new guests are embarking.... has anyone wondered how are these ships adequately cleaned and sterilized in such a short turn around time? I've always wondered this especially when it comes to cleaning the staterooms. Now that we have to deal with the covid Era, it just seems like 2-3 hours between guests is not enough time to properly sterilize a cruise ship.  We will be cruising in a few days and I know this is crazy to think about, but I was just wondering.

and yet, cleaning on the ships is not closely comparable with other places except hospitals.  If sterile cleaning approach is implemented, ships would start the next embarkation at least 1 day later after disembarkation.

[spunks]

No sympathy to the OP from me. I only pray that there are no bed bugs or fleas( lots of dogs on ships now). If they give us clean sheets and pillows we are happy. We always wipe down the cabin anyway. The cabin stewards are wayyy overworked on turn around day.

 

Doug

[Haljo1935]

This month, walked into a ring around half the tub. One wipe w/dry tissue (did not scrub, just wiped) and it came right off 

Mentioned it to cabin stewards when he brought one of our bags. His response "I haven't sanitized yet." Uh, basic cleaning has little to do with the separate sanitizing process.

By end of day, after we got our final suitcase, the ring was gone. Yuk...

[graciekelli]

On 5/18/2023 at 2:57 PM, Ret MP said:

As a kid growing up in South Florida and a "Free Range" kid, on the weekends, lunch was what we found in the fields (unwashed tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, whatever) and Coconuts that we spent a long time cracking open by crashing them on rocks.  Drinks were often the Coconut milk, or water out of a hose, a hose from a home that nobody was home or a hose from a well.  I've never been hospitalized for ILLNESS/SICKNESS.  We won't discuss Ortho, though.

Kind of opposite for me.  I was sick with everything as a kid. Flu this, strep that, etc...As an adult, I never get sick.  I can't even remember the last time I was sick.  I raised 5 kids who all took turns being sick and I took care of all of them, never getting sick.  I think I must have gotten every germ possible as a child and after becoming an adult I am immune.  I do wash my hands many times per day, from my days working in healthcare, it became a habit.

[PWP-001]

8 hours ago, graciekelli said:

Kind of opposite for me.  I was sick with everything as a kid. Flu this, strep that, etc...As an adult, I never get sick.  I can't even remember the last time I was sick.  I raised 5 kids who all took turns being sick and I took care of all of them, never getting sick.  I think I must have gotten every germ possible as a child and after becoming an adult I am immune.  I do wash my hands many times per day, from my days working in healthcare, it became a habit.

Good for you, and I hope your strong immune systems continues to protect you.  You do mention the most important thing that every passenger can do to protect themselves on a cruise:  wash your hands frequently.  Personally I avoid using the hand sanitizers, so on the RARE occasion I visit the food trough (aka WJ) I will wash my hands thoroughly before entering when it's a ship without sinks at the entrance. 

 

I'm still convinced the most common place where people cause others to get sick on the ship is the buffet.  The staff are highly trained in food safety and sanitation.  And they do their best to police unsanitary practices.  Like the late teenager who, with clean plate in his left hand, standing in line fn front of me, just shy of starting towards food,  licked every single one of his fingers on his right hand.  While formulating Plan B in my head, I spoke to him:  "Could you do me a favor?  Would you mind putting your plate in your right hand that you just licked and use your clean left hand to touch the tongs?"   He did. 

 

Here's Plan B:  I would have set my empty plate down and just followed him through the line.  After he returned any tong or spoon to the serving dish, I would have picked it up and thrown it on the floor.  And when asked why, I would have explained the situation.  

 

Over 40 years ago when smoking was more prominent, it still was prohibited for foodservice workers.  It had nothing to do with someone finding ashes or cigarette butts in their food.  Instead it was all about HAND TO MOUTH. 

 

Final tip, learned the hard way.  Never play blackjack at a table with someone who is sick--even if they are at the opposite side of the table.  Myself and another frequent cruiser sat next to each other and at the other end of the table away from a coughing player.  Next cruise he shared how sick and and his wife had become while I related the same.  The culprit:  casino chips.

[LEMJMcC]

On 5/18/2023 at 5:48 PM, Keksie said:

I just wonder if any of you ate dirt or drank out of a garden hose growing up?  I figure a few germs now and again just keep my immune system humming along which is why I haven't gotten sick with anything for any years.

Ha!  So, what's the antonym for germaphobe?  That's kind of what I am...my wife on the other hand, well, she's precious.

[shellunderwater]

And lets not even discuss the cruise after certain charters..............  🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍

[Ret MP]

12 hours ago, graciekelli said:

Kind of opposite for me.  I was sick with everything as a kid. Flu this, strep that, etc...As an adult, I never get sick.  I can't even remember the last time I was sick.  I raised 5 kids who all took turns being sick and I took care of all of them, never getting sick.  I think I must have gotten every germ possible as a child and after becoming an adult I am immune.  I do wash my hands many times per day, from my days working in healthcare, it became a habit.

Yep, opposite extremes as kids.  Both environments made us healthy adults. <my belief, anyway.  However, I wish I could say that I haven't had COVID 3 times (none any worse than a mild cold, and I was jabbed 3 times).  BUT, I, like you, can't remember the last time I was sick with anything else.  

[Ret MP]

20 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

This month, walked into a ring around half the tub. One wipe w/dry tissue (did not scrub, just wiped) and it came right off 

Mentioned it to cabin stewards when he brought one of our bags. His response "I haven't sanitized yet." Uh, basic cleaning has little to do with the separate sanitizing process.

By end of day, after we got our final suitcase, the ring was gone. Yuk...

I'm guessing that it didn't matter if you wanted to take a bath as soon as you entered the cabin for the first time.  I know that after a busy morning of packing in the hotel, dragging luggage down to the car, parking, dragging luggage to the porter, processing/checking-in, fighting the stampede of people that think the ship is going to leave in 5 minutes at 10:30 AM and going to the restaurants of choice, that closes in 5 minutes or all the food will be gone, on the ship, and nervously sweating throughout, I get into the shower as soon as I can to start the cruise fresh.

[Ret MP]

Even though I get a kick out of the "Washy Washy" guy/gal, I chuckle to myself as a basically useless activity and just whitewash.  The second you are done washing your hands in the trough, the process starts all over again.  Everything you touch after that or even particles in the air are returning you to your pre-washy-washy status.  What do surgeons do immediately following scrubbing up?  They put sterile latex or whatever glovesd on, sometimes multiple pairs, on over their freshly sanitized hands!  Am I suggesting that we need not wash our hands?  NO, not at all.  But, I believe there is a degree of a false sense of security.  Washy Washy is better than no Washsy Washy at all, no doubt!  But, I believe that is for your own protection until you start touching everything else.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen people, between the Washy Washy trough and the first food items or plate location, wipe their faces, itch or pick their noses, make a package check, wipe their kid's runny noses, or reach in their pockets for something that hasn't been sanitized, well, forever.  Do we go to the Washy Washy trough after we've eaten our first entrenching tool full of food to return to the food troughs?  That's after we've moved the chairs around, use the condiment bottles, and salt and pepper shakers, and had our hands all over the tabletop that may or may not have been sanitized (I mean actually sanitized) after the last people were there.  How many people have you seen that can't wait for a dining room attendant to come and clean off the tabletop and just move everything to one side or the other, touching everything that was used by who knows who?  My answer to all of this, is small bottles of hand sanitizer used often after just about every touch of something foreign to your own body.  To be transparent, I don't follow my own advice, I just don't care, Other than COVID 3 times (very mild, cold-type symptoms/after 3 jabs) I don't get sick, so far.  I believe we are all, well, not me and a few others, becoming germaphobes.  

 

Maybe we should do this on embarkation:

https://foodbabe.com/misting-booths-disinfecting-humans-is-this-where-we-are-headed-please-beware/

Edited May 23, 2023 by Ret MP

[loman]

6 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

Even though I get a kick out of the "Washy Washy" guy/gal, I chuckle to myself as a basically useless activity and just whitewash.  The second you are done washing your hands in the trough, the process starts all over again.  Everything you touch after that or even particles in the air are returning you to your pre-washy-washy status.  What do surgeons do immediately following scrubbing up?  They put sterile latex or whatever glovesd on, sometimes multiple pairs, on over their freshly sanitized hands!  Am I suggesting that we need not wash our hands?  NO, not at all.  But, I believe there is a degree of a false sense of security.  Washy Washy is better than no Washsy Washy at all, no doubt!  But, I believe that is for your own protection until you start touching everything else.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen people, between the Washy Washy trough and the first food items or plate location, wipe their faces, itch or pick their noses, make a package check, wipe their kid's runny noses, or reach in their pockets for something that hasn't been sanitized, well, forever.  Do we go to the Washy Washy trough after we've eaten our first entrenching tool full of food to return to the food troughs?  That's after we've moved the chairs around, use the condiment bottles, and salt and pepper shakers, and had our hands all over the tabletop that may or may not have been sanitized (I mean actually sanitized) after the last people were there.  How many people have you seen that can't wait for a dining room attendant to come and clean off the tabletop and just move everything to one side or the other, touching everything that was used by who knows who?  My answer to all of this, is small bottles of hand sanitizer used often after just about every touch of something foreign to your own body.  To be transparent, I don't follow my own advice, I just don't care, Other than COVID 3 times (very mild, cold-type symptoms/after 3 jabs) I don't get sick, so far.  I believe we are all, well, not me and a few others, becoming germaphobes.  

Couldnt agree more with you , as you stated , you can wash your hands but all the serving utensils are full of germs. 

My solution is to eat everything with knife and fork , and i dont select food items that i need to touch.

if i eat pizza i throw away the crust that i touched.

[Ret MP]

2 minutes ago, loman said:

Couldnt agree more with you , as you stated , you can wash your hands but all the serving utensils are full of germs. 

My solution is to eat everything with knife and fork , and i dont select food items that i need to touch.

if i eat pizza i throw away the crust that i touched.

A good pizza crust is the best part of the pizza LOL