twangster

SNOW!

Cindy Friedman is a medical epidemiologist who leads the CDC’s cruise ship team, or did back when she was speaking to the media nearly a year ago. https://www.nafsa.org/people/cindy-friedman-md Most recently, Dr. Friedman led the Cruise Ship Task Force for the COVID-19 response, helping navigate the safe disembarkation and repatriation of more than 260,000 passengers and crew, while providing critical support for the triage and medical evacuations of 41 COVID-19-affected cruise ships. This included the repatriation of hundreds of American passengers aboard the Diamond Princess in Japan, as well as the quarantine of passengers aboard the Grand Princess in California.

From the Disney earnings call yesterday: https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/disney-world-likely-to-require-masks-through-2021-ceo-says ORLANDO, Fla. - It looks like guests at Walt Disney World theme parks will have to wear face masks for the rest of the year. So it seems masks on land may be a requirement in some areas.

This is how the CDC cruise ship task force interprets that graph...

In fairness to Canada your Alaska cruise in August is in jeopardy because of the pandemic and the CDC's orders banning cruise ships from US ports. It's well known that the initial restart of cruising will begin with short Florida cruises for a few months before gradually longer cruises are allowed. At best we will be fortunate to see those short cruises during the months we know as the Alaskan cruise season. Alaska cruises are at best in phase 3 of the cruise restart. Seven night cruises to a remote region with no medical facilities for mass events (Alaska) isn't going to happen in 2021 and that is because of the CDC's response to the pandemic, not Canada.

Oh sure. Star Class on the first cruise. Genie mode engaged. On my first cruise Jeanie was this annoying lady at our table in the MDR. On second thought maybe that was my ex-wife.

Have you seen her igloo? It's quite posh.

Following!

These cruises start and end with what I call... "Long Pants Days". You won't need long pants on the sea days when indoors on the ship (unless you prefer long pants) but on the pool deck or outdoors long pants will likely be appreciated. The exact timing when short can be donned and the long pants put in the closet will vary cruise to cruise based on weather. The first day and last day are likely candidates. The ability to shed the long pants on the next days will depend on your personal preferences. I was in shorts but others weren't ready to expose their knees just yet. You can read about a December 12 night in this thread https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/5068-anthem-112517-712-b2b/ Or a January 9 night in this thread https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/5387-anthem-11918-9-night-bahamas/ Or a January 11 night in this thread https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/17677-anthem-jan-5-2020-11-nights-southern-caribbean-recap/

After taking the Alaskan Railroad to get from Anchorage to Seward I said I would go back and just ride the train around. I haven't done that (yet) nor have I planned how it would actually work in terms of destinations and lodging between trains. However it is a very solid choice.

The upgrade was $10 per day before Always In. It will be curious to see how hard they push or desire to motivate guests to Elevate.

Food is very personal so this is kind of like asking people should I buy a mattress that is hard or soft? Plush or firm? I am definitely a proud member of #teamCK. Having said I am not going to lie. Not every nightly CK menu appeals to my tastes. If the choices were CK or MDR I would say CK. Once you bring specialty dining into it... that can change the math. You are fortunate to be doing a B2B and that is both fantastic for a bunch of unrelated reasons but also fantastic from a dining perspective given your willingness to entertain all options. The Ultimate Dining Package on any ship but especially Oasis class is a lot of choice and a lot of food. Bring stretchy pants. I have my favorites but that's not important. What is important is that it gives you the opportunity to decide what venues YOU like. UDP on one cruise and CK on the other is a solid strategy. I have mixed feeling the order to do that in. My suggestion would be to do the UDP on cruise #1 of the B2B. Explore eat venue, try different things. By the end of the week you will know what works for your stomach and what doesn't as much. On cruise #2 having eaten so much on cruise you may decide not eat until day 3. Just kidding. CK has lighter meals, not in taste but in portions or size so after a week of so much food with the UDP this may be just what the doctor (or stomach) ordered. Having said that I changed my mind. Do CK on cruise #1 and UDP on cruise #2. By exploring the CK for dinner you can look at the menu daily and maybe even decide to try the MDR one night. While onboard you can visit each specialty venue and see for yourself how the venue appeals to your preferences. A big part of specialty dining is the ambiance. Chops has a covered enclosed glass outdoor area. Maybe that looks appealing for a Central Park dinner after dark on the next cruise for example. With this foundation you can go into cruise #2 with a game plan for UDP. That game plan might include a night in CK to enjoy a favorite entree discovered on cruise #1. Either way don't forget to check out places like Playmakers for the food included with the UDP. I think (as much as I am #teamCK) two weeks of CK would be too much. I also think two weeks of UDP would be wayyyyy toooo muchhhh food. At the end of the day this is about discovering what YOU like. Enjoy the ship, she is fantastic.

Has anyone else noticed the subtle play with Matt's choice of destination and activity? Lives in Florida... goes skiing at the Beech. I saw what you did there. ?

Good point. I wonder if trial participants who did receive the actual vaccine will get documents to that effect. I suppose some may have had varying dosage levels or different timing compared to the final go forward plan. Things that make you go... hmmm.

To teddy's point weather at the base can be different compared to the summit. It also varies hour by hour. When the sun goes down it's cold in them there hills. I wouldn't focus on Boone so much, mountain weather varies wildly. Over at On the Snow the forecast doesn't look so bad for Beech. If anything your timing may coincide with a nice dip in temps compared to Friday. https://www.onthesnow.com/north-carolina/ski-beech-mountain-resort/weather.html Low of 28° Saturday at the base with a high of 33°. Looks like some flurries are possible. Warms up a bit on Sunday but that high of 39° will likely be later in the day if a warm front is moving into the area. Hourly forecast shows morning temps below freezing so it's not looking bad really. https://www.onthesnow.com/north-carolina/ski-beech-mountain-resort/longterm-weather.html

That's a great point. No one wants to hang around an airport for hours on end (been there) but right now it's the direction to lean towards. Better safe than miss a flight.

Let's keep it friendly.

This private healthcare provider in Florida is requiring all employees to get vaccinated. https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/02/11/omni-healthcare-requiring-employees-to-get-covid-19-vaccine/#// “We are requiring that all of our employees be vaccinated as soon as they are eligible, providing there are no contraindications,” president and CEO Dr. Craig Deligdish said.

So everyone who has been vaccinated. They can update the guidance as more is learned.

Eliminating regulatory risk rarely involves agitating an omnipotent regulator in the public media. That's not smart business. She is playing it smart.

Without ships sailing we don't really know.

The first cruises of the restart will be interesting and different. After a while everyone involved from cruisers to ship personnel to the terminal contractors that we encounter in most cruise terminals will settle into the new routine and it will become smoother but it won't be what we used to experience for some time yet to come.

On board Millie the first few days of the cruise I heard a lot of bartenders telling guests "that's not included with your beverage package, but for $ you can upgrade". This resulted in "What kind of vodka/gin/whiskey/wine is included in my package?" and then the predictable... "Oh, that's all?". However those simple days of just upgrading the beverage package have been replaced with more much... interesting choices of upgrades to choose from. https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-deals/always-included The upgrade path options include "Elevate" and "Indulge". https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/ultimate-guide-celebrity-cruises-perks For just $30 a day per person, with Elevate you’ll enjoy premium drinks, prepaid tips, and shore excursion credits ranging from $100 to $200, depending on the length of your cruise. You and the second guest in your stateroom also have access to Unlimited Surf Wi-Fi throughout your sailing. Indulge, which is $60 a day per person, includes premium drinks, prepaid tips, unlimited Stream Wi-Fi for two guests, plus shore excursion credits ranging from $200 to $400, depending on the length of your vacation. Note the per person requirement, and this is where Celebrity really proves how they discourage solo cruise travel. If solo you have to pay the Elevate and Indulge upgrade costs for you and your ghost guest who isn't sailing with you. The upgrade cost is based on double occupancy and like the 200% solo supplement for single cruisers, the Elevate and Indulge upgrades also have the 200% solo supplement applied to them. But wait... there's more. Introducing PerksExtra and PerksUltra. With the PerksExtra Package, you’ll enjoy the following: Shore excursion credit** Premium Beverage package for one guest (optional) Dinner in specialty restaurants of your choice Xcelerate Stream Wi-Fi (one device) Laundry service (one bag) For a seven-night sailing, the PerksExtra package starts at $56 per day per person. If you bundle in a premium beverage package, the cost is $127 per day per person. Here are all the available perks in the PerksUltra Package: Premium Beverage Package for one guest Dinner at a specialty restaurant of your choice Onboard credit for shore excursions Xcelerate Stream Wi-Fi on one device Complimentary laundry service on (1) bag during your sailing Unlimited digital photos. Stay in the moment and put your camera away; our photographers have you covered. For a seven-night sailing, the price starts at $88 per day. For a ten-night sailing, the PerksUltra Package starts at $144 per day per person, with one Premium Beverage Package included. Confused Yeah. It seems they haven't cleaned up the website. It's really Elevate and Indulge you need to focus on. $30 pppd or $60 pppd.

Tried taking it to my bank...