Traveler

Yes something we all waited for , finally no more fight who is going first to bring food from the buffet ?

Day 1 - its cruise day ! Yaaaa As always I was already up on early 5 Am , I need to work on this (sure , who I am kidding) , I understood quite fast that I will not be able to go back to sleep so I went out and started to walk near the beach watching the sunrise from the mountains side. Went back to prepare a quick breakfast (eggs , salad and some fresh local cheese if you ask) and we organized our stuff packed it back to the car. As its a new ship the RCL application already supporting it so all we had to do is just to check in. After you check in you are getting a time slot (09:45 for us ) and all you need to do is to come to the port at that exact time , in case you missed the time the application is assigning you another slot which is 15 minute later. We arrive to port on time , the nice thing is that you do need to go out of the car . They scan your face and a 3rd imaging machine check the car and its content for something you should not bring on the ship. Once the scan was done we rolled in the car into the ship and parked it on our designated parking space.We took out the luggage assigned it the smart tags we got and left it on the nearest belt. We took the elevator up to our deck (deck 12) and went directly to the room which was already ready. Our luggage arrived near our door 10 minutes later , the application beep us whne it arrived so we started to unpack. The room is very nice (sorry no picture allowed yet) two rooms , huge walking in closet and a very nice balcony. The balcony has some nice new gadget which allow you to control if you want to cover it (glass cover) and if you can control its transparency you can also choose what to screen over the cover , it can be the current view or any many other options which you can choose from your application) It was a very nice weather so we decided to keep it open. One other option you can choose is to cover the balcony but to allow the sun inside while the other side is sealed so you can enjoy the sun in a very private way and have the air condition continue to work. We organized our stuff and went to the traditional lunch in the WJ. The WJ on this ship is bigger so no issue to find a place and all you need is to ask the application to guide you to an open table , once you got to the table its starts a timer and a small screen show your picture and indicates its occupied. If you are not back to table in 10 minutes it will become a free table again. It was very nice to know you do not need to leave anyone to watch the table. One nice feature is the washing station which shows you a countdown timer of 20 seconds so you will know when you are ready. Once you complete to wash your hands you go directly to the buffet but you pass via a scanner that will send you back if your hands are not clean enough. They are testing the system now and they consider to move the scanners near the washing station as some people already complained and called it the walk of shame but I think , just wash your hand as you should and no one will shame you. The food in the WJ really improved , they can even sever the filet from day one of the CK: After lunch we went to tour the ship , we used the application which gives you a guided tour and explain all the new things while you pass them .When you want to get some more details about something you see you just press the button on the application , scan the station and an hologram of an officer pop out and starts to explain what you see and what you can do. After the tour we went back to the room to plan our cruise , all you need to do is to link you account answer few questions on your preference and the virtual genie show your scheduled for the cruise including shows ,activities , games , tours and dinner plans, no need to worry about anything. Soon it become the time for the muster drill and no , you do not have anyone knocking on your door and kick you out , you are doing it from your own cabin using the virtual glasses which were waited for us on the bed. Once you wear the VR glasses they starts the drill you see were you need to assemble , you see who are the station leads and the other people in your station ans most important you do not watch the "James Bond" movie. It was so nice to do the drill while laying on the bed in the air condition. More to come

Day --1 as you know -- = + so we are OK, Afissos Greece. Flight to Athens was not that bad after all its quite a short one , at Athens airport we picked the rental car . Why rental car you ask ? why not to take taxi or something like that well one thing I forgot to tell you is that whoever stays at a JS an up get also to take the car on the ship (deck -2 if you ask) for extra 30 $ per day , since space is limit I felt very lucky to find it in the cruise planner and book it. its only 4 hours drive from Athens to Afissos but the roads are wide and new (at least until the last 40 miles were the roads becomes very very narrow) . Finally we arrived to the village were we took a small villa near the sea , very quite , 7 minutes from many local restaurants . After we got the room and rest for few minute we went to tour around and eat some local food, The villa is 2 minutes from the beach , were you can use the beach bad for free as long as you order something to drink or something like an ice cream (beer cost around 2 $ for example). The water are very clear and without any waves , although its a real sea its feel more like a lake. very enjoyable . Although we planned to eat something the water were so good so we stayed in much more time than we planned. after a quick shower we went back to our plane to eat something , we found a local restaurant and order some salads , Moussaka and chicken kabab . Salad with figs inside bread. fresh Moussaka f Fried cheese As usual we order too much but it was all very fresh and good . We took the car and went up to the mountains to enjoy the view , I started to navigate using google maps , for some reason it kept directing me into the sea , not sure why , at the end I decided to go back to the low tec system and to navigate with the map , it was worse it , the view is amazing . Its started to become dark so we have done our way back to villa , just came back on time to take some sunset pictures : It was time to catch some rest as tomorrow we are boarding (with the car yes !) on the Hope of the Seas and start our cruise.

Ohh , have you ever tried to drive to Lima Airport on Friday evening ? not sure its better than a Vogon Zone , anyway , I like petunia plants so I should be OK with the Improbability Drive

Yes , finally - Quantum teleportation, hopefully without harming any cats in the process , anyway , wait when you will hear about he casino on this ship , I heard its something different.

Yes its going to be a live blog although I can not promises too many photos of the ship as they made me sign an NDA (well at least for pictures) ? Not sure about the leg to Peru maybe I will just take a flight and catch the ship there (I have been told they have a way to send it fast somehow ) but I hope to take the cruise there as they promised possibility to visit beside Lima also Matsu Pitsu and even the Nazca line).

Hello everyone . At this time we were supposed to be on a 11 days cruise on the Jewel of the seas enjoining 10 different Europe locations , for some reason RCL canceled the cruise ( still waiting to hear why) so I had to cancel our flight to Rome , some hotels and change it to some quarantine days (actually, even from that I am not allow to enjoy as I found myself going to work everyday). Lucky for us I was offered to join an alternative cruise on the new secret ship - Hope Of the seas. as it is an unofficial secret ship please do not share this information (or do not share it with other cruise lines). What is Hope of the Seas you ask ? well its part of the new project to create the next next next generation ship of RCL , it is using hydrogen engine which means no smoke or any pollution from the engine as the leftover is actually water. The other important feature of the ship is the ability to hover over the water and partially on land which allows it to go to many small ports although its size is larger than the Oasis class. For very small ports its using floating bridges which spread out of the ship and are supported and balanced by small but strong drones. There are many other new features but some of them I will only find once I will board it. For sure once it was offered I said why not , specially when they told me that the cruise will be to the holy land and maybe I will also join a cruise to Peru later. So here is the information. 13 April - Boarding Hope of the seas in Afssos Greece ( a very small port to hide the ship) 14 April - Haifa , Israel - planning trip to north of Israel and a view over the sea of Galilee 15 April - Tel Aviv - Enjoying the Med seas and Old Jaffa , over night in Tel Aviv 16 April - Tel Aviv in the morning , trip to Jerusalem 17 April - Dead sea trip (from Ashdod port) 18 April - cruising back to Greece. As always in such first time cruses things might change , who knows maybe we will have time to visit the red sea or other places For this cruise we got the internet package (new generation satellite which should provide sustained 100 Mb) , next generation Ultimate Drinking package (you pay it only if you consume at a certain day more than the package cost) and we are staying in a new Junior two room suite. Well , I should run to pack, need to catch a flight soon.

As always , every few days I am checking the cruise planner to see if any new deals. Just went to check the group cruise to the Norwegian Fjords and saw the beverage package cost 90 $ is that a new record or its just what you see when you check a cruise that is due in more then 400 days ?

Curling ...

I hope you bought the right Zoom ZM and not ZOOM ... ?

29 Days to go who knows ? Currently, here if I go anyway I will need to be quarantine after I will come back ... Also not easy to find flights (many airline cancel the flight due to the quarantine requirements) I do hope something will change but for now all we see is more and more cases in Greece and Spain , if Italy is the example Spain going to be there soon.

I am on the cruise that was suppose to go out at April 8 , Here is the email : Dear Guest, Before we set sail, we have some important information to share with you for your upcoming April 8th, 2020 Jewel of the Seas cruise. At Royal Caribbean International, the safety and well-being of our guests and crew is top priority. So, in light of current regional travel conditions and the continued developments related to Coronavirus COVID-19, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel our visit to Portofino, Florence/Pisa (La Spezia), Rome (Civitavecchia), and Naples/Capri. Please know, we did not take this decision lightly and determined it was best to maintain your well-being, as there has been an increase of Coronavirus COVID-19 cases in Italy. Fortunately, we’ve been able to secure excellent alternatives for you to enjoy. We’ll now begin our cruise in Athens (Piraeus), Greece where we’ll set sail from at 8:00 PM. We’ll then head to Mykonos, Greece on Thursday, Chania (Souda), Crete on Friday, and Katakolon, Greece on Saturday. Then, instead of our visit to Sete, France, we’ll now have an additional sea day on Sunday before continuing with the rest of our original itinerary visiting Spain and the United Kingdom. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by this change. However, we’re confident you’ll have an excellent time with us. Below, please find our revised itinerary. We’re sorry for this unexpected change. We know you’ll need to accommodate your flights for your arrival to Athens (Piraeus), Greece now. So, here’s what we’re going to help you with: If you purchased flights through our Air2Sea program, we’ll reschedule your flights to our embarkation port for you. There is no need for you to call in as we will be sending your new flight details via email no later than Wednesday, March 11th. If you booked your flights independently, you may reach out to your airline carrier to assist with the changes. If you re-book your flights on your own and incur a change fee, we’ll reimburse you up to $200 USD per guest for Domestic flights and up to $400 USD per guest for International flights, with proper documentation. Please submit your receipts to [email protected] for review and reimbursement. If you need assistance accommodating your travel home, our Air2Sea Team is available to assist you at 888-372-9996 from the US or Canada or 019321834223 Internationally. If you’d like to re-book your flights through our Air2Sea Team, you’ll be booked in economy class flights at no additional cost. Please know, flights are at the discretion of our Air Sea Experts. And, if you booked airport transfers through us and are changing your flights through the airline directly, please contact us to provide the new flight details. Any pre-paid Royal Caribbean International shore excursions for Rome (Civitavecchia), Florence/Pisa (La Spezia), Portofino, Provence (Marseille), and Sete will be refunded back to your original form of payment. In the next few days, you’ll receive an email with your updated tour details. Then, feel free to continue browsing all the exciting shore excursion options for your sailing in Cruise Planner! Lastly, starting March 6th, 2020 on all Royal Caribbean International ships, temperature screenings will be conducted for all guests and crewmembers on embarkation day. Over the last few weeks, we’ve implemented new and enhanced health & safety protocols, along with travel regulations, and we decided that adding temperature checks will further help ensure we maintain a healthy onboard environment. So, if your temperature is above 100.4°F or 38° C, you and those in your party will undergo a secondary health screening. Temperatures will be taken with a digital, no-touch thermometer. If you require a secondary screening, this is what you can expect: Your temperature will be checked again. You’ll undergo a pulse oximetry reading. This means, a small device will be placed on your finger to measure your oxygen level. If you happen to have a chronic lung illness, like asthma, please bring a letter from your medical practitioner that indicates your normal baseline oxygen saturation levels. This will help ensure you are not denied boarding if you are healthy otherwise. Then, a medical professional will check you for flu-like symptoms, respiratory illness, etc., and would make a final assessment to understand if you’re fit to sail. If it is decided that we must unfortunately deny you boarding, you’ll receive a 100% Future Cruise Credit for your cruise fare paid, and any pre-cruise Royal Caribbean International purchases and taxes and fees will be refunded to your original form of payment. And, if for any reason, you happen to have a fever before your cruise, we kindly ask you to not come to the port. Please contact us or your Travel Advisor immediately and we will happily provide you with a credit for future travel. The health, safety, and comfort of our guests and crew remain our highest priority. To learn more about how we are keeping our ships in tip top shape, and for insights into our travel regulations, click here. Thank you for choosing Royal Caribbean International. We look forward to seeing you onboard very soon! Sincerely, Now I need to find a flight to Athens, hope no more changes and things in Barcelona and Greece would not go like North of Italy.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/ Per this , you can still cancel today.

No , I am talking about the message : CONCERNED ABOUT TRAVELING? LOOKING FOR FLEXIBILITY IN YOUR PLANS? We get it. Whether you’re already booked on a cruise, or are thinking about it, we want you to Cruise with Confidence. That’s why Royal Caribbean will let you cancel any cruise that sets sail from now through July 31, 2020. Whether it’s a booking you already have or one you make right now, you’re covered. As long as you cancel at least 48 hours before you set sail, you’ll receive a Future Cruise Credit. The credit can be used toward any cruise that sets sail through December 31, 2021. Looking to cancel your cruise? We’re sorry to hear that. Please contact us to cancel your reservation. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-with-confidence

I Guess you should try and cancel ASAP as they just announced they allow to cancel up to 48 hours before the cruise , hopefully the 48 hours is from the sail date so you should have time , good luck.

Per the last update already six people died , all from Washington state.

Came back from a business trip in Toronto with a one day stop over in the US (NJ) and it interesting to compare . While in Toronto area one could fine N95 masks (mainly in home depot but also in Walmart) in NJ I could not even fine the small alcogel bottles. What i could see at least were I had meetings was that finally people started to take the hand washing seriously , hopefully that habit will stay

Take into consideration that the process should be done everyday since you not really know with what the room attended is using to wipe your remote control and other areas in you cabin, I tend to think this should be OK but for sure in hotels they are re using the same wipes between rooms ... I started to hide the remote control because of that ?

If it will come pandemic RCI will cancel the cruise and will give you the money back , airline also will wave the change fee (at least that is what they have done until now) the only problematic situation will be if RCI will cancel but you will feel not comfortable to travel .

I have a cruise from Rome at beginning of April , although the cruise is from Rome I guess many people from north Italy will join. Two of the ports are considered to be in north of Italy were some countries already encourage people not to travel to. As I recommended to others before (for Asia cruises) I am not going to change anything now , will wait for RC to do their move as if I will cancel , I will not get anything. I also bought a good insurance that might cover some of my expenses. Since the ship is a small ship (JOS) I guess RC might even consider to change the embarkation port to Barcelona , maybe add more Spanish ports. For Allure on May , if the situation will continue to be problematic they might need to cancel as 3 out of the port are in Italy and there are very few ports that can handle Oasis class ships, the alternate will be to add more sea days , but who comes to Europe cruise for the sea days ? Lets all hope the virus will gone when weather will improve and everyone will recover soon

I have a cruise from Italy in 6 weeks from now , I guess if the virus will not be stabilized they might move the cruise to go out from Barcelona or cancel it.

This is a good example of taken the right decision and implement it wrongly. I still think with the number of people you had on the ship it was the right decision to conduct the quarantine on the ship but they quarantine only the passengers ... The crew was at quarantined at all. To do it right they should have not going with the easy way of letting the same crew continue to prepare and serve the meals of the passengers while I think they should have brought the food from the outside and serve it by the quarantine team.

To my opinion its all a matter of trends in number of new cases but anyway some impact we will see for the short term. It can all changed id such case will be found on another ship in a different region. So here is what I think : Do you think the threat of disease and illness will turn people away from cruising? - Some people yes , mainly it might impact new cruisers Will cruise line stocks suffer? - Short range yes , long range I wish I new Will cruise lines start deep discounts to lure people despite the 'risk of sickness'? - Again for the short term you can see some good discounts for long term not yet. Can cruisers expect more strenuous screening for illness before or after cruising? - Maybe checking everyone fever. Will general SOP's for ship cleanliness be more stringent? - The might clean more and invoke N virus protocols ... Will this put more demand on ship crews or open new job opportunities in infection control specialists on ships much like hospitals use to reduce or prevent nosocomial infections?

I have a cruise at April on Jewel , I did not cancel it , I have took advantage on the panic and successfully upgraded my cabin to a JS from a balcony , cost was 0 ... No one died on princess ship although many new people are infected. Good news is that mostly this virus is not fatal and most of the people recover after mild symptoms , who ever got the symptoms was taken to an hospital for treatment (and they have very good hospitals in Japan). The bad news is the number of new cases every day (We are around 350 people now) but that can be due to the fact its not 100% quarantine, for sure not for the crew.

Alarming news from China - they have change the counting of infected people to include people which show the symptoms but was not tested positive yet , that brought the number to 15000 new cases in one day. I do hope it is one time spike (since they include people that are already sick for a while). If they would still count the same way as before , the numbers still show reduction. For sure the cruise industry like any other tourist industry are suffering from the current situation, just hope things will be clear soon and everything will go back to normal . For now maybe its a good time to watch for deals ...