mjb1127

Good morning everybody. Taking it slow this morning with breakfast from CK in suite.

In suite dining Dinner
Now this was the absolute motherload of dinner spreads. In a way, it was our own little version of the Taste of Royal meal.
 

Firstly, an assortment of sushi sashimi and Japanese spread from Izumi. 

Supplemented by some familiar items from Chops. 

And to top it off, I saw they served the beef Wellington in the MDR on their Christmas and New Years sailing. I requested if they could have it prepared and they could. For such a thick slab of meat, it was surprisingly tender. We didn’t have steak knives, only the blunt table knifes and we had no trouble cutting through. 

To close off the meal, we wanted desert from Wonderland. This is where Eli and the kitchen staff really went above and beyond. Due to our dietary restriction of pork, we are unable to take gelatin. Consulting with Eli prior to boarding, she checked with the Wonderland staff and confirmed that it did contain gelatin, to which they mentioned they would prepare something specially for us. Come today, and I receive a message from Eli, asking if I was able to take beef gelatin instead. (Yes, by the way). So, not only were they able to accommodate my needs, but managed to give me the authentic wonderland experience as well. 

 

Fast forward to day 2. After our visit to the spa, we went for a quick (read: too filling) breakfast at CK. Here are some but not all our choices. 
 
After a quick break back at our stateroom, it seemed like too soon before we were already off to Jamie’s for lunch. You ever regret eating a good meal. Yeah that’s us in regards to breakfast. 
 
Jamie’s appetisers were definitely the stars of the meal. The pasta we ate was kinda meh but the baked mushrooms...hmm so good 
We were originally gonna head to the seaplex for some pickleball, but changed our plans on account of our full stomach. Headed up to the suite sun deck for some sun and to take some timelapse videos of the North Star.

temp_video_1614693127511.mp4 Next up, we headed to the Royal Theatre to catch the production “Sequin and Feathers” a show with lots of music, dancing and show girls. Lol
 
Speaking of North Star, I decided to go for the extended experience today. Since we saved on a few things here and there due to star class privileges, thought I’d experience this. Gave me good shots from the exterior of the ship too. 

Dinner
We headed to chops for dinner and of course, we had to do the customary star class seafood tower. Eli did mentioned that all up charges where waived for star class. While I was already aware of this thanks to the lovely people on this forum, she noted that many star guest don’t know and end up not taking things they may have wanted. On top of that we also took the mushroom soup, crab cake and beef carpaccio. 
As for the entrees, I took the bone-in ribeye, thinking that I’ll go for the filet on our second trip to chops. And I can say I was not disappointed at all. Dare I say, I prefer the ribeye to the CK filet at lunch. We also got the lobster because my dad’s a seafood fanatic. 
Now, I’m on the fence about ordering the ribeye again instead of the filet for the last night, but in the interest of science, I need to see this through. To give my take on the Chops vs CK debate 
 
Headliner Show
After dinner, we headed over to Two70 to watch headliner act Steve Rawling, who is a comedy juggler. While the show wasn’t bad, I think circumstances might have led to a less than stellar atmosphere. As a comedian, I think a lot of it depends on how the audience reacts. His show required a lot of audience participation and with it being a mainly Asian audience, who are a little more reserved, it left a lot of awkward silences. But still entertaining nonetheless. The show also started with the dancing robot screens  

 
And that concludes day 1

Okay time to catch up on our first day while I have some time. 
 
Activities
First off, we went for the bumper cars. As Star class guest, Eli brought us to the front of the line in a designated area for star guests. Before that, we also helped reserve the slots we wanted to seaplex activities like foosball, Table Tennis and pickleball. According to Eli, there is no basketball due to physical distancing. 
After that, we decided to explore the top deck a little since we were already there. Walking around the outside to snap some shots before taking a break at the Solarium. Pina Colada anyone?

 
Finally, we headed for our flight on the North Star. Let me just preface that I’m absolutely terrified of heights, but figured that I won’t be able to pass this up, so I put on a brave face and ascended to the skies. 

I’ll be covering dinner in a following post
 
 
 

Good Morning everyone. Another lovely day out at sea and there nothing quite like seeing this outside your room 
Starting off the day with a little R&R in the thermal suite 
The thermal suite pass is around $20 pppd but you do not need to get it for everyday of the sailing. However, you will be required to book a reservation. That said, the thermal suite will be private to you and your party which is kind of sweet

I don't see the point about complaining that public areas are being disinfected more often.  There are certainly other diseases and problems that could be mitigated by excellent sanitation (hello, Norovirus).  

I touched on this problem in my original post above. On Friday, the NYTs did a surprisingly apologetic piece on the damage being done by journalists (and scientists) contributing to the the nihilism you speak of. It carries over to anti-vaxer thought as well, that is to say, "if the vaccines have so many caveats about effectiveness, possible side effects, and worst of all the potential for re-infection by a variant even if you have been vaccinated, why bother."
First none of this stuff - and it's coming out of the mouths of respected sources like Fauci, for example we're making great progress, the vaccines are working ..... but, but, but, are factually accurate. It's also misleading. These "experts" (and they are) send a message that we aren't sophisticated or knowledgeable enough to understand details.
Here are the facts: the vaccines already in circulation to include Pfizer's, Moderna's, AZ's and as far as trials go, J&J, all have efficacy v. all three known and studied variants (there are actually over 200 of them but the variants being studied the most are ones that have mutations in the spike proteins and demonstrably increase rate of transmission or R0).  I can't speak for the Chinese, Russian or Indian vaccines. Casual and cursory looks indicate these vaccines are working too.
What large scale studies being conducted in Israel by apolitical, public health agencies have already demonstrated or early and small scale studies point to is that NO ONE is getting seriously ill or dying regardless of the genomic structure of SARS-2 that is the infecting agent. NO ONE! There are RARE occasions (although the press will make you think it's in the millions) of vaccinated people that get re-infected. Serology studies of these people indicate that SARS-2 viral loads are very low (reduces shedding) and that symptoms on re-infection are similar to the common cold - this is a coronavirus after all. You'll catch a cold by the same means that people were catching COVID a year ago. Vaccinated people just aren't getting sent to the ICU and dying anymore
There is also considerable evidence that vaccinated people - even after the first shot - are protected, don't need to mask or distance in all circumstances and many of the state and local patch-work mitigation measures can be safely ignored. That doesn't mean its a free-for-all. All levels of Illness from seasonal Influenza have been significantly suppressed. That is because of human behaviors being followed for COVID by a lot of folks. It is one of the reasons, along with the normal trends of viruses and the introduction of vaccines that every COVID metric is on the decline and downward trending and not just by a little. Those kinds of sensible measures should continue to be followed - wash your hands, even wearing a mask in enclosed, poorly ventilated spaces where people gather is a good idea that we should continue to practice as most Asians do.

According to a post from @ourusualbeach on CC, Royal has officially changed the L&S policy today

He said the policy was just changed today.  So now, you can L&S your booking twice IF Royal cancels your cruise.
YIPPEE !!!

Interesting that they are offering L&S but not extending the L&S period beyond the end of April.  I suspect this must be an error.  Either they're going to have to extend the L&S period or remove L&S as an option as all (or almost all) Alaska sailings are between May and Sept.  My guess is that they will extend the dates for L&S.  I'm sure I will find out VERY soon.

Nothing official, but someone on another forum posted that they were able to L&S Quantum sailings only past April 2022.  They did it just this morning.

I like your plan.  When, we took a Western Med cruise, we spent 3 nights in Rome pre-cruise and we're very happy we did that.  There is too much to do in Rome in 1 port day.  We immediately flew home after our cruise but if I could do it again, I would do what you are doing and spend a couple nights post cruise in Venice and then fly home from there.  So 3 days post cruise and a couple nights post cruise would be a great combo plan of land and sea.  If you wanted to add in more time, Croatia is 2 hours from Venice.  I have a friend from Rijeka and she often flies Delta to Venice when she wants to visit home.

Thanks for all the info and tips.  Your 2005 cruise sounds like it was perfect!!  Actually the cruise I am looking at begins and ends in Rome so I thought flying in a couple days ahead to really explore Rome would be good and then once off the ship on last day take the train from Rome to Venice and spend a few days there...then fly home from there.   I was also considering the Italy/Adriatic cruise from Venice to Rome on Brilliance and then taking train from Rome to Florence before heading home.  But I want Venice and not Ravenna so the Western Med cruise makes more sense, I think. 

We were booked for a May cruise, but we just did the lift and shift to June of 2022, and we'll be using the FCC from our cancelled June 2020 cruise. 

Like many I am anxious to get back to cruising. Of course the big issue is COVID.
I have read a number of articles about the vaccine and the many steps taken by the cruise industry and others. My personal opinion is that until COVID is under control, until enough people are vaccinated that COVID cases not only start dropping but are significantly lower, cruising is going to struggle.
So I had a simple question I was not really seeing asked. How long will it be before enough vaccine is available for everyone?  So I did a little investigation.
Of course there are a lot of variables and one has to consider the scale of the operation. I started to look at some numbers because numbers do not lie unless of course you use the wrong numbers.
A few basic numbers seems to tell at least some of the story.
The cruise industry is a world wide operation. In the world, there are roughly 7.8 billion people. That is 7,800 million people.
Being a little more focused since I am in the United States, the US has about 330 million people.
Right now it seems Moderna is capable of producing 600 million vaccine doses this year. Plans are to increase to 1 billion in an unknown time frame.
Right now Pfizer is capable of producing 1.3 billion doses this year. Plans are to increase to 2 billion in an unknown time frame.
Keep in mind that everyone needs 2 doses.
The delivery schedule between the US government and both companies is about 300 million doses by July of this year. Currently about 25 million doses have been made available.
If you have been keeping track, the US will have roughly enough doses to fully vaccinate (2 doses) about one half of the US population by July.
Granted, if things go well, production levels increase, additional vaccines are approved, distribution and administration improves etc .... maybe, just maybe the US will get to that 70% immunity number (or was it 80%) sometime between the 4th of July and Thanksgiving.
The last cruise I was on had almost 7,000 passengers from all over the world. I do not want to even try and speculate when the world will reach that magic immunity number, whatever it is. The numbers tell me that it could be at least 2 more years before enough vaccine is available to inoculate the world.
My best guess is the cruise industry is in for another year of hard times. I hope it gets better sooner but my thought right now is planning for a holiday season cruise near the end of 2021 with a big blowout new years for 2022 is about the best to hope for. Even then there will be some serious restrictions like proof of vaccination etc.

There was a report in the UK press today stating all UK adults could be vaccinated by mid July, let's hope this is the case.

J&J is expected to submit for EUA approval in the next couple weeks and have plans for 1 billion doses this year (and this is a single dose vaccine)

A few random thoughts:
Cruises returning are almost all dependent on the US crushing the virus.  75% of the cruising industry depends on North America. There may be limited cruising startups based on a "Vaccine Passport" process.  Who makes this call will be something to watch (it will not be a popular decision), but once made it will "de-risk" the initial wave of startups (pun intended). ? As others have noted, other vaccines are on the way and they will be affective as well.  The number of dosages available will not be the issue in the Western world. There will be a reluctance from some to get the vaccine initially.  This should not significantly delay a limited cruising restart.  See Point 2. The issue is getting vaccines into peoples' arms.  It is a massive task, and will take smart people to coordinate (almost as smart as our saviours who developed these wonderous vaccines). Given a slow start to "vaccines in arms"(that we are seeing), it could be until the late summer before we see wide numbers vaccinated.  A smaller cruising "relaunch" based on the Vaccine Passport process could mean earlier limited cruising.  Still, it looks like a significant return will be no earlier than the Fall of 2021. My soulmate and I are booked for FEB 2022 because we are CDN (Canada will be slightly delayed) and because we are conservative. Just one dumb Engineer's opinion from the Great White North.
?
Curt from Canada

Radiance is doing a Panama Canal Cruise from Los Angeles to  Miami departing Los Angeles October 1st and ending
in Miami.

Radiance is doing a Panama Canal Cruise from Los Angeles to  Miami departing Los Angeles October 1st and ending
in Miami.

Thank you Twangster!

August 6 is the cheapest date for that itinerary so it promotes that date.
Your screen shot includes June dates available to book so I don't think it means anything.  
 

A few questions answered by a TUI passenger: 
 
‼️Hi again! Today I read through your questions about our recent cruise onboard TUI Cruises - Mein Schiff 6! I will start to provide answers to 9 questions:‼️
What did we have to do before the cruise?
- informed about travel cancellation and health insurance with corona protection
- reserved excursion
- reserved seats on the plane
- reserved on-board entertainment
- completed the Greece entry form for the QR code
- filled out the Helios Hospital data protection 
form and made an appointment for the test
- filled out the TUI Cruises health questionnaires before driving to Munich Airport
Did you have to do a COVID-19 test? ??
TUI Cruises is requiring that all passengers test negative for COVID-19 before boarding. The test could be taken at one of 86 Helios Hospital locations in Germany. The test's cost was included in the cruise fare. We had to drive 1,5 hours to the next Helios Hospital. They did a nose and throat swab test. Our results were sent directly to TUI Cruises. 
How was the flight?✈️?
To get to the cruise ship was only possible with a chartered flight by TUIfly from 6 German airports (Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, Dusseldorf, Munich, Frankfurt). No individual arrivals. No public flights! Only access to the plane with negative COVID-19 Test.
How was the boarding procedure??
At the check-in counter of TUIfly we had to show the TUI Cruises health questionnaires and the valid QR Code for entry to Greece (received at 11pm the day before). After arriving at Crete we had to show the QR Code to the Greek authorities at the airport. Randomly other flight passengers were chosen for another nose and throat swab test - but not us. We got our bags and were then shown to the TUI Cruises Bus and driven to the cruise ship. To decrease the amount of people inside the cruise terminal we had to wait for ~30minutes inside the bus, until we were allowed to proceed to the cruise terminal. First we had to present our health questionnaires form, then we got our temperature measured with a digital thermal imaging camera. After the security check we went directly to one of the check-in counters, which were fitted with plexiglass screens. We had to show our set sail pass and passports through the plexiglass screen. The employee made a picture of our passports, then we were allowed to take shortly off our mask for our „ship picture“. Afterwards we could walk straight to the ships gangway, where we had to show our set sail pass for entry and for a short moment our face without mask. 
How was the Muster Drill?
Onboard we went straight to our stateroom, where our sea pass cards were in a sealed envelope at the door. We put our hand luggage inside the stateroom and walked straight to Deck 5, where the muster drill took place. We were shown to our designated area. By that time we were the only ones there. So the two employees made a „private muster drill“ just for us. We could ask questions and were finished within 5 minutes.
How many people were onboard?
TUI Cruises operates their ships at just 60% of their regular capacity. Mein Schiff 6 regular capacity is 2534 passengers - on our cruise we were in total 922 passengers. TUI cruises canceled all their cruises until end of October - the Greek Isles cruise was released on August 13 with the new regulations. TUI is only selling balcony staterooms and suites at the moment! No inside or window cabins are sold! 
Did you have to wear masks??
Yes! All guests and crew members are required to practice social distance of at least 1.5 meters in the public areas of the ship. Wherever this distance cannot be maintained without hesitation, wearing a proper mouth and nose mask (masks NOT allowed you will find on the picture) was compulsory. This applied to elevators, stairwells and cabin corridors, for example. Whenever we were talking to crew (guest services, bars, towel station) - we wore masks. Also on the Pool Deck, when we couldn’t keep the social distance - we wore masks. As soon as we sat on our sun lounger/chair -  we didn’t have to wear a mask. At the restaurants we wore a mask until we sat down at the table. When we stood up to get more food - we wore a mask! By arrival at our stateroom we found 5 masks per person on the bed - in a sealed package. You could get more from housekeeping.
How many people were inside the elevators?
Inside the elevators were allowed 4 people!
On the floor of the elevator were marked spaces, where one was allowed to stand. If the elevator was full, we had to wait for another one. Thankfully everyone respected these rules! Before the elevators were placed hand sanitizer - so after touching buttons, we could easily sanitize our hands before and after our elevator ride.
Did you get a temperature check???
Everyone had to have their temperature measured with a digital thermal imaging camera. This was repeated every morning between 9-12 inside the disco (which was closed anyways). We had to sanitize our hands and then walk in front of the camera. It took less than 2 minutes. 
I am aware that there are many many more questions, which I will happily answer tomorrow!????
https://youtu.be/3lIxj6iFH68

The role of the CDC has been interesting to observe as it relates to all aspects of life in America.  
On one hand there is a valid argument that an infected person places a burden on health care resources.  That applies equally regardless how an individual contracts the virus.  If a virus is spread at a movie theater, thrill park, airplane, bus, train, church, school, workplace, taxi, Uber, hotel, resort, timeshare, ferry or ship the burden per infected individual is the same.   
The CDC makes a point in yesterday's announcement stating that 0.019% (41) of US deaths have occurred or are believed to occur related to cruise ships.  They didn't provide the percentage because it would make their argument look silly.  
How many US deaths from the workplace?   In meat packing plants alone the CDC reports 86 deaths as of July 10, 2020 directly related to COVID-19, more than twice that of cruise ships.  Why isn't the CDC focusing more resources on meat packing plants?  Maybe because its only 0.041% of all cases and their resources are better spent elsewhere like banning cruise ships.
If they reported all workplace deaths across America beyond meat packing plants the number would be make cruise ships look pretty darn safe.  
Hopefully tomorrow's meeting in Washington will result in some balance being applied to the cruise industry as it has in many other industries.  There is risk of becoming infected every time an individual leaves their home.  I could get the virus grocery shopping later today.  I could get the flu and die on my next airplane ride.  I could get in a car accident on the way to board a plane to fly to a cruise.  I choose to accept that risk.  Cruising should be the same.  If I get the virus in the grocery store my burden on healthcare is no different than if I get the virus on a ship.

Heck, even my Florida hometown ACC team's coach tested positive.  The team still played without him as coach that weekend.
I always assumed the point of the initial lockdown was to stop rapid spreading that would overwhelm our medical care infrastructure.  A byproduct of that is that it bought us time to learn more about the virus and now we are getting to the point where the impact is understood more and we know how to mitigate the risk a bit better.  Now it's time to keep implementing the practices to keep moving forward and slowly reopening everything.  It's still personal choice whether someone wants to patronize a private business but at least the businesses are allowed to be open so you can make that choice.