WannaCruise Posted August 15, 2021 Report Share Posted August 15, 2021 We just want to cruise and really hoping we can make our Anthem cruise in December. This cruise stops are Nassau, Port Canaveral and CoCo Cay so nothing overly exciting. We just have the CoCo Cay waterpark booked at this time. Normally we would have booked Kennedy Space Centre at Port Canaveral but thinking this is not a good idea with everything, and especially during Christmas time when it may be extra busy (and with current Florida numbers). And not too much in Nassau that interests us. So...that means just one stop in a 7 night cruise. We are all vaccinated but trying to limit risk of testing positive (and for us, we need to get back to Canada). If borders are open by December, then we are even thinking of doing the 9hr drive (vs 1.5 hr flight) to avoid flying...and so it's easier to return in the worst scenario. We cruise more for the ship than the ports anyways so it's not so crazy for us, but anyone else limiting excursions until covid gets better? WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaMG Posted August 15, 2021 Report Share Posted August 15, 2021 Yes. We're due to sail on Harmony in 6 weeks' time and are undecided as to whether or not to do any excursions. Since we are all vaxed we are able to do our own thing in our one Spanish port of call but the three Italian ones require ship-sponsored excursions. Bearing in mind that Harmony is not sailing 100% vaxed that brings in an added layer of concern because of the potential to be sharing an excursion with an unvaxed passenger who subsequently tests positive and perhaps causes us to be quarantined. As it happens, in this particular case, we are also going more for the ship than the ports so we may well decide simply not to get off at all. We're still on the fence at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WannaCruise Posted August 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2021 59 minutes ago, FionaMG said: Yes. We're due to sail on Harmony in 6 weeks' time and are undecided as to whether or not to do any excursions. Since we are all vaxed we are able to do our own thing in our one Spanish port of call but the three Italian ones require ship-sponsored excursions. Bearing in mind that Harmony is not sailing 100% vaxed that brings in an added layer of concern because of the potential to be sharing an excursion with an unvaxed passenger who subsequently tests positive and perhaps causes us to be quarantined. As it happens, in this particular case, we are also going more for the ship than the ports so we may well decide simply not to get off at all. We're still on the fence at the moment. I didn't even think of that....with ship sponsored excursions and others in the group testing positive. Hope you enjoy Harmony cruise coming up pretty soon. It's a great ship that at least you can enjoy if staying on the ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaMG Posted August 15, 2021 Report Share Posted August 15, 2021 29 minutes ago, WannaCruise said: I didn't even think of that....with ship sponsored excursions and others in the group testing positive. Hope you enjoy Harmony cruise coming up pretty soon. It's a great ship that at least you can enjoy if staying on the ship. I probably wouldn't have thought of it either but it actually happened to a The Points Guy reporter who sailed on one of the first Celebrity sailings, which is what drew my attention to the possibility. Everyone else who was on the same excursion as the person who tested positive was tested and confined to their room until the results all came back. Luckily on that occasion they all tested negative but it does give some cause for concern. Harmony is a great ship. We actually sailed on her for the exact same week five years ago during her inaugural season, so we've come full circle! She should have left Barcelona about an hour ago for her first re-start cruise, so we will be watching closely to see how that goes. Fingers crossed. We have never sailed on Anthem or any of the ships in that class, although we hope to at some point. We had planned on doing her spring transatlantic this year but of course covid put paid to that. WannaCruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RG306 Posted August 15, 2021 Report Share Posted August 15, 2021 We've definitely had a lot of conversations about booking private excursions with just us or ensuring that we're booking through operators that keep group sizes very small. I'm also not interested in doing excursions with unvaccinated people, no offence to anyone who has made that choice. But especially with European excursions that's a long day in close quarters. It's definitely a little nerve wracking. WannaCruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VoidoftheSeas Posted August 15, 2021 Report Share Posted August 15, 2021 3 hours ago, WannaCruise said: We cruise more for the ship than the ports anyways so it's not so crazy for us, but anyone else limiting excursions until covid gets better? We were planning on excursions for both of our port days, but since one port got moved and our excursion for the other got canceled, we're considering it as a sign that we should just stay on the ship both of those days. We still have our floating cabana booked for Coco Cay, and that should be enough for everyone. There are several onboard activities that my kids are still interested in, so that's what we'll be doing on those days instead. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WannaCruise Posted August 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2021 2 hours ago, FionaMG said: I probably wouldn't have thought of it either but it actually happened to a The Points Guy reporter who sailed on one of the first Celebrity sailings, which is what drew my attention to the possibility. Everyone else who was on the same excursion as the person who tested positive was tested and confined to their room until the results all came back. Luckily on that occasion they all tested negative but it does give some cause for concern. Harmony is a great ship. We actually sailed on her for the exact same week five years ago during her inaugural season, so we've come full circle! She should have left Barcelona about an hour ago for her first re-start cruise, so we will be watching closely to see how that goes. Fingers crossed. We have never sailed on Anthem or any of the ships in that class, although we hope to at some point. We had planned on doing her spring transatlantic this year but of course covid put paid to that. Yikes. Definitely something to consider as a possibility. We lost our Harmony cruise due to covid (but loved Symphony which is similar)....and this Anthem cruise is a re-book of March 2020. For that one, we had KSC booked, but not this time (and funny enough, it's not even an option for our Anthem booking next year....which is a backup if Dec doesn't work). Hopefully you'll get to rebook that Transatalntic sometime. FionaMG 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WannaCruise Posted August 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2021 1 hour ago, VoidoftheSeas said: We were planning on excursions for both of our port days, but since one port got moved and our excursion for the other got canceled, we're considering it as a sign that we should just stay on the ship both of those days. We still have our floating cabana booked for Coco Cay, and that should be enough for everyone. There are several onboard activities that my kids are still interested in, so that's what we'll be doing on those days instead. Sounds then like we are not the only ones. And that's what I'm thinking for our kids....and us...too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allancy Posted August 15, 2021 Report Share Posted August 15, 2021 Things change so fast. We thought we would do excursions on the Greek island ports as locals were all or nearly all vaccinated but when we arrived there were hordes of tourists arriving from ferries and this put us off. The ship was the main attraction for us, despite mask wearing and not being able to sit at any bars. WannaCruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted August 16, 2021 Report Share Posted August 16, 2021 I am skipping excursions, I feel like at least for now the ship is my destination. I just want to get back to cruising. Maybe if it was an Alaskan or European cruise I would feel different but since my first few sailings are eastern/western Caribbean, I think I will just get off and give the locals some business. Plus CocoCay with limited capacity is going to be amazeballs. WannaCruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinJ Posted August 16, 2021 Report Share Posted August 16, 2021 We're on Oasis in Oct, not going to get off at Port Everglades, I vacation in Orlando every year if I wanted to go there. Have Beach Club at CocoCay, will wait a bit more to decide about Nassau. Things are changing so often I don't think I can plan two months out. WannaCruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetraElise Posted August 16, 2021 Report Share Posted August 16, 2021 We definitely are reducing our “excursions”. Quoted because we tend to do our own thing. We are content to limit our port activity on our upcoming cruises. Probably make a brief foray to “shop” and help the local economy a little but really not doing much. The ship experience is the main focus WannaCruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddog Posted August 16, 2021 Report Share Posted August 16, 2021 We have 3 cruises scheduled - 1st one in October of this year - for that one - we are staying on the ship - no excursions. We may step off the ship but will stay in the port area. The other cruises are late 2022. We will re-evaluate when the time comes. WannaCruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeprincess Posted August 17, 2021 Report Share Posted August 17, 2021 Yes. We are sailing on Oasis in September and we will not be getting off the ship except on Coco cay. We also have Freedom booked for February and Coco Cay is it for us then too. WannaCruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spellman Posted August 17, 2021 Report Share Posted August 17, 2021 I had planned an excursion on our recent Anthem cruise in Belfast, until RCI changed the rules to only allow RCI-organised excursions, thus vastly increasing the cost, so we stayed on board in both Belfast and Liverpool. I was disappointed but glad RCI were taking Covid seriously and trying to keep infections onboard to a minimum by keeping passengers in their vaccinated "bubbles" whilst on shore. WannaCruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_A Posted August 17, 2021 Report Share Posted August 17, 2021 I am on Odyssey in October with stops in Aruba and Curacao. Both are on CDC's high risk list. I have shore excursions booked, but will cancel if things don't improve soon. WannaCruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryresangel Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 We are staying on the ship for Haiti (if we are able to go) but that is due more to the instability than COVID. We both got COVID, then got vaccinated, so I am not too concerned. WannaCruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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