Carribean Cruise-YUK

[GoodSense]

We just got back from a cruise 5 days ago. No one I knew got sick during the 7 days (except for motion sickness on bumpy roads, but that's another story). There were hand sanitizers everywhere, and like other posters noted, the cleaning staff were wiping the handrails 24/7. I used the public bathrooms on board and they seemed clean.

There is a special joy in exploring a new place with that special someone. It's the shared experience of adventure. Definitely not the same as staying home together!

 

[Rustic23]

Nords,
I have heard that the last minute deals have vanished due to federal regulations requiring the cruise lines to have their passenger list in well before cruise date. I don't know if this is valid, or if it applies to Hawaii.

 

[RonBoyd]

Nords,
I have heard that the last minute deals have vanished due to federal regulations requiring the cruise lines to have their passenger list in well before cruise date. I don't know if this is valid, or if it applies to Hawaii.

Funny, how the world works. Arthur Frommer had an article a couple days ago (in anticipation of your asking) in which he spoke of this:

A Considerable Surplus of Passenger Ships Has Brought Back the Last-Minute Cruise Deal on Arthur Frommer Online

There was once a time when you could walk up and down the docks of Miami on a weekend morning, suitcase and travelers' checks in hand, and pick up a last- minute sailing (say, an hour or two before departure) at a substantial discount. You simply applied to the Purser of each ship, and bought your passage on the spot.​

Security considerations put an end to that practice. But there are indications that the "last minute deal" is returning in this season of cruiseship glut. ​

Of course, this issue is why the Cruise Consolidators (like CruisesOnly) [-]insist on[/-] ask for your zip code. Those people who live in Port cities get quite a discount.

 

[Nords]

Nords,
I have heard that the last minute deals have vanished due to federal regulations requiring the cruise lines to have their passenger list in well before cruise date. I don't know if this is valid, or if it applies to Hawaii.

Funny, how the world works. Arthur Frommer had an article a couple days ago (in anticipation of your asking) in which he spoke of this:

NCL has a "frequent cruiser" database where you're registered and pre-screened. It's similar to TSA's "frequent flyer" screening program. I don't know how NCL convinces Homeland Security that you're OK but since you're just driving circles around Hawaii it's possible that no one cares. I don't think you can do a Saturday-morning "pierhead jump" anymore but by Wednesday they have a pretty good idea of who's not going to be showing up. 99% of their cruise customers are flying in with a hotel package.

We haven't yet convinced NCL to start a "call me if you're willing to take less than $400/stateroom" program, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. If we couldn't get a friend to drop us at Pier 9 then the taxi or the car parking would be the second-biggest expense of the cruise...

 

[Rustic23]

That's pretty much how we are out of Galveston. It's about an hour and a half to the port. I think that is also why most cruises out of Galveston give a 'Texas residence' discount.

 

[flyfishnevada]

Heck, that means that I could just stay at home (assuming I'm with the one I "enjoy" ...)

Exactly!

 

[TromboneAl]

The news media are picking up on this again:

Sick ships: Cruises see rise in norovirus cases - Infectious diseases- msnbc.com

More than 400 fall sick on Caribbean cruise - CNN.com

 

[Nords]

The news media are picking up on this again:
More than 400 fall sick on Caribbean cruise - CNN.com

No one wanted to read the headline "850,000 cruisers were disgustingly healthy last week".

It does sound like some companies struggle with sanitation & hygiene. It'd be interesting to read a trade publication's analysis of what's working and what's not.

 

[FUEGO]

The news media are picking up on this again:

Sick ships: Cruises see rise in norovirus cases - Infectious diseases- msnbc.com

More than 400 fall sick on Caribbean cruise - CNN.com

We saw this too and it is scary in a way. We were looking at booking one of these exact voyages out of Charleston. Luckily the cheap bastards in us wouldn't let us part with that much money. The rates have dropped about $400 per cabin with the recent bad press. Now the cheap bastard in me wants to book the cruise. I think the illnesses have been largely controlled. They don't really know what is making folks sick on the Celebrity Mercury. And it was "only" 10-22% of the passengers. In other words, 4 out of 5 were fine.

Our last experience in 2008 on Norwegian had them aggressively spraying our hands with hand sanitizer. As in, we would walk in to a restaurant and an attendant would spray our hands with a bottle of solvent. You could negotiate with them, but it took at least 3-4 "no's" before they relented in their assault. Same assault when we first boarded the ship. And they have "public health" type questionnaires in the pre-boarding area at the port where you have to disclose if you have a fever, diarrhea, nausea, etc. Of course who in their right mind would disclose any of that stuff and risk being denied entrance to their week long cruise!?!?

 

[FUEGO]

It does sound like some companies struggle with sanitation & hygiene. It'd be interesting to read a trade publication's analysis of what's working and what's not.

The Mercury apparently had a very extensive and thorough top to bottom cleaning for an extra day before their last sailing. In spite of that, a lot of illness occurred. My guesses - lots of norovirus illness in the Charleston/NC/SC areas where they get a ton of passengers, and/or a lot of sick crew or crew who appeared healthy but had the bug incubating in them.

 

[REWahoo]

I'll be sure to let you folks know how everything comes out on the cruise we're taking in a couple of weeks....

 

[Rustic23]

Wahoo,
Next door neighbor just got off the Concourse Sun. 'Great cruise, one of our best, no one got sick'

Of course if you are playing the odds yours just got a little bit worse

 

[REWahoo]

Of course if you are playing the odds yours just got a little bit worse

Heh, ... thanks.

... they have "public health" type questionnaires in the pre-boarding area at the port where you have to disclose if you have a fever, diarrhea, nausea, etc. Of course who in their right mind would disclose any of that stuff and risk being denied entrance to their week long cruise!?!?

Our last cruise was out of Galveston five years ago when the cruise lines still had a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. We arrived in Galveston the day prior to sailing and DW, who almost never has a stomach bug, came down with a severe case the afternoon prior to our departure. She spent a good (bad?) portion of Saturday night in the bathroom.

Sunday afternoon she was so weak I had to help her up the gangplank, but no way in heck was she going to miss the boat! And no, the whole ship didn't get the bug. No one, not me, not the couple we were traveling with or anyone else got anything other than sea sick on the trip - at least not to my knowledge.

 

[Nords]

I'll be sure to let you folks know how everything comes out...

... so to speak.

A bottle of Pepto Bismol or a package of chewable tablets can go a long way in these situations.

 

[FUEGO]

Our last cruise was out of Galveston five years ago when the cruise lines still had a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. We arrived in Galveston the day prior to sailing and DW, who almost never has a stomach bug, came down with a severe case the afternoon prior to our departure. She spent a good (bad?) portion of Saturday night in the bathroom.

Sunday afternoon she was so weak I had to help her up the gangplank, but no way in heck was she going to miss the boat! And no, the whole ship didn't get the bug. No one, not me, not the couple we were traveling with or anyone else got anything other than sea sick on the trip - at least not to my knowledge.

On our last sailing with me, DW, our 2 kids, my mom and my grandma, we brought on board not one, but TWO (!) viruses. I had a head cold the first couple of days, and my kids had a stomach bug. By the end of the cruise, I think we had switched viruses. But my mom and grandma never got sick as far as I know, and the kids slept in their cabin at night. But seriously, why would anyone not on their deathbed admit illness and potentially have themselves quarantined and/or lose out on their cruise fare, or at the least the cost of travel, parking, hotels, etc to get ready to cruise?

I did use the hand sanitizers around the ship religiously like they were holy water out of fear of getting sick and out of respect for my fellow passengers.

 

[REWahoo]

Returned yesterday from a 7 day cruise out of Galveston on the Carnival Conquest. We had a major delay in getting on board due to a combination fog (port closed, ship arrived seven hours late) and an unusually large number of foreign nationals (1,000) which slowed the debarkation process. We were scheduled to sail at 4 PM but didn't get on board until 11 PM and didn't sail until 2:30 AM - or so they told us. But once on board we had a great time - the weather in Nassau, Freeport and Key West was perfect and no one got sick.

While in Key West we missed the Hemingway Home and Museum, but did manage to catch a glance of him on Front Street...

 

[audreyh1]

Oh - thank goodness REWahoo! I was afraid that was you!

Audrey

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Returned yesterday from a 7 day cruise out of Galveston on the Carnival Conquest. ...the weather in Nassau, Freeport and Key West was perfect and no one got sick.

Missed you in Key West by a couple of weeks (RV trip). Glad you enjoyed it.

I am looking forward to our next cruise, still unplanned. I wonder if I will enjoy it as much, since one of the great things about cruising is its ability to instantly pull me out of work mode (officially begins when out of beeper/cell phone range). The lack of structure really felt good.

Overall, we have enjoyed 95% of our cruises and look forward to more.

 

[Cruisinthru]

ReWahoo,

Sorry to hear about your delay.

My husband and I were on the Conquest 2 years ago and were fogged out of Galveston on our return. We woke up to find fog so deep that you couldn't see past the balcony railings. We were told that we were seventeen miles out of Galveston. We actually got into Galveston about 1 PM and we were off the ship by 3 PM.

Carnival took real good care of all of us on board. They fed us and entertained us really well. I just felt really sorry for the people who were waiting to board. My guess is the picture was much prettier from our view point. We are retireee's who don't have to be anywhere soon and we had a 7.5 day cruise for the price of 7.

We were on the Conquest in Jan. of this year. We did the Hemingway House and thought it was one of the best tours we have ever done. Sorry you missed it. Good picture, but that guy's much to young to be Ernest! Just another wanna be....

Glad you had a good time. Take lemons and make lemonade!

 

[Alan]

Returned yesterday from a 7 day cruise out of Galveston on the Carnival Conquest. We had a major delay in getting on board due to a combination fog (port closed, ship arrived seven hours late) and an unusually large number of foreign nationals (1,000) which slowed the debarkation process. We were scheduled to sail at 4 PM but didn't get on board until 11 PM and didn't sail until 2:30 AM - or so they told us. But once on board we had a great time - the weather in Nassau, Freeport and Key West was perfect and no one got sick.

While in Key West we missed the Hemingway Home and Museum, but did manage to catch a glance of him on Front Street...

Wow, you wouldn't believe how much that looks my BIL

Sorry to hear about the bad start you had on the cruise, but it sounds like it all ended well.

 

[REWahoo]

Overall, we have enjoyed 95% of our cruises and look forward to more.

Same here. Our next will probably be to Alaska, but that will probably be at least two years from now.

BTW, some folks take it to the extreme. One couple on board was recognized for being on their 52nd Carnival cruise...

 

[the babe]

The problem I have with cruise ships is that they come to my little island, drop off thousands of "sheeples" who are piled into vans, taken to the beaches where they don't spend money to help the local economy,
When there are 5 ships in harbours of small Carribean islands, tell me the fun of getting off, lining up to get back on, to have spent a day as if it was Coney Island in August.
Not for me...ever, I don't care how cheap it would be. I'd take an all inclusive any day of the week.

 

[Moemg]

Returned yesterday from a 7 day cruise out of Galveston on the Carnival Conquest. We had a major delay in getting on board due to a combination fog (port closed, ship arrived seven hours late) and an unusually large number of foreign nationals (1,000) which slowed the debarkation process. We were scheduled to sail at 4 PM but didn't get on board until 11 PM and didn't sail until 2:30 AM - or so they told us. But once on board we had a great time - the weather in Nassau, Freeport and Key West was perfect and no one got sick.

..

A few years ago we sailed out of Tampa and we arrived there was no ship so they shuttled us to a nearby hotel for food and drink . We finally boarded at 1PM. We were so exhausted we just fell into bed ! Glad you had a good time . We are sailing on the Carnival Freedom in three weeks to Costa Rica,Panana & Cozumel .

 

[Cruisinthru]

The problem I have with cruise ships is that they come to my little island, drop off thousands of "sheeples" who are piled into vans, taken to the beaches where they don't spend money to help the local economy,
When there are 5 ships in harbours of small Carribean islands, tell me the fun of getting off, lining up to get back on, to have spent a day as if it was Coney Island in August.
Not for me...ever, I don't care how cheap it would be. I'd take an all inclusive any day of the week.

the babe,

All I can say is I am glad there are people like you out there who don't want to cruise. That leaves more great opportunities for me! I don't consider myself a "sheeple". I may get to my destination by cruise ship but rarely travel in herds. I plan my on time on shore. You might consider all the money that the cruise industry pumps into your local economy before trashing the "sheeple". I don't know what island you live on, but I am sure you live there because of the location and all that it offers and that's why those "sheeple" want to visit. What's wrong with going to the beach, that's what your island is selling!

I have been on over 60 cruises during the last twenty years. I don't travel on one particular line. My husband and I have 9 weeks of cruises booked in the next year. Six weeks total (on three cruises) in different parts of Europe and Scandenavia, and three weeks in the southern caribbean during the winter of 2011.

Some people like to RV, I would hate living on the road and in camp grounds. Some people like to stay at home, and I would be so bored. I have a desire to experience different locals. I Have been to several all-inclusives and am bored to tears after the first couple of days.

As my Father used to say "That's why they make Chevy's and Ford's". People are different and they appreciated different things. I appreciate unpacking on a beautiful cruise ship and having it take me to locations that I want to see. If there are five ships in port, I am the one who stays on board and pretends I am at an all-inclusive on land! The next port will probably be much better!

 

[Alan]

The problem I have with cruise ships is that they come to my little island, drop off thousands of "sheeples" who are piled into vans, taken to the beaches where they don't spend money to help the local economy,
When there are 5 ships in harbours of small Carribean islands, tell me the fun of getting off, lining up to get back on, to have spent a day as if it was Coney Island in August.
Not for me...ever, I don't care how cheap it would be. I'd take an all inclusive any day of the week.

Looking at your profile you appear to live on the island of Toronto? Is this your normal abode?