Recent cruise ship experience.
- Thread starter bowhunter325
- Start date
Has anyone been on a recent cruise? Just wondering what the vibe is like in this Covid-19 era?
I'll let you know in about a month when I get back. From what I've read, the sauna and steam room will not be open. :-( While this sucks, there's always the changing and hitting the shower that might provide some eye candy.
Really? That would be a deal killer for me. What ship will you be on? If it is a fully vaccinated one, I can't imagine why the sauna/ steam room would not be open?
I'm going to be on the Independence of the Seas. The vaccination percentage is supposed to be 95% or more on the ship. I know what you mean when you question why the sauna / steam rooms won't be open. If those sorts of things are open at gyms / health clubs, I don't know why they wouldn't be on board a cruise ship. From what I've read, there will be an allocated time for those who are not vaccinated to work out. I think if you're vaccinated you'll have to still reserve a time.
I was in fact just looking at a cruise on Independence but the mixed vax/non-vax clientele that RC is catering to kinda freaks me out. I am sticking to the fully vaxxed ships for the time being.
ah, I wouldn't get too worried about that really. I've been keeping up to date with youtube vids and postings on the cruise critic forum and it seems that RCL has everything under control with regards to vax and undvax passengers. I'm not concerned and I'm vaxxed. Also, they're not requiring ALL passengers to do a test 3 days before their sailing, so this is a fairly new implementation to help reduce any situation. The ships are sailing with a 35% to 50% occupancy, so it's not like you're going to be crammed next to tons of people. From what I've read, a lot of people are enjoying these sparsely occupied cruises.
I'm in a Celebrity Silhouette FB group for their round the UK sailings this summer - you need to be double vaxxed and have a PCR test 3 days before. It's been well controlled according to people posting (I'm going in a few weeks). And yes, they are enjoying the few number of people, but they also have fewer seats, deckchairs etc. So some are saying it's hard to find a seat.
Just keep me topped up with martinis please and I'll be happy....and maybe some nude company in a sauna there?
Just keep me topped up with martinis please and I'll be happy....and maybe some nude company in a sauna there?
minor correction to my post regarding what RCL is requiring all passengers to do. I watched this youtube vid this morning about this guy who does a lot of cruises and he was reporting on what Norwegian wants to do and that is only sail with vaccinated passengers. The only problem is that they're sailing out of Florida and the state has this law where you can't ask people their status, etc, etc. To be honest, I would fully support having only vaccinated passengers on a cruise ship. With this delta variant going around, it's really complicated things. I respect people who don't want to get the vaccine because that's their choice and whatnot, but at the same time they're just putting themselves and others at risk. I'm not a medical expert, this is just my opinion. Would this be a form of discrimination? No, because unvaccinated people are not a legally protected subset of the population that faces discrimination like gays, etc. I could go down the rabbit hole here, but I'll just stop here.
Just as an update, Norwegian just won their lawsuit against Florida and so they are going ahead with their fully vaxxed sailngs! Yippee! I am from NY and am hoping to board Norwegian to Bermuda this fall. Not only will the ship be fully vaxxed but Bermuda has a very low case count of COVID-19. You can't be too safe these days. I am skipping RCL, Disney, MSC etc for intermingling guests. I want to vacation with some ease of mind and know that I'd be safe in the steam rooms/ saunas. Unfortunately, having a ship way below capacity also means that pickings may be fewer :-( so I am curious if anyone who's been on a sailing recently managed to have any fun on board?
I’m not into saunas or steam rooms, but figured I’d share: just got off the NCL Jade in Greece. The sauna, shower, and steam room in the gym’s locker room were closed. I did a tour of the thermal spa and all the facilities were seemingly open to use. I wonder if they just wanted to force people into paying for the thermal spa pass. Or maybe it’s because the locker room is tiny and they needed to reduce capacity due to COVID restrictions in Greece.
So, right now I'm supposed to be on my cruise, but I'm not. A family member was having some medical issues and I decided that we needed to cancel and kick it to next year. We still went down to Galveston and were there from Sat to yesterday (Wed). That being said, I'm booked for the Liberty of the Seas next year departing on (of all dates) 9/11. The good thing about this cruise is that there will be 4 ports of call instead of 3. I just hope by then that the sauna and steam room are open.
I’m on the Apex in October, Scarlet Lady in November, and the Reflection in December. Only Reflection has free mens only sauna.
Well no nakedness on my Silhouette cruise last week, but had a perfectly wonderful time. 50% less passengers (and my mates on it this week said it's only 1/3 full) so that was nice to have a bit more space.
The Virgin 3 day at sea one at the end of August - a mate was on that and it was a shag fest for him....some guys were nude in the pool/Jacuzzi, saunas etc. Not sure if there was a rule or not, but clearly no one seemed to mind. I would have loved to been on that!
The Virgin 3 day at sea one at the end of August - a mate was on that and it was a shag fest for him....some guys were nude in the pool/Jacuzzi, saunas etc. Not sure if there was a rule or not, but clearly no one seemed to mind. I would have loved to been on that!
I am so sorry you had to postpone your cruise. I was hoping for a tasty trip report and but totally understand your reasons. Hope your family member feels better.
as in no nakedness for me - we didn't do the spa and I'm not sure if has men only spaces anyway but it was open. I did notice on the new Beyond ship, they do Aqua Class suites - so you get all the suite perks (Luminae Restaurant, Retreat etc) PLUS spa access. That would suit me down to the ground (but of course it's not cheap!).
I have a couple cruises booked next year on Carnival. Can’t wait!!
