All the usual places such as show theater, buffet restaurants, dining rooms, casino, smaller bars & lounges were crowded. Everyone seem to be out of their staterooms having a great time. I did notice their were very few Oriental passengers but almost all of the crew was Oriental mainly from Malaysia, Indonesia & Philippines. The weather was cool but sunny most of the time, and so plenty of opportunity to use all the outside amenities on ship. The Gym on 12th floor at front of ship had expansive view of the ocean and was nicely equipped with variety of machines, and I used it everyday. That is necessary for me because I tend to eat a lot on cruise ships, with all the great cuisine and no bills. The entire ship was no-smoking except the casino and a small designated area on the 11th floor outdoors. So I avoided both.
The stage shows every evening were very good with vigorous dance routines in colorful costumes by 8 young people in fantastic shape. The cruise director "Cam" was particularly good and ran all the adult game shows such as newlywed games and was a comedian by himself. The adult comedians were good as well who performed in smaller lounges. The ship had 2 stops in the 5 day cruise, Freeport Bahamas and a private island beach. We stayed on the ship during the Free[port stop since we have been there a few times before, and the ship is a good place when in port with no crowds in pools and hot tubs and restaurants. The private island required tenders which are small boats which take you from ship to shore and we always enjoy that place.
OK so now it is 3 days since disembarking from the ship, and no signs of any sickness. But covid-19 can incubate for upto 2 weeks before symptoms can show up, so taking the usual precautions such as sleep enough, eat enough nutritious food and keep up with my Gym routine every other day. If you dont hear from me for 2 weeks on this issue, consider no news is good news!
You went on this after the news broke about the virus?
Good that you are still feeling well and taking care of yourself.
I thought about this a couple weeks ago when I was debating whether to cancel taking an airline flight, if you are going to end up catching this thing anyway, you’re probably better off getting it early. If for any reason you need medications or even a hospital stay, you’re much more likely to be well seen after than if you ended up coming down with it much later after the real SHTF. So I would never intentionally try to get infected, but I decided that it’s silly to change your life and travel plans now over it either.
I was on the Ecstasy about 10 years ago.
Out of Galveston, Cozumel - Progresso - someplace else.
It was pretty cool. Good food, cold beer & I could smoke in my cheap cabin.
You failed to mention where the cruise took place. That’s an important bit of information.
Also, was the ship recently re-named? Is the new name the “Diamond Prince” by any chance?
Pop some vitamin C and make sure to get a half hour of sunshine each day, minimal.
My wife and I are looking at cruises right now, too. For some reason, the rates are REAL cheap.
“and keep up with my Gym routine every other day.”
I hope you have a home gym, because if you go to a public gym and you are infected, then you probably infected a lot of other people.
OK. Now I'm ready.
You may want to consider, just out of precaution, what they call the ‘Vitamin D Hammer’- Take 50,000 iu of Vit D- There is some pretty good scientific evidence that it can stunt any virus that might be brewing- making it less severe- I take it whenever I think i might be getting a cold or flu- don’t know if it works- but it seems to- The reason i say i dunno if it works is cuz i always get flu shot- so if i do get the flu, it’s usually not as bad anyways- so hard to tell if the D was what helped, or if it was all the shot that lessened the severity of the flu
We’re going with friends on a princess tour cruise to Alaska in August. I would hope it’s over by then???
I like Carnival Cruises. We went on the Ecstasy maybe twenty years ago, out of Miami to Cozumel, Grand Caimans, and Ochoa Rios. We learned to blow off the formal dinners. Even the late sittings broke up the day too much. We would rather spend the time on deck or at the pool. With all the free food, the midnight buffet, and the 24 hour free snack bar, going hungry was not a possibility. I had my suspicions about whether the roulette wheels were somehow fixed, after seeing too many unlikely wins and losses there. The entertainment was good, but my favorite was the late night cabaret held every night in a small theater near the stern with usually some type of magic show thrown in.
Glad you had a good and safe trip.
My wife had to fly U.S. to Europe for a week mid Feb to visit a dying relative. She said she was the only one wearing a mask on the flight out; she and 1 asian woman wore them coming back.
I have pulmonary issues and generally wear them on planes because I don’t need to breath the recycled air of everyone, plus people tend to leave me along.... (: >)
On one flight the strap on the mask broke and a guy behind me was wet-coughing incessantly. I “borrowed” a white napkin from first class and wore it as a bandanna, much to the bemusement of the flight attendants...
The wife and I are supposed to cruise out of Miami on the RCL Symphony. I’ve REALLY been looking forward to being on this ship. I hoping things don’t get too crazy in the next few weeks.
Good to hear you enjoyed it. We’ve cruised Carnival as well and always had a good time.
Now it’s getting serious. My son and 3 grandkids play hockey. The 12 yr old breaks hockey sticks regularly. At $200-$300 each, he’s going to have to be really careful. All the kids will.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/sports/coronavirus-nhl-hockey-stick-shortage
Coronavirus causing NHL hockey stick shortage
Good for you! Thanks also for the report and your observations.
Glad you had a great time and hope you brought your own straws.
Private island? Was that Princess Cay?