Just Back from 11/23 Magic

[mcnuss]

I'm sure someone else will answer about whether the refillable mugs were banned on the recent cruise. One would hope, but I doubt it.

They were not banned, and I thought it was the one of only 2 errors I saw. The other was that they did not close the drink station or monitor it. Neither should have been allowed, they were hot beds for germs IMHO.

With respect to the mugs, nobody prepared me for the hard sell you get on those the minute you board. I was pretty offended by it, frankly, and put it in my comments.

 

[psimon]

Originally posted by mcnuss


With respect to the mugs, nobody prepared me for the hard sell you get on those the minute you board. I was pretty offended by it, frankly, and put it in my comments.

Really, a hard sell? When we took the 11/2 cruise, there was a table in the atrium with a stack of mugs. No one asked us about them. If I hadn't known about them, I wouldn't have known about them. I was asked more about taking the wine plan then the mugs! From what I have been reading here, that seems like the way to have killed of the bug!

So, from our perspective, I just ignored the mugs, and ignored the wine plan too! Nothing to be offended about and nothing to complain about. But then things may have been different on other cruises. I just can't complain about ours.

 

[Karel]

Ooops, LOL. What can I say, I was in the middle of my daughter's birthday party, trying to keep hold of my own sanity.

 

[albiats]

I'm not sure I understand how the refillable mugs should be a concern, even at the drink station. Is it the outside of the mug that could be a problem if a person that has the virus has been holding it? If so, as long as that person doesn't bump it against one of the drink nozzles or another person, it should be Ok. If it's the inside of the mug, it's that person's problem. Either way, I wouldn't touch anyone else's mug (or styrofoam cup or glass) anyway.

I agree that the drink station should be staffed by a CM, maybe one on each side of it.

As I was typing my question, I was thinking about the situation of the poor CMs that work in the lounges or on deck 9 and serve drinks to guests, or in the shops. They have to ask the guest for their KTTW card and then process it, that's probably the equivalent of shaking hands with 200 people every day. Did they wear gloves during the 11/23 cruise?

I was also asked to buy the wine plan more than the mugs.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

I think where it could be a problem is that a lot of families share these mugs. I realize they are not supposed to but it obviously goes on. Instead of one person sick in a family it is now passed around to the whole family.
I think the drink card idea with disposable cups would be far more sanitary.

 

[ThreeCircles]

Really, a hard sell? When we took the 11/2 cruise, there was a table in the atrium with a stack of mugs. No one asked us about them. If I hadn't known about them, I wouldn't have known about them.

I agree! I wasn't approached once about the mugs. A table was set up on one of the decks by the aft elevators and I went up to the table and purchased mine. Not a single individual asked me about buying one.

As for the mugs not being sanitary, I used mine throughout the cruise and didn't experience any problems. The bar attendants always placed a fresh straw in the mug after refilling it and if you used that, without licking the outside of the mug itself, I don't think it would have posed a problem.

 

[Karel]

I was wondering that same question. Isn't any other public setting ie buffet, bar, table, chair, pool etc. the same bacteria breeding ground that the drink station could be? I would think as long as people don't drink out of the same mug, mouth germs would stay in/on that mug. I would think that most people at least wash the mug once or twice a day. Ex: I had tea or coffee in the morning and then water later in the day. I would think that kids putting their mouths on the dispensers would be a worse problem than the refillable mugs.

 

[KMovies]

Previously, they did use stickers on the KTTW card for the drink program. Either you could fill the mug or show the sticker. Guess what - people passed the cards around to each other to get more free sodas. That was the reasoning for stopping the sticker process and going to the mug only. Yes - maybe they should have done away with the mugs on the last cruise - but really, isn't that the same as everywhere. At the gas station, they refill peoples mugs. At McDonalds, you get a refill with your paper cup. It's a pain to lug around the mug - but that's your choice if you want to participate.

 

[Laura24]

Originally posted by albiats
I'm not sure I understand how the refillable mugs should be a concern, even at the drink station. Is it the outside of the mug that could be a problem if a person that has the virus has been holding it? If so, as long as that person doesn't bump it against one of the drink nozzles or another person, it should be Ok. If it's the inside of the mug, it's that person's problem. Either way, I wouldn't touch anyone else's mug (or styrofoam cup or glass) anyway.}
Albiats- key words in your response......"it should be OK".
It's a no win situation...to mug or not to mug. In the perfect world we would all be conscious of how we handle any item that is common property,i.e. salt/pepper shakers,condiments ect., but this is not the perfect world. The real world situation is refill mugs are just the tip of the iceberg in how these viruses(and other communicable illnesses) may be passed along, but it is something to think about. I don't see the difference....mouth on nozzle or mouth on edge of cup. Children are children and sometimes adults act like children also and don't know any better.
Paper cups may be along the right idea........trade old for a new one. As i said, it's just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[mcnuss]

I was approached by 5 or 6 CM's to buy the mug on our way through the atrium on my way to our room. We don't drink soda so we politely declined. One of the CMs then approached my DD and said "don't you want the soda mug. sweetie?". She politely declined, and the CM looked at me and told me I'd regret it when I saw her drink bill! If that's not a hard sell, I don't know what is!!

FYI -we were also approached 3-4x about the wine package, but nobody told me I'd regret it if I didn't buy it.