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David: We just got back from an extended vacation that ended with a Uniworld River Cruise on the Danube. On the river cruise, we were joined by two other couples that we have known for a number of years. I sent around a link to your blog to the others, and the comment that came back from the others was that they wish you had said more about the ship and the quality of the service. The six of us have only done river cruises on Uniworld (we have done two, and the other couples had not done a river cruise before), but are interested in learning about other lines as well. I see from your signature file that you have also cruised on American Cruise Lines, and I would love to hear any comments on that line, since we have considered taking one on ACL. My email is linked in my signature file if you care to correspond that way. Thanks, Tom & Judy

We were on the April 30 transatlantic on Apex, followed by the May 14 British Isles on Apex. During the first week or 10 days of the transatlantic, we saw word on these boards that Celebrity was no longer testing B2B passengers. So I asked and was told "we are not doing that anymore." And indeed, they did not test us. So they certainly have not consistently been testing B2B passengers since March. For what it is worth, by the last few days of both cruises, the Captain announced that we had reached 3% of passengers testing positive. If you count non-self-reporters, and people who tested positive a few days after returning home, I am sure that it was higher. If Apex has re-started B2B testing, this might be why. Tom & Judy

We have done these tests several times (on laptops, not cell phones) but we have never started by scanning a QR code. We logged on to Emed.com, clicked on "Start Test" and went from there. I have every reason to believe that you could do the same from a cell phone. Tom & Judy

That is interesting. Our cruise (September 2023) is obviously outside of one year, so we can’t book airfare now, either. But the way it was explained to us, when that window opens later this year, we just need to book through Celebrity Air, and we will get the benefit of the $750 pp air credit. Tom & Judy

We are not exactly "seasoned cruisers," but we did just take our first transatlantic on the Apex last month. There are a million things to do (this is Tom writing, so giving you the husband's perspective). There are golf putting and bocce tournaments, entertainment during both the day and night, enrichment lectures (we had two enrichment speakers onboard, and they never repeated the same speech), language lessons, talks about upcoming port stops, "behind the scenes" tours, Apex exposed art tours, art auctions, "game shows," wine tastings, somebody on your roll call will probably organize a slot pull tournament, or LCR games, etc. Tom & Judy

Lynn: Would you mind explaining what you mean in saying that the August 2023 sailing was "outside of X's package?" When onboard the Apex last month, we booked a Galapagos cruise on the Flora, for late September 2023, with the hotel stays on both ends. We might end up switching to different dates or ships, so I want to know what I need to be on the lookout for in evaluating other sailings. Tom & Judy

I understand that, but the point I was trying to make is just that you cannot expect much in the way of premium transatlantic WiFi, even if you are on one of the newer ships. Tom & Judy

On the Apex transatlantic last month, I think we had the better part of a day when the premium WiFi was not working at all. At other times it worked, but it was not impressive for the second newest ship in the fleet. Tom & Judy

I can confirm that the shows were generally 7 and 9 pm last month on the Apex. I think there was an unplanned exception when something had to be postponed once during our B2B cruises. The big production shows were Rockumentary and Crystallize. You can check them out on YouTube to get samples. The video boards behind the stage are really amazing, so you might want to check them out even if you are not a huge fan of Celebrity production shows. Tom & Judy

No - the April 13 letter referred to an infection in December, and thus would have been more than 90 days before the April 30 boarding date. The April 19 letter, referring to the April infection, might have sufficed, except that it was so wishy-washy. So I took a proctored antigen test, got a negative result, and used that. Tom & Judy

I don't know either. Probably just covering himself. I considered asking him to give me a "clean" version of the April 19 letter, but since by that time I had received the Abbott BinaxNow tests, and had every expectation that I would test negative in any event, I just let it go. Tom & Judy

As promised, I am posting the Certificate of Recovery I had. I actually decided to post the good one (that I think surely would have been sufficient, the one dated April 13, 2022) and the wishy-washy one (that I had some doubts about, the one dated April 19, 2022). Tom & Judy Certificates of Recovery.pdf

Yes, if I had had a timely, solid Certificate of Recovery in hand on boarding day on April 30, and hadn't ordered a 6 pack of Abbott proctored tests, I would have just relied on the Certificate of Recovery. Or, if I had unexpectedly gotten a positive test result when I tested myself the day before returning to the US, I would again have pulled out the Certificate of Recovery, rather than hitting the panic button. I am not a doctor, but I have talked to doctors about this. What I have been told is that what you say is generally true (i.e., that you are not likely to test positive on an antigen test 10 days or more after an infection, it is not all that cut and dried, and you can continue to get occasional positives, even on an antigen test, after the fact. Maybe they are false positives, maybe they are not, but they keep you off the ship or off the airplane either way. Tom & Judy

That is a fair question. The answer is a bit complicated, but here goes. I tested positive in December, 2021. Our next cruise was April 30, 2022. But then I learned that in some instances, Certificates of Recovery will be honored for 6 months (there was a 90 day limit for our April 30 cruise, which is why I had not previously requested one). So I got one. Then I had a weird series of inconsistent test results in March, which would have been within the 90 day window. But none of the positives was on a PCR test, which is required by Celebrity. I continued to test periodically, and got a positive PCR in early April. So I asked my doctor to write a new letter based on the April positive result. He did, but he made the letter more wishy-washy than I would have liked (suggesting that it might have been a false positive, for example). So I took it with us on our cruises, but wasn't really sure if the wishy-washy version would suffice. In the meantime, before the April positive PCR test result, I had ordered a 6 pack of BinaxNow proctored tests through Emed.com. They have good expiration dates, but still we might end up having more than we might need, so I had no reluctance to use one for our April 30 embarkation rather than chancing it with the wishy-washy letter, and Celebrity gave us "free" test kits on one of our cruises, so I had no reluctance in using another one for our return to the US yesterday. The letter I will post after I get home today or tomorrow is the "good" version of the letter, which I am confident would have been sufficient if I had been within the 90 day window. Tom & Judy

I am wondering what the opinions are as to the best time or times of year to book this cruise? We booked it onboard the Apex last month, settling on a date in late September of 2023. We might have to change the date anyway, so I am wondering what the best times are supposed to be? Tom & Judy

I have one that I never actually used, because I tested negative anyway. I am traveling today after a river cruise, and I will try to redact and post it tomorrow. Tom & Judy

Question for you: on board the Apex last month, we booked the Celebrity Flora for a 7 Night Inner Loop, Galapagos cruise, which includes two nights pre-cruise at the JW Marriott in Quito, and two nights post-cruise at the JW Marriott. Is this more or less the same cruise that you took, just with a different hotel involved? I am asking only because you mentioned a different hotel. Tom & Judy

We ordered a six pack from Emed in April. The set we received had expiration dates in May, 2023. Tom & Judy

We finished the River Cruise portion of the trip, and had the Uniworld transfer to Prague today and checked into the hotel arranged by Uniworld. No one, at Uniworld, or in any country we’ve visited, or in the hotel in Prague, has asked us for any proof of vaccination or for proof of negative testing. We will, of course, need to have a negative test to get on a plane back to the United States on Tuesday. Tom & Judy

We are currently on a Uniworld ship heading from Budapest to Passau, and then on to Prague. We got here after disembarking a celebrity cruise, so we needed a test to get on the celebrity cruise initially. People who came straight to Budapest for this cruise have confirmed that they never needed to provide any negative test results to fly here, or to board the ship. No country so far has even asked to see our vaccination certificate, much less a negative test. I will try to follow up in a couple of days when we get to Prague. Tom & Judy

That seems crazy. We are in Vienna, heading for Passau. I will have to look up where Forchheim is. Tom & Judy

You go to the cashier, and tell them that you want to use your pre-purchased table play now. They then give you the promotional chips. Or in the case of pre-purchased slot play, you go to the cashier, and tell them that you want to use your pre-purchased slot credit. At that point, they load that onto the sea pass card and you use it with any of the machines. I understand the concern behind your question, but the simple answer is that you go to the cashier and tell them exactly what you want to do. Tom & Judy

Just off Apex a few days ago. We “laundered” OBC through the casino both on table games and slot machines. For both uses you have to play all of the promo chips or credits. For tables it is easy, you just use the promo chips and set aside the real chips you win. For slots you sort of have to keep track of how much you have played, or periodically check the balance by cashing out winnings. Either way, really easy. We also had a lot of onward credit due to a price drop after final payment. We gambled around $1400 in table play and slots, and actually came out ahead! Tom & Judy

I hate to throw uncertainty back into the mix, but we are on the Apex British Isles cruise ending in Amsterdam tomorrow. Somebody on our roll call reported that they were testing B2B passengers in Normandie this morning. I can’t confirm it, as I did not see it. This morning the Captain announced we are at 3% positive among passengers, and suggested everyone wear masks. In my unscientific estimate, at least 25% are ignoring the suggestion. Tom & Judy

Interestingly, someone on our roll call reports that they were doing B2B testing in Normandie this morning. Which is weird, if true. Because they did not do so last cruise, despite there being 3% cases on that cruise, with the B2B cruise leaving from Amsterdam. Just like this cruise, 3% cases, next cruise leaving from Amsterdam. Tom & Judy