goldie099

8 hours ago, Boatdrinknc said:

 Currently on the infinity doing a Greek isle trip. Connecting to the ship WiFi is very sketchy at best. Our cabin is in the aft of the ship where there are no routers so I am told. We get no connection here. If you walk around the center of the ship you can connect. If I hadn’t rented a mobile WiFi hot spot before the cruise I would be upset. The mobile hot spot works great on land and in the water and is very quick. The only spotty lost coverage areas is when we are far from land

We're sailing Infinity in July, can you share details about the mobile hot spot that you used?

Hi all,

I'm sailing soon on Celebrity Infinity around the Greek Isles, and I am wondering how feasible it is to tackle Rhodes independently. We usually like to do our own thing and visit the sites without an excursion. We'd like to explore the Old Town - not worried about doing this solo as I've read we dock very close by. In terms of Lindos and the Acropolis, how accessible is that from the port area or old town for transportation to and from? Are there tours available at the port, taxis, or are we better off pre-booking something? 

Just now, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Yes but note that there is a $9.95 x 18% fee per delivery so be sure to load up.  Also, if you're not in the room when they arrive with the food they'll leave it in your room

Thank you so much! Yes, I've learned that outside of continental breakfast, there is the charge+18%.

On 5/31/2023 at 11:24 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

And who knows, they could expand the menu...A lot of people don't know, someone else told us, you can call RS and order off the MDR for dinner which I would imagine is much more appealing than the RS menu

Is this true of all Celebrity ships in all cabin categories? First time sailing Celebrity in early July and just trying to figure out what is and isn't possible.

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I have a request for anyone currently on our Eclipse cruise from Honolulu to Vancouver AND you are reading this using the Celebrity Basic Internet service. Would you mind running the following internet speed test and posting the results to include what type of device you’re using and where you did the test from. I went to the iLounge to see if I could get them to do the test using the Basic service and they couldn’t because they were on the corporate WiFi connection rather than the one we are using. She did say they don’t allow streaming on Basic, but I think it’s definitely more limited than that. Personally, I will be surprised if anyone onboard using the Basic service can even see this post. 
 

www.speedtest.net

 

For example, I’m using their premium service and got the following results on my iPhone in our cabin. 
 

 
This reason I’m curious is because I overheard a lady at breakfast this morning saying she hasn’t been able to access the internet for more than a minute or two the last 2-3 days. 🤔

I'm following along, my parents are on the Hawaii-Vancouver leg and have basic internet. They only seem to be able to iMessage and WhatsApp text from their phones at this point. They had me renew an ebook borrowed from the library that's on their iPad and the Libby app doesn't get access to the basic wifi.

Following along! I'm heading on the Infinity July 8 2023 RT Athens around the Greek Isles and I too am going in knowing that the ship will have a "slight vintage vibe". It being my first Celebrity cruise and incredibly port-intensive, I am hoping it won't matter! Like you, I booked the trip for the itinerary.

On 8/18/2022 at 11:29 AM, SGCruiser2013 said:

Per a few discussions there are just above 2000 on board, so I think that’s about 75% full. Mostly it doesn’t feel crowded at all. Exceptions are Lido at breakfast is like a bus station, early shows are full, and the good night venues like BB King’s are about 80-90% full but seating is pretty dense. My impressions - The crowd has very few kids, teens and twenty something’s. A few thirty to forty something’s. Moderate 50 to 60 something’s and a lot of 70s and 80s. Suspect some of that HAL and some also time of year since for most part we are I’m close or just into school season. 

 

Masking is light, I would estimate 15-20%. Employees are basically all masked. I plan to do a post later about a few Covid observations for those interested. 

So interesting about the demographics! We were on the July 23 sailing on the Koningsdam and there were more kids onboard than during a RCCL December Winter Break cruise back in 2015...You just never know! You saw so many glaciers in Glacier Bay! We had a bit of a messed up time in Glacier Bay, as towards the end of our stay in Skagway, a passenger had a serious medical emergency, and the evac plane couldn't leave Juneau that evening due to weather, so we ended up waiting at the mouth of Glacier Bay for 4 hours for the plane to land at the ranger station airstrip, so we only got to see Margerie.

Hi all! Returned from Koningsdam in Alaska, and this was the internet situation:

We pre-purchased the premium internet for $109.99 for one device. The internet was down the day we embarked in Vancouver, but was up and running the next morning at sea. We wanted multiple devices, so when another device attempted to access the internet (note we had to be logged in to the same HAL Navigator account), we got the pop-up that it was $60 for up to 4 devices. We paid that, and aside from all needing to use the same Navigator account, I was very impressed with the wifi in Alaska. We did not attempt to stream anything, but any websites I accessed worked very well, and I was able to send and receive pictures to/from home in a reasonable amount of time. The internet proved more stable than the in-room live TV channels which would sometimes be down or super glitchy (note the on demand movies did not seem to have that problem).

19 hours ago, NiceAunt said:

I hope I don’t get bashed or shamed here for asking this question, but I truly am just interested in peoples thoughts these days.

 

I am 62 and my husband is 72. We both recently had Covid and it was really really bad  - it was nothing like a common cold or even the flu.   Believe me it was not fun.   We liken it to being beaten with a baseball bat over and over and over for 4 days.   We could hardly walk to the bathroom our muscle aches were so bad.   We just felt awful.   My husband needed to take Paxlovid due to being high risk.   He finally tested negative after 10 days and I am still testing positive after 4 weeks, even though I have no symptoms now. 

 

We are contemplating a cruise in January 2023 for 14 days through the Panama Canal. While  there are no guarantees, you could still contract Covid even if you do everything in your power such as wearing masks, isolating yourself, etc.   What worries us most is coming down with it and being  moved into a Covid floor  …possibly without each other if only one of us were to get sick … and basically locked down for a minimum of 5 days and possibly the duration and needing good quality medical care.  I’ve read a few recent posts where people were quarantined for almost their entire cruise, often away from their spouse and literally locked in their Covid room….no key card given so you can’t even walk 20 steps a day outside the room to get exercise. Even if we were permitted to stay in our own room, being locked in for 5+ days is concerning.

 

We are currently weighing the risks about continuing forward on this trip.My husband is reluctant to take the risk that we could contract Covid  again and be relegated to the Covid ward on the ship for who knows how long.  It was bad enough being at home in our own bed but can’t imagine being on a cruise ship stuck in a tiny room and being so sick,
 

i am really undecided. It is after all 5 1/2 months away, but if we are going to pull the plug on it we need to do it soon so that we can pivot our vacation plans toward something else.

 

Just curious as to everyone’s thoughts right now about the risk versus rewards of cruising. How would you feel if you tested positive and had to spend a significant part of your cruise isolated in a room that you were not permitted to leave at all, with little Wi-Fi or anything to keep you busy? And food that sounds like it is sub par at best.   And with lack of quality medical care if you had it bad?

 

Again, I am just interested in peoples thoughts here.   Please no political discussions, just what are your thoughts regarding the risks!  Would you take the risk?  
 

Thanks! 

My travel party is just returning from Alaska on the Koningsdam and we’re covid-cautious. We didn’t dine indoors and wore well fitting kn-95 or n95 masks whenever we were indoors or in crowded outdoor locations. We took food to outdoor tables or ordered room service and ate in our stateroom or on the balcony. So far so good, but definitely a different cruise experience!

26 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

Put on your raingear and enjoy Juneau.  When we were there on the Maasdam b4 Covid we had to tender in the rain.  We still went ashore as we wanted to get soap from the Glacier Smoothie soap shop (which had moved  so we had to search for it at the new location.). 

 

Thanks for checking in.  We’ll miss seeing Koningsdam’s happy face on the webcam!  Hopefully the skies will clear soon.

Oh for sure! This is our second Alaska cruise, and the weather in Juneau last time was much of the same! The soggy weather doesn’t scare us off! It’s Alaska, after all.

Currently on the Koningsdam! Definitely cloudy (low lying clouds) and misty outside on sail-in.

Hi all! They started boarding guests around 11:40, no word on what the holdup was! We’re on the Koningsdam. We’ve never sailed HAL before but first impressions are that it’s great! Seem to be LOTS of kids onboard, more than I expected (knowing it’s summer vacation and all). 

6 minutes ago, SilvertoGold said:

Hope you start boarding at 11:30 or at latest at latest by noon. Canada Place in April on the Koningsdam was 1:30 pm because of Covid cases being disembarked and then a wholesale cleaning throughout the ship. The place was a zoo!

Oh I assume there’s covid cases on EVERY ship. When we arrived shortly after 10, they were still debarking passengers! Unclear if they were covid+, there were lots of groups of people. 

Just now, JDinWA said:

Just remember to take your passport with you. One cruise leaving from Vancouver, I checked in, then after dumping my stuff in our cabin, decided to run out on a quick errand. I didn't really think it through, just figured it's like any other port and I'd just need my ship card key to get back onboard. Got stopped at security. Had to make a desperate call to the concierge, who had to track down my cabinmate, get my passport from her, and race it out to customs. Got back on the ship just in time!

Good tip!! We’re actually sitting in the pre-boarding area, been here for over 30 mins already, no one has gotten on the ship yet. I wonder what happened on board on the last sailing that delayed debarkation. 

13 hours ago, martincath said:

^Yup. You can drop bags then just walk away to do some sightseeing, returning close to sailaway (but not TOO close of course - 2 hours before expected departure is probably more sensible these days with the extra paperwork of Covid tests, ArriveCAN if applicable etc.)

 

Now, if you're from the right side of Thornhill OP (Vaughan or Markham...?) I could even be persuaded to offer a free tour for an ex-neighbour;-)

Thank you so much for the info! Haha! Excellent! I’m from the Vaughan side,  is that good or bad?

Question for anyone who has done an Alaskan cruise recently from Vancouver-we have a very early boarding time, are we able to leave the ship after checking in, of course returning well before sail away time?

5 hours ago, IPB4IGO said:

We paid $30 for the 4-device upgrade for the entire 7-day cruise.

Thanks for this! I hope it's the same this coming Saturday on Koningsdam!

Thank you guys so much! This is so helpful. Strange that they only offer the Premium package to be paid for in advance. Not OP, but I am sailing Koningsdam in Alaska next week, and I'm fairly confident that the internet signal will not be strong enough to stream and I don't really need to stream, hence why I was wondering if premium is even worth it for this itinerary. But the cost difference in advance is $10 more than the Surf package. Hopefully we get the $30 upsell for multiple devices, I'll try and report back!

I'm also wondering! I have seen people refer to different packages that seem to differentiate based on speed, but I also see that as the only thing available. Also nothing in terms of a package for more than one user at a time, though I have seen it mentioned here on the boards that there is an upcharge you can pay for multiple users to use the package. Perhaps someone can shed some light!

On 7/11/2022 at 12:35 PM, surreymum said:

Check out Snorkel Alaska in Ketchikan if you fancy a very different experience from snorkelling in the Caribbean or Mediterranean. They use thick wetsuits so you don’t get cold. We had a very good trip with them.

Agree on the snorkelling! I did it back in 2014 and loved it so much it's booked for my port stop in Ketchikan two weeks from today.

On 7/12/2022 at 11:21 AM, Cali Viajera said:

Read other reviews to get an idea. It was four hours, two hours on the lake.

our guides were insightful and funny. You do need to paddle though the guides do the steering. It was such a closeup experience. It was a highlight for the three of us.

I was debating doing this excursion, but it wouldn't have left time for whale watching, which I missed last time I was in Juneau and wanted to do this time. Ah well, next time!

I guess worst case scenario, if you do fill one out for a drive into the Yukon and it "erases" your return ArriveCAN for the ship, you can just complete another ArriveCAN form.

I'm on the cruise the following week! Maybe I'll see some other campers.

On 7/9/2022 at 12:16 AM, Crew News said:

The train did not go into the Yukon just a loop so no ArriveCan.  I spent the first part of the excursion on the platform between the cars getting some great snow pictures.  Took a brief nap on the way back.

 

ArriveCAN from what I have seen is just for air or marine entry

 

I have already booked the train to Lake Bennett for next May on the Nieuw Amsterdam.  As I get closer to May 7th next year, I hope earlier passengers using the train into Canada will update us.

ArriveCAN is definitely required for land entry as well - I have driven across the US-Canada land border back into Canada several times and have had to fill it out each time. I am planning on renting a car in Skagway and driving to the Yukon and anticipate needing to have it filled out for that also (no big deal).

1 hour ago, albingirl said:

I know alot of people who don't believe in masks, either, and for that matter vaccines.  I guess they figure that masks and vaccines don't work but all I know is that I am alive and well, and some of them aren't.

Hear hear! Just because some don't believe in it, or don't understand it, doesn't mean they don't work...science doesn't require a person to "believe" in it in order for it to be true.

17 hours ago, JudithLynne said:

"It was a long list, just FYI."

 

I am having a hard time understanding why so many passengers, all vaccinated and some boosted too, could contract COVID in spite of all the ship's precautions!

The only thing that I can come up with is the ports.

We cruise on the Eurodam July 2nd and Iderochi's experience with the "long list" is making me nervous.  We are both vaccinated and twice boosted which are hoping will give us protection.

...because, let's be honest, the protocols in indoor areas of the ships are 100% not COVID safe. The vaccines never prevented infection, they prevented severe infection. Masks aren't perfect, but they, like the vaccines, offer a layer of protection. Unmasking in spaces where ventilation has not been changed and nor has occupancy/capacity (dining rooms, theatres, etc.) remains risky. Sure, passengers' activities in ports are also a factor, but it spreads anywhere with enclosed spaces and a lack of proper ventilation to address the airborne nature of the virus.