keldorama

Do you have to reserve it for the entire length of the cruise or can you do, say, 10 days out of a 28 day term?

Many of the 2-top cocktail tables in the Lounge were set for lunch and dinner on both the Mimir and Villi when we sailed last month.

There are also water dispensers (sparkling or still) at the coffee stations outside the lounge area. But there are no security checks on these longboats like there is on the ocean cruises. You just scan your room key on and off so they know when you are onboard. There's no check of what you are bringing on with you.

I never thought about Trip Insurance until my family has needed to use it on three separate occasions. My dad needed to be medevac'd from Ketchikan to Seattle and the cost would have been $130,000; mom broke her leg three weeks before a cruise and needed to cancel; my sister needed to cancel a cruise 2 days before departure when mom had a stroke. We also had a couple traveling with us to Antarctica test positive for COVID while we in Punta Arenas and couldn't get on the boat. So I am a firm supporter of it now. But we never use the carrier's (airline, cruise line, etc) provider. Those policies are designed to protect the carrier. We have used Allianz and Seven Corners in the past, but given our travel schedules over the next 2 years will go with an annual policy from here. Do your research and find one that works best for you. You want medical, emergency evac, AND trip interuption and and/or delay. Allianz has several tiers of coverage.

I can tell you what our experience was on Beyond last September. We were booked in Concierge level. Bid $1100pp to upgrade to Sky Suite. That brought our costs to $4250pp. Brochure rate was $6400pp We had received the 125% FCC as a result of COVID cancellaions, so we were already working with $500pp of Celebrity's money. That means we upgraded for $600pp net. I did it because my husband is not a "crowd" person. He enjoys cruising as long as there are not too many sea days, but prefers a bit more privacy. The Retreat gives you all that. And we have become accustomed to a certain level of service. That was what we got between our Butler, the Retreat staff, and the staff in Luminae. From here on out, we will book in Retreat class from the outset. Just wait for those 75% off 2nd passenger offers.

I have on occasion remained in a room past the scheduled check out time. Don't leave the room, as your key will no longer work. But until Housekeeping comes to clean the room, at which point I apologize profusely and complain of not feeling well, I've never had an issue. Having said that, most hotels have a late checkout if requested. We were able to stay in a Hilton hotel in Santiago, Chile until 3pm at no charge. If we wanted to stay until 8pm, it was a 1/2 day rate. Since many flights from Europe to the US are "red eyes", hotels are used to accommodating these requests.

ship Beyond Length of Cruise: 9 days Cruise Sail Date: September 24 Date email offer received: August 5 Captain’s Club Tier : Select Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: Direct Current Cabin: Concierge Class w/Infinite Verandah Bid? Yes/No: Yes If YES - Bidding Details: Cabin Category: Sky Suite Bid Offer: $1100 pp Notification Date: August 25 Accepted / Rejected: Accepted Also bid on Aqua Sky Suite @ $1500pp; expired The minimum bid on SS and ASS per the email offer was $600 and $1000 respectively; by the time I got to the website to submit an hour later, it was already up to $1000 and $1500 respectively. Hence my $1100pp and $1500pp respectively. We were already sailing with $550pp of Celebrity's money due to the $125% FFC. So I viewed this as a net increase $550 to us. It is worth to me to have access to the more private areas of The Retreat.

But here's why none of the testing means anything. We traveled to Chile in late January for an expedition on the Greg Mortimer to Antarctica. We needed a PCR test 72 hours prior to getting on our plane. Both we, and the couple we were traveling with tested negative and boarded our flights as scheduled. We then had to be tested (the most invasive PCR test ever BTW) again upon landing in Santiago. Again, both couples were negative. Three days later we all flew to Punta Arenas to meet up with the rest of the expedition passengers. The husband of the other couple was feeling a bit off, so he did a home Antigen test. He was positive. All proper notifications were made and Aurora Expeditions arranged an additional PCR test for him the next morning. Positive results confirmed. No expedition for him. The story has many more twists and turns from there. And we were tested 9 times in 23 days. My point is a negative test the day before you get on your "trans Atlantic flight" doesn't mean you don't have COVID and aren't still contagious. It just means you are able to come home with everybody else.