BellKat

9 hours ago, LordTickTock said:

Question: was all the COVID testing you had on the trip covered by Celebrity or your own extra expense?

It was covered by Celebrity. We took one test before we boarded & I believe we will take another test tomorrow. 

47 minutes ago, Sdory28 said:

I did google Ellen and now I want her to be my buddy too! Do you know how long she’ll be aboard, our cruise is 7/25

Unfortunately Ellen is leaving tomorrow with us.

Here is the link we used for clothing requirements, etc. We found it very helpful.

8 minutes ago, Sdory28 said:

I’ve got my Teva’s ready for the wet landings. I will bother you with a quick question though. Your husband has mentioned his hiking boots- Are they sneaker height or high-top height? We have both and would prefer to only bring one pair 😉

I have low ones & he has high ones. He did the most intensive excursions & I did the easiest ones. Hiking on lava rocks is not easy. He said he was glad for the ankle support. 

Just now, Sdory28 said:

Indeed! I’m still trying to decide if we should get skins to prepare for snorkeling. When we did the Great Barrier Reef we were only provided shorty suits (from what I’ve read Flora does the same) and all I can remember is how cold I was! 
 

I’ll probably buy them right before we leave and keep the tags on for return in case we are okay without. 

I did not snorkel but my husband tried it once. Most people wore the short suits but I think I did see a couple of long ones but they looked like people who snorkel a lot so brought their own. Right now is one of the coldest times in the water. It seemed to me from doing water landings that some areas the water was cooler than others (at least at the shore). Just so you know, you have to wear some kind of footwear every time you get on & off a tender (Zodiac) and a life vest.

1 minute ago, Sdory28 said:

They were told  the outer loop is more about the animals and the inner loop is more about the landscape. I hope this helps!

 

I can tell you that this topic is discussed heavily on other threads particular to Galapagos. If you want to dive deeper into learning the differences I suggest reading that thread. 

I heartily agree. We learned so much from a tagged thread in the Galapagos boards - especially about clothing & what you should bring & what you don’t need to bring.

3 hours ago, Kylie said:

 What is the difference between Northern and Southern loops?

It looks like the Southern Route is also called the Outer Loop which is the one we are on. It’s more about the animals. If you go to Celebrity’s website and check dates, they will say Southern or Northern. You can then click on View Ports and Maps. You will notice one week is Northern, the next is Southern and they keep switching every week.

26 minutes ago, CTKath said:

Thanks Kathleen, I really appreciate it.  The picture I saw was very flat with waterfalls.  Iceland was our last trip in November 2019.  We went to the Galapagos about 13 years ago and I would love to go back on a Celebrity ship.

 

I plan on reading the blog from your website later.  Happy travels!!

Ah - we went in July 2019. Sun never really set then We were touring until midnight! I highly recommend the Flora for your next trip to the Galapagos. We are seriously considering coming back to do the inner loop (we are on the outer loop now). We were told the outer loop is more about the animals and the inner loop more about the landscape. We only have 57 guests onboard so it’s a small intimate group. Most of the staff knows our names (1st and last!). We also have 3 corporate people on board since it’s the 1st cruise since the pandemic.

23 minutes ago, CTKath said:

Jim, is the top picture on your website in Iceland?

This is Jim’s wife Kathleen - hes’ processing this morning’s pics so he can take more this afternoon. The picture changes every time you go to the website but yes, he does have a couple of pictures from Iceland at the top. He’s added a couple from Galapagos also.

5 hours ago, mahdnc said:

drkoob, if you have time can you find out if a scuba diving option is offered aboard Flora?  Thank you.

 

Jim’s wife here - there is no scuba diving - only snorkeling.

4 minutes ago, cl.klink said:

 

Wow.  Sorry to hear.

 

Call in all your chits.  Get someone with some weight to advocate for you.  If there is hope, it is going to be above the level of whomever answers the phone.  

 

Consider that Elliott guy.

 

Good luck.

 

- Joel

Jim’s wife here - we would BUT our cruise is July 4 - one week from today. Talked to another Celebrity agent & there may be hope. But we are escalating anyway. Now afraid our flight home will be cancelled & we won’t know it. 

1 hour ago, Auntiemomo said:

If you've had covid and have the antibodies, why do you need to get the vaccine to protect yourself from the virus.  Doesn't make much sense to me.  I even have a couple of my local Drs who have had covid and do not feel the need to get the vaccine at this time.  

 

There seems to be too much "obey" and get the vaccine.  Not sure that one size fits all.  

Maybe because no one knows for sure how long the antibodies last?l And nobody knows how long the vaccine last. Have a friend who works for Holland America, got COVID on the flight home from the infamous Zaandam last cruise, but he still got the vaccine. His job is to travel so not taking any chances.

2 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

If the unvaccinated guest is 15 or younger they also do not have to require a mask so that takes care of some of the population also. 

 

August 1st it will be anyone under 12 that does not need a mask.

Just now, wrk2cruise said:

Is this what was discussed with the TA's today?

Yes

3 minutes ago, bajathree said:

Celebrity will guaranty all sailings to be 95% vaccinated....however FL departs will NOT require proof of vaccine at port.

True - but if you are not vaccinated, you will have to pay for an up the nose test before boarding. You will also be required (not sure how they are going to enforce this) to wear a mask at all times (except actively eating & drinking). You will also have to pay to have another test before disembarking. This is also true if you don’t bring your ORIGINAL vaccination card with you as proof. Most ports will let you disembark but that will be dependent on the country’s requirements.

1 minute ago, sanger727 said:

i think you have those two mixed up. I am planning a Galapagos trip for September so been watching this. Educator does not require a test if you are vaccinated but Galapagos does. Yes, definately get your pcr test 96 hours before you attempt to enter Galapagos.

In trying to investigate what we needed, we found mixed messages. On June 2nd Celebrity put out a statement with what we will need to do (subject to change of course) but we did not see it until after I had originally posted. So just remember what we need to do for July 4 may not be what you need to do for September. We are the guinea pigs as we are the 1st Galapagos cruise. Just keep checking. Our cruise is in less than a month and we still have not received our documentation.

6 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Why not make an appointment, just in case, and cancel if it turns out not to be needed?

That’s what we are going to do. Got updated info yesterday from Celebrity & it’s completely opposite of what we had previously seen. Just have to be very flexible right now.

Depends on where you are sailing from and where you are going. We are on the 1st Celebrity Flora sailing on July 4 and we are anxiously awaiting the decision. Ecuador says you DO need a PCR test even if you are vaccinated. But the Galapagos says no. We are only going from the airport to the hotel & back to the airport once we get to Quito. At this point, we only know for sure we have to be vaccinated and that’s no issue as we had ours months ago. We were supposed to have our docs last Friday (2 days ago) but we were told they aren’t ready yet & to just keep checking. I understand but I’m still not happy. If we need a PCR we need to know ASAP so we can make an appointment for one.

5 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

How high up is it?

I Googled it - 9,350’

On 4/23/2021 at 1:29 PM, Pilgrim70 said:

Thanks all for your response. I don’t get sea sick on the larger ships but will have meclizine with me on this trip. 

I highly recommend a Relief Band (you can find it on Amazon). There is an old version (which I have & have used) but I bought the newer version last year when we were originally supposed to go on the Galapagos cruise).  This has been my go to since a friend handed me theirs after I had been vomiting the entire “pirate ship” excursion (we were anchored in the swells for 2 hours). Within 5 minutes I was recovered & starving. I don’t leave home without it now on our cruises. I am definitely taking it on Flora. This is just the kind of trip I might need it on. 

1 hour ago, gerelmx said:

Before AOL was IRC (Internet Relay Chat), don't remember exactly when I chat with cruise friends for the first time (94 or 95)

Hey Gerardo! How are you & Lupita?

4 hours ago, pumpkin 11 said:

Ok you got 19... geeeeezz

So 19 lives don’t matter? Four of those were under the age of 10. How would you feel if that were your child? Just cannot believe how you think lives of other people don’t matter.

Some people who have gotten sick (even those under the age of 40) have been sick for weeks or months. I was just reading yesterday about people who were declared cured & then got sick all over again. Even our friend who got it (age 41) was not as sick as some but said he didn’t wish it on anyone. 

Still waiting for official notification that our Galapagos cruise on Flora in August is cancelled. Wish they would hurry up so we can use 125% FCC to book for next year.

Andrew you are just so witty! We were supposed to be a cruise this last week also. Oh well! Supposed to go to Galapagos on August 2 but don’t think that is going to happen. We had FIVE cruises planned this year - biggest year for cruising. So far we have only gone on one. Maybe our Christmas Market cruise will happen in December. Sigh!!

On 4/4/2020 at 11:07 AM, 1ANGELCAT said:

My question is Seth Wayne the HAL Brand Ambassador , I believe was supposed to be on the charter flight from FLL to SFO. 
You would think before he continued to SEA  he would make sure all other passengers were taken care of , wouldn’t you ? 

Yes, he was. What do you think he was doing? Just sitting around doing nothing? Nope, he was working. He was working fielding phone calls while on Zaandam & Rotterdam. He was locked in his cabin just like everyone else but was working.  All he wanted to do was get home but because of the charter issue he didn’t get home until yesterday evening. It took him 3 charter flights to get home. I’m really not sure what you think just one person can do! This was an entire corporation all hands on deck situation. 

You would not believe the awful, horrible, despicable things people have said to him on Twitter, Facebook. It made me cry. He is such a great guy & didn’t deserve the vitriol that has been thrown at him - all by people who don’t cruise. Like everything that has happened in the cruise world was all his fault! Geez - the guy just started his job December 27 and was thrown into this situation right before his feet were even wet.