Work2cruz!

16 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

You can buy candy at one of the ship stores also

The issue is not the lack of chocolates, it’s the constant cutting back of small luxuries that X use to offer.  Going on a cruise is a luxury and people pay thousands to do so.  So you’re saying it’s ok for X to do cut backs to boost profits but loyal cruisers shouldn’t complain or voice their opinions? 
 

Celebrity is a company out to make profits, we get that and I’ve never had the urge to try other lines until the last 3 cruises we did.  We saw a significant change in the food quantity,  service with increased pricing with perks taken away.    I do provide feedback and constructive criticism when asked but I’m also going to try other cruise lines to see if Celebrity really is offering me a good product for the price.   The only way X will respond is when they see a decline in bookings and on board spending. We’re kidding ourselves if we don’t think they read and even participate in these cruise blogs.   
 
Virgin may not be for me but I’m open to trying it - hence why I cancelled an X cruise to try one.  This may make loyal cruisers like myself realize the grass isn’t greener on the other side or we may become loyal to a new brand.   That’s a risk X will take when they see other lines go after their customer base.   

I just canceled a Celebrity Cruise to try Virgin.  The last 2 Celebrity cruises the food and service was sub par and lots of changes in the menu.  Meatloaf was one of the mains  in Blu on the last night. 
 

Celebrity has increased prices, taken away amenities and is providing sub par service and food.   Now they have a major cruise line targeting their loyal customer base by offering the Match and Sea Program.

it will be interesting to see if they do any damage control or if the profits for all the changes compensate for any lost customers.   Only time will tell.   

37 minutes ago, beachmama said:

Were you at Port Royal? Trying to figure out what to do in May

 
When you walk into port area to the left is a water taxi.  You can get in and it takes you to the beach.  Or you can walk.  Just keep going and follow the bend in the road and you’ll see the boardwalk.  

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Thanks so much for your quick and helpful reply!

 

We're docking in St. Thomas later this month.  Port web sites show only two other (and fairly small) ships that day.  Seems odd for the winter, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they are correct!

 

Thanks again!

No Problem. Glad I could help

No but it was busy. They have a cab station to the right of the beach shops if your looking at the beach.  If they have a lot of ships it can get busy.  We left at 2pm and our ship was leaving at 5:00 pm. There was a Disney Cruise there as well and it was Christmas time so it was busy.  A lot of people left at the same time. When you do get a cab back make sure you tell them what cruise you’re on as there are 2 different docking areas and people are also going to hotels,  so make sure both ways your on the right bus. They have open air cabs as well as vans.  A family ended up on our bus going to the beach but  they wanted to go downtown. (they were not happy)   It can be a bit chaotic at the taxi station.  They’re trying to get as many people on as fast as they can.   

I

On 1/5/2023 at 9:59 PM, carbon said:

This sounds like Grand Bay?

It’s Great Bay Beach. 
 

1 hour ago, carbon said:

Tell me more about your 20 minute walk to a beautiful beach on St Maarten😀

When you get off the ship you can with walk a few minutes and you’ll see a water taxi.  I think it $7.00 if you buy a return ticket or $5.00 one way.  For walking just walk out of the port and follow the road. You’ll see shops to your left.  Just follow and your on the beach.  Lots of chairs and umbrellas.   About 20 minutes.  The vendors will ask for more.  Keep walking and tell them you want 2 chairs, umbrella and a 6 pack of Corona and offer $25.00.  We walk about mid-way up until you see a little restaurant call Caribbean Blend.  Great jerk chicken.   You can see the ships from the beach. Enjoy.  

We were there last week.  Best day of the cruise.   We’ve booked them before and we do a lot of catamaran trip like this when cruising.  Great day out.  3 snorkelling stops.  The last one they dock at a shallow bay.  You can get off and do a short hike, snorkel, paddle board or swim.  Great lunch and drinks all day.   
‘Highly Recommend.   

We were there last week.   Grab a water taxi at the port for $7.00USD return trip or walk 20 minutes 

There are lots of vendors.

we paid $25.00USD for 2 beach chairs, an umbrella, 6 coronas and free wifi. Great Restaurants along the boardwalk - we like Caribbean Blend for great jerk chicken.   
 

We do this every time we go.   

We were in St. Thomas last week and went to Megan’s Bay.   It’s a 15.00USD per person each way cab ride.  $5.00 PP entrance fee and a Beer is $5.50.  Chair Rentals are $20.00 each.  No wifi. It was very crowded and to be honest I’ve been to nicer beaches so I wasn’t sure what the hype is all about.   We would try another beach next time.  
 

The day before we were in St Maarten.  20 minute walk to a beautiful beach - $25.00 gets you 2 beach chairs with an umbrella, 6 Corona and free wifi. The beach is not as clear but just as beautiful in my opinion.   

On 1/10/2022 at 12:53 PM, wildtky101 said:

I heard on our ship they move you to deck 6 but I looked and those cabins seems as though they are already booked (unless they just have them blocked out). I'd hate to be moved to an interior cabin if I get quarantined.

On 1/10/2022 at 2:06 PM, NanaChar said:

Here is a story from well before the pandemic.  My niece and her husband were taking a cruise for their honeymoon on RCL.  One of her aunts discovered they were in an inside cabin, so she upgraded them to a suite.  (Every honeymooner deserves a suite.)  During the cruise, my poor niece went to doctor complaining about a stomach ache.  They quarantined her to her cabin.  She was forever grateful to her aunt that her quarantine was in a suite not an inside cabin.    

On 1/10/2022 at 2:21 PM, cruisinwithmaandpa said:

We are in a veranda on deck 6

On 1/10/2022 at 2:27 PM, Work2cruz! said:

 They moved the guests who were on deck 3 to deck 6 to accommodate Covid guests.   On other ships with more cases they used Deck 3 and Deck 6.  They would move people in those cabins to other locations and quarantine those decks.   In December Deck 3 was off limits.  

15 hours ago, AlbertaCruisers said:

In case you weren’t aware already, check out the Canadian board. As a note, they aren’t flying anyone home anymore unless it is medically necessary (the wording has changed on the website).  My understanding is that what was noted above in the first post is all you get now if you test positive on the ship as well. Below is my experience from Jan 3. 

 

 

3 hours ago, AlbertaCruisers said:

I was told different on the Constellation, I was told it is now 5 days and limited amounts now where you test positive onboard or on the port test. It was different before Omicron. If your interested check out the end bit of the Dec 22 Equinox roll call (link below), which has discussions from a number of people that tested positive on the ship. Post #1150 has the letter the got on Jan 2 for their Jan 3 disembarkation. I think that letter says they will pay $350 a day for hotel, but somewhere I think someone posted a more recent letter that says they will now only pay $150 a day for hotel. 
 

I see that letter doesn’t reference the 5 day limit, but we were told they follow CDC guidelines as referenced in that letter, which is currently 5 days. 
 

 

CDC guidelines are 5 days.  Canadian guides  to come back into Canada 

Effective January 15th if you come back in before the 15 days you can get a $5000.00 fine. This is from Govt website 

Positive results on your pre-entry test

A positive pre-entry test result within 72 hours of your planned entry is not a valid test result for entry to Canada. 

Foreign nationals with symptoms or with a positive result from less than 15 days before arriving (starting January 15, 2022, 11 days) will be denied entry. 

Canadians: To avoid being fined $5,000 per traveller (plus surcharges), wait to enter Canada until the 15th day (starting January 15, 2022, 11th day) after your positive test result. If you had symptoms without a positive result, wait until the symptoms have ended and you have a valid negative pre-entry test result.

• Canadians include citizens, people registered under the Indian Act, permanent residents and protected persons (refugee status)

If you have symptoms or a positive result, we recommend postponing your travel until you have: 

• a negative result for a COVID-19 molecular test taken within 72 hours of your scheduled flight to Canada or arriving at the land border; OR
• a positive result for a COVID-19 molecular test that was taken 15 to 180 days (starting January 15, 2022, between 11 and 180 days) before entering Canada

Can take up to 2 hours based on what I’ve seen on blogs.  The other issue if you test positive at port it will be on you to deal with getting hotel etc - you pay up front and submit expenses and only for 5 days.   if you test on ship Celebrity takes care of this.  My understanding based on my discussion with Celebrity, however things seems to be changing fast so who knows anymore.  
I saw a Facebook post that someone said they’ve reversed  this and are now doing on board again.  However their website is still showing it as in the terminal.   Here’s hoping… 

This is not true based on my conversation with Celebrity.  If you test positive on the ship they make all the arrangements and cover all costs including medical. What they changed was they would still arrange to fly you home but on a commercial flight.  The is very different than testing in port.  Everything is left to you to arrange and you have to submit receipts to get your money back and they only pay for 5 days.  Doesn’t work for Canadians as we have to isolate for 15 days before we can come back

I just spoke to a supervisor at Celebrity to find out why we now have to get tested at the port on departure day instead of testing on the ship the day before

This was the process when I cruised last month.   I also asked if the Safe Passage Home policy still applied if you test positive in port.  Here’s what I’m told

The Safe Passage Home Policy states if you get Covid on board the ship Celebrity will cover all medical costs, Isolation cost and airfare home if required.

This same policy DOES NOT apply if you test positive at the port. Even though it’s obvious you would have contracted Covid from the ship.

if you test positive in the port on day of departure they will cover the follow

150.00 per day hotel for 5 days only

100.00 per day for food 

400.00 for any flight changes 

If your Canadian we have to wait 15 days from the 1st positive test before we can go home.  
 

looks like Celebrity has found a loop hold to get out of their Safe Passage Home Policy

I just got off the Silhouette last week. I’m embankment day I found out I had more non refundable OBC than I thought.  I already has PPD gratitudes so I asked if I can give to my Cabin Steward.  I filled out a form and I could pick from Dining, Bar Staff, Cabin Steward or cleaning staff.  You can also split it in different amounts.  This is much better than just letting the cruise line have it.  

On 1/6/2020 at 1:23 PM, fisherman0916 said:

We just got off the Equinox and did this.  It costs $79.  You could stay in your room until 9 am.  We met at the Passport Bar at 9:15 til about 10:10.  Then we exited the ship, went through facial recognition and made sure our bags were there.  Then we were escorted outside the terminal, then back through the check-in.  We sat until about 10:40 inside the terminal.   At about 10:40ish, we were able to walk on and have free reign.  Most of the bars and and Oceanview did not open until shortly after.  We left at 1:00 as we had an earlier flight but others were able to stay on until about 1:45.  For the cost, it probably was not worth it.  But it was nice to lay around the pool deck with little people around.  We did get free drinks.  They have some issues to workout such as luggage and the timing of things.  Our flight left at 3:45 from MIA so it worked well for us as we would have paid $160+ on Uber, food/drinks @ restaurant.    However, with saying that, not sure I would do it again.  A bit of a hassle and sitting around.  Was kinda cool talking to the new passengers as they were getting on the ship.  

Thanks for the information. Sounds like more hassle than it’s worth since we have to leave at 1:00 to get our flight.  We booked a day room at Holiday Inn Express by the Airport instead 

3 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

Several people responded to your thread from yesterday

 

 

thanks.  I wasn't able to find it and thought maybe I did something wrong in posting it..

Has anyone done this in Fort Lauderdale?  If so can you walk me through the logistics?  When you have to depart the ship to go through customs how long did it take?

Can you use OBC to book it?  Were you happy with the overall process?

Has anyone done this on the Silhouette?  If so can you share your experience. Specially was it a hassle to have to go through customs and get back on the ship?  Can you use OBC for this?

8 minutes ago, Work2cruz! said:

I’m pretty sure it’s USD.  Note the date of the pricing   

I found it on a site but it’s not Celebrities site so may not be accurate but the website is US.   

5 minutes ago, killsport said:

@Work2cruz! is this USD or CAD

I’m pretty sure it’s USD.  Note the date of the pricing   

Mystery Solved

Let me start out by saying I love Celebrity  but they have by far the worst website and the most uninformed customer service representatives I've every experienced.

I was surprised at all the conflicting information about the upgrade that I was able to get on the Drinks and More Package on my 2020 sailing so I called (waited 25 minutes to talk to a rep) to get the story.   

My question was: Can you fill me in the upgrade option for this package.  Her first reply was it's only available as an upgrade on 2019 sailings - I said so how was I able to get it on my 2020 sailing.  I was put on hold for another 5 minutes until she checked again

Here is her response.

She said there was an error on the website where for a short period of time it was an upgrade option on some 2020 sailings. This was an error that has since been fixed so no longer available.

But they will honor anyone who was able to get the upgrade online.

3 hours ago, drakes2 said:

With so many now with the Bev package, I find the mini bar is not getting the use it once had thus a few small bottles stocked along with a half bottle of wine. I for one dont see the need to order mixers just to have a drink in my cabin. Just too much work for me.  Would anyone know if we can drink the Evian they supply in the stateroom or do we have to order from bar?

 

We always ask the cabin steward to empty our bar fridge so we can stock with items we want from the bar. Never been a problem 

10 minutes ago, Lolou127 said:

Thanks work2cruz, as this is our first X sailing, is there somewhere I can find out what’s included in the mini bar?

I have some friends cruising right now and asked them to take a pic of the mini bar paperwork - I'll post if I get it.