prmssk

Last time we used the link on this thread before we received the e-mail, we weren't awarded the points (and I wonder if that is why, those are the only points we weren't awarded). So I personally am waiting until it is released to us in the US.

You will not have any more options than what you see there and you might lose your Indulge package. This feature on Celebrity's website only shows you the lowest fare for cabin upgrades. I learned this through experience, ours was an easy fix although ended up costing us a little more than what showed on that screen but in your case, it might be harder to get back the indulge package which no longer exists. If you are interested in an upgrade, I suggest calling Celebrity directly.

What I have read implies that this move will actually cost the cruise lines a lot less so I would hope they would pass at least some of that cost savings on to us. I would be very disappointed if this move to Starlink raised internet prices at all. I also think it would put Celebrity at a competitive disadvantage since their internet costs are already higher than many other cruise lines.

For those with questions about a specialty dining option on the MDR, here is a video on Hudson's which shows the menu for two different days. There appears to be one selection that changes daily from a specialty restaurant that comes with a charge.

The Weekend Cruiser on YouTube spends a lot of time on the Freedom and he has posted a couple videos about Starlink. His first one was really promising with great speeds even from a cabin that was on one end of the ship. The last one I watched where he talked about Starlink again, his speeds were significantly lower and he felt like maybe they were throttling the speeds. It will be interesting to see how it works fleet wide. I welcome any improvement to internet at sea.

With Omicron and BA4 and BA5, this does not appear to be true anymore or at least in any significance between vaccinated and unvaccinated. This is why CDC and other places have recently changed their quarantine and other guidelines to be the same for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. And it isn't so much the actual test but the consequences of a test that may not even be all that accurate for asymptomatic individuals, especially for people that can only take one vacation a year and can't reschedule their time off to another time. Add to that the fact that these tests aren't keeping covid off cruise ships so the risk/reward equation seems unbalanced.

How about theater etiquette? Arriving late and then insisting on the seats in the middle of one of the front rows that force 10 people to stand up so they can get by? Or talking through the entire performance?

How would they ever trace it back to a specific passenger? With our current vaccines and our current variants, the vaccinated are doing just as good of job spreading it as the unvaccinated are. And contact tracing isn't really in place anymore and is basically impossible with with how contagious covid has become.

My experience this year was the opposite which was so frustrating. The line and wait for those with reservations (especially on the Caribbean Princess in June) was very long each night. The line for those without reservations was very short and they were usually seated quickly. My experience with DMW is that it depends significantly on how well the Maitre'D runs that particular MDR.

I'm not saying it can't be an old ship issue. My point was that when you have a ship that has the same reported problems for many months over and over again even with a dry dock in the middle, at some point it becomes a failure to maintain issue and not just an old ship vs. new ship. And if you have a company that is not going to respond to maintenance issues promptly on an old ship, they may not be responding to maintenance issues promptly on their new ships either (although those problems may not be as evident yet with everything being fairly new). By choosing to only sail new ships, you likely are limiting the chances of having issues but that doesn't mean the company is doing any better job maintaining the ship. Sure toilet problems happen. Sure there can be occasional sewage smell or a ship can break down and then get fixed. But my experience on the Caribbean Princess earlier this year is that it wasn't isolated problems. It almost got comical as I watched my niece collect loose tiles from the pool or we tried to find. public restroom that didn't have at least one toilet out of order or counted the number of elevators not working (some out of order for the entire two weeks). And that doesn't even touch on the sewage smells throughout the ship or the fact that you walked in and out of hot and cold zones where the AC was or wasn't working. They were widespread across much of the ship and people had been reporting those problems for many, many months (even before her April dry dock). Please note that I'm not saying any of these things ruined our vacation (we were lucky not to have significant problems with our room) but I did walk away from that cruise with a lower opinion of a cruise line that would let problems like that persist. As another example, the Crown has hobbled along with engine issues for how many months now?

I still see the Edge sailing on 2/13/22 on the website. It would be a bit strange to switch passengers from a cruise leaving out of Ft. Lauderdale to one leaving out of Tampa.

Have we seen any confirmation of the change to 8 nights or less? The US website still says 5 nights or less don't require testing for vaccinated passengers leaving from the US (with a couple exceptions obviously). It also still says the test must be supervised for US itineraries.

Inventory changes constantly as people book, make changes to their booking, and cancel so there would be no way to show which rooms are available. And if they allowed people to bid on a specific room, then they would lose out on all the bids for rooms that were not available and thus likely still not fill the more undesirable rooms they are trying to fill. I would be shocked if Princess allowed you to bid on a specific room.

For those of you thinking you will be able to bid on a specific cabin, I don't think it works that way for any cruise line and it would be a logistical nightmare. I expect you will pick the category (and it may not include subcategories) and then if you win your bid, you will have no say over the location. Keep in mind that the goal of this program will be to fill empty rooms and make a little extra money so the rooms that will be left, will be the ones in less desirable locations. When I bid on Celebrity, I researched carefully where the rooms were located of the categories I was interested in to make sure I would be okay with the location of any of them.

Celebrity just added a (very small) multiplier based on loyalty status to their program. It is so small though I'm not sure it will make a big difference. But it is possible Princess could do same.

Carnival and NCL’s changes don’t go into effect until next month likely because they are still working with some of the Caribbean islands that still have requirements. This isn’t a Florida issue. It’s an issue with the ports that many Florida based cruises visit. There is still time for Royal to change their protocols and we also may see NCL and Carnival come out with clarifications that include specific itineraries that still require testing and/vaccines.

Interesting. I see Carnival's website does indeed mention you can use naturalization papers. Princess's website only mentions an original certified US birth certificate as an alternative.

Naturalization papers cannot be used in place of a passport so I'm not sure it is worth having him dig them out. The birth certificate alternative to a passport for certain closed loop US cruises only applies to US born citizens.

You will get better answers from the Carnival board as to what specifically what Carnival requires. But as a general rule when a cruise line says 3 days, they aren't counting in hours. If they say 3 days and you embark on September 11, that means you can take it anytime starting after midnight on September 8. If they say 72 hours, then you need to calculate the hours more closely but I think Canada is the only one who has a requirement in hours. If you are referring to a mid-cruise test because you are not up-to-date (boosted or received your initial vaccine series less than 6 months ago), assuming Carnival allows you to cruise at all on that itinerary without being up-to-date, they will provide the test and may charge you for it.

Since the restart, I have been shocked at the conflicting and wrong information people are told by cruise line reps of all the cruise lines I follow. It really makes it so much harder for the passenger. Things are changing fast though so I imagine it is hard to keep up. Hopefully Greece (and Canada and Bermuda) will loosen their restrictions soon so the testing and vaccination requirements (or lack of them) can be consistent across the board.

Cruise line reps have often not had all the information correct. This is what NCL's website says today about their new policy allowing unvaccinated people starting in September. Local regulations may have different requirements to enter certain countries – make sure to check Travel Requirements by Country to understand country specific requirements. Guests may be denied boarding if all country specific requirements are not met. If you click on the Travel Requirements by Country page and go down to Greece, this is what NCL says. Booster Requirement Itineraries that include Greece require a booster, for all individuals  18 years or older, if their original vaccine course was taken more than 270 days prior to embarkation. For itineraries which require boosters, in lieu of a booster 270 days after the primary series, guests may present a government recognized or official medical Certificate of Recovery. For European Citizens, this would include an EU Green Pass or comparable certificate. For all others unable to present an EU Green Pass (i.e. US Citizens) a doctor’s note, plus a laboratory confirmed PCR or antigen test result with the proper information (i.e. Name, Date, Date of Birth, Positive Result, etc.) will be accepted. Guests who cannot meet the above requirements should not travel to the ship as they will be unable to board. NCL's current policy still requires a vaccine (and a booster) to go to Greece even for cruises starting in September (likely to avoid testing passengers according to Greece's requirements). When Greece changes their policy, I'm sure NCL and Royal will both change theirs. They are direct competitors and will not want the other cruise line to have an advantage.

Just a general comment to those commenting on the age of passengers, we have found that age isn't all that indicative of what a specific individual will enjoy. We got married on a Holland America ship in our 20s, started cruising Celebrity in our 30s (before even our first Royal cruise), and have tried many of the other cruise lines. Even at our young age, we feel we really fit it on Celebrity. The crowd never felt old to us and there was still plenty of energy on the ship. So to the OP, don't let demographics stop you from trying a cruise line, ship, or itinerary. Also don't feel you need to stick with the first line you try. Trying others may help you find a better fit or it might help you appreciate better how Royal is a great fit. Either way the time is spent creating experiences.

Where are you reading 8 nights or less? I'm still seeing the guidance from before that says no testing for cruises 5 nights or less for the vaccinated (with some exceptions).

Time of year makes a huge difference. Personally, we prefer a few less kids and so avoid summer and school breaks. Pre-pandemic, our early December cruise on the Harmony of the Seas had very few children and really was quite a nice cruise. As for the difference between Celebrity and Royal, I don't think you can go wrong with either. We have had great food, service, and experiences on both lines. Personally, I think the food and experience is a bit more elevated on Celebrity but food especially is very subjective. We also like Celebrity's Always Included fares that include the beverage package, wifi, and gratuities. We prefer Celebrity because it is a more relaxed vibe and we like the smaller ships but don't hesitate to book Royal when Royal has a cruise that interests us.

My point was that Greece has specific testing requirements for cruise passengers (that are different than those requirements for those who enter by land or air) and so all the cruise lines (including the ones dropping testing and vaccination requirements) have requirements for cruises that embark or stop in Greece. As an example, NCL requires guests to vaccinated AND up-to-date for any cruise that stops at Greece at any point. Plus the require a pre-cruise test for any cruise that embarks from Greece.