phoenix_dream

Did they tier match to your MGM or to your Celebrity level? They told me they don't tier match to other casinos

I've done quite a few B2B cruises on Celebrity and never got offered free laundry. Most we were offered was to be able to join the Concierge folks for lunch, but usually we had to ask for that. We are now Elite+ so it doesn't matter, but I found it interesting that others had been offered that.

We've sailed to Alaska on Celebrity at least 8 times. On each and every one of those sailings there were at least some periods of time where the kids could use the solarium pool. I do not recall the times but I believe it was in the afternoon. On other sailings it sometimes happened and sometimes didn't but on all of our Alaska cruises it did.

Social distancing reasons? Have you been in one of their bars recently, or the casino at night? Or in the foyer during Silent Disco? Or in a two top in Blu with people on each side? Or in Celebrity Central where people were shoulder to shoulder without wearing the masks that were supposedly required but not enforced? I have. No way this was because of social distancing. It's revenue plain and simple (or lack thereof with library space). I am just thankful that on most ships there is a small space where passengers can exchange their own books (which also seems to counter the sanitary argument).

To be honest, I haven't gone back and read this entire thread, but wanted to comment on our experiences. We have sailed 8 times on Celebrity, on 7 different ships since sailing resumed last year and we have had great service on each and every one. On a few we were in Sky Suites, and the rest we were in Aqua Class. I would expect that as capacity drastically increases recently it will take some time to be as fully staffed, with experienced crew, as they need to be. In the meantime on my next cruise in July I plan to be patient and thankful. I don't think this is any future cost cutting measure (although Celebrity has certainly done its fair share of that over time), but rather a struggle to get the proper number of staff onboard, get them trained, and keep them testing negative.

No perks at all?. I think no resort fees and free valet are great perks! I’m just thrilled the partnership is still in place given pandemic challenges. I’ve already saved several hundred dollars this year alone on one trip to Vegas!

Unfortunately there is no way to know what Covid numbers may be like in August. Right now Covid is surging (not yet as high as this winter) and no one knows when that will ebb. These type viruses tend to lessen in the summer but with Covid who knows. Generally (with some exceptions of course) there is less hospitalization and death for vaccinated people, but as far as we know there will still be the same quarantine rules onboard as today. These cruises are some of the most popular and are generally fully booked. I would be shocked if Celebrity lowered capacity on these cruises. So I would expect that there will be cases onboard, and we just can't predict how many. I wish we could.

I think that is sound logic, although it is very possible that if you have symptoms and try to contact medical the day before they may not even test you then. I would hope they would - it will be interesting to see what actually happens when someone is in that situation. Unfortunately this approach, while sensible, doesn't help if you are asymptomatic or your symptoms haven't developed enough to show as negative, which often happens in the very beginning of an infection.

sorry, but I couldn't understand at all the point you are trying to make?

How it applies, apparently, is that any quarantine is on your own dime. That's why they don't test you the day before disembarkation like they used to do. They don't want to get stuck paying for your quarantine.

Very sorry to say that no, they do not have any keno machines. I was very disappointed as that is my game of choice. Bad enough that most of their ships have 2 at most (with generally awful odds at that). The E class ships are all about glitz and glamour and what's new and (supposedly) exciting. So you'll see all those big flashy new slots but none of what many of us old folks (you know, those of us who are 70-80% of their passengers) prefer.

When I travel I take a virtual medicine closet with me, with extra amounts of Covid specific meds such as ibuprofen. In 65+ cruises I've learned the hard way that it's better to have it and not need it than the other way around. You can't always count on being able to supply in port. We had a trip to Alaska where I took less, figuring hey, I'm in Alaska if I need something it's a US port and I can find what I want. NOT. The ports were sold out of about everything and two of the three of us in our cabin caught bad colds. On another cruise, pre-Covid, I caught a bad cold with a lingering cough (which is why no matter the rules I will probably forever wear masks on airplanes going forward!). Couldn't find a cough drop to save my life in the ports (and before I get scolded, yes, I did my best to stay away from people although I wouldn't say I went as far as quarantining per se). And these days there is the very real, albeit not real high, possibility you could be quarantined in a cabin for days on end and not be able to go out and get meds.

Sorry to hear of your issues. I sailed on Silhouette in March and had a fabulous cruise. Hope you experience the same if you decide to still go.

That's good thinking. We always book a back-up test (don't really want to rely on the proctored ones) and when we get the results we cancel the second test. I feel a bit guilty tying up a timeslot but with these testing requirements I have to do what I have to do.

You are correct. We have decided never to book with our TA again (who is really only an online booking agency these days!). My son requested a refund rather than FCC for a cruise cancelled by Celebrity. The cruise was in 2020. He first lifted and shifted to 2021 and then it was cancelled again. He told our TA that he wanted a refund, not FCC. Over a year later and he still has not received it. Busy fighting with the TA now, when we can even get ahold of them, which is only via email. So frustrating!! This is only one example (but the worst) of their horrible service since Covid hit. We have booked tens of thousands of dollars of cruises with them - never again!

Thanks for posting this. Didn't realize they had updated it. Only thing I see missing (unless I'm missing something) is what happens for post-cruise quarantine for someone sailing from Canada. They mention the US, European Union, and United Kingdom. No mention of Canada.

I am with you 100%. The OP was very reasonable in his/her presentation of the issue at hand. We all understand that in these days you must be flexible to a point. But IMHO this goes beyond that. In any employment situation there needs to be contingency plans. Where is Celebrity's contingency plan for this? They are charging very high prices for suites (especially lately) and are doing their best to book them at full capacity. They need to have staff onboard that is trained to be back-ups for the hosts so that they can provide the service they advertised (or darn close to it). Come on, folks, it does not take a rocket scientist to provide the services of a host. I'm sure there are plenty of intelligent staff onboard that could fill the role with some training. They could utilize the regular suite staff as leaders, with other staff helping to fill the role.

I think what's particularly frustrating is the unknown. And in this case I mean the unknown of where they might stick you if you get Covid. On some ships it's a balcony. On other ships it's an outside cabin. I even read a horrendous example of someone put in an inside cabin (TOTALLY unacceptable!!). I realize that due to their unknowns of the potential number of positives, they cannot guarantee anything. But I think at an absolute minimum they should be completely upfront on each ship and sailing as to where they would intend to quarantine people. Being a project manager for 25+ years I know that this kind of planning and communication is not only possible, but essential. And every good project plan comes with a contingency plan for the unexpected. They should be communicating that as well. IMHO that's the least they should be doing, and for US sailings it should be required by the CDC!

I got offers this week for our July 24th cruise.

I find it annoying too but it hasn't been much of a problem. They are there when you board, and may stroll through the restaurants, especially on chic nights. They quickly accept a polite 'no'. As others have said, they set up areas around the ship, also more often on chic nights. But you can just avoid eye contact and walk right on by and they don't bother you.

We had exactly the same issue on Apex. The sound at times was so loud I had to put in earplugs. Don't these people understand how much damage this can do to your hearing!?!? I already have tinnitus and trust me when I tell you it is not something you want to have if you can avoid it - and there is no cure.

I will add my thoughts to the many already posted about what an irresponsible and selfish response to sickness this is. The primary symptoms for the current variants exactly mimic those of a "pretty bad cold". Sometimes they worsen and sometimes they do not. But there is a real chance that pretty bad cold is Covid. I hope for the other passengers sake it is not. But if it is, who knows whose cruise experience you may have significantly negatively impacted, much less perhaps putting their very life in danger. And as others have said, you can't catch a cold by standing on a windy deck. Unbelievable!

Are you certain about that? For our consecutive cruise they tested us at the cruise port (this was in FLL).

We're in the same boat so to speak. We are flying out the next afternoon. I wish they would change the wording to one day rather than 24 hours, much like they changed the test requirements to 2 days rather than 48 hours!

For those planning to test onboard, just please consider that in our most recent Alaska cruises we have had mostly bad to very bad to horrible internet onboard. If a whole bunch of people are attempting to do the same thing at similar times, I can only imagine what that will do to the internet. I advise doing the test at "off times" very early or very late just to be safe.