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You will wait in line at the MDR entrance for a table. When your turn comes, simply tell the maître d' at the desk you would like to share a table. They will make it happen.

Same for my February Equinox sailing via the app.

Would miss clean towels but I would simply ask for more to get me through the day. I do not reuse towels at home; have no intention of reusing towels on vacation. The chocolates are nasty, would not miss those. They can leave the newsletter in the cabin door holder like they do so many other things (including the room keys).

We were in Cartagena in 2019 and loved it. The walled city was wonderful, shops, restaurants, no aggressive street vendors. It all felt very safe. We are on this cruise, and wow what a difference three years makes. Our tour guide also blamed the two million illegal Venezuelans for the aggressive street vendors. The walled city was mobbed, but so many stores and restaurants had closed (guessing… just guessing… it was reduced tourism the last few years). Our guide drove us around the city, and it is very poor. And, the drivers are crazy!! One thing, we were exited through the mini aviary/zoo. The swarm of “tour guides” and taxi/Uber drivers waiting just outside the gate to pounce was overwhelming. It could be frightening for the elderly or a woman alone. I will say that once I said we were waiting for our tour guide, word was quickly spread in Spanish and we were only approached by a few potential vendors after that. The aviary/zoo is charming! Where else can you have a coffee or beer and watch a peacock stroll by, or the parrots try and mooch fruit?

Was at Blu for dinner last night. Service was slow, sommelier was overwhelmed and very, very slow. No wine refills. Bar service has been excellent at the martini bar and pool bar. Once again very friendly crew. We were on this ship for the TA that arrived in Tampa last month. The ship feels MUCH more crowded than it did on that sailing.

In 2020 it was in the theater. We were in New Zealand, so the crowd was small. Celebrity put on a fantastic spread for that game. On a ship right now (constellation) and it is pretty full. No masks, even for the crew (we were on the Connie last month and the crew was still mostly masked).

Yeah, the Constellation TA was terrible for NFL games. They probably should never have listed them when “we are having satellite issues” seemed like it would happen in the middle of the Atlantic. And, it did. To the OP, If you have the fast internet package on the ship use that Wi-Fi, sign into your Amazon prime account on your laptop or phone, and watch the game on laptop or phone.

Another back-of-the-boat TA person, and we had paper laundry bags, too. We had to ask for a bag each time we wanted to do laundry, and each time were given a paper laundry bag. My husband takes the laundry bag challenge very seriously. I keep telling him there is no prize for most pieces, but he feels he needs to pack every square inch. I cannot imagine what he could do with a cloth bag when not worried about bag-tearing.

The aft balcony was a tremendous asset when we did our Alaskan cruise (with Celebrity). When it came time to pivot, I was able to record the glacier calving. Since that trip, whenever we are in a fjord area on a cruise we try and book an aft cabin. Have a fabulous trip. 🙂

Sydney is the easiest port we have ever sailed in/out of as it was simple to take the tram to the port and walk down the boardwalk to the ship. I hope you have a good time. 🙂

Odd, our room steward (neither of the room stewards in our hall) never wore one. Neither did the officers we spoke to. Maybe it was waitstaff so ordered? In any event, I am glad the staff has a choice going forward.

On the TA before your cruise and most of the crew was masked. It was very difficult to understand the waitstaff (very, very difficult). I am glad to hear they are loosing up on masks as not only does it make hearing people easier, it is nice to see faces. We are back again on the Connie in a month. I will be curious as to whether or not it continues.

Hi David, No, there were not a lot of passengers walking-off at the time we left the ship. We were instructed to be downstairs at 7:05, and came close to meeting that time. When we got in line in customs there were approximately 15-20 people ahead of us, they were in groups of 2s mostly, so things moved very quickly. While we have taken longer cruises, I found six days at sea in a row to be a lot.

I hope everyone had a wonderful trip. Only one rough sea day, otherwise the weather was outstanding. We had an aft cabin on deck 9 where were were awakened each and every morning at 6am my the crew dragging deck furniture above our heads. And when I say dragging, I mean screeeeeeecccccchhhhh, squeeeeeeeeelllllll, and rrrrreeeeeeeeek. My husband is a heavy sleeper and it woke him daily, too. The size was phenomenal (family stateroom). The veranda is extremely large, had a table, chairs, two upright chairs, two lounge chairs, and two tables. Truly could not ask for more there. In the cabin itself the pull out sofa and pull out loveseat no longer fold back correctly. Maintenance has to come in to fix the loveseat the first day because it was folded on an incline. Two cabinets had hinge issues which prevented closing and squeaked. Hubby MacGyvered one with dental floss so it would close. That also stopped the squeaking. The open areas on the ship were very nice. I loved the seating in the theater. The food in the main dining room got a little bland as the cruise went on, but that was not unexpected with six sea days in a row. We had someone at our table that was diabetic, and someone with a peanut allergy. The staff and kitchen were most accommodating to make sure they received the meals they could eat. The chef even prepared a daily diabetic friendly "sweet" tray! All-in-all we had a very good time. I am not certain I would do another TA, but we did enjoy the experience. Oh, disembarking! We had a 7:35 walk-off time. We went downstairs at 7:05 expecting to sit for our time, and instead were ushered off. Customs had no line to speak of, and after a short, $30 taxi ride we were at the rental car booth in the airport before our walk-off time even arrived! Easy-peasy. We are on the Connie again in December and I had considered a bigger suitcase than carry-on, but with how easy walk-off was, I am rethinking that. Maybe just slightly larger. 🙂

I have not read this whole thread, buuuut.... We just got off a TA on the Constellation. Our booking stated a 6pm set dining time. When we got to our room our "dining room invitation" showed us with anytime dining. We showed up at the anytime dining room (still confused) and ended up with terrific dinner companions that night (who also had a 6pm time, and were switched to anytime dining). We asked the seating hostess if we could continue with that table. She agreed and gave the six of us that table at 5:45pm for the entire cruise. It all worked out. That first night, ask the hostess to give you a set time and table. If Celebrity pulls the dining switcheroo on us again (we are on the Connie again in a few weeks), we will try that the first night and see what happens or bail and find other choices.

I saw the title of this thread and had a minor panic… “hey, I am on this cruise! Did I miss the boat!?” and then I started reading. 🙂 Looking forward to meeting everyone (assuming we test negative tomorrow).

Wear what you like. People will get over it.

The six transatlantic sailings require a supervised test.

No difference that I noticed.

@ItzRav have you checked out the (very) active roll call for this cruise? A lot of those questions have been answered there. Celebrity Constellation 22nd October 2022. Rome to Tampa Roll Call

Ditto

Well, we just paid $30/day to upgrade the basic wi-fi to premium for one login - after the discount (regular price is $35/day), so at least that!

Our TA is not hitting Bermuda, not hitting Canada, and still falls under these new guidelines. Even worse, without this forum it is unlikely I would have seen these updates! After looking over the celebrity site, I still do not see the transatlantic page, and they did not email us with it, either. This is all I see on the healthy at sea page about transatlantic: Currently published testing and vaccination requirements remain in place for cruises from Australia and New Zealand, and the Galapagos; cruises that depart from or visit Canada; and transatlantic sailings, until further notice. The word "transatlantic" is not clickable, and if I do the "click here" and go down the rabbit hole until I hit Italy, I do not see it there.

Best football experience I ever had on Celebrity was when we watched the Super Bowl on a B2B Australia/New Zealand cruise in 2020. We didn’t care who won, KC or San Fran (we are Bills fans), but X put on a terrific spread in the movie theater. All the food and drink you could imagine; it’s was a very congenial sport bar experience with plusher seats.

We have wine shipped home. We have purchased artwork and had it shipped home. Same for Persian carpets. Momentos are small, and fit in the carry on. We also pack a collapsible bag in case we need it. To date we haven't used it, but just in case, we bring it.