CalTexCruiser

6 hours ago, Miaminice said:

It is operating! Passengers of current cruises confirmed. 
We will do it in two weeks when we are on board.

 

 

Wonderful! We'll cancel the tour we booked and do the DIY option

7 minutes ago, kathynorth said:

On our last visit to Santorini we purchased a transport ticket directly from the water taxi company for E21 per person. When we arrived in port jumped on a tender as quickly as we could, then hurried to the ticket booth that is right across from the dock and purchased tickets on their water taxi to Oia. The ticket included the water taxi to the dock below Oia, a bus trip up to the Oia bus terminal, the bus from Oia to Fira, and the cable car down to the dock. We ended up on the same water taxi used by Celebrity and were actually able to make it on the first trip to Oia. After we spent hours in Oia we took one of the buses from the bus terminal back to Fira where we were able to shop. My DH and I took the cable trip down while my son walked the donkey path. Although the cable line looked verrry long it moved quickly and we made it to the bottom before my son did. This cost significantly less than the Celebrity excursion and was exactly the same route. 

We'd love to do the water taxi to Oia, but it is unclear whether the water taxi is operating with reduced cruise passengers these days.

If booked on Celebrity's Santorini shore excursion, would we be taken to a different dock where we can get on a bus to Oia directly, without having to go to the dock at the base of the cable car?

I seem to recall someone mentioning that on these forums, and just wanted to confirm that is still the case.

If that is the case, would it be more convenient to book Celebrity shorex instead of an independent tour since we won't have to do the cable car up to Fira?

Thanks for sharing OP

I’ve been wondering… is there a Chefs Table on the Apex?

I see it mentioned often for the Edge but haven’t seen a mention of it for the Apex

For those of you who have sailed on the Apex Greek cruises, can you recommend any independent tour operators that you had a good experience with?

Our itinerary takes us to Santorini, Chania, Rhodes, and Dubrovnik (and Mykonos but we have to use Celebrity tours for Mykonos).

Anyone out and about these days WILL be exposed to the delta virus, as people who are infected (even those vaccinated) carry high viral loads.  Florida currently is experiencing a pretty scary spike in cases.  Daily deaths in the US are approaching 1,000 per day now.

So it's a very personal decision for you whether or not to cruise under the current conditions, especially given that your husband has heart issues.  

Whether 2022 will be any better is anyone's guess.  UK scientists are saying that the mutated virus will eventually evade the vaccines, and they say we'll then be right back to 2020 where governments will have to lockdown like in 2020.  I think that's just fear mongering but who knows.

Originally I wanted to book a 10:30am return flight, but decided against anything before noon because it's just too risky and adds unnecessary stress to the end of my vacation.

I would recommend just staying one extra day in Athens if you want to fly out at 9:30.

On 8/8/2021 at 6:49 AM, TeeRick said:

That is such an unusual screen name - hard to believe there are two of them!

Maybe he has moved to the next level and did it in more than one pool

Cruising has been back for over 2 months now with no big outbreaks, even in the face of delta.

So cruising is obviously not the problem when it comes to COVID spread.  The cruise industry has been by and large pretty responsible when it comes to safety protocols.

CDC needs to focus their attention more on the millions of unvaccinated yahoos who refuse to get vaccinated even though it's safe and free, while hundreds of millions of people in the rest of the world are literally begging for vaccines.

1 hour ago, Kbonner said:

Sorry but the Harmony only starts revenue service Aug 15. You must have been a blind passenger Aug 8

I booked Aug 8 back in 2020 when Harmony was available starting in May or Jun 2021.  

I cancelled earlier this year and Royal moved me to May 2022 on Allure in Star class for about the same price as 2-bdrm Grand Suite, so I can't complain too much.

What a s--tshow.

We were on the Aug 8 Harmony from Barcelona so missed all this fun by one week.

35 minutes ago, Lane412000 said:

I had started a thread about this after our July 10th Edge cruise.  In my thread I stated it was quite aggravating to sit for an awesome meal and totally enjoy everything about it, then have to listen to 5-10 "begging session" for perfect scores on the survey.  This began on the Thursday at lunch and happened at every meal until we disembarked from the Edge. In Luminae and the MDR, we heard it from the waiter, sommelier, employee overseeing our table and the maitre'd as we attempted to leave the restaurant.

 

While it did not ruin the cruise, it placed a damper on the week.  Reminded me of walking out of a nice restaurant and being hit up for money by a panhandler.  It just presented an uneasy feeling.

 

The only place we did not receive the speech was in the buffet and also the hamburger spot near the pool.

This sounds quite aggravating.  

Perhaps everyone on the ship should name LLP the CEO in the comments box of the survey and note that Celebrity's push for perfect ratings is negatively impacting the cruise experience because of the hard sell from the service staff.

In fact, if someone on the 9-18 Apex cruise were to talk to LLP (who will be onboard celebrating her anniversary), please bring this up.

On both the Edge and Apex, these are the Edge Villas.

The way I approach this is that anyone that gives me good service I will rate a 10.

Anyone that gives me exceptional service I will write a separate review card.  On the last cruise I wrote a glowing review for our butler on a separate card and handed it to the hotel director, who read it on the spot.

15 minutes ago, Steelydad2021 said:

Outrageous photos Lord Ian

So outrageous

Captain just announced all but 3-4 passengers tested negative and the others traced with no other positives so ...

 

Safe travels home 

 

Cheers

Do you know what Celebrity does with those COVID positive passengers--do they send them back home on a private jet like Celebrity does with the Caribbean cruises?

Or more worrisome to me, do these passengers get quarantined in an Athens hotel for 2 weeks?

6 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

Something doesn't pan out here. The website says 8 TP for every >$1 theoretical on table games compared to 1 TP/$1 on slots ?? Is this just sloppy wording, purposely confusing or really that easy to sail to the 25k/100k level on table games? Not particularly difficult to cycle 3-4k through tables.

I believe "theoretical" means theoretical win of the casino.

So let's say BJ has a 1.5% house edge, then cycling $ 4,000 through a BJ game will equal $ 60 theoretical win.  The 8 TP is on the $ 60, not the $ 4,000--otherwise we would all be BCC top tier after a few evenings at the table.

15 minutes ago, Smmessineo said:

Celebrity has  3 policies for refunds and/or FCC. Each one covers a different situation.

 

***Cruise with Confidence covers you cancelling for ANY reason, up to 48 hours from boarding. You get 100% FCC.

***The Covid-19 Assistance policy covers you if you test positive within 14 days of the voyage, even a test at the port. You get 100% refund.

***the new testing poliicy Celebrity has just implemented states that if you are unable to complete the testIng requirements, you get 100% refund or FCC. 

 

These policies seem to cover all the possible scenarios that you have.

 

 

Did not know about ***, so I guess we are all covered then. 👍

10 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

This fee (5%) is waived for BCC Onyx and above, corresponding MLife tiers and onboard suite guests.

 

What I like about this option is that if you play your cards right and withdraw enough cash, with the current Chase Pay Yourself Back promo where one point is worth 1.5 cents it could pay you back for most if not all of your slot losses (if any). Otherwise I just move them to Hyatt.

16 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

It's coded as a normal purchase not as a cash advance. Plus it earns 3X on the Sapphire Reserve or Amex Green. I wish I had another Celebrity Amex Offer on my Platinum but no love this year. Got 15k for spending $500+ in 2020 which is the reason I prepaid all gratuities etc.

Great to know!!! 👍

Is there a limit on how much can be withdrawn at the casino using a credit card?  I may just maximize my withdrawals each day to get the CSR points (intend to gamble just a small fraction of it).  But then there is the issue I'll be bringing a wad of cash back to the USA (on my Apex cruise) and one has to declare over $10k cash to US customs.

47 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

I am curious - in what manner could they use it against you as long as you are abiding by what it says?

Example scenario:

I am scrambling to schedule a test and am having a hard time for my sailing this weekend.

I hope to find a test last minute and did not cancel within 48 hours of sailing, so Cruise with Confidence guarantee gone.

Celebrity denies boarding and denies my request for FCC, because their system shows that I read their email at a certain date/time and I failed to live up to their new testing requirement despite explicitly acknowledging reading their notification.

Another example scenario:

I did schedule a test, but it was a PCR test because that was all that was available.  It is three days later and the test lab did not return my results, and I am at the pier feverishly refreshing my email inbox hoping that the lab results come back--it never did, and I am denied boarding and FCC because within 48-hr Cruise with Confidence.

Question:  why bother clicking the "please click here" to verify?

I don't think there is any downside to not verifying, and us clicking to verify just allows Celebrity to document we've read the email and use it against us later if needed.

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Correct, IDK if it's fleet wide but on the Edge the host said you won't know until three days after.  Great with the chase ultimate rewards, if you have a chase card that awards extra points for travel like the CSR, if you pull the funds directly from sign and sail account you get it coded as travel.

Is pulling funds using the CSR card from the sign and sail account considered a cash advance like from an ATM, subject to fees from Chase ($ 10 or 5%, whichever is greater)?

If I can pull it off without getting charged fees from Chase or from the Fortunes casino, I'd love to do it.

In looking at the BCC benefits chart, looks like credit card cash advance fee is waived for Onyx and above.  So now it's down to avoiding the cash advance fee from Chase.

The PH suite on the Edge series have two bedrooms, so probably won't make sense for just 2 people but may make sense for more than 2?

The Edge Villa is actually quite sweet as the second level has a door that goes directly to the Retreat sundeck.

I feel for all of you on the early Aug sailings who are scrambling to schedule tests in the middle of a huge surge in COVID cases, when demand has shot through the roof.

Good luck.

And I was finally able to obtain security camera footage of a meeting of Celebrity's Healthy at Seas Protocol Department, moments before they decided to implement the testing requirement late last week:

12 minutes ago, AmazedByCruising said:

 

The 6/5 BJ payout is nice for the house, but I guess the real edge on ships is from players who just want to get as close to 21 as possible without even looking at which card the dealer has. 

True statement.

I was on the Eclipse with a tour group of 500+ passengers from Hong Kong, who randomly hit or stayed on their hands regardless of basic strategy.  I saw different such players stand on a SOFT 6 (A-5) when the dealer was showing a 10.  

I wanted to say some choice words, but relegated to muttering ***** to myself a few times.

24 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

Against my better sense I actually went to Fortunes during this trip and cycles ~ $2000 coin in through the slots (while breaking even). Not expecting anything but I wonder if there will be any bonus for regular players on this very light cruise. I don't see lots of casino action going on on this sailing which is only 50% capacity to begin with.

Did you have a chance to see what the payouts were on the BJ tables--are they all 6:5 ?

I'm hoping that Celebrity will revert back to more 3:2 tables to gin up more action.