CalTexCruiser

2 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Nice try, but I doubt facts will change the mind of some people.   There are people that are determined to stay in a lockdown mode forever.  Some of these people even think they are following the science.

And anyone who plans to stay in lockdown mode until COVID is eradicated will probably have to wait a long, long, long time .

Experts have said COVID will become endemic, i.e., it will return every year for the rest of our lives.

5 hours ago, Seany527 said:

The contact tracing was effective and ranged from people who took shore excursions with the two positive guests, down to people who sat immediately next to them at the bar and had physical contact. 

 

Thank you for taking time away from your vacation to share with us.

Maybe I missed it, but how does Celebrity perform contact tracing?  

I don't recall people having to wear contact tracing bracelets like on the Singapore Quantum sailings.

Take a deep breath folks.

The Millenium will not be a Diamond Princess.  They will be OK.

Has anyone seen some of the Dallas Mavericks NBA playoff games from 2 weeks ago--full house, no masks.  If that did not produce a huge spike in COVID cases, then that proves COVID vaccines work.

39 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

A Celebrity tour makes sense in Israel considering the current “war” situation.   You will probably have a couple of armed soldiers on board as bodyguards.    COVID is a secondary issue but a high percentage of the Palestinians have not received the shots and can still be found in certain areas.   A number are being forced out of Jerusalem and their homes are torn down.   These folks are very disgruntled and can cause trouble.

So will the passengers on these tours be handed rifles to fight alongside the "couple of armed soldiers" against the intifadah ?

LOL 

2 hours ago, angelsil said:

 

Agreed. I'm booked for September on Apex and this wasn't what I had planned at all. I understand that masks are required outdoors in Greece currently (have friends on a land trip there this week) but on the ship? C'mon, the ship is supposed to be 95% vaccinated. I'm not taking a mask to the pool.

I'm booked on the Apex also in September, and this is a negative development.

Guidance may change later in the summer, but I have a decision to make at final payment time in late June to see if I want to cancel.  Outdoor masking on an almost fully vaccinated cruise ship is just unnecessary, but I guess Celebrity has to follow guidelines of the relevant jurisdictions.

So what about the cabin these two are staying in?  Will it be taken out of service for a week?

Anyone on the 6-12 sailing whose cabin is reassigned last minute may now speculate why.

10 minutes ago, cltnccruisers said:

Pre registering is in direct contradiction to DiSantis' law.  I agree it would seem the best way to go, but.....

During pre-registration, the following prompt can be provided:

"To avoid a COVID test at the pier at your expense (estimated to be $ 250 per person), please upload a copy of your COVID vaccination card, which we will verify when you embark."

This does not violate the Florida law, which states:

"A business entity ... may not require patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-infection recovery to gain access to, entry upon, or service from the business operations in this state"

3 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

She is emphatic they will control capacity accordingly. I assume they will work a question into check-in and reserve the right to deny boarding at the pier if that 5% threshold is met and you are unwilling to provide proof. I'm positive the testing will be very expensive also. They also will have to wear masks except when eating/drinking or in the cabin.

Clever I guess.  Fain said their surveys show a vast majority wanted to go on vaccinated cruises so they must be confident that the folks they are basically telling to stay away would make up an insignificant portion of their customer base.

15 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

They are full steam ahead with vaccination requirement for US cruises....

 

More details coming.

 

Florida cruises - providing proof is optional. Unvaccinated cruisers must pay for their own tests. Still sticking to the 95% number though.

If providing proof is optional, how do they establish that 95% of passengers are vaccinated?

And what happens on day of departure they realize they are under the 95% threshold?

4 minutes ago, bajathree said:

Come Nov the CSO expires and I don't think any of these vaccine mandates are going to matter. Thats not far away...so if you really want to sail vaccine only you may want to sail sooner than latter.

1 minute ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

I'd lean towards agreeing with you there. I can't see this lasting long. We don't cruise again until February and barring anything catastrophic happening, I don't foresee it being required by then. Cruise lines hate regulation and the quicker they can get out from under this, they will. But I haven't see a thing pointing to what the long term COVID oversight may be. 

Dr Gottlieb (former FDA commissioner) said on CNBC that booster shots may be required in the fall, because he fears that cases may go up again after the summer.

I think he's been the voice of reason throughout the pandemic when others have either been too cautious (Fauci) or too dismissive (the anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers).

So for those of us with sailings in early 2022, the CSO may be extended well into 2022 if COVID cases start going up again when the weather cools again.

1 minute ago, wrk2cruise said:

This wouldn't apply to the 95% cruises, only RCL sailings with no such requirement as they are doing simulated sailings before doing revenue sailings.

 

I'm not so sure about that...it sure sounds like he is trying to find a way to meet the 95% rule for Celebrity sailings while still satisfying the "no vaccine passport" Florida law.

I think making it cost prohibitive for unvaccinated cruisers would discourage them from booking Celebrity, while he can still say he is not requiring vaccination documentation, just that passengers can choose to show their vaccination cards to avoid paying for tests.

And if "capacity control" is required on the day of sailing to meet the 95% vaccination rule, guess who'll be first in line to be "capacity controlled" off the ship.

Of course, Royal/Celebrity will pay for one-night hotel while the "capacity-controlled" guests make their own arrangements to go home.

37 minutes ago, keels81 said:

In this video from Richard Fain, it sounds like Celebrity is keeping the vaccination requirement at at least 95 percent, and that Royal Caribbean is looking into ways to make it cost-prohibitive for unvaccinated adults to cruise (ie. having to pay for the expense of testing, etc.). 

 

 

Interesting approach...make non-vaccinated cruisers pay for tests.

One easy way to make it cost-prohibitive for them is to require daily Covid tests at $ 100 per person (12 and older)...that'll put the kibosh on the issue.  

To skip the daily tests, show your vaccination card at check-in.

1 minute ago, Wilson said:

Exactly! That be awesome experience. I have cruised twice with the blogger, Billy, and he is very informative and provides accurate information.

If I lived in a gateway city with non-stop flights to SXM I'd book the next cruise given this awesome review, but unfortunately I'm on the West Coast and it's a 10-hr flight for me.

6 minutes ago, Wilson said:

There is a live blog...First Cruise Back! Today We Set Sail for the First Time in Over a Year!  Celebrity Millennium: Day One | CruiseHabit

Nice!  The blogger said 27% capacity on this first sailing.

The entire ship would be like the Retreat since no crowding anywhere!  Almost like a private yacht experience on a large ship.

3 minutes ago, imtired1959 said:

 

Flame on...

 

Both Celebrity and the port countries have completely dismissed the science.   From CDC data, your chance of getting Covid after vaccination is 0.00074%.  Requiring hospitalization is 0.00056% and death from covid after vaccination is below 0.0002%. 

 

For comparison, the chance of being hit and dying from a lightning strike is 0.0006%.  There are thunderstorms at sea but the cruise industry doesn't seem to be concerned about that.  You also have about 1.00% chance of dying in an automobile accident, but we don't think twice about getting in a car.

 

Flame off...

 

 

I agree with you that vaccinated people participating in all activities now are at very, very low risk of suffering bad outcomes from Covid, and that's why we feel very confident in cruising again.

To be fair to Celebrity regarding the 72-hr PCR test requirement, Celebrity is only instituting this requirement because of Barbados.  On the Athens sailing, only an antigen test at the pier is required to get on board. 

And I suspect they are requiring the antigen test because they can't be sure that the CDC vaccine cards are all authentic.

31 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

 

So, for those cruising from St Maarten, the question becomes:  Has your opinion of Celebrity as a trusted travel provider a) Gone Up, b) Stayed the same, or c) Gone Down?  Not asking for answers, but that's the bottom line, in more ways than one.

It has certainly lowered my confidence in whether Celebrity can be relied upon to communicate sailing requirements to me in an accurate and timely manner.

As my Athens sailing gets closer, I'm going to be monitoring these Cruise Critic message boards to see if anything has changed, rather than rely on anything Celebrity tells me.

This is bass-ackwards.

4 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

Anyone who is surprised or upset by last minute changes really has no business cruising right now. I truly don't understand why this is unexpected. Things change sooooooo often anymore. Vaccinated, not vaccinated. Covid test, not covid test. PCR test, antigen test. Vaccinated or covid test. Vaccinated at 18, vaccinated at 16, vaccinated at 12.  It's constant. You are dealing with your home country, St Martin, curacao, aruba, and barbados. 5 separate entities with their own requirements that change as they see fit. Of course these cruises are going to have changes. Anyone who felt the need to be on the "first" cruises should have anticipated this. I really hope the people on later June cruises think that this is the last change... of course it's not. It's going to keep changing. International travel right now, especially as complicated as cruising is a matter of being flexible and rolling with the punches. 

 

I have a land trip to two countries planned for September/October. As of today, I need to take 4 separate covid tests. What will it be in September? No fricken clue. 

I don't think it's the last minute changes that people are mainly upset about, but the bungled way in which Celebrity notified customers of the last minute changes.

Starting on May 31, their website said one thing, and emails to customers stated something else.  Then customers started getting different emails with different requirements, some stating 72-hr PCR required, others omitting this requirement.  AND absolutely no explanation of WHY the last minute change was required.  

If Celebrity would have explained on their website or in emails that the last minute change was required by a last minute change of Barbados, people would have been more understanding, and rolled with the punches like you said.

1 hour ago, tallyho8 said:

 

 

Dear Guest,          We look forward to welcoming you aboard Celebrity Millennium for your 7-Night Aruba, Curacao and Barbados cruise departing June 5th, from Phillipsburg, St. Maarten. Before we board, we have some important health requirement information to share with you.       Celebrity Cruises requirements for boarding: All guests must present a negative RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to arrival at the cruise terminal. The name on the test results must match those on government issued identification. Proof of vaccination in the form of the original vaccination card for all guests 16 and older. No photocopies or photos accepted. Children between the ages of 2-15 who are not vaccinated must complete a RT-PCR test at the terminal prior to boarding.

Their blurb that unvaccinated children will complete the PCR test at the terminal tells me that Celebrity has PCR tests available at the port on embarkation day.

My guess (which is purely speculative but I did book a Holiday Inn Express for an upcoming trip to Chicago) is that whoever shows up without the 72-hr PCR test will be administered one by Celebrity at the port on embarkation day.

I want these early cruises to succeed because I want our cruise in Sep to go.

But Celebrity is shooting themselves in the foot.  

With this last minute change, there will be some number of passengers who show up on June 5 without the 72-hr PCR test...what happens to them?  This will be a public relations nightmare.

Wow.  Maybe Celebrity has two groups of monkeys sending out two sets of emails.

Also, I guess fortunately for us Athens cruisers, Celebrity's CEO is on one of the Sep sailings to celebrate her anniversary, so one can assume that Celebrity's team of 1000 monkeys will be on their best messaging behavior for the Athens sailings.  

The interesting thing is that for the Athens sailings (which I am booked on), there has never been a PCR test requirement, only the antigen test at the terminal.  Last update of the Athens protocol was May 28.

I wonder if some ports that the St Maarten sailings are visiting (not St Maarten itself) are imposing this requirement on Celebrity last minute, and Celebrity just sucks at consistent messaging/timely notification of customers.

I feel for all of you on these early cruises.

celebrity should hand out generous OBCs for all the anxiety being caused while they are ironing out the kinks in these early sailings 

I enjoyed the non-smoking casinos on Celebrity.

I don't understand why parent company Royal C does not adopt the same policy. What's good for the goose is ....

Hope it happens before my first cruise ever on Royal C next May.