cruise kitty

1 minute ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

Broadly speaking, yes, but different requirements for airside and landside (eg if you need to collect baggage and check in for the second flight) transit, around the locator form. The official guidance is here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-air-travel-guidance-for-passengers#transiting-through-england

Thank you, both flights are with British Air, on one ticket, so we should not have to collect our luggage, thank goodness.  We will be considered "Airside Transit"  As much as I really wanted to show my husband around London, it seems like a much better option to go on to Italy immediately, & not have to do any quarantine or tracing.    

This leaves me with just getting tested before we fly out, & then testing again 1 or 2 days before our cruise...  I'll take along some eMed tests to do before cruise,  & if for some reason they don't work, Rome seems to have lots of rapid test places.

Of course, I'm trying to be optimistic & fingers crossed that none of this will be necessary by May... one can hope!

Thanks again for all your great information & help!

I've done two with Celebrity, one with HAL since fall... on Celebrity you did not have to wear masks on the ship at all, which was wonderful

HAL, masks on indoors except when eating or drinking...  

in both cases I felt pretty safe, but honestly felt safer on Celebrity, as the PAX numbers were a fraction of what HAL's were... less than 650 on one and about 825 on the other... I don't know what HA:L's numbers were, but the MDR was packed every night with people having to wait....  On Celebrity, we didn't eat in MDR, but looked at it each night, & it was more or less empty.

That said, I wouldn't hesitate to do it again....  if I had major risks I might feel differently.  

We used Covid Clinic dot org, the home proctored Emed test, & Celebrity on board....  in every case I had printable results within 20 minutes

The home test was way easier than I would have thought, would love to do it again for our May cruise, but the kits we have expire before then.

I guess we'll see if it's even still a requirement in May...  we have to get tested for our flights, but then have about 9 days in Europe pre-cruise....  waiting until we are much closer to see what the requirements are then 🙂

57 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

Just a heads up on the suite count on Reflection.  It has 46 more suites than all the other S-class ships, meaning up to 92 more pax in a Luminae that's no bigger. It's the only ship where I received a timer to wait for a table (square plastic thingy with flashing red lights ala Red Lobster).  Last time I'll book a suite on Reflection.  I just now counted and Reflection appears to have the same number of AQ cabins as Eclipse and Silhouette so maybe the Blu wait time could have been a management problem.

 

Edit:  I bet the Blu problem is suite pax not wanting to wait for Luminae so crowding into Blu which also is no bigger.

On Reflection, we never had to wait for Luminae, but the one night we wanted to eat at Blu, boy was it packed.... now this could have been a one off, maybe due to the fact that we were heading into a sea day after 3 very intense port days (including an overnight).   I'm hoping that this May number of pax onboard will still be low..

When Reflection sails full, Blu is a zoo...not the same experience as on other ships.     Love Reflection, going on her again in May, but would only do either suite, or regular balcony & eat in Tuscan each night it's the only ship (for myself) that Blu doesn't quite work due to overcrowding.  

4 hours ago, PurpleHays said:

Y'all, wish me luck. This will be hell week at work. I work at an orthopedic ambulatory surgery center. Nov/Dec is generally crazy-stupid busy. I am normally scheduled for three 10-hour shifts (30 hours/week). I am have picked up an extra shift (double pay!) *and* it's the one Saturday a year we work (also double pay). I am scheduled for *46* hours. I am so stupid. I'm not sure I'll like myself by Saturday evening, much less anyone else. I've already told my husband to feed me and let me keep to myself on the days I work. 

 

On the other hand, that extra 16 (32) hours of pay will be nice. It's going into my new camera fund. 

 

OOTD: Athleta Moto tights and "don't get  your tinsel in a tangle" baseball shirt. Yup, had a holiday brunch to start hell week.

wow!  That is a lot of hours!  I suppose when you are done & shopping for a new camera it'll have been worth it, but take care, & we'll see you on the other side 🙂

A little more detailed info into what we did in each port:

Ketchikan week 1:   DH went on a Celebrity cruises fishing trip,  it was badly managed, he got to fish for 10 minutes.  Another man on the trip didn't get to fish at all.  On the other hand, he saw whales breaching & eagles

While DH did his morning fishing, I walked off the ship & made my way through town & into the hills for the  Rainbird Hiking Trail...  it was raining a bit, but it eventually cleared & the views were spectacular. 

Made my way back to the ship to drop off some layers, grab some coffee (with bailey's, Yum!). then back out & headed to Ketchikan's historic center...  did a little shopping, walked on the little trails there, watched the salmon, the seals chasing the salmon, very beautiful, had the little town almost to myself due to rain.  DH met up with me, told his tale of woe from the Celebrity excursion, & we headed to the Alaska Fish house...  great fish & chips & local beers.   They had a sign advertising private fishing trips & DH took down the number.

Juneau week 1:   took the blue bus to Mendenhall park $45 USD each...  well worth it in my opinion, narrated guide there & back, very interesting.  Walked around the park for a few hours, intermittent rain,  fog,  some snow higher up....waked up to waterfalls, encountered a bear (shockingly scary to come across an animal that could eat you if it wished, but it had zero interest in us)

Bus back to town...  met up with some lovely people for drinks...  after, it was dark & cold so we haded back to ship for a wonderful dinner.

Icy Strait Point:   just walked around...  our hours here were cut very short, maybe had 2 or 3 hours here?  We were trying to keep ahead of the giant storm that had been dogging us.   DH had a call he had to take for work, so I headed for a little walk through the woods...  saw an eagles nest on the way...  several eagles were sitting on the unused dock near where they are building up some new attractions.    We had a few drinks/snacks at the restaurant overlooking the bay & spotted whales in the harbor, lovely!

Week 2:

Ketchikan:   did a private fishing excursion with Baronof...  wonderful, wonderful day!   Highly recommend! We had all four seasons that day, warm sunny, windy rain, snow...   tons of wildlife viewing, amazing fishing... learned so much about Alaska !

https://exclusivealaska.com/fishing-excursions

Juneau:  glorious sunshine & a beautiful sail in... so many whales!   Walked off ship early morning, headed through town to the Mount Roberts Trail,  amazing little hike through the woods, some incredible views... hiked to top of tramway... had a few beers at top,  then took tramway down..  returned to ship & headed to indoor jacuzzis, wonderful day!

Icy Strait Point, week 2:  repeat of week one, but gorgeous weather...  took DH along for the little hike to the new construction area...  saw the Eagle returning to his/her nest... really amazing.   headed back to the little town, did some souvenir shopping, another beer at the little restaurant.. & now storm clouds were gathering...  the captain had said we would again be avoiding a storm.   

Anyhow, that's what we did...  any questions, please ask away 🙂

Really appreciate this thread!   I'll need to make a decision soon, was planning on deciding our pre cruise stay in May between London & Rome...  however, it's looking as if my simplest option will be do just add on another Italian city for pre cruise... 

Am I correct in thinking that if I'm flying to LHR & then getting on flight to FCO, I will only need to test the day before my flight?    At LHR I would be considered to be "in transit"

Thank you!

@cruisemom42 sounds like you have been super busy!  That's great that you have so much time to get stuff done at new place without having to be completely out of old place, that's always stressful, trying to time moving & getting work/repairs/remodeling complete!

Had a fantastic time on HAL, spent the week reading, relaxing, rented a cabana on two days.. walked on the promenade deck, ate & drank a LOT of mimosas 😉   This HAL ship had an area of deck called "music walk". Basically 3 or 4 areas set up like a bar/lounge with live music,  when the show would end at one little club area, it would be starting up at the next,  just brilliant.  

The food/service in MDR was mostly awful... comically awful to the point where it was actually funny...  ate in two specialty restaurants which were fantastic,  the spa area was great, along with the relaxation room, tile lounges, & thassotherapy pool.  

The standard sized Verandah cabins are much smaller than on Celebrity, so two people can't be walking around at same time, but their in room entertainment is great, lots of top notch free movies to choose from, Celebrity took that away a while back, & now you have just a handful of B list movies to choose from on X.  

The unlimited laundry package is brilliant,  I also added the pressing, but probably didn't need it.  Every morning I sent out our previous days clothing & they came back that night,  clean & pressed...

Decided that at some point we will try them for an exotic itinerary...  either do a balcony guarantee, or if it's much cheaper, an inside cabin (HAL has some big ones) & I would add on the cabana for the entire trip.. 

Anyhow, happy moving to you!

& Melody, happy moving to your daughter 🙂.    

Lois, enjoy the remainder of your cruise  🙂

Kat, I read the thread on packing in a carry on only with great interest 😉  It's funny how some people are horrified by the idea that different people travel differently,  we all have the things that make us feel more comfortable when traveling & what works for us (& doesn't). 

Anyhow,  time to continue getting ready for holiday celebrations!

47 minutes ago, steamboats said:

 

Under the current regulations in Italy a shuttle bus is not sufficient as this is no guided tour. You´re not allowed to stroll around on your own. Doesn´t matter whether a shuttle bus gets you anywhere or whether you step ashore directly from the ship.

 

steamboats

I completely understand that these are the current restrictions...   🙂 hopeful things will change by May...  if not, we have plenty of pre cruise land travel in Italy, & many port days in countries that will allow us to leave the ship unescorted.  

I'm not going to base any decisions off of what the current guidelines are... I fully expect things to get bad from now through early March, & then slowly get better, with hopefully more opening up in Spring  🙂

6 hours ago, ECCruise said:

That is not the current situation in Italy by any stretch.  No one could possibly know how things will be 6 months from now. 

 

On all the tours we took in Italy in the last 10 days, although there was a VERY limited amount of free time on most of them (like 10 or 20 minutes) and more time within the confines of Pompeii, guides kept close tabs on you when touring. No way they would let you roam freely between the time the coach left and returned to the port. 

I"m expecting things to be bad in Europe & the U.S. this winter, & for them to get better when the weather warms, similar to last year, mostly amongst communities with low V numbers...  then again some surprise could come along & throw a spanner into the works, which is why we're restarting our international travel now, even though it's difficult.  Not willing to lose more of our prime traveling years.  🙂

Enjoy your trip!  

15 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I think the answer is that since Italy is generally open to tourists [e.g. during your pre-cruise stay], the only place they check is at the port.  If everybody leaves together on a bus, and everybody comes back on the bus – who's to know what they did once the bus was out of sight?  But it satisfies the bureaucrats, who are sipping espresso in their offices in Rome...

In the past Celebrity has often offered a paid shuttle service into towns, I'm hoping at the very least they will do that & it will qualify as a ship's tour...  right now, I'm not going to worry about what I can't change, will have a ship's "on your own" plan as well as a true walk off the ship on our own plan 🙂 

We'll be on a cruise out of Rome mid-May...  Only 3 ports in Italy, & I have high hopes that by then we'll be able to tour independently... if not,  we have a week or so pre-cruise in Italy that will be free time... & our stops in Greece, Montenegro, & Croatia we'll be free to do our own thing...

What's interesting is that the cruise line (Celebrity) is selling many "on your own" excursions in Italy, which will probably be our best bet if things don't open up by May there.  I fail to see how Celebrity transporting us to Cinque Terre & picking us up 6 hours later keeps anyone safer, but we've learned cruising in the last few months to go with the flow as much as possible.

Just spent the past several days rebuilding our May cruise... we were booked on MSC for Norwegian Fjords, it sails out of N. Germany...had a week of traveling precruise through Germany planned out... however, U.S. citizens still aren't allowed in Norway, & we don't have a way to get the required covid pass as the U.S. hasn't come to an agreement with EU regarding this... so... we are now on a Celebrity Adriatic & will spend 8 days traveling through Italy.

I'm guessing things will get bad everywhere this winter, & Europe may have some lockdowns, but I expect things to be good & at least open by May.... Can't wait to be sailing into the bay of Kotor again!

Right now, if you want to travel flexibility & willingness to roll with the punches is invaluable. 

We've already done 3 cruises since late September, so obviously we haven't switched to land trips yet 😉 

2 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

If you want to change ships or sail date there is a $100 pp change fee.

I actually need to move a booking with a nonrefundable deposit, I left the second guest unnamed, very curious as to what will happen, will probably call tomorrow to make change & will report back

On 12/4/2021 at 11:11 AM, sevenseasnomad said:

Since our last cruise was Christmas/New Year's 2019, is cleaning the cabin only once a day something new?  Is there no turn-down service at night anymore?  Does it cost extra to have the room serviced twice a day?  Please advise, as we board Rotterdam Dec. 22.  If it makes a difference, we are 4* and CO.  Thanks for the information.

I was told "Most passengers prefer once a day" 😉.  I replied that I would like twice a day, & it was no problem.  Gave our cabin stewards a good review on app midway through trip, & some extra at the end.   They kept our cabin exactly the way I like..  clean, with fresh towels.   

Ask & you shall receive, we were in an ordinary verandah cabin & are 1 star.

13 hours ago, JSR said:

This is a trip to the Arctic so there is no other option then Norway. Might have to postpone to 2023. I am going to speak with Seabourn on Monday to find out if they have any plans to extend the cancelation option. There are 4 of us going, one has an EU passport as he is a dual citizen but the rest of us do not have any option to get the EU certificate unless the US finalizes their agreement with EU around the certificate or Norway starts excepting US vax cards which right now seems unlikely as Europe is starting to lock down again. 

bleh, I'm sorry.   I'm going ahead with my plans for Celebrity Adriatic instead... haven't been to Italy in about 5 years, so we'll do some pre-cruise time there......  will book Norway for 2023 instead.  I only hold a U.S. passport... right now I'm not willing to take a chance of having no holiday at all..

best wishes to you

I'm definitely a hat person, I've worn some version of a hat when outdoors for 25+ years now...  my go to is the Tilley TH9...  I actually own 3 of these...  they wash in the washing machine beautifully & you reshape & air dry.    

For more sweaty outdoor activities I have an Adidas broad brimmed hat with chinstrap from Costco, can be washed & airdryed as well

For cooler weather, I have several wool/felt broad brimmed hats... I've picked up nice ones at Nordstrom, & cheap ones at Target, & both serve me well.

Just now, jagoffee said:

Thank you.  I appreciate you explanation.  Do you think the smoke would not have been a problem if you were in the other side on Deck 6?  I much prefer a covered protected balcony as our sun worshiping days are over.

I could never figure out if it was from the smoking deck on 5 or from a nearby cabin....  I do know I will never again book a cabin on that side... I was careful to choose opposite side for the second leg 🙂

We did this on Millennium....  if you have the Premium Bev. package, pass on wine pairing upcharge...  they will pair wines from your package & you can pay the by the glass charge if there's something you really want.   

Food wise, it was good, but it was a lot  of food,  for me it was more about the experience.

We had a fun table that was completely full & were lucky to be surrounded by very enthusiastic folks ready to have a good time.   The nice thing about the very early restart cruises is that people self selected into a great group... you had to love cruising, you had to be vaccinated, you have to be willing to be flexible with last minute changes.   

had to break out the celebrity tote to lug that book home....  it would have taken up a third of my 24" spinner bag lol 😉  less than a two hour flight for us non stop 

It's a nice souvenir of a lovely cruise...  if we had been flying back from overseas would definitely not have taken the book 😉

6 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

 

I assume you were in a Sky Suite?  What was your cabin number?  We’re you on deck 6?
 

I recently booked a cruise on the Summit and I was a little concerned about the lifeboats under the Sky Suites on Deck 6.  I was wondering if that was your issue?  I ended up booking cabin 9111 on deck 9 instead.  
Thanks

Exactly, we were in a sky suite on deck 6...  6123....  great balcony, but mostly unusable due to constant cigarette smell...  the balcony is mostly unprotected, so with the storms we had week one, you could be wet & cold on the balcony, or blasted with cigarette smoke 😉

Week 2 AQ on deck 9 under overhang, cabin 9046... completely protected, & were able to leave door open for gorgeous sounds of ocean & nature...  we just turned off our room HVAC system as the air outside was fresh, cold, & perfect.  Bathroom in AQ is a step in shower with door...  Sky suite is a very tall tub...  with shower in it... it's a very tall tub & I'm 5' 3". 

The service in the sky suite was impeccable...  in both cabins we received almost daily gifts from hotel management, captains club, retreat hosts, etc. a lovely new bottle of wine almost every day 🙂.   So thoughtful.

Both rooms were beautifully updated.  In both rooms we asked the steward to please remove the desk chair (it sticks out & is a useless hazard)  & I personally packed away the knick knacks that clutter the room...   my neat freak tendencies travel with me, for good or bad 😉  I put them back on the last day.  

Good storage in both rooms,  I was never lacking for a place for our items to be neatly put away.  

The Millennium is a beautiful, beautiful ship...  we tried out the Sushi restaurant & loved it....  Chef's Table, wonderful experience, if you have the premium drinks package they will pair your included wine, don't pay the wine upcharge for the meal.  Ate at Tuscan... was just "ok" difficult to live up to Chef's Table experience.   

Enjoy!

Hi all, realized I should report back as to what I experienced...  long story short, we had such a great week, we stayed on for the next cruise which put us into October (we were the last Celebrity cruise in Alaska of the season).   Week one:  70+ knot winds & storms..  so bad that Canada gave us permission to enter... suddenly our very odd Alaska U.S. waters only turned into an Inside Passage cruise...  there was some fog/rain/wind, but it was magical!  

Every bit of every day was gorgeous, gorgeous scenic cruising...  in the ports we would get off & go hiking...  some I did on my own, while DH went fishing...    

By day 4, we knew we were going to stay on for the next week.

Week 2:   Sunshine, sunshine, & more sunshine....  Inside passage again!   same cruise, but somehow completely different...  More hiking, but without being rained on...   Whales, so many whales

went along with DH on a private fishing charter with another couple in Skagway, beautiful scenery, & I caught fish! 

Spotted Eagles hunting, nesting, soaring, bears foraging, salmon streaming upriver... experienced ports with only the few hundred people that were on our ship that should hold thousands...

My glass of wine was always full...  two of the best weeks I have ever spent on a cruise, & an Alaska experience that can never be duplicated.  

Any questions, please ask away 🙂

We were on Millennium 2 weeks in September & October.   The ship is gorgeous.  Did week one in suite & week 2 in aqua/blu.     Cabin wise, preferred our aq cabin over S1.   Food & service wise, preferred Luminae.   Blu was less than we have come to expect,  & we ended up booking specialty restaurants mostly.   Favorite place? The Retreat Lounge with its amazing staff & the outdoor area aft of buffet… some excellent whale watching there.     The Persian Gardens are “ok”. Nothing like S class.    Loved the indoor thassotherapy pool area, but jets aren’t currently working.   Way more to love than to complain about.     Would book again in a heartbeat, love the edge upgrades.  

Hi Melody, your granddaughter is gorgeous!   I'm no help gift wise... I have zero idea what today's teenagers like...  it seems like gift cards are always a good idea, or maybe a spa day with you ?

Cruise critic has definitely been acting up... have to clear cookies, log out & log back in 🙂 getting used to it lol

Lois, glad to hear you are having a relaxing time 🙂. bet it's beautiful there!

1 hour ago, JSR said:

We have final payment for our Norway cruise  on January 12. I am hopeful by then we will know if we can enter the country or not without quarantine. So far I have been able to ascertain that we could have a 3 day quarantine instead of 10 but still that is not 100% gty. Very frustrating as Seabourn's Covid cancellation ends April 30 and our cruise is May 14. Insurance is in the thousands so am hesitant to spend that kind of money on insurance. 

totally understand, is there another cruise that you could switch to....   the more I think about it, the more I realize the Fjords just might not work for us this year... if I cancel & stick with the Celebrity cruise I can peacefully go forward knowing that things will more than likely work out.    I've never been this close to a cruise without some serious plans & hotels booked already...

I'm thinking I might not wait until February to make this decision, just might start booking my pre Rome instead of Germany