delondin

1 hour ago, MarkE said:

I spoke with Celebrity about the 72 hours and us being at 75 hour when boarding at 12:00 PM, she checked with the supervisor and advised us we would be fine as long as paper work stated tested on 

Aug.5 and we are sailing on Aug 7, which is three days.  I asked for and email stating this and she stated they could not do that.  I hope she is correct as we could not get another appt. for another test and get results in time.  Will let you know how it goes Saturday afternoon, fingers are crossed.

The Uk Celebrity sailings clarified it by sending a schedule for the summer sailings showing 3 days, the actual time didn’t matter. 

On the Uk silhouette cruise 17 th July, they cancelled about 30 passengers 3 days before due to too much capacity. No incentives to move. 

I was reading that the library is closed on the Saga summer UK sailings due to covid protocols. Haven’t read the same for Cunard but you never know. 

7 hours ago, upwarduk said:

What expense- Celebrity are paying for the tests- at least in UK, where they have had this protocol since the start of the UK Staycations on Silhouette.

The email the op shows for the Equinox states that it is for the guest to arrange and pay for their own test. 

17 hours ago, exlondoner said:

 

Apart from anything else, just driving from the Mayflower to the Ocean terminal can take a surprisingly long time,  Southampton traffic being what it is, so you would want to allow plenty of time for that. But I don't see how appearing at a testing station can be construed as checking in. Surely they are different thing?

Because it says arrive at your allocated time  as stated on your e ticket and then after paperwork is checked and testing is complete you drive to ship’s terminal where you drop of your luggage and hand car over. 

54 minutes ago, mklions said:

We are on the 14th August sailing, can we now leave the ship independently or do we still have to use the Celebrity excursions?

How much longer do we leave it before they sell out?, ideally we want to go ashore on our own.

Mklions.

You can book them now, you can cancel later if things change.  I think t is 48 hours before.

I read it to mean arrive at mayflower (if parking) at the allocated time on your e ticket, as it states please arrive at your allocated time and you’ll wait in your car until all checked and tested then drive to ship’s terminal to drop luggage and leave car. 

1 hour ago, Spearj said:

Hi - we're due to sail on Aug 6th and as yet haven't received our Guest Booklet and am unable to access the luggage tags online either.

As we're in a Sky Suite I wondered whether we're able to access the Suite concierge or should I just go through the regular telephone number?

 

I know that we can get luggage tags at the dock, but it's part of the holiday enjoyment for me to go through the booklet and print out our own luggage tags 😊

Private message celebrity on social media and they should be able to sort the guest booklet/luggage labels for you. 

I haven’t sailed Reflection  but from the photos I’ve seen on the aft sky suites (S1) the balconies look very shallow compared to the other S class ships. Also there are more passengers on Reflection compared to the other S class so that makes a difference too. 

2 hours ago, Julie Jean said:

Also had no reply to DMs -  the issue is that it looks like 3 tests are required. May be able to combine one with ours (although there are no available slots now), a second the day before and a third at the terminal. But that’s just how I read a rather confusing email

I don’t think it is very clear, but from the emails I have seen posted it reads to me that under 18’s have a pcr 72 hours like the vaccinated adults, then they have an antigen test at the terminal then another antigen test on the ship before disembarking. That was my understanding of the 3 stage process. 

3 hours ago, woodards said:

 

Do you know if suites where fully booked?

 

Do you happen to have any pictures of the afternoon tea? ☕

 

Clearly British weather is unpredictable and can be extreme but did you find it excessively windy up there? Have spent many breezy days up on the same deck pre retreat and always found it ok.

Yes the suites were fully booked. It wasn’t too windy up there but we were travelling at low speeds, averaging about 8 - 12 knots. I think shade would be more of an issue if it was very hot. 
 

no pictures of afternoon tea, but it is currently served to you as are all the snacks, coffees etc. I imagine post covid it will be self serve. 

We were on Silhouette on 9 July. Retreat lounge was pretty empty whenever we were there, although we didn’t go for afternoon tea. We had mid morning coffees and pre dinner drinks and had no trouble getting a seat. If it gets too busy apparently they move some into an area in the ensemble lounge. Never saw that. 
 

The retreat sun deck was the same. Good service up there. Had jacuzzi to myself. 
 

never had to wait for Luminae. Seats were spaced out for social distancing. 
 

This sailing had less than 1000 pasengers 

8 hours ago, ighten said:

Email update tonight from Celeb..

 

ALL ages will now need a PCR test (though they do not need to pre register and will be done at the port) is the gist of it..

 

Guests of all ages will now be required to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within three days of embarkation.  A negative test result may be displayed as either an RT-PCR or PCR test.  Instructions for PCR testing will be provided via email in advance of your sailing.  Guests can book a complimentary PCR test via the Eurofins service also offered by Celebrity Cruises.

 

Unvaccinated children, aged 17 and under, will also be required to take an antigen test at the terminal prior to embarkation and on the day before disembarkation.  Overall, for unvaccinated children, this will be a three-step testing process.  Children aged 6 months – 17 years do not need to pre-register for their antigen test. Registration and the antigen testing will be completed at the terminal. This will be a complimentary rapid test and results will be available within 30 minutes.  Guests aged below 6 months are not permitted to travel.

My reading of this is that the Pcr test needs to be done before you get to the port, then they will have a antigen test at the terminal as well. 

When did you actually book because the offer applied from bookings made from 25 March so you might find that you qualify anyway. 

On 7/21/2021 at 12:25 PM, SALAD MUNCHER said:

You are so right. Who would want to pay $100 to go to Cheshire Oaks! It is truly madness. I will not go on any excursion if this is the case. I have already done this cruise in 2019 on QV so have visited all towns we are stopping at, both on that cruise or whist travelling independently at other times.

 

As I said, who wants to sit on a bus with groups of other travelling miles to visit a particular "place of interest", when you  are far more safe taking yourself off for a walk in the fresh air, using your own judgement on risks and safety.    

I think it may be more to do with keeping groups in bubbles. So if someone in your excursion gets covid they know who they were in close contact with. I think the excursions dropping you off independently aren’t actually happening in reality. 

16 hours ago, Jimmark said:

Hello everyone,

We’re sailing on Silhouette on 31st July and really looking forward to it. Just wondering if anyone has noticed if men’s Breitling watches are for sale? Dreaming that unused cruise credit might make this a worthy investment – although I suspect they will still be way out of our price range ☹️

And thanks to everyone who’s been posting reviews and pictures – we’ve really enjoyed seeing them!
 

I read a review and the person bought a Breitling and said it was cheaper than Goldsmiths and he said don’t be afraid to haggle. 

4 minutes ago, Tony UK said:

Thank you for that!

If you haven’t been with them before they are usually a very good product. More formal in terms of dress, entertainment and dining but I like them. Not such a good drinks package! 

5 hours ago, Tony UK said:

Lets hope something opens up soon. Either allowing us to have approved vaccines or approval or something to enable us to get back to the sea again!

I believe Cunard will let you sail with a letter confirming your trial status. Might be worth considering. 

37 minutes ago, isdoo said:

I will be doing this or shopping. 

 

Being in a top suite and not wanting to do ships excursions my options are limited! 

We used ours in the shops (perfume, makeup, clothes) and also had a couple of spa treatments. Had a little gamble in the casino.
 

Bit cross with ourselves that we went over though as the charges don’t always appear at once so don’t make that mistake. 

3 hours ago, Bretty said:

A question fir those who’ve sailed already re suite / retreat guests check in - is there a dedicated check in and luggage drop for suite guests at Southampton?

 

many thanks

I saw a priority luggage drop on Kerbside but I’m not sure which suites qualify. There was also a suite line in the terminal but my check in was 12 and it was very quiet. 

12 hours ago, Mim Lloyd said:

I'm on the Silhouette at this moment and agree with others about how efficient the check in process is. One of my party didn't receive their Eurofins PCR result and we also have 3 children with us who needed testing at the port. It was all dealt with very swiftly. Despite there only being 1000 passengers aboard it doesn't feel empty, although the Silhouette is only a small ship.

What's nice is not having to hunt for a table in the Ocean view cafe and for sunbeds around the pool. It's very hot and although the beds in the sun right by the pool were all taken by 10am, there were still loads of others available on deck 14 where the Mast bar and grill is. The pool music and entertainment is surprisingly good during the day but the evening shows and entertainment is pretty meh. Out of all the cruise lines I've sailed on Celebrity is the worst for shows and evening singers. 

You can go to the bar for your own drink but the weird thing is that the seats at the Martini bar are facing away from the bar (your back will be to the bartenders) but the other bars are okay. It's nice though to always be able to get seats. As you all probably already know, the buffet have servers to plate your food but it work well and there are plenty of staff so you don't have to queue. We did a deal with a waitress at Le Petit Chef in Qsine to have a meal in there last night. Only paid $35 for each adult (4 of us) and all 3 children were free which was a decent deal.

There are 30 children on this sailing and the Camp at Sea club is staffed by lovely people. Only about 20 attended in total today, the others just wanted to play in the pools and jacuzzis with their parents. Our 2 eldest really enjoyed it and are looking forward to the sessions for the rest of the week. The staff said there's a lot more children on next week's cruise, many are young teens who they don't expect to see much of!

We're now waiting to hear if we can remove our masks at one minute past midnight tonight and be allowed to leave the ship on our own when in Belfast and Liverpool. Hope so, it's such a faff remembering to put a mask on when walking around the inside of the ship.

Following a vlog of someone currently on board they confirmed that masks and social distancing were not changing for the current cruise. 

On 7/15/2021 at 2:07 PM, PaulB123 said:

I request fevertree for our room and the Retreat Suite Concierge seem to think they did have fevertree.  It would just be strange if they didn't.

I couldn’t get any in the retreat lounge. Concierge checked other bars but no joy. Schweppes or Canada Dry were the choices. You could maybe get on special order for in suite. 

28 minutes ago, isdoo said:

Indeed. More interested in knowing I guess, how you are treated. Do you get the red carpet or put with everyone else. 

Luminae was open but I can’t remember what time it closed. We had a check in of 1200 - 1230. We got there early due to our transport so we were on board by 12 drinking in the retreat lounge. There was a separate check in for suites and once through shown to a separate seating area. Waited about 10 minutes. Concierge escorted a group of us then seemed to stay in lounge so I think they escort the first group through. All very painless. 

13 minutes ago, chemmo said:

 

Hopefully your emails will have been forwarded to the ship...

 

If you have your email lists ready to give to the butler on boarding your room will be sorted by the time you have sipped your first champagne in the Retreat and dined in Luminae...

 

As you get to the Retreat Lounge on boarding (if you haven’t bumped into your butler as you collected your room keys) let the concierge know you are unsure if your requests have gone through. He/she will be able to check immediately and call for the butler to come and collect your lists if necessary. The only thing you may have to wait a little longer for is the spirits as I think the store is locked when you are in port. As I think I said in an earlier post it is more an inconvenience for the butler than the guest when these communications get lost in thin air!

 

Hope you have a fantastic cruise!

Yes we had to wait a day or so for the spirits as the Butler had to put an order in. No big deal as there is enough drink on the ship! 

47 minutes ago, isdoo said:

Sadly it doesn't sound like she is very good, which is a great shame. 

4 hours ago, isdoo said:

 

Not good. 

 

I assume that you have sailed? Did you get it all sorted on board or did you get it sorted another way? 

Yes the concierges on board are brilliant. Everything sorted fairly quickly with the Butler once onboard.  No complaints.