Panzano

A youth counselor in the kids club on Celebrity Silhouette was arrested on November 30th for molesting 4 children who were in the club.   Here's the details:

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/celebrity-silhouette-youth-counselor-accused-of-molesting-children-on-cruise-ship/3178431/

We were in SV 10276 (next to the sky suite) on Apex last Summer.  Attached is a video of the room.  If you want to focus on the veranda, fast forward to the 4:00 minute mark and again at 4:35.  

It's smaller than the other SV verandas but we were able to have 2 loungers and 2 chairs on the balcony. Note that the loungers went under the slanted glass railing so that you had to slide your feet under the glass railing to get on it.  It wasn't a problem.  We were on a Scandinavian cruise so didn't spend a lot of time out there sunning.     

We’re on the reflection TA now with Premium Wi-Fi.  Streaming Netflix, Prime and YouTube TV with no problem.  

I forgot to mention another place in my earlier post.   The Salisbury, YMCA Kowloon.  The first time a friend stayed there, I thought he was joking but look it up on Trip Advisor.  It's close to the harbor and some rooms have harbor views.  It books up early and is open to all.

I love Hong Kong!  Been going there for 40 years for both work and vacations.  Last time I was there was a few months before the pandemic outbreak.  

I love staying on Kowloon.  From that side you get great views of the laser light show that occurs nightly on Hong Kong Island.   Also, you can either take the subway one stop from there and you're on Hong Kong Island.  You can also take the classic Star Ferry across HK Harbor.  It's a delightful ride, especially at night (although I think I read somewhere that they may be closing down the ferry at some point).  

I've never stayed at any of the hotels you've noted so can't comment.  

My favorite hotel is the Regent (formerly Intercontinental) right on the harbor on the Kowloon side.  It's pricey but hey, you only go around once.   I've also stayed at the Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel and the Park Lane Hotel on the Hong Kong Island side. They're more reasonably priced.  Finally, I've stayed at the Island Shangri-la, also on the Hong Kong Island side.   

Hotels are very expensive in Hong Kong but with the Covid mess there, they're offering some great deals.  

Enjoy!  I hope to get there at least one more time before I hang up my traveling shoes.

8 hours ago, Spurschick said:

Confused.???

above the clouds says it is $20

the premium package covers drinks up to $17 so how was it a $6 up charge???

I was on the Summit last month with the premium package and the limit was $15, not $17,  so the upcharge for above the clouds would be $5 plus 20% tip ($1) so the total upcharge would be $6.

1 hour ago, TMLAalum said:

At what time are the new itineraries released? At midnight?

We know the itinerary and desired cabin category we want based on the '23 sailing and want to be prepared to book immediately.

Please share any tidbits for booking asap once the schedule is released. Thanks!

I got online at midnight (US east coast time) for the cruises that came out on November 15th, and they were already listed and available for booking. 

We just booked an Apex  Norway & Arctic cruise for July '24.   The dates were released on the

15th (today) .  I got online around midnight and by then a majority of the sunset verandas were already booked.  We snagged one on deck 8.   If you don't care about the location of your room, I guess you can wait but I'm glad we got the stateroom category we wanted.

As an aside, we did the same thing for the April '23 Beyond TA.  As soon as we could book it we snagged an S1 Sky Suite.  I thought it was expensive at $12,000 but now I just saw a Magic Carpet Sky Suite (an S2 or S3) and it's going for $19,000.  So,  early booking has paid off for us.

If your ship is docking at 19, you shouldn't have any problem dropping off your luggage at the terminal, parking in the palm garage and the walking back to the terminal.   

https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1/clients/porteverglades/FINAL_REVISED_July_27_2021_Facilities_Guide_Map_PEG799_Port_Facilties_MAP_11x17_02_8d630dbd-4022-4da1-ad1a-cb5ceef4f230.pdf

18 minutes ago, misand said:

It gives me error when I click on the link.  The storm now shows coming in at midnight tonight and closer to boynton beach and vero.  I’m supposed to sail on the summit to but haven’t heard anything.

Sorry, try this link:  

https://wwwx.miamidade.gov/Apps/Seaport/dailydock/SSRSReportDock.aspx

We're supposed to be on the Summit that is scheduled to depart tomorrow (11/10) from Miami but when I checked the Port of Miami website it looks like the ship is still scheduled to arrive in Miami at 6 tomorrow but it notes that it won't depart Miami until Friday (11/11) at 4   https://wwwx.miamidade.gov/Apps/Seaport/dailydock/SSRSReportDock.aspx

I've checked the Celebrity website and haven't seen anything noted.   Has anyone heard anything or is there anyone currently on the Summit who had some additional information on when the ship will arrive in Miami.    

We were in a crown loft suite on Allure a couple weeks ago.  They had Lavazza coffee maker in our suite.

Enjoy!

I'd hate to be the PRH/Butler for that RS!   Can you imagine the extra work s/he will be doing taking care of not only the passengers booked in the RS but all their "nearest & dearest" who also want to enjoy the benefits of a royal suite?      

We're interested in taking a transatlantic cruise on the Ascent in 2024 (either Spring or Fall).  I've checked but 

can't find the date these cruises will be available to be booked.   Does anyone know the release dates?   Thanks.

We're on the Allure Sunday as well ... no luggage tags either.   I'm on the phone now with John, an RC rep.  He said he'd email them to me.  I told him to wait till I received the email.  The email contained the e-docs ... with no luggage tag page in them.  19 pages of information but no sample luggage tag.  I told him that and he said they're there.  I told him to look at the doc he sent and if he can find the luggage tags to let me know -- he can't.  I know I can get luggage tags at pier but would like them before as it seems like there will be many in the same situation and it could be chaos there.

We usually sail with Celebrity and this is our first time on Royal since 2016.     We're in a CLS and I thought we were supposed to get something in writing re. our preferences for meals and shows.  Nothing.  The guy I'm talking to now said they don't do that.    The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

We usually sail in suites on Celebrity and there's no comparison on how suite passengers are handled on Celebrity vs RCL.    

There is usually a folder or paper with the name and phone number of your butler.  You should be able to call him/her directly.   

We booked a sky suite on the April '23  14 night Beyond transatlantic as soon as it came out and were shocked that it was $12,273 for a S1 sky suite for 2 passengers.   Now, S2 sky suites on the same cruise are selling for $19,000 for 2 people.

What I thought was a ridiculously high price when I booked is now a "bargain"......

Looking forward to reading your review and updates.  

We're in a crown loft suite on Allure next month.   Can you tell me if you reserved entertainment prior to the cruise or will you do it once you're aboard?

We usually cruise Celebrity and haven't been on an Oasis class ship for 6 years  when we reserved entertainment prior to boarding.  I'm not sure how things are done now.

We just got off the Apex last Wednesday, a 10th anniversary celebration .  We were super careful the entire12 days.  We Received our second booster 3 weeks before our trip, Had room attendant come in only once a day and we cleaned down the room with wipes after she was finished.  We didn’t go to any shows, didn’t hang out in bars, always masked, walked stairs rather than taking elevators, canceled celebrity excursions and took shuttles when in ports.   Even though it was noted that masks were required on celebrity excursions and shuttles, 90% were unmasked on the shuttles into towns. 
This was our fifth cruise (4 Caribbean) since restart and we always felt safe until this one.  We arrived at our assigned boarding time and were seated in a packed large hall for over an hour with most people unmasked.  It was clear this cruise would be different than our other 4.  We enjoyed the cruise and thought we did everything we could to stay well.  We were particularly careful as we were traveling to Paris for a few days after the cruise and wanted to enjoy that part of the trip.  
The night we got off the ship my husband complained of cold symptoms and he took one of the Covid tests we brought with us.  He tested positive, I didn't.  2 days later I started feeling like a cold was coming on but still tested negative.  This morning I tested positive.   I’ve had colds worse than this but still don’t feel like going out and walking around the city.  
People have moved on from Covid and unless a more severe variant emerges, there’s no going back.  We all have to assess our own risk tolerance and make decisions accordingly.  
In retrospect, if we knew that most actions we experienced on our earlier cruises had been removed (e.g., self serve buffet, not enforced masking on excursions), we probably would have passed on this cruise.

Unfortunately, Covid is going to be with us for a long time so if one wants to cruise, s/he need to accept the inherent risks that go along with it.


 

Just boarded Apex this morning.  Covid is over .. Back to normal!!
We sat in large warehouse waiting room for an hour before boarding ( even though we arrived at our scheduled time). 80% unmasked with no distancing.  Buffet is a mix of self serve and staff served.  People back to not washing hands, licking their fingers and taking food without using utensils.  
Already starting to hear coughs. We are  masked at all times, except eating, as well as vaxed and double boosted (2nd booster 3 weeks ago) but still feel vulnerable.  I think people are just ready to move on.   If you’re afraid of getting Covid, now is not a good time to cruise. 

The door "connecting" the two staterooms is in the hallway.  Once you go through it, you'll come to two doors, one for the Sunset Veranda and the other to the sky suite.   There's no connecting door inside the stateroom.

I wonder if the verandas (both IV & SV) come as pre-assembled pods and are inserted in the ship.  It looks like the extra space in the SV is about the same amount of space that's used for the infinite verandas.

Are the results of the EMED test kit results accepted by all airlines for flying back to US from Europe?

We've been in an infinite veranda, sunset veranda and sky suite on Edge.  We hated the infinite veranda but loved both the sunset veranda and sky suite.  Our "sweet spot" moving forward is to sail in a sunset veranda.  

The price is less than a sky suite but it's not just the price difference.  In a sunset veranda we get a huge veranda that has 2 chaise lounges, 2 chairs and a small table.  The room itself is as large as an infinite veranda (including the "balcony" part of the infinite veranda) and we can choose to eat in all 4 of the main dining rooms, which feel more intimate than the MDR's on both S and M class ships.   While we love the sky suite, we're not impressed with the Luminae menu and we're not sun people so we don't hang out on the retreat deck.  We can use the price difference between sky suite & sunset veranda to put toward another cruise or use some of the price difference for excursions or eating in specialty restaurants.

On a South American cruise a few years ago there was a couple who were Zenith and wore their Lanyard during the Happy Hour in the Sky Lounge.  They would usually sit in the same seats at the bar.  One night a couple were sitting in "their" seats when they arrived.  They used the line that they're Zenith and these were their seats.  The other couple moved.   We saw them again as we were waiting in line to board the ship after an excursion.  They went to the front of the line and said we're Zenith and get to go on first.

Karma caught up with them at the Buenos Aires airport.  We saw them dragging a plastic milk crate filled with bottles of water.  The agent wouldn't let them take it onboard and they had to leave it behind.   I guess they didn't tell the agent they were Zenith ..