kearney

13 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Let's face it right now the vaccination requirement is a critical marketing tool for their customer base and it helps them with attracting our revenue.  I could see them putting a booster requirement in place soon.  But probably dropping masks on board as Omicron rapidly declines in the next month or so.

I hope you are correct .. especially about masking... since 65+ are highly vaccinated... a bulk of their target is already there. 

I don't see Celebrity making changes anytime soon. One reason I was concerned about a mid Feb sailing... they will likely keep masking requirements in place long after needed... they don't want to be criticized for dropping them. I was someone testifying in Congress and basically telling them that we are all going to get it. So it sounds like masking, no masking, vaccinated or not... won't make a difference with Omicron. The real question is.. if the virus is really becoming less lethal. And at what point do we have enough information to say... it is now just like the flu and go back to life as usual. I think the fear of illness has become so ingrained in us that we can't let go. I was reading a story about requiring people on a zoom call to wear masks... because it bothered some of the participants to see people without them... is this really our future.  Now that the CDC has tossed this back into the lapse of the cruise lines... I am wondering if I should make final payment on an April cruise.. 

DH did not like the IV, I liked it but felt it was too small. Now I think that the IV cabin would be great on ... say an Alaskan..inner passage cruise... where there is a lot to see from the ship... In that case you can just stay in your stateroom and watch the scenery go by and no coat or jacket necessary. Or some other itinerary where ...unlike the caribbean... there is something to look at and perhaps the weather isn't reliable or it is cold or hot.  

1 hour ago, Phxazzcruisers said:

Our Eclipse sailing is Pacific Coast and even though it noe longer shows we were assured it is still sailing.  I made my final payment on the 1st of the B2B's on the 9th and will pay the second one this week

Well, they have to get that ship from San Diego up to Vancouver ... so perhaps that cruise will happen..with passengers 

4 minutes ago, wattsde said:

 

Yes, we've been sailing Celebrity since the 90's. Started on Zenith: 20+ cruises now. Perhaps it's my advanced years (and moderate appetite) that I never noticed the trays disappear. 🤪

We only started with Celebrity back in '16.. so they must have made a change as they remodeled. We have not been on M class..so perhaps they are laid out differently. Somehow trays doesn't fit the Celebrity brand... Now DH uses a cane and often someone on the crew will help him. But I agree that having someone serve you keeps you from loading the plate.  

My father was an engineer and as a kid when we would go to a buffet he took pride in constructing a plate in such a way that he could stack food quite high.. and stable... was a sight to behold 🙂 

I just checked on of the online TAs and they have no Eclipse sailings in March... appears the schedule begin in late April... to Hawaii .... then it shifts to Alaska around mid May.    My guess is that they are delaying sailing to wait out Omicron. I would push for an answer.

Sorry, I haven't gone through all the suggestions...but you might keep an eye out for one of their 'sail only' prices...which excludes gratuities.. drink package and wifi. But then you will have to pay for sodas, specialty water, and any alcohol. We survived for years consuming iced tea, coffee and punch type drinks at the buffet... Of course now that we have sampled the AI ... well it is all I can do to hold DH back from going full premium to get his McCallum....

I know this is a small thing... but what I really liked about Celebrity vs Royal...was their use of nicer plates and glassware. If I recall correctly, in the Windjammer they had plastic mugs for coffee vs X's ceramic.. and again..going from memory... the plates were also plastic vs ceramic (I am a bit foggier on that)... but for me the Riedel glassware in the dining room..is the best. Nothing like drinking out of a nice glass with a sharp edge... especially wine.. Probably just me..but one of the things that makes Celebrity a bit more special

1 minute ago, davekathy said:

I also don't remember seeing trays on any of our past cruises. Our last Celebrity cruise (unfortunately) was September 2019. No trays in the OVC on that cruise either. We only eat in the OVC once per cruise to eat our 'burgers and fries from the mast/pool grill. 

They don't even have a place to set your tray down...

8 minutes ago, wattsde said:

Just a random observation. At the buffet now you are not allowed to serve yourself and there are no longer trays provided. The servers fill a plate with your requested food and you can only have at one time what you can manage to carry in two hands. If you want more, you need to return to the buffet for additional items. The wonderful consequence of this is that I see significantly less food waste on this cruise than previous ones. Before I would see people load up trays with 6-8 items and the only eat two of them. Now (1) the servings provided by the staff are more reasonable and (2) the lack of trays makes "piling on" impossible. I hope this trend continues!

Trays? I honestly don't recall ever seeing them on a Celebrity ship.. are you sure it was Celebrity? Now we have only been sailing them since '16

12 hours ago, TourDeCruise said:

 

The servers serve you there at the station, right? Not self-serve?

Correct... My last cruise back in December... each morning I would get up early and walk 2 miles (to avoid cruise weight gain).. and then I would stop by the Ocean view... our wine steward was there and by the second day he would know to get my my OJ and cappuccino ... as if I had been doing this for years. Nice thing too was with the ship less than half full.. I was one of the only people walking.    As a side note... I have an apple watch and the first day the watch told me I had done nearly 14 miles... so I had to make sure to count laps 🙂 . One day pulling into St Lucia... I was walking and the map looked like a drunks path.. 

3 hours ago, TourDeCruise said:

 

I think, but am not positive, that there is a small specialty coffee station/bar in the Oceanview Cafe. If so, it is a small station, and you use your drink package to purchase a coffee or specialty coffee like cappuccino and is different from the regular coffee station where the coffee is free and not as good. On Apex , Oceanview Cafe definitely has Cafe al Bacio II and my dh would get his coffee there early in the morning and sit on the back deck aft of Oceanview Cafe. I think Equinox may have it too, but it is not called Cafe al Bacio but the coffee there is to purchase and may be the same as the Cafe al Bacio coffee. On Apex, Cafe al Bacio II in Oceanview Cafe had limited coffee selections and did not have the good teas that Cafe al Bacio has, but it was better than waiting in deck 5 (deck 4 on Apex) Cafe al Bacio for a good coffee.

you are correct the bar in ocean view has an expresso machine...so you can get your cappuccinos there....too

We were supposed to go on Adventure of the Seas last August... it was sailing out of Nassau and one of the reasons for taking two flights to get to port...was that there would be no indoor masking since everyone over 12 was required to be vaccinated. About 10 days prior to sailing the protocol changed requiring masking unless in vaccinated people only areas.... I decided to cancel... Why spend over 5 hours traveling by air to do what I could do driving to Florida... As it was the itinerary was not really ideal...it called for 2 days at their private island and one in Cozumel... well when I cancelled there was a hurricane forming... turns out the ship ended up with 3 days at Coco Cay. Now for some that is a wonderful change...but I get sunburned just thinking about the beach... so beach trips are not my cup of tea. So cancelling turned out to be a good thing..   We did sail Celebrity in December... mask free and it was great... hope to do it again..later in the year

49 minutes ago, Babr said:

It is a good idea for everyone to be aware of the pre-existing conditions clause because it may apply to some people who do not even know they fall under its definition.

 

Obviously it applies to any condition that arises during the look back period causing one to seek treatment or receive a diagnosis, but it also applies to any condition for which you are currently being treated if it is not considered stable. A simple change in medication can trigger the pre-existing condition exclusion if it causes you to cancel or seek treatment during your trip. Emergency care is still covered, however.

 

If the pre-existing condition exclusion is invoked, it means your claim will be denied.

 

To avoid that, one must buy a policy within the defined time window to get a waiver. Some policies require you to purchase coverage within 14-21 days of initial deposit; others allow it if you purchase by final payment. You must be able to travel at time of purchase, and some policies require that you insure all prepaid nonrefundable expenses.

 

If you miss that opportunity, look for a policy with the shortest look- back period, usually 60 days. That is the period of time the company will look back at your medical records to determine if you have a pre-existing condition.

 

I see this clause as the biggest drawback for those who want to rely on credit card coverage for cancellation. Be sure you read the benefits guide for language concerning pre-existing conditions.

 

Good information. For my last cruise I purchased a plan with 60 day look back period. Earlier in the year I discovered via my apple watch..that I have Afib. I am one of those people who don't necessarily feel anything when it happens. So I did get an official diagnosis based on watch info.... So a few days AFTER purchasing a policy... I was diagnosed as having another event. The event likely started around the time I purchased the policy... hours later...   Now..if something had happened on the cruise.. say a stroke... would that diagnosis.. suggesting I had been in afib long enough to set up an appointment ... impact my claim... this is purely rhetorical question...but one reason I find the pre existing situation confusing. Any thoughts on this? Fortunately nothing happened but I did wonder about how policies generally work for a situation like this. I assume each company might be different..depending upon who reviews the claim.

32 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Have you definitely decided to go or are you going to wait until the 48 hour window to decide ?  A lot can happen at this point in 2 weeks.

I don't know about cagelmd, but my original plan was to wait until sometime in early Feb (before my Feb 14 sailing) to make a decision. But I went ahead and canceled...rescheduling in late August... yeah I know hurricane season. Once the indoor masking policy was official..in writing.. I thought that this requirement is likely to linger past being necessary. They wouldn't want to be accused of opening things up too soon... so even if the peak is reached by mid January and by mid Feb... things have calmed down.. I think the tighter rules will linger. We have another sailing late April..so I hope by then we will be back to pre Omicron policies.

12 hours ago, nocl said:

We will see I just filed an FOIA request with the CDC asking for number of covid cases identified on each ship in US waters from Dec 5 until Jan 9.  With the information to be provided by ship by week or in any other format that allows one to determine the same information.

 

Lets see what I get in the next 20 days.

I wonder if similar data is available for convention hotels... the Consumer Electronics Show just ended in Las Vegas... it is a bit like a cruise ship... hundreds or thousands generally hanging out for days in a facility with hotel rooms, restaurants etc. Do they keep track or in anyway deal with positive cases. I have no idea...  My guess would be that there is no data and no controlling authority..but I don't honestly know

17 hours ago, jacob22 said:

What would be most common? Are more of the passengers from his COVID areas, states with no mask mandates?

Well you are likely sailing from Florida... so everyone

1 hour ago, cgolf1 said:

 

This worked well and my wife was able to talk to an agent. Interestingly now, it seems that some travel insurance companies are just treating Covid as an illness and not excluding it. I heard this through Costco as well, but they changed insurance companies and now you have to book at least part of the trip through Costco to get the insurance so we weren't able to use them this time.

I am a little dense... and the whole 'pre existing conditions waver', always confuses me.. it seems each time I purchase a plan I have to again ask about that... as I age.. things fall apart so... nice to know what is and isn't covered... before hand

DH and I prefer S class ships (Reflection). We were not all that crazy about the Edge. It is a beautiful ship but I think S class is a nicer overall layout. So I would not pay more to sail the Edge class. Now I do love the Edge cabin bathrooms but the Infinite verandas are not for everyone... the veranda area is really cramped and smaller than an S class one. Art is fabulous on Edge...but not enough to over come other issues. I like being able to look out across the bow when leaving port... on Edge you can only see forward from the Retreat area... On Reflection...the Sky Lounge is a nice spot for that. I liked the 4 restaurant idea on Edge...DH did not like that.... If you are not a sun person ...ie like to spend a lot of time on the pool decks.. you will find few bars to hang out at... more inside bars on S class ships.  Now Edge is worth trying..but I would not say you made a mistake booking with Reflection...  Eden was interesting to experience...but chairs were too uncomfortable to linger in.   

It is not all about us. If people have been following the news... there are issues all over the country due to sick employees... so if things went smoothly, right now, I would be surprised. Flights cancelled due to sick employees...our recycled items were not picked up for two weeks..reason...sick personnel... some hospitals have issues as well as grocery stores. So if you want top notch service... wait until things settle down..not who knows when that will be.....

2 hours ago, traveltradeinsider said:

In response to some of the comments, I am Richard Lewis and was featured in the article. I am Chairman and CEO of the UK base travel company Savile Row Travel. It’s not online fully as we completed the acquisition at the end of last year and are making announcements very shortly. In relation to the article, please let me set the record straight I am a big cruise fan and this trip was booked 2 years ago as a big family holiday. We booked and paid for the rooms we had. We are on a B2B cruise over Christmas and New Year. I personally am Elite status with Celebrity. I felt symptoms into our second week and presented myself as I thought that’s the best thing to do. However, this is where the transparency from Celebrity started to erode. I was told I would immediately have to pack my cabin and relocate to Deck 3, the initial reason given was it was near medical, I challenged and said the symptoms weren’t that bad I was then told it was because the air is cleaner down there, again this goes against the HVAC system they shout so loudly about on their website, finally they start saying that actually it is CDC protocols. When asked they could not produce the document or guidance. I did move and apart from being separated from family it suddenly felt like you weren’t valued, you weren’t given a choice of food and when it arrived it was cold and not particularly pleasant. The point in the article I was trying to stress but was lost is the transparency of actual case numbers. During our first week, the captain came over very early to say there was 2 cases and we didn’t hear from him again. By the second week we noticed a very distinct shift in staff mentality. Now into the second week again the captain announce 5 cases and the doctor had told me there was 16, two days later he announced there was a few more cases again the doctor had told me there was 62 cases. Therefore my frustration is they aren’t being clear to allow people to make better decisions. Myself an family were aware of the risks however had we known that we would have to quarantine on deck 3 we likely would have cancelled. From reading the various comments across social media lots and lots of people are booking bigger rooms and suites thinking that is where they would quarantine and Celebrity don’t tell you otherwise. I have called their UK and US office several times to ask what happens if you test positive onboard, not once has anyone said you are moved to Deck 3. Personally and I have spoken to others now found being in that cabin worsened the symptoms and made me feel worse with no fresh air and constant air conditioning. For the record the quarantine hotel after was a shambles too, room stank of weed, toilet blocked with sanitary wear and hideous stains on the wall. Hopefully this clarifies and happy to answer any questions. 

It appears that where you are quarantined differs by ship. Recent Equinox sailing had people on Deck 6 with verandas. I just canceled our Feb 14 sailing... less out of fear for contracting what seems to be evolving into an unpleasant but less serious illness...but more out of fear of being stuck in isolation in an ocean view cabin... Plus the thought of masking indoors every place ...after not having to do so where I live since early '20... and paying for that privilege... seemed wise to move things off a bit. I am sorry for your experience. I am wondering if they selected Dec 3 due to closeness to kitchen as well as Medical?

I would go to the website of one of the online insurance brokers... eg insuremytrip or squaremouth... look at their many options and once you have all your questions gathered...call and talk with an agent. the agents can be very helpful.

If I cancel my upcoming cruise in Feb..it will because of mask requirements indoors. We have never had mandatory masking and I only were them at healthcare facilities and for the short time I am in a grocery store. Even at restaurants you wear them until you are seated..which makes no sense..but if it makes people feel comfortable..so be it... but paying thousands to go someplace.. I do not want to wear masks..I can go to the beach in Florida and not have to do that...... So I am watching the masking requirements.

This is what my app currently says... now I suspect that if I log out and log back in... this might change. Kinda want to hold on to the idea that things will improve by Feb. (the masking part shows up ..under the 'Protect your health onboard' section

3 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

The app and the website both now say masking is required indoors.

 

Interesting, my "Healthy cruising" page looks different.. no mention of masking...so far.. I assume this will change