Redtravel

That Malbec in photo was the best wine available in MDR. Most of the others were terrible.

Chic is not much. It was dressy before pandemic. Now expect an array of nice to awful dress. People wear everything. Shorts and Hawaiian shorts are chic?

Carry on plus good insurance. Travel is risky.

Go! It’s the best.

Sharing? It’s risky. Could have a great time and make new friends. We shared a table on a cruise 10 years ago. We are best friends. However, some people can ruin a meal. Your choice.

Two days after cruise, tested positive. Took paxlovid. Felt better a day later. While you don’t feel like you are dying, you are sick. Not a memory that you want to bring home from a cruise. It’s happening often. With full ships, it’s going to happen to some passengers.

forget what is printed on the website. Many drinks were not available. Do not know if it was because they were really out of stock. It might have been that there wasn't anyone available to get more out of storage. Bar service was poor. At times it was so slow, we gave up and went to dinner without getting a drink. Often I just gave up and had water.

Be patient. Things will change. There will be people who cancel for various reasons. With Viking not testing daily, you can expect Covid on the ship. Those guests will cancel dinner reservations. When you get on the ship, see the maitr’d. They always keep reservations open for guests who don’t use computers.

Why are lots of you getting upset with other people ignoring the dress code? Celebrity obviously doesn’t care. Give it up and accept the new normal. Celebrity is now a no dress code come as you are experience. If you like it, great. You have found your cruise line. If you don’t, then avoid Celebrity. It’s your choice. Stop dictating what you want other people to wear.

Ports often offer shuttles. Check ahead to see what is offered in a port. Some ports are fantastic. Agents bring info, maps, and shuttles. Windstar doesn’t advertise free shuttles. They sell excursions that get you to places that you might be able to get to on a port shuttle. Check before you sail.

Azamara has its own problems. Bathroom size is small. Pulling out the tub in the suites was a huge improvement. Even with that, we often bump into things. For that reason, we avoid all R ships. Windstar bathrooms are large. The space is excellent. Oceania announced taking out tubs.

Nice that there is an option of designs. We like the older design. Like the bathroom close to the bed. Fell down when we had a bed near the window.

skip specialty. Spend your money on excursions. In Alaska, we ate outside at the buffet in evenings to watch the scenery. You go to Alaska to see it. Enjoy.

The pandemic has made many people very casual. Not interacting with people in person, you don’t dress up. They stayed home, worked in casual clothing, often gained weight, and didn’t care about appearance. I didn’t wear makeup. I didn’t go shopping in stores for new clothes. Only shopped online when necessary. Even now, I seldom go out shopping. I still have my cruise wardrobe which luckily fit. When we chose to take a cruise, I packed it. I was shocked at what people wore. However, when you think about the past 2 years, it’s easy to understand the normal dress attire….at home casual. From what I saw in June, I will expect that the way people dressed before the pandemic will sadly become just a memory.

Your assumption is good. Cruise ships and any crowded venue could be a source of infection. Many people have been vaxed and boostered. They read that most people are safe. If they get Covid, it’ll be mild. They have become tried of not traveling. They want to get out and have fun. They remember life before the pandemic. If they were cruisers before the pandemic, they will likely book a cruise. We did. We booked, got canceled, and rebooked many times during the pandemic. We finally went in June….vaxed, double boostered, masked, attempted to avoid crowds, etc. regardless got Covid. Getting sick is never pleasant. Not exactly how you want to spend your vacation. Good luck, be careful.

Full capacity. Finally they admit to being full. The cruise that I was on in June was very crowded even though there were various capacity number quoted. It was hard to avoid being caught in a crowd. Got covid. Be careful. Stay safe.

Will still test before traveling. Will still mask up. On our last cruise in June, my spouse got Covid. It’s still out there. Even Biden and Fauci got it. Be careful wherever you go.

We used to like Celebrity too. As elite plus, we often sailed on Celebrity. When we got fed up with all the cutbacks, we looked for better options. We moved on to Oceania, Viking, and Windstar. Like all of them. After staying home and not cruising during the pandemic, we decided it was time to travel with caution. We took a Celebrity cruise a few weeks ago. We chose the cruise because we live near the embarkation port. No need for flying. We also read their Covid protocols. They sounded good on paper. In reality, those protocols weren’t followed. Ship was very crowded. Few people wore masks. No surprise that my spouse got Covid even though we were very careful. Next cruise is on the Marina. No more Celebrity.

Years ago, Celebrity had dress codes that they enforced. If you showed up in MDR in shorts, you were politely told that you couldn’t enter. That was fine. They made the rules. They made sure that they were followed. Now, Celebrity isn’t enforcing any dress codes. While it is stated in their info, it isn’t followed. Once you see people coming to dinner in shorts and not being turned away, others follow. On my cruise in June, I was amazed how how poorly people dressed. It was common to see shorts, hats, flip flops, torn tees, bathing suits, pajamas, etc. in the MDR. Many people looked awful. Many did look nice. It was surprising to see the clothing that people were wearing. Not sure why it is now acceptable to be a slob. Maybe they don’t have decent clothing? Many worked at home in pajamas for the past 2 years. Perhaps Celebrity wants bookings from anyone? There are no standards. It’s like a come as you are party. I miss the old Celebrity. It was classy.

Not used

I assume you mean the cruise line tags. Since they stopped sending them, I don’t put them on my bags. Wait until you get to dock. Cruise personnel will tag your bags.

They had to make their own arrangements and reservations. Travel insurance will cover expenses. It doesn’t cover the extra time that they were in Europe. Disembarked with a positive Covid test on July 4th. Not sure if it was Covid. Finally got a flight today, July 23rd. My point is that testing positive for Covid may leave you stranded. Cruise lines may or may not help you. Don’t count on getting help. You should be worried about testing positive for Covid. It can interfere with your life.

Some of the non accessible cabins have one sink and a walk-in shower, no tub. Before the stretch, we loved booking those cabins. We preferred walk-in shower. With the one sink, we had lots of counter space. Since they were so few of this type of cabin, we booked far in advance to get it. Now, there are more cabins with walk-in showers. There are other cruise lines that have taken out tubs. Demand for cabins with big walk-in showers must be high.

Not everyone that is positive for Covid is allowed to stay on the ship. Some get quickly disembarked at the next port. That happened on July 4th to a couple on the Rotterdam. When the husband fell on the ship, he went to the infirmary. Before treated him for his fall, he was tested for Covid. Positive. They were disembarked. Count yourself lucky if you were allowed to quarantine on the ship.

They have travel insurance. They didn’t make it home on July 22. Plane was delayed. They missed a connection in Frankfurt. No seats on any plane for the next 2 days going to their destination in USA. Today they are trying to get on a plane going to an alternate airport about 100 miles north of their destination.