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Friends that were disembarked after testing positive for Covid were told that since they came to the infirmary as the result of a fall, they should be seen at a hospital. they weren’t flown home. They were left on their own to find their own way home. That was on July 4th. With all the work stoppages and flight cancellations, they have been stuck in Norway trying to get home. They are booked on a flight tomorrow, July 22. Hope it isn’t canceled. Flying from Europe to USA is risky. It may be more of a issue than covid.

Bathrooms have been recently remodeled. Space is ok. Shower is adequate size. It isn’t tiny

Number of cases are underreported. Only reported if a medical facility reports it. You get a supervised test. You call a doctor. You get Covid med like paxlovid at a pharmacy. If you self test, it’s not counted. Wouldn’t be surprised if people on ships self test and avoid the infirmary. If you are mildly uncomfortable, you might choose to lay low. If you are very sick, you’re likely to seek medical help. Once you test positive in the infirmary, you may be given unpleasant options. Quarantine or disembark. On some cruise lines, not X yet, positive guests are disembarked at the next port. Since the cdc protocols expired for cruises, expect more people to disembark.

Not offered on 10 day criuse in June on Summit. We used our free elite plus laundry offers. With a 3 day return, it isn’t much. You cannot use on the first day or the last 3 days. The items that I listed to be ironed weren’t. The clothing was returned folded, but rather dingy looking. Washed it out when I got home. Just another way that Celebrity is cutting back. If I take another Celebrity cruise, I will not use the laundry.

Don’t pay for an upgrade to premium. If you do order a drink that is more than the classic limit, you pay only the difference.

I have experienced a ship full of drunks. It’s awful. With some people who have unlimited beverages included, they always have a drink in hand. My last cruise in June on Summit, we were sold inclusive Always Included. Since there was a shortage of crew, they didn’t replenish their supplies. Not sure if they were too overworked to go get more liquor and soda or if their supply was depleted. Asking for a drink was like playing a guessing game. If I ask for a drink, will they have it? Or will they try to pass off a poor imitation of it? Mostly, they just said no. I was told no to apple martini, Canadian club, club soda, diet ginger ale, Aperol spritz, etc. The wines were fair or undrinkable. Never saw a wine list. In conclusion, the cruise was not a booze cruise because the booze wasn’t available.

Heike and Philip were excellent hotel directors. They really cared. Azamara was nice. Food used to be great. It had declined recently. We have sailed on R ships on Azamara and Oceania. Similar arrangement. We prefer Oceania Marina or Riviera. Oceania has better food.

Quarantine is ok if you test positive. However, with recent cdc changes, will you be tested? With increased capacities on ships, being quarantined might not be an option. You may be disembarked at the next port. That’s what happened to my friends who were sailing on HAL. Husband fell on the ship. Went to infirmary to clean up his wounds. Got tested. It was positive. He and his wife were disembarked at the next port. They were taken by ambulance to a hospital, released next day. Then it was their problem to arrange to get home. Quarantine on the ship was not an option.

That's how it begins. On my last cruise in June. 10 nights. Each night more people came in shorts and flipflops. Why not? Once people see others getting into dinner dressed in shorts, others follow. There is no dress code.

On Summit in June, only old apple products at high prices. We cashed out most of our OBC on the last day of the cruise. If your OBC is refundable ( given by TA), it can be cashed out. If your OBC is from Celebrity, spend it.

Testing is a good thing. I will not cruise if testing is not required. With testing, it prevents those infected people from passing it onto to other people on the ship. It may be an inconvenience. It's responsible to do what you can to make sure that covid isn't on the ship. If cruise lines stop testing, you will probably get sick. Some cruiselines have a new protocol. Get covid, get off the ship. I have a friend that was put off HAL on July 4th in Norway. Still trying to get home. For now, I will reconsider my future travel plans. My cruising days may be over.

It took a month.

1800? That’s been the count on every cruise. I was on Summit in June. Each time we asked capacity, it changed. We had expected reduced capacity. Our cruise was very crowded. Be careful.

Celebrity is the Hawaiian shirt cruise. Saw many every night.

I went through the same thing before cruising in June. Nobody knew about the CC discount. As it turned out, I was ok not upgrading. On ship, there were so many drinks that couldn’t be made because they didn’t have lots of things. For the few drinks that we ordered that were above the classic price limit, we only paid the difference plus tip. For example on an Aperol spritz, paid $1 plus 20 cents tip. Next day, they ran out of Aperol. Don’t waste your money upgrading.

In June, we were on Summit. Itinerary was changed to make Bermuda our first port. It was a hassle getting everything done. Fortunately, we didn’t have to send our negative Covid test results to Bermuda before we could be sent the travel authorization. We had to present negative test results at embarkation. Everyone assumes that the change was to avoid testing on the ship. That’s only one part of the problem. If they test on the ship and somebody tests positive, Bermuda can stop the ship from docking. Cruise doesn’t want to chance that happening. I have respect for Bermuda insisting travelers are not infected. It protects everyone.

I like potato chips. None on Summit in June.

On Summit in June. People wore shorts and flip flops in MDR every night. Love those chic short shorts and souvenir tees. Nobody cares what you wear.

Recover? It may take years. Pandemic is not over. Taking a cruise now is risky. I was on a Cruise in March 2020. After sailing in circles with no access to ports, I was not ready to sail again. It took a lot of convincing to persuade me to sail again. Sailed in June. My spouse got Covid. Staying close to home.

Wines were not great. Only liked the malbec.

Amsterdam is a port that has traffic, tides, etc. on my last cruise that disembarked there, we got to the canal and had to wait for our turn to pass through the canal. We were 3 hours late arriving in Amsterdam. Many people missed planes. To. E sure, never book a plane on the same day as you disembark. It’s too risky.

You were lucky that they let you stay on the ship. Staying on the ship isn’t always an option. My friend was on HAL last week. Her husband got hurt onboard. When he went to the medical facility, they did a Covid test. He tested positive. The wife tested negative. They disembarked both of them. After a week off the ship, They are stuck in Europe trying to get home. Their experiences are awful.

For now, not cruising. Spouse got Covid on a June cruise. Decided to do road trips close to home.

Interesting. Guess that loyalty isn’t appreciated. Same thing is happening on other lines. Cutting loyalty benefits is not a good move. On another line that we just sailed on, we ended up paying for some things that we previously received as loyal guests. We were told that we could only book all inclusive. Meant that we were paying for WiFi and drinks that had previously been a loyalty benefit. It was annoying.

On Summit in June, they ran out of cranberry juice. There were so many things that we asked for that weren’t available. In some bars, you couldn’t get club soda or diet ginger ale.