ljk76

Have twice done the monitored at home testing procedure for Celebrity sailings and have found the task straightforward.  (If you had a positive you are still in the comfort of your own home.)Very quick boarding with negative tests in hand, and I imagine this will speed up boarding for Regent as well.Three days for European cruises is reasonable as well, but probably limits how many days prior to cruising you wish to arrive. 

Just up at the buffet. Someone was promoting a dinner package and I mentioned I was part of a group of 12. A few minutes later he dropped by. I had called him a bit earlier to ask about a seating area for us. 

Just finished our 30th cruise and one of the best! Apex is visually stunning, original in aspects of its layout, and easy to navigate. The I V rooms on deck 9 were light and airy. We found we really enjoyed the layout and use of the space.  The bathroom felt spacious and we loved the shower options…and the roomy glass door. The bed was very comfortable…firm but not hard. 

we were blessed with wonderful service in every aspect of the cruise. The best stateroom attendant ever… I asked for ice every night so I could make an ice pack…she actually set one up every night in the sink. Little extras I don’t recall before…surprise bottles of wine as one example.

we were a group of 12. The Blu manager actually sought me out at lunch the first day to show me where he thought we would like to be seated! He then assigned us a wonderful waiter and assistant.  Our original plan was to eat in the each of the other four dining rooms. But the Blu service was great and we found we could eat from any of the other menus any night! That gave us as many as 20 entree choices each night!

The thermal suite was enjoyed by the spa lovers in the group. Much better even than S class. The stage in the theater was unique with the wrap around screen and we enjoyed many performances there. 
 

it certainly helped that the passenger count was so low. No area of the ship was remotely full. We often had elevators to ourselves. If you can get over your Covid concerns, which was a big issue for us, you have a unique opportunity to sail on the most lovely Celebrity ship and feel like it’s your own paradise.

will be happy to answer any questions although there are many wonderful live threads preceding this commentary. 

Just finished our 30th cruise and one of the best! Apex is visually stunning, original in aspects of its layout, and easy to navigate. The I V rooms on deck 9 were light and airy. We found we really enjoyed the layout and use of the space.  The bathroom felt spacious and we loved the shower options…and the roomy glass door. The bed was very comfortable…firm but not hard. 

we were blessed with wonderful service in every aspect of the cruise. The best stateroom attendant ever… I asked for ice every night so I could make an ice pack…she actually set one up every night in the sink. Little extras I don’t recall before…surprise bottles of wine as one example.

we were a group of 12. The Blu manager actually sought me out at lunch the first day to show me where he thought we would like to be seated! He then assigned us a wonderful waiter and assistant.  Our original plan was to eat in the each of the other four dining rooms. But the Blu service was great and we found we could eat from any of the other menus any night! That gave us as many as 20 entree choices each night!

The thermal suite was enjoyed by the spa lovers in the group. Much better even than S class. The stage in the theater was unique with the wrap around screen and we enjoyed many performances there. 
 

it certainly helped that the passenger count was so low. No area of the ship was remotely full. We often had elevators to ourselves. If you can get over your Covid concerns, which was a big issue for us, you have a unique opportunity to sail on the most lovely Celebrity ship and feel like it’s your own paradise.

will be happy to answer any questions although there are many wonderful live threads preceding this commentary. 

We are on the far side of the pool…no one would ever recognize us, lol. 
 

if you do go to Blu on night we are the group on the far right wall. Just say you’re on Cruise Critic and looking for Linda! 

We are enjoying this same cruise immensely! We are six couples, all staying in Aqua. In fact the ladies in the group are in your pool shot! Can’t ever remember having a front row lounger…in 30 cruises!  Especially after arriving at 11…

Surprises for us…we LOVE the infinite veranda, we were not expecting that!  makes the whole room seem more spacious and light filled.

Eating in  Blu! Fabulous! We can order off all 4 of the dining menus…so many choices.originally we were going to sample all the dining rooms but we love our servers and the great location they set aside for our group all week. No doubt another benefit of cruising with a less than half full ship. 
 

lots of other fun little surprises too…yesterday a unexpected bottle of wine,today canapés delivered. 
 

so if you can’t quite swing the Retreat you may find Aqua class does very nicely. The ship itself is simply stunning. And the staff is spectacularly accommodating.

We. almost cancelled. Didn’t really decide until last weekend.So so glad we did not! Covid or not these are the Halcyon days of cruising.  All ports are open, by the way, even St. Thomas. 

We will be joining you tomorrow, 6 couples in all. We are doing aqua class.  Very excited when we all tested negative!  We all did the e med tests. I was a little torn on going but Benny’s live thread did the trick! I believe FOMO would be worse than Covid for me.  See you in Cafe Al Bacio!

I know…none of you have crystal balls. And Regent has extended final payment to just sixty days from the cruise, so a final decision won’t be needed til mid April.  I have some hopes that the Covid situation may have ebbed and countries now closed may open up. But the political situation makes me wonder if we will be welcomed, or allowed, in St. Petersburg.

Some of you who have cruised in politically turbulent times may have opinions.  We were very excited to be going back to Regent after a decade away, and on the Splendor. 

Received this a few days ago, both directly from Regent and our TA…ours is also a Baltic cruise and we were not looking forward to making a decision next month. Hopefully it will still happen for both of us!

Will be making a decision on our end of January Apex cruise.  Biggest concern is the thought   of an inside cabin if unfortunate enough to get Covid. We will be driving to the port. Any Apex, or Edge, experiences would be very helpful.  
 

Another question…if you are identified as a Known exposure, but do not test positive, what are the restrictions?

Passing on a Celebrity cruise in 4 weeks…but so hope it’s a different Covid picture by late March when final payment is due on our Regent June Baltic cruise. That cruise is all about the ports for us! Significant changes would be so disappointing. The Regent experience alone we know is an amazing vacation. But for us we want a true travel adventure on this cruise as well.

Family afts are the best cabins on the ship.  Years ago we also lucked out on finding one to switch into after final payment. It’s a special opportunity…you can go aqua for you next cruise! 

An example would be if you planned to get there via taxi. We want to take an excursion out of red hook in St. Thomas. Fine with the captain, her guests, the unknown would be the cab driver. 

Could anyone provide a link to this coverage? I loosely organized a  large group of friends for a late January cruise and want to give them accurate information. Thank you so much! 

 Now waiting endlessly for van to return us to the parking lot. I personally would avoid GoPort. We wonder if perhaps their volume is so low that it isn’t efficient right now. I wish we had investigated parking at the port.  On a happier note…our cruise was incredible!

Same exact experience as Ozark above. On board the Mariner and loving the suite life! 12:00 check in, we arrived 11:15, I pointed out we were early and they just said no worries. Since our suite wasn’t ready til 1:15 we stashed our roll boards in the suite lounge. Alejandro prepared cappuccinos for us, we had some treats for lunch, he made ice show reservations for tonight, chef’s table reservation for tomorrow night. It just made everything so easy! Loved our room when we got in! Our room, and the entire ship, sparkles and looks very fresh! These three days will pass way too fast!

Horrible experience so far! Hotel was so bad we had to find another. Great difficulty finding GoPort parking based on the address they gave us. And now….waiting endlessly to be picked up to be taken to the port praying the cruise goes much better than the stress mess of the last day. 

I searched and found a site that listed all the stay and park options in the Canaveral area. Literally 18 minutes from the space center now, staying at Best Western Titusville tonight, boarding Mariner noon tomorrow.  Will report back on the experience. 

6 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

I have a question about those who have used laptops. Do you need an actually external webcam or does the emed site access your onboard camera in the lid of the laptop? Basically does it act like zoom?

On board camera…

I searched and found a site that listed all the stay and park options in the Canaveral area. Literally 18 minutes from the space center now, staying at Best Western Titusville tonight, boarding Mariner noon tomorrow.  Will report back on the experience. 

Can’t lie…I found this stressful. Just having to move from the phone to the laptop was unexpected. Luckily I’d read through this post. Before the test itself I experienced a glitch.   The proctor couldn’t read my birthday from my license and very quickly told me to call customer service and then she logged out of the call. I started over, this time using my passport as ID, and a more patient proctor and that worked.  But reading about the process was very helpful so my thanks to the original poster and all who contributed.  

So excited! Bid just over minimum on a grand suite on a 3 day Mariner Cruise leaving Friday and found out yesterday we did get it. We have new cruise docs already. Thanks to all on this thread that helped me figure it out. If anyone could tell me what perks they value most I’d appreciate it!

Thank you all so much! It sounds like a blissful day without having to spend a lot in upcharges!

In a few weeks we are doing a Mariner long weekend. What is included in your “perfect day?”  Just  a 60+ retired couple hoping for a fun day in the sun…I’ll enjoy watching others on the toys!

New NCL cruiser with a question...included perk  premium does not include bottled water or specialty coffee? Plus includes all bottled water, and premium coffee, which is Starbucks? Plus includes full bottles of wine at dinner and you can take remainder to your stateroom? Thanks for your help!