anniegb

1 minute ago, anniegb said:

It depends where you live and shop??

 

In the UK it is very easy to find suppliers who will deliver groceries FOC.

However in those instances, I always tip 🙂

1 minute ago, DirtyDawg said:

 

👍 👍

I like both of these.

 

Personally I can't get my boxers in a twist about this issue. In all the cruises we have done we might have ordered room service maybe once. I'm sure their are lots of cruisers who will pay the $9.95 plus gratuity for this service and some will not. A small number will choose to switch cruise lines over this issue. Most will not. 

 

Have to go now, the grocery delivery van is out front delivering our weekly order. Since Covid you will not catch Mrs. Dawg in a grocery store ever again. The fresh vegetables and fruit service delivers on Wednesdays. We gladly pay a delivery fee for those services. 🙂

It depends where you live and shop??

In the UK it is very easy to find suppliers who will deliver groceries FOC.

2 minutes ago, RichYak said:

My guess is that since the restart, room service has been much more widely used due to fear of covid. Passenger behavior has changed. This new fee is a reaction to that change, not just to increase revenue, but to nudge passenger behavior back to what it was. When you start charging for something that used to be free, a solid percentage of passengers will cease using the service.

Or possibly change cruise line??

Time will tell

21 hours ago, wendyp247 said:

We are on Celebrity Constellation in August. We booked an excursion Tuscan Farmhouse Experience. Has anyone taken this from La spezia that could tell us if it's a worthwhile excursion. We have an excursion booked from Portofino to Cinque Terre the next day. TIA

La Spezia is in Liguria.  Enough to see in Liguria before I would travel to Tuscany.  Cinque Terre and Portovenere for starters.  

8 hours ago, flviking said:

We arrive Mumbai at 0900 Tuesday morning.  The ship overnights and the cruise officially ends Wednesday morning. If we carry our luggage is there any restriction on when we can leave the ship and head to the airport?  Our preferred flight departs at 0400. We have been to Mumbai and have no reason to stay another day just to leave the hotel at 0100.  Has anyone been through this type of situation with an overnight at the last port on the itinerary?

Yes but it was Hong Kong for similar reasons.

I advised Celebrity via my TA prior to embarkation and my file was noted.

It was in 2016 no form and no fee in those days.

Annie

Aqua cabins on Deck 9 are underneath the Pool Deck.

In pre-Covid times I availed myself of a 50% discount on a drinks package of the 1st day of my Trans Pacific cruise.

Probably as rare as hen's teeth.

Annie

KLM and Schipol have always had the worst reputation for very poor MCT/transfer times between flights.

I have the scars. IF I have to use Schipol, I allow a MINIMUM MCT of 3 hours.

Good Luck everyone.

2 hours ago, Lisa86 said:

(and I can confirm it rained in UK today so you're not missing anything!).

Just as an aside, cool but wall to wall sunshine today in my part of the UK and that is the forecast for the next 2 weeks, The garden beckons.  

Annie

Thanks for the reports Keith - as usual very balanced and informative.

28 minutes ago, tring said:

 

They will have been tested at embarkation as with all cruises, but if the parson had tested positive then, they would not have been on the ship.  They may have had tests for a port visit, or perhaps the person reported ill, a day or two after embarking the ship.

Or a false negative test result??

LFTs are not the most reliable test.

48 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Apparently she arrives Gibraltar 5.00am tomorrow (2 days late according to this itinerary)

07 Oct	Departing from Liverpool, England hotels
08 Oct	Belfast, Northern Ireland
11 Oct	Gibraltar, UK
12 Oct	Cadiz, Spain, Sevilla
13 Oct	Portimao, Portugal
14 Oct	Lisbon, Portugal
15 Oct	Porto-Leixoes, Oporto, Portugal
18 Oct	Arriving in Liverpool, England

 

If our friend on the bluebird site spent two days quarantined on the ship before Funchal docking yesterday we seem to have his bubble testing positive very soon after embarkation and the ship detouring quite a lot. I'm not an expert on trip planning but this does seem very weird. Anyone with more expertise able to make any suggestions on what  may have caused this?

AIS data states Funchal 1st POC after departing Liverpool.

Was their testing done prior to embarkation at Liverpool??

Annie

22 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

A positive test result means the person tested positive.  Period.  A case means that the person actually has symptoms and thus the disease.  Two different things entirely.  Sorry you can't make that distinction.  But neither can those who think they are in charge.

Are they?

If you test positive for diabetes, you can have the disease with no symptoms. It should not be left untreated. It can also not be transmitted.

There are millions of undiagnosed diabetics in the world.

The challenge of Covid 19 is that it can be transmitted before symptoms manifest themselves.

However I accept that 1 positive test result is insufficient for a confirmed case.

JMO

11 minutes ago, sunlover33 said:

How can a positive result not count as a positive case? This makes no sense. If coronavirus is detected then you have the virus irrespective of being symptomatic  or asymptomatic. Every other country counts this as a case. Are the USA trying to reduce their numbers by cooking the books? 

It could be a false positive.  That is why most countries conduct two tests.

However only to count positive tests as cases if the patient, assuming vaccinated, is either hospitalised or dead seems a touch selective. JMO

26 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

No different than my fully vaccinated BIL who drives by himself with a mask.  Can't fix stupid 

Surely his choice and who is he harming ?

Calling people stupid for this is unkind although I agree his behaviour does appear OTT

12 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

 

You can believe what you want.  I am not going to argue this point. 

Good 🙂

7 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

I don't get why people are surprised that there are positive tests even on a fully vaccinated ship.

 

This is going to happen over and over again.  Maybe forever.  If it scares you, don't cruise.

 

I am more interested in what they do with the people who test positive--where do they go in foreign ports?  How do they get home?  Who pays for their medical while in a foreign country?

That is why European cruise lines require the customer to prove they have adequate Travel Insurance to cover costs.

4 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

 

A positive test does NOT equate to a case.  

When a positive test is confirmed, of course it is a case.

Useful to know not to trust US case numbers.

Btw I don't trust the numbers from China, India or Russia either

49 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

 

As I posted earlier, under the new CDC guidance for the land, these two positive tests would NOT be counted as Covid cases IF the people were vaccinated because the positive Covid test result did not result in hospitalization or death.

 

However in the rest of the world, they would count them as cases.  One way I suppose of reducing your numbers.

7 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

In the UK 14 people who were fully vaccinated have died from COVID.

Sadly it has been reported that 5% of hospital admissions in Bolton from the Delta variant were of people who had completed the full vaccination course.

1 minute ago, The_Mac said:

or they are both false positives.

 

the results of a retest have not been released.

I thought it had - both retests were positive?

1 minute ago, C-Dragons said:

It is what it is. Cruise, or don't cruise, everyone can make their own decision .

I agree but I hate inaccurate headlinrs

1 minute ago, C-Dragons said:

The CDC required 95% of passengers and 98% of crew to be vaccinated in order for X ships to sail. Under those requirements, the ship is considered 100% vaccinated,

Children on board under the age of 12 cannot be vaccinated, so they fall under the 5% of the total.

JMO that is not a fully vaccinated cruise. The devil is always in the detail

1 minute ago, KKB said:

Celebrity tested anyone on site who could not provide a negative test at the port.

St. Maarten required all passengers on the ship to test.

So same for all passengers.

What standard of test - PCR I hope ?

1 minute ago, KKB said:

St. Maarten required a neg. test prior to entering the country--whether by plane or ship.

Same for everyone.

And if you are a local? 

Annie

Just now, taxiang said:

Yes. 100% vaxxed

Is that accurate - someone posted there are unvaccinated children on board. Just asking.

Annie