floralscent

Sounds like you had a great time on the cruise!!! That's great and thanks for sharing. If we could only take our pets 😀..well, that might not be a good idea after all.

Can you share what your testing experience was like pre-cruise? Did you do a Walgreens rapid NAAT at the drive thru or what type of test did you do? We will be going on our first cruise in 3 years and leaving out of Canada in April and this testing part is overwhelming to me. 

33 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

Go to Pearl Harbor before your cruise.

Nice thought but Cruise leaves out of Vancouver. 

50 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

Yes, Walmart sends a bus to the port. I believe they do on Kauai as well.

Thanks so much, scottca075!
 

We are renting a Jeep in Hilo on day 1 in port and your post got me thinking that maybe we should rent it for 2 days and if allowed, park it in the Walmart lot overnight.  We could then take the Walmart bus back to the ship…depending on how late it runs. Do you know if this plan is doable? Thank you 

Does anyone have a suggestion for touring Pearl Harbor post cruise and prior to a 10PM flight on debarkation day? We obviously have luggage and since our flight is late I don’t think we will be able to drop it off at the airport on our way to PH. I’m considering a tour that picks us up at the

Pier, takes us to Pearl Harbor and stores our luggage and then takes us to the airport. 
 

Looks like most tours just get you there and then you have to spend time getting Tickets, etc.  I am open to suggestions as this is our first time. Thank you!

On 6/30/2021 at 12:26 PM, scottca075 said:

 

Don't think me an awful person, but I get on the free bus to Walmart and then walk across the street to Hilo's main mall, Prince Kuhio Plaza. I do go into Walmart before getting back on the bus to the ship and buy something to assuage my guilty conscious.

Are you saying that there is a bus at the Hilo cruise port that takes you to Walmart? I suppose this free shuttle takes you back to the ship too? 
 

interesting…

11 hours ago, Homosassa said:

That is the way I read it.

 

Before someone on Cruise Critic (don't remember who) pointed out to me that Canada still had testing requirements for boarding a ship, I had planned to do a Rapid Antigen Test the day before flying (within two days of boarding ship).  

 

My plan has now changed to the NAAT rapid test because it is a molecular test and falls within the 72 hour Canadian restriction.

 

Yes, testing is the most stressful part of cruising for us as it is difficult to find test sites and appointments here in Florida. For our February cruise, the closest test site for us was sixty miles away from our home.

We’re you not originally considering the rapid NAAT? I am thinking the rapid NAAT test the morning of Thursday, 4/21, would work for boarding the Eclipse on Saturday, 4/23 in Vancouver. 

8 hours ago, Homosassa said:

We are embarking on the 6/24th from Vancouver; flying into Vancouver on the 6/23. I plan to have a rapid NAAT test on 6/22 (accepted molecular test as per one one of the links I posted).

If I am understanding correctly, Homosassa... the same should work for us on the 4/23 sailing from Vancouver. We are in the US and plan on doing the rapid NAAT on 4/21, flying from the US to YVR on 4/22 and boarding the Eclipse on 4/23. Do I have that right?

If I am grasping this testing situation correctly, we will have to complete the ArriveCan information prior to flight, complete the Celebrity online check in before leaving home and travel with passport, vax card and negative test results in order to board the ship. 

Is anyone else stressed about all of this? I long for the old days of booking a cruise and only thinking about what to pack and planning what to do on the trip. thank you 

2 hours ago, hvbaskey said:

 

These are the passenger obligations (Effective April 1, 2022):
A.  you still need the test to embark the cruise ship (one-day for Antigen, 72 hours PCR)
B.  you do not need a test to enter Canada or disembark in Canada.

Source Link:
https://www.canada.ca/en/transport-canada/news/2022/03/preventing-or-limiting-the-spread-of-covid-19-on-cruise-ships.html

Note:  the environment is fluid and ever changing; check the above link often to see if there are further updates prior to your cruise.

 

There are testing facilities at YVR (including CVM Medical) and / or testing sites throughout Vancouver. I requested a list from my hotel and they provided me a laundry list of sites (loads of them).  We decided to book at CVM Medical at YVR (US Departures area).

 

Passenger obligations

• Pre-boarding a cruise ship
  • Passengers must take a COVID-19 molecular test within 72-hours before boarding a cruise ship or take an antigen test within one day of the scheduled departure.
  • Before their cruise departs, a traveller will need to enter their trip information into the ArriveCAN website.
  • Passengers seeking a medical contraindication or religious belief exemption will need to contact their cruise line to see if these are permitted. These exemptions are very limited.
• During a voyage
  • Passengers are required to self-monitor for symptoms and report them to cruise line officials, who will then take appropriate action (testing, isolation, and contact tracing).
• Disembarking a cruise ship in Canada
  • Effective April 1, 2022, fully vaccinated travellers on cruise ships will no longer need to take a COVID-19 molecular test before disembarking in Canada. All on board, including crew and passengers, must continue to monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 for 14 days after arrival in Canada as per the Quarantine, Isolation and Other Obligations Order.

This info is great. Thanks! If I’m thinking about this correctly, we can do a rapid NAAT test in a Walgreens drive thru on Thursday, fly out to YVR on Friday and board the ship on Saturday.  I believe that should work. 

We are flying US to Vancouver on Friday, April 22 and staying 1 night in Vancouver prior to an April 23 Celebrity sailing to Hawaii. 
 

Does anyone know if the Walgreens drive-thru Rapid NAAT (takes 2 hours for results) will work for entrance into Canada? Getting the PCR test that takes up to 2 days for results makes things tight for our flight and then we’d likely have to test again in Vancouver for Celebrity. 
 

I would love to be able to time it so we could take just 1 COVID test that would cover both our Canadian entrance and Celebrity. 

Any tips or suggestions are immensely appreciated. Thanks so much 

On 3/8/2022 at 6:25 PM, kebrown said:

When purchasing the 3 night package, do you have to dine in a speciality restaurant on the first night or can you skip the first night and use it later in the cruise?  Also, can you pick which speciality restaurants you want to dine in or does Celebrity pick the restaurants for you? 

kebrown- I have never had a problem 'rescheduling' the first night that I reserved pre-cruise. It likely depends on when you go to the specialty podium to reserve the additional nights and obviously what type of reservations are available for you. Get onboard and do this first...all will work out and in the end, if you don't get the exact timing that you would like...just remember, you are on a cruise and nothing else matters right then 🙂

We are sailing Celebrity in late April (Vancouver to HI) and I was wondering the same thing. Does anyone know if the Walgreens rapid NAAT is accepted by Celebrity AND for our flight- US to Vancouver, Canada?

I haven’t sailed since 2019 and this added testing is stressful. Any advice is appreciated greatly. Thank you so so much 😊 

We always get a speciality dining pkg and pay pre-cruise. It’s nice to pay ahead so you don’t have to deal with it later. 
 

When purchasing you must select a first night time slot but that can be changed once onboard. Board the ship, head to a specialty restaurant and schedule your pkg as you see fit. If you have specific time requests, get the reservations completed very soon after boarding. 
 

Enjoy the great experiences!

Thank you for the replies. I thought the Lawn Club had a place to eat as well. Is that gone or am I thinking of another ship? Seems like forever ago that we were on a cruise ship, as it was January 2019 when we were on the Edge. 

Hello. We have sailed on the Solstice 3 other times from 2019 and prior. We have enjoyed the specialty restaurants immensely but the last ship we sailed on was the Edge and those restaurants were different. We are considering returning to our fav ship, the Solstice, and it looks to me as though there are maybe a few changes to the specialties onboard that ship...or maybe I am confused.

Does anyone know what specialties are onboard- Murano and Tuscan and ?

We typically purchase a dining package in advance as we don't want to think about negotiating on a day we want to treat ourselves. Having said that, the last time we sailed on the Solstice the dining package named the places you could eat at and listed how many times in each. From what I am reading, that process seems different now...is that correct?

Thank you so much!

AstoriaPreppy!!!!  This is amazing info and I am incredibly grateful.  Thank you so much.

We are definitely staying a few days pre-cruise to get acclimated and to get situated prior to leaving port.  Once we are done cruising, for some reason we are ready to get home so pre-cruise is the only way for us.  Again, thank you so much!!!

Hi!  We are very, very, very seriously considering a 12 nt cruise on our fav ship, the Solstice, on the Best of Japan itinerary in October 2021.  Has anyone done this itinerary before?  Any suggestions on a place to stay pre-cruise that is close to the port and/or tips on how to get from the airport to that pre-cruise hotel.  If you have done this itinerary before and have suggestions for me, please feel free to offer me any suggestions.  Thank you-

Thank you Paul for all your pics, thoughts and for once again sharing your precious vacation time with us!  I was very interested to hear your thoughts on Fine Cut to see how they compared to ours.  Our thoughts are much alike.  

We we were on the Edge in mid January and were really excited about Fine Cut since we are big steak eaters. We, like you and Edward know quality and have eaten in many great steakhouses in Chicago, NY and even in smaller cities like St. Paul. To us a great steak is like cutting through butter and melts in your mouth and isn’t doused in sauces.  Although we enjoy bone-in ribeyes the most but will eat any steak as long as well prepared and attractive when plated.  We ate at Fine Cut twice on our cruise and were very disappointed on both service and quality.  We had ribeyes and bone-in fillets and I will say the cuts certainly weren’t ‘fine’ and the quality all around in the steak arena was sub-par at best, in our opinion. I will give credit where credit it due...Appetizers were great!  Service?  It was unbelievably terrible...the restaurant wasn’t busy but the service was incredibly slow and the wait staff on both nights had the personality of an ant.  The sommelier forgot our drinks multiple times, even when we had ordered drinks above our premium pkg.  I thought steak in the dining room was better than this place.

We left our cruise longing for a nice dinner at Murano where quality, service and attention to every detail is above top notch.  

On our last cruise, which was a month ago on the Edge, we had specialty restaurants reserved for 6 of the 7 nights and we were still hounded.  I find it super annoying to have paid extra for meals and then still having to deal with being asked to visit the restaurants. I know the crew didn’t know we had already reserved dining but come on Celebrity. We reserved prior to boarding so we didn’t have to think about it. 

The other annoyance to me was the number of voicemails being left on our cabin phone about deals on spa services, invites to events, etc.  

Celebrity...hear this, stop the madness!  It’s out of control. 

Before sailing the Edge a few weeks ago, we had been on many  S class cruises.  We loved the Ensemble Lounge and true live talent there.  We are big specialty restaurant users so the Ensemble was a great spot for before and after dinner drinks.  Love the S class!

We were very excited to sail the Edge in January as it would be a new different experience.  We reserved our cabin 685 days prior to our sailing and After following along for ship build, watching the Edge pull into Port Everglades 'live' for the first time and reading VT's great summaries, we were ready!  I'd read pluses and negatives of the Edge but decided to go in with a total open mind.  

My thoughts- elegant, upscale and different. We thought all specialties, aside from Raw (allergies to seafood so we didn't go)  were lesser quality than S class restaurants. Service and quality were not matched with our past S class experiences.  Fine Cut...not so much, I felt we were able to make much better steak dinners at home and the cuts we buy are superior. Maybe this isn't fair though since DH is a fantastic grill master.  One night we decided to eat at the Cypress and we were very impressed- no wait without reservations and the food was better, in our opinions than the specialties on Edge and the main dining on S class.  The Oceanview was not good IMO and I am typically a fan of the buffet on X. It didn't seem clean enough to me and I thought the meals were odd and tasteless. The wall behind the coffee bar had haze marks on it as though it had been wiped down but an icky haze was left behind. Sort of gross. The sinks outside the buffet were a big score for me.  Thank you X!

The infinite verandah was a different concept and shouldn't/cannot be compared to a balcony...two totally separate things.  In fact we loved the infinite balcony and the impact it had on our cabin.  Is a regular verandah great?  Yes, but that isn't what we signed up for this time and the two balcony rooms cannot be compared. 

Could the shops have been more focused on the masses instead of high ticket items?  Sure, but obviously Celebrity is trying something different and you can't fault them.

We did not like, however, that Celebrity is nearly forcing all passengers to go mid ship to the martini bar area for before/after dinner drinks and entertainment. That sort of got old for us after a few days so we enjoyed the casino bar sometimes instead.  The live music was good and I give kudos to X for trying something different. The issue we had with these singers/bands is that they only had a handful of songs that they played over and over again all week in a variety of areas on the ship.  That was a bit shocking and I would think rather boring for the entertainers.

Eden.  Went in very open minded and tried many of their specialty drinks. Are you kidding me though?  I am a  person that loves a good drink and has a large variance in tastes but, wow...those drinks were nothing but awful and I tried hard to find one that I liked. Bizarre smells in Eden, almost dirt like, and the service in the seating areas was lacking.  Dinner was fantastic in Eden and the interaction with the performers was fun during dinner. 

We had a wonderful relaxing week onboard the Edge and stayed on ship for most ports. Do we LOVE the Edge?  No.  Did we LOVE our cabin?  Yesssss!  The vacation served its relaxation purpose for sure.  We aren't sold on the new concept just yet but we realize that cruising on a new concept ship will/should be different and one that cannot be compared to other ship classes because it is meant to be different.

i am in my late 40's and have a job that demands use of technology all the time.  I appreciate the fact that X is encouraging passengers to use their phones onboard but I did not want to carry my phone with me ever while on vacation. We bought a digital photo onboard and the girl wanted us to take a picture of the code on the screen after purchase. We didn't have our phones with us and I was made to feel out of it because we didn't have them. Eventually the girl wrote the code down for us.

I have to say the disco was so fun!  The silent disco was especially fun and entertaining!  What a great concept and use of a space that often lacks presence.

We are looking forward to more X ships but still love the S class best. 

1 minute ago, NLH Arizona said:

It could have been a service dog that alerts owner to spike in blood sugar or of an impending seizure.

Exactly!  You never really know.  It's easy to judge and make up stories but...

We reserve a dining package before every cruise and have always had to reserve once onboard.  I think it is a great business decision for Celebrity to allow those that pay full price to reserve ahead of time and those that choose a discounted pkg to reserve once onboard.  This concept makes perfect sense. 

We we have never had an issue the getting dates/times we've wanted with the package and this includes our Edge sailing a few weeks ago.  The frustration to me is when people complain...you know the policy so the choice is reserve once onboard with flexibility in mind or pay full price and reserve before boarding.  Why complain?

On the Edge January 20 cruise we had a women with a small white dog. The dog was carried and if memory serves me right, in a backpack type thing once in a while.  Maybe the dog walked along the women but I never saw it.  My first instinct was what the?

As I thought about it more I came to the conclusion that this person either didn't want to leave their animal at home (I mean heck, I didn't want to either, but did) OR there was a real reason for the dog.  Maybe the reason just wasn't visible. 

I know we are all quick to judge if we don't see a visible disability but honestly, you never really know what is going on.  It appeared the dog wasn't necessary but I have no idea what the real reason might be.  I know society is off the rails these days and people can be selfish. The truth is the reason could be emotional and the only way a person can function is with a dog.  For those that work the system, shame on you.  My motto is live an honest life and hopefully those that don't will face the truth some day.

I sanitize my hands before entering the buffet with washy washy. After getting my food at the buffet I go to the restroom and wash my hands.  When eating a chip, French fry or other type of finger food, I touch in the same area when I pick it up and don't eat the area where my fingers were.  This is probably not all germ free but I do my best

We are still considering. a Celebrity shore excursion and I am wondering how close to sailing can one book an excursion online.  I know you can also reserve once onboard but if we are going to do it, I'd rather reserve prior and just be done with it.  We sail this coming Sunday-1/20!!!  

Thank you

What nights on the Edge (7 night) are considered evening chic?  We are sailing 1/20. 

Thank you