Definitas

7 hours ago, keesar said:

I stand corrected.  The Elite minutes are now called "Streaming minutes" and  are NOT premium.  You are correct.

Sadly, it was a sneaky erosion of the Elite perk because they dress it up to give the impression that they are premium minutes but in reality they are not. It’s possible to send photos etc but it needs patience and, of course the free minutes tick away quicker because it takes longer to send and receive attachments.  You can use the Elite minutes over the first few days , depending on your usage, and then look at upgrading for the remainder of the cruise. I usually tend to forget to sign out and burn them away unintentionally. The internet staff will usually reinstate them if you ask nicely. 

18 hours ago, jelayne said:

The Elite internet is the Premium.  How fast or slow can vary depending on where the ship is, where you are on the ship, peak usage times, weather.  

Elite internet is NOT premium wi-fi. It is basic wi-fi with the streaming block that is applied to the basic internet removed. This allows uploading and downloading attachments but painfully slowly. I had this explained to me by the officer responsible at the senior officer get together. On our last cruise on Beyond I did a side by side comparison and it was extremely evident that the complimentary elite minutes are significantly slower than premium wi-fi. 

The original speciality restaurants on M-Class ships were some of the best at sea. Unfortunately the bean counters at Celrebrity decided to close them in order to accelerate their race towards the bottom. We ate twice in Ocean Liners during its last week on Constellation and it was fabulous. On the last night even the staff were in tears. I haven’t been in le Voyage yet but none of the others come close

28 minutes ago, SeaHunt said:

Cruisedeckplans has this picture of 6160 on her sister ship Apex that shows it pretty well. HTH!

 

 

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/ships/stateroom-details.php?ship=Celebrity-Apex&cabin=6160

Beyond was lengthened compared to other ships in the Edge class so the Apex cabin probably doesn’t line up in the same place

Does anyone have a photo of the obstructed view from 6160 on Beyond please?

We did it on Eclipse back in April and it was spoiled by extremely poor staffing and presentation. Some of the food flavours were excellent and the chefs had clearly put in a great deal of time an effort. However it was served in what was described on the menu as “family style” which simple meant that they brought everything out all at once. This was very poorly thought out because there simply wasn’t room for it all on our table for two. Worse still, it was served in cold dishes so the food went cold almost immediately which ruined it. There was no sommelier working in the restaurant and so once we had drunk our first glass of wine there were no staff to get us another because they were busy waiting tables. Overall it was a very disappointing experience. We were offered a free lunch the next day but we had plans so declined.
 

Experience on Celebrity has taught us that food, particularly soup, is often served lukewarm because it has been placed on a cold plate and we have learned to brief our waiters that we like our food hot and served on a hot plate but sadly, on that occasion, we forgot. The staff in Sushi seemed bemused by our lack of desire to eat the cold food and didn’t seem to understand the principle of not serving hot food in cold dishes. It’s particularly ironic because plates for salad in Ocean View are often very hot because they are constantly put out for use direct from the dishwasher. 

5 hours ago, 39august said:

Do some of the ships still have Zacapa at WCB? Equinox still had it in April.  If not, what are they using instead ?

No Zacapa this year on Beyond or Eclipse. They are substituting Brugel Anejo or Bacardi 8, neither of which come close

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

@Definitas I just saw your post on the April 22 Eclipse Roll Call regarding your experiences with the Starlink internet service on the 11-night South Pacific cruise you're currently on.

 

I’ve also been very frustrated with the poor performance/availability of the internet and don’t think I’ll bother doing the premium upgrade going forward as it’s even more frustrating to have paid for the upgrade and still have quite a lot of periods when it’s down. 

 

I take it based on your comments you upgraded to their Premium internet package. If I may ask, what specific performance issues have you been experiencing and how often has it been down? Are your issues mostly with sending/receiving email and/or accessing web sites like logging onto Cruise Critic, or is it more related to effectively using streaming-type services?

 

Since we'll be boarding the ship on April 19 for a 33-day B3B, it would be nice to know what type of internet service we might be expect, especially if we are using their Premium service?

 

Also, at your convenience if it's not too much to ask, would you mind sharing the results of this Ookla Speed Test so we can see what upload/download speeds you're currently experiencing? 

 

Speedtest by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test

 

Of course, this is all predicated on your ability to log onto CC to even see this post. 🙂

 

Coverage is not great in some areas due to sparse satellite coverage. The best performance I have registered is 4.5Mbps but have also seen values in Kbps. I have a newspaper subscription and downloading it has been challenging to put it mildly. We are just aft of midship and Wi-Fi strength in our cabin is very unreliable so I tend to go to one of the central areas if I have a specific need for internet. Our Elite Plus minutes were painfully slow. I had previously thought they were the same as premium minutes but now know they are not. Elite minutes are basic Wi-Fi with the downloading block removed. It was impossible to download my newspaper using elite minutes even in the iCafe

On 2/17/2023 at 6:08 PM, Mrandmrsgjs said:

We are only going to be in Papeete for one day…just a port stop.  What would you suggest we do in Papeete for the day? Our next port is Moorea…same question….just there for one day on a ship.  And, then one day in Raiatea.  Thanks for any and all suggestions!!!!

We will be in the same situation.  We mostly like to just get off the ship and have a wander round.  We also like beaches.  Any suggestions for things to see in port at all of those three locations would be greatly appreciated

We have b2b sailings on Eclipse next month and the MDR menus are still not showing (except for deserts!) When do they normally get populated?

1 minute ago, dcbiker97 said:

I’m sorry that a report from four weeks ago was insufficient.  

Hi. It wasn’t insufficient and I was pleased to hear Zacapa is available. However, nobody has yet replied about the beer availability and I would definitely be disappointed to have 6 weeks without a decent beer. I’m particularly interested to hear what resupply they may have down there in Sydney

I’m still hoping to hear from someone who is currently on Eclipse

7 hours ago, Definitas said:

Thanks. I’ll take a look. 

I found one but not the other. Hopefully someone on board will come up with some up to date information 

12 hours ago, emmas gran said:

I don’t know about shortages, there seems to be a lot of COVID if you check the roll calls for the last 2 cruises 

Thanks. I’ll take a look. 

Is there anyone out there who is currently on board or recently cruised on Eclipse sailing from Australia. We are due to make final payment soon for b2b cruises from Sydney and would be very pleased to hear what life is like on board currently. We experienced constant shortages on our last couple of Celebrity cruises across the board. For example, menu choices were not always available, wines listed for the premium package were not available and when we were offered a very good alternative it was not available the next time. I am also a craft beer fan and virtually all of the IPAs listed on the drinks menus were unavailable and even the more common imported beers were unavailable. We were also dismayed to see most drinks being measured out, particularly cocktails, which often lacked the impact we have become used to from Celebrity over the years. I also really like Zacapa rum and, although listed, it was never available. The constant reason given for the shortages was that there was a problem with supply chains but I feel that is becoming more of an excuse rather than a reason. I have been reliably informed that the drinks shortages were still apparent last week on Beyond but I’m hoping that resupply down in Australia will be better. A first hand report would be very welcome

9 hours ago, awhcruiser said:

Maybe its best for you to not cruise until Covid is totally gone.  You may be waiting a long time

You’ve missed the point. We are cruising b2b from Florida in Jan/Feb and can’t wait. However, the rules for transpacific cruises are different and the itinerary means going through immigration in Singapore, twice in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Canada so it is a much bigger picture 

8 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

There was a long thread at the time about the folks who were on the Eclipse B2B with an Alaska leg followed by the Vancouver to Honolulu leg.  Some had planned to stay on further legs.  At that time Canadian public health authorities mandated a negative Covid-19 test for all sailings departing Canada.  So folks were tested for the Alaska leg and then re-tested for the next leg from Vancouver to Hawaii.  A number of folks tested positive on that turnaround day so Celebrity could not allow them to continue due to the Canadian public health protocols in place at the time.  There was at least one poster on that thread who simply could not understand that the Canadian protocols take precedence the Celebrity protocols.  If my memory is correct she was one of the folks who had planned to take the  Eclipse home to Australia.  At least one Canadian poster tried to explain but that person simply could not understand.

 

We were B2B on the Eclipse on its first sailing in April 2022 (aka the "barnacle" cruise).  We boarded in Vancouver and would have a turnaround day in Honolulu before taking the ship back to Vancouver.  My husband tested positive on board during the first leg and was placed in quarantine.  I remained in our Suite.  We were given the option to remain on board until his isolation period was completed but decided to leave the ship in Honolulu to complete his period of isolation.

 

It is important to understand that individual countries have public health rules, and if you are not comfortable with those rules then you should not take the cruise.

Thanks for that very comprehensive explanation. I fully expected there would be an underlying reason other than almost symptom free Covid and I agree 100% that it’s very important to be aware of all the rules for the ports of call (not just the health ones). 

7 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

To the OP @Definitas Sounds like you only have 3 options...

1)  Email the execs, see if they agree with your mindset that this is indeed worrying

2)  Research every ports accommodations on your itineraries, have a hotel picked out in case you get forced off the ship

3)  Don't cruise until you're satisfied this is no longer a worrying trend

I may email the executive nearer the time if there is any ambiguity in the Celebrity protocols, which happens. There is zero chance of the second option and if more rigorous rules come back into force because of a new winter Covid surge, we may well cancel. We are due to fly via Singapore, which previously had very strict test and quarantine rules including enforced quarantine in government mandated facilities, sometimes segregated. If that were to be reinstated we almost certainly wouldn’t risk it. We have had Covid (wife twice) and are not worried about it at all. However, we want to have a reasonably good understanding of the situation before we make the decision on final payment. We also have very comprehensive travel insurance so, once we are committed, we will then just go with the flow. We may even be lucky and get Covid again a few weeks before travel because reinfection soon after recovery is very rare. We had recently recovered before a Caribbean/transatlantic b2b earlier this year and it was great not to have to any real Covid concerns. 

3 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

I would suggest option 3, holidays should be free of worry, otherwise defeats the objective of relaxation.

Life is too short to shy away from cruising!

On 11/6/2022 at 10:24 AM, Lastdance said:

The disembarkation was Covid related and guests received a full refund.  If you lived in Europe that might have been a very good choice all things considered, as the weather for the upcoming days was not going to be calm with all those sea days.

 

I want to pass on an alert for Plaxlovid:  My DH was positive for Covid, so starting taking his subscription for Plaxlovid.  Since he is prone to cramping, he was a little wary of the medication, but it appeared to be okay.   Fast forward to day 3...severe reaction with instant cramping all over his body.  Even with his high tolerance for pain, this was no match for him at all. I immediately called medical.  Thank goodness they came quickly because his body was going crazy.  They rushed him down to medical and quickly gave him electrolytes and Diazepan.  He was out for about 45 minutes, but so thankful to be out of pain.  We thought Covid rebound might be an issue, but never, ever thought of this severe reaction.  If you get cramps normally, just be very, very careful of this drug.  Most likely my DH is in the very small percentage of people with this type of reaction, but he wants everyone to know.  

 

As for worrying about what may or may not happen on a cruise, you just do your best and enjoy what you can.  I tested negative for Covid, but they had me test a second day, this time going almost into my eyeballs; I was positive.  So just know that even without symptoms, even you can get quarantined.  We have been treated wonderfully onboard for this b2b.  Sometimes you have to pay the piper!   Life is short, so live it your way!  We would not have changed anything except for the Covid aspect.

 

Who prescribed the Paxlovid? We’re they aware of your husband’s issues?  Over here the guidelines say that there are potential issues and it should only be taken by people with co-morbidity such as suppressed immunity and only under medical supervision. 

10 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

And keep in mind that you are learning about a very small sample size. First you have to consider that not everyone who sells and Celebrity knows about Cruise Critic. Not everyone who knows about Cruise Critic posts on Cruise Critic. Not everyone who posts is currently cruising. Not everyone who is currently or recently Cruising knows of anyone who was disembarked because of illness. Not everyone who knows of a person who is disembarked comes here to post about it so you have a very small sample size, much too small to declare a “trend”.

Which is why I asked the question and the lack of first hand responses is reassuring but it would be more reassuring to learn if the risk assessment for enforcing disembarkation was influenced more by other factors than by Covid. I’m still waiting on a response from the Australian couple (which they may not wish to make). We have until January before we need to make final payment for our B4B cruises so I will be keeping an eye on things to see if there is any indication of a trend

2 hours ago, mom says said:

Forced disembarkation  seems to be decreasing due to the gradual relaxation  of Covid  restrictions by different jurisdictions. Is this the trend that you say is worrying you?

No, completely the opposite. I am concerned that rules may tighten up over the winter and that passengers may have to disembark to quarantine rather than doing it in their cabin

In the case of the man in Vancouver the next port would have been in Hawaii 

Another subscriber quoted me in another thread saying they were on a a b2b Vancouver-Akaska-Vancouver-Australia on Eclipse and made to leave the ship in Vancouver so couldn’t join the voyage home to Australia. She said it was due to husband having covid and only mild symptoms