bananavan

I have checked with the Guest Relations team. Since the ship departed Civitavecchia the conditions changed for Quarantine. Passengers who entered Quarantine after May 6 and those who were still positive from the last cruise have all been placed on Deck 6. Food is served on china and glassware. And yes, people can order whatever they desire. And yes, they are ordering Champagne. And instead of using flutes, they are using "flaunts". So I am correcting myself. The individual who posted that elsewhere was not lying. So Congratulations to Celebrity for making life easier for those of us who are ill.

Actually Tylenol is all that they have offered me. I would not have minded the leeches, they would've been a change of pace. I was sent to quarantine on May 10, or was it the 9th? We were in Rhodes. Seriously, there is no way to know what day it even is because there are no announcements in the cabins and we do not get the daily program. I was called the next day to see how I was doing. Did I have a fever? I searched my luggage for my thermometer that I had packed prior to departure and could not find one. Thank goodness we purchased Apple 7 watches and are able to monitor our Blood Oxygen. I called the Medical department and they sent one THE NEXT DAY!. The next day my fever was 38.1. Take Tylenol they told me. The following day they called me in the afternoon. My temperature is 36.5. GOOD! Do you have enough Tylenol? People are NOT coming forward for obvious reasons. And then there are those who deliberately lie, as did the individual whose posts started this thread, that make this all seem like some idiotic musical starring Carol Channing.

Whenever someone prefaces with a "No flaming" etc, you should be prepared to get burned. Good for you. Good for you that you are so much more intelligent and better prepared than those of us caught up in the rules that changed once again on May 1. Good for you that you pack 29 pair of underwear, in case you test positive on Day 8, when you have not even seen land since the onset. and will potentially not be permitted to leave Italy until the 21 day quarantine period. Good for you that you did not take a transatlantic that ended in Rome. Now, could you please give me the numbers for the Poweball later this week? The Remedial Empathy classes are filling fast. Please sign up before it is too late.

And so far, there is only one person who claims that the isolation is great. That person has posted on the Facebook page. That person has not replied to other postings. Simply too busy dancing the night away drinking champagne from Reidel glasses. That I might appear a bit annoyed at this is an understatement. Insisting that what I have posted is NOT True. As I stated on the Facebook post, my husband was originally in cabin 6227 (after being moved post Transatlantic) That is definitely a Panoramic Ocean VIEW. it does not have a window that opens. Like everyone else has posted regarding the isolation prior to arrival in Europe, the food was delivered and eaten from paper products. When he was moved to Deck 6 the meals improved in that. they were not as cold, and were served on real dishes and using actual flatware. Celebrity is doing a wonderful job trying to make this a tolerable experience but I will see about the champagne in Reidel for myself tomorrow night. I dont know what champagne is available in the Premium drinks package but I will order it anyway.

And wait for Canada to change its rules again? No thank you. We are in our 70s. This is not a game to be played. They own the cards. And the deck is stacked against us. We book Business class air fare with as few changes as possible. Throwing in new countries to add to the confusion is not something we are comfortable with. We are just fortunate that we do not have children waiting for us to return to care for them or jobs that require attendance. The purpose of my postings is to alert others to the possibilities of testing positive for Covid in European waters.

that truly is a cabin by cabin thing. Evenings are problematic. You have to order before 6pm otherwise it will take up to 90 minutes for it to arrive.

Celebrity is taking care of that. Our original flights were attached to our now canceled Princess Cruise. There is a rockstar called Caitlyn, a Junior Officer who has already changed our flights once. Then when I became sick, they had to be changed. Not sure at this point what those arrangements will be, but I feel assured that they will be wonderful. Our original flights were in Business Class, so finding flights become more difficult, but Caitlyn has worked magic before.

Exactly. Were I writing my blog in 2019 I would have state that my husband seemed to have a bit of a headache when we arrived in Madiera and decided to stay onboard. We had already visited Funchal in 2018 and he decided to give it a pass. There was no reason to go to the Medical center because I was able to provide adequate care and he decided to rest up. INSTEAD: 2022. UGHHHHHH International Crisis team brought in to determine what to do with Americans bearing Gifts for the Greeks.

We should have special shoes made up for us and 360Guys and the others who came before on Transatlantic. Who knows, they might catch on and people could try wearing them for a mile at a time, We have been blessed that the Daytime Room Service person is the wife of our Butler. The evening one is not very nice, but at least we have one who loves us and takes such good care of us.

As I am someone who is in the thick of things at the moment , perhaps I can pull back the curtain for you. If you test positive for Covid having sailed into Rome or Departing from Rome you are effectively screwed. You will be sent to a quarantine cabin. You cannot even think about leaving until you test negative on Day 7. If you test positive on that date, you will test again on Day 12. Quarantine has improved considerably since arriving in Mediterranean waters. My husband tested positive before Madiera. He was sent to Deck 12. Every meal was served tepid, on paper products. When we arrived in Rome the quarantine passengers were moved to Deck 6. Food was served on china plates and as for the crystal, we are not sure of that as we have not ordered champagne. At all times the Quarantine passengers on Edge were in Infinite Balconies . My husbands first cabin post Rome was in one which did not have a window which could be opened. I was still able to help coordinate his care. And then I was not. I tested positive for Covid. I was moved out of our Suite and I am with him now. He tested Negative yesterday but has chosen to stay with me until I recover. Champagne is not on order as I am far too weak to enjoy it. As for theatrics and panic attacks, perhaps you have never been in a situation such as ours. None of us who have been through this expected our cruises to turn out this way. We were using the Edge as our mode of transportation for our dream three week cruise in the Owners suite on Regal Princess. We had one day between cruises. My husband was re-tested at Day 7 on the final day of this cruise. Had he passed he would somehow be able to board Regal. He failed again. We had decisions that had to be made, over a 6 hour time difference as we approached a weekend. I am certain that your choice of words was made in haste and you are not normally so condescending but if you are then I am certain you will have a great time in Quarantine. It is quite the learning experience. IT humbles you.

I am asking a question here for the couple stranded in Dublin. Does anyone know how they might get the Certificate of Recovery needed in their case. I realize that this is not considered cruise related, except they certainly had Covid as result of the cruise on the Edge. Obviously developed it prior to disembarkation and were incubating it then. I can only imagine that this is a problem across the industry right now. I do wish that the US Government would put a little effort into considering how they are going to repatriate us old b@$t@rd$. Just when we thought it was safe to get back into the water, so to speak. Health update: My husband chose to stay in quarantine with me. He has finished his sentence and has tested negative. I have never slept as long as I have in the past two days. The crew continue to take unbelievable care of us. We have no complaints, other than it would really be nice if the Captain could change his parking style. Would it be too much to ask to have the sick bay passengers aligned to the Port side? Our view is generally pretty boring. (I am totally kidding, we are truly blessed no matter where we are looking out. )

I have heard from a woman who was on our cruise and disembarked in Rome. She tested positive in Dublin. Now she is in quarantine there for ten days. More people from the Transatlantic, who continued on this back to back are now in Quarantine with us. And I remind myself that I am so lucky. When I see the news reports I am saddened by the state of the World. My situation is not the best, but I am being well cared for and this too shall pass.

Therein lies the rub. We travel in Retreat on Celebrity, Grills on Cunard and full suites on Princess, We have always booked the category that we want and dont look back. That is because we have always enjoyed the lower passenger counts offered in those situations. The people who chose the "Move up" offer are living La Vida Local in the Retreat. Many are very high maintenance. I sat in disbelief as one couple proved their ignorance repeatedly on the second day of this Greek Isles cruise. Bottom line, the tables are too small, the plates are too big, "I like Maxwelll house coffee what do you call this crap? " IT was so unpleasant. There is a real problem when you are unable to provide staff for the International travelers. Alan has finally tested negative and is choosing to remain with me. He is not permitted to mingle despite being negative. I understand that to a degree. Our Buttler is a rockstar. His wife is one of the people who answers the Room Service line. She even sent a kettle, brand new to the cabin so that we could make our own tea. Our Butler, Jess also calls us daily. He was devastated when I was taken to the hospital. The Retreat manager told me that he was almost in tears when he described my leaving the ship that day. I am glad of that Alan is with me because today was a very tough day for me. I am perpetually healthy and happy and today I have been sleeping like a two month old baby. The bottom line is that if you decide to travel to Italy for a cruise or land holiday, make sure that you have an idea as to how you will get home

I have not even shared the best part of the story, I have a hiatal hernia and a narrowing esophagus. I have also been under a little bit of stress lately. (Ya think???) When my husband tested positive I tried every home remedy for my GI issues. On Monday May 2 I went to the Medical center to ask about medications. the lovely young Dr from South Africa gave me some options and said if I did not get better to come back. On Tuesday May 3 I returned, They young nurse told me to allow the meds to work. (UMMMM Mag Citrate generally does in less than a day.) I had been up throughout the nights attempting to soak away my intense back pain and what seemed to be splenic swelling. (To me) I was going on about four hours sleep a night and trying to contact people in the USA when they were available was problematic. We are 7 hours ahead. Wednesday May 4, I was in agony. I went to the Medical Center again. A doctor saw me and said I had to go to the hospital. I kept mentioning that I could not do that because my husband was in Quarantine and the ship left at 3pm that day. The Dr insisted that I had to put myself first. So, PCR test, bag packed, ambulance called. I was taken to a hospital in Palma de Mallorca. I was. one of two people there who spoke English. I was placed in an exam room, had a CT scan with contrast, had blood work and I was left. My cell phone was running out of charge so I remembered that there are USB ports on the back of tvs. I plugged mine into the port and placed the phone on top of the tv. And it fell down behind the tv. And I am now sweating. I removed the 32" tv from the wall and extricated the phone. I then left the exam room waving my Visa card, asking for the bill, please. They looked at me like I was even more demented than I think I am. The ship was leaving at 3 pm. All aboard at 2:30 and I had no idea how far we are. At 2 pm. I had paid the bill and went outside for my taxi. A woman taxi driver called out my name. A few seconds later a man called out my name. I had a decisiont to make. I chose the person who at least knew my name. We showed up at the port just before 2:30. Except it was the wrong port. I called the Port agent who spoke to the driver and got me to the right place. Both my husband and I were told that I would have an agent with me at all times. I was alone. I am 70 years old, hardly fragile, but certainly I should not be allowed out on my own in a foreign country for much longer.

This ship is not even half full. Passengers can demand a balcony all they want but that does not mean they will get them. We are all on the 6th floor. My husband was initially on Deck 12. Armchair quarterbacking a fluid situation is not going to change it.

Please, no offense taken. I understand that I am seeing things differently from my vantage point We purchased Med Jet as well, but from reading this boards it appears that Italy would not let us leave anyway. And hilariously my MDVIP bill was due to be paid May 1. I had set it all up prior to leaving the USA but something happened. I received an email yesterday saying, :OOOPS, we are missing your payment. I replied: I realize that this is an excuse that you hear all of the time, but I did post the payment, and right now I am in Covid quarantine in the Mediterranean on a ship. Considering I have been a a card carrying member for the past 5 years, I would like to have an exception made. They agreed to that. The story about the woman from Carlsbad is horrifying . Evana

So far all of the cabins with trays outside are on the Infinity balcony side. We were delivered a lovely bottle of Chilean red wine earlier today. My husband is now eating the extra blueberry muffin that I ordered at breakfast. I am becoming a squirrel, and am planning in advance. ( I will be the one in Business class opening my hand luggage and taking out a cold omelette) Thank goodness I am damn old and the eccentric label has been applied to me since I was12 so I am used to be abnormal. 🙂 The meals have been excellent.

Bob, you and Ray are so kind to me. I smiled when you said I was a model of perseverance. That is probably the human equivalent of a really bad headache. 🙂 I was an immigrant to Canada when I was 5 years old, 65 years ago last month. We live in the USA now. I am one of 6 kids with an overworked mother. From the age of 10 I was doing the grocery order and standing, all 4'5 of me at the Customer Service desk asking for a refund for a bad cabbage. And I will still fight for the ten cent refund. I was a stay at home housewife with a powerful Corporate spouse. I joked that my responsibility was taking care of all issues under 25K and his were to deal with everything above. He certainly had less to do, but he made the most of that job and we have financial security. I am proud to say that my perseverance was passed on to a powerhouse 45 year old female lawyer in Boston and a "Did you really suggest that to me?" two year old granddaughter in Indiana. I was raised to fight injustice. I will not go quietly into that dark night, but I am aware that nothing is accomplished with loud voices. Again. for those who say things could be worse, I just checked the new Merriam and Webster online dictionary and my face is directly under the definition of that sentence. 🙂

Tonight the Comedy of Errors persisted. ISSUE 1: We were ordering from YESTERDAY's menu. Send up a new one. ISSUE 2: An order arrived with one correct item. Broccoli soup. The rest were not what we ordered. ISSUE 3: We tried to call Room Service to no avail. I finally took the helm and called Customer Service directly. My husband was irritated more with me than with the fact that the order was screwed up. ISSUE 4: The next order arrived, I had to call to the man who had delivered it and tell him that this was once again NOT our order. So another call was dispatched and finally the correct order arrived This is when there needs to be one employee directly dealing with us who have no other way to get food. . And as to the implication that there are not many in Isolation, let me simply state that this hallway is increasingly filling up and there are empty trays in front of many many door Originallly Alan was in 6227. We are now in 6273 and I have heard from a friend who is now down the hall from us.

Tony and Angela, Totally agree vis a vis the opportunity to order Room Service in advance . Not everyone would agree to this because some would declare that they dont know what they want to eat 24 hours hence. Embarkation day there is limited to NO room service available. As we are not officially sailing on this voyage, we do not have access to the app to even find out what is on the Daily menus. And definitely a direct line to whomever is the COVID Concierge. I have lost confidence in International travel. BUT, not in Celebrity. Xx

Donna, we might have considered disembarking but it was very clear that the hotel and further arrangements were to be OUR responsibility. I have no idea where the Quarantine hotels are in Rome but we will be spirited off the ship on May 21 and flown home. A young Junior Officer, Caitlin has been a rockstar in trying to arrange repatriation at no expense to us. Our original tickets were business class and these will also be business class. I am so glad that you made it through this mess and are home.

Hi again: To answer some questions: DO I think that I am losing my mind? Hell, no I doubt very much I was suffering from sanity before we embarked on this cruise. Should we have just hunkered down and fingers crossed, shown up at the next cruise ship, in Civitavecchia and hoped for the best.? NO, that exposes everyone and you have the possibility of testing positive when you are no longer Celebrity's problem. Our situation is dreadful but Celebrity is taking amazing care of us. Flights are being rebooked once again. Our earliest departure is May 21. I think that the issue is that the Global response to Civid is inconsistent. Italy's rules are difficult to comprehend from afar. Were I to advise as to whether to cancel a cruise originating in Rome I would suggest that you give it some thought. Of course other people managed to avoid this completely. If you have suggestions as to what they did differently, then think away, just dont vocalize them. There is no rhyme nor reason. Of course the USA has to reconsider the re entry requirements, but my husband and I are in the midst of what is happening now. Yesterday someone suggested to me that things could be much worse, my husband could be on a ventilator. I replied: Things could also be much better. We are both vaccinated and boosted. We have both taken precautions and we do not fall into the category of morbidly obese. My only complaint with the Medical manner in which we are treated is that there are no provisions onboard for antivirals. When I had the flu in 2018 on Queen Elizabeth World cruise I was given Tamiflu, visited twice a day and after 5 days when my temperature had broken, I was cleared to leave my cabin. This is being treated like I have Ebola. (without the life saving efforts of Missionary Doctors from the USA.) We, too have Concierge Medicine but I cannot imagine how they would be able to help in this situation. We cannot even leave our cabin, let alone go ashore to be examined by a Dr that our MD suggests. For our 2020 South America circumnavigation I was able to bring Tamiflu with me. I did not need it. I wish that we had brought antivirals for Omicron. When Celebrity Edge was sailing in Caribbean waters it was for 7 day trips. People were testing at home on the second day of arriving home. Offloading passengers to their home country is easy. Trying to get us home from Italy is not so easy.

And they have done another turn. I had a froggy throat today. Alan and I decided that I should test. I did. And I tested positive. I called the medical department. I tested positive on pcr. I have joined my husband. Thankfully I had arranged this morning to get him into a cabin with the ability to have fresh air. The rules are supposedly Italy's rules. We decided to go this route because we are not going to be able to beat the system. Flying back to the USA requires the negative test or the certificate of recovery. I am beyond saddened. I think that my exposure occurred either when I went to the Hospital in Palma de Mallorca and then was taxied back to the ship, (Seriously, you do not want to know about the chaos of that day!!) or from passengers who decided to act like they were fine. Anyone who decides to sail from Civitavecchia this year needs to be aware of their options and plan accordingly. I will post more tomorrow, but for now I am simply exhausted. Oh, and we are next door neighbors to the Bickersons. 🙂

Up until yesterday every morning announcement from the Captain said that there were no cases of Covid in either the crew of the passengers. Yesterday he announced that there were two positive crew members and one passenger. The close contacts had been informed and were now part of the test every morning brigade. Last night my husband had a headache. He suffers from ocular migraines from time to time and we thought we should wait until morning before asking the Medical staff to come to our suite and test him. This morning we arrived in Madiera and the headache was still a problem and had moved to his sinuses. Other than that he felt fine. We had noticed a few other diners in Luminae coughing and blowing their noses and there was a woman in the Retreat who was coughing pretty actively and not bothering to leave the area. So we called the Medical Department. They sent a nurse to the suite and she took his vitals and performed a PCR test. it seemed to take forever to get the results, but that was probably more due to our impatience. He tested positive. They then sent a Medical team to test me. I tested negative. They sent a hazmat suited and hooded employee to escort him to his home for the next 5+ days. He was placed in a C-3 Infinite balcony cabin on Deck 12. I thank the people who came before us and obviously helped enact the change from Ocean View for Isolation to at least a balcony. Tonight we both ordered room service and actually ordered the same food. We did the right thing just like JetBlue did. We have a lot of loose threads to take care of though. We have booked on Regal Princess for May 7. We disembark the Edge on May 6. We have three weeks on the Regal and have our flight back home on May 29. I booked the flight on the very first day the flights opened. I paid an insanely low price for the First class return tickets. I need to find out our options. We disembarked a 60 day Cunard South America cruise on March 17, 2020. That was the day that the country shut down. " When we entered the embarkation area on April 22 of this year I could not stop crying. I was so joyous to be doing what we love. We have had some serious health issues this past year. We have no idea how much time anyone of us has left. So we are NOT ready to give up cruising. I just wish that there were a better way to handle the covid stuff. I mentioned on an earlier thread that when I had the flu in 2018, despite having the "Senior Citizen double trouble shot" and a bout of the flu in January at home, we were on the Queen Elizabeth World Cruise. I went to the Medical center and asked to be seen. I was quarantined to my suite and visited twice a day. We were off the coast of Australia. There were quite a few others who were ill as well. Not everyone went to the Medical Center. I have a feeling that this is the same on every voyage. So I just wanted to update regarding the Covid situation on THIS Transatlantic.