spiritkat090909

I tried 3 times before giving up...so I for one, appreciate the answers! What I READ said Halibut not silver salmon, and two different numbers for the glaciers...and another one I was sure of but was wrong and didn't even know it.  And then the trick question.. HALF of trail number.  I am most assuredly out of practice on TEST TAKING. 

Plan A... going on the cruise.  I suspect that the cruiselines are as fed up as We The People are and have every intention of taking whomever is left and getting back on the seas. They won't be ABLE to say yay or nay until the last minute.  If you are flexible, you very well could be on one of the first ones back from US waters.  I'm on Apex, 2nd PLANNED sailing on resumption. Someone gets to be the first to sail, you know.  Think positive.

Plan B... cancel and have peace of mind KNOWING you are NOT going.  If you need to have rock solid plans... that is the best gamble. But, be prepared for the sick at your stomach feeling knowing that you could have gone IF it goes.

Plan C...flip a coin, heads you PLAN to go, tails you cancel.

My understanding is that there are different ways to book with bluechipclub@email.celebritycruises.com...

I hear that you can email them with a specific ship and sail date and get a % discount off whatever the current program/price is... but, if you book more than 6 months out, you have to call/email back within that time frame to find out what the 'real' price is and you would keep whatever your perk offer was. Info source cruisecritic JimIan, I think.

As for my ACTUAL experience, I have only booked the mailed offers through BCC.  They offered free veranda room on a specific date/ships, I chose my preference and put down the required port taxes and fees.  On the one we sailed this way, there were no upgrades allowed, no perks, but we got free drinks at the casino when playing, except the first day, if I remember correctly. We are also Elite, so it may have been during those free drink hours.  You CAN buy a package on the ship.  This was on the Edge on NYE. Room assigned was not infinite veranda, but real (tiny) actual balcony.  Not eligible for Moveup bids.

My next one is on Apex 11/14/20 and is category E2 infinite veranda midship.  Again... can't pay difference for a different room category. Not eligible for any upgrades.  Can cancel up to 2weeks prior and get PTF refunded.  I don't have any idea what the current parameters will be should it be cancelled on us. 

We also had booked our first offer with Celebrity through a local casino offer and that one WAS eligible for upgrades.  We had been assigned an ocean view at booking and there were only 3 rooms available on that last minute booking.  We did a moveup bid and scored an Aqua Class for $500.

So the thing is...  you don't know until you pick or book something what the specifics will be. 

YAY!  I think I DID it... now it if will last and not disappear into wordland... I may just be prepared for that first post Rona duty review that I would feel really bad about not doing IF the APEX actually sails in Nov.  😄  Enquiring minds will need to know procedures and details when things start back up.  Like... whether or not luggage valet was available. How long did it take to get on the ship..off... How full was it...yada yada

I am REALLY appreciating the past reviews...and enjoying digging up and re-reading...

Trainman & Judith/Carol ..check

St Greg ...check

Wildra... check

now off to find all the Jammans!

Just can't remember all the reviewer names or which board they are on since I look at most.

THANKS WILDRA!

57 minutes ago, jwc1027 said:

You all have me smiling as I'm concerned about my June 2021 Equinox sailing and here you have boarding passes for Nov. 2020. I guess I need to crank up the optimism but will be surprised if any sailings out of U.S. for remainder of 2020

Actually, in my mind ... I see a brief resumption of sailing with a quick total stop again, followed by a worldwide permanent mandatory lockdown..until everyone takes a mandatory vaccine or is not allowed out of their home to buy or sell anything.  But...I'm choosing to IGNORE those thoughts  and HOPE for the best, whatever that best may be!

My sister and I have the same arrival time, thank goodness, even though she checked in a full 24 hours after me...  I don't have expedited arrival, she does.  I think I read somewhere that you have to totally do the check in on the app to get the expedited arrival to show up.  Of course, I forgot that and did mine on desktop where I can type easier. 

Update... I have been able to complete check in and have a boarding pass.  The check in times start at 1pm instead of the usual 11am.  (Apex 11/14)

I guess I'm just sailing "as if" until I'm not.  But, SOMESHIP gets to be the first ship from the US to sail!  As of today, November hasn't been X'd.  (Normal pessimist has suddenly become an optimist... the world HAS ended.- Eeyore.)

Same issue with checking in on an Apex Nov sailing.  It looks like there is a CV19 form waiting to be added by the legal eagles and super-d-dooper IT dept before you can check the "I agree" box, which is ghosted.  I would say they aren't in any hurry, but it could just be beyond the IT expertise at the present time. 😄

RE: 'flooding the lines'....  The Captains' Club line was obviously not flooded on the day I called.  Immediate answer, no hold. Apparently, they have dedicated phone agents who are not busy (or trained to do) processing refunds. Different departments.

1 hour ago, davekathy said:

Hopefully your's is an isolated case and it gets fixed, soon. Did you call the Captains Club (1-800-760-0654)? Hopefully if others experience this IT FUBAR they inundate the CC with complaints. I don't like the idea of all systems not showing the same CC tier level. 

Yes, I called Captains Club. There have been 3 others that the agent knew about and she said she would make a note of it and see if it could be followed up on with higher ups.  I agree.. I don't like the not showing the same tier level.  I am not able to print anything that proves when I get to the ship if it is not correct THERE. However, I do have a current booking with previously printed confirmations pre-screw-up showing the Elite level. The benefits may be minimal, but they are still something. Gelato, laundry, boarding order if not in a suite, discount on wine by the bottle, etc.

Umm... my points were there BUT...I had my status dropped down to lowest level, 11 away from 2nd from bottom...FROM ELITE VIA RCCL DIAMOND STATUS MATCH.  Celebrity says they still show elite in my sail record but it doesn't show on computer account.  IT strikes again with a new issue.  So, I guess if you have status matched initially, skip the point earning emails to be on the safe side.

31 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

 

 

They are using proteins off the virus. It will not modify your DNA by the vaccine.  

 

Gene therapy (for example, to treat Cancer) is still in its infancy but that's not related to a vaccine.  

 

FOX is reporting right now on the Oxford vaccine.

 

Had to 'Gidget Google'...

"...DNA-binding proteins include transcription factors which modulate the process of transcription, various polymerases, nucleases which cleave DNA molecules, and histones which are involved in chromosome packaging and transcription in the cell nucleus."...

So, it's the binding proteins being used to attack the virus.  I think I read/heard somewhere that it's the histones that are not acting in a normal fashion to normal coronaviruses.

While it is certainly above my pay grade, a basic understanding is something I think is essential to a somewhat educated decision-making process. I like to know what is (or isn't) going into my body. How things work. Food for further thought.

On 7/18/2020 at 7:41 AM, Eli_6 said:

 

...... some of the vaccines now being worked on are employing new technology that alters the way the virus attaches and doesn't even work in the same way as other vaccines do.

....

Not trying to argue.  ...

A.  I'm not trying to argue either

B.  That new technology is what concerns me. It sounds as if your DH is in a position to confirm/deny something that I would like to know:  Does that tech include the alteration of our DNA?

14 hours ago, hcat said:

Tuscan on Edge does not have a wake view!

Y'all are correct.  That WAS Equinox in October... Edge in December... they just ran together in my mind! 

They don't stop it at the sky suites.  From my understanding, when it is moved from deck 14, it is empty.  I don't think they move it often. I wouldn't worry if my sky suite was a S3. It will be above or below your suite.

We dined at Eden for our New Years Eve dinner on Edge.  We were seated by a window, but it was dark quickly so it didn't matter that much. Normandie is just another main dining room, but it was my favorite of the four MDR's.  Did not like the Tuscan Grill at the back of the ship's food...but the view of the wake was stunning.  JMO, I'd go with Eden for a special dinner.

As long as you aren't too fussy, any veranda cabin should be nice, obstructed or not.  I would choose to be close to an elevator for convenience sake. Have fun in December!

5 hours ago, Kellyann said:

The girl who doesn't want to go is requesting a credit on all the money she's paid into it which includes the taxes, port fees, tips, etc. from a 13 day paid in full Panama cruise amounting to close to $800 plus the $220 deposit paid on a second cruise that was cancelled.  I don't blame her but I feel badly for my friend who is basically screwed if they don't allow a replacement in her cabin.  It sounds like CCL is saying everyone on a booking gets a refund or gets FCC and onboard credit and they won't allow one person choosing one method and the other choosing something different.  

The girl who doesn't want to go is out of luck.  She has the choice of GO or not...not get her money back. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't be entitled to a full refund without trip insurance, and I don't think most policies covered this pandemic.  As others have said, her name can be on the booking and she just doesn't show up at the pier.  You can't make her use her FCC, I suppose, but she will lose it anyway if she doesn't ever want to use it in the future.  She needs to understand her choices and then you work around it.   If you can't tell her in a way that makes it understandable... send her  a link to this thread.   Or have her call and fight it out with Carnival. Let THEM explain it to her.

Oh, wow...I was WRONG.. not a MATH major. I had to fact check myself, just in case. 

According to google, in 2020 there are 331,002,651 United States citizens. Today's worldometers dot info says the current covid infection rate is 1,905,018 US citizens.  Divide that and it comes to .005%.  Well... maybe I won't get it after all.  Science. Or math. Does it really make a difference? Where do you draw the line of information as to what you are told vs. what the numbers are saying?

15 minutes ago, Jobeth66 said:

 

Oh.  My.  See, this is how science works.  You examine what you know, and then you form a hypothesis, and then you test the hypothesis.  As things fail and your hypothesis does not hold up, you reform your hypothesis around what you do know.  

 

Making changes based on new facts and observations is a feature, not a bug.  Admission that one was wrong about something is not cause to disregard everything else that person may say in the future.  It just means that they found new evidence that doesn't support the prior belief.

 

They're not 'making it up as they go along', they are refining what they know and throwing out what doesn't match the facts.  This is a GOOD thing.

No humor?

   OK...so here is what I have come up with from the 'data' PRESENTED to me, without 'peer review':  The Sars2 virus, which causes covid 19 disease and currently has a .5 percent infection rate in the US, as of statistics presented yesterday in the morning, central time...it is affected by factors of humidity, vitamin D/UV rays (C or B/A unknown or unproven), and who knows what else.  The Fauci advise went from mask doesn't help, save it for the health pros, to wear it to help others, to the latest of it helps keep himself from GETTING it?!  And I don't trust that. Sorry. His credibility is shot, for me. As is the WHO has has the other parts of the world on different protocols than they recommend for the USA? I listen and hypothesize my own risk vs freedom factors. The 'experts' have shown their hand, IMO. They have an agenda.

What I have decided is that it is more infectious than any other heretofore known virus, most probably a weaponized version of the original SARS.  At present time, it is extremely deadly to those with co-morbidity factors and the elderly.  The herd immunity factor has not been in play in our nation, but appears to be doing fine for Sweden, Brazil not so much.  There also seems to be a immunity factor in play for those who have been previously immunized or on treatments for malaria. Hmm... more hypothesis there. 

SO...my personal bottom line is I need to be prepared if I go out into ANY public situation, from gas station, crowds, grocery stores, at home among family members who have gone who-knows-where and whether they have hit the shower (wash that hair, don't forget the glasses and phone, either) and dumped their clothes and shoes immediately upon return.

  I will get this virus, IF it is as bad as they would have us believe. Whether I survive or not depends on my own body and immune factors, God's Hand. Unless I stay at home, NEVER go out in public without a N95 respirator, eat at home and have deliveries.  Which, I HAVE as a poultry producer... aka dumb farmer to the people who eat a couple of million pounds of chicken per year from my bio-secure farm.  😉

FWIW...I'm resuming life as normal. I'd rather die than live a half-life. I obey the mandated rules out of respect for those with less faith.

On 5/28/2020 at 8:55 AM, MsTabbyKats said:

Ugh.  My local casino is smoke free.  I deal with smoking on ships because I don't have a choice .....

 

Actually, there IS a choice. Celebrity has smoke free casinos and it is very nice.  They still have many players, it is still hard to get on the UTH table. 🙂

 The occasional problem is a die hard nicotine addict leaving the table for a slurpdown and interrupting the routine of the play.  SMALL price to pay for cleaner air without Covid droplets that you can SEE floating towards you because of the smoke highlights. Or plain old ordinary secondhand bad breath smoke.

I'm just haunting NCL boards for the comeback info...and I have read everything else. 

On 5/27/2020 at 11:46 PM, fastpitchdad said:

 

How in the world would they know that nobody has gotten the virus from a surface? 

It's beginning to look to me like they are just making it up as they go along.  Whatever suits the pied piper tune of the day...and change it the next. I'm beginning to feel like a marionette!