megfla

5 hours ago, hcat said:

Can u list locations and details for sign up.? We are about 90 minutes  south of Tampa, but have  fewer test site options.. .free or pay.

Thanks

Do a search for Hillsborough County Covid Testing and it will take you to the site.  There is one location in north Tampa and one out toward Brandon.  I believe the City of Tampa has a site near Raymond James Stadium as well, open to the public (although I am not sure the City has both PCR and rapid available).

13 hours ago, hiccups said:

Thanks to your post, I looked up our county testing.  It appears our site only offers PCR testing, and so we won't be able to use it for our cruise because we won't get the results in time, but it's good to know we have a free testing facility so close to home.  When I needed to get tested a few weeks ago after exposure at work, I had to wait two days to get an appointment at Walgreen's.

Yes, check the Hillsborough website for the two county locations.

14 hours ago, Catclaws said:

Making it 2 days won't make a difference at all in the number of people that identify as positive but it will prevent people from cruising since it means the PCR test results won't be returned in time and for some areas that is all that is available.

I don't understand you logic.  Depending on when a person contracts the virus, they may test negative three days out and test positive two days out.

As I said, I guess I am spoiled that the rapid tests are easily  available in my area.

7 minutes ago, cbfb said:

Is that one of the County sites? We are in Manatee County. Both Manatee and Sarasota county locations are close to us. I’m just not sure if the results for the rapid test are given in a PDF form or just a verbal. 

We received the results via a web portal. Yes, their county sites.

I don't know if I am spoiled, but Hillsborough County (FL) offers free antigen (rapid) tests with results in under one hour.  No appointment necessary. 

With the increased spread, I am glad they cut it down to 2 days.  It may identify more positive cases before boarding.

17 minutes ago, 39august said:

For those who have recently sailed Equinox in a lowly Sky Suite, did you receive a shoreside concierge call prior to boarding, please?  We got an email about some preferences about a week ago, 4 weeks prior to boarding. 

Hate to ask what my upcoming Veranda stateroom may be considered.....🤣

I was on the Millennium this past June (Concierge class cabin) and thought the ship was outstanding!  We sailed the Edge back in April 2019 (IV) as well and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We would never book an IV in warmer weather, as you lose all the A/C in your cabin when open.  We like to enjoy the fresh air on the balcony, but want that A/C when we come in.

If you are looking at a suite, the Edge may offer more venues/options.

12 hours ago, schittenden said:

 

I made a report to the shore excursions desk. They didn’t seem sure what the protocols are and indicated they may be changing. They indicated that since everyone on the ship was tested and vaccinated other than the

children, there wasn’t a need to social distance on the excursions, so any requirement that may exist now may be eliminated. I don’t fully understand that, but that’s what they said. 

Yes...curious.  Why have the protocols in the first place?  Oh well...all you could do is let them know.

11 hours ago, schittenden said:

Excursion update. We’re on the bus waiting to depart for our Evening Whale Watching and Alaska Culinary Experience tour. Although we were told on our last bus excursion that Celebrity required an empty row around us and reserved seats at the front of the bus, there are no such accommodations on this bus (identical to the first one). All the seats are filled, there were no reserved seats, and we are in the last row of the bus. So, either Celebrity’s COVID protocols are not being followed or Celebrity’s requirements are flexible when the opportunity for extra revenue arises. 
 

On the plus side, the couple one row up and across the aisle are both hacking up a lung. 

If you haven't already done so, I suggest informing the Shore Excursion manager that the tour providers are not adhering to the protocols.  

Your photos bring me back to our trips to Alaska...amazing!

Dover Sole is #1!

Thanks for taking us along...it makes me "home sick" for our time onboard in June.

Just a note, the all female band Magnifica was outstanding (if you haven't caught them yet)!

1 minute ago, CruisinCorey2525 said:

For sure! There's plenty to go around, but just seeing how they're putting a drink literally one dollar above the included drinks seems under handed and an attempt to squeeze literally quarters out of someone. 

That's the odd thing, we ordered Cosmo's and Dirty Martini's as shown on your menu and were never charged any excess.  So unless this is in fact an increase in the last few weeks, I will be surprised if you are in fact charged that extra dollar.

We enjoyed MANY of the items on the Martini Bar menu on our recent Millennium sailing, all of which were covered under the premium package. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at the Lawn Club on the Reflection in Jan 2020.  They have the plastic shades to raise and lower depending on the wind.  The only comment would be to share the appetizers and/or flatbreads...a lot of food!

We are booked there for the first night of our Silhouette sailing in June.

1 hour ago, wrk2cruise said:

Overnight in Aruba or Curacao would be nice as well.  But they never ask me!

That would be a great idea (in Aruba) for my Equinox Thanksgiving sailing!!!!

Let's hope they ask you!!!

3 hours ago, seatrial said:

The Millennium appears to be in St Lucia today, 6/28. Does anyone know if St. Lucia was a port change, replacing St. Kitts for this sailing?

Yes it was.

7 minutes ago, bajathree said:

I just noticed that the June 26th Edge sailing is closed?!?!?!

Hmmm....mass exodus from the Millennium sailings?

6 minutes ago, wesport said:

St Maarten has changed the PCR test to 72 hour before arrival and the antigen test 48 hours before(same as before).  Seems like its cutting it close. 

Please note...this is effective July 1.  Per the S.M. website.

Murano's lobster and Dover Sole! Yum!

49 minutes ago, Luv2Crus40 said:

We'll be taking the Celebrity Constellation out of Tampa this December.  We're flying night before. Any know if any hotels near port have shuttles to/from airport and Tampa Cruise Port?

Thanks for any information.

The hotels "near" the port will not offer airport shuttles, but the port is just a few miles from the airport.  If you stay near airport and utilize their shuttle to get to the hotel, it is very short/inexpensive taxi or Uber ride to the port.

We enjoyed two dinners and a lunch in Murano on our recent Reflection sailing.  By far our favorite specialty restaurant.

The Dover Sole was outstanding as well as the lobster.  Be sure to pace yourself for dessert as we loved both the Souffle and Valrhona Cocoa Cake!

Jumping out of a perfectly good plane????   😲 🤣

32 minutes ago, luv2cruz4fun said:

Can you get room service on departure day before you disembark?

 

Negative.

On 2/8/2020 at 7:40 AM, Scuba_Tom said:

Greetings all!  The last time I left you we were headed out to St. Maarten for a food tour.  This is a tour we were planning on booking privately but the ship had a 50% off sale at some point (for the same company, and same advertised itinerary) so we booked it through Celebrity.  

 

https://stmartinfoodtours.com/tours/

 

Sadly, this food tour was a disappointment.😕  What we received and what they advertised were completely different.  The website states that the tour is 4 hours with 4 stops (including Maho Beach), includes upwards of 10 bites of food, and starts at the Carousel Gelateria Bar.  Sadly, none of the above occurred. Our tour was actually longer at 4.5 hours, but only had 3 stops with no Maho Beach, two dishes and one plate of petit fours. The Gelateria Bar was skipped altogether.  While I do understand that things can and do change, an explanation would have been nice as this is dramatically different than what was promised. Additionally, if they provide a different tour for cruise ship guests this should have also been advertised on their website so that we could have chosen which tour we would like.  

 

The food was good, but there was also no explanation as to what the food was, how it was relevant to the island, or why we were eating it.  In fact no one at any of the restaurants spoke a single word to Elle or I, or the others in our group. Food tours are supposed to be a bridge between the food, history, and culture of a region and there was zero of that.  Elle and I have taken food tours all over the world and this was, unfortunately, the worst one we have done. This came across as a bus tour with lunch spread out of three restaurants and not a food tour. Overall, I’d give it 3 toothpicks out of 10.  Because our guide provided an excellent tour of the island and the food was good, I gave it a two point bump from 1 out of 10.  

 

 

We took this same tour in early January and also had a disappointing experience.  We provided our feedback to the shore excursion desk, who informed us that they have never received any negative comments on this excursion....I guess it must have just been us...and you....🤣

Just now, SharonK said:

Did you call celebrity ahead of the cruise or just ask when you got on the ship?

Just ask your stateroom attendant when you get to your room that first day.  He or she will leave it in your cabin, usually within an hour.