frito58

It’s been down for 2 days for me 🤷‍♂️

On 1/29/2024 at 5:01 PM, VAKandA said:

Also...

 

I am a Pastor and my wife and I were hoping to find other Christians to pray with, have meals with or just plain socialize with while sailing.

 

We're in the 40-50 age group, but we can talk, act and can keep up with anyone from their 20's to their 90's just fine.  🙂

 

If you'll be on this cruise and would also like what we're hoping to find, please feel free to reply to this message or you can message me privately.

We are little older but have been a lot of cruises me 50 and Joyce around 20 but if we run into each other or u run us down . We can shoot the bull with anyone anytime anywhere. We are Steve and Joyce . 

I’m loyal to my wife , as for a cruise line ,not so much . I have 20 something Carnival and 20 something Royal cruises under my belt . Soon will have 7 Celebrity . We have 3 NCL , now have 3 Princesses booked. I head where the itineraries are fun and ships look fun and not too big . Mid size range . Then I look at price . Getting too old to worry about anything else . 

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

And yet........

And yet I can afford it … family of 5 not so much , that’s my point . 

Seriously, just getting ready to head out on Independence of the seas haven’t been a Royal ship in a while. Have been on probably 20 of them , but u have to be kidding me that JR went from like $6.95 to $14.99 . I just saw it on the app . Are they freaking crazy . I mean the place was always empty on every ship I was ever on . U could walk in any time and get served. We always went and loved it . But damn $30 plus tip for burger. I mean we probably still go as we like the change of pace and get free shakes. Can’t imagine it will stay open long on a lot of ships . 

10 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

??  "But all of cruises free play will whole amount for one then half that amount for the next one" .??? What does that mean?

Only the older ships offer the "FreePlay" from your booked casino offer in cash, newer ships are always on your Sign and Sign.  

No older ships may give u CASH in free play vs actual free play chips is what I mean . First person May get like $500 and second person may get like $250 . We were on the Valor in New Orleans they handed us cash at the cage vs let’s say the Mardi Gras which gave us free play chips which u use . Make sense. 

Also here’s a little tidbit for those of you new to booking casino deals , let’s say u book a casino deal that gives u $500 or $1000 free play for one person. We get those all of the time you go to the cage to get your free play we checked one cruise just for fun to see if if the other one of us had any and yes we did . It says just one . Normally it says like drinks for all free play for one. But all of cruises free play will whole amount for one then half that amount for the next one . Sometimes it’s free play sometimes they hand us cash . Depends on the ship . Great system. 

Well I can give 18k reasons to have insurance 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️, had a heart event on the Apex in Europe. Saying that probably wouldn’t take Celebrity insurance ever again. Even there own people have no freaking clue what it is . I spent 2 days below in medical they said my insurance was travel only lol . They only sell one kind . Took me off the ship long story longer after all was said done 18k worth bills flights hospital, their cost hotels and took almost 4 months running  in circles they sent me 3 checks paid in full. I now have Geoblue yearly insurance. 

I don’t know if u call this a special touch but basically all platinum perks are gone . Unless u go track them down . I mean there are things they used to do for now you basically have to go beg for them which I find ridiculous. 

Just booked this great casino deal so figured why not always looking for a reason to go to NYC for a few days here we can catch some shows then catch a cruise. By the time this rolls around will be up to 40 something cruises or thereabouts. 

I am finding it sad that u have to chase down all of your “ platinum “ perks . I mean anything that’s a platinum perk now you have to basically chase it down or order it or whatever. Except for laundry . U don’t even get free water unless u beg them to bring it to your room they actually charged me for it one cruise because I used one those bottles in the room . I have been platinum for like forever. But whatever it is what it is I guess. 

13 hours ago, Joebucks said:

Better yet, water is free all over the ship.

Yea well we like water in our room , we have to take pills morning and night and if I can afford a cruise $10 is going to break me if it is i might as well sit at home LOL . 

It used it be like $5 , they doubled the price recently, but still it’s worth it to me for 12 pack of water . Easier than lugging one onboard. 

6 hours ago, terrydtx said:

AON is not owned by Celebrity and we got a $5400 settlement on the $4100 claim we filed, they paid us for things we didn't even file for, but they felt we were entitled for. BTW our claim was for a cruise with HAL not Celebrity in August.

I didn’t say it was , that’s just the company u get when u buy their insurance. 

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Why we always buy independent insurance through my TA's company. My wife tested positive for Covid on our August cruise and was in isolation for the last 5 days of the cruise in Italy. Our insurance covered the missed last 5 days by reimbursing us the cruise fare for both of us. I was shocked, when we filed, we only filed for my wife's missed 5 days, but the insurance company AON, decided to pay for both of us and we got the check last week.

AON is Celebrity insurance lol and from what I’m reading hearing they are absolutely garbage. I have read maybe 50 reviews where people say they pay nothing on simple claims . I have heard nothing on my claims so far. But will wait and see. 

15 hours ago, cdn_tbird said:

There is no such thing as "free" medical care, it is simply paid for through taxes not by funding "for profit" insurance companies. It is also triage based so that access is universal. I'm by no means rich, yet my orthopedic surgeon just happens to have a former Canadian Minister of Defence as a patient. Pretty sure that if there was better elsewhere he would have the means to go there.

 

With a little research you would learn that countries like Canada have contributed a significant number of medical advancements and life saving procedures to the world.

We actually did a tour with some people from Canada they were laughing about their so called FREE medical . They were like our taxes so high as compared to what you pay we pay for everything 3X over and then some . They were like it’s ridiculous to live up there . Just sayin what they said 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

On 11/13/2022 at 5:13 PM, Baron Barracuda said:

All travel insurance (like all homeowners insurance, all health insurance and all auto insurance) isn't created equal.  That's why I rely on the pros at Squaremouth and Trip Insurance Store which are both highly recommended on CC.    If OP has some free time should check out CC's travel insurance forum which has lots of good info.  

Dear Lord I’m finding that out the hard way . Celebrity insurance is absolutely pathetic . I filed my claim 1 week ago . Was supposed to get forms in 24-48 hours , after 4 phone calls 3 emails still nothing. They claim high volume of claim has them behind lol. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s all not a huge scam . But I will deal with whatever. But definitely never ever take any cruise line insurance ever again. Thanks live and learn I guess. 

42 minutes ago, cdn_tbird said:

I'm glad to hear the OP is on the mend and feel bad about the issues they're dealing with but there are a couple of things that I think  need some context. 

 

Civitavecchia is a seaside town of approx. 50k residents that is an hour from Rome so I wouldn't expect the same level of medical expertise as you would find in Rome. It would be like expecting NYC level care in a small town in the US.

 

As for taking the word of a hotel concierge about their healthcare system, how many of us haven't complained about our own healthcare system? Rome has good healthcare but they will try to milk you out your insurance for as much as they can once they know you're a tourist.

Well actually he knew first hand as he had taken his mother to what he said was the best hospital in Rome and was telling us all the ins and outs of Rome healthcare system. To be honest I am glad I came home . 

2 hours ago, BigAl94 said:

Always buy independent - never trust a cruise line. I wish you well but with proper insurance you would have been well looked after. Excellent private facilities in Europe including Italy if you have access to them through private medical travel insurance.

You know it’s actually my fault probably, kind of get lazy and just click at the end when I book it figure wth nothing will ever happen. Live and learn . 

41 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

What was the bad and ugly part of the ship? 

Oh there was no ugly part of the ship we LOVED it . I believe the ugly was how it finished lol . But I’m alive so it’s all good. 

42 minutes ago, BigAl94 said:

Clearly you did not have adequate travel insurance

So buying Travel insurance from the cruise line that CLEARLY states u have MEDICAL is not adequate. Thanks for input. But whatever. 

11 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

We had a couple on our roll call that had a medical emergency when Constellation was at the Azores on Oct 28.  I believe that they are finally in a position to fly back home this weekend.  Anyway, they were also wrongly told by Celebrity that they did not have insurance.  Not sure if it's identically the same situation as yours, but I thought you might find it interesting.  Below is the link to the post.

 

 

 

Well obviously I was in medical, I do all of our travel bookings , but I knew that Celebrity only sells one insurance but they told her BS story that she something yada yada that only covers cancellations, I laid there I was like that’s wrong . It’s a shame they don’t wth they sell . 

34 minutes ago, Nashna said:

Oh my...what a horrible experience.  In the future you might want to check out Medijet.  The insurance covers you when you are traveling.  They would have arranged for your care in a respectable hospital and would have flown you home.  You were very luck to survive the experience.  I hope you will have another opportunity to sail on the Apex.

Thanks that’s good to know , I was googling to see if there was something like that for the future. 

We flew to Rome on Oct 15/16 for our first European and Celebrity cruise. Itleft out on the 17th we had B2B cruises booked in a Retreat room we were so excited and it once we boarded we were not disappointed, it was fantastic. Our butler Albert was there for every need, Nancy our room gal was wonderful. We were in sky suite 8206 perfectly located . The Luminae was so great we loved eating there along with all the specialty restaurants. It was like my 30 something cruise and Joyce, my partner 12th or so but all the stops were just awesome. The Apex is as great a ship we have ever sailed just the perfect size . If I could sail this size ship every cruise I would .
 

Everything was going great UNTIL I woke up on our what was supposed to be our first sea day back with chest pains . I sat there for a minute BTW NO history ever of heart problems. I am a stage 4 colon cancer survivor of about 18 years. We are both widowed and have lost our spouses so we know what it is to face these things. So I am getting worse Joyce calls 911. They take me to medical. I won’t bore u with all the medical but I ended up staying there for the last 2 days . Their reading was I needed immediate angioplasty once I got off the ship between 48-72 hours of my presumed heart attack. They assured me they were in contact with the “hospital “ and a cardiologist.

Once in port of Civitavecchia we were taken by ambulance and were told we couldn’t take but 2 bags so somewhere we have 3 bags of luggage missing somewhere , which is now like finding Waldo . Anyway we are taken to the port hospital and we pull in and nothing, nobody was expecting us, the hospital was filthy, one nurse that I saw for like 5 minutes spoke broken English they ran a couple of test a Dr looks at me and says NO Angioplasty. They stick me in a hallway for 5 hours. Me not being a one that takes BS finally loses my temper just says BS on all This and says I’m leaving. They sent a guy supposedly a to help but basically all he wanted was to make sure we paid our bill $1200 . We can’t get back on the ship, Joyce contacts  a celebrity rep at the port who says he’ll call us right back and never did.

The liaison  arranges our transportation to Rome for the Bargain price of $230 euros.. it cost me $130 in a private van to get there . We have no place to stay . I go back to the Hotel we left . Sold out they send me down the street. One room left he says he can let me have it for $539 euros which I know is like 200 more than it’s worth on what I paid when came but I’m tired so whatever. So we stay 2 more days, hire a private doctor for 300 euros to clear me for flying and prescribed a nitro patch in case I needed it, flew home and now I’m dealing with insurance…..Oh on the ship customer service told my we HAD NO insurance. They said what I bought only covered canceled cruise which I knew was totally BS. I always take cruise insurance which I know covers medical. So now about 20k later the insurance is like a total PITA . I have called them 3 times they won’t email the forms I need . I used to be a TA so it’s not like I am clueless on how to do these things . It’s just frustrating dealing with what was supposed to be the best cruise of our life.
 

Oh BTW I did have another heart attack after I got home last Friday had a 100% blocked artery , I shutter to think what would have happened if I had to have surgery In Italy . The Dr on ship were right but they basically just get you off so they don’t have to deal with it. I do believe someone was looking out for us got us home and now I’m recuperating here . Dealing with the aftermath. Just never ever get sick outsiders the USA .LOL . Even our concierge at the hotel told us it wouldn’t be wise to go to. Rome hospital unless I was having some BAD symptoms.  . Sorry so LONG everyone .But stay well & happy sailing. 

2 hours ago, rmalbers said:

I think it's because most people have cruised to the places they've wanted to go.  I did a Viking Expedition ship in the US Great Lakes for something new and different (and have another Viking cruise booked). 

Oh we are doing something different every cruise now , we heading to Europe/Rome and TA home . Then a Panama Canal cruise , then South America, then back to Europe. It’s something different every time . Same ole thing  bores us to death . May have to try that Great Lakes one some day .