WonderMan3

When I'm paying the exorbitant amount of money that the cruise lines charge as they slowly erode services and amenities year after year, you better believe I'm going to enjoy every possible luxury in my cabin including having a fresh towel daily. I go on a cruise to completely relax not to worry if the towel I left to hang up will not still be damp the next morning. Also, it's just more hygienic; I'd have fresh towels each day at home too if I didn't have to be the one washing them every other day.

It was my understanding that Apex did have a bar in the lounge but it was more of a service bar, not one you could sit at.

I’ve only seen it mentioned for one of the TAs that is currently in progress. I thought someone else disputed that report saying the disembarkation was not Covid related? But perhaps I misunderstood?

Thanks to those who have provided actual testimonials of recent experiences onboard. So it sounds like people are now allowed to quarantine in their own cabins as a consistent policy. And yes, I am well aware that “things could change” from what they are doing now but we have been moving in a trajectory of less restrictions which is most evidenced by Celebrity rolling back the testing requirements for pretty much all cruises. While Covid will continue to have peaks and valleys I don’t expect to see Celebrity rolling back the quarantining in your own cabin policy as they are only going to be looking to fill the ships to greater capacity going forward. The only way I see a move backwards in all Covid policies is if a new strain emerges that is far, far worse than what we’ve seen before and is causing a mass increase in infections and severe illness and/or death even in those who are vaccinated. Current trends don’t seem to indicate that will happen but anything is possible of course.

Does anyone here have some recent reports of Covid quarantine experiences onboard, like in the past couple weeks? Just curious if passengers are still being moved out of their cabins to a specific deck or if they are now allowing you to quarantine in your own cabin? Celebrity never outlines this policy on their own site. This a key issue for me in deciding if I will move forward with my B3B cruises next year.

I was wondering if the restrictions for Europe were removed because they don’t have any cruises there until next spring, but then I looked at MSC’s website, as they have winter Europe cruises, and testing only appears to be required for unvaccinated pax. I assume that this means if you are on a back-to-back and both of your cruises have none of the ports that require testing that you won’t have to test at the end of the first cruise?

I have been a Blue Chip member for about 7 years now and I don't recall any BCC information ever mentioning a "free cruise" at least not for Amethyst level. There is the "annual cruise benefit" which if you read their flyers (someone shared a link to one further up the thread) has an asterisk that denotes it is based on play. You have set benefits that you will get each cruise based on your current tier level and then there are other benefits that are based on the play from your most recent cruise.

That's not true. It's a set earning period. Currently, due to the extension, it runs until Dec 2022. After that all points expire and you start earning from scratch. Your tier level for the next earning period will be determined by wherever you wound up at the end of the current earning period. Now, in some cases they have been extending people's tier levels from the previous earning period (my Sapphire level was extended several times even though I have not cruised with Celebrity since Jan 2019) or only dropping them down one tier even though they may not have cruised at all during the prior earning period. They've been playing a little fast and loose with the rules.

I wonder if there will be any other updates on the ship?

I have never heard of spa access being included save for Aqua Class and that new Sky Suite category they created. What is included, access to the thermal suite? Is it any day at any time?

Anyone booked Delta Business Class with Celebrity and been able to reserve seats after your flights have been reserved and paid for, no matter how far in advance? If so do you book the seats on Celebrity's site or through the airline directly?

Standard size martinis are covered but the larger sized options are not

The spouse tested negative initially in relation to their other half testing positive. This was days later when the cruise line made the spouse get another test because of a "close contact". Now maybe I misunderstood and the person was saying that they were the close contact to their spouse but it was days after they had tested positive and were quarantined and after the spouse had already tested negative so it doesn't make sense that they would be identified as a "close contact" situation by the cruise line. Those are normally situations where it is someone outside of your cabin.

There is an active thread right now with someone quarantined on Beyond where their spouse was required to test because of a close contact.

Smart crew

It didn't used to be an amenity for the lower suites but starting in 2017 is when I noticed butlers starting to offer to regularly stock beer, soda and water as long as you had a beverage package that covered those items. It happened to me in two Sky Suites. I don't think it is a promoted amenity though so it can't be guaranteed that it will be offered for everyone.

Not clear what you mean by "days of reporting cases", are you meaning the ship updating passengers with the numbers of cases onboard is over or do you mean people testing positive onboard is over? If it's the former, it sounds like that's been fading out for a couple months now as I've read cruise reports here where they confirmed people were quarantined but the ship was not announcing case numbers. If it's the latter, well no, people will continue to test positive onboard if they experience symptoms and choose to go to the clinic to get tested or ship staff sees them with symptoms and requires them to be tested. As far as returning to the "what it was", until testing is completely gone prior to ALL cruises or for back-to-backs and there is no quarantining in cabins other than your own, then things are not back to normal.

It does. How long ago was this? The CDC just recently changed their 5 day quarantine policy so I wouldn't have expected a change for onboard quarantining policies until maybe the past week or two (if they have changed at all).

Like I said, I found Reflection's Luminae to have the same noisy atmosphere and unlike the other ships we actually had to wait (briefly) for a table at times on Edge and Reflection. It's because both are accommodating more suite guests.

Ordering from Luminae in a Royal Suite is actually not a normal option but an occasional exception that is made. The only suite I have been told by staff where they accommodate the request regularly is Penthouse on S and M class. Not sure about Edge class since they have a couple different upper suite room categories.

So have the cruise lines shifted to a "5 days quarantine and then you're out" policy? I thought I read people posting recently who said that if you still test positive after 5 days then you have to stay in quarantine for another 5 days or until the end of the cruise (whichever comes first)?

When you are contacted by the shoreside concierge prior to a sailing you can advise your requests at that time. They will contact the Suites Manager onboard who will then follow up with you once you board. If you don't hear from them within a day of boarding then raise it up through your butler (or host or whatever they are calling them now). You get a complimentary bottle of champagne (which was always Perrier Jouet when I sailed prior to Covid) with your suite in case you are unaware. If you want an additional one then you may be able to get that in exchange for one of your two included bottles of alcohol that come with the suite or if you don't want to swap those then there will probably be a charge for the additional bottle. You should be able to order from the MDR menu with no issue and since it's a special occasion perhaps you could order from Luminae too (they might say no but wouldn't hurt to ask - might be a charge for your guests on that if they are not suite guests). I had a celebration like this in a Royal Suite a few years back to celebrate my sister's wedding onboard. We didn't do a full meal en suite but had a whole group of canapes provided at no cost. Did a similar celebration for my husband's birthday too where they also set up some decorations and provided a small cake. They are wonderful at setting up these nice little celebration moments.

That is likely because Blu is positioned one deck above the MDRs on Edge. Luminae is many decks above and on the opposite end of the ship.

Not sure what you mean. The Luminae menus are the same fleetwide, save for Edge class having the additional everyday items and M and S class having access to the MDR menu. Unless you are referring to atmosphere? I found Edge's Luminae generally busier and noisier than on S and M class save for Reflection which had the same busier atmosphere as Edge. People were dressed similarly regardless of the ship though and really the same as I experienced when eating in the MDR in the past. I would consider Luminae a fine dining venue on all ships based on the higher quality of service and food.

How late are you dining and how busy has it been at that time? We normally don't eat late but if it could help get a quiet Luminae where it becomes easier to be distanced from other tables then we may try that for our next cruises.