WonderMan3

Good luck! We have our first B3B booked for next May on Constellation. Do you know if they have gotten rid of the testing for B2Bs? I have read conflicting reports on here so not sure where it currently stands.

No need to apologize. It can get confusing sometimes as to the different amenities offered on the different ships. That's why Cruise Critic is here, to help answer questions like this. Just ignore the rude folks and don't be afraid to ask questions. ☺️

Also look to see if your cruise offers a shore excursion or you could go to Trip Advisor and search for a private guide to take you there if the other options don't work out. Keep in mind it's about a 90 minute drive each way from the port so around 3 hours of your day will be traveling.

Never heard that explanation before. I've always heard two origins for the phrase: 1) Connecting to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz because she was played in the 1939 film by Judy Garland who was a gay icon. 2) Connecting to writer Dorothy Parker who moved within circles full of gay men. To get into secret gatherings (back in the days when it was illegal for them to gather) gays would use the term "friend of Dorothy" as a password to gain entry.

People keep mentioning the CDC. This sailing was in Europe though. I thought once cruises were in European waters they were under the jurisdiction of whatever countries they are starting or ending the cruise in so CDC rules would not apply? I assume though that the European Union had similar rules to the CDC.

The point was to reduce the potential number of already infected people coming onboard. That’s not a bad thing.

I don’t see the quarantining going away. I mean there has always been quarantining with other contagious viruses like noro or if someone is diagnosed with flu. What will probably change is people being quarantined to their own cabins versus a separate deck. Of course that requires an honesty policy where those quarantined don’t leave their cabins. But that is the same with noro; you face consequences (being booted off the ship) if you do not follow the rules. We will likely see much less quarantining though if they stop the b2b testing.

The testing has been ineffective pretty much all along due to the lag time in the disease being detectable for some people. But of course it has also identified a number of people who were positive prior to cruising (based on many reports from cruisers here) and kept them off the ships, so that was a good thing. The selfish part of me is happy to see pre-cruise testing go away as it is one more barrier removed, but the practical part of me worries about cases now increasing onboard. Hearing that crew may no longer have to be masked is also worrisome. While I would be masked indoors onboard, having that additional protection on others definitely helps mitigate spread. Hopefully they keep the vaccination requirement in place for passengers and crew. I’m still on the fence about my B2B2B cruises next May. Want to see how the new boosters that look to be coming this fall will work. If things remain as they currently are it is an environment where I do not feel comfortable dining indoors and that makes enjoying the cruise experience that much more difficult as being able to get Luminae room service to my cabin (Royal and Penthouse) does not appear to be a guarantee and that would be a deal breaker. Not going to pay all that money for top suites only to be stuck with basic room service. Will have to see what happens…

“Mild disease (for most)” …if you are vaccinated and boosted

I’m all for masking in indoor situations but on a cruise ship it almost becomes irrelevant if you then choose to eat in the dining rooms where you have to remove your mask to eat. I know there aren’t a lot of outdoor dining options onboard and room service is limited unless you are in an upper suite, but it is an assumed risk. This is one of the key reasons I won’t cruise right now (along with the quarantining requirements). I have been able to do multiple land trips where I can plan out dining in advance and target those places where I can dine outdoors or do take-out and then I wear a mask everywhere indoors where there are people around.

All it takes is for one person to bring it onboard picking it up from wherever and it can spread through the entire ship rapidly especially if most passengers aren’t bothering with masks or social distancing. The virus is everywhere right now. There is no single source.

My biggest complaint with bartenders onboard (outside of the Martini Bar or when ordering from Luminae) is the inconsistency. One of my favorite drinks onboard is the French Caribbean which is a frozen concoction. On my last cruise on Summit it seemed like every bartender onboard made it differently and at least one bartender was totally clueless about how to make it. That inconsistency happened with other drinks too like Bahama Mamas, Blue Hawaiian... The cruise line should really have a set bartenders guide for drinks so they all can make them the same way.

Dinner on the Edge (or Brunch on the Edge - if they ever wound up doing that) on E-class is not included. Neither are any of the specialty dining one-offs like the Poolside Grill nights on M-class or the special Indian dinner (is that Taj night or something?), Jazz brunch, etc. They consider those "special events" and do not cover them. Also, the upcharge items within the specialty restaurants like the higher grade steaks at Tuscan are also not covered.

Our preferred vodka is Grey Goose and we frequent the martini bar for their specialty martinis. The Premium Package is absolutely worth it for me and my husband.

I am curious too why they just didn't raise the price. It makes me wonder if the upper suites that get free specialty restaurants are going to suddenly be hit with this new gratuity charge too? If they just raised the price of the specialties then they couldn't pass on that gratuity charge. They already do this with things like "special events" like Dinner on the Edge or extra fees at the specialties like those higher priced steaks at Tuscan; none of those things are covered under the free specialty dining perk for those suites.

I thought that the gratuities went to all F&B and hotel staff. Butlers/Retreat staff are separate from that as they have their own gratuity pool which is why the suite gratuities are higher. But perhaps you are right that it was derived from the specialty fee. Either way it would be double dipping though.

So we had this, and the new specialty surcharge...I'm sure there is more nickel and diming to come...

I have personally never seen so many cruisers (either onboard or just returned from a cruise) reporting testing positive on this board or people being quarantined than I have over the past month or so. Someone shared a report recently that showed most of the Celebrity fleet up to orange status. On some ships they had so many people in the quarantine section that it filled up and some cruisers had to quarantine in their own cabins. There has clearly been an increase. And that totally makes sense because there has been a surge going on even off the ships. Not sure why people are being so obtuse about this. And we will never get an exact number because the cruise lines will never share that information, and we all know why.

Have you not been following the countless posts here for weeks now of people testing positive onboard? People being forced into quarantine? One prolific poster here on a B2B2B forced to cut his cruise short because of testing positive? Lots of reports of people testing positive post-cruise after returning home? It's happening on other cruise forums as well outside of CC.

If you are coming by land or ship you are "at" the US border, not off in a foreign country "stranded" which is what this thread is about and what I was discussing. I don't really consider Mexico or Canada "foreign" travel which are the only two countries you can enter the U.S. from by land.

While part of me is happy that this policy could be going away as it would be a big barrier for me doing my B2B2B cruises next year, I also am disappointed in Celebrity as they clearly are being motivated to make this change because of the number of people testing positive onboard; the B2B testing creates another opportunity to catch positive cases which increases their overall numbers and also creates open spaces on the subsequent cruise that they cannot refill at the last minute (i.e. lost revenue).

This isn't really a cruise-specific issue. Any US citizen who does foreign travel regardless if by land or by ship could test positive and therefore become "stranded". It's the risk you take when traveling in the middle of a pandemic.

But the specialty restaurant staff already shared in the gratuities that everyone pays ship wide. As someone else said further up, this is double dipping.

Unless you have a gambling history already with Celebrity or another Royal Caribbean-owned brand then you are going to need to provide the BCC with some gambling information that they can verify against, which would be your players information at another casino company. Not sure if other cruise lines will work that are not under the same company umbrella as I don’t think they share information with each other. As others mentioned, MGM already has a direct relationship with Celebrity. You could also use a local casino that you play at that may have offered free Celebrity cruise offers to players in the past; that means they have an established connection with the cruise line. If none of that gets you anything then there is the URComped route that others mentioned.

I think you meant Malala Yousafzai??