lexmiller

Very well put, thank you for writing this, 100% agree.

Yes for sure...... @Suzi66 was told, no back to back testing one day, then the next, ooops yup, too bad so sad, we are testing you. Others on the boards also have reported they were told often and definitely, no b2b testing then the number of self-reports rise high enough that whatever threshold it is (not sure how that's determined......? By Celebrity, by countries being visited or the country where the first cruise ends?) is reached and b2b testing is mandated. Really nerve wracking, the anxiety of cruise 1, not sure at all if you'll be allowed to continue on cruise 2. Not the time to do b2b cruises.

For sure, but in her case, it is undeniable that Celebrity really dropped the ball - to me, highlights that Celebrity wants testing over with as much as we do - onerous for all, anxiety producing and a big financial drain on the company for all of the cash reimbursements that have to be made to those testing positive in the mandated tests, not to mention the personnel that have to be taken off their normal jobs to work on covid related problems - when the crew is notoriously understaffed to begin with.

Celebrity had no record of @Suzi66 husband even testing positive - Celebrity was the one that forced him to test, that forced him off the ship, and yet, Celebrity had no record of even having done so! I think her story is enlightening and troubling for all of us. Suzi and her husband were taking the ship HOME - they live in Australia. They flew to Vancouver for their Alaskan cruise on Eclipse then they were continuing on the Eclipse as consecutive cruisers sailing home on the Eclipse. Celebrity threw them off, gave them no direction about rejoining the voyage on Oct 3, a series of problems. Hers is a cautionary tale for B2Bers......wow, there were 200 or so B2Bers that all tested positive in the testing dragnet! @Suzi66 thank you so much for your report. Very informative and definitely highlights how very risky B2B sailing is, if testing is required.

I don't think honestly that this is a point any longer - this is not 2020 - we have vaccinations, boosters, and now targeted boosters. There is no need to think that you are immoral or unethical by wanting to move on with your life. The virus of today has been documented as less virulent - that is in fact how viruses work over time, as we all have been reading over the years, educating ourselves about the science rather than buying into the prevailing paranoia and hysteria - the science is on our side. People must take responsibility for their own health. We now have the tools to do that - to take all of the precautions necessary. And if your health is fragile, if your health is precarious - it is on you to take care of yourself. I'll say it again - this is not 2020. The entire world has moved on - all except the cruising community, still stuck in the dark times of 3 years ago. It's way past time to move on.

All opinions respected always, but I do believe that all testing must stop - cruise industry will continue to suffer until it stops, until the cruise industry catches up with the rest of the world. And testing against what? Covid if vaxxed and boosted is just not what it used to be - thank heavens!

Testing has got to stop. The cruise world is such a weird subsection of society - nowhere else, for any reason whatsoever, is testing occurring. Land based vacations are becoming more and more appealing as testing to cruise oddly persists. We all need to be fully vaxxed and boosted to protect ourselves, to take responsibility for our own health. Those that are immunocompromised need to do the same-take responsibility for your own health, know the risks, act accordingly- it’s your life, know how to protect yourself. I honestly don’t understand why testing to cruise and to do back to backs, is still occurring. There is no doubt in my mind that Celebrity does not want to test, and it definitely does not want you to self report - self report your cold symptoms, your sore throat? The cruise lines are suffering financially because of it, having to reimburse cruise fares, not to mention the drain on the already super strapped understaffed crews. As @mfs2k posted just now, it’s so wonderful to hear about all of the mild cases of covid. The covid of today is not the covid of 3 years ago. The strains themselves are milder plus being vaxxed and boosted, you are going to experience mild symptoms, if any at all. And thus, the rest of the world has moved on - all except the cruise community. Fear persists, not sure why. Media hype? Even that has lessened. Back to back cruising has absolutely become something to avoid - the newer strains of covid are so mild you can have them and not even know it and yet, be caught up in the b2b testing dragnet - the anxiety that the b2b testing produces makes it such that you can’t enjoy the first cruise - I’ve seen people on the boards reporting that they are cancelling their consecutive cruise plans because of the anxiety of testing, as there is a fair chance you can test positive and yet feel great, and have your holiday plans dashed. Back to back testing is a huge crap shoot and should be avoided as long as testing persists.

@Suzi66 are you out there? Your input would be very valuable and interesting to hear on this thread. For those that missed her informative posts, she was sailing from Alaska all the way home to her native Australia on the Eclipse but her husband got caught in the b2b testing dragnet. I am going to copy/paste one of her original posts on the topic, but for the life of me, I cannot find the post where she explained how Celebrity had no record of her husband actually testing positive - they left the ship in Vancouver as they had apparently been instructed to do but when then following up with Celebrity, Celebrity said they had no record of his test being positive and it was all a bit of a mess. I do apologize for not being able to find that post in my search, I tried - so I am really hoping that you see this post, @Suzi66 and let us know more of the details. I am certain that Celebrity doesn't want to test us, they don't want us to self-report, they want this all to be over - the amount of money/resources it's costing them is outsized compared to this virus which simply is NOT THE BLACK PLAGUE. No other social enterprise on earth is testing in order for a person to participate. The anxiety ESPECIALLY for back to back cruising this is causing is outsized compared to the virus itself. If you don't want to catch it, don't leave your house as you can catch it anywhere - testing to cruise has to stop. Here is what @Suzi66 posted on the Eclipse 9/22 roll call. I do hope she can weigh in with an update - thank you! I can tell you that we were doing a B2B2B and are now no longer doing that as my husband was one of the ones that tested positive. It meant that at short notice we had to find 10 days accommodation in Vancouver for his isolation (us not Celebrity) and we have been waiting for our TA to hear from Celebrity if we can get back on the ship in Honolulu for the leg home. I can tell you that being 13,000km from home and what was supposed to be your transport back to Australia has sailed off without you is very stressful, when you have been given no other information other than you have to leave the ship in 12 hours and then radio silence for days on end. Our TA has been working on a few different plans for us once quarantine finishes on Saturday, but I doubt we will have heard from Celebrity in the next 24 hours as they haven't bothered in the last 8 days.

Hey there, I believe I commented on one of your comments a while back, because we are also doing a multi B2B on Eclipse in the spring - and I am TERRIFIED of mandatory back to back testing, absolutely terrified - very seriously will cancel as we are not prepared to fly half way across the world and get caught in the b2b mandatory testing dragnet. I can only imagine for instance having to miss going ashore in Tahiti because I am asymptomatic or have super mild symptoms but yet tested positive - I think I'd explode. No amount of masking or distancing can prevent you from catching this super contagious yet super mild virus - mild if you are taking care of yourself by vaxxing and boosting. My husband had it, had a minor sore throat, I never caught it and withholding the details, but we were as close as you can get for a few weeks. Personally, I feel strongly that all testing must end, and I am pretty sure that the cruise lines feel the same way - since testing is mandatory, refunds are mandatory, lots of money lost. And nowhere else is testing happening - land vacations are looking more and more appealing to us, as until testing stops for consecutive cruising, back to back cruising is incredibly risky.

But in fact, Celebrity is losing money by doing mandatory back to back testing, because the passengers get a cash refund for their time in isolation. Someone must have done a cost benefit analysis on this - allow the spread of the virus by being at full capacity but yet, force people to test and have to refund their isolation in cash.......testing really has to stop. Passengers, the cruise line, can't have it both ways. Until back to back testing ends, back to back cruising is fraught with anxiety - a high percentage of people on the Eclipse are back to back passengers as you don't fly half way around the world for a short period of time, and a fair number of those are caught in the back to back testing dragnet. Their cruise fares, the time in isolation has to be refunded by the cruise ship yet the line says that masks are "urged" but not mandatory......even masking for the crew at least on some of the ships, has become no longer mandatory. So restrictions are being dropped but hey, we are going to make you test and if you are positive, we have to lock you up. It's all just out of hand at this point, considering the way the rest of the world is handling this thing - get vaxxed, boosted, take care of your health, know the risks if you are immunocompromised - and let's get on with it.

Yes, precisely - thus my more detailed post above. Back to back cruises are a crap shoot, if mandatory back to back testing occurs. The anxiety you have on the first cruise of testing positive on the back to back test is awful. Super easy to contract covid and not even know you have it - then, because of the outsized fear of covid which is rampant in the cruising world, test positive in the back to back testing dragnet and your dream holiday is over. As I said earlier, if a person is afraid of covid then they shouldn't leave their house as it is everywhere. And don't take a back to back cruise if you have to test for the second cruise - there is a fair chance that you'll be positive and be tossed in covid jail even though you feel great or only mildly under the weather.

I believe strongly that all testing has got to stop - including back to back testing. The cruise industry has got to "get with the program" that the rest of the world is following. I've said this before - the covid of today is not the covid of 3 years ago - the strains are weaker period, plus people are vaxxed and boosted preventing serious illness - and if you are immunocompromised then it is on you - you need to take responsibility for your own personal health. The specter of covid on the ships is outsized - holidays are being ruined by folks with no or mild symptoms being caught in the back to back testing dragnet - the cruise line is losing lots of money having to reimburse cruise fares - this is not good for anyone. If you are afraid of covid then don't leave your house - because it is absolutely everywhere. So, NCL has abolished all testing, even back to back?? Even that won't get me to sail on NCL, staunch Celebrity fan here, but hopefully, this is a sign that Celebrity will follow - or we are going to be cancelling 5 cruises on Eclipse next spring. 😭

I follow her and Bug on Instagram - I have avoided downloading TikTok, sticking with Instagram, for now anyway! So whoever wants to follow her, if you don't want to get into TikTok, Instagram has been great.

Haha, you got me there! 😝😜😂 Good one!

Was there mandatory back to back testing? Curious, since the second cruise did not require passengers to be tested to board - following that logic, then the back to back passengers should not have had to test since the new passengers didn't have to test...... Thank you for your insights!

It seems to me that I am seeing more door decorations on Celebrity as the years have passed......or maybe because I really enjoy them and want to get a few for our door, I'm looking for positive reinforcement! We will be on the Beyond in a few weeks over Halloween, and I am taking the plunge - going to put a few Halloween magnets on our cabin door. I think modest decorations are great fun and reflect your personality - like hanging a wreath on your front door at home. Make your cabin your own, express yourself while on board and have fun. Etsy has some super magnets which you can personalize, like the one someone posted on this thread - love it!

Twice, on two different ships, I've had the Celebrity Life Activities Team tell me - "do not go by what's scheduled in the app as far as our activities - always go by the printed sheet". So right there, that tells you something. Even though you are told several times a day, "refresh your app", at least as far as the activities go, what's on the sheet is what's actually happening. I personally would be very unhappy if the paper daily paper planner is eliminated. I too like others have said, highlight it, carry it around, refer to it countless times per day and bring them all home and save them - and, have referred to them many times over the years when looking back on a cruise, as reference. Honestly, if the ships want to go green, they need to stop printing out all of the Park West sheets and the marketing/sales sheets! Continue to give us what we actually want, not what you want us to have.

Oh, no, seriously!!?? Say it ain't so! I'm on that cruise as well. Interesting, maybe will still change.....

I wonder then, if masks are optional for the crew, if mandatory weekly testing for them is still occurring? Because since the restart, they've had to test every week, and all debate aside, masking does help keep infection rates down generally speaking. So productivity wise, I do wonder that perhaps weekly crew testing has ended?? Because if Celebrity says, hey, you guys don't have to wear masks - BUT BEWARE, because we are still testing you every week so you might be in sick bay for quite a while. And they're already very short on staff as we all know, so they wouldn't want to cause further shortages. Weekly testing or not aside, making crew masks optional is definitely a reflection of how the virus has mutated toward being much more mild, especially for those that are vaxxed and boosted - which all of the crew are. And a reflection of the general relaxation of covid restrictions period - across the world, everywhere we go (except in medical settings and oh ya, cruising!).

I don't know how to insert a GIF, so picture that Maxwell Smart clip where he says, "Missed it by that much". 😋

The $40 thingie still exists - only testing has ended. We still have to pay.

That's a photo I found from Columbia Records, 1965, from her hit 45 release, Kiss Me Once Again and Good Time Johnny. WOW, pretty cool.

Her son is Jimmy Denning, and yes, he is an integral performer in the Tenors of Rock, which has a permanent show at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. If you follow Sue on social media, she posts some great photos of her whole family - they are all in the entertainment business, in one way or another. Sue had a #1 hit, singing, when she was I believe a young teenager. Here's a recent youtube video of her:

I am not familiar with John, he sounds great! Hope to sail with him soon. Do you know which ship he's on currently?