Process Details for the Celebrity Millennium Sint Maarten Sailings

[Darknight1]

14 minutes ago, gmjc2 said:

Just got an E.Mail where they have changed the wording to be before boarding. When will they stop changing things. So now we are in trouble just when I thought we had it set. We need to have the test after 5pm now which I can't do because I will be doing my Colonoscopy prep after 3 pm on Weds. If we wait to get the test after my procedure the chance of  the results getting back in time would be very slim. What a nightmare!

We're planning on getting a test on Thursday morning at Mullet Bay Medical.

[mahdnc]

@Seany527, thank you for sharing your detailed flight experience.  I will look forward to reading your embarkation report.  Have a nice cruise.

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, Darknight1 said:

We're planning on getting a test on Thursday morning at Mullet Bay Medical.

Free with the proper haircut?   🙂

[Darknight1]

32 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Free with the proper haircut?   🙂

Party in the back

[lhsail]

Thanks so much for all the information. Have a wonderful cruise!

[Golferbabe]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. We greatly appreciate it! Have a wonderful cruise!!!!!
 

[imtired1959]

3 hours ago, mab4285 said:

Well, at least it did yesterday….

From their website today it says 72 hours prior to arrival in St. Maartens and NOT prior to boarding:

 

Celebrity Boarding Requirements:

• Celebrity Cruises requires all guests age 16 and above to be fully vaccinated at least two weeks prior to sail date. As of August 1, 2021, all guests age 12 and older must be fully vaccinated. Proof of vaccination is required in the form of the original vaccination card. No photocopies or photos accepted.
• All guests ages 2 and up must present a negative RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to arrival to St. Maarten. This requirement differs from St Maarten entry requirements which are 120 hours prior to departure. Name on test results must match those on government issued identification. 
• Unvaccinated children between the ages of 2-15 who are not vaccinated must complete an RT-PCR at the terminal prior to boarding. 

[kangelop]

Thank you so much for your detailed experience.  Did your Walgreen's test say it was naso-pharyngeal on the results?

[ejnsb]

Thanks for the detailed report.  Will you continue with a trip report on board? Please?

[FlyerTalker]

Website currently says:

 

All guests ages 2 and up must present a negative RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to arrival to St. Maarten

 

Email received this morning says:

 

All guests 2 and up must present a negative RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to arrival at the terminal.

 

So, the confusion continues.  Could somebody teach the folks at Celebrity how to do cut and paste (ctrl-C and ctrl-V).  Please!!

[Fouremco]

1 minute ago, FlyerTalker said:

Website currently says:

 

All guests ages 2 and up must present a negative RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to arrival to St. Maarten

 

Email received this morning says:

 

All guests 2 and up must present a negative RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to arrival at the terminal.

 

So, the confusion continues.  Could somebody teach the folks at Celebrity how to do cut and paste (ctrl-C and ctrl-V).  Please!!

Oh, they know how to cut and paste ok. Their problem is they don't bother checking to see if they have the most recent text before they do their cut and paste, thus reintroducing information that is dated and often incorrect.

[Seany527]

20 hours ago, micheleata said:

Thanks!  Looking forward hearing about the trip!  I hope you will post pictures!

I have some pictures to upload from the whole process but for some reason I can’t upload them with the standard Celebrity internet. It’s just a tiny white square. If anyone knows what I’m doing wrong, let me know. I’m using an iPhone. 

 

I’ll upload a pic here to show what I mean. 

 

[ATXBecky]

1 minute ago, Seany527 said:

I have some pictures to upload from the whole process but for some reason I can’t upload them with the standard Celebrity internet. It’s just a tiny white square. If anyone knows what I’m doing wrong, let me know. I’m using an iPhone. 

 

I’ll upload a pic here to show what I mean. 

 

It came through as a full photo. Nice shot of the Millennium.

[caymancouple]

3 minutes ago, Seany527 said:

I have some pictures to upload from the whole process but for some reason I can’t upload them with the standard Celebrity internet. It’s just a tiny white square. If anyone knows what I’m doing wrong, let me know. I’m using an iPhone. 

 

I’ll upload a pic here to show what I mean. 

 

This picture of the back of the ship looks great.

[SeaWatch12]

3 minutes ago, Seany527 said:

I have some pictures to upload from the whole process but for some reason I can’t upload them with the standard Celebrity internet. It’s just a tiny white square. If anyone knows what I’m doing wrong, let me know. I’m using an iPhone. 

 

I’ll upload a pic here to show what I mean. 

 

Looks excellent to me. Great shot of the ship at the dock. Thanks. 

[mahdnc]

4 minutes ago, Seany527 said:

I have some pictures to upload from the whole process but for some reason I can’t upload them with the standard Celebrity internet. It’s just a tiny white square. If anyone knows what I’m doing wrong, let me know. I’m using an iPhone. 

 

I’ll upload a pic here to show what I mean. 

 

 

If you are trying to upload multiple photos simultaneously, that may be the problem.  Nice picture, by the way.

[Seany527]

1 minute ago, caymancouple said:

This picture of the back of the ship looks great.

Weird. I see nothing. It’s completely blank. But sounds good! Ok I’ll start posting about embarkation and then I’ll answer everyone’s questions. 

[natefish95]

Living vicariously through you and everyone once posting their experiences. Feels good to finally get a cruise fix again. Enjoy your cruise and thanks for taking the time to share your experiences. 

[Seany527]

Embarkation- 

 

I’ll provide details about the hotel Divi Little Bay later, but overall for the price it was pretty good. 

 

My scheduled check in time for Celebrity was 12 to 12:30.  Because I had to check out of the hotel, we actually arrived at the pier at 11am. I had planned on waiting outside but that wasn’t the case. 

 

I’ll start with a picture for everyone to gain perspective and then I’ll refer to each color dot. 

 

Blue Dot -   We were greeted by pier workers who asked to see passports, vaccine cards and covid tests with the stamp from the airport. They took our luggage and brought us to a check in table outside of the physical check in area. 

 

Red Dot - At this check in table they asked to see our boarding pass and the people who took our luggage confirmed they had reviewed our travel docs. Once cleared here we were able to enter inside.

 

Green Dot - Once inside, and because we arrived early, we had to wait. There was much positive energy from both guests and crew. Some crew members said they were more excited than the guests. 

We waited for about 10 mins and then were brought to the check in area. I believe suite guests check in at a different part of the building, at an actual check in counter. We were not in a suite, so we checked in with someone with an iPad standing in the middle of the waiting area. 
 

This is the waiting area.

 

 

Off to the side was the Zenith waiting area, which was obviously a lot nicer.

 

[abbydancer2003]

I especially like that there are people in the picture of the back of the ship.

Edited June 5, 2021 by abbydancer

[Smmessineo]

Seany527 thanks so much for posting !  It's  making me hopeful for cruising !

And that picture of Millie's aft brought back great memories of my first M Class cruise 11 years ago, watching the ship's wake . 

I hope you have a great cruise!

[Seany527]

During check in (green dot), we were asked to remove our masks for the first time so that our faces could be compared to our passports. With the iPad, the Celebrity employee scanned our boarding pass and then asked to see our documents. First was our passport which she reviewed. She then asked for (and took a picture of) our CDC vaccine card. She also input the dates of the vaccine shots into the iPad. 

 

Next, she asked to see the covid test results which Celebrity required. She took a picture of that and uploaded it onto her iPad. 

 

The day prior to boarding via the Celebrity app, we answered the health questionnaire, which she had a copy of on her iPad. She asked if anything had changed. 

 

Once that was complete she gave us a wrist band and we moved to the immigration line. I think the wrist band signified we had checked in. 

 

Immigration asked for us to remove our masks and for our passports. He had a master listing of all those sailing and he crossed our names off. 

 

We were all set and clear to board! From the moment we exited the taxi (which was $15 total from hotel to pier) to when we exited the check in building, it was less than 30 mins. It was a super easy and efficient process. 

 

We exited at the point of the yellow dot, pictured above, and walked to the ship. Open air Shuttles were available if you wanted to hop a ride. If you choose to walk, this is the general path. 
 

[mahdnc]

Nice photos and well annotated. I hope you are enjoying yourself now that you are on board.

[Seany527]

The walk to the Millennium was very short, 5 minutes tops. It was a very enjoyable walk, though. We walked through the port area with all the closed shops. It was nice to see Diamonds International again and the other small shops with the traditional cruise port knickknacks. 
 

As we approached the Millennium there was a news crew reporting as well as Celebrity employees lined up to welcome and greet us.  

 

We boarded and our boarding passes were scanned. As soon as we stepped through the metal detector, there was a photographer and  about 20 celebrity employees applauding is. It was quite the experience and it felt great to be back on board. 
 

The ship has a lot of energy and happiness, but it’s eerily quite. From what I was told there are about 600 guests sailing. It’s 430pm right now so maybe people are still arriving. This is the top deck overlooking the pool. We are the only ones. 

 

Down below by the pool there are some more people but you can still see the empty chairs. Also notice how far they are spaced apart. 
 

 

I can’t see the pictures I’m posting once I click upload so if anything is out of order, I apologize. 

[AbbyCruiser45]

1 minute ago, Seany527 said:

I can’t see the pictures I’m posting once I click upload so if anything is out of order, I apologize.

Pictures are coming out great! Thank you for all the detail. My parents are cruising in two weeks and this has all been very reassuring to them.