EDGE JULY 10, 2021 (semi) LIVE

[juanrod]

Was wondering the same thing 

[jwc1027]

Mooring lines off, should be soon

[countess5]

Great sail away! 

Watched on the web cam. Blowing the horn brought a tear to the eye. 

Have an outstanding week! Looking forward to your input on your experience, 

Can’t wait for 8/28 when we sail but living through all sailing ahead of us makes it special. 

Cheers! 

[MamaFej]

Purely speculative: I wonder if the delay could be related to the fact that they had to kick people off. 
Manifest reconciliation, face-to-face meetings with the Corporate office folks… maybe something far more mundane.

 

I wonder if we will ever find out? 

 

[vswan]

Could be as simple as people arriving late following the airport scare at FLL. It may have taken longer to get the passengers processed.

[sail2day]

10 minutes ago, vswan said:

Could be as simple as people arriving late following the airport scare at FLL. It may have taken longer to get the passengers processed.

I believe the delay was related to the FLL airport scare and the closing of the airport for 3 hours. 

[ejnsb]

Sailaways from PortMiami were over an hour late, attributed to FLL.  Probably the same here.

[graphicguy]

Whew…..let me get caught up.  Crazy day yesterday…..in a good way.  This post will likely be long.

 

First, flying…getting off the plane…getting through the airport….getting on the ship.

 

Yes…..flight was delayed out of CVG.  Something must have been amiss earlier as I got a ping on my phone stating my flight would be delayed before I even got to the airport.  Weather?  Nope!  A “security issue” at FLL.  Hmmmmmm…..

 

Looking at my back up flight plans, there were still seats on all of them.  So, if worse came to worst, I’m covered.

 

We were about 90 minutes late wheels up from the schedule.  But, wheels up we were.  Still should have put me at the pier by my scheduled check in time.  All’s good!  

 

Until it wasn’t….landed and stopped short of taxiing to the gate.  10 minutes go by and the pilot states the “security issue” was still…well…an issue.  We would have to wait on the tarmac another 20 minutes.  30 minutes go by.  Pilot states it is an issue outside the gate (whatever that meant), and it will be another 20 minutes.  OK…I’m still in great shape.

 

TSA was called back to work, but it takes a while to get everyone back to their position.  In addition, there was a plane at our gate that they had to gather the passengers to load aboard.  OK….another 15 minutes go by.  The plane that was in our gate is pushed back.  But, not sure what happened to the gate agent who operates the loading bridge somehow disappeared between the removing the jet way for the departing plane, and operating it for us to deplane.  Huh??????  How’d that happen?   So, we wait while they find someone to operate the jet bridge.  You’re totally backed up and you can’t unload the plane that’s been waiting for 1+ hours that was already late? The airlines do everything within their power to confound their customers.  That hasn’t changed.  All due respect to those who work in the industry.

 

Then, they couldn’t find a conveyor to unload the baggage from the plane.  Double Huh……..??????

 

 

We’re finally off the plane after finding another jet bridge operator.  Headed into the terminal, it’s chaos.  Glad I’m going out, instead of coming in.  The outside area is even worse.  We landed in Terminal 2.   But, both terminal 2 and 3 is mass craziness with people trying to get in and us, trying to get out.  Can’t blame the airlines for that, though.   Maybe have a contingency plan for such events where stupid people become threatening people.

 

Time is kind of discombobulated at this juncture.  So, I think it was somewhere around 1:00-ish by this time?  Still in good shape.  Except….getting ground transportation to the pier.  UBER?  Fuhgedaboudit!  As I finally was spit out of the terminal, in the mass chaos, I saw a car with a “taxi” sign on top.  Squeezing through the crowd, I wave at it feverishly.  Taxi pulls over about 50 feet ahead, I do a semi jog with luggage in tow.  Drive asks where I’m going…”cruise terminal”.  I’m not supposed pick anyone up here.  I state he’s here….I’m here….he can wait behind all the other masses.  Or, we can make a quick get away.  Getaway it is.  Whoosh….we’re gone.

 

Seeing the traffic getting out of the airport was only surpassed by the traffic getting in, by about 10 fold.  The back up getting in was easily a mile long, probably more.  I’m sure most were either dropping passengers off, or picking passengers up.  Either way, people were in for a long wait at the airport.

 

15 minutes and $20 later, I’m rolling my luggage to the suite check in, with plenty of time to spare.

 

I have no idea who was involved with the security threat, or actually what the threat was.  Like most here, I heard it was a bomb threat, but never heard anything official.  Out of all the reasons for a delay, a bomb threat was pretty far down the list.

 

Oh…by the way, even if I had come in a day early, the line to check in to the cruise (for non-suites) was crazy long anyway.

 

Following my own rules…..

 

Carry ons only…I can’t even imagine how much longer it would have taken to get the baggage handlers back to work after the bomb scare, or where the checked baggage would end up.  Tux?  No way.  Suit, jacket, tie, etc?  Not even going to get any of that near my luggage.  

 

The people here are checking luggage….seriously?

 

 

 

[graphicguy]

Gratuitous picture of what I woke up to this a.m…..from my bed….power curtains enabled…..crazy!

[graphicguy]

Let me get some of the inevitable questions out of the way…..

 

Celebrity takes your passport and your vaccine card and takes an image of both.  Plus, they take your picture for facial recognition….even though I had uploaded my picture on the check in app.

We’re sailing at the Celebrity capped capacity of about 1,500 passengers…or about 40% of absolute capacity. I’ve “heard” there are about 30 people aboard unvaccinated.  Assuming they are all children, I’ve only seen two children on board.

 

Most (almost all) guests are unmasked.  I saw two kids on board who were wearing masks.  That’s it.  All crew wearing masks.

 

Food in the buffet is served…no more grabbing tongs and sticking your fingers in any items.  Even silverware and plates are handed to you.  I like it.

 

Crew is truly and sincerely happy to see me (well, assuming not just me).  None are forcing smiles or greetings.

 

Talked to one of the bartenders on the Magic Carpet last night that said he could not have acted any quicker when Celebrity contacted him to come back on board.  He said he’d never complain about working again. 😉

 

The reason we were late on sail away was because of the airport fiasco.  Didn’t really matter to me.  I was having cocktails with some new found friends (and 2 alleged porn stars…at least they said they were) on the Magic Carpet as we were doing “horn wars” with the Odyssey of the Seas and a Disney ship docked as it was one of the most memorable and awesome SAILAWAYs I’ve ever experienced.

 

Weather is just about perfect.

 

I know it can’t stay like this forever, but nothing feels crowded.  There’s plenty of room to move around.  And, nothing ever feels vacant, either.  

 

We’re less than 24 hours into this cruise, and I already feel it’s going to be one of the best I’ve ever taken.

 

Got so many pictures already.  But, need some coffee and breakfast.  

 

My Butler (AJ) listened to me and stocked my cabin fridge with water, sodas and Stella Artois, per my request.  The beer, water and sodas are included.  Sweet!

Edited July 11, 2021 by graphicguy

[terrydtx]

7 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

My Butler (AJ) listened to me and stocked my cabin fridge with water, sodas and Stella Artois, per my request.  The beer, water and sodas are included.  Sweet

Is that standard in a S1 suite or do you have a Drinks and More package? I have been following your cruise story and enjoying it all, we have a Sky Suite on the Equinox next month.

[Lane412000]

Why was some lady on her knees screaming on the dock right off the gangplank?  This happened around 5pm. They escorted her away back into the terminal. Not sure if she returned to the ship.

[ipeeinthepool]

25 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

 

Celebrity takes your passport and your vaccine card and takes an image of both.  Plus, they take your picture for facial recognition….even though I had uploaded my picture on the check in app.

 

 

So no one really inspects your vaccine card?  Does anyone check to see if the names or middle initial match?

[ipeeinthepool]

31 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

The reason we were late on sail away was because of the airport fiasco.  Didn’t really matter to me.  I was having cocktails with some new found friends (and 2 alleged porn stars…at least they said they were) on the Magic Carpet as we were doing “horn wars” with the Odyssey of the Seas and a Disney ship docked as it was one of the most memorable and awesome SAILAWAYs I’ve ever experienced.

 

Can't wait to see the pictures of you and your new friends from the Magic Carpet.

[graphicguy]

29 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Is that standard in a S1 suite or do you have a Drinks and More package? I have been following your cruise story and enjoying it all, we have a Sky Suite on the Equinox next month.

S1 Suite!

[graphicguy]

9 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

So no one really inspects your vaccine card?  Does anyone check to see if the names or middle initial match?

Your name on your passport and vaccine card have to be the same, as they looked at the vaccine card, front and back, and checked it against my xPress barcode.  Everything must match!

[graphicguy]

9 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Can't wait to see the pictures of you and your new friends from the Magic Carpet.

I know they took pics with their phone.  They were drinking tequila shots and we were drinking martinis.  So, a bit hard to keep track.  I checked and my wallet is in tact, so all good.  Don’t know if I’ll see them again.  They were shooting a LOT of tequila.  It could take a while for them to recover.

 

They were young and clearly inexperienced with any alcohol, let alone tequila.  Kind of surprised they are on this ship.  It really is a different vibe from what I’d imagine their age group would enjoy!  Maybe looking for sugar Daddy….LOL!  Who knows?

[Irene225]

53 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

cocktails with some new found friends (and 2 alleged porn stars…at least they said they were) on t

Love it. 

[TeeRick]

graphicguy- You are doing such a great job posting your details to us- a very eager audience.  Thank You.  Thank You!😀

[TommyD3]

Second story on the national news last night.

FLL had a bomb threat and was closed down for 3-4 hours !!!

Thousands evacuated !!!

 

Amazing you got thru so quickly !!!

 

Have a great cruise !!!

[graphicguy]

OK….all coffee’d up.

 

Y’all are welcome.  You guys helped me immensely, so just returning the favor.

 

OK…..still trying to catch up.  Here’s something they changed (among many things) that is wonderful, too.  Muster Drill.  Easy Peasy…watch the video on your phone or in your cabin.  Report to the meeting area you’re assigned to so you know where it is located.  Get your key card scanned, and you’re done.

[graphicguy]

Yesterday…

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

Today….

 

 

[graphicguy]

Nice touches by Celebrity……

 

 

[graphicguy]

AJ (my Butler) is taking good care of me….