Don's Family Vacations - Testing Nightmare on Celebrity

[ilovetotravel1977]

Anyone who is subscribed to Don's Family Vacations on youtube should go watch his last two videos.

 

He is currently stuck in Florida in a hotel as Celebrity lost his covid test results!  He was supposed to be tested last night at 5:40pm, that got bumped to this morning at 8am due to the five new passengers being tested positive.  His flight was 12:30pm today and he obviously missed it.

 

Anyways, he is not a happy camper, especially since he bought TWO sky suites...not that that should matter, but I mean he is a travel agent and vlogger and this isn't good press for Celebrity right now.

 

He was our guinea pig and this clearly shows what can happen!

[canadianbear]

Yikes …as a Canadian I’m happy to stay home until all this stuff is sorted out.  I love cruising but things are changing way too fast and it’s not worth the stress to me.  Hope Celebrity sorts this out quickly for him to get home. 

[K_e_short]

I follow him and saw his two videos.

 

My first thought it that he was being daring trying to fly home at 12:30pm.

 

My second thought it that I wouldn't trust a cruise line to do your PCR test and I would do it at the airport.

 

My third thought is that cruise had a number of positive cases, as do other cruises that are currently happening.

 

It isn't looking good.....

[ilovetotravel1977]

I always take a 12:30pm or 1:50pm flight home. Off the ship and at the airport by 9:30 waiting for the Air Canada rep to get to the check in counter LOL

 

I wouldn't trust the airports either. I think I would book a night at a hotel and do a walgreens drive thru test for free and get the results within hours. 

 

That's what a lot of Canadian Disney travelers are doing.

[ilovetotravel1977]

Don and Tony are live on La Lida Loca right now

 

 

[K_e_short]

35 minutes ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

I always take a 12:30pm or 1:50pm flight home. Off the ship and at the airport by 9:30 waiting for the Air Canada rep to get to the check in counter LOL

 

I wouldn't trust the airports either. I think I would book a night at a hotel and do a walgreens drive thru test for free and get the results within hours. 

 

That's what a lot of Canadian Disney travelers are doing.

 

Don  is on La Lido Loca's livestream and said that most drug stores aren't doing testing anymore.

 

Which is why I have asked in the past WHICH Walgreens do testing for Canadians |:)

[ilovetotravel1977]

2 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

 

Don  is on La Lido Loca's livestream and said that most drug stores aren't doing testing anymore.

 

Which is why I have asked in the past WHICH Walgreens do testing for Canadians |:)

Yes, I just posted the video above your post.

 

You would have to call around, I guess. I just know the ones around WDW are still doing them. You book it online, use a hotel address, hop in a taxi and then do the drive thru. Free and results within hours. You don't need insurance, etc.

 

 

[Magicat]

15 hours ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

I always take a 12:30pm or 1:50pm flight home. Off the ship and at the airport by 9:30 waiting for the Air Canada rep to get to the check in counter LOL

 

I wouldn't trust the airports either. I think I would book a night at a hotel and do a walgreens drive thru test for free and get the results within hours. 

 

That's what a lot of Canadian Disney travelers are doing.

During normal times, this is possible as we too have made these flights with ease.  But, with the uncertainty of travelling right now, we are playing things safe and giving ourselves plenty of wiggle room.  We have even taken and booked flights where we will stay overnight waiting for our connection. 

[iancal]

Cannot imagine taking a cruise at this time.  Cannot imagine traveling to Florida at this time.

 

Hardly worth the bother and the risk.

[Blackduck59]

For Don this cruise was "work related" I'm sure. I used to watch his channel but have moved away from it. He used to give helpful tips and fair reviews. Then he seemed to take a page out of the DT play book and everything turned into a rant. I don't mind fair and honest criticism but going on and on about what is wrong without praising what was right. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Blackduck59

[MStarzky]

Also note that when it came to insurance he just purchased manulife travel and got on the ship fine.

[ilovetotravel1977]

4 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

For Don this cruise was "work related" I'm sure. I used to watch his channel but have moved away from it. He used to give helpful tips and fair reviews. Then he seemed to take a page out of the DT play book and everything turned into a rant. I don't mind fair and honest criticism but going on and on about what is wrong without praising what was right. 

 

So you are saying you don't like his channel? lol

What do you mean with your first comment? 

I think he is great.  He didn't sugarcoat anything in his episodes on the Edge, I am sure he has much more to come once he gets home to Canada and can produce all his content.

I like his second channel "Just Don" as well.  

[Blackduck59]

11 minutes ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

 

So you are saying you don't like his channel? lol

What do you mean with your first comment? 

I think he is great.  He didn't sugarcoat anything in his episodes on the Edge, I am sure he has much more to come once he gets home to Canada and can produce all his content.

I like his second channel "Just Don" as well.  

I'm glad you enjoy the channel...enjoy.

I didn't watch his show on the Edge and don't intend to. Like I said I used to enjoy his clips and then there was a total shift from helpful travel agent to full time complainer. Sorry that is my point of view, and I don't intend to get in a big back and forth over it.

As for the first comment there are still travel advisories and last time I checked the US border is technically not open to Canadians for "Non Essential" travel. There is an exemption for "work" related travel. Yes I am fully aware that thousands of Canadians have crossed the "closed" border all along.

[ilovetotravel1977]

The land border has been closed, air border has not been closed. It's been opened this whole pandemic.

Edited August 2, 2021 by ilovetotravel1977

[Thor17]

I personally like Don’s “style” on his videos.  He certainly remained calmer than I would have been given the issues that he ran into at the end of his cruise.

 

Can anyone confirm or clarify if Celebrity is providing PCR testing (free or for a fee) at the end of the cruise for Canadians (as that is the requirement to get back into Canada)?  It would be nice to get the PCR test on board to avoid having to arrange a test (and stay a night or two) in the US after disembarkation.

 

king regards,

 

craig

[poffles]

5 hours ago, Thor17 said:

I personally like Don’s “style” on his videos.  He certainly remained calmer than I would have been given the issues that he ran into at the end of his cruise.

 

Can anyone confirm or clarify if Celebrity is providing PCR testing (free or for a fee) at the end of the cruise for Canadians (as that is the requirement to get back into Canada)?  It would be nice to get the PCR test on board to avoid having to arrange a test (and stay a night or two) in the US after disembarkation.

 

king regards,

 

craig

 

Yes they offer onboard for international travelers which is what Don had signed up for and ya he is definitely more calm about it than I could have been so much respect for him.  Disregard this answer if you are instead thinking they may no longer be doing this just since last week?

 

Not sure if Celebrity is charging for the test (though nothing is really 'free') but, if you watched all his recent videos about this, they schedule these tests for night before final debarkation day but clearly there is no guarantee of this since that is where things spiraled for Don.  His was cancelled by the cruise line and rescheduled to the next (final) morning for 8 AM I think he said, at which point I would have been panicking.

 

He did have the test the next morning later than was supposed to happen (9:30 I think) and then they basically 'lost' his test/results as he never ever received the email with the results, even the next day.

 

Moral of the story upon seeing his experience is having Plan A ... Plan B ... and then a Plan xxx.

 

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by poffles

[Robjame]

10 minutes ago, poffles said:

they schedule these tests for night before final debarkation day but clearly there is no guarantee of this since that is where things spiraled for Don.  His was cancelled by the cruise line and rescheduled to the next (final) morning for 8 AM

Putting aside Don’s folksy style which I personally find annoying;

1. He was rescheduled because the cruise line prioritized the b2b passengers, disregarding those flying home..

2. The cruise line knew who he was - see La Lido Loca interview with Don.

3. He was put up in an upgraded room, expenses being paid, waiting for Air Canada business class home, rep checking in with him daily. Do you honestly think this was offered to the others who missed their flights home for the same reason?

4. This is his job now so he can afford the four and counting days. He receives benefits from the cruise lines and has been over the top praising and not blaming Celebrity. 
 

This serendipitous turn in events has been a financial benefit to his YouTube channels.

‘Enjoy the broadcast but let’s be realistic.

[poffles]

1 hour ago, Robjame said:

Putting aside Don’s folksy style which I personally find annoying;

1. He was rescheduled because the cruise line prioritized the b2b passengers, disregarding those flying home..

2. The cruise line knew who he was - see La Lido Loca interview with Don.

3. He was put up in an upgraded room, expenses being paid, waiting for Air Canada business class home, rep checking in with him daily. Do you honestly think this was offered to the others who missed their flights home for the same reason?

4. This is his job now so he can afford the four and counting days. He receives benefits from the cruise lines and has been over the top praising and not blaming Celebrity. 
 

This serendipitous turn in events has been a financial benefit to his YouTube channels.

‘Enjoy the broadcast but let’s be realistic.

 

I had a bunch written and the site went down as I was posting ... dang.

 

Short form now to say I wrote my post only to respond to the ask about onboard testing offered by Celebrity and was not wanting to enter my thoughts about Don or his channel.  I can't speak for others but I do not think for a second his experience would be mine and, regardless of how he vlogs the testing onboard went sideways and, while the reasons are of interest, the bottom line is the control of how things unfolded for the testing was (and is) totally out of the passengers hands and that is the main message.  Be prepared for anything right now and have lots of room on a CC just in case.  Oh and they never did find his test results that were supposed to be emailed to him, even the next day still unexplained.

 

I will add that I have subscribed, unsubscribed, subscribed, unsubscribed.... to both Don's and La Lido Loca channels many times so that should shed light on my thoughts on that.

 

Happy cruising all!

Edited August 3, 2021 by poffles

[K_e_short]

I have been doing a lot of research on testing options and Fort Lauderdale and Miami airports do same day testing.

I think they have a 1 hour turn around time.

 

Curious why he had to wait longer for his test. Hopefully we get more information because I can't see why the covid testing business in the airport would lie about their turn around times. Bad for business and we know that airports need business. If a company couldn't give travellers same day results they would find another company, right?

[poffles]

20 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

I have been doing a lot of research on testing options and Fort Lauderdale and Miami airports do same day testing.

I think they have a 1 hour turn around time.

 

Curious why he had to wait longer for his test. Hopefully we get more information because I can't see why the covid testing business in the airport would lie about their turn around times. Bad for business and we know that airports need business. If a company couldn't give travellers same day results they would find another company, right?

 

Ya I found that odd too but maybe they had a backlog ... PCR is longer for sure but they definitely don't have to take days.  Definitely gives me pause too but it could be due to the rising cases.  In my area PCR turn around results right now is within 72 hours but typically within a day, but when cases were higher one could wait a while and it was due to lab not being able to keep up and I think they went even beyond the 72 hours.

Edited August 3, 2021 by poffles

[Thor17]

Is the 1 hour test (which is likely a couple of hours) the PCR test that is acceptable for entry back into Canada?

[Thor17]

It seems strange that a PCR test that is usually 24-48 hrs turn around can be done in an hour now....guess there has been an improvement in lab techniques?

[Fouremco]

The circumstances on the last couple of days of the cruise were rather unusual to say the least, and the loss of Don's test results is not something we are likely to experience. These are all teething issues, and hopefully will be resolved as Celebrity reviews what happens. While Don might disagree, it's good that it happened to him and it's getting some publicity. Had it been one of us, it might have gone unnoticed.

[poffles]

8 minutes ago, Thor17 said:

It seems strange that a PCR test that is usually 24-48 hrs turn around can be done in an hour now....guess there has been an improvement in lab techniques?

 

PCR here in NS can be within the same day ... hours ... which I know sounds amazing but there have been many I know that have had these tests and got the email results by the same afternoon (unless they are making that up) but I suspect that is not the norm and it would be longer.

 

7 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

The circumstances on the last couple of days of the cruise were rather unusual to say the least, and the loss of Don's test results is not something we are likely to experience. These are all teething issues, and hopefully will be resolved as Celebrity reviews what happens. While Don might disagree, it's good that it happened to him and it's getting some publicity. Had it been one of us, it might have gone unnoticed.

 

While I agree with you that this is all rather unusual circumstances but nothing can guarantee the new unusual yet to come.  Teething is far from over.

Edited August 3, 2021 by poffles

[poffles]

14 minutes ago, Thor17 said:

Is the 1 hour test (which is likely a couple of hours) the PCR test that is acceptable for entry back into Canada?

 

I suspect the 1 hour to be the antigen?  One hour seems 😲 but awesome if PCR.