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Are excursion buses/vans full?


paulajj
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4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

BTW what are the odds there would even be someone on the bus with COVID if everyone from the ship is vaccinated and has tested negative prior to boarding the ship and only a small fraction of those people are on your tour?

 

The logic may seem to be valid in practice on our 9/5 cruise there were 3 people tested positive and on the next to last day.    If wearing a mask the risks are lower the reality is that if you are contact traced to someone who test positive you are quarantined for at least 48 hours and not permitted to continue if booked as a B2B.   

 

That is the reason we chose to book Private Journey tours.

 

All the curated tours we personally observed, they were using 9 passenger vans and had 8 PAX in each.  Also in USVI where they have the open shared taxi's that hold about 20 there wasn't a seat empty.   Just my personal observation,

Edited by Jim_Iain
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11 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

The logic may seem to be valid in practice on our 9/5 cruise there were 3 people tested positive and on the next to last day.    If wearing a mask the risks are lower the reality is that if you are contact traced to someone who test positive you are quarantined for at least 48 hours and not permitted to continue if booked as a B2B.   

 

That is the reason we chose to book Private Journey tours.

We were on a B2B2B on the Edge where we didn't have to wear a tracelet, so I guess we were spared having to deal with that issue. At the same time I don't remember even being allowed to book those kind of "private" tours. If I might ask, how much were those Private Journey tours?

 

Update: I just checked and on our upcoming Apex cruise a 4 hour private car with driver in St Thomas was $1,220 for 2 people! That's definitely not a cheap alternative. 

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16 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

The logic may seem to be valid in practice on our 9/5 cruise there were 3 people tested positive and on the next to last day.    If wearing a mask the risks are lower the reality is that if you are contact traced to someone who test positive you are quarantined for at least 48 hours and not permitted to continue if booked as a B2B.   

 

That is the reason we chose to book Private Journey tours.

 

All the curated tours we personally observed, they were using 9 passenger vans and had 8 PAX in each.  Also in USVI where they have the open shared taxi's that hold about 20 there wasn't a seat empty.   Just my personal observation,

Yes, you’re right!

While those excursions aren’t an option for me I’ll take the alternative and hang out on the pool deck with my drink package 😉
 

Thanks for the info!

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6 hours ago, paulajj said:

Curious if someone who’s been on a ship excursion in the Caribbean can answer if people are spread out on the transports? Are the vans or busses etc full like normal or are they reducing capacity?

Thanks! 

Yes! Packed as sardines. This was in St Marten. No protocols that they blow their trumpet about, existed. The only thng they did was spurt a drop of hand sanitizer as we were getting on the bus. Apart from that there was no social distancing, no alternate rows, and most  people were not wearing masks on the bus as was required. That was our experience. We did one excursion on a Celebrity cruise in July. No more, thank you. If we can go on our own we will, or we will enjoy the ship where we cannot.

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Just now, Arzeena said:

Yes! Packed as sardines. This was in St Marten. No protocols that they blow their trumpet about, existed. The only thng they did was spurt a drop of hand sanitizer as we were getting on the bus. Apart from that there was no social distancing, no alternate rows, and most  people were not wearing masks on the bus as was required. That was our experience. We did one excursion on a Celebrity cruise in July. No more, thank you. If we can go on our own we will, or we will enjoy the ship where we cannot.


Yes I just spoke with my SIL who I’m going with and that’s what we decided as well. I just don’t want the stress of worrying about it. 

Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

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1 hour ago, paulajj said:

And hopefully one of those that are hanging out in the martini bar are not sitting close to you…

 

You’ve convinced me to hold off on booking excursions until I’m on the ship and perhaps can get more information. While I am immune suppressed and will have my third shot by then, I feel that if I’m going to take the extra precautions of wearing my mask whenever I can and being really careful I don’t want to blow it all on a bus trip. Especially if no one else seems concerned at all. 
 

 

 

If you are immune suppressed that is good to know.  You have to be more careful than the average pax.  I have a friend who is also who is pretty careful.

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2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Have you been on a Celebrity cruise yet since it started back up?

I have. Two times.

And I have been on a packed bus and seen this first hand.

On the second cruise some contacts traced were on an excursion with the vaccinated person who tested +, according to the Captain's announcement.

So I wouldn't bet on any odds and i agree with the Op.

 

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Just now, Arzeena said:

I have. Two times.

And I have been on a packed bus and seen this first hand.

On the second cruise some contacts traced were on an excursion with the vaccinated person who tested +, according to the Captain's announcement.

So I wouldn't bet on any odds and i agree with the Op.

 

Equinox or Edge or once of each?

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1 minute ago, zitsky said:

 

If you are immune suppressed that is good to know.  You have to be more careful than the average pax.  I have a friend who is also who is pretty careful.

Yes I’m very careful. This cruise will be a big step for me. We are grateful that there is the last minute cancel option so that if things get too out of hand we can move it to another time. But I’d love to get away and this seems to be the safest bet. ❤️

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4 minutes ago, paulajj said:

Yes I’m very careful. This cruise will be a big step for me. We are grateful that there is the last minute cancel option so that if things get too out of hand we can move it to another time. But I’d love to get away and this seems to be the safest bet. ❤️

 

I'm hoping that you have a great cruise!  We are traveling with friends so we may look for small private excursions for a group of 4.  (Best of Spain and Portugal October 12, 2022, Infinity)

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9 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

I have. Two times.

And I have been on a packed bus and seen this first hand.

On the second cruise some contacts traced were on an excursion with the vaccinated person who tested +, according to the Captain's announcement.

So I wouldn't bet on any odds and i agree with the Op.

 

That's cool. That just wasn't our experience on the 7 or 8 Edge excursions we were on in August.

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2 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

I'm hoping that you have a great cruise!  We are traveling with friends so we may look for small private excursions for a group of 4.  (Best of Spain and Portugal October 12, 2022, Infinity)

Thank you! That sounds like an excellent idea. Have lots of fun !

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I am really concerned about this especially since celebrity says on their website the tours that have transportation will not be at full capacity. 

 

I am of two minds from what I read on this board. One is just cancel all tours. The other is going to the shore excursions desk and tell them about the situation and if they will let us check out the tour and if we deem it unsafe go and get our money back or OBC. 

 

We are on the equinox leaving on September 26th. 

 

Thanks all

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35 minutes ago, hertz4319 said:

I am really concerned about this especially since celebrity says on their website the tours that have transportation will not be at full capacity. 

 

I am of two minds from what I read on this board. One is just cancel all tours. The other is going to the shore excursions desk and tell them about the situation and if they will let us check out the tour and if we deem it unsafe go and get our money back or OBC. 

 

We are on the equinox leaving on September 26th. 

 

Thanks all

Yes that is what I would do. I still have a while before I have to deal with it but you people who are going this month are the ones who may need to get it straightened out unfortunately. 
 

Please let us know how it goes. Hopefully you get lucky and your excursion isn’t fully booked 🤞 

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52 minutes ago, hertz4319 said:

I am really concerned about this especially since celebrity says on their website the tours that have transportation will not be at full capacity. 

 

I am of two minds from what I read on this board. One is just cancel all tours. The other is going to the shore excursions desk and tell them about the situation and if they will let us check out the tour and if we deem it unsafe go and get our money back or OBC. 

 

We are on the equinox leaving on September 26th. 

 

Thanks all

 

Can you remind me where that is posted? Thanks.

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Like I said my husband and I are thinking of just cancelling all excursions before we board. I know this is not very optimistic but I am concerned that I will get on board and talk to someone at the shore excursions desk and they will say yes I can check the excursion out and if I don't go on I can cancel and get my money back.

 

Then that happens and I go back to shore excursions and I get someone else and told to bad. They won't refund my money. That would not make me happy.

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17 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

That's cool. That just wasn't our experience on the 7 or 8 Edge excursions we were on in August.

 

Hi Ken.  So what was your experience then?  How full were buses?  Was everyone required to wear masks on the bus and on the tour?

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47 minutes ago, hertz4319 said:

Like I said my husband and I are thinking of just cancelling all excursions before we board. 

Sorry, I misread your original post. I have to agree that there would be a good chance that you would have to fight to get your money back after the excursion left. 

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3 minutes ago, paulajj said:

Sorry, I misread your original post. I have to agree that there would be a good chance that you would have to fight to get your money back after the excursion left. 

If one encountered a tour bus running at full capacity as some have reported, and a guest refused to board due to that, it might not require more than reminding the shorex desk that they promised not to allow that.  "Buses will be at reduced capacity...", not "If our contracted shorex vendors can come up with enough buses and drivers to allow for operation at reduced capacity..."

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8 minutes ago, canderson said:

If one encountered a tour bus running at full capacity as some have reported, and a guest refused to board due to that, it might not require more than reminding the shorex desk that they promised not to allow that.  "Buses will be at reduced capacity...", not "If our contracted shorex vendors can come up with enough buses and drivers to allow for operation at reduced capacity..."

I would guess taking a picture of everyone on the bus would help as well. 

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The Cruise Ticket Contract which governs your rights includes these Shore Excursion Terms and Conditions:  https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/shore-excursion-health-acknowledgement.pdf

 

Unfortunately, Royal Caribbean Group and all of its subsidiaries, including Celebrity, assume no responsibility for the performance of the shore excursions, nor does it undertake to supervise or control shorex operators. To quote part of one paragraph:

 

ROYAL CARIBBEAN GROUP, ITS EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS ARE IN NO WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SHORE EXCURSION AND GUESTS PARTICIPATE IN ANY ACTIVITIES OFFERED BY THE SHORE EXCURSION AT THEIR OWN RISK. ROYAL CARIBBEAN GROUP DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO SUPERVISE OR CONTROL THE SHORE EXCURSION OPERATORS OR THEIR EMPLOYEES, NOR DO WE MAINTAIN THEIR CONVEYANCES OF FACILITIES, AND MAKE NO REPRESENTATION, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THEIR SUITABILITY OR SAFETY. IN NO EVENT SHALL ROYAL CARIBBEAN GROUP OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES OR SUBSIDIARIES BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS, DELAY, DISAPPOINTMENT, DAMAGE, INJURY, DEATH, ACCIDENT, OR OTHER HARM TO YOU, WHICH OCCURS AS A RESULT OF ANY ACTS, OMISSIONS, OR NEGLIGENCE OF ANY OF THE SHORE EXCURSION OPERATORS OR OTHER INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS.

 

Consequently, it appears that you are at the mercy of the shorex desk on any given cruise. If you refuse to board the bus/van because it's running at full capacity and demand to be reimbursed, Celebrity is within its rights to refuse you.

 

 

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