Back from the Apex-Our travel experience

[truckswain]

We returned yesterday from the Celebrity Apex.  It is a beautiful ship.  The service and food was outstanding.  The best we have experienced in all our many cruises.  The ship sailed with 1000 less passengers.

 

We flew to Florida  the day before.  We had booked Celebrity Air many months ago and our flights were with Air Transat.  Air Transat changed their schedule in the spring and were not flying to Ft Lauderdale on Fridays so Celebrity booked us with American Airlines but we needed to fly into Miami on 6:15 am flight.  Thursday evening at 11pm American cancelled the morning flight and we were rebooked on a 5pm flight.  I will not fly American again if at all possible. So with the background done here is how it went:

-Did our Antigen test at SDM on Thursday at noon.  The tech had us review the form information on the computer to ensure accuracy.  Bring your passport and they will use that as ID for the form.  We used our DL as ID and there was no issue.  Negative result, forms printed and given to us.  In and out in 45 minutes.

-American uses an app called Verify to upload proof of vaccination and Antigen Test results.  You cannot check in online unless the Verify app is complete.  We did not see an American desk agent at all in Toronto and no one asked for any vaccine or test paperwork.

-There were a total of 10 people going through Security and we did not wait at all to go tnrough US immigration.  I have never been through this process this quick.

-On Saturday we had an 11:30am check in at the pier.  We got an Uber from our hotel and were at the pier at 11:10am.  We gave our bags to the porter and got in line outside the terminal in the 11:30 queue.  There were other lines for other  check in times with people waiting but they were not being let into the  terminal.  

-We were let into the terminal at 11:15 and went to the first checkpoint just inside the door.  They checked our Xpress pass, Antigen Test and Proof of Vaccine and Passport.  They verified date of Antigen Test, name and birthdate matched and negative result.  On the proof of vaccine they were looking mostly at the last dose date to make sure it was greater than 14 days.  My advice is to have your Xpress pass on your phone but have paper copies of your proof of vaccine and antigen test.  The people who were doing our checks are older, I am sure a couple were waiters at the Last Supper (kidding!), but printed copies with large text would be beneficial.

-The second  check  was through security and to verify passport ID details again, make sure you had a picture for your Cruise Card and that the first check had  been properly recorded. 

-The last check was to scan your Xpress pass and then up the gangway.  We stepped on the ship at 11:35am.  Thats right 20 minutes from curb to ship.  It was that easy due to controlling the numbers checking in, having all paperwork complete and ready and the various checkpoints spreadout.

-The cruise was excellent and masks were not required. Very, very strange.  We used our masks when we would be in a crowd.  But other than that we enjoyed not having to wear one and because of this the cruise was very similar to previous cruises.

-Prior to sailing we received an email from Celebrity confirming our status as international travellers and our need to have a PCR test to return home.  Day 4 we were asked to complete a form so we would be added to the test list.  The completed form was returned to guest services.  Day 5 in the evening we received instructions on how to register for the test.  The test was done on Day 7 between 9am and 11am in one of the dining rooms.  As others have mentioned, the test was not a "brain tickler" like PCR tests usually are but I am not a medical expert so what do I know.

-We had our results emailed to us in less than 45 minutes.  Printed results were in our cabin slot on the morning we disembarked.

-We finalized our ArriveCAN information in the app and submitted it and got our QR code. 

- At Fort Lauderdale Airport we had to check in with an Air Transat agent as on line check in is not available.  The young folks manning the check in desks asked for our pcr test results, ArriveCAN QR code and passports.  I have socks older than the those checking our paperwork so I am not sure how carefully they looked because it took no time to hand me back our test results.

-We arrived in Toronto around 5pm.  It was very busy.  They were only letting 50 people off our plane with 5 minute intervals to contol the crowd entering the customs hall.  Very thankful we were in the front of the plane.

-They did not hand out paper declaration forms, everything is done at a Kiosk and the reciept that is printed out is what you show the customs officer along with your passport and ArriveCAN QR code.  The agent puts a check on your reciept and either a green sticker or red sticker on your passport.  The reciept is handed to a staff person prior to collecting your bags.  After getting your bags and leaving the luggage area you show your passport.  A green sticker, carry on, a red sticker you are taken to a testing area.  Depending on the day and time you may be given a take home antigen test or be given a PCR test.  For the time we were there they were doing PCR tests. We had a green sticker, thank goodness. 

 

Was it worth it to travel and cruise?  Yes for sure.  We have mixed vaccines with AZ as our first, so lots of stress leading up to our cruise.  However with our travel/ out of province insurance, the ship requiring testing prior to boarding, all guests needing to be vaccinated and Celebrity's Safe Passage Home protocol we believe we mitigated the risk enough to travel and enjoy crusing again.

[Cookie002]

Thank you for your detailed account on your sailing! It was very informative, and I know it takes time and effort  to type something like that out. Also, you have a wonderful sense of humour.

Glad  you enjoyed your cruise!

[loman]

Thanks for the information, Glad everything went well for you .

Nothing like good preparation to ensure a smooth trip .

Looks like you had everything covered .

[Froufie]

Thanks for the great info - nice to know what to expect!

 

[3Shelaghs]

Great detail, as weeks go by, I hope others will report back to keep us up to date with all the rapid changes.

[TeaBag]

Thank you for your informative report.  It is details like that, that keeps us from cruising.  I surely do hope it will be better by next July.  We are triple vaxxed.  Loved the socks comparison!

[truckswain]

On 11/24/2021 at 2:47 PM, TeaBag said:

Thank you for your informative report.  It is details like that, that keeps us from cruising.  I surely do hope it will be better by next July.  We are triple vaxxed.  Loved the socks comparison!

I  also hope it is better by July.  If it is similar, no worries.  If you have all your paperwork in order it is pretty smooth.  In fact I would say the majority of people are more organized because of the new requirements and the result is a faster process.  The testing is a pain in the a** so hopefully that is gone come the summer. 

[Fouremco]

3 minutes ago, truckswain said:

The testing is a pain in the a** so hopefully that is gone come the summer. 

Next time, ask for a nasal swab. 😇

[AlbertaCruisers]

On 11/21/2021 at 2:05 PM, truckswain said:

...  As others have mentioned, the test was not a "brain tickler" like PCR tests usually are but I am not a medical expert so what do I know...

 

We are just off the Equinox and I agree, this time was just the lower nasal cavity swab, like an antigen test.  I'm wondering if it is because it is a NAAT test now and not RT-PCR.  In the summer on the Equinox they did the brain tickler kind of swab and the test was (as shown on our results) an RT-PCR.  This time they did the lower one, and the test run time was shorter (we were told 30 minutes this time and 1.5 hours in the summer), and this test said on our results that it was a NAAT utilizing PCR (or something like that).  In any event, I will take the lower nasal swab every time if possible, it is so much better!!

[truckswain]

22 minutes ago, AlbertaCruisers said:

 

We are just off the Equinox and I agree, this time was just the lower nasal cavity swab, like an antigen test.  I'm wondering if it is because it is a NAAT test now and not RT-PCR.  In the summer on the Equinox they did the brain tickler kind of swab and the test was (as shown on our results) an RT-PCR.  This time they did the lower one, and the test run time was shorter (we were told 30 minutes this time and 1.5 hours in the summer), and this test said on our results that it was a NAAT utilizing PCR (or something like that).  In any event, I will take the lower nasal swab every time if possible, it is so much better!!

Very interesting.  Our test was listed as a Covid-19 POC-PCR.   The POC tests provide results in 30 minutes.