Cruising During the Pandemic

[granddutchess]

We will be sailing on Celebrity Silhouette in January 2022.  I wanted to find out how the cruising experience has been since they have resumed sailings on Celebrity?  Are you finding it an enjoyable experience?  Thank you so much for your input.

[LGW59]

12 minutes ago, granddutchess said:

We will be sailing on Celebrity Silhouette in January 2022.  I wanted to find out how the cruising experience has been since they have resumed sailings on Celebrity?  Are you finding it an enjoyable experience?  Thank you so much for your input.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!  Scroll through the Celebrity CC home page and you will find many live and recent reviews, lots of info and most seem to be really enjoying.

[Ken the cruiser]

19 minutes ago, granddutchess said:

We will be sailing on Celebrity Silhouette in January 2022.  I wanted to find out how the cruising experience has been since they have resumed sailings on Celebrity?  Are you finding it an enjoyable experience?  Thank you so much for your input.

We've had a blast on our Edge B3B in August, our Apex B2B in November and plan on having a great time on our Constellation B2B starting this Monday once again cruising around the Caribbean! Without a doubt, you're going to have a great time on your cruise as well!! 😎

[What A Market]

Ditto what Ken the cruiser said.

We just got off the Apex.  Every aspect of the cruise was as enjoyable as any cruise we have ever taken. Even pre-COVID.

 

[Jim_Iain]

We also had a blast.  

 

To be honest with the exception of being a bit more careful I felt much safer than when we had Noro outbreaks.     I was just thinking their haven't heard a word about any Noro outbreaks or Cruise Cough.   

 

Just goes to show with any disease that watching what you touch and washing frequently goes a long way to prevention of all kinds of bugs.

 

The ships are spotless and railings are being constantly cleaned.   There are Pursel stations at all elevator banks as well as entrance to all public room so no need to carry your own.

[Northern Aurora]

We were B2B on the Millennium in September, and it was simply wonderful.  According to the documentation officer there were 648 revenue passengers on the first leg with only one child under the age of 12.  With the testing protocols and having to show proof of vaccination we felt so safe.  Much safer than going to our local grocery stores.

 

We were in the same suite for both legs, and the suites were essentially fully booked so Luminae was normal in capacity.  We didn't attend any of the shows in the theater but for our sailings the evening shows were only offered at 9 PM.  The three production shows were included.  Beyond the Podium lectures were offered and we had a naturalist on board (these were Alaska itineraries).  The casino did have some signs on chairs at the slot machines asking folks not to sit at those spaces to ensure distancing.  And we noticed that some chairs and tables had been removed from Cellar Masters and also a few tables removed from Cafe al Bacio.

 

From the film on handrails we thought that the crew was doing a significant amount of "heavy" cleaning -- the type you see if you are on a ship which is experiencing an uptick in the gastrointestinal norovirus.

[lv2cruisgrl]

We sailed Edge last month and just got off Equinox. Loved both cruises. No issues, felt safe! 

[Ken the cruiser]

There is one more point to be made. Because there are so many folks still hesitant to go on a cruise, there are some great last minute deals to be made. For example if you have sailed with Celebrity before and are able to book a cruise that sails on or before Dec 16th, you can probably take advantage of their 2 for 1 promotion, which is a great deal that you will probably never see again!!

[RICCruisers]

@granddutchess I’m not sure which Silhouette sailing you are on. We are on the 1/24 ABC cruise. We also sailed Edge in October with about 850 passengers or about 30 % of capacity and had a great time. Many of the cruises that have taken place are at very low capacity.  This may have been reflected in some of the reviews since cruising resumed. 
 

I did a mock booking for the 1/24 cruise and it appears  that we will have significantly more passengers. My back of the envelope guess is about 75% capacity. This would equate to about 2200 passengers. Hopefully this won’t impact service, but you may not be able to count on finding a lounge chair around the pool as easily on a sea day. We need to “assume” X will staff accordingly. I have no idea how the other January Silhouette cruises are selling. Ours was a lift and shift when X changed the ship from Edge to  Silhouette. Based on the Roll Call most of the Edge passengers took advantage of the L&S. I guess time will tell how the increased passenger load impacts sailing. Either way we will have a great cruise. 
 

PS - Our October cruise was a totally spur of the moment decision based on @Ken the cruiserlive review. Thanks Ken. 

Edited December 12, 2021 by RICCruisers

[micmacmissy]

Is there an easy place to find out procedures for boarding?

 

Assuming we'll need covid tests (we are double vaxxed and boosted) - but what about each port, will we find out the requirements from our TA?

[Ken the cruiser]

17 minutes ago, micmacmissy said:

Is there an easy place to find out procedures for boarding?

 

Assuming we'll need covid tests (we are double vaxxed and boosted) - but what about each port, will we find out the requirements from our TA?

This link on the Celebrity website maybe a good place to start.

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/healthy-at-sea/us-travel-requirements

[cruzer0007]

7 hours ago, What A Market said:

Ditto what Ken the cruiser said.

We just got off the Apex.  Every aspect of the cruise was as enjoyable as any cruise we have ever taken. Even pre-COVID.

 

Also agree ... and we also just got off the Apex (this morning).  Very very pleasant experience, and the fact the ship has limited capacity was a bonus for us.   They said ~1700 on our sailing, we never waited for an elevator, never had trouble finding a table anywhere, including the oceanview cafe. (note we do not participate in specialty dining, only main DR for us).  Never had trouble finding a chair in the pool area.  Entertainment was great.  All around great cruise.  In terms of how we view these things, it won't be as good when the ship is back at or near full capacity week after week.  

Edited December 12, 2021 by cruzer0007

[neverlaysup]

7 hours ago, granddutchess said:

We will be sailing on Celebrity Silhouette in January 2022.  I wanted to find out how the cruising experience has been since they have resumed sailings on Celebrity?  Are you finding it an enjoyable experience?  Thank you so much for your input.

Cruising has been wonderful since the resumption. With capacities not really surpassing 50% on most ships, it is an uncrowded and pretty peaceful experience. X has taken great care to ensure passenger safety to be honest, I think you are far safer on the ship than shopping at home. Don't be afraid to get out and travel, now is the perfect time to cruise.