Final payment due (Pros and Cons)

[W283386]

Final payment due Tuesday for a five day cruise in April.  

 

Pros:  Only a five day cruise  - the Summit (looks like less than 50% booked) - have had all 3 shots and just turned 60 and only health issues is a little high blood pressure and 10 pounds overweight.   In a Sky Suite so should not have much of a boarding line and able to be in less crowded restaurant, sun deck, etc. - Driving to port so no dealing with crowded planes - no issues with mask wearing - no problem with missing any or all ports - being Celebrity probably low number of unvaccinated children - We eat early so hopefully less crowded venues- never feel a need to socialize with other passengers or crew - Happy with some night time entertainment and time on balcony -  even would not mind if become a close contact and had to be stuck in cabin for a day or two - Don't mind staying in our 2 person bubble  Also this cruise was booked in 2019 for our 25th anniversary and the sky suite with the 4 amenities at the time was under $1700 for the two of us. IF things are really bad Celebrity cancels the cruise and we get everything back.

 

Cons:  Possible quarantined in a non balcony room- Not passing or messing up covid test before boarding and only receiving FCC and then having to pay more for a future cruise in a lesser type cabin- Cancel now and we lose our $100 per person deposit money-  Major illness.

 

This helped.  I'm making the payment but what do you think?

[basenji56]

10 minutes ago, W283386 said:

Final payment due Tuesday for a five day cruise in April.  

 

Pros:  Only a five day cruise  - the Summit (looks like less than 50% booked) - have had all 3 shots and just turned 60 and only health issues is a little high blood pressure and 10 pounds overweight.   In a Sky Suite so should not have much of a boarding line and able to be in less crowded restaurant, sun deck, etc. - Driving to port so no dealing with crowded planes - no issues with mask wearing - no problem with missing any or all ports - being Celebrity probably low number of unvaccinated children - We eat early so hopefully less crowded venues- never feel a need to socialize with other passengers or crew - Happy with some night time entertainment and time on balcony -  even would not mind if become a close contact and had to be stuck in cabin for a day or two - Don't mind staying in our 2 person bubble  Also this cruise was booked in 2019 for our 25th anniversary and the sky suite with the 4 amenities at the time was under $1700 for the two of us. IF things are really bad Celebrity cancels the cruise and we get everything back.

 

Cons:  Possible quarantined in a non balcony room- Not passing or messing up covid test before boarding and only receiving FCC and then having to pay more for a future cruise in a lesser type cabin- Cancel now and we lose our $100 per person deposit money-  Major illness.

 

This helped.  I'm making the payment but what do you think?

If you fail the covid test, I believe you may get a cash refund.  Not positive but believe so.

[Lady Arwen]

Anything could happen between now and April.  There are changes almost daily.  If you don’t mind being quarantined in a different cabin and have no issues with other safety protocols, then you should be fine.  Everyone has a different risk tolerance.  We cancelled our May Baltics cruise because it’s not worth the worry or stress.  Rebooked Apex for September.  But, that’s just us.

[Fouremco]

We cancelled our March cruise, but if we lived in Myrtle Beach, we would probably have kept it. I'd say that your pros outweigh you cons by quite a margin.

[basenji56]

3 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

We cancelled our March cruise, but if we lived in Myrtle Beach, we would probably have kept it. I'd say that your pros outweigh you cons by quite a margin.

Agree.  As long as you are driving, a lot of the quarantine risk is eliminated.

 

[DCPIV]

I'll add a minor con or, perhaps, deflate one of your pros a little.  Suites tend to fill up more than the ship as a whole, so Luminae like will be busy at times.  If you go early, it's probably no big deal.  I don't if that makes much of a difference, but I wanted to let you know about that.

 

It still sounds like you have a lot more weight on the "pros" side, though.  That goes double that you don't sail until April.

[Arizona Wildcat]

If you are willing to deal with quarantine on board then go on your cruise.  You are driving to the port.  Wife's problem is she has asthma and masks are either difficult for her or useless IMO being mostly cosmetic.  Mine is about 5500 cases on board reported to the CDC on ships sailing out of the US.

This gives us a picture that crew case numbers are significant. 

[Pickels]

Yeah, but if I spend $10,000 for a suite and then get reassigned to an indoor cabin for the rest of the cruise; I'm not going to be a happy camper!  😒

[davekathy]

On 1/7/2022 at 3:10 PM, W283386 said:

This helped.  I'm making the payment but what do you think?

We would go for it. We've got a B2B Caribbean cruise in March out of SJ that we still plan on taking. FPD is February. 

[Jim_Iain]

6 minutes ago, Pickels said:

Yeah, but if I spend $10,000 for a suite and then get reassigned to an indoor cabin for the rest of the cruise; I'm not going to be a happy camper!  😒

On the bright size (if there is a bright side) Celebrity would credit you on a per Diem basis for the time you were not in the suite.  I'm not saying I'd be happy but it may just be the risk we have to take if we want to cruise for now. 

 

I was thinking about the new quarantine policy and figured it was much better alternative than being shuttled off the ship in a space outfit in some distant island.

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, Pickels said:

Yeah, but if I spend $10,000 for a suite and then get reassigned to an indoor cabin for the rest of the cruise; I'm not going to be a happy camper!  😒

Were one just going just to be on the ship, then the $10k will not be an issue just the quarantine, then again one needs to consider booking a $3k or less cabin if that will be an issue and save the kvetching over the difference in cabin 'styles'... LOL

 

In health and bon voyage

[sakigemcam]

Similar thoughts - for March 18. We do have to fly but hope Omicron has lessened its grip. We do want to see the ports. 

FPD 1/17.....

Keep us posted on what you do - if you find Luminae too crowded it seems there's lots of space in then MDR.

[LB_NJ]

I assume you bought travel insurance.

 

The current surge "should" be done before April and you are still under the current Celebrity Healthy at Sea "benefits."

 

Given what you want out of the cruise I would probably take the risk.  My suggestion if Celebrity cancels the cruise is take the money.

 

Since it really looks like Covid will become endemic not sure if there will be that much difference between this April and the April a year from now.

[Arizona Wildcat]

3 hours ago, Pickels said:

Yeah, but if I spend $10,000 for a suite and then get reassigned to an indoor cabin for the rest of the cruise; I'm not going to be a happy camper!  😒

There was exactly one person who reported quarantined in an inside cabin, but I don't want to be penned up in ANY cabin.  And you do with current policy as of today at 11:45am a refund or FCC for days in "jail".

 

[Arizona Wildcat]

6 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

I assume you bought travel insurance.

 

The current surge "should" be done before April and you are still under the current Celebrity Healthy at Sea "benefits."

 

Given what you want out of the cruise I would probably take the risk.  My suggestion if Celebrity cancels the cruise is take the money.

 

Since it really looks like Covid will become endemic not sure if there will be that much difference between this April and the April a year from now.

Need to take a look at any travel insurance.   It likely would not pay for covid related.  Also the problem is hassle and quarantine as X refunds days lost and gets you home if from the US.

[Mrs_Tiki]

Our final payment for 3/12 Apex cruise would have been due tomorrow.  In light of current uncertainty on the ship's ability to call at scheduled ports and the threat of COVID/quarantine, we opted to cancel. We had a great experience making a last minute (< 2 weeks out) booking for Thanksgiving week, so we may try to do the same again when we have a better idea what conditions will be in March.

 

And yes, we realize that we are very lucky to live within driving distance of the port.  That makes a last-minute booking much more feasible. 

[peanut head]

We canceled our April TA.  We are aware that the situation 4 months from now will probable be totally different but we are traveling across the country and not able to control the variables around us.  The ship itself is probably a non-issue in the way you described how you would conduct yourself--social distancing, masking, etc.  It's just that we feel when we cruise we want to leave the worries behind and not keep looking over our shoulders wondering about every sneeze, cough and person who feels the need to be 2" in our face when talking or standing next to us.  Our comfort level doesn't seem to be as high as your's.  All the best and whatever you decide is the right choice; don't compare.

[deliver42]

Given the fact that you're driving, not flying, and you're OK with changes, the I'd say go for it. We're doing the same on the Wonder of the Seas in March.