Stratford1950

On 8/27/2022 at 3:14 PM, LATTELOVE said:

Wow! i love the Solarium , very beautiful area of the 

ship, but one too many people in the spa for this cruise.

I counted at least 40…my brother and I were on the Symphony of the Seas in early July and it wasn’t any different…we waited until 5 pm to enter when people were getting ready for dinner.

1 hour ago, 5:00_Somewhere said:

@Jim_Iain, Thank you, as always, for your wonderful posts, pictures and observations. It's getting me VERY excited for our upcoming sailing, and making me look at your itinerary for a future trip.

 

One silly technical question I'm wondering if you can answer: in ArriveCAN, is it the case that we only need to enter information for your first port of call where we enter Canada, and not all ports of call in the country? This is being debated here on CC and in Facebook forums, but I can't seem to find a definitive answer anywhere, including the ArriveCAN website or otherwise on the interwebz, oddly. 

 

We only had one port stop in Canada during our Alaska cruise last May, so the question never came up.

 

If you haven't had to address this, no worries. Just thought you might know, whereas you're making at least 2 stops in Canada.

 

Thanks for any info. 

I don’t know if this helps but…when we returned from our cruise in July we had to identify from a drop down menu all the island/countries we had visited on our trip prior to returning home. Very simple process, but annoying.

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thanks much.    I'm hoping the next Vax that is designed for the Omicron Variant may well be a game changer.  This strain whether vaxed or not, masked or not doesn't seem to care.  If Biden can catch it as frequently as he' s tested. shows how virulent it is.

 

I was really concerned with out first cruise back almost a year ago.  Once I was aboard I was back in love.    Don't know the passenger count yet but the Cruises are sold out.  I expect it to be so different than the cruise with 50-60 percent passenger load.

Hi Jim…

My brother and I just finished a 7 night cruise on the Symphony. There were 6600 passengers and we felt a little crowded in places but other than the elevators we found the crowds manageable. Have a great cruise u2🛳

I’ve been following both of these guys…their appetites are epic and I don’t think it’s possible to pick a winner, I would declare a tie😎

9 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

 

Take exception all you like,the fact was there were 2600 passengers not to mention crew on that ship and social distancing was very hard to do.

Did you not go to the Silent Disco,the party nights every night in the foyer,the apassport Bar and Martini Bar was packed,did you not go into the Craft Social on the nights of the football matches.

Did you not notice that due to shortage of staff only half the dining rooms was open and dinners were squashed in whilst dozens of tables were left empty.

Did you not notice everyone packed into the Martini Bar with bleepers waiting for seats in the MDR.

Most of all haven’t you noticed that the UK has done away with social distancing ,mask wearing……going on cruises from the UK and expecting them to to be like cruises last summer is not going to happen.

As we like to say in Stratford we think thou dost protest too much…try accepting that many people simply do not do the right thing.

On 4/30/2022 at 12:43 PM, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi 

I have just returned home from this cruise,and whilst it is awful what happened to Jim.

I have to disagree with the comments that passengers are irresponsible in not social distancing….there was no where to social distance,,,there was 2600 people on this cruise,almost pre COVID levels.

Add in the fact the ship was grossly undermanned didn’t help,,,instead of people filling the MDR,from as early as 18:00 people were given bleepers and going back into the bars,,causing overcrowded.

Instead of spreading the diners about everyone was crowded in small areas.

It was taking an hour in the MDR to be served a Eggs Benedict,,,there was no in and out.

There was no floor waiters in bars meaning people crowding around the bar.

 

With respect to Jim who could relax in  RS and social distance in Luminea,,or eat breakfast in his suite dining area…..those of us in steerage had to crowd in MDR or OV.

There wasn’t the option to spend hours in our cabin jacuzzi….LoL!!

 

Either this level of passengers is excepted or Celebrity goes belly up.

 

Tell you the truth I was more concerned with dropping standards more than 30 people catching COVID.

It’s interesting to read your comments. My wife and I finished 12 nights on the Equinox May6. By the end there were 35 passengers announced as positive on the cruise, one of which was my brother who had 2 boosters. That of course wrecked the rest of the cruise for the remaining members of our party since we were tested between 6:20am and 7:15 and then we had to wait to hear the results. All 4 of us remained negative but we were relegated to ordering from room service. 
I take exception to some of your comments about social distancing…we had people coming right up to us in line for the MDR they didn’t try to distance. In the elevators we’d get in an empty one with our masks on and by the time our ride was over the car would be packed with nobody else wearing a mask.

The hot tubs are small on the Equinox so 4 people pretty much fills it up…that didn’t stop 4 or more people from crowding in constantly. Finally the casino…it was mandatory to wear a mask which was great however in the casino bar not a person ever had a mask on when we were there and nobody said wear a mask please.

Celebrity moved too quickly by reducing protocols but I personally saw few people trying to be careful. I say this as my brother is stuck in Fort Lauderdale until Thursday before he can fly home.

We’ve been on the Summit twice the most recent time was the week before the cruise industry shut down. The second time was very enjoyable because it had just been refurbished and everything was feeling bright and new especially our cabin.

Having said that our next cruise, which is the first since February 2020 is April 24 on the Equinox. Everything we have read comparing the two ships points towards the Equinox which has also had an update.

You won’t go wrong with either ship…good luck.

18 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

Summit was our first cruise and we loved it.  Dying to see it since it was refurbished.

Great reviews Benny, thanks.

When we were on it February 22-29/20 it had just been refurbished and it looked great. The new colours made a big difference.

1 hour ago, BennyBrun said:

Thank you so much!  I am sure first ship with your wife was definitely something special.  I love Celebrity but I have only been on the APEX and Summit… ALOT of SUMMIT 😝 love that ship love that crew and yeah love that it leaves out of NJ 😂.  I have not been on the equinox!  I am sure you will have a great time.

The Summit is our favourite celebrity ship as well we were on it the last we cruised in February 2020…who knew it would be 26 months before we’d be on a ship again.

Thanks for the suggestions…we are in a veranda/balcony cabin and if the Tuscan Grill is available that sounds like a good option 🧐

Hi Benny I’ve really enjoyed following you on your live blogs for the past month or so. My favourite Oasis class ship is the Allure…possibly because it was the first ship my wife and I ever cruised on in 2012.

We are sailing on the Celebrity Equinox April 24 for 12 nights which will be our first cruise since February 2020 when the gift that keeps on giving changed everything.

I’m wondering, have you ever been on the Equinox and if so, do you have any suggestions regarding what to do or see?

Thanks for the entertain blogs!

This message is for Jim…I’ve read somewhere in one of your live blogs that the Equinox is your favourite ship. We sail April 24 for 12 nights on the Equinox…do you have any suggestions or must do restaurants or venues that we should experience?

Thanks,

Fred Anderson 

I’m enjoying following your virtual cruises. We have a 12 night Southern Caribbean cruise booked April 24. I’ll be interested to hear what you think of the Solarium…we were on the first TA in December 2018 and once we hit the Atlantic it was far too hot to sit there once the sun hit the starboard side. However it is a beautiful ship and we enjoyed our entire time on the cruise. Enjoy the week😎

On 2/9/2022 at 9:31 AM, topnole said:

I’ve been on Harmony so I have a good feel for how the boardwalk is now on oasis (with the slide), but I haven’t done the amped oasis.    We’ve done Allure and Oasis a bunch before Covid. Curious your opinion of whether you like the old version or the amped boardwalk better.  We are on allure next and I’m quite happy not to have the slide back there.  

Someone asked about the Harmony. We’ve been on all of the Oasis class ships and the Harmony is our least favourite. It may be a small thing but there is no pool in the Solarium unless they somehow installed one later. All of the Oasis class ships are great…on the Symphony we were on a TA cruise from Barcelona back to Florida. It was a beautiful ship but the sun shone on the windows in the solarium (and there are a ton) and it was unbearable so very few people were ever in the lower part.

On different cruises going in different directions I’m sure it was much more enjoyable.

Is it possible to obtain extra C&A points? My wife and I will be one point short of emerald status after our Transatlantic cruise with RC on October 28 and I was wondering if there was a way.

Thanks for all the responses...I have another question

Does anyone know how many formal nights there will be on this cruise and what days they will be on...this is the TA from Barcelona to Miami October 28-November 9/18.

My wife and I are booked on the Symphony of the Seas’ first trip across the Atlantic on October 28/18.

Our question is about the weather...is anybody able to give us any information about what to expect? We leave Barcelona October 28 and arrive in Miami November 9. In all we are 8 days at sea and naturally a little unsure of what to pack.

Your thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.