DCPIV

12 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Can you update us on how many passengers and if there are any kids aboard?

The numbers I hear vary, but they've all been between 250 and 270, and suites are sold out. It was approximately 450 when we were on board a couple months ago, and I thought that was empty. 

I've seen no kids, so far.

I’m currently sipping champagne on a Royal Suite balcony aboard the lovely Celebrity Summit.  The day as of yet has gone absolutely swimmingly, and I have no reason to believe it will take a turn for the worse. She is a fantastic vessel with an outstanding crew, just like she was a couple months ago when we got off. 

Upon arriving at the terminal shortly before 11 AM, a porter quickly came over to me as I exited my Uber ride.  He looked at my luggage tag and asked me to follow him to the Retreat entrance.  I complied, of course, and a very nice lady checked both my negative covid test and vaccination card to make sure I had them (the porter also made a point of asking me if I had them on my person instead of in the luggage he would take).  After confirming that all my papers were in order, I was handed off to another very nice lady (Sandra, I believe?) who escorted me into the terminal, invited me to have a little refreshment, and then took me to registration.  Maria, yet another very nice lady, scanned my boarding pass and examined my vaccination card and negative test (she may have photographed them, but I do not recall, as I was chatting with all the other nice folks around).  Once Maria confirmed that I was good to go, yet another very nice lady escorted me aboard (after inviting me for some refreshment in the Retreat boarding lounge) and eventually to my stateroom. 

I did notice that there were a small number of passengers hanging out in the terminal, so it seems that may be an option for early arrivers.  I did not confirm that, so please do not take my statement as anything other than speculation.

As I approached my stateroom, I was very warmly greeted by Rogelio, my Retreat Host (f.k.a., Butler).  It was quite warm, as Rogelio also was our Retreat Host a couple of months ago.  It was a genuine pleasure to see him again.  Since he was very busy (of course) and I already knew the lay of the land, we dispensed with the typical room orientation.  I did not need to take any more of his very precious time, and I also knew that he would be there for me if I needed anything at all.

All the above took about 20 minutes to occur.  What a lovely whirlwind.

After a little unpacking, I went off to run a couple errands.  As soon as I exited my room, I ran into Nikola who is my Room Steward and also served as such a couple months ago.  Once again, we had a warm greetings—another great person is Nikola—and he let me know that my luggage was waiting for him to bring it to my room.  I then went off to confirm spa appointments and check in at my muster station (I watched the videos earlier in the morning).  Everything went so smoothly that I was in front of Luminae a few minutes before noon.  I am so very impressed that all this happened within roughly an hour after I got out of the car.

Danilo threw open the doors to Luminae right at the crack of noon, and more warm greetings occurred as I got to catch up with all the wonderful crew in there.  Raj is going to take care of me, once again, and Genesis will be filling my cups.  I went with the ceviche and lobster roll, as I was very much in a seafood mood, and enjoyed some of that nice Ferrari Carano fume blanc alongside both.

I have to tell you, this has been one of the most wonderful coming aboard experiences I’ve ever had and likely will ever have.  The small number of passengers aboard Summit a couple months ago allowed us to get to know the crew more broadly and deeply than any other cruise we’ve ever been on.  That made more of a difference today that I ever expected.  I cannot count the number of crew that have greeted me warmly and enthusiastically and by name.  I really can’t—it’s that many.  Officers, waiters, bartenders, spa staff, concierges, etc.  It’s almost constant.  The thing that makes it even more special is that it is genuine warmth and enthusiasm, not something like “I’m supposed to remember you or I vaguely remember you, so I’m going to act like I’m so happy to see you.”  The comfort level on all our parts is the sort that took the first week to form.  It’s quite touching and lovely and special.  I hesitate to say it’s like a homecoming, but . . . it’s like a homecoming.  While I look forward to more familiar faces throughout the day or, at least, the cruise, I’m so dadgum happy right now that it wouldn’t bother me if that didn’t happen.  The only source of bother would be wanting to know if those faces were doing well.

After lunch, I had a lovely bamboo massage and then came back to the room to pop the cork on that champagne and write this.  Now that it’s 4 PM, I think it’s about time I popped down to the Martini Bar to (hopefully) catch up with a few more good folks, have a fantastic dinner, and then see where things go from there.

Cheers, yall!

We love the GS, especially the sitting area, but I wouldn't pay a penny extra for an OS unless I was travelling worth someone who had mobility issues or we were trying to put 3 or 4 passengers in the suite.

Even in the latter case, you're probably better off getting the GS and an adjacent JS. Shoot, there was one time it was a very similar cost to just getting 2 GSs (and was worth every cent to do so).

9 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

If the ideal number is still 50%(ish) but a particular sailing is booked at 55%, it's unlikely they would deny that 'extra' 5%. Assuming the crew is staffed sufficiently to support that anyway. I don't think any ship is fully staffed right now.

I tend to disagree about that.  You're far more an expert than I am, but I would think they would hold fast to their limits at present, even if those limits are self-imposed. That's especially relevant while they are trying to regain trust and confidence. 

If they impose a limit of 50% and sail at 55%, they are taking on quite a bit of extra risk. Should there be a few covid cases on such a sailing, the story would not be that there were a few covid cases. The story would be that covid broke out on an overcrowded ship run by careless moneygrubbers who are now concerned about revenue and profit than their customers' health. Back to square one for the trust and confidence. 

18 hours ago, chemmo said:

 

I do think that the ‘early days’ of ‘package’ vacations did have a luxury element

It wasn't a package. It's just the way things were done then! 

18 hours ago, Fouremco said:

I've never flown in on embarkation day, so I've never had that experience.

We've had to do it a few times. For instance, there was our honeymoon. We couldn't have flown in before, or we would've missed the wedding! 

On 9/9/2021 at 1:19 AM, chemmo said:

We have been cruising Celebrity long enough to remember the joy of them landing through the letter box along with the guest booklet...

I remember the days when you would put your tags on your checked luggage before you left because your luggage would be picked up from the baggage claim and appear in your room without you ever having to touch it after checking it. 

3 hours ago, joetop2467 said:

We got ours for the Apex TA in the mail last week. So they are still sending them out if you request them. 

Not necessarily. I called and requested but was told that I must print the tags. 

It is hit or miss at the moment, but it seems that mailed tags are on their way out. 

@Jim_Iain

Wow! 

10 hours ago, D C said:

Thanks for the review. 

Would it have been better if you could have slid the laptop WAY back away from you? Or do you think that would that have resulted in the proctor being too far away to adequately monitor? 

Maybe push it back -a little-, so that I didn't have quite as severe an angle to look at the laptop.  Really, it would have helped to have the laptop on a higher surface so that I had a better angle. 

The thing is that the camera needs to be aimed at the test card pretty much all the time, as that's what they need to monitor to make sure you don't contaminate it.  You'll need to have it within reach, though, because they need to watch you swab your nostrils--just adjust it up and back down.

I'm afraid that I'm making this all sound more complex and difficult than it actually was.  The whole process was fairly easy, and it would be easier still if you watch any of the YouTube videos.  I hadn't seen any of those videos, so I felt the need to look at those illustrations.  Now that I've done it and know the process, I'm not going to worry at all about it next time.

It's a very fluid situation. No deadlines. No published capacities. 

Espresso and a croissant are a nearly daily event at Cafe al Bacio. Great spot. 

1 hour ago, Guppy99 said:

Personally, I also wish they would issue these to every kid under 18, so they could be located on the ship whenever necessary.

That's wouldn't work. They do not detect or record location. They detect and record which other such devices are within a certain proximity for a certain amount of time. 

I just want to add my good experience with the eMed test.  

The kits came the day after I ordered them (which was a couple of weeks or so ahead of time, so no issue should they have come a little later).

The whole thing took around 25 minutes, and that included logging in to eMed for the first time.  The most awkward part of the whole process was having to partially close my laptop so as to angle the camera at the flat surface (so the proctor could see everything done), and that was awkward only because I also was trying to look at the instructions posted on the screen.

Results were available in the Navica app pretty much instantly, and a printable form arrived via email about 10-15 minutes later.

If you are interested in bidding, make sure you compare the minimum bid with the actual cost of the upgrade.  There's a chance the bid would cost about the same or even less than the cost of upgrading directly.

14 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

Ok I will read about that.  Thanks.

Just to give you a quick rundown . . . .  You'll need an internet connection robust enough to do a virtual meeting, so that could be an issue.  You'll also need a Navica account.  While it encourages you to get the Navica app, that's not required for the testing as far as I could tell.  It is a bit handy for showing results, although results also are sent to your email in a very printable form.

Other than that, you just need your kit, clean hands, a flat surface to do everything (that can be viewed by the camera you're using), and about a half hour of your time.  The most awkward part of the whole process was having to partially close my laptop so as to angle the camera at the flat surface (so the proctor could see everything done), and that was awkward only because I also was trying to look at the instructions posted on the screen.

The whole thing took around 25 minutes, and that included logging in to eMed for the first time.

13 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

Ok I will read about that.  Thanks.

I'm actually in the middle of one at the moment (15 minute waiting period). It's a little awkward at first, but it actually turned out to be fairly simple. I'll gladly do it again for my next sailing. 

11 hours ago, zitsky said:

I hope to fly into Lisbon 3 days early so I have to find a solution there.  We are traveling with friends so we will all look for the same solution.  (Doctor's office or urgent care, not sure.)

Get the Optum test kit and just take it with you. 

8 hours ago, LorraineP said:

Email from my TA had both booking ID & date of sailing for the 1/20 cruise. 

The one I got was straight from RCL, but I booked directly. 

11 minutes ago, LorraineP said:

Received email for my 1/20 cruise but not 1/31 cruise. 

The email I received did not refer to a particular sailing. 

1 hour ago, mayleeman said:

Not sure why X wanted image of the back.

Yeah, it's a minor fraud check.  Some are quite good enough at fraud to remember to (or bother with) copying the back.

6 minutes ago, dazey said:

We unfortunately got a 3 PM boarding time and not allowed to change even though we did the registration immediately once it was available.  If we have to get our test after 3 PM it will again make this whole testing issue even more troubling.  I was hoping to get it done 8 AM that day and enjoy my packing!

When is your cruise?  If your only arrival time option was 3 PM, that probably is just a placeholder (especially since you jumped immediately on it).  In other words, they have not even opened all the times, yet.  Keep checking back.

That happened on two of my upcoming sailings, and many others have reported the same thing in many other threads.

43 minutes ago, ampurp85 said:

My new payment dates are 12/1, 12/8 and 12/25...which would suck if I was a big spender during Christmas.

I am rather confident that they still will accept payment at the original date for those who feel that is better cash management. 😉

43 minutes ago, ampurp85 said:

I am sure RCG is pushing the FP dates back to avoid having to give out so many refunds if people don't like the protocols. This way they can convert the deposit to FCC and keep people on the hook.

No doubt about it.

1 hour ago, immjs20 said:

I appreciate they have done with for our January cruise.  But now I have to pay for my February cruise before the January cruise 😂

Stay tuned.  You might get an extension towards the end of the month (even if it's only to 60 days prior).

This all has to be because there are a good number of folks cancelling prior to final payment because they still are in "wait and see" mode.  That's actually rather prudent for both sides.

6 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I guess they could do away with the "Simply Sail" fare.  But, then someone would complain they don't drink, they don't eat at specialty restaurants, they don't want internet, etc, etc, etc.  So, they don't want to pay for it.

Believe you me, there are those who are complaining.  Deja vu all over again.

11 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

But it sure is a flimsy, messy way to document something so important.

You've just summed up my opinion of the US vaccination card in the first place. This is like a passbook account at the bank.  You don't have a passbook/card?  You don't have an account/vaccination.

While I actually can log in to my pharmacy account and print out a record with a QR code, it doesn't seem that anyone accepts that.  They want this card.