emairs

50 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

 

Getting people in and out of Bergen is going to be a big problem for Viking.  If Bergen airport is closed to international traffic, as it seems to be, the only alternative will be Oslo (14 flights a day or the train). 

 

 

 

 

If Norway’s borders are closed, that would include Oslo, and the rest of the country.

Icelandair emailed last week to advise cancellation of our flight to Bergen for our July 6 cruise. I phoned Viking  and mentioned that Norway is closed until August 20, and was told they do not have that information. The cruise is still showing as available for booking on their website.

Ridiculous!

16 minutes ago, czrunner said:

For the July 6, 2020 cruise from Bergen to Reykjavik Viking could shorten the section in Norway (perhaps exploring the fjords while staying on the ship for a couple of days), and spend more time in and around Iceland.  We would be fine with that, but others may not.

We still would have to board the ship in Bergen.

It appears that Norway’s border will be closed at least until August 20, so come on Viking, please cancel the affected cruises!

We’re waiting for our July 6 cruise from Bergen to Reykjavík to be cancelled. Wish they would hurry up, so we can cancel flights, hotels etc.

We were on the Solstice in early March when Covid-19 was just beginning to escalate. We were surprised that they were allowing self service at the buffet. We took our own precautions and used paper towels to handle the utensils, but didn’t see anyone else doing this.

Don’t think we will ever go back to the buffet. We will be so conscious of germs and contamination after this is over.

7 hours ago, TommyD3 said:

My concern is with 8 cancellations and multiple refunds per cancellation how do I know which refund is for which cruise?

Is there a field in the credit card refund info with the booking number?

That is the only way to track the refunds against the bookings !!!

FYI it has been almost 6 weeks and I have not received one penny!!!

Celebrity is like a black hole !!!!

You have your work cut out for you!

If your credit card is like mine, it will only give you the refund amount - no other information.

I would make a list of all the expected amounts to the penny, and check them off as they show up. You can then deal with any discrepancies with amounts that don’t match up.

My situation should have been easy for Celebrity -  1 cruise fare only, no other charges.  I don’t know how they could have made such a huge mistake. Very concerning.

We were on Celebrity Solstice b2b in March. When the second part of the cruise was cancelled on March 14, we requested a refund.

Yesterday, I was pleased to see that the refund showed up on our credit card.
It was a large sum, as we were in a suite. I couldn’t remember the amount on our Celebrity invoice, but decided to check. To my surprise, the refund was $2,641.68 less than the amount we paid for the cruise.

Celebrity wouldn’t speak to me, so I contacted our travel agent. She said that Celebrity couldn’t/wouldn’t give a reason for the shortfall, but are giving us a refund for the stated amount - in two random payments of $614.00 and $1967.68, which will take at least thirty days, which is fine.

i know that Celebrity is under a lot of stress with all the cancellations and refund requests, but an error such as this is unacceptable, so please check your statements, to make sure that you receive the correct refund.

Regal Princess TA from Copenhagen to New York 2017. We loved it so much that we booked the same cruise on the Sky this September, which either we, or Princess will cancel. We have a TA on Discovery Princess Nov/21 - Rome to FLL.

We have had numerous other cruises on various lines, including a shortened Celebrity cruise to New Zealand last month.

We are booked on the Sky TA from Copenhagen to New York, and will probably cancel before final payment date on June 6, if Princess hasn’t cancelled it by then.

I can’t imagine New York being virus free by September.

We were on the recent Solstice New Zealand cruise which embarked on March 10.

Thermal scans (#1) were taken upon boarding.

We were very concerned (#5) that people were allowed to self serve at the buffet and we took our own precautions by covering the utensils. 

As it turned out, one passenger with covid19 was removed from the ship by ambulance at Dunedin. Don’t know if he was diagnosed at that time, or later. We heard that he might have died.
We had  three sea days before arrival in Sydney. The captain announced that everyone on the ship was well.

Another passenger, from Perth later died, and at least eight others were infected, according to the New South Wales health department which phoned us last week.
I wonder how many others might have been infected by touching the utensils at the buffet.
Hopefully, this will not be allowed on any ship in future.

We feel fortunate that our quarantine is just about over, and we have no symptoms.

On 3/29/2020 at 12:10 PM, Argo. said:

We thought that our quarantine was almost over  (Mar 6-15).  Last night my wife developed a fever and the local health nurse arranged for testing this morning.

Best wishes to your wife.

Hope her test is negative!

4 hours ago, ilovecruisesme said:

Thank you for your response. We've had no phone calls and no emails but we are in the UK so not sure if they will try to contact us. 

It’s unacceptable that not all passengers were contacted with this important information.

All passengers should have been made aware that there were infected passengers onboard. making it even more urgent for self isolation.

Luckily, the fourteen day quarantine is almost over, so hopefully everyone is healthy, with no symptoms.

Here is the original email that many of us did not receive:

 

 

Dear Celebrity Solstice passenger 

NSW Health has been advised by New Zealand health authorities that a passenger on the Celebrity Solstice cruise ship that arrived in Sydney on Thursday 19 March 2020 has been diagnosed with COVID-19. This passenger disembarked in Dunedin. 

As you have been identified as a passenger on the ship, you are considered a close contact. More information about being a close contact can be found at this link: 

https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/novel-coronavirus-close-contact.aspx

In line with advice you have previously been given, you need to remain in home isolation for 14 days from the day you disembarked (up to and including 02/04/20). More information about being in home isolation can be found at this link: 

https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/hubei-contacts-and-travellers.aspx

 

 

For people still in Australia: 

If you or your travelling companions develop symptoms (particularly fever or cough, or shortness of breath) it is important to call your GP or HealthDirect (1800 022 222) to organise assessment and testing for coronavirus. You may also present to a COVID-19 testing clinic or your nearest hospital Emergency Department. In case of an emergency please call triple zero (000) and inform the ambulance service that you have been identified as a close contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case. 

 

For people who are overseas: 

Please contact your local public health authority and inform them you have been identified as a close contact. If you have symptoms as outlined above, please seek medical attention. 

Further general information about COVID-19 can be found at this link: 

•  https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/diseases/Pages/coronavirus.aspx

6 hours ago, ilovecruisesme said:

Has anyone got any further updates regarding our ship. The news only seems to focus on Ruby Proncess which disembarked in Sydney the same day we arrived. 

We received a phone call from the health department of New South Wales on March 28. They wanted to check on our health and ensure that we were self isolating. This was the first communication that we received as we missed the original email.

They confirmed at least one death and eight people infected with covid19.

13 hours ago, ericosmith said:

Perhaps the difference was that I called Celebrity Air directly and arranged the flights myself.  At some point a couple hours later, I received the revised itinerary from the Pursers desk.

I spoke to Celebrity Air twice, and so did our Concierge. Didn’t make any difference. They still screwed it up, and sent a confirmation that didn’t exist.

We were on the same sailing with my brother and SIL. We also had Celebrity Air, but had a different experience.

We received an email confirmation from Celebrity confirming a revised flight from Sydney to Toronto via San Francisco. We managed to get my brother and SIL on the same flight through Expedia.

When I went to the front desk to request our boarding pass, they told me that we were not on that flight. We were not ticketed and there were no more seats available.
Celebrity Air had to scramble to find us another flight, which luckily they managed to do, via DFW.
Had I not gone to the front desk, we would have showed up at the airport with no flight.

My husband and I have been avid cruisers for many years.

Last week, we returned from an interrupted b2b on the Solstice.

When we boarded, everyone’s temperature was taken.
In light of the growing concerns about COVID-19, we were surprised that passengers were allowed to self serve at the buffet, so we took our own precauctions.

When we arrived at Dunedin, most New Zealand passengers disembarked, due to concerns about difficulty returning home. 
One passenger was taken off the ship by ambulance at Dunedin. The captain later announced that everyone was healthy.
Luckily, the ship was given permission to dock at Sydney three days later.

We were travelling with family, who later received an email from Celebrity to advise that a passenger was diagnosed with COVID-19. WE did not receive the notification. 

Today we learned that two passengers on this sailing (one from Tasmania) have died from covid19, and one other was infected.

We can’t defend Celebrity’s poor handling of this. We still have had no notification of this  serious situation. We have been self isolating since our return.

However, we still love cruising and have five future cruises booked on different lines. We will probably continue cruising on the ones that aren’t cancelled, if we feel safe at the time.
These are very strange times😳

4 hours ago, two ladies said:

Were any of the ports missed on this cruise (10th March 2020 Auckland to Sydney).

Was booked on this cruise but had to cancel 10 days prior to sailing because of my caring duties. Celebrity have been most unhelpful regarding my circumstances & have refused any refund. On their website they have stated that you could cancel for any reason prior to 48 hours before sailing. Apparently this was posted several days after my cancellation. 
I would appreciate any comments.

The port of Eden was missed, as Australia was shut down by then. Everyone received an onboard credit equal to one cruise day.

Were you not able to cancel for a future cruise credit for the cost of your cruise? 
A cash refund would only be available if the cruise were cancelled.

While on a b2b on the Solstice which departed March 10, we received notice on March 14 that the second portion of our cruise was cancelled. We clicked on the link for a refund, and yesterday received an email from Celebrity via our travel agent, that the refund has been applied to our credit card. It’s not there as yet.

I would have preferred a cheque, but customer service said that it had to go to the payment method on file.

Don’t know what I will do with a huge credit on my card😳

We were on this cruise and did not receive the email. Luckily, we were with family members who did receive the notification.

During the cruise, we were concerned that passengers were allowed to self serve at the buffet. We took our own precautions by covering the utensils to avoid direct contact. Didn’t notice anyone else doing this.

I wonder how many were infected by this one passenger, just from touching the utensils.

We watched a passenger being removed from the ship via ambulance at Dunedin. Would assume it was the affected passenger.

We are complying with the fourteen day quarantine. Hopefully everyone is doing the same.
 

We returned from Sydney March 20, after the first part of a b2b on the Solstice.

The second part was cancelled while we were onboard.

We were travelling with family, who received a similar email after we came home. We did not receive the email. One passenger was taken off the ship with covid19, while we were docked in Dunedin. We missed the last port, and three days later, were allowed to disembark in Sydney, even though the port was closed to cruise ships.

There were constant reminders about hand washing and sanitizing. However, passengers were allowed to self serve at the buffet, handling the tongs and utensils.  This grossed us out and we covered the utensils with paper towel to try to avoid germs. 
I’m shocked that Celebrity would allow this and wonder how many others might have been infected by this one passenger.

We were all required to sign a form committing to fourteen day quarantine, when leaving the ship. Hopefully, everyone complied.

10 hours ago, emairs said:

We are sailing in a Sky suite on the Solstice b2b from Aukland on March 10.

we have heard from no one. Don’t care.

I must apologize.

I did receive an email from Celebrity to personalize our suite on February 25, two weeks from sail date.

I didn’t pay attention to it, as I receive several emails from Celebrity every day about promotions.

I have completed it now. Nice to be able to choose a bottle of wine instead of  the standard bubbly, which I always exchange.
It asks about any celebrations, bed configuration, offers extra blankets and hangers.

i don’t know why it asks how you would like to spend your day in port.

We are leaving on Friday for a b2b cruise on the Solstice departing from Auckland on March 10.

Just found out that a couple in our town in Ontario, who arrived from Iran, have Covid 19.

Just as well that we are leaving town😊

2 hours ago, Hodgson said:

Some of you in Sky Suites and cruising in March have already heard from the concierge. We are in a Celebrity Suite for a March sailing and we haven’t heard from anyone. Any thoughts on when we should hear from someone?

We are sailing in a Sky suite on the Solstice b2b from Aukland on March 10.

we have heard from no one. Don’t care.

My brother and SIL are booked on a 27 day cruise on Ruby Princess in April. They called their TA on the off chance that they could get the BSE promotion added, since it was after final payment.

To their surprise, not only were the BSE benefits added, but they received a $1,475.00 cdn price drop credit to their credit card. This was totally unexpected!