sippican

My son participated in the US AZ trial. 

Since it has not been approved by the FDA, he just went ahead and got vaccinated with an approved vaccine.

17 hours ago, Sdory28 said:

I went onto Celebrity earlier today and saw that they are selling the Machu Picchu packages beginning in October. I hope that helps

We are sailing in October. Hopefully that is correct. Two in our party have the MP extension (and have paid for it) but when I spoke to the Galapagos Desk, they said they had no idea when they might resume.

Those photos are just breathtaking! 

We were recently informed by the Galapagos Desk that all travelers in our party would need coverage for both medical  and evacuation. were you asked to provide proof of either. (Sorry if I missed this in earlier posts.)

Any talk about when the extensions may open - both Quito and Machu Picchu?

21 hours ago, DrKoob said:

 

We were told that when the put Flora in service they had to give up a number of spots on Expedition. For that reason, they now have the naturalists in guest staterooms. Celebrity's allotment is not per ship, but per company. I got that right from Captain Patricio and from Fausto who is Celebrity's rep in Quito.

 

 

The Xpedition used to house passengers on deck three. That entire deck is now allocated to crew or ship-related spaces. Passengers are now housed on decks 4, 5 or 6.

Also, I believe mahdnc is correct. When Flora came into the fleet, Celebrity believed they could reallocate their passenger slots as they saw fit, planning to assign the licenses from both Xploration and Xperience to Xpedition. They were sanctioned by the government and denied the request to combine the numbers . That is why only 46 passengers on Xpedition per sailing. The reasoning was said to be based on the desire to limit the number of larger vessels.

On 7/9/2021 at 3:25 PM, Kylie said:

 What is the difference between Northern and Southern loops?

The Xpedition does Northern and Southern route itineraries. The Flora does Inner and Outer.  They are alternated because the Galapagos National Park has very strict regulations about the number of times, frequency and number of people allowed at the stops.

IMHO - North Seymour Island has been a favorite stop for many!

Thanks for the update.

So sorry you are having such a bad experience.

We did the Xpedition in 2018 (going again this fall) and I can assure you our personal experience was nothing short of exceptional all around. Plus we both slept very well.

I hope they work the bugs out.

Thanks for the update! Good to see that Celebrity has been able to rebound so well for the Quito segment.

In shortening the pre-cruise portion - were you given any type of compensation at all?

We've already booked air with the assumption that pre-cruise will be two days in Quito and are wondering how soon we'll know if that changes.

Looking forward to your posts.

Yikes!

We just booked one half of our Galapagos trip through Celebrity on American. We wanted a different flight and the rep. told me they only book refundable flights.

We still have plenty of time, but please update.

FWIW, the Resolutions Department has been very helpful to me in the past.

On 3/2/2021 at 3:09 PM, hvbaskey said:

 

Wee update to above dry dock news.  Celebrity Engagement Centre (One Touch) sent me this reply to my inquiry (click on image to enlarge).   Seems like the Celebrity Infinity will be ready for the 2022 season (in addition to perhaps others who are doing the Northern Hemisphere arctic regions).

 

The Celebrity reply has about as much validity as Celebrity had when they claimed they were compliant with all laws in the Galapagos a few years back. They tried to totally skirt the laws, resulting in suspension and cancelled sailings by the government at the very last second. All the while they claimed  - no sailings will be impacted,

 Evidently they are still completely ignorant of the rest of the regulations: different fuel, enclosed lifeboats on every single ship sailing into the region, cold water survival suits for every passenger ....

When I called almost two years ago, they denied any knowledge whatsoever about the Polar Code. Call me a skeptic if you must!

Now that the Falklands have banned all large vessels from visiting, it'll be interesting to see what happens to these itineraries.

Looks like ship calls to the Falklands will be limited.

https://polarjournal.ch/en/2021/06/08/no-large-cruise-ships-for-the-falkland-islands/

14 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

 

This is going to be a bit long.  Bear w me.  As with 2552phxcrzr, I too have done 2 trips in the region and I agree w most of what he says.  My first trip was a trip to Antarctica which if I remember correctly gave us 6 or 7 days in Antarctica followed by a cruise through the Chilean Fjords (incredibly beautiful) ending up in Puntas Arenas Chile.  The 2nd trip was to the Falklands (3 days) and to South Georgia (6 days).  I chose not to visit Antarctica on this trip as this gave me more time in the Falklands and South Georgia. 

 

What I slightly disagree w 2552 is that South Georgia was better.  They are both great but they are also very different.  I thought that the scenery on the Antarctica trip was much more intense.  You get lots of icebergs in Antarctica and you basically get no icebergs on a South Georgia trip.  You get penguins on both trips but more more species and many many more of them on a South Georgia trip.  Imagine a single beach with 400,000 nesting pairs of king penguins.  You will get that at South Georgia.  You won't that intensity of birds on your Antarctica trip although you will definitely see birds.  If you visit South Georgia, there is also the bragging rights of visiting a place that I guarantee none of your travel buddies have been to - LOL!

 

You say that you would like to "slip" over to South Georgia.  Not that easy.  Although some companies offer trips that combine South Georgia and Antarctica, in my opinion they just don't work and are a waste of money.  Look at a map.  South Georgia is due east of Ushuaia.  The Antarctica peninsula due south of Ushuaia.  Doing both of them on one trip is sort of the equivalent of driving from Chicago to New Orleans via New York City.  It takes 3 days assuming the weather is good to cruise from Ushuaia to South Georgia.  It takes another 3 days to cruise from South Georgia to Antarctica.  It then takes another 1 1/2 days to cruise back to Ushuaia from Antarctica.  And you end up completely missing the Falklands.  I don't mean Port Stanley which is the only place that most people visit when they visit the Falklands but the outer islands where all the really good wildlife is.  Bottom line is that if you do one of those trips that combine South Georgia and Antarctica, you get to spend too much of your time on the ship and an inadequate amount of time at your destinations.  

 

So what are your options -

 

1) Forget about South Georgia and take the longest trip you can afford to just Antarctica.  I did a quick search and found one trip that gives you 8 days in Antarctica.   There are a lots of trips by lots of companies that do Antarctica.  

 

2) Do a separate trip to the Falklands and to South Georgia.  That trip will be harder to find.  The one that I took had only 90 passengers on a 130 passenger ship.  The company that did it lost money on the trip.  I doubt that they did it the next year.  If you find a trip that does just this, grab it.  

 

What you need to do is to work with a tour agency that books JUST Antarctica trips.  Lots of companies do Antarctica trips among other things.  A company that books just Antarctica trips and manages to stay in business must be doing something right.  The agent that I worked with at the company I found had been to Antarctica many times and was off to Antarctica shortly after I did my trip.  I can't name the agency but Google is your friend.  Have a lot of phone conversations w them.  

 

This got to be a lot longer than I planned but I hope that the information is useful.  

 

DON

 Those are some greart suggestions.  I'd encourage anyone doing research to get assusrances from companies/agencies contacted that they will  meet the Polar Code regulations do be able to sail  if they intend to travel after 2021.

I'm booked  (rebooked) on the Infinity for a February 2022 Antarctica cruise. I'll be very surprised if the itinerary remains as published. Unless the Polar Code (see thread in "Antartcia Ports" forum) is postponed, it is doubtful that the Infinity will meet the compliance regulations to sail in the Antarctic region. The Code is due to go fully into effect in January of 2022. Celebrity denies any knowledge of this. 

Have you tried the Celebrity Captains Club Facebook page?

16 hours ago, ECCruise said:

If you have loyalty status with Celebrity, you have loyalty status with Azamara as of today.

 

Try this.  Go to https://www.azamara.com/account/ and create an account. Use your Celebrity Captain's Club number as your Discover number (they are exactly the same).  You should already be at the same level on Azamara as you are with Celebrity.  We had status on Azamara (Discover +) on Azamara because of our Elite + status on Celebrity before we ever sailed with Azamara.

Yes,  I undestand that completely. What we were told today during the TA webinar is that if we are cruising prior to the completion of the sale, our corresponding loyalty level would be honored by Azamara. After the transfer is complete, we would be starting at the base level of the Azamara loyalty tiers, no matter what our Captains Club status is. It would be great to learn that they will honor the terms under which you booked and that only applies to new bookings.

Since posters here feel I am not correct, I will reach out to Azamara again. One of the reasons we booked (with friends who are also E;lite+) is because of the added benefit of those loyalty perks - they add up to significant $, so we would already be paying more than when we booked to cover those perks.   I'm interested in trying a couple of the other smaller brands so may take a wait and see approach to see what happens.

On 1/29/2021 at 3:52 PM, Baynanno1 said:

I was recently in touch with our Loyalty Ambassador Sandra to enquire about not receiving emails from Azamara. In her very prompt response she included the following unsolicited information :

 

"Your loyalty tier won’t be affected once we fully transition to a new system (we don’t know when that’s happening yet). We should expect some minor changes, but nothing that will affect your loyalty with us. More information will be released once provided to us."

I attended the travel agent webinar. If you have current loyalty status with Azamara, it will remain. After the finalization of the sale (approximately 60 days), they will no longer recognize reciprocal loyalty benefits from the other RCCL brands. Since I am Elite + with Celebrity and none of my points were earned on Azamara, I will not be eligible for any loyalty benefits on our cruise in 2022. 

Spounds like you have already earned stsus with Azamara, we have not.

We had just booked our first cruise with Azamara.

However, since they will no longer be recognizing loyalty status from X, or the stockholders benefits, they've already lost us.

been waiting since November 11th. We were told up to 45 days, so I called last Friday and was told 45 BUSINESS days. Still waiting.

Take a look at aft photos. The balconies vary significantly in width, with the 4th from the starboard side being quite a bit wider.

We have sailed in S1s on multiple cruises on S class. Decks 7, 8, 9 are our choice. . The pole is really not an issue at all. Best choice is to have cabins above and below.  Best cabins ever!!!!!

Check out Youtube for videos.

I went to the Galapagos in 2018 on the Celebrity Xpedition and loved it so much, we are rebooked for 2021. (I am also a TA).  Although the Flora is high end luxury - the Xpedition is comfortable (the zodiac boarding was easy - not sure why some feel that is a drawback). I was on the Xpedition when she carried 100 passengers, but really looking forward to the next trip with only 48!  I obsessively researched itineraries and best time to go. In the end, I concluded it really doesn't matter at all! The Galapagos are a year-round desrtination. You may see different things at different times - for instance- if witnessing the mating ritual of the blue-footed boobies is a priority, you should book certain months. We traveled at the end of November and it was perfect. Next year, we will go in mid-October. The only recommendation I have is try to include North Seymour Island as one of your stops - it was our favorite by far for animal sightings.  I can't recommend Celebrity highly enough! Everything is included from start to finish on the 10 and 11 day packages. (We did the 15 day to MP in 2018). If you do look at other companies - be sure to take into considerations the actual number of stops in the Galapagos National Park. It is tightly regulated.

3 hours ago, koalapanda said:

Xmas 2018 , and very nice it was too, thanks for asking.

Two years ago? And I thought the refunds were taking a long time!

That is a great price - I paid $649 for ours.

Just cancelled because the sailing is now not happening, however, they are offereing some great Black Friday Specials. 😔

20 minutes ago, Edinburghgirl1 said:

Contacted Celebrity on Twitter and received this response:

 

Hello,

Thank you for your message.

While we fully support the reorganization efforts of Pullmantur and continue to work productively with Pullmantur as it develops its new business plan, it is important to clarify that we have not agreed to lease or sell any of our ships, including any Celebrity Millennium class ships, to Pullmantur.

Hugh

Hugh?

3 minutes ago, JerseyGirlatHeart said:

There is a "aft" stairs on deck 11 somewhere around room 1518 that will take you to the Spa/Gym

I believe the spa and gym are forward, as is that cabin (yes, but near a staircase).

On 10/10/2020 at 4:43 PM, deec said:

I think Viking as just canceled all Galapagos trips "for the foreseeable future"

I believe they were actually chartering a vessel for their new "Expedition" offerings,  instead of using one of their own ships. I seriously wonder if they were having licensing issues since the regulations are very strict, and no new licenses are being issued.