boblin

I just Got off silhouette yesterday and we docked at 18 instead of 25, because of flooding issues, I think. After a couple days of rain in the area seas and winds were high and we sat off shore until about 11am an I was finally allowed to walk off with my luggage about 12. Not a good disemarkation!. Many of us had to change flights. They had buses to take folks over to parking garage for 25. All this necessary for safety of course, so everyone was patient but frazzled by the end. All those boarding inconvenienced as well. Happy to report the cruise itself was wonderful!

On Summit in May I received my elite + free latte on embarkation day at Cafe el Bachio. On Reflection last year I was required to pay for the latte on embarkation day. I'll see what happens on Silhouette in Nov. Not a huge deal in any case.

No, not on the itinerary, per se. I can see where that would definitely make a difference.

Just got off Summit and we were not treated to a closeup of S. of L. on departure. I had read some captains do loop around to give better view of it, but not this time.

An April TA will no doubt be better than a March one, for starters. The only port I would have some concerns for would be Bermuda. One of my TA's missed Bermuda because of wind levels and the channel opening to get into port. However, we maintained a more southerly course than would have been necessary for a stop in Bermuda and , as a result, the weather was quite warm and pleasant. We also picked up Le Havre as a port stop, so got into Paris. Nothing wrong with that!

In July this year, I arrived at Pearson after a flight from Rome with a tight connection flight back to London, ON. AC decided I wouldn't make the flight and reissued a boarding pass for the following morning. I decided against that and had my daughter come from Guelph and then drive me back to London the next day. I had left the airport knowing I'd have to try to find out where my checked bag was. I was quite pleasantly surprised to have a message from AC awaiting me on my answering machine when I got back to London, telling me my luggage was at London airport, having been put on a flight the previous evening. In other words it made it home before I did! I asked why the bag was put on a flight without me and was told it was because I had accompanied the checked bag on the flight from Rome to Toronto.

There is a new small dock at Mykonos now and on the July 4th sailing of Reflection we were assigned the dock and didn't have to tender, although there was a short complimentary shuttle ride to the edge of Mykonos Town. Got the feeling the captain never knew until the day of where the ship would be assigned, as it's up to the port authorities.

So July 4 was the date Reflection switched to self serve , as we boarded that day and it was self serve the whole cruise. I must admit to feeling a little conscious of it every time I reached for a serving spoon. Covid numbers? Reached 33, but we had 2700 pax onboard, probably a little higher that the previous cruise, plus tons of teens and kids.

All staff and crew masked on Reflection earlier this month too.

As elite plus I was recently able to take advantage of priority tendering on Reflection in Europe. It would seem it's a ship by ship decision.

Suzy: See my post #13 on this thread Wed. 5:13pm. It was reported by a pax on Reflection , disembarking today in Civi. He had no info as to whether this was to be cruise line wide, just a trial run or what. Look for future comments on this in X threads to see if pax on other ships report same.

Majkman, pardon me but I had to smile when I read that I am a "calming factor", believe me I am far from that for anyone, but thank you. I think the way I deal with anxiety is to try to control outcomes by gathering as much info as I can. Precruise testing is still in effect as far as I know and I don't expect that to disappear. I too depart for Rome 4 wks from today, will meet up in the hotel with my travelling party and try to deal with the expected heat there. If I am not happy with the AC in my room, I may have to have a "meltdown" in the hotel lobby!!! BTW, I love the little phrase you use about calm seas and sun out. Thank you for that.

Promise this will be my last post. Starting to breathe a little easier now, what with the relaxing of Italian covid testing to enter the country and also a change (or at least a clarification ) of X's refund and cancellation policy for covid-19 regarding the covering of costs for changing flights purchased through FBC if a passenger tests positive for covid-19 while onboard. X will now cover change fees and any difference in airfare cost plus make all the necessary arrangements re: flights home. I had felt that their policy earlier was confusing at best. The cost of changes for pax who did not book their flights through FBC will not be picked up by X (no change there).So I think at least for my individual situation, X has become a little more generous in its coverage and I feel we won't have to worry about the Italian government's policy re: covid anymore either. U.S. residents are probably a little happier about being able to test before disembarkation. Talk about things changing quickly!!!!

Many thanks to all who have contributed to this thread, especially Rachiem who just reported on his personal experience on Edge out of Civi. Interesting and reassuring to hear that covid cases were few in number and that a few were allowed to say on until testing neg. Under 1000 pax. Wow! i did an informal projected count of pax for our July 4 sailing of Reflection and came up with a number just over 2000. I guess we'll find out soon enough what the real count is.

This all sounds good, I guess. I will watch for more details and maybe they will also drop the dreaded quarantine hotels by later in June. People would still have to deal with policies specific to the airline they're travelling on, of course, but it's always good not to have government authorities telling us what to do. Gee, I'm beginning to sound like an American, aren't I? lol.. I know Air Canada still does health checks prior to flights and , of course, I will abide by all of their protocols re covid. Random covid testing still being done for incoming passengers Canada too.

I appreciate the input re: the U.S. based cruise, but I prefer to keep this thread based on protocols re: sailings coming and going from Italy this summer. For example , Majkman and I are both on the July 4 Reflection sailing out of Civitavecchia. This is the homeport for Reflection for the whole summer, I believe. I realize there have only been a couple sailings in Europe by Reflection at this time, post the Transatlantic, so information is hard to come by , although there may be other X ships sailing out of Italy as well. Thank you for the comments too re: roommates. I do understand that and it sure can get complicated. My roommate is my granddaughter, but I won't even elaborate on that!!!!!! Yes, her parents are on the ship too.

I just see a new thread reported by klfhngr that as of today Reflection arriving in port in Civi. on Fr., Jun 3 is offering pax who want it a pre-debarkation test onboard for $65 p.p. It's only for those flying out on the 3rd. That will make a lot of Americans happy, I suppose, but might result in a few pax testing positive and then having decisions to make. klfhngr is on the ship and didn't know whether or not this applied only to Italian sailings or is cruise line wide or even if it's permanent or not. Something X knows about Italian rules about to change soon? Could be!

I followed banana van's experiences and they were truly heartrending. That's why I am sensitive to this issue. i am trying to prepare myself for any eventuality, but realize it's not really possible with things changing constantly, from 1 ship to another, from 1 country to another, etc. Italy is due to come out with some changes re: covid in June. I am watching for information that they will no longer quarantine positive pax in substandard quarantine hotels. I believe X has been required to turn over positive pax to authorities, if the pax do wish to disembark but not make their own isolation arrangements in Italy. The Italian period of quarantine can be up to 21 days, apparently. There are other threads here relating experiences of U.S. travellers who tested positive at FCO and were quarantined. Pretty sure that's why X has come up with its plan to allow positive pax to stay onboard if they wish. It wouldn't work for all, but it would work for me.

For more information on the staying onboard for next cruise issue, read Celebrity Cruises Refund and Cancellation Policy for Covid -19, especially the section "For all Celebrity cruises scheduled to sail from the EU or the U.K. between May 1, 2022, and Nov.30, 2022 inclusive, if you test positive for Covid-19 during the voyage: Celebrity will cover the cost of necessary covid-19 related medical treatment onboard the ship; You and members of your travelling party may stay onboard the ship to complete any required quarantine period, without needing to pay additional cruise fare, stateroom gratuities or taxes/fees to Celebrity for the same and Celebrity will assist with coordinating travel arrangements to get you and members of your travelling party back home, but will not be responsible for any associated costs." I do not need to test before flying home to Canada after disembarkation, but I will carry test kits with me and test myself last day before disembarkation because if I were to test positive then I would notify X, ask for a PCR test and remain their responsibility, thus being eligible to remain on the ship (i think!) There are threads asking why X does not let people use tests they buy from X before disembarking the ship. You don't even get the test until you're on land and no longer X's responsibility. Check your insurance trip interruption coverage. Many will not cover hotels, food or flight change expenses due to a positive covid diagnosis. i will have covid specific trip interruption coverage, over and above my regular insurance coverage, just to be on the safe side.

According to Celebrity's European sailing rules this year, if you are still testing positive for covid at the end of your cruise disembarking in Italy, you have the option of staying onboard for the next cruise. For me, in the event of such a scenario, I would prefer to stay on the ship rather than be quarantined in an Italian quarantine hotel or make my own arrangements. Could anyone comment on whether X would allow you to stay on the ship until the end of the subsequent sailing or would they disembark you somewhere as soon as you test negative?