terrydtx

The lessons and great advice from all above, is be prepared for the worse and be happy when it doesn't happen. If you do not have the time and funds to weather a prolonged stay outside your country this may not be the right time to travel. Fortunately, we do have the time and financially we can survive a prolonged delay and we will continue to travel at our own risk. We already have lost 2 years of our prime retirement travel time and refuse to lose any more.

We originally booked the Edge for March and April 2024 in NZ and Australia B2B with a NRD for both. Last month we changed the cruises to one in January followed by a second in February 2024 on the Edge. Celebrity rebooked us on the new cruises and moved our $600 deposits from the original bookings to the new ones and even waived the $100 administration fees.

The new ruling today from the EASU drops the mandates on all flights to or from the EU member countries and Germany is part of the EU. This becomes effective next Monday and I believe would lift any German restrictions. This ruling has no effect on any other public transportation other than flights and airports. I may be wrong but from what I have read from the EASU, Germany is not exempt from their ruling on flights and airports.

It looks like Air France has not updated their mask protocols since June 2021. They are way behind the times and a good reason to not fly with them for now.

We are flying to Rome in August business class so we are not sitting next to any strangers who could have covid. If I was sitting next to a stranger I might feel differently. We are flying BC as it is better social distancing. Even domestically we are only flying first class for the same reason.

Wearing masks in airports and on flights to all EU counties will become optional starting May 16th. This means we can fly for 10 hours to Italy and sleep without a mask on the plane. Do not want to start a mask debate but optional means if you feel safer, you can wear one. EU Will Scrap Mask Mandate For Air Travel (msn.com)

Most airlines also offer insurance through third parties that will cover cancelation of trip and interruptions.

I agree with your comments 100%. This is one of the very rare times a cruise has to be canceled for some emergency repair. Celebrity is the one losing all that revenue from having no passengers on the ship for a week and if they could have avoided this they would have.

Thank you for this information, it looks like they will take the free Government suppled tests or any the FDA approved source.

I get the same message, how can the online tests be sold out?

Our Hotel is arranging a water taxi to take us to Piazzale Roma to get our private car transfer to Trieste Cruise terminal. We actually return on our cruise to Maghera cruise terminal in Venice and we will be staying at a hotel by the people mover for that one night and then go to the airport the next morning to fly home.

We primarily cruised with HAL the last 12 years, but after a couple of Celebrity cruises post Covid we are switching our loyalty to Celebrity. More real suite benefits and much better food in the MDR and true suites only restaurant. We have 2 NZ Australia cruises booked in January 2024 on the much newer Celebrity Edge, We found the suites pricing and added amenities much better on the Edge VS the Noordam. Our Oosterdam cruise this August will probably be our last HAL cruise and only booked to use up a FCC from 2021. Never been on a Princess cruise and we did a one and done with NCL in their Haven suites.

When our Infinity cruise was canceled last year, it took 45 days to get our 120% FCC issued. If you used a TA she or he should be able to transfer the deposit on your canceled cruise to the new one. We canceled our two 2024 March Edge cruises in NZ and Australia to rebook earlier in January and my TA got the NRD moved from them to the new cruises and Celebrity even waived the $100pp change fee. This is why we use a TA and do not book direct with any cruise line.

We had no fevers with our Christmas colds and it was also our understanding that you can have Covid with no fever at that time. Thats was why we self tested because we were going to spend New Years with 6 friends and we didn't want to spread Covid if we had it.

That describes me as well, rarely run a fever, usually around 97.5, allergies to local trees and a dry cough as side effect of my blood pressure medicine. We came home from our son's at Christmas with bad colds and convinced we had Covid, but 3 at home tests came back negative. Anyone who was around us with the common colds would have thought we had Covid and we had post cold coughs and nasal drip for several weeks.

I do doubt her account since no one else who was quarantined has said the same thing. Jim Lain who has a very long live Silhouette live thread was quarantined with his partner and he reported that they could order from any MDR or Luminae menu, he just said it was not very appetizing served in Styrofoam boxes. He also said they were not furnished paper copies of the menu and had to order from the Celebrity app, maybe that is where the confusion with the OP comes from.

From the several CC posts I have read from people who are, or were quarantined, the room service is available from what ever dining room you were booked in. Luminae for suites, Blu for Aqua and MDR for all other. This is not much different than pre covid being quarantined to your cabin with Norovirus. I do agree that having to give up your cabin to be quarantined in an OV or Inside cabin on deck 3 is rather over the top and maybe unnecessary for those booked in verandah and Suites cabins.

Very subjective and you can ask for tip envelopes at the Guest Services desk. OBC can be used for extra tips as others have said. We sail in Sky Suites, so we leave extra if we have a really good Butler. Same for our waiter in Luminae and bar tender in the Retreat lounge. Last August on the Equinox knowing the waiters, butlers and room stewards had not worked for over a year we left more than normal for each of them, just like we tip extra on land for waiters who mostly did not work for over a year.

They shore Concierges hosts will reach our about 2 weeks prior to your cruise if in the higher suites. If in a Sky suite you will need to call the shore concierges to book reservations. The Luminae does not need or take reservations, for any specialty restaurants you can go into the Celebrity app and book them at any time. Once onboard your Retreat Host can make reservations for you as well.

My wife and I got our first booster in February which is all we need for our August cruise from Rome on the Reflection. From what I have read the first and second boosters only have a few months of maximum effectiveness so we plan to get our second boosters in Mid July for maximum efficiency. We will be gone on two cruises and 10 land days for a total of 34 days.

I believe it was one of the Solstice cruises this summer, I am not 100% sure, but it was on an S class ship. And it would have been a SV cabin he lost not a FV.

I would have been skeptical too, but the person who had his cabin moved from deck 6 to a higher deck posted a copy of his email from Celebrity and it said that 6 was going to be used for quarantining Covid passengers on their cruise. I will add he was not happy as his deck 6 cabin was an aft facing FV cabin and he was only moved to a regular AQ class balcony cabin as no FV were available on higher decks.

The policies, I buy includes the costs of airfare if the cruise line cancels the cruise for any reason, with all the Covid cancelations this is important. For example, last year our Infinity cruise of Spain was canceled after final payment, and we had $6000 in business class airfare, our insurance reimbursed us 100% within a month after the cruise was canceled. The only exclusions, I know of, we are not covered for acts of war and bankruptcy of the travel vendor. The bankruptcy exclusion was added in 2020 because of Covid.

I include the cost of airfare, the cruise and non-cancelable hotels in the cost and coverage of any travel insurance we buy, so that we are covered as the result of any cancelations. If you do not include the costs and travel outside of the cruise in the insurance policy, you will not be covered. It costs a few dollars more, but the peace of mind is welcomed. I buy the insurance through my TA's parent company and have for many years. I learned a long time ago to NEVER buy insurance directly through the cruise line. For our August cruises on Celebrity and then HAL with 6 land days in between them, our insurance will cover us for the land days too. This is more important for the medical coverage.

Has anyone been in SS #11197 or 11196 on the Edge or Apex? These are the first SS on the bump out midship on deck 11 and I was wondering if the forward view is better than the cabins that follow these? We are booked in 11197 next year on the Apex and 11196 in 2024 on the Edge. I have looked online at cabin pictures but nothing about the views from the balcony for these two cabins. TIA. Terry