mistertoaster

This story is being reported as 8 people stranded due to being late for the ship, but that was not the case. Ms. Lenkoff who suffered the medical emergency appears to have done everything correctly by going on an NCL tour and getting travel insurance. NCL's decision to disembark her on an island with very limited medical facilities is definitely questionable. I saw a video of the clinic, and it appeared medical facilities and medical personnel on the ship were likely superior to anything on land in that small island. Below is the daughter's recap of events. Lenkoff's daughter shares thanks Lana thanked everyone for their caring posts about her mom. "Thank you all for your posts. (Regarding my previous post about my mom)," Lana wrote. "São Tomé is very primitive and doesn’t have hospitals that could treat her properly. She was on a group tour sponsored by the cruise line of a museum and collapsed and was unconscious. "How or who was contacted to get her to the limited medical clinic we do not know. We just know that she was left by Norwegian Cruise Line without as much as calling her emergency contacts, or leaving her with her wallet, credit cards, or travel insurance papers at the clinic or maybe a note for her to read when she came to." When she finally regained consciousness, Lana said she didn't remember anything that happened but was helped by "good Samaritans" that they later learned were Jay and Jill Campbell.

No problem. I'm pretty sure that with the exception of special status guests, we will be the first to board whenever they decide to open the ship. If I am on by lunch time, I am a happy camper.

I checked in this morning about one hour after check in opened for my cruise. I got a 10 a.m. boarding time which is the earliest I've ever boarded a cruise ship. Very happy with the time and the check-in process on Celebrity. It is better than NCL and MSC's which is my most frequent cruise providers.

Thanks everyone for the comments. I'll be ready to go this evening for check-in.

Thanks. It is Alaska and I'm Eastern time so that gives me a few more hours sleep.

Long time cruiser, but first time on Celebrity. Tomorrow is my 45-day check-in time to secure my boarding time. Just wondering if check-in begins at 12 a.m. Eastern time or some other time zone. Also, it appears check-in must be done on the app only, but I'm not sure if that is the case? Any other idiosyncrasies tips on the Celebrity check-in process are appreciated.

We have cruised on the Epic twice. Once in the Haven and once in a balcony. Obviously, the Haven is a premium experience, but the balcony experience was also fine. The most frequent negatives: 1. The bathroom. This gets a lot of negative comments because of the bathroom design and privacy. In my view, an overblown issue. There is a curtain to separate the bathroom from the rest of the cabin when in use. Also, I like having the sink outside the bathroom as I can shave or brush my teeth while my wife is taking a shower. Unless you are traveling with a total stranger, which is likely not the case, this is not a big deal. 2. The elevators. Only two sets of elevators with none in the middle of the ship. Neither my wife nor I are youngsters, but we typically take the stairs to our cabin when the elevators are crowded after shows and during peak periods. It is good mandatory exercise which is needed after 20+ cruise meals. If you are handicapped, or can't climb stairs, for any other reason, this might be an issue. However, even in that case, if you wait for the theater to clear and then board an elevator, that will typically work. 3. Crowds. It is a large ship, but not large by today's standards. We sailed twice on the MSC Meraviglia a 6,000-passenger ship. That is a large ship. The Epic is no more difficult to navigate than most ships. Obviously, if the ship is beyond capacity that makes for more congestion. However, that is pretty much a crap shoot from cruise to cruise. We've been on ships at 80% capacity and ships 100% capacity. You adapt to conditions and figure out peak periods and times and places to avoid. 4. Entertainment. Right now, the Epic appears to be going through an entertainment transition. I actual welcome the change. On most NCL ships there are two big shows that run over and over. Once you have seen those shows, there are fewer entertainment options. It appears there will be different shows every night during the transition. We prefer that option. A cruise is what you make of it. If you get on a ship looking for issues, you will probably find them. Eight days in the Carribean in a balcony overlooking the sea, dining in great restaurants and seeing a show every night is a good vacation in my opinion. Will there be occasional annoyance, probably. All depends on how you decide to deal with them.

Haven Lite is the same approach we are taking on our upcoming cruise. We have stayed several times in the Haven and MSC Yacht Club. While both experiences were very good, we never used the butler or concierge service, and unless you are in the owner suites are something similar a regular Haven or Yacht Club cabin is pretty similar to a regular balcony. MSC MDR' food is not good, and that makes the Yacht Club a more compelling option. However, with NCL we are sapphire level, and with the free at sea program, we do specialty dining for more than half our dinners. Therefore, dinner is not an issue. We also get reserved seating for shows, and priority embarkation and debarkation. When you add up all the benefits from status and free at sea, you can replicate the Haven fairly closely in a regular balcony room. Add Vibe or Posh and you pretty much have the full Haven experience at about 1/3rd the cost.