Margarita Jane

15 hours ago, tkwbear said:

"Covid everywhere"? How many passengers had it?

We were 2 of approximately 300 people unceremoniously disembarked in Southampton after the TA and before Norway. See the May 26 roll calls for more details.

Although Princess gave me a Certificate of Recovery, saying I was no longer infectious, I was still disembarked, after being in quarantine for 5 days with no fever and no symptoms. IMHO, there were so many that tested positive, I understand Princess deciding to cleanse the ship. However the hotel they assigned us to was not acceptable.

@Cuedon Any updates on your cruise? Sounded pretty awful from your post on Monday. 

@crimlarksThank you for laundry room info!

Will be on the TA and wondering about the laundry room. It’s been awhile since I used the laundry room….What is the charge to use washers and dryer? Can you charge the fee to your stateroom? Are there soap dispensers? 

@laurieal So glad to see you got your little pink buddy!

i think that is a picture of my friend in the Rising Tide Bar!

@lauriealThank you so much for your review. I thoroughly enjoyed your TA through your writing and pictures. I’m sad to see you are at your journeys end.

@PatriciaF Thank you for checking on the diet tonic.

@PatriciaFIf you have a chance, would you see if there is diet tonic onboard? I will be on the TA, and love my vodka and tonics….but for a long cruise, need to save a few calories somewhere!

Thank you for doing this review! 

@PatriciaF Thank you doing this live! I will be on the island for the TA in a couple of weeks.

Is the buffet served or self serve?

17 hours ago, chawkjewel said:

Not always true. We were on the Harmony WB transatlantic in 2016. I worked the whole trip and never had any issues. 

I don’t think I wrote “always true”, but it does happen. Recently, November, 2021, we were on the Regal Princess TA and lost internet for several days. The Sky Princess was a couple days behind us doing a TA, and they lost their internet also. People who were trying to work were very upset. This is not just a Princess phenomenon. @Jim_Iainis currently on the Celebrity Silhouette doing a b3b and a live review on the Celebrity boards. He commented on intermittent connectivity on the TA portion of his cruise. Maybe dependent on ships route or weather or satellite positioning…I don’t know. But it sometimes happens.
 

I am thoroughly enjoying @lauriealreview and especially her perspective about accessibility issues. I hope she continues to have a great cruise and no issues - internet or otherwise.

Following along and enjoying your review. I have a friend on the sailing with you, so I am checking your pictures to see if I see her 😁. 
 

Forget to add that internet is sometimes spotty (or non-existent) on TA’s….

12 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Interesting.  On Millennium now on deck 11 AQ. Haven't even heard the movies and we sit on our balcony a lot. We are on the side not the aft but that is actually closer to the speakers I think, but I could be wrong about that.

We were in 1140 and the neighbors next to us had the same issue. It was very loud when the movies were running. On the other hand, we enjoyed the music from the sunset bar below us - it was not as loud.

6 hours ago, wildtky101 said:

We had an aft Aqua class room on the Millennium. Does anyone know if it's customary to be moved to the same when they make changes like this? We were so excited about our cabin.

Just got off the Millenium and had an aft Aqua. Did not like the noise on the balcony from the movies on the rooftop terrace right over our heads. Our Aqua aft neighbor was not too happy either. Great stateroom when the movies aren’t running however….

@taylortime05yes, we had drive through appointments. We finally got our email from Walgreens on Wednesday, 4 days later instead of 2 hours, and we were already on the ship. Fortunately I had called them and was able to get a printout from their pharmacy, which enabled us to embark our cruise.

I just used Walgreens rapid test for a cruise on Celebrity.  I’m onboard now! However, they never sent me an email with the results. I had to go back to the pharmacy and they printed out a hard copy for me. But, the test was accepted by Celebrity.

We did a TA on Princess in November, 2021and had several days with no internet connection. Another Princess ship was a couple days behind us, and they had the same issue. Princess gave us OBC, but I would have rather had the internet.

I don’t know if this is just the Walgreens I went to, or just those in Florida, or what. We got a rapid test yesterday (Saturday) at 10:15am for a cruise Monday. They were suppose to get our results in 2 hours. 6 hours later, I had not received the results, so I called. They said all the Walgreens were having trouble sending out the results (true or just this Walgreens?). They told me I could come back to their pharmacy and get a printout, which I did. When I picked up the hard copies, they told me I’d still get an email. It is now more than 28 hours after our test, and we still do not have the email. 
 

Just a heads up if you are using Walgreens.

Just my experience, but I was able to take advantage of a price drop about a week after final payment - 83 days before the cruise, but after I made final payment. TA handled it for me.

According to that website https://cruisedig.com/ports/san-juan-puerto-rico

the Constellation will dock in San Juan on March 21 and the Millenium on March 24. Seems we have different people on different ships on this thread.

Lots of ships on the San Juan port schedule - but Millenium isn't one of them. Millenium is on the St. Thomas port schedule for 3/24/22. On Celebrity's website, it is still showing San Juan.  I am bummed.

My SIL showed up at the port for a Princess cruise with an expired passport (unknowingly). A neighbor went into their home and took a picture of her birth certificate, and emailed it to her. She was still denied (and spoke to everyone including officers) and could not board. This was the first half of a b2b. She got an appointment in Miami at the passport office and was able to get her new passport in a few hours, and was able to sail on the second half of her b2b.  The problem seemed to be that Grand Turk and Amber Cove required passports, even though it was a closed loop cruise.  IMHO, always safer to have a passport.

We have purchased the 6 pack of proctored tests from emed. Actually have done this twice. Both times, 4 people were using one of the 6 tests. Each person has to set up an individual account with Navica. Each person does the test separately, that is, each person will have to log in and do the test one at a time. 
 

It really is an easy process. Sometimes we have had trouble understanding the proctor, but the proctor was able to set up closed captions for us. I purchased a cheap tripod to hold my phone during the testing process. We needed two hands to open the package and prepare the kit in front of the proctor, and after swabbing, the phone had to be focused on the test for 15 minutes. Much easier if you don’t have to hold your phone/iPad, thus the tripod. 

The one negative is the tests expire, and may need to be used in 90 days or less. So you do not want to purchase them too far in advance

On 2/9/2022 at 8:20 PM, Thrak said:

 

FCD - Future Cruise Deposit - is $100. That covers the entire deposit for another cruise. (You should have one for each passenger.) In addition to that you get onboard credit which varies depending on the length of your voyage and your cabin type.

OBC From FCD

 

3 - 6 Days $15 Inside, $15 Outside, $25 Balcony, $25 Suite

 

7 - 10 Days $25 Inside, $25 Outside, $50 Balcony, $50 Suite

 

11 - 16 Days $75 Inside, $75 Outside, $100 Balcony, $100 Suite

 

17 + Days $125 Inside, $125 Outside, $150 Balcony, $150 Suite

 

If you cruise out of Australia, your OBC gets converted to Australian dollars, which reduces your benefit a bit at current exchange rates.  Found out the hard way. 

We were on the Regal over New Years. We usually go to the bar and order in person, but used the app a few times. Twice we got a message indicating our location could not be determined….we were in the piazza the first time, and by the pool the second time. Not exactly remote locations….

When we were on the Regal for NY cruise, the hors d’oeuvres were served. The crew handled the plate and we walked in front of the buffet, pointing out what I wanted.