Hazeleyes101

We did B2B on Millennium (Alaska) May 13 and May 20.  Not until our first week onboard did we learn definitively that there would be no testing required for the second week's journey.  Whew! 

     Just a few days ago, during our second week, the captain announced that he was required to notify us that 2% of the people onboard had tested positive for Covid, everyone was encouraged to be extra diligent about hygiene, and masks would be required in the theater.  That was the first and only information provided about Covid cases.  It was interesting that as the week went on I noticed ever more passengers wearing masks - but they remained a small proportion of the people onboard.  

Is there a central place to look where one can learn the quarantine space being used on the different Celebrity ships?  I've seen references to deck 3 OV but don't know if that's the case on every ship.  We'll be sailing on Millenium in May.  Will do all in our power to stay safe, but would like to be mentally prepared for worst-case scenario!  

I just spoke with a Celebrity TA  re my April 25th cruise on Millennium booked directly with Celebrity and cash refund requested online by me on March 27th.  Luggage tags arrived in the mail today!  The TA told me that refunds are "taking longer than originally expected" to be processed.  He said that originally it was expected that credits would be processed within 30 business days and that I should expect to begin to see credits being posted to my card account "in a minimum of 45 days".  (I neglected to ask if he meant 45 business days).  He also said that credits are being given in three installments, but that all three should arrive within a week of one another.  Hmmm.......

On 3/25/2020 at 11:40 AM, Cornus said:

 

I just emailed my insurance carrier thinking that they would issue a refund since Celebrity cancelled the cruise.  Their response:  

 

"We are offering a 1 year Future Trip Credit for rescheduled travel dates on this policy.  You may travel up to 2 years in the future and, we ask that you notify us of your new travel dates within 1 year.

 

Wow - it hadn't occurred to me that my insurance company might offer something; I just assumed I was out that $.  Guess I'll check with them tomorrow.  I'd be delighted to receive credit that I could apply to a future trip.  I noticed that Celebrity was planning to issue refunds to people on cancelled trips who'd purchased travel insurance through Celebrity.  

I've been reading other threads filled with folks' complaints about their interrupted plans (and I do understand that it's stressful; I'm standing by to see what happens regarding my own Celebrity sailing scheduled April 25th).  I want you all to know how happy I am to see posts here from people whose concern is for the crew who work so hard to care for us when we're lucky enough to be onboard.  Thank you for caring!

53 minutes ago, az_tchr said:

Would not help much as Seattle currently "asking" cruise ships to bypass and they have only so many berths for ships.

Do you think since government says do not get on a cruise that Congree would suspend the Jones Act. No chance in h###.

Celebrity supposed to have announcements at 2pm DST - which is actually 2pm EDT - Eastern Daylight Time.

Curious - how did you learn about the 2pm announcement?  I'd appreciate being introduced to any new source from which helpful travel information can be gleaned.  

24 minutes ago, airato said:

The email we received this morning from Celebrity said this:

 

"All guests who are denied boarding due to these restrictions will receive full refunds in the form of a Future Cruise Credit. "  We are due to depart on a cruise in one week's time.

Thank you and that's interesting - the vague language I quoted is what's posted on the Celebrity website under "Travel Advisory" information.  I hadn't noticed that language in the email is different.  I don't like either version much!  Let's hope that their third try will be better.  

The email sent out today says All guests who are denied boarding due to these restrictions will receive full compensation.  Has anyone here who booked directly through Celebrity been successful in getting through to their call center to find out for sure what form that compensation will take?   And if there's a process that sure-to-be-denied passengers could take in advance that would generate a refund of payment made?  I know that earlier the option of cancelling and receiving FCC was offered to all passengers, but this wording regarding passengers who would now be denied boarding does not specify the form of compensation. 

Celebrity moved Millennium out of Asia early and scheduled several sailings out of Seattle next month instead.  Oops!  Health authorities recommended today that anyone over 60 or with underlying health conditions should avoid large gatherings in the Seattle area so hopefully that will result in available refunds to booked passengers.  Imagine the crowd that would likely pile up waiting to have everyone’s temperature and oxygen level checked before being allowed to board.  Those checks are the new normal.  
 

We're barely home from B2B on Eclipse for the 7/25 Baltic and 8/6 British Isles. We found that vibration occurred occasionally, there was more of it during our first cruise than the second. It was noticeable when it happened but not a big issue for us. The only time we felt it strongly enough that people were looking around with concern was once when we were in Sky Lounge for cocktail hour while leaving the pier, and that episode lasted less than five minutes. During our Baltic cruise we had a barely-aft port veranda on Deck 7. For the British leg we (prescheduled) moved to a hump veranda starboard on Deck 7. Seas were generally calm during the Baltic cruise, a little more active around Britain.

Our SPB group in St. Petersburg also skipped its scheduled visit to St. Catherine's Palace. Disappointing.

We just returned from B2B cruises on Celebrity Eclipse. During a conversation with the captain we discussed that our next Celebrity cruise would be beginning of March 2019 on Millenium and he told us we'd be among the first to sail on a totally refurbished ship. Here's a news story about the planned re-do of all ships in the fleet: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/23/photos-inside-celebrity-cruises-500-million-renovation.html. Verandah stateroom looks way more modern than the one in which we just spent 24 days!

We've sailed with Celebrity many, many times bringing two CPAP machines, always notifying Special Needs in advance as noted above, and we've never had any problems at all. Occasionally we had to remind our room steward that we needed the extension cord and distilled water, and always it was brought to us within a few minutes. Happily we both joined WeightWatchers 18 months ago and have had quite successful weight loss - 100 lbs between us. I no longer have sleep apnea, and my husband's has decreased so now is successfully managed with just an oral appliance, No more carting CPAP machines all over the world! Now the challenge is to continue eating healthy while cruising - and we've found that it can be done.

You might want to use online access to check the ship's offerings now. My husband and I are active seniors and experienced snorkelers, and were frustrated on our last Caribbean cruise to find that many snorkeling excursions were limited to participants under the age of 65 and therefore we couldn't take advantage of them. I suspect that opportunities open to over-65s may sell out early.

Santa Monica is close to LAX and has lovely beaches with a wide paved walking path alongside, many good restaurants, and a pedestrian mall with interesting shops. Hopefully LAX offers storage lockers where you could stash your bags for the day.

I've done eight cruises; had it after two of them, but not after the other six. No relationship I can determine to rough seas, activities on or off the ship, or length of cruise. We always have a midship stateroom. Once the symptoms persisted for a couple of weeks, second time only a couple of days. Not a big deal for me; I'm leaving in a week for a transatlantic cruise and just accept that what will be, will be.

I sail tomorrow and have not heard back from people to people. I am disappointed because I got one e-mail from them and figured I would see an e-mail this week. So my family will not experience this program, which is disappointing. I just e-mailed the person that sent me the earlier e-mail and told her how disappointed I was that they did not follow through on their end. I guess I should have e-mailed them a few times, but too busy trying to work and get ready for cruise.:mad:

We set sail on April 20th. I had a phone call today (April 11th) from the People-to-People program asking if we were still interested, and then e-mail followup half an hour later with the name and contact information of the person who has offered to host us. We're really looking forward to this experience.