Orator

They are flagged in foreign countries. That’s why they didn’t get money before.

Most stocks have taken a tumble. More to do with interest rates rising ,inflation and fear of recession.There are many bargains as I believe that the market has been oversold.

I prefer saying: "Happy spouse, happy house".

Not yet. I would only consider Oceania for a port intensive cruise.

I've been cruising exclusively with Celebrity for more than 15 years. I've been trying other lines and the sparkle has returned!

Said that I didn’t include proof of shares. Told them I submitted twice. Sent an email that they found it and gave me the credit.

I was thinking of booking a TA on Oceania since the reviews of the line were quite good. I asked on the Oceania page about speakers and entertainment which are important to me. The feedback on the Oceania board convinced me that I wouldn't like TA as Oceania is really designed for port intensive cruises. I ultimately booked the Silhouette TA and the Viking TA. I hope to try Oceania in the future.

Many ports have been changed while on the ship. These include: Israel, Egypt,Turkey, Grand Cayman, Key West among them. Cancelled because of weather, emergency or terrorism. Safety is the primary concern. Never pay for a tour in advance and beware of a company that demands full payment in advance. This is a real red flag!

Who knows what will happen in the future. My guess is that they will do what they determine what is best for them.

Perhaps they changed the policy that they had before Covid. I would believe that since all lines have problems filling vacancies. Wouldn't at all surprise me.

Many officers and crew told me that waiters and stateroom attendants pay their own fare to fly from their hometown to join the ship for the reason I mentioned. I don't know that there are individual are arrangements with crew by their agencies. There might, but I doubt it. If interested just ask waiters and stateroom attendants who pays the tab for getting to the ship.

I took the final cruise on Crystal Symphony in January and Crystal did proctored testing at their expense at the port. I find your suggestion reasonable.

Good suggestion.

Median amount is not a fair measure since it is that midpoint of total salaries that includes the Captain, Staff Captain, HD and CD, as well as other officers. Now the median salary for waiters and room attendants would be more meaningful, but they are not available.

The problem is for people who spend more than 2 days traveling and can't be tested at their local testing site. Many are in that situation on a TA that leaves from a European port. IMHO: The proctored test requirement should be removed!

Go to the Roll Call for your cruise to learn what others have done. I found that Lloyds in London did the required proctored test and I made a reservation to take the test.

Your post about Summit simply supports my point. Testing pre cruise is not effective in preventing the spread of Covid on the ship.

No Celebrity doesn't. Celebrity is afraid that if they pay some will not show up to start the contract. This has happened before. The cruise lines will book the crew at lower prices. That's why there are crew blackout dates for travel.

NCL has abolished all testing. Should Celebrity follow? They presently require a proctored covid test prior to the cruise for a TA cruise. I'm on the Silhouette TA and now believe that testing should be ended since fully vaccinated passengers who test negative get Covid. I fully expect that the TA will have plenty of cases. They can get Covid on shore or on the ship. I'm fully vaccinated, including the recent omicron vaccine, yet a fully expect to get Covid. I have scheduled a proctored test in London so I'm set to go.

Most of the waiters and stateroom attendants pay to get from the country to the ship. Celebrity covers the trip home after they complete their contract. The expense for Officers is completely covered.

Curious about the impact to "extra" tips. Would the increase in tips affect your decision to give "extra" tips? It might influence the amount I give.

This looks like it was an onboard booking offer. You could book onboard and assign the booking to a TA that may offer you additional perks or OBC.

It might depend on the rules that were place at the time of booking. However you should ask your TA to check with Celebrity to see about a switch. I’ve done this with good results. Was going to ask for the same cruise since I initially could not schedule testing.

It depends on the price of the cruise, promotions and how you book. Also depends on how much the agency wants to share with you. There is no normal amount of OBC!

I favor this if it helps the crew, but I think it might result in the reduction of “extra” tips that might result in the crew getting fewer $$. In the past some waiters have said that only stateroom attendance received the increases. Only time will tell.