happycruiserco

On 1/4/2022 at 2:49 PM, BillB48 said:

 

As far as tours on the turnaround day, I have been on back to backs where they were offered, but many times they were cancelled because of lack of interest.  So, you are probably wise to plan your own day independently.  Don't know if you are looking to take in more of the Canal or not.  If that is the case Miraflores is where the visitor's center is for the Pacific side.  You can watch the operation of the locks and they have many displays that include the old GE mules and the Mitsubishi replacements.  In the last couple of years they have added an IMAX theater that runs a 45 minute documentary narrated by Morgan Freeman that is certainly worth a look.

 

The visitor's center for the new locks is on the Atlantic side near the Gatun Locks.  The drive across the Isthmus is a little over an hour each way.

 

If you are looking for non Canal points of interests right near by in Amador is the Biomuseo, the building was designed by Frank Gehry.  You can't miss it the building, something akin to a tornado deposited a pile of twisted colored sheet metal!  Things to see in Panama City proper would be the Casco Antiguo and perhaps the ruins of Old Panama (Panama Viejo), the original city.  A couple of notable things to see in the Casco would be the Church of the Golden Atlar and the Church of the Flat Arch.  The Golden Altar is in the Church of San Jose, parts of the altar were taken apart and submerged in the bay while the larger portions were tarred to prevent Henry Morgan from appropriating it.  The ruins of the Church of Santo Domingo is where you will find the Flat Arch.  The Arch was used as an example for Panama' geological stability.  Spoiler alert... the Arch collapsed in 2003 after a massive fireworks demonstration for Panama's 100th Independence celebration.  It has since been reassembled.

 

Getting to these places, not really a problem as you can always hire a cab to take you.  There is nothing inherently dangerous about grabbing a cab to see the sights.  The big negative is sometimes you may get a highly creative version of history which may or may not have any similarity to actual events.  Used to be able to do a search on this board and find a number of tour guides that came with a decent recommendation, but Covid has taken its toll there as well.  Don't if know if Trip Advisor would be any help or not.  If you decide on jumping in a cab just agree on what you are going to do and a price beforehand and make sure your driver is good enough in English.  You won't have any problems finding people who speak good English, but for some reason many cabbies didn't get the memo.

We want to mainly explore Casco Viejo and roam along Cinta Costera as we love walking.  Suggestion as to where to have a taxi drop us off (we'll be on Caribbean Princess).  THANKS.

1 hour ago, JessyCruises said:

We are HOME!!!  🥳🥳🥳

 

Today was completely seamless.  We took an Uber this morning to the airport at 6:30AM for a whopping $12.27 including a tip.  When we got to the Air Canada area at FLL, we showed our vaccine docs and my negative test and Paul's positive test from 1/13/22.  We had no issues at all anywhere. All of our flights were on time.  I was flagged to get a PCR test in Montreal while going through customs (I assume because I was travelling with someone who had tested positive). It was no big deal and only took about 5 minutes and it was only that long because they had to register me with Dynacare.  They said I should get the results in five days. I really am kind of hoping it comes back positive 🤣

 

I just submitted all of my receipts to the guestrelations email.  Fingers crossed that it will not take TOO longer because it really is a significant chunk of change.

 

Thank you all for following along.  It certainly was not the vacation we had set out to have, but all in all it was really not a horrible experience and we made the most of it.  Assuming we do not have issues getting reimbursed, RCL was very generous with their allowances.  We got to stay in hotel for a week and eat at some restaurants we never would have tried. We learned about BeeperMD that I can imagine us using in the future. Hopefully we might even get enough Hilton points for a free stay somewhere.

 

I hope I did not miss anyone's questions.  If I missed any questions, or if anyone has any new questions, please let me know! 

 

We really appreciate all the care and concern that you guys have shown us 🙂

Blessings from Colorado.  I've been following along and so admiring your courage and patience. Thank you for all the time you spent helping to educate and inform so many of us.  I passed along your info on BeeperMD to another traveler yesterday who was nervous because they still didn't have their test results back and were leaving today.  Safe journey now.

On 1/14/2022 at 7:55 PM, HicksRA said:

I just saw a post on the site that cannot be mentioned with pictures of a very clean looking Labadee saying that it’s not overrun by locals and Royal is trying to hire employees back with an intended stop by January 27th. 

I just saw RCCL posting on Facebook for 4 positions on Labadee.

12 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I just sent my TA an email asking her to reach out to Celebrity for clarification on the sentence

 

"Effective November 16, 2021, if sailing on another cruise brand, guests will be responsible for making their own arrangements with an accredited testing provider as well as covering all associated costs" 

 

We have a Royal Caribbean cruise that sails the day our Reflection cruise ends and had planned to have the antigen test on Reflection.   If they do not provide the testing onboard Reflection I see our choices as doing the monitored self test the last sea day or cancelling one of the two cruises. 

 

We are in the same boat.  We are going from Equinox to Odyssey and then to Symphony.  Per our discussion with Celebrity, they will not provide the test (even for a fee).  Unfortunately, they are not grandfathering current bookings, and we don't even have time to order the at home proctored tests.  Their suggestion was to call RCCL.  Still going in circles.

13 hours ago, DHP1 said:

I was told by Princess you won’t be able to get off the boat and walk around unless you are with a guided tour operator. The Countries you will be visiting all stated that you must be tested prior to entry.

Be interested to see what happens with your cruise. I wonder how many guests are aware of this. 

All the best and enjoy your trip. I will be watching the Port Everglades webcam for your departure. 
In 3 months we will be on this ship..
 

Princess told you that a Princess excursion (or some tour operator) was required for every port?

17 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

How do you know which ports require Celebrity tours?  Is it in the cruise planner?  And how early do they post that information?  My cruise isn't til next year but I'm browsing the excursions.

16 hours ago, bmw-atl said:

Yes, Maya Chan also told us to be sure we have proof of our reservation.  From what I can tell, Celebrity is the only cruise line not allowing independent excursions in Costa Maya.  I still have hope that we get to visit Maya Chan again next week (9/28).

YEAH.   Updated just today.  Follow the link posted by canderson above (Post #45).  Costa Maya has moved back over to the good side   (allowing on your own tours).  They can change at any time, unfortunately, even after you're on the ship, right up until docking.  At least with them just moving back to allowing on your own tours TODAY, looks like positive news for next week.   

On 9/12/2021 at 2:21 PM, LGW59 said:

Seems X is taking a more cautious approach perhaps?  

I'm thinking along those lines as well.  When we were on B2B in July, we were only allowed off the ship on our own in Costa Maya to go as far as the port shopping area.  We were not allowed off the ship at all in Cozumel without a curated tour.  However, their sister line, RCCL was allowed to explore the ports on their own.  Celebrity is right up front with which ports require curated tours and which don't (obviously can and does change at any time).  I cannot seem to get a straight answer from RCCL nor Princes regarding the same.  

Are you able to explore the ports on your own or is a curated tour required?  We had a mixed bag (some ports we could/some we couldn't) on the Edge for 2 sailings in July.  Curated tours are not our thing in the Caribbean.  THANKS.

19 hours ago, Miaminice said:

 

Thank you! Japan is simply wonderful! We have done two cruises to Japan already and have a third booked for October 2022. We absolutely fell in love with Japan after our first visit.🥰

If you are interested in some teasers, here are our travelogues of the cruises:

Japan on Millennium:

http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

 

Japan on HAL Westerdam:
http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/HAL-Westerdam-Japan-01/hal-westerdam-japan-01.html

 

Now REALLY sad Japan cruises were cancelled again.  We were originally going in October, now early next year was axed.  Bummer.  Won't give up.  

For those who have also been on the Edge, which do you prefer (Edge or Apex) and what seems to be the difference?  Thanks.

Has anyone used the CVS or Walgreens in Ft Lauderdale closest to the port?  We did B2B on the Edge in July, so of course they did the antigen test onboard a day or 2 before the last day of the first cruise.  We are trying to figure out how to do testing if we do a side-by-side sailing.  One, if we move from Apex to another Celebrity ship same day (possibly they would still do on board for us), but more challenging if we move from Celebrity to Princess ship same day.  

On 1/29/2021 at 12:19 PM, davekathy said:

Thanks for the updated info. Good to know. Our last Princess cruise was in 2010. My military/veterans discount still showed for our Princess cruises prior to 2010. 

My husband's military designation has shown on every Princess booking (whether direct or with a TA) since we provided it several years ago.  Of course, always check the booking confirm to assure it shows the OBC.  As an aside, Princess has disappointed us on several levels recently, so moved back to Celebrity for last 3 cruises since restart.  

2 hours ago, Oxo said:

Correct. Eden was totally unused for bnl, more staff than guests.

Happy cruising!

And food was great.  To top it off, brownies to die for.  Wish we had discovered earlier in our cruise.

11 hours ago, CeCe_ said:

 

That was before today.  

 

There is no penalty to cancel now.

Has anyone tried cancelling for 8/8?  Really feeling uncomfortable but hate throwing 100% down the drain.

We were there first week of July on Celebrity Edge.

16 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Ok one last post. The gem out side ranged from freezing wet cold to sunny and very hot. You must pack for all weather. Inside was moderate and comfortable. Of course there was at least once where I needed a light cover up inside. 

Awesome.  Inside is what I was concerned about.  Sounds perfect.  Safe journey.

Could someone please tell me what the temperature is like on the ship?  Last few were freezing, last one was pretty warm.  Trying to maximize packing space by not needing to bring clothes for both if not necessary.  THANK YOU.

On 7/25/2021 at 8:32 PM, Hlitner said:

I think you are forgetting that on ships that disembark in the USA everyone will need to get an antigen test before the end of the cruise (they need this to fly home).  While this might not impact any ports (the testing will likely happen the last day of the cruise) it will still get some publicity.

 

Hank

We were on B2B Jul 3 and Jul 10 Celebrity Edge sailings.  No antigen test for passengers disembarking the ship; only for those B2B passengers staying on the ship.  

On 7/19/2021 at 3:54 PM, RJAM3 said:

I just checked and there is not a upload feature for vaccines.  Our cruise is Aug 29th

 

Our sailing is Aug 8 and no upload feature for the vaccine cards; only passports.  Go figure.

On 7/20/2021 at 2:05 PM, Thrak said:

From the current Passage Contract:

 

Thanks for posting official verbiage.  Can we bring our empty plastic

water bottle which I use for the gym, etc?  

On 7/20/2021 at 8:01 AM, Steelers36 said:

DMW can be offline for some voyages.  IDK how to further define that.  I have not been able to get into DMW for a B2B2B beginning OCT 1, 2022, for two weeks now, but our OCT 31, 2022, is working. 

 

On your vaccination doc, if you tap into Travel Checklist under OceanReady section, you will find section 5 for Health Status and there are two parts for each passenger.  The top part asks you to attest you have been vaccinated at least 14 days prior to sail date.  If you tap YES button, another button appears to upload doc.  You have choice to take a photo or upload a file.  I didn't have success at first with the camera option, so I took a separate photo of our proof doc and then used the file option to upload. 

 

Unfortunately, we did not have the 2nd part asking us to upload our vaccine cards.  I just checked again, and no 2nd part.  We are on the Aug 8 sailing.

On 7/19/2021 at 9:45 PM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I am still so surprised that the second sailing has less on journeyview than we did 2 weeks out.

I'm not seeing any events currently for the Aug 8 sailing.  Do you recall when they appeared?  Also, someone mentioned what movies were on the ship?  WHERE were you able to view this info?  We actually didn't have many issues with the App; however, I am not seeing lots of the information folks are talking about.  THANKS in advance.

14 hours ago, davekathy said:

It was on our 2019 cruises. I can't imagine water not being an option going forward if the CC still has the CC HH beverage menu with AI. 

Thanks.  2019 was our last on Celebrity as well.  Kind of curious with so many changes.  On the Edge July 3 and July 10, so will know soon.  

Is bottled water still included on the CC HH menu?  Thanks.

We were told by two Celebrity reps that we would not be tested on return since we are vaccinated.