Celebrity will be restarting cruising out of St. Maarten on June 5th with Millennium

[BoundForSea]

Am I correct in understanding June 5 will be the A,B,C Islands and then 12th will be St Lucia Barbados and Tortola and then alternative thereafter?

 

Also, having been Haven and Yacht Club regulars in the past, would the Retreat experience be worth the cost on X? Doesnt seem like theres alot of crowded ares and people to get away from as with NCL and MSC. The Sun deck looks great  and Luminae looks very good as well, the lounge seems small and meh. It just seems like the room aside we would be totally at home and peaceful with the ship itself. Thoughts from those who have been on since the refirb? 

 

I wish they had decided to run Apex or Edge on this tbh. 

 

Also are they limiting capacity? Didnt see that anywhere. 

Edited March 20, 2021 by BoundForSea

[jelayne]

Reported from a TA webinar capacity will be between 40-60%.  Only veranda and above cabins will be available to book.

[jelayne]

3 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I am very disappointed in their allowing children under 18 to board unvaccinated.  Getting a test 72 hours before cruising proves next to nothing.  In those 72 hours people will be on airplanes, in taxis, in hotels, in restaurants and on and on.  There is little doubt that at least some of the little kiddos will bring some virus onboard.

 

So then what actually happens if someone tests positive?  Are you dumped in the nearest port and left to somehow recover and then fly home on your own??  Putting aside the serious concern about the perhaps less sophisticated medical care for a minute, what are the logistics going to be?  You could conceivably be out tens of thousands of dollars in travel costs, even if you are lucky enough to be asymptomatic.  And while onboard, if a few people test positive, does everyone in contact with them then need to quarantine, even if vaccinated?  And how many people onboard testing positive would result in the entire ship potentially being quarantined?  

 

These are all serious questions that need to be addressed in detail.  I am very much looking forward to cruising again, but I need satisfactory answers to these questions before I board.  It is interesting that so many people seem to focus on whether they need to wear a mask, or whether they need to take ship sponsored excursions, but don't seem to be concerned about these much, more more serious potential issues.

We have travel insurance that has recently added coverage for pandemics including Covid that covers many how they will or won’t cover the various scenarios you raise.  You make want to check with the travel insurer you use.  We are much more comfortable that we won’t be left on our own with huge bills.

[hcat]

4 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Go to CVS.com and follow the link to get an appointment for Covid shots. Not all states have CVS availability but the link will show which states and cities are in the CVS system. You do not have to be a CVS customer. Here is the link: COVID Vaccine (COVID-19 Immunization Updates) | CVS Pharmacy

 

Good luck, I did see New York is in the CVS network

Thanks..I will try tomorrow,  we live in NY most of the time but were in Fl for quite awhile &  had our shots in DeSoto County Fl  through Desoto Mem Hosp in Arcadia,,,It was a very good experience.

   Have to check our vaccination cards to see if there us any official Fl  regis No on them,,,

[cruiserchuck]

14 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Reported from a TA webinar capacity will be between 40-60%.  Only veranda and above cabins will be available to book.

 

I believe approx 450 of the approx 1100 cabins on the Millennium are inside/window, or about 41%.  So there should be enough veranda and above cabins for all allowed passengers.

[Vagabond Knight]

6 hours ago, Chocolate martini fan said:

I was interested until I read about the unvaccinated kids being allowed on board.  I'm going to pass on this.

 

Yes, I'm with you on this.  So, apparently someone might catch Covid from an unvaccinated 18-year old, but not from an unvaccinated 17-year old.  This makes about as much sense as when we were visiting California a few months back and county (or state?) had passed new laws that you couldn't just buy a beer in a brewery, you also had to buy something to eat... due to Covid.  It seems that if I order a beer, I might catch Covid, but if I eat some potato chips with that beer I won't.  Hmm...

I'll think I'll let others spend a few thousand $ to be the Guinea pigs for this experiment.

[K.T.B.]

5 hours ago, CaroleSS said:

It was my understanding that once vaccinated, you could go maskless when around other vaccinated people.

 

According to the new guidance, people who are at least 2 weeks out from their last dose can:

• Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing.
• Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Avoid quarantine and testing following exposure to someone if they remain asymptomatic.

 

If you know for a fact that they're definitely vaccinated, sure.  But we'll never be 100% sure, especially on a ship with hundreds of strangers and despite Celebrity saying everyone should be vaccinated.

 

But from the CDC's website they add this caveat:  "Until more is known, fully vaccinated people should continue to wear masks and stay 6 feet apart from other people in other settings, like when they are in public or visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households."

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html

 

 

[Shadow9612]

10 hours ago, TeaBag said:

We won't be booking because we won't receive our vaccine till April and then have to wait 4 months for the second one.

Yeah, I don't think there will be too many Canadians on these early cruises....

[Shadow9612]

If the ships are sailing initially at reduced capacity, I wonder why celebrity didn't decide to only allow vaccinated adults aboard their first sailings.  Do they really feel they would have trouble getting passengers if they disallowed unvaccinated children?

 

There seems to be a lot of variables at play so I would have thought they do as much as possible to minimize any covid positivity aboard their first sailings.

 

Fingers crossed these cruises actually start and don't have problems.

[the more ports the better]

I jus posted this on the RCI forum too.....
 

If I were CEO of RCCL for a day, I would buy a few of the high speed ferries that run from Ft Lauderdale to Grand Bahama.  I would run them from Port Everglades to Nassau.  They hold about 600 people and take about 45 min to Grand Bahama so maybe 75 min to Nassau.

 

They would have so much more control over their sailings as opposed to counting on flights.  I think people would be much more willing to sail if the flights were taken out of equation.  Check in could be done on the ride over once in international waters and passengers could be dropped off right at the ship.  Plenty of parking at Port Everglades too.

[Oville]

 

1 hour ago, the more ports the better said:

 

I jus posted this on the RCI forum too.....
 

If I were CEO of RCCL for a day, I would buy a few of the high speed ferries that run from Ft Lauderdale to Grand Bahama.  I would run them from Port Everglades to Nassau.  They hold about 600 people and take about 45 min to Grand Bahama so maybe 75 min to Nassau.

 

They would have so much more control over their sailings as opposed to counting on flights.  I think people would be much more willing to sail if the flights were taken out of equation.  Check in could be done on the ride over once in international waters and passengers could be dropped off right at the ship.  Plenty of parking at Port Everglades too.

Would the US allow this? 

Edited March 20, 2021 by Oville

[grandgeezer]

2 hours ago, the more ports the better said:

 

I jus posted this on the RCI forum too.....
 

If I were CEO of RCCL for a day, I would buy a few of the high speed ferries that run from Ft Lauderdale to Grand Bahama.  I would run them from Port Everglades to Nassau.  They hold about 600 people and take about 45 min to Grand Bahama so maybe 75 min to Nassau.

 

They would have so much more control over their sailings as opposed to counting on flights.  I think people would be much more willing to sail if the flights were taken out of equation.  Check in could be done on the ride over once in international waters and passengers could be dropped off right at the ship.  Plenty of parking at Port Everglades too.

According to ports.com from Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale) to Nassau is approximately 185 miles.

To make it in 75 minutes you would have to average 148 mph. If you have to haul the luggage you'll get a whole lot less than 600 people on it. Capacity is about 3800 so it would take at least seven trips. After the first trip, you'll have to get the departing passengers back to Florida as well as the new passengers to Nassau so you'll probably need seven more ferries as they all have to be in place on turnaround day. Sounds like a moneymaker to me. Are you sure you aren't the CEO of RCL?

[ipeeinthepool]

8 hours ago, SunsetPoint said:

 

Yes, I'm with you on this.  So, apparently someone might catch Covid from an unvaccinated 18-year old, but not from an unvaccinated 17-year old.  This makes about as much sense as when we were visiting California a few months back and county (or state?) had passed new laws that you couldn't just buy a beer in a brewery, you also had to buy something to eat... due to Covid.  It seems that if I order a beer, I might catch Covid, but if I eat some potato chips with that beer I won't.  Hmm...

I'll think I'll let others spend a few thousand $ to be the Guinea pigs for this experiment.

 

From my perspective, this isn't the risk with unvaccinated passengers, there isn't much of risk of a vaccinated person catching Covid from an unvaccinated  17-year old.  I think the risk is what happens to the cruise if the 17-year old develops Covid on-board.   Do they just quarantine the 17-tear old and his close contacts and the cruise continues or do they cancel the cruise and return to port?  I don't want the risk of the 17-year old ruining the cruise.  There is also the question about how the ports treat the 17-year old passenger.   Does this restrict the activities of the rest of the passengers because a few aren't vaccinated?   Not sure.  I'll likely stay on shore until more of these questions are answered.

[ipeeinthepool]

Unless Celebrity and the islands accept the CDC vaccination cards as proof of vaccination, this won't benefit US passengers.  There simply isn't a national system to register vaccinations in the US.  Michigan has a state system to register vaccinations but I suspect it is overwhelmed.  My first shot wasn't in the database after about two weeks, so I'm not sure it will ever show up.  I've since had my second shot and my doctor says he will input them into the system at my next visit if they don't show up in the system.   But many states don't keep a vaccination record, so I'm not sure what those people would do.  Some pharmacies may keep a record on their systems and some may not.  The CDC card will be the only evidence many in the US will ever get.

[ChucktownSteve]

18 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

I wonder what type of proof of vaccination the cruise line will require? Hopefully it’s something that Celebrity can verify with some sort of national database. I would be very concerned about some people lying about their vaccination status in order to cruise again.

 

There is a national database in the U.S. of people who have received their vaccinations with pertinent information including brand, dosage, how administered and date. My covid vaccinations and flu shots showed up on my Dr's patient portal without me even telling them.  The flu shots were administered at CVS & Publix.  The state administered covid ones at a parking garage in the Convention Center.

 

Perhaps the cruise lines will make you sign a release to access that insurance national database information for confirmation. If the Government, Medicare or your insurance is paying for the shots, the records are there and shared.

Edited March 20, 2021 by ChucktownSteve

[CaroleSS]

8 hours ago, K.T.B. said:

 

If you know for a fact that they're definitely vaccinated, sure.  But we'll never be 100% sure, especially on a ship with hundreds of strangers and despite Celebrity saying everyone should be vaccinated.

 

But from the CDC's website they add this caveat:  "Until more is known, fully vaccinated people should continue to wear masks and stay 6 feet apart from other people in other settings, like when they are in public or visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households."

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html

 

 

Sounds like the CDC is doing double-talk......

First "You can gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask"

Then "You should still take steps to protect yourself and others in many situations like wearing a mask"

 

Both these statements appear on the same CDC webpage. Maybe they just don't know themselves!

[drakes2]

18 hours ago, TeaBag said:

We won't be booking because we won't receive our vaccine till April and then have to wait 4 months for the second one.

Things are changing almost daily in Canada so that time frame could be moved back. I was also scheduled to be vaccinated by end April but it appears I can receivev a vaccine at a drug store as early as mid next week.  

[BoundForSea]

Is anyone looking into how to get a test done prior to entering the US after disembarkation? We were planning to go right from the port to the airport but maybe we need to add another day in SXM? (twist my arm!) haha. 

[Stevanb]

47 minutes ago, BoundForSea said:

Is anyone looking into how to get a test done prior to entering the US after disembarkation? We were planning to go right from the port to the airport but maybe we need to add another day in SXM? (twist my arm!) haha. 

You are the first person to ask  here is the list that we know of    What happens if you come up positive.  Is Celebrity going to cover that cost for lodging ?  We have covid coverage on our yearly travel insurance but most policy's do not

Louis Constant Fleming Hospital drive - Concordia

Red Cross drive - Hope Estate

Biopôle Antilles laboratory – Hope Estate.

[cluso]

Hurricane Irma really trashed St Maartain in September 2017, to include destroying a lot of the airport.  IMHO, the island was getting pretty gnarley with tourist overload many years before that.  The French side of the island was somewhat better.  Anyway, the good news is there should be some new infrastructure now (it takes a long time to rebuild in the islands).  Do some in-depth research before you commit to hotels.  And remember, it will be hurricane season, travel insurance might be advisable. 🧐

[paulh84]

1 hour ago, CaroleSS said:

Sounds like the CDC is doing double-talk......

First "You can gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask"

Then "You should still take steps to protect yourself and others in many situations like wearing a mask"

 

Both these statements appear on the same CDC webpage. Maybe they just don't know themselves!

 

They do know, you just focused on one line of an article and ignored the context. No offense, but this mentality is what is going to be incredibly hard for CDC and cruise lines to manage as the COVID situation changes, both good and bad. People need such a black and white, yes or no, never-changing set of policies that are impossible right now.

 

If you know your group is 100% vaccinated, fine, do these things:

- gather indoors with no masks

- gather with unvaccinated people as they are from one household as long as they are not high risk individuals

 

What you still need to take precautions if:

-you are in public (you have no idea who is vaccinated and who is not)

-gathering with unvaccinated people from multiple households 

-visiting a high risk person

-avoid medium/large gatherings (again...back to you having no idea who is vaccinated)

-avoid high risk activities 

 

It's the classic 'give them an inch, they will take a mile'. Use common sense, don't do high risk activities and don't expose high risk people while more data about transmission evolves. 

 

[TeeRick]

14 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I am very disappointed in their allowing children under 18 to board unvaccinated.  Getting a test 72 hours before cruising proves next to nothing.  In those 72 hours people will be on airplanes, in taxis, in hotels, in restaurants and on and on.  There is little doubt that at least some of the little kiddos will bring some virus onboard.

 

So then what actually happens if someone tests positive?  Are you dumped in the nearest port and left to somehow recover and then fly home on your own??  Putting aside the serious concern about the perhaps less sophisticated medical care for a minute, what are the logistics going to be?  You could conceivably be out tens of thousands of dollars in travel costs, even if you are lucky enough to be asymptomatic.  And while onboard, if a few people test positive, does everyone in contact with them then need to quarantine, even if vaccinated?  And how many people onboard testing positive would result in the entire ship potentially being quarantined?  

 

These are all serious questions that need to be addressed in detail.  I am very much looking forward to cruising again, but I need satisfactory answers to these questions before I board.  It is interesting that so many people seem to focus on whether they need to wear a mask, or whether they need to take ship sponsored excursions, but don't seem to be concerned about these much, more more serious potential issues.

To your question and points- Here is the fine print from Royal Caribbean in their marketing email yesterday on Adventure of the Seas sailing in June from the Bahamas.  I would bet that Celebrity Millennium has the same fine print.

 

NOTICE: Prior to booking, please consult all applicable U.S. Centers for Disease Control travel advisories, warnings, or recommendations relating to cruise travel, at cdc.gov/travel/notices. If a certain threshold level of COVID-19 is detected onboard the ship during your voyage, the voyage will end immediately, the ship will return to the port of embarkation, and your subsequent travel, including your return home, may be restricted or delayed.

[ChucktownSteve]

17 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Thanks for all the information, very useful. Well, all except the two sentences I've quoted, for which I blame neither you nor the VP Sales. I simply can't fathom how Celebrity can get this far into the planning stages without knowing exactly what their health and safety protocols are going to be, including the use or non-use of masks. Are they really that far out of touch with their customer base that they don't realize that for many, the need to wear a mask and under what conditions is critical to their decision whether or not to book. To announce the final protocols just before sailing is far too late IMO. 

 

Do you really believe that Celebrity cares about those concerns you expressed?  Those who don't want to cruise under Celebrity's conditions won't. However at 40-60% capacity of their smallest class,  Celebrity probably believes they'll be able to fill that regardless. It's about getting back to revenue.

[paulh84]

14 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I am very disappointed in their allowing children under 18 to board unvaccinated.  Getting a test 72 hours before cruising proves next to nothing.  In those 72 hours people will be on airplanes, in taxis, in hotels, in restaurants and on and on.  There is little doubt that at least some of the little kiddos will bring some virus onboard.

 

So then what actually happens if someone tests positive?  Are you dumped in the nearest port and left to somehow recover and then fly home on your own??  Putting aside the serious concern about the perhaps less sophisticated medical care for a minute, what are the logistics going to be?  You could conceivably be out tens of thousands of dollars in travel costs, even if you are lucky enough to be asymptomatic.  And while onboard, if a few people test positive, does everyone in contact with them then need to quarantine, even if vaccinated?  And how many people onboard testing positive would result in the entire ship potentially being quarantined?  

 

These are all serious questions that need to be addressed in detail.  I am very much looking forward to cruising again, but I need satisfactory answers to these questions before I board.  It is interesting that so many people seem to focus on whether they need to wear a mask, or whether they need to take ship sponsored excursions, but don't seem to be concerned about these much, more more serious potential issues.

 

This is exactly what the CDC wants addressed. If you actually read their orders, it's not about who wears masks while sitting at a slot machine and who licks the pudding bowl in the buffet. If you're willing to get on a ship with unvaccinated people and potentially take a cruise to nowhere around the Caribbean, have at it. But we'll be at home for a while! 

[cwtravel]

14 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

To your question and points- Here is the fine print from Royal Caribbean in their marketing email yesterday on Adventure of the Seas sailing in June from the Bahamas.  I would bet that Celebrity Millennium has the same fine print.

 

NOTICE: Prior to booking, please consult all applicable U.S. Centers for Disease Control travel advisories, warnings, or recommendations relating to cruise travel, at cdc.gov/travel/notices. If a certain threshold level of COVID-19 is detected onboard the ship during your voyage, the voyage will end immediately, the ship will return to the port of embarkation, and your subsequent travel, including your return home, may be restricted or delayed.

Yes this is the exact language on the Celebrity email.