Live from Barbados on Millie 6-7-21

[NutsAboutGolf]

Thanks for the dining update.  One more dining question, if you see any specialty dining sales let us know; several predicted those will be a thing of the past.

[H2OH!]

ENJOY your fabulous cruise!!  So happy for  you.

 

We can hardly wait to get back on board!

 

amy

[MisterMet]

10 hours ago, Oldsweets said:

Anyone that read any of my pre-Cruise comments on this Celebrity Board knows that I was very blunt in my disappointment in the communications coming from corporate leading up to this cruise.  We  were frustrated, confused, concerned, and timid about what was happening.  I went so far to wonder if celebrity was actually ready to cruise on 5 June.  I am happy to admit that I was wrong.  Celebrity, the st Marten Airport and Cruise Port have been delivering a much much better experience then I expected on its first run out.  Not everything is perfect as some selections in the restaurants are sub par but most are simply good.  Much has already been written about the boarding, crowd sizes, etc so I will simply touch on some items I haven’t seen reported.  Excursions yesterday seemed shorter but were well run.  We did the Beach and the price was right and again well run.  The venue did a very good job of keeping us segregated in a bubble from others.  So much so we watched beach resort security rush in to remove a beach wondering vendor and chase down a roving guests who was walking to far from the group.  The bus ride return to the ship was fine but a rather long wait for the port folks to enter the bus and check out that we were all accounted for and had followed procedures.  We did hear a few grumbling from a few frustrated passengers that complained that they couldn’t leave the ship in Barbados because the excursions had sold out.  Good lesson here to precook your tours too ensure you good to go off the ship when ship bookings are required.  I will close by commenting about how simply amazing and happy the crew are to see passengers.  The service has been TREMENDOUS.  Opps, I failed to mention how clean and I do mean clean everything is.  I can complain with the best of them but feel responsibility to admit when I was wrong.  

Great to hear about all that you mentioned.  It will take some time to iron our the wrinkles.  Thanks for your report

[wendyam76]

4 hours ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

One of the only venues I haven't seen mentioned is the Spa Cafe in the Solarium. Is that up and going?

I’ve just spotted an Instagram post showing photos of someone eating there so definitely up and going! 

[brockmom]

I am sure you having a wonderful time ! 
May I please ask one more drink question?

are you able to still pay the difference between the classic and premium 

packages like we have in the past when ordering something that is 

not on the classic ?

thank you

 Brockmom

[tallyho8]

I have the premium package so I am not able to answer questions about the classic one.

 

Monday show in the showroom was Uptown. I was not expecting it to be very good. Was I wrong. It was one of the best I have seen. Tuesday was Boogie Wonderland. Very showy but not as good as Uptown.

 

Lots of trivia games and usually about 40 or more people playing.

 

Since there are so few people on board it’s easy to space groups apart in different venues. It’s so nice to get an elevator so fast. And no lines at the bar.

 

In Curacao today having a margarita at the Iguana Cafe overlooking the water and the floating bridge. Real nice weather. Good WiFi. 
 

Sorry I can’t post photos. I will after I get back.They brought us free X caps today.

[davekathy]

5 hours ago, brockmom said:

I am sure you having a wonderful time ! 
May I please ask one more drink question?

are you able to still pay the difference between the classic and premium 

packages like we have in the past when ordering something that is 

not on the classic ?

thank you

 Brockmom

I would say yes. The difference plus the 20% gratuity. 

[davekathy]

@tallyho8, thanks for taking us along on your cruise. 

[Kirsten T]

On 6/8/2021 at 11:44 AM, PTC DAWG said:

The coffee is included....a reporter got a free trip and reported it wasn't, it usually is not in "free" trips...you pay for drinks, etc al a carte.  

 

The reporter writing the blog Mr Sea Gull mentioned later confirmed that specialty coffees are included (thank goodness!) after someone commented in the blog. Her reply:

 

"The package DOES include specialty coffee. They took my card when I got some yesterday, and I thought it was to charge me, but it wasn't. (I never received a receipt to sign, which should have tipped me off.) I've removed that bit from the story."

[PTC DAWG]

30 minutes ago, Kirsten T said:

 

The reporter writing the blog Mr Sea Gull mentioned later confirmed that specialty coffees are included (thank goodness!) after someone commented in the blog. Her reply:

 

"The package DOES include specialty coffee. They took my card when I got some yesterday, and I thought it was to charge me, but it wasn't. (I never received a receipt to sign, which should have tipped me off.) I've removed that bit from the story."

Thank goodness that's fixed, it caused a few to freak out...it doesn't take much for some folks.  

[Mr Sea Gull]

1 hour ago, Kirsten T said:

 

The reporter writing the blog Mr Sea Gull mentioned later confirmed that specialty coffees are included (thank goodness!) after someone commented in the blog. Her reply:

 

"The package DOES include specialty coffee. They took my card when I got some yesterday, and I thought it was to charge me, but it wasn't. (I never received a receipt to sign, which should have tipped me off.) I've removed that bit from the story."

 

Thank you for letting us know that speciality coffee is included and that the blog has now been updated to reflect this,

[tallyho8]

Everyone is curious about covid on this cruise. Everyone is tested before we return to St Maarten tomorrow. There are about 2000 people on the ship as there are more crew members than there are passengers and the "news" is that 2 of these people tested positive. Yet the captain came on and said no one was tested positive as of 8 PM last night. 

 

Two out of 2000 is one in a thousand which is possible but remember there are better chances than that of having false positives like the 9 baseball player in New York who all had false positives. More tests will be administered to them, if they exist, to see if there are false positives. 

 

Everyone I have seen is very upbeat and unworried about this report. We have just had our final tests and will be notified shortly. It is a very quick antigen test and not as reliable as the pcr tests.

 

Now for the good news. We finally got around to testing out the Martini bar and sure wish we had tried it sooner. They make some great martinis and will also make them any way you want. The candied apple martini is great and the best after dinner martini I ever had is the Black Forest martini which everyone who likes martinis should try. They are quite strong which is OK because I didn't have to drive home.

 

I should have time Sunday to post some of the photos I have from this cruise.

[lhsail]

Thank you for the update. It’s great to get information from those onboard as opposed to all the speculation on another thread. 

[NCHPcruiser]

Thanks Tallyho8!  

[brockmom]

21 hours ago, davekathy said:

I would say yes. The difference plus the 20% gratuity. 

Thank you !

 

[Beachlover1989]

Thank you very much Tallyho8!

[tallyho8]

After all people on board were tested last night the captain came on and said again that all passengers were tested negative. We are still not sure if the two people were really positive or if that was a mistake.

 

Debarkation was quick and easy but the airport is very crowded.

[NutsAboutGolf]

The points guy contributor states they two who tested positive re-tested and both tested positive again (same day).

 

[Luckynana]

 

Thank you, tallyho8 for taking us along and sharing your experiences on your cruise!

[tallyho8]

Here is a photo of the photo album they gave to all guests on this first cruise. Also a photo of the room service menu. I rarely order from room service because their dining room and buffet are so good but sometimes I do order a BLT. Since they didn't have a BLT on the menu I ordered a turkey club sandwich without the turkey and got a perfect BLT.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Love your creative ordering from room service!

 

[TennesseeNationVol]

So glad to hear the cerise is going well!

[tallyho8]

Since we were the first ship to arrive in Aruba we were welcomed by a fireboat giving us a greeting throughout the port area.