Edge announcement 2 crew positive

[Fly and Sail]

2 minutes ago, Antropos said:

And do you need a COVID test? If not, you could make the 10 AM flight. Even with the COVID test we got at the airport at 09:20. Without the test we would have been there around 08:15.

 

Yes no choice, I'm flying to Asia 36 hours after and PCR is a requirement. No CVS/Walgreens appointments available for the LAX area on the 9th or 10th except probably the private services for $250. Celebrity advertised this service so it better be available and administered in a proper fashion.

[Jeremiah1212]

13 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

I will make Celebrity pay for this by all means necessary.

 

Please let us know how that goes 🤣

[LGW59]

16 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

It makes me really angry that this is once again communicated in such a shabby way but nothing to do about this right now. I'll make sure I'm off the ship FAST because I have a 10am flight to catch. Slicing the salami extremely thin here. Well, worst case I have a fully refundable backup from MIA booked for 1:30pm.

 

That being said we now have A LOT less people on board than a week ago and I doubt many of them will need a PCR Test. If this takes forever as you said and causes me problems I will make Celebrity pay for this by all means necessary.

If this takes forever as you said and causes me problems I will make Celebrity pay for this by all means necessary.  Please do keep us posted on how this making them pay works out.

[Covepointcruiser]

Flying from LA to Asia and getting a COVID test at LAX should not be a problem but you will have to pay for it.   Most airports have providers offering the COVID tests needed for international travel.   A 10 AM flight time during a pandemic is risky so it is good you have a back up plan.   It isn’t likely that a test provided by Celebrity would be a acceptable for a flight 36 hours later to Asia.

[WonderMan3]

15 hours ago, avp1234 said:

The casino is no different than sitting in a dining room with people eating, drinking, talking with NO mask vs. everyone masked in the casino.  Nor is it any different than dance parties etc.  A masked cruise without the casino, to be honest I would be bored and let down.  I don't do the dance parties and shows and sit at the martini bar. The casino is at least a money maker. They can put shields or block a seat at each table. Of course, that's my take being a gambler

Huh??? The casino with everyone masked is a totally different and much safer experience than a dining room or dance party full of everyone unmasked both of those last scenarios having been proven multiple times through real life situations as easy spread for Covid. 

[Fly and Sail]

2 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Flying from LA to Asia and getting a COVID test at LAX should not be a problem but you will have to pay for it.   Most airports have providers offering the COVID tests needed for international travel.   A 10 AM flight time during a pandemic is risky so it is good you have a back up plan.   It isn’t likely that a test provided by Celebrity would be a acceptable for a flight 36 hours later to Asia.

 

72h old test prior to departure of the first segment is sufficient. The tests are indeed available at LAX (through a private company) at the price of $249 which I'm not willing to pay, just because Celebrity changed their policy of testing on board (in an orderly, timely manner) to testing on shore.

 

Either was it just adds to the list of what passengers should know beforehand. Last Sunday there was a B2B passenger whose wife was at the airport and she still hadn't received their PCR test from the day before. They tracked it down by 8:45am (the time we were walked down for our turn) and he sent her a snap of the paper.

[Smmessineo]

Captain's announcement at sailaway just now. He said a couple of passengers presented at medical center with cold-like symptoms. Covid positives. All contacts traced were negative.

Cruise is still going well  for the vast majority  of the passengers.

Silent Disco battle of the DJ's tonight ! 

 

[Fly and Sail]

4 hours ago, LGW59 said:

If this takes forever as you said and causes me problems I will make Celebrity pay for this by all means necessary.  Please do keep us posted on how this making them pay works out.

 

I guess the same way it did with NCL a few years back. Small Claims Court and a judgment in my favor because of their false advertisement. Bottom line is, they should stick to the policies they advertised and advised people with rather than changing things on a whim and messing up peoples travel plans.

 

Based on the report above a 1:30-2h wait time is excessive no matter what and even a departure time of 11am-12pm wouldn't make a difference. Let's remember the FLL Airport is only 10-15 min from the cruise terminal so that's a reasonable departure time. Although I can't imagine it to take that long even for 100 pax just to take the sample. I've done dozens of these tests even in large settings and with 40 people ahead of me the max time it took was like 20-30 min (several technicians at work taking the sample).

 

Fingers crossed it'll work out and I'm saving myself the hassle this time around. Otherwise off to MIA it is.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Fly and Sail

[LGW59]

2 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

I guess the same way it did with NCL a few years back. Small Claims Court and a judgment in my favor because of their false advertisement. Bottom line is, they should stick to the policies they advertised and advised people with rather than changing things on a whim and messing up peoples travel plans.

 

Based on the report above a 1:30-2h wait time is excessive no matter what and even a departure time of 11-12pm wouldn't make a difference Let's remember the FLL Airport is 10-15 min from the cruise terminal so that's a reasonable departure time. Although I can't imagine it to take that long even for 100 pax just to take the sample. I've done dozens of these tests even in large settings and with 40 people ahead of me the max time it took was like 20-30 min (several technicians at work taking the sample).

 

Fingers crossed it'll work out and I'm saving myself the hassle this time around. Otherwise off to MIA it is.

a few years back, as in pre-Covid?

[marktwothousand]

Oh geez. It sounds like COVID is really Breaking out on this cruise and they’re trying to keep it minimized communications as much as possible. Also the testing at the pier is a crock. How are people going to make their flights?

[Antropos]

9 hours ago, Fly and Sail said:

Although I can't imagine it to take that long even for 100 pax just to take the sample. I've done dozens of these tests even in large settings and with 40 people ahead of me the max time it took was like 20-30 min (several technicians at work taking the sample).

 

There were two major reasons for it to take so long. For starters, they only had two people taking samples. Second, it is inside a terninal... and for some idiotic reason that means that before your sample was taken, you and all of your luggage had to go through metal detectors. And they only had one security lane open. For that reason they only let  25 people in at a time. Only when all of those 25 people had left the testing facility, the next 25 people were let in. 

[UniPac]

If I would be in the situation needing a re-entry test and early flight... and Celebrity changing things in such a bad way... well I think I would have a cold or something the day before and go to the medical for a test just as protocol says 😉

Edited January 7, 2022 by UniPac

[drakes2]

6 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

Oh geez. It sounds like COVID is really Breaking out on this cruise and they’re trying to keep it minimized communications as much as possible. Also the testing at the pier is a crock. How are people going to make their flights?

I have a noon flight back to Canada on February 6th after my Edge cruise. My CVP has sent an email to resolutions to see if there are others testing options  available not sure what they might be but I don't want to miss my flight.

[Antropos]

3 hours ago, UniPac said:

If I would be in the situation needing a re-entry test and early flight... and Celebrity changing things in such a bad way... well I think I would have a cold or something the day before and go to the medical for a test just as protocol says 😉

We thought about doing that too, but I don't think it would help you.. sure, they test you and then tell you the results came back negative. But I don't think you would get anything in writing in such a form that is accepted by airlines

[drakes2]

14 minutes ago, Antropos said:

We thought about doing that too, but I don't think it would help you.. sure, they test you and then tell you the results came back negative. But I don't think you would get anything in writing in such a form that is accepted by airlines

So what do people do in such situations? I guess self debarkation as soon as the ship docks in Fort Lauderdale. I really didn't want to walk off with all my luggage 😒 

[TeeRick]

16 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

Huh??? The casino with everyone masked is a totally different and much safer experience than a dining room or dance party full of everyone unmasked both of those last scenarios having been proven multiple times through real life situations as easy spread for Covid. 

I agree and have pointed this out on another post.  The new Celebrity indoor mask policy excludes the need to wear a mask while eating and drinking.  I think your highest infection risk on a ship is at an indoor restaurant (MDR, Luminae, Buffet, etc) or at an indoor bar like the Martini Bar.  Unmasked in the casino is also very risky.  So if you are drinking in the casino or the theatre for that matter, no need to wear a mask?  

[drakes2]

28 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I agree and have pointed this out on another post.  The new Celebrity indoor mask policy excludes the need to wear a mask while eating and drinking.  I think your highest infection risk on a ship is at an indoor restaurant (MDR, Luminae, Buffet, etc) or at an indoor bar like the Martini Bar.  Unmasked in the casino is also very risky.  So if you are drinking in the casino or the theatre for that matter, no need to wear a mask?  

Well I guess we will be drinking in our stateroom and eating our meals outdoor.  Fortunately for me I am out by the pool all day on sea days. 

[Antropos]

 

4 hours ago, drakes2 said:

So what do people do in such situations? I guess self debarkation as soon as the ship docks in Fort Lauderdale. I really didn't want to walk off with all my luggage 😒 

We didn't do self debarkation. Our flight was at 12:20 PM. We were in debarkation group 5. Left the ship at 07:45, waited in line for our COVID test until 09:05. Were at the airport at 09:20. Received the test results at 10:15. Then checked in for the flight, dropped the bags and were through security by 11:00. It was all do-able in the end, but this experience was far from relaxing.

[drakes2]

26 minutes ago, Antropos said:

 

We didn't do self debarkation. Our flight was at 12:20 PM. We were in debarkation group 5. Left the ship at 07:45, waited in line for our COVID test until 09:05. Were at the airport at 09:20. Received the test results at 10:15. Then checked in for the flight, dropped the bags and were through security by 11:00. It was all do-able in the end, but this experience was far from relaxing.

Thats pretty tight. I hope my return flight home is not earlier or I will never make it.  Stressful way to end a vacation.  Have they just stopped doing the tests onboard on the previous day?  On the Silly this past November the tests were done on deck 15 next to sky lounge. So organized so what happened?

[Antropos]

1 minute ago, drakes2 said:

Thats pretty tight. I hope my return flight home is not earlier or I will never make it.  Stressful way to end a vacation.  Have they just stopped doing the tests onboard on the previous day?  On the Silly this past November the tests were done on deck 15 next to sky lounge. So organized so what happened?

They also tested people onboard one day prior to disembarkation. The night before disembarkation I went over to Guest Relations to ask to be tested onboard but was told they did not have enough test capacity. I never found out who got tested onboard vs who got tested in the terminal after debarkation. But judging from the number of people in line traveling to the UK and Canada I got the feeling that they only tested people doing B2B cruises onboard. But, again, that is only a guess... nobody actually told me this.

[Cruising89143]

7 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

Thats pretty tight. I hope my return flight home is not earlier or I will never make it.  Stressful way to end a vacation.  Have they just stopped doing the tests onboard on the previous day?  On the Silly this past November the tests were done on deck 15 next to sky lounge. So organized so what happened?

RCG stopped onboard testing for non U.S residents. This is recent.

[Antropos]

9 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

RCG stopped onboard testing for non U.S residents. This is recent.

Doesn't make much sense... There are no re-entry requirements for U.S. residents. So, if all non-US residents are tested in the terminal, then who is left to be tested onboard? I talked to a few people who got tested onboard but they were all B2B travelers. But, admitted, they we are also all U.S. residents...

[Fly and Sail]

9 hours ago, UniPac said:

If I would be in the situation needing a re-entry test and early flight... and Celebrity changing things in such a bad way... well I think I would have a cold or something the day before and go to the medical for a test just as protocol says 😉

 

Possible but I'm sure they'd ask you to remain in your cabin for the remaining duration of your trip and who knows what kind of test that would be (PCR or simply Antigen) plus the protocol is another question.

 

I'll be able to give you a first hand experience of the ***** show on Sunday, already looking forward to it. #NOT

[Fly and Sail]

9 hours ago, Antropos said:

There were two major reasons for it to take so long. For starters, they only had two people taking samples. Second, it is inside a terninal... and for some idiotic reason that means that before your sample was taken, you and all of your luggage had to go through metal detectors. And they only had one security lane open. For that reason they only let  25 people in at a time. Only when all of those 25 people had left the testing facility, the next 25 people were let in. 

 

What a disaster. Let's hope they got their act together in the meanwhile as I'm sure people gave them an earful about that experience.

[RichYak]

3 minutes ago, Antropos said:

So, if all non-US residents are tested in the terminal, then who is left to be tested onboard?

Off the top of my head... Unvaccinated kids, B2B passengers, close contacts, those exhibiting symptoms, and the entire crew.