My Recent Covid Experience on the Equinox September/October 2022

[Ipeeinthepools]

Just a quick update on refunds.   We received the prorated refund for the cancelled cruise this week.  It was the exact amount in one refund.  Still waiting on the refund for the second cruise and the pre-purchased shore excursions, specialty dining and WIFI upgrade.

[colliercruiser]

13 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Just a quick update on refunds.   We received the prorated refund for the cancelled cruise this week.  It was the exact amount in one refund.  Still waiting on the refund for the second cruise and the pre-purchased shore excursions, specialty dining and WIFI upgrade.

When was the sailing that you received the refund?

[Ipeeinthepools]

3 minutes ago, colliercruiser said:

When was the sailing that you received the refund?

 

September 26 returning on October 6

[colliercruiser]

2 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

September 26 returning on October 6

We have refunds coming for our B2B cruises… October 3 and October 15.  Did you do anything to get them going or did it happen automatically?

[Ipeeinthepools]

2 hours ago, colliercruiser said:

We have refunds coming for our B2B cruises… October 3 and October 15.  Did you do anything to get them going or did it happen automatically?

 

No.  Although the Quarantine Concierge said they would happen automatically, that didn't happen.  If you booked through a TA, the TA needs to call the Engagement center and request the refund process get started.  If you booked directly, then I suspect you need to call the Engagement Center.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Ipeeinthepools

[Luvtoeat]

Was on the 9/17 sailing and I tested positive on the 22nd. Got the prorated refund a few days ago. 

Will be on the Reflection in December with the Blue Chip Club free offer and we will wear our masks on the ship except when eating. It was not an experience I care to repeat. 

We did not wear our masks on the ship and did not see many masks on our sailing and after managing to stay safe for 2 years always knew there was a chance of testing positive.

 

[Holly g]

So we just got off the NCL Joy 10 day Canada cruise one week ago. We both got Covid after getting all the shots plus flu shot and the evening we got off scratchy throat, nasty cough.  Very disappointed with that. We sailed on the 7 day Summit to Bermuda in July and we were both fine although crew said people were sick and isolating.  We are signed up for the 11 day Edge cruise in January and I’m sure Covid will be floating around. Anyway back to our NCL cruise. The urgent care Doctor put both of us on Paxlovid. We are still coughing and feeling tired. Hope that will end soon. The longer the cruise obviously the more chance of catching it. So we are fully vaccinated, wore our masks at pier in  NY, in elevators, in the theaters, crowded areas, anti bacterial gels,  no bus tours.  Not much more we could have done and still got it. We were surprised with the positive result. 
anyway you take your chances going on a cruise with 3000 people from all over the world and yes they were. People love to come and see the fall foliage which wasn’t in full swing yet and the hurricane took done many leaves so.....

looking forward to January Edge cruise but the Covid thing has me a little on “edge!”  

[Ipeeinthepools]

30 minutes ago, Holly g said:

So we just got off the NCL Joy 10 day Canada cruise one week ago. We both got Covid after getting all the shots plus flu shot and the evening we got off scratchy throat, nasty cough.  Very disappointed with that. We sailed on the 7 day Summit to Bermuda in July and we were both fine although crew said people were sick and isolating.  We are signed up for the 11 day Edge cruise in January and I’m sure Covid will be floating around. Anyway back to our NCL cruise. The urgent care Doctor put both of us on Paxlovid. We are still coughing and feeling tired. Hope that will end soon. The longer the cruise obviously the more chance of catching it. So we are fully vaccinated, wore our masks at pier in  NY, in elevators, in the theaters, crowded areas, anti bacterial gels,  no bus tours.  Not much more we could have done and still got it. We were surprised with the positive result. 
anyway you take your chances going on a cruise with 3000 people from all over the world and yes they were. People love to come and see the fall foliage which wasn’t in full swing yet and the hurricane took done many leaves so.....

looking forward to January Edge cruise but the Covid thing has me a little on “edge!”  

 

I agree with you 100%.  My hope for a cruise in December is that the virus will not have mutated enough to avoid protection from the Covid I caught on the Equinox.  Hopefully the Covid you caught somewhere on your Joy cruise will also protect you on the Edge in January.

[Holly g]

1 hour ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

I agree with you 100%.  My hope for a cruise in December is that the virus will not have mutated enough to avoid protection from the Covid I caught on the Equinox.  Hopefully the Covid you caught somewhere on your Joy cruise will also protect you on the Edge in January.

I hope that will be true. Have a fun safe cruise. Come back and tell us how that went!

[Ipeeinthepools]

Celebrity has started working on the refunds for my B2B segment that was scheduled for October 6.  One of two shore excursions was refunded.  Still waiting on another shore excursion, specialty dining, internet upgrade as well as the cruise fare and taxes.

[sgmn]

On 10/19/2022 at 5:59 PM, 360Guy said:

Glad the OP had an acceptable quarantine experience.   We had about a 180 degree different experience on the Silhouette in April out of Southampton.  Have cancelled cruises since.  Continue to see a large variance in quarantine experiences that demonstrate Celebrity is struggling to deliver a consistent model.   Staffing shortages seem to contribute along with each ship doing some things well and others do not.  Giving the industry more time to settle.   Looking forward to returning to cruising.

Things were different last Spring with pax moved to OV covid rooms even if in suite.

I think they have better procedures now especially if they have one staff member responsible for covid cases and are allowing pax to stay in their own cabins

[sgmn]

On 10/19/2022 at 5:59 PM, 360Guy said:

Glad the OP had an acceptable quarantine experience.   We had about a 180 degree different experience on the Silhouette in April out of Southampton.  Have cancelled cruises since.  Continue to see a large variance in quarantine experiences that demonstrate Celebrity is struggling to deliver a consistent model.   Staffing shortages seem to contribute along with each ship doing some things well and others do not.  Giving the industry more time to settle.   Looking forward to returning to cruising.

Things were different last Spring with pax moved to OV covid rooms even if in suite.

I think they have better procedures now especially if they have one staff member responsible for covid cases and are allowing pax to stay in their own cabins

[Ipeeinthepools]

Just an update on the refunds for the B2B leg of the cruise that was scheduled for October 6.  Celebrity has processed a couple more shore excursion and internet refunds and then nothing for a few weeks.  I'm currently on the phone with the Engagement Department checking out the refunds.  Apparently the rest of the refund was not automatically processed so the representative will process it manually.   We'll see what happens in another 5 - 7 days.

[mahdnc]

11 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Just an update on the refunds for the B2B leg of the cruise that was scheduled for October 6.  Celebrity has processed a couple more shore excursion and internet refunds and then nothing for a few weeks.  I'm currently on the phone with the Engagement Department checking out the refunds.  Apparently the rest of the refund was not automatically processed so the representative will process it manually.   We'll see what happens in another 5 - 7 days.

 

They are really making you work for it, aren't they?

[Ipeeinthepools]

1 hour ago, mahdnc said:

 

They are really making you work for it, aren't they?

 

Yep, just like the rest of the world.

[Ipeeinthepools]

The saga continues.  Another week passes and still no refund.  I made this reservation through a TA and it was apparent that the Celebrity representatives really did not want to talk to me on the last call. So, I re-engaged my TA to call and follow up on the refund.  My TA and the Celebrity representative went back to work and re-calculated the refund amount.  However, they did not include the amount I paid for shore excursions, internet upgrade and specialty dining.  My TA will need to call Celebrity back correct the refund amount.  We'll see what happens in another 7 - 10 days.

 

I hoped the refund might be handled seamlessly because they are doing so many Covid refunds but it's clearly not the case for me.  I hope others have a better experience.

[Ipeeinthepools]

My TA call the Engagement Center and she had an hour waiting on hold.  They told her that they were too busy to discuss it over the phone and she needed to send and e-mail with the details.  It appears that my refund has been assigned to the B-Team and I'm not optimistic.  If the refund doesn't post in the next week or so, it might be time to elevate it to LLP.

[lara h]

On 10/20/2022 at 3:59 AM, 360Guy said:

Glad the OP had an acceptable quarantine experience.   We had about a 180 degree different experience on the Silhouette in April out of Southampton.  Have cancelled cruises since.  Continue to see a large variance in quarantine experiences that demonstrate Celebrity is struggling to deliver a consistent model.   

We also had almost a 360 degree difference in our Eclipse transpacific when we were isolated for 12 days with COVID.

 

The COVID concierge was as good as useless. When we rang him he told us that he was unable to do anything to ensure our room service was up to scratch. He told us that we had to speak to our stateroom attendant if we needed anything. Duck shoved all the way!!!

 

Now we are in dispute with them regarding our refund. They have NO record that we were in iso, despite us having all the necessary paperwork. We have to fight to get our own money back, including waiting on hold for over 1 hr (from Australia) and scan all our relevant paperwork to them.

 

 

 

[Ipeeinthepools]

Success  😀

 

The e-mail that my TA forwarded to the Engagement Center finally did the trick, but I have no idea how Celebrity's accounting system works.   It took 18 different refunds ranging from $6.29 to $731.22 to refund cruise fare, port taxes and fees, Cruisecare Insurance, internet upgrade, Tuscan Grill reservation and 2 shore excursions totaling about $3300.  The entire process took about 2 months with weekly intervention from me or my TA over the last few weeks.

 

The refund from being in isolation was handled completely differently from the second leg of the B2B when I was denied boarding.  The isolation refund was returned in one lump sum.  The cancelled second leg of the B2B required 17 refunds.

 

One take-away for me was that everyone really needs to keep track of their pre-cruise purchases in case you need to request a refund.  Providing Celebrity and my TA with a record of my pre-cruise purchases seemed to be the key to success.  My TA really doesn't have any knowledge of shore excursions or specialty dining that I purchased so I would give that information to them at the beginning of the process.  It was not a good assumption that Celebrity had a record of those expenses.  It might seem obvious, but you need to know exactly how much refund you are owed before you start the process.

 

A second take-away is that none of this happens without a specific request to Celebrity.  I would wait about a week after I returned and then call Celebrity or if you used a TA have your TA call Celebrity.  Nothing was initiated prior to my call. 

 

A final thought is that I wonder how this process would have worked if I had used a large Big-Box or on-line TA.  In my case I used a specific TA that works for an agency.  Celebrity preferred that my TA deal with them because I made the reservation through the TA.  It took a couple extended phone calls with my TA reconcile my expenses and the 17 refunds, I'm not sure how I would have worked through this issue if I was dealing with a different agent every time I called.

 

[Ipeeinthepools]

4 hours ago, lara h said:

We also had almost a 360 degree difference in our Eclipse transpacific when we were isolated for 12 days with COVID.

 

The COVID concierge was as good as useless. When we rang him he told us that he was unable to do anything to ensure our room service was up to scratch. He told us that we had to speak to our stateroom attendant if we needed anything. Duck shoved all the way!!!

 

Now we are in dispute with them regarding our refund. They have NO record that we were in iso, despite us having all the necessary paperwork. We have to fight to get our own money back, including waiting on hold for over 1 hr (from Australia) and scan all our relevant paperwork to them.

 

 

 

 

I hope you get it sorted out soon, but it was my experience that nothing will happen unless you keep calling them.

 

Just out of curiosity can you explain "Duck shoved all the way!!!"  I have never heard that expression.  

[mayleeman]

Did some posts get deleted in this thread?

[terrydtx]

8 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

Did some posts get deleted in this thread?

The CC admins will remove any posts that violate any of the CC guidelines about covid discussions. I think there were several posts in this thread that went too far in their covid discussions and may have been removed.

[calicakes]

Sorry that happened to you.  Hope you're feeling better.  Both my wife and I received our 5th booster on Sept 8th.  We left for Rome on Sept 12th.  We boarded Reflection on Sept 16th and flew home on Sept 26th.  My wife felt sick on Sept 27th, she tested negative for 2 days until she then tested positive.  She took Paxlovid and tested positive for 1 week.  I never caught Covid which was a freaking miracle.  We still slept in the same bed and I didn't mask up in the house.    I'm just glad my wife didn't get sick on the ship. I packed our medicine cabinet with us and everything we'd need in case either of us caught covid.  I did not plan on reporting if there was any chance we'd be removed from our Suite. 

[Ipeeinthepools]

1 hour ago, calicakes said:

Sorry that happened to you.  Hope you're feeling better.  Both my wife and I received our 5th booster on Sept 8th.  We left for Rome on Sept 12th.  We boarded Reflection on Sept 16th and flew home on Sept 26th.  My wife felt sick on Sept 27th, she tested negative for 2 days until she then tested positive.  She took Paxlovid and tested positive for 1 week.  I never caught Covid which was a freaking miracle.  We still slept in the same bed and I didn't mask up in the house.    I'm just glad my wife didn't get sick on the ship. I packed our medicine cabinet with us and everything we'd need in case either of us caught covid.  I did not plan on reporting if there was any chance we'd be removed from our Suite. 

 

Prior to catching Covid, I also did not plan on reporting unless I didn't have a choice.  However, I was so tired and coughing so much I was ready to get off the ship.  I didn't want to start the second leg of our B2B with Covid, so the best choice for me was to report to medical and get a prorated refund for my first cruise and get a refund for the second leg.  This was relatively easy to do because we were cruising out of Fort Lauderdale and I could easily make travel arrangements home.  However it would have been much more difficult to make alternate travel arrangements out of Rome or another foreign port.

 

 

[kearney]

We were on Equinox late Aug - early Sept. I woke up early on the last sea day and noticed a scratchy throat. I had accidentally turned the heat on in the cabin and thought that dry air might have been the cause. Later in the morning I realized that the symptoms were getting worse and went to medical. ... testing positive they took me back to the cabin and like OP... they had my husband test. The rest or our experience was the same... funny thing...in some ways it worked out better for us than I would have expected. I was dreading our departure. DH needs wheelchair assistance..which has been unpleasant on several of our recent cruises. The issue had nothing to do with the cruise line..but with the port staff. The crew quickly gets you off the ship when your bag # is called.. BUT then you have to sit near the elevators waiting for one of a handful of staff to wheel you into the elevator and through customs. On the first Edge sailing it took an hour to get from the ship past the elevator. But having Covid.. they took us down the crew elevator..and straight to the car.. which took us to the ParknGo. They had taken image of our passport so that step was eliminated.. It was the best process. At the time I asked the driver how many people she thought had Covid..she said 44... later I heard reports as high as 50. My symptoms were pretty mild and the worse lasted about 2 days..then congestion and exhaustion continued for a week..DH caught it as soon as we got home...his congestion was worse than mine..but he did not get the nausea I got the last night at sea. I though Celebrity handled it very well. I did not look into any refund..since the last day was a day at sea...