TeeRick

Didn't know this! So FCC's are being treated like Time Shares?

LOL. Need to have grown up near Boston to understand this reference.😀

Agree with you and sorry to hear of your illness. But the important distinction is that you are treating yourself and isolating at home for the most part. Many people are vaccinated and boosted. So the disease is still very contagious, but symptoms are very mild for some and a bit more severe for others. Yes there are of course differences and we will hear of severe cases, but I am speaking in general here. Unlike the early pandemic, very few people need to go to the hospital and even fewer die. But on cruise ships we are still treating this as a deadly plague.

I guess you could bring two bottles per cabin. But wait a minute. How does that work for non-alcohol wine and bubbly? Any bottle number restrictions? Can you bring a case on board like checking water at the dock?😁

Thanks. I was trying to address the question from @RWilbourn if BEYOND and E-Class newer ships have any significant differences in (a fewer) number of Covid+ cases vs the M- and S-Class older ships, presumably due to HVAC design/age. I personally do not see any data suggesting significant differences right now but it is all circumstantial anyway. But even in a retrospective analysis maybe done a few years from now there might be data to answer this- if you could rule out a multitude of other criteria.

I was under the impression that there were across-the-fleet HVAC system upgrades and changes for Celebrity and RCCL ships during the pandemic shutdown period. There was quite a bit of reporting on this. Both old and new systems use fresh outside air from one side of the ship and exhaust on the other side. There was a standard for cabins (12 changes/Hr) and other indoor areas (15 changes/Hr) that was put in place for all of the RCG ships.

LOL. My comment was aimed at the general state of libraries and reading rooms everywhere (land and sea), not necessarily specific to Celebrity. E-books and E-materials and the ability to research everything online killed the need for dedicated spaces for volumes of bulky books. The pandemic just accelerated this even more. And in most communities many public libraries had social distancing requirements and capacity limits - at least in 2020-21. On ships if there are shelves of open books for exchange, I personally would hesitate to take one unless I could disinfect it as a precaution. This would maybe apply to norovirus more than Covid.

All true- but the pandemic was the final nail in the coffin for open reading rooms and libraries for sanitary reasons. And social distancing reasons.

Orsino it is possible that you are right (or not?) and it seems that these surges are delayed from the UK surges by maybe 4-6 weeks so that is a good thing to look at too. One thing is that the USA is huge so the surges are much more local/regional (endemic) in the US. The current surge is in the Northeast so Boston where you plan to sail from might be out of it in a month or two. The other thing to consider is that Omicron is in general very mild (in comparison) and immunity has really built over the population. So many people test at home and do not report positives these days. That works on land. On ships, a positive is an invitation to automatic isolation. Even if not sick. If they would just let you isolate in your own cabin that would be a huge relief to many.

In general if you have cold-like symptoms and you are honest enough to go to Medical or you call them, you will be tested. If you shared a cabin with somebody testing positive, you will be tested. There is also testing by contact tracing - but this seems less straight-forward from what people have reported here. It seems that if you have had some sustained period (not well defined) with a person who tested positive, like at the same dining table or in an adjacent theatre seat, or in a crowded tour bus, you might be traced and tested. If you want to be educated search the threads here as there is quite a lot of information from Celebrity passengers who were put in isolation. There are a series of posts from @bananavanand others recently.

Is this an actual library - or just a space decorated with some books and other items? Can you remove and read the books?

Just assume that the virus is on Summit at some level now and will be in the future. Just plan for it as it is not going away. And it will be around when you travel to Boston to meet the ship. There is a surge in the entire Northeast right now from Omicron variants. CDC just again advised masking indoors in the northeast states. Maybe it will subside by end of August. Maybe not. Prepare for your cruise as if you could be in isolation on the ship and take the things you need. And read the threads here from a significant number of people who have experienced it. Other than being Up To Date on vaccines, there is not much you can do now anyway. If this is too unsettling to deal with, consider whether you want to make final payment or not. This is the current situation we all face right now. Best of luck!

Lots of people have given you their lists. Just also remember to take extra supplies of your prescription meds "just in case".

Celebrity BEYOND has not done any routine itineraries yet. Just a few inaugural cruises. As to the other newer ships (APEX and EDGE) they don't seem to be any better or worse than the others in the fleet in terms of virus infections. Why do you think they would be lower?

Thanks for your views on quarantine protocols and I agree that Celebrity has gone backwards here quite a bit. Not to mention the end of the 48 hour cancellation for any reason policy. Living in the USA it is a bit more unnerving to cruise in Europe due to the airline 1 day testing requirement to get home. But as to your trepidation on suites, only a small part of each ship is dedicated to them - a bit more on E-Class ships. Not half. And all suites dine in Luminae so no pressure on the MDR from them. The specialty restaurants are not overwhelmed by suites guests and reservations- although the very highest suites (Royal and above) get them included in their pricing.

Michael's Club was not open to anybody but suite guests and Zenith members for many years even before the pandemic. The only change since is restriction of access to Zenith members.

Yes I know it was tongue and cheek as was my response back to you. But it is actually a fairly frequent comment here on the Celebrity board. I personally would worry less about suite guests and worry more about being put in isolation and quarantine no matter whatever your cabin category happens to be.

Ipee that is a fair comment but Pulmantur is out of business since 2020. So RCG/Celebrity would need to sell or transfer ships to somebody else. But who? They would need to mothball a few ships instead and redistribute staff and resources. But which ones? I would imagine some customers going berserk if this happened now to a favorite ship that was M-Class or S-Class. They will not mothball an E-Class ship (but I know that might make you happy😀.

I just chuckle when a person sailing a luxury cruise line on vacation not in a suite describes themselves as "steerage" class. Just too funny!😀

Geez let's step back for just a second to some reality. We are in Pandemic Year Three. Continued labor shortages in all industries, especially service industries- despite paying higher wages and offering signing bonuses. Red tape to travel and work to/from most countries. Shortages of everything in terms of goods, food, parts, etc. and shipping ports backed up. Huge increases to all of us in the price of fuel and inflation running away and highest in 40 years. I could go on. You all know the story just living every day. So somehow we expect business like Celebrity to be immune to all this and sail with the service and staff like before the pandemic. Oh yeah- also without price increases. And maintain their survival. C'mon ! @Ipeeinthepools I don't really agree that this is self inflicted but as you point out maybe it is partially the case. But I do agree with you that maybe they could operate fewer ships with the staff and resources that they have across the board. Let's remember the debt they are in and the fact that they needed to launch Beyond and run EDGE and APEX to make good on their current and future financial picture to the debt holders and investors. IMO they are not anywhere near profitable yet. Only running those three ships might help but the paying customer base would mutiny. They are in a very tight box methinks.

Maybe the Retreat Manager had specific experience they were looking for. This is not an entry level position.

True for every business out there.

We just got our second boosters yesterday. It was near 7 months from the first one. Our cruise is in August. Not recommending a timeline. This is just what we did as we have to travel to my nephew's wedding in MA in 2 weeks. There are factors other than cruises!😀

Yes understood. It needs to be used early. But it might be a stop-gap measure on a ship if somebody is progressing with the illness until they can be brought to an onshore medical facility for other treatments. Just speculating as a possible use on board. Maybe it won't work or maybe it will buy a bit of time.

Yes Bo I agree and that is exactly the point. It is all up to us being responsible as passengers to ourselves and others.