cangelmd

The sneezing reflex as Tee described is a genetic trait and I don’t know if it is at all affected or related to skin eye color. Probably more accurate for me to say that my fair skin and blue green eyes are very sensitive to bright sunlight, especially coming out from a dark room, and one way I show it is by sneezing.

Yeah, I have it too, although it has abated somewhat as I've gotten older. It is genetic, especially with the many sneezes in a row. Some of my sensitivity maybe related to red hair, very fair skin and light eyes as well.

I'm beginning to wonder if they completely went out of business. Does anyone have any idea who or what company ran this service? I can't imagine it being a completely free standing business, but maybe it was and that's why they can't get restarted? So hard to get employees right now and the volume even in FLL would be quite unpredictable.

First, to the OP, hope your entire party continues to feel well- can’t imagine being quarantined in a stateroom with a 5 year old! And with all due respect to the original poster, the reason why people are coughing and not wearing a mask is that many, if not most assume it is something else, just as she did originally. I remember reading somewhere that normal not sick people cough and sneeze 10-20 times a day, just from dust or dry throat, or even for some of us, bright sunlight. No one thinks Covid first, although maybe they should, especially if they are in the vaxxed and boosted group that has gone this entire time without catching the virus.

I get from your original post that you aren’t in a suite. We celebrated our 40th anniversary on Celeb, belatedly (our actual anniversary was June 2021, just prior to restart). We were asked at some point if we were celebrating anything special and answered yes, 40th, and got a dozen roses, plus chocolate strawberries, no cake, but we were in a Sky Suite and it was likely the shoreside concierge. It was totally a surprise, but when the lady brought them, she had a cart with a couple more plates of strawberries and bouquets of flowers. Do you have a TA? Are you in a suite?

Since your cruise is not until 2024, I would keep eyes peeled for sales on upgrades and upgrade pkgs. Perhaps some not so subtle hints to friends and family about a good 50 wedding anniversary gift ahead of time 😁. Anyway, the basic wi-fi is pretty lame and seems to get worse now that almost every guest has some degree of wi-fi. I wouldnt rely on it for anything but the most basic functions, better performed in the middle of the night. Where are you sailing? Many ports, especially Caribbean with give you access to cheap or free wi-fi which may enough to stay in touch if you plan ahead. St. Thomas and San Juan are of course, the USA, so if you sail there you will have your normal cell service. All the upgrades are technically add-ons, but for a special trip like a 50th (congratulations by the way) I would at least want upgraded wi-fi if you comfortable with sharing on social media, pre-paid tips and some sort of drink pkg and at least one or two specialty dining evenings. Who knows what it will be like in 2024, but if you were sailing now, you could let them that this is a special occasion and you would get a cake, choco strawberries or other goodies just as part of the service.

Just got off the Apex on the British Isles cruise and we are booked on Iceland/Ireland on Silhouette next year, I don't know where Celebrity would book you, but we stayed at the Movenpick which is literally next door to the cruise terminal. The day of embarkation we pulled together our suitcases, trundled them over to the terminal and dropped them off early. It add a full half day, almost a full day to our time in Amsterdam. There is a tram stop right across the street from the hotel. It goes directly to Central Station and from there you can go anywhere in Amsterdam. We booked about 6-7 months in advance. Movenpick is very popular with cruisers and there were groups from Viking and AMA Waterways that came and went while we were there. The hotels right at the train station would be an easier trip from the airport - you could have gotten to the Movenpick, but it would require more luggage schlepping than I want to do on vacation and right after getting off an 8 hour flight. We opted for easy on embarkation day.

We have sent out laundry 3 times, maybe 4 on cruises since restart. Time has varied from just a bit over 24 hours to a bit over 2 days. Some in suite, some not, so being in a suite for us made no real difference, I put it off to staffing and experience. The disturbing thing for me was that one time the laundry came back smelling bad, like it had been left too long and soured, or been washed in a dorm washing machine. I never send good clothes because everything is washed in hot water.

We used Navica and Emed for our cruise from Amsterdam in mid May. First test was in our hotel room for boarding. We took our test to return home onboard the ship, around noon on the last day. Testing on board was no harder than testing in the room. Premium streaming wi-fi is a must. It would also help to do a test on land first, where you feel secure about the connection. It can be hard to understand what the proctor is saying, and the second time is easier in that regard. The entire process takes about 45 minutes. Finishing test to results on my phone was about 10 minutes. Having said all that, I would have done the Eurofins test in a heartbeat, had it been available. There are several threads on this topic, search for them.

NOT TRUE! We tested last week on the Apex using the streaming wi-fi onboard. We also tested around noon, so much earlier than what others have posted. No difference in connection or reception on board than in our hotel room prior to departure. Between the 2 tests, we were continuously online for almost an hour. How it would be if everyone on a European cruise who needed a test decided to test at the same time - I don't know. What affect the location of the ship would have - I don't know. On our cruise, the reception and connection was actually worse in port than at sea. But to blanket say the streaming is not good enough to work is simply wrong at this time and will lead people to make other, possibly less workable choices. We had a back-up plan for poor wi-fi as well as for some other flub with the kit itself, but onboard testing day before arrival worked very well for us.

Just got off the Apex, 12 days, we had Anytime dining. Right now what everyone is describing seems to be true, maybe - kind of like the blind men and the elephant. This is what our experience was, who knows what it will be by late Oct. The first 4 nights, we rotated around to each restaurant. We were never able to make reservations for any time other than 6-6:30 or 8-8:30. No times around 7 ever appeared on the app. The first night we asked our waiter bout ordering the specialties from the other restaurants and he looked at me blankly. Not at all sure if he didn’t understand my words, or if he was new and didn’t have that bit of training, or if ordering from different dining room is possible. After first 4 nights, we settled on a fav specialty menu and staff and told the maitre d’ that we were coming back every night and were happy with our table. Basically, from then on, they held that table for us. She booked reservations for us at about the same time ( we usually eat at the same time) excepting the one night we ate in Fine Cut. One of the last evenings I wanted to see what would happen if we pushed the time, so we showed up at about the magic hour of 7 pm. Answer is, nothing, our table was waiting for us. I still am unclear about the real need or function of reservations or how it is truly anytime if there’s a 90 minute period where reservations are never accepted, but somehow it works.

Based on experience in the British Isles last week, there is a big shortage of drivers and guides. Not sure why though there are excursions on one day and fewer at the same port a couple of days away

Jamie, the linen shirts, any comments about the fit? Do they run large, run small? Are they long enough to cover those rear ares that those o er 50 want to cover 😉.I would wear one as you do, over a tank or camisole

I forgot one important thing. We also get their Captains Club numbers. I don’t think that they have to have sailed with Celebrity before in order for you to book a cabin for them. I once booked a family cruise on RCCL, and some of my adult children had Royal numbers and some did not. Either way , we do get CC numbers.

No to self laundry. Yes to soft drinks. Alcohol can only be brought aboard on embarkation, but AFAIK, soft drinks can be brought aboard any port. We just did the British Isles from Amsterdam. The ship was stocked in Amsterdam, so no “real” Diet Coke, so we bought a few at our first British port, no one said anything to us about bringing them on.

No, you need friends date of birth and name as appears on passport. We put the deposits on the credit card of the couple on the cruise and we use the same land side travel agent. I won’t say that it is super easy, but it isn’t difficult really. We settle up the deposits after the fact. Once booked, the reservations are independent and we can cancel, change whatever, independently. In fact, when the cruise gets close we will have to link the reservations to get the dining right. I will say that we have known these guys for over 40 years and travel together frequently.

You can Ken, we have done it for some friends and they have done it for us.

Just got off Apex on Thursday 26. Went to 2 premium wine tastings. At one the cellar master was commenting on their wine procurement issues. I did not hear all she had to say, but I did hear that Covid may be affecting supplies of grapes at some vineyards (implying that during 2020-21, some winemakers had to make lower quantities of wine) as well as all along the supply chain. She said they ran out of wines on TA. And were out of Caymus(which surprised me a bit, since that’s one of their featured/sponsored companies). She did not say this outright, but it made me wonder if the situation was going to last for awhile (year or so). Dont they have to procure their wine through distributor in Miami? I bet, given archaic liquor laws in US, that if they bought quantities wine in another home port, they would have to segregate or figure out to pay the Miami taxes?

It is quite easy to cancel and rebook after you board, using the app. I can’t quote the steps exactly, but we cancelled and rebooked several times over 12 days. You don’t get a wide choice of times, but you never seem to see 7:00 pm.

We debated this on the ship. Getting my IPad logged onto ship Wi-Fi was a different process than the phone, and it dropped off the Wi-Fi a little more often. Phone takes up less space, which was at a premium in the cabin. We used a phone tripod as described by Jim and Arizona. In the end, we had used a phone in our hotel room for the first set of tests, so we used it again for the second. If your iPad has a camera that you can get the bar codes in front of while it is propped up, I don’t know why it wouldn’t work?

I started another thread outlining our experiences on Apex, coming back to Amsterdam and flying out next day. We followed general plan FirstTeacher outlines above. We took our tests around noon on the last day. With streaming Wi-Fi, the testing went just the same as it did in the hotel before embarkation - minor glitches (actually reading the directions is always a good idea), but we ended up with two negative results. Our flow-up plan was Test to Fly, we got a prompt refund when we canceled our appt. The best thing about our experience was that we were finished the night before disembark and didn’t have to walk off our luggage or fret about getting to the airport, which brings me to the new info: SCHIOPOL AIRPORT IS AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE RIGHT NOW. I would not have a backup plan of testing at airport, just now. Maybe at the airport ?Sheraton? Hotel, which is right on the property. But not in the terminal. Don’t know how long it’s going to last, but there’s a major lack of personnel - baggage, security, etc and the delays are horrendous. Airport/airline employees told of 3-4 hour waits for checkin, wholesale missing of flights. We were Delta Comfort + and Sky Priority, and after we figured we didn’t have to be in the line with hundreds of people that went outside (I’m not exaggerating, never did learn what all those people were waiting for), out checkin was not unusually difficult, but our flight was delayed a couple of hours and we missed our connection in the US. If I was flying out of Schiopol this summer, I would monitor situation through airport website and airline app - Delta sent us a notification that there might be delays - and plan to simplify your airport time. I think the horrendous lines were for people traveling internally in the EU, or maybe non-KLM, but don’t be afraid to ask before getting in a line. It was a mess.

LOL, don’t we all! I wouldn’t plan on it until at the absolute earliest 2023.

Not sure how being in the UK might affect this, but we get at least weekly emails to update our vax status AFTER we have submitted our vaccine cards. I would double-check on Heathy At Sea, because destination, especially in Europe may be an issue. Then I would call. It is likely them.

I do have a medical degree, graduated in the top 10% of a large class, and I find your remarks offensive. People can present and describe their symptoms very differently and the medical personnel on the ship have a duty both to the individuals presenting to them and to the safety and well being of everyone else in that tight environment. Both Covid and Noro can cause severe nausea and vomiting and believe me when you’ve been throwing up for a few hours and have never had GERD, you can describe how you feel using GERD terms. Quite frankly, I have a great deal sympathy and empathy for what you and your husband endured, no one should be quarantined for 21 days, but, having read your posts, I am certain there is another side to your story. And I will NOT engage you in debate.

I had a good bit of angst about getting our Covid tests done prior to returning to US and I want to report success with ship wi-fi. Tips: Have to have the premium streaming wi-fi. We only upgraded my account, and could not access YouTube (that was our measure) on my husbands account. We did our pre-embarkation test in our Amsterdam hotel with Abbott and Emed so had experience with the process. Because we only had one upgraded streaming account, he had to sign out of my Navica and Emed accounts on my phone and sign into his accounts - so have all your passwords handy and follow the screen instructions step by step. We bought a tripod stand for the phone and that was a big help. We also elected to print our results. Emailed the PDF to guest services and they printed out for us. In retrospect, I would have gone down to guest services a couple of days ahead to facilitate this part. They have the email address printed up to give you, so I could have emailed them from my stateroom. We did our tests around noon on our last day, which was a sea day. We noticed that the wi-if was slower when the ship was docked, much slower. The biggest advantage to doing the test this way, was we did not have to walk off our bags, or worry about getting to airport fast enough. If I had known, we would have added a day to the end of the trip. It works!