cangelmd

The simplest answer to your question is that the boosters, for a brief time, boost your resistance to infection, which for people like me, going on a transatlantic and needing to produce a negative, observed test, might make the difference in boarding or not. The reason to go get the new bivalent booster is that it is tailored to the new highly infectious omicron variants. The original shots still greatly reduce your risk for severe disease and death, but by the time omicron started to become dominant, the second booster was doing almost nothing to prevent infections. Severe disease and death was also starting to creep up a little, but there is still no solid evidence that the original shots “stopped working”. Remember prior to the new bivalent shot, the boosters were just repeats of the same genetic material in slightly different doses. It’s thought that this shot will decrease infection and transmission as well as stopping any increase in severe disease and death. Less transmission means fewer chances for the virus to mutate.

Was your name on the test? Was the photo time stamped?

Please post your experience.

Can you post a link or repost email, etc? off topic, we have family in Augusta and will be there in a couple of weeks, nice town

We did one a few years ago, pre-Covid. Best done in a group of 4. You get 4 small bottles of single varietal reds and blend them. Someone is supposed to mouth pipette, which is why I’m surprised they restarted. You mix different percentages of each varietal and when the group develops their preferred blend, the sommeliers tasted it, and rewarded a prize to the “winner”. Everyone gets an opportunity to order their preferred blend when they get home. It was fun and I looked into ordering the kit and have a wine blending party shoreside. Because of the passing around of glasses, it may not be done the same way these days.

Now THAT makes me angry. Not sure how the staff could police that behavior, but how could you be so selfish - go sit on your balcony!

There were some bigger delays during Covid, but IIRC, we sent ours in 2020 during the height of the shutdown for the very reasons you are discussing (the date of expiration vs when we thought we would need it again), even in summer 2020, we got them back in about 2 and 1/2 months.

There are also drawers in the bathroom render the sink. Lots of drawer storage, agree hanging space a bit less than E class, but not impossible. I’ve been in an inside on Edge, with DH. A bit less storage than an IV, but still reasonable for a week or for one person.

I was ok with it for the same reasons on a cooler weather cruise. DH didn’t like it, but I’m the balcony sitter and he’s the napper. I think it would be awful for the Caribbean, personally. My understanding is that it improves fuel efficiency, so don’t look for them to go away.

I think there have been some staffing issues recently that have led to fewer servers walking through the buffet. The first morning after embarkation may be especially short handed

Don’t want to bother you, but is there any color in the trees yet?

LOL, I guess so.. I think you gotta at least set up live chat to bill! I do wonder if the original poster asked about or was offered Paxlovid. I didn’t take it when I had my bout of Covid, but my symptoms were fairly brief- by the time it occurred to me that maybe I should call about it, I was starting to feel much better.

Uhh, we sailed in Equinox and Silhouette pre-Covid in Blu and you could NOT order off MDR menu, the galley is way off at the other end of the ship. Luminae yes, Blu no. I don’t know about Millenium, and I think you may be able to order from MDR in Blu on Edge because the dining is stacked.

Sorry to hear this and on such a special anniversary too! Rest, hydrate and keep the Tylenol or anti - inflammatory meds up.

I was on Apex in May, the first cruise after the April TA. At a wine tasting the cellar master was telling some of us about their woes on the TA - they had run completely out of some wines that were their typical pkg wines, and were starting to make big inroads into some of the better wines that were available in smaller amounts. I didn’t hear all of what was said, but it sounded like they were going to get restocked, but supply would be an issue for some time going forward - she just didn’t know what the next months would look like. The other problem is staffing - sommeliers were super busy, even with a little over half full ship. If you show an interest in wine, they will do their best, and if you are upfront with the sommelier about willingness to try different things, they will get you something. I would be hesitant to press, though and understanding of their situation- if Total Wine is running low, the ship will be running low, LOL. I don’t like to bring wine onboard, I’d rather be introduced to new wine onboard, but our upcoming trip, we may pick up a few bottles in Italy, using this concern as an opportunity to try some wines we will never be able to get at home, hopefully for a good price!

My first cruise was at about age 35, I had 2 small children and a busy medical practice. My only goal in cruising was relaxation. Cruising was a revelation to us, not only did someone else do the dishes and cooking and drive the transportation, you didn’t have to decide where to go to dinner - just show up at the right time and decide what to eat! Fast forward a few years and we are on a 20th anniversary Med cruise, our first time in Europe. Only 7 days because we couldn’t be gone from kids any longer. This was a very port intensive cruise, but it was comforting for us to go back to the “US” to sleep each night. We actually stopped cruising at that point, but that trip did launch us into a decade of traveling to Europe, mostly with our kids. Fast forward 20 years, and we have mixed those 2 aspects of cruising. Most of our trips are chosen for ports, and we are beginning to do more exotic trips (we had had a plan for South America, maybe Pacific, Asia, but Covid has obviously thrown that out the window, we are booked up through 2023 with Europe, Canada). We still are doing a Caribbean a year, but we don’t have to fly to FLL, so that decreases the cost a bit. We only get off the ship in a few ports in the Caribbean. We preferred the different types you are asking about at different times in our lives. We still like an occasional just relax trip, but it is much less important now. The type of trip heavily influences what cabin we book, with the other driver of cabin type being what class ship, of course. We tend to book suites in the Caribbean, they are a little cheaper and we know we are going to spend a lot of time on board, so the Retreat is more valuable. Port intensive trip, we just need a bed, and maybe a balcony 😉

I think a lot of the frozen drinks at the bars can be made virgin, for a slushie or a thinner milk shake. Smoothies are made at the Spa Cafe (breakfast and lunch) and Eden Cafe (breakfast and lunch).A real milkshake made of ice cream with or without milk plus flavoring - I’m not sure about how to get that, maybe a good question for the kid’s staff? I know you used to be able to get a real affrogato at Al Bacio (gelato with an espresso), but not sure about now.

Silent disco is a dance party with usually 3 DJs and head sets with 3 channels - red, blue and green. You put on your headset, pick your preferred channel and dance. No on can hear your music, but you, although you can tell what’s popular by the he’d set lights. It is a hoot, both for the participants and the spectators. Groups of people randomly start yelling and waving their arms in the air.

I’m bumping this back up because I haven’t seen many people posting what is actually happening at the pier. Maybe there just haven’t been enough post Sept 5 cruises to know.

They do have one, usually in the Caribbean. Suspended for Covid. Not always, very ship though

If you are receiving OBC from your TA, I don’t think it shows up until you board, though. It can be easy to use all your early OBC with a few pre-books. 😉

First night, after dinner, your sommelier should come around and try to sign you up for the wine tastings. They have not been having the Riedel tasting on every cruise. You will need to ask about the VC dinner. If you are in the MDR and it looks like they are short on wine stewards, you might want to volunteer that you are interested in the special events - they’ve been pretty short handed, at least in May. If you order from your sommelier onboard s/he gets credit for the sale and will be instantly more attentive. We usually buy from our dining room sommelier, the only exception being on Edge class MDR where we would spread our orders a bit since we visit all 4 MDRs. Theres lots of availability for the regular wine tastings, they don’t fill up. The VC dinner is the one you will need to get your name on, they only do it if there’s enough interest and it’s first come, first served.

They used to do the Indian dinner on Reflection as well. Quite good.

Caymus is an excellent example of a big, beefy California Cabernet. Pre-Covid the group that produces Caymus had some sort of preferred business relationship with Celebrity and you could almost always get Caymus and Mer Soleil, which is their line of Chardonnay. Even the special Malbec. Most big reds like that get drunk too early on the ship for my taste, so I stick with the cheaper more approachable reds or the Opulence, which isn’t cheap, but is quite good. Maybe we can share a glass onboard in a few weeks!

All S-class veranda staterooms, AQ, suites, etc all have balconies. Some are different sizes and shapes, you can puzzle a lot of that out fr9m the deck plans.