prmssk

I got a good laugh this morning when I went to look at the deck plan for our next cruise only to find all of the staterooms had disappeared (it was all white space) on every deck. The deck plans looked normal when I looked later in the day but probably was part of the website issues they are having today.

Celebrity actually suggests this as one way to make use of your Retreat Host so although it is not something I personally would do, I’m not sure I would go so far as calling some entitled for accepting a service offered to them. https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/cruise-butler

There is no loyalty discount for upgrading via Indulge. You are already getting a discount over upgrading internet and the beverage package separately.

On more than one occasion Celebrity has used 3% as the threshold to mandate masks (not the CDC’s 0.3%). If masks were mandated when the number of cases hit 0.3%, essentially all cruise ships sailing in US waters would require masks as almost all of them are orange on the CDC’s website.

This is changing fast as EU countries drop all COVID protocols.

So is the pharmacy steering you towards a PCR instead of a rapid test? If so, I would ignore the advice. All three Walgreens tests (antigen, NAAT, and the PCR) have been consistently accepted for cruising. There is absolutely no reason to do the PCR test that might not have results back in time. I would stick with your original plan to go Sunday and get the rapid test. The pharmacist may be thinking of other travel. Initially, the only one accepted for flying to many countries was the PCR (I'm not sure that is true anywhere anymore). Those initial requirements are why many of the pharmacies have a note that the rapid tests might not be suitable for travel.

Just a word of warning that "reef friendly" as some brands like Banana Boat advertise is not actually reef safe. All the Banana Boat ones I saw on Amazon still contain one of the ingredients that is banned in places like the US Virgin Islands and Hawaii. You need to find one where the active ingredient is a mineral like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Or just cover up instead of using sunscreen.

The only way to get the loyalty discount is to call to purchase the upgrades. You might be able to cancel and re-book the upgraded but there will not be any credit onboard or automatic adjustments to what you already purchased. If both people in your cabin are upgrading internet and the drink package, you may want to consider upgrading to the Indulge instead of upgrading each individually as it is likely cheaper.

Princess Plus went up from $40pp/pd to $50pp/pd on May 25 for all cruises going forward.

He will probably face less questions if he has a negative test. Most people I have heard are only using the letter of recovery if they are still testing positive.

Yes

My guess is the price of your cruise went down which is why you saw a smaller difference between the price you booked at and the current Plus price and so you were able to re-price your cruise to include Princess Plus at a cheaper price than originally. Fares go up and down based on supply and demand. My cruise coming up this month, I have re-priced four times because the price kept going down. My cruise last February only went up (significantly) after I booked the cruise.

In November, on the Constellation, they had an “In the Spotlight “ insert in the daily program one day that had photos and a bio of all the top officials. Have they not been doing that on other ships since the restart?

Mine first said it arrived in Bensenville, IL at the exact same time it arrived in Jamaica, NY! 🤷🏼‍♀️ Then several days later it finally was in possession of USPS in Los Angeles, CA. Two days later it was in my mailbox in Alabama. You should receive yours soon! I personally think the tracking info before it is in possession of USPS is probably not very accurate.

But what is the value price? The high markup drink package price that many wouldn’t purchase (without AI)? The cost to Celebrity of the drinks is much lower. The number that matters to Celebrity is their profit. And people don’t drink the same when they have a drink package compared to paying by the drink so it’s not a simple tallying up of drinks consumed.

COVID was rampant even on Princess ships (and ships of every cruise line) in January and into February while mask mandates were in place. The initial Omicron which ramped up right around New Year's was a huge challenge for all cruise lines. Just because you didn't hear about it doesn't mean it wasn't an issue.

The threads I have read talked about the fact that less people on board meant less tips and thus less income for them. Visas are part of the challenge. The embassies are so backed up for appointments that people can't get the visas they need. Getting people with the right vaccines (or re-vaccinating them if they were vaccinated with one that is not WHO approved) also adds challenges. I also think that when we hear stories about a specific crew member wanting to come back but can't, those are isolated stories (where we may not have all the facts) and not really representative of what is happening. The fact that Carnival Corp is working with Jamaica to hire 10,000 new crew from Jamaica to fill the gaps tells me they are struggling to find people willing and able to come back. And this isn't just an issue for cruising. Just in the last couple days, the news was reporting on the fact that there aren't enough lifeguards to open all community pools across the country. Additionally, hotels and restaurants all over are really struggling to find workers. The reality is far more complicated than they just aren't letting experienced crew come back or the cruise lines are trying to save a buck.

Under Always Included, minors get the same drink package as the adults. They just won't be served any alcohol. So they will be able to order juices, sodas, bottled water, coffees, teas, and mocktails. And yes, Celebrity allows just one person to upgrade. I often upgrade to Premium and my husband keeps the Classic.

For those wanting to transfer photos between Apple devices (iPhones, iPad, MacBook), there is an amazing feature called AirDrop. Neither device has to be on Wi-Fi or the same network. You don’t even have to reduce the file size. You just have to turn AirDrop on in the settings. Usually under General under Settings. The advantage to this over sending by e-mail is your phone never has to be connected to the internet for it to work. So you don’t have to switch the internet between devices.

It should ship any day for you as it is usually around 20 days. For our 6/18 cruise, we got the e-mail notification that it had shipped 5/31 and I am expecting to find them in our mailbox when I get home this evening. If for some reason it does not arrive, it is very easy to get at the port.

The biggest differences are in the vibe and energy level. Princess is more of a traditional, quieter, low key experience. You will still find trivia, game shows, live music, evening shows, etc. but you won't find the real active activities of Royal (waterslides, rock climbing walls, etc.). Princess has a show every night usually a different one every night and you don't need reservations to attend (although plan on getting there early if you want a good seat). The shows are good but they aren't the amazing quality of the Broadway and Aqua Shows on the Oasis class ships. The MDR and buffet are pretty similar and I have had great food and service on both lines. Specialty dining is a bit cheaper on Princess but there are less options than many of the Royal ships. Princess has more all inclusive options so you can avoid the variable and high costs of internet and drink packages that many purchase on Royal. For $50/day/person, you can get a Princess Plus fare which includes gratuities, internet, and a beverage package. Princess is just now introducing an even more inclusive fare which goes into effect for sailings starting June 25.

Yes, the five remaining ships that show "coming soon" have not been revolutionized yet. They were all on the schedule when COVID hit. I have not seen any timeline to restart the revolution process. If you want a ship that has all the Retreat features, you can ignore those five.

The Edge class ships (Edge, Apex, Beyond, Ascent, were built with the Retreat. Here is the website about the Revolution of the older ships: https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-ships/celebrity-revolution?cid=ps_mest_goog_rtlgnr_1702_dtak_albr_us_4966&&cid=ps_mest_goog_rtlgnr_1702_ship_albr_us_8029&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqPGUBhDwARIsANNwjV7OFqFg-8sP66pFVDilb3rOQ9rNe8cBsOiL_7FPQbr5UgT2nrATGfAaAv-QEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds Someone correct me, if I'm wrong, but I believe the Equinox is the one that didn't get the full revolution.

She was in dry dock last July for general maintenance. At the time, she also got a lot of upgrades to the interior (carpet, paint, furniture, etc.) but she was not revolutionized. Michael's Club still is Micheal's Club and there is no Retreat deck. She really was in great shape when I was on her last November for her first cruise after the restart.

But is this still true of those fully vaccinated, especially those boosted? Case numbers are really going up fast in my state (even with people using more home tests that don't get reported) but hospitalization are not at all. Just compare CDC's transmission level map with their community level map for the US and you will be surprised at how many counties have very high levels of transmission but are still green on community level maps because higher cases aren't having an effect on the health care system (it's a red map compared to a green map).