Markanddonna

We have about 10 transatlantic, transpacific, and two weeks and longer sailings under our belt. We enjoyed the ones pre pandemic, but now it seems so many people become ill as the cruise progresses. On both of our last two TAs (Celebrity 2023 and 2024), a great number of people became progressively ill with that cruise cough. Posting on our roll call indicated several tested positive for COVID and quite a few people whose post cruise experiences were ruined. We both eventually succumbed. Fortunately, my COVID was very minor, with no fever, coughing, or sneezing. I tested positive once home.

It was irritating that so many people with obvious serious respiratory problems would come to the packed theatres. We have decided that this environment just isn't worth it anymore. Our only COVID experiences have been the result of these two TAs. Actually, we haven't been sick at all except for cruising. From now on, we will stick to land travel and shorter cruises, which haven't been a problem for us. No more TAs.

Our last Celebrity cruise was supposed to be fixed dining. We assumed we would be seated with a group of strangers which usually works out very well. Not this time. We were put at a two top and no one was seated next to us until the very end. 

We sought the advice of the staff and they said to just show up at any of the four Apex dining rooms and we would be seated. Most of the time, that worked out quite well, but we found it tiresome to introduce ourselves to new people each night. Each night, for two weeks, it was a new set of people.

We enjoy having the same group at the MDR each night. Instead of the trivia of getting the basics on people, you can focus on what exciting things they did in port and their plans for the next day. 

One of the nice features of traditional dining has now been replaced with a much inferior experience. 

The excursion described in Maruzel's post sounds like it would be a very nice experience for Roman Catholics. I've been to the House of the Virgin Mary, and it is something Catholics would appreciate despite the lack of real evidence that it is based on history or real archaeology. The site is based on a 19th century nun's vision.  

1 hour ago, doghog said:

Glad we had a DPV on our Apex cruise. Checked out an IV while onboard. We made the correct decision going for the DPV. We have another DPV booked on our September Edge cruise. Same cabin location and cabin number. No issue with the balcony size/configuration.  

On some cruises, the balcony might be well used. Not really the case on a TA. It was nice to have a place to check the weather and the scenery. 

We were recently on a transatlantic on the Apex and had this type of room. I believe they may only be about 8 of them on each side of Deck 6. They were wonderful and the cost was around $1,160 pp. These were not the infinite balconies and I am having a hard time finding them again. I noted they are now included in the veranda category for a higher price, similar to a regular veranda. 

There is a balcony with chairs and a table but the view is not full like a regular balcony. We don't use a balcony much on a transatlantic, so this was perfect. Recommended if you can get it for a lower price. The category is p2.

Here is the website that provides Catholic priests. It is the Apostles at Sea Program.

I find it interesting that the ships often assume that Protestants would be okay with a priest conducting their service. On one cruise, a member of the entertainment staff gave the message during a joint service onboard. He was phenomenal and quite dynamic. I felt sorry for the priest who had to co-officiate with them.

Summary: A Sunday mass would require a priest to officiate, and there is some cost involved for the cruise line. Protestant services cost nothing except the use of a room.

 https://www.aos-usa.org/store/pg/40-About-the-Cruise-Ship-Priest-Program-clone.aspx

8 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Is the priest being given free passage or paid by the cruise line so that they can perform masses on board.  If so I would find this totally unacceptable since this would mean that my cruise fare is being used to provide a religious service that I do not believe in.  This ignores the many people on board who do not believe in catholicism and whose faiths have been treated very badly in the past by the catholic church.  Except for allowing space on board for layperson passengers the cruise lines have no business supporting any religion including mine.

 

DON

Once again, I am not Catholic. Celebrity SAID there was going to be a Catholic mass but got it all wrong. There was no priest. I have been on a number of past sailings with other cruise lines and they gave the priest a free cabin. I believe there is a Catholic organization based in Seattle who organizes priests for cruises. If I were Catholic, I would be very unhappy with this, considering the short of priests, but most are retired who do the cruises. All we requested was a room. My husband and I have led Sunday services twice onboard. Once, we were given the theater and another was a meeting room.

1 hour ago, mom says said:

Not sure what exactly it is that you want? Do you expect every ship on every cruiseline to have a full time Protestant minister, Catholic Priest, Rabbi, Imam (not to mention Buddhist or Shinto, or Orthodox priests) on board to provide for every type of service? Or only some of the above? If so, which ones, and why only those?

 

If you are Catholic, you know that only a priest can say Mass. But anyone can have a prayer service. You may not be aware of this, but there is actually a shortage of priests and deacons in North America. I'm not sure too many diosces would be willing to hire their priests out to a cruise line while their churches go without. However, I know from speaking with our parish priest that many who take a vacation cruise will volunteer to say a Mass. But how HAL can guarantee a priest for every sailing, I don't know. I've never heard of that on any other line.

What was requested was simply the use of a room based on the ship's availability. No priest, no food or supplies. Just a room.

Non-denominational services used to be a common offering and often came together when a person, usually a layman, requested it. Sometimes they were posted in a daily or app, sometimes not. I understand why a cruise line would not want to pay for a priest to perform Roman Catholic mass on a cruise. A non-denominational service costs the ship nothing. I am not a Catholic, but am well aware of the shortage of priests in the USA.

We've been on many transatlantic and one transpacific cruise over the years and enjoyed the various nondenomination services and groups the cruise lines allowed to have room. Some were packed with standing room only, while others had perhaps twelve people who came only on sea days.

We asked on our last two Celebrity cruises, and they didn't allow any religious gatherings, nor would they post any information about religious gatherings. However, they allowed a Muslim prayer gathering in a meeting room last May on the Constellation and had two Shabat services for Jewish people on this past sailing on the Apex. They provided challah bread, prayer books, glasses, and wine! It was self-led. 

I wrote a comment about this to the staff and was contacted several times by phone with a response. No acceptable answer just a response.

After several others also inquired, the Apex relented and posted that there would be a mass at 8:00 in the Club on Sunday morning, our last Sunday onboard. Although not Catholic, I dropped in, only to discover a very nice man inviting me to stay for the non-denominational gathering. It wasn't a Catholic mass at all because there was no priest. The man said the staff was confused and put in the wrong information. So, any Catholic would have been disappointed, and most interested Protestants wouldn't have attempted to go. 

The staff phoned me several times- the first at MIDNIGHT to let me know a Catholic mass was happening the next day. They kept calling, thinking I would be so very happy about this. After several more calls from them, I thanked them and told them to NOT call me again with apologies.

This has been our experience lately on longer sailings. Are other cruise lines equally resistant?  We had an RCL entertainer join us for one sailing about eight years ago and he preached the Sunday service. James was amazing!

I am aware that HAL often provides a priest for Roman Catholics, especially for Alaska cruises.  Any good, recent experiences?

I believe that being around people who sneeze and cough into the air is the main culprit. We were on a TA in early May, and my DH caught the crud during the last two days. I eventually caught something, but it could have been from him or the numerous folks I encountered from a week in Scotland on the trains, buses, museums, etc. Fortunately, it didn't manifest until my first day home, and it is a pretty mild case of COVID. 

We are very careful about vaccines and cleaning hands and surfaces. Unfortunately, I might have used a restroom stall that was previously inhabited by a hacker or sneezer. You just never know, but I believe it is just breathing in the air of others inside buildings or structures such as buses, ships, etc.

Three day Highlands and Isle of Skye. The one day was Rosslyn Chapel, Sterling Castle and Dunfermline. I was on a transatlantic to get to Southampton, took train to Edinburgh and spent a week in Scotland. We are typically independent, on our own types so the Rabbies experience was a delight.

We took two separate tours this past week in Scotland. By far, the three days Rabbies tour was perfect. Andrew, our guide was so knowledgeable, caring, and a great storyteller. Every aspect was great- company communication and descriptions. I would highly recommend Rabbies 15 person tours over driving. We could just sit back and enjoy the views. 

We took a one day tour with a different company that was not as commendable. Not horrible, but inferior.

Here's what we ended up doing: we booked the train thru Birmingham. Everything was going fine until we learned that our train was cancelled due to track problems. No text or email, just conflicting info, esp from Liner who told us we had to change it with the company...waiting on hold ..

We just followed the most common advice and hopped on the next one scheduled an hour later. No problem but arrived 90 minutes later.

We very likely could have made that way Logan Air flight. Zippy debarkation and taxis right there to the left. No stopping for any check.

Hope this helps someone.

19 hours ago, Sleepybluegiraffe said:

There’s also the deluxe porthole veranda cabins which we’re booked on in July for the first time on E class. We chose it after looking at lots of pictures and videos and it seems like a good value choice for us. We don’t sunbathe and are going to Norway so it should meet our needs. 

We are in one right now. Great choice!

I'm onboard right now. You can go whenever. They also offer fixed dining which we signed up for. We ate totally as lone with no one even next to us. I asked for advice and they said to just show up and go to one of the four restaurants and tell them you will share. We noted a couple who refused to share a table and they were told they would have to wait thirty minutes. 

We were seated one night with a nor social group. It was sometimes like crickets and one lady had dementia and an unresponsive manner. We were seated with her two nights in a row and vowed to not have that happen again. I tried addressing her, but she looked fearful and rather vacant. The menu gets tires on me after 13 days.

On Apex now. Kettle yes, hairdryer in center drawer in bathroom.

I haven't seen a priest on a cruise ship since the pandemic. I understand HAL uses them, especially in Alaska. A Protestant group onboard might try to arrange for a room to hold a Sunday service, but they are led by people who may not be clergy. 

Scottie99:For our May 15th disembarkation at Southampton, we made the decision to take the train through Birmingham. We are giving up a half day of touring Edinburgh, but we have less time and higher expenses since we are just a few weeks away. The flights to Glasgow were all sold out, and we decided we didn't want to deal with London airports plus a train either. Not at all happy with Logan Air, but they agreed to refund our fares. I haven't seen a prompt email with that processing yet.

Also I'm looking forward to the statue of Wojtek the bear from WWII Poland.

23 minutes ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

Great. So this means I don't need to check JB’s railway maths, right? 😀

He's always accurate anyway...

Thanks so much, John Bull. You are a wealth of knowledge. We are also starting to have a splitting headache thinking of taking a train to GAT and then a flight. So, we decided to take the 10:15 train to Edinburgh and just chill. The only transfer is at Birmingham, and the platforms are right across from one another. Not stressing when you travel is important, and I think the train/fly combo would put me over the edge. I'm a big planner and even traveled solo last year to Poland using trains and buses around the country. No problem!

We decided to go with the trains when we discovered another ship passenger had the same problem. We will be traveling together.

We have the same problem on the 15th going to Edinburgh. Logan Air's later flight is all sold out so they said our only option is a refund. Egads!

It looks like our best bet is the train through Birmingham with one easy transfer at their station. Not happy we are losing time on our first day. There are other flight/train combos but with luggage added on, they are getting to be too costly and require transfer from train station to airport. The SOU to Glasgow flight on easyjet is sold out.

This amount of money is probably well beyond small claims court.  I'd suggest a single, quick meeting with an attorney, to find out how you can go after this "TA".  The amount of money you mention may put this into a serious legal category.  (IANAL, so I won't speculate about categories or names of crimes, etc.)

It is possible (maybe not probable, but *possible*) that a letter from an attorney will get her to take action that will at least make your family whole, even if it doesn't help others who may have been scammed.

And you all SHOULD file complaints with assorted regulatory agencies, including her state's Attorney General's office.  There may be other victims, but the AG/etc., can't see a pattern if victims don't report.

Absolutely agree with the above!

You learned a very hard lesson. Many people think that a travel agent is a great option. Maybe, but only if you know them or they are from a reputable company. Most often, we prefer to book the cruise through the cruise line.

So sad to hear about this for everyone!

MSC uses a strange policy where the passengers must register their credit cards at the terminal to pay for OB expenses. Most cruise lines do that before you board the terminal upon check-in.

You hear the reminder to register your CC many times before the end of the sailing. I saw someone detained when they tried to debark for this reason. I imagine, as others have said, that you are escorted to the bursars' office to work out the details.