1SGCruiser

We ate there on our Apex cruise in early '22.  It was our worst dinning experience of ALL of the various venues.  The food was nothing special and the service was equally mediocre.

On 4/21/2020 at 7:32 PM, jonthomas said:

Definitely nothing this year. 

I agree completely.  MAYBE 2021 by mid-year.....

1 minute ago, Fouremco said:

I'm not sure that the requirement constitutes a breach of contract.

The fact that the circumstances changed after signing up for and paying some money toward a cruise doesn't necessarily constitute a breach of contract -e ven though it's definitely a change of the contract terms.  But, if Celebrity changed its fitness-to-sail restrictions - it doesn't really matter why (i.e., they can't sail at all - unlike just a change of ports, etc) after signing up for a cruise AND then does not offer a full refund OR just offers FCC which is likely useless due to the new restrictions, that (IMHO) would then constitute breach of contract.  I'm not a lawyer so I could be completely wrong. 

3 minutes ago, clojacks said:

I didn't mean to make it appear as if I wasn't in favor of those of you waiting for refunds to continue to push for them....just, I think there should be a much larger outcry against the current management teams silence.

While I agree that communication from Celebrity has been non-existent WRT refunds and other topics, when it comes to money, it becomes personal very quickly.  Larger-picture concerns may become lost in the personal focus.

Surely the point is learning where, when and why mistakes are made so they never happen again. 

  
 
      No, it wasn't Fake News ... no, it was "merely drive-by lamestream media hype." And no, COVID-19 is not "just the flu, just the sniffles." And no, it's not "going to be gone in a month or two and everyone will forget it."

33 minutes ago, kitty9 said:

What do you mean, we’ve been played?   This is not some photoshopped thing. Just go to triblive.com and put “parked aircraft” in the search box. 

It's not that he believes that the picture is fake.  I think he means that, in his mind, the pandemic is a hoax - or at least it's been overhyped relative to its importance and danger to the world's population.  Therefore,  our lives and the economy are paying an unnecessary price due to this sequestering policy.  I'm sure he'll let me know if I've mistakenly represented him.

15 minutes ago, oceangoer2 said:

does anyone think RCL will crash and burn leaving all deposits in bankruptcy court?

I think many of the cruise lines are in the same boat (sorry!).  We may see many fewer cruise lines after this is all done. 

Due to that concern, we cancelled our October 2020 TA on Apex - even though the final payment wasn't due until 24 July.  We did it early for three reasons: 1) We doubt things will clear up sufficiently by October, 2) I'm over 70 and doubt my doctor would sign the permission to cruise letter for me and lastly 3) Our chances of getting our deposit and airfare refunds back are better now than later when Celebrity may be more cash strapped  or even bankrupt.

1 hour ago, jerryd1 said:

The email that you receive when you book your flights thru Celebrity will say  "FLIGHTS by Celebrity Confirmation" and in the fine print at the bottom of the email it usually says the reservation is refundable, refundable with a fee, non refundable or something similiar. 

Thanks!  You are correct. 

Here's what my flight confirmation paperwork says (in part), "You have purchased REFUNDABLE WITH FEE airline tickets through our FLIGHTS by Celebrity program, please note that airline cancellation penalties may apply."

Earlier today, we confirmed with the rep that the full amount would be refunded.  So, due to the current situation, the airlines must have waived the cancelation fee.

11 minutes ago, harz99 said:

Was your booking made with a normally non refundable deposit, or was the deposit always refundable if you cancelled please?

Yes, refundable.  There was no non-refundable verbiage on our booking reservation paperwork and the rep today also said it was refundable. 

11 minutes ago, cjcruiser27 said:

Did you have refundable air booked through Celebrity?

They were definitely booked online directly through Celebrity Air.  However - and I know this will sound silly, but I didn't know if they were refundable or not until we called Celebrity this morning and asked.  The rep didn't seem to know either and he had to leave us on hold for a couple of minutes to go to check with Celebrity Air.  When he came back, he said we'd get a full refund.  So, yes!  🙂

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

On another note, folks die, every day. We have a vaccine for the Flu..it kills many every year..yeah, I think this is overblown...call me a skeptic of the panic..every Governor trying to outdo the other on restrictions. The projections of death keep going down.  But I doubt it will ever be gone for good, just like the Flu...

The death projections are diminishing because of the actions that are being taken by those governors 'trying to outdo' each other. 

I was an IT manager for a number of years.  When the Y2K bug issue came along, I and my newly tripled staff spent almost a year fixing the numerous system bugs that we found on many different systems that ran the company.  After many, many hours and a LOT of expense, we successfully mitigated every single bug in every single system. Then we heard from people with no knowledge of the issues that were fixed and efforts needed to fix them, say, 'See?  The world didn't come to the end like everyone said it would.  Boy was that scare overblown!"  

The fact was then as it is now, the reaction to these situations are NOT overblown.  It only appears that way to some. 

21 minutes ago, treehugr said:

Wow, that is quite the vacation. Would definitely be a bucket list trip for my wife and I. Sorry it didn't work out this time, but live to cruise another day.

Thanks!

We absolutely love traveling in general - and specifically cruising too.  Since I semi-retired in 2015 and fully retired on 2017, we've tried to travel on an extended trip as often as possible.  While visiting Europe - normally during October and November (cooler, pretty and less crowds), we move to a new city every 2-3 days. We then do extensive exploring of that city and surrounding area on day-trips.  We travel exclusively by train on a Eurail pass for maximum flexibility.  We love getting 'lost' while exploring.  Our trips are normally 3-6 weeks and normally include a transatlantic back to the US.  We travel light  with just one carry-on suitcase each and we do laundry once a week.  For us, it's the best way to travel.  The cruise home at the end is very enjoyable and relaxing after moving so much during the land portion. 

We still hope to do the land portion this year and look forward to cruising again when this all settles down.

6 minutes ago, downsmead said:

1SGcruiser - you have done extremely well 👍. There are so many people that cancelled their cruise back in March (online or via a phone call) that have received nothing from X; no email, cruise still showing on cruise planner. 

It certainly seems that way.  Now we just need to get the CC refunds in the timeframes stated by the rep and then I can relax about it.  But, remaining positive, Yes!  it seems to have gone well.

We were booked on the October 22nd through November 5th, 2020 transatlantic on the Apex.  It was to be  preceded by a  land trip starting on 1 October in UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. 

Due to our belief that cruising will be iffy before at least sometime next year - and more likely to be after a vaccine is created, tested  and ready for distribution, natural immunity increases and better treatments become available, we decided to cancel earlier today.  It doesn't help that I'm 71 and would possibly require a letter from my doctor to cruise and that is unlikely to happen.   We still have time to decide for the land portion of the trip and we still hope we're able to go. 

We called Celebrity around 11:00 EDT today.  The call was answered immediately and we were talking with a rep within a minute.  Here's some info regarding our circumstances and what we did and were told:

1. Our cruise deposit was fully refundable (could also have possibly received credit)
2. Airfare through Celebrity Air was fully refundable (could also have possibly received credit)
3. We canceled both the cruise and our flights - and received a cruise cancelation confirmation number.
4. We should expect cruise refund within 30 days
5. We should expect our airfare refund within 1-2 credit card billing cycles
6. We received an email within five minutes with our shore cancelled excursions (paid via perk)
7. Within 5 minutes I checked online at Celebrity and our booked cruise had been removed
8. Within 5 minutes I checked online at American Airlines and our flights had been removed.

All in all, it appears to have gone very well.  As long as our refunds show up.  It's really sad as my wife and I really wanted to go on the Apex.  Maybe next year.

On 4/3/2020 at 3:50 PM, EscapeFromConnecticut said:

yet some folks on CC are still asking if the June cruises will sail. I suspect most of them are the same ones who dismissed real news reports of this virus in January and February (and dear God, even into March) with the witless "Fake News!" and "lamestream media hype!" replies. They swallowed the lies.

It appears to be that you are quite correct - not only on CC, but throughout the US too.  Personally, I believe the medical experts who saw this early and said this is not just like the flu and that it's now going to be a long time before we're through this.

We have a transatlantic scheduled on the Apex  starting in late October.  We'll be cancelling that before final payment is due in July.

9 minutes ago, zitsky said:

I get the impression that CC doesn't want anything posted that could hurt the cruise industry???

You may very well be correct.  However, that's very short-sighted IMHO.  Open and honest discussions that allow for differing opinions and points of view will do nothing to hurt the industry and will make this a better place for those who want balanced and honest information - and not just useless head-in-the-sand pollyanna puff posting. 

On 4/3/2020 at 3:50 PM, EscapeFromConnecticut said:

  Head-in-the-sand denial is not optimism. And right now, it's downright dangerous.

Absolutely true!

1 hour ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

The CC monitors have been removing anything critical of cruising and projected timelines for returning to cruising that don't meet their very optimistic - and wrong headed - projections.  Its sad that we have to endure this type of censorship.

Removing posts that don't personally threaten or insult is not only wrong, it's abhorrent.

1 hour ago, Host Anne said:

Following the news is everyone's first mistake.

This board is discussing the news regarding this pandemic event and Celebrity's actions and future  - and you don't listen to ANY news?  I'm confused. 

We are all certainly able to make our own choices regarding how we feel about and react to what's happening as well as the way it's reported.  However, being uninformed might not be the best basis toward making meaningful contributions.

1 hour ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

"Hope" does nothing to solve the crisis.  Claiming it will be over in days, in time for the next scheduled cruise, doesn't solve the crisis.  Claiming it doesn't affect Americans doesn't solve the crisis.  

[snip]

This is the "new normal."  Get used to it.  Don't put your head in the sand and rely on an inexperienced reality TV show host for guidance.  Several governors are providing wonderful and timely information - follow their guidance.

As they say, "Hope, is not a strategy (or a plan)."  Dwelling on the negative alone is not good either, but ignoring reality because it's painful - or listening to some fool telling us that this will be over in a couple of weeks is, well, foolish.  Listening to people who actually have a clue while helping and looking out for each other and being realistic about what's going on will help us all get through this.

Great idea to post pictures!

Here's a picture taken on November 2, 2017 as part of our westbound Transatlantic Cruise on the Silhouette from Civitavecchia to Ft Lauderdale, FL.  It was a pre-cruise day in Rome and this is the Spanish Steps.   Certainly more people in this shot than we'd see today, I'm sure.

3 hours ago, BelloMundo said:

Not to us.

I'd say this is a very fair offer from Celebrity who is dealing with something that is fast-moving and completely out of their control.  

We were just with her on the Silhouette TA ( she was wonderful). She told us she was going to the Eclispe and then back to the Silhouette.

It seems she is a very polarizing personality. People seem to either love her or hate her. I was on the recent TA on the Silhouette and found her style and presentation to be grating and her lack of appearances and energy to be disappointing. On the plus side, CD’s have extremely little to do with my cruise enjoyment or lack thereof, so I had a good time in spite of Sue.

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I am looking at a Celebrity cruise that arrives in Civet port at 5am. I am looking at a flight that leaves 9:55am. How quick has everybody experienced getting off the ship at that port? Then getting a shuttle service to the airport?

 

Thanks!

 

Tim

As stated by others, there is virtually no chance of making a 0900 flight. The actual release time by Celebrity, the drive time, traffic, customs, check-in and buffer time - as well as many other potential complications make your early flight plan off by at least 3 hours.

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