sydbarrett

On 7/21/2022 at 11:37 AM, sasset said:

How was it ultimately resolved?

They moved us to another room and offered us $200 future cruise onboard credit to be used within 2 years which we declined. They also laundered all of our clothes, charged us, then we had to spend time in line again getting the charge reversed, which they did. No one seemed surprised we found a critter. 

On 7/21/2022 at 3:32 PM, DaisyD50 said:

How did you find it ? we always pull up the bottom covers and check out the mattress - but do you have a special light ?

We weren’t even checking for them. Just pulled out the extra bedding from under the bed and saw it crawling around. You almost never see them, especially in the day, so that was really concerning. 

It was 8096 however I would suspect any cabin and everyone should check thoroughly both arriving and leaving. 

We were about 50% on constellation. It felt crazy quiet. By the last few days of the cruise many doors had room service in front and they started tightening up mask restrictions. Still had a lovely time and the staff worked HARD. 

Just disembarked Constellation and we found a live bed bug in our bedding the first night. We trapped it and took a photo and were moved to a different room. Please check everything really well before you unpack! This is the first time this has happened to us travelling but of course it can happen anywhere. Praying we don’t take any “friends” home 😫

Good news! She received a call from the passport office and they gave her an appointment for 8:30am July 4, no waiting in line! She will be able to pick up her passport July 5 and we leave July 6. This was a result of calling in and asking for a transfer to an office that does emergency passports (we still can't believe they called!). She has to bring proof of travel, a new application and photos because they can't find hers (or her original passport) but they can see in their records that she did submit it. They also said they won't charge any additional fees since she applied so long ago. What an incredible relief! 

3 hours ago, Fatcat604 said:

Are you applying it from Vancouver? My sister submit her son application on april 1 at a service canada location, she tried to contacts passport office multiple times, but never get through their phone line. We are leaving in a few week. Hopefully we can get it soon. 

She is in Ontario. The second the phone lines open in your area, start calling. You will have to call maybe 200 times but you'll get through. She applied April 13 and was checking the mail every day, only to learn 2 days ago that they hadn't touched the file yet. You need to know the status of the application so you can plan to do the emergency application if need be. This is where we are at now but at least there's hope. Had she not called she would still be waiting and definitely wouldn't have the passport.

6 hours ago, upwarduk said:

If your docs are ‘live’ on the Celebrity site, the luggage tags will be on the last page.

Ha, you're right, thanks! I swore I read every page but I must have stopped when I learned I needed a visa for Turkey. Slight panic lol

We sail July 11 and no luggage tags available yet. I haven't received an email with edocs but I noticed the docs are on the Celebrity website, just not with luggage tags. We leave July 6 so hoping to get before then.

Thanks for the advice everyone! We now have a game plan. The transfer request has been submitted (may get declined) and she is going to get a brand new application ready and show up at the office the day before we leave at 5am and hope to get through the doors. They are only seeing people travelling within 48 hours so hopefully she will get in. They would then have to produce the passport in 24 hours and she would have to pick it up on the way to the airport. It doesn't sound like getting the old passport back will be a possibility. It ain't over til it's over! 

When you log into the celebrity site you should be able to go to the book excursions or drink packages page, then click order history. it should have what's included on there. I think they advertise drink packages regardless of what you already have.

10 minutes ago, Sabbycat said:

I never book travel without checking my passport first. Renew and then book. Sorry, but always renew your passport first. 

Many of us have had these trips rolling over multiple times since 2020. In my case, my passport had 3 years left on it and I (and by I, I mean the cat) spilled water on it and had to get a new one. In the case of my travel partner, my life circumstances changed greatly and I had one day to switch FCCs to another traveller or they would be lost. She had a valid passport but it expired 5 months after the trip. She had 3 months to get the renewal done, went in right away and was stamped and approved and told by the passport office she would have it on a specific date, 1.5 months before the trip. All of this is to say, everyone has their reasons, these are unusual circumstances, and I think we all know we need to make sure we have a valid passport before booking travel.

On 6/22/2022 at 11:20 AM, OttawaJohn said:

Like far too many, my passport is lost in limbo here in Canada.  Three months after submitting it for renewal and no idea if/when I'll get it.  I am hopeful it'll be returned before our cruise at end of July but losing faith 😞

 

I reached out to Celebrity to see if anything could be done and they quickly said no.  Bit sad and surprised honestly.  Our first cruise with them, was really looking forward to it.  The main thing we hear from those who sailed with them is the great service. 

 

We asked if we could get a FCC, or even just push it to the next sailing, and we'd pay any difference in price.  Anything.  Nope.  Not even sure we'll get back shore excursions or the pre-paid specialty dining reservation.

 

I get it, we're within the final payment window, but just disappointed.  For all the claims of superior service with Celebrity, they don't seem to care about helping with this in any way.

We are in the exact same situation as  you. I applied March 14 due to water damage when I was booking my trip, got my passport mid May. My travel partner applied for a renewal Apr 13 as her passport expires 5 months after the trip. She just called today (took about 150 dials and on hold for an hour) and they havent even TOUCHED her application yet. We are supposed to leave in less than 2 weeks. They said it is not likely she will have it in time but she can line up at 4am on the day we travel to try and get an emergency passport. She may not even get through the doors though.

This is probably more a cautionary tale than anything...but curious to know if anyone else has had a similar experience. My travel partner's passport expires 5 months after the end of our trip and one of the ports we are visiting requires 6 months. She applied for a renewal on April 13, was told that she would have the passport the week of May 23...we travel July 6. She just called the passport office today and found out that her application hasn't even been touched yet, and it doesn't look good that she will have it in time for the trip. Does anyone know if she can get the old passport back and we can just roll the dice with customs? We have been in touch with the cruise line and they suggested this. The passport agent said she can try to line up at 4am the day we travel to see if she can get an emergency passport, but there are no guarantees since everyone is in the same boat. They wont even talk to her unless she is within 24 hours of travelling! I'm heartbroken!

Mine came with 2 codes per test in case one fails and the codes are on a sticker that you place on the test so not the box.

2 hours ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

I wonder how this cuts into Casino revenue. Are people still sitting around for long periods of time while being forced to wear masks?

From what I know of casino people, won't affect revenue at all 🤑

Does anyone know how long it typically takes for the vaccine verification to be completed through the app? I uploaded mine a week ago and it still says pending. I assume all check-in items must be completed before we can print our boarding docs/luggage tags and all that? We are only 3 weeks out...I thought we were able to print everything much earlier before but maybe I'm remembering incorrectly. Thanks!

On 12/31/2021 at 11:46 AM, JessyCruises said:

I just posted this in my live cruise over on RCL but thought I would share it here as well so more of my fellow Canadians would see it.  
 

We just completed our proctored antigen tests that we ordered from Switch Health.  We are boarding a  flight tomorrow morning and scheduled to sail on Oasis on Sunday.  We used these tests for our flight and cruise in October as well.

 

These tests are $79 for 2 if ordered through the Aeroplan member link: https://switchhealth.ca/en/partners/aeroplan/#collectionKits.  They are good to fly INTO thebUS and board your cruise but CANNOT be used in to re-enter Canada at this time. 

 

We ordered these test a few months ago to be prepared.  We logged in at 10:30 AST this morning and it said there was less than 10 people ahead of us.  The agent joined at 10:33.  Hubby and I were able to complete the tests on same video call. 
 

There were two tests in the kit.  We had to put the QR codes on the cassettes and show government issued photo ID.  She did my test first.  She had me take my phone to the QR code on my cassette so she could take a photo.  She then walked me through the specimen collection and dropping the liquid on the cassette. (15 second swabs of each nostril, 15 rotations in the vial, then squeeze out the liquid from the swab, place the cap and drop 5 drops on the cassette).  Then she did the same with hubby.  The call was over by 10:40.  

After 15 minutes we had to upload a photo of our cassette to the website.  Switch then reviewed the results and issued the paperwork. I was done my test a few minutes earlier than hubby so I sent my photo at 10:49 I had the PDF with the results by 10:55.  We had Hubby’s by 11:00.

For home tests to be valid for RCL, they need to be video monitored by a health professional and approved by the FDA.  I know the results for the one we had done in October said Abbott Panio and we had no issues boarding.  The packaging in this kit said this test was SD Bionsensor. I don’t remember what the packaging said last time.

 While I was waiting for my results to come in, I went to the FDA and found the FDA approval for the SD Biosensor.  Looks like it was just issued on 12/24

As you can tell from my photo of my results, they show Abbott this time too.  The two companies must be affiliated. 
 

Assuming there are no more flight mishaps, we appear to be good to go to board!

Thanks so much for posting this! I am just trying to figure out the procedure now as we will be using them in Italy in a few weeks. I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to write our names and times on that card or if they superimpose it when we send the picture. There doesn't seem to be any reference to it in the manual but maybe we leave it blank until they tell us? Thanks again!

On 6/8/2022 at 2:13 PM, ladylemondrop said:

We did video supervised antigen tests, one day prior, and this worked fine for us. 

 This is my plan. I bought 2 tests to bring with me to Venice.

2 hours ago, bama4cruisin said:

The menus are available on the app.  Even if your cruise is not loaded, just select one and then select Dining;  all bars and restaurants are available.

Great info thanks! I was looking for menus online as well.

I'd be surprised if there was a celebration for 4th of July on a European sailing but you could always organize your own! We do nothing for July 4 in Canada even.

You tick off who you are checking in. You don't have to check in on the app at the same time but everyone on the same reservation has to arrive at the pier at the same time and pick the same arrival time.

11 hours ago, georgiaguy said:

I meant this thread more for fun but I should also mention, I am getting older and don’t have the body of a 20 yr old any more but I am happy with my body in general. If fact I ran a half marathon in under 2 hours just a few months ago partly training for it to keep in better shape. Now I just want to make sure I make room for all the delicious food and drink, because for me that makes life worth living.

Best thing about ageing! Accepting what you've got and being happy! Plus all the styles right now (for women anyway) are loose dresses that can easily accommodate seconds and thirds  😎

10 minutes ago, JohnGinPBG said:

We may be in trouble. We'll be in Italy for 18 days prior to our TA in October. Uh-0h.

 

just buy bigger pants!

2 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Starting drinking from 10am -11 pm , get into shape for the drink package 

if you not happy now with the way you look , it is to late to do anything in 2 weeks so drink and be happy 😉

This is good advice. I had to get my drinking tolerance back up so I'm not hung over every day lol. But that's how I gained the extra 7 lbs....