Celebrity will be restarting cruising out of St. Maarten on June 5th with Millennium

[highway180]

Just now, ipeeinthepool said:

 

I'm sorry that it took a global pandemic, but eliminating self service buffets is a good thing.  There are just too many people without manners.

Agreed!

[Orator]

2 minutes ago, lizinindy said:

Reading through the full report.....I didn’t see anything about it specifically, but I hope they eliminate the “serve yourself” buffets.

Celebrity and other cruise lines are risking their future on the health of passengers. I suspect that they will institute all health measures including no self service and mask requirements.

[terrydtx]

12 minutes ago, jelayne said:

To my knowledge there is no national database.  We were given a document from the Department of Health with the dates and doses of our vaccination.  

Not the same as the card that my family in another state received.

We received a card showing the dates of both our shots when we got our vaccinations from CVS Pharmacy but we were told that CVS is keeping a national data base of all who are vaccinated in case it is required down the road.

Edited March 19, 2021 by terrydtx

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, cdcummings said:

Hello, does the passage below from LLP’s email convey that we MUST book flights through Celebrity and that we will not have the option of booking flights independently?

 

“Take advantage of special air and sea pricing offering exceptional savings on all Summer 2021 St. Maarten sailings starting at $1,999* per person for a veranda stateroom. The offer applies to new bookings and flights must be booked through Flights By Celebrity and prices include airfare taxes. No promotional code is needed.”

 

What are your thoughts?

If I take advantage of one of these sailings I would be going solo.  Does that mean 2x for flights as well as stateroom? I also have a flight voucher to use so not sure how that would work. 

[silkismom]

I just looked up flts from CO to SXM--only Sat & Sun show AA ones with less than 24 hours and 2 stops. Hopefully AA will add more flts by then.

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, CruisersTimesThree said:

Was surprised to read that you will be allowed off the ship to do as you please, not tied into a cruise line only sponsored excursion! 

This is great news going forward!  We're all vaxed and hopefully looking forward to our Reflection cruise in Jan!

*UPDATE* I know I read the above in the first release, I think they may have changed it since I first saw it.

I c&p this from the article, so my above info is probably wrong

 

Celebrity will offer a range of curated tours for all interests and price points at every port of call. Private Journeys and Small Group Discovery Tours will also be available for those guests preferring to explore the destinations with only members of their family or traveling companions.

I have no interest if I'm only allowed to get off the ship by using a tour on these port stops.

[highway180]

Just now, terrydtx said:

We received a card showing the dates of both our shots when we got our vaccinations from CVS Pharmacy but we were told that CVS is keeping a national data bas of all who are vaccinated in case it is required down the road.

If you are a CVS regular customer, and use their app, the vaccination shows in your prescription list.

[drakes2]

3 minutes ago, highway180 said:

Agreed!

I hate the self serve buffers. I will run in to get some cheese and crackers for an afternoon nibble with wine but that's the extent of it. 

[terrydtx]

8 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Passengers under 18 years of age do not have to be vaccinated, they only require the negative PCR test. Given the current lack of approved vaccines for children under 18, Celebrity has perhaps understandably chosen a somewhat riskier approach in order to maximize its potential passenger base. I wonder how many of the CC members who have posted in a number of current threads that they would not cruise unless ALL passengers and crew members were vaccinated will view these cruises as a non-starter for themselves.

I should have added the part about under 18, but when and if vaccinations are available for under 18, I would hope Celebrity requires them as well. However this will not keep us off the ship so it is not a deal killer for us.

[Ashland]

6 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

I'm sorry that it took a global pandemic, but eliminating self service buffets is a good thing.  There are just too many people without manners.

No reason not to offer staff served buffets just like they do during noro outbreaks onboard.

[PTC DAWG]

39 minutes ago, verizon said:

Sorry Celebrity I won't cruise with you as long as AI is involved.

 

Way to stay on point...

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, highway180 said:

If you are a CVS regular customer, and use their app, the vaccination shows in your prescription list.

I was told that they were keeping records online for non customers.  We are CVS customers so I am not worried. The real problem is, our county health department is a provider and they are keeping no records of vaccinations other than a card you get from them. This was why we waited until CVS was offering vaccinations. CVS was also much more organized as our City and county were offering public vaccinating at the Alamo Dome with hundreds of people waiting in lines hours to get their shots. 

[Stevanb]

How are they planing to get passengers a SARS-CoV-2 test  before you fly home  and If you test positive are you on your own

[CaroleSS]

I didn't see anything about masks. If the crew and all passengers are vaccinated, will masks be required onboard?

[ECCruise]

1 minute ago, CaroleSS said:

I didn't see anything about masks. If the crew and all passengers are vaccinated, will masks be required onboard?

No one knows at present.

They will, I presume, list parameters once they are available to book in a week.

[highway180]

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

I was told that they were keeping records online for non customers.  We are CVS customers so I am not worried. The real problem is, our county health department is a provider and they are keeping no records of vaccinations other than a card you get from them. This was why we waited until CVS was offering vaccinations. CVS was also much more organized as our City and county were offering public vaccinating at the Alamo Dome with hundreds of people waiting in lines hours to get their shots. 

Same situation here. The State run website was a disaster, and is still not much better. I found going directly to CVS dot com was the easiest way to get an appointment, was a very smooth process, and I have a permanent record with CVS, along with the generic card given out.

[cinlo]

4 minutes ago, Stevanb said:

How are they planing to get passengers a SARS-CoV-2 test  before you fly home  and If you test positive are you on your own

Exactly what I was wondering.  Far as I know, US is still going to require that negative test within 72 hours of arrival......

[Baron Barracuda]

Strikes me as odd that a cash-starved line like X, restarting with a single ship, would choose Millie over larger S or Edge class.

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, highway180 said:

Same situation here. The State run website was a disaster, and is still not much better. I found going directly to CVS dot com was the easiest way to get an appointment, was a very smooth process, and I have a permanent record with CVS, along with the generic card given out.

Our county and city run operation was even worse here. There is no way to register online, when vaccination appointments open up you have to call to make an appointment which I tried early on for several days and when I finally got a call through I got a recorded message that all appointments had been booked and to please call back later. When you get an appointment you still had to wait in lines with hundreds of people for hours. CVS has been a godsend for seniors here in South Texas.

[RedneckBob]

Good news but can someone tell me where is the cruise terminal is in St Maarten ?

[BigAl94]

3 minutes ago, RedneckBob said:

Good news but can someone tell me where is the cruise terminal is in St Maarten ?

St Maarten cruise port guide | Telegraph Travel

[BigAl94]

It will be interesting to see if these cruises actually happen as envisaged, I have my doubts.

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, RedneckBob said:

Good news but can someone tell me where is the cruise terminal is in St Maarten ?

On the Island.  Sorry couldn't resist, it is about 10 minutes from the airport. in Philipsburg on the southeast Dutch end of the island.  It is not a very big island. It is called the Port of St. Marteen. 

[dallasdan]

47 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

I wonder what type of proof of vaccination the cruise line will require? Hopefully it’s something that Celebrity can verify with some sort of national database. I would be very concerned about some people lying about their vaccination status in order to cruise again.

With Hippa laws I don't think a cruise line can access your health records.  The forging of vaccine cards will be a big market.  The negative test results I received when tested for covid to travel last year could have been easily forged.  I think the sad reality is there will be people on the cruise that have forged their documents.

 

[fragilek]

37 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Passengers under 18 years of age do not have to be vaccinated, they only require the negative PCR test. Given the current lack of approved vaccines for children under 18, Celebrity has perhaps understandably chosen a somewhat riskier approach in order to maximize its potential passenger base. I wonder how many of the CC members who have posted in a number of current threads that they would not cruise unless ALL passengers and crew members were vaccinated will view these cruises as a non-starter for themselves.

 

As far as I know, these cruises are not limited to US residents. Consequently, you need to consider international databases, and I don't see that happening. Many (most?) countries don't have a national vaccination database, let alone one that can be accessed by Celebrity. But your question of what type of proof will be required is an excellent one, and one of many questions to which Celebrity has yet to provide answers. 

Got the Celebrity email in Scotland - we don't have any proof of Vaccination at all. We just get either a letter or a phone call to go get it.  I only had the phone call. So not sure how we can provide proof,  The doctors have made it clear they do not want to be writing individual letters for each person wrt travel re vax status.  But as yet no resolution.