Summit Cruises Canceled

[ch175]

How much longer is the cruise industry going to survive? All of these rules are completely arbitrary, and are set by unelected bureaucrats who are accountable to nobody.

[FlorenceItaly]

Is it possible the sales were poor and they felt like they would be taking a loss in sailing?   Just a guess.

[bandp407]

43 minutes ago, Host Anne said:

 

No....Summit is sailing roundtrip from St. Maarten at the moment so not under the FL law that states you can't ask about vaccinations.  So they've been sailing with 100% vaccinated crew and passengers since she began sailing in June.  

Thanks for clarifying Anne. Good Luck with your flights.

[maggie.1008]

My November 4th cruise was booked in Jan.2020. Sure hope it sails ! Just made final payment. 

[rodndonna]

18 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

Is it possible the sales were poor and they felt like they would be taking a loss in sailing?   Just a guess.

 

I think it is definitely a part of it. We are still VERY early in the restart of the industry, and I expect the inputs  to  making decisions on which ships and dates can sail are many, and constantly in flux.

 

[Oceangoer2]

3 hours ago, marieps said:

Yes I just saw that.  I'm on Sillie's TA.  I fear for the passengers on the early Apex Caribbean schedule.

I'm on the cruise following your TA from Southampton....I'm thinking that Nov. 12th will be cancelled.  Wonder how long it'll take for them to notify us if this indeed happens?

[Oceangoer2]

2 hours ago, Fouremco said:

There have been many posts on CC over the past weeks speculating that these cruises wouldn't sail. It's a pity the Celebrity has once again delayed announcing a cancellation, leaving passengers in the lurch.

I've been following CC posts pretty closely and missed reading any speculation...however, I anticipated this might happen, just not for the reason given....a CDC update to the 'rules'.  Should I wait, or should I cancel now...decisions, decisions.

[Oceangoer2]

1 hour ago, Josie201 said:

Isn't every port an international port and aren't all waters international? 

24 nautical miles out is determined to be international waters...just looked it up after your query on the Roll Call Board.

[PBTravelBug]

Received the same letter this AM.

I am actually rather disappointed with Celebrity.

 

1- Letter is poorly worded 

2- It has seemed something was "up" with Summit for a bit now b/c check-in was funky

3- I have emailed Celebrity several times about the "glitches" with check-in as well as the exact COVID testing requirements. No response - not even an automated "we received your email" response.

 

I understand that times are different & difficult due to the worldwide pandemic however I do not believe intangible concepts such as manners/customer service/decency are able to catch COVID so I expect, since Celebrity has my money on hand for the Summit cruise (and a Constellation & Edge sailing), to respond to a customers correspondence.

[hcat]

4 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

The clause in the CSO reads:

 

*Note: For cruise ship operators with ships that have not been in U.S. waters during the period of the No Sail Order (NSO) or CSO, or voluntarily withdrew their ships, the 60-day period will begin upon: (1) CDC’s confirming to the cruise ship operator in writing that the operator has a complete and accurate NSO response plan, including having submitted to CDC a signed Acknowledgment of No Sail Order Response Plan Completeness and Accuracy; and (2) submission of the EDC form for the 14 days preceding the cruise ship’s expected arrival in U.S. waters.

 

The 14 day window is a legitimate rule but it is odd since Summit already has a Green status and shows approved for Restricted sailings on the CDC site. 

Does Reflection come under this clause?  Where is she? When will she be back to Port Ev?

 

CDC is wearing  us out!

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, Host Anne said:

 

Still makes no sense.  

Anne- Do you want the 800 number to the CDC?  Maybe they will explain it to you so you can report back here. 😎  Sorry for being a wise guy.  But so many things have made no sense to us mere mortals over the past 18 months or so when it comes to the CDC.  This is just another one. 

[canderson]

6 minutes ago, PBTravelBug said:

2- It has seemed something was "up" with Summit for a bit now b/c check-in was funky

Curious ... please describe "funky" in additional detail.  Could serve as a clue to others.

[PBTravelBug]

55 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

I think it is definitely a part of it. We are still VERY early in the restart of the industry, and I expect the inputs  to  making decisions on which ships and dates can sail are many, and constantly in flux.

 

Agree!

I have always had a fond spot in my heart for Celebrity. I booked two cruises in the Spring. Rather than cancel my Edge 1/2021 sailing I moved it to 1/2022. We were booked for the  Summit 9/2. We are fully vaccinated and more than happy to cruise in September (Summit), November (Constellation, January (Edge).

 

At this point I am very disappointed with Celebrity - not b/c of Covid or the CDC but because of things within their control such as returning emails.

 

The Summit 9/2 sailing has been funky for a bit - the check-in was wonky. I was trying to get Celebrity to respond to emails about the check-in and the COVID testing requirements. They never responded. The only email I received was the email this morning announcing the cancellation.

 

Writing this here within this forum in case Celebrity representatives read these posts!

[PBTravelBug]

Just now, canderson said:

Curious ... please describe "funky" in additional detail.  Could serve as a clue to others.

First time I tried to check-in I received a message along the lines of - we are not ready for you. This was about 10 days ago. I was not able to move to the next screen.

 

I tried again a day later and received the same message and was able to move to the next screen but was not able to enter any information.

 

Third time was the charm this week! Still received the - we are not ready for you message - but was able to enter our information along with credit card information. Was not able to select a check-in time.

 

I repeatedly emailed Celebrity (email b/c I wanted a written response) asking about the check-in process as well the specific COVID testing requirements for the 9/2 Summit sailing.

 

Hope this clarifies.

[MR_T]

2 hours ago, bama4cruisin said:

There is a TA call this afternoon. We'll see if they mention this. 

 

2 hours ago, bama4cruisin said:

I will be watching for your update as we’re on the Apex TA, which was a Lift & Shift from last year.

Us too, I’m kind of hoping they just cancel this cruise so we can get our money back and use it on something else within Canada, I’m sick of all the checking for updates 10 times a day and all the changes from day to day 🙄

[TeaBag]

So glad we have nothing booked on Celebrity till the end of 2022 and we might just cancel that too.  We have totally lost our confidence in them.

[jg51]

28 minutes ago, hcat said:

Does Reflection come under this clause?  Where is she? When will she be back to Port Ev?

CDC is wearing  us out!

.

As of a few minutes ago, Celebrity Reflection's location was at coordinates 26.12641 N / -80.07530 W, cruising just off Port Everglades anchorage. 

 

We'll let you determine if that is in U.S. waters or in the contaminated "international waters" that would require it (sez CDC) to take a fortnight's vacation before cruising with passengers!

.

[lv2cruisgrl]

20 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

So glad we have nothing booked on Celebrity till the end of 2022 and we might just cancel that too.  We have totally lost our confidence in them.

I know I feel the same way. If they cancel my October cruise I am done until things get back to some sort of normalcy!

[hcat]

21 minutes ago, jg51 said:

.

As of a few minutes ago, Celebrity Reflection's location was at coordinates 26.12641 N / -80.07530 W, cruising just off Port Everglades anchorage. 

 

We'll let you determine if that is in U.S. waters or in the contaminated "international waters" that would require it (sez CDC) to take a fortnight's vacation before cruising with passengers!

.

Thank you.. i appreciate your good humor! 

I think I see that Reflection will be sailing out of Port Ev  a number of times before our cruise. 

 

Hope all is sorted before final payment date...can't go thru the cancellation games  yet again!

[CalTexCruiser]

Cruising has been back for over 2 months now with no big outbreaks, even in the face of delta.

 

So cruising is obviously not the problem when it comes to COVID spread.  The cruise industry has been by and large pretty responsible when it comes to safety protocols.

 

CDC needs to focus their attention more on the millions of unvaccinated yahoos who refuse to get vaccinated even though it's safe and free, while hundreds of millions of people in the rest of the world are literally begging for vaccines.

[Jeremiah1212]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

Does Reflection come under this clause?  Where is she? When will she be back to Port Ev?

 

CDC is wearing  us out!

 

Reflection is currently off the coast of Fort Lauderdale. That ship isn't in the same situation since their restart will begin from Fort Lauderdale in November. The difference is there have been no passengers on the ship for 19 months at the time she starts sailing again. 

 

Adventure of the Seas would be in this same situation. Nassau cruises end in mid September and cruises from Galveston don't start for several week after that. That would kind of support the theory they do need a 14 day buffer. (If that is even up to date...I've completely given up on trying to follow RCL's changes). 

[Fouremco]

4 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

Cruising has been back for over 2 months now with no big outbreaks, even in the face of delta.

 

So cruising is obviously not the problem when it comes to COVID spread.  The cruise industry has been by and large pretty responsible when it comes to safety protocols.

 

CDC needs to focus their attention more on the millions of unvaccinated yahoos who refuse to get vaccinated even though it's safe and free, while hundreds of millions of people in the rest of the world are literally begging for vaccines.

Conversely, the fact that the CDC has made the cruise lines adopt rigorous health and safety protocols may well be the reason that there have been no major outbreaks. 

 

[Nymich]

Looks like X may be throwing the cdc under the bus which they deserve anyway!  Poor sales so time to go.  Remember Fain is an excellent Salesman and he demands profits as he should.  I have always said he can make you feel good about yourself while he's lifting your wallet out of your back pocket.

[DCPIV]

I'm sorry to hear this happened. We just got off the Summit, and there were rumors on board. They were just rumors, though. Even the crew weren't sure. It sounded like Celebrity were arm wrestling with the feds about this requirement and lost. I assume they did not want to cancel until they had to. That's the way it goes right now. No one ever wants to call off due to rain until they really have to. 

 

It's not due to sales. We were sailing at 25% capacity, and they were delighted. The Captain said they weren't nearly as concerned about making money as they were trying to build confidence both with consumers and half the world's governments.

 

Those that have lost their faith or confidence, feel free to step aside. I've got some cruising to do. 

 

Cheers! 

[hcat]

1 hour ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

Reflection is currently off the coast of Fort Lauderdale. That ship isn't in the same situation since their restart will begin from Fort Lauderdale in November. The difference is there have been no passengers on the ship for 19 months at the time she starts sailing again. 

 

Adventure of the Seas would be in this same situation. Nassau cruises end in mid September and cruises from Galveston don't start for several week after that. That would kind of support the theory they do need a 14 day buffer. (If that is even up to date...I've completely given up on trying to follow RCL's changes). 

Thank you..

Hoping for the best. 

CDC sure has many rules... wonder if they all were properly put in place.??  if cruise line knew this was coming..shame on them. !

 

This was a new one on me.  Hard enough to deal with  testing issues, airlines  etc..now this!