Jim_Iain - 9/5 and 9/17 Equinox B2B - Come along for a Live Blog

[Host Anne]

13 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I wish Walgeen or CVS had it available in my area.  

 

One would think that living in the SF Bay Area with a population of 8 Million it would be easy to come by.    I've look a number of times and closes I could find was about 600 miles away.     With CVS I could schedule one but is in SF about 50 miles away. 

WOW....that's surprising!  I think it's becoming more challenging for most to secure the test.  Good luck and safe travels.

[Orator]

Have a wonderful cruise! I don't know if Captain Tasos will be the Captain, but say "hi" if he is.

 

Charles & Cyndee

[mahdnc]

Have a nice cruise.  It's long overdue.

[Jim_Iain]

12 hours ago, h20cruzer said:

Same as us in the North bay. To get the rapid test actually have to go into the city. Not my cup of tea, not doing anymore investigation until 2 weeks prior to our sail date 10/29.  Can’t wait to follow along. United has changed my flight going to FLL twice, not real happy with them. My return trip is non stop in Polaris, very happy about that.

Great to hear.     Even though we use to have a place in the city and very comfortable with the city it is still a good hour drive for us with the traffic in the city.   I'm happy we paid extra to have the test done and a fast clinic.    I just checked with Kaiser and still no results from our test with them.  

 

Enjoy your Polaris flight,   our flight SFO to Houston is on a Dreamliner Polaris flight.    I've been checking status of the flight the last 2 weeks and it is really strange.   The inbound flight changes daily.   The one for today originated Delhi  and ours for tomorrow is coming in from Tel Aviv.    Luckily it is scheduled to arrive 12:55 AM and our flight doesn't depart until 11:00 .

't

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, hcat said:

How long will this be in effect? Heard it might ebd by tge tume of our cruise?

We are hoping to cruise in January 2022 on Reflection, rt  Port Port Ev, if all goes well. Driving to port from W Coast fl. Starting to look at enhanced trvl ins options.

 

Jim...did you buy any trvl ins from X or other company?

 

I renewed a MedJet policy I had let expire during the shutdown.    I will be posting on my insurance later today.    I have a combination of coverage as oppose to a Generic Travel Policy.

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, hcat said:

How long will this be in effect? Heard it might ebd by tge tume of our cruise?

We are hoping to cruise in January 2022 on Reflection, rt  Port Port Ev, if all goes well. Driving to port from W Coast fl. Starting to look at enhanced trvl ins options.

 

Jim...did you buy any trvl ins from X or other company?

I believe I read that the policy to fly people home at Celebrity expense expire at the end of October.   I could be wrong and I know someone will jump in if they can find it.     I have an idea (hunch not fact) that they will extend it to keep the cruises going. 

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

The covid assurance ends Oct 31 (which coincides with the expiration of CSO coincidence?)

Thanks --- That's what stuck in my mind but as I get older I can't always depend on the 'ol noggin.

[Jim_Iain]

Insurance

 

Insurance is always a heavily discussed subject here on CC.   I think we each need to look at our personal situation and decide what is best for us.    Over the years so many of the travel insurance policies are rich on things we don’t need or want but part of the cost and package.

 

We have an Annual GeoBlue policy that covers international travel hospitalization and doctors while traveling.    In addition we have a Kaiser Senior Advantage policy which also covers international travel but usually has to be reimbursed.

For Medical Evacuation we have an annual MedJet policy.

 

I also book our travel using Chase Sapphire and they have pretty good travel protection benefits.

 

Key benefits –

 

Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption Insurance

 

If your trip is cancelled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.

 

Baggage Delay Insurance

 

Reimburses you for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for baggage delays over 6 hours by passenger carrier up to $100 a day for 5 days.

 

Trip Delay Reimbursement

 

If your common carrier travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket.

 

Lost Luggage Reimbursement

 

If you or an immediate family member check or carry on luggage that is damaged or lost by the carrier, you're covered up to $3,000 per passenger.

 

Travel Accident Insurance

 

When you pay for your air, bus, train or cruise transportation with your card, you are eligible to receive accidental death or dismemberment coverage of up to $500,000.

Edited September 3, 2021 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Documents and CheckIn

On-Line Check in opened up on June 6 exactly one month prior to cruise.   Check in was very easy using the app and completed within minutes.   When we checked in the earliest check-in time at the port was 1:30 pm.    Since we are traveling in a Suite and also a Zenith member we weren’t concerned.    I checked back about a week later and all slots were open and I selected 11:30 AM instead.    I mentioned it our roll call and many others regardless of room type or cc level were also able to get the 11:30 time slots.

 

Documents and Luggage Tags

 

Cruise Documents and Luggage Tag requests opened up 25 days prior to the Cruise.  Once you have your documents the cruise suddenly becomes real.

 

I know you can print your own luggage tags but part of my routine is to order the ones from Celebrity and do the Luggage Tag dance when they arrive.  

 

A couple years ago (5 to be exact) I purchased a set of plastic luggage tag holders from Amazon and have been using them ever since.   They are rugged and with the metal mesh connector they have never failed me.    I usually fanfold my tags and stick a business card in also.

 

 

 

After being upgraded I had to wait 1 day and my cruise documents were updated and included luggage tags for our new room.     I printed them out and trimmed them with a paper cutter.  

Edited September 3, 2021 by Jim_Iain

[hcat]

Thanks for all the ins info.. we have Med Jet and Geo Blue on top of our list. Going to work on this right after the holiday weekend.   Medicare and our supp  do not work out of the US. Even tho we have no big  travel plans other the the Reflection cruise right now..would be good to have something..just in case.

[hcat]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Great to hear.     Even though we use to have a place in the city and very comfortable with the city it is still a good hour drive for us with the traffic in the city.   I'm happy we paid extra to have the test done and a fast clinic.    I just checked with Kaiser and still no results from our test with them.  

 

Enjoy your Polaris flight,   our flight SFO to Houston is on a Dreamliner Polaris flight.    I've been checking status of the flight the last 2 weeks and it is really strange.   The inbound flight changes daily.   The one for today originated Delhi  and ours for tomorrow is coming in from Tel Aviv.    Luckily it is scheduled to arrive 12:55 AM and our flight doesn't depart until 11:00 .

't

Hope planes are well sanitized.  We fky Southwest regularly and recently tried Frontier( interesting).  Both lines dud an excellent job of sanituzing and reminding folks of mask policies.  We actually double masked coming back from Florida!

[Jim_Iain]

2 minutes ago, hcat said:

Thanks for all the ins info.. we have Med Jet and Geo Blue on top of our list. Going to work on this right after the holiday weekend.   Medicare and our supp  do not work out of the US. Even tho we have no big  travel plans other the the Reflection cruise right now..would be good to have something..just in case.

We have Medicare via Kaiser Senior Advantage and they cover International Travel.  Figured GeoBlue would cover what we need.    We have the annual plan and been really happy with it.   We do spend a fair amount of time in Europe since Ian's family still live in Scotland.

[NBliving]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

I believe I read that the policy to fly people home at Celebrity expense expire at the end of October.   I could be wrong and I know someone will jump in if they can find it.     I have an idea (hunch not fact) that they will extend it to keep the cruises going. 

I hope your hunch is right! We have a cruise in November and it would be one less worry while onboard.  I've been reading on the current Live Equinox review and feel so bad for those who've had to be quarantined because of contact tracing. It's a risk we are obviously willing to take but it would be a relief to know that X would fly us home if we tested positive...

[Jim_Iain]

1 minute ago, hcat said:

Hope planes are well sanitized.  We fky Southwest regularly and recently tried Frontier( interesting).  Both lines dud an excellent job of sanituzing and reminding folks of mask policies.  We actually double masked coming back from Florida!

I don't take any precautions.     I bring Chlorox Wipes (already packed in my backpack) and we wipe down all surfaces as soon as we sit down and sanitize frequently.

 

I have N-95 masks an may also double mask with a surgical mask.    Those straps bother my ears so I sewed buttons on my Golf Hat and hook them to the mask.     Also recently I bought some nice N95's at Home depot they are more of a stiff shell and have a foam bridge on them to prevent my glasses from fogging up.   They also have an  over the head strap.     Only problem you can't scratch you nose without removing.

[Jim_Iain]

4 minutes ago, NBliving said:

I hope your hunch is right! We have a cruise in November and it would be one less worry while onboard.  I've been reading on the current Live Equinox review and feel so bad for those who've had to be quarantined because of contact tracing. It's a risk we are obviously willing to take but it would be a relief to know that X would fly us home if we tested positive...

We were just talking about the poor lady and her lockdown due to being a close contact.    From  what others are saying if you are a close contact, even if tested negative, will not be permitted to do the second leg of a B2B.  

 

We are going to try to social distance at all times,   like we do at home.

[FL34202]

Jim, We are on the Dec 10th sailing of this itinerary, so look forward to seeing your comments.  As an aside, I grew up in Sunnyvale.  Graduated Sunnyvale High in 1965.  Currently reside in Sarasota, FL

[fstuff1]

odds of st marteen and st kitt govt's changing their minds and allowing vaccinated pax off the ship without ship excursion?

probably close to 0 😞

[kokopelli-az]

20 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I found a Rapid Test site at $95 in Palo Alto -   CovidClinic.Org.   We got tested at 2:00 and just had our results in about 30 minutes.    It is a small little clinic with space for one car in the  drive through area but no lines at all.    

 

CVS has Rapid Test available at Sutter Hospital in SF (Mass Vaccination Site).

 

This was exactly where we got our Rapid Test (CovidClinic.org); however, it was the one in Vancouver, Washington (Portland, Oregon across the river has a couple of them, too).   Ours in Vancouver, WA is in a shopping mall parking lot.  We had an appointment and there were only about 5 cars in line.  We received our results within a half hour.

We drove by the same covid clinic just this week and there were about 30 cars in line.   Everything is done outside under tents and you stay in your vehicle.  

[fstuff1]

Barbados and grenada cancelled.

they become sea day and st maarten.

St maarten is ship excursion only.

 

Now, this cruise is only st croix and Lucia to get off ship by yourself.

And I've done the excursions for all the other ports so looks like this mostly is a cruise to nowhere for me. 😞

 

Edited September 3, 2021 by fstuff1

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, FL34202 said:

Jim, We are on the Dec 10th sailing of this itinerary, so look forward to seeing your comments.  As an aside, I grew up in Sunnyvale.  Graduated Sunnyvale High in 1965.  Currently reside in Sarasota, FL

My goodness,   Sunnyvale is better  known than I give us credit for.     Not sure when you were back last but all of the orchards are gone and now when  a company wants to expand they are tearing down the old Tilt-Up of the 60's-70's and replacing them with 5-12 story buildings.  

 

Today is one of those perfect day we are accustomed to -    70-72F temperatures with no winds nor humidity.     I can already feel the humidity of Florida this time of year. 

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

odds of st marteen and st kitt govt's changing their minds and allowing vaccinated pax off the ship without ship excursion?

probably close to 0 😞

I'm not a gambler but I would give it a very low odds.    Each port could change without notice and I'm just playing it by ear and will probably just stay aboard.    After reading the tales of the guest  on the current cruise that has been quarantined for close contact is scaring me away from curated tours. 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, kokopelli-az said:

 

This was exactly where we got our Rapid Test (CovidClinic.org); however, it was the one in Vancouver, Washington (Portland, Oregon across the river has a couple of them, too).   Ours in Vancouver, WA is in a shopping mall parking lot.  We had an appointment and there were only about 5 cars in line.  We received our results within a half hour.

We drove by the same covid clinic just this week and there were about 30 cars in line.   Everything is done outside under tents and you stay in your vehicle.  

I could not have been happier with CovidClinic.ORG.     They were very professional and  took less than 5 minutes start to finish. 

[TraderSam]

On 9/2/2021 at 5:11 PM, Jim_Iain said:

It's a great picture.    

 

I was on a flight a couple years back and the pilot (a woman) announced that today is a first for her and probably most passengers.    They had a 100% female crew including gate agents. 

 

I read that a little too quickly and thought she’d announced it was her first day! 😂 I’d have been a little nervous on that flight.

 

@Jim_Iain Greetings from Iain’s home country 👋🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I too shall be following along with your reports, since there is no chance that we will be cruising or flying this year for sure.  I wish you both safe travels and wonderful cruises and I look forward to reading all the details. 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

Barbados and grenada cancelled.

they become sea day and st maarten.

St maarten is ship excursion only.

 

Now, this cruise is only st croix and Lucia to get off ship by yourself.

And I've done the excursions for all the other ports so looks like this mostly is a cruise to nowhere for me. 😞

 

 

I just received the revised schedule about an hour ago   I see Barbados was cancelled and ports were shifted giving us one additional sea day.  No biggie from my stand point

 

Specific to your future Celebrity Equinox sailing, we will be arriving in St. Croix and St. Johns an hour later. While in St. Johns we are adding two hours to your time in port. Your visit to Bridgetown, Barbados will be replaced with Roseau, Dominica, with a new arrival time of 8:00 AM. Lastly, St. George’s, Grenada has now become an At Sea day and your original Reseau port of call has changed to a stop in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten.

 

 

Please note, all shore excursions for St. George’s, Grenada, booked through Celebrity Cruise Planner, will be automatically refunded to your original form of payment. Any excursions you originally had for Roseau, Dominica will be moved to our September 10th visit. Guests with independent arrangements should contact their tour operators as soon as possible.

[Jim_Iain]

3 minutes ago, TraderSam said:

 

I read that a little too quickly and thought she’d announced it was her first day! 😂 I’d have been a little nervous on that flight.

 

@Jim_Iain Greetings from Iain’s home country 👋🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I too shall be following along with your reports, since there is no chance that we will be cruising or flying this year for sure.  I wish you both safe travels and wonderful cruises and I look forward to reading all the details. 

 

Thanks ---- I really love Scotland.    Iain is from Ayershire, Robert Burns territory and was required to memorize his poetry in school.