occupancy of ships right now

[jg51]

4 hours ago, Pennstatedj said:

We were just on the Equinox BTB, and we were to have 2400 on first cruise and not all were able to make it  ... . 

We were told ... that a charter was next and then they were [up to] capacity for the next couple of cruises. I think they were saying 2500 passengers. They were not limited at all according to officers we talked to. ...

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Thanks for this info, "Pennstatedj."  It raises some questions that we'd like to ask you ...

 

(1)  You were on the Equinox for back-to-back cruises.  Were you tested for CoViD-19 on the last full day of the cruise (across the ship from Celebrity Central, after a briefing)?  If so, was there any word about whether anyone failed the test and had to go home, instead of staying aboard for the second leg of the journey?

 

(2)  Maybe we are guessing wrongly, but we assume that you had somewhere between 2,200 and 2,350 for the first leg (since not all 2,400 made it to the ship).  In your judgment, was the Equinox sufficiently staffed (for dining, bars, and stateroom service) to handle so many people?  Or was there an under-staffing problem, leading to various kinds of delays?  [We wonder, because we were aboard her last September, when occupancy was (blissfully) below 1,300.]

 

(3)  You mentioned a coming "charter" cruise, followed by going up to "capacity for the next couple of cruises."  Are you referring to cruises that were about to take place later in July -- or cruises that will take place in August?

 

Thanks, in advance, for your reply.

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[Pennstatedj]

JG 51,

   We were tested at 830am on the last full day of cruise. We found out results at 8pm. The captain made an announcement at 745 pm on both cruises that there was 1% positive cases on both cruise. 

   Yes service was great at all venues we used on the first cruise and again on the second leg with had less passengers. 

   The cruise after our was a charter. The next two after the charter we were total were suppose to be near capacity. I expect that to continue. So do they. 

[sasset]

It might be helpful to mention the itinerary or embarkation country. As a previous poster said Europe vs U.S. vs Caribbean are factors.

Edited July 21, 2022 by sasset
clarification

[jg51]

5 hours ago, jg51 said:

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... (1) ... was there any word about whether anyone failed the test and had to go home, instead of staying aboard for the second leg of the journey?

 

2 hours ago, Pennstatedj said:

JG 51,

   We were tested at 830am on the last full day of cruise. We found out results at 8pm. The captain made an announcement at 745 pm on both cruises that there was 1% positive cases on both cruise. 

   Yes service was great at all venues we used on the first cruise and again on the second leg with had less passengers. 

   The cruise after our was a charter. The next two after the charter we were total were suppose to be near capacity. I expect that to continue. So do they. 

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Hi again, "Pennstatedj."  Sorry about our needing to "follow up" a bit.

 

Thanks for answering our #2 and #3 questions (about service level [high] and future occupancy [near capacity]). 

 

We would like to ask again about something from part #1 of our previous post.  You told us about the 8:30 AM test on the last full day of the cruise.  You also told us that it was announced that about 1% of the guests had tested positive during the cruise.  Those two things are not necessarily related to each other, because the percentage could have been 0% or greater than 1% in the 8:30 AM test.  Therefore ...

 

We wonder if you know how many, if any, of your fellow back-to-back guests tested positive.  (Last time, we asked it this way: "Was there any word about whether anyone failed the [morning] test and had to go home, instead of staying aboard [the next day] for the second leg of the journey?")

 

We also want to comment that we are shocked that you did not find out until 8:00 PM that you had passed the 8:30 AM test.  It seems almost inexcusable for you to have been kept waiting that long -- wondering if you might be forced, at the last minute, to pack your bags (late at night) -- in order to be ready to disembark in the morning, disappointed and/or angry. 

 

You should have learned the facts before 12:00 Noon, in our opinion -- unless there was such a vast crowd of back-to-back guests that the technicians could not determine the test results any earlier than 8:00 PM!  For the sake of argument ... Consider the possibility that five or more back-to-back people had tested positive.  They could have been running around the ship all afternoon and half the evening (having lunch in the MDR or buffet, having dinner in the MDR or a SR, spending time at bars, etc.), spreading CoViD-19!  That's why we say that you should have received the results before noon, in our opinion.  If they can't do better than 4:00 PM (before dinner), there ought not to be any on-board testing.

 

Thanks again.

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[Pennstatedj]

You are right we tested at 830am. It took 15 minutes to get thru line. There were 60 plus BTBers. We were told that we would find out by turn down. At 745pm the Cat stated there were 1% positive. No other info was given to us. No details. We were not happy to have to wait that long but we assumed if you tested positive they would have contacted them. Not the best way to handle it but that was how it was done on second cruise. An announcement was made at 745pm again the second last night that again1% tested positive. No details were given again. 

[letsgogogo]

On 7/20/2022 at 4:25 PM, Turquoise Girl said:

If cases are no symptoms why were they tested?  Are they randomly testing people on board?

Family members and travel companions of those who test positive. 

[Jim_Iain]

On 7/20/2022 at 2:25 PM, Turquoise Girl said:

If cases are no symptoms why were they tested?  Are they randomly testing people on board?

I've not heard of any random testing on Celebrity.   Either B2B testing, self reported or close contact to a positive passenger.    If you are traveling and eating with a larger "party" you would be more likely to be tested without symptoms.   In the past they use to test all close contacts (e.g. close by seating on a tour bus) but haven't heard of that recently.

 

While on our TransAtlantic a Guest in the PH had a party and invited a number of guests including our next door neighbor in a RS.   They were contact traced and even though negative the protocol at the time was they were quarantined to their cabin for the remainder of the cruise, they were still negative at the end of the cruise.

 

Protocols have been changing almost monthly so unsure except what I read here.

 

 

[p18750]

We are currently on Edge and our waiter the first night told us the ship was less than half full. I can believe it since it feels the ship is deserted. There are no lines for anything, restaurants have maybe 50 people in them at 6 pm. Not complaining but I don't see how Celebrity is making any money on this cruise. 

[p18750]

Also, there have been no announcements about covid, no passengers wearing masks except some on tenders. 

[jg51]

12 hours ago, Pennstatedj said:

You are right we tested at 830am. It took 15 minutes to get thru line. There were 60 plus BTBers. We were told that we would find out by turn down. At 745pm the Cat stated there were 1% positive. No other info was given to us. No details. We were not happy to have to wait that long but we assumed if you tested positive they would have contacted them. Not the best way to handle it but that was how it was done on second cruise. An announcement was made at 745pm again the second last night that again1% tested positive. No details were given again. 

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Thanks very much for following up, "Pennstatedj."

 

We were surprised to read that there were as many as "60 plus BTBers."  That could help to explain why you didn't get notified all day.  It is claimed (on the Internet) that processing a rapid antigen test may take about 15 minutes.  If so, it would take one technician 15 hours to process 60 tests (or it would take two people 7.5 hours -- or three people 5 hours).

 

You wrote: "we assumed if you tested positive they would have contacted them" (and we assume that you meant, "would have contacted them immediately").  If that was true, then "X" should also have contacted you immediately, so that you could "rest easy" and not have to worry for eleven hours! 

 

It seems logical and just that a crew member should have had the duty to contact each guest as soon as he or she was determined to be "dirty" or "clean" -- at least leaving a voicemail message on each stateroom phone.  Saying nothing directly was too impersonal -- unjust to you and bad for business (public relations)!

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[TomTN]

17 hours ago, Pennstatedj said:

JG 51,

   We were tested at 830am on the last full day of cruise. We found out results at 8pm. The captain made an announcement at 745 pm on both cruises that there was 1% positive cases on both cruise. 

   Yes service was great at all venues we used on the first cruise and again on the second leg with had less passengers. 

   The cruise after our was a charter. The next two after the charter we were total were suppose to be near capacity. I expect that to continue. So do they. 

Do you know what time  the last test of the day was given? Or scheduled to be given?

We were on another cruise line in March/April that ended at Barcelona.  Covid test began around 8:00 AM and continued most of the day.  There were 500 passengers on the ship. Checking paper work and administering the test took a few minutes(1-3). This was when the US required a negative test to fly home so not all passengers were tested. Still testing takes time.

We received our result around 8 PM.

There was no announcement of how many or what Percentage tested positive.

[Pennstatedj]

Our testing was between 8 - 9 am only.

[LGW59]

On 7/17/2022 at 9:35 PM, RichYak said:

Celebrity can claim this and perhaps it's true to some extent, but it doesn't explain all of the vacancies. Historically popular Cape Liberty sailings to Bermuda are not sailing at 80% because Celebrity is holding back 20% for quarantine cabins.

I’m on EDGE TA in October and the only availability they are showing is for two classes of Sky Suites, nothing above or below.  Inquiring mind wants to know…

[wrk2cruise]

We have been on B2B where tests were done early in the day 8-9.  We were asked to go to our room and stay until results were available.  We were notified we were negative within 30 minutes.  50-60 B2B'ers.   There were 3 techs I think.   The tests have a 15 minute "soak" time but many can be done in parallel.

[jg51]

4 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

We have been on B2B where tests were done early in the day 8-9.  We were asked to go to our room and stay until results were available.  We were notified we were negative within 30 minutes.  50-60 B2B'ers.   There were 3 techs I think.   The tests have a 15 minute "soak" time but many can be done in parallel.

.

Hello, "wrk2cruise."

Thanks for that interesting explanation -- an "alternate take" from a different ship, apparently.  Your technicians and/or crew handled things admirably!

 

In September, 2021, the Equinox's 50 or more "back-to-backers" were tested by professionals [nurses?] between 9:15 and 9:45.  We were not told to isolate ourselves.  We were told, "If you don't hear from us by 2:00 PM," you must have tested negative.  We didn't like that way of doing things, but it was better than not finding out until 8:00 PM (which was Pennstatedj's fate on the same ship in 2022)!

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[wrk2cruise]

I think we were on the same sailings with you in Sept and yes didn't get the written results until the next morning.

[The_0neuk]

I was on Beyond 11th - 21st july

 

Ship was at full capacity

 

The current cruise is at half capacity the staff were very happy that the next cruise wasnt going to be full

[Jim_Iain]

On 7/22/2022 at 5:19 AM, jg51 said:

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Thanks very much for following up, "Pennstatedj."

 

We were surprised to read that there were as many as "60 plus BTBers."  That could help to explain why you didn't get notified all day.  It is claimed (on the Internet) that processing a rapid antigen test may take about 15 minutes.  If so, it would take one technician 15 hours to process 60 tests (or it would take two people 7.5 hours -- or three people 5 hours).

 

You wrote: "we assumed if you tested positive they would have contacted them" (and we assume that you meant, "would have contacted them immediately").  If that was true, then "X" should also have contacted you immediately, so that you could "rest easy" and not have to worry for eleven hours! 

 

It seems logical and just that a crew member should have had the duty to contact each guest as soon as he or she was determined to be "dirty" or "clean" -- at least leaving a voicemail message on each stateroom phone.  Saying nothing directly was too impersonal -- unjust to you and bad for business (public relations)!

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In a serial fashion your logic and timing would be accurate.  I've seen them doing it on the ship and works kinda like a production line.   They probably have 100+ test being run at the same time and  as you can imagine they don't have an individual technician sitting watching a test for 15 minutes and then move on to the next test.   Seems like they had 3-4 people in addition to the ones doing the tests and the one checking people in. 

 

Unlike the reported cases above.   When I tested positive I received a Positive Test by email at about 18 minutes after the test and  had a phone call within 20 minutes.  A nurse was shortly  at the door taking our temps and 02 shortly thereafter.

[Cpatti8]

On 7/21/2022 at 2:32 AM, upwarduk said:

Depends where your ship is sailing from.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/gb/healthy-at-sea/southampton-travel-requirements

 

The above link, which included the chart is for Southampton.

Thank you for the information. I was looking for something similar for the Edge. Under the Celebrity link for Barcelona I found a chart with European countries, and their entry/exit requirements, but not a document like the one for Southampton that breaks it down by ship and sail date. Once again, thank you 😊 

[maggie.1008]

Just got off the Solstice Alaska cruise yesterday. We had 2600 passengers. Many large groups and sky lounge was used for private events. Different crowd than the usual X passengers. 
Many getting their monies worth from the AI liquor. 
we were a party of 4 and dined in Blu. We stayed to ourselves and wore mask in crowds.Brother in law tested positive for Covid as soon as we got home. We drove to the pier so no flights involved. 
Happy to answer any questions. 

[pinebro]

We did Constellation june 23 ravenna to rome…..ship was at 40%…..crew level way down also. Lots of trainees. 

[RedneckBob]

The only way to find out how many passengers are on board your ship is after you board the ship.