esmoov

Cruise insurance has saved my a$$ at least once in the past.  Due to my job I typically purchase cancel for any reason. I never use Royal or Celebrity's insurance and typically use tripinurance.com. They have contracts with Nationwide and US Fire.  Plans are not cheap but cover almost everything except missed port- meaning they usually only cover unreimbursed excursion expenses.  Can anyone recommend a policy that offers "missed port" coverage?  This has happened to me at least twice and I have two buck-list cruises I am trying to plan. Thanks!!  

On 8/7/2023 at 4:43 PM, Greg R said:

I just received my first offer from the Blue Chip Club.  I couldn't tell you how much I actually wagered over the 7 night cruise.  I spent quite a bit of time at roulette, then a little bit at blackjack, craps, and also some time at the video poker.   I wasn't spending anything much and the first couple days I was up a few hundred, by the end of the cruise I think I lost about $200 total, to me that is just spending on entertainment.  Again I wasn't betting anything like some of the people I saw that were putting down hundreds if not thousands at a time on roulette and walking away with nothing.  This guy was talking about me betting conservatively, but I was up a few hundred and he was down a few thousand.  My point being is that you can get offers from the casino without breaking the bank to do it.  I wasn't going to get rich playing like I was, but I was having a good time and now have gotten a free cruise out of it.   It was worth my time and I enjoyed myself.

Casinos also factor the amount of time spent at the table. Blowing $1000 in one spin will not likely get you a free cruise.  Playing $1000 over a 2 hour span will. Similar to the KFC recipe, the exact formula is not published.

Agreed,

The strat that has worked for me and my wife is:

a. introduce yourself to the casino director person on day 1;

b. enter the slot competition and black jack competition;

c. roulette comp systems (i.e. rumple, comp killer; modified Thai fighter) (approx $50 per spin)- you win little but your average per hand is great for comps.

d. tip dealer

Our last Beyond cruise my wife gambled $400 (out of pocket) the entire cruise - by end of cruise she was down $80-- received free cruise voucher in the mail.

This is actually a good deal. $1,000 = pts35,000 ($350 rebate). I am wondering if it can be used on Air 2 sea this time.  The last time Amex offered something similar it would not allow me to check out once I selected airfare. Error message I then called and they said it was excluded.

On 2/27/2023 at 10:37 AM, Cactus527 said:

The absolute sweet spot to buy airfare is 54-60 days prior to the flight. You are currently within 21 days of flying (3/8), so yes, the airfare is going to be incredibly high because they know you'll pay whatever they want. Remember that many airlines have schedules posted 6+ months in advance. 

Also, I ran possible dates for flying from NYC-Miami. Did you try Southwest?

The 54 day and 38 tricks I don't think are thing right now. Flights for this week have been a gouge for the entirety.  No Spring break for me this year.  

2 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

Domestic flight prices have been super high, even if you started looking early! I started looking 6 months ahead of my flight dates and a route that has always cost us around $200pp was $400-600pp ($400 for really lousy flights with connections and bad times). For a family of 4, that really adds up.

Correction to my original post - my cruise is 4/8 to 4/16.  I started looking in November and prices have been the same. I am calling this a price gouging - which I get since the travel industry has gotten hammered in the last few years. 

5 hours ago, Cactus527 said:

The absolute sweet spot to buy airfare is 54-60 days prior to the flight. You are currently within 21 days of flying (3/8), so yes, the airfare is going to be incredibly high because they know you'll pay whatever they want. Remember that many airlines have schedules posted 6+ months in advance. 

Also, I ran possible dates for flying from NYC-Miami. Did you try Southwest?

Thanks for this.  Only problem is cruise is 4/8 to 4/16 (my bad with the typo).  I wish it was 3/8!!

Have a comped cruise out of Miami April 8.  Airfare from New York to Miami or Fort Lauderdale is running $750 to $1800 (economy) per person!!! Its not fuel prices since for the same dates it cheaper to fly to London, Paris or Madrid. Not supply/demand since all manner of dates, times and seats are available. Post pandemic gouge. Likely the JetBlue and American Airlines Monopoly just got even better with JetBlue now buying Spirt. As result its either JetBlue, Delta or United for us snow birds. 

celebritycruises.com/metaverse 

Fun Celebrity Beyond virtual game.  Starts off with a tender boat game to the magic carpet. Running game on the top deck. Captain Kate and Bug are on the pool deck.  You can run and jump as well as swim in the pool. Just spent 30 minutes playing with this game! Love it.

Has, or about to drop - American Express Card Celebrity - "A special offer for you." (Offer so new, can't even find it on the Amex website WTF?)

Can book with your own agent, calling or celebritycruises.com/amex

americanexpress.com/celebritycruises2023

Expires March 31, 2023

Just disembarked from Beyond and had a great time. Celebrity is my line. This ship along with Edge and Apex are designed specifically to target the 27+ straight and gay couples with no kids, fresh walets-  who need locations to take Instagram pictures. Champaign glass shaped hot tubs, comedic modern art, clear plunge pools including many cruisers with thong style bikinis. The ship also includes needles tech.  I'am very happy with a light switch with and a toilet flusher.  These cabins have 3-4 mood light settings, electronically controlled window shades - this is clearly for the 27+ crowd.  Having said that they do have a kids club. There is traditional cruise food as well as art on the plate style and other trendy type vegan etc.  The entertainment on our 5 night voyage included a comedian, a Broadway review  (featuring modern musicals / numbers).  However they also had a "soultown" show- which is clearly directed at the 60 plus cruisers. I would note that all of the slots are also high tech including wireless cell-phone chargers on most. Also, I hope you are sitting down - NO BINGO - they prefer Deal or No Deal- which was interrupted on my cruise since Captain Kate turned the ship around to perform a rescue. Certainly a picture with Captain Kate says it all for your Instagram or Tik Tok...  The gym has the most high tech equipment, including Pelatons and all manner of classes and personal training.  The same can be said of the spa treatments. The ship has 3 separate DJS which sometimes battle during silent discoes or take turns on the pool deck parties playing different styles of music. 

As far as the drink package goes, with the pricing changes - either buy the premium or drink sea water.  The only thing included on the basic package is Coors light and diet coke (as an example).  Not a single martini, non-fat -double shot, no whip whatever latte is included, or any of those post modern cocktails that take longer to make than to drink are included. The best is on embarkation day, the first bar you have to pass is the Martini Bar and you realize that nothing on the menu is included in the basic package - conveniently located next to guest services for the on-board premium upgrade fee.

Having said that everyone cruises different.  Having been on both Edge and Beyond, Celebrity would love nothing more than to entice the 27+ crowd away from Virgin Voyages- and I would note that Virgin is struggling since they have not marketed to anyone over 40, yet many 27-40s still have mortgages and recent alimony payments for their first marriages and therefore cannot afford the rockstar suite.  That being said, Celebrity has not forgotten about their 60's crowd and I think they have done a pretty good job of keeping most happy.  

Just disembarked from 9 day on Allure (Aruba / Curcao / Labadee) 6200 passengers on 5400 capacity ship!!!  Yes, it felt packed.  I knew something was going on in advance when I was having trouble finding an excursion or finding only the 2:00pm excursion start time.  Also no royal up offered.  Staff shortages as well. Red neckerchief chef flipping burgers at Johny Rockets; frequently only 2 bartenders at the pool bars on deck 15; casino cashier working the x-ray machine at the Aruba embarkation. Service slow at all of the specialty restaurants. 

9 hours ago, Marlena said:

I wonder what they will do for us Canadians. My husband and I were some of first to get the vaccine ( healthcare workers) and was kind new and we didn't get a paper. But our gouvernemnt gave us a way to get a paper saying we received the vaccine. This is not the " original paper " RC keeps referring to.

For me it would be simpler to have have 3 vax cards and six test results on an app.  Less crap to pack and worry about. The problem with the U.S. vax cards is that they sell them on Amazon ($8.48US for a 10 pack) so I question whether ports may want to see proof of vaccine when we arrive or may not accept the Amazon version as proof.  The NY state app for example pulls from their own state records and the United app sinks to affiliate labs. As of last week I need to show my vax card to enter certain prisons in NJ (FYI - I have my 2 Walgreens prescription receipts attached as additional proof).  The guards look at the card (no verification if that exists). I guess they figure I would be nuts to enter a prison unvaccinated.  With so many people traveling, from so many countries (different language records etc), airlines do not want to place an extra burden on their gate agents. 

Any idea (or if someone from RCL is reading this) if RC and Celebrity will be using any of the Apps currently on offer to show proof of vaccine as well as the PCR tests required to board and return to the U.S.?  United Airlines uses Health Pass on Newark to Hawaii flights and Common Pass of flights out of Germany and Japan. IATA travel pass has cut agreements with multiple carriers.  ClearPass is used by MLB and NY state has Excelsior to get into stadiums and such.  Only asking because it seams a lot more convient than me leaving my card in my swim trunks and jumping in that Costa Maya port pool- who's water quality may be more dangerous than the virus if ingested.

On 5/16/2021 at 11:40 AM, cruisellama said:

Is the new "Muster 2.0" functionality linked, or is it a separate APP?  We saw functionality in the APP prior to our Edge cruise being cancelled last year.  You could listed to the emergency horn tone sequence on the app.

The App shows a la cart links to click- "your assembly station" location with a "find it on deck" link; Next you have a "life jacket instructions" animated video; thereafter you can click to play the "Emergency Horn." The next section is "visit assembly station" which is the same as the "your assembly station." Finally there is the "additional safety tips" video, which is in English, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean - which explains the alarm, where to find muster station on the back of your door, sea pass; use the stairs not the elevator in the case of the unlikely event of an emergency. You cannot eat, smoke, eat or use your phone during an actual emergency. Your children will be brought to your muster station by the nursery crew based upon their colored bracelet. No open flames; no smoking in state rooms and no throwing cigarette butts over board.

Website check-in just opened up as well.

Check in now available on the app only as of this morning!  Looks much like the check-in for Edge. Passport picture needs to be uploaded. A security photo needs to be uploaded; Address; Emergency Contact; Onboard Expenses credit card number; You have to acknowledge ticket acknowledgment and Health Acknowledgement.  After that you have to select an arrival time in 1/2 hour intervals starting at 12:00pm - 12:30pm and ending the latest 6:00-6:30pm. Each guest in your party can pick a different time slot. The day before the cruise the final feature is activated - "Health & Safety" which asks a series of questions relative to have you experienced the following in the last 14 days: Fever/Chills; Difficulty breathing; Fatigue; Sudden loss of smell; Sore Throat; Nausea / Vomiting.  As a result you will likely need cell service and data in Saint Maarten to pre-board.  There are no special instructions on the app as per luggage drop off etc. 

On 3/31/2021 at 8:39 AM, steverk said:

Thanks for the info!

We're planning to be on the June 5 cruise and fly in the day before as well. I already have a hotel booked and I'm stoked! Flights were booked through Celebrity.

I'm forcing myself to wait until 30 days prior to the cruise before worrying about how to get all of the tests.  I figure that conditions will change, so there's no point in worrying about it too much now.

That said, here's how I expect things to develop if things continue on their current path:

• Wife and I are both vaccinated already.
• About May 5, I will start searching for a COVID testing location near my home for the pre-trip test. (many places advertise same day results, so we'll just have to find the best one that is the correct test type.)
• June 2, get our COVID tests locally.
• June 4, fly to St. Maarten
• June 5, depart on Celebrity Millennium
• During the cruise, I expect Celebrity to set up on board testing for our return home
• June 12, dock in St. Maarten, catch our flight home.

Of course we all still have questions.  What will change between now and June? What will the protocols be on board and in port? What time should we plan to board the ship? How much exploring can we do in St. Maarten? When will Celebrity open the website for check in?

Regardless of the answers, WE'RE GOING ON A CRUISE IN JUNE! 

Has Celebrity allowed check-in yet on the June 5th sailing??? I am 51 days away on my sailing and NO check-in as of yet.  Just curious as to whether there are any special arrangements etc?   

Frontier Airlines to begin flights to Sint Maarten from Orlando, Miami starting July 10, 2021.  https://www.caribjournal.com/2021/04/19/st-maarten-frontier-airlines-flights/

On 4/20/2021 at 4:58 PM, USCG Teacher said:

Not sure if it is part of the reason or not, but flying through EWR is going to be a mess this summer.  They're shutting down runway 4R-22L for most of the summer and part of the fall for maintenance/repaving work.  That runway handles almost half the traffic for the entire airport.  I'll post the information in a separate thread as it's probably relevant for others on the board (although cruising out of Bayonne this summer is still a potential no-go)...

 

https://simpleflying.com/newark-landing-runway-refurbishment/

 

Thanks for this. Newark gets a bad rap, but I think that has to do with United.  They are a complete disaster in general but especially at EWR.  Both their departure and arrival curb pick-ups are routinely backed up onto the circular highway around the airport.  There is routinely a serpentine line on the after check-in just to get on the escalator to the actual gimungous serpentine line for security.  I refuse to fly with them unless they are the only flight that exists. I followed this rule and even then, United left me (chaperon on a high school trip) stranded in Nebraska with 12 high school kids - they lied and said that it was due weather where our plane was coming from.  Not a single cloud over the U.S. that day and flight tracker showed that our plane was sent to another airport. When confronted with this, they said that they did not have enough people booked on our flight to Newark and was rescheduled for Monday morning.  Flight to Hawaii sat on the tarmac for 4 hours, would not let us off = 15 hours on the plane. Got in the air and they ran out of food 3/4 of the was down the aisle. 

On 4/20/2021 at 9:24 AM, karl_nj said:

Strange.  Did they say why they moved you off of your return flight?  Does it have to do with the change you requested from JFK to EWR?

 

The answer they provided us was "you need to read the terms" and that FBC can change your flights at any point.  Which I get, however if they are offering flights at different price points they should adjust the price down if especially where the flight was changed from a direct to a connecting now making the flight 3x longer....

On 4/18/2021 at 8:40 PM, karl_nj said:

Are the original flights you still booked still available?  Or is this actually the airline consolidating flights?

The originally scheduled outbound flight no longer exists, the originally scheduled return flight still exists, FBC changed our flight to a connecting flight - which would have been and still is lower price.

We booked Millennium this June out of St. Maarten. Decided to book through Flights By Celebrity (FBC).  Paid more for a direct flight to and from and also for leaving at reasonable times. Paid approximately $450 p/p. More specifically, the flights I purchased were leaving JFK at 11 a.m. the day before embarkation and 2:00 p.m. on the return.  Connecting flights and earlier times were significantly cheaper.  First, FBC changed the out bound flight to 7:00 a.m.  This is a problem since getting to JFK is always an issue and this adds $150 since Uber is a premium at 3:00 a.m. - Complained and they changed the flight to 8:30 out of Newark. Today they change the return flight to a connecting flight - now making this a 9 hour return flight and again adding an additional $100 Uber premium by the time we get out of the airport at 1:00 a.m.  If I had booked this flight originally it would have been $80 less p/p.  Now FBC wants $225 p/p to change the tickets. Really??  So I paid a premium for the direct flights that they were selling, they change them to the less expensive fairs and keep the difference...and want to charge $225 per ticket to change the tickets. Watch Out...

Pursuant to federal law - CARES Act https://www.cms.gov/files/document/FFCRA-Part-43-FAQs.pdf, if you have medical insurance you should not be paying anything for a COVID test that is deemed "medically necessary" - which means that you have one, or more symptoms (i.e. headache, the runs, cough, runny nose, cough lost sense of taste etc) or you were near an infected person - (FYI telling the receptionist that you are going on a cruise likely may not bee deemed a symptom).  As such, if the testing site is asking for your insurance card and cash, red flags should go up.  However, every plan is different and if a lab is out of network you may have to pay first, claim later.

You can find a rapid test here  http://www.rapidtesttravel.com .