JeffB

Don't overthink this. Cruise ships are hands down the safest congregate travel and leisure venue on the planet. Period. I know Matt knows that Celebrity is part of RCG but I can see Celebrity (another line besides RCL) corporate's policy of transparency about the appearance of COVID on board. On my B3B and at day 17 of continuous sailing. The two Captains we've had on Equinox sailing from PEV on Caribbean itineraries have made three announcements of COVID positives - all unvaccinated, presumably under 12, presumably infected enroute and not aboard or on excursions - 14 close contacts - all negative. IOW, safest place on the planet if you want to travel and avoid getting infected by SARS2.

I just can't help but look at the abject failure of the current administration to standardize mechanisms for proof of vaccination. We have passports, right? We have uniformity in state driver's licenses, right? A fake proof vaccine document is entirely doable. It could be done by the states, funded by the US government and issued via the same mechanism that various forms of state IDs are issued. If we had this, stupid stuff like happened here wouldn't be happening and the cruise lines wouldn't have to deal with it. The EU has had problems with getting everyone on the same page but the majority of EU countries have mechanisms to prove citizens have been vaccinated and travel and/or move freely between boarders of states requiring proof of vaccination to enter. As well, vaccine passports can be used to enter venues where proprietors require it on the basis of creating a safe environment in their places of business. Instead, here in the US, we argue about the constitutionality of various PH mitigation measures while at the same time arguing about the potential discriminatory nature of having a vaccine passport. Incredible. When will reasonableness prevail in this storm.

I've posted several reviews of my B3B Celebrity Equinox sailings out of PEV in the Celebrity Azamra thread but there are some specific cross-over observations on issues like mask wearing and antigen testing raised in this thread that I may be able to fill in some information and observations on. First, no intention to start a mask debate but one thing is apparent. There is no uniformity in mask policy ..... anywhere. Not just on cruise ships. That should tell us something about the value or lack thereof of masking as a legitimate COVID mitigation measure. IMO, their utility in stopping the spread of SARS2 in particular is debatable. The subject of the huge variances in COVID related travel restrictions is catching the eye of government regulators - it's choking the travel and leisure sectors of the global economy. I've seen reports of astounding economic losses continuing as the world starts traveling again due just to these disparate travel regulations alone. More uniformity is a tough thing to achieve among nations with varying COVID circumstances but, it could be done. Second, in understanding masking, one also has to separate the debate between the two sides of the restraint of liberties argument. That argument involves questions about government authority granted in a PHE to direct behaviors, in particular masking, in protecting the public health and the constitutionality of limiting freedoms by issuing them. When viewed by encompassing the political and medical/scientific bases of masking it seems to me a legitimate argument can be made that mandatory masking directed by governments, especially aboard cruise ships, is a questionable policy. I believe this may sort itself out in the months ahead. Finally, and on balance ,there is a reliance on businesses, who do have lawful authority to mandate mitigation measures, including masking, to assert that the government is requiring them to do so or is recommending them with the penalty for failing to do so civil liability for COVID deaths or serious illness. IOW, this isn't simple - lots of issues and moving parts in the masking or no masking policies aboard cruise ships. On balance, I'm against them but there are myriad issues and agencies involved in masking policy. Being against them, I would choose to cruise on lines that don't require them indoors. For now, Celebrity is one of them. Vaccination policy is affecting masking policy. Is that reasonable? Notwithstanding the foregoing, I can make a case for masking indoors on a cruise ship that is allowing a hybrid passenger mix. I can also make an argument that it doesn't. Right now, of the majors, RCL is the only line not requiring guest vaccination to board for a sailing. I'm quite certain that the lines know the answer to this question but publicly, it's not going to be known. What is the occurrence rate of all infectious diseases compared to infections with SARS2 in cruise ships with less than 95/98 compared to those with 98/95?..... or, are masks doing anything to make cruising safer? If my experience with a B3B, now on consecutive day 17 (11 more to go) on a fully vaccinated Equinox can be extrapolated to the whole industry (admittedly a stretch) here's how things have gone: We have experienced 3 COVID positives and 14 identified close contacts that tested negative. All positives were unvaccinated. Positives, according to the Captain, were not acquired on board the ship (no other details provided). Masks are not required for vaccinated guests indoors. They are for unvaccinated guests. (Per the Captain, Equinox has reached a a minimum of 98% guest vaccinated on all three of our B3B's legs) I'd assume, based on the current facts on the ground involving this question, that over a similar period involving cruise ships with a larger percentage of unvaccinated, COVID positives would be more numerous. Then, the next question: what is the impact of masking on this cohort? Masks = less positives or not? I'd assume the later mainly becasue of my own personal view of the lack of benefits to masking in the specific congregate setting of cruise ships - YMMV. TBH, cruising presents a unique opportunity for the CDC to look at questions like this. Some analyst in a CDC cubby in Atlanta, might be looking at this but if my hypothesis that masking makes no difference in mitigating SARS2 spread on a cruise ship were supportable in the data (skimpy at this point), we're not going to hear about it. I think similar anecdotal studies could be performed in school settings - I'd like to see that for schools instead of all the arm wavng by the two sides of this debate. Antigen testing. This is simple. It is a good, scientifically based way to prevent the introduction of SARS2 in a congregate setting (a cruise ship). It is also a good way, when coupled with appropriate tracing capability (Apex and Equinox requires all guests to wear traceletts) to keep a single COVID infected person from producing an outbreak. IOW, the benefits of this mitigation measure and all the hassles it imposes is entirely worth it. My experience with Apex out of Athens and now with Equinox out of PEV is that the contractors doing the testing are good at what they do. How the process of scheduling a test and reporting results has been janky. IMO, part of the problem is RCG's decision to not integrate the contractor's process and apps into RCG's apps for check-in and so forth. Not integrating the two apps hurts perceptions of hassle factor but it may be that the code used for writing both of them is different enough to prevent easy integration. It will come. On board debarkation testing done by the contractors has been excellent. We used it for our B3Bs between each debarkation and re-boarding process. Contractors also provide antigen testing for guests who are international travelers not holding US passports (a department of state/home land security imposed travel into and out of the US requirement). None of this uses the QR codes or the apps for reporting results. Guest services provides a list of guests to be tested, the contractor runs the results, reports them to guest services, who then engages medical staff and security to come knocking to the cabins of anyone that tests positive. So far out of over 100 guests to go through this, none, to my knowledge have been positive and tracked down. TBF, every COVID related thing we're experiencing as cruisers in the early stages of the restart have been pretty well handled by the lines. My experience with these and Celebrity has been great and notably lacking in a reduction of the outstanding onboard experiences of the past. My expectations for X have not been diminished by COVID.

I think those kinds of infections are down considerably due to decreased passenger loads, masked crew, a step up in cleanliness of the ship and the general improvement in personal hygiene measures being taken by guests. The ship knows the exact details but that's not going to be public information. In my recent pre-COVID cruise experience, I rarely fell ill on a cruise. I'm probably not going to be a very good test case. After 2 full weeks aboard, not really changing my own hygiene behaviors aboard, I've not experienced any adverse health events ....... except weight gain! I do think masking in ports cuts down on bringing respiratory infections back aboard ship.

Last sea day on our 7n E. Caribbian aboard Equinox then return to PEV for B2B process for the follow-on 12n Southern Caribbean Special. We'll walk off as early as possible tomorrow morning and plan to go home to water plants, bring bigger clothes to replace what's too tight ? and walk back on before 4p. Celebrity does a briefing for B2B'ers in Celebrity Central at 9am the day before return to PEV. The antigen testing is done in the adjacent Quasar Lounge. We were speedily antigen tested and we'll be notified only if positive. Very well organized. We're switching cabins for the next cruise. The one we're in now wasn't available when I last minute booked the 12nighter 6d ago with the Future Cruise specialists. When you move cabins, all you have to do is put most of your stuff on hangers if you can, leave this in the closet, pack the rest in a suitcase, and your cabin attendant will see to it that it is moved to your new cabin. Easy. On Celebrity fares: First, the next 12nighter we're sailing on this B3B was booked on board 6d ago. I shoot for an OV or Veranda fare/day/per person of $220 these days. Prior to COVID you could easily get fares for under $200 per day per person. Not that easy anymore. However, for this 12n cruise, there were multiple incentives for on-board bookings. In the past, I've found these worthwhile to consider booking this way. On Solstice Class ships we book either Verandas or OV depending on pricing. The lowest priced cabins this time around were Verandas in Concierge class. There were incentives to book that cabin class lowering the rate. There were also incentives to book what Celebrity calls "Indulge." It's a plus up to premium bevs from the classic that goes along with their "Everything Included" pricing. The incentive is additional OBCs. When I figured in the $600 OBC I got, this fare came to $170/day/person - keep in mind, I'm not actually getting the $600 OBC in incentives in my pocket! What this amounts to is Celebrity getting a bit more money out of your pocket up front then paying you back in OBC's to spend on-board. Smart marketing. On my side it feels good and makes my per day costs look better. That's about all. Lately, on the RCL blog message boards and other cruise blogs I peek at there has been a lot of comments expressing concern on itinerary changes and cancellations along with speculation for the reasons why. On these three consecutive cruises I'm currently sailing, One of them, an L&S, changed 4x since booked in 2019. The other two were just last minute booked on the front and back end of the L&S. Both of these cruise's itineraries have been changed 1X and 2X respectively. The latest, the upcoming 12n S. Caribbean, just dropped St. Kitts and Grenada and substituted Curacao and Aruba (can't be disappointed about that!). I asked and staff aboard had not been told by corporate as to the reasons for the itinerary changes. I'll not speculate. Could be for a ton of different reasons. None of this is going to be publicly available information. Of course that won't stop cruise bloggers from speculating. I'm not worried about it and I recommend others do the same. It seems like Celebrity, anyway, is doing a great job of continuing to offer an amazing cruise experience in a tough environment to do so. The bottom line is that this is cruising life during COVID. From what I've been reading, travel is going to be disrupted for years. That is because of the myriad rules now emerging for airline and cruise ship travel, country entry requirements, vaccination and COVID testing requirements. None of these are either uniform nor, IMO, based on a reasonable assessment of PH risks wrt COVID - cruise ship travel the notable exception. COVID's not going away and I've advocated everywhere I have a chance to advocate that we must learn to live with it without unnecessarily restricting mobility and social behaviors. It's going to take a while for governments to get their heads out of their asses on this point. I don't think we are going to go back to the draconian measures of early 2020. This, despite the very wrong perception of COVID impact the press and social media have created and government PH official feel compared to react to. I see signs that that perception is being questioned. As well, there isn't the political will to shut things down. Cruising will be fine. Accept that it won't be like it was pre-COVID but, as far as I'm concerned, it's till great!

I was in St. Maarten - Phillipsburg, the Dutch side - yesterday (Celebrity Equinox). If both St. Maarten ports are closed, that order was implanted in the last 18 hours. I just read an article in the Economist that advocated for baseline global uniformity in boarder regulations. IOW, boarders (implied to include airports and cruise ports) should be generally open for travelers with a bare minimum of public health mitigation measures. In the opinion of this author and consistent with mine many of the PH meansures are both unnecessary and not based on facts on the ground or available scientific data. The author cited convincing economic data that realistically assessed the ridiculous costs of these crazy PH patch-work boarder entry requirements to the travel and leisure sectors of the global economy. Amen.

Day 6, Celebrity Equinox, 7n E. Caribbean out of PEV. Port of calls in order have been Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Maarten. Now in first sea day of 2 before debarkation in PEV on Sunday. Sailing during the Hurricane season....... Over the last 10 years I've chartered sailboats out of Tortola, BVI 3X and cruised Caribbean waters at least half a dozen times. I may have been lucky but none of those events were interrupted by a hurricane. Where they around? Yes. Why does the navy pull all their ships out of port when a hurricane is approaching one of them? Because being at sea during a hurricane is the safest place to be. Given today's weather forecasting technology, it's easy to predict the paths of these things, not with 100% accuracy but with about 90%. Today's sailing vessels with the capability to reach speeds of 30kts can easily avoid them. That's what Equinox did with Fred. It is what I expect it will do with Grace and any other storms that might follow on my next cruise aboard her - 12n S. Caribbean starting Sunday 8/15. The weather on the current cruise has been beautiful, sunny with seas not exceeding 2-3m. Barely feeling sea motion aboard. So, yeah, Celebrity would not be sailing the Caribbean waters during the hurricane season without knowing that they can sail around them, rearrange port calls and pretty much guarantee a smooth ride. Any menu changes in the venues I've experienced? Nope. Standard fare in Ocean View Cafe, Tuscan Grill, Murano, Spa Cafe, Sushi on Five. Did not go to Q-SIne, La Petite Chef. I don't think 30 minutes passed by without some kind of food available in the OV Cafe..... that 30 minutes where it's roped off to allow food table changes. In fact, there is nothing different from my Celebrity experiences of the past compared to now except guest load. It has been nice and is what prompted me to book a B3B. This is a great time to cruise. European travel is a bit more difficult but still entirely doable if you understand and comply with all the differing country entry protocols. Itinerary changes and COVID related stuff. While in St. Maarten yesterday we learned from the grapevine and confirmed by locals that St Kitts had "closed it's port to cruise ships with over 750 passengers." This was based on a cruise ship (not RCL's but I forgot which one) being turned away and instead porting in St. Maarten the day before we arrived. This turned out to be false. On further clarification it was because St. Kitts, along with most Caribbean ports of call are either already at or are moving toward requiring cruise ships to be at least at the CDC recommended 98%/95% vaxed levels. This ship, whichever one it was, had somewhere around 90%, and possibly other undisclosed factors, e.g., passengers or crew aboard with COVID and isolated. Local COVID related health conditions are going to drive itineraries. To be sure, island governments are pro-cruise ship visits. TBH, I don't think we're going to see a lot of turning back. Access and fewer COVID mitigation measure will predominate as time goes on. The press COVID hysteria that has driven and in some cases continues to drive perceptions, and accordingly governments and PH authorities react to these, is being discovered to be just that .....hysteria not based on facts on the ground. As these emerge, especially in countries where tourism accounts for most of the local economy, PH authorities will move more toward improved management of and living with SARS2. The Celebrity app provides along with the printed daily, all port COVID protocols. Per these publications, masks are required indoors and outdoors in the ports we visited. However, when I asked locals about wearing masks outside in St. Maarten, I was told just indoors. Ask an then be respectful of spacing. Still, you've seen the news. Isolated COVID + crew and pax are happening. Everyone of them that I am aware of is being managed in accordance with protocols. There have been no unmanaged outbreaks aboard a cruise ship and only news of positive cases being reported by the lines themselves as handled routinely and correctly despite open press reports of them that imply COVID chaos - but that's their thing. I ignore it. In the 2w we've been aboard Equinox, there has been one announced + COVID case aboard - a passenger who reported to medical with symptoms - the day before the end of the first week. 6 contacts - all negative. The one COVID = pax got off at Fort Lauderdale and handled per protocols. We've also seen two occasions while in port where ambulances appeared and, in both cases, some one was transported. ALos in both cases, ambulance personnel that had direct involvement with the transported individual were wearing Hazmat/PPE equipment. My take is that is SOP for them. I think we would have had an announcement from the Captain if either of these evacs had involved COVID. I believe Celebrity has a policy of complete transparency with respect to COVID cases onboard, of course, consistent with privacy concerns.

One other comment. This is Hurricane season in the Caribbean and we're dealing with a tropical cyclone that is passing over St. Thomas right now. Tropical soaking rain and some winds but not over 30kts. Our captain mentioned it today and said it is of no concern to our itinerary. I have a friend in St. Maartin that I talked with yesterday. It was getting stormy there but the storm will pass today (it already has) and weather will be fine tomorrow. Supposedly same for St. Thomas tomorrow according to our captain. It is supposed to pass over Hispaniola, then South of Cuba and enter the FL straights passing west of the FL peninsula and into the gulf as a tropical depression. It will probably be rainy in S. FL this weekend if you are traveling there for a cruise.

Quick update Celebrity Equinox 7n E. Caribbean, day 3 (at sea). We visited Nassau on Day 2. We're just there l;ast week. This time all the shops were open and we took the usual walk with a side trip to pick up some Tide laundry powder at the local food store for our cabin attendant. Those that have been here before might remember a large open market on the main street close to the port. That is not open right now but we were told opening will happen soon as pandemic restrictions are eased. One thing to note, Bahamian shop owners were very welcoming and not pushy. Just glad to see us. Masks and distancing are required all of Nassau, inside and outside, though outside masking does not seem to be enforced - and there are Royal Bahamian police very visible. On this 7d itinerary there are 3 port calls (Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten). We lost the 8th night a long time ago (CDC) and Tortola, BVI about a month ago on an itinerary change) and 4 sea days - yes, you need to like ship activities and life. These early cruises aren't about seeing the sights ashore. Fortunately we like ship life and we'll get plenty of it on a now B3B, Western (done), Eastern (on it now) and Southern Caribbean (coming up after this one). For the S. Caribbean sailing, we'll be getting off the ship, quickly going home - to get bigger clothes ?- then returning. We'll walk off as early as possible and have a list of things to do like water plants then use our transit pass to re-board. We've used these in the past and pre-COVID. There was a separate gangway for that process. Not sure how it will work in COVID times. Hopefully, we'll get antigen tested the day before debarkation, walk off and back on easily using the transit pass. I'll report on that process. Some random thoughts on Equinox. After 40+ Celebrity cruises this is the first cruise I bought the 3n specialty dining package. Since there are just 4 specialty restaurants on the Solstice class ships, we didn't book the one we have no interest in - Q-zine, La Petite Chef. We booked Murano (our fav) 2x, Tuscan 1X and Sushi on 5 1x. Ate at Tuscan last night. I never liked the move away from the Golden Age of Cruising themed specialty restaurants that were a thing on Millennium class ships and Tuscan was one of the replacements. Past experience with Tucson was mixed with the mains being just as good as Tuscan. That wasn't the case last night. Menu selection, food quality, presentation and service were 5*. The ship is still running at just a shade over 1/2 restaurant staff but, then, the ship is sailing at only 40-50% guest capacity. I thought timing and overall service were good. We really enjoy formal dining. It's not for everyone. But the capacity of the matre'ds and wait staff to deliver a formal dining experience on Celebrity is pretty high. It takes a lot of training to pull this off. I've seen other unmentioned lines try to do this, others don't try and in both cases it's a bit disappointing and since this is such a big part of the cruising life we like we just avoid sailing on those lines. The bottom line is right now, it's a great time to cruise mostly because of the necessary accommodations that the lines have to make for COVID that tend to produce a better experience with things we like. YMMV. I can say without hesitating that Celebrity is pulling this off and delivering a first class experience at a very reasonable price on a cost per day, per person basis. Then again, I'm highly biased and my tastes are different from others.

Speculating because I don't know what kind of arrangements RCL has with shore based agencies wrt the handling of COVID positives or where the line is drawn between the terminal's responsibility to deal with a COVID positive and RCL's. But, it's unlikely that a COVID positive guest identified in the terminal or on the ship is simply going to be told to go home. RCL is definitely going to want to make sure close contacts are identified, the guest is at least told he needs to mask and quarantine and sign documents he is informed and will comply or if on the ship, will get quarantined, then appropriately transferred to limit exposure to others, etc. My take is that the number of people this is happening too is very small. We'd hear about it via a prying media trying to get a scoop if there were a lot of them. One other point. The OP stating that Antigen testing for vaxed guests is overkill and not consistent with the science is fundamentally correct. It would probably not be necessary based on CDC guidance to not test asymptomatic people, still present even in the presence of Delta, in any other setting but the cruise lines. The reason is that the risk would not justify the cost. For example, are indoor sporting events, casinos or resorts doing it? Nope. The cruise lines are a different animal. In that circumstance, it is an appropriate investment and consistent with the goal of keeping the shipboard environment as safe and COVID free as possible. I disagree with the OP that it overkill for the cruise lines to require it.

Pre-boarding or pre-entry anything Antigen testing is overkill based on actual risks but is an appropriate approach for businesses. If one wants to cruise, get used to it. It's going to around for a while and certainly through 2021. Options are available like don't go......if its not too late to cancel, that's an option. If your risk tolerance is low, buy trip insurance with cancel for any reason. No need to blame cruise lines for keeping their places of business as safe as possible for customers and employees.

Going through B2B process now. We got tested yesterday and only notified if positive. We weren't notified. Around 8pm, yesterday evening the Captain made an announcement that 1 person who presented to medical with symptoms tested positive for COVID. 6 close contacts were tested, none positive. Positive guest was isolated and left the ship today. Private transport to airport and home arranged. The B2B process started at 9:30am when we assembled in the Ensemble lounge. There were 71 guests doing B2B. Vaccination cards were checked and we were registered. Guest relations staff kept us informed along the way. Around 10:05 we were escorted off the ship to the terminal where the group passed quickly through CBP check points using facial recognition equipment. Staff led us to a seating area and we were provided our room cards and traceletts. Around 10:50, like clockwork, we were led back out of the CBP area directly to the arrival terminal and onto the ship. Done by 11:05. Very well organized.

PCR is a diagnostic, not a screening tool. You want enough of a sample to get it right the first time.

I hate hearing that. It's a training issue for the technicians. For screening purposes, there is no need to penetrate any deeper than mid-nasal and anterior nasal is good enough. A technician that is inserting a swab beyond mid-turbinate on a child who is clearly freighted by all this is just sadistic. An adult or teen who is unlikely to be traumatized, fine. A young child, no way. My advice is to politely ask which collection technique is going to be used for a child under say, 8, that is a bit frightened by all this and ask that it be collected by anterior nasal swab. If that doesn't happen, don't make a scene at the collection point. Ask to speak to one of the medical doctors on board and voice your concerns about collection techniques being utilized for young children. It may not help your situation but it will help others after you.

This may be as good a place as any to post on the subject of being optimistic with regard to the cruise lines continuing to expand operations making more cabins available to the large number of people who want to take a vacation on a cruise ship. Let's start by stating that cruise ships have become, hands down, the safest travel and leisure activity among the many that are available. Demonstrably so. OK then, what else? Like Governor Desantis, who's getting hammered by his political opponents as new cases in FL break records on a daily basis while he is accused of down-playing it, the numbers will start to decline at some point in the near future - days or weeks, not months. As well, when the press screams, 16,000 NEW CASES BREAKS RECORDS, that headline fails to provide any context. One of the most important is that, besides almost all of the new cases are among the un-vaccinated, 98% of them are under 60. The mean age of newly infected is 39 (the range is 12-47). As Desantis put it, Would you rather have 500 over 65s infected or 5000 under 60s? The point is obvious. 85% of over 65s are vaccinated in FL and the risk of serious illness among the younger cohort pales in comparison to that of the older one. Silverl ining? Vax rates in FL are up sharply. I'm not dismissing the downsides of the current increase in new case numbers and % positivity. But, I reject the media hysteria. It's counterproductive to the goal of moving us closer to learning to manage this thing without imposing unnecessary mitigation and mobility restrictions. There's a risk to cruising given the hysteria. I don't think it's great in the US mainly because of what appears to be the likelihood that FL is going to prevail in it's filing v. Bacerra and Walensky. I think both the CDC and European governments in countries where tourism is an important industry feel shutting it down doesn't offer a great deal of PH benefit and has significant costs given how stunningly effective lines operating there have managed COVID for going on close to a year now.

Stock ownership (see also @AlmondFarmer) as in public and private ownership of it, is different from a business, e.g., a cruise line, that is owned by individuals as opposed to governments, e.g., Amtrac, USPS. Fannie Mae. I don't know if you have a "right" to ride Amtrac but I know a cruise line can legally prevent you from entering. Thus @dswallowstatement: "You have no inherent right anywhere to board a privately owned cruise ship." No, as long as that class - exempted based on religious beliefs - has options. In this case, a cruise line offering a refund or re-booking at a later date. There is also the issue of "in the interest of the public's health" as @dswallowpoints out. Is denial of boarding without proof of vaccination in the greater interests of the public's health? This has already been tested in the USSC by schools. both public and private. Yes it is legal to require vaccinations to attend classes. Sure, but the powers to grant specific services a "essential" in a publiv health emergency is probably left to the states. Could such designation be challenged? Yes. I don't think that concern applies here I think I am using the correct legal term but what you're suggesting is that NCL doesn't have standing for their suit to be heard in the court they filed it in. FL has already made that clima and is acting fro dismissal becasue of it. I think it's a strong point in favor of FL. Yes, it's technical and won't answer the question of whether Desantis can ban "vaccine passports." I don't think he does but one of the basic steps in filing law suit in court is to make sure all your Ts are crossed and and Is are dotted. Doesn't look like NCL's legal team did that.

I am speculating here but I'm pretty sure that VOOM uses two separate sets of channels - one for the streaming option, one for the other. So, what does that mean. "Bandwidth' is the maximum number of frequencies or channels contained within it. You may have heard of a 2.4Ghz channel and a 5Ghz channel. These designations refer to a frequency range of 2400 - 2500 mhz and 5725 and 5875 mhz. VOOM is either using those two bands or it is using one and then separating channels. There are going to be more users on VOOM than on VOOM Stream. That's going to be one factor - you might see videos and still photos easily up or down loaded on VOOM Stream but that is subject to the same sorts of limitations on VOOM - numbers of users, satellite signal strength and noise. It seems to me to be a crap shoot to get more speed with VOOM Stream that allows gaming and streaming. That is because even though VOOM Stream may have more frequencies allotted to it, it is still subject to the same things that slow down a connection - things the ship's IT team has no control over (satellite signal strength and noise) - an internet connection that has less of them assigned.

If you don't need one, don't get a PCR. Instead get the antigen test. Not all facilities offer both tests. I found that looking on the web does not always provide details on which tests are available at a specific (usually retail) testing site. If you can, call and confirm that the test you want is available and they aren't out of them. They do run out. It's not always easy to call - waiting on hold, bots and the like often don't cooperate.

Couple of random thoughts on the two Celebrity sailings we've completed since restart, one in Greece (Apex) and one from PEV (currently on Equinox): Travel to Europe to start a cruise requires some research to avoid potentially disruptive surprises. Entry requirements change. What you find on Monday, might change by Friday. Vaccination to enter for US passport holders is pretty much the norm for European countries you may travel to for a cruise start. Recommend use of Flights by Celebrity for obvious reasons. Same day arrivals can be done but are risky given the number of flight delays. Go a day early, book pre-cruise hotels with Celebrity and advantage yourself with Celebrity transport. Normally no need. Currently a good idea. Traveling to a US port to sail is less demanding but you still have to keep up with ever changing boarding requirements. If you're sailing a Caribbean itinerary, Caribbean ports are restricted, all of them in varying degrees. This too seems to change rapidly. My experience has been positive wrt being informed on current port restrictions by ship's staff. Check the printed daily. Updates are not in the app. I've already posted this....ship's tours are consistently affordable and good in the current circumstances. I recommend them. Feed back I get from fellow cruisers who go on their own to tour hasn't been positive. Just notified on B2B procedures. Completed our antigen tests just now, no cost, done by contractor staff. Other than this and turning in our traceletts, the process is unchanged from the past. We meet in a lounge at 9:30am, debark, go as a group through PEV C&I, then, after the ship is cleared, we reboard. Should be around 11am for our second leg, a 7n E Caribbean itinerary. Importantly, we don't have to get off and then check back in as a newbie. If you want to get off and tour Fort Lauderdale, you do and will be assigned a new check in time. Right now and probably through mid-october, is a great time to cruise. You must be open mined and flexible as things change. The advantages are small numer of guests that will be slowly increasing and am told Celebrity is planning to be at 100% by end of October. This assumes the CDC or foreign health authorities don't judge cruise ships to be disease vectors. So far, that hasn't happened and I don't think it will.

There are a huge number of variables that affect the quality of your onboard internet connection and its speed. In my experience if the IT staff aboard has control over a variable it gets fixed. If not, we'll, .....I've never bought stream. There are too many chances for it to disappoint. I'd say aboard the recent ships I've sailed on, I'm about 80% satisfied with internet. Yes, sometimes it's slow. There are ways to optimize your experience. Worth some web research to understand advantages and limitations of Satellite internet. Realistic expectations help.

How a available the test that's best for you seems to depend on the state you live in and the health care entity providing the testing. Finding the best fit for what you want/need requires a good deal of web research. In the end you can usually get what you need. @twangstersuggested retail pharmacies allow you to schedule up to 2w in advance. Jumping in as soon as you can then scheduling your test inside the required time window seems to be key. Waiting to schedule closer to the window will cause problems wrt appt. availability. Be proactive and persistent.

I didn't see the show but the Judge can sidestep a ruling on the merits (which Merryday didn't in FL v. Bacerra - he ruled and wrote that FL won). He can limit his ruling to an interpretation of the law and then cite applicable precedent. This is the first test case of a state's right in a PHE to ban what amounts to a business's rights under EEOC. I know the law, i.e., a business has an ethical, moral and legal right to impose rules that create a safe environment for employees and customers as long as they aren't discriminatory. What I don't know is on what legal basis FL claims it has the legal authority to ban businesses operating in the state from asking for proof of vaccination to enter or receive services. It's not clear that the state does not have that right. We'll see.

Yes. It's OK. It can get windy and/or hot. My hands down pick on Edge class ship's is Fine Cuts. Lunch at La Bistro would be my second specialty restaurant on Edge or Apex.

Last port call in Costa Maya today, day 5. Sea day tomorrow then back to PEV on Sunday. We'll continue on the next 7n E Caribbean sailing. Costa Maya is open....sortof. You can't leave the port area on your own. You can by taking ship's tours. We did. Mayan Culture Through the Ages. Small group of 20, nicely curated. This is another advantage of cruising early. Fewer guests on tours. Ship's tours I would have avoided pre COVID are inexpensive and well done. I've been impressed. Recommend you give them a serious look. Weather great again. Port stores are open but not all of them. The port facility has been improved while visitors weren't coming. I think that's a good sign that investors have confidence tourism will blossom soon.

This is coming from the CDC and the cruise lines, while they don't have to comply with the CDC's recommendations, they'd be crazy from a legal standpoint to not comply. As usual, and IMO, the numbers - facts on the ground - don't support the CDC's change in policy that was announced on July 28th. The change involved reversing their recommendations in May that the vaccinated didn't need to mask indoors and could pretty much go about living normally......IMO, one of the few smart recommendations they'd issued to date. They added that in addition to the new recommendations that the vaccinated should wear masks indoors ("in some circumstances" and that is vague and confusing itself) the recommendation to get tested in the case of an "exposure" (whatever that means???) 3-5d later regardless of symptoms or lack of them was added. Look, I can make a strong case that the current "surge" among the un-vaccinated (and that's where its happening) should be tolerated and managed with an emphasis on getting the unvaccinated vaccinated. Instead, what we're getting is constant and irrelevant reports of case numbers, without context and because of this the movement, under the pressure of the "DO SOMETHING" meme toward more "soft" mitigation measures at the local level. These are being implemented by local officials and, IMO, they are unnecessary, have no appreciable PH benefits and continue to impose what I consider to be unlawful restrictions on citizens and employers. It is undeniable that SARS2 is going to spread. Masks aren't going to stop it. Shuttering businesses wont' stop it. Social distancing won't stop it. Restricting personal mobility won't stop it. This has been the case for upwards of 17 months now ...... everywhere on the planet. Why do we keep doing this kind of stuff when vaccines are the one thing proven to stop it or at least make the pandemic manageable. Here's the obvious problem. If you've traveled, stepped out of your hermetically sealed home, gone to a restaurant and sat inside the chances are pretty high you were exposed to aerosolized SARS2 virions. TBC, that does not mean that you got or will get sick. It does not mean that you will transmit the virus to someone else - again the chances of that being the case are very low and I can produce solid data that statement is accurate. Why test then? This new CDC policy is just another example of the CDC's unreasonably over-cautiousness that because of factors they don't care about - implied and actual costs with minimum PH benefits - imposes more hardships on citizens and employers who, for multiple reasons, especially legal liability, see these not as recommendations but rather as rules to abide by. These recommendations from the CDC are not a lot unlike the CSO ...... a set of what Judge Merryday called quasi laws beyond the CDC's authority to issue. I'll allow that the cruise lines are in a unique situation. Because of the unfair treatment the lines endured in March of 2020, they can't afford an outbreak aboard a ship. Period. So, they test arriving guests to make sure they aren't asymptomatic carriers that could precipitate an outbreak so, yeah, I get it. They too have to be cautious, probably overly so, even though the risk of that happening, given the effectiveness of the already implemented health protocols, are extremely low. Ridiculous times.