Plumlee2028

A lot of Airports are setting up testing. DFW airport (where I fly out of) contracted with a lab company and they provide the range of testing at a few locations pre/post security. For my Celebrity cruise this month, where the 72 hours before embarkation was specified, I am going to the airport 2 days early (about 70 hours before sail-away) and getting an antigen test done at the pre-security testing facility. It was $79, results in an hour, and I have the next two days to try a second test, If i got a positive to either determine if it was false, or if it was real.

Has anyone tried the Rooftop restaurant on edge? Ive got some credit from my package I booked, so thinking about eating there one night.

Thanks for the updates. Ill definitely still plan to be careful when Im in FL, just as I am living here in North Texas. Ill feel very comfortable on this ship, as I did on Adventure a couple months ago. For anyone traveling out of North Texas, the testing company DFW airport hired has $79 antigen tests, with a 1 hour turn time. I live about 5 minutes from the airport, so Im actually going a couple days before my flights (about 70 hours before the ship departs FLL) that way I have time in case there is any issue. As for getting in a car in FL, Ive heard a lot of bad jokes about FL drivers, so maybe Ill avoid the roads. The report on the weather reminded me, Ive been watching the pandemic closely, got to keep an eye on the weather too. Cruising in August/September gives a lot of chances for weather changes.

Yeah I was just planning to try for a Sky Suite to get into the suite class. Ive tried the Royal Up on RCI, but never any luck, I think im too cheap.

Makes sense. Check in is all done, just curious if MoveUp has a set time table.

Hello Everyone, I'm heading out on my first Celebrity cruise at the end of the month. Was considering the MoveUp program from the Edge Veranda to a Sky Suite or similar. When does the bidding open? I double checked today to make sure my email was getting emails from Celebrity (which I knew given the daily emails...). My trip is on the 28th, so I assumed it would be open now, but no such luck in email or on the website link. Website link kept saying to make sure the sailing is within 30 days.

Thanks for the links. My sailing is Aug 28, so I have plenty of time to figure out my plans, but the FLL airport option is appealing, and the price is well in line with anything where I live.

Several urgent care facilities are testing people regularly for travel. These are the same, valid, medical facilities with medial professionals that would test people with symptoms. I have done both reasons to test at the same location. I work for an airline, and we contract with health care provider companies to perform tests for passengers. Some of the labs that run the diagnostics on the test are conducting the testing themselves. A lab locally tests people at the front door, and literally walks the sample in to the lab and off it goes for testing, which cuts out the middle man, in that case the doctor. This is a good strategy to reduce stress on a national health system that has struggled during this pandemic, while also allowing for an additional layer of screening prior to people traveling. I am cursing celebrity next month, and they just emailed me today with the same protocols. I am fine with the changes. Things have changed, dramatically, in the 3 weeks since I booked my ticket.

I would keep checking the check in times. I had 1pm for my Edge sailing on Aug 28, I checked today, and 11:30, 12, 12:30 were open, so I snagged an 11:30 slot. Im not elite or anything either, it is my first Celebrity cruise.

I'm assuming there is some similarity to Royal''s program on this. I frequently see literature on their website of "drinks up to $12" included, but all the $13 ones I've bought there were included as well. Ive never tried it on Celebrity, so it'll be interesting to see next month.

I recommend American…that has absolutely nothing to do with them paying my mortgage every month. in seriousness, I cant speak for Delta but i know AA brought back most routine service. Regarding alcohol, that is being directly tied to the assaults on flight attendants…once that stops, normal service will resume.

You may have. I will say the production show had a fair amount of latin influence as well.

When I sailed adventure back in June, there was a pretty healthy grouping of shows. They had the production show and the ice show (which i consider similar), as well as a comedian, and a latin musical act, IMPACT. Beyond that there was the usual poolside music, the busker in the pub, and various events in the lounge. With distanced shows, they had each show multiple times throughout the week. Im sure there was difficulty getting shows together with quarantines etc for the crew. I believe adventure was originally scheduled on 4/5 day type cruises as well, before being assigned this cruise set, so that may have played a roll as well.

I don't know about for elite member benefits, but I checked in online for my August 28 sailing on Edge and got a 1pm check in time. I imagine the very first availability was around 12pm, that's what I have been seeing on Royal. That way you check in and head straight onboard instead of hanging around the terminal etc.

Fully adult vaccinated still doesn't mean test cruises aren't required. It comes down to if they believe they can have 95% of guests vaccinated routinely, and they believe they have enough under 12 year olds that they couldn't reasonably meet the 95% on a consistent basis. Thats why they are test cruising in Galveston and Seattle, where they are requiring vaccines for guests of eligible age.

Im on that sailing and haven't seen anything yet. But im not surprised either. Wish they could have found a different port, as I was just in Nassau for the Adventure sailing last month.

I went there on the first cruise. My time was booked for the morning, but got moved to 11. It was rather cool that day so no big deal. A couple of the local beers were about $4.50-$5.50 a person. The food had a decent beach food variety that seemed reasonably well priced. If you plan to eat before on the ship, and plan a couple beers etc per person, then the all inclusive probably isn't worth it. That said, beach chairs and umbrellas were included in mine. That said when we got there, there was no real instructions, so we found an open beach chair/umbrella and sat. An employee came and said it was someone's chair and pointed out a reservation number on the top of the umbrella (the tag for the number was about 2 inches square. We were later told umbrella was not included in the all-inclusive, but the owner was running around trying to make people happy, and said to just give it to us. The biggest "issue" I had was not great communication throughout. We met on the pier at the assigned time. We weren't on the bus until about 45 minute to an hour later. With the temp, not a huge deal, but during the real heat of summer that wouldn't have been ideal. The bus ride is about 20 minutes each way. We ended up with about 2.5 hours on the beach or so all in after the delays. Hopefully some of the logistics are a bit more sorted out at this point.

That makes sense. I wasn't sure what kind of job the rope trains that pull along the length of the lock can do holding the ship centered in the lock or not? Or do they just help guiding into the lock more than being able to do any centering? Perhaps for ships like a cruise ship there are wind limitations etc., where it may work in lower winds where the risk is decreased particularly if the lock is wide enough? i dont know much about this other than basic TV documentaries, so its interesting to get more info on the topic.

The larger, newer locks are supposedly 181 ft wide (wikipedia, so correction may be warranted). Not sure how much space to each side would be needed. The beam info I saw is water line at 127ft at the waterline, so obviously wider a little higher, and more-so with the walkways.

2022. Carnival Celebration will be based there. Mardi Gras has been there this week, they might be running some planning tests etc, or that may just be a coincidence.

It probably depends when your cruising is sailing (potentially where it is sailing from as well) as to if it is offered, and if it is the same value. My Symphony cruise in August, it is not offered. It is for my Explorer cruise from San Juan next January. I don't remember it being offered on my Adventure cruise last month either, but I didn't really look for it. I suspect they may be holding off on selling it etc and only offering for cruises where they think there will be a more normal boarding etc.

My email for my August 29 Symphony of the seas protocols (sent by Royal this morning) included a note about cancelling for a refund, or moving the cruises if you don't like the protocols. The email was mostly testing needs etc.

Im not a TA by any stretch, but Royal says they accept any vaccine approved by national health organizations (they list FDA as an example) as well as mentioning the World Health Organization. There is a caveat for "certain voyages or countries may require certain vaccines" but I didn't find any specific examples on their website from a quick browse. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-vaccines-are-accepted The FDA hasn't approved AstraZeneca because AstraZeneca never applied for emergency use authorization, so it wasn't a sort of "not approved" or anything like that. They just can't sign off on a product when the manufacturer never asks them to. Here we have so much Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J that AstraZeneca focused on other agencies. The US is currently donating our AstraZeneca vaccines elsewhere. The only vaccines Ive seen any long-term weariness for acceptance by nations is the Sputnik vaccine from Russia, and China's vaccine.

Staying along the seawall is always a good classic. Theres tons of shops, restaurants, etc down the length of the shore. Any drive from the seawall to the port is around 10-20 minutes in my experience. Lots of the hotels have shuttles to the cruise port. I have never seen a multi-night stay requirement at the 10 or so different hotels I've stayed at there, but it has been about 2 years. My tradition was always eating at Gaido's or Nick's the night before or at Fisherman's Wharf which is along the port side of the island not real far from the Cruise Terminal. If you have a family, there are places like Casa Del Mar or Victorian Hotel which are condo type units and have Usually a master bedroom, couch bed, and installed bunk beds in the wall to sleep around 6 people in a room. Nicer places there's the San Luis resort or Hotel Galvez which is more historical. I stayed at a Comfort Suites along the seawall last time, it was about 150 for the night for a large room. Short uber to lots of restaurants and had an onsite bar, and a free port shuttle. If you're driving in, look for hotels there that let you park for free if you're on a cruise. There are many of those, that can save some parking money if that's a concern as well.

Depending on when you go, much of South Beach was closed when I was on Adventure last week.