WhiteSoxFan

"We are saddened to learn of the passing of a guest, and our hearts go out to the family. Out of respect for them, we won't provide any further comment." Based on this statement from RC I'd say the rumors may be correct.

I've been very pleased with my MEI agent Beth. On our last 2 bookings, one past one on Celebrity Beyond and an upcoming on Celebrity Summit, she has been able to offer us group rates that saved me over $900 combined. The latest also provided $150 of additional OBC versus the offer that was current when I booked.

I decided to do a mock booking to see how it compared with our upcoming sailing on the Celebrity Beyond in January. The Beyond is also brand new but obviously isn't the size of, nor have all the family bells and whistles as, the Beyond. I chose a Jan 2025 sailing as I thought it was a fair comparison. On Beyond we have a IV so I chose an ocean view IV cabin. My Beyond sailing was $ 3,878 and includes the Premium Drink Package, Gratuities, Surf (slow) Internet & $300 OBC. The price on Icon was $1600 more and did not include any internet or drink package. I think I'll stick with X or the older RC ships for now thank you.

Self testing is effectively equal to no testing. Not much of a point to it.

I totally agree with point #1 about printing your COVID results and would add your see pass to that. I'm not sure what the obsession is with having it all on your phone and having to swipe back and forth. We had all our paperwork printed and in hand prior to entering the building for our Apex sailing last month and it could not have gone faster or smoother. As a side note we had 11:30 check-in and actually arrived at 11:00. We walked right up to the line labeled for 11:30 and they let us right in. we were on the ship in 10 minutes.

We completed the Binax Now proctored home test three weeks ago before our Celebrity Apex Cruise. A couple words of warning. I purchased 2 at home test as did my daughter & SIL. My test went off without a hitch. My wife's, however, did not. When she went to put the drops of solution into the test card all she got was a foamy bubble exiting the bottle. The bottle was effectively empty. Luckily, and probably improperly, they allowed her to use the solution in my bottle to complete the test. We told my daughter who is on the west coast and hadn't taken hers yet. When she went to take hers she had the same issue, empty solution bottle. She had to get her husband out of bed to take his so she could also use his solution. Not sure if this is common or if it had anything to do with the fact that these tests were beyond their original expiration date but within the 3 month extension. Other than that hiccup everything else was amazing. Loyal to Royal for 13 cruises but Celebrity definitely has a great product.

I would imagine that if the CDC comes out and says you need a booster to be considered "fully vaccinated' then yes. Until that time I doubt it.

IHU could be a big nothing burger. First sequenced in early November weeks before Omicron. It hasn't really taken off whereas Omicron obviously has.

We have a Celebrity cruise booked for January and I received an email yesterday stating that all final payment for all cruises through March 31st would have 60 day final payments. Not sure why there is a difference with them and Royal.

Makes sense. I'm curious how they determine the current R0.

I'm trying to wrap my head around how the R0 for Florida has apparently dropped below the magic number of 1 yet case load is continuing to increase. (so far) In regards to COVID and any seasonality, we only have 18 months under our belt. I don't think we can learn much about how seasonal it may be. I'm keeping my January sailing, if its anything like last year it should be at the peak of the holiday surge. ?

A thread on CC says that 10 people on a Carnival Horizon facebook group have tested positive since returning home. Carnival confirms there is a "small number" of cases on the Vista.

In one way they are already doing this. It's called Celebrity. ?

Not sure why Royal has set it up this way. It's very easy to view and price flights on Celebrity's website.

I tend to agree with you. In the short term, however, these are things to consider as possible impediments.