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Celebrity Announces Restart


twangster

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After two days of detailed looks at available dates and itineraries for a 7n Millennium sailing out of St. Maartin, after searches using available engines for flights and accommodations pre-cruise, after having my TA put my first priority sail date and cabin on hold with Celebrity, we decided against booking the sailing.

Why you ask? The cruise was reasonable, so were the pre-cruise accommodations. In two days, economy airfares had gone from a low of $380, non-stop, R/T MIA, SXM (we've flown there before and that's the going fare, sometimes it's lower) to over $1K for that routing with decent times. You could still book flights for around $440 but routing/times were horrible.

To make those flights out of MIA we'd have to Uber to the airport at $100, one way, over an hour trip (nothing out of FLL). We've gotten spoiled living just North of PEV. It's a $35 20m ride to the port, easy on and easy off to get back home (we use Global Entry). The hassle of an expensive flight, managing and paying for COVID entrance requirements in St. Maartin and transportation to/from MIA was just too much.

I was watching cabin availability when the bookings went up at the Celebrity site for the 6/19 sailing. No OV or inside cabins were offered.  Retreat cabins were gone in about 24h. The good Vernadas in about 36h. Still there was good availability on all 4 of the Millennium sailings in June. Didn't track July.

The pricing for a Millennium Veranda, Cat 2C cabin came out at about $235pp/n. I try to target Celebrity Verandas between $130-160pp/n. Pre-pandemic, that was easy to find during off peak times and on less popular itineraries. During the early cruises we're going to pay a bit of a premium. That's to be expected and I don't have a problem with it.

 

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42 minutes ago, steverk said:

@JeffB I'm sorry you wont' be able to join us on the Millennium.

Yeah, it sucks. I was stoked and ready to roll. I'm also a bit compulsive. Fortunately, I have a wife who isn't. She pointed out the downsides that I simply dismissed.

Moreover, we have a sailing on Equinox out of PEV on June 13th. I'm hopeful but not optimistic. Not sure what I'll do with that booking, as it is fully paid, when it predictably gets cancelled.

Also have Reflection booked out of Amsterdam to Norway in July. Given what's' going on in Europe, I'm even less confident about that one. Final payment comes due in April. Before that happens I'll cancel it and try booking Apex out of Athens - I feel pretty good about that one. I've been tracking COVID in Greece the last couple of days and after Celebrity announced that Apex will sail the Greek isles, at a couple of COVID tracking sites I use. They, like the rest of the EU, are experiencing a rise in new case numbers. Deaths and hospitalizations are up but not at the same rate as new cases - that is good.

The Greek government has imposed some tougher restrictions and mobility has decreased by around 50% (cell phone data). What makes me believe vaccinated Americans will be welcome by June or July, as long as control of SARS2 - as measured by the amount of circulating virus (positivity) - can be reestablished, is based on 2 things: (1) The Greek government, compared to the US government, wants to restore tourism and believes risks of doing that are lower than the economic benefits to its citizens. (2) I'm almost certain Celebrity would not be planning to port Apex out of Athens without a clear picture of the public health situation, where Greek PH officials think things are headed and the support of the Greek government to port Apex there.     

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On 4/1/2021 at 4:32 PM, cruisellama said:

Where will be the next "cruise friendly" country embarkation port be?   (So far RC/Celeb has Bahamas, St. Maartin, Cyprus, Greece, UK, Bermuda, Barbados, Singapore)  Maybe Mexico, Australia?

I'm not sure.  St. Thomas comes to mind, but since that's a US territory they may have to abide by the CDC rules.  I'm thinking maybe Cozumel.

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On 4/1/2021 at 3:32 PM, cruisellama said:

Where will be the next "cruise friendly" country embarkation port be?   (So far RC/Celeb has Bahamas, St. Maartin, Cyprus, Greece, UK, Bermuda, Barbados, Singapore)  Maybe Mexico, Australia?

I think Cozumel.

One other thought has been working in my brain. Since my thought is very lonely, I guess I'll share it. ?

In every case except Israel and Cypress, RCG has deployed older ships.  Is RCG using this as an opportunity to try out some of these other ports with an eye toward making the arrangement permanent?  It might extend the life of some of their older ships (especially Millennium and Vision) and open up some new markets for the future.

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On 3/24/2021 at 1:01 PM, JeffB said:

That's fine as long as it doesn't interrupt my TA from booking Milllennium on any one of the sailings in June.? If you're thinking on booking Millennium as an RCL loylaist never having sailed Celebrity,  here are some thoughts. I've sailed Millenium 4x, the most recent was in Asia for a month B2B. I'm a smaller ship enthusiast so, Celebrity's Millennium Class ships are my cup of tea. I've sailed Jewel, a Radiance Class ship, once on a repositioning cruise - loved it. The two classes, as has been mentioned, are similar in size and flay-out.

When one speak's of "older' ships, Celebrity's maintenance standards almost make that term irrelevant. You might find a nick or two in a chair or cabinetry but for the most parts I've always found Celebrity's ships, no matter the class or age, spotless and everything I use regularly, functional.  If you find something amiss in your cabin, it will get fixed right away. The layout is easy to navigate - straight access fore and aft on most decks. Cabin size is average with a larger deck on what are called "hump cabins. If you can snag one of those, do it. Aft cabins also have a larger deck, forward facing cabins are a bit larger. I just don't like either of these cabins, have tried both and that's just me. 

Celebrity has pushed these "refrubishments" and cabin upgrades converting the Millennium class ships to offer more exclusivity. I'm not really in to paying a premium fares for special soaps and a shower head or being able to dine in an exclusive restaurant with, aside from maybe a specialty or two, the same food that's served in the main dining rooms. So, my advice is to skip these premium fares. Book an "obstructed" Veranda at the lowest price you can get. Obstructed is a misnomer. The only thing you'll find obstructed is looking straight down. Worst case you'll have the top 10th of a lifeboat in your view. No big deal. This advice varies but skip Tuscan Grill and whatever they are calling the others now (specialty dining venue names change regularly) but book Murano. It really is 5 star dining - or at least it has been for us on past sailings. Tuscan is OK, not great as one of the only 3 or 4 specialty dining options and I'm thinking these might be limited on start-up cruises.

If you favor what I call the glitz of the mega-ships, amusement park level activities and more dining options than you can take part on in a 7n cruise, Millennium will disappoint you. If you just want to sail, Celebrity cruise line is an excellent choice and Millennium a solid cruise ship. Before RCG acquired Celebirty, it was an independent luxury line. The X on the stacks of it's ships signified excellence. It's changed a bit in the 20y we've been cruising that line, almost exclusively, but not much.

The positive feature I like with M-class is the 3rd elevator area.  For a small ship, if you know how to play elevator roulette you can move quickly through the ship.   But really like Edge class now (has  more robust dining offerings and Retreat area is a well thought out bottoms up design)  that we've sailed it and I really like the lawn on the S-class ships.  Not sure we'll sail another M unless its Europe.  

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10 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

Not sure we'll sail another M unless its Europe.

I was heavily tempted to book Constellation in Europe for my 2022 Med sailing, but X is going against the pattern of pretty much every other cruise line in the Med and sticking to exactly one itinerary per ship, rather than a rotating itinerary that cycles a ship through two or three embarkation ports and a larger set of destination ports. Between that and the fact the ships don't do longer than a 10-night itinerary (and mainly 7-night), it wasn't worth it to book. I'd have had to do a S2S with another ship and find some way to line up the dates right.

I find it bizarre that X doesn't make the same types of cyclic itineraries available like Princess and HAL. Royal and MSC I kind of get; they're massively mass-market / lower budget, and in the case of MSC you can literally get on or off at any port along the way and then change ships for a different leg. But X is up-market and competes directly with Princess and HAL; imo, they should be trying to match those lines in appealing to travelers who want to see a LOT of the Mediterranean and go on longer sailings through a couple of home ports, that add up to a B2B or even B2B2B, while also satisfying people with more-limited time and/or budget who can only do one of the legs in the rotation.

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Just booked our first Celebrity cruise, sailing from the UK in July. We compared the pricing with a similar sailing on Anthem and when you included drinks and gratuities, Celebrity was cheaper!!

Really excited to be trying a new cruise line, but will will miss quiz nights in the Schooner bar.

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27 minutes ago, Mike.s said:

Just booked our first Celebrity cruise, sailing from the UK in July. We compared the pricing with a similar sailing on Anthem and when you included drinks and gratuities, Celebrity was cheaper!!

Really excited to be trying a new cruise line, but will will miss quiz nights in the Schooner bar.

We had trivia on Summit, and they were British Pub style.  I bet you will be pleasantly surprised! 

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33 minutes ago, KathyC said:
55 minutes ago, Mike.s said:

 

We had trivia on Summit, and they were British Pub style.  I bet you will be pleasantly surprised! 

Does Celebrity enforce the British Pub Trivia rule of chugging ones beer for incorrect answer? 
I may be confusing British rules with Irish. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
24 minutes ago, twangster said:

Also some pretty strong vibes towards Edge being one of the first ships back in service "soon" (for the US).

 

Was told by a Celeb agent last fall "Edge class" ships were the fleet priority at restart.  Just taken much longer than any of us like.  With the surprise Caribbean season starting from non-US ports, allowance for smaller ships like  Milli in the mix.  Apex starts its first passenger sailings from Athens.  Would hope that its "all systems go" and everything is working on-board for those lucky passenger sailing from Athens.  

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Been following the restart of cruising in Galapagos on both RCL lines, Celebrity and Silversea.  Celebrity set the latest restart of July for Galapagos last month after they cancelled their cruises thru the end of June, so this announcement isn't really new news, is it?  It's interesting that Celebrity cancelled their Galapagos cruises in June, while Silversea did not.  Both share the same parent company, but do not always follow the same criteria when it comes to restarting their voyages in the same locations.  Waiting to see whether Silversea cancels June sailings on their brand new vessel, Origin, which is still awaiting its maiden voyage.  

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18 minutes ago, 1stTimeCruiser said:

Been following the restart of cruising in Galapagos on both RCL lines, Celebrity and Silversea.  Celebrity set the latest restart of July for Galapagos last month after they cancelled their cruises thru the end of June, so this announcement isn't really new news, is it?  It's interesting that Celebrity cancelled their Galapagos cruises in June, while Silversea did not.  Both share the same parent company, but do not always follow the same criteria when it comes to restarting their voyages in the same locations.  Waiting to see whether Silversea cancels June sailings on their brand new vessel, Origin, which is still awaiting its maiden voyage.  

Had my Origin booking cancelled early this year and yesterday added a Flora booking in the future so I too have been following both lines in the Galapagos.

There have been rolling cancellations on both lines.  This is the first affirmation that Celebrity won't cancel in Galapagos any more beyond July.  They have worked with the Ecuadorian government to be approved to proceed.   They know what the protocols will be as required by the government (not the CDC).

They aren't brand new offerings if that's your point.  These sail dates were offered in the past before the pandemic.  At the moment you can not book Flora prior to July 4.  As a new guest the first date you can book is now July 4.  In my opinion that does make it a restart of service.  

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On 5/5/2021 at 10:20 AM, twangster said:

The Galapagos are open!

Finally we can get back to seeing some boobies.

1318423762_Galapopen.thumb.jpg.d3b4cdca4da94a586b63912becbe687d.jpg

Starting July 4, 2021, Celebrity Flora® will set sail on 7-Night Galapagos Island itineraries followed by Celebrity Xpedition® on July 24 and Celebrity Xploration® on September 18.

Isn't airfare being rolled in too?

 

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I posted this on another topic, but thought it would be useful here as well in case someone misses it.

  3 hours ago, steverk said:

According to the Celebrity website: Travel Requirements for Cruise from St Maarten | Celebrity Cruises

  • Celebrity Cruises requires proof of vaccination in the form of the original vaccination card administered at least two weeks prior to sailing. No photocopies or photos accepted.

So, yes, proof is required.

I've received a little more clarification that might be important!

Specifically, bullet point 2 on the Celebrity website says that US & Canada residents can get their COVID 19 test 5 days prior to arrival.

Bullet point 3 says all passengers need a COVID test 3 days prior to arrival.

I called Celebrity twice and both times the person on the phone said that 5 days was correct.  However, I wanted it in writing so I sent an email to [email protected] asking for clarification.  Here is their response:

Dear Mr. xxxxxxx

Thanks for reaching out to us.  I apologize if the website information is not clear.

The second bullet point refers to St. Maarten's requirements, the third to Celebrity Cruises requirements. The second bullet point is referring to arrival at St. Maarten and the third bullet point is referring to arrival at the pier.

In order to enter the country, you will need a negative RT-PCR test taken within five days of arrival. In order to board the ship, you will need a negative RT-PCR test taken within 3 days of embarkation. If you would like to take only one test to satisfy both requirements, it will need to be done within 3 days of embarkation.

Since I plan to arrive 1 day early, getting just one test would mean getting it 2 days prior to arrival in St. Maarten.  That strikes me as cutting it pretty fine.  Has anyone taken an RT-PCR test? How long did it take to get your results?

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Another day...another change!

After I received the email in my previous post, Celebrity sent out an email blast to the world that didn't have the 3rd bullet point at all.  I asked Celebrity Engagement Center for clarification and I'm still waiting on their response.

This morning I checked the website and it has been updated to match the blast email.

Therefore, I don't think the test 3 days prior to embarkation will be required, but I'll keep everyone informed as I get clarification.

As frustrating as it is to try and meet a moving target, I really appreciate that Celebrity is working up to the very last minute to make my vacation as enjoyable and hassle free as possible!

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