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Checking in time? reading that the times for checking in is 2pm


silentfaith

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6 hours ago, silentfaith said:

FT Lauderdale celebrity ship. This is a big change as we normally arrive about 10am. Anyway around this late check in and are elete members given priority?

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.

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On 7/16/2021 at 9:27 AM, silentfaith said:

FT Lauderdale celebrity ship. This is a big change as we normally arrive about 10am. Anyway around this late check in and are elete members given priority?

Not sure on elite members, but the earliest we were able to check in for Aug 22 on Allure was 1:00pm. The ship was originally scheduled to depart at 4:30pm but has been changed to 7:00pm. 

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I'm booked on Equinox out of PEV on Sunday August 8th. Just checked in this morning and the earliest available check in time was 2pm. I thought it was because I checked in 3w prior not the usual 90d or as soon as it opens. I guess not. I agree with @LifesEz. I think the ships are taking their time making sure everything is completely sanitized. Sure, touch transmission of SARS2 is not considered as a primary means of transmission but, from what I've seen on the cruise I just took out of AThens Greecec on Apex, they are hyper cautious and attentive to infection control. I'm fine with that.

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Wanted to provide a post on my recent experience sailing on Apex for an 8n Greek Isles itinerary that just concluded on Saturday. I think this sailing will be representative of those from other EU ports. Greece has been supportive of all cruise lines, especially US lines, of a restart. Therefore this cruise might have been a bit easier to get through than from other more restrictive EU ports, Amsterdam for example.

Travel: I booked with Celebrity air for this trip and for obvious reasons. At first glance the R/T routing from Miami that passed through Newark and JFK looked good. I'm not fond of either of these assigned carriers, United or American, but the pricing was good - $600pp R/T and that's about $150 pp less than standard fares that I find between the US and Europe (there are sale exceptions but you have to be quick and grab them - they are usually gone within hours)

I also booked same day travel. I rarely do that and I have never done it with cruises from European or Asian ports. But with Celebrity responsible for getting you there it seemed worth the risk. I doubt I'll do that again even though we made it if not nearly 7h late - an 8:50am arrival turned into a 3:40pm actual.  The East coast traffic control is always a mess and made worse by outcomes from the pandemic (lay-offs by the carriers, airport staff and ATC). We were delayed nearly 4h in Miami, most of it after boarding and/or on the taxiway and another 4h leaving Newark. Part of these delays were due to TS Elsa that was just underneath most of our flight routing and affecting the NY area weather. But most of it was due to ATC's inability to handle heavy traffic when arrivals are under instrument flight rules or IFR. When under visual flight rules or VFR more planes can be admitted to the traffic control pattern - these are very limited in number when it's IFR and more so, I am told, due to the pandemic staffing levels. Anyway it was pretty awful. We spent 7h of butt time not associated with actual flying time. I also think United made some questionable operations decisions. I won't go into that accept to say think twice about book United and any routing through JFK or Newark.

The arrival in Athens was unexpectedly smooth. It's a new and modern airport terminal. Luggage was there and waiting on the carousel when we got to baggage claim - directions all well marked in English and Greek. Immigration was a breeze but only if you had all your entry documents in hand. I recommend both phone records/pictures and printed hard copy. You won't have internet available in the immigration area so you can't count on getting back to download docs.

There were 300 some pax on the Boeing 777-200 but the lines moved especially fast and we were through immigration (no customs) into the main terminal area about 30 minutes after deplaning, about an hour after landing. Fortunately, as we booked transfers (I rarely do that either but did due to COVID), Celebrity staff were highly visible. We checked in with our host, waited about 10 minutes and were taken to a bus. I heard from guests that arrived in the morning that they waited a long time to get on a bus to Pireas. I think there was some confusion about how long the hosts should wait as the delays they were seeing in ours and other flights from the US were incremental at their end.

The bus trip from the Athens airport to the port of Pireas took about an hour in heavy traffic. There were only a few people on our bus and no-one was ahead of us in the check-in area (a tent but a nice one with OK AC). All the benefits of technology in the touchless check in incorporated in the Edge Class ships were used by Celebrity at Pireas. Again, have all your docs ready and in hand. You'll have to show them at multiple points as you move through check-in and you won't have internet to retrieve anything.

Celebrity requires a rapid antigen test prior to boarding even though you have to be vaxed to board. This was accomplished really smoothly by a company (Trust 1)that Celebrity has hired to do this. If you enrolled on-line per Celebrity's instructions received by email and used the Trust 1 downloaded app, you would have a QR code that was emailed and texted to you by Trust 1. No matter if you didn't they'll give you one there. You get a nasal swab, go to a waiting area and wait for your number to pop up on a big flat screen TV - took about 15 minutes. You then took your number to a Celebrity staff who then gave you an envelope with your test results in it - I think the Trust 1 app is still a bit shaky and issues are being worked on but overall this entire antigen testing thing went smoothly. The late boarding (around 4p - the ship didn't depart until 8p) wasn't ideal as we like getting aboard early and looking around. However, the Ocean View Cafe was still open - a nice accommodation for late arrivals - they usually end lunch service at 2:30p.

The ship: Absolutely beautiful. We've sailed on Edge in January last year and Apex took that and made it better with Apex. Beyond, the next Edge class ship, will build on Apex.

Cabin: We booked a "port hole" Veranda. There are not a lot of these but they are considerably less expensive than the "Infinity" Verandas. The balcony is small and is surrounded by steel that is open to the sea in the shape of a big port hole. These cabins are about 20 sq ft bigger inside than the Infinity cabins because you get that back from the small veranda. It was fine for us. I'd do it again. Cabin access is keyless and the lighting is controlled though one controller as you enter. It's pretty cool and techy. The bath is quite large and showers had big doors - bigger than Edge's and we had an inside cabin on Edge. It was fine too. 

Dining: WOW. This is one of the Edge Class ship's big upgrades. Dining venues also include the addition of Eden which is aft with widows facing the sea. Eden occupies two decks (5 and 6) and also contains one of the specialty restaurants, a big bar and performance area. There are 4 complementary main dining rooms that are stacked one on top of the other, port and starboard on two decks. These are right forward of Eden. I recommend anytime dining so you can sample all 4 if you like. Each has a different theme and a few dishes particular to each. Also be careful to reserve your table at the time you want at the place you want as soon as you are aboard. You can do this on the app or call 7000 on the cabin phone. If you select a fixed seating you'll start in one of the 4 restaurants assigned by the staff. You can move but you're at the end of the line among anytime diners who have reserved times and tables if you want to do that in another restaurant.

There are 6 specialty restaurants on Apex. They are pricey but, IMO, absolutely worth it. I recommend purchasing in advance a package of 4 if you are so inclined. You'll save some money. Again, book as soon as you can at the times you want and the venue you want. Lunch seatings are available and at a reduced cost with the same menu. I recommend Le Grand Bistro. If you don't want to pay the premium, the 4 complimentary restaurants are terrific especially with reduced guest loads. Service felt like specialty restaurant level. That will end as pax loads increase and they will by October. Sie note: Ship's crew have been onboard since early April and have not left the ship. Not one of them! 

Bars: Lots of them but Edge class ships are missing one of my favorites, the ice martini bar. They say they have one (not ice) and it's in the center of the ship within the Grand Foyer. It's too small and lacks the ambience of the Silhouette class ship's martini bars. There is also live entertainment during bar hours in the same area and it's too loud for my tastes.

Entertainment: Spectacular but not everyone likes this stuff. There were two production shows in the main theater all the way forward. The production dancers do several other shows in "The Club" - a more inmate theater arrangement and in the performance area of Eden. The unique thing is that if you grab good seating, you are just feet away from the show's performers. Pretty cool. The main theater production shows are Las Vegas spectacular. Two of the shows were debuts and being tested out to see how guests likd them. For me, these shows join the Fine Cuts steak house in my Apex top two.

Fitness: I'm a cyclist (I just spin these days). I was surprised the fitness center (forward on deck 14) was doing group spin classes. They did. I did 4 of them and I was the only one spinning in two. Still great calorie burns! The fitness area is otherwise big and well equipped with the standard equipment. There are 3 Peloton bikes. They're reserved for suite guests but I could have used one if suite guest didn't have them booked. They didn't. That will change. Apex debuts F24 - it's HIT training in a specially equipped studio. There was quite a bit of interest in these classes. I can't do the pounding/hi impact associated with them these days. They looked cool if you are in to that sort of exercise. Yoga classes, meditation (also Tai Chi)  and stretch classes too. The spa has the usual over-priced treatments but, hey, its a vacation cruise. Splurge! 

Debarkation: Organized as usual except you get an antigen test (for re-entry into the US for US citizens - non-residents need a PCR (Molecular) test and you'll get one at Celebrity's expense if your home country is other than the US too). You leave the ship via a gangway and walk about 600 yards to the Pireas port terminal where your baggage is picked up like it usually is - bags are arranged in lines based on your assigned departure number that you attach to your bag the night before port arrival. You never left Greece on this cruise so no customs or immigration required when returning to Pireas port.

It was Saturday and the return trip by bus took just over 35 minutes from the ship to the Athens airport. There were Celebrity staff at the airport as you got off the bus to direct you to your carrier's check in counter (nice touch). Check in went smoothly as long as you had all your documents and tickets organized and in hand. We traveled back to the US on American Airlines. Check in was well organized and quick. We arrived nearly 3h before departure so had lots of time to sit.

American flys a newer version of the B777 Dreamliner that was a lot nicer than United's; food and beverage service was better too - complimentary wines! We arrived on-time at JFK, picked up our bags and went through immigration and customs quickly. If you don't have Global entry, get it. That speeds up passing through US ports of entry like JFK quickly.

But after that speedy experience, what looked like a good choice with American turned sour. Again we were delayed at the gate for 4h. Supposedly because our aircraft arrived late from London. It did arrive late but I suspect there were operational factors, not weather or other reasonable reasons for the delay at play. Won't go down that rabbit hole but I know how this goes and I also know you'll never here the real reasons for any delays.

You may have heard about this but a Senate select committee has recently asked what the airlines did with the $54b in pay-check protection program (PPP) aid they got. Reportedly, instead of keeping employees on staff, the majors laid off 43,000 employees over the last 14 months and are only now calling them back. They are getting grilled for what looks like a money grab that didn't support air travel consumers interests. No surprise there.

Accordingly there are all kinds of personnel shortages from Pilots to ground crews and desk agents. This is is most likely causing these ridiculous delays. I think delays are happening all over but if you can avoid JFK and Newark (i.e. most of the East coast traffic), possibly Miami, you may be better off getting to European destinations. Get to Atlanta and you can usually fly Delta direct to most European airports. Athens was one of them and I wished I had flown from Fort Lauderdale (where I live) to Atlanta and then flown direct with Delta to Athens avoiding JFK and Newark completely.  It might have cost more but I'm never flying to Europe through Miami, JFK or Newark again!

Despite the unpleasant air travel, this was a great cruise X10. The Edge class ships are amazing. They do cater to a niche of travelers without kids who want to pay top dollar for suites - some of them ridiculously expensive, IMO. Apparently people are booking them. There are plenty of value cabins and I've been a Celebrity cruiser for decades and never felt like I was second class because I might have booked an inside cabin. The Retreat looks nice but I can do without the exclusivity nicely provided there so you don't have to be near the "riff-raff." Don't get me wrong. That's fine for many and you can get it delivered on a silver platter on a Celebrity ship - all of them.   

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Great review!!  I share your observation on the "ice less" Martini bar.   On Beyond (next Edge class), they move the Martini bar to center atrium, and its larger, BUT - still no ice bar.  Ice bars require extra care and feeding from a cleaning and maintenance perspective.  Guessing we won't see them in the near future on new ships.

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@cruisellama thanks for reading my tome. I love to write about many things here, especially cruising and cruise reviews.

I posted somewhere that I had a 7n Equinox booking out of PEV on August 8th. I just booked the preceding cruise on Equinox to make a 14d B2B, W. then E's Caribbean. I have some worries that the CDC may flaunt it's appropriated and unlawful behavior (endorsed by the Appellate Court granting a stay of the Merryday slammer) and ordering cruising from US ports to stop. You  know, rising case numbers, danger of congregate settings and all that BS. That may be an unwarranted fear but I'm going to "make hay while the sun shines."

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1 hour ago, JeffB said:

@cruisellama thanks for reading my tome. I love to write about many things here, especially cruising and cruise reviews.

I posted somewhere that I had a 7n Equinox booking out of PEV on August 8th. I just booked the preceding cruise on Equinox to make a 14d B2B, W. then E's Caribbean. I have some worries that the CDC may flaunt it's appropriated and unlawful behavior (endorsed by the Appellate Court granting a stay of the Merryday slammer) and ordering cruising from US ports to stop. You  know, rising case numbers, danger of congregate settings and all that BS. That may be an unwarranted fear but I'm going to "make hay while the sun shines."

I share the same concern .   Anytime they can bring things to a stop - just because.....

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On 7/19/2021 at 8:33 AM, LovetoCruise87 said:

Not sure on elite members, but the earliest we were able to check in for Aug 22 on Allure was 1:00pm. The ship was originally scheduled to depart at 4:30pm but has been changed to 7:00pm. 

Just finished my check in for a last minute booking on Equinox departing PEV on August 1st. Its the front end (I just added the sailing in the W. Caribbean) to B2B, then E, Caribbean. The back end of this thing was booked a year ago and L&S with price protection from a cruise originally booked for August 2020. That one was an 8n sailing subsequently reduced to 7n as Celebrity rearranged operational plans for their ships. I got a credit back on my CC for that lost day.  Celebrity wasn't doing the "everything included" pricing when I booked and then L&S'ed it so, it was a great deal back then. Two points:

(1) The price of the add-on booking was 2x that of the price of the original booking I made for the same itinerary. Part of the price increase involved me taking the "everything included" package. But some of it is the "sticker shock" fares we're seeing lately. This wasn't a capacity thing either. There were plenty of available cabins in the class we wanted (1A Veranda) and, surprisingly, we were able to book the same cabin (9157) on the front end add-on as our second sailing of our B2B - a hump cabin with the bigger balcony. 

(2) Earliest check-in for both cruises (before I had booked the add-on) was 2:30pm. So, its not that I'm late to the party and am getting a seat in the back row, it's that this is what Celebrity is doing - delaying check-ins to apparently well after 2pm and delaying departures from home ports to after 7pm.  

On the "everything included" strategy that Celebrity has embarked upon. Well, it's consistent with LL-Ps marketing approach to brand Celebrity as a luxury line. I get it. I've already tried it on the Apex sailing of last week. The downside is that you're paying for beverages and internet that I get as a perk with my Captain's Club status - Elite Plus. We relied on those perks and never purchased Bev or internet pkgs and frequently got free grats as an incentive perk. Yes, there's more access to bevs and it's full time internet, but those previously granted perks (3 bevs at any bar from 5-7p, no charge for Al Bacio bevs and sweets and 240 min. of internet time - both plenty for us) are now devalued.

The up-side is it's nice to have all access, all day to bevs (classic pkg) and internet. I've played around with the math and our bevs consumption levels and it is clearly a much better deal to purchase the "everything included" cabin fare than it is to purchase the no frills cabin and buy grats, bevs and internet separately .,,,,much more expensive that way. Celebrity is clever like that. They've been really good getting extra cash from you without you feeling bad about it.

Apparently lots of Captain's Club members complained about this devaluing of their Elite and Elite Plus perks (I was not among them) because, just recently I got a nice letter in the mail from Celebrity thanking me for my loyalty and letting me know they'd made some changes, nay, they've really improved and expanded our perks. Not really. They did tweak some stuff but not much.

 Elite.PNG.ee2670dc094b0487d0c5e0b0a5d03b74.PNG

https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/cc0ce13c#/cc0ce13c/1

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2 hours ago, silentfaith said:

Where do you check to see  check in times?

Did you check in on-line?  On the APP?  After you go through the steps a menu will list check in times (if available), then you pick one.  If they've all been taken, you'll be assigned a time.   Things are different now,  as they need to control the  people flow to allow for health checks etc.   I would expect that higher loyalty levels and suites might be provided greater weight in any algorithm that's used to assign show up times.  But just a hopeful guess.

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I posted about this in the thread talking about RCL imposing a requirement for a negative antigen or PCR test taken within 72h of boarding to board a ship sailing from a US port. Celebrity followed about 18h later. I sail tomorrow. Between Friday at noon and 8pm, I received 4 emails from Celebrity on this each of them requiring me to acknowledge receipt. They are not fooling around. You won't get aboard without the test and for now, they are not offering in cruise terminal testing. That might change.

Since I live in S. FL, a state with many testing sites due to Governor Desantis setting this up months ago though a public/private undertaking involving the state's Public Health Department, Walgreens, CVS and Publix grocery stores, it was easy for me to secure an appointment at Walgreens, about 10 minutes from my house, and get an antigen test. It took about 45 minutes from walking in the front door of Walgreens to getting in my car with a form documenting the details of my negative antigen test.

If you are traveling to FL for a Celebrity cruise on Edge or Equinox out of PEV and you are unable to secure a test locally where you are traveling from and in the right time frame (within 72h before boarding), you can get a test in Fort Lauderdale or surrounds several ways. The first is assured and close at hand after you arrive at FLL but you'll pay $99 for it. They don't take insurance and some insurances won't pay for repeat travel related COVID testing anyway. The testing facility is in the Fort Lauderdale airport. Here's the link:

https://fasttestnow.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6ZOIBhDdARIsAMf8YyETd6-amgXeBAj1ulPANx2FEMFoi9ySGvP8F8zFkYvpK0_3ykMNaR0aAsKkEALw_wcB

This facility is not in the terminal but it's close:

 https://www.covidfll.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6ZOIBhDdARIsAMf8YyEN4e3QoIFYo2frrvuRRSJqXrtZHJH9mUgZxKqcQ83utkgISoJ5ZuoaAgSdEALw_wcB

Finally, you can google CVS or Walgreens to get a test. I recommend Walgreens because some of their clinics are run by U of Miami Heath Care System and they have a  central scheduling number where a human actually picks up when you dial. These Walgreens with their clinics staffed by U Miami Health take most insurance including Medicare. Here's the link for the closest one near the airport (not that close but close enough).

https://umiamihealth.org/locations/uhealth-clinic-at-walgreens-commercial-blvd

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On 7/31/2021 at 7:36 AM, JeffB said:

I posted about this in the thread talking about RCL imposing a requirement for a negative antigen or PCR test taken within 72h of boarding to board a ship sailing from a US port. Celebrity followed about 18h later. I sail tomorrow. Between Friday at noon and 8pm, I received 4 emails from Celebrity on this each of them requiring me to acknowledge receipt. They are not fooling around. You won't get aboard without the test and for now, they are not offering in cruise terminal testing. That might change.

Since I live in S. FL, a state with many testing sites due to Governor Desantis setting this up months ago though a public/private undertaking involving the state's Public Health Department, Walgreens, CVS and Publix grocery stores, it was easy for me to secure an appointment at Walgreens, about 10 minutes from my house, and get an antigen test. It took about 45 minutes from walking in the front door of Walgreens to getting in my car with a form documenting the details of my negative antigen test.

If you are traveling to FL for a Celebrity cruise on Edge or Equinox out of PEV and you are unable to secure a test locally where you are traveling from and in the right time frame (within 72h before boarding), you can get a test in Fort Lauderdale or surrounds several ways. The first is assured and close at hand after you arrive at FLL but you'll pay $99 for it. They don't take insurance and some insurances won't pay for repeat travel related COVID testing anyway. The testing facility is in the Fort Lauderdale airport. Here's the link:

https://fasttestnow.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6ZOIBhDdARIsAMf8YyETd6-amgXeBAj1ulPANx2FEMFoi9ySGvP8F8zFkYvpK0_3ykMNaR0aAsKkEALw_wcB

This facility is not in the terminal but it's close:

 https://www.covidfll.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6ZOIBhDdARIsAMf8YyEN4e3QoIFYo2frrvuRRSJqXrtZHJH9mUgZxKqcQ83utkgISoJ5ZuoaAgSdEALw_wcB

Finally, you can google CVS or Walgreens to get a test. I recommend Walgreens because some of their clinics are run by U of Miami Heath Care System and they have a  central scheduling number where a human actually picks up when you dial. These Walgreens with their clinics staffed by U Miami Health take most insurance including Medicare. Here's the link for the closest one near the airport (not that close but close enough).

https://umiamihealth.org/locations/uhealth-clinic-at-walgreens-commercial-blvd

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. 

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