FreestyleNovice

Thanks for replying. Although indeed not the same this seems to best way(s) to go for a birthday celebration! Thanks!

That's gone too, just realised that. They did delete the floral category, that is something at least. Still wondering why they did half a job..

The Gifts by Celebrity webshop is a mess.. it's totally stripped with zero items in some categories now. Does anyone know if there still is a way to (pre)order a birthday cake for cabin delivery? What's available does not meet our needs and wishes as a gift to someone: The Premium Package: "For the ultimate indulgence, start off the morning with breakfast in your stateroom complete with mimosas, reservations for two at one of the chic specialty restaurants on board, and a personalized cake (choose from 5 different cakes). Later, in the evening, we’ll deliver a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne, and a dozen chocolate-dipped strawberries." Very romantic but not what we need, we just need a cake or at most a package of a cake and stateroom decoration. The mess I mean, example: https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-gifts/items-results?category=CULDEL&collection=CELCAKE this gives you zero platters (I know I said I want a cake but checked all categories..), click the pull down Culinary Delights and a Cheese & Fruit platter appears. Wished it still had the cake category around to do the same trick heh. I emailed X about this too, this was the reply: "I am very sorry, our Celebrity Store did go through some changes, and we no longer offer cakes for purchase, the items that are shown on the website are the only items that we have available to purchase. We have not been advised if cakes and other gift items will be brought back. If you do have a cruise booked with us, and you are not trying to purchase a gift for someone else who is sailing, there should be an area in pre-cruise planner (where you booked shore excursions and things like that), called gifts and gear. There are some items in there that can be ordered . I don't think I have seen a cake but there are other items." I am not aware of any other ways to order a cake for a standard cabin?

I think the vodka is something from the past. It's wine, water, fruit plate etc, as posted above. Staff will be reducing service when the dinner service starts at the Lawn Club Grill and it may get chilly and they will clean up other alcoves around you before anybody will, even at all, tell you it's time.

No apologies needed, your scope deserves an own thread!

Found this guy sharing his photos with shoe covers, I guess he liked the Aqua more! Close up of one of his photos, the hull art is coming on! Originals:

For those posted here and/or anyone's future reference, @Beezo's thread has some excellent info, including some incredible renders: Probably best if we keep that one and discuss it there but I thought that thread was started on April 1st when I first saw the renders of those mountains.. 🔒

@Beezo, that's some nice work!

We sure had some good fun with previous builds, I like the idea of NCL executives spitting their morning coffee over their desks when scrolling through their bookmarked CC threads finding out about such things heheh! A big help was the Meyer Werft webcam and social media from their visitor gallery, that helped a lot with puzzling out to be announced areas. Unfortunately Fincantieri is less easy to follow and more and more fellow cruisers and even influencers are learning the tricks of sleuthing! Times are changing..

No problem, that's what CC is for! That sounds like a good insurance! And good to know. Enjoy your day in Amsterdam!

I think they are two separate companies, one wears orange and the other one wears pink shirts on their boats. They seem to be quite identical in what they do.

https://flagshipamsterdam.com/ https://bootuitjes.nl/en/canal-cruise-amsterdam/ https://www.floating-amsterdam.nl/en/ Your plan sounds reasonable, I personally would pre-book the boat giving the time restraint. Your motivation to not pre-book is clear but in general those August days are some of the best days we get and availability might run out with great summer weather. In case of bad weather those open boats will have a canopy up and you might even discuss a cancelation with them (I am not sure of all policies). And even on a rainy day it's still a sight to see Amsterdam from the canals, by foot you will be even more wet. By foot you ca tag on an easy paced 1½-2 hour circle from and to the Centraal Station; Dam, Wallen, Jordaan, etc. Be aware the Vondelpark, Rijks and Van Gogh are not within that time frame, as they are too far south unless you take public transport to cover the distances. The Dutch love their summers, I hope you get to enjoy the canals on a beautiful sunny day and see the locals and youngsters relax on anything that will float whilst taking in the views of our historic city.

The small boat canal cruise with the walks to and from the boat/bus stop combined with the places you listed. Amsterdam is restrictive in coaches/busses in the city center; see https://www.amsterdam.nl/en/traffic-transport/coaches-tour-buses/. In short: tourist busses are no longer allowed inside the canal belt/S100 road perimeter unless they have some rare permit. Your most probable point of drop off will be De Ruijterkade Oost (Centraal Station). Plan from there, use an app like Moovit or take an Uber to move between further away spots or as last resort to be back in time at the bus stop. Amsterdam is compact, very walkable and lots of public transport options to help you get around quickly. Enjoy your stay in Amsterdam!

I wasn't impressed by the Apple reseller on my post Covid Celebrity sailings (2022 & 2023), it used to be better in my experience. Perhaps the market is either moving too fast for their inventory or who knows? Back in the days when duty free airport shopping was a real thing, buying i.e. a discman cheaper than main street prices, perhaps a bit similar?

When getting dropped off at port: Porters: zero. Taxi/car driver: 10%.