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GottaKnowWhen

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  • Location
    Michigan
  • Interests
    Photography, travel, and travel photography
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Celebrity
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Alaska
  • If you have a personal or hobby CRUISE or TRAVEL BLOG, include the url here:
    photos.stanhalpin.com

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  1. I agree that to/from Lauderdale can be a bummer, but it does provide extra sea days which I rate as a plus. In the Med, turnaround in Barcelona can be a good day well spent, and next-port from either Barcelona or Civitavechia will not be that far away.
  2. But then I wouldn't be on Celebrity. I have been on 3 Windstar and 1 Hurtigruten cruises in the last 2 years, in addition to Celebrity, so I am not totally fixed on Celebrity. Another Windstar coming this year, a 14-day Pearl Mist next year. But I have no desire to start fresh on another large-ship mass market cruise line. I'll make do with the Celebrity I know. In addition to the 19 day b2b mentioned, I'll have 7 days on Expedition later this year, and then a 37 day b2b2b on Equinox at the end of next year...
  3. I agree about longer itineraries being better in many ways. In February 2025 I do have a 10+9 b2b on Eclipse, getting my extra days that way.
  4. I would do the Constellation. Yes, start with a few days in Rome. On the ship, don’t go to Florence from LaSpezia, instead do a tour of a couple of the Tuscan hill towns. At the end of the cruise, spend a little time in Ravenna, then take a train via Bologna to Florence and stay there at least another three days. Pre book your museum tickets in Florence to cut down on the time standing in line.
  5. I became aware of the demise of American Queen when I got an email from them yesterday saying bye bye, so sorry, and here are links to follow to file for refunds. I was, and still am, quite puzzled as I do not now and never have had a reservation or trip with this cruise line. I had noticed their offerings and had them in my “maybe some day” file folder, but never any customer/vendor relationship. I appreciate the useful discussions here! Stan
  6. We usually get the canapés, it adds a bit of extra adventure trying to figure out what it is that they have put on that plate! Which we almost always finish. On day 1 we have a list of items to discuss with the steward; on the list is the date/time when we would like the sparkling wine, the days when we would like the canapés (when we don't expect to off on excursion), etc. Twenty-seven cruises on Celebrity so far, never a glitch. Stan
  7. I am not sure where you see this in the app. But then the thread title is Gifts and Gear... I will assume you are talking about using the web site, because that is what I have used. For a 12-14 day cruise, I will often pre-order bottles of wine through the website Gifts section. And I usually pay with OBC, but sometimes I need to use a credit card. When you order, you get to specify when it should be delivered to your stateroom (i.e., what day) and your room steward will see that it is delivered. You also are asked to provide details for the gift card that goes with each bottle. So e.g. on our first cruise (mid February) I ordered my wife's favorite, to be delivered on Valentines Day, with the gift card From Me and Valentines' mushy notes. Generally, I have the several bottles all delivered on Day 1. As I recall, all the wines on the list are screw-cap, but you can request a corkscrew from the steward if the two bottles you carry aboard and/or a Celebrity wine has a cork. Just in case, I always travel with a corkscrew bottle opener. It is plastic so no issues with security scans. Oh, one other note... occasionally on about day 5 or 6 of a longer cruise there will be a wine sale. A couple of the servers/sommeliers will set up a table in the Oceanview Cafe and offer the usual Celebrity stock wines at 20% off. Buy one or two, they'll deliver to your stateroom later that day. But this is a sometimes thing, not something you can count on.
  8. A few shots from the walk through the rocks...
  9. Not sure “age” is a good measure. I worry more about physical mobility in these cases. As to the Virgin Gorda Bath excursion, I (78 at the time) and my wife (77 at the time, with a bad hip and gimpy knee) both enjoyed that excursion. Stan
  10. We are scheduled for late September 2024. Following the news reports…
  11. My experience in Valparaiso is dated (December 2015, on our 2nd Celebrity cruise), but that port remains vividly in my memory. We disembarked there after a 14-night cruise from Lauderdale down through the Panama Canal and along the South American coast. On arrival in Valpo, we got off (no drama), found a taxi, and went to our hotel in the heights, MM450 Hotel Boutique. Our tour guide met us there and we spent the next two days with him off and on before then going with him (and our travel companions) to Santiago with winery stops etc along the way. [From Santiago we went on to Easter Island for Christmas, but that is another story.] My recommendation: go from Santiago with the tour you planned, but at least one day early. Once in Valpo and settled into a hotel, then (via Trip Advisor) find a walking tour. Wonderful artwork on the walls in portions of the city, spectacular views from the various ascensors which provide elevator-like transportation from below up into the city. With the tour or on your own, be sure to see Pablo Naruda's home "La Sebastiana". For embarkation, take a taxi from your hotel mid-morning and settle into your cruise. I just checked Trip Advisor, our guide Juan Victor Reyes is no longer shown but searching for him brought up several interesting alternative walking tours. Stan
  12. I am not Zenith nor have I traveled in suites, so I can't address that aspect of what you have seen in the past and how you see things have changed. I am Elite+, so quite a few cruises on Celebrity, all in Concierge Class. We have always very much enjoyed the embarkation-day lunch, and I can understand your disappointment at missing that. I have found that it feels much less rushed when we have a relatively early embarkation time. And so I go online and request an early time within a few hours after they open up the check-in process, typically 45 days prior to sailing. Mostly recently, in Vancouver, we were aboard by 11:30, had dropped our things in the stateroom, picked up our room keys, and had over an hour to wait for the lunch to open. Fortunately the Pool Bar was open...
  13. 12:01am, as others have said. But I am not sure that it is based on EST for every cruise. For Alaska last summer I think I checked in 5-6:00am EST which was 1-2:00 Alaska time. And for an Eastern Med trip I think we checked in according to Athens local time zone. So you can try at 12:01am EST, but don't be surprised if you need to wait until 12:01 Vancouver/Seattle time. If you look at your app you can see current ship's time.
  14. I would suggest, again, that you relax and enjoy. Travel is an adventure that few are able to experience! Maybe you get poor service, slow embarkation, in Valparaiso or Bali or Ravenna (my own recent experience) because the shore-side staff just don’t do this every day and are not a smooth operation. Or maybe you get super service, fast embark, etc because you are an infrequent and prized special traveler. Or maybe you find just another port. Whatever happens, suck it up, take a few deep breaths, and look forward to your upcoming cruise.
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