Rustyman

Notts, you’re just up the road from Southampton, easy drive down in the morning and save the cost of a hotel for spending on more enjoyable things. Thejuggler, funny you mention Banbury, that’s our Premier Inn stop in August en route to Southampton. Decent rating and was by far the lowest price when we booked.

Re stopping overnight on the way to Southampton, we drive down from Scotland and break the journey anywhere from Stafford to Oxford wherever the Premier Inn is cheapest. It’s never a problem making Southampton by noon from any of the hotels and makes for a couple of easy, stress free drives. The earlier you book your hotel the cheaper it is, especially with the likes of Premier Inns. Port parking ie CPS is so convenient in particular at the end of the cruise when you just want to get on your way. By way of advice for the kids all I’d say is get them into the kids clubs ASAP, they love making new friends and you will hardly see them outside of meal times and all of you will have a lovely time. Ours are older now but absolutely loved every cruise in the “groovy gang”.

Two to try at the WCB are Zacapa Old Fashioned and Azteca, both delicious in their own ways and different to drinks bought anywhere else. The Zacapa Old Fashioned is particularly addictive😀 cheers!

Nothing comes close to their IT system!

A wee update, and I hope I’m not repeating any previous posts, but there is another flash reduction to drink package upgrades on the UK site. Down to £10.70/day, a 25% reduction. I know the upgrade price has been lower but as a well known supermarket says “every little helps”.

Apologies as it’s back👍

Thank you Tyler414 for a very informative and succinct review. You cover the important areas in few words and this has helped my planning for the same cruise in November. 👏👏

Hello, this is a wee inquiry if anyone has info as to why the above cruise has disappeared from the website. I know that Celebrity’s site is a bit flaky at times but there is precedence as our Beyond TA due for this year was pulled and similarly disappeared from the website.

The answer to Celebrity’s option of cancelling you as it chooses is surely for cruisers to turn their backs on the Move Up scheme. To be honest it was much better in the past when lucky cruisers were, on occasion, granted free upgrades, there were no complaints then. We gave up on the Move Up scheme a while back as it is just a way of squeezing every last penny out of us. Book what you want, stick to it and you’ll be happy with no redress.

Just read your June 23 thread which is perfect info for us thanks. Apologies if my writing is a bit shaky but still excited from your pole dancing😉. Glad you got home safe to your southern town, 5 hour drive, luxury, ours is a 10 hour journey with stops!

Love your reports TigerB, thanks for the fun writing style, in fact your positivity and excellent photos and detail has encouraged me back to P and O. We’ve been away on Celebrity for the past 8 years but are dipping our toes back on to Iona for a week in August. P and O should be paying you commission😀. So glad that you’ve had such a fun holiday and that your family’s surprise turn ups have made it even better.

The crew need to grow a pair and remove the towels and personal goods from unoccupied loungers. There will no doubt be a few grumbles at first by the hogs but in no time at all folk will get the message and miraculously everyone will benefit from available sun loungers and chairs. The ideal time to start this would be around 8am when they are occupied by towels but no or few humans in sight.

And the gang leader is nicknamed “barbecue”, nothing to do with the lunches at Labadee. If you read a bit about his back story it looks little like a political move, more about power and control of his “patch”.

I wouldn’t fancy falling I’ll onboard or at Labadee and being taken to a Port au Prince hospital!

Getting back to basics, going on a cruise is for enjoyment and/or to unwind, it’s hard to understand why a cruise company would want to go somewhere that could jeopardise the experience. Today’s news from Haiti suggests the gangs are trying to overthrow the prime minister and are in control of the capital. The situation appears to be out of control just now so I’m a wee bit surprised that RC hare visiting Labadee today.

We’re not there for ages yet, November which gives time for conditions to ease. Not too bothered about petty crime which is everywhere but would be concerned about the wanton violence and murders taking place in Haiti just now. I’m sure RC and Celebrity will be on top of developments.

I’m wondering whether Celebrity will continue using Labadee in light of the chaos in Haiti following the mass jail break and current violence in the country? I know that Labadee is protected bu security guards etc. but I guess there are rich pickings from cruisers and a cruise ship should the violence continue to grow. Thoughts have to be with the poor law abiding citizens of Haiti and let’s hope that some kind of control and democracy can take hold in the not too distant future.

It wasn’t a webinar but rather a full blown adver of Celebrity. I switched off pretty early when I realised exactly what it was.

I recommend that you have a look at the roll call for this cruise, that’s where you’ll get lots of advice and ideas for this cruise.

Nice review and things looking more positive. If only Celebrity could pull their finger out and sort the MDR offerings………

We’ve had no problems in getting times at speciality restaurants with a package. Just visit any specialty restaurant as soon as you board and book them. We have 3 night packages for 2 upcoming cruises, I find 3 is enough or the weight gain becomes an issue😀.

They’re available for the October TA and have been for a while now.

Thank you mahdnc, kind of what I thought. I guess we’ll wait another year or so, or take a more kiddy friendly line.

Looking at taking the kids on the Ascent with a granddaughter who will be 2 1/4 years old. My question is do they have facilities ie nursery provision and babysitting service for the wee one? If not we’ll leave it for a year. I know they have a “groovy gang” kids club for older kids, I’ve seen a few toddlers on cruises but wondered if Celebrity catered for them so their parents can have free evenings.

We’ve used them a few times but always phone Celebrity to arrange. We use them as they are cheaper than booking direct with the airline and also we don’t have to pay until Cruise final payment date.