expattraveler

hcat, Agree with you. “Path Between the Seas” was long, very detailed, but an excellent read. Read it prior to our canal transit last year on the HAL Niew Amsterdam.

Fantastic review! Thank you for spending the time providing all of the pictures and details while on your holiday! all the best…

Jim, Following, and wishing you both a great holiday! Always look forward to you and Iain’s travels. Safe travels!

Norwaylady, just finished reading the first part of your b2b after being away for the past week. As always thank you for the detailed live review of your and Mr’s travels! looking forward to othe next installment on part 2 of your b2b. wishing you great weather and calm seas! enjoy…

cavaaller, Thank you for the live report. Just catching up with you and Norwaylady’s live on her thread after returning from a short 7 day Mexican Riviera on the HAL Koningsdam. Agree with you and Norwaylady about the M Class ships. Comfortable, subdued and quietly elegant. We were on the Infinity last December for a 14 day Canary Islands/ North Africa out of Barcelona. She was in really good shape for her age even before the recent dry dock/face lift, but appears from you pictures the updates were well done. Enjoy the rest of the cruise and hope the weather continues to improve!

Onboard Konningsdam and just departing San Diego after an approximate 5 hour delay. Just now leaving dock at approximately 21:30. Unsure for the delayed departure, but not concerned. Good food, drinks and entertainment. All’s good by me….

POA1, you are correct on all points! On Koningsdan now sitting at the New York deli having a Ruben. Actually very good!

Haljo, Yes, IMHO a very good deal. On the Koningsdam for 7 days opposed to being at home and at a great price! Thank you for your well wishes!

Just thought I’d report on our recent standby experience. We live very close to the cruise terminal in San Diego. We had an upcoming week with nothing planned so decided we’d give the standby option a try. Two weeks ago I spoke to our HAL representative and asked him to be put on the list for the Koningsdam 7 day Mexican Riviera departing San Diego tomorrow March 23. He said I was the first person that asked him to try the standby list so something new for both of us. He added us to the list. Our HAL representative actually called me this past Wednesday morning and asked if I’d received any emails from HAL about clearing the waitlist? I said I hadn’t checked email yet that morning. He said he checked the booking out of curiosity to see if it had been cleared, and he said “it appears that you’ve been cleared”. He didn’t want us to lose our non-refundable payment if I wasn’t checking emails daily. Very kind of him to call, and the reason we’re very happy with him as our HAL representative. After our call I then checked my email. I was notified by HAL this past Wednesday morning, March 20, that we cleared the standby for the March 23 Koningsdam sailing. I also received an additional email within minutes with an upgrade offer. I called the number attached to the upgrade email. We were offered a few different upgrade options. After reviewing the options with the representative on the phone we accepted a VB on deck 11 for $249 PP. Since it was so close to sailing I wanted to ensure a few additional discounted items so I called our HAL rep in Seattle and he finalized these items for us before the window closed. Notification of clearing the standby was only a little over 2 days before our departure tomorrow morning, but it worked really well for us since we can actually walk to the terminal. Wishing anyone on standby good wishes for success! All the best….

Mike, Appreciate your balanced review. Happy to hear you enjoyed the cruise, and also happy you got back to cruising!

Jim, Your guidance and advice is, as always, spot on! The buses running from YCAT, or Tokyo Central, to Narita are extremely efficient, organized, safe and cost effective. Our bus from Tokyo Central Station to Narita this past September cost 1300 Yen per person, or approximately $10 USD. And yes, the baggage handlers do bow when the bus arrives and departs 🙂. Ya gotta love Japan!

Just finished watching Roy Orbison Black and White Night again. Priceless….

We also prefer longer cruises, but we also do fill in cruises when easily done. We did two 7 day cruises to the Mexican Riviera on HAL Koningsdam last year, and three 7 day Mexican Riviera on the Solstice early this year. We live in San Diego so these were all very easy with no flying. We actually walked across the street to board the Koningsdam cruises, and only had a 1 1/2 hour drive to San Pedro for the Solstice. Taking another Mexican Riviera on Discovery Princess out of San Pedro in February to see the new Princess ship, and to also compare Princess against the "new" Celebrity product.

Terry, et al, Have been fairly loyal to Celebrity, but not exclusive. Very close Elite +. Unfortunately, loyalty in cruise lines, hotels and airlines is no more. Just look at the devaluation of hotel and airline points since COVID. Pitiful. Due to the previous distinction we had between Celebrity and the mass market cruise lines we really felt the “Modern Luxury” vibe of the Celebrity product. We were comfortable there. It appears to us the new corporate strategy of 3 day, 5 day and 7 day cruises to corporate constructed “islands” thrust Celebrity in as just another Royal Caribbean/Carnaval cruise line. Unfortunate, but it is what it is. We just returned from a 13 night Infinity Canary Island/North Africa cruise in Aqua Class. Fantastic itinerary! Great old school Millennium ship in very good condition with a great crew. Loved the ship and the crew. A couple of niggles: 1) Drinks: after purchasing Premium drink package having to wrestle with bar staff to get anything other than bottom shelf offerings in beer, waters, wines and spirits , 2) Food: we’re not foodies, but food in Blu very substandard (even with option to choose from MDR) to recent Princess, HAL and Viking. Shrimp cocktail appetizer from MDR could have been taken from a supermarket “baby shrimp” can. Lobster night….pitiful . No bigger than a large shrimp, but overcooked and a very bad salty cream sauce poured over it. Opted for Oceanview Cafe four nights of the cruise. This is the first time in over 10 years where we’ve haven’t booked a future cruise on board, but we do have future cruises booked in 2024 and 2025 on Viking, Seabourn, HAL and Princess. Unfortunate because Celebrity was our default cruise line. In the past even if we didn’t have an itinerary which jumped out at us we’d just go on “Celebrity holiday”. Not so much any longer, but we’re in the twilight years of cruising. I believe corporate are looking down the road and unfortunately loyalty is a thing of the past……for all brands

Jim, somehow I cannot vision you providing “surly” replies or comments 😁. Darn auto correct! We just landed in Barcelona this evening. We will be here, and the surrounding cities, until after Christmas with a Celebrity cruise in the mix. Continue your enjoyment and catching up with friends on your current cruise. Priceless….

Jim, wondering if you saw the Cavenagh bridge erected near Clark Quay and the Fullerton Hotel which was fabricated in Glasgow? You may have seen it before in your previous travels to Singapore, but thought lian might have enjoyed seeing it! Was fortunate to have lived in Singapore for four years. As you indicated in an earlier post the humidity and temps are fairly constant year round both in the mid ei, as is the 7:00 sunrise and 19:00 sunset. Enjoying your travels!

Jim/Iain, As alway following along. As you’re aware, a wonderful part of the world to travel. Wishing you safe and happy travels, and looking forward to your review!

Shiba_Lover, I agree that Celebrity’s hands are tied when it comes to India visa’s. I also feel your pain having experienced the torture of obtaining Indian visa’s. I worked off and on in India over a period of approximately 16 years. I believe I had 8 Indian visa in my 2 passports over the years. Each and every time I applied for a new visa it was like I had never had an earlier visa issued, or had been vetted and through the process before. Exasperating!

For your Tokyo departure departing from Narita you may want to consider the bus from Central Station to Narita. We lived in Tokyo for three years and mostly took the bus from Tokyo Central Train Station to Narita. On our recent holiday to Japan this past summer we again used the shuttle bus. The one way fare is 1300Y per person, or ~$10USD with the current exchange rate. Much less expensive than a taxi or limo, and the busses run about every 20 minutes. Luggage loaded and unloaded onto the bus by staff. Clean, safe and efficient as one comes to expect in Japan! Link below for the bus website: https://tyo-nrt.com/ if your Tokyo hotel is not too far from the central train station you can take a short taxi from your hotel to the station for $10 to $20 depending on the distance. No need to carry or roll luggage up or down stairs or elevators. Taxi drops you off at the bus station. Enjoy!!

Should have read purposely….

RCI appear to be purposefully dumbing down the Celebrity brand to the Royal market offerings. Does RCI see Celebrity in their portfolio going forward, or just Royal and Silverseas? Just saying…

Jim, Thank you very much for another wonderful review. As always, informative and on point. Enjoy your time in Toronto, and safe travels home. All the best….

Agree there’s not a lot to do in San Pedro; however, the battleship Iowa is very close to the cruise terminal. A possibility if you’re somewhat naval historians. https://pacificbattleship.com/

It’s a Heavy lift ship. Search the following online fordetails: Big Lift, Mammoet, etc

Us as well. We spend 30 to 40% of our time in Souther California. We were very fortunate to sail a few Mexican Rivera cruises out of LA when Japan was shut down. Understandably it was a stop gap for Celebrity when Japan was shut down. It appears Princess and HAL will control the San Diego/LA sailings which, to be honest, I do not have an issue with after the recent Celebrity strategy decisions on pricing and quality. just saying….