AntjeG

Sorry, somehow I missed the "New" in "New England" :mad:

Good for the OP so this Problem with ESTA and all doesn´t matter for her.

A note to the posters who suggested the OP could just leave it as it is and violate this law:

Even if Celebrity would be the one who gets fined/punished I would as a citizen of the European Union never dare to agree to such a thing. As an EU citizen you have to register via ESTA to be allowed to enter the US. During registration you agree that the person who decides if you are allowed into US territory is the immigration officer (even if your ESTA seems to grant entry to the US similar to a visa - it doesn´t). For Germany alone, about 700 of our citizens per year register with ESTA successfully and still get turned away at the US borders (having to go home at their own cost and having to pay cancellation fees to their American travel arrangements like hotels and so on). Immigration officers don´t give you a reason for being turned away. During ESTA registration you declare that you know you don´t have the right to question their decision or even file a lawsuit on this. As an EU citizen you start a trip to the US at your own risk.

Long story short: If the OP intends to spend another holiday in the US in the future she better not agree to anything that violates any law - even if it is not her fault. She might be turned away at the border next time.

I gave up after trying to do online check in daily for some weeks. Just called Celebrity and they did it for me. Maybe you should give them a call, too.

Are you sure you want the hassle of a Berlin tour? Suppose you dock in Warnemünde. Warnemünde and nearby Rostock are such lovely, beautiful places with lots to see and do. In your shoes I would rather spend my time there instead half of the day in a bus or train.

If you need suggestions please post here. I live only 1.5 hrs away and know the place quite well.

If you want to go to Berlin:

Safest way is the Celebrity tour. There is a train to Berlin but - as we experience right now - our railway can be chaos in case of strikes or construction. Same for the highway to Berlin. Crowded with a risk for traffic jams especially in the German school holidays. There are school holidays part of May 2015 in parts of Germany. When exactly is your cruise?

The terminal building is closed

Do you know when the terminal building will be re-opened? My Celebrity cruise is scheduled to start from Overseas Terminal Jan 27, 2015

Thanks.

I can´t comment on Celebrity´s shuttle bus but here are some ideas what to do in some of the ports:

Zeebrügge:

visit to the historic hanseatic city of Brügge

visit to Bruxelles

Le Havre:

visit to Paris (personally, I wouldn´t do it - too long hours in a bus)

visit to the beautiful city of Rouen (possible by train)

visit to Claude Monet´s garden in Giverny

City Sightseeing in Le Havre itself (not pretty but interesting)

visit to the beautiful villages of Honfleur and/or Etretat

sometimes the "get it done before you go" doesn´t work. I need regular massages for medical reasons. For my upcoming 12 nights cruise I´m not looking forward to paying an amount for one massage on the Solstice that would get me 2 massages on the ships I have cruised with before.

thank you for this great video

This is normal business practice. I'm always surprised at the tour guides who say "pay me when you get here". Risks are like any other time you give or even use your credit card.

I agree. Even if you are not charged at time of booking you have to secure your booking with a cc (similar to hotel or rental car bookings).

And I agree on the bookings with Viator. Very easy, never had any issues. Had to cancel a booking and got a full refund.

my first Celebrity cruise is still a matter of the future but on these boards there are lots of reviews stating that people liked the entertainment. So perhaps it is just not what fits to your personal taste?

You can still enjoy this ship as it now is part of the Mein Schiff fleet which is run as a Joint venture of RCI and TUI Germany. Loved my cruise on board this ship! The Mercury is Mein Schiff 2. Here are some official videos: http://tuicruises.com/meinschiff-tv/

I choose my cruises for the itinerary first but there are a few other topics to consider:

1) places I´d like to go to; I don´t go to places that have unrest (like Middle East) (itinerary)

2) available cruises during my holiday time

3) available solo cabins with single supplement I can afford or friends wanting to join me

4) airfare cost (best if the cruise starts right at my door in Northern Germany with only 1 hr train ride :p)

5) if there are different cruise lines matching the criteria above then I have a look at the cruise lines

And yes, I tend to do pretty much the same itinerary almost every winter: Canary Islands! I love my winter break in their lovely climate. As different cruise lines go there I can still put some variety into my itinerary. And airfare is not too expensive as it is a popular holiday spot for Northern Europeans during the winter.

What a nice thread! Here are my top 10 reasons for cruising (in no particular order):

1) I can do everything I want - or nothing at all. Most relaxing way to spend holidays

2) see many different places without having to pack/unpack all the time

3) meet many nice people from all over the world

4) great food

5) escape the winter climate by cruising the Canary Islands

6) try new things I never cared about at home

7) have holdidays between the "real" holidays (I live about 1 hr. each by car/train from the 3 major German cruise ports so it´s easy to fit in a 3-4 days cruise on a long weekend)

8) I can take family members who can´t fly for medical reasons on holidays with me and spend a great time together and get them to see places they would never be able to see

9) sunrise and sunset on sea are overwhelming each time I sit there watching

10) cruising is why I am a member with 2 great cruise forums (cruisecritic and a German one) and being online in these forums is almost like a little cruise :D

Love multicultural experience on MSC, but have no problem interacting with German speaking crowd.

Thank you for this post!

I just finished a review of our Canada & New England AIDA cruise on cruisecritic. Anybody who is interested may go to http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=262653

Unfortunately the other ships I cruised with are not on cruisecritic´s list of ships to be reviewed.

here is my review of our 2011 Canada & New England cruise:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=262653

There are cruise lines who actually do it. AIDA for example. If you want to have a look: http://www.aida.de/kreuzfahrt/schiffe/aidasol/360-grad-rundgang-aidasol.26065.html

It´s a great way to explore the ships.

Fletch, thanks for the port Infos.

The shuttle is run by the City of Melbourne: http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/visitors/transport/shuttle/Pages/VisitorShuttle.aspx

Elayne,

this is Terry´s great Live Blog :D. Just start reading from the beginning and be prepared for several great evenings following that cruise & pre-cruise adventure.

Did I understand correctly that Celebrity doesn´t provide shower gel in inside cabins? I don´t mind to have those refill bottles which hang at the shower wall but I sure don´t want to pack shower gel :mad:

If you want to go on a popular cruise, it will most likely sell out before final payment.

 

Examples: Around the Horn of South America or cruise out of Istanbul.

 

Also, airfare is a lot more at the last minute.

Another example: Australia/New Zealand. My cruise which starts Jan 27, 2015 is completely sold out for weeks now. Glad I booked an inside solo cabin for a reasonable price back in Nov 2013. Solo cabins have been sold out even longer.

I agree with the "ships are full". My upcoming cruise (January 2015) has been completely sold out for months now and shortly before prices rocketed up. I was lucky to get one of the last 3 available (at least available to German market) inside cabins more than 1 year prior to sail date. By now, the cruise is sold out on the German and US website.

I´d also recommend to do it on your own. You have much more time and pay a lot less.

Cable Car from pier to Fira is 4 € (8 € return)

Bus from Fira to Oia runs frequently, takes about 30 minutes and is 1,60 € (3,20 € return). The bus schedule can be found at the top station of the cable car.

Of course, you can also walk up the stairs to Fira at no costs or ride a donkey at 5 € (10 € return).

So, for less than 15 € you have a shore excursion at your own schedule while most cruise ships charge at least 40-45 € for the same itinerary but with less time. (Prices are from my visit there spring 2013, may have slightly increased).

I would only advice to have a look at the "last tender" times which are posted at the pier. Not only for your own ship but for all the ships which happen to be at Santorini that day.

Why? If your last tender goes at 7 PM and another ship´s last tender goes at 5 PM I would calculate a long line of people wanting to take the cable car down between 4 PM and 4.30 PM. Enjoy more time in Oia instead. And I would calculate being back at the cable car top Station at least one hour prior to your own last tender.

Enjoy your day at Santorini, it´s a great place with very friendly people. Only a Little bit crowded if more than 2 ships. Oia is less crowded than Fira.

Thanks everybody, I tried again today and the order has been confirmed.

chiquita1975, what does this have to do with the undocking of AIDAstella (which is history by now)?

Thanks for your review and the great pics.

Your comments on Warnemünde made me laugh. The seagulls stealing tourist´s bread roll with fried fish are a common plague in town but seagulls stealing cruiser´s pizza are new.

And I suppose the "bored locals" who waved you in and out port were mostly excited tourists from places with no connection to the sea. July/August is the main tourist season in Warnemünde and it is a favorite spot for people from other parts of Germany who want beach holidays. Those people are impressed to see all the big ships.