CanadianDee

The majority of our cruises have been with Princess, but we do land-based vacations much more frequently than cruise vacations anyway.

As a previous poster said, a cruise vacation still gives you good bang for your buck. And even if I spent the whole cruise sitting on the balcony with a good book ... damn, that actually sounds pretty fine.

No to babies and toddlers on Celebrity ships. Go as a couple. Baby will be better with happy, rested parents and so will the rest of the passengers.

Celebrity says yes to families here.

Simple, because they don't serve lunch every day in Luminae

October 3rd Celebrity told us here that lunch would be fully reinstated on all ships on port days. Then effective 10/23 did you see them come back here to announce they are retracting on their promise once again? Nope. Only when we beg and plead for an answer do they respond. New policy effective 10/23 was announced here on 11/4 and only after I asked. Who cares if they respond anyway, they will just change their minds again in a few days.

Richsea, you have exquisite timing.

People complain if they check in here; people complain if they don't. Concrete wall meet forehead.

I would expect they were never - and would never - use CC as their sole way of finding out what their clients are saying about their ships. I don't work for a Fortune 30 company, but I am gifted with common sense.

The beach we visited in Costa Maya earlier this year had a great deal of seaweed - it is kinda nasty.

But there was a fellow clearing it most of the day and it didn't ruin our day by any means. We found once we got out into the water a little ways, the seaweed was scarce.

Edited to Add: Very cool information, Bosco. We will look at the sargassum differently next time we see it.

I'll admit that I roll my eyes a bit when I hear people complain about the noise on the ships. I personally haven't experienced it and it reminds me of the time when I was eating with my grandparents and my grandfather got VERY upset at how "loud" the music was in the restaurant, where I didn't really notice it. Loud can mean many things to many people and can also depend on whether you like the music playing or not (music that you dislike may feel more "loud" than music you enjoy, even though both are at the same volume level).

 

Then I read a review by someone my age and a frequent Celebrity cruiser who echoed the "loud" complaint and I realized that maybe I was being dismissive. And maybe Celebrity is, too. And a big part of the problem is that "loud" means so many things to so many people and can be hard to quantify.

 

But not impossible.

 

Many, if not most, of us have smartphones. There are now apps that you can download that will give decibel readings for noise. I've used Decibel-O-Meter in the past. If people download the app prior to their trip, they can use that if they experience what they feel to be excessively loud noise. Then they have a data point that they can use when giving feedback to Celebrity that's harder to ignore. Maybe the ships are misinterpreting how loud they should play their music.

 

And if you do it, maybe post a comment in this thread as to what you found. (When/where you took the reading, what was happening, and what the decibel was.) I know Celebrity sometimes watches threads here and if we get enough data points it may show them that there actually IS a problem and it's not just a bunch of older passengers being grumpy. Or it could turn out that it is a bunch of passengers being grumpy. ;)

 

The only way to really know is to collect the data. It's hard to ignore data - and to also ignore the consequences of exposure to certain decibels, where "loud" can mean too many things to too many people.

 

More information on decibels here:

http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/education/information-center/decibel-exposure-time-guidelines/

Fabulous idea, Scarlett! I love the notion of evidence-based complaints/suggestions as opposed to some of the over-the-top complaints so often posted in forums.

Thanks Scarlett.

I'd love a comparison review. We've cruises Princess multiple times, but are preparing for our first Celebrity cruise. :)

I disagree with all of you.

 

Warnings are important. If needed warnings are omitted then the

responsibility should fall back for damages of consequences.

....

2) Celebrity MUST warn that certain ports have a history of issues and

consideration must be given that these ports may be skipped should

issues of substance resurface. In other words, cruises to possible hot

spots have a likelihood you are not going to stop there!

 

Isn't that possibility already implicit in the contract? Actually, not implicit, but clearly stated.

If you're planning to travel to one of the world's hotspots, isn't there a little bit of onus on the traveller to be prepared for a potential cancellation?

Between our employers and our credit card plan, DH and I have pretty good medical coverage and trip interruption insurance.

We have never considered trip cancellation until this past few years. Both my parents are quite frail, my mother is late stages Alzheimer's. We started to investigate cancellation insurance and ... well, let me just say, you must read the exclusions. If either of my parents passed away - and their deaths were related to heart conditions or Alzheimer's - we would not be covered.

Nearly $500 for the seven days we're away ... and we're not even covered in the unlikely event they pass away in that time window.

For those of you saying you're paying for peace of mind, please make sure you're insured for what you think you're insured for.

I'm concerned daily for my family and friends there.

Thanks for perspective.

Difficult for those whose ports have been cancelled, to be sure, but truly an amended cruise ship itinerary is certainly a first world difficulty.

No, it's not just you. I was raised that money is on par with religion and politics.

Interesting. Religion and politics were always fodder for dinner discussion in our house. Money, less so but not ... off the table, so to speak. :)

It's unfortunate that the OP feels cheated, but as so many have pointed out ... luck, timing, research, vigilance all play into the best price scenario regardless of whether one is buying a cruise vacation or a car.

I was was scrolling the Princess forum yesterday. We're looking at planning our next cruise and have always loved Princess. In one forum page, two separate threads complaining about price drops soon after final payment.

It's just part of the dance we do when it comes to booking vacations. :)

I will post the daily activity programmes and whatever else I have that's pertinent, on the weekend....probably Sunday. :)

 

And if I can figure out how to do it, I'll post a video snippet of the kids talent show.

That would be awesome. I'd love to see the talent show. :)

lol! Me too!

 

Glad you saw this and I will report back next month ... we sail Silhouette in 30 days!

The Top Chef cruise, I recall. I can't wait to hear about it. :)

I hope Canadian Dee sees this as I told her that I did not recall family activities on X ... but to be fair, we were distracted with the Top Chef events. I will look for this on our Silhouette cruise.

LOL. I always click on anything on Celebrity to do with kids. :)

Parents were always welcome to drop into the Fun Factory at any time.

 

...There were lots of family activities, such as family bingo (some very nice prizes and lots of them), family scavenger hunt, the kids did a talent show and the parents were invited, etc. When there are a lot of kids, as in the summer, they did the talent show in the theatre, with full sound and lighting. With the lesser number of kids, they chose a smaller venue. There were several "field trips"...the kids were taken on a Backstage tour, and on a Bridge tour. These opportunities were tailored to groups of appropriate ages. My DGD's favourite souvenir from the cruise is a photo that Jimena took of her in the Captain's chair, wearing the Captain's hat. My DGD wants to cruise on a ship captained by Master Kate McCue next. :)

 

Programmes for the next day's activities were left on my DGD's bed every night, and she loved going over them to see what was happening the next day. She also received "mail" directly addressed to her about special activities, which made her feel very important. She kept all her paperwork carefully filed by her bed. I have all the daily programmes from the Fun Factory for her group (Cadets 7-9, I think) and can scan and post them this weekend if you like. The Youth staff are willing to be a little flexible about ages within groupings, to accommodate siblings, etc.)

 

We also vacation with our granddaughter and I'm delighted to read that there are family activities for our upcoming cruise.

She'll also love getting her own mail and paperwork. :-)

And sitting in the Captain's chair ... how wonderful.

 

You might think it funny, but the benefit I liked the most were the footstools on the balcony so I could put my feet up after an active day!!

 

Sue

Sue, our upcoming cruise on the Celebrity is in a concierge cabin - we opted for it because of the perks offered on the Spring into Savings promo. I can't tell you how many times I've read people post about how much they liked the footstools. :)

We have traveled with Celebrity on European cruises with our granddaughter over the past three summers. She was 4 on her first trip to Spain and Italy ,then onto Venice and Greece and this summer it was a Baltic cruise. On each one she was been warmly welcomed by the staff and all but a few cruisers. The only time we had any issue with passengers was after we booked a private excursion we were uninvited due to someone not wanting to have a child on their tour. We have also cruised with her on Disney and Carnival but she likes Celebrity best. We have had many people go out of their way to get to know her and interact with her. She has taken 12 hour tours off ship and done better than most of the adults on the tour. So we will continue to cruise Celebrity with her since we are raising her. She goes where we go!

I think travel is the best education available for a child. We often joke that our granddaughter had travelled more before she started grade school than we did before we were married. :)

Travel makes it so easy to expose a child to new adventures, people, places, and cuisines. AND it's so much fun for us to experience those adventures, people, places, and cuisines through the eyes of a child.

We try and theme our cruise vacations. Our last cruise was a Seuss theme on Carnival*, which has been running a Seuss at Sea program. We played Seuss games, read Seuss books, and dressed in Seuss clothes.

This cruise our theme is pirates and princesses. Right now we're making evening gowns (a little fabric and metres of tulle goes a lonnnnng way), pirate costumes, and learning how to dance. Loading the laptop with movies about princesses and pirates to enjoy on the long flight to Florida and in our downtimes.

I can't say who enjoys the preparation and vacation more, us or her, but we're very grateful for these amazing travel opportunities with her.

*Incidentally, we chose Carnival because of her. Sunshine, with the 2.0 features - lovely waterpark and touted Camp Carnival. She loved the cruise, but only made two trips to Camp Carnival before telling us she wanted to stay with us, and one trip to the waterpark, which she found too loud and too busy.

 

Thanks for all the help. This will actually be our first time traveling without a rental car. SCARY!! LOL

LOL. Us too. After reading this thread, we thought, meh, why not? We almost never go anywhere and NOT rent a car.

You're right. It's so scary. :)

No kids unless it is holiday time.

How odd. When we booked in with our granddaughter, Celebrity accepted our money and made no mention of the "no kids" policy. Friends who've cruised Celebrity with their children have very much enjoyed their experiences with the both the cruise line itself and their fellow passengers.

flCruisechick16, have a fabulous cruise with your family. We'll be on the Reflection a few weeks after you, with our five year-old granddaughter. :)

There's the odd adult Celebrity cruiser here who makes a point of posting her dislike of children and families sailing on her Celebrity, but thankfully for those of us who like to vacation with our children and grandchildren, most cruisers seem to be welcoming and receptive.

Last trip my kids were 5 and 3. I would ask anyone of the people working in the line for a PB&J for the kids and it appeared almost instantly. They were happy to do it!

That's great to know! Thanks kbarnum. :)

Fun thread, glad to see it resurrected. :)

I've not found anything weird or interesting, but I'm certain I've left behind a charger of some kind in every single hotel room or stateroom cabin I've ever occupied.

Just as an FYI, the CDC only reports on outbreaks involving ships traveling to or from US ports. The source I gave covers all cruises foreign and domestic.

Ah, ok. That makes sense.

But the CDC has no reported outbreaks on Carnival since 2012? *re-thinking next cruise". ;)

Dulcie, would you mind sharing your source?

I'm looking at the CDC information here and, while Celebrity did have the most reported outbreaks in 2013, 2014 shows them outbreak-free, and 2015 with two outbreaks (with Princess and Royal Caribbean also reporting two).

In the 2015 reported outbreaks, both RCCL and Princess record higher numbers of individually reported cases than Celebrity.

We're looking at a similar situation (2 adults, 1 kid, 6 pieces of luggage :) ) for an upcoming cruising and leaning towards a shuttle service (QLS) for the convenience of not having to struggle with unfamiliar Florida roads and driving in Miami.

That said, we're flying in two days ahead (unpredictable winter departures from Alberta) and taking advantage of the nearby pirate excursion at the hotel we're staying at (Bahia Mar/Fort Lauderdale) on the free day after fly in, so no car really needed. (On re-read, I see that you have Saturday as a free day, too.)

It seems to me that car rental, UberXL (provided it's again available in Fort Lauderdale), taxi, or shuttle service break out to roughly the same cost, give or take a few bucks.