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Really not sure what info the poster is looking for, but they are clearly referring to Celebrity's all-inclusive package that flies out of a number of Canadian airports ( London being one of them - Toronto is not on the list I don't think). This will be the third year (I think) that Celebrity has done this - price includes cabin, flights, bus to and from cruise terminal, classic drink package, all taxes and gratuities - think that is all. Celebrity has been advertising in a number of Canadian newspapers for a few months now. This is NOT Choice air. We took it last year out of Ottawa - the charter airline was great. The package is for both Silhouette and Reflection in the eastern and western Caribbean.

I seem to recall reading here last year or so that for one cruise the flights were delayed and the ship waited hours for the passengers. Unlike Choice Air, in this instance Celebrity is on the hook for getting people to the cruise ship so if they leave without a plane load (or more) they would have to put them up somewhere and then fly them all to the next port.

Thanks for the review!

 

I think one pays a significant premium for the charter cruises, but as you know there are benefits to the package vacation.

S

I'm close enough to the Buffalo airport, that the savings for me outweigh any perks that the charter offers.

 

Happy to hear that it was a positive experience for you.

 

What did you think of your first X cruise? Was it also your first cruise?

Actually I don't think we paid much of a premium if any at all. I can't remember the details exactly but I did check before booking and the difference between the all-inclusive charter and doing everything myself was not significant. Plus we didn't have to go down the day before and pay for a hotel room. So for us it was worth it.

Yes, our first cruise. What did we think? Well, cruising is not for everybody and I don't think we'll be rushing to book again any time soon. Maybe some day in the future, but not now. But Celebriry - if we ever book again it would be our first choice. Still struggling to write a review.

FYI I don't believe that Hamilton has US Customs pre-clearance for any US-bound flights. As for Ottawa I am now remembering that someone told me the Silhouette flight does clear US Customs in Ottawa, but not Reflection. If so perhaps that would add more fuel to my thought that there are too many US-bound flights on Saturday for Canadian North to get a gate, but not on Sunday. They have a well marked checkin counter in both the domestic side and the US side. Hopefully for you you'll be luckier than we were. Have a good trip!

Thon, was your plane full? Just curious as to how popular these charters are.

No it wasn't full. Quite a few empty seats and some completely empty rows. I think about 87 people coming home (presumably the same number going down). The reason I know this is that we were ready to leave almost 45 minutes early coming home but were still missing 2 passengers who had checked in but not boarded. So the crew kept going up and down the aisle counting passengers. Before leaving the gate they announced that people could spread out in to the empty rows if anyone wanted to.

Can't answer your questions specifically but here's a link to what I wrote about our experience with the March 7-14 Reflection charter from Ottawa. Aside form the customs question I think it answers your other questions. We kept our carryon stuff with us - ours fit easily into the overhead bins on the bus. They had a few buses and ours was not full.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2183099

Not sure why you had to clear customs at MIA, as YOW is most definitely a preclearance airport.

Not sure either. We originally lined up at the Canadian North check-in counter in the pre-clearance area along with others only to be told by someone from the airline that we had to check-in on the domestic side (where they also had a check-in counter). Not sure why I hadn't thought at the time to ask why - maybe it was still too early in the morning - we had arrived earlier than normal assuming that clearing US Customs could add more time onto our check-in time.

In hindsight I'm thinking that maybe it was because there weren't any available gates for our charter. I noted at the time that there were quite a few regularly-scheduled US-bound flights leaving that morning.

Just got off Reflection Saturday. The only 2 places I noticed people smoking was port side of the Sunset Bar (Deck 15) and the Mast Bar (also Deck 15). One day at the Sunset, a gentleman started smoking more in the middle of the bar area, albeit right at the rear, and one of the waiters immediately told him that he had to move further away to the designated smoking area. Don`t know about anywhere on deck 5 as we never went outside there.

Just returned from Reflection on Saturday and we were one of the Canadians that took the Celebrity all-inclusive charters – included whichever cabin you wanted to book, airfare to/from Ottawa (or Hamilton, Quebec City or Halifax), transfer to/from airport/pier, all taxes, gratuities, the classic beverage package and select dining.

Thought I would provide some feedback on our experience on the flights portion of this package separately from the cruise itself which I will provide later. This might be of benefit/interest to others who have already booked this package for the remainder of this season or are still contemplating doing so.

This was our very first cruise so the ads I kept seeing in the newspaper appealed to me as everything would be handled as one package – no need to book separate airfare, go down a day early in order to ensure we made the cruise, decide which booze package we wanted, etc. The airline Celebrity chartered was ‘Canadian North’ which is an airline that has regularly-scheduled flights primarily in Canada’s north (hence the name). It is also the airline chartered by the CFL (Canada’s NFL) to fly teams around during football season.

For some reason, Canadian North sub-chartered another airline – ‘First Air’ – to fly the Ottawa/Miami route, although I understand they used their own planes for the other 3 cities. First Air is another primarily northern airline and has been around for decades. Boy, what a trip both ways – I cannot say enough good things about it! First Air is still what all the mainline domestic airlines USED to be before the all the cost cutting that started years ago. Free hot breakfast, free blankets and open bar that started at 9:30 a.m. – now when I was much, much younger maybe….but others did partake – after all, it was 5 p.m. somewhere! However, no entertainment – no movies, no TV screens, no music, but the flight was not that long so no big problem. Free magazines handed out (when was the last decade we saw that on an airplane??)

Landed in Miami at 11:20 and was out of the airport by 12:30. Unfortunately for us we had to clear US Customs in Miami. In Ottawa, US-bound flights usually clear US Customs before leaving (there are US Custom officers stationed at many larger Canadian airports – why we didn’t do this in Ottawa this time I do not know and I forgot to ask).

At the Miami airport Celebrity really shone for us first timers. Once we left Customs there were Celerity people to direct us through the airport and directly to our buses – no possible way could we have gotten lost as we were always in sight of the next Celebrity person. We were told that once we handed over our suitcases to the bus driver, we would not see them again until they were in our cabins. Got to the pier at 1 pm. And of course the place was packed at that time. But the line moved fairly quickly and we were onboard by 1:45.

Coming home was just as easy. Once we had our suitcases and exited the terminal we just told the Celebrity people that we were on the Canadian charters and they directed us to our special buses. Buses dropped us off at the airport right by our check-in counter. Simple! Another hot meal (late lunch) and open bar again!!

So, if I were to cruise again with Celebrity and they still offered this type of package deal I think I would be crazy not to take it. If anything were to go wrong (as happened a few weeks ago) Celebrity still has to get us to the ship one way or the other.

We're on the Celebrity charter from Ottawa tomorrow for Reflection and had been hoping to do self-disembarkation March 14 for a number of personal reasons, only one of which is the possibility of our suitcases going missing. So I guess my question is - do we ABSOLUTELY have to do this 'putting out of suitcases at night' process or can we self-disembark if we really want to. Don't mind getting up really early and being ready to go really early.

Gawd I love this thread! Going on our very first cruise on Saturday (Reflection) and we plan to eat in the MDR every night EXCEPT the formal nights. I have no intention of bringing a jacket with me but have no difficulty in dressing smart casual. We have no hesitation to eating in the buffet those 2 nights. Celebrity has a dress code and I for one will respect it as it causes me no pain to do so. If they wanted me to dress up every night in some more formal attire then I would not have booked my trip with them.

We are on the March 7 Reflection Cruise and I expect we will get a similar e-mail from Celebrity in the near future. However, we are one of the hundreds of passengers from Canada that are on one of Celebrity's "all-inclusive" packages which includes a charter flight. Our flight from Ottawa is scheduled to arrive in Miami at 11 a.m. Now, assuming everything is on time and it does not take an inordinate amount of time to get from our plane to the Celebrity-provided transportation (we pre-clear US Customs in Ottawa) we will get to the pier possibly hours before whenever deck #8 will be scheduled to board. So we will hopefully be able to board then. I have no desire to spend endless time lounging around the dock area! From what I've read on other threads on this subject it appears that so far nothing has stopped people from boarding whenever they arrive, or at least getting in line to board.

Here in halifax you pre-clear also

That's great. Didn't have it when I lived in Halifax - but that was sooooo long ago. Pretty sure they do not have it in Hamilton though. But I've been known to be wrong on occasion, or so my wife keeps telling me!

We are on one of these Celebrity charters on March 7 out of Ottawa for Reflection. The nice thing about the Ottawa airport is that we pre-clear US Customs here. Some of the larger Canadian airports have US Customs officers that clear all US-bound flights before even getting on the plane so once the plane leaves it becomes more like a US domestic flight. Unfortunately for people in places like Halifax and Hamilton I do not believe they have this so once they land in MIA or FLL they still have to clear US Customs which adds more time at the destination airport.

We had another snowstorm yesterday (about 10cm or so) but it didn't start until later in the day so Celebrity's morning charter from here would not have been delayed at all due to Ottawa weather. Fortunately most of our airports up here are used to snowstorms and are pretty good at clearing runways, etc. fairly expeditiously. At least most of the time!!

Loving your review. We'll be on Reflection March 7. Our first ever cruise.

Everything everyone above has said about delays due to weather, mechanical problems, etc. is all something to be aware of. I guess I am the kind of person that "tries" not to worry too much about things that I have NO control over.

Here's hoping that everyone's flights experience no delays!!

While the head office for Canadian North is in Calgary, its main operations base is much further north in Yelllowknife - so even more reason for people to feel more confident that the airline can fly in adverse weather conditions.

We are taking a similar Celebrity package out of Ottawa on Reflection but for us we only have to worry about going from the Miami airport to the Miami port. But I'm not worried - although this is our very first cruise I am quite confident that in this day and age Celebrity will have no difficulty in getting our planeload of passengers from the airport to the ship.

My edocs arrived last night. Canadian North is definitely the airline, at least from Ottawa March 7. And looks like flights are non-stop to and from Miami. Flight leaves here at 7:10 a.m. and they say to be at the airport 3 hours ahead of that as we have to clear US Customs in Ottawa. I hate these early morning flights - means we have to get up at 3 o'clock! But at least we'll be going on vacation!

we are on the feb 14 flight out of Halifax. we were told it would be Canadian north but no details as yet.

 

we have cruised with Celebrity before and are looking forward to it,

 

we were told it was a direct flight, hope the weather is good that day, don't want to miss anything

Just remember kayleighgirl, "direct" in airline parlance usually means you go someplace without changing planes, but you could stop places enroute. The term "non-stop" means you go there without stopping anywhere. Many people (including me when I first started travelling a lot) often confuse the two. The Celebrity ad I booked from clearly says "non-stop" in big capital letters so I am hoping they don't change that.

Anyone know when these packages are made available? Just wondering when you could book for 2016 or 2017? I'll have to keep my eyes open as they look like a great offer

Cathy

Good question. Celebrity was advertising for awhile in a bunch of local papers like the Ottawa Citizen but I didn't really focus on and actually read the ad until early November. Haven't seen the ad for the past week or two however. I know they also recently had the same ad in the Montreal Gazette for Montreal departures as I have family there that saw it. But no idea when they start for each season, or even if they've run this special before or will again. Also, I have no idea whether the same deal is/was offered on their website as I never looked.

For us, as first time cruisers the deal looked good as so many things were included and we wouldn't have to worry about getting separate flights, etc. Deal includes charter from Ottawa, classic beverage package, all taxes and gratuities and transfer between airport and cruise. Of course the price will be different depending on which type of cabin one reserves. Now, I don't know as I've never done this before, so don't know whether we could have got things cheaper if we booked everything separately but if we had done that we would have flown down the night before just to be on the safe side so would have incurred a hotel cost as well.

We're both veteran travellers having been to many places in Canada, the US, Caribbean and overseas for both work and vacation but this will be our first cruise experience so looking forward to it.

We received our edoc and luggage tags for our Feb 8 cruise 5 wks out. Your travel agent will know if you are going with Canadian North. If not call Celebrity Captains Club. We leave Hamilton @ 800 and arrive in Miami @ 1100 Return 1215 arrive Hamilton @ 315

You are going to be more than pleased with the package. If you have any question just ask and I will try to help.

 

 

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Thanks Canusa1 - I booked directly with Celebrity using the 1-800 number in their ad. Had to follow up a couple of times with questions regarding my invoice and had no difficulties getting through quickly and no problems getting the right answers and getting things straightened out quickly. So far can't think of any questions since I've found out a considerable amount from reading these boards. I read somewhere that their charter flights may have to pick up passengers from a couple or more cities so who knows - maybe the Moncton flight for my cruise date will have to stop in Ottawa (or more likely Montreal) but we'll just have to wait and see - still hoping for a non-stop flight, at least from Ottawa. I'll wait a couple more weeks before calling to see when I'll get my docs - I'm in no rush, its not until March 7.

Our cruise starts March 7 and we have not got any documentation yet that identifies the airline. But when we booked I did some research on Cdn North as it was pictured in the Celebrity ad and was impressed with the reviews. So hoping it is still Cdn North for our charter. Wonder how long before our cruise we get any info on the flights, etc? Anyone know?

We are on a similar all inclusive package out of Ottawa. No idea yet which airline they will be using. In the newspaper ads they had a picture of a Canadian North airplane. The later ads had an airplane picture with `Celebrity Cruises` written on it as though they had their own airline!! LOL Guess we`ll have to wait until they send us our info closer to the date. Our cruise is on March 7. I`m not really worried about whatever Canadian-based airline they use as long as it isn`t Canjet!

For our first cruise in March we have already booked our excursions privately for both St. Martin and St. Thomas. Am a big user of Trip Advisor so did all my research beforehand. Both excursion providers have excellent ratings and both "guarantee" to get you back to the ship on time - not one reviewer has said that they didn't so we feel pretty safe (although nothing in this world is 100% guaranteed!). And, with Paypal giving a deposit is easy and secure.

The departures from Ottawa are obviously not selling well as there was a large half page, color ad in the Montreal Gazette.

 

Non-stop flights, Ottawa to Miami.

 

They are still advertising for Feb 7th departures. Outside cabins from $1399 CAD per person, all included (air and air taxes, transfers, port charges, tips and 123 package). Balconies from $1999.

 

Funny, there is a color photo of an airplane with 'Celebrity Cruises' painted on the fuselage in over sized letters. Underneath, in fine print "Actual plane may differ".

Will be interesting to see what happens when we actually fly for our cruise on March 7. Same ad is also still appearing in Ottawa Citizen once or more a week. I kept a copy of the original ad that I booked from "just in case". My ad says "Exclusive non-stop flights from Ottawa to Miami+". The + sign is interesting as one must then get out a magnifying glass to read the really small print at the bottom which says "at press time arrival city was not finalized - Miami may be changed to Fort Lauderdale". Picture in my original ad was of a Canadian North plane. It has since changed to the same as you have in the Gazette showing a Celebrity plane.

This is our first cruise so hoping we don't get frustrated before we've even arrived at the ship - but we're keeping an open mind and looking forward to enjoying the acutual cruise once we get there.

I'm one of the 'polite' Canadians signed up for the March 7 Reflection cruise under this Celebrity 'special'. No idea who else will be on the plane with us but I'm sure we'll meet some of them during our trip down. Now whether or not we'll ever see them once onboard is another thing altogether. If they do actually lump some Cdn cities together in one flight (including ours) we will not be happy as that entails longer overall flight times and increased landings, etc. but we shall see. Sorry.