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Sorry but I am unable to post a pic. But if you have any specific questions I'm pretty sure I can remember most of the pertinent details from the ad. It was in the travel section of the Ottawa Citizen today so I am sure it would be in the Toronto, Hamilton and London papers. If they carry on like in previous years it will appear weekly for quite some time. As for the price, all it said was something along the lines of "inside cabins starting at $.....". From Ottawa the price was something over $2000 but remember, that includes the return airfare, tips, taxes, bus to/from the port and the classic booze package? The ad gave the specific one-week cruise for each either out of MIA or FLL. And of course, to contact Celebrity Cruises or your travel agent for more details, etc.

If anyone has any questions I will do my best to answer them. In the meantime I'll see if I can find the ad - I have a funny feeling it got thrown out with some garbage!

Just saw an ad in Ottawa's paper for the upcoming season. Packages are for either Silhouette or Equinox this season and are in February and March. I seem to recall in previous years they began in January. Plus in the Ottawa paper it only notes Ontario departures (Toronto, Hamilton, London, and Ottawa) so not sure if the packages are available from other cities.

I could be wrong but I think they may have been referring to one of the cabin classes that provided large bottles of water in the cabin, as opposed to the smaller bottles (unlimited) you get at all the bars.

We had lunch at the Rainbow Cafe a couple of years ago whilst on a snorkling trip. As lunch was included in the price of our snorkling tour I really don't know how expensive it was. We had a couple of drinks that were not included but I really don't remember how much they cost. I just went back and checked my review of the place on Trip Advisor and I said if I was ever back on Saint Martin I would not hesitate going back there. The beach was quite nice and they did have chairs with umbrellas as others have mentioned.

If anyone knows about how much it would cost to get there by taxi from the cruise port I would be interested in knowing.

This is Celebrity's version of an all-inclusive vacation that is typical for Canadians heading south to resorts in the winter months. It was only available in Canada and is NOT Choice Air. Included flight to/from either Miami or Fort Lauderdale and involved either Reflection or Silhouette 7-day eastern or western Caribbean cruises ONLY. Also included dedicated transport to/from the airport to the cruise port, all tips/gratuities, all taxes/fees, the classic beverage package and starting this past winter season the unlimited internet package. So pretty much what most Caribbean-bound Canadians expect out of a all-inclusive package to places like Mexico, Cuba, DR, Jamaica, etc.

We first went on it a couple of years ago when the chartered flights went from Halifax, Moncton, Quebec City, Ottawa (which was great for us!), Hamilton, London and I think Winnipeg. Unfortunately this past spring (2017) the flights only went from Hamilton and I think maybe London. So we drove to Hamilton and had to stay overnight in hotels both directions. I haven't heard or seen anything yet about what Celebrity may be planning for the upcoming cruise season. We have a two-week cruise booked for Eclipse this winter so won't be able to take advantage of any Book 'n Go package again.

This past winter I priced out the same cruise as if I had to make all my own arrangements for cruise, flights, buses, hotel the night before, etc. I really don't remember the difference in costs but taking the package deal was so, so much easier (plus return flight times on my own were the pits).

In the past they have chartered planes from Canadian North (the airline the CFL charters to fly football teams around I believe) and First Air - both airlines operate in Canada's north and still provide quality service to passengers compared to some of the more mainstream airlines.

We both had Internet as part of our package on Reflection in February. However, we had to go to Guest Services, who made a couple of calls then got sent to iLounge to set it up. A very 'minor' annoyance but didn't really take long. So I guess it may work differently for some people. We don't have it as part of our package for our next 2 week cruise on Eclipse so have to decide whether one of us will get it and pay for it separately. Another one of life's pressing decisions!

We were on Reflection in late Feb and had no problem getting off in Grand Cayman fairly early in the morning. I don't remember when we arrived at our anchorage but we were off and had walked (about 10-15 min) to the Eden Rock Dive Centre and were in the water snorkling by 9 a.m. And we have no special status with Celebrity.

I wouldn't worry about it. If you do have to wait then so be it. If the weather is bad so be it. I try not to worry about things ahead of time if I have no control over them. For me, I'm on vacation so try not to get too stressed over things out of my control. Have a great trip!!

Well,l reading Reflection's policy for Smart casual dining, it stats men should wear Pants or Jeans with a Long sleeve sport shirt.....:evilsmile:

The Celebrity policy does NOT say LONG sleeves. Unless of course there are different Celebrity sites.

How was H2O? How far from the pier was it and was timing ok without feeling rushed to get back to the ship? I am looking into them for our June 4th cruise.

 

Thanks, Shelly

Hey Shelly, we took he H2O snorkel trip in late Feb when on the Celebrity Reflection. Because of the time of our arrival in port we couldn't take the morning trip so had to take the 1:30 one. When you contact the company tell them about your time limitations - they were super easy to deal with via emails and responded in a timely manner. Taxi from the port was not long - my memory fails me a bit here but I think it was like a 5 minute taxi ride. Not only will they ensure you get back on time to catch your ship, they will also call a taxi for you so it is waiting when you get back. We were also initially concerned with timing but needn't have been. When you think about it, companies like this rely heavily on cruise ship clients so if they get a reputation of being unable to get people back to their ships on time they would not be in business very long. That was our experience.

The crew and guides were awesome. We've been on many snorkel trips in a number of different countries and this one was right up there with the best, if not our best experience. I would not hesitate using them again or in recommending them to others.

ok, I have to ask because we find it really confusing, being that we are not American and the dress code is in American terms.... what is the difference between a button down shirt and a dress shirt. And what is a sports shirt?

 

Here in Australia, a dress shirt is a long sleeve shirt with buttons all the way down the front like you would wear with a suit. A sport shirt would be something with sport logos loudly emblazoned, so I'm guessing that not what they mean, and we don't use the term button down shirt at all.

 

I'm guessing one of these might be what we call a polo shirt, which is a collared shirt with two or three buttons, usually in a thick cotton, but it really is confusing.

Well, let me see if I can provide you some sort of clarity, from how I see/understand things. Button down shirts are shirts where the collar is buttoned down at the front on both sides (am I making sense here?) and does not refer at all to the buttons that go all the way down the front. I believe they can be either long or short sleeved as well. Now a dress shirt (whether buttoned down or not) is usually something that men would 'typically' wear with a suit and tie (or no tie). To me, sport shirts are pretty synonymous with dress shirts except perhaps they have designs on them like checkered, stripes, etc. and do not refer to shirts with sports logos on them. But, one thing I have discovered from reading these seemingly endless dress code threads is that not everyone seems to always have the same view on definitions.

Hopefully I have helped to clarify some of this for you.

Point noted. Agree. My oversight.

Not a problem CEO. Someone else earlier in the thread said the same thing so I had not intended to single you out at all. As a matter of fact it seems that in almost every dress code thread some people write the same thing. It's just this sort of jumps out at me as I only wear short sleeve shirts all year long (even in our cold Canadian climate!) and even did so while working in a culture of ties and suits or sports coats.

Just to be clear, when the Celebrity says dress shirts, it does NOT say "long-sleeved" dress shirts. There are both long-sleeved and short-sleeved dress shirts. I prefer to wear short-sleeved ones.

I think the OP means Rostock which is in Germany not Russia.

I believe the Celebrity website says, for chic nights, "dress shirt, button down shirt or sweater". That means one would have basically 3 options - not just a button-down shirt. I do not believe a button-down shirt means a shirt with buttons all the way down the front - that would just be a dress shirt (or a sports shirt). I think a "button-down" shirt means a shirt with a collar that has buttons attaching the collar to the shirt at the pointy end of the collar (if you get my gist).

I haven't been on Celebrity since "formal" has turned to " evening chic"--- My dh (mid 60's) hates wearing button down dress shirts-- wants to know if wears his comfortable golf shirts with a jacket/blazer would he look out of place? He always wears tan slacks at night any way. We are eating those nights anyway in the specialty restaurants, but usually we go to the 9:00 show afterward. I have searched this board, but never found golf shirts mentioned, just dressy button down shirts- with or without jacket- (which he doesn't mind wearing at night any way). Thanks in advance for opinions....Anita

By "button down" do you mean shirts with collars that are buttoned down? If so, those types of shirts are not necessary. Just an ordinary dress shirt.

I filled out the survey and got the same annoying exclusion notice at the end. I will never fill out a survey from this company again.

We just used H2O last week when on Reflection and I would not hesitate taking them again or in recommending them. We are experienced snorkellers and have our own equipment. Very professional, very friendly and competent crew. I've done a review on Trip Advisor (same user name) - not sure if it's up yet.

Got off in Miami Saturday from Reflection and no forms. Was told new law as of 3/1 only requires the form if you spent more than $800 on items you are bringing in

 

 

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Interesting. We got off Reflection on Saturday as well and all the customs guy told us was the forms were no longer necessary. Nothing about $800. So it seems that people are getting somewhat different explanations, etc. and hopefully all will sort itself out eventually. Suffice it to say however, that at Miami port it appears the forms are no longer necessary, although who knows whether that could change. An interesting aside, the various disembarkation letters, etc. given us on the ship said not to forget to fill out the forms, yet they gave us no forms. So I guess the relevant crew are aware of the new requirement, (or lack of) but their paperwork has not yet been updated.

The OP has nearly 3,000 posts. He's a veteran cruiser. The title of the thread indicates his tongue is firmly planted in his cheek.

Sorry Marieps - my tongue was firmly in my cheek as well but I guess it wasn't in far enough.:):)

You know that someone is actually going to take you seriously, right?

Not sure why you have to be so negative. The OP has asked a very legitimate question. ;) I know when I go out for lunch at work with my colleagues, if I'm not in the mood to tip that day I change out of my suit into sweat pants and a ragged t-shirt (the same ones I often wear in the MDR on a cruise for dinner) so that the wait staff don't expect anything from me. But I never wear a backwards ball cap as that would taking things just a little too far! :D

Did you take a taxi? How much was it?

I think what Askmelanie said is that she booked the resort through the company "resortforaday.com" which includes transportation both to and from the chosen resort. We have booked with this same company for this resort for later this month.

You can find their dress code spelled out under "FAQs" at the bottom of their opening page on their website.

You might want to check out Grand Cayman on Trip Advisor - click on the "Things to do" button. It'll list all sorts of things.

The dailies on Eclipse last cruise were full of errors I suspect it's the same lack of attention to detail again rather than another change in the dress code

Perhaps the same people who run their website also manage the dailies:)

Sorry, I should have written exactly what it said to make it easier for people to see what I was talking about. For evening chic it says:

Ladies: cocktail dress, gown or pantsuit

Gentlemen: tuxedo, suit or dinner jacket with slacks.