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Not sure if anyone else noticed this, but WonderMan3 has started a thread on his current cruise and has posted a copy of the first day's daily. The dress code is clearly indicated there and is NOT the same as what is on Celebrity's website in relation to evening chic - for men it is much more restrictive. I didn't want to put this on WonderMan3 thread so as to not take away from his narrative. I wonder if things are starting to slip back to the old dress code, or am I missing something?

 

Do you recommend excursions? We're doing Eastern Caribbean and love to snorkel.

 

They tell you to take cash and credit cards with you on excursions? Hoe the heck do you do that if you're snorkeling?

 

TIA folks. Truly appreciate how helpful everyone is here.

So far we've only been on one cruise and it was on Reflection in 2015 in the eastern Caribbean. We love to snorkel too and all our land-based vacations have been to places where snorkelling is available. So on our cruise we went snorkelling during 2 port visits. We found our own tours online using Trip Advisor and pre-booked before the cruise. Personally I was not worried about getting back to the ship on time as the tours we booked catered primarily to cruise passengers so were well aware of the bad publicity they would get if people missed their ship. We have an upcoming western Caribbean cruise (again on Reflection) and plan on snorkling during 2 of our 4 port visits, but have not yet made any bookings - but I'm pretty sure I have narrowed down the tours to buy.

As for where to put your sea pass, credit cards, cash, etc. we put them in small watertight cases roughly the size of a cigarette pack that is worn around the neck. No idea what they are called but they are readily available- maybe try a store in your area that specializes in bathing suits (in Ottawa we have a Bikini Village that I am sure has them).....or even places like CAA might have them, or luggage stores, etc. Anywhere where vacationers/travelers may shop. I also seem to recall seeing others online touting different things like waterproof cases worn around the waist, etc. But I only have experience with ones I use.

Your other questions I will let others answer as there are many more people on these boards more knowledgeable about onboard things.

Which website did you use? How long were you at the resort?

 

 

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I think they used "resortsforaday.com". I plan to book thru them soon as well for one of the Ocho Rios resorts - I am leaning towards them to go to the Jewel Dunns River one. That website seems to get pretty good reviews from the research I have done online.

No personal experience with them, but they get lots of pretty good reviews on TripAdvisor. I've been thinking of using them in late Feb to get from my cruise ship to a resort for the day.

Suggested attire for Evening Chic is a long sleeved dress shirt. Jacket, suit, or tux are optional.

 

 

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Actually I think their website just says "shirts with sleeves" - both short and long-sleeved shirts have sleeves.

Im looking into the same thing. I would take a look at resortforaday.com. maybe jewel runaway bay?

That's one I have been thinking of as well when our cruise is there Feb 28. Read lots of reviews on TA for this and a couple of other places but not a lot of reviewers are the one-day users; most are people who are at the resorts for a week or more. But, the few recent reviews by day-users are good for this resort, so I'm kinda leaning towards it. Still undecided.

Haven't tried that. But on our first and only cruise on Reflection we each had a bottle of wine in our carry-on. Of course when they scanned our bags it showed up. We had to take it out to show to them and they made a record of which cabin we were in. So if they scan your suitcases and see a bottle I am pretty sure that they would check their list from the carry-ones. I can't imagine that Celebrity would not have thought this one through. But perhaps someone else out there knows something more definitive.

Don't think he needs "long sleeved" shirt, just shirts with a collar. I only own short sleeve shirts and that's what I wear. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me.

See the phrase "sweet sixteen" cabin often. What in the world is it?

Hard to believe there is a thread here about such a minor issue!

Minor issue?? This is as important as to whether or not there are chocolates on the pillows at night!

So far, so good. Keep it coming.

I had picked this particular cruise because it was not scheduled to go to Key West. So I am now not happy at all. But too late, as final payment has been made. I assume Celebrity must have known something before final payment date. Not impressed.

Before traveling overseas, log on to your credit card web site and submit a travel notice outlining your itinerary. This will insure any charges made during your vacation are not rejected by the credit card company.

I used to do this whenever travelling out of the country but most Canadian banks no longer have this option. I asked but never really got a satisfactory answer.

Anyone know if they have Global Entry at the Miami cruise terminal too?

Just curious. If you get the internet package, where can you access the internet? In your cabin? Anywhere?

 

So I will keep the details coming but I'm not really sure if I'm posting these updates correctly. Not sure if I just keep adding to the thread or if I shhould start a new one each time. Suggestions?

Cheers!

Christina

I second the motion to keep all your posts in the same thread. Easier for us all to follow along - which is what I'll be doing. So thanks for providing this ongoing report.

This is great - thanks for doing it. I'm avidly following along. We took the Eastern Caribbean on Reflection a couple of years ago and are doing this same Western cruise in late February. Just a question - do you happen to know which wines are included in the classic alcohol package? We prefer Pinot Grigios and last time we were lucky enough that one was included, albeit right at the top $ level. Hoping there will be one included this time.

For me, leaving Miami it doesn't matter what side I'm on as I will be at the Sunset Bar taking full advantage of my beverage package. So I can see on both sides.

Hoping to take the Feb 25, 2017 western Caribbean cruise on Reflection and wondering which side of the ship is better to be on. Took the eastern cruise a few years ago and had a port side veranda cabin which was nice as every port we docked on that side so had stuff to 'watch'. Western cruise goes to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios and Labadee. I know it probably could be different each time depending which other ships are in port, etc. but just wondering.

Opie, we are hoping to take the same cruise in late February with the only difference being Ocho Rios instead of Falmouth. Being avid snorkelers we know what we'll be doing in both Cozumel and Georgetown - been to both before on land trips so know where we want to go. Labadee we'll just beach it. Not sure what we'll choose to do in Jamaica yet. Not been to either of these last two places before. For me these 4 ports are okay, but like eating, this is very subjective.

I do not believe that either Canadian or Americans need any type of visa to visit each other's country. As for the EU and Canada - Canada requires visas from Bulgarians and Romanians (I believe those are the two countries) and the EU is now telling the Canadian government that all EU citizens must be treated the same. If Canada doesn't remove that requirement, then they may impose visa requirements on Canadians visiting any EU country. This is in the news here every day recently. Not sure what effect, if any, this has on US citizens, unless they have similar visa requirements on certain EU countries.

Last year on Reflection I would get up usually shortly after 6 a.m., get a coffee and wander the upper decks to watch the sunrise. Always amazed me to see how many chairs were already "saved". I never bothered to save chairs as my wife and I were usually finished breakfast and up on deck not long after 8 and always found places to sit. But we didn't bother with the pool deck, preferring the deck above - not nearly as jammed packed with humanity.

I remember one morning after being ensconced in our chairs, watching this one woman meticulously using eleven towels to save four chairs. She had each entire chair covered and all corners tucked in nicely - you could have bounced a coin off them!! Then she tied each pair of chairs together with coloured scarves and left. It was about 2 hours before anyone arrived to sit in any of them - I know because I timed it out of curiousity. Then later on one of the pool attendants was straightening some nearby chairs and she asked him to leave them in place as she "might" want to move to them later if the sun changed.

I can tell you that when Celebrity does the New England/Canada cruises they buy a LOT of lobster in Maine! It's a big deal when they announce which port (Portland or Bar Harbor) is going to get the sale. So maybe they are just advertising what they already do but people didn't realize it.

 

I also saw fresh blackberries and raspberries being loaded onto a tender in Puerto Montt, Chili while waiting to go back to the ship. I made SURE to ask for fresh berries for dessert that night!

Just remember, when it comes to "Maine" lobsters a huge amount of lobsters are exported from Canada to Maine. Same species and caught in the same waters and once they are intermingled you cannot tell the difference - and they are intermingled. In the US the term "Maine lobster" is a big marketing thing.

I tried to replicate exactly what the OP got but was unable to do so. Celebrity has been offering these all included packages from Canada since 2014 or before. Every time I go online I get some different combination of Canadian cities, but for some reason never Ottawa where I live and where I know they offer this package from. I took it in March 2015 on Reflection.

Anyhow, when you see this on the Celebrity website you have to go all the way through the the process of actually "booking" the particular cruise. For instance by doing this on Silhouette in March from Montreal it is over $1700 USD for the cheapest available balcony cabin. You cannot just take the "advertised" rate as the final one.

For Canadians, for a number of reasons, these really are pretty good deals (if we ignore the exchange rate) but I really don't think that what we get is superior to what Americans can buy in their country. Even ignoring the exchange rates, I have difficulty believing that we get a better deal. Of course, I am always open to being corrected!

This is the package we have booked out of London ON. I see that I was not very clear in my question. We do not receive flight info until 90 days prior and was just wondering what people have experienced in the past with this package out of London

Well I would imagine that the London flights are basically pretty similar to the ones from other Canadian cities. I know that last season Celebrity chartered Canadian North for its charter airline - I think this is the one that the CFL uses to fly all its football teams around each year. For some reason Canadian North sub-chartered another northern Canada airline for our Ottawa run last time - First Air. Amazing flight both ways!! There was enough room between seats that if the person sitting in the window seat wanted to get out the people in the aisle seats didn't have to stand up! Free HOT breakfast shortly after take-off and then at 9:30 a.m. the FREE bar service started - like who doesn't need a couple of rum and cokes at that hour of the morning? On our return flight we had a nice hot lunch with....FREE bar service ... which continued for the entire flight!! And all the flight attendants were very nice, service oriented and joked with the passengers. Don't know if everything would be the same on Canadian North but given that it is an airline that competes with First Air in northern Canada I would assume so.

Haven't experienced this kind of flight service in years and years. Assuming everything is basically the same as last season, the plane is met by Celebrity either at the gate or outside US Customs if you don't pre-clear in London (I don't think that is one of the airports that has the pre-clearance but I could be wrong). They make sure you get handed off to other Celebrity people as you meander through the airport until you arrive at the chartered buses to take you directly to the pier. One thing - once you hand over your suitcases to the bus driver you won't see them again until you see them later that day (or evening) in your cabin. So keep whatever you might need in your carry-on, or take things out of your suitcase before giving it to the driver.

I was impressed with the service Celebrity provided from the time I checked in at the airport until I got to the long lines at the pier! I would not hesitate to do this again. I think these all-inclusive packages leave from Winnipeg, London, Ottawa, Quebec City, Moncton and Halifax - maybe I missed other cities but that's what I recall from their advertising.