Cruising Is Bliss

You get the full benefit of what would have been separately paying for each thing in Have It All. The drink package benefit calculation is 15 drinks per day at full price and that's a big number.

On 2/22/2024 at 12:33 PM, critterchick said:

Island hopping by air is not for me anymore. Once upon a time it was easy - you could show up for a flight 15 minutes out and not have to worry about TSA or other potential delays. Now you have to add at least an hour (more with checked bags) and lost too much of your day in paradise.

Oh those were the days. In the 70s & 80s & 90s when I'd stay at the Royal Hawaiian I could hop in a cab less than an hour before takeoff!

Would you mind saying which ipad mini keyboard you got and if you like it? I have an ipad mini I mostly use when I'm on vacation. Really miss the days of 8" laptops.

Song of America was my first cruise back in 1997 for a two week Panama Canal. She was a wonderful introduction to cruising. So sorry to see she was scrapped a couple of months ago.

Song of America was my first cruise back in 1997 a two week Panama Canal. So sorry to see she was scrapped a couple of months ago.

My first two Celebrity cruises were both on Mercury, Buenos Aires to Valpereso one year, and Alaska (round trip San Francisco) the next year. Next after that was on Infinity for another Panama Canal transit. The SS United States restaurant was wonderful. So was the main dining room. And the staff took such good care of us.

I was lucky enough to cruise at the tail end of the elegant era. I still love cruising and it will always be my go to vacation, but it's a different thing now.

On 2/6/2024 at 7:15 PM, drowelf said:

 

 

I actually miss the daily papers. As soon as we boarded I would go to the front desk and ask that all the English Language versions be delivered to my cabin each day. Then I would have some reading for trips to the facilities. I remember one cruise when it was a bumper crop of papers as I would get US, UK, Canadian and Australian versions. The first 3 would come in the morning and the Australian would be with the nightly delivery of the of the daily program on the bed. 

Me too! I always took them with me to read with my first latte of the day.

5 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

It changes according to the cruise; according to the class booked; according to how good the TA is; according to the date booked; according to  the time of day; and whether it is currently raining.  

And if the day ends in a *Y*. It's all marketing. I've noticed on some cruises the "early" booking bonus stays there way past the first first few months.

42 minutes ago, Kelownadon said:

 
Why not on a transatlantic cruise. We have one coming up in October. 

The ship will have to clear ICE which means long delays.

5 hours ago, elfof2moons said:

I was wondering if I add flavored syrups to the lattes in the Explorations Cafe if the lattes are still covered on the quench drink package. I usually get caramel mocha lattes at coffee shops. Also if we get extra shot of espresso in the lattes are they covered as well?

Yes. Every coffee drink except those with alcohol added.

This sounds like a fantastic trip and I hope you have a wonderful time! Thank you for taking us along.

I'm doing a HAL 28 day Alaska cruise this summer and the final payment is 120 days.

On 1/20/2024 at 6:16 PM, cruzingnut said:

With the 2 smaller ships we have left, we could most definitely get to some "rarer" ports that the larger ones can't.  That would help if the WC could go back to that size ship.  Plus, some places are starting to limit the size of ships and not allowing them in (Major case in point for us is Bora Bora!).

 

Linda R.

Agreed. Interesting that the survey asked about ship preference. I would love to do a world cruise on Zaandam or Volendam.

I had no trouble eliminating #D (Eastbound with 4 months with waaaaay too many 23 hour days, no, and also, **** NO!) and #E (no Antarctica drive-by).

I'm tentatively ranking the other three as #A, #C, #B but I'll do any of them.

The emailed survey included picking favorite ships, current and past, and I picked Amsterdam, Zaandam, Volendam.

Pete, upstream you referred to the eastbound as #E. The eastbound is #D.

The confusion between #D and #E is also on the summary final page of the download.

On 1/17/2024 at 7:42 PM, Petronillus said:

I get the prevailing sentiment, but the basic idea is to show appreciation above and beyond the mandatory or baked-in gratuities. It seems to me that tipping your bar server with an occasional toonie is charming.

BTW, I don't understand why we (US) Americans have been so resistant to the dollar coin. And the two-dollar coin is a brilliant innovation I wish we would emulate.

The huge resistance to the $2 bill and all dollar coins came from merchants. No space in cash drawers for them.

On 1/18/2024 at 6:01 PM, Gunther1 said:

If you read my post, I said “fun”, not “funny”.  Big difference.

 

I tend to like things that are unusual, quirky, and out of the ordinary.

 

Going back to my original question, has anybody had any issues with giving them ?  

Entirely possible they would doubt they were real and you were stiffing them. And very likely they would have trouble spending them off the ship.

On 1/16/2024 at 5:46 PM, daybrake said:

@PROCRUISE  New cruiser to HAL here - is there something about the $1pp deposit that makes it not a better way to book rather than a refundable deposit (other than losing $2 if cancelled?). Just trying to understand the rationale for going with a refundable deposit.  I just booked a cruise using the $1 deposit and I specifically/pointedly confirmed with my TA that all I would lose is $2 if I cancelled and he said yes.  

That's not totally correct. If you cancel after final payment, during the 1st month after the final payment due date, the penalty as usual is equal to the deposit. But they keep the full standard deposit, not the special deal $1 deposit you paid.

I've never seen any local food choices on Celebrity in the dining room. HAL has an Indonesian menu you can get every night on every cruise but that's because their kitchen already prepares those dishes for the crew so they also make them available to passengers. Most of HAL's waiters and cabin stewards are Indonesian.

6 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

The last time I was on the Beyond I had a traditional seating time but once onboard I was told that it wouldn’t be honored and  dining was basically first come first served. Everyone waited on the same long line. . Now I’m scheduled to board Ascent in a few weeks. I was assigned Select Dining and was able to make a few reservations via the app. Will they be honored? Is there a separate line at the dining room for people with reservations? Thanks 

No and no. There is no traditional 1st and 2nd fixed seating on Edge class ships. That they can be booked prior to boarding is a still-unfixed bug in the software.

I hope you have a wonderful cruise and yay for the excellent news about the visa mess. Thank you for taking all of us along :)

I hope you have a wonderful cruise! Thank you or taking us along.

I hope you have a wonderful cruise! Thank you for taking us along.

On 12/30/2023 at 5:01 PM, wdw1972 said:

That's interesting - there should have been.  Deck 2, midship, old Queens Lounge location.  What was there if not BB Kings?

 

Sue/WDW1972

HAL was previously licensing ($$$$) the BB King name and the Lincoln Center name and are ending those deals.

20 hours ago, Andy&Mary Reno said:

We had paid off the cruise way before  the "penalty period had just begun. Regardless they offered  FCC.  There was other issues. We have decided to retain Counsel. It seems to me. Celebrity wants to hold you to a contract that they breeched. Very one sided. I believe in principles and ethical practices, Celebrity doesn't.    

Good luck with that. Tell us you've never read the contract without saying that you've never read the contract. They commit to providing a bed on a cruise ship. Everything else is subject to change. Just this month MSC, the day before sailing, due to weather conditions, informed incoming passengers that their warm Bahama cruise was now a chilly New England cruise which would start with a couple of days docked in Boston before the ship even sailed. MSC offered passengers the choice of taking the altered cruise or getting a FCC.

On 12/23/2023 at 5:56 PM, Stupot74 said:

The Celebrity website does not allow me to book a stateroom with no adults in it, whether or not the staterooms are connected.

Which is why you have to call to book it this way.