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Info about the Jewel dry dock currently under way -

Jewel dry dock

Are requested robes free for those who are not Diamond and above? If not, does anyone know the charge?

Thank you so much! 

After a review of the deck plans for the Coral, it appears that the Sanctuary spans three decks aft, including the aft pool on deck 12. My DH and I enjoy lounging on deck with an aft view but are concerned that isn't an option on the Coral without purchasing the Sanctuary (or being able to snag an aft balcony.) Is that correct? The lower decks appear to have small aft balconies, but not certain they contain loungers.

My DH and I were on our 1st Celebrity cruise on the Constellation in Feb. We were in a ‘sweet 16’ balcony. We ate breakfast, many lunches and dinner in the MDR. The food was excellent at breakfast, average at lunch, and good for every dinner but one. I had a steak so tough I shot it across the table trying to cut it. At least it added humor to the evening -and a stain on my husband’s shirt. We only ate at the buffet 3 or 4 times, except for a warm dessert and ice cream. (Rum raisin rocks!) The buffet was ok but not nearly as good as HAL - but that was pre-Covid so probably not a fair comparison. I like the MDR and being waited on and the crowd at the buffet were rather rude. Literally almost knocked off my feet by a large man at the meat carving station. Bless his heart, I guess he was really hungry. Hope that chicken made a difference for him. All crew were amazing, although our assigned steward disappeared for a few days ill. Replacements did a good job. My only complaints were that the outside walking deck (4 or 5?) was often closed, and nowhere to sit aft to watch the wake except the small deck outside the buffet. Went up there early to watch the sunrise. Hint- we sailed during a full moon and spent late evenings up on deck 12 forward. No one else was there. Lovely and quiet. 

Travel sized roll of toilet paper, individually wrapped antibacterial wipes (have been on more than one excursion that had only outhouses and no sink), a small first aide kit, a small sewing kit with mini scissors, and a waterproof pouch with a neck lanyard for my cell phone.

If you are suite or Aqua class you may have different dining options. But if not, read on -

Just got off the Connie yesterday. It was the first Celebrity cruise for my husband and I (we have sailed RCL,, HAL and Princess.) A couple we spoke with was frustrated with the buffet for breakfast and lunch because of the husband's mobility issues. They did not know that breakfast and lunch in the San Marco (deck 4) was included in the cruise fare. There are several options for breakfast and you can mix and match anything you choose. I highly recommend it. You can request a solo table or you can choose to share and meet other people. Even if you choose to sit by yourself, the tables are close together and conversation usually ensues. Lunch there was also good - just not always offered when the ship is in port.

ALSO - Be prepared for a fog delay before or after your cruise. We waited 6 1/2 hours to board on February 3rd.  Celebrity DID NOT inform us of the fog delay. Most of the passengers we spoke with received an email about 8:00 a.m. We showed up at the dock at 10:50 a.m. for our 11:00 boarding time and no ship. It was a bit disturbing.

You will have an AMAZING time! Great staff - lovely ship - many fun activities - small library on deck 8 if you want to borrow a book - deep salt water pool outside and a warm water pool in the Solarium - live music options every night - big screen movies with comfy couches on deck 11 aft - and the best rum raisin ice cream ever! (Did I mention the beef tournedos?) ENJOY!!!!

22 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Are your luggage tags printed and either attached to your luggage, or ready to be attached by the porters?

Thank you. I haven't printed them yet, but they are saved and ready to print. I am thinking of ordering the plastic tags with the O-ring attachments from Amazon. We had paper tags ripped from our bags using auto valet in Seattle some years ago and it took weeks to locate our luggage.

15 minutes ago, Wink87 said:

I always have a printed copy of my xpress pass, passport and vaccine card with me. The only other document you may need is a special requirement of one of your ports i.e. a visa.

Thank you!  I was concerned about a visa requirement for St. Kitts, but had asked in another post and was told it wasn't needed.

I am new to Celebrity and new to E-check in. This is probably a silly question, but I don't want to get to the ship and realize I failed to have the necessary documents to board.

I have checked in on the app, scanned my passport and uploaded a picture. I have saved the Xpress Pass to my Apple Wallet. I even printed off the Xpress Pass just in case something happens to my phone before boarding. The question I have is that the printed Xpress Pass says, "Be sure to have your travel documents handy." By 'travel documents' do they mean my passport? I assume that is the only other thing I need (although I will pack my vaccine card also just for grins.)

Thank you to all who take time to share their experiences and thoughts on these boards. I am blessed by your knowledge and humbled by your experience.

Sailing is a joy.The waves speak peace to me.

On 12/27/2022 at 8:08 PM, kk20 said:

We leave st kitts late in the afternoon and will be at sea to ring in the new year

Did you have to complete the St. Kitts immigration/customs form? Online it sounds as if it is only for those arriving at the airport, but I am not certain. If you did complete it, did you do it online before sailing? Thank you so much!

It appears my DH and I are on the same itinerary in February. I apologize if I missed it- but what are you doing in port? Ship excursions or on your own? Staying on board for a quiet day? We have never been to any of the ports and my husband is a history buff. I have a feeling I will be looking at lots of forts. Hoping for one glorious beach day but not sure which port would be best. St. Thomas? St. Kitts? Thanks for the time you have taken in posting and sharing!

Thank you so much for the posts and photos. My DH and I are sailing first time on Celebrity on the Constellation in February. We haven't sailed in five years, and just seeing those aft balcony wake photos brought tears to my eyes.

I sincerely appreciate the info about taxis/vans to the airport once back in Tampa. We have an 11:04 a.m. flight and I know we are pushing it.  Glad you proved it can be done!

Thanks again to everyone!

I know that the Crown has had issues, but does anyone know if there has been a formal cancellation of the 10/18/22 15 day Hawaii and 11/9/22 28 day Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa? I was looking at both earlier in the week, but now both are listed as "currently unavailable."

Wow! Those lights are bright! Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Have a wonderful cruise!

Aft deck 8 cabins are available for a cruise we are interested in, but I am concerned about noise from the pool deck above. Has anyone stayed in VC8166 or VC8175 on the Nieuw Statendam?

Thank you for your help!

2 hours ago, dszrew said:

Some lines are able to go to Montreal instead of just Quebec if they have a smaller ship. We just got off after leaving 16 oct and were too late for the best color (although it’s not totally predictable a year in advance). Possibly ending mid October would get more color than starting mid October. Still saw yellows and some reds but in some higher locations trees were completely bare. 

Looking at a 12 night Celebrity Summit r/t Boston. When you are talking about the lack of color, are you referring to all ports or just those in Canada? When I look at foliage reports, I am getting mixed information. Trying to decide between September 11th and 23rd.

djobe - I think HAL Amsterdam is sailing Canada next fall (just not a round trip - so we are looking elsewhere.) However, we sailed her 14 days in Alaska two years ago and it was a marvelous cruise. Good food, amazing service, quiet, and smaller than many other ships sailing these days. She doesn't have lots of bells and whistles, but she is a grand lady and if she were sailing a 7 or 12 day round trip Boston, I would already be booked!

The bag was received and all the items appear to be in it. In answer to when you have to leave the ship, I found it rather odd. We were told by 7:30, but as "Love the beach" said, no one was held to any specific time. We left our room at 7:45 so our attendant could clean and prepare for the next guest, but we were not allowed off until after 8. They didn't call color tags/assigned times after that, so people pretty much just left when they wanted. It was quick getting through customs this time in Seattle. It has been slow when two ships were in, but with just one, we got through quickly.

Another update - received a text from Fed Ex that our bag delivery has been delayed for at least a day. No reason was given. We got off the ship 7/31. Hope to see the bag before the weather turns cold because my soft shell jacket is in there - or at least it was when the bag was set outside our cabin. :o

As of today, we still do not have our bag, but we know where it is and it has been on quite a journey. The bag was delivered by Port Valet to Alaskan Airlines. We flew Southwest. Alaskan had it at their counter from 7/31 until calling us on 8/4 (our personal baggage tag was on it but the baggage tag from HAL/Port Valet was not attached.) Alaskan said they would walk it right over to Southwest and get it on a plane for us. As of yesterday (8/6) it had still not arrived and I called Southwest. They said they never received it from Alaskan. I talked to multiple people at Southwest and Alaskan Airlines and they (AA) messaged the Sea-Tac Alaskan Airlines and Southwest lost baggage areas trying to track it. Sea-Tac Southwest called my husband today and said they have the bag and it is being sent to us Fed Ex. We have a Fed Ex tracking number so can track its progress.

Through all of this Port Valet and HAL have taken no responsibility or helped in any way. I find that a bit sad. I did talk to some great people at both Alaskan (especially the lady at the national lost bag warehouse) and Southwest (especially central customer service and the folks in Kansas City.) I appreciate their time and energy in helping our bag find its way home.

DH and I got off the HAL Amsterdam yesterday and used the Seattle Port Valet. We put the tags on our bags as instructed and left them outside our stateroom. HAL printed our boarding passes with Southwest. At the end of the TSA security line, my boarding pass would not scan. I guess the print quality was too poor (HAL's issue since they printed the boarding pass.) TSA asked me to step out of the line, return to the airline (which we shouldn't have to do since using Port Valet) and print a new boarding pass. (And before the flaming arrows come my way, my phone went belly up during the cruise so I could not pull it up online. My luck isn't always the best it seems.) After working my way to Southwest, I printed a boarding pass and then, yes, back through the security line. The second one scanned ok.

Unfortunately, one of our bags did not arrive at the airport. We went to file a claim with Southwest and they were VERY reluctant to file a claim because we did not have the standard checked bag receipts that you receive when you check your luggage directly with them. All we had were the baggage claim numbers printed on the bottom of the boarding pass. NOTE - make sure you don't leave your boarding pass with Southwest when you board unless you tear off the bottom of the page with the baggage claim numbers. Our SW person was head's up in Seattle and gave the boarding pass back to my husband or we wouldn't have had documentation of the numbers (and yes, his boarding pass from HAL scanned just fine - go figure.)

SW did finally take a claim, but called this morning and the bag has not showed up to Southwest. I contacted HAL, they told me it wasn't their issue to call the Port Valet. I called the Port Valet and they said it isn't their issue, it is Southwest's. So if Southwest claims they never received the bag, Port Valet and HAL both say it isn't their problem, I am left with a bit of frustration. I read on another forum that Delta texted the people who used Port Valet that their luggage had arrived at SeaTac and been loaded. I just wish there was some way to backtrack our bag to our ship cabin and see what happened, but that isn't an option.

My biggest concern is that Port Valet has no responsibility for the service they are (supposedly) providing. There is no scan-in process that bags were indeed picked up from HAL and nothing to confirm that they are delivered to the airlines. The only confirmation is if the airline chooses to send something (like the text the other cruiser got from Delta) otherwise, the bags just drop into a large dark void that they may or may not emerge from. Use the Port Valet "service" at your own risk - because they assume none.

The three Alaskan Princess sailings we were on had plaid woolish (not really fleece) blankets available. You show your room card, they scan it and then scan again when you return it. The first trip was in the 70 degree range in July. The 2nd trip we had sleet in June. The 3rd trip had one full day at sea of damp and fog and rain almost every day (late June.) Our 4th trip (RCL in June) was a mixed bag of weather, but walking around one day on the top deck, it had to be almost 80 with bright sun reflecting from the white deck. It was very warm and I was glad to have sun screen as we watched the whales. As someone else said, check the weather as close as you can to sail date. Juneau is in a temperate rain forest, so expect rain there and Ketchikan. (Although we had a 75 degree whale watching trip 2 times in Juneau with not a cloud in the sky. Just never know about Alaska. I pack my lightweight snowboard jacket (with hood/water resistant) every trip because no matter how warm the warm days are, the glacier days are ALWAYS very cool if not cold. I wear it on the plane because it is almost always cold when flying - and it saves room in the suitcase. There are always long sleeve t-shirts for sale cheap on the ships if you need to add one or two. Have a great time! Princess was AWESOME in Alaska. You are going to LOVE IT!

Took the trip in mid-July several years ago and we counted 36 eagles. It was beautiful!

Thanks so much for your review! I swear the young man on the lounger looks just like my son! My husband said, "Why is Jake on a cruise ship?" Of course, he would be wearing Tar Heels instead of Ducks, but oh well. We were on the LOS in May. Our only complaint all week were the screamers on the balcony next to us and the very rude early 20 somethings who chose to lounge on the steps so that we could not use them. With the elevators always packed, it made getting around rather difficult. Wonder why anyone would decide the stairwell (and leaving their food remains there) was fun while on a cruise?

Every school district is different and you need to know the attendance policy for your district. Our students receive 6 days off per semester then lose credit. All cases go to a review committee and credit is only given at the committee's discretion (doctor's note for illness and death in the family are the things usually waived, but are still reviewed.) Our students have finals that are worth 15% of their semester grade and are given within the last 3-4 days of school. Your 5th grader would not fall under that at our school, but your 6th grader would - meaning that the May cruise would be an issue. Again - your school may not have those policies, but some do. As a teacher, I have to say I appreciate that you are asking questions and that you are getting those kids cruising! Our days on cruise ships with our kids are some of the "golden days" of our lives.