Tealing

We have also used Mike’s Maxi Taxi in Barbados. Highly recommend this company. Very quick to respond.

Mike is very knowledgeable and passionate about the island. He has a wealth of interesting facts about the history of Barbados. We had a great day with him.

We were on Equinox, Aug. 29th. sailing. We had a check in time of 2:00pm and dropped off our luggage around 1:30. We breezed through all the check points and were in our room in around twenty minutes. Awesome.

I did this on Reflection a few years ago. There was a ten, twelve and fifteen year old to taste and I think it cost around $35.00. There were only three of us there the barman was rather generous with his samples and wasn’t averse to replenishing one’s glass. Judging by the prices they were charging in the bars for said beverages it was fantastic value.

5 hours ago, capsplace said:

Can you share who the Capt, CD and Activities Director were?

The cruise director is Pete Baker who I thought, did a great job. The Activities Director was Mark, I didn’t catch his last name. I’ve forgotten the Captain’s name.

We ate every night in MDR and overall the food was good. I am not much of a foodie though so my opinion might not be widely shared. We were, however, disappointed they no longer have tournados, which has been replaced by steak Dianne. 
Did see quite a few people wearing shorts and the occasional t shirt, even on chic nights. Heard a few comments about that.

I should have given special mention to the check in process. We were given a 2pm check in time but pulled up to a luggage porter at around 1:30. Breezed through the various check points and were in our room within twenty minutes. What a difference.

The entertainment was typical Celebrity. Lots of instrumentalists who were all very talented, especially the guitarist, and three production shows. It did become a bit repetitive though. They did a Broadway musical show but it was mainly the more contemporary shows they highlighted which didn’t sit well with some members of the audience. The magician was good but he did have some technical issues which  didn’t help. There were two house bands, both competent but repetitive. They seemed to play Hotel California every night at seven when we were going for dinner. 
There were afternoon game shows and presentations by the cruise director, Pete, on sea days in the Celebrity Theatre. I thought the cruise director was very entertaining and gave us some insights about how Covid affected the crew when the epidemic began.

They were showing sports in The Casino Bar and the Craft Bar but only saw Tennis and F.A. football in the passing.

All in all, it was a great cruise and the crew were fantastic.

We booked our flights with FBC,  Toronto to Fort Lauderdale, direct both ways by Air Canada. Out leg was changed from 8:30 am to 6:30 am., not too much of an issue as we are spending two days in Fort Lauderdale before the cruise. However, the return flight was changed accordingly from 12:30 pm to 11:15 am which is now out with the parameters of Air Canada’s wiggle room for cruise passengers.

Our return flight was changed to 12:39 pm with a 45 minute layover in Chicago which I am not very comfortable with. I asked FBC to try and change it back to our original flight but one week later still waiting for reply from Air Canada.

If we booked direct with Air Canada it would never have been an issue. Normally we book direct but FBC had a better price. Lesson learned.

8 hours ago, Pinboy said:

Thinking of booking our first cruise since Covid.

Question :

Anyone have experience booking Air Canada flights with Celebrity Air to Fort Lauderdale/Miami  ?

I hear that the price is lower booking the same flights with Celebrity Air rather than directly with Air Canada.

Am I missing something ?

 

 

 

We booked with FBC for return flight to FLL Aug.27/Sept.8. both Air Canada and both direct. Outbound still o.k. but return flight now via Chicago with a 45 minute connection time. Never been to O’Hare but not too confident about making the connecting flight. Just had knee operation so running out of the question.
Air Canada still showing direct flight on their schedule but with all the cancellations, who knows what will happen.

I did contact Captain’s Club but never received a response and I have no idea how to contact the executive offices as the only number I have is the one on the web site.

Good idea about the dummy cruise. As you say I have nothing to 

lose so will try that.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Maybe I can salvage something out of this.

I never even received an FCC. Strangely enough, when I looked at our past cruises feature, it showed us actually having taken the cruise in question but had not been allocated any Captain Club’s points.

Pretty much resigned myself to losing this battle.

As to Celebrity not caring about us using another cruise line, they must do, because I have at least one email per day from them with special offers.

Thank you for the lecture.

My main concern is that after being told on three separate occasions by three different agents that I would have my deposit returned, it took them five months to tell me otherwise.

If they had told me that from the start, I would have accepted it and made the effort to rebook something else within the time frame. When I cancelled, cruising was probably the last thing on my mind.

I was under the impression that it was refundable as I was told that by all of the agents I talked to. I was quite willing to use that deposit for another cruise but only for 2023 and beyond. What upset me more was that it took them five months to tell me this and they never contacted me to let me know. I wasn’t aware that the conditions were different for Canadian and American cruises.

Anyway, Celebrity’s cruises are so predictable and never seem to vary from year to year. Only one I fancied was the Hawaiian cruise. Now booked that with a very Nice Cruise Line. You can only cruise the Caribbean so many times. Much prefer now to spend extended periods on an island. 
And yes I know Barbados is in The Atlantic Ocean.

Wasn’t going to bother complaining about our experience with Celebrity but I am in Barbados right now and it is raining a bit today so with too much time on my hands, I thought I would share.

We were originally booked on Equinox for December 2020 which was, of course, cancelled. We then rebooked for the same cruise in November 2021. Unfortunately due to a medical issue, I asked if we could extend the final payment for a few days when we would know the diagnosis and treatment needed. Celebrity agreed, without hesitation, but unfortunately we cancelled two days later because treatment had to start almost immediately.

When I called to cancel, the agent I talked to was very sympathetic and said the deposit would be refunded but it would take 30 to 60 days. After approximately 75 days without the refund I called and was told it was in the system but it would be a few more days and I would receive an email advising me. Again nothing. 
I called again at the beginning of January after resigning myself to the fact that they weren’t going to refund the deposit and booked a Hawaiian cruise for May 2023. The agent I talked was extremely helpful and said no problem and we proceeded with the booking. I was then put on hold for about thirty minutes and he came back and said that I could only use that deposit for cruises in 2022. I questioned why it had taken them five months to tell me this and was put on hold again. The reason given was that I exceeded the ninety days after final payment was due. I felt sorry for the agent I talked too and he couldn’t have been more helpful but he was only the messenger.

I really don’t want another cruise this year as we have cruises booked with a very Nice Cruise Line who allowed me to move cruises into 2023 without any problem. We will end up eating this but it is the last time with Celebrity. Pity, as up until now I enjoyed sailing with them.

We did a Tahiti to Sydney cruise on Norwegian Jewel five years ago. Pity Bora Bora doesn’t allow large ships now as that was one of the highlights of the cruise. I’d never seen so many shades of blue.
I think NCL still does a South Pacific cruise but with less ports. 
We have a Panama Canal cruise booked for March but will cancel before final payment date. That will be the sixth cruise cancelled. We also have a Dubai to Cape Town cruise booked for December this year. Hope everything is back to some kind of normal by then.

I am in a similar situation. I booked a cruise on Equinox for Dec.2020 which was of course cancelled but rebooked it for the Nov.28 sailing this year. Unfortunately we had to cancel because of medical issues and we were told then that our deposit would be refunded within 30-60 days but we are still waiting.
I did send an email to Celebrity Engagement Centre but nothing came of that. Not even an acknowledgement. I then called and talked to a very nice agent who said that this was stuck in the system, somehow. She asked me to hold while she talked to her supervisor but was put on hold herself. Rather than both of us continuing to hold she said she would look into it and I would receive a reply within 48 hours. That was 10 days ago. I will call again but am rapidly losing any faith in this matter being resolved or ever sailing with Celebrity again. 
 

We sailed on Getaway in December and have previously sailed on Celebrity, the last time on Reflection in November, 2018. 

The entertainment on Norwegian is so much better. Burn the Floor, Howl at the Moon, Comedy Club, Million Dollar Quartet, plus the Main Theatre were all fantastic. My recollection of Reflection, not so much, unless you are a fan of athletic violinists.

We don’t use the pool but always managed to find a vacant lounger with shade on the pool deck and never had any great difficulty maneuvering through the masses.

There are eighteen bars on Getaway and we never had to wait too long for service on any of them. Plus Bailey’s isn’t classed as a premium so bonus point from me.

Granted, the food is slightly better on Celebrity but we have never had any complaints with NCL’s offerings. We don’t have to cook, serve, wash or load and empty a dishwasher and have never lost weight on a cruise so not an issue.

We will be on Celebrity Constellation next week and will take it as it comes and enjoy the cruise for what it is. Just hope the violinist is on another ship.

We were on The Getaway in December and in the most part enjoyed the food and the service. We usually ate in the MDR on any of our past cruises but had four of the specialty restaurants as perks this time and had no disappointments but some were better than others with Le Bistro probably our favourite.

We also ate in the MDR, Taste and Saver plus O’Sheehan’s and enjoyed them all. We managed to put on 10 lbs each but maybe the alcohol had some bearing on that.

All in all it was a great cruise. Roll on the next one.

Thanks for the review of Turquoise Bay. We have booked that excursion on the Dec. 13th. sailing. 

Looked at TA. Nov.2020. BA Balcony.

Nov.10th. Price was CAD. $8000.00

Nov. 21st.$8094.00.

Nov. 25th. Black Friday Sale. $7460.00. Booked.

Unfortunately this cruise doesn’t qualify for Latitudes 20% discount but one lives in hope.

66 days until Constellation, Dubai to Singapore. 3 days in Singapore then a week in Bali.

We are on the December 13th. sailing with this itinerary. Glad to see a positive review after reading some of the comments on Getaway’s Transatlantic crossing.

Home departure city. Toronto. Dec.11th. for Dec.13th.cruise.

Destination. New Orleans.

Airlines. WestJet. Republican. Delta. WestJet.

Connections. One each way. La Guardia.

Outbound. 09:35. Arrive.16:38.

Inbound.    13:13. Arrive. 20:41.

Paid $50:00. for two. Two days deviation prior to cruise.

 Tickets. 59 days until cruise.

AirCanada have direct flights but figure this has saved us around $1200:00. so no complaints.

Interesting to see Mt. Gay rum for $11:00 in the premium package. In Barbados, you can buy a bottle for $10:00. 

We stayed there in October before our cruise and had no problem. Service was excellent and they even arranged a shuttle to the port.