Jim_Iain

I guess it is a balance between potential for irreparable damage the fragile ecosystem as opposed to tourism. I know it is a treasure in our back yard and disappointed that you may not be able to visit it. Monterey is an easy 2 hour drive from San Francisco so is not necessarily a blowout. Many Points like Le Havre to Paris, London from Southampton etc are also distant ports. With an overnight in San Francisco could be a fun overnight trip.

Watch my video posted earlier - This is only to connect to your Chromecast. You will then have to figure out how to get a chromecast to authenticate your wifi account I really don't know chromecast but you have to have the ability to pull up the Celebrity Logon Screen and put in Username and Password. Personally I find Roku the easiest to connect to the ship unless you need to use a VPN connection to spoof location and then Firestick along with a travel router is probably the route to go. This may help - https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/how-to-connect-chromecast-hotel-tv/

You can combine with things like this - Power stips are banned but these type splitters are ok. Give the Kids (young Adults) the task and i'm sure they will figure out what they need. The threat of no power ---- LOL and these

Have you been asked by Celebrity or your agent to pay additional. In the past - whether they used the correct word - you maintain your current rate on the new sailing. Would be easiest to call Celebrity or your agent and have them send you a copy of your reservation invoice. That way you would know exactly.

I've never played with that but I have a feeling it may be an intranet connection. One thing I noticed is that even when we have lost internet most of the TV Channels continue to transmit. On Summit in one room we had a problem that our TV would lock up and not allow us to navigate the celebrity page. Neither I nor the Butler could get to the power to reboot. He called a friend in IT and they were able to remotely reboot my TV. Fixed it instantly. Would happen sporadically and I would just call him and he would have them reboot it. I once a bad internet connection in a RS. IT came up and installed a Wifi Router in my room - It was wifi but had an Ethernet port I could plug into. I still had to log on with my credentials and the speed was about the same as wireless (pre-starlink).

I posted this link to the Alaska Cruise Tour Brochure For some details you might look at this PDF https://www.celebritycruisetours.com/content/uploads/2016/06/Celebrity-Alaska_Cruisetour_Brochure.pdf A couple answers to your questions 1. When you arrive at airport there will be an agent holding a sign like at Florida Ports. the agent will point out the porter - just give him your luggage and you will get a tour number sticker like any tour. This represents your bus if multiple passenger or they will have other transportation arranged for you to the hotel. 2. Hotel is included for the first night and all other stops on the tour. 3. Upon arrival at the hotel they will have an agent that will either brief you or let you know which group briefing you will attend. 4. You will be given two colored baggage tags - one color for things to be kept on the bus and the other to be delivered to your room at each overnight. 5. Your excursions will have some sightseeing but on the first night you will be given a list of all the excursions you can add to your tour. These are all extra and could include anything from Airplane tours, ATV excursions, Fishing etc etc. 6. Food is not included - There will be rest stops along the way where you will have time on your own to shop, eat and clean up. Another thing they really don't tell you is that you will accumulate CC points at the same rate as your room.

This is a picture of the ports from a SkySuite on Solstice. I had 3 HDMI plugged into 1, 2 and 3. I sometimes use USB to power a Roku or Firestick. the only other thing plugged in is a lan cable.

There are both 110v (regular grounded U.S.) outlet as well as 220V. Most electronic equipment today work on both 110/220 v but important to look at the device marking to make sure. I use plug like above but also have some one 220V on the counter and usually 2-3 on baseboard for vacuum and lamps. I bring multi plug for the 220 also

Sorry I missed it. I was just worried we would have to have another - If things remain the same I'm guessing we will have to be B2B tested in Sydney before the New Zealand cruise.

I'm with you @drakes2 I still wear masks when I enter Starbucks and other stores. We will be on a B2B the week before our TA and I plan on wearing a mask. Of course I'm living proof Masks don't always work as I caught Covid last year on a B3B at the end of the second leg after wearing a mask all times out of the cabin, no close contact and no elevators. But did have 2 butlers, stateroom attendant and a Sommelier come down with Covid. Also both RS and PS on our side of the ship came down with it.

Curious of the source of information on testing required for entry into Singapore. We will be departing Singapore for Sydney November 2023 and just making sure my information is up to date. U.S. Embassy - Singapore is posting this- which I read as testing is only required to enter Singapore if vaccinated and over 14 y.o.

Abbey - for the TV. Two ways to get back to Original TV. 1. Just turn it off with power button and will start with original ships screen 2. From the Remote with the CC / Menu routine when you get to source choose the first one URL Launcher. - The tv's are operating now as a monitor instead of a tv.

They were both on with us on Summit. Mar was suppose to go to a different ship but they reassigned her to Solstice while she was at the airport.

That's exciting. Which airline and class of service. For us that love to be connected it really helps on a REALLY long flight.

Unfortunately the Capitola pier was severely damaged last month in a big storm we had. Downtown Capitols is months or years away from recovery. Joe Biden just paid a visit to see the damage. I use to take the kids out on the Cement Ship after it became a "pier" at SeaScape State Beach. Unfortunate last month's storm has now so badly damaged the USS Palo Alto that it is pretty much just rubble. It was fun to go out on her.

It is an incredible National Marine Sanctuary. Especially fragile from my understanding it the Monterey Bay - There is an extremely deep Sea Trench that helps a great marine diversity. "Monterey Bay is home to one of the largest underwater canyons on the West Coast. Monterey Canyon twists and turns almost 250 miles (400 kilometers) out to sea. At its deepest point, it plunges to 2.5 miles (4 kilometers)."

They only time I've seen a reservation system was for some of the Free classes, as they were space limits. The remainder of the Gym was open without reservation.

You can do that in the App --- Real time - LOL

One thing I found recently that help are some HDMI extenders with a 95% angle. I fond both varieties if you have more than one HDMI Attached. The hardest part of many cables is to get enough pressure to insert with your cramped hand behind the TV

Traditionally I have always tipped additional at the end of a cruise according to those that have done above and beyond to make our vacation memorable. In recent years my attitude on this evolving. The main reason for this is that in most locations the tips that are given are pooled and even go to those who may not have given me good service. Also in Specialty Dining where they are now adding a 18% on top of the cover charge I no longer feel at all obliged to tip additional. I think that in America we have gone well overboard in feeling we need to tip everyone we come in touch with. Often when you order something at a counter you are almost embarrassed into tipping extra by the tip button on the terminal while the waiter is staring at you indicate your gratuity level. Saying that we normally tip our Waiter and Assistant Waiter, Sommelier, Butler and Stateroom Attendant. If I have a Barista that really took good care of me over 4 - 6 weeks I would definitely give them some extra. To be honest some that I have become close with me in private have thanked me and told me that a really good review is much more important to them. With this in mind, At the mid-point of every cruise I write the Hotel Director a thank you note and call out they top staff how have made our cruise so enjoyable. I usually get a thank you from both the HD and the staff members as they are called up at staff meeting for a special recognition.

Monterrey sits within the Monterrey Bay National Marine Sanctuary - One of our nation's most spectacular marine protected areas. I do not think that dropping Monterey from the Pacific Coastal will have any impact on Solstice cruises on the California Coast. As a matter of tact at the end of Covid we did a back to back and both Monterrey and Santa Barabara were pulled an we had a fantastic cruise with port of Ensenada, Catalina Island and an overnight in San Francisco.

LOL -- yes they have a pier better defined as a Wharf, it definitely is not designed to handle large numbers of cruise passengers and can't imagine they could handle mobility impaired passengers. This is just my personal opinion after living in Santa Cruz for over 30 years. While Santa Cruz is of a good size the downtown is not a major attraction. The boardwalk and large wooden Roller Coaster might be fun.

We were one of the first off the ship after walk offs as a Suite Guest. I immediately summoned a Uber and after waiting over 5 minutes without my ride being accept I said let's just grab a cab. There were 2 waiting and we were the 3rd there. Another pulled up withing 30 seconds and we were away. Personal opinion only as we were on a b2b and I was watching the Uber / Lyft apps in anticipation of our departure the next week. We had an 11:00 flight. Noticed prices right at 7:15 to be normal and then 10 minutes later surge to over $100.00 then about 30 minutes later drop only to surge again. I have a feeling that the limited numbers of drivers in the area know if they start not accepting rides it kicks in the Surge Logarithm and the prices surge. I found the Taxi rate were a little higher than the lowest price but far lower than the surged prices. The taxi to LAX was similar to our cost from LAX to San Pedro.

Sorry to hear .. I was going to try it and now may just give a miss. On the other hand. I tried his starter and main ONCE -- really wasn't to my tasted. Will try the Duck but would have preferred the corn soup hot. (Maybe I can talk them into sticking it in the microwave. )

For Muster Station - Get the App - On the screen with Daily planner - Slide bottoms over to Safety - It will tell you your Muster Station and if you click under picture find on Deck Plan it will show the location on the deck plan