Jim_Iain

LOL - Living in Silicon Valley - I suggest people dress like a Summer visit to San Francisco.

Madeira / Funchal would be a Southern Crossing. Last year our mid-Atlantic was diverted after the Azores toward Madeira for a medical evacuation. We had to get close enough to Madeira for the helicopter to reach us. It was interesting to watch but put us into Lisbon 6 hours late. We had rough weather into the Azores but after that it was very smooth and temperate.

Not sure which ship but after Bermuda you should have stop at either the Azores or the Canary Islands. The Lisbon one usually stops in Azores (which is also part of Portugal) and would be a Mid-Atlantic. Northern crossings go north of the Azores and all I've been on were rough and cold. A couple years ago on the crossing from Southampton to Boston and then to Florida there was a huge northern storm and we had to go south of the Azores and arrived Boston one day late. Furniture was tied down on the decks the entire crossing.

As long as a Visa Gift card has the ability to be used as either a debit card or Credit card you will have no problem. You can also use it to book Specialty Dining etc and pay using the card instead of OBC

Love your sense of humor and it is indeed refreshing to read a bit of satire. It has put a smile on my face that will last all day.

Recommend that you download the Celebrity App. Can really be helpful. You can get an arrival slot at 45 days prior to the cruise at 12:01 AM port timezone. The app will show you the exact date. You can log onto the website and shop and can book anything that may be released. I find that at 6 - 9 months most things are already listed. I have some booking 1-2 years out and things already available for booking.

I would recommend that you book excursions and dining as soon as you can. The reason for this is that many of the Specialty Dining and Popular Excursions get booked early. The other reason is that you can cancel or reprice if prices were to drop or you change mind. You can cancel up until 48 hours before departure and funds will be credited back to either credit card or OBC quickly after cancellation. You can also cancel on-board up until 24 hours before excursion or dining for a refund to NR-OBC or if CC will be credited as a RF-OBC

As you know it is impossible to forecast the weather especially on a long TA. Conditions will be very different between a Southern (Canary Island Stop), Mid-Atlantic (Azores) or a Northern Crossing. Generally a Spring TA - will run in the range of 55-67 F while at sea. Southern crossings will generally be warmest and smoothest and Northern Coldest and Roughest. Check the long range Wave Height Model http://www.stormsurfing.com/cgi/display.cgi?a=natla_height

Great recommendation - I use it all of the time. Even some of the Captain's used it on a rough crossing for his presentation in the theater. Another really good site - http://www.stormsurfing.com/cgi/display.cgi?a=natla_height It show the projection of Wave Heights over an 8 day window.

We were on a cruise last year with an Abrah-Hicks Group. All I can say was it was a weird cruise. Not because of the group but it was the day that Southwest had their meltdown. 70% of their group didn't arrive for the cruise and we sailed at about 20% capacity. I will admit some of their participants were a little weird but fun.

https://www.goldenfansatsea.com/ It is indeed a fans cruise for the Golden Girls. During partial ship charters it is very possible certain venues will be closed for special events. I've seen them schedule the Theater for events as well as the Sky Lounge. To my knowledge Celebrity has no restrictions on the size of a partial ship charter - I've seen groups as large as 1,000 on cruises. They generally don't disturb other guests except for special events and often they are grouped together in the dining room.

You access the free minutes by creating an account and choose the complimentary minute choice. The complimentary minutes are on an as used bases so make sure you log out of each session or they will immediately be gobbled up. BTW the minutes are all Premium Minutes - Really easy to log on check your mail and then log off. When i use to use them I would compose my answers offline and then log back on to upload.

It is incredible how they remember. After a couple days they even remember my name which is amazing to me as I'm the worst for remembering names-

I transfer all of my bookings to my TA within 30 days of booking. I do not use the Big Box company and am able to upgrade using the MoveUp program. I think the only possible downside is like an airline and TA you have to use your TA to make changes to your reservation. Actually I find it much easier to just e-mail my agent and have him take care of things instead of sitting on hold for hours. Upside are the perks a travel partner may offer for your booking.

Not a problem. I often bring two card with me to Al Bacio also. Often especially on longer cruises the bartenders and baristas get to know you and may not even ask for one card.

I guess you can best call them badges. If you post Live Reports they give the avatars. I think it started about a year ago and is controlled by the Host.

I've been able to hook up both FireStick and Roku on al classes of ships - M - S and E (only Edge). With all ships the main challenge is to Log onto the ship's wifi using the captive logon portal. Roku uses a work around where you can connect you phone to the Roku and then use a web site to logon. Firestick is suppose to open a popup but I've never been able to get it to do so. The work around is to create a hotspot using your PC or mini router -

My understanding after much convincing from members on the April 23 TA - Originally B2B testing was required for the April 23 TA from the April 15 (Key West / Belize). Also all passengers on the TA were required to self tesl On March 21 they revised to say NO TESTing required and no B2B testing required for the TA out of FLL to Europe. They could really have written better but says now that only B2B testing required for Australia / New Zealand

Luminae is open for Lunch on Embarkation Day between 11:00 to 2:00 PM. Checking the App for current Apex Sailing - Craft Social is open for Snacks La Grand Bistro 12 - 2 Raw on 5 12-2

I suspect the reason is that Byond is also in port and the E-Class ships have priority for Terminal 25

Can't believe your cruise is already over. Seems like you just boarded. Thanks for the great Live post.

Love following along. Really enjoying.

Really been enjoying your epic journey. Congratulations on you Anniversary and thanks for taking the time to post.

Abby - Hope your having a great cruise. By the look of your pictures you are indeed. I'm getting hungry just looking at the food pictures. I don't recall seeing the Panna Cotta before but then again the descriptions never look like what comes out. I've been collection pictures and making a personal database on a Blog I keep for personal use. A good example is Glen's Ricotta Cheesecake. We always chuckle when we see them deliver to a close by table and the person says - I ordered the cheesecake By the way your missing a couple more Atmospheric Rivers due to hit Tuesday and Wednesday.

The good thing is that in the RS you also have one of the same size inside in your Bathroom. I agree that the one on the deck is a waste of space but have used it a couple times. Was just nice soaking in hot water while watching the ocean go by.