desibee

1 hour ago, d9704011 said:

Never used train but have taken Aerobus from BCN (and return) to Placa Catalunya then walked to hotel.  Used Metro a lot in Barcelona and never had any problems.

https://aerobusbarcelona.es/?lang=en

I looked at the Aerobus, but I think we would need to take it to Universitat and then still take the metro to Paral-lel station.  Is that better than taking the train to Passeig di Gracia and then the metro?

Or should I just eat the cost of convenience and take a taxi...

1 hour ago, marazul said:

How much luggage are you talking about and how far do you think you have to walk or ride on the metro with it?  If a lot, the taxi fare could be the best 25-30€ you ever spent.

The hotel is just a minute away from the Paral-lel metro station.  As for luggage, we would probably have one roller bag plus another duffle/carry-on each.

Has anyone here taken the train from the airport to Passeig de gracia and then the metro to their hotel?

It seems like this would be a lot cheaper than taking a taxi, I am just worried about logistics such as hauling luggage on the metro and avoiding pickpockets.

6 minutes ago, -Lew- said:

 

In which city?  There's more than one Piazza di Santa Croce in Italy.

Ah, sorry!  In Florence.

Anyone have recommendations for lunch near the Piazza di Santa Croce?  We will have three hours of free time after our tour.

15 minutes ago, Kylie said:

 

Have you taken your trip yet?  We are also booked here. We stayed a here a couple years ago and liked the location.  This time we are staying pre-cruise.  

Interested in transportation from the airport and to the cruise port.  

No, we are going in August.  We were looking into car services to get from the airport to the hotel. Airport taxi transfers.com has good pricing but I’m not sure of the reputation.  To the port I think we will just take the metro to Drassanes and walk to the port bus.

Thank you for the stellar trip report!   We are trying out Celebrity on the Equinox in August for the very first time so this was invaluable.  🥰

I know people who have taken cruises that included a stop in the Azores at Ponta Delgada three times and each time they were unable to dock due to weather concerns.

So whatever you book, make sure it's 100% refundable!

1 hour ago, Norwaylady said:

canapés arrived today: 

 

This was a new twist… but not our cup of tea😅 the olives 🫒 YES. The rest 🤔🤔

 

What was in the bottom left?  Looks like something I would feed my cat lol.

I wonder if maybe the Olympics and the torch bearing ceremonies are what's actually causing the change from French ports into sea days.  The whole "Sailors feedback" thing makes no sense unless the feedback is that cruisers would rather not be in port on days with an overwhelming amount of land tourists also milling about and prices skyrocketing.

9 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Couldn’t the Teacher’s Union or Association charter a ship at holiday time and make an adult cruise ? 😉

 

 

 

I wish.  They can't even feed us a slice of pizza at meetings.  😂

Haven't been on a Celebrity ship yet but we went on the Quantum class Spectrum of the Seas last year and videos of Solstice class Celebrity ships are very reminiscent of what you'd find on a Quantum class ship.

1 minute ago, PTC DAWG said:

Blessed are those who teach the little tykes, thank you for your service. 

They are cute, but lord are they LOUD.  I really appreciated the Solarium area on our RC cruise.  Here's hoping it will be just as quiet and relaxing on Celebrity's version when we go this summer.

Just a note to those who say "if you don't want to sail with kids just don't cruise during school holidays", some of us teach the little.....darlings.....and therefore must take our vacations when they take theirs.

And I like a break from shrieking littles from time to time. 😉

1 hour ago, Norwaylady said:

We anchored up in Grand Cayman 07.00. 

The ship was cleared and the tender was ready asap. 

 

We decided to go for breakfast in MDR. 

Mr wanted omelette. 

Menu: 

 

 

 

I had Greek yogurt with fruit and my cat pellets. 

Service was good and food fresh and delicious. 

 

After breakfast we went to get ready to go ashore. 

We walked to the priority tender meeting point in deck 3 mdr. 

5.minutes wait and we went downstairs onboard the tender at 09.15. 

 

 

Today’s plan was 7 mile beach 🏖️ 

We walked to Westin 7 mile beach. It’s a good public stretch there, so easy to lay down and have a dip in the ocean😎🏝️

Do you think Mr had a agenda during his walk😂🤭

YES

He did stop by a local liquor store to pick up a cold 🍺 or 🍻😝

Something for me? No🥸

 

 

 

After 2,5h of swimming and beach stay it was time to walk back home. 

We walked by the beach as far as possible before we walked up to the road and back to the tender spot. 

 

It was a line, but we only waited 5.minutes before they started to fill up the tender. 

We were back onboard 15.35. 

 

Then it was time for a Al Bacio stop😋🍓

Mr tried a Bicerin and had a Shakerato😋

Mr had strawberry 🍓 cake… 

What is a Shakerato?  Is it iced coffee?

We flew Toronto to Singapore last December with Singapore Airlines, round trip.  It cost us about $4000 each and we had stopover in Frankfurt both ways for about 4-5 hours.

In my opinion, business class was not much more expensive than premium economy and we would not have done a flight that length in economy so the upgrade was well worth it.

The flight from Toronto to Frankfurt was operated by Air Canada and we got to start our vacation in style taking advantage of the world class Signature Lounge and the pod-like seats on Air Canada were great.  The meal was mostly excellent (breakfast was a tragedy that should never be mentioned again) and service was great too.  Then from Frankfurt to Singapore we switched to Singapore Air's A380 double decker and that flight was amazing.  We arrived in Singapore well-rested and ready to actually explore which is a miracle considering it usually takes me at least a day or two to recover from jet lag.  After the business class flights and sleeping so well on the plane, we were trekking all over the Gardens by the Bay three hours after landing.

If you can swing business class on Singapore Airlines, go for it.  We were also considering Turkish Airlines business class to Singapore but were unsure of the long layover in Istanbul (it would have been 11 hours).  It was a fair bit cheaper for their business class tickets so that might be an option for you in you still want a good rest in not quite as opulent a flight experience.

I know that there are alternative menus for Le Petit Chef that you can order from if you don't want what's offered that goes with the projected animation thing, however does anyone know if you have to order the alternative entirely or can you mix and match if you want?

Because there are some things on the main menu that I'm fine with but there are others that I'd rather have the alternative like the main course is fine but I don't want the set appetizer, etc.  If you go alt, do you have to do ALL alt?

Never did Celebrity to Phuket but did RC and they probably use the same tender at Patong beach.  As I recall it didn't take too long but we were doing ship excursions so we got off the boat first.

Traditional Roman restaurant options near Ostiense?

I’m leaning towards Osteria Frattelli Mori or just heading over to Trastevere or Testaccio for our dinner.  Any recommendations?

No more IGLUs?

Fin du Monde is the best.  Can you find it in the passport bar?

How terrible!  The port staff greatly overstepped their authority here and Celebrity should be aware of who they are working with and make clear to them that it’s not acceptable.

I heard there was a fight in the elevator on the Odyssey yesterday.  Anybody there that can confirm?

14 hours ago, Suzi66 said:

I will need to scroll back to the start of your thread to see what your ports of call are.  The Jan 3 one is overnight Ha Long Bay, Chan May, Phu My, overnight Laem Chabang, Koh Samui, finishing at Singapore.  The following day we board the Millennium and have an overnight at Phuket, Langkawi, overnight Penang, Port Klang, Celukan Bewang, Lombok, and finishing in Benoa and flying home that night.  School in Australia is to start for teachers the next day but I am taking a day LSL as I won't get home to my town until lunchtime.  Hopefully the kids will be kind to me the next day.

 

An overnight in Penang would be amazing!  My brother and I both agree that Penang was the best port out of all the ones we went to on our Asian cruise.  Don’t miss the butterfly conservatory and the Peranakan mansion!

1 minute ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I always thought everyone knew to pack TP on an excursion 😁

I had to lend a distressed mother and her little girl a packet of tissues in one of the washrooms on the pier in Phuket 😂 

They were very grateful.