wanderlust58

I don't have personal experience with this, but on our last cruise, the Maitre d' at Blu visited one of our party who has celiac daily with the following day's menu.  The person placed her order at that time;  she never had a problem.

OMG! Please tell me I don't have to go back to Carnival for a good meal.  Our first cruise, about 15 years ago, was with Carnival.  I swore it off when I saw guys on the pool deck with a bucket of beers half finished before 10 am, followed by the pool waiter offering my 12 year old a drink!  We compromised and I got him a non-alcoholic version.  He was happy, I was happy.

On selected sailings, Azamara charges singles 1 1/2 times the first person rate.  I haven't sailed as a single, but as a couple we have enjoyed the service and food very much.

Roll your stuff like some people do to pack it.  You'll be surprised how much you can actually get in one bag.  I was afraid to send a couple of all cotton polo shirts, but they came pretty much back fine; maybe a bit snug, but still ok..  But I wouldn't send anything that would break my heart if it came back half its normal size.

Of course, you need Superman vision to read it.  TIme for the trusty magnifying glass.

It's official.  Celebrity management has lost its last marble.

Thanks very much for your utterly depressing, yet necessary, review of the Constellation.  We have an upcoming TA and for the first time ever, I'm actually dreading this cruise.  Of course, this is just after achieving Elite Plus on the last cruise.  We have a TP and Hawaii-Vancouver scheduled for next spring, and if my views match yours, we'll cancel and move on.  I don't see any point in trying RC, as their style was never my own.  After all these years.....ugh.

I was recently told by Celebrity that it's only for holidays -- Easter, Christmas, etc.  I'd call them or your travel agent for confirmation, though.

While it is unlikely that your passport would be checked by Mexican immigration authorities when you depart the ship for the day in Ensenada, passports are required for international travel, and you should always have it with you when visiting any foreign country.  In a worse case scenario in which you require the assistance of the US Consulate serving Ensenada, it would be used to establish your citizenship.  Safeguard your passport by keeping it in a secure pocket, bag, or purse.

I've got a really amazing travel agent in Canada who does only cruises.  Email me and I'll give you the details.  bmbernero at gmail dot com

You also could do wash at a laundromat immediately prior to embarkation. You could check the Rick Steves guidebook for the country of your last stop.  He always lists both laundromats and drop-i- off -and-pick-it-up services if they are available.  

Squaremouth.com is a search tool that allows you to compare multiple policies more easily.

I'm only one person.  Hope others will respond as well.  Maybe others have had different experiences.

4 hours ago, soapbxking said:

We always sail in Aqua Class, and while Blu is, in my opinion, better than the Main Dining Room, the quality has slipped.  Most recently, the staff maintained its high standard.  Blu used to be no issue with lines, but on this cruise, people started lining up at least 30 minutes before the dining room opened (sometimes, but not regularly earlier). They don't take table-specific or time-specific reservations, so I guess if you want something particular, you've got to arrive early to stake it out.   I love the Persian Garden and spend many hours there. However, check what is actually in the Persian Garden on the Reflection.  It may not be identical to those on newer ships.  I know that the Constellation's Garden, for example, does not have individual heated loungers. How crowded depends on the time of day and whether or not it's a sea day, but early morning and late afternoon are generally no problem. I've been there after 8 pm on both sea and port days and had the facility entirely to myself. For me, the noise in the daytime is often a problem  The staff refuses to remind/enforce the "be quiet" rule.  On our last cruise, I got tired of being the noise police, but felt I had no choice if I wanted to enjoy my time.  People were generally nice about it, not knowing of the quiet policy or not realizing their voices from the sauna echoed throughout the facility.  But I shouldn't have had to be the bad guy.

We were also on the Silhouette TA and I'm in the disappointed camp.  In Blu, the same old menu was the same old, but the quality didn't seem as good.  We don't usually do shows, but the one we went to was, at best, only average.  Our cabin attendant was dedicated, although hard to find and slow to respond to requests.I attributed that to overwork.  I recall having a cabin steward and a deputy; when did that change?  The Persian Garden was noisy despite requests to staff to ask patrons to refrain from loud, continuous conversations.  What bothered me was the disappearance of multiple pandemic inspired hand sanitizer locations.  The need will always be there, and not just in the oceanview cafe.  Same thing on toilet seat covers in the public areas.  Not a huge deal, but I'd rather see them cut costs elsewhere. Check-in in Miami was a fiasco.  We were told to show up at 0930.  We did and waited in the sun in an hour-long line, and we were supposed to be the first boarding group.   (Up side, though we met a really nice couple in the line and ended up having dinner with them often.)  We've got a few more booked  -- a TA in November and  a TP, Sydney to Honolulu and Honolulu-Vancouver the next 10 months.  The jury is still out on the TP and Honolulu-Vancouver.  Regardless, I'll be shopping for a new line in the near future.  Too bad too, we just became Elite Plus.. 

Is it 110 or 220 v or does it change automatically like electronics do?  If it's not the same as your electricity current, you're asking for trouble.  Also, if you do buy it, are you going to replace the plug or use an adapter? 

We use Luggage Free regularly both for shipping luggage to the ship and sending it home from the arrival port because we don't need cruise wear as we tour wherever after the cruise.  Every time it has been waiting for us in our stateroom when boarding. We just used it April 3 when we arrived in Southampton.  They literally picked it up mere steps from the door leaving the terminal. It arrived, as promised, at my sister's a week later.  Not cheap but totally worth not having to schlep it around for weeks after the cruise.I'll use it again in November for our TA leaving from Rome so I don't have to carry it before our departure too.  When you call, ask if they have any new customer or other specials on.  Sometimes they do.

Sorry this happened to you.  What a horrible experience.  I think that staff personalities ,  levels of compassion and competence vary widely, as they would anywhere else.  Of course that’s not an excuse.  The service stank.  Our story is that 6 years ago, on our honeymoon no less, my husband began hemorrhaging as we approached Tenerife. We spent 3 hours trying to keep him from dying until they were able to stretcher him off the ship to a waiting ambulance.  Looking back , I suppose I should be grateful they at least called for it. Several pints of blood and plasma and surgery and 3 days in hospital, he survived.  On our way out the door, I handed the nurse a scrap of paper (with a phone number) and asked her to deliver it to guest relations. I asked them to call our private tour operator to explain why we weren’t coming.  They couldn’t manage to do that and he and the group waited for us shipside , cutting us some slack, thinking we were late for another reason. Luckily,  I saw the guide on the way to the ambulance and managed to explain.  He, and the crowd waiting for us showed infinitely more compassion and help.  Horrible experience for us and 1 hour cut from their excursion because the nurse and guest relations couldn’t manage a phone call.  Happy ending- the guide contacted me after that day and offered a private version of the excursion once he could leave the hospital.  We took it.

After the cruise is booked (on board for me), I transfer it to my travel agent.  She's invaluable in keeping everything under control and I don't have to worry at all.

I don't have any experience with this, but I get lots of emails from Azamara offering reduced prices for solo travelers.  The most recent said  "Solo clients pay as low as 125% and 150% of stateroom fares."

In a word, no.  They don't mind at all.  Order away!

Yes, you can ship luggage from home directly to the ship or vice versa.  For this TA Luggage Free will pick it up at Southampton and deliver it to my sister while we are in England. Haven't decided yet about the November TA.  If anything, I'll use it to ship our bag home from TPA since it will be the day before Thanksgiving.  You still have to do your own check-in for the flight, though.

Since I wasn't helpful in suggesting Luggage Free, perhaps someone can explain what exactly Luggage Valet is/was. 

JLS07, Have you had any recent cruises on Royal Caribbean?  If so, how do you compare your recent experiences on Celebrity with RC?  I'm assuming/hoping that Silversea isn't having these problems (yet).  Have you had any recent Silversea experiences?

We haven't used this service, but we have used Luggage Free several times and have been very happy with it.  Each time, our suitcase has been waiting for us in our stateroom when we boarded. On our upcoming TA, we'll be shipping it back to the US at the port.  We'll spend a few weeks in England and I didn't want to schlep around a bunch of inappropriate clothes for our casual follow-on journey.  And, they'll pick it up at our disembarkation; we don't even have to take it anywhere.