Toots

We have taken many cruises on different lines and around ten on Celebrity ships. On our last cruise, a transatlantic with seven days at sea, there were many informational seminars scheduled: skin care, pain management, healthy eating, foot care, taking care of your back and spine, etc. I attended some of these, and each one did some heavy selling of products or scheduling spa time. The prices were ridiculous! I admit I spent $500 for two acupuncture sessions to help my aching shoulder and they pushed me to sign up for five treatments for over $1,000, which I did not do. The acupuncturist assured me that Medicare would pay for acupuncture treatments which turned out not to be true. Some people signed up for thousands of dollars of health foods, to be delivered to their homes over a period of months. They have a captive audience on a ship and those sales pitches are very convincing. So just be aware.

We're going FLL airport to Port Everglades. Thanks for the info!

We arrive at FLL on the morning of our cruise. What's the best way to get to the port?

We are on the Eclipse on April 16 as well and keep our fingers crossed that we'll actually board. Have never heard of this in 40 cruises with different lines. On our roll call, someone posted this interesting link: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=340

Brigitte

We're flying into Miami, taking ship shuttle to port, so there's no way to stop for wine to take on board. Is there a place at the airport to buy wine?

I hadn't checked this thread for a while and can't believe that it's still going round and round. Can people just agree to disagree? We were on the Silhouette in December and did not see ANYONE turned away from the dining room on formal night. Almost everyone was dressed as suggested, but we saw a few jeans and even T-shirts and sandals that were being seated. We may not like it, but if Celebrity does not enforce their own "rules" then there's nothing the rest of us can do about it. We don't let other people's taste in clothing ruin our good time!

Brigitte

Just got off the Constellation nine-day caribbean cruise and on formal nights we saw EVERY kind of clothing. We saw no one turned away at the main dining room. One woman had short shorts, dressy but still.....One guy wore light blue tight jeans and a sport shirt.....there were several tee shirts, and many men without ties or coats. So it looks like Celebrity has really relaxed its dress code, or maybe it's just in the warm climate? On the other end of the spectrum, many men looked handsome in tuxes and one woman had a very glittery tight low cut dress with a train she dragged behind her. We enjoyed watching the parade!

Enjoyed your fun review. Would you mind sharing what deck and cabin number you were in? We're going to be in cabin 7144 veranda deck, cat. 2B in April and wondered if we'll be looking at lifeboats.

Good luck with re-entry into the real world - I'm sure with your sense of humor you handle it just fine.

Brigitte

Stay away from Noordam Cabin 1083 on the main deck. We had an oceanview guarantee and got this cabin for ten days in December. The smell of sewage every day was awful, and every morning around 7 we were awakened by shaking and rumbling noises for a half hour. We complained every day and the staff was friendly and apologetic, but said they were full. We were finally re-assigned to Deck 4 for the second 10 days of our back-to-back. We love cruising and are not complainers, but Cabin 1083 was intolerable. We wonder if someone else got that cabin after we left.

Suzin - thanks for the links to group cruises. I had no idea there were so many groups. We'll make sure to check the web sites before we book.

Jason - what percentage of ships usually miss or make their landing in the Falklands? My neighbors were just on the Star and were SO disappointed not to land. We were on the same cruise last year and had a wonderful sunny day in Stanley. It was one of the reasons they took this cruise, so you can imagine their disappointment.

Walter - thanks for all the Liverpool info. We were there Aug. 31 during the Beatles festival and had a grand day, thanks to your suggestions. We started out walking early while the streets were empty and by the time we got out of St. George's Hall, the town was rocking!

Brigitte

Towncar T - thanks for all your helpful info. We'll be in Liverpool Aug. 31 aboard the Prinsendam. Another question: how close to the dock is the HOHO stop? We often take the HOHO bus first to get acquainted with a city's layout, then walk back to interesting sights.

Also, do you think there will be lots more tourists because of the Beatles Festival?

(I loved my Lincoln Towncar that I drove for years, but had to sell when we moved into a new house and the garage wasn't big enough. It's a great defensive car here in Florida with the many senior drivers).

Brigitte

We got an oceanview obstructed guarantee on the Star and have been assigned cabin E-227, category F. The layout shows a lifeboat right in front of us. Anyone have experience with this cabin? Should we call it sky-glimpse instead of oceanview?

Even if you find out that specific groups are scheduled for your cruise, how do you determine if they will be completely taking over certain rooms or areas? Will anyone at HAL tell you in advance?

On our last Rotterdam cruise, the Crow's Nest was closed several times for a "Private Party". I don't mind this happening once, but several days is too many. I'm certainly not bigoted and don't care what other groups sail with us, but please don't restrict the run of the ship which we all pay for.

Bill and Mary Ann - Thanks so much for your detailed world cruise report. We've done South America on the Amsterdam, but want to do a lot more of the world. Your reports are thoroughly enjoyable!

Had a good laugh over naming some of your fellow cruisers. I bet everyone could add some others. It's one of the things that makes cruising so interesting: not only the strange things we see in foreign countries but what we witnesss right on the ship!

We're going on a Transatlantic from Rio to Athens on the Rotterdam next week but will keep following your progress. Happy cruising!

Brigitte