Coates55

Assuming there is availability, I presume the Pursers Desk will offer and prices upgrades onboard. Prices to upgrade in advance seem pretty high for a lightly booked cruise. Does anyone have experience of upgrading onboard QE and getting a good price.

Interesting to read in the letter delivered to cabins that those without Indian visas must hand their passports in. Potentially indicates one of two things- Celebrity will arrange visas for the call to Mumbai or Celebrity will hold on to your passport and no passport no going ashore. 

Norway Lady- Many thanks for this useful reply. Am on the Millenium next month from Mumbai to Singapore and will source both visas before travel

Been wonderful following along on your cruise journey. Can I ask a question about visas for both India and Sri Lanka? Are Celebrity helping with visas for either country i.e. issuance onboard or on arrival or were they strict in checking if you did not have the correct visa you could not board? There is an argument that Transit visas for both countries should suffice but this is open to interpretation give the overnight call in Colombo.

Have fun in The Retreat.

This is all useful extra information which should help newbie

I would think you would be fine with these ports. Victoria on Vancouver Island will be a shuttle bus downtown and I have not visited Wrangell so can't comment further.

Alaska is very much a scenic cruise destination with lots to be enjoyed from the ship. Most ports e.g. Ketchikan and Skagway are typical ports where the ship is docked  centrally in the town itself. If you want more info, then please share your ports of call with this forum. Also, look out for ports in the itinerary which may be classed as tender ports since this can make access to the shore more difficult for the infirm but not necessarily impossible.

Have done Antarctica with both Celebrity and Princess. The latter cruise was by a long way far better with more days in Antarctica and at least 3 or 4 specialist lecturers onboard. I would seriously look at Princess which offers at least more than 100% cruising time in Antarctica itself. 

Anyone else concerned about lack of excursions posted for Komodo Island- this port is the main reason we are on the Feb 14 2023 cruise on the Westerdam out of Singapore.

Thanks for this additional useful info. I have just checked and they still show as pending so fingers crossed it will come good!!

Interestingly, there are still a good few rooms left per the Celebrity website so just surprised they are potentially still deciding on the offers made.

Benoa excursions now available to book but still no excursions shown for Komodo Island

Guess this is a good way but was hoping there was some way I could see the acceptance or rejection in my account. I did bid well above the minimum and am just surprised Celebrity leave it so late to notify guests.

Is there an easy way to do this? It's only two days till sail date and I have had no contact from Celebrity confirming whether they have accepted or rejected my offers.

I would suggest asking for an inside cabin to sleep in so you get some quality rest and continue to utilise your IV cabin during the day-this worked for us when we had the same noise problem on the Beyond.

Komodo Island is also for us the anticipated highlight so want to make sure I book this one as soon as it is available. I too agree that the other shore excursions seem very expensive in this relatively cheap part of the World anyway, might just mean lots of relaxing onboard during certain ports of call.

Richard,

You are correct in that Luminae does use the same kitchen as the main dining room. There is a dedicated cooking space for the Luminae menu.

Wonderful- thanks to you both for your prompt and informative replies

Can anyone confirm if the balconies on these Royal Suites have any shade covering over them? I believe some of the M class ships do, but am not sure if this is the case for the Celebrity Infinity

The Grills beats Luminae hands down. Luminae should have many more choices and include some additional traditional dishes.

I presume it is indeed Benoa. 

Glad to say I can now see some excursions listed for various ports.

Were you able to actually book shore excursions? I still cannot access them.

Wow, Lucky you and perhaps the cruises will indeed take place. I checked my booking this am and I still cannot see or access any shore excursions for the initial Indonesia cruise.

Interesting comments from everyone. I know I don't want to embark on a cruise to Indonesia and not have the comfort of knowing there are organised excursions available. Indonesia is not Europe in the sense that it is much easier to do tours on your own in Europe- this is likely not the case in Indonesia.

My real concern is that this cruise may be cancelled for drydock purposes  and I would like some certainty from HAL that this is not on the cards/likely to happen.

Surely another indicator that this cruise could well be cancelled in favour of a drydock