Amlee

I believe that the staff do know who has prepaid and who hasn't. It's on the manifest they receive with their cabins/table allocation.

Jillybean:)

I can tell you it's listed on the manifest. But I don't know what staff has access to that information. The manifest I had, had our cabin numbers, name, age, table numbers, the time we boarded, and our pre-paid status.

I had noticed part of my group hadn't made it on board by the time the ship sailed. I requested a list of my group to see who hadn't made it. Due to Atlanta being shut down, because of weather I had a couple who missed the ship in San Juan. They caught up with us in St. Maarten and their luggage in Grenada. It also told me who had changed from the late seating to early, so I could make sure they got their wine with thier dinner.

Ashton Kutcher

 

http://justjared.buzznet.com/2006/06/05/ashton-kutcher-grows-mustache-wears-kilt/

 

Other celebs in kilts including Taye Diggs, Sting, and Keifer Sutherland.

 

http://www.kiltmen.com/photogallery4.htm

I'm not sure what Taye Diggs and Becks is wearing is considered a kilt?

They always say the test of a true scotsman is what is worn underneath!!

The answer to that is nothing its all in full working order!!:D

Ha! My driver in Scotland wore a kilt. We pulled up on the banks of Loch Lomond and the wind was really blowing. He step off the bus, the wind picked up that kilt and up it went. I got the answer to that question!

Yes and we are not talking Calvin Klein model here.:eek:

Uggh! The same guy must have been on Celebrity 2 weeks ago. The only thing he was in line at the pool grill. Talk about losing one's appetite.

As I said previously, maybe it's just different rules on the different ships. I was on the Infinity and my mother was told the same when she was on the Infinity last September. Other good friends experienced the same answer on the Millie last year. We'll be sailing the Millie in June so I'll see what I'm told then. If we asked 100 different passengers what they experienced, we would most likely get at least 50 different answers anyhow. After all, in the end, it's all about how blessed we are to be able to even afford to cruise, isn't it? ;)

LOL if there is one thing I have noticed about the Celebrity ships is that they are ALL different! Each time I board one of those ships, I never know what to expect. From the games played on the ship to the rules on the bridge. Each ship is different.

I am very blessed to be able to go as much as I do.

On the Century and the Connie I wasn't given anything to give to the staff. Both times I was told they already knew. On the Millie and the Summit I was given the vouchers, but it was on the Summit that the waiter said they knew before the end of the cruise who was pre-paid and who wasn't. Matter of fact now that I'm thinking about it, on the Century one of my table mates asked our waiter about pre-pay. He said yes he knew we were all pre-pay.

It is my understanding that the crew isn't told who has prepaid and who hasn't, so they have no idea a head of time to sway their purpose. And, in our case, even though we prepay, we still give extra to those who are deserving at the end of the cruise. There will always be those in service that go that extra mile and those that only do what they feel is needed. It's just luck of the draw as to which one you end up with. But, as some have mentioned before, you are not doing any favors to the future passengers of some stewards by not reporting their dis-service. Some just need a wake up call and others just need replacing most likely. I'm only mentioning this so as to appease those that feel they should be getting what they are paying for. Then again, it also depends on what the passenger's idea of service needed is. Some don't expect as much as others.

I have been told that they know who is pre-paid and who isn't. On the Century I pre-paid and didn't get any type of ticket to give to my people. I went down to guest relations to see what was up and was told that the dinner staff and the room attendents already knew who was pre-paid and not to worry about getting a ticket or voucher. I did ask for enevlopes to put my extra money in.

On the Summit pre-pay came up at our table. I asked the waiter if he knew who had pre-paid and who hadn't. He said yes, they were told before the end of the cruise.

I have to agree with the OP about the carpet. The carpet down our hall was nasty! Huge stains in the floor. The ship also had Noro and was under code red status. We noticed that there was several new stains in the carpet.

As for the elevator buttons, this must be something like the pods. As I have come across the buttons not working on just about all of the Celebrity ships I have been on. It's a joke with me now.

Your right Richsea. I know that our waiter was not happy with the lack of the desert tray. He told us that they stopped with taking it from table to table over a year ago. I was surprised to hear that someone who was on the cruise 2 weeks ago got to see one. We were on the upper level of the Metropolitan at table 525. I could see about 60 of the upstairs and none of those tables had the ammenities I discussed in my review. I think it is a cost cutting issue and its no secret that the fuel costs have to be significantly hitting the cruiseline's bottom line.

 

I would rather have them charge me a few hundred more and keep the Celebrity difference than let the service slide

Ok, that is just strange! I sailed the Century in Sept, the Connie in Nov, the Millie in Feb, and just got off the Summit on the 22nd of this month. On each cruise I have had the dessert platter brought to my table.

The town of Cobh is interesting and is right there off the ship. To get to Cork you take the train that is located right off the ship also. It's about a 15 to 20 minute ride. But I would suggest a taxi to downtown Cork. As I found it to be a good hike.

On my 10 day S. Caribbean Sept 06, I turned my passport in at guest relations. When I got it back I had a stamp from all of our port of calls except St. Thomas which is a U.S. terrority and they don't stamp U.S. citizens there. I forgot to do it this Sept in Europe and Oct in Bermuda.

Send out a questionnaire as to what the people in your class would like to do.

Also I like the idea mentioned above. Break it up. Do a 2 day land base thing with everyone. Then do a 4 to 5 night cruise with those that want to go.

900 plus families, you could be looking at a charter!

Now growing up my grandfather made a point in taking us on vactions through out the years. One of my favorite child hood memories is going to the Smokey Mtns. with 50 something family members. My Great-Grandmother had an eye transplant and could see for the first time in 30 years. She wanted to see the fall leaves. We all loaded up and went. I rode between the bucket seats of the van on a stack of luggage. My cousin and I slept on a pool air mattress in the bath tube. I wouldn't take anything for those memories. Or the time that we rode in the back of a truck from Alabama to Washington D.C. Now those were the days!

As a kid I alway dreamed of the far off places I wanted to go. At 10 I asked my dad, if I graduate High School would he send me on a cruise. He laughed and said yeah sure. So I did it. When I reminded him of it, he made of joke of it and that was all that said about it. 6 years later, I got sick and came close to death. I was down for a year. Once everything was getting back to normal, he came to me and told me to book my trip. That was in June of 1998. I went on my first cruise in August of that year. Since then I never looked back. I have been lucky enough to have gone to all the places I use to dream about. Some more than once. I am now on my if it happens that would be great list of places.

I tried for years to get my dad to really travel. To understand there is more to vacation that the Smokies and the Gulf Coast. It was only after the death of a good friend that he was hit with the time is short thought. He started really traveling June of 2005. Since then he has cruised 9 times and has 3 booked. He and my mother took that "out west" trip they had always talked about. He even paid for the 16 of us kids and grandkids to do a Disney cruise last year. I just say that was an interesting trip and he says never again!

Last December we went on our first cruise...western caribbean itinerary on the Rhapsody of the seas (RCI, 70k tons, launched 1996).

 

We were surprised how much movement of the ship we felt (I even had to hold both wheels of my wheelchair strongly, to keep from being thrown against corridor walls, etc)...once we left Galveston all the way to Key West, and then halfway to Grand Cayman we had "high seas" 10'-14', due to a cold front that had come through... and the ship was tossed around pretty hard.

 

This year we are on the Freedom of the seas 9/23 (Miami, eastern caribbean itinerary) and wonder if the technology of the ship stabilizers, etc has improved dramatically since the late 1990's ship designs?

 

Both wife and I were terribly seasick for 2 plus days :(

 

I am sure, the cruise lines spend alot of money and time in making their ships as stable as possible, sea sick passengers won't gamble, drink...buy stuff etc.

 

Please.. anything you can share with us to alleviate some of our worries would be deeply appreciated!

Was this the first of Dec? If so, I know exactly what you are talking about. But I was on the Mariner, and I'm sad to say we were a rocking and a rolling also. The Mariner is a bigger ship than the one you were on. While the side to side wasn't bad, the forward to aft was awful!!

Ammolite by the Sea in St. Thomas is a great place to start. Most of the islands have stores that sale annolite. I got mine in St. Thomas. My mother got a really nice pendant in Nassua. She first noticed the stone in Alaska and regretted not making a purchase.

Another amazing stone to look for is a white fire opal. I've only seen them in one place. I can't think of the name of the store, but it's the jewelry store across from Diamonds International in St. Martin.