british betty

Am considering cruising with my daughter and it will be her first cruise. Will she be able to join me in the Elite + breakfast? 
 

26 minutes ago, sandancer said:

Yes if you are sharing a cabin. If not, she can’t join you. 

Thanks, yes we are sharing. 
 

That’s great. Thank you for taking the time to reply. 
 

I will be travelling with my daughter who has not cruised before, will she be able to join me in the special breakfast in Tuscany or will I have to forgo the pleasure this cruise? 
 

Thanks. 

Footstools have gone however, another thread mentions there’s a possibility of them returning 

This is aft on Equinox which we left on Monday.

If the sun is on the back of the ship, there is no shade ( we were on deck 11). We didn’t find the walk a problem at all and didn’t have an issue with soot.

Just on the backward sail to Fort Lauderdale from a Southern Caribbean  b2b.

We’ve been in an aft C1 ( no foot rest) and now in a 1A extended middle hump angled ( with lounger !!! ) 

just to say that today should have been a sea day with Key West tomorrow but KeyWest forecast deemed an itinerary change.  Today we were in Labadee, Haiti with our last day a sea day instead. Hopefully the forecast will be ok for Fort Lauderdale and those of you getting ready to embark when we disembark on Monday.

It’s been hot hot hot and sweaty!

sorry to be brief but minutes are money. I’ll maybe add more in a few days 

Personally, I won’t fault it.  Maybe a few tweaks here and there but in general, we’re not Elite Plus because it’s just so-so. We like Celebrity and if prices weren’t so high in the med, we maybe wouldn’t have come to the USA. But it’s not the first and hopefully it won’t be the last.

Ooooohhhhhh, I shall look immediately !!! 🧐

...... I looked but the prices have been the same for about the last ten days or so, so no huge excitement for me I’m afraid but thank you for the headsup. We are waiting for the often discussed ‘ after final payment ‘ mega price drop for an early September departure. Prices have actually risen so I’m a bit confused but will keep a close eye. 

I dont know why I didn’t  get that email because I get others from Celebrity 🤔.

thank you for remembering my post dollydosh, much appreciated 👍🏻 

Whilst thinking about this and everyone’s personal preferences, I’ve decided I’d like to swap the “Drinks Package’ for a lounger on my balcony please .

A drinks package is no biggie for us as we don’t drink alcohol, nor a lot of soft drinks to be honest. But what we do do is look forward to and immensely enjoy , sitting comfortably on our balcony, legs comfortably elevated , enjoying some of the spectacular views ( or watching the backs of our eyelids) .  To hear that the footstools have been revolutionaryily removed is hugely annoying, frustrating, disappointing and any other word you want to use.

16 minutes ago, lolane1 said:

Yes!!!  Just looking at some of them on amazon.  Found a few with good height, light weight, portable and cheap.   There is a solution.

 I’ve just bought an inflatable footstool on eBay in anticipation of the ‘no more footstool ’ era. I also like to ponder the world on my balcony with my legs resting casually elevated.    It seems to be perfect height when inflated. September in the Caribbean will be the first trial 😎

I don't suppose there's any way that these are available to us poor deprived Brits? 

While the wrist bands probably do work very well and I did try them, they don’t look very glamorous when dressed in evening finery. 

Ginger root capsules from Holland & Barrett have worked for me and we have occasionally sailed some fairly rough seas. I take them the day I start to travel, twice a day, every day throughout the whole cruise without waiting to find out if I’m going to feel yuk. I don’t want to waste one precious minute of my holiday feeling unwell. Thankfully, no side effects nor seasickness, so far 😅

1 hour ago, jimzgoldfinch said:

Last direct flight is in September, 7th I believe. Alternative options are now AA flight via Dallas or Philadelphia from LHR.

Ah ha !  We have a hold on flights LGW / FLL for 5th September but return from Miami.

I always look at the options available and weight up the pros and cons for a flight with stops as opposed to non stop. I spend hours / days driving myself nuts , BA / Virgin / AA , Norwegian and any others. We are about an hour from both Gatwick and Heathrow so it’s an either /or choice, usually based on times of departure.

I also agree that the  business class layout on BA which we have been lucky enough to book over recent years is bizarre.  As one gets older, it’s not easy to climb over the legs of a sleeping complete stranger without waking them. Sadly, we’re all out of Avios and vouchers for this trip and are flying economy and having to pay for an extra case as it’s impossible for us to travel light 🙄

Sorry but I’m a bit confused. The BA website is still showing flights at the beginning of September from LGW to FLL.🤔

We don’t get refundable deposits in the UK 🙁

You would have thought that Celebrity would put a notice or something on the website advising people that the cruises haven’t disappeared and it’s just a temporary “glitch”.

Have I just made a joke 🤔

I’ve been keeping an eye on a couple of Equinox cruises recently and the prices have been getting ridiculously higher and higher, so much so that they’ve now flown into oblivion 🤨

I just tried to search for a cruise for later this year, I gave up, then gave feedback saying I’m surprised anyone can find anything..

i believe the site site to be really user unfriendly. Surely it’s not too much to ask to be able to put in a date , a destination and maybe a ship , all on one screen and then be given your options!  Mr Ordinary shouldn’t have to be an IT wiz and change search engines etc just to research a cruise.

Sorry, rant over. 🤪

We pre booked and had a really good day and I know one couple managed to get a cart because of a “no show” but be very careful if you stop to look at anything on your journey and leave the golf cart, make sure you take your valuables with you. There were some people who just stopped for a minute and when they went back to the cart, everything had been taken. We did see them on the road a bit later and it looked as though they found a bag which had been thrown into the bushes, but I don’t know if they found everything . 

A good, fun, way to see the island and it’s amazing how tolerant the other road users are to the golf carts, but just be mindful. It’s very easy to think it’s the beautiful Caribbean and all is good in the world. There are some people out there who are chancers.

We are now sort of almost retired, so can choose when and we also have a preference for a quieter season . In recent years we have cruised in September as it’s DPs birthday and this year it’s a ‘big one ‘ 😱.  We’ve always booked cruise only and sourced flights and transfers ourselves as we usually use Avios and companion vouchers, but I wonder if using Choice Air might be better in  this case. ( plus we’ve used our last companion voucher and there’s none on the horizon)

14 hours ago, chemmo said:

 

British Betty, just an add on to my above post....If you can’t fly in at least a few days early don’t risk it....

Thanks chemmo and others for your advice and experiences. 

We’ve cruised the Caribbean a few times after flying into Miami and have always arrived at least one day before but that’s always been in December. Even risked a non direct flight once via Chicago which was in hindsight, risky due to the snow,  but we had no delays.

I must admit, while I know it’s the hurricane season, I’d completely overlooked the fact of the possibility of flight delays / cancellations. I was looking at the September cruise as even with the flight etc, it’s less costly and a longer cruise than anything out of Europe. 

As as mentioned before, we have been to the Caribbean a few times and wouldn’t be too upset if they had to change or miss ports and we’ve also sailed on some rough seas, so all in all, I think it’s all about making a decision and that my friends is a greater issue ! 😅

2 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

 

Don't know but today there are only 7274 days to go.

They say the steadier you lose it, the longer it stays off. Maybe it’s a bit too soon to start now, perhaps next decade 😜

4 minutes ago, mafig said:

How big is the bag?  Can you put larger items in there (like capris or slacks) and still fit 30?

It depends how small you can make each item. It’s been suggested that rolling is the way to go. I don’t recollect there being a quantity limit, it’s just a paper bag, but it’s not huge.

We haven’t ....yet. 

Have you?  Would you ? If we could, should we ?? 🤔

When would be the best time to start your pre-cruise diet 🤔