Ipeeinthepools

If she wants us to like her, then she'll keep the PUP program going.

We sailed from Amsterdam several years ago and I remember the walk to be mainly brick and large blocks most of the way. My suitcase took quite a beating during that walk. That's why I was looking at a car or Uber for my next trip.

I'm sure Oceania is a great cruise line but I'm not sure it's a fair comparison, at least for the non-suite balcony cabins. A 12-night cruise in February on Oceania is $10,600 for a low-level balcony cabin including drinks and economy airfare. A 12-night on the Rotterdam in February is $6900 with the Have-It-All package. So if you say that the shore-excursion credit, Free wifi and the specialty dining are about the same value as economy air fare, you are left with a difference of $3700 or more than 50% more expensive. There may be a lot of things I don't like about the new Celebrity but I probably won't pay 50% more to be on Oceania.

At least on the Rotterdam, HAL is playing games with the Spa Verandah connecting cabins and Collector Voyages. We were looking to book a Collector Voyage in the Caribbean for February 2025 and there were only Spa Verandah connecting cabins available for those voyages. There were plenty of other cabins are available for the individual voyages but you couldn't book them for the combined voyage. So if I didn't want the connecting cabins, I had to book the individual voyages at a higher price. I think HAL understands that the connecting cabins are not very desirable for most people.

Thanks for the tip. 😉

That's always a good approach to line-up where the plates are stacked but that's a little more difficult in the Lido because the plates are stacked next to the server for most items in the Lido. Since most items are plated by the server and are not self-serve there isn't any reason for the plates to be next to the passengers. It's also not possible to cut into the lines at most stations because the server plates your food. At most stations you are waiting for the server and not a particular food item.

This looked like a great trip. Just a couple questions about disembarkation in Amsterdam. When were you able to get off the ship and were there large crowds in the area. Were there many taxis available and did it look like Uber was an option. Since you left the EU, how long did it take you to get through Passport Control? We are trying to arrange a car pick-up but are unsure about a pick-up time and any other options. Thanks.

Ok, sounds good. Bye. Sorry we'll never meet.

I'll be honest, I'm a little confused. You have sailed Celebrity enough to gain E+ status and after one cruise that happened to be during a Spring Break or other holiday with a lot of kids and now you are done with them. You obviously know the Celebrity demographic and it's not a lot of kids on most sailings. There are certainly plenty of things that have changed on Celebrity that would make you want to try other cruise lines but I'm not sure it's fair to blame it on a lot of kids.

We'll probably find out late today or tomorrow when he/she gets their daily notification.😉

When I saw this title in the email from the Captain's Club, I was hoping that this was going to be another PUP opportunity. "Find the perfect gift for mom with your exclusive offer"

Are you sure? Maybe you just don't see the trays with the food sitting for a while. I seldom get "hot" food when dining in the MDR, I suspect that my dinner is sitting somewhere. When I get the MDR food and the server says, "be careful the plates are hot", that really means my dinner has been sitting under the food warming lights for quite a while. At least in the Lido, there isn't much time from when the food is served until the time I start to eat.

Thanks, we had the premium internet on our cruise on the Amsterdam in February and the wifi calling only seemed to work one time and I forget if we were in port. Hopefully it will be better this summer in Europe on the Amsterdam.

Thanks to both of you. 😀

I'm not really speculating about why the DR or other areas might be shorthanded, but my patience is starting to wear thin. The fact is that they are short staffed and it needs to be addressed. All I'm suggesting is that the visa or training issues should have been resolved by now. If it takes longer to get a visa, they have had adequate time to address that in the staffing plans. They have had enough time to address almost any problem.

You're a more sophisticated user than me. I have no idea how to input my location in the free version of Windy. Perhaps you need the App or the Premium version.

My DW always has a pillow menu 😉

I agree 100%. It has been well over a year that we have been hearing these excuses about training people or getting visas. If I couldn't solve a problem within a year, I'd be looking for a new job. Maybe HAL should follow that approach.

Thanks, I had the premium package and still wasn't successful. Let me know if you remeber the setting that you changed.

As far as my DW is concerned, debarkation day is no different than any other day. She has her personal butler bring her breakfast.

Doesn't this make them chair hogs too? I'm not sure the reason is important, but if you "claim" a chair for a significant period of time without using it, then you're a chair hog.

I use the free site at Windy dot com. I'm not sure that I can give anything but a positive review for a free site.

That actually looks encouraging, I think you are going to miss the worst of the weather

I disagree with having a shelf or cabinet on the pool deck. I think it's a good idea to make it as inconvenient as possible for the Chair Hogs to retrieve their stuff. Some of the Chair Hogs are evolving. On my last cruise someone had their bag cable locked to the lounger. Perhaps they will need to start equipping the pool attendants with bolt cutters.

On a related note, has anyone had any luck getting their cellphone's wireless calling feature to work with the HAL internet system? We have never had a problem with the wifi calling feature to work on other cruise lines but we were not successful on our recent cruise on the Rotterdam.