bigdawgs

               We sailed on the Edge in Sep. it was an 11 night Greek Island Cruise.

We have sailed on the Solstice, Equinox, Silhouette, Infinity and Millennium, each time in a balcony cabin and were looking forward to the Edge in an Infinite Veranda cabin. While the amenities in the cabin were superior to the other ships, I missed the outdoor feel of a traditional balcony cabin. Obviously others feel the same way or Celebrity wouldn’t be spending so many $$$$ on TV ads, particularly here in Florida. Our next Celebrity Cruise will be aboard the Reflection in a 1A on the hump, where the balconies are big enough to accommodate 2 loungers, a table and 2 chairs. You can keep your IV, but it’s not in our future. Perhaps Celebrity should rethink their future ship designs,

Just my opinion.

Larry

Some of our group use walkers. Would they be better off sitting in the back of the theater on deck 4?

Thanks.

Larry

Thank you very much. We are looking forward to our visit in December. We live in south Florida so we know the importance of sun protection and the need to stay hydrated.

Larry

Are there any shaded areas with lounge chairs by the lagoon or ocean?

Larry

Thanks to all of you for your quick responses.  This time we will not go on a spending spree simply to use up OBC that may be refundable.

Happy cruising.

Larry

Last Jan. We were on the Equinox and were given approximately $200 in onboard credit by Celebrity, which we used to purchase a tour and a specialty restaurant. We were told by Guest Services that unused onboard credits were non-refundable. 

Our account also listed another $300 OBC which came from our travel agent.

Keeping in mind the info. from  Guest Services, we decided to make some onboard purchases which came to approximately $250.

Following the cruise, we received our credit card bill which included a credit of $50, representing the unused OBC. 

Q: Is this the standard policy on all Celebrity cruises or was this a one-off situation?

We are going on a Celebrity Cruise next month and I want to know what the rules are. Apparently Guest Services is not always reliable.

Thanks for your input.

Larry 

Thanks. Transfers were purchased through Celebrity. I will go through the documents, as you suggested. Since we are not in Concierge class, we are not concerned with missing a welcome brunch - we usually have lunch at Oceanview. However, it would be better if the bus would pick us up around 10 or 10:30, rather than noon so that we can relax, unwind and unpack.

Larry

If I were in Rome right now, I would. I think I’ll call Celebrity - it’s cheaper than a call to Rome.

Larry

We purchased transfers for our upcoming cruise  from the Hilton Airport Hotel to the port In Civitavecchia. Approximately what time does the bus/van leave the hotel? 

Thanks.

Larry

We were able to get a business fare of $1335 one way MIA/PRG and $1050 business returning from FCO/FLL. Airline websites were much more expensive. I guess it’s hit and miss with Choice Air.

We booked on line with Choice Air. Our outbound is with Lufthansa. Return is with United. This is for September.

Larry

We were able to get a business fare of $1335 one way MIA/PRG and $1050 business returning from FCO/FLL. Airline websites were much more expensive. I guess it’s hit and miss with Choice Air.

Larry

Thanks, everyone. I suppose we will see when we get to the airport. I recall that we did this walk several years ago (2006) but we were younger then.

Larry

Thank you. We will get a taxi or Uber if available.

Larry and Ethel 

We are two seniors. Does anyone know how far of a walk it is from baggage claim, etc. to the Hilton Rome Airport Hotel? We have several pieces of luggage. Should we get a taxi?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Larry & Ethel

We took this tour last year. That’s why I recommended DoBrazilRight.com.  The only negative was the weather — it was beastly hot. If I find the message with the lengthy review, I will post it.

Larry

We took a Celebrity Cruise last year during Carnival. There are many posts regarding this subject. Based on a lot of research, we opted to book with DoBrazilRight. They run escorted sightseeing tours, pick u up and drop off at the pier and also offer tickets and transfers to/from the Sambadrome for Carnival. Their prices are much lower than the ship’s tours. The owner, Marcelo, has a Miami phone number so you can call him with any questions you may have.

If you log onto DoBrazilRight.com you will find all the information you need.

Happy travels.

Larry

United has a nonstop from EWR (Newark) to HKG which is 16 1/2 hrs.

If you choose to fly to SFO and overnight, there is a nonstop from SFO to HKG. However, that flight is 15 hrs. Therefore, you aren’t really saving much time, etc. by connecting on the West Coast, IMO. Which cruise line are you sailing with? Can you use their air/sea program? Usually you can save quite a bit of $$.

Larry

We also booked our air on line with Flights by Celebrity. It was a slightly complicated booking in that we were flying to another destination prior to the cruise. Our flight itinerary was MIA/PRG/FCO prior to the cruise and then FCO/FLL following the cruise. The flight from PRG to FCO was the problem in that there was no written confirmation. After a number of phone calls to my TA and Celebrity, who said we were confirmed, I decided to send an email directly to the airline (Czech Airlines) because I wanted to be sure that a reservation did exist. I had tried entering the booking code but it was rejected as non existent. Finally I did receive an email with written confirmation although they could not give us actual seat assignments. Since this is a fairly short flight, I am not concerned about that.

However, please be aware that if you decide to book your flights with Choice Air (Flights by Celebrity) and opt to delay paying for your airline  tickets until final payment of your cruise, in many cases you will not be given a seat assignment until you pay for your ticket. 

Happy and and safe travels.

Larry

Thank you, all. When we booked with Choice Air, the later flight was not being offered. Some time after we booked, the later flight was offered. Our present flight departs FRA to PRG at 9 AM. The later flight departs at 10 AM. After that one, there is an afternoon flight. All flights are with Lufthansa. Our flight from MIA to FRA is scheduled to arrive at 8 AM, giving us one hour to clear any inspections. But if our MIA flight is delayed for any reason (after all, September is hurricane season), then there is no way we would be able to make the connection. I do plan to call Lufthansa and ask what their policy is. Again, thanks very much for your input,

Larry

We booked with Choice Air for a flight from MIA to PRG via FRA, prior to a Greek Island Cruise a few days later out of Rome. CA feels that a 1 hr. Connection time in FRA is sufficient. We disagree and CA will not agree to book us on a later flight. However, since there is another flight one hour later, I presume that if we miss our connection, that the airline will book us on the later flight without penalties.  Is my thinking correct?

Larry

We were on a Celebrity cruise from Tokyo to Hong Kong a couple of years ago. We booked our air thru Choice Air (business class) at an attractive price. However, we opted to make our own hotel and transfer to ship arrangements separately. We took the airport bus (from Narita Airport). They dropped us off at our hotel. The ride takes over an hour depending upon traffic but is the least expensive way to get into the city. You can purchase a bus ticket in the baggage claim/arrivals area. It’s very easy. The bus is always prompt so if they say 6PM, they don’t mean 6:05.

We we stayed at the Hyatt Regency in the Shinjuku area, which we would highly recommend. However, there are many hotels in this area. It is very safe and you can easily walk to shopping, parks, etc. 

We chose Green Tomato to transport us to the pier in Yokohama, about a 45 minute drive depending on traffic. They were extremely reliable, professional and very pleasant. If you can get a few other couples from your roll call to share the cost, it will be very reasonable. Our group of 8 people were staying at 4 different hotels, all in the same area and it worked out perfectly. They made a separate stop at each hotel.

Happy travels.

Larry

Thanks. We’ve already purchased our airline tickets.

i now know how much insurance to buy. Thanks for your advice.

Larry

Thank you, everyone. I went on the Choice Air website and found that the penalty for cancelling my refundable fare is $200 pp, which makes the total cost of our trip for insurance purposes a lot lower, resulting in a lower cost for trip insurance.  Once again, thank you.

Happy travels.

Larry

We recently booked our flights with Choice Air. The fare is listed as “Refundable with Penalties”. It does not state what the penalties are. The reason I am asking is when purchasing trip insurance, how do we calculate the total cost of the trip? We do not want to buy more insurance than is needed especially if the airlines refund the majority of the airfare. Any insight would be appreciated.

Larry

Yes, you can. We booked our return flight with Flights by Celebrity (Choice Air) leaving FCO at 10:50 AM. I doubt they would have booked this if there wasn’t sufficient time to travel from Civitavecchia to FCO following disembarkation. So you should have no problem with an 11:15 AM departure. Safe travels.

Larry