marie61

Hi everyone,

well, we’ve pulled the plug on this adventure and are looking toward fall 2023.  Last straw was when NZ closed down the entire country for ONE case of covid….until they get onboard the vaccine bandwagon, we aren’t prepared to commit $$ to this trip…we’ll probably do Newfoundland, then Ireland and northern Europe next summer/fall.

Happy travels all!

Ellen

On 6/27/2021 at 11:19 PM, onlyslightlymad said:

Hi Ellen,

 

When is your cruise?  We are booked on Eclipse in Jan 22 from SYD to the Pacific Islands.  I am assuming this will not go as Australia have indicated that their borders are unlikely to open until mid-22.  We live in NZ and our government have stated that our borders will not open this year.  So, assuming your cruise is booked in the 21-22 summer season, it probably won't go.  

Hi, the cruise is a trans-Pacific, departing late Sept. 2022 and arriving in Sydney around October 21.  But final payments are due in the spring, so I will have to decide whether to risk continuing, based on the news out of Australia at that point.  Someone else pointed out to me that vaccines were late starting to arrive in Australia so that explains the low vaccination rate; hopefully they catch up really quickly...after all their tourism must be really hurting!

I realize that not everyone on this discussion is continuing on to Australia but I’d like to hear your opinions about the current situation.  i learned today that Sydney, AU is once again in a total shutdown due to a Covid outbreak.  What disturbs me is that I learned that AU has a 5% full vaccination rate which is far lower than North America.  I am not confident that their goal is to improve on this.

My husband and I are spending about $50,000 Cdn $ to do this full cruise to Sydney, plus 3 weeks in Australia, and a 3 week bus tour in NZ.  Bucket-list trip (I’m retiring in 2 days).  What if we get to Australia and everything is shut down?  Any thoughts on this scenario?  I am considering cancelling this trip for 2022 and rebooking for 2023.

Ellen

On 6/9/2021 at 9:58 AM, El Crucero said:

Which part of the body?

Puleez..really?  We were not criticizing the top half.  I wish I had that 30 something body again! 🙂

On 6/9/2021 at 10:28 AM, TeeRick said:

I guess there was no buffet.  But can anybody identify any of these actresses?  I noticed Loni Anderson in a few scenes.  Anybody else?

Ha, the thing about these TV shows, is they offered people an opportunity to appear in a small photo-op/scene.  So we had everybody from former stars to wannabees appearing…it gave the show star quality and nobody was signed to a full season contract. 🙂. That’s gone now…

On 6/4/2021 at 12:26 PM, PTC DAWG said:

Notice the lack of tattoos, very nice.  

The big takeaway:  did anyone else notice how THIN everybody is?

We just booked the same cruise!  Wanted to go somewhere warm at Christmas next year (we’re from Canada!) and this cruise is on my bucket list!

It will be our first cruise back on Princess since 2010!  I will be interested to see how things have changed..for the better—no smoking in cabins and drink packages!

And we got a great deal as well—all the inclusions you mentioned...we’re going for an obstructed view outside stateroom to keep the costs down.

Our credit card charges 3% for US$ conversions. Ask Celebrity what they are charging but I think you'd be wise to decline their offer.

Having travelled at least once per year since 2011, I would say that there are no actual official sommeliers on Celebrity ships. Please tell me I am wrong. Look for the silver tasting cups around their necks.

I had a fabulous sommelier in 2011 but have not see one since.

What do you see?

Hi,

We have never cruised inside, always with a balcony. But the prices for balconys on a Panama Canal cruise are scary and, let's be realistic, it's a one-day transit.

So, I'd like to hear from our friends on Cruise critic: pros and cons of booking an inside cabin for a full transit Panama Canal cruise.

Thanks for your help!

Marie

Sounds like you were not happy with your Celebrity experience, maybe some other line would work better for you. Fortunately we all have a lot of choices. With regards to your comments:

 

The dining staff will accommodate your special dietary needs. Notify them on your first day. We had a table mate on Celebrity (not one of our party) who had special dietary needs. The server at our table brought him a menu for the next day at the end of the meal and he pre-selected what he wanted, how it was to be cooked, and any other needs. He told me everything was served to him as requested, no complaints. However, I have had the Vegetarian selection in the MDR on several occasions and thought it was very good.

 

You can order the cheese plate for afternoon snacks in Concierge. We have done it many times. Not a piece of meat in sight!

 

You will always find long lines everywhere when the excursions return on any cruise line.

 

We have always adjusted our pre-paid gratuities without any hassle. You do need to go to the Guest Relations desk aboard, at least a day before you disembark, and they will be happy to adjust them in any manner you wish. I do it on every Celebrity cruise.

 

Pizza is served in smaller pieces, not to reduce costs, but to reduce waste! They will give you as many pieces as you request.

 

If you wanted something special on Christmas eve, go to Bacacio Bakery, it is complimentary and never a wait. Since this was your first cruise on Celebrity, maybe you didn't know about that.

 

Did you miss the HUGE salad bar at the buffet? My daughter is vegetarian and she finds the vegetarian selections are more than enough at the buffet.

 

The orange juice at the buffet is for everyone despite their stateroom category. You get "fresh squeezed" in your Concierge stateroom as part of your stateroom amenities along with an expanded room service menu that you can order to suit a vegetarian diet.

 

The Safety drill on Celebrity and Princess are exactly the same, in one big mass, but both have staff interspersed to help as needed. If you thought you missed something in the safety drill, just ask one of the staff at the end of the drill and they will be happy to go over every detail with you. I've seen it happen.

 

The beverage package on Celebrity includes soda in a can. On Princess, it is soda from a dispenser. Yes, the beverage package on Celebrity does include a lot of those high end designer bottled waters. Sometimes it is less expensive to purchase your soda by the can rather than a package, as we often do. Or you can bring your own canned soda board if you wish even from the excursions.

 

Your stateroom steward can be a wealth of information if you just ask. He/she can resolve most of your confusion before it becomes an irritation.

 

I understand your disappointment. Cruise lines have different cultures and procedures and can be a disappointment if it is not what you are used to. Hopefully, you will find a cruise line that will suit your expectations better.

Great answer to his complaints! Thank you.

I shake my head when I read these posts...really? First world problems.

You paid for this cruise...if you are unhappy, feel free to choose another cruise line. good luck with finding your perfect match.

thank you very much for both replies...I will be there early! :)

Hi,

thanks for all the info about Cozumel..we've read it all. but it's not clear to me whether umbrellas are provided for the chairs on the beach (not a pool person). It's critical for me to have shade. thanks!

Question to those that have recently taken the Princess excursion to Tulum, the description mentions a snack, do you remember what the snack was? If just a bag of chips we'll take enough money to purchase, but if more substantial that might do it for us, we're not big eaters.

 

Thanks, Jackie

We took this tour on a Princess cruise in 2007.. I doubt it has changed much. there was a box lunch--wonder bread sandwich, chips...I think a juice box. We ate the chips and drank the juice. We smuggled (yes, I know...) fruit etc from the ship...I was terrified of eating anything in Mexico! the bus driver had Coronas for sale for like, $1...great idea!

Re. the transportation: the ferry was awful..take Gravol/Bonine in advance. It was still worth it. I agree with the beach swim at Tulum...extremely hot there..swim in your shorts if necessary. This attraction was the trip highlight for my husband...anyone who likes ruins will love it!

ellen

I usually like to book directly because I like to have direct access to speaking with the cruise line.

 

But I think TAs must get a 10% or 20% commission off the best available rate and share some of that back with their customers...I think many people get significant cruise credits from their TAs (like 5-% or more)...in that case, Celebrity direct can't compete, even though they have a lower cost direct because they don't have to pay commissions.

 

Am I missing something here?

Yes.

Book with a travel agent.

It costs you nothing. you create jobs for travel agents. They give you personal, superior advice. You get perks. You have one-on-one contact when you have questions, rather than dealing with a 1-800 serice

thank you to everyone for your ideas! Many I hadn't thought about.

You should be able to taxi from POM to South Beach where some of the larger hotels will watch your bags and allow you to use their pool/spa/etc. for a fee. Taxi from SB to MIA will run about $35+

 

Now that you have cleared up the confusion on airports I'm sure one of the locals will come back with specific hotel suggestions.

 

Your other option is a hotel near MIA - reserve it for the night before you arrive and let the hotel know that you will not be checking in until about 9:00 AM - and ask for a late check out. That should get you 4-5 hours of room/pool time and a shuttle to MIA. Taxi to MIA area hotels will run about $25-30

thanks but you probably haven't tried to get a hotel room around March Break before....looking at $250 US...

Hopefully a local will suggest something, or I will start emailing hotels near MIA directly.

We are flying out of Miami. Ship docks in Miami. But all the ship shore excursions drop off at Fort Lauderdale (go figure).

We looked at renting at room at 9-5...checkin is 10 am...we have to leave at 2 pm to go to airport. not worth it.

Realistically we are looking at about 6 hours...I want to relax by a pool with a book, have access to a restaurant for lunch and not have to worry about our luggage.

Any suggestions for hotels with a day pass for the pool?

thanks.

Hi,

We disembark in Miami from our March 2016 cruise but our flight home to Canada isn't until 4 pm. We will have our luggage with us. There are no Celebrity excursions that drop off to Miami airport (FLL). We don't want a hotel room (too much $$, not enough time there).

Is anyone aware of a Miami hotel in the vicinity of the airport, that has a pool/sundeck and would allow us to use it (for $$, of course) for a few hours?

Thanks!

Sorry if this question has been asked in the past – have trawled through without success to try and find the answer!!

 

I am interested in purchasing the Premium Drinks Package for my wife and I as we drink a lot of coffees/soft drinks during the day and a reasonable amount of the hard stuff in the late afternoon/evenings.

 

However, there seems to me a big question mark for us over the value of the package………………the reason is that we do spend a lot of time in the cabin during the late afternoon/early evening as we love sitting on the balcony before heading off for a late dinner. That time in the cabin is our main drinking time in addition to wine etc at dinner.

 

As I understand it drinks from the mini-bar are not included in the Premium package and therefore to have drinks in our cabin “paid for” by the package we would have to collect them from a bar. It would be rather annoying to have to make repeat trips to the bar during our 3 hours or so in the cabin/balcony.

 

Probably half our drinking is done in the cabin so it does seem to me the benefits of the Premium package would be lost if we had to pay for those drinks from the mini bar – as above, I appreciate I could keep going to a bar but that would rather impinge on our relaxing on the balcony.

 

Sorry if this seems a minor point to many but I would be most interested in any comments as to whether I am missing anything here.

 

Many thanks and kind regards.

 

Peter

We are exactly like you! We don't find it to be a problem. We book a cabin aft, near the aft elevators...we take turns popping up to the Sunset bar with both cards, and bring back a drink for each of us. takes 5 min. worth it to us.

Plus we bring two bottles of wine onboard the first day and save those for balcony drinking. And we usually get 2 bottles of champagne from TA and being concierge class. And, if we have a lot of OBC, you can buy full bottles of wine at a discount (20 or 30% I think) and have it delivered via room service...our next cruise in March has almost $600 in OBC (don't know why we are so fortunate!) so you have to work hard to spend it all!

Hi,

would like some feedback about what is to love about Princess lately.

I started with Princess, switched to Celebrity (smoking policy, drink packages) for the last 4 years but I now see that Princess is onside with those policies.

We are thinking about booking a March 2017 cruise with Princess. I am Platinum Captain's Circle. Sell me on this please :)

Marie

Hi,

thanks to this forum, we booked the above shared shuttle from Airport to Rome hotel, then hotel to port, then port to airport for our recent cruise.

We were very pleased with the service but I want to alert you to one thing: because it's a shared shuttle, our hotel-port transfer involved 4 stops plus a gas stop...picking up 4 couples at 4 different hotels in Rome before proceeding to our ship. It took 2 hours for us from the time we left our hotel (we were the first couple picked up)...an excessively long time, considering it took half an hour to get us from the ship to the airport at the end of the cruise.

It's something you may want to consider....

(Good $$ for the taxi company however...69 Euros X 4 for that trip!)

Ellen

We just got off the Reflection in the Eastern Mediterranean. It was our favourite hangout! I tried the pool just once--ooo..human soup and hot! Preferred to hang out at the Sunset and enjoy some sun and some shade...judging by the crowds there, I was not alone!

My only complaint is the smell from the cigar smokers on the other side.

Note that the Sunset on the Reflection is different from your picture...it has the bar in the centre, nearer the railing...no wood, all glass and marble..very pretty.

BTW, the waiters were absolutely fabulous! especially the one who walked around singling Christmas carols and delivered our drinks with the words "here's your medication!" LOL

Does the excursion to Sorrento include anything else? If I had a limited time in Naples as you do, I'm not sure I'd spend it on a Sorrento excursion that will have you spend quite a bit of that time on the bus going back and forth. Have you considered just staying in Naples and maybe doing the Archeology museum and explore some of Naples on foot on your own? Sorrento didn't seem to offer much to do when I visited there as part of a longer excursion.

I live in Toronto, Canada. Our big museum just opened a "Pompeii" exhibit that will be here for next 6 months. I emailed them and they replied that 200 objects from Naples Archeological Museum are part of that exhibit.

as a result, we are rethinking our plans for Naples and heading out to see Sorrento etc...no point in visiting the Archeological Museum in Naples when we can see their stuff at home.

Just thought I'd let you know....

One time they had a copy for me to keep, another time no takeaway copy (could have asked for copying I guess) but I could review the desk copy and confirm the couple brands I was interested in.

 

With my 'classic' pkg I wanted margaritas using 100% Agave tequila (J Cuervo is 50% agave, referred to as a 'mixto' - its label says 'made with Agave'). 100% agave Cazadores (and Camarena) are listed on 'classic list'.

 

Next issue was finding that many bars did not stock them on their shelf. After checking 5 different bars, I politely asked Guest Rel which bars had those brands stocked. They had the bev mgr call me next day apologizing, saying those brands would be distributed. Who knew cruising could be so so much effort? ;) HAPPY CRUISING

Ha! I love it! Last cruise in March, we had to go bar to bar to find specific kinds of wine (Pino Grigio, Sauvivnon blanc etc) that were by the glass--the bars were not well-stocked at all! I put up with it the first day (because they might not have had time to move stock from loading area to bars) but after that I politely told the bartender that I had paid for a premium bar package and I would like a glass of Sauvignon blanc..if they didn't have my 1st choice (Clifford Bay), I would be happy with one from the 5000 bottle wine cellar in the dining room! Well, in every case, someone went and found some Sauvignon blanc!

I'm not sure what the problem with restocking was...certainly it appeared most people had packages...I didn't see many people signing the receipt...perhaps they are going through bottles quicker as a result.