bbappel

I am one who travels using a Debit Visa Card, I have two on different accounts. I rent cars & hotels with them with no problems. I do now have a credit card from my credit union that has a low limit on it (all they would give), that I carry for emergencies.

 

US Traveler's Checks are now issued on a Prepaid Visa or Mastercard Debit Card and can be an option for someone traveling rather than carrying cash.

 

1) Debit cards have different liabilities than credit cards. My sister-in-law was using a debit card to buy gas in Miami. The card was compromised and she became liable for $10,000 that she had to fight and prove were not her expenses. With a credit card, your liability is limited and you still have money in your checking account to pay your bills. In their case, she couldn't pay anything until this was settled and it took months.

2) Living with paid up credit cards is much more stress free. I sympathize with those who can't resist the next credit card purchase and are financing a life style that they were used to, or want to be used to, but as one who is now credit-free (we have credit cards but pay them off), it is worth doing without for a time to be in this place. I once hated the sound of the telephone for fear it would be about a bill I hadn't paid (this was before there were internet methods of payment and some of it was my inability to mail a payment in time not my inability to pay) now I only hate the phone because it is often some telemarketer.

I also knew what you meant about costume, even though I'm from the states:D.

 

When you are considering the drink package, I hope you will also consider the non-alcohol package even if you decide the alcohol package isn't worth it. We got the premium non-alcohol package in 2010 and in assessing the value, found that we drank considerably more non-alcoholic beverages than without the package - resulting in a better-hydrated cruise. Aside from the alcoholic beverages (wine with our meals, drink before dinner, mimosa or bloody mary on sea mornings, pina colada by the pool, after-dinner drink with the show), we had Pellegrino with our meals, cappuccinos or lattes for breakfast, freshly-squeezed OJ, Evian to take our pills and to brush our teeth (the height of excess to me), espresso after our meals, and in the afternoon I would occasionally get an affogato at Al Bacio. We picked up water whenever we walked past a bar, so we were able to take 2-3 small bottles each off the ship on our excursions. We don't drink soda (pop, tonic, whatever), but we could have had cans of soda in our fridge as well. We also aren't much for smoothies or red bull, but they were both available. We still are undecided as to whether the alcohol portion is worth it for us, but the cost of the non-alcohol one is well worth the relief from angst - and the "do I really NEED that afternoon espresso"? If it is close to being worth it for you, you might want to calculate a little addition for that freedom.

 

Do enjoy the Equinox - and take time to find all the art. Some of it is strange, but some of it is stunningly beautiful. There should be a book in your stateroom that tells about it and has pictures, so you can know where you must look.

 

Beth

We were on the Equinox in December and participated in the Riedel wine tasting and got $20 wine card to use. We didn't have the drink package and I don't think we used the machine without the card. This isn't as much help as I'd like it to be. A year ago, we had the drink package and my husband was able to get us wines to have in our room (not in the good glasses, mind you, in the joker glasses) from Cellarmasters. He couldn't use the enomatic, but as others have mentioned, they would "sell" him a glass.

 

I think the Enomatic is a really cool idea and wish more people used it, so we wouldn't have LSimon's experience. I'm too much of a novice to buy very expensive wines, so it is nice to broaden my experience a bit with tastings of wines I wouldn't want to risk buying. It did give us the chance to compare two wines without much of a commitment.

 

As usual, on Celebrity, it seems the way things work varies from ship to ship and even from sailing to sailing. It does make it more of an adventure. Otherwise, what would we have to look forward to? Easy days at sea and knowing everything? ;)

 

Beth

We took the ship tour and think it was well worth it. We were able to enjoy both towns and the winery, but made an error in timing and didn't get in line in time to get back in time for our dinner reservations, so we walked down as the sun set. We were too busy enjoying the tomato fritters in a restaurant near the cable car. One warning - the spacing of the steps pushed me to step down on my right foot every time. My knee was swollen and I could hardly walk the next day in Athens and had to use a walking stick. I'm in my 60s though and not at my ideal weight (understatement that), so they were a factor, not just the step spacing.

 

Beth

It will be nice to have the escargot back on the menu. I hope that is true on our next cruise in October.

thanks! Also, do you know if you get to use Riedel during the cruise if you do purchase the glasses? If you pay the 87.00 charge? It seems to be up for discussion. Some say yes and some say no:)

 

On our cruise in the Caribbean (Dec '12), once we signed up for the tasting with our sommelier, we got better glasses with our wine at dinner.

 

Beth

Another advantage of your location --- The Tree House coffee cart.

You can get coffee or tea just about any time you want right outside your door. When we were on Silhouette though we noticed that the sliding doors were left open, so we could sometimes faintly hear the music from the atrium. This wasn't a problem for us, but then I can't hear very well, so it could affect others. We were in 7262, one of the cabins on the slant.

 

You will enjoy your trip - Silhouette is a lovely ship with a fantastic Bacio crew when we traveled. Our morning routine often involved coffee from Bacio and then freshly squeezed OJ from Ocean View bar. We did have a drinks package.

 

Bon Voyage - after the summer.

If you are referring to the capital of Pa, it's Harrisburg and it is about 240 miles from Pittsburgh.

 

Mary Lou

Maybe Jackdiamond is confusing Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

It happens.

B

Thanks - today I'm wearing my white linen J Jill pants (full length) and I think these will make the cut. They can be laundered or dry cleaned. Even if I lose weight - I should be saying when, but I lack the necessary confidence in when, so I'll say if, they should be able to be altered and will simply fit more loosely. And since I'll be retired, I'll have time to alter them, right?
Maybe this is one thing I can do - wear and assess. Then when I'm doing my serious closet purge in October, I will have an idea. And when I review the CCF history I'll get more ideas.
I would love an excuse to own a bunch of summery floral dresses. I own one. I think that is going to be my reward to myself if I lose enough weight to warrant it. Dresses require more alteration so it would be easier to get new.

Beth

We are taking our first Caribbean cruise in December. We will be on the Celebrity Equinox from Ft. Lauderdale making stops in Cartagena, Panama, Cozumel, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica.
Short of reading back 77 pages - and I'll do that I promise once I retire in October, any quick suggestions of what I need to keep out of storage for the trip (or links to previous pages will work just fine). Maybe I should say what can I go ahead and put in storage. :) I have one swim suit from Lands End - print top, plain bottom and just ordered a second set-all print and I think the top will match my existing bottom. Not bikini - skirt styles with halter tops. I have one hat - but reading the past few pages, I'm thinking maybe I should take two.
We aren't beach people and will likely take tours - both of us are fair, so we sunburn easily. Shorts, Long pants or Skirts for the tours? I don't usually wear capris - they just don't look right on me. I just ordered a white linen shirt for my husband to wear on the tours to keep the sun off and keep cool. Is there a men's fashion page too?
How dressy is dinner on Caribbean cruises? We are accustomed to European cruises and they tend to be fairly dressy. All advice is welcome. I'm young at heart but not in truth and there is more of me than there should be - I'm hoping retirement in October helps with that when I don't have to spend 7 hours a day sitting in front of a computer and 3 hours a day sitting on a train etc. though I will miss the walking in Manhattan from the bus stop to my job, and to lunch.
Anyway, now that I've found this group, I hope to check in often, and hope I can get some much needed fashion advice, but not like the lady on TV who chides you for your choices. I need kind advice.
Beth

I'm looking at the deck plans for the Reflection on Celebrity's website. We are wanting to book a C2 cabin and in the deck plan the stateroom we are looking at is located in the "hump" I believe. Mid-ship where the ship juts out to accommodate the elevators I believe, what is benefit of these cabins over any others. We want to be centrally located and the price point on this cabin is about where we want to be. Just looking for some information about these particular cabins on the Solstice class ships.

 

thanks

If you get an end one, either end - you get a clearer view.

Otherwise I agree with everyone else.

Beth

The alcoholic packages wouldn't work for us as our taste in wines don't match the limited "by the glass" offerings on the ship - so we pay as we go and order from the much larger by the bottle wine list.

 

You can buy as many glasses of wine at dinner as you'd like. If you mean with the packages then you can order one at a time and then order another when you're done with the first so you can still have as many as you'd like but can only order one at a time. There is a very limited selection of wines by the glass. The classic package allows you to obtain any on the by-the-glass list priced $8 or less, the premium allows those priced up to $12. Look at the last page of the wine list at this link (click here) or the second to the last page on this link (click here) for examples of by-the-glass offerings in the dining rooms last winter. You can also compare the selection to the bottled wine list on those pages. But note the bottled wine list isn't available with the unlimited beverage packages.

On our first cruise with a drink package, we found that our sommelier was willing to go get other wines than what were available on the MDR menu for us. I'm not sure if that was his desire to please since we obviously were interested in trying a variety of wines, or if the tip the second night helped, but I know he did a good job of searching out wines. Our next cruise, the sommelier wasn't so willing (nor as experienced), but he did get us better wines when we knew what they were, but wasn't as knowledgeable about what was available.

We think we probably drink a bit under the cost, but decided the convenience of not thinking about whether we want to spend the money on another drink was worth the cost of spending it up front. Better vacation for the money. i do miss exploring the wine list and buying drinks for friends, but I like having the OJ and cappuccinos and all the water we want even to brush our teeth.

Beth

I've learned not to order something like Pad Thai in a setting where it has to be prepared for 100s of people. I save it for the little local Thai restaurants. That and the King Crab on Princess Norway Fjords trip. They were old frozen and maybe refrozen. Tough and not tasty at all. You would think in the Fjords, where the King Crab is well, King, that you would get something fresh and delicious.

Usually cruise ship food is pretty good, but never as good as what we eat at home where my husband hasn't met a stick of butter he didn't love and uses fresh herbs, garlic/shallots and stocks in most dishes. So now I'm totally spoiled and cruise food is no longer the delight it was before he learned to cook. Not complaining, mind you.

@Michael - yes, my husband and I both got the premium package and our assistant waiter made sure there was a large bottle of Pellegrino waiting for us after the first night or so when we ordered it. We also got wine by the glass, and espresso following the meal. Again it was our Asst Waiter who brought the espresso.

Our sommelier brought us wines that weren't on the MDR list once we'd chatted with him a bit. We encouraged him to do wine pairings with the food we ordered. We appreciated his help. He really got into it after a few days. It was a 2 week cruise so we had time to build the relationship.

We have been in touch with "Travels with Friends" Ken Diaz and want to know if anyone has used this group. I've been burned once so I'm cautious. It is way too expensive but will be worth it if we get a good trip. Or so I am telling myself. There will be 6 of us on the trip and it is coming in at 645 Euro without a guide for 7 hours.

Any advice?

The trip takes us to Santiago & then to Ponte Vedra on the way back to the ship. It is in September if that helps.

I don't know how to make a prive e-mail to Keltic, but advice would be helped.

Thanks,

BBAppel