mysparky

We just returned from a 7 day in the Caribbean aboard Windsurf.  As others have noted, crew and food remain great, as always!  However, I would absolutely say that the ship is looking worn.  The furniture in our room (114) was a little beat up, but most surprising is the mirror, which looked incredibly pitted.  Our room steward actually apologized for the condition of it.  I think what bothered me the most was lack of power options - one 110 plug in the room w/ a max of 400v. Besides our room, the deck by Amphora definitely has some rotted wood and a few specific spots that definitely looked like a tripping hazard to me.

Hi Scotlady - Did you end up going w/ Benny?  I’m also looking for speedboat vs catamaran tour and was he has good reviews on Trip Advisor, but wondering if you were able to make it to that tour and, if so, if you enjoyed it.

We stayed at the Hilton in October 2021 and agree with the others...it's "ok" but I'd try at Sofitel next time. 

We did the all inclusive and found it well worth it.  One day had mimosas with breakfast, but we usually had pre and post-dinner cocktails.  I really liked not having to think about it, not caring if my drink wasn't great, etc. 

Beyond the drinks, I also liked the idea that wifi was included (I needed to check in back home a few times) as well as tips.  We still tipped extra (in cash) because service was that great, but I liked having the basic tip amount included. 

Bottom line, once we deducted what we'd pay for WiFi as well as tips, we calculated that we'd break even around 5 drinks/day.  That was close enough for us to purchase it ahead of time.  The convenience was well worth it (and we never had an issue getting drinks).

16 hours ago, Cdresser said:

It was a celebrity excursion. If you book it, check the price periodically because there were a couple of times ours went on sale and I rebooked at the lower price. The tour was about 3 hours long and hit many of the island highlights (little White House, Hemingway house, etc. ) We didn't tour any attractions, but got a taste of everything so we could choose what to do in depth later.

Glad to hear that you liked this as well!  We did this excursion when we were in Key West in November (Equinox) and Lauren was also our guide.  I thought it was excellent and definitely preferred it over other island tours (i.e. trolley)

On ‎11‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 8:27 AM, hancock said:

If Bonine makes you sleepy, take it going to bed.  If you have never used it before, try it at home before sailing.  I always take it going to bed. Usually, one pill works24 hours for me.

Agree this is the way to go. 

I always take Bonine at bedtime as well.  I start the night prior to embarkation and then take it every night right before bed.  It just needs to be in your system and will last 24 hours, but you need to take it consistently.  My partner had historically used the patch, but last time he used it, he had a bad reaction as well.  On this last cruise, he switched to taking Bonine in the evenings and no negative reaction.  And by the way, we're happy that we had it.  The sea was relatively rough on two of the nights and I'm certain that I wouldn't have felt good had I not taken Bonine.

On ‎11‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 8:10 PM, 1gail1 said:

Party of 8 adults, some drink some don't, some snorkel some don't. I am looking for a beach that is NOT an AI, but has a nice beach area with good snorkeling and a place to eat and drink with lounge chairs/umbrellas/restrooms. I have searched the Cozumel forms but can not come across just what I am looking for, (if it exists). The closest thing I have found is the Money Pit but the beach entrance for the non-snorkelers isn't very desirable. Any suggestions?

Paradise Beach may be an option for you. You do not have to purchase the AI option.  Instead, you pay an entrance fee (I think it is $3/pp) which includes chairs/umbrellas and the facility has a nice pool, clean changing rooms/bathrooms, and then you can do "pay as you go". 

If you purchase a "fun pass" (don't know latest price, but may be around $13-15/pp), you can take advantage of a number of activities such as snorkeling (which is OK), kayaking, paddle boarding, and the inflatables in the water.  I think it provides good variety, even if the snorkeling isn't great. Those who just want to hang out, don't need to purchase the pass.  In addition, the  food & drinks are good as is the service.  It's also easy to get to/from the cruise port and taxis are always available. 

2 hours ago, JohninDC said:

Very efficient, usually a minimal or no wait.

Happy to hear this - thanks for the info!

Capriccio - actually I did see that answer on the website, but I should have clarified that it's really the other two questions that I have that I'm more interested in.

Actually, I did and I couldn't find answers to the questions I posed.

One other option is to utilize the "schedule a trip" feature in the uber app.  This is available in most cities and you can schedule a ride up to 30 days in advance.  Check out the uber website for details.  I use this service regularly from home when I have an early morning flight and want to be sure that a driver will be available to take me to the airport.

This is the first time that we're not renting a car post-cruise so we're looking at utilizing the bags-to-go service at FLL.  I have a few questions and hope someone can help:

• Where in the terminal is this located - up by departures, or downstairs near baggage claim? 
• Is checking in the bags, and then picking them up, a relatively hassle-free and quick experience? Or should we expect lines, waits of 10+ mins, etc?
• For those of you that have used this service, any tips you'd share?

Thank you in advance!

Jenn

The other website to checkout is dayuse dot com.  You'll have use of the room for a specific time period during the day.  For instance, on 11/16, the Element (which is within walking distance of Las Olas) has a rate of $109 and the room is available from 10-5, 12-7 or 4pm-10pm.   The Courtyard, which is 1 street away from the beach, has a rate of $99 for a room from 10-4pm for that same day.  There are less expensive options as well if you don't care too much about location.  We've done this once before and had good results and a hassle-free experience.

Thank you for taking the time to write your review and post all of those great pictures!  As a first time cruiser on Celebrity, I appreciate your insights/tips. 

1 minute ago, jelayne said:

Just drink faster😉

Jelayne - was going to say exactly the same!  I actually don't like paper straws very much at all, but have noticed that they are definitely are not for me if I'm going to nurse my drink.  I miss the plastic straws, but I get it and that's all we have now in the restaurants around me so I've learned....drink faster (or exchange the straw a few times because a soggy paper straw is just no good)

Another suggestion - rent a car for easy luggage storage and then take a Walking & Food tour of Little Havana with "Art Deco Tours" since you mentioned your interest in Cuban culture.  Last I knew, the tour was 3 hours in length and started at 10 or 11.  I found this group through Trip Advisor and they were really great.  We haven't taken the Little Havana tour yet (can never work it out with our flight schedule), but we took an evening Art Deco Cocktail tour with them 2 years ago and it was awesome.  Learned so much about the Art Deco style, tons of interesting facts, and some very tasty cocktails.  Small groups, very informative, really personable tour guide, etc.  They also offer an Art Deco tour during the day w/o cocktails and for another Cuban culture experience, they have a Cigar & Rum pairing tour.  Absolutely a great tour operation.

14 hours ago, calicakes said:

I know that money is a really touchy subject to a lot of people.  I'm not one of them.  So with that being said, I would like to know if you tip extra( and specifically how much) at the end of the cruise? 

 

We just returned from 10 days on Equinox and we did tip extra.  I wasnt sure how much extra to tip.  A few months before we left, I ordered men's leather wallets from Ebay.  I got a ridiculously good price on them.  If you want to know, I'll tell you.  They look much more expensive than they were.  I wrapped those up with cash inside for the server and his assistant in Blu.  I gave the wallets( no extra cash) to the few people in Blu who served us 1 or 2 times.  I gave a wallet and cash to the main pool server( we spent every single sea day at the pool).  For the women, I assembled makeup bags with makeup purchased with coupons and received in subscription boxes.  Those went to the gals at Cafe Al Bacio, the hostess in Blu, the pastry gal in Blu.    I'll add a picture to the next post. 

Calicakes -

I truly commend your thoughtfulness and going what I'd consider to be "above and beyond".  While we generally tip extra for our room steward and the concierge (on Royal Caribbean), it admittedly hasn't been as extensive.  Whether or not the staff appreciates the extra gifts, who cares, it was done by you in the right spirit - to give extra thanks.  I was always taught that "it's the thought that counts" and clearly you put thought and effort into your gifts.

I have found it AMAZING that on the Celebrity board that there is so much criticism.  I come here for information and ideas and thankfully there are plenty of those, but the negativity and self-righteousness is too much at times.  I especially enjoyed your blog and I'm glad that you didn't stop posting even though there were some very opinionated comments on your post. I had been considering upgrading to an Aqua suite, but you provided very specific feedback on the meals in there and I decided to skip the upgrade.  We have a great hump balcony and I decided I'd rather spend the extra on specialty restaurants.

I also recall that YOU are the one that posted picture of the ridiculous shower chair that you were provided as a substitute for the footstool.  I copied that picture and posted on Twitter.  YOU were the one that spoke with housekeeping and gave many of us on these boards hope that footstools would, in fact, be returning.

Thank you for sticking through this.  You've been very helpful.

Well look at that!

By the way, really enjoying your live report and pictures.  So fun to follow along!

1 hour ago, mikkelhansen said:

And so it resumes... Once again I have an unannounced/unpromoted sale in my Cruise Planner for our December 1, 2019 Edge sailing. This time the discount varies from excursion to excursion.

Eg. the Inside Access Backstage Tour has a 5% discount, while some excursions have 20-25% discount.

As always, spa treatments and specialty dining are not discounted.

 

This is the third time within 3½ months I have had a CP sale for our cruise. They really want us to go on excursions when in port, I suppose???

Thanks for the heads up.  I just looked up my cruise on Equinox in November and saw that a few excursions were discounted, including those on the last day in Ft Lauderdale (we have a late flight and are considering one).  I'm seeing discounts around 15%.  Strange thing is that there isn't even a banner to show that the price has gone down, I just scrolled through them and found discounts. 

44 minutes ago, Nymich said:

I am not sure why this should not be public knowledge.  X likes to advertise everywhere.  Shouldn't these footstool beauties and no longer having free movies in their cabins be everywhere?

I whole-heartedly agree.  Tweet Tweet.

Thank you for your report!   I'm excited to see the ABT on our upcoming cruise in November and apparently there was a great deal of interest on your sailing as well.  Nice change of pace.

And yet someone else who agrees with staying on the ship in St Thomas.  The only hesitation that I have in recommending that you stay on ship there is because it appears to be the first port you're visiting and you'd probably want a break in between the islands, rather than at the beginning.  If that is the case, then I'd suggest looking at the activities for both St Lucia and St Kitts and seeing if there's anything that's of less interest.

I'll be sailing on Equinox in November and I was somewhat interested in trying to sign up for the glass class in advance of our cruise.  While I'm not even sure that I can actually pick a day/time in advance, I'm not so interested anymore given the price that's showing.  Pre-cruise planner shows "Hot Glass Class for One" - $120.  What??  Last I saw, it was around $59 in the cruise planner.  I'm wondering if there's a new price structure in place?  

Has anyone seen this recent increase as well in the pre-cruise planner, but then actually have a different price once onboard?

Hi All -

We're interested in taking the trolley tour to learn more about Key West and its history, but we do not want to board at the first stop on Front Street.  Instead, we are planning on getting off the ship early, walking down to the Southernmost point, grabbing breakfast and then hopping on the trolley at the 12th stop on Duval/Truman and then looping all the way around.  I understand that the trolley is hop on/ hop off, but I'm wondering if it's possible to initially board at that stop (which is almost the last one)? Has anyone done this and if so, does it throw the whole understanding/sequence of things out of whack?

Thanks in advance for your input!

ok - thank you all.  I know there seems to be no consistency (other than the consistency of being inconsistent) with website/app issues so I'll wait and see (still have plenty of time).  If the app still presents problems as I get close, I'll be sure to print off the info from the web.  I just thought it was strange that one of my special dining reservations showed, but the other 2 did not.