skittl1321

While this "crisis" may have created something of a hyper-sensitivity I do have to say that the passenger who did not wait the 21 days after handling the blood of an individual who was infected with the virus was, in my opinion, extremely irresponsible.

You do realize there are researchers who handle samples like this of ebola and other hemorrhagic viruses ALL the time; who go about their normal lives and interact with the public after work daily?

This lab employee works with extremely contagious diseases on a daily basis. Working with blood of a patient with an active ebola infection is really no different.

The nurses who worked with the patient did not have proper precautions to keep themselves safe. But those in the lab already take universal precautions that prevent ebola infections.

There was NEVER any risk.

I doubt it is true.

I would not sail on a line that requires me to purchase their insurance; and I don't know how they could possibly verify that I got my own.

On a few of our vacations, we self-insure. (IE: are prepared to lose our money if we don't make the cruise, and are prepared to pay out of pocket if we need an emergency medical evacuation.)

If they can get me to Europe, on a cruise, all in, for 1800, next July... I'll book now. More like, yesterday.

Me too! That price is ridiculously low.

We just did the Xpedition, which is all inclusive (though not air to South America, but includes it within). Celebrity knows how to do that right.

okay, thanks

 

I was confused because the famous Celebrity website lists interiors as sold out, instead of not applicable.

I don't remember when it happens (the giant "anyone back thread" in roll calls might have someone who can answer)- but we booked our cruise the day they released dates for the new year- more than 2.5 years before our cruise. We took the very first forward cabin on deck 3; the cabin was very noisy, but we were happy to be on the cruise as inexpensively as possible. It is an oceanview, but I found the window to high and offset backwards to actually look out without climbing up on the counter...

That gave us the lowest rate on the room. I checked back multiple times in that time period (since I could cancel without penalty- I could just rebook for a lower price)- and the rates only went up.

The other way to go would be to book very last minute; but chances are you would spend more on a last minute flight, so that is a bit risky.

Have always seen them together on Carnival.

They most definetly weren't on the Spirit. If they are now, they moved them on the refurb.

Some ships the frozen yogurt is on one side of the ship and ice cream on the other; others they are next to each other- so pay attention to labels.

It took us half of the first cruise to figure out why sometimes the ice cream tasted "bad" before we realized that side of the ship was frozen yogurt and the other side ice cream!

well maybe with celebrity, this type of cruise is not intended for children...I sure hope not...we will be on it in dec of 2016...hope all the kids stay in school...

 

have not read that people bring their kids on the expedition....now you have me worried...

I've read of a few people who brought families with kids. However, Celebrity does not cater to them at all, so it isn't that common. The youngest "kid" traveling with a parent on our cruise was 26.

Also, I'm not sure it is right to say Linblad has better guides. The guides work for the national park, not Celebrity or Linblad. They freelance on the ships for various lengths of time and get various assignments with different companies. But the company does not train the guide in anyway.

I found the guides spoke to the level of the group. The more intelligent questions asked, the more specific information offered freely (in addition to answering the questions.)

We did take a few hundred;

We came home with 3,236 photos!

My husband is still editing them, but the ones that have made the final cut thus far are up on Flickr here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevi9903/

I thought it was a fabulous cruise, but in hindsight, I wish we didn't have to book so far ahead of time or plan for so long (this was 5 years in the making, since this cruise was a major splurge for us). I don't think there was anyway it could have lived up to ALL our expectations.

I also think anyone who cruises Celebrity regularly probably (though since I haven't- I don't know) needs to put some luxury expectations aside. I didn't think the service exceeded, or in many cases even matched what we've experienced on our 3 Carnival cruises. The only thing that really kicked Carnival's butt was the baked Alaska. Man that was good.

But the destination could not be beat. I posted a mini review in the giant "Anybody back" thread in the roll call forums if anyone feels the need to track it down.

RE: Smoking. I agree with your suggestion that they use deck 5 for smoking, but I honestly wonder why they don't just call it a non-smoking ship. We only had one on our cruise, but I don't recall seeing her without a cigarette (and the smell definitely spread all across the small outdoor area of deck 4)... on the long zodiac rides, if you ended up sitting next to her, since she always had a per-excursion cigarette, it pretty much ruined the excursion. Even sitting next to her to get to a landing was a bit uncomfortable. With 1/100, it doesn't seem like the ship really attracts smokers anyway, so just make it smoke free entirely and then no one has to deal with it.

Maybe not a lesson, but I'd do my best to hop in a pool with some snorkel gear and give it a try.

There are lots of people who freak out snorkeling. It would be good to alleviate any fears ahead of time.

Those are much more common than boat trips.

Have you dove in Cozumel? (I'm wondering if you speak from personal experience?)

In my experience, shore diving in Cozumel is extremely uncommon. There really isn't a lot to see close to shore. 2 tank morning boat dives are what the vast majority of Cozumel divers do. Then a fraction of them will go out for afternoon, twilight, or night dives.

Cozumel is known for it's incredible reef, which is off-shore.

The shore dives near hotels are usually used by people who just want to test out their equipment, or really just want a bit more water time for 3rd and 4th dives in the day. Or people who do macro photography.

If I was advising someone going diving in Cozumel, especially off a cruise ship where they just have one day, I wouldn't waste time with a shore dive. Going off a boat is where the best stuff is! (No problem asking the op you book with for an easy dive. My first day in Cozumel we dove Palancar Gardens and Columbia Shallows- super simple dives.)

Just a general note: If you dive in the marine park in Cozumel, you have to have a guide. That's MOST of the southern area.

Its hurricane season, good luck.

Unless there is a tropical storm in the area, hurricane season has no bearing on the weather.

But it is also the rainy season. Luckily-Cozumel tends to get rain every day, but for short periods. (Though a few days we were there last december those short periods were 6 hours every evening. Every morning but 1 was beautiful.)

We booked with Scuba with Alison. We were originally going to be cruisers but changed our mind and spent the whole week in Cozumel diving. The boat was "late" several days to wait for cruisers, including one day when the cruise ship docked late. She will work with cruise ships.

I thought she was pretty affordable since we needed gear (gear at other ops drove the price up a lot.) Her gear was also in excellent condition; better than what I had used at my local dive shop when I rent for local dives. And the regulator always tasted of fresh detergent :)

She has a very reliable fast boat and an excellent captain. She sends her divers up as they are low on air/NDL time- not as a group; Carlos, the captain picks you up almost immediatly. One thing I liked about Alison is that she accompanies divers to their safety stop, while watching the group below, and then goes back down to rejoin them- that way the (likely) less experienced divers who go up first aren't left to their own devices. She is very safety conscious, but worked well with mixed groups of beginners and more experienced divers. Everyone on the boat seemed happy with the dives!

Her boat holds 8, but it isn't necessary to charter it to dive off a cruise ship. Some days we had 1 cruiser, others 2 or 4.

You will need to get a taxi to the Caleta if you use her.

That's hard to say...

I was responding specifically to someone who said they dove with an op that seemed to be on a time schedule. So I was wondering how much time the op allowed. (I've heard some say 45 minutes and up, for instance.) She said the first dive was shorter than the second -to allow surface interval time. Not because the depth uses the air faster; which makes me think the op has set time limits regardless of what profile they dive.

I prefer to use an op that lets me dive my computer/air, and sends up buddy pairs (or individuals, but I prefer my buddy, even though he shortens my dives) as they run out, not the whole group. I've found that even with late starts, we still always finished our dive with plenty of time for people to return leisurely to the ship- there was no need to limit dive times artifically.

We dove through Princess in Feb 2014 and they used the Dive House. They were good. The first dive (deeper) is shorter than the second to allow surface interval time. They are on a time schedule to get you back within the excursion time frame. Hope this helps

How long were the dives?

The water will be 78-80 degrees in February, which is indeed the coldest it gets all year.

It should be at least as warm as, if not warmer than, Florida water at the same time.

Since they check you getting on and off the ship, what about someone who wears a medical device? Such as an insulin pump...:confused:

You will not have a problem with a medical device in the Carribean- they are not going to question an insulin pump.

But that doesn't exempt you from the import laws on food. Just bring pre-packaged food.

This is the vendor for Chankanaab snuba

http://www.snubacozumel.net/about_us.htm

Hotel guests pay $59 for snuba. It appears that like the dolphin swim they require cruises guests to book through the cruise line.

The only thing I remember from reading the board is there were some people who unknowingly got (but paid for through the TA) the "free" room from the group.

They therefore did not get their VIFP points, since those are only awarded on paid bookings (of course, the person paid- but as far as Carnival is concerned, it was a comp.)

I don't remember what the resolution of the thread was, and whether those people ever got their points, I'd just verify with the TA that your room is fullly counting towards the rewards program.

I could understand if I was asking for something fancy but I was just wanting a plain basic pasta dish with no meat, etc.......

There is usually pasta on the menu every night, and if you just wanted it plain- they almost certainly could have done that (though even still, just not adding the sauce is a special order that throws a bit of a wrench in their service, but with a bit of time, they can do it for you. I had a waiter tell me it was easier to give me a full plate that had the side dish I wanted on it, than just the side dish, for instance).

But you didn't ask for plain pasta, you asked for pasta with a sauce that isn't offered. If there is no alfredo sauce made, the kitchen isn't set up to make small batches of sauces. Yes, alfredo is just butter, cream, and cheese- but a cook would need to give it attention (it requires constant stirring), and would need a station to do it. You also seemed to be asking for a certain noodle- if you had just asked for any pasta, maybe they would have been able to help you.

Quick question: outside of your travel arrangements, how was the cruise? We are considering booking this cruise but have not done any research yet. Thanks in advance.

Absolutely phenomenal, just on location alone. If given the opportunity to take a cruise in a covered canoe, I'd still do it! Of course, Celebrity provides a much nicer accommodation than that. I recommend checking out the "Anyone back yet" thread in the Xpedition Roll Call area.

I will say- while I've never cruised Celebrity, service or food wasn't what I would expect from the brand (I thought Carnival fared better service and food wise, though my picky eating meant the small ship had limited options)- but overall it was pretty amazing. The ship was just big enough that there were lots of people to visit with and enough amenities that it wasn't at all "roughing it", but small enough that you were able to enjoy this phenomenal destination without ever feeling over crowded.

A few things about the Galapagos that some people don't really consider:

1) It is a birder's paradise, but not really a zoo. Don't come expecting a lot of mammals, the only mammal on land is the sea lion. And while the birds are everywhere and not at all afraid of humans, they aren't scheduled performers. I never saw the blue footed boobies doing their mating dance (one other group did)- one woman remarked this "ruined" her cruise.

2) Some of the spots are more geologic in interest than they are wild-life oriented. People complained Rabida was boring because there wasn't wildlife; but if you compare it's iron rich land to Bartolome's basalt rich land; or look at the stage of life the vegetation is in compared to the older islands- I found it fascinating.

3) The trip is active, but not -too- active. There were a few islands where all the walks were on rough terrain that needed good balance, but most locations offered options where you could do the hike or just go for a zodiac (small boat) ride around the island.

This was a "bucket list" trip for me that lived up to my expectations, but I can see how maybe the cruise isn't for everyone.

Do you need an actual walk-in beach? Or just sand on your toes?

We've greatly enjoyed all our times at Money Bar. Good food, good drinks, sand in the toes, and fabulous snorkeling.

Man, I wish I had some vacation time. Those are some GOOD prices!

(And yes, airfare would cost us about twice the price of the 5-day cruise in an oceanview I was eyeing)

I'm happy to report back that Celebrity got me the itemization of missed tour parts very quickly :)

Even if you qualify for military rate, make sure to check other options.

For us, the military rate was only the best 1 out of 3 times.

The OP has cruised mega times and is well aware Cozumel is an island.

The question is about the excursion HAL is offering to Chichen Itza and has now posted it on the HAL forum where helpful answers are being given. :)

LuLu

The only reason I mentioned it was an island is that the OP seemed confused by having been given the drive time from Playa del Carmen. I see now, that that was in response to asking if they dock in Progresso- which they don't this cruise.

Only one person on the HAL forum actually gave a time, 11 hours round trip, but that isn't just travel time- which is what the OP asked for. (It didn't appear the OP was asking for total length of the excursion, since they specifically said travel time.)

This blog: http://www.chriscruises.com/2014/01/exciting-really-mayan-ruins-chichen-itza/ states it is an 11 hour excursions with 7 hour travel time; which, is basically what I said with approx 3 hour drive from Playa + 45 minute ferry.

Most of the talk on the HAL forum is chatter just like this one, because it appears not many people have done this excursion. One person recommends flying. If this poster does mega-cruises, I'd highly recommend this excursion from a different port. It is a pain in the butt to get there from Cozumel. If getting there from Cozumel is a once in a lifetime chance, well, take it- but if you cruise regularly, why subject yourself to that much time on a bus, when other ports make it much easier? Get a cruise that goes to Progresso and cut the travel time in half.