DCPIV

3 hours ago, ambrtonj said:

When I first saw the phrase "11-11 (Lest we forget)" I was thinking of Veterans Day. While I never served in the Military, I do appreciate all the sacrifices that those that did serve, not only in the USA, but throughout the world. 

 

May you enjoy your cruise and thank you for reminding me what is really important.

I also never served, and I also greatly appreciate those who did and, especially, those who paid the ultimate price so that I can stroll my way across a gangway and over to my choice of bars restaurants on a dadgum cruise ship before I crash onto a comfortable bed, on that same dadgum cruise ship, with a happily swimming head and full belly. Where would we be without them?

Not here. Certainly, not here. 

1 hour ago, twins_to_alaska said:

Hey DCPIV.  My flight was on--time and smooth. Cooling my heels at the Holiday Inn Express 17th. Walked over to Chipotle for dinner. Front desk kindly lent me an umbrella as saw only had emergency poncho. Hotel is clean and currently quiet.

All smooth for me getting here, too. 

I grabbed an Uber to LauderAle brewery. This is a great spot. I'm very long time homebrewer (pushing 30 years at it), so this sort of place turns me on. Great beer, and it's been a fun trivia night. Great birria tacos from the folks cooking over at the side, too. 

11 minutes ago, pooh/tigger said:

I assume the test results are sent to our email address. Do we just show that at the port or do they need a printed version of results? We will be testing at our hotel in FLL so won’t have a printer. 

I assume you can show them the email on your phone. I don't know why you couldn't. 

Just now, mjmagee said:

Had exactly the same problem.  Can reach the registration to order the tags and can complete everything except the country field.  Will try again tomorrow.

Read above for a solution. 

2 hours ago, SeasideMemories said:

This suggestion worked for me last week!

 

1 hour ago, ecslady said:

This is exactly what I did a few days ago and it worked.

It worked so well for me that I got two sets of tags. 🤣

2 hours ago, pooh/tigger said:

Do we order this test and then create an account before taking the test? Do we have to download an app to our phones or iPads? Thank you

Yes, just order the test and then do it when you like. 

You don't need the Navica app, but you will need an account. Scanning the QR code will get you there, or you can set it up ahead of time. Results are emailed in a form suitable for printing. The app is handy only to have something you can pull up on your phone. 

35 minutes ago, FLCruiser97 said:

How long is this sailing for you? 

It's only 4 nights. Kinda feels like a cameo! 🤣

5 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just remember you’ll need the streaming version of the Wi-Fi internet service while onboard to even be able to open boards.cruisecritic.com.

 

Have a great cruise and I will be looking forward to reading about your adventure! 😎

I got myself a big and all fancy RS, so I'm set to go.

I look forward to hearing how things are aboard that beautiful ship!

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

If you’re a Day Trader, you’re certainly a gambler. 🙂

Only if you close your eyes while you're working. 😉

I’m sitting at the Pappasitos at Houston Hobby airport, some lovely chicken quesadillas and a Bloody Mary within reach.  The Bloody Mary is for luck, of course.  Don’t dare start a trip without one.  That’s disaster waiting to happen.  With any luck, I’ll be on the ground in Fort Lauderdale in a few hours.  With a little more luck, I’ll be at the hotel with all my luggage shortly thereafter.  I hope it’s not too much to ask that I’ll have been aboard Millennium for a good couple or few hours or so come this time tomorrow.  That’s the plan.

This will be my second solo cruise, and I’m looking forward to it.  The last one (Summit 10-4) could not have gone better except for some rough news that came from home while on board (here’s hoping nothing like what that news was about happens this time).  Having read others’ accounts from Millennium, I have every reason to believe that this will be a marvelous time.

This also happens to be my shortest cruise.  Other than that Summit sailing and one aboard the Splendor of the Seas some 15 years ago (both 5-nighters), I’ve never gone less than 7 nights on board at a sitting.  Even though there are some very good and fun reasons for it, I won’t lie and say that I hesitated for a few moments before booking this one.  I often felt like I was only getting warmed up on a cruise until around day 3 or 4. By then, it’ll be time to pack for home!  I’m not at all concerned, though.  With two Summit cruises in the last few months, a lot of other time on the road in between those sailings, and plenty of sea time to come over the next year, this short jaunt turns out to be a better idea than I had originally thought.  In fact, it feels just right.

I’m neither as thorough nor as dedicated as some of those other reporters are, but I’ll see what I can do to let y’all know what’s going on around the ship, and I’ll answer what questions I can as I can.

All I need know is some smooth seas and some smoother seas, and the rest will just fall into place.  I got my Bloody Mary, so I’m not worried about all that.

Cheers, y’all!  I might check back in tonight or tomorrow morning, but don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from me until again until I’m out on the balcony in my room on Millennium.

Cheers!

7 minutes ago, davekathy said:

The last thing we want is stressing over making a flight after enjoying a great cruise.

I agree.  While I never relish the idea of killing hours in an airport, I prefer it a great deal over worrying about making a flight.

10 hours ago, Heymarco said:

There are services to get your passport renewed in a few days for a fee. Basically you overnight it to a firm in Washington, they have someone stand in line on your behalf and have a new one made on the spot, and then they overnight it back to you. Google it, generally costs about $200 - $250.

You can do that locally in some cities, as well, without shipping to DC.  Whether you want to hire an outfit to stand in line for you or do it yourself is up to you.

I also think you would be fine, and I also do not recall anything that marked the promotional chips as being from the particular sailing.  This was about a month ago on Summit.

I also agree that it is an easy thing to ask when drawing the chips, just to be sure.

I'm in a similar situation for my Millennium sailing tomorrow.  Roughly $1200 OBC to spend over 4 nights after already booking a spa appointment for each day and a snorkeling trip in Cozumel.  I expect to be drawing some chips!

Now, if only I also were on a B2B . . . .

Go to the "Already Booked" (upcoming cruises) area of the website, click on "Manage Reservation," click on "Before You Board" (over to the right), and look down a little ways.  There should be a button to mail luggage tags at the bottom of all the stuff about luggage tags.  That should work and avoid a phone call.

2 hours ago, breadandbutter said:

The issue is that we have been charged port fees, and are not going into port on some days. Celebrity has made money off of this unless they refund us.

Any net reduction in total port fees will be refunded to your payment method (rather than OBC).  I believe what at least some are discussing is additional OBC or compensation beyond that.

Just as an aside, in the age of drink packages and high fuel costs, Celebrity most likely loses money on changing to sea days.  They'd much rather sit in port and collect their cut of the excursion costs while passengers were off the ship not drinking on their package.

From what I've seen of and heard about the E-class cabanas, I wouldn't want one even if the Retreat Sundeck were not an option. The term "cabana" is an absurd one.  They aren't much more "cabana" as is a sidewalk table.

Save your money and frustration.

44 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Rude people.  I can be pretty direct if I want to be.  Not sure if I would say something or just turn to the person next to me.  Anyone deal with this successfully?

A bit of grace comes in handy, here. At something like a Chef's Table when the speaker was speaking, I might go with a polite "excuse me" and redirect my attention to the speaker.  At some other dinner, I might do the same and ask a waiter or sommelier or DW a question and then quickly change the subject or just eat. All the while, I avoid deepening the engagement with much in the way of conversation.

I'll do my best to avoid offending the person, but that sometimes is a fool's errand.

10 hours ago, TomBeckCruise said:

I looked at Celebrity Air for a flight home from Boston to Nashville on 9-11-2022. The Canada/NE cruise begins and ends in Boston.  I was surprised to find that the earliest  flight offered by X was at 1 p.m.  The ship is scheduled to dock at 7 a. M. 

 

Anyone have experience ending a cruise in Boston and flying from there?  How early can one typically fly?

1 PM isn't really late.  As noted, the rule of thumb is not to book before noon. Scheduled to dock at 7 doesn't mean you'll dock at 7--could be later for any number of reasons.  Docking at 7 does not mean that you'll be off the ship at 7 (probably getting off between 7:30-8:30, though).  You'll have to go through immigration, and I don't know how that's currently handled at the Boston terminal.  Then, you have to get to the airport (which isn't a big deal in Boston) and through security and all that (which may or may not be a big deal at Logan on September 11).

There are some exceptions where the airport is a stone's throw from the terminal and immigration is all done with facial recognition (such as Fort Lauderdale and Miami), but I'd still be a at least a little concerned about booking much earlier than 11 just because of all the things that can happen.

And, yes, then there's what flights are available in the first place.  I recently got off a cruise in Miami but didn't fly out until around noon because that was the first non-stop flight and the earlier flights didn't get in significantly earlier (or got in significantly later).  I have a similar situation soon when I fly home from Fort Lauderdale (flight is at 2 because earlier choices are way too early or don't make sense). 

It is what it is. 

I highly advise getting the eMed (proctored) tests to take at home either as your primary choice or backup.  They are very easy to do.

You can order packs of 2 or 3 at https://store.optum.com/celebrity-cruises/ or you can order a 6-pack from emed.com

3 minutes ago, CruisnDeb said:

Are the Daily Planners being left in your stateroom or do you have to go to Guest Services to get one?  I thought I read everything was going digital and they wouldn't leave paper copies each night anymore.

I received them on my July and October sailings, and we sure are seeing plenty of photos of them.

I'll just chime in and reiterate how simple this test is.  I logged in to my eMed account right about 38 minutes ago to take the test, and I already have my results printed out and ready to go.

5 minutes ago, scag said:

Can't quite figure out if Tampa and KW are both in FL......why can we be "on shore" in Tampa, but not KW.??  They are connected by land (bridges).....

Key West has closed itself to cruise ships for some time now.

9 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

Without prejudice , or, maybe a little--

LOL--- Any thought of WHY others were not having a good time ??

           Any thought of WHY some folks, like us, prefer to sit by themselves --- just in case ??

 

 

 

 

We were aware, but at couldn't help ourselves. We weren't trying to annoy anyone, but you may as well have asked the wind not to blow. It was one of those wild and wonderful times when six persons from all over come together, and laughter built upon laughter.  

I'll add that we were not using inappropriate language or speaking about inappropriate subjects. 

This was a Silversea ship that could seat every guest in The Restaurant had they showed up at the same time (Silver Shadow, I believe). It was an enormous dining room that never was more than half full, and we always were some of the first in there. We didn't even try to sit together, but the Maitre d' would ask every time we arrived, and he'd reunite us at the same table night after night. He certainly seemed to have no issue, so I have some comfort that we were not out of line. We always sat at the same table, and it was not a prime table by any means. Again, I don't mean to be callous, but no one had any reason to sit near us unless they just wanted to enjoy or be offended by our laughter. 

We've had some fantastic tables in the past, including when we met some friends that we still have after 15 years. 

That said, we've moved away from traditional assigned dining. That's mostly because the typical assigned times aren't to our liking. However, there's been the benefit of not getting that table with that guest (or guests) that you dread seeing again. 

We've made acquaintances on board and then made dinner plans with them. We've also been asked to dinner and either accepted or made excuses. On my last cruise, I was solo, and some wonderful folks invited me to join their table. 

I do miss those fun tables where we all would enjoy each other's stories about that day and what-not, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't prefer how things are today.