Agr8RN

Why not Wednesday nights for ROA? Is it because of the Harbour Nites in Hamilton? Those end at the start of September and we are sailing after that.

Yes, if Harbor Nites is done - then it's fine for ROA. :)

Amanda

You're not Living, if you're not cruising!

Upcoming cruises:

Celebrity Reflection - 11/15/14 nursing cruise seminar

Great review. I sailed may 11 and it was awesome. Loved the ship and I agree - Julie was a great cruise director.

Amanda

You're not Living, if you're not cruising!

Upcoming cruises:

Celebrity Reflection - 11/15/14 nursing cruise seminar

We consider NOT having to prepay for booked excursions a Princess perk! I hope they don't change it, but thanks to the OP for the head's up!

I agree. This is one of the things I like about princess.

Amanda

You're not Living, if you're not cruising.

Upcoming cruises:

Celebrity Summit - 6/29/14

Celebrity Reflection - 11/15/14 nursing cruise seminar

I didn't feel this ship really nickel and dimed any more than any of the other cruiselines.

They did have the cirque dinner show that was a charge - but I was happy to skip it since there was a plethora of other free entertainment.

Amanda

You're not Living, if you're not cruising.

Upcoming cruises:

Celebrity Summit - 6/29/14

Celebrity Reflection - 11/15/14 nursing cruise seminar

My only other advice would be - avoid the long 5 hr 'bus tours' offered. They are too long and it's the island bus drivers doing the tour - ours was ok, but half of the tour was union propaganda and it got very annoying. Pretty much half of Bermuda is unionized.

Have fun. You will love this ship. I certainly did.

Beds were very Comfy - we were in a balcony.

Amanda

You're not Living, if you're not cruising.

Upcoming cruises:

Celebrity Summit - 6/29/14

Celebrity Reflection - 11/15/14 nursing cruise seminar

Sailed on the Breakaway 5/11 - loved it! Awesome ship.

- book dining online now - Savor and Taste have the same menu and are contemporary casual; Manhattan dining room more upscale - has live music and dance floor; slightly different menu here.

- Rock of Ages was great - book online ahead of time (but not Weds nite!)

- Bermuda - Wednesday nite - take the ferry to Hamilton for Harbor Nites festival. It's from 7-10pm weds only. It's a nice little street fair on Front St with music, food, dancing and locals selling things. Lots of fun. They run the ferries until 10:30pm that night.

- if you like boat tours - I recommend the Famous Homes and hideaways cruise - you can book online ahead of time or at the Island Tour Centre in the dockyard. Tammy and Captain Jamie are great - lots of Bermuda history.

I definitely recommend Angel the singer in the Maltings bar - he's really great. Does everything from America, Eagles, simon and Garfunkel etc. he's really good.

There's a male/female duo as well that is really great - they cover all sorts of music and also do a tribute one nite to Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand. Get there early if you want a seat!

Piano bar was great - only made it there once - make sure you get there (venue doubles as comedy club)

For the fireworks on the 80s party - you can see them on deck 8 port side. It was pretty nice. We sat outside by the martini bar and had a great view.

Food was good; lobster nite is served in the buffet. Also prime rib night was served in the Irish pub a few times during the week and then the last nite in the dining room (Manhattan).

Amanda

You're not Living, if you're not cruising.

Upcoming cruises:

Celebrity Summit - 6/29/14

Celebrity Reflection - 11/15/14 nursing cruise seminar

I sailed on the splendor last January and it was one of my best cruises ever. Great food, great entertainment and live music and great service overall. Definitely recommend.

Amanda

You're not Living, if you're not cruising.

Upcoming cruises:

Celebrity Summit - 6/29/14

Celebrity Reflection - 11/15/14 nursing cruise seminar

I've gotten 'free' cruises before where I've paid small amounts or just taxes and fees. Never in a million years would I be declaring the discounted portion of the cruise on my taxes as income. lol, Smh.

I paid a price for the cruise, if they discounted it - it's not income to me - it's a tax write off for them since they discount it for me.

See some crazy stuff here lol.

When I mentioned the taxes /fees on the 1st page - I was referring to port charges, etc.

sorry of others took it in another direction.

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oh! :eek:

 

deals looks a little better now

 

 

 

 

 

the info I received the from the casino is inside cabin. upgrade to balcony is $300.

Gotcha. Well - it is a great ship if you've not been on that class of ship.

I'm close to the pier so for me it would be a no brainer - but if you have to fly, etc. I can see the hesitation.

300 seems a little hi for port charges to Florida / Bahamas - does the price include gratuities?

Good luck.

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Breakway is a great ship. And - most likely they won't put you in an inside - which is what the low price was for I'm sure. I had friends who got a free gambling cruise and they were put in a balcony.

I sailed on the may 11 sailing to Bermuda and really liked the ship.

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That flyer is from 9/2013, this all changed in Feb 2014.

Yeah - just noticed the date. Lol. Oops. Should have proofread.

When I log into my 2 reservations I see the higher price. Luckily I have the bev package on my fall cruise; couldn't get it on my upcoming cruise on the summit which kinda sucks - but I got a great rate so can't complain.

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The beverage package price is the same whether you buy on line or on the ship. There was a time buying online was less expensive but that is no longer the case.

 

 

 

As for discounts, before the start of the 1,2,3 or Pick Your Perk promo's there were occasionally 10% discounts but I haven't seen that in a couple of years.

http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/en_US/pdf/celebrity-cruises-beverage-packages-price-flyer.pdf

The price is higher if you book Onboard.

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I think I just read recently that packages purchased online ahead of time would be discounted and the price would be higher if you waited to purchase Onboard.

There's a whole thread on beverage packages on the celebrity threads.

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It's very nice that you are helping your sister to get away.

Just ignore those who say if you can't afford a passport - you can't afford to cruise. Some people save for years just to take a vacation - I think many of us are spoiled to go multiple times a year and we forget a cruise might be a once in a lifetime vacation they've saved a long time for; adding 600 for passports just might be something they can't afford on top of the vacation.

You got your answer - but just make sure if your sister is traveling with her birth certificate - if her current name doesn't match the name on the BC - she must bring all supporting paperwork to show transition of the name change - so marriage certificate / divorce papers etc.

Have fun!!!

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We were on the Oasis in February. No smoking on balconies, but there were smoking sections on the pool deck and the casino. The smoke odor in the casino was everywhere. Celebrity is now my cruise line of choice.

 

 

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Cool. Now I can actually go to the casino! I've only been on celebrity once (solstice Alaska last year) and I generally avoid the casinos for that reason so I guess I didn't even notice.

Going On the summit in 2 weeks though.

Thanks for the info.

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I thought RCCL and X basically had the same smoking policies? No smoking on balconies and only a few designated areas?

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You don't need reservations for the welcome aboard or the crew talent show.

I was on the 5/11 sailing and I never go to crew talent shows - but this ship has some serious talent, definitely recommend it.

If you like classic rock - definitely check out Angel - he's usually in the Maltings Bar/lounge.

He's really good - does stuff like America, the eagles, simon and Garfunkel, etc. he was really, really good. We went to see him most nights. He's the first entertainer I've ever tipped at the end of a cruise because I enjoyed him so much.

ROA was great - although the audience was a dud and refused to participate.

Burn the floor was ok; it seemed too long for me. Typical cruise dance show IMO.

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It seems like you did not get my point, when the dockworker untied the last line, he was suppose to stay at the dolphin and get retrived AFTHER the ship had cleard the 50 meter safty zone! and yes, been to st. kittis many times

 

as a fellow docker, it´s tragic........ it seems to me to be poor training, poor equipment and bad judgement. (i´m also one of the ones in charge of safty and security at my harbours)

Well that does make sense now that you clarified a bit.

If they don't follow safe procedures I would think the cruise line would make a stink about it as it increases their liability.

Sad however you look at it, regardless.

and by the way, i am a dockworker, i know

You don't know what you are talking about. Do you live and work in St kitts?

Do you know anything about the pier? The process? The setup? If you did - you would realize your statements are ignorant.

The pylons must be reached by boat in order to remove the mooring lines.

Did you expect the dockworker to play leapfrog to get to them.

Honestly.

While Onboard - we were advised by a staff member that not all harbors send a pilot Onboard.

They also stated there was not one Onboard the day of the incident in St kitts.

@ alreadypacked - I couldn't tell - I didn't think they all did - but I didn't have my glasses on and my video is small to see too many details on my phone (just got back so not downloaded yet)

I sure hope they would have them on. :)

@ whitshell we did continue pulling out, stop and then deployed the life boat. The ship was stopped when it was deployed and it was what seemed like at least 10 minutes from the time of the incident that the boat was launched. I know these things take time; celebrity were the ones who really took forever and they were docked where we had to stop.

I actually checked my video time stamp and it says 504pm they began launching the boat. Sometimes it seems like forever in an emergency - I don't know if we left on time or early. Idk and couldn't / wouldn't try to attest to any exact times. I also know a lot of people also reported not hearing the horn blow as we left; I don't recall hearing it but couldn't swear to it.

Once all the videos surface in the next couple of days - then we will all have a better idea of how this all went so terribly wrong...

@ familygoboston - that looks much like the boat and actually it does look like the guy that the st kitts and Nevis observer posted. :( if it is - his family might like that picture - it's really nice.

Thank you for sharing the pictures.

asten77 - I'm sorry you had to see it. My friend saw it and is still pretty upset. She's a healthcare professional - but that doesn't make it any easier. I'm glad I did not witness it. Had we not had a late day excursion - we would have been on our balcony and would have seen it.

We were getting water and snacks in cafe promenade when the call came over.

:(

Just returned from IOTS - I did not witness the actual event - but my friend who I was traveling with saw the entire event from her balcony. I saw the event from the time Oscar was called.

Lots of speculation about what happened from ppl who weren't there and didn't see it.

Outcome is - 2 people died. It was very sad and my friend and a lot of people who witnessed 2 men die are very upset. No one ever wants to see something like that and to be helpless to do anything but wait for other ppl to help - which no one did immediately. Not even anyone on the pier.

Someone on IOTS didn't do their job IMO and didn't even see that they caused this event. It was passengers such as my friend making calls to alert them of the event.

I would think someone would need to be watching to know that the last rope was removed and they had the all clear to go. So, how they didn't see it is beyond me. (Again - not a mariner - just a regular person)

After we were already pulling out of port - it took a while for engines to be shut down and for us to stop and launch rescue - so to the person who made comments about the ship being right there - it wasn't still in the berthing area. (Maybe 1/4 mile or so out I'm guessing). Remember it is a cruise ship and takes a while to stop.) IMO if someone on the bridge would have been watching and they would have turned off the azipods, it might have made a difference, but who can say. I think the men were sucked under and didn't have much chance. (Just my guess, I'm not a mariner). It doesn't take much for someone to be sucked under and drown, especially if they were thrown and had a head injury or were knocked out.

So the report from my friend is:

The boat was removing the mooring lines from the pylons (someone else called them dolphins) there were 2 that had to be accessed by boat.

They did the 1st one and went to the 2nd one and the guy had to jump from the boat, climb a ladder on the pylon, remove the line & jump back on his boat.

As he stepped back onto his boat - he was standing near the windshield when IOTS fired up the azipods and created an unstable environment for the boat to be in (swirling, turbulent waters). The guy standing on the bow of the boat was thrown from the boat, the boat was catapulted into the Silhouette, where it flipped up and overturned.

3 Guests (NOT staff) on IOTS immediately deployed life rings. Unfortunately neither man resurfaced to be able to grab one.

IOTS deployed a rescue vessel within about 10 - 15 min of accident once boat stopped.

They were first in scene. Eventually a st kitts rescue boat with divers and police / coast guard boat joined in the search.

They kept searching for 2+ hours before bodies were recovered.

It took celebrity silhouette over 30 minutes after IOTS launched rescue to launch and join the effort.

Many guests Onboard told them to search near the pier area - one girl even had a good picture - and they continued searching with the current.

Eventually the poor men were found near the pier I believe.

It was quite a sad situation.

Had they been wearing proper life vests - maybe a different outcome, but who knows. Nobody wears life vests I'm noticing. When they launched the rescue from our ship - of the 3 men on the boat - I believe only 1 wore a life vest.

When the harbor masters departed our ship to the pilot boats in most ports - none of them wore a life vest either. How dangerous when jumping from boat to boat. So for anyone to blame the men for not having proper life vests would be moot.

I'm sure lots of videos will surface - there was a parade of motorcycles going back to the silhouette when this happened so I'm sure cameras were out.

I sure hope they do see some videos so they can figure out what happened and prevent it from happening again.

Prayers for their families in light of this tragic event.

Nurse George-

I will surely be watching your thread closely! What an exciting adventure you have embarked upon.

It's nice to know there is such commeraderie on the HAL ships amongst the medical staff.

Maybe someday... I can retire from my f/t job to a ship! Just need to brush up on the ACLS!

Enjoy! :)

Thanks for the tip on the site; will definitely have to go check it out! :)