Happy Cruiser 6143

Really, Newark is a zoo? I fly Jet Blue in and out of Newark. I'm met by a smiling person at the door inquiring if I need any assistance. Last spring I needed a wheelchair. It was immediately forthcoming. I've never encountered that in any other airport anywhere. You want to see a nasty airport, try Salt Lake City. You too can replicate the Bataan Death March to Terminal C. They have decided to fix it by building yet another long tunnel--Bataan Death March II. Ah, but the new one will have art. No carts or wheelchairs, but art. Spare me. The people in charge there are idiots. I would never darken their door again, but unfortunately, my grandchildren live just north of SLC.

Loved the red picnic tables on the sidewalks. More cities need to provide places for weary tourists to sit for a bit.

Ugly story. One hopes the maitre d' will have security remove the customer permanently if it happens again. The crew certainly does not need to be exposed to this. Nor should the diners be exposed to this. I would have told the maitre d' that I didn't feel safe dining in the same room as this man.

As far as I know, the only secret handshake is to book an upper level suite. Or to pay for pressing.

My experience with royal suites and the penthouse is on M class ships. You get a LOT more space in the PH! And I love that kitchen with a real refrigerator. Service has been the same in both, that all depends on the butler you get. I've seen both RS and PH on S class, but have never stayed in them. Did not care for the balcony that came with the PH. I generally travel solo; I only do the PH when I have someone to share the cabin with.

Got the monogrammed PJs on Summit in the spring in the PH. Robes were not on offer. I would have had two by now if all my Covid cruises hadn't been canceled.

Well, not the good pens, but whatever. You can still get stationery and envelopes at Guest Relations.

Glad to hear you've finally connected. Both your threads have been wonderful!

Re the mug shots--more than the maitre d's have them. Once upon a time while in a PH, I just wanted some stationery & envelopes to write notes of appreciation. Didn't want to bother the butler to bring them. Went to guest relations to get them. Not a long line, so no big deal. Someone behind the desk whisked out, pulled me out of line, and wanted to know what I needed. It was embarrassing. It would be nice if they would just stock that stuff in the suites. Back in the dark ages when I started cruising, there was personalized stationery in ordinary concierge class cabins.

I've had non-alcoholic pomegranate mojitos. They also have non-alcoholic wine and champagne.

Not sure about Celebrity Air, but I suspect you need to check in with the appropriate airline. Cruises from San Juan depart from the PanAm Pier, not Old San Juan. The only time I sailed from San Juan, I believe we were on board by noon, but I couldn't swear to it. That was pre-pandemic.

Does this mean that is we choose not to get off the ship in Bermuda we do not have to pay their $40 fee? Previously, it was required in order to even board the ship. Life would be so much simpler if Celebrity would just skip Bermuda!

Well, I get charged for two sets of basic gratuities, so they had better be giving all that to the cabin attendants. Solos have to pay for two sets of gratuities, two internet packages, and two drink packages. And I am a generous tipper on top of that.

Long ago I had a lovely woman cabin attendant who caught onto that trick right away. In a lowly CC cabin. Haven't had that since then, so I just untuck everything every night. And if my cabin attendants don't figure it out on their own, I let them know that since I'm paying for two people in the cabin, I expect at least two pillow chocolates at night. My last wonderful cabin attendant who will soon be a butler I believe left me a ton after I left his tip on the bed the last night.

Gah! I suppose that means he will still be on board when we cruise in October. We had a terrible retreat concierge once upon a time and all sent in bad reviews. Next thing we knew, he had been promoted to Retreat Manager. Go figure.

As far as I know, the only ones who got refunded were the people whose credit cards did the right thing and had their back. Unfortunately, when I found out the tour company didn't take AmEx, I grabbed my Capital One card. Big mistake. Needless to say, I don't do business with them anymore either, and I withdrew the $100,000 I had on deposit in their bank.

Well, I hope they're enjoying all the ill-gotten gains from all of us who booked tours with them in 2020, had to pay in full in advance, and then they declared bankruptcy and we were out hundreds of dollars. I would never book with them again.

And that would be why I didn't re-book this itinerary. I was booked in 2020 and 2021 when it was 14 nights over and 14 nights back. Plenty of time in Reykjavik. Didn't care for this itinerary.

Nope, unfortunately solo cruisers are not eligible for the double-point cruise promotions. You will get double points for sailing solo but that's it. Actually, if you're not paying a single supplement, I don't think you're eligible for double points.

I used to get the PUP e-mails and then they mysteriously stopped, so I'm grateful to the folks who post the links here. It's not like they don't have my e-mail--I get zillions of marketing e-mails from them all the time.

Two days before arrival won't solve the problem for our repo from Boston - Miami. We can't get to Bermuda in two days from Boston. I suspect that Celebrity will simply cancel that port. I can promise you they won't want to test everyone on board. On the spring repo, they completely rearranged the itinerary to get to Bermuda in two days to avoid all that nonsense.

I wish they would! This is all nonsense and a cash cow for Bermuda. They already got $40 out of me this year and now they want another $40? My response is that I do not get off the ship in Bermuda and will not spend so much as a penny there.

I second this. Since you're new to Celebrity, I would dine a few nights in Luminae before you rush to book specialty restaurants. In my experience, dining in Luminae is just as good and many times better than the specialty restaurants and dining in Luminae is included in your fare. I only dine in specialties when I'm on long cruises and the price is included in the price of my upper suite.

Love the contrast of the two little girls on bicycles in sleeveless shirts and Iain in a down jacket!

I do both. I tip extra and provide positive reviews. I am fortunate to be able to cruise and to have these lovely people working so hard to make my cruise a pleasant experience. I choose to share the wealth. I factor in extra tips as part of the cruise cost.