kleibo

14 hours ago, perkydebrajean said:

 What did you think of the porthole room? We are looking at booking the Ascent next year and are considering the port hole room since I wake up before the others and would like to sit on the balcony and read.

I had porthole veranda 7123 on the Beyond for a 10 day Southern Caribbean.  Really perfect.  Just going to put in more steps each day being so forward or aft.

5 minutes ago, Shep_Proudfoot said:

Thanks for this. Do you know, is this the only way to get a true balcony on E class without booking a suite? What is the cabin category called?

 

I am loathe to try IV as I pretty much know I’d hate it, but really want to try a newer ship without Retreat-level gouging. This might be the only way.

It is a Deluxe Porthole View with Veranda.  You can also get a Sunset Veranda which are the balconies on the aft of the ship.

We just got off the Beyond on Monday after a 10 day Southern Caribbean cruise.  Absolutely fantastic.  We stayed in a Porthole Veranda - 7123.  It was perfect for us. And yes, you can turn the chairs front to back.  🙂  

The shows are really unbelievable - excellent talent.  The MDR are very good, I just wish there was more selection.  All the MDR's serve the same food except each one has three apps and three entrees that are different each night.  I thought there should be more to choose from.  I thought all the food was good, but we had the best in Le Petit Chef.  Delicious, even better than the Steakhouse.  We also ate at the Rooftop grill which was also very good.  Drinks were good throughout the ship.  It never really felt crowded to us, you just needed to get to the shows early for a seat.  I did think the shows at Eden were too late starting at 10:45.  And yes, there were pool deck chair hogs and it did not seem like Celebrity staff were doing any sort of monitoring it it.  But, I would absolutely book the Beyond again in a minute.

Chip. - what time did you arrive at the Hilton.   We are going next month and our ship arrives at 7am.  Do you know when you can access the facilities at the Hilton   Thanks 

Hello all (first time on Celebrity) - I checked in on my desktop with pics and all.  Is there anything I need to do on the app on my phone before I arrive at the terminal.  Do I have to go into the app and watch a muster / safety video prior to boarding?  

Also - do I have to reserve entertainment prior to boarding or as soon as I board?

Thanks..

15 hours ago, Mr. Click said:

Check out Albergo dela Senato.  Very nice hotel right on the Pantheon Square so it is easy walking distance to most of the other sites other than the Vatican.  We have stayed there in the past and loved it. Great staff, good included breakfast.  Rome Cabs (romecabs.com) is great for getting from the port to the city. They are always on time, always smiling and waiting. Check out your roll call and  make your own group for that transit, it saves money and time.

We also stayed at the Albergo Del Senato.  It was a perfect location.  There are also cabs right next to the Pantheon that are always there to jump into.

3 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Here it is!  Soooo excited!!

Sun DOVER (LONDON), ENGLAND   5:00 PM

Mon FUN DAY AT SEA

Tue COPENHAGEN, DENMARK 9:00 AM 6:00 PM

Wed KIEL (HAMBURG), GERMANY 9:00 AM 6:00 PM

Thu WARNEMUNDE (BERLIN), GERMANY 7:30 AM 11:00 PM

Fri FUN DAY AT SEA

Sat TALLINN, ESTONIA 9:00 AM 6:00 PM

Sun HELSINKI, FINLAND 7:00 AM 4:00 PM

Mon NYNASHAMN (STOCKHOLM), SWEDEN 8:00 AM 5:00 PM

Tue FUN DAY AT SEA

Wed FUN DAY AT SEA

Thu AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS 8:00 AM 5:00 PM

Fri DOVER (LONDON), ENGLAND 5:00 AM

NIIICE trip Ninja - we are going on a different line and doing France, Spain & Portugal in 2025.  Can't wait.

I've been on the Pride numerous times and have always had Frankie -  BOOP!!  lol.

Frankie is on vacation now.  Who is the current director?  Any good?   Thanks.

11 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

🤣🤣I agree!! And we don’t have to cook or clean up after Thanksgiving😁glad you are coming along on my “quickie” pe4all!

I host Thanksgiving every year.  This year we have a total of 25.   I will be exhausted and looking forward to your posts.  🙂

Yes - you both deserve a break after Italy / Greece.  Enjoy. I head out of Tampa in January.  Friends cruise - 5 couples.

Excellent live review Ninja - I enjoyed all your escapades  LOL    Can't wait till your next review.  It's always helpful for newcomers and experienced cruisers as well.

3 minutes ago, maluhia87 said:

We've done both, and I recommend it as a land trip.  It gave us time to explore without needing to rush every day to see everything.  We rented a car and drove from Venice > Florence/Pisa > Rome > Pompeii/Amalfi > eastern coastline > Venice.  We spent our last few days in Venice but ditched the car at the airport.  

How long was the trip?

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

And is it warranted ? In my opinion, no. I think it’s mob mentality which doesn’t speak to the quality of the product. 

Ninja - are you flying home tomorrow or extending your stay?

2 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

It was fine but not worth all the trouble. A Michelin star? Hmmmm, ok. We paid and found an ATM. Look at the crowds now. 

Wow - that's nuts!!

4 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

With our excursion changed and we decided to cancel, we are taking this last full morning slowly.

We weren't impressed with our Amalfi Coast tour due to the insane amount of traffic and tourists.  Taormina does it right - for the most part, no cars where you are shopping and eating.  Enjoy your leisurely day in Naples!!

We did a similar tour but did Taormina and Castelmola.  There is the famous bar there - lol.  See pic.  https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g945966-d1373874-r166258756-Bar_Turrisi-Castelmola_Province_of_Messina_Sicily.html   and the Church in the Rock  https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187892-d8059877-r681231069-Chiesa_Madonna_della_Rocca-Taormina_Province_of_Messina_Sicily.html   So very cool.  Best pics of Taormina.  

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

Tons of little alleys with shops, cafes, etc. So charming !! Stopped at a cafe for pizza and wine. 

Absolutely love Toarmina!!!

28 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Sang Santa Lucia with our young church attendant 😁

IMG_6626.mov 28.32 MB · 1 download  

 

Perfect!!!

17 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

A little mousaka was delish !!

Looks Delish!!  Nice just to take a day and not really have a plan!!!

22 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

It was a great day!! Glad you are getting some info that will help your trip👍😁

That was an extremely well planned and relatively inexpensive day in Athens.  Great planning.  I am a history buff and had to have an official guide with us for the Acropolis and then we did the Acropolis Museum and the sites in town.  It was a private tour for the whole day with a dedicated driver and official guide.  Expensive but worth it.   

Your day looked so enjoyable.  Ok for tomorrow - who's running the track at Olympia if you are going.  LOL

2 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Some more pics of Klepsidra Cafe!

Looks like a perfect day so far.  Enjoy!!

59 minutes ago, maluhia87 said:

We did the ship version of Oia, Winery, and Thira.  We stopped at the winery first and had as much wine to drink as we wanted, along with snacks.  In Oia, the guide walked us into the square and then let people wander, we just had to meet back at the bus by a certain time.  In Thira, we were given cable car tickets and set free for the afternoon.  The line for the cable car became quite long, and I think we waited 1 1/2-2 hours to get back to the ship.  There was an NCL ship in port with us that day and it sailed late because of the line.  I think Carnival might have sailed late also, but not as late as NCL.  

Santorini is definitely a place I would never visit again as a cruise stop because of the issues from that day. 

That's the exact excursion people missed with boat with on my cruise.  They were dropped back in Thira at 2:30.  And the line was 21/2 to 3 hours then.  Many had to walk down the steps.  Over 20 people injured.  A few missed the ship.

Glad you made it back!!

2 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Good questions! We arrived at the Old Port at 9:15. The representative from Sandra didn’t arrive till 10:10. Mob mentality was evident and we all tried to do our best without any information. That was the worst, besides told to wait in the most congested area. Oia was 90 minutes of trying to find the picture areas. I think the guide (new person, not the name taker at the port) should have walked us up. Instead we were told where to go. Yeah, no.

Fira was 60 minutes. The guide walked us up to the church for a photo op, said if you need something else let me know. And disappeared.

Santo Winery was beautiful. 30 minutes there.

Then the driver got us back down to the New Port where we got a shuttle direct to the ship, which wasn’t part of the itinerary.

Is it worth it to bypass the cable car or donkey path. Probably, but it could be run so much more efficiently. 

 

Have you talked to any other passengers  - Do you know how long the cable car wait was coming back.  Did anyone miss the ship - they did on our cruise, but we did have four ships in port that day.

3 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

The company needs some organizing. We all made it back onboard 👏🏻👏🏻

Honestly there is just stress in Santorini when on a cruise.  Not enough time on the island and the cable cars, steps and donkeys are just terrible.  I'll take Mykonos over Santorini any day.

55 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

We have fun wherever we go but the excursion wasn’t well coordinated from the beginning and just stumbled along. Our guide has said we will be water shuttled directly to the ship. I hope so🤞

Let us know how it all works out and how everyone else made out.  It really was horrible for a lot of people on our cruise.  I hope everyone makes it back on board in time!!!