nijh

We’re doing one in November from Lisbon to Port Canaveral.  One way to Lisbon £93 on TAP.  Looking at Virgin from Orlando back to MAN at around £800.  Seems ok to me.  Booking all via airline’s own sites.

Celebrity flights did not include a luggage allowance when I looked, seemed you needed to add that as an extra direct with airline, they were also dearer.

On 4/11/2024 at 9:42 AM, scouse mouse said:

I’ve just checked the price - it’s £9.27 (35%) to upgrade from classic to premium.

Thank you, just upgraded 😀👍

12 minutes ago, scouse mouse said:

Not sure of the % but we upgraded from classic to premium for £6.99 pppd.  Was a really good deal.  Keep your eyes open for deals.

That beats the £10pppd I see at the moment.  I’ll hang fire.

Just wondering what deals folks have got when upgrading from Classic to Premium drink package.

For our cruise I'm currently seeing a 25% discount, don't know whether to bite on that or see if better comes along, were still 8 months from sailing.

12 hours ago, hrhdhd said:

You have to be out of your cabin by 8 am on debarkation morning. The Elite lounge will give you a place to sit after that if you have a later luggage tag number.

On our last cruise it was 7.30!  Personally feel like this is a ‘thanks, now get off’ touch.  I remember when it used to be 8.30 and leisurely, but onboarding guests didn’t get their cabins until around 3pm.  Now  you can get them at 1.30 or before, but the debarkation morning is an early start and a miserable end to the holiday.

Wish they’d revert.

7 minutes ago, Mike981 said:

Thank you for your review, we sailed Milly over twenty years ago when she was still a youngen.

Few rust spots here and there, our balcony divider broke a supporting strut during some high winds and got really wobbly (we did a DIY fix on that to stop it banging), but basically still in really good shape.

Yep - Mumbai to Singapore was our route.

We did all ship tours, apart from when we chose to just walk the town or stay onboard (Hambantota).  Just wanted an easy cruise TBH.

Please do not take the ship tour to Yala, it is incredibly overpriced.  A Sri Lankan friend of mine choked on his lunch when I told him how much X were charging.  Follow Strongbox’s advice and get a 3rd party tour.

Speciality dining.  Got approached a couple of times.  Second time I just said it was too expensive, and how much it used to be, and we could always get good discounts.  Guy dropped it to 2 for 1  without a thought.  Didn’t take him up on it though, to my mind just not worth it given the quality in the MDR.

7 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

Nice. Did you enjoy the ports??

Ports were great.  Tuk-tuk drivers in Colombo were an absolute nightmare though.  They followed us for a kilometre and more trying to get us to take a tour when we just wanted a walk!

Disembarked in Singapore on Monday.

Most things back to how I remember X 10 years ago.  Food was excellent in MDR, all buffet stations open as appropriate in Oceanview.  Bars and waiters appeared fully staffed, no rushing around.  Chocolates on pillows.

Didn’t see any welcome onboard ‘champagne’ and the appetisers and starters still appear as one menu item, not every night had a hot soup option.

Other than those minor changes the experience was fantastic and as good as I ever remember it.

Shame we might now be priced out of going again 🤣

On 1/1/2024 at 5:12 AM, nijh said:

Reply from Special Needs to me a few weeks ago:

 

Regarding your CPAP inquiry, please be advised that we will provide you with the distilled water and an extension cord, at no extra cost. These items will be placed in your stateroom during the first day of sailing.
 

Quoting myself cos they didn’t do either 😆

Quickly sorted on board though.

Having said that they were going in the other direction, and that has 3 days in Sri Lanka.  So no idea🫤

31 minutes ago, Kymmy999 said:

Thanks for the update. We read it that we need a multi entry visa for Sri Lanka so have applied for and received that. However, there was a cost. 
 

Read it the same as you.  I got a Transit visa back in 2020, but that cruise was cancelled so never got to test it.  I read it both ways, then and now, on official and unofficial sites, so decided to just spend the $50.

This post seems to confirm a full visa, might be worth confirming what their experience was.

52 minutes ago, janetz said:

Thank you

Special needs told us we need to bring one 

I was just wondering about length 

 

Reply from Special Needs to me a few weeks ago:

Regarding your CPAP inquiry, please be advised that we will provide you with the distilled water and an extension cord, at no extra cost. These items will be placed in your stateroom during the first day of sailing.
 

That’s going to be fun on our upcoming Sri Lanka and Malaysia cruise that ends in Singapore 😭

2 hours ago, RedIguana said:

End of May 2023 my wife and I took the train up (Fraser), and then the bus up to Carcross, Caribou Crossing, and a stop at Emerald Lake. Then the bus back down. Lunch at Caribou Crossing was barbecue chicken (I think vegetarian option was available) doughnuts, corn, bread, baked potato, and a few other things. It was quite edible for buffet style excursion food, doughnuts were Canadian style (I think) and fresh fried and still warm. They have sled dogs and the option to get pulled by the dogs on training cars (extra$). They also have rescue puppies you can play with. Pretty neat little museum there also (was included for us, as was lunch). We had a wonderful guide and driver, stopped quite a bit for photo ops. Scenery on the way back was worth it, as a little different view in some areas, and we even saw a bear from the bus. We may have even enjoyed the extended bus trip more than the train, which is unusual for me to compliment a large bus type excursion. You will need a passport if doing this though, as you do cross into Canada. I assume passport cards would also be acceptable, but I would verify this and not rely on my assumption. This was a Princess excursion, but from what I have seen the other cruise lines have the same excursion using the same companies.

 

Did the same trip at the end of August this year,  except bus up and train down.

Fantastic excursion, even at the c.$260 Princess charged.  Scenery on the bus was outstanding, riding on the outside platform of the train carriage exhilarating.

4 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Expectation vs reality as they do NOT have enough extension cords on board

 

 

That was shoreside concierge, not Special Needs using the request form.  Never had an issue when requested through any cruise line special needs department, well apart from Costa who wanted to charge us for the water…..

For the cpap - tell Celebrity Special Needs you’re bringing one and they will provide the power strip.  Just takes emailing a form to them.

1 hour ago, micruiser2002 said:

Is it possible they just didn't get them back from the hotel when they were checking in?

Used to be quite common for a hotel in Europe to hang on to a passport for 24 hours after checking in, shouldn’t be a requirement these days but definitely worth checking.

22 minutes ago, Grambler said:

….most notably in their beef/steak quality.The big teller is sauce on everything.

On Princess now.  100% agree with that!

Stopped ordering any of the beef dishes as the texture is peculiar and the taste non-existent.
 

Had a steak arrive smothered in gravy when it should have been just a garlic butter.  They said the garlic butter was mixed in with the gravy 🤔. Sent it back to get it as described, when it came back I understood the gravy smothering. 🥴👎

Line depends when your ship docks.

We went on the tram, no queue.  Came back down 90 mins later, fair size queue,

Update (from Crooners 😊)

They left the lodge at 8.30am, expecting to be on the ship for around 6pm.  They got here at 1am (by replacement train) and by the time they were at their stateroom (security etc) it was about 2.45am. 
 

They were stationary at the mudslide for about 6 hours.

As above, it was in Denali area, no info as to where.  Definitely not between Anchorage and Whittier.

Exhausted as in they arrived 6 hours later than they expected, missing their first evening etc and allthe associated stress Never thought they’d be digging - unless Princess could monetise shovelling mud into a Railroad Experience 😊

I was under the impression the railroad was blocked and they were being bussed down, hence my thoughts on the tunnel.  I wasn’t aware the railroad owned the tunnel so thanks for that info 👍

Just on Grand Princess in Whittier.  Been told a mudslide has delayed some train passengers, presumably from Denali.

Passengers not now due until 11.30, ship is of course waiting but we will miss Hubbard tomorrow, disappointing for us onboard but a heck of a relief for the folks on that train who will no doubt be exhausted when they get here.

Presumably they will need someone operating the tunnel too, as the last passage through is 10.30.