YLTraveler

Here is a link to a great trip report that covers many of the ports that you will hit after you leave New York heading to Quebec City.  The cruiser was on the Celebrity Summit last fall.  I chimed in with several of our experiences since the Caribbean Princess  was basically following the Summit (port reports start on pg 2).  By the way we had a great cruise on the Caribbean Princess.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2698791-two-weeks-in-canada-new-england-on-the-revolutionized-summit-my-review-with-photos/

We started in Montreal.  We had a great tour booked through Tours by Locals.  We took the train to Quebec City where we boarded the Caribbean for an overnight stay.  Given the choice I would have spent several days in Quebec City.  The one day we had there we took informative walking tour booked through Viator (would recommend the tour).  Some passengers that had spent several night there, said that the gourmet walking tour was a blast. 

A couple of other recommendations based on our experiences:

Boston - We took HOHO intending to walk the freedom trail.  Not a good choice especially since we had been there before.  Better choice might have been to visit the JFK museum.

Halifax - booked the HOHO through Princess (had to spend OBC).  Booking included entrance to Citadel which was an impressive visit.  Followed up with waterfront walk and lobster rolls.

Bar Harbor - Oli's trolley tour of Acadia followed up by more lobster rolls and blueberry pie.

The other stops were so-so in my mind.

Have a great cruise.

We are on the Reflection on the New Year Eve cruise.  A question for those that have previously celebrated New Years Eve on a Celebrity ship.  Celebrity has basically done away with formal night replacing those nights with chic nights.  Do some people dress formally (i.e., tux/suit, etc) on New Years Eve or do they normally follow chic night standards.  My suspicions is that you will see variety of outfits, but would a person be out of place if they opted to dress more formally?  .  

We must have been standing next to each other when we both took pictures of Mr. Curard

Turtles06 - I hope you don't mind me adding a few comments on Halifax.  Great review and thanks for all the details.  I'm sure we passed each other somewhere along the way.

In Halifax we did a few different things that you probably did on your previous visit.  We originally planned on a private excursion, but cancelled it after some tour concerns.  We ended up booking HOHO through Princess since it included entrances to the Citadel and Maritime Museum.  We spent over 2 hours at the Citadel reading a well documented history of the Citadel and Canada's involvement in conflicts around the world.  We exited the HOHO at stop 11 to stroll along the waterfront boardwalk back to the Caribbean Princess shuttle stop.  Along the boardwalk are a number of restaurants, shops and metal sculptures depicting Halifax historical events and personalities.  

After lunch of another lobster roll (Peake's in Charlottetown remained in first place) we headed to the Maritime Museum.  The museum contains a history of Halifax maritime activities including the disastrous 1917 maritime explosion that wiped out part of the City with heavy casualties.    Luckily we were running out of time so the ladies didn't have time for heavy shopping.  A fun day that was too short with our 4PM departure.

Thanks again for the great review.

Summit shadowing Caribbean Princess in Bay of Lawrence.  

Agree with your comments on Sydney.  We again walked the town and found it to be lacking of anything of interest.  You did the right thing getting out into the countryside.  I really regret not trying a BeaverTail.  My wife kept talking about carbs.  

We were on the Caribbean Princess that Turtle mentioned.  Basically the two ships shadowed each other from Quebec City back to the States. 

We had a different experience in Charlottetown.  We basically self toured the town and saw a couple of interesting churches, some historical markers, good shopping (wife made significant deposit) and good local restaurants.  Of all the stops we made, the lobster rolls at Peake's Quay won our best prize nomination.  

Thanks for the detailed write-up - brings backs a lot of trip memories along with the evolution of the Summit.  We were on her just before she went through her update.

just to add to the discussion. We took the bus up and the train down. On the bus up sit on the right side (train up you should set on the left side). On our specific trip it really didn't matter since we had rainy/cloudy weather.

Even though I am life time platinum on AA, I don't think that entered into all the changes I made (one of the files was under my wife's name who has no status). Don't take my word for it, since individual airlines might have different rules. I believe on AA, if you keep the departure date and location consistent, you don't get hit with re-booking fees. In our case every change I made keep that consistent (I also keep the flight home date/arrival airport constant). Maybe someone else can give some clarification. This is not the first time i have made multiple routing changes without getting hit with change fees.

A couple of other things that people might find interesting:

A couple of itineraries that I booked, had us flying BA home over the Atlantic. I got hit with British departure taxes. In the final booking where we were booked on AA directly to LA, those taxes (to the tune of over $400) were refunded. Something to be aware of.

As I mentioned we were in Nice scheduled to fly home on Friday shortly after the terrorist tragedy. At 4AM we got an email from BA stating that our 7AM flight to London was cancelled. I immediately called AA who was very helpful, but stated that it was BAs responsibility to get us home. The AA rep transferred me over to BA where I was able to make an alternative backup flight reservation through Madrid. When we got to the airport, a re-ticketing agency working for BA was able to get us Business class seats back to LA on Lufthansa even though we were traveling on frequent flyer miles. Surprising to me.

A couple traveling with us wanted to fly business class to Europe. They found that going through Avalon, saved them a lot of money vs a direct airline booking. If you can't use frequent flyer miles, at least check out Avalon.

Sorry this is so long. Hope it is of some help.

Slightly different experience on booking miles. I agree with trying to book as soon as you get to the 330 day booking window. I missed that when trying to book connecting flights for our recent Paris-Nice cruise with Avalon. So I started booking connecting Business class mileage tickets. I then monitored the reservation every several days and changed the booking every time a more favorable connecting flight showed up. Suddenly about 6-7 months before we were scheduled to leave, AA released direct LA-London-LA inventory in business class, which I was able to grab. My suggestion is get something booked and keep checking for inventory release.

By the way we just got off the Avalon Affinity Paris to Monte Carlo - great trip. This was our 3rd Avalon trip and was the best one yet. Avalon used the Westin in Paris and the Fairmont in Monte Carlo. Ship was in good shape, crew very interactive, plenty of food choices and wine and weather was great with no water level problems. Only negative on the trip was the Nice terrorist attack. It didn't directly effect us since we were staying at a Nice airport hotel since we had an early Friday morning flight.

is scheduled to dock in Stockholm tomorrow (6/18) as part of her England/Baltic cruise. Can anyone verify that she docks in Stockholm or Nynashamn? The only other ship scheduled into Stockholm is a Disney ship that arrives about an hour after the Royal.

Noticed that you are on your Baltic Cruise. We board in Berlin on the 10th, others are boarding in Copenhagen on the 7th. If you want to join our roll call the Berlin roll call is at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2056596

The people starting in Copenhagen are planning some joint excursions as well as getting together the night before boarding.

Its a long way off, but we are booked on the 10 July Baltic cruise boarding in Warnemunde. I was wondering what past cruisers have done to get to the port from Berlin where we will be staying for several days of pre-cruise sight seeing.

I know we can take the train, book princess transportation (train, bus or ?), hire a private company.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

If the weather is good, consider taking the Duck tour. Does both a land tour of Seattle highlights and then a water tour of Lake Union. Tour guides are a kick. It leaves right by the Space Needle. Highly second the recommendations on a visit to the Chihuly Glass museum. Amazing glass works. In the museum spend a few minutes in the video room to see some of the glass works he has done all over the world.

It is a little confusing, but we have been looking at a July 2015 Baltic cruise on the Regal. From everything I have found, you have the choice of boarding in Copenhagen or Berlin. For example, from the Princess brochure, you can embark in Copenhagen on 7 July (disembark on July 18th) or from the Princess web site board in Berlin (Warnemunde) on July 10th and disembark on July 21st. I called Princess and they stated that the two boarding options are valid. I would sure think this would be confusing to cabin assignments,etc.

Given this option, our current plan is to self tour in the Berlin area for several days before boarding the ship.

We will see what happens.

Nicole - that was a good cabin move. better room, plus you will have a slightly larger balcony that is aft facing (i.e large depth dimension is forward). We were in D407 that also had a larger balcony (54 sq. ft.), but it was forward facing (large depth dimension was aft). As a result, we tended to "catch" the wind when the Royal was underway. Your cabin should get a little more wind protection.

Have a great sail.

My positive trip review has been submitted and should be posted in several days.

By the way I am a "he".

We recently stayed in D407 that has an angled balcony. I measured the balcony at 54 sq. ft Here are some marginal quality pictures of our balcony. Real tough trying to get the entire picture of the balcony.

Hope they are of some help. Bottom line we had plenty of room to sit or stand.

Be glad to answer any questions.

Maybe someone can tell me how to post full pictures rather then thumbnails.

Cabin.pdf

Wasn't offered that option. When I first was told 15 Euros, I had to ask if that was the day or the week. I of course was told for the week. Reason for the question was that the Zurich Sheridan wanted 27 Euros for a 24 hour period.

All the dinners are casual (no short, tank tops, etc). No need for a sports coat even for the captains dinners. At the captains dinner I did see a few sports coats and dresses, but I would say those are in the minority. Bottom line, wear what you want as long as it is presentable. You might look back a few posts to see some more write-ups on the subject.

We also took advantage of the ship's laundry service so we didn't have to pack as much. A little added expense but not measurable compared to the rest of the trip cost. They had everything back in 4 hours.

I just checked the daily newsletter for Rudesheim that I kept. It lists the dinner as Euro 44 which would agree with Traveling Lady's Visa statement. Price is really more then that since we paid for the ship dinner and it's free wine. Of course like the Visa ad says the "experience was priceless".

Hope everyone has a nice week and is able to keep cool.

Neat handle - just didn't recognize it. Have a great day.

did we met on the ship? Just trying to put a face with a name. Wife is a nurse and I am a retired engineer.

Sandy - you may have a schedule similar to ours. We arrived Friday morning from LA and had to catch up with the river cruise group on Sunday afternoon. That gave us 1 full day and two half days. We found that Friday was enough to see most of the sites of Zurich. We basically walked the City. During that walk, we were by the Central Train station, so we decided to buy our tickets then rather then wait until Saturday. The service agent was very helpful in making sure our package was complete. There is no reason that you couldn't buy them the day of travel - just allow some extra time.

EarlySaturday morning we walked to the train station rather then taking the tram (we never used the tram). It was longer walk from the Sheridan then we expected, but it helped work off some of the excess food we had started consuming.

The entire trip was very easy. All the train departures are posted on a big board that is continuously updated. Also trains for specific cities seem to always depart from the same platform. Even thought the agent told us departing platform number, we were still a little confused. To ensure we were on the right platform we just asked other passengers or a railway employee. Bottom line it was not a big deal finding the right platform.

By the way under the Zurich train station are a bunch of places to get coffee and a croissant (or two) before you head out.

There is no need to use cab anywhere. For us being in our late 60s and reasonable shape, walking was easy. The train stations are all in the center of town making it easy to walk to the sites/restaurant. The walking you will do is no more then what you will do on the ship excursions.

The high light of the trip was the entire trip - going up/down the mountain, walking around a very nice city, having lunch at a lakeside restaurant, walking the two wooden bridges (check the rafter art work). We also came across a local flea market. Didn't buy anything, but was interesting to go through a few tables.

Zurich is interesting but it tends to be a little stoic. Lucerne is more of an alive tourist city so they complement each other. I think we spent about 4-5 hours there before heading back on the train. Trains run fairly frequently so don’t worry about time.

You might want to check out the following web site to get a pictorial view of the cities and the trip up/down the mountain.

http://www.eurorailways.com/products/scenic_trains/mtpilatus.htm

I might also mention the Zurich-to-Zurich ticket was 115 CCFs per person (about $140 US). Well worth the cost.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions. I never seem to be short of words.

Found the reference for the Rhine Castle web site. It is at:

http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de/index.php?id=35&L=3

By the way as you travel down the Rhine you will see KM markers. These markers basically give the distance from where the Rhine become navigable to the end. Sometimes you can use the markers to locate a specific point of interest through the internet. Between these markers you will see smaller marker numbered 1-9 - those are 100 meter markers.

http://amidei.org/Gallery/v/DickAndDottie/2006_9+Germany/Bacharach/f+IMG_5467a+river+markers4x6.JPG.html

By the way I doubt seriously that Rick Steves had the markers installed as stated in the above reference.

I had also downloaded IPAD travel apps for Zurich and Amsterdam. They turned out to be worthless since they were more oriented to the small screen of an IPhone. I could never figure out how to use them. I know other people had IPhone apps that were working so look around.

On the Train to Lucerne/Mt Pilatus, we had 7 or 8AM options. The next one was at 10:00. We bought our tickets the day before to minimize the confusion finding the right platform.

If you have time, visit the historical information display in the lower level of the Mt Pilatus hotel. It was amazing to see that the initial steam powered cog railroad was built in about 400 days in the late 1800s. It would take double that time today just to get the permits.

It was also amazing to see how many people hiked to the top.

Have a nice day. You have a great trip ahead of you.

Ohio Lady - drop me a note at jimilton@sbcglobal.net. By the way thanks for starting this thread. A lot of good information that should help future travelers.

Just to clarify the computer/internet situation. You can only use the two computers in the reception area if you have bought the wifi package from the ship. This is a change from our previous Avalon cruise where the two terminals were free.

On the tipping situation. Avalon recommends two separate appreciation tips - one for the cruise crew and one for the Cruise Director. They also give you per day, per person guidelines for both tips. Both of these suggested tips can be separately put on a credit card by going to the front desk. In addition, strictly as an option, you can give separate tips to specific people - i.e. waiter, bar tender, cabin attendant, etc. Those special recognition tips can not be placed on a credit card as far as I know. For those tips, I used Francs, Euros and American money. I also slightly adjusted the recommended cruise crew tip to partially recognize the special recognition tips.

I might also note that we probably came back with about 75% of the American money that we took with us. I used ATMs to get Euro's and Francs since that is the best rate you will get. For example our Amsterdam hotel wanted $1.74 per Euro exchange. The going ATM rate was about $1.44 with a fixed service fee. By exchanging larger amounts ($300 vs $100) you get a better equivalent rate.

Sorry for the tutorials - you probably knew all this.