Hydrokitty

All the cars are reserved and they all have restrooms. You paid a lot of money for that stop at the hotel. If that's what you think is worth every penny, good for you.

I'm sorry Happy cruiser, I thought OP was looking for personal opinions. When we rode the Flam last August all cars did not have bathrooms, every other car did...we also had a guide in the car with us and while you may not agree, I did think the entire trip was worth what I paid for it. If I worded my post in such a way that you thought I meant the stop at the hotel and the snack we were served in a lovely glass walled dining room over-looking the mountains was what made the excursion worth the money then that was also my mistake. What's one person's waste of money is another person's good time.

We booked with the ship and the tour was worth every penny. We had a reserved car, with a rest room in it, and the stop at the hotel was a nice break. If it's really important to you, and you want to save $$$, I would definitely buy my tickets ahead of time on line because the train was fully sold out when we did it.

Is it ok if you're a little earlier than your time slot to board the ship - our train gets in to Southampton at 11 but we've been told to check in around 12.45 - if not, where should we wait until it's time to board? Can we get lunch when we board the ship?

what is the procedure for disembarkation at the end of the trip. is it in time slots as per boarding instructions. we need to arrange what train we're taking back to London - the boat arrives at 6am.

Can you get breakfast on disembarkation day

Thanks for any info

If you have time, take a brief walking tour of Southampton. It's a lovely and very interesting city.

As for boarding the ship....the boarding time is only a suggestion! If you're concierge class you get a served lunch in the MDR between 11:30 (?) and 1:30. Menu is limited but it's a nice way to start the cruise.

As for leaving the ship...it depends on the time you want/must leave, and it is by time, but you will be assigned based on the departure card you'll fill out and give to guest services) as for breakfast here's something we do because every second of sleep is important to us! Call room service the night before you disembark and order a cold breakfast (cereal, milk, fruit, bread, juice) delivered to your room around 10 p.m (or whenever as long as it's before they stop room service). The only thing you have to pass on is coffee but you can get that pretty much anywhere once you get off the ship (if you have the time, a leisurely b-fast in Southampton would be lovely). That holds us till we get to the airport and then we can have a leisurely breakfast there.

PS: You HAVE to order b-fast on the phone because as far as I know they will not pick up orders on the last night.

My concerns are minor!!! My best wishes to your family and friends. This is a disaster!!!!!

Thanks mlmbar.....I am totally distraught...eye is now coming in over Morehead City with 6-12' storm surge and her house is on Bogue Sound! Good news is her son came and got her this morning..Bad news is she won't have a house to come home to. :loudcry:

Well I guess we will just hope not

If you're still flying non-stop from Philly to Miami you'll be fine tomorrow. Once you take off from Philly you won't stop till you get to Miami! Have a glass of wine and get a good night's sleep. I have a daughter in Asheville, NC; a grandson in Charlotte; and a best friend in Wilmington who is refusing to evacuate...I know I'll be having another glass!!! :wine-glass::wine-glass::wine-glass::beer-mug::beer-mug:

Governor of SC has issued mandatory evac and ALL major roads leading from the coast will become one way inland as of Noon tomorrow. NC going to be next....and probably VA as well. PLEASE don't ignore the evacuation orders....NOTHING is worth more than your life. :*

$200 change and $65 difference in fare. AA issued alerts today and will waive change fee but Miami is not amongst them They are for travel 9/13-14 so it seems they do see Thursday as a problem

Good move!! Storm could make landfall as early as Wed. night as a Category 4 OR 5, which would be the first cat 5 since 1950's to hit NC! But before it makes landfall there will be high winds and storm surge especially during high tide. Have a safe trip tomorrow and let us know if your cruise is impacted. :cool:

And Isaac is not alone out there, he has a woman following him!! ;p

It isn’t stupid to worry, it’s human. And you are right, it is what it is. And once we start, its hard to drop that worrying. And yes, here we are worrying about a cruise and a whole lot of people are going to face problems as Florence hits them, but just as we who live on the Fla Panhandle, the 2nd highest area for hurricanes, its part of life living near the coast.

 

What i feel badly for, are the ones who get all the rain and wind well inland as the storm turns and dumps it’s ocean water.

 

So instead of worrying about your flight and feeling bad, just keep an eye out on what that thing is doing and accepting what you can and can’t do. You are flying down a day early, which gives you lots of options. So many fly the same day and put themselves into no options situations.

 

Enjoy the cruise. The Line and the Capt will make sure they minimize exposure to stormy seas. Just think of it as part of being a Hardy Crew of Gobs facing Mother Nature!! And have another nice drink and accept you may see other ports of call. The Caribbean is a large body of water and there’s room for you to cruise and hopefully miss any strong storms.

 

We sailors talk about the wind in our face and a rolling deck under our feet, but in reality, I’d much rather have a nice steady deck so my Martini doesn’t spill!

 

Hurricane season goes from June to Nov, which for Up Northerners, kind of ties up a bit of time, but you are probably right about Sep/Oct. The rest are much lower storm times. We are heading to Upstate NY then NYC in October.

 

Den

Excellent advice! Latest modules show landfall around Wilmington, NC and all of them are beginning to come together, which is bad news....worst news is it could get stuck there which is really bad. I think anyone who's a true sailor feels the same way....nice steady deck and clear skies...with or without the martini!!!

You are coming to NY during the best time of the year, IMHO,...., not too hot, not too cold, not too much rain or humidity, the fall colors are beautiful and the city isn't packed with people, just crowded. Actually our worst hurricanes usually hit between Aug. and Sept....biggest exception was Sandy (late Oct) with her 1-2 punch of hurricane one day and blizzard the next....Mother Nature was really in a snit!!! We, as I'm sure you have in Florida as well, have noticed a real change in our weather patterns over the past few years...both hurricanes and blizzards have gotten stronger....fewer t-storms and blistering heat and freezing cold...global warming is real.

Last year we were booked on Adventure of the seas three weeks after Maria out of PR. Did not want to go knowing the destruction and personal devastation. Felt guilty going on a luxury ship with food, water , AC when PR had none. Hoped they would cancel. So shortly before we were offered an Owner’s Suite. Ok made the guilt decrease. BUT the best part was RCI had so many cancellations that they offered trips to people of PR for real cheap. I would say half of the ship were from PR. It was lovely to see families enjoying life after hell. They were so polite and were never seen out at night. It made that cruise one of the most special that started out so negatively

 

 

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WOW...I didn't know that but it makes me feel better about my loyalty to RCI and Celebrity. Just saw the latest update and you're looking good just whatever you do don't drive!!!! Landfall is being predicted by all the modules now for Wilmington, NC and then who knows since there's the possibility of a large system forming further north that could push storm away. I like Den's advice....roll with it and stay friends with the bartenders! Have a good cruise....and now we've got to get busy preparing.

HydroKitty, I know SW flies to the Carolinas but they don't have a hub there. That can make a big difference. No hub makes it easier to cancel flights or re-route planes to cover the northeast on this one.

 

Of course we are all assuming that Florence is not going change her mind, again.....

You're right...and BWI could be impacted with a mid-Atlantic landfall. The upside is SW is so accommodating when it comes to changing especially if weather is involved. If i were booked on SW and changing in BWI i would SERIOUSLY consider changing my flight. As for OP if she has an early non stop out of Philly Thursday she should be ok....but you can never tell with us girls, can you :evilsmile:

:D

 

Thanks for your response...I was unsure when I booked this, with the cabin being directly under the outside dining...

We certainly noticed the laughter and chair scraping but mostly during happy hour and it wasn't objectionable noise.

The fly in the ointment for mimbar is Charlottle is a big AA hub so storm in the Carolinas could disrupt travel through that hub but at this point PHL looks to be in the clear and there is no way to tell now where that aircraft you need next week is really coming from.

 

Hcat, SW does not have a big presence in the Carolinas so hopefully your NY to BWI to south Florida will be safe.

Yes, SW does, Mr Click they fly into several cities and Charlotte is one of them. (DD lives in Asheville....we fly SW all the time from NY.)

Anyway,... Mlmbar are you changing planes in Charlotte???? I was under the impression that you were going AA non-stop from Philly to Miami and if the current track holds you should be fine....even Charlotte should be ok because it's quite a ways inland from the coast....the outer banks will likely be in its path....we're already under high surf advisories on the south shore of Long Island, NY...although that may not be from Florence..

Ok, here are the forecasts. It shows H Florence off the coast of N Carolina as the most high priobbable or well south of the Chesapeake Bay as the most north approach but still off the coast on next Thursday (144hrs), the time you are to leave. The US mainland is west of the storm when you leave which is the weak side of Hurricanes, so the wind and rain should be still pretty low. You are departing from PHL which shouldn’t be affected until at least late Sat or later, if much at all, which it isn’t forcast, except residual rain. See the two graphic below. Airlines can either skirt the weather bands on the west side of the storm or fly over them. Your chance of being impacted is pretty low. I’d worry more about getting sunburned on your cruise, but easy for me to say. Sept and Oct are the worst months for the Caribbean and East Coast and Florida for hurricanes. Life in the tropics. Without Hurricanes, the tropics would be unlivable.

 

Airlines and Cruise Lines have faced them for 50+ years. The two Depressions that 8 and 9 just formed in the East Atlantic behind Florence have minimal initial info on them. TD 8 that someone mentioned, that is the third graphic and should curve (right now) into the Mid-Atlantic. But the other may stay south. No real prediction yet.

 

You have no control over the paths they could take. The only ‘control’ you have is to either fly down to Miami a few days earlier, cnx the cruise (big loss of money since they won’t accept this as a reason), or plan on your cruise and get ready to enjoy it, and look at the wx on Wednesday. Sitting here looking at it each day will not give you any relaxation because even if the path stays south away from you and not cross into the US until after Thursday, you’ll still worry it could turn. It could, but very low chance from what the experts are showing.

 

Den

I respectfully disagree Den....only two of the "spaghetti" tracks in your first graphic show Florence coming ashore on the NC/SC border all the rest show it making landfall around VA. This doesn't mean it will do that because we all know Mother Nature is a tricky b....!! :DAs of this evening it's been downgraded to a tropical storm with the expectation that it will return to full hurricane status during the day. In any event it's not supposed to impact this far North until Thursday night or Friday, which is good news for mimbar......however, because I don't handle stress very well, if I were booked on a cruise and flying to Miami next Thursday I would call my airline tomorrow and ask them if they are allowing people to rebook without penalty and if the answer is "no" ask them WHEN they will.....if the answer is "yes" since time is not an issue, I would say "yes please" and let them rebook me now for departure say Tues or Wed. The reason I woudn't wait till Wed to call them is because they may not have much availability by then....and I'm getting stressed out just thinking about it! :wine-glass::wine-glass::wine-glass:

Is anyone on the Celebrity Reflections June 26 2019 to the Baltic? Need info on visas in Russia if we do our own tour in St. Petersburg

If you go out on your own you will need a Visa and the last time I got one it was about $400. If you go on a ship excursion you won't need a Visa because RCI gets a blanket Visa covering passengers. If you go with a licensed tour guide the Visa will be included in the cost of your tour and will cover you only when you're with the guide... this means you will not be able to go to dinner on your own in St P which is too bad because they have some wonderful restaurants but under no circumstances will you be allowed to leave the port area on your own without a visa. Check out some of the port sites on CC for reliable tour companies if you want a tour specific to your interests....there are many of them. Enjoy St. Petersburg I've been there several times and it's one of my favorite cities....so much to see and do and it's just stunningly beautiful....and the entire Baltic cruise was fantastic.

We were supposed to fly down Thursday but changed our flight to Tuesday morning. We would rather be in Miamimthan be in Delaware and not be able to fly out of Phila. When I called the hotel at the airport to change the night, she said I was the 3rd one to change due,to weather.

Good move and since OP said they could fly out early without any problem, I would start working on it asap.

We were able to snag an aft facing CC for our upcoming Infinity cruise in Dec...Deck 9...can't wait!

My favorite cabin on my favorite ship. Wait till you see the size of that balcony!!We even had a table and chairs for eating on...unfortunately we were headed for Canada in Sept, but it was still fantastic! :D

I would watch the airlines websites carefully. If they think it is going to impact the flight they will offer free rebookings. Grab that right away, and be prepared to leave earlier if at all possible.

This is solid advice. We're on south shore of eastern long island and as such we pay close attention this time of year. Current tracks indicate a more northerly route so I would be more concerned about getting out of Philly than into Miami. So far it looks like Florence is skipping Florida and heading for the mid-Atlantic and northeast...If it does change course and head for Miami, Atlanta won't be much help....under those circumstances I would rebook as soon as your airline posts notice on their site. They usually do not wait until the last minute with hurricanes and I don't know of any them that would refuse to rebook you without charge....the more passengers rebook the less hassle they have to deal with. This is one of those things over which you have no control...try to relax and make adjustments where needed and start thinking about going early...better to spend an extra day or two in Miami than Philly!! If it's any comfort to you, keep in mind that if planes can't get into Miami due to a hurricane chances are your ship won't be able to get in/out either....but don't use that as a reason not to fly in early!!

I use both versions. Studies showed that reading from a real book helps you to remember better the sequence of the scenes (compared with people who read the same book from ebook). The theory is that one has the feed back of the pages.

 

I find reading a book more enjoyable because I can browse back quickly the book (my memory... I need to check past chapters again and again). With a ebook I become crazy. So for me it is not the same, but I anyway I find ebook handy especially for light reading ;p

I have the same problem....with an e-book I'm constantly flipping pages so I bring a few paperbacks in my suitcase and use my kindle to play games on the plane...or the balcony. I think a lot of the preference between e-reader and hardcover is age related. My generation grew up with books in our hands and while I love my kindle, it just doesn't feel the same as a "real book". :D

The last 2 times I have flown my carryon luggage has been flagged for physical inspection because apparently 4 books stacked together look suspicious on their screen. The first time the TSA agent actually flipped through each book as if expecting to find a cutout with a secret compartment. I board Equinox next week and will most likely have the same amount of books. Maybe that’s my ticket into the naughty room!

Maybe...but one would hope the officers on board would recognize a book when they see one (apparently not all TSA agents do) !! :evilsmile:

I have the first cabin off the hump witch has a bigger balcony.

and the room they are offering me is just a C3 Concierge Class

I would keep it unless you don't care much about the balcony. We always go for either just off the hump or aft facing depending on whether we're on M or S class. The cabin you have should already be concierge class unless you have obstructed view.

Someone clearly blew a circuit breaker with their rice cooker.

WELL DONE!!!!! :D:evilsmile:

Love this and Bo’s response - I’d pay!

 

This thread is becoming a fun one, kind of replacing the Panama C....anal thread!

 

Den

I was going to respond to that one.....but then the good/dull side of my brain took over the bad/fun side so I poured another glass of wine and watched tennis till 3 am. instead. :evilsmile:

I just have a visual image of all the cooking appliances, knives, and good stuffs held hostage in the "Naughty Room" being used in a Great Race and Cooking Contest. All the owners should be challenged to a cook-off using what was confiscated. Maybe it's just my crazy sense of humor but I can see the comedy potential. Pick up the items and food stuffs, run down the gangway to the pier and get to cooking.

 

Ramona

Could be something new and different to replace the egg dropping contest and the paper airplane contest....I see potential here.

Fun thread....we need more of these!!!

PS: anyone know how to delete a duplicate post that you didn't mean to post in the first place?