Hydrokitty

Chemmo: We were actually on board Eclipse on the Southern Caribbean when all of this was happening to you. Living on Long Island (home of the coastal Nor'Easter) we can appreciate what you were going through....we left on St. Patty's day (Saturday) which was a day early for our cruise and had no problem getting to Fl on time, but once on board (Sunday)we started hearing from our children(Monday) that there was almost 2 feet of snow on LI and all schools and airports were closed! What I really want to say to you though is Thank You for a splendid example of what a good traveler is: laid back and prepared to meet all contingencies with a smile and the good manners and experience to appreciate that none of it is the fault of the airline or the people you deal with who are trying their best to help you! What a wonderful example you have set for everyone who read CC and has a travel "nightmare" story!!! Happy travels!!! :hearteyes:

Looking for info on sunset veranda cabins on the celebrity eclipse (6307)

We LOVE Sunset Veranda...wonderfully quiet...unobstructed view of mesmerizing wake...BUT if you have difficulty walking distance keep in mind there are only 2 elevator banks on Eclipse...1 forward and 1 midship. This means walking half the length of the ship every time you want to leave your cabin. Don't know what designer was thinking when they did that.

Don’t propose with the real ring on the beach or a catamaran! Get a plastic ring with a huge stone for that!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

At first I chuckled when I read your response...but the more I thought about it, the more I think it's really good advice. Get a swarovski "diamond" ring for about $20 and give her the real one when you're home. You won't have to worry about losing it in the Caribbean Sea or swallowing it...or lost in your luggage! :hearteyes:

We've done the river tubing in Dominica, followed by a hike at some waterfalls. The whole day was a blast ... however, the river was way over on the other side of the island so a long, long time in the bus. It was worth it when we got there and the stop at the waterfalls on the way back made that portion more tolerable.

 

The other islands, we've only done private tours so won't elaborate on those.

We booked this one for our annual Caribbean and LOVE the description of this shore X.....how strenuous is it really? I have trouble walking more than 1/2 mile....and what is your idea of a long,long time in the bus?

Here's an idea for onboard.

In Luminae they have a fabulous dessert called the flaming chocolate ball.

You'd have to ask the Maitre D' in whichever restaurant you would be eating in if they could make the arrangements for your proposal.

The ring could be wrapped in tin foil and placed inside the ice cream ball, which would then be surrounded by the chocolate ball. The desert is set on fire at the table. Your GF would “discover” the ring while eating her dessert. Talk about a surprise... 😊

I love your idea but.....what happens if she swallows it? :eek:

Don't know if it's available on the islands you're visiting.....but best excursion we ever did was the Dr. Prager submarine excursion. You actually go down in a submarine to see the coral reef. It's not at all closed in (I have mild claustrophobia) but it was so interesting that you don't even think about it and the 90 minutes goes by in a flash. We did it on Curacao but I know it's available on at least one other island, I just don't remember which ones.

Much as I would love to accept your thanks, I suspect they are due to my 'comrade in arms', John Bull. Though we do often both make suggestions, he knows more about the area than me...I just add pointers to push him in the right direction!!

 

Simon

Well thank you anyway! I'll keep an eye out for John Bull so I can thank him as well!

Is £2250 for both of you?...if so, thats a great price! Don't know where you are, but if you are driving down you can sometimes get free parking thrown in...talk to your TA or Celeb if you booked direct. https://www.abparking.co.uk/ are right beside the ship and you can normally get a 10% discount if you can't get it free. Try typing in the month and this year like APR2018...you might have to try going back through the months...I know OCT2017 worked! If not driving, railway station is a 10 min walk from the ship, National Express coach station a bit further. Even Southampton airport is only a 20 min cab ride away! Have fun!!

Simon

Hi Simon....I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful information you gave me about Southampton on our recent B2B there.

I didn't have to do laundry after all because I got one free bag on board and that was sufficient....we LOVED the Tudor House museum and it's fantastic cafe and the walk into town was delightful. I can't believe so much of the original wall remains. Thanks again for the help and if you're ever in NY and need some help, let me know.

Hydrokitty

Southwest has one option that is only $153...but it flies first to Midway and then to PHL, which is over 8 hours. That's crazy to save $50 when I can fly non-stop and get home in four hours.

 

 

I have to agree with you. Southwest has gotten creative with it's routing to the point of absurd! On our last flight to Ft. Lauderdale we flew non-stop to Orlando then 40 minutes from Orlando to FLL!!

The store I shop charges $3.97 for a bottle of :DBeringer - but more important why would you even buy it?:D

It's the only wine I like....I know nothing about wine and I put ice cubes in red wine, so $4 for a bottle of wine sounds good to me, :Dalthough when I saw the one that I had on board X it was closer to $15.

We were just there in December. Yes, there was construction.

Yes, we used a car service during non rush hours. No, it wasn't "oppressive." in fact, except for the scenery of construction, it wasn't a big deal.

People who live in NY/NJ have many, many words used to describe construction....scenery isn't one of them! :evilsmile::D:D

I was thinking of a New England cruise round trip out of Cape Liberty, NJ.

 

Which airport do you use for this cruise?

 

How far is the airport to Celebrity dock?

Air Canada straight into Newark....take a taxi. It's a fantastic cruise!!! Best time is first or second cruise in October for peak color......most of the time.

Hi fellow cruisers,

 

Myself and my husband will be heading on our first Celebrity Cruise on the Silhouette. We have done our previous cruises with Royal Caribbean, it feels like we starting again but looking forward to it. I’ve a few questions I’d love your help with;

 

2: Shore Excursions =

Normally with Royal you would receive an email when a discount is on, is this the same for Celebrity or do I have to log into my Manage Booking and keep an eye on it? If so when would you recommend us to start watching for it?

 

My husband heard if you wait till on the ship the prices for the above are more expensive, have anyone else heard this?

 

Your help is much appreciated

Excited Cruiser

You can, and should, visit the shore excursion site for your cruise. I don't recall getting an e-mail, but it has been my experience you save by booking on line. Depending on where you're going, there are a very few excursions that are sold out by the time you're on board (or the only ones left leave at 8 a.m.) such as the Dr. Prager/Atlantis submarine trip (fantastic) or the Edinburgh Tattoo (they get limited seats). If you're doing a cruise that stops in several large cities....Copenhagen, Belfast, etc....check out hop on hop off tours (HOHO) they allows you the freedom to get off the bus where you want to and spend as little or much time as you wish.

Nope no catch....I've never used X Air for domestic but I always use them for International because their business class rates are so much better. For domestic we favor Southwest, but we're spoiled because we have a regional airport 3 miles from home. Philly has so many options are you sure you've explored all of them? Some of the cheaper airlines are now flying to PR as well as the legacy lines.

Our Plan A has also fallen through. We are on Mykonos on Labor Day (May 1). Delos TOurs ferry is closed and Delos UNESCO site is closed.

Yup, that's the problem with Delos.....you really must have an alternate plan! Keep in mind the wind is why they have those windmills and when it's blowing Delos is impossible to do....but just sitting at the cafe pictured is wonderful....although the kitty situation can be very disturbing.

A decent bottle of wine which sells for $15-17 in a wine store in the US will be in the $50+ range which isn’t much different from what we pay in a restaurant at home.

I paid $30 for a bottle of Beringer white zinfandel that I know I could buy for $15 in a liquor store (or less) BUT, I'm also paying for the service and for not having to store my wine, keep it chilled in a tiny fridge where it won't fit standing up, drink it alone in my stateroom and have it survive the plane ride intact.....and don't forget to bring your own corkscrew! We don't buy the beverage package because we don't drink enough to break even. It all depends on how many glasses of fresh squeezed juice, cups of designer coffee, glasses of wine, mixed drinks, cocktails and bottles of water you'd actually drink as to whether or not it's worth it. The wine list in the MDR was quite impressive, IMHO, but then I don't really know much about wine.

Thanks for the reply villauk! The Royal ship is the Navigator. We do have an option out of Southampton on Independence but the dates don’t work so well for us.

 

We’re not interested in loads of cheesy entertainment but we would be people to stay up until midnight/1am to enjoy ourselves in a nice atmosphere with a live singer or something. We like there to be stuff happening without needing to feel overwhelmed with forced entertainment! (If that makes sense).

If you're not interested in cheesy entertainment but want to stay up socializing you might do ok with Celebrity. The shows on X cannot compare to anyone else (not in a good way) but we went on 14 night Caribbean with daughter and son in law who are in there 40's and while they hated the shows they loved the bar crowd and the bars and night club stayed open much later than midnight. On our last cruise we noticed they had quite a few fun things going on in the night club such as the silent disco. That being said, they do prefer RCI because there's always something to do. I've been on both and the food is great on both of them....I've also found there's more storage space in the RCI cabins and for a 14 night cruise that could be important to you. If you haven't been to Southampton before do try to go a day early it's one of the most interesting and nicest ports we've been to in the UK.

Mykonos is a wonderful place to just walk around. Delos is very interesting but when we were there all trips were cancelled due to high winds and surf. Look for Petros the pelican as you walk to the windmills and then just wander the shops until you find a restaurant that appeals to you and sit and enjoy the atmosphere! One word of caution: watch were you walk.....there are lots of dogs and homeless cats on Mykonos (and all the other islands) so animal waste abounds!

Are you stopping at Santorini as well?

The one time we were sailing at Easter, the priest onboard was founder of a mission to help sailors who'd signed on to foreign-flagged merchant vessels escape from what was in reality an enslaved situation. We were happy to donate money to his cause after hearing stories of these seamen who had no way out of their dilemma without the help of those like that priest.

That's different and actually I would expect a member of the clergy to ask for donations to a charitable organization such as the one you mentioned.....but apparently the priest in question was soliciting donations for his own personal use. I agree, Celebrity should be advised.

That's the cruise we're looking at :)

For $50 more it's definitely worth it for the embarkation lunch alone!!!

In our 20 cruises with Celebrity, we've only changed a couple and have never cancelled without rebooking. They on the other hand have cancelled four of our cruises, with three of them being in the past 18 months and one being two weeks before we were to leave home. I think if would be nice if they gave us "free passes" to rebook without penalty for each of those they took from us.

I agree with you...but that's my 2 cents worth!!

I don't think it's worth the money on a TA cruise. Main reason I choose concierge is the boarding day lunch in the MDR and the points....the cabins are the same....the balconies are the same and the "afternoon savories" are really not worth it unless you can get fresh fruit plate (you have to ask)...I've never been asked about pillow selection, which is no big deal because the pillows are usually 2 hard and 2 soft.

That's what he told me..

We went ashore in St. Maarten on our 3/18 cruise on the Eclipse....it's true the hurricane damage is very visible but most of the shops, beaches and restaurants are open and in my humble opinion as people able to take a Caribbean cruise to escape winter, we have a moral obligation to patronize the restaurants and shops....they need our help and we shouldn't ignore them.

I just booked our next year's cruise on board the Eclipse and asked 3x if our $100 pp deposit was refundable and was assured that it is indeed fully refundable OR transferable to another cruise. Could the class of cabin or passenger status be involved?