Hydrokitty

While I am truly loving this thread I think we should all be careful what we post......can you imagine if the powers that be ever read this what our cruises would really be like??? Especially the suggestions for X to make more $$$$!!! ;p

I love the disembarkation lounge benefit! An invitation is sent to your cabin and the location is also listed in the daily schedule, the day before disembarkation. It's usually held in one of the specialty restaurants and they offer coffee, tea, OJ and pastries for the guests. It's a nice place to wait for your group number to be called for disembarkation.

OOOOOOH....my mistake....all this time and I thought they were talking about a lounge where you could sit comfortably and have coffee and a snack while waiting to BOARD the ship not leave it. :oLike when you fly business class you get to go to a nice lounge to wait for your flight.

ROTFLMAO!! It's been a long and stressful day and this post really makes me feel better....so some suggestions:

I really like the parking meters on the pool deck...but instead of a fine, anyone who's flag goes up and they aren't sitting in their chair gets to walk the plank (see earlier post) but I think we should have a trial by jury first, which could be all volunteers or you could apply for jury duty to X but that would involve fees because we all know nothing is really free on any cruise ship.

Vending machines for things like an extra pillow or blanket, soap, shampoo, toilet paper, etc. Think of the revenue that could generate. $$$$$ :evilsmile:

A lottery to determine who gets to embark or disembark first. They could sell time slots and if you didn't have a ticket you got sent to the end of the line and had to start all over again......and no whining about missing your plane, you should have thought of that on the first day when the tickets were readily available for purchase or if you won one at bingo.

A special room below the crew quarters where all line dancing, zoomba and other dancersize classes would be held, freeing the main deck for quiet conversation or reading.

And seriously.....as the ships get bigger and bigger they need to add a third elevator station. On the M class ships there are 3: forward, midship and aft....the S class is larger and only has 2: midship and forward.

Yes thanks for throwing that one in. Had it written down but forgot to list it

That's the best one of them all! Beware the afternoon savories and remember you can ask for a cheese plate or fruit plate instead of whatever they are that even the seagulls wouldn't eat! Only one that I have never seen in 8+ cruises is the disembarkation lounge....I've sailed out of Bayonne, Southampton, Amsterdam, San Diego, FLL, MIA and Vancouver and never seen or been invited to one.

I booked a C2 Concierge Balcony on Infinity for Nov only because it was cheaper than a regular balcony. The few perks involved are totally not worth paying extra for. Bigger cabin will be nice, but I would have been fine with the regular balcony since that is normally what we book. But got such an awesome price since I booked 11/11/16 that I jumped on it! Now the price is about double what I paid for it. Never been on Infinity so will give us a different ship to be on.

LOVE Infinity...it's our favorite ship....there's 3 elevator stations, which makes a BIG difference when you're in an aft cabin.

Sounds like losing your OBC would be a small price to pay for the security of knowing you still have your cruise. Just my 2 cents on the topic.

I agree with RickT.....unless your TA has a brick & mortar shop where you can visit in person and talk to someone, I think I would go by the premise that he has gone out of business. I would call X and then tell them what happened and first confirm that you HAVE a reservation and then ask them to take it over. You can tell them what perks TA gave you and X may or may not give them to you depending on what they're offering. I hope this works out....this is the stuff that gives me nightmares.:mad:

We're on the Connie in not so many days --- aft CC cabin on deck 7 and can't wait :-)

We've never had a problem with the concierge, although to be honest, I usually go to guest relations or shore excursions because I forget to use the concierge! The few times I did use him/her were very positive. I'm with you Presto2...aft cabins are fantastic!!!! If I can't get one I look for bump cabins and if I can't get either I look for a different itinerary. :D

Did you do this excursion on the same trip you did a full transit? I've heard it can be crowded (and miserable), but was hoping maybe since we are doing a full transit that there will be fewer people wanting to go back a second time. How full was the smaller boat and was it easy to get in a good spot for pictures?

Yes, we did this excursion on the same trip we did the full transit. Excursion was after full transit and while the boat was full it was not packed. The boat was about the size of a medium ferry...there were plenty of places to sit (comfortable wooden benches with backs), bathrooms were clean, buffet was very, very good and photo ops were not a problem (I'm a photo addict and never had a problem getting shots I wanted). It was one of the best excursions we did and I was not really looking forward to it because I thought it would be boring. Trust me, it wasn't boring for a second!

Hi folks, hubby and I have only sailed Celebrity (7 different times--Med/Alaska/Carib) and we don't see any options for Spring 2019 Panama Canal with Celebrity. I think we want to do the full transit (I hear that's the best way to go although it takes more of my vacation time). For you experienced cruisers out there, what cruise line would you recommend and why? We live on the East Coast of Canada, so I think flying out West to embark might be a better option. I am 52 and my husband is 59 and we are both active. Welcome all feedback and thoughts. thanks in advance!

We did this on Infinity as our first Celebrity cruise and haven't sailed anyone other than X since! One thing I would strongly suggest since you live on the East coast like us, is that you fly to San Diego and let the cruise absorb the time zones on your way back, flying home from FLL or MIA. Keep in mind that any cruise that leaves and returns to the same coast is not a full transit.

One of the best shore excursions we did was in Panama City and we took a small ship through the canal for a completely different experience. I thought I'd be bored but DH is a civil engineer and he really wanted to do this...all I can say is it was amazing and the local food buffet for b'fast and lunch was wonderful! We went in April for our 50th but Fall would be nice too. Whenever you go bring insect repellent....mosquitoes love tourists. :)

I'm siding with the hand the steward the tip in person with a thank you and a hand shake. Now my issue is we usually do b2b or b2b2b and always tip for both cruises in person on the last night. They seem to appreciate that more. I always figured that after two 14 or 17 day cruises that they deserve that for keeping me in line.

I agree but on our last b2b our cabin steward went home after the first cruise and we had a new steward for the second.

Again this was our fourth time using SAS because we have always had good experiences. But not this time which for us makes it our last time using SAS. Got off the Equinox at 8:15 AM, gathered our luggage, hired a porter, through customs and to SASs predetermined pickup location. Fast and easy just like past experiences. Called Steve at 9:00 AM and advised him we are at the pickup location. Driver is on his way and will be there NLT 30 minutes. Life is good. We’ve got a 1:00 PM flight.No problem. Forty five minutes later I called Steve, driver is on his way. Another forty five minutes later I called Steve again, the driver is on his way. 20 minutes later the driver calls me, change of pickup location. So we have to know schlep three large pieces of luggage to a drop off area through masses of people with luggage waiting for rides and through others with luggage getting off their rides to start their cruise. Finally (about 11:00 AM) meet up with the driver. We are the only two on the 14 passenger van. But not for long.The driver informs us he know needs to make the rounds to pick up others scattered between 5 different cruise ships. Great! So we have to completely leave the very congested port area because we are now in the drop off area and have to make the huge circle in slow moving traffic to reenter the port pickup areas. Now the driver gets a call from Steve, two couples without reservations need rides. Now we have a full van and way too much luggage. He should have had a trailer to put luggage in. So now the driver has to unload the packed van and repack it to accommodate all the extra luggage.The driver even had to cram some of the smaller roller boards up in the passenger area. A lot of disgruntled riders. About an hour later around noon we now make the slow trek back through the contested port area to get on I-95. Slow travels heading North to Fort Lauderdale due to construction and the carpool lane shut down. We arrive at Fort Lauderdale airport too late to make our 1:00 PM flight. I paid the driver,no tip, grabbed our luggage to check-in. Last call for our flight and we aren’t there. First time ever for us! I blame myself for not grabbing a cab after the first late call to SAS. I hadn’t paid for the return trip yet. Delta did put us on standby for a later flight at no cost. Actually the flight left about an hour after our original flight. We made that flight and were able to get seats together. So this is why we will never ever use SAS again. :mad:

WOW.....that would do it for me too. Because we fly Southwest we don't have the option of flying into MIA. Sometimes we stay in FLL if we're in a couple of days early but if we're only over-nighting in Miami we'll reserve a car with GO shuttle. I've used them many times and never had a problem. They've always on time, driver is always polite and helpful and the price is always as quoted (except when we arrived late and exhausted and I asked to upgrade to a private car for $30 it was worth it)

I can understand where OP is coming from...when you give someone something you don't have to you like to have receipt acknowledged otherwise you wonder if it actually went to the person intended. I usually leave a tip on the bed every morning when I go to breakfast and steward has always thanked me either in person or with a note that just says "thank you".

We're flying into Ft. Lauderdale but sailing out of Miami and were told we would be shuttled to Miami Port, going on the Celebrity Equinox. Anyone have any info if it works OK. we have never had to shuttle before..

I haven't personally taken the Celebrity transfer from FLL to Miami because we usually fly in a day or so early and visit friends but I can tell you that every time I land I see representatives from X and other lines waiting for people with transfers and I don't see many complaints on CC about people not being picked up. It's so close though, it's probably cheaper to take a taxi or car service. Go transport has a stand right outside the door and you just walk up to them (or reserve on line) and choose private or shared vehicle..I've used them many times and never had a problem.

 

Finding an explanation of perks in your room? For years, celebrity has had a choice of pillows for concierge and above cabins and they have referred to a pillow menu. No one I've ever spoken to has ever found a pillow menu in their rooms.....not sure if it even exists. You just have to somehow know and ask your cabin attendant for the type of pillow you'd like.

 

Welcome to Celebrity......

I've NEVER seen a list of pillow choices and we always cruise concierge class for many reasons....("evening savories" not one of them!) I did ask on our first cruise what the pillow choices were and cabin steward brought us a list but nothing since then and since pillows are usually pretty comfortable I admit I haven't asked. I have learned that if you don't like the savories you can ask for a fruit plate and they'll bring it every day.

In my experience' date=' each time we board the ship our sea pass is scanned.

 

I assume the same goes for staff and crew.

 

How, then, does anyone else get on?

 

This is a serious breach in security and should not have happened. It doesn't matter who the stowaways were. There should not have been any.[/quote']

 

You're absolutely right, there should not have been any but I think the most important thing is that the crew discovered them and notified the authorities. It's unfortunate but there are so many people on this planet who are desperate to leave where they live and get to somewhere safe....as well as the ones who are bent on causing mayhem. I think X and other cruise lines do a pretty good job at controlling who gets on board and I personally feel very safe on any Celebrity ship.

Can be??? Heck, cruising is like a very bad drug habit for me.... LOL

 

My spouse gets this knotty feeling in the stomach when I Am out of sight for 45+ minutes.... not knowing what I may have booked or if in fact I did book...

 

Good thing we are booked through 2021... no more surprizes!

 

bon voyage

It's just the opposite in our house Bo...I wait till DH is deeply entranced in a baseball or more likely football game...then when it sounds like something big is happening I ask him....Hon, you want to go on a cruise to Antarctica? He's not paying attention and usually responds with "yeah, yeah, ok".... and so we are!! ;p

It's our preference to book Celebrity shuttles when we book our cruise, flight and hotels. I'm not exactly sure why you care. The OP asked about Celebrity shuttles and I answered the question.

We do the same and it is convenient not to have to worry about another thing to take care of pre-trip.

When sailing from a European port we always use Choice Air because of the savings in business class. When I book our air I book airport transfer to the ship if we're not flying in early and I'll check out trip planner excursions to see what is offered for return airport transfer.....sometimes they'll have an interesting excursion on the way to the airport and sometimes it's just a straight bus to the airport...no worry about luggage or lateness....that's convenience.

We were on the Infinity sharing a table with the retired Minister of Finance for the Province of Quebec, Canada. We had been on a shore excursion together and I cannot explain why none of us noticed that he was still wearing walking shorts when we showed up for our set dinner time. They very politely and quietly asked him to please change his clothes. They were staying in a suite and he was used to wearing formal clothes but this time he forgot and neither us nor his wife noticed, but he was refused entry to the MDR for dinner. I agree with other posters who suggest buying your 14 year old son a pair of khaki pants that he can use for school or visiting places on shore where shorts would not be allowed, like some churches and cathedrals, and spare him the humiliation of being denied entry.

What excursion? It likely just isn't available to be booked a year in advance as the contracts with vendors aren't always negotiated that far out. But you could always call and ask if it available but sold out.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

Usually if an excursion is sold out you'll see that it's "not available on line, see shore excursion on board"....IME that means it's either been sold out or cancelled for one reason or another. By all means call and ask, although pp is right, if it's more than a year excursions may not have been settled on...so keep checking. If it's something that would ruin your cruise if you couldn't do, then ask if you can book it this far out and tell them why. I did this when we went to Russia on a river cruise...one of the excursions was to see Swan Lake performed in St. Petersburg. Had I missed that I would have been heartbroken so I booked the excursion when I booked the trip.

Private car will run around 100 pounds. If you google LHR to Southampton transport you'll get many options, including Uber (which I don't personally use but many people swear by them), private car will usually include flight tracking and meet and greet after you go through passport control. It's about 75 miles and took us about 90 minutes on the bus. You can do it for a lot less but from your post you seem more like DH and I and we either take X transport or private car. With all the money we're spending on the trip what's another $100 for guaranteed service in a comfortable private car! :)

Welcome to cruise critic fellow dog walker/petsitter! It sounds to me like you're flying into Heathrow and have been to London before (otherwise you'd want to stay in London for a few days) so....IMHO take a taxi from Heathrow to Southampton on the day you arrive...it's about a 90 minute ride depending on traffic....there's a Holiday Inn across the street from the pier and Southampton is a VERY interesting place. The hotel has a restaurant, pretty grounds and is only a couple of blocks from the pier. Southampton is one of the few European cities whose medieval wall is virtually intact. There is a restored Tudor house with an unrestored bomb shelter in the basement and they have a delightful cafe with delicious food for lunch....a little further walk through the old part of the city and you're in the new modern city where you'll find all kinds of shops, including a super market for anything you may have forgotten. If you're not interested in historical things, there's a beautiful park along the embarcadero with benches to relax on that is also almost across the street from the hotel. The hotel provides transportation to the pier or depending on where your ship is berthed, you could even walk it.

PS: we have friends in Green Valley!!!

Cindy and I have our next cruise booked on the Infinity and I usually eat my share of desserts on a cruise - more than at home like most of us. For years I usually favored Carnival's Warm Chocolate Melting Cake and the self serve ice cream. Don't have a favorite yet on Royal Caribbean yet but Johnny Rockets had a killer milkshake. Their chocolate lava cake wasn't bad.

 

What's not to miss on Celebrity? What's worth walking up a few extra flights of stairs to burn those calories for?

 

PS Sorry folks, the title should be "Desserts on X". Desert is where we go to Aruba for :cool:

the chocolate mousse cake with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream is indescribably delicious.....if you like chocolate cake and it appears that you do, this is not to be missed. Back up dessert is creme brulee.....but it's served cold when it should be served warm. When in Aruba we have lunch at Iguana Joe's.

I've just returned today from this cruise.

 

What slightly annoyed us and some other passengers was that there was no Celebrity contingency plan. To sit at anchor for about 30 hours was no fun in cloudy/cold skies! Helsinki was fairly closeby and perhaps we could have gone there?

 

 

In a perfect world it would have been great had the Captain been able to decide STP is too dangerous, we'll just hop over to Helsinki....but the truth is the port schedules are set up a year or more in advance and you can't just drop in! Fees have to be paid, space has to be provided, people have to be available to provide services on land, etc., etc. I do share your frustration as it happened to us on our Canadian cruise....hurricane caused us to spend an extra 24 hours in the St Lawrence River, missing the scheduled port in Bar Harbor Maine. I really, really wanted to stop at Bar Harbor because Acadia National Park is there, but when you travel, whether it's by plane, or boat, or car....stuff happens and you just have to lick your wounds and move on.

Is it on August 9th? If so room rates look to be between $200 and $300. Doesn't seem to far out of line to me. It would make your stay in Edinburgh much more enjoyable the night of the Tattoo as well as the next morning. If it's raining you'll really be glad you have a dry base of operations. I'll bet Mardi Gras oy New years Eve in NYC are much higher.

Actually $300/night is considered reasonable in NYC for a nice hotel! I was getting prices closer to $450+ when I checked and there was very little availability. I booked a private tour for Edinburgh including the tattoo tix....I need handicapped parking and seating and X didn't have that available and I have a tour the next day to the royal yacht with X. We really did think about staying but between the prices (keeping in mind we've already paid for a room that night) we decided to go back to the ship.

If you are going to the Tattoo be prepared to wait ti get a tender back to the ship. On our cruise a couple of years ago, some people did not get back to the ship until 2:30 am. If I were to do it again, I would get a room and overnight in Edinburgh to eliminate the wait and ride after the Tattoo as well as the next morning for the second day in Edinburgh.

I checked into this....rooms in Edinburgh when the Tattoo is on are comparable to hotel rooms in NOLA for Mardi Gras or NYC for New Year's Eve!!! All I can say is YIKES!!! :eek: