BMT

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I should clarify that my wife is a wheelchair user and we often bypass Assisted Embarkation and Disembarkation for the reasons described above.[/quote]

Selbourne -Wish we could!! Dreading December 9th - I just haven't the strength to push the chair and pull the case full of meds/appliances. Neither can I walk around West Quay for three hours pushing the wheelchair and pulling the meds case!!

Just hoping to find a nice younger fellow passenger to help us out!!

Last year on Silhouette I did not like the scent of the lotion, soap and shampoo. That is the first and only time I have ever detested a scent like I did last year, so now I take my own just in case it happens again. The scent reminded me of vegetables! I prefer citrus or flowery scents!

Agree - the smell is DISGUSTING!! I make a point of mentioning it on questionnaires etc - no-one takes any notice or comments!!

We did Ventura in February and Eclipse in June and September.

Unfortunately, we were not terribly impressed with Pando. Except that the entertainment was far better on Pando. However, we are back on Ventura for Christmas and New Year - but it was either that or Cunard. And we are a bit bored with Cunard. Pando is perfectly acceptable - its just that the Americans understand service so much better. The Pando staff seem very set in their ways - inflexible in many ways - difficult to explain.

One instance - mother wanted french fries with her meal and this was refused, although it was on the menu with another dish - they did arrive after I asked to speak to the Manager!;p That would never happen on Celebrity.

Pando would rather have many four tops vacant rather than seating couples. Again, when all two tops are taken, Celebrity then allows couples to sit at the four tops. We have to wait far longer at peak times on Pando for the above reason. No point in couples milling around with beepers when the restaurant is half empty!! We felt the staff were rather arrogant and condescending - we are two elderly ladies on our own, but I am no longer used to being directed to the worst table in the room!! This is not the old days!!

Having said all this, I am sure it will be an enjoyable cruise as I now know what to expect. I love the ship itself - similar to Golden and Grand Princess on which we did many a transatlantic. The cabin layout is better for us than Celebrity - I like the dressing area on Pando. On all the ships we have a problem as we need a walk-in shower - so we cannot have a suite or deluxe balcony - but we are happy to be on C deck - midship with a very nice balcony. Just hope we get the weather to use it!!

Just off the Silhouette cabin 9227. Lots of vibration but not all the time noticed it in the cabin and also buffet. It seemed more noticeable the higher up we were on the ship. Certainly was not enough to really be a problem for us.

Yikes!! However, on Eclipse B2B much more noticeable in cabin on starboard side. Oh well, here's hoping our starboard hump will avoid excess vibration.

Thank you Pheonix - good to know it wasn't only my imagination!! Wonder what's wrong with her?

However, seems no-one has noticed anything wrong with the Silhouette, so I should be OK.

Thanks for your replies y'all!!

Hmm... could be the stabilizers I suppose - but why only on one side?

Not very disturbing, but as I have inner ear problems, it was irritating at times. I stress, very slight and my partner didn't notice.

On the Eclipse a few weeks ago, we were on a B2B - first cabin on the hump on starboard side, I felt quite a lot of vibration, but second leg we changed to the port side and didn't feel any vibration!

We are booking Silhouette next year and wondering whether anyone noticed any more vibration on one side of the hump than the other?

I was told (rumour?) that the President disembarked the May cruise in Iceland.. Anyone know whether it was true?

If true - IMHO very rude!! Were refunds offered?:halo:;p

I would have agreed with you a year ago, but our June sailing suggested Celebrity had listened.

 

 

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Horses for courses - but I have to say that most people were rather bewildered by the new shows. Amade was..... peculiar to say the least;p Have to say that I was one of the few who loved the previous 'Eclipse' show - saw it so many times I knew many of the moves!! And that was also peculiar to say the least!! On the Connie years ago I had a tiny part when I was on board with the diver in the Cirque show - also not a popular show.

I realise that Celebrity is trying to be innovative and appeal to a younger audience.......but most were not young!! Anyway, we will soon be on a B2B so I will have to give all the shows a double go.....have to go to the shows as my Mum has a great sleep in the shows - and if we don't go, she thinks she's missing out - bless her!! hehehehe. By the way, the staff on the Eclipse made her birthday in June very memorable - a wonderful day.

I agree with the poster who said that we all love shows where we can relate to the music and songs. All the tribute acts go down a treat. Loved the Rock'n'Roll cruise (3 day charter Eclipse last September) and one of the best bands was the house band in the atrium - boy, did they rock. I was told they are not allowed to perform like that on a regular cruise!!

As far the young impressionist goes - I don't believe that particular act was ever going to go 3/4 of an hour. He needs help with the act - no way suited to the audience. Much of it was too obscure. First ten minutes was OKish - then he lost the audience. I have to say, I have never experienced anything quite like it before. And I have seen BGT acts previously which were fine. It really isn't easy to walk up and down doing impressions for 3/4 hour!! Singing and magic etc. gives the performer more variety to work with IMHO.

Interesting thread - beats 'tipping'!!!:halo:

We were on in June - no Chandelier and Euphoria replaced it. Hated Euphoria!!

I believe Celebrity is now producing in-house, which is why, I suppose, they are encouraging videos on social media - used to be forbidden!!

The only show I care for is the Rock show.

But.......its somewhere to while away an hour or so and its 'live', so we are happy to keep seeing the same shows over and over again on our fave ship. Can't expect them to keep producing new shows - they are very costly.

Some of the headliners are excellent, others not too good.

We had the most embarrassing experience on our June cruise of seeing an impressionist 'bomb', with the audience leaving in droves and for some reason the house lights were on and he could see what was happening and totally 'dried up'. All credit to him for carrying on eventually with help from the 'sound man'. So rude - even some passengers in the front row got up directly in front of him and left. For heavens sake peeps, just have the courtesy to sit it out for another few minutes!!

Celebrity bookings is to blame - that act is not capable of holding an audience for three-quarters of an hour - a few minutes on BGT is not a headline act!!! Felt really sorry for the young man.

We don't bother asking as the basket under the bed containing the lifejackets (or is it the covers?) makes an ideal footstool for us.

My very elderly mum has a walker.

We try to have the bed by the closet/ bathroom in a balcony cabin, as when she gets up, she can immediately balance on the wall to get into the bathroom at night. Balcony accessibles are like hens teeth!!

I do have to help her to get on the balcony - but nothing is perfect. We cope pretty well really.

Just off the Eclipse. The food was really excellent - chef Paul was back on board!! Nothing overcooked and good selection of dishes. Last September the food was poor. Even the selection in the buffet was better - fish'n'chips every other day in the buffet and also sometimes in the MDR.

The service was also excellent - well trained and friendly staff - except for one extremely rude and abrupt lady on Reception!!:eek:

However, the entertainment was quite poor as usual. The rock'n'roll show is fine - the other two production shows are dire. Three good headliners - one unfortunate impressionist - act unsuitable for the theatre and as the audience started walking out - (why the houselights were still on I have no idea) - he totally blanked - so embarrassing. Even people in the front row were leaving - so rude!!:o

Over three days in St. Petersburg, Russia, the only evening entertainment was a Russian group. On the other nights many passengers were without entertainment, casino, shops etc. Not even a good recent film!! On another two nights there was only one show at 10.30pm - for the older passengers this was too late!! What are they thinking on Celebrity?

Perhaps they just don't care about us twirlies!!

Well, since we are having such a good-natured debate:evilsmile: - let's forget Celebrity (I can't as I board tomorrow!) and compare to Cunard, Princess etc. Unfortunately, same argument applies. We have sailed many times with these and other lines and never had this problem.

Again, I am 75 and travel with my mother who is almost 102. We have to have the taxi early in order to leave sufficient time in case of hold-ups on M25 and M3. If we left to arrive at 3.30pm and there was a hold-up, we could well miss the ship!! At 102 my mother is in no fit state to kill time wandering around West Quay!! Neither can she sit at the terminal and wait for hours without access to toilet facilities!!

She also (surprise, surprise) needs a few hours rest before the muster drill after travelling down and doing the check-in, security etc.

I have been quite astonished at some of the uncaring comments on here - all I can say to you (and you know who you are) - is that I hope when you are very old and on the receiving end of uncaring behaviour, that you remember how unkind you were!! Karma - what goes around, comes around.

Anyway, this is an interesting thread, because if you omit the comments of the Pando cheerleaders (and perhaps some posters from Pando staff:p) there are many posters not happy with the Pando check-in - seems a bit of a lottery really!!

I would point out that on other lines, passengers are embarked prior to cabins being opened. This obviously gives more time to check-in passengers. On Celebrity, I think cabins open at about 1.00pm ish, but embarcation takes place from about 11.00 am.

As I said, the entertainment is much better on Pando and I am not saying it is a rubbish line. Far from it. But .......their check-in IS rubbish IMHO. The service on board is also a bit strange - rather stilted and forced and mainly, quite stand-offish. Hard to explain after the friendly service on other lines - even Cunard is not so impersonal. Having said that, Ventura's Front office staff were extremely friendly.

Oh well, every cruiseline on CC has its cheerleaders who do not accept any criticism of their favourite line. However, its a poor show that luck or money has anything to do with satisfactory boarding procedures.

Unlike BMT in some 14 cruises with pando each time using assistance we have always been treated with courtesy and good humour every time both embarking and disembarking - but then we are always polite with them

Hope you are not insinuating that we are not polite?:D As it happens, we knew the lady with the clipboard from previous cruises and she was very upset for us that she was ordered to let all those in suites or on the loyalty scheme to go ahead of us, regardless of their arrival time!! Doesn't happen on other lines - on those all disabled are treated equally in wheelchair allocation. In the end, since the 'list' had not moved for a considerable time due to those given 'priority', she said her conscience would not allow Mum to wait any longer, so off we went with the next available pusher, straight to the cabin for a lie-down and I made her a sandwich from the push'n'shove!

Perhaps we were just unlucky though. At Christmas, we will wait half-an-hour and if the list is not moving, I will appeal to a strong-looking passenger to give her a push up the initial slope. Of course, if she needs the loo, we are in real trouble.:eek: At 102, as she will be, loo stops are rather frequent and sometimes urgent, especially after a 2-hour car journey.

Anyway, off Sunday (I hope!) on the Eclipse for a couple of weeks. For a big ship, its classy and the service is excellent - for us cruises are upscale Butlins, as we don't get off at the ports for obvious reasons.

Taxis from the station are usually not a problem. However, it can be very busy if there are a few ships departing that day.

Taxis to the station from the port- now they can be really busy - again depending on how many ships are in port. You could always see if you can book with West Quay Cars or similar.

Thinking about it, with two kids, I agree that your easiest option would be by coach - drop you directly at the ship and take you back from whence you came. :D They might even meet other kids on the coach!:eek:

Thanks for your reply - very helpful. Quick question. What's the process for check-in for those requiring assistance? Do you check-in straight away when you arrive and then return to the assistance area to wait for someone to board you? Or do you have to wait until you are told you can check-in and then wait again for the assistance? Thanks.

Wheelchair assistance is right near the entrance door. You wait until there is a pusher allocated to you by the lady with the clipboard (hope you have better luck than we had!) - then the 'pusher' takes you up to check-in and then through security, oop the gangway and onto the vessel. If you are lucky enough to be able to push the wheelchair and not have to wait for a pusher, inevitably it is usually quicker.

Fortunately, in two weeks time we will be back on Celebrity and treated like all other disabled passengers and not at the mercy of those who have paid more!! We will obviously have to wait, but at least all are equal!! Dreading Christmas with the P&O boarding system.

Celebrity's operation has a certain grace which we found totally lacking in P&O. Hard to put a finger on it - although the entertainment was better on P&O. Perhaps its because the Americans have higher expectations of service standards.

Last I heard he is living quietly on his island with his family and......has stopped smoking!!

He told me that he never pushed the azipods and that's why the Connie had far fewer problems with them.

Interesting guy - I believe Manetas is in contact with him - and still calls him Captain!! Old school!!

Our Captain is Captain Michael. We met him last night in Michael's. He is very chatty and social. It was nice to see him, and the other officers, making a real effort to meet and greet as many guests as possible. It was also nice that they were asking for opinions and impressions....a team looking to keep enhancing the guest's experiences.

 

On a similar note we received a 'comment' card in our room last night. Great that they are looking for feedback of any issues (or strengths) so early in the cruise.

Thank you - its always nice to be able to meet the senior staff - and even nicer when they are sociable! Always found the Eclipse staff to be exceptional:halo:

Hi - Bon Voyage:champagne-toast:

Do you know who the Captain is? We are on the 21st May and miss Capt. Manetas - but all the other Captains have proved to be very sociable and turned up for the M&M.

No-one has mentioned school holidays, when many suites are booked by families.

Children in a more confined area? Are they allowed in the pool? In the Lounge for pre-dinner cocktails?

If I booked a suite, I would make sure it wasn't during school holidays - but then we are past the kiddie stage of our life:D

Agree, it's more about 'standard practice' rather than legislation. Basically, we have accepted it. Furthermore, why do some cruise lines accept UK pax booking with US TAs and others don't (btw, X and Royal do)? Can't be a legislative issue - must be because the terms favour the cruise line more.

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Here in the UK, it is commonly known as "Rip-off Britain". Higher prices than US on many items, cars, computers etc. etc.

I am finding your posts unacceptable and offensive BMT and would ask that you stop these insulting personal comments towards disabled passengers. This has now gone far too far.

What a ridiculous statement - I am all in favour of the disabled being treated EQUALLY and without any discrimination!! Just saying that big spenders shouldn't get priority for wheelchairs, leaving other passengers sitting in very uncomfortable chairs in a draughty area, for long periods of time.

What's insulting about that?

And again - if you arrived closer to your scheduled embarkation time, you would not make your mother suffer.

 

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She would suffer far more if we left at 1.30pm for 3.30pm and we were held up on the M25/M3:D She gets nervous as it is - last time she was afraid the ship would go without us although we were in the terminal!! Anyway, the taxi company insists on two hours leeway because of the two infamous motorways!!

Many posts on here saying that they have to leave earlier in order to account for delays if allocated late boarding - they could miss the ship if they didn't!!

Oh dear, thought you were giving up on this thread - obviously ONLY if you have the last word:eek::eek:

As myself and numerous others have explained to you time and time again (in response to the countless times on several threads that you have raised this issue), what you experienced was NOT discrimination, but what you are suggesting WOULD be discrimination. Let me try one last time to explain;

 

ALL passengers travelling in suites or of high loyalty tier status receive priority boarding, whether disabled or not. That is correct and means that disabled passengers and able bodied alike are treated equally. Your complaint is that priority boarding priveliges should not apply to disabled passengers and they should simply be boarded in the order they arrive, even when, like you, they arrive 3 hours before their allocated time. That means that disabled passengers who have paid extra for a Suite (or earned higher loyalty status) would be deprived of a benefit that able bodied people receive. That WOULD be discrimination.

 

It is interesting that your story chops and changes with each telling of it. Originally, you were 'waiting for a wheelchair'. Then when challenged by several people why you didn't have one of your own you suddenly did have one. Now you seem to be back to the 'waiting for a wheelchair' version. There are countless other aspects of the long version of the story which don't stand up to scrutiny, but these have been highlighted elesewhere by many of us. You simply ignore the points we make and repeat other (usually irrelevant) statements.

 

For the benefit of those who haven't read the countless posts on other threads about this (and I suggest you don't), this person conveniently fails to mention that, having created an almighty fuss, they were boarded over 90 minutes before their allocated time!

 

Finally, I should stress that my wife is disabled and in a wheelchair. When we book a Suite we expect (and receive) priority boarding. When we don't (as is the case on our next cruise), we fully accept that those passengers (disabled or not) who have paid for a Suite or are in higher loyalty levels will receive priority over us, even though we will use assisted boarding. That is correct. If we end up boarding 90 minutes before our allocated time we shall be delighted and shall take the opportunity to positively highlight the fact! I'm now exhausted and off to bed.

I repeat yet again, it is discriminating to give priority for a wheelchair to the big spenders like you. It is not even specified as an amenity - only priority CHECK-IN is, as on all the other cruise lines. It should be on arrival to board the disabled asap regardless of their financial or social standing - all other cruiselines do this without discriminating as to how much they have spent. Some things are just NOT about money, but about common humanity.

Hehe - I wondered whether you would pick-up on the "wheelchair" thingy. I have no interest in the Company and am not advertising, but what we have is a Diamond Drive de luxe rollator/travel chair. This is from the US and is fantastic for travelling. You can order them on the internet and I am always asked where they can be purchased.

You are willfully ignoring the fact that a lady of 101 is very frail and her needs are obvious - fortunately, other passengers did see this and apologised for going before us!! The lady with the clipboard said that the order she was given was disgraceful!!

Sorry, but I repeat the right to a wheelchair should not depend on how much you spend and no other cruiseline does this - you may not approve - but I can only imagine the type of person who cannot see that a frail 101-year old, after a long day, will come over poorly after being kept waiting indefinitely while big spenders receive a wheelchair before her. You may think this is right - I don't.