Chelly

It states: "Medical Protection – up to $10,000 USD per person, for reimbursement of medical expenses incurred due to a covered illness or injury during the Cruise Vacation".

I understand that pre-cruise medical emergencies are not covered.

Thank you so much for responding, easyboy. I've been hoping to hear from someone on the boards.

Oh my word! What a superb plan.

For medical emergencies, does anyone know if Celebrity insurance covers a medical emergency that occurs during a one-day pre-cruise stay at European hotel? Or, does the medical coverage only cover day cruise begins until day it ends? Policy is unclear.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer. :)

scubacruiser2X,

I did check out your Northern Europe and St Petersburg offerings. You make me feel like a kid waiting for Santa. Thanks for all that you do for Cruise Critic members.

scubacruiserx2:

I just can't thank you enough for this spectacular photo review. It is a valuable resource for booking this itinerary.

Chelly

I was delivered the card with tile explanation. I was on deck 7.

However, I was NOT delivered an envelope containing the immigration declaration form and ticket color for disembarkation. As a result, Had to do some scurrying to get these as I was leaving the ship.

Just looked at my Mariner status on HAL website and this cruise was already posted. I had 11 nights for the cruise, 11 nights for suite, and 11 nights for onboard spend.

 

All in all I'd say that means it was a WONDERFUL cruise! :D

That's nice.

I cruise solo in a balcony cabin and pay the price of two people/cabin - 200%.

Yet for Mariner status points, HAL credits me for one person. It is their policy and I've always considered it unfair.:(

Celebrity and Princess grants double credits to solo cruisers who are stuck paying double. Thus, my loyalty status advances faster.:D

No, we don't need to fill the laundry bag; we're 4 star so we get free laundry! That is the best perk!!! If you don't have free laundry, then the cost of the unlimited laundry for the 7 day cruise is $49. By the bag is $20.

Thanks again AQ. I'm still a lowly three-star. $20 for laundry is a good deal. You can pack a lot into those bags.

Well, we're back from visiting SB. It was a most enjoyable morning. We first did the trolley tour which gave us a wonderful overview of Santa Barbara and went into Montecito a wee bit. We went to the mission and drove by the court house. This trolley tour was not a HOHO; our only stop was at the mission where we could get out, and visit the gift shop or washroom. There was a funeral this morning at the mission so no one could tour the mission itself. We only had about 15 minutes there anyway so I doubt we could have seen much in that time.

 

Afterwards, we stopped by the SB tourist information right by the tender pier. They told us how to get to the SB Courthouse; the electric tram/trolley was right there to pick up passengers and cost only $0.25/person! WE took that up State Street and got off a block away from the Courthouse. Well, that is something to see. It's still a working courthouse but you'd barely know it from the tourists and bridal parties!! There were at least 3 bridal parties, either having pictures taken or having the actual ceremony there. One was up at the top of the clock tower. It looked like the bride, groom, officiant and the photographer. When it was over, all the tourists cheered! Other than the cheering, everyone was respectful of the ceremony and did not intrude (other than just by being there). What was unexpected, at least for us, is that the elevator went right to the look out at the top of the clock tower so DM could come up and see the view. We thought that she would have to wait down below for me to climb the tower. That was great that she could enjoy it too. We walked down from there, thinking that there was something to see on every floor. On the 4th floor there was the actual clock mechanism. We spoke with the docent there and she advised that the bells in the room were made of styrofoam! When I asked where the music came from (the clock was ringing 11 am when we arrived), she told us it was taped! I believe she said that the tower or the clock was built during the depression so they didn't have enough money to set the bells up until about six years ago. So they went with replica bells and taped chimes.

 

On the second floor of the courthouse, there was the mural room which was interesting to see. AFter that, we toured the gardens surrounding the courthouse. That's where the other two bridal parties were (and it looked like there was a set up for another wedding).

 

AFter the courthouse, we walked down State Street. DM saw a store she wanted to look into so we poked into that and some other shops. We tried to go to the Reagan Ranch Centre but it was locked up (even though the signage indicated we were there during open hours). We gave up and continued to walk towards the ocean. By this point, we were dehydrated, a little hungry and DM's feet hurt. DM saw the electric shuttle coming and we managed to get on that. For $0.25/person, it was a cheap and easy way to get to the tender pier.

 

We were back on the ship by 1:30 and had a quick lunch in the Lido.

 

Tonight is a gala night. They weren't supposed to have one, and, frankly, I'm surprised they're having one on the last night of the four day segment. But I guess they changed their minds.

 

For future cruisers, we sent our our laundry last night and it was in our cabin when we came back at 1:30 - less than 24 hours.

 

Can't wait to meet you all tomorrow! Hopefully, I'll even meet Frank!! I'll be the one wearing the lei. (Not sure if I can convince DM to wear one.)

Hi AQ, thanks for sharing your day in SB. Sounds lovely. Really appreciate the tip on laundry. Did you use the "Fill the Bag" option? Thanks.

You haven't met Frank yet? Wonder where he's been hiding.

C.

See ya tomorrow!

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/520/Westerdamseaviewbargarbartenderbest.JPG

Yup. We know exactly where to find you.

Greetings Fellow Cruisers:

I'll be joining you tomorrow in San Diego and am wondering if anyone has checkout the Piano Bar yet and if so has anything to report.:)

Thank you all for sharing your adventures.

Glad no reports of toilets no flushing.....so far.

They'll probably stop flushing after we San Diego boarders arrive.:D

You did thank me enough ! And thank you for taking the time to write . Stay tuned as we're going to encounter wildlife at our next 2 ports and the best scenery came after the cruise ! :) :D

OK. Wildlife is what this cruise will be all about for me!!!!!!!!! Many thanks again.

C.

Spectacular photos.

Can't thank you enough.

C.

Instead of starting another live from, I'll just tack my 2 cents on here :)

 

For those who were watching our luggage drama our missing bag showed up in our stateroom at about 3:30. Yay- we have dress clothes! The Vancouver port staff at the airport were like pit bulls getting our bag for us- they are the greatest. We got a call while in customs from them telling us our bag was in their custody and would be delivered to the ship.

 

Great Dinner in Pinnacle Grill. Prawn cocktail, seared scallop over pumpkin puree, rib steaks with mushrooms and asparagus and lemon sorbet. Just passing Port Angeles now heading out to Pacific. Getting a little bumpier- some have said that tonight and Wednesday may be bumpy. Tem more PG dinners to look forward to. Great PG staff- Gabor is PG Manager.

 

Our toilet in our deck 5 aft wrap is doing the 5 minute delay thing tonight- hopefully not a bad sign.

Not surprised to read about your toilet. As I had posted on the Oct 22 Roll Call, Westy toilets tend to be finicky. My suggestion is to scope out the nearest public toilet to your cabin in advance of problems......just in case.

Oh....one more thing. If your toilet is out of order and isn't repaired in a reasonable amount of time, it helps to post a sign on the hallway side of the door that reads.

"TOILET DOESN'T FLUSH"

Always got results for me.

So glad to see a live from being done.

 

We are also in the ship, been to our cabin, had lunch, attended the Mariner cocktail reception and checked out the America's Test kitchen. There will be more information about it over the next 2 days apparently. We've unpacked and relaxed in the rain on our balcony and waiting now for the drill at 16:15. Sail away is scheduled for 17:00 hours.

 

The On Location shows as David being the Piano Bar entertainer if that helps.

Thanks!

Enjoy!

Copper,

Do you know who is playing in the Piano Bar on the Oct 22 Westerdam cruise to Mexico?

I am told his first name is David.

Thanks,

Chelly

Hey Alberta Quilter:

You kept your "Live From" a secret from us!!!!!!

Enjoy, and see you in San Diego on next leg of your cruise.

p.s. Take good care of your back so you'll be ready for the party-crowd joining you on Saturday.

P.s.s. Who is playing in Piano Bar?

For next time, to avoid noise:

I have learned from experience to book a cabin between passenger decks.

Thanks for the nice Bon Voyage!

Chelly.

That's funny because Celebrity Cruises didn't really become active until the 1990's.

Ok. I won't quibble because I made a typo. The line was Chandris, then named Celebrity. Chef Michael Roux was responsible for menus and food prep. He was a master.

Nice to have a fact-checker onboard.

The superb dining a la the 80's.

Seems like you're happier with your NCL and Carnival experience. So, best stick to those lines.

This isn't unique to HAL. Princess offers really good fares in return to non-refundable and non-transferrable deposits as well. That doesn't mean you have to book this way. I've recently paid a few hundred dollars more for a cruise booking in order to pay a refundable deposit with NO conditions.

When we flew to US from Amsterdam we had no trouble with personal item in addition to regular size carryon. But in Gatwick airport in London we experienced the one small carryon rule.

What was the airline?