cheriooo

About 3 years ago we had a Aqua Class cabin on a Celebrity ship and my Rolex watch went missing in the cabin. We searched all over couldn't find it. The stateroom folks did a thorough search nothing. Usually I locked the watch in the room safe when not using it. So of course thought it was stolen. The ship identified and queried all crew folks who entered the cabin during the time it could have disappeared. Nothing. When we got home we contacted Celebrity home office to report it. Did not hear anything for a couple of months. The ship had some sort of short dry dock or deep cleaning event and we received a call from Celebrity. Low and behold they found the watch wedged between the nightstand and wall about half way down. We actually tried to look there but it was bolted to the wall and didn't think there was enough space for it to fit. The night stand typically is not moved on normal cleaning and only in such dry dock/deep cleaning events. The watch was fed ex'ed to us and had it a day later. I/we had given up all hope of ever seeing it again. So bottom line, call Celebrity home office and notify them of the event (dont count on the ship to follow through after you leave), have good home owners insurance with listed jewelry and be cautious of placing valuables in the room after taking them off if you had a little too much to drink (my problem). The only reason they returned the timepiece is that we contacted the home office and they recorded the event/room/passenger and had a means of tracking down the owner of the "found timepiece". Hope things turn out for you as they did for us.

Does anyone know if they have the Edinburgh Military Tattoo every year? if they do, was the itinerary the same each year?

 

We are planning to go on 2017, and I am hoping that they are offering this trip with the same itinerary of 2016.

 

Thank you.

 

http://www.edintattoo.co.uk/

 

Yes the military tattoo is a yearly event. The attached link shows the dates. It is also held I believe in Australia and New Zealand. Celebrity seems to be trying new things every year to enhance the cruise experience with things like extended stay, river cruises which makes the cruise just a part of an extended vacation package. I havent seen enough history yet to see if continuation of these special event cruises will continue. Currently they have sold out their ticket allocation for the 2016 Tattoo and have folks on a wait list to see if they can acquire more tickets. Tickets go on sale for the event in 2016 in November and December this year.

I have always thought that the "wine around the world" event was probably the best value if you want to try a bunch of so-so wines in a relatively short period of time. It is not the greatest wine nor the worst. There are folks to talk to about the wines and the pours typically get larger as the event starts to close down.

I have to second all the comments about Qsine. I believe it is better with a group. Also if its your first time you can enjoy it also. You have to ask your waiter to slow down bringing the food because it does keep coming fast. We ate at Qusine on our last cruise and it had been a while since we had done it before. The food was before and I have to admit I thought the per serving size was smaller(to me that is a good thing because you usually leave Qsine stuffed) Tuscan is also very nice and I have to second the other posters who say the view is spectacular. Food is very good, well prepared but depending where you are and the time of day the view is outstanding.

We are considering a transatlantic on Celebrity Equinox in October 2016 - Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale. When we board the ship we will have been traveling on our own in Spain for about a month - seems like a nice way to get back to the US without the usual associated jet lag.

 

We are fairly active - enjoy walking, etc. and I'm wondering what there is to do on the ship for the six-in-a-row sea days. I know there is a gym, so that would help with exercise, but what about other activities and/or things to do? We like to read, so that would be something we would enjoy - also anything educational - are there any lectures on a transatlantic?

 

I guess I would hate to find myself living from meal to meal :o

 

How do you like to pass the time on a transatlantic? Or has anyone done it once and thought "never again?"

 

We likewise took the same cruise last year and it was wonderful. We were skeptical of taking our first transatlantic for the same reason as you and have done 3 others since and are basically planning to make it a yearly event. (we are leaving next week for our 4th crossing) There are various activities on the ship to keep most people occupied plus if you are doing a southern crossing it is typically warm and calm seas. If you take advantage of what the ship has to offer and the time to relax and not be running from port to port than a crossing is a great experience.

We booked our first Alaskan cruise sailing early May, 2016 and I'm sure I will have many questions later, but one that comes to mind now is whether getting into Vancouver at 11:47 am is enough time to have Celebrity pick us up and have us to the cruise port prior to sailing...

My first question if your expecting "Celebrity Transportation" from airport to cruise terminal I would ask Celebrity that question. I dont believe they offer that at all ports. Secondly I would ask how big a gambler are you? We left last year from Vancouver cruise port to Alaska and I have to second the previous post about the time it took to go through Canadian Customs (even with trusted traveler program). We arrived early and spent 3 days in Seattle and Vancouver. Both beautiful cities and very tourist friendly. There are a number of hotels by Vancouver Airport that handle cruise passenger transfers. I am all about making cruising easy and I try to avoid same day arrivals because so much of travel is beyond the control of the passenger. No sense in creating alot of stress if you can avoid it. I can second the comments about how busy Vancouver Airport is with international travel and waiting to go through customs. When you first see the line it looks very overwhelming but it does move amazingly fast. It boils down to "how big a risk taker are you"?

I have 11 days until a crossing and then 70 days to a Caribbean.

I would add that the cheaper fares are found for those booking early.

You (and the group) have to decide what your "on your own" risk tolerance is...You can easily save $500 per couple doing it on your own, doing exact same hotels/tours, or at least very similar...Is it worth that much to have to do the work yourself? Some would say yes, and some no!

 

One example, you can book all 4 rooms online in less 5 minutes if you are used to online booking...you can arrange group transports in advance or just take cabs...It is easy (for some) to do, but others don't want to bother with it on their own.

 

 

We love Barcelona...Have a great trip!

 

You are 100% correct of being able to do the hotel and tours on your own cheaper than using Celebrity. Celebrity makes it very easy, but if your willing to do a little bit of work you can save some money. Cabs are plentiful and it is relatively easy to get to cruise port. Barcelona is a beautiful city and easy to get around. You will enjoy it no matter what you do

We are going on the Equinox western mediterranean cruise in the spring of 2016, 10 days....round trip in and out of Barcelona. My husband and I are traveling with at least 3 other couples that are friends... within a group of about 2 dozen others.

 

We eight want to fly in a few days early and visit Barcelona and the possibility of the Celebrity city stay package at the Renaissance Hotel is a consideration via our TA. Our TA is not a "full service" TA, so booking multiple things via them is not really an option.

 

I have searched the CC site and can only find the announcement from Jan 2015 about city stay packages. The Celebrity site is of little help (Ha!).

 

Has anyone done this? I know we can "do it ourselves," but it may be easier for the group if it is done by someone else.

 

Opinions please, and thank you.

 

Last year we stayed 3 nights pre cruise in Barcelona at a Renaissance Hotel. Lovely city to walk. A lot of small tapes restaurants and lovely place to walk. The city is relatively safe to walk but you must be very aware of pickpockets especially in Las Rambas area. We did a couple of walking of tours plus went to Monserate I believe. If your into architecture and whimsical you must see some of the Gaudi buildings and churches in town. Amazing

We have sailed several times through this port. Most of the time the bottleneck has been customs. Remember often there are several ships in port at the same time. We typically use a taxi to get to the airport and truthfully I dont remember ever waiting more then 15 minutes. Celebrity has on some cruises a program where you can check your bags with them (on certain airlines) straight through from the ship and you dont see it until your home airport. I was skeptical but it worked fine. Truthfully leaving the ship is usually a taxing experience but I am not sure given the volume of folks coming and going within such a short period of time to me its amazing it isnt worse. We try to get a departing flight around 11 or 12 to make it less nerve racking.

On a recent Celebrity cruise we booked a British Isles cruise for Aug 2016 which is advertised as a Celebrity "Signature Event" cruise. Its big event is the Military Tattoo. When we booked it we asked about making sure we could get tickets to this event and they said it was too early but dont worry. My wife called Celebrity guest services this past week about something else and mentioned we were booked for this "signature event" and asked when we had to buy tickets. She was told that the Military Tattoo event (for 2016) was sold out and after a few checks by the customer service rep that at best they could put us on a wait list for tickets. The cruise itself is not sold out just their event allocation. We were both shocked by this. First of all the 2016 tickets for the actual event are not available until after the 2015 event is over(august 2015) per the event web site and you cant buy celebrity excursions until you make final payment. The celebrity web site still advertises the sailing as a Signature event and I cant imagine that those who booked the cruise made final payment a year in advance to be able to buy the excursion. My wife thinks that maybe some agency booked a number of rooms and took up the Celebrity allocation.

So the bottom line of this post is all about ethical advertising. If they advertise this as a cruise that focuses on a specific event (ie British Open, Mardi Gras, Military Tatto etc) and you don't have tickets for the event, is this miss leading? Do they have an obligation to tell buyers of the cruise that tickets for the focused cruise event aren't available? To me this boarders on false advertising. Our current course of action is to wait till the current year event is over and then try Viator which also does escorted shore excursion for the event. If we cant get a booking that way then we will cancel the cruise since it was the primary purpose of the cruise. So the bottom line here is what is a sellers responsibility to buyers that the "featured event" of the cruise is not available anymore more than a year before the sailing? I am sure for those who wait until final payment to try to book the excursion and find out that there are no tickets available will probably be too late to cancel flights and possibly the cruise without significant loss and just be disappointed. As an elite +, Celebrity has lost a of respect in my eye and "let the buyer beware" has crept into my purchase decisions. We are on a cruise next month and hope face to face conversions with Celebrity reps will lead to something positive.

I assume this has been answered before, but I did search the forum and didn't see exactly what I was looking for.

 

We are flying into FLL a day early for our November 14th cruise out of POM. We don't get in until the evening, so we are staying in Fort Lauderdale and then will take a shared van down to POM the morning of the 14th.

 

We fly home on the 21st at 1:10PM out of FLL. That timeline falls in the requirements of Celebrity transfers for POM. What opinions do you have on transportation to FLL? Celebrity transfer for $30pp, a shared van service, or something else? I don't want to say cost is not an concern, because it is, but saving $15pp is not a huge deal. I don't think a $200 limo ride is what I am looking for either though. I would like what is most reliable and convenient for the money. I assume even with celebrity transfers we would have to collect our luggage before going through customs.

 

I appreciate you taking the time to read this and give your opinion.

 

Taxi will cost 100-120 which is most convenient but maybe considered costly. Also on our last 2 cruises out of Miami Celebrity offered something I think called luggage express or valet. I am not sure. Its an extra charge but we felt it was well worth it. You sign up for it put you luggage out at night with special tags and the next time you see it is at your destination airport. We have done previously taxis, ride shares and private driver. All work all have pluses and minus's and we have also taken Celebrity's transfer bus. The bottom line is how much do you want to pay and when is your planes departure time. I cant say enough though of the luggage valet it makes getting home so much easier.

Was on the Reflection 2 weeks ago and they did not use vouchers. As a matter of fact it was the attended happy hour we ever experience. There couldn't have been more than 25 elites in the lounge. As a matter of fact the captais club hostess rarely was there. This was never experienced before.

Are these card holders still being given to Suite occupants? Recent experience only, please.

 

As of 3 weeks ago on Reflection yes

We used Alla Tours for St. Petersburg and several other Baltic countries. They did a very professional job. I would recommend them.

 

DON

I would second the consideration of Alla tours for St. Petersburg. We had 2 very memorable days of touring. They also provided us separately a dinner show which was very entertaining.

I would agree with a previous poster that you may not have as much time to do much as you think. Our last few Miami based cruises were not the simple to depart. The good part is that Celebrity does a good job getting luggage out. THe bad side is the customs office is not that equipped to speedily handle passengers from 6 cruise ships. We have waited for 2 hrs in line after getting our luggage to get through customs. Our shortest wait was probably 45 min. On our last cruise 2 weeks ago Celebrity offered a luggage valet service where they take your luggage the last night and the next time you see it is at your destination airport. We were skeptical but it worked and it was great. At best I would agree with the poster who said at best you could go to South Beach for brunch and then to the airport but I would be a pain with luggage. Also our experiences with Miami airport is similar to a previous poster in that it is hectic, busy and sometime long waits to get through TSA. If you have TSA pre-check that helps.

We did the baltic cruise 2 years ago. We used Alla tours they were fantastic. There is also another private tour company I think it is PJP tours- I am not sure on its exact name. Berlin is a couple hours each way from the cruise port so that makes for a long travel day. You can get to Berlin by motor coach or train. Train is a bit faster. Our tour took us through the city saw checkpoint charlie, Brandenberg gates, the wall, and a Holocaust museum. I felt it was worth the travel time. Drove through the city and had a nice lunch. I would advise you to look on your cruise connections and see what folks are on your cruise are doing and it will help you make a decision or possibly find someone to share a private tour with. The only downfall of a tour to Berlin from a cruise ship is the actual distance away. The drive back after a long day of touring seemed to take forever.

We have used driversinrome both for airport to Rome and private tours in Rome on three occasions. Outstanding service. Have found getting into and out of Rome airport easier then getting into the cruise port to board the ship. Have found Rome Airport to be efficient but large and alot of walking from gate to luggage to exit.

Likewise just got off the Refection yesterday. Agree with poster that for the first few cruises the menu in the suite restaurant will be the same as in the MDR. Since we were in a suite they allowed all suite guest free use of any specialty restaurants for the full cruise. I thought that was really gracious and totally unexpected. They bought a few brownie points with me because of that.

Have rented them twice in the past and on an upcoming cruise. Have done it both at sea and port days. Port days are cheaper. Mice alternative to sitting at the pool. Relaxing.

i believe that to get the AMEX benefit you must book through AMEX travel. I tried once to get it by proving the entire cruise was paid for on AMEX and it didnt matter. Celebrity is also very clear on combining promo offers. I do believe though that the AMEX benefits are inviting but you must go through AMEX and not Celebrity

This is a fabulous restaurant. We have tried cooking our own and having them do it. Either works great. Surf and turf is great as is the mac and cheese. We are looking forward to our Reflection cruise next month to enjoy it again. Have not had lunch there. Maybe we will try that.

Have a Sky Suite booked for March on Summit. Have read many posts that suite class can dine in Blu on space available basis. Does this apply to breakfast as well as dinner? Do they charge the $5/person at breakfast?

 

On the last 3 cruises we have had a suite and ate in Blue every night we tried. No waiting no issue. We did not pay extra for breakfast but we typically don't eat there for breakfast. It is true suite guest can use Blue on a space available basis but it was never an issue even on formal nights

We must have had to show our reciept for the fee 6 times before we even got on the plane to fly to Buenos Aires. To there credit, the airlines want to make sure you will be admited.

 

I second that. One couple held the flight up for a bit because they could find the receipt for one of them.