cyntil8ing

Not wringing hands, but we are scheduled to fly in to FLL Friday evening for a cruise from Port Everglades on Saturday. Keeping an eye on the National Weather Service page - https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?site=MFL&textField1=26.1425&textField2=-80.1395&e=0

Seems like the worst should be over by then, but with two cruises this year re-routed due to storms, it might be just my luck that there's an issue.

Best wishes for the folks in South FL! It's gonna be breezy!

We've cruised with a few different agencies that give OBC. It has always arrived during the cruise, usually the third day. In one case, the OBC never showed up. The TA sent me a check a few weeks later.

Also note that this type of OBC, unlike the Carnival OBC, is refundable, meaning if you don't spend it, you'll get it back.

Bon voyage Abby. See you on Apex next week!

I think I mentioned that we did our first Oasis class cruise on Harmony over the summer, also in a CLS. We loved the cabin, especially as there were three of us (our teen son was along). He had his own bathroom and said the sofa bed was very comfortable. The ship felt very big and very crowded to me, 40-ish cruises and I have never before waited in a line to get into the buffet! I would definitely do it again in a suite, but unlikely in a regular cabin.

Have a great time! Looking forward to meeting you next week and following your adventures this week. What are the ports? Do you have plans?

2 hours ago, PC 462 said:

Leaving Baltimore there is a wonderful view of Fort McHenry as well

Absolutely.

Baltimore is fun too; two bridges instead of just one. I think NYC is definitely a "must do". San Juan is great too, especially since most departures are in the dark, a different experience than most.

No rankings from me. They're all good!

Excited to follow along. I will also be on this itinerary on Apex in two weeks.

My troop, that I got all the way through high school, also seriously planned for a cruise, but service unit hoops we had to jump through, and eventually the pandemic quashed our plans. We ended up sending checks to the girls after graduation. Best of luck to you in your planning!

18 minutes ago, little britain said:

Incorrect. I already have my shareholder OBC for my sailings in March and April 2025

12 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Same here, I've gotten my shareholder benefit for Explorer 11 days sailing on January 5, 2025.  

1 hour ago, cyntil8ing said:

Though unlike Carnival, it's based on booking date, not cruise date. Their benefits currently apply to all cruises sailing up to July 31, 2024. I must wait for the 2023 annual report publication to apply for credit for my August 2024 cruise.

Congratulations. Your 2025 cruises aren't on Carnival. I was commenting on the differences in the programs.

Assuming the shareholder benefit program is similar to Carnival's, it is in place for one year at a time, reviewed and renewed each year when the annual shareholder report is published. This would explain the dates being updated annually, even if the program remains the same.

Though unlike Carnival, it's based on booking date, not cruise date. Their benefits currently apply to all cruises sailing up to July 31, 2024. I must wait for the 2023 annual report publication to apply for credit for my August 2024 cruise.

For my upcoming Celebrity cruise, I applied for the credit on Sunday evening and got a confirmation showing the credit yesterday. The updated amount does show in my cruise planner.

Oh, darn. I only got 8.

Removed photo because it had too much info in it!

They're not umbrellas, but clamshell sunshades. I've never used one as we spend nearly all of our time in the water. Here's an image I googled.

They're located at the back of the beach, behind all of the other chairs, if view is important to you.

When we were there in August, we picked chairs that were in the shade of the two story cabanas. It was shaded for a few hours until the sun rose past them mid-morning.

The seven short and one long is the general alarm, not an instruction to abandon ship. Its primary purpose is to notify crew, who have specific things they are supposed to do when it sounds.

I've been on a ship when it has sounded. It was a sea day afternoon. There was a fire in a passenger cabin a/c unit. Immediately after the alarm, we were told where the fire was and to avoid the area. We did not have to report to our muster stations. It was a little scary for a minute or two, as I was alone in the cabin and my husband was at a mixology class, but once the announcement was made all returned to normal. The mixology class didn't miss a beat.

We've been on three different cruise lines for Christmas, Carnival in 2017, Celebrity in 2019 and Royal Caribbean in 2021. Not going this year unfortunately. I love being on a ship for Christmas. We never brought along presents. We did our gift giving and breakfast traditionally, just either before or after the cruise. There was no way I wanted to lug gifts aboard.

By far, craziest guest dress was on Carnival. It was not even close. There was a family of five or six all wearing the Christmas Story pink bunny suits. It was adorable. There was a couple dressed as Santa and Mrs. Claus walking around taking photos and handing out candy. There were a ton of ugly sweaters, light up jewelry, hats and elf shoes. It was fun.

Wear your jammies on Christmas morning. You won't be alone. And the ship will be lovely!

My kids were 4 and 6 for their first Celebrity cruise, to Bermuda in 2011. They’ve been on probably a dozen more since then, as well as others on Royal Caribbean and Carnival. I am so glad I didn’t listen to Cruise Critic posters when I decided to book a family cruise.

Celebrity excels with the younger set and it was our line of choice until they were about 10 and 12. The kids clubs are smaller and not as overwhelming, with more attention for each child. There are also family activities you can all do together like bingo, talent shows and our favorite, scavenger hunts. I highly recommend it! 
 

Here are a few photos from our first two X cruises.

14 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

If you forget to set anything aside while packing, you are also likely to be wearing the clothing that you will be walking off the ship with!

There was that time my son accidentally packed his shoes. He was too embarrassed to go to breakfast, but by the time we got to the airport, he was happy making a fashion statement.

I doubt we have ever had our luggage out by 10pm as we don’t go to dinner until 8:30. Usually it’s closer to midnight. Our luggage has always been picked up.

The temporary profile photo was for 24 hours. It's back to what it was before.

11 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Oh yeah. He's the opposite of clean. I think he's one who struggles with that. Has to have a gimmick for a clean show. If I recall correctly he had everyone bring a dollar. Then took a kid  around to interact with everyone and take all of the dollars.

He was on Pride in Europe in August 2022. We went to a couple of his shows. He loved my teen son’s haircut, a sort-of Mohawk, which he compared to a landing strip. I was embarrassed to later have to explain to my son what a landing strip was. We still laugh about it.

My son is internationally adopted and appears different than my husband, daughter, and me. We are not overly sensitive to the topic, but have been offended by a comic picking us out in the past. We don’t usually sit near the front to avoid this, but Manny roams the room and he found us. He walked a line between funny and offensive. He made everyone laugh, including us, but didn’t make fun of us.

Facebook profile photos are temporary. They update them for any reason. Remember the rainbow X during June? And the double XX for International Women's Day when Captain Kate, et al., took over Equinox? Here's an album to refresh your memory: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.740672111437281&type=3

If it was a rebrand, the web site would have been updated. The logo there is the same, though some buttons have changed to orange. I think it makes them easier to read.

The weather can really make or break a tour, and a rough start can really put a damper on the experience if one can’t get past it. Sorry that you had a bad day.
 

We did this tour in August 2022 and it was good, but not exceptional. Our tour guide was rather dull, but also talked a lot. My teens were not too impressed. We ended up ditching the guide in the Guggenheim and walking around on our own. Our stops were the transporter bridge and an overlook of the city, both interesting. We had plenty of time on our own before meeting again for the Guggenheim tour.

I am a fan of Spain Day Tours and would not hesitate to use them again. Pre-tour communication was excellent and bookings were simple to make and instructions easy to follow. Our other experience with them was in Lisbon on the same cruise, where we had a private driver. It was an exceptional day, even though we got rained on a bit.

I have absolutely no issue with price consciousness. We are too! My comment was if you book Rodeway, use their shuttle, as it is efficient and included. Taxis would be an extra cost, for no good reason. Bon voyage!

In my opinion, the only reason to book Rodeway Inn is because you’re very price conscious and therefore would recommend the shuttle.
 

It’s been about 8 years since we have stayed there, but we had no issues using the shuttle. We had a late night flight in, arriving past 10:00pm, and we were able to catch it and the restaurant was still open so we could have dinner. I don’t think there was anything else around. In the morning, we caught the shuttle to the port. We were boarding Celebrity Constellation and my kids still joke about the shuttle driver calling it Celebrity Constipation.

22 minutes ago, prmssk said:

Or it could just be a bad 5-6 weeks or maybe some really disgruntled passengers.

It could also be external factors. Lots of hurricanes lately causing itinerary changes. It's outside the cruise lines' control, but could effect ratings.

This is where we were dropped off on Norwegian Escape last month.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@41.4894209,-71.3174565,17.85z

Anyone ever seen crazy low bid amounts for the very top suites? We're currently booked in a Sky Suite on Apex in December. We never got the email, so I used the upgrade link on our booking. There are no suites above Aqua Sky Suite available.

But the minimum bids for Iconic Suite and Penthouse Suite were $140 and $100! Of course, I offered max for both -- $700 and $500. All of the other upgrades were more in line with what I've seen in the past, from $475 for Sunset Sky Suite to $2,150 for Edge Villa.

But weird, huh? Never thought I'd put in max bids for Penthouse and Iconic Suites!