Nashna

We have been to the Cayman Island many times and have spent a week on the island. Definitely, go This is where it would be very wise to take a ships shore excursion...especially by boat.

If you are just going to FLL, I would just grab a taxi. The price was actually a bit lower for us via taxi last January. We have taken an Uber to Miami from terminal 29 and it was $53.00...with tip, this was for a mid-week departure, so I'm not sure how much higher it would be during the weekend.

We do not typically attend the shows. Due to Covid limited nighttime lounge entertainment, we found outselves attending most of the shows. They were all excellent. The venue is amazing. The set and technical wizardry used in The Tree of Life was exceptional.

On our January Edge 11-night sailing, the minimum, cost to upgrade to a suite is $2100.00 per person. Up to a whopping $12,500.00 pp for the top suite. We are currently in a Sunset Veranda. When we add in the price that we paid for the SV, upgrading at a minimum of $4200.00 for the cruise would put our total cost over $10,000...almost exactly what the cost would be if we purchased the suite today. Plus, the increase in tips and insurance. So, we will pass. The minimum bid to upgrade co Concierge or Aqua started at $150.00.

Once I figured out how to do it on my IPhone, I have not had any issues.

I'm sure they do have great facilities in Italy. The trick is getting access to them. That is where a company like MedJet can make a huge difference. Rather than being on his own, the poster would have been given access to top notch care. Had the care not been available, he would have been transported home. This is something that one wishes Celebrity Insurance should have done. However, their insurance is simply not that comprehensive. I have several trips planned within the year, this post just reminded me to make sure my coverage is adequate.

Oh my...what a horrible experience. In the future you might want to check out Medijet. The insurance covers you when you are traveling. They would have arranged for your care in a respectable hospital and would have flown you home. You were very luck to survive the experience. I hope you will have another opportunity to sail on the Apex.

That's impressive. I also do quite a bit of sink washing. We are Elite as well, I'm sure we will use all the benefits on our January cruises. The laundry benefit is the most valuable to me.

Do not send anything that you would normally cold wash/light dry. Assume your clothing will be in a hot wash and hot tumble dry. One of my t-shirt tops that I normally put in a cold wash/light tumble dry came out a shrunken wrinkled mess. Our clothes did come back neatly folded. I don't know what people do on longer cruises. We have two Celebrity cruises booked this January. In between the two, we planned a 2-night stay at a Residence Inn that has laundry facilities in the room to do laundry.

I e-mailed them directly alerting them to the issue. They came back to me that same day asking for my name and booking number. Shortly after, I received a move up offer. The move up offer was not good enough. The minimum bid for a Sky Suite from a Sunset Veranda was $2,000. pp. The upgrade to Aqua was just $150.00. We typically sail in Aqua on non-Edge ships. We prefer the full veranda option on Edge. The minimum bid when added to what we paid for the Sunset veranda is close to what Sky Suites are currently priced on Celebrity, so we are not going to bid.

Thanks for posting. I'm glad you enjoyed your butler. We have always enjoyed the extra service and the ability to get dining times in the specialty restaurants from our Butlers on other cruise lines. We have not sailed in a suite on Celebrity. I do love the full balcony, so we are sailing in a Sunset Veranda in January on The Edge. Our previous sailings were in Aqua Class, I know we will miss it and wish we had the opportunity to dine in Blu. Hopefully, we will have an opportunity to bid for a suite move up.

I would hold that dining option off until you are onboard. On our January sailing, that venue was hardly used so you should have no problem making the reservations onboard. Leaving Fort Lauderdale, I would not count on balmy weather or calm seas to dine on the rooftop.

Curious here...were you charged more by the Lyft driver? Glad you made it to the bar.

Thanks for that information. I wanted to be sure it wasn't just me.

I'm not sure. Grand Cayman is one of those tender ports where everyone wants to get off. Because you have such a short time in port, it's going to be difficult for you to get off early. You might want to do an early excursion to the beach as then you are guaranteed to get off on time. Most ships give priority to excursion passengers to board the tenders. Given the distance that the tender must sail from the pier to the ship, I would guess that the last one would depart at 1:30pm.

Thanks for the information. We have spent quite a bit of time in the Caymans, so we are only interested in the beach. I think we will get up early and try to beat the crowds to Public Beach.

For several days, I have been unable to access Move Up. When I enter in my name and confirmation number the response is that annoying circle indicating the attempt to link up. Is it just me or is anyone else experiencing this?

Thank you for your input. I find it odd that some folks take it as a personal insult if others do not agree with their taste in clothes, movies, cruise lines, etc. The reason there are so many options in cruising today is that people have different tastes and expectations. Because I don't like what you like does not mean that your likes are not valuable. It's perfectly ok for folks to disagree. The important thing is to do it respectfully. If I met you on a HAL cruise, I would be positive. I find it disrespectful to complain to total strangers. If I asked you, how you were enjoying the cruise and you told me that you were thoroughly enjoying the cruise, I would agree and bring up the positives. The original poster wanted to know the difference between Holland America and Celebrity. I gave them my opinion because they asked.

While we decided that we were not HAL fans on our cruise. We raved about the music venues. We gave up on the shows and just concentrated on dancing the night away. Only issue was that they were so popular, seating was difficult to find. We solved that by dancing to rock and roll, then dashing over to get a seat at dueling pianos before the crowds arrived. For some reason, we were always able to get a seat at B.B. Kings. We thought the performers were the best. We did find that the theatre on E Class Celebrity Ships is the best venue currently offered at sea. The shows were amazing.

Sorry, can't help you with that information as we sailed in a mini-suite. We have only sailed on MSC in the Yacht Club. The seats are reserved in the theatre and the butlers are present to make sure only Yacht Club guests use the section. The seats are in the front and second rows of the balcony. We enjoyed the location. Interestingly, we decided to try MSC after several passengers on HAL told us they were switching to the Yacht Club. We are waiting for MSC's itineraries to become a bit more varied in the Caribbean to sail on them again.

You are allowed to bring two onboard.

Couldn't agree with you more. HAL seemed very dated. Loved the Edge and the beautiful entertainment spaces. We dined in Blu and it was so refined compared to the MDR noise and rushed service on HAL. We are taking our 58th & 59th. cruise on the Apex & Edge n January. We have sailed on everything from Seabourn to Carnival. HAL is just not for us.

We were not alone in our complaints about this sailing. Many longtime HAL passengers we spoke to were also unhappy. We always try to arrive at least 15 minutes before the show begins. My complaint is that one shouldn't need to rush through dinner to arrive 45 minutes in advance to see a one-hour show. The food did get cold. We grabbed a burger at the outdoor grill as we were in our bathing suits. The tables by the grill and alongside the windows were all mostly taken by folks playing cards and not eating. We have been on sailings where a note on the table requests that the tables be used for dining during the lunch hours...especially on sea days. If I recall correctly, we ended up walking to the aft pool area and sat at a couch to eat. Our main complaint was the service and food quality in the MDR. For this reason, we no longer sail on HAL. Our next two cruises are on Celebrity where we have enjoyed the food, service and the shows. Obviously, HAL is the cruise line of choice for many people...it's just not our cup of tea.

There was a huge difference between Holland America and Celebrity as far as I am concerned. We were so disappointed in Holland America. The dining room was crowded, noisy and disorganized. In spite of having dining reservations each night, we had to wait ten to fifteen minutes in line to be assigned to our table. The food was not up to par and the dining room staff was the worst we have experienced at sea. Our main entre was served before a wine steward came to our table. Dining poolside was almost impossible as groups of people played cards in the dining area at noontime. Our grilled hamburgers were cold before we found a spot to sit. We missed several shows as most cruisers got to the theatre 45 minutes before the show to get a seat. The only bright spot was amazing night club type shows for rock and jazz.

We are sailing into GCM on January 25th with four other large ships arriving as well. The Edge is offering the Coral Beach excursion for $70.00 per person. We are concerned that with 14876 people in port and very few beach club/resort for the day options, that perhaps we should just buy the excursion. Public Beach looks more appealing to us, but I'm afraid we might not be able to secure a spot on the beach with a chair and umbrella. Has anyone had any experience with this? We have the benefit of being the first cruise to arrive as we are docking at 7:00am. If we decide to wing it, we will plan to be off the ship by 8:30 and head right to Public Beach. Suggestions are very welcome.