kearney

We dont have insurance . If it was just me and my helathy kids I wouldn't even think about not going but my little one has a chronic bowel disease . Loosing the vacation money is better than spending thousands in hospital bills as last time when he got sick and ended up in the hospital for 6 months.

We want to go so bad

 

 

I wish I could give you my tickets

I am glad you reposted about your child's health. It is a difficult decision to make even if you family is healthy.... but I understand your concern about the longer term implications for your child. We were on a Norwegian cruise about 10 years ago. First my husband got it... and then a few days later I did. I tried to keep things clean... I had brought clorox wipes, but I must have missed a spot. One take away for me... was that I now get a balcony cabin. I can not image spending days confined to my cabin with nothing to look at but the limited offerings on TV. At least on that cruise we could sit on the balcony an look out at the port we could not go to. The shots did work, but we did feel weak for a number of days.... not sure how well we would have fared if we had an underlying condition that impacted this same system. Hopefully they will allow you to at least get a credit for a future cruise.

Received one via email. Check your junk folder

The martin bar martinis are about $12... so you can either pay the difference ($3 plus gratuity I think). We have never purchased a drink package so hopefully someone else can tell you how to best go about upgrading. You might call Celebrity and ask if someone does not respond. Generally speaking the earlier you can do these upgrades the less costly.

Keep in mind that everyone else has the same challenge. So if you look wrinkled....odds are that half or more of the ship will as well. :)

Here is a faily recent video of St Maarten. They have work to do. Looks better than I would have thought given earlier videos. Are they ready for tourists? I think it depends upon the tourist. Some want to help and are more willing to accept the risk, others may want to help but want to still have that tourist experience. So it is difficult for the cruise lines to guess what most customers want. I think that waiting a month or so is probably prudent. I wish a cruise line would experiment with a habitat cruise. Send a ship for one week to one location.... set it up to be a cruise for those who want to work for a week... strip out the fancy meals and most of the entertainment and reduce the cost for passengers... need to cover labor and food.... and work with habitat for humanity so that the passengers have an assignment for the week... perhaps licensed electricians etc get a break... like military and 55+. I wonder if people would actually pay to work for a week. It would be an interesting experiment. Just a thought.

Thanks for this info. I have used protein pump inhibitor like Protonex and Nexium for years. They work BUT recent studies suggest that they could do harm.... so I have switched to Zantac, but that does not work very well. What works best if an adjustable bed. I have learned to sleep at a slight elevation but can't accomplish this with the cruise pillows. I will try the capsules. Had dried ACV and water, but was concerned about damaging my teeth.. this sounds like a good solution.

You are sadly lacking in ambition. From 2030, Royal will be re-platforming the whole cruise experience. Going forward, they will engage in a creative partnership with a well known Silicon Valley company to virtualise the whole cruise experience. Why get out of your chair at home? With the latest 370 degree (sic) VR technology, everything will come to you. Imagine you're on board ship. With the fully gimballed Celebrity VR chair, experience the gentle rocking of the ocean; for $50 more, get the software upgrade that lets you experience the rolling of a Hurricane in your own home. Computer controlled tanning and wind machines simulate Caribbean or Mediterranean sun, all controlled by an app on your phone. Finally, Amazon's drones will bring every drink and meal to your chair side. As Royal's CEO boasted, this will be the first cruise line really to bear down on costs, with no cruise ships and no staff, save for the "industry leading" IT team driving this new world of cruise experiences.

Don't even need RCCL, Amazon could do this by next week! Why not... going after groceries, Rx distribution.... why not VR cruise.... wear VT glasses order via Alexa. Just need to get that drone delivery thing set up. They are half way there now. I just wish that the RCCL and Celebrity websites were functional... particularly Celebrity. Lucky that they have experienced cruise websites selling their cruises for them.

Alas on Oasis class you need to get there by 4:30 if you have early seating. And yes things do clear out around 6:00

I appreciate this perspective. We are looking at this for our two formal nights as an alternative to the main dining room as it is stated to be smart casual and we really don't care to get fancy on vacation. The menu looks fine but we are not snooty eaters. The list of appetizer and salad items in the self service area is more than ample for a full meal with entrees taking it over the top. One poster on another thread was horrified that you also have a view of people swimming in the adjacent solarium pool! She was a suites guest as evidenced by reference to other meals at Coastal Kitchen. Hopefully she won't be on our sailing as our blue collar appearance would no doubt ruin her entire vacation. :):)

Yes, we are not that picky either.... any meal I do not have to prepare is already great! To be honest, I do not recall seeing anyone in the pool. We were eating around sunset, not ideal pool time... too busy enjoying a view of outside the ship.... something that is missing from public areas of Oasis class ships. While I love the ship overall... I find a ship like the Radiance class... has much better ocean views from the specialty restaurants

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5072717/Plague-fears-grow-Malawi-10th-nation-alert.html

 

 

Perhaps they should have dropped them off and left. Given this story, I am not sure I would have wanted to go back to Mauritius either... a bit too close for comfort... given that it is now airborne plague... more dangerous than the original... harder to isolate

nick I think you meant the VInow recovery blog does NOT give information on amenities such as lounge chair rentals and umbrellass and taxis, and you are correct. The recovery blog is more than that, it’s a great source of more important information for both residents and visitors about the condition of properties, beaches, and the water. You can find updates on amenities from others here and from the resorts directly, and any questions regarding taxis are easily answered. Regarding other shade, surely you do realize that much of the foliage was damaged as part of this destruction and will take some time to recover?

A friend of ours who has a home on St Thomas was there Oct 23 and said that all the trees were stripped of leaves. Now, given the climate and when people are cruising... much of that will come back... but it is difficult to say what it will be like. We went to Hilton Head about 9 months after Mathew hit... friends had described the mountains of trees and other debris from that Cat 2 (as I recall). But by the time we got there I was surprised at how good Sea Pines looked and it still seemed tree filled.. and shady... so only time will tell how fast St Thomas and the other islands will recover

This is probably a stupid question, but if I've printed out our express pass and have our luggage tags, why do I need the e-docs?

 

The 15 or so page edoc contains all the legal stuff (contract) and rules that the cruise line needs to provide along with info that you know about the documents you need. I has the itinerary on it, Captains club level.. key phone numbers, port and parking instructions...and of course... the luggage tags. I would download it... print out the luggage tags and perhaps print out the itinerary... just to have it handy... the rest... you don't need to carry a hard copy...

It takes more than pretty pictures to make a website! Functionality is pretty damn important, particularly on a business site at sells a product and handles customer service issues. A poor site puts more pressure on the humans on the other end of the phone. Earlier today I had tried to call about this and had the opportunity to have someone call me back. 6 hours later I still had not heard which is why I again went to CC to try to find a solution. I used to think that the RCCL site was bad, but it functioned and they did improve some of the problem areas. It still has issues, but at least I could work through it. I actually purchased a few cruises directly with the line and made the reservations for diner and shows.. not as easy as Iwould like, but it worked. I would never book a Celebrity cruise using the website. I would not trust it. Anyway thanks for your assistance.

Well Luvcrusn, I ended up calling Captains Club. They confirmed that your suggestion usually works, but that since they have been working on the site there have been issues. I told her I was losing my last nerve. I really wanted to figure this out on my own... it became a matter of pride... but the website beat me. So they will mail me the tags but also email the booklet. So all is right with the world... I just want you to know that your suggestion should have worked.

Try this. Do Not Log In. Instead click on check in in the upper right corner of the home screen. Manually enter your reservation number, name ship and sail date and click "enter." Click on Check for luggage tags tab at the top. Scroll to the bottom lower left and click "print luggage tags." That should take you to your E-docs and you can print them along with the luggage tags which are on the last few pages. You can also call captains club and ask that they be mailed in you're in the US or Canada.

Thanks, but after I click on print luggage tags, it sends me to a log in page and the endless do loop. I will call captains club... I have spend way to long on this. I have to tell you that I am beyond unimpressed at their website... and they did work on it today... that has not addressed this or the other issues I have with their site.. but I do appreciate the assistance.

Initially I had to use Google Chrome and ensure that pop ups from Celebrity.co.uk were allowed. However, now when I select

'Manage my booking' from the top of the home page

then log into 'My Celebrity' by clicking on the link

select 'My Reservations' from the account dashboard

then select 'Manage Reservation'

then select 'Before You Board'

On the next page is a hyperlink 'Print Luggage Tags' just underneath 'Before You Board' and when selected this opens the e-docs in a new browser tab that contain the luggage tags

 

Thank you for this, but when I click on print luggage tags.... nothing happens... and the button marked mail luggage tags is grayed out and will not work either.... in the check in area where the tab says 'check on luggage tags' it send me to a log in page in an endless loop. am I the only one with this problem?

http://viconsortium.com/virgin-islands-2/heres-your-veterans-day-holiday-weekend-beach-advisory/

 

 

Beach update for Nov 10 weekend

http://viconsortium.com/virgin-islands-2/heres-your-veterans-day-holiday-weekend-beach-advisory/

 

 

Here is a link about the status of beaches Nov 10

We took our first Celebrity cruise in September on the Equinox. We loved it, but the cruise was mostly couples 45-75 year of age with only 6 children on the ship. I did see a few activities for kids, but not much. We have sailed RCCL about 16 times. They really focus on families. I highly recommend the Oasis class of ship. It is a large ship, but does not feel large... people spread out. My husband has difficulty walking so we try to get a cabin near the aft elevators... this bank of elevators lines up with the dining room and provides easy access to the Boardwalk area... out the back of the ship and Central park in the center. Now the ship is focused inward, with few ocean views from public areas. So you might want to get a suite in an ocean view balcony (or a connecting cabins- ocean view balcony) to use as a gathering place... perhaps a few cabins across the hall, ideally looking out to Central park or boardwalk (although these are a bit away from elevator).

We do not have children, but I have been impressed with the number of activities for a wide age range... something for virtually everyone. I never felt the presence of children to be a problem... then again we are not pool people, so perhaps that is where there might be issues. Between the zip line, flow rider, rock wall and now the big slide on Harmony... so say nothing of game rooms and sports activities.. there is a lot to do. They also have great shows, from broadway (did not particularly care for "Cats" on Oasis) to comedy shows to ice shows etc...

FYI Central park balcony rooms look down onto a quite part of the ship and Boardwalk balcony rooms over look a noisier, active part of the ship with a large merry go round and a large diving arena where they put on shows. The ice and diving shows feature Olympic caliber performers. Not familiar with Carnival and it has been years since we sailed NCL.

Thanks Blue_water, I have always been a belt and suspender person... with a back up plan for my back up plan. And I seem to be getting worse with age :)

I thought I would pass on a suggestion. From what I am reading online, I know that the island still needs to do considerable clean up. I am not sure when you are planning on going... but you might consider those water shoes or whatever they are called. They are trying to clean up the beaches, but there is likely considerable debris underwater that may take month if not years to surface or be smoothed down. Since the hospital was virtually destroyed, you would not want to have to go there for a cut foot. Having a small first aid kit with you might be a good idea as well. A friend who has a house on the island was happy to see that half of the homes still had roofs, but that means half do not and that debris went somewhere. If you are going soon, I am told that the salt water from the storm burned the shrubs turning areas brown.. but it is the tropics so I am sure that the vegetation will recover... but if you are going in November, it might not be as pretty as usual. The island had scheduled an clean up last weekend, so hopefully the beaches at Magens bay and other popular beaches have, at least the beach cleaned up... They still have issues with the roads... but I have read that they are trying to get the tourists spots ready. If you are going in November, you might report back on the beaches... I hope you find them as beautiful as they were.

I have been reading about clean up efforts on St Thomas. Something beach goers might consider... that is underwater hazards. While they may clean the beach there may be nails, shards of glass and other debris hidden below the water... and this could change from day to day with the currents and tides. You might want to consider wearing those water shoes, not sure what they are called... but some type of foot protection. Given that the hospital was severely damaged... you don't want to have to seek care for cut foot. Snorkeling off a boat might be a better idea. Also a small first aid kit might not be a bad idea. Okay, perhaps I am overly concerned, but from what I hear from a friend who has a home there.... the damage was substantial and they have a long way to go to recover fully.

We did a 4 day cruise out of San Juan a number of years ago... As I recall it was over a holiday... the ship left on a Friday and returned Tuesday am. At the time we arrived, I commented to my husband that this would be an ideal cruise if you lived in PR because you could leave after work and be home before work... not missing a day of work and having a nice cruise. Well it turned out there were only about 3% of the cruise passengers that were not from PR. I was a wild time. Whole families cruised and there was dancing in the isles in the dinning room to Ricky Martin. We had a great time. The only problem was that they moved dining times. As I recall late seating was 9:30 and early seating was later than normal as well. It was on that cruise that we learned that people in the Caribbean like to buy cheese when they go to Dutch islands... we saw people carry on 10 pound wheels of cheese. It was crazy... we even felt the need to buy a package of three small cheeses.

Just came across this thread. We were on Equinox in Sep. I kept track of our bill online.... but at the end of the cruise we never received a statement. I completely forgot about it until we got home. We checked our credit card account and the total was what we expected.... but I did wonder about not getting a statement. This was our first Celebrity cruise... never had this happen before... so thanks for the info... next cruise I will look for it..on the bed, in or out of an envelop... but hopefully in the room someplace :)

Good to know... now that Celebrity is going with non refundable deposit program ... like RCCL.... combined with your experience. Does not make sense to book early, if you have the flexibility to travel at the last minute or within a few months.