kearney

1 hour ago, MamaFej said:

All of my future Celebrity cruises are up significantly. One has insides higher than we are paying for Aqua. 

My gut feeling is that Celebrity are understandably taking advantage of the pent up demand and the more optomistic thinking as news about transitioning from pandemic to endemic seems more and more hopeful. 

I am sure you are correct... they have been bleeding cash for going on two years... it costs a lot just to keep the ships in shape..then there is the crew..even with below capacity staffing...they still need the same number of crew for many of the behind the scenes work. I don't blame them.. it may impact how many cruises I do ..and may send me back to 2D cabins...but a cruise is so much nicer..in my opinion than a land based beach vacation... 

1 hour ago, hrhdhd said:

Do Tuscan with the first-night discount and then another night in the OV.

now your talking

okay okay..next cruise we are going to try OV for dinner. Usually I like to have dinner at sunset in the Tuscan Grill on the first night after sailing out of Ft Lauderdale.... Perhaps next cruise we will try that sitting outside the OV... great idea...now don't tell anyone...

3 minutes ago, bubbapk1 said:

yeah, maybe cheated was too harsh.... I'll go with disappointed....

I really do understand.. one reason I hesitate about traveling to Europe to cruise. Frankly in the Caribbean if you miss a stop... really not losing much and you can always come back (if you live in the states)... but if I make the trip to Europe.. I really want to see what I came to see...

Has anyone heard if the issues have been resolved between Key West and Florida about cruising? Are ships still down to one (or is it two) pier(s)? 

Key West is a nice walkable town. They have a hop on and hop off open air trolley which is a nice way to see the place. Check out the bars and restaurants

Perhaps they were hoping that the government would change their view... I had similar questions about why Key West and Grand Cayman weren't officially canceled on some cruises.. In the Key West case the locals had voted to cancel cruising... later the state came in to over rule and now there are some but not all cruises coming to KW. GC extended their ban recently..  So it can be hard to know when to officially pull it from the schedule. Also it can take a lot of time to find a replacement...you don't want to announce the change until you have both pieces in place. I understand your disappointment... but you would also have been disappointed if they canceled Dublin...you canceled your cruise and then something happens and they allow cruise ships in Dublin and Celebrity adds the stop back in...

13 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I just checked my next 6 cruises and all of the prices have gone up.   Still makes me feel like I got a good price even though I haven't gotten any price adjustments.

I keep seeing discussion of significant price drops..but my cabins have gone up a lot.. perhaps the difference is that they have drops on suites but not on verandas...?

Make sure with any price drop...that the new price is or AI and not sail only... I almost fell for that and discovered it as I was investigating it.

Last December we arrived about a half hour early... no problem... Now I will say that there was no line to speak of... also DH needed wheelchair assistance... so that might also have allowed us through a bit early.  Once capacity increases I suspect they will keep the time frames in place and enforce them more to help keep things moving along.

7 hours ago, wblotner66 said:

Is it fenced in? 

Yes. I have really liked the service... you pull in show your reservation paperwork (if you made advanced arrangements).. you pull forward.. they take your luggage and put it in the van and during our last cruise.. there was no one else..so the van took us to the port.. and there the driver took our bags off and we were right were the porters are.... On the return trip... there were two vans waiting for us. Once one was loaded..they took off to the lot. Very easy.

When you make advanced reservations they want you to give them a time frame on when you plan on arriving and when you plan on returning...when you go through the check out at the end.. if you underestimated the time..they will charge you additional.  So far I think we have only paid additional on one trip when we got back later than expected.

While I don't like leaving my keys... I prefer not having to deal with the traffic at the port. DH has mobility issues and as long as he can get into the van.. I will prefer doing things this way.

17 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

The 19 Yr old is an adult, so should be fine.

not if the rule is 21

you should check I thought that there had to be an adult in the cabin..but I am not sure... could have been a different cruise line..

7 minutes ago, johnritt said:

Thanks for all of the information.

 

I called Celebrity and found out that I ca reserve a shower chair for whatever class of cabin  I book, which solves my problem.

 

Now I have to decide whether a balcony cabin is worth it when crossing the Atlantic in October.  The inside cabin is soooo cheap ($3,100 v. $4,500).  I'll keep reading, I guess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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If you are indifferent... consider an ocean view.... which would be a porthole or larger window. On a transatlantic cruise..you might look for a cabin low down and near midship... for minimal movement...should seas get rough. Those are likely one of the lesser costing cabins as well.

I have wondered...of all the passengers and crew that have tested positive since... say mid Dec...when Omicron hit big.... how many had to be hospitalized, how many had no symptoms, how many were healthy enough to seek treatment at home. For all we know most if not all had minor symptoms. It would be good to know how sick people were that were on these ships. 

DH has mobility issues as well. He has been able to use that vertical section of the shower to hold onto. Also note that there is about a 5" step up into the bathroom. If that is an issue an accessible cabin might be best. As a side note, we usually rent a scooter to help DH get around the ship and visit port shops etc. Now we have been able to get it into the cabin...but it helps to have a cabin with the bed by the balcony.. this way there is still a bit of room to get around it. Not the easiest thing but it works for us. We try not to use accessible cabins..since he can still step up into the bathroom

Let us know what you find out when you check your profiles... I have never seen this and knowing how LGBT friendly the cruise line is... I don't think this has anything to do with bed placement.

24 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

I know Park N Go gets the best reviews here but I really hate to leave my keys.  They only do valet now (leave your keys) so I tried Park by the Port.  They are further from the port in Dania Beach and use part of a large casino parking lot.  Their shuttle service was ok on disembarkation was ok but if I was in a hurry I'd just Uber back to the lot.  With their $4.99 per day rate the added cost of $12 Uber doesn't bother me.

 

https://parkbytheports.com/lp-cruise-parking/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIybm3iOP39QIVqwaICR2xTwZhEAAYAiAAEgL2AvD_BwE

I like park'n go too..but understand your concerns... One thing I do before I get to the lot...is I take photos of the outside of the car and I also take a photo of the odometer. So at least I know if my car has been taken out and if I find damage when I get back.. I have some before photos... so far these precautions have been unnecessary, but has given me some peace of mind

Well Grand Cayman is not accepting cruise ships...they were to have them beginning sometime in Feb and then delayed it. I don't recall Honduras before.... perhaps is is new and they could not get things up and running for the sailing... Bimini has recently appeared as an alternative for some ports.  A lot of Islands have periodically stopped allowing passengers to come ashore because of covid... so that could be the reason for Honduras change....  In a way it is like sailing during hurricane season..you never really know where you are going.

52 minutes ago, dswallow said:

Federal law basically prohibits cruise ships from being used for transportation. They are floating hotels that visit ports and return. Heck, Federal law prohibits them from just going out to sea and returning, really.

 

The CDC is being blatantly hostile with cruise lines. There's absolutely no basis for it considering every single other industry anywhere is not under those rules, or even under any obligation to test and/or report. And any mention whatsoever of these being voluntary gets a wink-wink nudge-nudge concerning how they'll bring the hammer down in any way possible if they don't "voluntarily" comply.

I believe you were one of the people back on early threads about the FL vs CDC lawsuit.... do you know how that ended or if it did end... it seemed to go quiet at one point and then the CSO expired and there were no updates..at least that I heard.... the last thing I recall was the CDC kinda threatening cruise lines saying x was voluntary but implying we can make your life hell in other ways (my phrasing)... then as I recall FL brought that to the judge and he responded with something like... well come back when they actually do something....  Anyway.. I have been wondering what happened...if anything

Personally I would wait. You might find other less publicized services. I haven't used the spa that often..but I haven't had an issue.. especially if you do it on a port day... and they usually have a deal on port days...

12 hours ago, Shadow9612 said:

Just out of curiosity, why do you prefer bed by balcony.  I've sailed with both configurations and I can't really decide which I prefer!  It would be interesting to hear if you have reasons I haven't thought of.... Thx 🙂

We prefer bed by the balcony because we usually rent a scooter for DH...and it is easier to park it in the cabin when the bed is further back.. I don't know about wk2cruise's reasons..but that is one reason.

E class much better than S class for number of outlets.. if you need more.. you might also bring an adaptor... If I recall there is also a plug in the E class bathroom... there is one near the ceiling in the S class bathroom... I used that to charge my phone last cruise.

20 hours ago, kathynorth said:

OP said the concierge cabin is also on the slant and costs less. We thought the concierge lunch was a nice addition to concierge amenities. The breakfast menu is also an improvement over the 1A menu. If you are chasing points in the Captain's Club then you get more points for concierge. If it were me, I'd take the concierge cabin if it is less than the 1A or even if up to $50pp more. 

I think the 1A cabins are generally less than concierge... I believe they are the highest of the regular verandas... you might be thinking of A1..the Aqua class

20 hours ago, Purplsmurf said:

If we don’t book a sunset veranda we always book those on the slant Of the hump toward the aft. We absolutely love them! The first and third off the slant of the hump have the biggest balconies

When you say first and third... where are you counting from... the hump or the non-hump section? I keep forgetting when I book...

The 1A cabins are our favorite. I have never seen a benefit to concierge class.. chocolate covered strawberries are nice but not that nice, same with higher quality robes..I don't really care. DH has mobility issues so I like to book the 1A cabins on Deck 6..that way I can use the stairs while he uses the elevators. The ones we like are near the aft elevator. If you look at the deck plan you will see a couple of 2D cabins on the hump...they have a bit of an obstruction with lifeboat davits...but are among the cheapest veranda cabins available. If sea sickness is an issue the lower the cabin and the more central the location the better. The slanted cabins have nice deep verandas... I burn easily so I like these deep verandas..they don't get as much sun as the more shallow ones.