cruising in mn

We did a small group tour five years ago with them and it was fabulous. This was with a group organized on our Roll Call. As to the payment commitment, it's definitely a big risk to be the organizer (which I was) and have your credit card on the hook if one or or more of your new Roll Call friends doesn't show. Per the suggestion of one of the folks in our group, everyone agreed via email in advance that right after our Meet and Greet the first morning (we were on an eastbound TA), everyone would give me their share in cash (to go right into my cabin safe). That gave us plenty of time to cancel if people didn't pay.

 

Do be careful..I've read some horror stories on here of folks being stuck by no shows on private excursions.

 

Have a great time!

Sorry to resurrect this old topic, but I too am finding myself in this conundrum. I was told I need to pay in full at time of booking, so for us thats for a private tour for $1213 in July of 2019. I'm fine with giving my CC info to hold it, but to pay that much 1.5 years in advance is not feasible. Is that what you had to do?

(No, I havent even tried to find others to join us, I will of course, but havent started it yet as our Roll call is very small at the moment)

Just wondering how this was handled with you?

Hello All, for the Normandy tour, I really REALLY want to book a private tour with Overlord, but they require full payment when you hold the tour. Which is 980 Euros. Thats a whole lot of money to spend for us, prior to even going. I thought we'd get another 4 people to go with us, so keep it to 6. So then its 326 Euros per couple, but they'd have to pay me up front too. So I'm wondering how you all handled that. (also this is in July of 2019) so $1213 is alot for us to pay this far in advance. I get why they do it, its just not feasible for us right now.

I try not to be on the bus with 50 people if I dont have to.. We tend to move a bit faster than that allows.. I'm in a conundrum for sure :(

Final details of the long awaited Eurostar train service to Amsterdam have been released. Two direct trains a day from London, calling at Rotterdam (3 hours) and Amsterdam (3 hours 40 minutes) - one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

 

Coming back one will have to take a Thalys high speed train to Brussels to pick up the Eurostar there, because they have yet to finalise arrangements for immigration controls outbound at Amsterdam. Therefore a wider choice of times returning, but a longer journey with a change of trains.

 

Fares from £38 each way, bookable from 20 February.

 

https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/train/netherlands

 

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YAY!!

Been waiting for this. Thank you!

Yes, I was on the EQ Feb 3-10, we stopped in San Juan, St Maartin and St Kitts.

San Juan looked fine to me, but I only walked around the old town. Didnt see any damage at all.

St Maartin however, looked pretty bad still. You could see they were getting supplies and getting things fixed, but it was not good. I feel bad for those who were seeing it for the first time b/c they'd have no idea just how lovely it was....

St Kitts hadnt been touched by any storm since 1989 they told us, it was perfect.

SHIP: Celebrity Equinox

CABIN #: 1601 (Hump cabin)

DECK #: 11

CLASS: Aqua (A1)

AREA: Mid ship

BED NEAR: Windows

QUIET?: NO!

BALCONY VIEW: Unobstructed

BALCONY SIZE: HUGE! Biggest I've ever had

WIND A PROBLEM?: No

SOOT A PROBLEMGE?: No

PROBLEMS/COMMENTS: Very close to elevators, and directly below main pool area. Every night there was a party above, that started roughly 10:45 pm, and you could hear every word. Lots of dragging of chairs. Extremely noisy. Wouldnt get this room, even though its a hump room again, as it kept us awake most nights.

Hello all! Its a ways off, but we just held this cruise while on our last cruise.

Is anyone joining us?

Will be looking for non Celebrity tours when available. If anyone has used a company in any of the below stops they'd like to recommend, we'd love to hear about them! I am a planner, so I like to get things in motion so I can know what to expect.

We're Tammy and Wes Humphries from Minnesota.

Itinerary:

July 8- Amsterdam (depart 5pm)

July 9- At Sea

July 10- Cork Ireland (9-5)

July 11- Waterford England (8-5)- Tender

July 12- Dublin Ireland (arrive 7 am- overnight)

July 13- Dublin Ireland (depart 7 pm)

July 14- Belfast Ireland (8-10)

July 15- At Sea

July 16- St Peter Port Channel Isle (7-5) -Tender

July 17- Cherbourg France (7-7)

July 18- Dover England (7:30-5)

July 19- Bruges Belguim (7-5)

July 20- Amsterdam (6 am)

Thanks for your great review! I hope your weather improves, but sounds like its not hindering you 2 in any way.

We'll be on the boat as you get off on Sat the 3rd. Do you happen to see any massage specials? 11 cruises and the hubby and I have never had one, and we thought we might try one this cruise. If they have any specials, that would be even better. If you happen to see anything let me know. Dont go out of your way to find out. Thank you!

Will be in San Juan in December. Wanted to do a Bacardi Tour/Tasting. Really not into the ship tour, really thinking of doing this on our own, or with a tour in San Juan. We will have one child under the age of 18 with us, so we wanted to know what our options were and what others have done.

We took a ship tour there a couple years ago, it was great! It was a full on tour of the factory, lots of historical things, then a small train tour around all over, then a tasting, and then a bus ride back. I enjoyed it (I do not drink alcohol, but still liked it).

Just off the Travel agent line with Celebrity. This is NOT true. RCCL yes, X, no.

SHIP: Celebrity Silhouette

CABIN #: 1572

DECK #: 11

CLASS: Aqua

AREA: Mid ship

BED NEAR: Veranda

QUIET?: NO! Crew door directly across the hall, which was well utilized, and carts constantly going overhead, all hours of the night. Sleep with white noise on, and still heard this.

BALCONY VIEW: There is an overhang from above which didnt bother us, and a pole holding that up, also didnt bother us. Directly below a few floors down were lifeboats, so no direct sea view, also no bother.

BALCONY SIZE: Seemed bigger than usual, but we're used to M class ships.

WIND A PROBLEM?: No

SOOT A PROBLEM?: No

PROBLEMS/COMMENTS:

I'd read as much as I could about this room, and booked it based on those reviews. However I dont believe they are accurate any longer. This room was the most noisy we've ever stayed in. I'd not stay in it again.

Plus, Bathroom was great, multiple shower heads awesome. Had heated mirror so never fogged up, and heated top towel rack. Along with a nice nightlight. Loved the bed near the balcony instead of next to closet.

"Diffuser" that is included in the room, I thought was a cool mist one like I use at home, but its the bottle of liquid with reeds sticking out of it, no smell we noticed.

Tea that came with room, along with canapes, wine and daily fruit, we asked not to have and we never saw it again.

Has a huge couch, not the little short ones.

Storage above the bed was awesome! Newer flat screen TV was nice too.

Room was great, if was in different location.

I had classic last year, and it did indeed include bottled water, just not the more expensive type like perrier and such. It was good b/c it included the ones they are trying to sell before you leave for an excursion so its handy!

I was wondering if brand X meant, Celebrity brand? Maybe they have their own labels now who knows? But you'll have a couple brands to choose from so no worries :-) Enjoy!

43 days out and still says luggage tags not available. When should they be available? I know they are available at the port but the bus I am taking requires the luggage tags be on the luggage before boarding the bus.

 

Laura

Call X and order them, the website is totally unreliable. I'm 18 days out and it still says not available (I called tho and had them mailed to me last month) If you call you'll get them, and thats piece of mind for sure. Have a good cruise!

Gosh, I wish X would get their crap together, what a pain in the butt!

As far as paying in full prior to when final payment is due... technically you should get any price difference back, however as an agent, I've seen it go both ways. So unfortunately calling and being told one answer and even getting a name ect will not be bullet proof so to speak.

I have gotten those emails myself in the past when it wasnt really final payment due time, and they did cancel a cruise. So just be prepared for every scenario.

If it were me, and I had air already on the books, I'd pay and then deal with the rest after. If that means a bit of a headache on your end as a result, at least your still going on the cruise.

And if you're a member of Captains club, deal with them. They are there to help and will when they can. Calling Celebrity is a crap shoot. Which is why you should use a travel agent in my opinion.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Here's the hat in our apartment window in SPB . It's going with us on a cruise to Alaska on Saturday . We can't wait !

I love the hat! It will be right at home in Alaska :-) Have a great time!

So, just bring my rain coat and I should be ok then?

Its going to be great no matter what the weather, I'd rather be cold then wet for sure.

Say, I went back and looked at the daily's you shared, I see they had a cool Russian dance thing at night, it was the 2nd night right? We're doing the 3 day and on day 2 we'll be in Moscow so I am sure we arent getting back till close to midnight. I was hoping to see some sort of Russian dance type thing but maybe not.

Others on our roll call are thinking of going to the ballet, but I think we'll be just wiped out and maybe too much for those couple days..

Did you ever go to the ballet?

Being from Florida I'm not certain if they are fur or not , but my Michigander wife thought that they are rabbit . And I think that we forgot to mention that she bought 3 for $ 33 dollars at the cruise terminal in St. Petersburg .

Thats awesome! We are in MN, so need the warmth for sure.

Also, another question please. What time of year were you there? We're going on a Baltic Cruise leaving Amsteram on the 19th of May, so we'll be in St Petersburg/Moscow towards the end of May. I am wanting to bring a rain coat, but not sure if I'll need something more substantial?

Being from MN, cold means something different for us, but dont want to have to lug a bigger coat over there if a rain coat might suffice?

Thanks for your great photos, I am still going through your other big picture post as we speak! Love it :-)

I'm not sure how much flexibility an organized tour will allow - but you can ask !

Just behind the Peter and Paul fortress is the Artillery Museum with lots of tanks , cannons etc. http://www.artillery-museum.ru/en/collections.html

 

 

I also love the babushka hat your grandson got! Is it real fur??

And you said it was $11? We must get one of these for everyone we know :-)

Greetings!

 

We've booked our first Celebrity cruise after many on RCCL. Time to branch out.:cool:

 

What are the not to miss things on Silhouette? Secret passageways, viewing spots, quiet spots away from PEOPLE, foods to look for, tips to avoid lines and waits, favorite foods and drinks, dining tips, etc., etc.

 

Our cruise is close to a year away but I want to spend that time learning whatever I can.

 

TIA! :D

Welcome to Celebrity!

Have you joined your roll call? Its a specific thread for those of you on the specific sailing/ship/date you are going on. Thats a place I LOVE. Try looking for it and asking this question there as well.

I'm a avid Celeb guest, but have only sailed on the smaller ships until Silouhette in May. Otherwise I'd totally help you.

But just wanted you to not miss the cool roll call! Have fun!

We have been there 5 times and if you have questions , we will try to answer them . We did do the Baltic cruise on the Eclipse last year and wrote a thread , full of photos which may be a big help . You can find it by clicking on the blue link below :

Oh my husband would be over the moon at any military type stuff like those warships! We are doing an Alla tour 2 days St Pete 1 day Moscow. I'm not sure if you did organized tours or not, but is there any place you can recommend we visit (while on tour of course) that will bring us close to any military type souvineers?

Kind of a random question I know. I'll ask our tour people too, but just wondering if something like that exists in Russia.

Thanks!

Looking at the photos of the cabins on Celebrity sailings...the bed looks curved at the foot....my husband is 6'2" and previous had issues with a short bed on NCL....can you give me any insight on this? We love to cruise and a short bed...again...will be a no go for him. Thank you

I'm 5"11 and its ok. Husbands 6'1 and its a bit short for him. But he's a wiggler. They curve at the ends so you can walk around them in the cabin. We have ours split, so we both can stay more towards the edge thats not curved, and it works out better for us that way then if the beds remain together and we're both vying for the longer middle portion.

Sometimes being chartered doesnt necessarily mean they booked the entire ship. I've been on sailings where about 75% was booked by a charter, but we still went and had no disruption.

I've also been bumped 3 times from Summit being fully chartered, they were booked 2 years out and I was called by X, given 4 alternative cruises to choose from, with a small $200 OBC for my trouble. The 4 alternate cruises were in the same catagory stateroom at the same price. And the 4 were not good alternatives. We had a Jan sailing, they gave us options for Feb, March, April, and May.. We want to go in Jan, so we passed on the offers. You also could change to the offer and then move it around later since we had so long until sailing, but would lose the $200 OBC, so we just let it go.

I am an agent so X called me directly, and I got an email. But if you used an agent, they'd contact them first most likely.

I was also asked to contact others I had booked on these same cruises.

Its interesting that X told you it was chartered but never gave you anymore info.

They have a special group that handles just this shuffle, so maybe thats why the person you called at X didnt know much more about it.

I'd say you can expect a call, and even as far out as it is, they will call as soon as they know for certain that they'll need to bump passengers. So hang tight :-)

I'd google too, and search these boards to see if others are hearing the same.

Short answer, yes. Longer answer, it depends. I'm sailing in 4 weeks, and about 3 weeks ago they had a like 72 hour 20% off sale.

Also, if you're a captains club member, you might get some sort of discount. See if your Royal crown and anchor club carries over and affords you some sort of discount.

We stayed here, overlooking the canal, right across a bridge or two from the people mover. Fantastic room, perfect location, great breakfast. Have sent tons of people here, all love it.

http://www.hotelarlecchino.com/

Oh no.. Why? Were you told that there was a change to the policy regarding cans? I always get the package and always get a can.. I hope it hasnt changed :(

We got invited on the Constellation last year, all suite guests did on that sailing. I was in a Sky Suite, not an Elite member at that time.

It was wicked cool. We had it on a sail out of Montenegro, stunning. Champagne, they had the crew there, and our cruise director, along with a photographer. Very fun time.

Hope to get it again someday!

We did a walking/tram tour of Wernemunde & Rostok from Alla tours (based in St. Petersburg)

 

We actually did a 5 city tour with them. They were great

 

If you wish, I can give you more details.

 

Thanks Tom, we are doing 6 tours with Alla this cruise. I got a birthday gift of this tour, so we are taking it for sure with the cruise line. Just wanting to know if anyone else has taken it and what to expect.

So glad you liked Alla, they have been a delight to work with for sure!