trabeler

2 hours ago, zaxanon6 said:

- What's the Thalassotherapy pool like? Previous reports made it sound cold and the water level was low.

- Did they give out tracelets or wrist ribbons?

- Are there any restrictions on the fitness center?

The T-pool is open but there are no bubbles on the lie-down sections.  I asked an attendant about it and he didn't know why but would check.  The water temp was on the cool side this morning but another couple we talked with said it was warmer yesterday.  Will check it again tomorrow.,

No tracelets or wrist ribbons.  The fitness center is pretty much like normal, other than a few exercise machines are out of service for social distancing.

Hi All... finally returned to cruising after such a long wait.  We boarded the Millenium yesterday in Seattle and frankly it was one of the smoothest we've ever experienced.  This was the first sailing to enforce the pre-cruise testing requirement.  Our assigned check-in time was 12:30 to 1:00.  We took an Uber to the port and arrived about 12:25 pm.  Upon arrival, you check in your luggage at a porter desk (where they also checked your name off a list of all passengers) and then were directed to a line based on when your assigned time was.  There was a growing line outside of what appeared to be early arrivals, however we were sent straight into the terminal since it was our time.  

Inside the terminal we were directed to a specific line in a row of maybe 10 agents, each with a small line of 2-3 people.  This agent checked your vaccination card and PCR/Antigen test results.  Everything was photographed using a touchpad device they had.  For the vaccine cards, name and birthdate were checked against the passports.  For the test paperwork, all the agent looked for was the testing date.  We sailed 6 Aug (Saturday) so anything 3 Aug (Tuesday) or later was ok (our testing was done on Tuesday afternoon so we were just within the 72 hrs but comfortably within a "3 day" requirements).  We then had to confirm that there were no changes to the health questionnaire that we filled out on the app the day before.

We then went upstairs to go through security and were then directed to another agent who scanned our boarding pass and took scans of our passports.  Then over to the ship where they did one more scan of our boarding pass at the gangway and we were done!  We then went to our cabin and our room keys were in an envelope on the door.  Maybe 15 minutes total time from arrival to in our cabin.

I didn't notice any special lines throughout the process for different captain's club status or suite/aqua, but frankly we moved through so quickly I didn't get much time to investigate!

We're in one of the new mid-ship inside cabins that were added in the 2019 retrofit.  We mostly sail in inside cabins and this is one of the better ones in design, storage, and layout.  Definitely don't miss the shower curtains they used to have!  We haven't been on any of the Millennium class ships in years and were impressed with all the upgrades... it definitely feels more Solstice-like now.

Heard from one of the staff that there are around 1000 passengers on this sailing.  Definitely feels less crowded than normal, which is nice.  No masks on board for passengers other than a few people here and there.  All the staff still wear masks at all times.  They did provide two nice fabric Celebrity branded masks in our cabin for use in ports.

Ask away if there are any questions.  Kind of a grey foggy sea day today, so hopefully things will clear up before we get to Ketchikan tomorrow.

I'm on the August 6 sailing as well and the inconsistency in all the emails from Celebrity has been disappointing.  I'm almost to the point of ignoring the emails and just frequently checking their website.  It took awhile to find the right page, but here is a link to the travel requirements:  https://www.celebritycruises.com/healthy-at-sea/us-travel-requirements

This was just updated again today.  Still says that all sailings are 100% vaccinated except Florida ones, where people can decline to show proof.

Following CDC guidelines we will sail with all crew vaccinated and at least 95% of guests will be fully vaccinated.

All guests 12 years and older must be fully vaccinated with all COVID-19 vaccine doses administered at least 14 days prior to sailing.

Out of an abundance of caution, Celebrity Cruises will be enhancing COVID-19 testing requirements for both vaccinated and unvaccinated guests. 

For US sailings departing as of August 6, 2021 through September 6, 2021, all guests over the age of two, regardless of vaccination status, will now be required to present a negative COVID-19 test result at the time of embarkation.  This test may be taken as either a PCR test or an Antigen test, conducted within 72 hours of embarkation.  Each guest is responsible for making their own arrangements with an accredited testing provider as well as all associated costs. 

Should a guest be unable to complete the testing requirements, a Future Cruise Credit will be offered.  Additional testing and protocols will be confirmed closer to your sailing departure date in line with the most up to date recommendations from local government and health officials as well as our Healthy Sail Panel.  These measures, including vaccination and testing requirements, will evolve along with public health standards. 

For Sailings from Florida

Guests 12 years and older who decline or are unable to show proof of vaccination at boarding will be treated as unvaccinated and subject to additional protocols, restrictions, and costs for COVID-19 testing.

We will be docking in Souda with RCL and would like to get to see the Allied War Cemetery that is on the way towards Chania.

I've seen a lot of information on bus transport to Chania from the Souda port but not much on whether or not you can also take the bus to the cemetery.  Can anyone please provide some specifics?  Ideally, we'd like to take a morning bus from the port to the cemetery, then take another bus into Chania for the rest of the day.

Thanks.

Thanks so much for live posting your trip. We'll be on the Sapphire for the 8 Feb trip. If it's possible, when you get to Kuala Lumpur (Port Kelang), could you let us know how easy it is to get taxis for round trip transportation to KL? There are some old posts that say there are fixed prices but nothing recent to confirm. We've looked at the Princess "on your own" transport but it leaves late and returns early... we're looking for more time on our own in the city. Thanks!

We were on the Diamond from Sydney to New Zealand and for the non Japanese cruises they did allow swimsuits in the single-gender area during specific hours each day. For example, it was usually nude only 6-10 am and 8-10 pm with bathing suits only 10 am - noon and 1-8 pm.

On that sailing, they offered various pricing for the experience - $10 for 2 hrs on port days and $15 for 2 hrs on sea days. They also had a card you could buy with a discount for getting four sessions.

The male and female sides swapped each day and there were slightly different experiences in each.

The outdoor pool always required bathing suits. It wasn't a favorite of mine since when you're in that pool, you're sitting too low and can't really see out to the aft of the ship. The pools in the gender segregated areas were better since there were large windows and one of the pools was open above so you got fresh air as well.

I visited four times during our 13 day sailing and thoroughly enjoyed it.

ATMs have been the best option in my experience. If you have a bank that doesn't charge fees for using other's ATMs, even better. We have a credit union account that doesn't charge for up to 8 outside ATMs per month. You will usually still have to pay a fee for the ATM itself, however - usually $2 to $4.

Also note that it tends to work out better if you do a few large withdrawls instead of multiple small ones, since the foreign ATM fee tends to be a fixed charge so withdrawing the maximum amount reduces the overall % impact.

On Princess if you book in Australia and cruise from or to Australia (including repositioning cruises - this changed about a year ago) then there are no additional gratuities. I'm not certain what the case is if you book from overseas though.

If you book from overseas, for example from the US, even if the onboard cruise currency will be AUD it is most likely that gratuities will be auto-charged to your account since they are not built into the fare. Comparing the AUD and USD costs for a cruise will reflect that the gratuities are built into the AUD pricing.

I was on the Diamond from Australia last year and the cappuccinos or lattes or any other specialty coffees were definitely not free at the lobby bar. I went through two coffee cards on that cruise... mostly from coffees from the lobby bar...

The new website is totally useless for me (Chrome with Windows 10 but also tried Edge). Attempts to search for a cruise just show a blank page and when I login to my account to manage an existing booking, I can only see selected things, no navigation buttons, etc...

We also haven't sailed Celebrity in several years and only booked this year to use our last open passage certificate on an October TA. With all these frustrations, if the onboard experience has degraded as many on here have reported, we likely won't be back. Princess has been impressing us of late and their website is super easy as well.

We regularly sail on both Princess and X and have noticed a general decline on X in food quality/variety and some services (particularly cruise director staff type activities). Princess has stayed somewhat constant to us, but it is now an even match to us between X and Princess. We have a long sailing booked on both lines this year so perhaps our views will change. But for now we view both as fairly equivalent... which they weren't several years ago.

I went through a similar experience last year when I had a sailing on the Diamond Princess from Sydney. My cruise was booked in the US and paid in USD, but all onboard credits were converted to AUD.

In my case, all the USD credits were converted at 1.1 AUD/USD on the booking. So, for example, my $150 USD for FCC OBC was converted to $165 AUD. Same thing with the stockholder OBC.

At the time we sailed, the actual conversion rate was around 1.38 AUD/USD. All the onboard charges were in AUD so I got the real rate using my credit card, but all the OBC stayed at the 1.1 conversion rate.

I tried arguing with Princess but got no where on this one. They claimed they have a "pre-set" conversion rate each year, which last year was 1.1 AUD/USD.

We also loved this service and used it on several prior cruises.

Princess still offers it for $25 per passenger - well worth it, particularly when you may do a little touring on your prior to going to the airport. It's another factor that unfortunately continues to push us towards Princess over Celebrity (whenever price and itinerary are equivalent)...

Its very possible that what your TA is offering really isn't anything special from them since every Princess sailing I've been on we've gotten a coupon booklet in the cabin... it appears to be a standard Princess thing. As others have said, there are some useful coupons but only if you spend a lot of money on the shops, spa, etc.

So I wouldn't use the offer of this coupon book as a deciding factor between TAs...

We were also on this 13 Nov sailing and the Crab Shack was done twice - once in the evening up at the buffet (normal place) and the last sea day it was done at lunch time in the Crown Grill area. Pub lunch was done once on the second sea day.

Sailed on the Diamond last December. At the desk there were two 120V US style outlets plus a "universal" 240V outlet. We were able to plug an Australian plug into the universal outlet. Not sure if this varies by stateroom. We were in an inside on plaza deck.

The luggage direct (shipment) program, even if it's available, can be pretty expensive if you're getting free check-in luggage from your airline.

Another option in Sydney is to bring your luggage to a storage facility while you tour around the city. There is a luggage storage facility run by Smarte Carte a block or so from Circular Quay on Loftus Street (near the Marriott Circular Quay). I think they opened at 8 am. We used them when we arrived in Sydney last year.

It's not too bad of a walk from the terminal to the storage facility as it's pretty level ground, but you do have to cross several streets.

After dropping our bags off, we did some touring around the city. When we were ready to go back to the airport, we picked up our bags and then took the airport train from Circular Quay.

After faxing your request, keep in mind that it could be up to seven days before the credit shows up on the website (under the payments section).

I've had these requests completed in as little as a few hours or a full week (my most recent experience). Always bring a copy of the form and documentation with you on the cruise just in case the OBC doesn't show up on your account (which may not happen until the second day of the trip, so don't worry if it isn't there on the first day).

I noticed that this afternoon, but when I actually booked one of them the total was lower than the regular price, so they're still on sale. They're just not displaying the sale prices until you book.

Same experience here on our November cruise. The original price showed all the way through the booking process but once we confirmed the reservation (to pay later on board) it showed the 10% reduction. I printed that page just in case the sale gets forgotten later...

Where do you get this info? So, you're saying that if one settles up in cash at the end of a cruise he can save 1.5% or whatever hidden fee Princess has tacked on?? Questionable.

Adding on 1.5% for credit card purchases is pretty common in Australia. All the hotels I have stayed at in the last several years add 1.5% and it is also done for many other large purchases like electronics and appliance stores, plus many taxi companies.

For hotels, typical practice in Australia is to use a credit card at check in and when you check out, either use cash or a debit card for the bill. This avoids having a hold put on your debit card during your stay.

So it's no surprise Princess is doing this in Australia since they've already converted their ships sailing there to be in AUD currency, built-in tips for cruises booked in Australia, etc...

Hi all. We're working on plans for the Grand Princess departing on 9 January 2017 and are trying to find a hotel for a few nights pre-cruise.

In the past, we've been able to get something fairly reasonable in the city, but this time I can't seem to find anything less than $400/night. Even the good airport hotels are in the $250/night range...

Is there something special going on that week in San Francisco??

trabeler, thanks.

 

We are doing the half day kayaking (via Shoretripsandtours.com out of NZ) trip in early February while in Picton. Shoretripsandtours use Marlborough Sounds for kayaking (@about $68USD pp).

 

How did you get to the Picton Waterfront office of Marlborough Sounds?

We were on the Diamond Princess and they had a shuttle from the pier - no one was allowed to walk from the pier into town. The shuttle dropped off about a 5 minute walk from their office. We had the morning trip (departs at 9 am) and our ship arrived at 8 am... we left the ship around 8 am and arrived at their office around 8:30 am.

We emailed them at adventure@marlboroughsounds.co.nz and they sent a little map showing where the shuttle drops you off and where their office is located.

Sea kayaking is another option. We did this during our last cruise that stopped in Picton. It was a lovely day but it's a fair bit of physical effort to sea kayak for half a day. We did our tour through this company:

http://www.marlboroughsounds.co.nz/sea-kayaking-in-the-marlborough-sounds/half-day-guided-sea-kayaking-marlborough-sounds/

Well worth booking directly with them instead of doing the same through the cruise line for almost twice the price.

45 minutes at IAH is possible, but keep in mind that UA flies from terminals C, E, and B. C and E can we walked between (although it can be a fairly long walk from the far end of E to C). But terminal B (used mostly for United Express) requires a transfer between terminals.

There is also a new Smartecarte storage facility on Loftus street across from the Marriott Circular Quay. We used them last month. Although a little farther from the terminal than using the visitor centre, the Smartecarte office opens much earlier (8 am), so it might be an option if you're looking to maximize your time in Sydney.