tenmile

Hi...

Just got off of SIL yesterday and although not in a suite cabin, there was NO venue = Luminae on the ship by that name.

We were on the Silhouette the first week in Feb. and we saw where the Luminae Restaurant will be--Deck 3 Starboard side. It looks like they are taking part of the traditional dining space in the MDR to create the Luminae area. Celebrity seems to be encouraging "Select" dining over "Traditional;" maybe that is because Traditional is losing dining space.

"Southampton airport" (Avis, mebbe one or two more) is quite inconvenient, about 8 miles away.

 

"Southampton station" almost certainly doesn't mean "Southampton station" ;), there are no agencies at the station itself.

It means their city depot - the major ones, Hertz, Alamo, Europcar, National & others have depots between station and City Cruise Terminal - reasonably convenient for cruisers. Usual routine is to first head for your cruise terminal & drop luggage, then with or without your passengers return the car to the rental agency. Agency can call you a cab (under £10 to any cruise terminal) or might even give you a lift in the car that you returned. Or from those depots that I mentioned you could walk in ten minutes if your ship is at City terminal

 

JB :)

I have been checking car rental sites and am having no luck finding a Southampton airport offsite car rental open on Sunday (when our ship returns from a cruise) or on Wed. evening around 8 pm (20:00) when we would return the car. We are limited on a time to return the car because of our return ferry schedule in Portsmouth from Cherbourg. Can you suggest car rental companies in Southampton (not airport) that are open Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. Do these companies have key drops so we can return the car if the location is closed? Thanks for any information.

Not true when we went. You just got your martini in a smaller glass. Just keep ordering them until you've had enough.

Thanks for the info.

Good to hear such positive reviews. We sail on the Eclipse May 22. We love the S Class ships, although this will be our first time on the Eclipse. In our past experience, we could not use our Classic beverage package for a martini at the Martini Bar. Is that still true?

Thank you Lard Greystoke and VT cruisenut. I didn't know that there was a San Juan port website. Your information is very helpful!

Linda

We will be in San Juan in 2 weeks and want to know if walking to El Morro from the pier and then walking back through Old Town is safe and feasible. How long does it take to walk to El Morro? Are there any areas we should avoid? Our ship does not dock until 3 pm, so some of this walking may be after dark. I appreciate any advice you can give us.

Also, can anyone recommend a good private tour company that gives tours of Old San Juan and El Morro? Thanks!

Linda

Thank you for sharing this information. I too would like to know if Bistro on 5 has changed to a sushi restaurant and what they are charging. How is the entertainment in the theater? We will be on board in 3 weeks and are looking forward to the cruise. I hope you are enjoying yours.

Thank you for your information. Do we have to make reservations for the shuttle or do we just get on it at the pier and pay then? Does the shuttle take you downtown near either a hop on/hop off bus stop or a tram stop? I have been reading Rick Steves Northern European Cruise Port book, and I was afraid we were docking at this far West Harbor pier. Were you able to catch a shuttle convenient to the Esplanade or Market Square to return to the ship? Thanks, again, for your information.

Linda

We are doing a Baltic cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse later this spring. Can anyone tell me which harbor and/or terminal Celebrity usually docks in Helsinki? Does the ship offer courtesy shuttles into town? Does a tram or hop on hop off bus stop nearby? Any help is appreciated.

We have only been sailing for the past 7 years, so I am sorry that we haven't experienced some of the wonderful cruise experiences mentioned. With that said, I am surprised at the number of amenities mentioned that we have experienced on several other cruise lines that are now gone on Celebrity. We loved our first Celebrity sailing a year ago; it became our favorite cruise line because of personal attention, cabin size and quality of food and service, so we booked two more Celebrity cruises. It will be interesting to see what has changed when we board the Silhouette in a month. If "traditional" cruising is becoming a "thing of the past," and personal service is no longer what it has been, then we may have to cruise less often so that we can save to have these experiences on a luxury cruise line. In my opinion, these special amenities set cruising apart from land vacations. I hope someone at Celebrity is reading these posts. Please don't become "just another mass cruise line."

Hi. We will be in St. Maarten (our first visit) at the end of Jan. and six ships will be in port! Would you recommend renting a car with that many people on the island? Should we expect traffic to really slow us down? We had planned to rent a car to see the island, but now am not so sure. Any advice?

when will you be there ??

 

we plan on staying 2 or 3 nights again 20 - 22 may 2016

before renting car to tour bath and as much of wales as we

can see for 7 to 10 days before 4 or 5 nights in london to

see some of what we did not see in 2013

Ann and Jim,

We will also be in Southampton May 20-22 pre-cruise. We are doing the Baltic cruise on Celebrity Eclipse May 22. Thank you for all the information about Portsmouth to you and Bob. I had no idea these ships/museums are there. Post cruise we plan to take the train to Portsmouth to catch a ferry to Normandy for D Day activities. Are the ferry ports easily accessible from the Portsmouth Harbour train station? We plan to take the ferry to Caen, but plan to stay near St. Mere E'Glise. Has anyone done this pre/post cruise trip or anything similar before?

I agree, slightly worried about choosing Celebrity... I love RCL, NCL is ok and decided to take my wife on Celebrity in December to try something new.

 

Where does Celebrity win other than the buffets?

We took our first cruise on Celebrity this past winter. We have sailed RCL, NCL, HAL, Princess, and Disney, and I have to say that we were really impressed with Celebrity. The entertainment was not as good on Princess and Disney, but the food in the main dining room, the personal service and attitude of the ship's crew, the size of the cabin and comfort of the bed, balcony size, and the layout of the ship were better than all but Disney and HAL, IMHO. We really like the solarium and the smoke free casino on Celebrity. We do not spend time in the casino, but it is nice to have all public areas smoke free. We were impressed enough to book two future cruises on Celebrity. The atmosphere is not as "sophisticated" as on HAL, but you are not "bombarded" with activity announcements all day long or constantly interrupted by pool servers wanting to sell you a drink as we have experienced on our two NCL cruises.

Which would one recommend? Booking a regular balcony on the Regal (I have read the new ships' balcony cabins are smaller than on previous Princess ships) or an obstructed view deluxe balcony? How obstructed are the views? Are the life boats the obstruction? Thanks for any information.

We also like Tuscan Grill. The view from the back of the ship is beautiful. Try to get a table by the window. Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you for the good cabin/balcony descriptions. Now I know what cabin to request!

Thank you for the information SunsetBeachGal. I see you have a pic of the library at Ephesus by your name. It is a wonderful place to visit, isn't it?

Thank you for your helpful information. I guess we will book one of those categories. :)

We are considering booking on the Regal Princess in a Deluxe Balcony category DZ or DW which have obstructed views. Can anyone who has cruised in these categories tell me what the obstruction is? Are we better to book an unobstructed regular balcony category? How much larger is a deluxe balcony compared to the regular balcony? Are the balcony areas any larger? Thanks for any advice.

If you don't need an accessible cabin, book deck 8. It is so convenient to all areas of the ship. We stayed mid ship port side on deck 8 and never heard noise from Central Park which is also on that deck. We would book deck 8 on the Allure again.

We are planning to book a cruise on the Regal Princess and would like to know how obstructed the views are in Deluxe Balcony catergories DW and DZ. Has anyone stayed in these category balconies? Any information or pictures are appreciated.

I'd book one of the 1As on the slant off the hump. Love those larger balconies! And I don't find them a bit dark and gloomy.

I absolutely agree with Happy Cruiser. We just returned from our first Celebrity cruise and we were on the slant in 8256 starboard side on the Solstice. We are not ones to spend a lot of time on the balcony, but my DH had some work to do on the IPad and he loved that he could sit on the large balcony and work and be in the shade and not have to contend with the wind. A plus of being on the back side of the slant is that the bump out cabins block some of that wind. We were even able to enjoy our deck on a rainy day without getting wet because the deck is deep. We like our location so much that we booked this same cabin on the Eclipse for our next cruise.:)

We just returned from our New Zealand cruise and we stayed at the Hilton. Rooms are clean and roomy, staff is friendly, concierge is helpful, and the hotel is right on Princess Wharf and 200 yards from Queens Wharf, easily walkable. Some rooms look directly out onto the harbor. All rooms have balconies. The breakfast buffet at Fish is pricey, but you can order ala carte. Great restaurants around the wharf are easy to walk to. For us, staying at the Hilton made our hotel to cruise terminal baggage transfer the smoothest ever. The hotel loaded our luggage onto a cruise baggage cart, and then we pushed it 300 feet to the cruise baggage drop-off point, left the baggage and cart and were directed into the terminal for check-in. The entire process took fewer than 10 minutes. Wherever you stay, you will love the friendly Kiwis.

Heres a link to the Air Force Museum site which gives directions and which bus to take. It does not look that far out of town, so depending on the time you have available and the bus timetable, it may not cost much to take a taxi.

 

http://www.airforcemuseum.co.nz/main/opening_hours_and_getting_here/

 

 

If you google Air Force Museum Wigram you can also click on maps to see where it is as well.

Thank you for the link and the information.:)

My husband and I are taking the ship's "Christchurch On Your Own" excursion when our ship is in Akaroa in January. When our bus let's us off at Hagley Park (near the Information Center, I presume) is there a shuttle that goes to the Air Force Museum from near there? If not, what bus route would he need to pick up? Also, can I pick up the hop on/hop off trolley or a city tour bus near the Information Center? We will have about 4 hours in Christchurch. Thanks for any information you can provide.

Linda