travelberlin

Hi:

First of all what date?

On Dec 16th I have Captain Christdoulakis

CD John Grantham... but Rich would be Rich Clesen

HD Jamie Petts

and CCH: Galyna

 

I have no record of a George Latrou on any list???? :confused:

I. Karamaounas was the alternate captain on Century but after Captain Pagonis left there would have been a promotion and reassignment on several ships.

Hi Arno,

I was on the Century in February 2nd this year. Captain was George Iatrou (sorry for mispelling his family name in my previous post). He was a fairly young captain and of course Greek. His face was very familiar, maybe I have seen him before either in the Infinity or the Millenium (not as captain though). I think he was staff captain of the Summit many years ago.

Ivi

Unfortunately I have lost the paper with the full names for the Century. I am trying to remember:

Captain: George Latrou

Cruise Director: Rich

Hotel Director: Jamie

CCHost: Gallyna

Nice to hear you are heaving a great time. Are many Brazilians on board? Which other nationalities?

Thanks for your comprehensive review. How do you find the time to write while on board? We appreciate your effort...

Sad to say but he will not!!!

 

We have heard "Bye for now" for the last time.

It is the end of an era..

 

Now that we are at the end of the cruise, I can comment that he has announced that he will be making a career change .

 

We will miss him and wish him success in life ashore!

Hi Arno, it is a pitty to hear that Captain Pagonis will not be around anymore. We will miss him also.

I see you are still at the Reflection... Our regards to you and Joanne.

If you read everything... instead of skipping to the end of this thread you will see how it unfolded and appreciate that it isn't a hoax.

 

Also, I've got too much planning to do to waste time cooking up a story/hoax like this.

 

Well the big day was Christmas Day. We told Mum and she was absolutely shell shocked.

 

I presented her with an 8 page "brochure" of sorts, outlining everything... with pictures of the cabin, the balcony, the ship etc... (thank you so much to people that have shared photos of cabins on here... you made this job so much easier)

 

When it finally sunk in she started to cry. I think she's just so grateful to have 2 daughters and 2 sons-in-law that love her so much they want to travel with her! Sounds so foreign doesn't it? I don't know why we all get on so well... we just do. None of my friends have a relationship with their mothers like I do with mine... so I feel fortunate too.

 

Anyway... she's on board now (so to speak) and now that she's had time to absorb it all she's excited and thinking ahead to what she has to do between now and then.

 

I did do a video and I will put it up here soon.

 

And I do intend to keep everyone updated on how it goes too! So if you are keen to know, subscribe to this thread so you don't miss out.

 

I'll take photos of the cabin with 5 people's junk in it... to show that it CAN be done without everyone killing each other.

 

(of course if I never give any updates at the end of November, I suggest you start searching news websites for cruise murder stories!!) :eek:

 

Thanks to everyone for their input... I hope to report that every bit of it helped.

 

Carol

Hi Carol, have you or your husband cruised before?

Hi experienced MSC cruisers, it is possible to take bottles of wine on board an MSC ship at embarcation?

Well the deposit is paid... and we'll be in 7202 - which is one of the much envied corner family aft balcony cabins.

 

Everything I've read on here suggests they are worth losing an arm or a leg to secure.

 

We overlook the penthouse balcony... which if I had paid penthouse prices I would NOT be happy about.

 

Now we are thinking that it's probably best to tell Mum at Christmas instead of her birthday on April 2nd. It will be her Christmas AND 70th birthday present.

 

It will save us having to worry about anyone slipping up and letting the cat out of the bag.

 

Securing the perfect cabin and paying the deposit makes it VERY real now.

 

I'm excited!

Have you tought about a family suite? The cabins are so small and in that way you could avoid possible difficulties. You mentioned your sister and husband are also coming? Maybe a family suite has enough room for you all (like two bedrooms and one living room with sofa, which can be converted into a bed)?

It's a pity you can't book through a UK agency or even MSC UK as that is a huge difference in price to those Skipper Tim and I pay

Yes you are right, thanks for your empathy. Maybe one day I will find a good deal as solo traveler. In the mean time I wish you and Skipper Tim many happy sailings with MSC.

I find it quite weird how much MSC cruise fares vary by country. With Royal Caribbean, US fares are usually the lowest but only by 15-30%. With MSC, the UK fares can be half or less than any other country.

 

My next cruise ('voyage') is aboard the Fantasia in March. That is 17 nights in a balcony cabin at an outside price of £535 (US $860) with no single-occupancy supplement. Yes I am looking forward to revisiting Funchal and Palermo not seen in over half a lifetime but really, at these rates, I wouldn't care if the ship did not move at all.

Yes it is weird! I have looked at your voyage on expedia. Price for outside cabin category 5 is US 1600 per person with dobble occupancy. If you go solo is US 2900!

Who is Capt Club Hostess / Host on Reflection now?

Thanks!

Chandru was the Captain Club Host when we were on board. Somebody mentioned that he was no longer at the Reflection. Is he on leave?

Absolutely not. I paid £1500 for 19 nights on the Opera from Buenos Aires to Southampton this year in the highest category balcony cabin with BA flights from Edinburgh to Buenos Aires and a flight from Southampton back to Edinburgh included. If I'd gone fir an inside cruise only, I could have gotten it for just £500-600. Just had a look on the UK website and the 17 night return trip from South America (Santos to Venice) on the Fantasies has insides available at £605, OCean views at £848 and superior balconies at £1090 all cruise only, sole occupancy (no single supplement)

Wow! Unfortunately in our case we are taking MSC Magnifica from Santos to Hamburg (18 nights). Price for one person in category 10, about US 3900. They sell it as a 2 for 1 offer, in which the second person only pays port taxes which are US 340. total for 2 then US 4.300.

Our first time with MSC. We are not able to book online, because the online booking is for USA or Canadian residents. Our booking is done through an MSC representative.

I can answer that as i invaraibky cruise solo. They don't charge any supplement at all on their repositioning trips, which makes them very affordable. Even on other cruises they sometimes reduce the usual rate of 100% on balconies and suites and 80% on ocean view and insides. They dont restrict the cabin type you can occupy as a solo, so balconies and suites are allowed and not out of reach financially. Costa seem to be reasonable too but it's difficult to get a different cabin type if you don't like single (mainly smallish inside or ocean view) cabins.

Thanks dor your answer! I will keep an eye an those offers. I have however the feeling that MSC prices are higher as in other Cruiselines also for repositioning ships.

Thank you very much for your review. It was fun reading it. We are booked on the MSC Magnifica repositioning from Brasil to Germany.

You mention that MSC is convenient for solo travelers. Could you please tell us what do you mean? I cruise sometimes alone and I always end up paying for two on a cruise. Is this different with MSC?

Having just booked I tried to combine my FCC OBC with a prepaid gratuities offer and Celebrity would not allow both. They said that the promotions could not be combined so I did a new booking with my TA and took the prepaid gratuities since it was greater value than the OBC. I kept the FCC for another cruise. My TA really went to bat for me on this but Celebirty was adamant that they could not be stacked.:mad:

The same happens to me all the time. I see location does not play a role here, since you are in USA. Again why does it work for some and not for others? Maybe they put you as part o a group booking?

That could very well be the reason. Different regions have different booking rules. Here's another possibility (althugh I think you're correct): Sometimes a TA will move you to a group booking which could save you $$$. You'll know this if they ask you to palce more money down. Once you are part of a griuop booking your reservation is through the Group Sales department and you can no longer receive individual discounts. Sometimes the cheaper group rate is not the best way to go. Your TA should be able to advise.

Thanks for your answers, I will try to find out if location plays a role and if they put me as part o a group booking.

Not automatic and to add to the confusion, not an upgrade. Here's how it works:

You book a cruise. Let's say you book a balcony at 899 pp. Let's say a month later you go online and see that an AQ cabin has been reduced to 899 pp. You contact your TA and request a switch to the AQ, no money due. Now, let's say that the AQ has been reduced from 1099 to 999 and you would like to switch. In this case, since you already paid 899 pp you would simply add 100 pp. Let's say your balcony has been increased to 999pp could you just switch to AQ? NO, since you actually paid 899 pp, you would need to add the extra 100pp. You can move up any time, even after final payment so watch for price drops. You will always keep your OBC no matter how many times you move. It goes with you.

Hi Orator, it does not work with me. My travel agent informs me that Celebrity says price reductions are for new bookings only. Lets say I have bought an open passsage certificate during a cruise in January 22nd. Then on August decide to book a cruise for November, which has a back to back reduction. The time of my booking appears as of January and not August. Celebrity has refused to give the back to back reduction, insisting that mine was not a new booking. Celebrity has also refused to allow me to change to Aqua after final payment, arguing again that this was for new bookings only. However many others on my board were able to do it. What am I doing wrong?

My suitcase has a TSA lock. I have tought it was fine. But apparently it was open and then left open, which to my point of view can tempt porters anywhere. Now I use a TSA lock which is not part of the suitcase itself. I have realized, that those locks which open with keys, once open, will be locked again by controllers, not so the included locks in the suitcase which need a code.

I think that some people are being very rude to a poster who is obviously not comfortable in English. I would love to see some of you try to write on a Russian forum! One of the rules of Cruise Critic is that we do not insult or question another poster's use of language--and believe me, I have seen MANY horrid examples of butchering from native English speakers! The OP obviously had an issue and is unhappy about it. It may have been the result of poor communication. It is obvious what occurred from the initial post. Shame on those who are criticizing his attempt to explain his frustrations. I thought we were better as a 'community' than this. :mad:

Well said!

What was the reason for the fire? It is likely it could happen again? I have read that there was also an explosion some time ago? I hope it is not something to worry about?

Please be aware of two things: You have to get to the main bus station in downtown Santiago to catch the bus. So that means either a taxi from the airport to downtown (about $30-35) or try to hassle your cruise luggage on the local bus/metro.

 

AND the buses from Santiago to Vina are mostly NOT the deluxe buses they have all over South America (sleeper seats, food, etc). I think there are one or two sleeper buses a day that go just about the entire length of Chile. One leaves very early in the morning, the other about 10 at night. The rest of the buses (the frequent ones) that run between Vina/Valpo and Santiago are intercity buses (glorified city buses-some without under the bus luggage storage-you have to schlepp your luggage onto the bus). TurBus, IMHO is the better of the bus companies but a lot still depends on what bus actually shows up. I once booked a cama suite (full flat bed with food and privacy dividers) and the bus that showed up had only reclining seats, no food and NO AC!!! What a hot and miserable trip.

 

One other thing-IF you are traveling in high season (and particularly on a Friday afternoon-Sunday timeframe), there may or may not be tickets available for the bus you want. You may want to make reservations or purchase tickets online.

 

Just a few FYI's from someone who spends quite a bit of time in Chile for business.

How about a taxi? Does anybody know how much it will cost from Santiago to Vinha by Taxi?

Have a look at the offers online from Royal caribbean and Celebrity. There you will notice that although if you are prepared to book for two there are rooms available in almost all categories, if you request reservation for one person only, some categories are not anymore available.

I hate the single supplements also, but from the cruise line's perspective, if they allow singles to sail at the regular per person rate, they lose money. Yes, one person doesn't eat as much as two, but then again, one person doesn't usually spend as much as two. When it's a couple you have them buying two drinks, spending for two on the shore excursions and so on. One person cruising as a solo doesn't spend what a couple spends, so the cruise line loses in every way.

I am sorry to dissappoint you but I do not agree with you view that cruise lines loose in every way if one person is travelling alone. The surcharges of 150 to 200% make sure that they do not loose. Also as a solo travel yo are more in the situation of taking organised tours from the ship, which couples do not necessarily do because they can arrange things by them selves. Besides, as a solo travel you can not become cabins on the lower end of the price and also you are not offered the best cabins. So you have the feeling of paying more for less.

If you look at the offers of cruiselines, you will see that there are all sorts of cabins available if you are prepared to book for 2 people. if you want to book for one, suddenly most of the categories dissappear and you receive the offer at increased prices for cabins which are not good located.

It is a pitty that this is the case. Solo travellers are usually well travelled people worthed to receive a better treatment and not to have the feeling of punishment because you decided to travel alone.