BOBfromNJ

The food the last few nights has been very disappointing, but earlier in the cruise was very good to excellent, so I'm hopeful the last two nights were a fluke.

 

We have attended 4 out of the 6 shows so far. There have been no production numbers, all guest entertainers. The iMagic show was good, there was a female impressionist named Karen Granger that was very good, there was a singer names Jesse Hamilton, Jr. that was not my cup of tea but the audience really enjoyed (we are about 40 years younger than the average age on this ship remember!) and then there was a floutist who did lots of songs from movies and Irish folk songs. He was very cool. The two shows we missed were a comedian and a second night of Jesse Hamilton. Tonight is another comedian. I am not sure when or if there will be any production shows on this cruise.

 

We will be using the spa on Wednesday, but we have visited the fitness center and spa and it looks in top shape.

 

The little one is enjoying the trip. Admittedly, she would probably have had a better time if she could enjoy the Fun Factory with the other kids, but work schedules being what they are, this is the cruise we could take and she is still a month shy of 3 years old. We LOVE that they make the Solarium family friendly from 4pm to 7pm everyday. I am not sure if this is normal or just because this cruise has been so cold that nobody is using the outside pools, but she loves the solarium pool. And truthfully, all of the kids that are in the solarium everyday during family time has been incredibly well-behaved! I will say it does break our hearts when we pass by the Fun Factory and she turns to us and say "Can I go play with my friends Daddy?" and we have to say no...

 

We do the trivias most days and have enjoyed them. As mentioned, we did the SAFE archery event. Other than that, we haven't participated much. The music on the ship has been really good. Jessica Lajner and the Underground's Soul (acoustic duo) are our favorites and seek them out whenever they are playing.

 

We did play Bingo yesterday and will not play again. I know this is probably old news but I cannot get over how little the prizes were for what they charge for Bingo. I remember years ago it used to be much different. For example, there must have been over 100 people playing Bingo yesterday with boards ranging from $49 to $69 (at least a $6,000 - $7,000 prize pool). The prizes for the four games ranged from $140 to $230 (and that was for the final game!). They paid out maybe 15% of the money collected. That's insane. I actually won the first game along with one other man. After splitting it we each barely got our money back.

Can you tell me what side of the ship your on. Planning on this cruise next year.

Thanks, Bob

There's just no guessing which way a captain will choose to dock. Sometimes they back in; sometimes they go in forward to the dock. You just won't know until the last minute. That is...if they dock at all. Sometimes they have to use tender boats in which case they won't dock at all.

 

Because there is no certainty in this matter, choose port or starboard cabins for other reasons than which way your cabin will face in port.

Thanks for all the comments. It does appear to be a 50/50 type of deal.

On the Independence Day Cruise (for 2018) will you see more on the Port side or the Starboard side, seeing that you will be in 6 different ports.

Thanks

Today's email. Everyone saves $150 and gets to pick ONE perk. Really?

Not only that but I tried to book an 11 day cruise for next year, and they want a $900.00 deposit.

What's up with that?

Bob, I know you did not ask me the question, but when we did out cruisetour (land part after the cruise), we stayed at a place called Denali Park Village. The place is horrible. Bad service, bad food, and just unclean. And don't let them tell you otherwise, but there is a shuttle that takes you to the small downtown area. It runs from 4:00PM until 10:30PM. It's $5 per person each way. It's an 8 mile trip one way.

 

However, wherever you're staying should be shown on your documents. On my documents, it was on page 9.

Thanks.

Bob, I know you did not ask me the question, but when we did out cruisetour (land part after the cruise), we stayed at a place called Denali Park Village. The place is horrible. Bad service, bad food, and just unclean. And don't let them tell you otherwise, but there is a shuttle that takes you to the small downtown area. It runs from 4:00PM until 10:30PM. It's $5 per person each way. It's an 8 mile trip one way.

 

However, wherever you're staying should be shown on your documents. On my documents, it was on page 9.

Thanks for the info,

Bob

On a celebrity cruisetour then boarding millennium later in the week!

 

Love Alaska so far!

 

Any questions about the land or sea part I can help with??

Doing the 10 day cruise tour on August 9th (1B) southbound. We are doing the tour first and trying to get some info on the hotels. Do you know the exact name of the hotel in Denali?

Did you enjoy the trip.

Thanks,

Bob

Suggest you can find lots of answers using the forum search tool.

 

It told me she is going into Equimalt BC Canada in late April for 2 weeks of drydock. They certainly will be refurbishing outside hull and doing a repaint along with power plant stuff you cannot do underway. Would imagine significant refurbishment inside but have heard nothing specific. Interior replacement and probably changing of restaurants to newer format. Millie has some plumbing issues so those probably too.

 

All those things one cannot do with passengers on board.

Thanks, I did try a search first but there was no up to date info.

Thanks again

Seems like I read on the forum that Millie is going into dry dock. Going to Alaska in August 2016. Does anyone know if indeed this is happening? If so what will they be doing?

Thanks

No, but that is what Celebrity wants us to do. Their information about the (USA) Classic and Premium packages is so vague, and they do not publish menus with prices for spirits or wine. So, as a consumer, I research forums like this where I found various posts, some with photos of menus, others with links, that got me excited about a number of brands which I expected to receive in the Classic package that I purchased back in April, only to find out, that the brands and pricing changed May 1st, and many are now available only in the upgrade Premium package at a price of $161/week for two. If Celebrity does not offer an OBC to cover the upgrade it will be "bait and switch" tactic.

Just got off the phone with a Celebrity customer service rep who connected me to a senior resolutions manager. I was told there have been NO changes to the classic package prices. All drinks are still $ 8.00 or less. Where did the $9.00 come from? This is an up to date price as of May 1st.

Of course their web site that shows what's is and is not included is down!

Who can I call/email to find out when the formal nights are on our upcoming cruise? We would like to reserve one of the specialty restaurants for a formal night prior to boarding.

 

Thanks

Don't know if this helps. But leaving from NJ on a Sunday for a 7 night to Bermuda, day 2 (Monday) and day 6 (Friday) where formal nights.

Have fun.

Thanks guys. I would love to see the actual list of wine by the glass under 8$. I have found several thread about the subject and there seems to be about 5 different wines in red or white that we can take but the list is constantly changing.

One other "trick" I forgot to mention and we always have great results with it. As you know the Classic package includes gratuities. Well, the first night in the MDR we give the wine steward a nice "extra" tip. They will be very attentive, so much so that if we tell him we will be in the MDR the next night our wine is already sitting on the table. We do this every night and believe me he will be there before your glass is empty.

Some times if there is some extra in the bottle he will pour it and tell us to drink it before his boss see's it.

Thanks guys. I would love to see the actual list of wine by the glass under 8$. I have found several thread about the subject and there seems to be about 5 different wines in red or white that we can take but the list is constantly changing.

Somewhere on the forum there was a PDF file with all the wines listed. They might also be on their web site.