ajaxup

Thanks to both. I appreciate the suggestions. 

We are booked on the Celebrity Flora  in June for a week loop of the Galapagos followed by a week in Cuzco, Machu Picchu and a couple of days in Lima before leaving from there. We’ve heard that the Galapagos are hot and the cruises are very casual dress but I think higher up in Machu Picchu and Cuzco the temperature could get pretty chilly especially at night. Anybody done this combination trip and have advice on how to pack as light as possible but covering all bases as far as temperature changes? I’m guessing layers??

Thanks

if anyone has been to Buenos Aires recently I’d be interested in your view of the city as far as safety and political unrest. I’ve been reading about the runaway inflation and strikes by unions because of economic hardships. Are things getting out of hand there because of the turmoil or am I just seeing reports of isolated incidents? We’re supposed to be spending three days there in December before boarding our cruise and deciding whether to make final payment or cancel. Any first hand reports would be appreciated.

Today is September 22. I’ve received two emails from Celebrity, one five days ago and one today, saying if final payment isn’t made in seven and two days respectively that my reservation will be cancelled even though on my invoice(s) the final payment date is October 9. I called Celebrity after receiving the first email and after a lengthy hold while the agent checked with “somebody “ he said October 9 was my final payment date and not to worry about a cancellation. Unfortunately this second email came today making me wonder if Celebrity knows what the heck they’re doing. Not very good organization.

You can still carry on two bottles of wine per stateroom.

 

Yes, the free specialty restaurant was eliminated for sky suites when Luminae was added. That said Luminae is fantastic! We tend to think it is better than the specialty restaurants and often no longer visit them. On our last cruise the Michael's concierge insisted we go to Tuscan for brunch on him since it was his favorite. It was good, but we both felt like we rather would have just had lunch in Luminae.

Thanks. That’s what I figured regarding Luminae and no mention of free specialty reservations under the Sky Suite perks. I’m glad to hear it’s good. I always enjoyed the ribeye with mac n cheese at Tuscan Grill so I hope they have that at Luminae. Although my internist would probably not agree! I’ll assume the carried on red wine will offset the cholesterol overload. 🤞

Haven’t sailed X for five years and was wondering if some things have changed or not. Can you still carry two bottles of wine in your carryon bags without it being confiscated? We’re in a Sky suite and five years ago one of the suite perks was 2 or 3 free specialty restaurant reservations. I don’t see that listed under suite perks now. Was that eliminated when they opened the new Luminae restaurant for suite guests?

Thanks

As mentioned on many other threads, and matching our experience, you will likely be needing the GE card to get into the GE line, because the attendant can't tell from simply looking at your passport to tell you are eligible for the GE line. Once you get to the CPB person, correct, you don't need the GE card.

 

This is becoming true in a lot of locations, as security lines for "Known Travelers" become popular. Your GE card will be your "ticket" for entry into these locations. We carry our GE card clipped inside our passports.

Thanks. We carry our GE cards with our passports. Was it easy to find an attendant to show it to and direct you to the GE line?

We haven’t ever been to Miami, but we disembark there in mid-March on a Friday morning and don’t fly home until that Sunday. Any suggestions on where to stay and what to visit for our couple of days? I’ve reserved a room at the Hampton Inn Miami South Beach for around $265/ night so that’s sort of my hotel price target. We’d like to visit interesting areas where can can walk a lot. Shopping isn’t a big priority since we can probably get most of the same stuff in Texas. Maybe Little Havana or places like that would interest if they’re relatively safe. Any other hotel suggestions that would put us in easy walking to interesting areas much appreciated.

We will be disembarking in March at Port Miami from an Azamara Quest cruise and I was wondering if there will be a (hopefully) short Global Entry line at immigration. Anyone who has recently disembarked there know?

Welcome back Ajaxup!

As marinaro44 says, yes, there will be alcohol in your Club Continent Suite. And you are welcome to bring your favorite onboard as well.

Thanks. I was hoping that was the case. As I remember this used to be listed on your website under suite perks but I didn’t see it recently. Surprised it isn’t advertised as a perk.

We are sailing on the Quest in about a month in a Club Continent Suite. The only other AZ cruise we’ve been on was in 2015 and we received three or four complimentary bottles of alcohol in our cabin. I don’t see where this is listed as a suite perk on the AZ website anymore. Does anyone who has sailed recently know if that perk has been eliminated? We usually made G & T’s and enjoyed them on our balcony before dinner. If it has been eliminated what rules are there about bringing our own bottle or two when we board? Thanks

It won't be raining the whole day. Just morning and evening for an hour or so.

But the humidity will be high so just keep yourself cool in the shopping malls every 30 mins after you walk outside in the afternoon.

 

If you go to the Garden by the Bay, its cooling inside so there won't be any issue will muggy weather or rain.

 

Evening is the best time to walk around and also the most people around. I suggest that you go to Singapore River and Marina Bay during the evenings. You can take the bump boat too.

Thank you so much for your insight. We're looking forward to our time there.

The sky has cleared up after a heavy storm over the Indonesia forests.

Good news for those coming to South of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

You will get rain shower instead.

:)

Rain's definitely better! Speaking of, since I see you live in SG, I see rain in the forecast every day while we're there (11/14-11/18) and notice on websites that this is the rainiest time of year. In general are we talking all day heavy downpours or scattered showers that come and go like in Hawaii? And is the humidity really as oppressive as some say--making the temperature feel much higher than it is?

Thanks

Can anyone recommend a hotel in Singapore city with Executive/Club rooms i.e. those with access to a separate Executive/Club lounge?

Thanks

Fairmont

Iluvcruisng2 or anybody else in SG--any updates on the smoke/haze situation. We're due there around November 14 and was wondering what the longer term outlook is. Read in my local paper (Dallas,TX) that things may not clear for weeks and there were other countries aiding Indonesia in exstinguishing the fires. Didn't sound very encouraging:(

We had dinner with friends at the Shangri la hotel called a cab and they took us right back to port.

Felling better than when I read the first experiences people had.

We were lucky enough to be in Bangkok with Azamara this February. When we came off the ship onto the pier there is a building you go through to catch the shuttle bus into the city. Here there were many taxi and car drivers, and we organised with one gentleman to take us to night markets and entertainment district, wait for a couple of hours and take us back home. He was resonably priced, honest, spotless car and we were picked up and dropped off at the building next to Quest. We did the organising in the morning, and everyone remembered us and who our driver was when it was time to go out :p

We also just grabbed a taxi from uptown on another occasion, and they managed to drop us off at the right place too!!

Enjoy Bangkok - it's one fabulously mad place:eek::D

Good to hear you had a pleasant experience. Some posted that the taxi drivers weren't very pleasant/honest to deal with and once at the port didn't know how to find the ship. Just trying to minimize any distress that could occur trying to get back late night after dinner with friends. I'll try your pre-arrangement strategy if we get a taxi we like that takes us to meet them.

We will be in BKK on the AZ Quest in November and will meet up with friends for dinner one night. After reading about the "iffy" area around Klong Toey could someone with knowledge tell me what we should do to get back to the ship after dinner safely/quickly assuming it'll be around 10PM or so.

Thanks

Earlier this year we sailed from Dubai. As we too like to enjoy a glass of wine or two on our balcony we purchased 8 or 9 bottles of wine at Heathrow to take on board.

 

When we went to the cruise check-in the security guy in the terminal noticed the wine in our hand baggage (hard not to) and told us we couldn't take it on board. We had a brief discussion with him about Azamara's policy re alcohol and he sent us to the 'naughty step' whilst he got an officer from the ship to come to talk to us. Said officer arrived within 5 minutes took one look at our stash and just waved us through. He said that the staff at the terminal were more used to dealing with other lines where the limits are strictly enforced.

 

We laughed about it at the time and afterwards, although my wife was a bit embarassed - not because we were made to sit away from everyone else whilst we waited, but because of the clinking of all the bottles as we walked there. Didn't stop her assisting in emptying them once we were on board though!

I think you just painted a picture of our upcoming embarkation in Singapore.:eek:

There will be lots of choice of alcohol at Changi Airport which consistently wins awards for being the best airport in the world. It's the only airport where I like spending time.

 

There are lots of options for buying alcohol in Orchard Rd....some very high end shops selling vintage Champagne, malt whisky etc. You can also order alcohol online in Singapore and they will deliver it to your hotel room.

 

This post sounds like I'm an alcoholic.....I'm not, but I do enjoy a drink or two on holiday and I have been to Singapore a few times. :)

I'm with you totally. When I'm on a cruise there's nothing we enjoy more than sitting on our balcony at sunset having a cocktail while listening to some music and the ocean. The way I'd like to "graduate" when my time comes. :rolleyes: Is the liquor where you can buy it on arrival or just departure?

well, as i said I carry on 4 to 5 bottles so who cares.. if you can drink it no problem.. i never brought wine etc in Singapore so not sure where the store is. .there was none at the harbor Mall and i was there 3 times so i would of found it. ice is easy to get too.

We've got four days in SG to find liquor store before we sail.:)

They may not STOP you but I'm sure someone carrying a case of alcohol will raise more than a few eyebrows.

As my predecessor wrote a few years back..."we are not in the cargo business." I thought that was pure Bill.

Not planning on opening a liquor store onboard. But I wanted to buy four or five bottles of bubbly (which DW likes) in Singapore to enjoy on our balcony at sunset! If AZ offered some sort of bubbly in their complimentary lineup we'd probably just go to a bar for happy hour, but that dead horse has eveidently been beaten enough on the forum.:p

If you can pack it in your suitcase, you can bring it on board. The same liquid carry on requirement to board as the airlines, 3oz, but packed, essentially unlimited. There is no charge for in room use, there will be a corkage fee if you bring wine into one of the restaurants, but a very reasonable charge. (I have been known to sneak my scotch with me into the library for an afternoon read; forbidden fruits of sorts) I like my single malt or decent martini on my veranda, so I bring my own, and avoid the wine/booze package fees. Oh, and as a wine snob, I'm happy to report that on 2 separate cruises, the house wines served at lunch/dinner/and in between were quite good. A few duds here and there, but overall, excellent choices, so no worries about having to pack several cases of wine to enjoy proper meals. Will probably pack a few bottles of wine special dinners for our transatlantic in April. Hope this helps.

So are you saying we can't carry on a few bottles in our hand luggage when we board? I carried the allowed two bottles on X when I sailed with them and had no problem. They scanned luggage to make sure people weren't sneaking on more than two bottles.

Howdy ajaxup,

I've forwarded this thread to our director of itinerary planning. He'll get to the bottom of it.

I would hope they would do something to end the confusion. According to berkshireboy above this discrepancy has been out there for at least two years. Howdy?? You sound like a fellow Texan!:D

I agree with both of you. You usually CAN find a way to use your earned bonuses but, unfortunatelyas usual, AZ as most businesses do nowadays "sell the sizzle, not the bacon". It's unfortunate that they employ these practices that make things look much better than the fine print allows. I was sucked in years ago by an American Express promotion that promised two free companion air tickets. Of course when I went to redeem them I was told that I had to purchase a FULL FARE ticket to get a free one and the full fare was much more than double what I could've gotten a reduced fare for at that time. It's all a big advertising scheme by companies nowadays that, to me, walks a fine line but I'm sure it's all legal. One just has to do their homework to find how to get around the fine print and exploit the companies' few loopholes that they leave. I now look at any big promotions carefully before paying anything for them. Remember the famous admonition....CAVEAT EMPTOR!;)