love2driveinct

Not sure if the day passes are refundable due to bad weather -- definitely check before purchasing in advance. Day passes usually do save some money over booking a room, but you are taking a chance either way -- if you buy them ahead of time and it rains, then you don't get your money back. If you plan to buy them that day and they run out, then you are out of luck. It's definitely a tricky scenario. It's obviously a personal decision based on different factors.

That being said, I believe CS doesn't allow you to cancel rooms at the last minute, either. I think it's 4 or 5 days out, something like that. Not sure about the Atlantis hotel. At that point, there might be a semi-reliable weather forecast, who knows. Again, these things are a tough call.

We based our choice on the fact that it was the one and only thing we wanted to do in Nassau and that we would have three very sad children if we were unable to go there because it was sold out. So we booked rooms and kept an eye on the forecast. We lucked out both times with near-perfect weather.

Good luck everyone and have fun!

Just print them at home and when you arrive at the cruise,the porters with attach them with a stapler. I also include a piece of paper with my name and ship name and room number inside my luggage in case it becomes misplaced. Much ado about nothing,I repeat.

Good idea about putting your name & info inside your luggage -- not a bad idea for any trip! My mom always taught me to put a copy of the destination address inside any package I was mailing, in case something happened to the outside of the box. Same concept!

1st World problems :rolleyes:

I totally agree... and I almost didn't post my question for that reason! :p

But I've never had plain paper tags before and I was worried they would rip off and our luggage would arrive very late as a result. I am also being cheap and don't want to spend the $9 on plastic tag holders if it's not really necessary. I'd rather spend that on a fancy drink on the ship! :D

So...nowadays, if you order the luggage tags that come in the mail, are they made of plain paper or something more durable?

I'm 47 days out and was all set to order them, but I feel like it's a waste of postage and time if they're just going to be paper anyway. If that's the case, I might as well print them myself and put them in the clear holders from amazon.

Expectation of our cruise and a good attitude when things do not match our perfect expectation.

I completely agree. To me, THIS is the key to having a great vacation of any kind.

As far as flights go, I wouldn't say it's across the board astronomically more expensive to fly into Vancouver. I would highly recommend the OP check for their specific airports.

We were comparing these two scenarios ourselves just a few weeks ago before we booked our upcoming cruise. The difference to fly into Seattle or Vancouver was not even noteworthy. We were already leaning towards a northbound from Vancouver, but that sealed the deal. Our total fares were $600 apiece, which I didn't think was bad at all considering we're flying into and out of different airports. I think round-trip Seattle was around $550-600 at the time. We live in Connecticut.

Even on American? Usually I open the AP then go to the website.

 

You do realize we are talking about signing into you FF account and checking under My Trips, right?

Actually it's Air Canada and United and I was trying to get the Apps through the Apple App Store, but they were nowhere to be found. But I found them by doing internet searches and getting them that way, so it all worked out.

I don't even have a FF account with either of them, but it doesn't matter because both apps work fine for what I need. Easy to open them up and check my flights. :)

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I just re-read your post and I see I did not actually answer your question... sorry. :D

I do not know what the rule is as far as whether your child will need a wristband, but you want to be sure of that before you go.

Have you checked to see if any rooms are available at Atlantis? For us it was the same price so it was a no-brainer and we actually used the room at the end of the day to change and freshen up a bit before heading back to the ship.

We are a family of five that went to Atlantis when our youngest was 3. They had an occupancy limit of 4 people for a room at Atlantis, but anyone under the age of 4 did not count towards that limit. We were able to get a room at Atlantis for the four of us, and all five of us were able to enjoy all of the facilities. I can't remember whether my littlest got a wristband or if one wasn't needed, but we all got to enjoy everything together.

It might be worth a quick call to Atlantis to see if that is still the rule. It worked out great for us.

Unfortunately the next time we went our daughter was 9 so we had to get two rooms at CS. lol

So since we're sort of on the subject (and this saves me from starting yet another thread LOL)... what is boarding like in general for Celebrity?

What I really want to know is... what is the earliest you can show up? What is the earliest you can hand over your bags... go through security... check in... and get on the ship?

We have cruised three times as a family and in all three of these cases we were able to get on the boat pretty early, I want to say before noon. But they all left from Port Canaveral, so that might have made a difference.

On another cruise that left from Bayonne, we waited for quite awhile. Does it depend on the port and/or itinerary? Our next cruise leaves from Vancouver.

Unfortunately, neither of the airlines I am flying have an app. Frustrating.

Happy to say that I was wrong about that. Oddly, neither of them would show up in an extensive search in the Apple App store. But when I searched for them through the browser they came up, so I just installed them from there. So weird.

Thanks everyone. This is definitely a lot easier than using the website.

Are you talking about checking for changes to your itinerary? Just get the airline app, create an account and log in. You'll be able to click on any itineraries you have booked and check the flight status, seat selection etc.

Unfortunately, neither of the airlines I am flying have an app. Frustrating.

I know that concierge service seems almost useless, but it can come in handy if there is a real problem.

When our Ship was stuck an extra 24 hours at its last port because of high currents, all of the passengers were scrambling to make changes to their travel arrangements, especially those who had planned to fly home the day of debarkation. The cruise line was offering free phone service to make these arrangements, but the lines were long. Some folks waited for hours just to make a few phone calls.

We happened to have a suite for that cruise, and I was very glad that we did because that put us in concierge class and all it took was one phone call to my concierge and we were all set. She took care of calling the hotel and rental car company for us and we spent the whole day enjoying the ship and more family time.

That being said, what happened on that cruise is an extremely rare occurrence. But sometimes other things do go wrong, and that's when it is nice to have someone there whose job is to assist you.

They have Tea Forte which is wonderful. I buy it on line. Check it out, you might not need to bring your own.

Went to their website -- looks interesting! Thank you for letting us know what to expect.

I'm not much of a tea drinker, but I drink matcha daily for the supposed health benefits. I can certainly live without it for a week.

My cruise is in 25 days and I have not been able to register. I don't hold out much hope it will be fixed in enough time.

I'd call Captain's Club and have them do it for you. That way you know you're all set.

I'm most interested in the pier check-in... does that mean that they are there just to answer questions? Or do you actually get your own check-in line and get on board faster?

I was wondering that, too, since I drink it everyday. The tea would be easy to bring along, but not the whisk, etc. We will have to go without I guess.

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Thanks for all the great answers. What's the best way to check? Do I just go on the website and do a search for flights like I'm buying?

We are flying Air Canada and United.

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I just spoke with someone at Celebrity yesterday and Don is correct -- X said that 18 is definitely the age, and they also recommended that I keep the documents for my under-18 children so they can get their points when they turn 18.

On a slightly different note, does anyone know which RC level is equal to which X level or vice versa? I know that they calculate points differently and I know that there are corresponding levels but I don't know what they are.

I was a little disappointed to see that although I have been on three RC cruises, I will still be considered to have 0 points when I start off on the X cruise because I don't think they will fully activate me until I have actually taken the cruise this June.

Anyway, it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I was just curious!

I believe the issue with not weighing enoug is that you won't get up enough speed to reach the bottom platform when the line levels out. I would not push it.

I was wondering about that... I thought this was probably a factor.

How close to the weight is she? They are kind of flexible if over or under a little. There isn't really anything else at this stop.

She's about 65 pounds and quite thin. She complains about not feeling secure on amusement park rides, so I don't want to take any chances.

Silly question, but how are you notified of changes like these? Will the airline send an email or do I need to keep checking the flights online?

Not sure if they still sell day passes, but they did when we were there in 2008 and 2014. They only sell a certain number of them, though, and then that's it and you are out of luck. We were not willing to take the chance so we booked a hotel room (at Atlantis in 2008, at CS in 2014).

Definitely check prices at Atlantis. For four people in one room it might be the same price as CS or very close and the room would be conveniently close in case you did want to use it.

CS expects people coming first thing in the morning to "check in", no worries there. We got off the ship as soon as we could, got a taxi (van) to CS, checked in, got our passes, told them we didn't need the keys, and went straight to Atlantis. There is a walking path from one to the other. When you get to Atlantis there is a desk you go to to get your wristband.

We had such a great time both times we went there. It's definitely a day to remember!

And to whoever asked about adults -- yes! Kids are not needed for you to have fun. There is so much to do and you will enjoy yourself just as much (maybe even more lol).

Oh and by the way you mentioned huskeys. You will find that the dogs are not the Siberian Huskeys that we usually think of.

Yes, that's my understanding. I look forward to learning about the types of dogs they do use. But I can tell you that my husky was born to run! We were lucky that she never ran away and got hurt and was able to live a long life. They are a tough breed to own. lol

We are a family of five so the helicopter glacier & sled dogs excursion at ~$600 apiece would be like the cost of another small vacation. As much as we would love it, we just can't justify it when the whole trip itself is already a huge splurge.

Sadly, I was really hoping to do it because I got to do something similar when I was 21. It was just the helicopter ride, but we landed right on the glacier and walked around. It was absolutely amazing and one of the highlights of my life. I am so grateful that my parents were able to spend the money on it so my dad and I could enjoy it together.

FYI for anyone planning on doing this with kids...

Per the ISP website:

Participants must be between 75 and 275 pounds and be comfortable with heights.

We were all set to book this for our whole family, but I just found out that there is a minimum weight requirement of 75 pounds. Unfortunately, our 11-year-old daughter does not weigh enough, so I will need to come up with something else that she and I can do together. I'm sure we will still have fun. :)