SantaFeFan

I'd be interested to hear your experience with lost identification. You imply that you have personally lost both a birth certificate and a passport. That sounds like extraordinary bad luck.

Nope, have never lost either passport or birth certificate. I was born in Canada over six decades ago, and my family immigrated to the US when I was five years old. Records that go back that far are often still on microfische, especially in small towns like where I was from, and take more time to find than those that have been digitized. That is what happened to my brother, who is a couple years younger, when he needed a replacement few years ago. Took a few months to get his BC so he could get his first passport.

I have lost my immigration papers, however. I once worked for a government contractor that built satellites for the military and needed to submit those papers to obtain the secret clearance needed to do my job. The company never returned them and by the time I discovered this oversight, the papers had disappeared. Those proved to be very difficult to replace, so difficult that I finally gave up. As long as my passport remains valid and I renew it on time, I no longer need those immigration papers.

I have had a passport for over 40 years now.

Now we move to the upper balcony decks.

 

The major problems here are the huge overhang and potetial nose from public decks right above.

 

It's quite normal for shipbuilders to make upper decks wider than ships' superstructure to have more space "under the sun" thus creating overhangs.

 

 

Typical overhangs on cruise ships.

Some shadow.

"Protection from the rain" (Sorry, I always smile when read that).

 

 

 

 

But overhangs have never been as massive as on Celebrity ships.

They are literally twice (or three times!) as large as on other ships.

 

What make things worse are rows of huge struts that hold overhangs.

This looks ugly and resembles buildings under construction.

 

 

 

Overhangs on Celebrity are overwhelming.

Huge struts spoil views from upper balconies.

 

 

 

 

My personal impression of being on a balcony under the overhang on Celebrity: it's depressing.

 

 

 

 

 

Cabins that are the most affected by the overhang.

 

Celebrity Silhouette:

 

 

 

Celebrity Reflection:

 

To be continued...

Yes, these overhangs may be wider than on other ships, but those ships would have rows of inside cabins forcing the balcony rooms to to be located further out to the edge of the ship. Those extra rows of inside cabins would add 100's of additional passengers for the same size ship. I think Celebrity's trade off is a better deal for all of the passengers - fewer passengers and more room for everyone.

It's about risk vs. reward: The risk of not having a passport is very, very small. To hear the Passport Faithful tell it, you'd think 10% of every cruise ship experiences an emergency of some type on every cruise. In reality, of all the people who cruise every year, only a miniscule percentage are stupid enough to get themselves left on an island, and only a miniscule percentage will experience an emergency that will necessitate the need to fly home. The vast, vast majority of travelers will be just fine with a birth certificate and driver's license. Thus, the risk of not having a passport is very small, while the reward of keeping $100+ (per person) in your pocket is moderately large.

 

It's a decision that each family should make for itself, but it should be made by looking at the facts -- it should not be made out of paranoia or fear, and those are the emotions many people attempt to engender on these threads.

Yes, it is about risk vs reward. But be reminded that the birth certificate you need in place of a passport is an official government document with the raised seal, not the form the hospital hands out. The risk here is losing it for some reason. My experience has been that it is much more difficult to replace a government issued birth certificate than a government issued passport. Of the two, I would rather lose my passport, which I can get replaced in a matter of days, if not hours, than the birth certificate, which will take months.

Like you said - it's all about how much risk is a person willing to take. For me, I take enough risks going about my daily life than to deliberately subject myself to even more of it while on vacation. It's a personal choice, so do whatever you feel is worth the risk to you. I prefer to travel with as low a risk quotient as possible.

I am sorry for the onboard staff, which has to deal with this new ship.

From what I have heard from friends who were on her 2nd cruise, the staff was very pleased to be on Celebrity's new flagship. They said the crew was the happiest, and best, they have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Sandi, your comment seems eminently reasonable to me. Good old human nature. :cool:

 

That said, we booked the TA cruise departing civitavecchia on 11/1/13. We will be midship on deck 8. Nothing fancy but one hopes in a decent port side location. This will be my first crossing, though not my partner's.

 

I detest the idea of formal nights, which I understand will number 3 on this cruise. Aside from eating dinner in a cramped stateroom, what might be the non-dressy alternatives?

 

Thanks.

 

Terry

The buffet will be serving a limited menu - including pizza, pasta, some Asian, and the sandwich bar. The specialty restaurants will all be open, and business casual is all that is required there. Bistro on Five will also be open for a minimal $5 charge if you like diner salads, soups and diner crepes, also business casual.

Did you mean on August 26? On that date Connie is booked at Stadsgården. But remember that changes do happen, even at last minute. So check again just before you leave for the cruise. Here is a link to Ports of Stockholm:

 

http://194.52.202.66:81/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=portitfw/FartygsLista_eng.html?hamn=Stohab&trafik=2&status=2&Show=Show

Yes, indeed, I did mean the 26th. I'm so looking forward to starting this wonderful cruise on the 22nd that I keep overlooking we won't be in all ports on the same day! :)

How can I find our where our ship will be docking on August 22nd?

Thank you.