Shir Hayam

Has anyone been to this beach recently? We haven’t been since pre-covid, but remember it being an easy walk from the cruise port with chair and umbrella rentals. Will be in Aruba next month on the Beyond. TIA.

Fantastic review! Thank you. It brought back such wonderful memories of our Reflection cruise to the Mediterranean last year. We will be on the Beyond in January for a Southern Caribbean cruise and are very much looking forward to it.

My DH and I recently booked a cruise on the Reflection for the end of November, 2021. It is a 7day Caribbean cruise round trip from Ft.Lauderdale. We would go only if there was a vaccination requirement for all crew and passengers. We would not mind wearing masks in interior spaces if that were required. The problem is that I am not at all sure that Celebrity will be up and running by November, 2021. Haven't been on a ship since November, 2019 so I am eager to go, but not feeling optimistic. What do you all think is likely to happen?

Sheila

Our first Viking Ocean cruise is coming up in a few weeks although we have done many Celebrity cruises.  On Celebrity, their hair dryers require that you continuously hold the "on" button down for them to work.  Very annoying!  What are the Viking hair dryers like?  Do they have "on" switches that stay on until you switch them off?  Thanks.

Sheila

We have permanently switched ourselves to select dining and never had a problem getting a table for two. We recently returned from a Silhouette cruise. After the first night, we found a section of the dining room we enjoyed (quiet) and a waiter who was wonderful. We requested that waiter's section every night and never had a problem being seated there.

Fantastic photos and review! Now I have one more cruise to add to the bucket list. Thank you for sharing.

Sheila

We did a tour just last week with Levi and I can't say enough positive things about him and Bumpiing Tours. I am not a good swimmer, but my DH was interested in the snorkeling/Titou Gorge/Trafalger Falls tour so we went. I chose to sit on the very rocky beach while the others snorkeled, but Levi "encouraged" me to swim through Titou Gorge. By "encourage" I mean he literally guided/pulled me through while I clung to a life preserver. Glad I did because it was beautiful. He could not have been nicer and everyone on our tour had a great time.

With regard to food, we brought a couple of snack bars from home and ate those. Six hours was the longest we had to go during the day without a meal for the entire week of the cruise, but we managed to survive :rolleyes:.

Sheila

couple of things deeply upset us.

 

The cruise didnt start well. It was suggested we arrive at 2pm to board in southampton (the cheek). Well we havent booked a 14 day cruise to miss out on lunch on day 1, so we turned up at 11. To my horror many other people had done the same, and the queues were terrible. Well it took us at least 40 mins to park our car, go through security, check in and get on board with all the queuing, pathetic. Celebrity really need to sort this out. A professional cruise line should be able to deal with checking in 2000 people even if they all turn up at the same time.

 

The muster drill was a nightmare. Modern luxury i think not. Wouldn't it be easier to just have it available as a video on demand on the tv and if we need it, then we watch it.

 

The balcony cabins are a joke. Celebrity really messed us about - week 1 on our med cruise , every morning we got glorious sunshine first thing on our balcony, then week 2 i don't know what they did but it stopped and we had to sail all the way back to southamton not getting any sun on the balcony until later in the day, that's not what we paid for.- what are celebrity playing at? I was so furious i cancelled the cabin gratuities. Cunard managed to get this right on a 7 day ta so why cant celebrity on a 14 day cruise?

 

Another thing we found infuriating was the general chumminess of the staff. Too smiley and friendly by half. We generally prefer staff to be seen and not heard and if they can avoid eye contact all the better. It is really most unnerving feeling that someone is watching you waiting for you to finish your meal so they can remove your plate. This is not what i call good service. My good lady wife even went as far as to say she found the service creepy. She said at times it felt as though they were trying to "anticipate" our needs. This was so not what we expected we cancelled the tips.

 

The mdr was a joke - for 14 days we had a completely different menu each night with a bewildering choice of about 30 items. Who goes on holiday to eat foreign muck like s cargo?? Who in their right mind would eat steak in tartar sauce?? Not once did i see old english favourites like tripe or dripping or angel delight. I asked one night if cook could rustle us, a traditional english mixed grill (sausage, eggs, bacon, black pudding, rump steak, baked beans, chips, gammon and peas), well the look i got!! Outrageous. If my local pub can do this why not celebrity? I hope the gastropub will be able to.

 

Also is it really asking too much to be want to be addressed by name by all staff? The only person who managed to do this was a cabin steward. If a little guest house in blackpool can remember our names, i find it amazing that celebrity can't.

 

I like to be up early on my holidays and reserve several sun loungers at different locations so i can take my pick later in the day and move if the whim takes me, i also like to block out a couple of sunloungers either side, so as not to spoil the view and give me a bit of elbow space. Outrageously, on several occasions a servant had the audacity to leave a card suggesting this was not allowed. This is not modern luxury!

 

By the way i'm a future elite.

LOL! Loved this!

We have been to Bermuda many times and are going again in June. I would definitely recommend skipping Snorkel Park (it's not very nice) and heading to any of the beaches others have mentioned. Jobson's Cove is one of our favorites. There are no facilities, but it is very picturesque.

Sheila

I'm a real chicken when it comes to snorkeling. But I've been able to see fish in Tobacco Bay while standing in water near the rocks!

Sheila

I, too, was on this Equinox sailing and second everything that has been said about all the hard work the crew was doing and how much it was appreciated. Nevertheless, we were fortunate that this noro outbreak didn't happen until a week into the cruise because all the necessary precautions definitely take away from the total cruise experience. The constant presense of staff squirting hand sanitizer, slowdowns in the dining areas, and items removed from cabins would certainly discourage new cruisers, especially. This is at least the second Celebrity cruise I've been on to experience a noro outbreak and I much prefer the ones without one. I'm no epidemiologist, but I would guess that folks (passengers or crew) not washing hands after using the bathroom would be a likely source. Why anyone would be so thoughtless is beyond me. Is it possible that some people aren't aware how easily germs are spread when they don't wash after toiletting?

Great news! I would hate to be turkey deprived.

Sheila

We are going to be on board the Infinity this coming Thanksgiving and were wondering whether there are any special festivities or food (turkey!) that day?

Thanks.

Sheila

We've cruised with friends many times and it has never been a problem. Plans for tours together have usually been made in advance or we will agree on something at dinner the night before. If everyone wants to go their separate ways during the day, then we just agree to meet up for drinks or dinner. If anything urgent comes up, we leave a telephone message (never had to use sticky notes). The hardest part, I think, is getting use to the fact that our cell phones won't work :D!

Sheila

Amen!

Fabulous list, Steve :D! It may work for an ocean cruise, but I just might have to cut out a few things for the upcoming Danube River cruise ;).

Sheila

We have been to Bermuda a number of times and find the best way to "tour" the island is to get a transit pass. It includes unlimited travel on the buses and ferries, all of which are prompt, clean, and safe. The thread Wine-O posted has some great suggestions of where to visit, depending on your interests. Bermuda is beautiful - you can't go wrong.

Sheila

How select dining works seems to depend on the individual ship. We were with a group of six on the Summit in December. We made reservations for all of us each morning for the time we wished (not 7-7:30) and after the first night requested the same table with the same staff each night. There were separate lines for those with and without reservations. We never had to wait. "Our" table was always waiting for us.

Sheila

Cruisenlove, congratulations on your upcoming marriage! My understanding is that if you want to volunteer for the Love and Marriage game, you should go to the venue where it's being held very early. Don't know how they actually make their selections since we are content to watch and enjoy the game. Besides, I think my husband and I would be really terrible at even though we've been married 44 years :rolleyes:.

Sheila

We have had a few cruise related losses in the 15 years or so that we've been cruising. A pair of binoculars vanished while on a cruise and an inexpensive portable clock was left behind in our cabin and never turned in by anyone. Both of these incidents happened on Celebrity ships. A more serious incident happened at the San Juan port when my husband removed his cell phone at the security check and forgot to collect it before we boarded the ship. He noticed it was gone as soon as we got to our cabin and went back immediately to the check point. No one there knew anything about a forgotten cell phone. We also had a suitcase opened and a voltage converter stolen when departing a cruise in Barcelona. Now we never put anything of any value in checked luggage and try our best to remember our belongings at security check points. Not always easy to do :eek:!

Sheila

We are in our sixties and the last two times we have been in Antigua we have gone to Dickenson Bay. Although it can be crowded where the taxi drops you, we have always walked down toward the end of the beach on the right. You can rent chairs and umbrellas, purchase snacks, and use the restrooms. It was a lovely beach and I think it cost only $10 for up to four people in the taxi.

Sheila

Thank you so much, Arno. The scans are fabulous. We will be on the 2/22/14 sailing and this is giving us a great preview. How is Perry doing? We are very much looking forward to seeing him.

Sheila

I agree with Larry. My DH and I are from the Boston area and love seafood. I am consistently disappointed by the fish that's served in the MDR. It seemed slightly better in Blu, but we usually sail in regular verandah cabins and don't have access to Blu. And as far as the lobster is concerned, most New Englanders would think it misleading to even call what they serve lobster. Feh!

Sheila

I have been on two HAL cruises and many Celebrity (I am Elite). What I liked best about HAL were the beds and the bathrooms (on regular verandah cabins). The beds were far more comfortable then on Celebrity and the bathrooms far more spacious than M class and a bit better than S class. I felt the food and service were about the same on both - very good. What I did not like about HAL was the entertainment and general vibe of the ships - boring. Even though my husband and I are not young (we are in our sixties), we want to have some fun on a cruise and, as others have said, there's not much action on HAL. What I dislike most about HAL now is their smoking policy. I would consider sailing with them again if they brought their policy into line with Celebrity's, but not until then.

Sheila

No. There has never been a charge when I have participated. It's a part of the regular Celebrity activities offerings.

Thanks for the info on schedules. It's my favorite form of exercise - even when I have to tone down some of the moves :rolleyes:.

Sheila