cruisehabits

On 2/15/2024 at 11:30 PM, shecritic said:

I'd say if taking a domestic flight out of DPS the same day, try to book one in the afternoon at the earliest to give yourself plenty of time, just in case of delays leaving the port terminal or traffic to the airport. Earlier flights also run the risk of missing the flight if immigration/customs take a while. Afternoon flights at 2pm or later would be a safer bet.

Thank you for your response.  There is a flight @ 130p that looks like it will work....I will probably proceed with that.  Thanks again! 🙂

Safe travels to all! 🙂

15 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I talked to the hotel concierge about getting a taxi from the hotel to the airport.  She mentioned that the week before traffic was a nightmare going to the airport and coming from due to the holidays.  I believe that people were getting out of their taxi and walking as it was faster.  Perhaps this is what you were referring to.  Our ride to the airport in the morning was easy and uneventful.

 

However our rides to LAX took us 1.5 hours to get in and 1.5 hours to get out...  We walked part of the way to get to our terminal...

 

The Bali airport is a nice airport.

Thank you for your response, advice and insight!.....did you fly out of DPS the day of debark?...if so, what time?

Also...thank you for the suggestions of trip extensions.  We have stayed in Singapore and Bali on previous occasions.  We just spent 2 months in Indonesia this past summer and 3.5 weeks of it was in Bali.  You are right!....it is awesome there and very affordable.

I have never been on a cruise that has debarked in Bali/Benoa and have plans to travel other destinations in Indonesia after our cruise.....just wondering what time would be a the best window to consider.  I believe I will book a 1/130p flight for onward domestic travel and that should be "safe".  If we have to hang at the airport for a few hours....I can deal with that rather than being rushed to make a flight or miss one.

Thanks again!.....safe travels to all!  🙂

Good day to all ~

To those that have cruised Celebrity and your final port of call for disembarking the ship was Bali/Benoa......from experience what time of day would you consider onward travel to book a domestic flight from DPS to another destination in Indonesia?

I have read that the debark process is a REAL mess in Bali.....is this true from your personal experiences?

Thanks you for your replies and safe travels to all! 🙂

Good day all!

When disembarking in Bali/Benoa....I have heard debark can be a REAL process.

Regarding onward travel the day of debark....from experience having debarked in Bali....what time of day is reasonable to book a domestic flight from DPS to another destination in Indonesia?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

Greetings to all!

We are sailing on the Celebrity Equinox, February 27, 2023 from Ft. Lauderdale, FL and are looking for information regarding deep sea fishing charters in our ports of call.  

Considering half or 3/4 day charters depending on how much time we are allotted in port/logistics.  Certainly want to make it back in time for sail away!  🙂

Our ports of call are as follows:

St. Kitts (Basseterre) ~ Thursday, March 2, 2023

Barbados (Bridgetown) ~ Friday, March 3, 2023

St. Lucia (Castries) ~ Saturday, March 4, 2023

Martinique (Fort de France) ~ Sunday, March 5, 2023

Antigua (St. John's) ~ Monday, March 6, 2023

If you have any information or have a reliable/experienced deep sea fishing charter captain, please reply and provide some details.

Thank you in advance for your responses! 😁

Safe travels to all!  🙂

Greetings to all!

We are sailing on the Celebrity Equinox, February 27, 2023 from Ft. Lauderdale, FL and are looking for information regarding deep sea fishing charters in our ports of call.  

Considering half or 3/4 day charters depending on how much time we are allotted in port/logistics.  Certainly want to make it back in time for sail away!  🙂

Our ports of call are as follows:

St. Kitts (Basseterre) ~ Thursday, March 2, 2023

Barbados (Bridgetown) ~ Friday, March 3, 2023

St. Lucia (Castries) ~ Saturday, March 4, 2023

Martinique (Fort de France) ~ Sunday, March 5, 2023

Antigua (St. John's) ~ Monday, March 6, 2023

If you have any information or have a reliable/experienced deep sea fishing charter captain, please reply and provide some details.

Thank you in advance for your responses! 😁

Safe travels to all!  🙂

Greetings to all!

We are sailing on the Celebrity Equinox, February 27, 2023 from Ft. Lauderdale, FL and are looking for information regarding deep sea fishing charters in our ports of call.  

Considering half or 3/4 day charters depending on how much time we are allotted in port/logistics.  Certainly want to make it back in time for sail away!  🙂

Our ports of call are as follows:

St. Kitts (Basseterre) ~ Thursday, March 2, 2023

Barbados (Bridgetown) ~ Friday, March 3, 2023

St. Lucia (Castries) ~ Saturday, March 4, 2023

Martinique (Fort de France) ~ Sunday, March 5, 2023

Antigua (St. John's) ~ Monday, March 6, 2023

If you have any information or have a reliable/experienced deep sea fishing charter captain, please reply and provide some details.

Thank you in advance for your responses! 😁

Safe travels to all!  🙂

Greetings to all!

We are sailing on the Celebrity Equinox, February 27, 2023 from Ft. Lauderdale, FL and are looking for information regarding deep sea fishing charters in our ports of call.  

Considering half or 3/4 day charters depending on how much time we are allotted in port/logistics.  Certainly want to make it back in time for sail away!  🙂

Our ports of call are as follows:

St. Kitts (Basseterre) ~ Thursday, March 2, 2023

Barbados (Bridgetown) ~ Friday, March 3, 2023

St. Lucia (Castries) ~ Saturday, March 4, 2023

Martinique (Fort de France) ~ Sunday, March 5, 2023

Antigua (St. John's) ~ Monday, March 6, 2023

If you have any information or have a reliable/experienced deep sea fishing charter captain, please reply and provide some details.

Thank you in advance for your responses! 😁

Safe travels to all!  🙂

Greetings to all!

We are sailing on the Celebrity Equinox, February 27, 2023 from Ft. Lauderdale, FL and are looking for information regarding deep sea fishing charters in our ports of call.  

Considering half or 3/4 day charters depending on how much time we are allotted in port/logistics.  Certainly want to make it back in time for sail away!  🙂

Our ports of call are as follows:

St. Kitts (Basseterre) ~ Thursday, March 2, 2023

Barbados (Bridgetown) ~ Friday, March 3, 2023

St. Lucia (Castries) ~ Saturday, March 4, 2023

Martinique (Fort de France) ~ Sunday, March 5, 2023

Antigua (St. John's) ~ Monday, March 6, 2023

If you have any information or have a reliable/experienced deep sea fishing charter captain, please reply and provide some details.

Thank you in advance for your responses! 😁

Safe travels to all!  🙂

35 minutes ago, newbie070708 said:

YMMV but on our Adventure sailing in June, 1 member of our party had a later time than the rest of us and was able to check in at our earlier time. It only makes sense just in case someone is denied boarding and their traveling party should need to know.

Thanks for the reply.

I just thought it to be odd.  I figured if it allowed 1 person in the reservation to secure the check-in time that it would automatically schedule the 2nd person in the reservation for the same check-in time.

I would imagine there are opportunities where the people traveling together may not necessarily arrive @ the pier for check-in together (ex.; flying from a different city to port of departure).  

Not a big deal for us.  We will arrive together.  If they allow us to check in together, awesome!  If not and the 2nd person is required to wait, we will defer to the later check-in so we can stay together.

Take care and stay well.....safe travels to all!  🙂

I realize this is no longer a suggestion and in fact a scheduled time for boarding.
 

Any recent information regarding same booking reservation number for 2 guests and 2 different required check-in times?

3 hours ago, sjb317 said:

There was no paperwork for us to sign during checkin on  our Equinox cruise, just verbally asked the questions pertaining to recent travel.  
 

I have seen signs of extra cleaning, the “enhanced sanitation”,  however, it has not prevented the spread of what must be some respiratory virus. We are currently on the second leg of a B2B , a few days after the embarkation for our first leg I started noticing people coughing. Each day the numbers noticed increased and by Friday, day 7, I had joined their ranks. About half the people at our meeting for B2B were coughing also. Turned out to be, for me at least, just a nasty URIL, no fever but coughing and congestion.  Today is day 4 of our  second week and I am feeling much better.  But lots of other people coughing. 
 

And yes, as a retired nurse, I am fanatic about washing hands!

 

Sherri🙂

Thank you for the update regarding your current cruise.  Also glad to hear you are feeling better as well....continue to enjoy and have a great trip!

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

 I am wondering if when they swipe your passport, it can show where you have traveled during the life of that passport.  And then the cruise lines could all go to requiring passports.  EM

Only US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP/US Immigration) would have the ability to swipe your passport to divulge travel history.  This information would not be accessible to non-law enforcement/CBP personnel.

It unfortunately provides for a logistical nightmare beyond the capacity for which ANY cruise line is capable of handling.  Considering the scope of the guidelines they are putting on paper, with intention of following, I have little faith that they can properly enforce the guidelines they are setting forth.

With that being said, for those of us with cruises booked (I have several) ....we will have to continue to follow along and make the best decisions possible individually.  We will have to do this until either the cruise lines and/or Federal Government step up with more structured and effective procedures....if that is even possible.

2 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

When I checked into my cruise on 10 February, the agent did go through every page of my passport and came upon my Chinese visa, which I pointed out was from five years ago. She said thank you and continued going through the rest of the passport. She looked at it page by page. It might slow your check in process by a few minutes but I hope they do that for all passports.

When I checked in for my SE Asia cruise my passport was not gone through page by page.  I specifically paid attention to this detail because I was interested in how the scope of this would be handled at check in.  

Furthermore, the check in agents are not full time employees which thereby creates an entirely new issue as far as training and what to look for when checking passengers in.  They are often part time employees.  It would be very difficult to cover the critical details and imperative nature of correctly processing check in for passengers in a pre-shift meeting.

4 minutes ago, bookitdanno said:

Not yet.

I had originally posted that at the end of my sentence...but decided to change it....fingers crossed!

56 minutes ago, Nana57 said:

Sailing on the Silhouette in 3 weeks to Southern Caribbean. Does anyone know if this virus is on any Islands?  

We are sailing on the Infinity in March.

I have been utilizing the website below to track which countries have active cases of Coronavirus.  I have found it to be updated regularly and accurate.

As of right now I do not see any islands or areas in the Caribbean affected.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

9 minutes ago, hcat said:

Not much anyone can do about re circulated air on airplanes...or AC systems. Trvl companies can only do their best and learn from past errors..like Diamond Princess

 

The Diamond Princess 😮 ....what a terrible situation!  Very sad that 4 passengers have died and almost 700 infected.

Although no word of a lawsuit has surfaced.....you can bet someone...somewhere will travel that route.  When THAT many people become infected you have to wonder if all that could have been done...was actually done.

The loss of life worldwide is quite sad and as I mentioned above....truly pray that a better course for things is ahead.

Safe travels to all!  🙂

I realize it is a VERY fluid situation.  I was on Celebrity Millennium for the 01 FEB cruise that departed Singapore and was cut short due to Celebrity determining they were not able to deliver the vacation they had intended.

The crew on the Millennium did an exceptional job based on the unprecedented circumstances.

It is very important that Celebrity is addressing it.  However the check in process would have to change drastically in order to properly ensure the guidelines are followed in good faith.  The majority, if not all, of the check in agents are not employed by Celebrity.  They are sub-contracted by Celebrity to facilitate the boarding process.

If each and every passport had to be physically reviewed page by page would be way too time consuming to embark on time.  I personally have stamps in my passport that can barely be read.  Whether it be very lightly ink stamped, smudged when the immigration officers stamped it, etc.

I have a cruise booked for March in the Caribbean and at this point intend to go.  I will continue to educate myself as best as possible.  I also clean my own cabin once we are inside before getting settled in with luggage, bags, etc.  I carry lysol/clorox bleach wipes with me and use them for this purpose.  

Also washing your hands more frequently than you would normally, keeping them away from your face/nose/eyes and mouth certainly goes a long way when it comes to contracting a virus as well.

Certainly I pray all will take a better course and soon!

Safe travels to all!  🙂

Coronavirus is becoming more and more of a topic, especially when it comes to traveling.  Celebrity recently (yesterday) updated their guidelines for who can and cannot cruise with them based on criteria developed by discussions with professionals in the health industry, WHO, CDC, etc.  They also set secondary screening guidelines for individuals that have traveled through certain countries within 15 days.

How can this effectively be enforced?  I believe the short answer is that it can't.  

Truly they are depending on individuals being HONEST when they are checking in and being screened.  It becomes a logistic nightmare to determine where an individual may have traveled prior to embarking on a cruise.  I was in Singapore 3 weeks ago.  I have been back in the States for over 2 weeks.  Will the check in agent go through each and every passport?  Will they be able to read each stamp in the book and understand what they are looking at?  Aside from my honesty, how would one determine my course of travel and where I had been outside of the United States within the past couple weeks.  

Below is the email being sent by Celebrity to passengers cruising the Caribbean in the coming weeks.  Does anyone see how this can effectively be enforced?

Hello all ~

Unfortunately I will not be able to give an answer to all the questions asked.

We are currently on board Celebrity Millennium and now due to further restrictions at various ports; Celebrity has decided to cancel the rest of this voyage and return to Singapore.  So we will not port in Laem Chabang.

Celebrity had advised a free shuttle to Pattaya would be provided for us had we made it, however; perhaps they were providing it due to SO many other changes with the itinerary.

So we will not be able to give accurate information regarding questions asked.

Safe travels to all!  ☺️

On 2/2/2020 at 8:44 AM, CissyFuss said:

When you return home, cruisehabits, please share your taxi experience to and from Pattaya.  We're also looking at an overnight stay in Pattaya and trying to avoid being ripped off.

I'll do my very best to try and keep ya posted....IF we get there.

So far everything has been fine for our sailing (RE: coronavirus) with the exception of multiple changes in ports of call.  We are now scheduled to port in Thailand in less than 24 hours.  This was not part of our original itinerary for this sailing.  We still intend to go to Pattaya.  

Ship exchange rate for currency is 2760 Baht for $100 USD.  Current "fair" exchange rate should be closer to 3120 Baht for $100 USD.  I'll also let you know our exchange rates once we get it all figured out.

I suspect the taxi rate to be somewhere between $30 to $40 USD each way...but again I will respond back  😊

Safe travels to all!  😊

7 hours ago, BEAV said:

Bar menus/prices for most part are the same fleet wide, not ship-specific. An exception would be the World Class Bar which is not available on M-Class ships. So if you see a bar menu posted for one ship, you can generally count on it being the same on another Celebrity ship. 

Thank you 😊

I was curious because we generally cruise off the East Coast of the US and wasn't sure if it would be different out of SE Asia.

18 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

I’ll start a new thread, but I’ll put a link in this one. 

Thank you for that!.....very much appreciated!

Hope you had a great trip.....we are very much looking forward to it!  First time cruising SE Asia region.

Safe travels to all!  😊

5 hours ago, Mark_T said:

I’ve got all the Millennium bar menus from about 2 weeks ago.

 

Will take awhile to post them all though, but rest assured the Martini bar is the only one likely to leave you short, there is plenty of choice in all the others.

Thank you for your reply as well!

Although I believe I have made my decision regarding which package to choose I would still love to see the menus you are posting!

Will you post them here?.....or is there another thread or place I should be looking out for to see what you are posting?

Thanks again!  😊

6 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

IF one requires a certain "brand" of spirit..ie Grey Goose Vodka..you will certainly appreciate the Premium Package..

 

Same with Wine, choices are much greater...also sparkling water etc is included..  

Thank you for replying.

If I do partake in spirits, vodka is usually my go to and I do like Tito's which is included in the classic package.

I appreciate you taking the time 😊