spart02

Thanks for posting! I thoroughly enjoyed your pics!

Yes, in an ideal world we could frolic longer in Vancouver, but unfortunately, I can't take more time off work, so we're squeezing this trip in and have no days to spare.

Vancouver is a great bonus port to check out for a few days. No need for a same day flight.

We have a 3:05 flight after our cruise in Vancouver. Is it practical at all to do anything besides just get off the boat and head to the airport? We plan to take the train from the cruise ship terminal to the airport. Any suggestions that will fit into our tight time frame?

Thank you for the info. That's very helpful! We're struggling with what to do after we get off the ship in mid-May until our flight, which is around 3:05ish. Princess offers morning excursions, but they don't really specify what a safe flight time would be to do the excursion.

^Pizzalady's info remains relevant (even the pricing, unless that changes when they open for the first time this season in April).

 

Unfortunately a 3:30pm flight is too early to make use of their 'transfer bags to YVR' service, so you will need to come back for them. A cheaper option is to use the Pan Pacific hotel's bell desk to store your bags - going rate there is $5 per bag from all reports. No need to actually re-enter the terminal proper (the hotel sits on top, with front door on sidewalk) would also shave a minute or two off your bag-collecting time.

 

YVR recommends being there 3 hours pre-flight for US & international departures - I personally feel that's overkill except during the peak '3 ships disgorge their complement of pax and many head straight to YVR for flights late AM/early PM' phase. If you aim to be there 2 hours early (i.e. leave downtown c. 1pm) you'll probably still end up hanging around at your gate for an hour. If you have Global Entry or NEXUS you can short-circuit both Security and Immigration queues so even an hour preflight becomes minimal risk.

We have a 3:30 flight after our cruise out of Vancouver International Airport. Normally, we drive to and from our port, so luggage isn't an issue. If we want to explore the city, what do we do with our luggage if we don't take an excursion through the cruise line?

Just making sure...your UBER was able to pick you up directly from the LAX airport? I know some airports don't allow UBER drivers to pick up right from the airport.

Thanks for posting this information!

Thanks everyone!

Thanks everyone for your help!

Is parking at the port just as safe as parking at Fulton Garage? We are driving home the same day that we get off the ship and are on a time crunch. We will be walking off with our luggage and heading out as quick as we can. For this reason, we prefer convenience over price when it comes to parking. I recently heard of someone who said that they have had issues with their vehicle being broken into or damaged all 4 times when parking right at the port. Is this common there? Is the Fulton Garage more supervised? What is your recommendation?

Hello! We are a family of 5 that does quite a bit of cruising, but haven't sailed with Carnival in a long time. Most of the other cruiselines have been telling everyone to take their passports with them on excursions and that they will be required to re-board the ship. However, every time we go to re-board, they never ask for them...only the room card. I understand that we would want our passports with us if something were to happen and we had a medical emergency, but besides that reason, does Carnival ever really check to make sure you have your passport when re-boarding? We will be doing some excursions where we will be soaked and where it's not feasible to have a big bag to carry them all in. Do we really need to bring them for re-boarding purposes? I know we would be taking a big gamble to not have them in case of emergency.

I have at least 3 of the days:

Hi

 

We are on reflection 8th april cruise with our two girls aged 9 and 7. What are the typical activities within the kids club and were there many children there? Would be great to see kids club schedules if anyone has?

 

thanks!

I believe it was an AF...it was a family suite, number 7107.

What type of cabin were u all in ?

 

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Hello! We tried Celebrity for the first time last week and LOVED it! We are a family of 5 with kids ages 17, 13, and 9. We have taken one Carnival cruise many years ago, 4 Disney cruises on each of their ships, and one Royal cruise on the Brilliance of the Seas. We had low expectations about the entertainment on Celebrity, but high hopes for good food, and we were not disappointed by either!

My boys didn't try the teen club out, but my daughter seemed to really enjoy the Fun Factory. They stuck to the printed schedule of the Fun Factory pretty well, which is a plus, as my daughter likes to pick and choose what she does and when she's there. It doesn't compare to a Disney ship, but there was plenty to do and my daughter was quite happy there, as opposed to our Brilliance of the Seas experience. The Fun Factory employees were very nice and friendly. They kept very good track of the kids when they took them to activities outside of the Fun Factory. I never worried about her when she was in their hands.

We are not sit-by-the-pool kind of people and were worried about finding enough to do on the sea days. In fact, none of us ever sat by the pool or used the pool the entire week! We brought some games to keep us entertained, but rarely needed them. They had several talks that we went to about other cruise destinations, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We also went to trivia a few times. Our itinerary was fairly port-intensive, so that helped as well. We were never bored and always felt like there was enough to do for all ages. There was a decent offering of family programs also, which was unexpected. The shows were enjoyable and Elysium was spectacular!

We only dined in the main dining room for dinner and had very good quality food with plenty of selection. The only complaint that we have about dinner service was that we were never offered drinks beyond water. Every night except one night (the night we practically had to beg for someone to take our drink order), we ended up sending runners to a bar to get drinks between our appetizers and dinner. We were never offered ice tea or anything beyond water. There were other tables that seemed to get beverage service just fine, but not us. Our wait staff was good, but not exceptional.

The Reflection itself really wowed us. It is in excellent condition and extremely well taken care of, exceptionally so. Our stateroom was also in immaculate condition and we had zero complaints about it at all. Our room attendant was fast and thorough. No towel animals, but no biggie. He always arranged my daughter's blanket and animal in a new way each day, which she liked.

The crowd on the Reflection was older than we are used to, but very kind, respectful, and controlled. Far less party-type than on the Brilliance of the Seas and mainly adults, as opposed to the Disney ships. As a family with kids, we never felt out of place or unwanted. The people that were near us in the dining room seemed to enjoy watching our kids enjoy their meals and many of them complimented the kids on their attire in the dining rooms. Our kids are well traveled and well behaved, so we felt like Celebrity was a good fit for us. If your kids are a bit rowdier, I wouldn't suggest Celebrity. All of the kids onboard that we saw were very well mannered. No running down the halls or up and down the steps; no craziness at all. We appreciated that a lot, but those with different parenting philosophies than ourselves may not feel quite as comfortable. We also noticed that when the Fun Factory took the kids out to different areas of the ship, they kept the kids in areas that those without kids wouldn't be disrupted. For example, the Camp Out night was held on a quiet upper deck away from anyone else. The kids were free to be kids and frolic, but without annoying anyone else.

I think that's it for now. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I just thought I would post from the perspective of someone who has kids and hasn't sailed on Celebrity before. It was such a great experience that we booked another cruise for next year!

That is exactly the kind of experience we are looking for! Glad to hear it was so easy for you.

Just sailed Reflection two weeks ago. Getting to the port using the I-395 tunnel is by far the best way to go. Exiting the tunnel the signs to terminal 18 are very good. Dropped my wife off at the curb with checked luggage, then followed the signs around the garage to the entrance and found plenty of parking spaces. Arrived about 11:00 and were in the buffet within 30 minutes.

First in line at 6:15 for debarkation as we had 700 miles to drive. Off the ship at 6:45, out of parking garage and on our way at 7:00. Couldn't ask for more.

Wow...that's quite sad. But thanks for the info. We'll go ahead and park at the port, no doubt about it! We had issues in Vancouver with a vehicle break-in and that is NOT fun to deal with on vacation. Totally not worth the risk.

A number of sources have said that, in Miami, parking at the port is the safest. A law enforcement friend and Miami-Dade officer, told us that if you want you car to be in one piece when you return, park at the port. It is guarded and well protected at night. Off sight parking can be dicey and there are regular reports of vehicles being damaged or missing essential parts when the owner returns.

 

In Fort Lauderdale, there are several safe, reliable off sight parking locations. Not in Miami. Is it worth the risk to save a few $$.

No, sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you confused me. I was confused before I posted this! I was thinking Miami and the Port Everglades one were the same.

I am sorry for the confusion. I posted that to share that we are always looking for a deal, but, imo in Miami it is best to just pay the price and park at the port.

Thanks for the info! I was confused and looking at Park-N-Go in Ft. Lauderdale at first...then realized that's not where we're sailing out of. Their prices were cheap and I have heard good things about them.

We'll just plan on parking at the port in Miami then.

When cruising out of Ft. Lauderdale we always park off site at Park-N-Go. We cruised out of Miami last month so I began to search for off site parking. I came to the conclusion that it is worth the extra cost to park at the port. This is exactly what we did and it was very safe, quick and easy.

 

If I recall when looking for Port of Miami directions we used our GPS or googled the address to input into GPS.

 

 

Marie

We are sailing out of Miami and looking for recommendations for parking. We usually pay the extra and park right at the cruise ship terminal because we need to hit the road very early. We self-disembark and need to leave as early as possible. Is this still the best option for us, or is there an off-site parking place that is extremely efficient in getting people out as fast as possible?

Also, am I missing it on Celebrity's website, or is there a spot on their site that tells directions to the port or an address where to go?!

Does Celebrity provide towels for everyone that wants one for excursions, or only the excursions booked directly through them?

Do you have to "check out" a pool towel each time you want to use one? We went on a Royal Caribbean cruise and it was super annoying to have to stand in line to get a towel. I'm hoping Celebrity doesn't do this!

I must say that so far I am completely unimpressed by Celebrity. I sure hope our cruise goes much better than our online experience. I have had issues since before the first of the year and still continue to have issues. I've called multiple times, emailed 3 times, tried to contact someone through their Facebook page, and still nothing but promises that they don't live up to. I'm SO over it. Grrrr!

I have been working with Celebrity to get it fixed, but we'll see. The guy I'm working with has had good follow-through so far, which is nice. I ended up booking one of my excursions over the phone though, which is a pain.

Thanks! I'll wait another 20 minutes, then try going through the Already Booked spot.

Does anyone else have issues logging into their Celebrity account? I'm trying to book my shore excursions and having no luck. I've tried three different days to do this and keep getting the same message (see attached Thumbnail). I have cleared the cookies from my browser and still get the same message. Any suggestions?

Has anyone ever been on the Reflection in room 7107 and can confirm that it has an adjoining room? The map shows that it does, but when I'm watching videos and seeing pics of the room, I can't see where the door to the other stateroom would be.