Algebralovr

Definitely Blanton's. And yes, they do still have a sign up calling it The Blanton's Store. I can't drink it, even a couple of sips of wine causes me to have a reaction, but a friend loves it.

Sadly, my oncologist told me no more alcohol. So we didn’t bother. We just buy what the friend who watches our house for us wanted. 🙂

The best answer is "maybe". We were on a cruise in December and stopped in St. Maarten. We stopped at the Gulmohar's for a specific bourbon a couple of friends wanted. We brought back 3 bottles. I went through security with the bottles in a bag and and my seapass card in my hand. I had a suite, so the distinctive silver card. The security officer told me to place the bottles in my suitcase in my room and not to drink them on board. "Great!" I replied, "These are for people at home. I'll pack them right away." Your mileage may vary.

I thought I read they were going to only clean once a day, but would still be doing the turndown at night, unlike Royal. Unless in a suite, then they still clean/freshen twice a day.

A closed loop cruise out of Florida, going to Mexico, Bahamas and Cayman Islands is completely fine on a passport with even one month of validity left. I would save your cash, and just use your passport as is, then renew when you get back. We have done exactly what you are looking to do. We had passports that expired in May, and had a February cruise. Realized they were getting ready to expire. Since it was a FL closed loop cruise, we just needed ANY valid passport OR birth certificate+Photo ID. We used the existing passports then renewed when we got home. Closed loop US cruises and visits to Canada just need any valid passport. Heck. We took daughter on a May 31 flight to Canada for a cruise out of Vancouver with a passport that expired in August. Didn’t have sufficient time to renew before the cruise, she came home and renewed after it.

Connie will be in Tampa, so no retreat lounge. They do have a shorter dedicated line, rather than the line everyone else is in. We were on her in February.

That sounds like poorly trained staff. https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/new-images/Captain-Clubs-Benefits-Brochure_3.24.23_V7.pdf Shows it as a benefit and this seems to be the most recent version.

I've used the Rodeway Inn FLL a number of times. dayroomstay.com They have a pool, bar that does a decent burger for lunch. If you are disembarking at Port Everglades, their room cost includes the shuttle from Port Everglades to hotel, then hotel to airport. They have some coin op washers. Once, I did a bunch of our dirty laundry in them so that I made decent use of the time, and didn't have to haul home dirty laundry.

Sadly, if you booked as a single, rather than TBD, it means they re-price and go with the current promotion rather than what you originally booked with. When they are requiring a 100% single supplement, you are better off listing a second person as TBD and that will let you add a second person later on. Otherwise, you just tell them you are not bringing a second and they should refund the taxes/fees on the 2nd person and not charge the onboard gratuities for the second.

I was on Solstice in October of 2022, Reflection of November of 2022, then Emerald Princess over the Christmas holidays, then Constellation in February of 2023. The Emerald Princess was the only ship we sailed on that never seemed as clean. We noticed that the bathrooms by the buffet, aft, were not cleaned nearly as frequently as the similarly placed ones on the Celebrity ships, and the carpet in the aft area of the buffet was not vacuumed sufficiently. Also, the bases of the tables were not clean. So for cleaning? Celebrity absolutely won. Our thoughts of the International Cafe? Their fancy tea isn’t. I wasn’t impressed with their tea.

It isn't good enough, no matter what. It is supposed to filter some, all the indoor air is supposed to filter. They were supposed to have upgraded the filtration as they returned the ships to service after Covid. Either way, it won't be good enough if you are sitting there enjoying playing and some jerk comes up and starts vaping with one of those that creates a cloud of garbage around him the way some do.

I'm with many longtime Celebrity cruisers who are appalled at the current test of allowing vaping in the casino of Equinox and Eclipse. I've emailed the executiveoffice email address, and received an email and call back. I was told by the representative that it was a decision being made by the executive team and the leadership team at Royal Caribbean. I think we all need to remember that Celebrity is a division of Royal Caribbean Group. That is different than Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, it is the parent company of them both. I've sent a second email, with some supporting documentation about why vaping is no more safe to do in the casino, but I think that this may be coming down from the RCG leadership. How many of you are, like me, are shareholders? We bought shares in the company for various reasons. I my case, I like to own a small part of companies I like to do business with. So, now that we have seen they are responding to our complaints by removing the signs saying vaping welcome, but printing in Celebrity Today that people can vape in the casino, it is time to call and email Shareholder Services about the situation. So, if you own shares, please call and/or email RCG Shareholder services about this situation. The lack of smoking/vaping is one of the things that sets Celebrity apart from their most direct competition, Princess and Holland America. It is THE reason we keep coming back in my case.

So true. I drink a couple of cups of tea, then water. But when I was young? Didn’t we all make different choices when we were younger?

By DD always buys AI. She and her hubby (age 29-35) want WiFi, want the beverage package, etc. They upgrade to premium beverage package. She likes the fancy martinis from the martini bar at night. Skips the shows, just hangs at the martini bar. During the daytime, she will drink a number of strawberry daiquiris at the pool. She will have 3-5 fancy coffees a day. She is on vacation and wants to enjoy the vacation. I can’t blame her. She works long hard hours and when she takes a vacation, she enjoys herself. 3-5 coffees ($25), 4-5 frozen drinks ($50), a dozen bottles of water ($50), and 2-4 fancy martinis ($36) and the beverage package has MORE than been paid for.

Thank you so much! I am acquainted with a couple of the Revenue Directors. I can absolutely see them saying, “let’s see what happens if….” Then walking it back after feedback. I know a couple of medical workers (nurses, respiratory techs, etc ) who smoke and they get through their shifts by chewing gum. In one case, LOTS of gum. They have an addiction. They know smoking is bad. They lead stressful lives. Smoking helps in various ways. It is banned on hospital property. Gum is their solution. Maybe the casino hosts can offer sticks of gum to people who have a package of cigarettes or a vape pen in their shirt pocket. 😄

Dogs are trained to sniff out all sorts of things. Drugs, produce, accelerants, etc. I have seen the ones in Cozumel. I think they do drugs and produce. The island needs to keep fungus from off-island produce away. There is a disease going through the Caribbean that damages a couple of variety of trees.

They are definitely reading the emails we are sending. I sent email yesterday morning, and received a reply this afternoon about 5pm Miami time. The rep asked when I was available for a call tomorrow. Someone had taken the time to match my letter/email address with my next sailing. My next sailing on Celebrity isn't until December on Apex, so not bad work. We had 3 Celebrity cruises in 2021 after the restart, 4 in 2022, and will have 2 in 2023, but of the 9 cruises, 5 of them are in Suite Class. I explained how Celebrity Cruises have become the vacation of choice for my family. If they track things right, they will see that starting in 2012, when husband and I discovered Celebrity, we then brought my two young adult (young milennials, now 27 and 29), my mother, and my sister along. My kids have brought their spouses along, I've brought my father and stepmother along, and my mother and her cousin. Plus some friends. Now, we have Alaska booked for 2024 with my daughter, SIL, my SIL's mother and Sister. We like the product, and one of the biggest reasons is the lack of smoking inside, the handful of exterior spaces. We also appreciate the care taken with food allergies, as my daughter has a number of them, and she likes to joke that Carnival tried to kill her when someone decided that Terriaki sauce was Soy Free. 🤦‍♂️ I look forward to speaking with their representative tomorrow, and will make sure to remind them that MOST of their target audiance, younger Gen X, Gen Y and Millennials do NOT want to be around Vape sticks. It is still nasty.

That has not been my experience. Quite the opposite, in fact. I have observed a handful of people vaping over the years inside places on Celebrity. When I see it, I generally notify a manager nearby, such as the Asst M’D or the Asst Bar Manager in that area. They usually put a stop it to quickly. When I observed someone smoking on a balcony nearby, I asked for the housekeeping supervisor for my floor, explained what I saw/smelled, and he took care of it. I am extremely sensational to smoke and the gasses from vapes and the lack of inside smoking and vaping is EXACTLY why I sail Celebrity.

You will be fine. It is just older. It is, however, usually clean, has working AC, restrooms, etc. We've been in and out of T29 plenty of times since the restart and it has been just fine. You are only there a few minutes.

I've not been to Coco Cay, but I do like Labadee and have stopped there on Celebrity Ships. I've heard from a few people who are quite satisfied with the way their rebooking was handled. Beyond to Apex or Aspire and Reflection to Beyond for the same time frame. I think Celebrity is trying to appeal to the Gen X crowd (of which I am) who are starting to cruise with their families, including young adults and even some grandkids. My kids are late 20s and early 30s. I unabashedly bribe them with vacations to spend time with us. My favorite form of vacation is a cruise, and Celebrity is my favorite line. We don't do the evening show. We enjoy the bartenders at the Martini Bar. I DO want to eat better food, and I've got some concerns about the menu updates, but I also know that food has gone up substantially and prices for cruises have not kept up with inflation. So, I will elect to do more speciality restaurants if I don't want to eat what is on the menu in the dining room, or I'll upgrade to a suite.... although the pricing of suites has risen enough that I can book a veranda and buy a nightly specialty package for less than a suite. Which is an open. If you don't like the itinary, pick a different ship or a different line. There are plenty to choose from.

@QnMuppet my advice would be to try a piece of fake grass. They sell a piece on Amazon that has “drain holes” and is for a “dog potty” but you can buy the fake grass separately. I would train the dog to use that, if you can. Then, place it on top of a box of bark mulch. It will provide a better surface for the dog’s paws. Just use it for the week, and leave it for the ship to dispose of it at the end of the cruise. Roz, who started this thread, used to buy turf in the carpet section of the hardware store, then punch holes in it. I spend a bit extra and it has the holes already punched. When you arrive on board, go directly to guest services and ask someone to show you where the potty box is located. Don’t ask for directions, ask someone to show you. If it is not accessible to you, ask for their manager and ask them to please help you have it relocated to a more accessible location. I find that a smile and a plea for assistance goes a long way. They get so many grumpy people complaining, that when you smile and ask for their help, they generally do what they can. It will take a few hours, but they will find a better place if needed. I frequently get a lot of assistance from the Concierge on board when I need something, if I didn’t spring for a suite. If I sprang for a suite, the suite concierge and suite manager will be my advocates. I’m betting your dog will be fine. Have faith in him and his training. Take along extra treats for when he needs a pick me up. Don’t be afraid to duck into a quiet place and doodle him. Another thing… when I got on board the one cruise I took with Scooter…. I on a whim told a stateroom attendant who asked that his name was Charlie. By the next morning, every cleaner on board knew him as Charlie. We walked down the hall to “Good morning ma’am, good morning sir “ said as if they say it constantly, then “Good Morning Charlie!” They were all excited to see him. I saw a LOT of smiles on faces when they saw him. We found a spot to play ball on a long line every day (I took a 30 Ft lightweight leash) and took off his vest for some play time. We ended up meeting the chief engineer and a number of chefs… who all missed their dogs. So, enjoy the notoriety that may come with the pup.

Off topic, but wanted to share: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/service-dog-receives-diploma-college-graduation-new-jersey-seton-hall/

We’ve used a product fr9m “Dentemp” I believe? I found this online: https://www.cvs.com/shop/cvs-health-temporary-lost-filling-loose-cap-repair-prodid-695108?skuId=695108&cgaa=QWxsb3dHb29nbGVUb0FjY2Vzc0NWU1BhZ2Vz&cid=ps_oralc_pla&gclid=Cj0KCQjw27mhBhC9ARIsAIFsETE-oOuuz2Cm81Ff0CeczWbMw25WMZWTJt8WsVcXLSWISkLBi8RLNlgaAoCYEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds Probably the same.

When my husband had a tooth break a few years ago, they couldn’t really do anything. We didn’t want to do an island dentist. We found a pharmacy and bought a OTC filling/repair kit. I packed the tooth every night with the temp filling material. It is mostly zinc oxide. We didn’t have any mouthwash, so used vodka (had a premium drink package) to rinse and kill bacteria. We then had our regular dentist handle at home. We carry an OTC filling kit everywhere when traveling now.

This is unacceptable. Please make sure you speak to management about the issue with the stateroom attendant.