hubofhockey

It’s helpful. We have a TBL tour set up with a very similar itinerary. I hope we don’t have the same problem with immigration there (Celebrity Millennium)

Looking forward to reading reports (and YouTube videos) on the Millennium in Japan. I'm assuming the attractions will be just as crowded next May. We are there a week AFTER golden week, so maybe we'll catch a break. Did you enjoy Kyoto, despite the crowds? We have a 1/2 day, full day, and then end with a half day before taking the train to Yokohama. Hey, since your handle is "monkey@cruise", did you get to the Monkey Park and did you do it on the same day with the bamboo forest? Was hoping to walk through the bamboo forest and then go to the monkey park and then head back to the hotel for lunch and then train to the cruise.

We’re not until next Spring - May 15

Reading more on this, best way to see Miyajima is to take a train from Hiroshima Station to Miyajima-Gucci Station and then walk five minutes to the ferry port for a 10 minute ferry ride. The 45 minute ferry that Celebrity uses doesn't run return routes past the 5 pm hour. The train and 10 minute ferry will run even past when the ship departs. The Celebrity excursion, with only two hours on the island, kind of leaves you rushing around. The cruise port to Hiroshima Station is an 8-minute taxi. Hiroshima Station to Miyajima-Gucci is 28 minutes. It's a 5 minute walk to the ferry and a 10 minute ferry. All in all, it's about an hour. The ship docks at 1 pm and departs at 10 pm. Should be at Miyajima by 2:30 pm and would leave around 7 for cushion, making for 4.5 to 5.0 hours on Miyajima.

Good info - Just canceled the only Celebrity excursion we had signed up for. Like a fool, I signed up for the Celebrity tour of Miyajima and then realized that we could do the same thing on our own and spend more time on Miyajima island. The Celebrity cost was $164 for both of us, while a ferry seems to be $54 round trip ($27 per person). It's an hour each way, so Celebrity was only giving us two hours in total in Miyajima. We're in port for 9 hours, 1 pm to 10 pm, and was hoping to spend 5 hours there, maybe even an early dinner.

I am seeing on websites that show time from the ship in Osaka to subway to train is an hour and 9 minutes to Kyoto. Our itinerary had a full day in Osake with an overnight and 3 pm departure the next day. I didn't think that provided enough time to do either city justice. We decided to spend two nights and two full days in Kyoto before the cruise after spending four nights and three full days in Tokyo. I wouldn't want to miss Osaka. Ideally, the stop in Osaka would be longer just for Osaka, but we'll make do with the day and a half.

Someone posted and here is a link to a recent 14-day itinerary menus for Blu and MDR. The menu looks good to me, with some nights being better than others. If you're into meat and potatoes, then Blue and Aqua aren't worth your money. I like the assortment of poultry dishes, lamb, veal, and seafood, so not a problem for me.

Here is another thread active right now on Celebrity porting in Ha Long Bay. Bruce Muzz is on that thread. My suggestion is to post on that thread. It indicates the Solstice uses the new terminal. While I doubt you tender at Cai Lan, you may be able to find out for sure and get help from Celebrity directly. It is quite possible that Celebrity would tender if the new docks at the new terminal are already booked.

It does appear that Cai Lan did build a dock. The new cruise terminal at international cruise port has been used by the Millennium.

It will only dock at Cai Lan or the new terminal. Those are the only two that can receive ocean cruise ships. Have you looked at cruisemapperl.com and checked out which ships are scheduled to dock where for your specific itinerary? Does it say dock or tender? The new terminal has docks. Cai Lan is tender.

I don’t think there are four for ocean cruise ships. Cruise ships dock at Ha Long International Cruise Port. Cai Lan is the older one. There is a small possibility you would dock there if there are ships in port, but check the port schedules. The other ports are mainly for the Indochinese Junks. If you have an overnight or want a great day trip, highly recommend taking a taxi to that area. We did an overnight with B’Hai Luxury cruises and it was amazing.

Some things about Blu. Even if you have to wait, the waits aren’t long. The later or earlier you go, the better chance you have at a table by the windows (really nice in Blu). If you have allergies or a rapport with waiters, they get to know you and get you with the same wait staff.

Vomiting would be third.

Nice itinerary. My fear on Edge class ships is that cities like Dubrovnik were moving away from the huge ships being allowed to dock there. Kotor is another favorite. Thanks for the news on Blu as we have aqua on Millennium in Japan next spring.

Replacing a non-revenue space with revenue generating space makes sense for Carnival. I suppose more bars is an overkill for Carnival since it’s not too hard to find a drink on a Carnival cruise. However, the library was probably the least utilized space on their ships. Can’t blame them.

The last Carnival cruise we did was when the Magic was new in 2011. We took our kids on a Med cruise. I loved the ship. John Heald was the cruise director. The venues on the ship were nice, but they were doing “color wars” with red, white, and blue teams screaming in main dining rooms to see who could be loudest. Change is good. On the whole, I like Celebrity’s more relaxed and casual vibe. I find the ships nicer than Princess, but not as glitzy. It depends what you are going for. At this point, for us, smaller is better and we like Aqua class and the smaller M class ships. Our alternatives now would be Oceania or Azamara. My issue with Viking is that they include excursions and I don’t want to pay for that option. We can live with $400 each passenger credit for excursions simply more on Oceania, but not more than that. Enjoy the Reflection. If anything, it will be a much different vacation feel than Carnival and Princess.

Nobody overreacts on Cruise Critic. 😄

I have never seen a cat fight on a Celebrity cruise, nor have I seen people vomiting in the elevator. Carnival seems to focus more on crew and passenger provided entertainment like game shows, talent contests, and even red team vs blue and white teams. It’s an experience like no other. Some people eat that stuff up. There is a certain cheese factor to Carnival, but I have to say that their core base loves the product. If Celebrity ever gets like that, I’d move on. So far, I haven’t seen that, but my next Celebrity cruise (in May) will be our first since the summer of 2018.

If you’re only booking Celebrity to chase points or status and believe that extra $350 of perks should drive your decision, you shouldn’t be reading this thread. We probably won’t look at Virgin because our demographic doesn’t line up well, but they do things differently and it’s interesting to see what newer lines are doing.

The Sunset Veranda cabins on Deck 9 are probably best to avoid. They are directly below the Sunset Bar on Deck 10. On M class, Aqua cabins are bigger and some have the larger balconies as well. Beginning 10/4, we’ll see what prices are like without the AI jacked up fares.

We love the M class ships and the Aqua goes great with M class for the following reasons. The M class ships are smaller and lack good choices in specialty dining, which is more important since the main dining room is average, at best. The Tuscan Grill is okay as a steakhouse. Sushi on 5 is very good, but light fare. Haven’t been to Le Petit Chef. Some like the food/show, but kind of gimmicky. Blu, the restaurant for Aqua is pretty good and service is outstanding. Also, on days at sea, having the Persian Garden available is nice to have. Agree with others on waiting until 10/4 where you can pick and choose your own inclusions. We have AQ on the Millennium in Japan next May. Looking forward to it.

Thanks. I was under the impression that it’s less casual than Oceania or Azamara. My mistake.

HAL also goes to Glacier Bay, and RCCL lines are not allowed there.

Here in Portland, they said all cruise lines, all ships won’t be docking here through Saturday. Just hope all are safe . . . and we don’t lose power. Ironically, we wait until mid-October to head down to SW Florida.

If you are on an M Class ship and you have a good number of sea days, Aqua, to me is a must. The Persian Garden is great on days at sea and Blu is needed unless you like the MDR because of the lack of specialty restuarants. (Tuscan Grill is okay for one night, one's a gimmick, and the other is fine for lunch).The other choice is spending so much more for Retreat.