dtenel

Thanks so much everyone for your help!  One more question as you ask are so smart with what happens on the cruise!!!  I see the Deal or No Deal cards you can buy ahead of time, but no real explanation of ow to play.  Do you use the same cards that you buy the entire cruise?  Do you need to be at the "show" or wherever they play every night?  It looks fun, but not sure I want to commit to going every single night.  Can anyone tell me what exactly it is?

7 minutes ago, fenton04 said:

You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.  Just sayin…

That's what I am thinking!!!  It is worth it to try!  I will keep everyone posted next month with how it goes! 

Just now, fenton04 said:

Like the original poster indicated our upcoming cruise on 9/7 has one bottle prer person on one page and two bottles on another page on the cruise ticket.  We actually take the cruise ticket with us on every cruise.  It appears to us that in this case somebody at Celebrity did not proof read the ticket.

I have mine printed out as well...and highlighted where it states 2 bottles per person...and I am going to try to bring on 2 bottles each and show them where it states it in their booklet!  Can't hurt to try! 

3 hours ago, Mark_T said:

Jim already covered almost all of this, the only part that needs to be clear is that the non-alcoholic drinks in general are either included or fully excluded from your package, unlike alcohol where you can pay the difference for something that is above your $10 limit.

 

So as Jim pointed out, sparking water is not included in your package even though it is below the $10 limit.

Really the only non alcoholic drinks we drink are regular (still) bottled water, regular coffee, cappuccino and latte's and Diet Coke.  As long as they are all included in our classic drink package we are all set!  

Thank you for the help!  I see online it states that you get daily delectable delights...what are these? Are they delivered to your stateroom?

I also see that you can get sparkling wine upon request.  Is this once or can we get a bottle delivered every day?  I am assuming it is free?

We are going on the Celebrity Solstice next month for an Alaskan cruise.  I have a few questions...I have looked at the website, but it seems a bit confusing!  

1.  We have the classic drink package.  Does that include regular bottled water?  Diet Coke?  Can we drink at any bar on board as long as the drinks are $10 or under?  Are cappuccino and lattes at the Cafe' al Bacio included...again if $10 or under?  

2.  Is the Gelateria included?

3.  I see that some state there is a 20% gratuity that will be added to each drink.  If we have prepaid gratuities and the classic drinks package, do we still get charged that with each drink?

4.  We are in the concierge class stateroom.  What is extra with that? 

5.  In my guest ticket booklet it is confusing as in one area under "things to know" it states each guest over 21 can bring on board at embarkation 1 bottles of wine and then under "Before you Board" it states that each guest over 21 can bring on 2 bottles of wine on embarkation day.  As we have the classic drink package we will not have to pay a corkage fee.  But...which one is it?  1 bottle or 2?

Do we ever get a very detailed list of everything that is included in regards to food and drink? It seems that the website is not very clear!

Thanks to anyone who can help clear these questions up for me!

We haven't been on a cruise in many years but are going on the 7 night Alaska Dawes Glacier Cruise next month!  We are in the concierge class stateroom.  Any tips/tricks/idea's to enhance our trip?  Anything we need to bring special for our room or the cruise in general? TIA for any help you can give!  Looking forward to this cruise!

On 5/23/2022 at 1:15 PM, notamermaid said:

Definitely pack for warm days, not Mediterranean or Florida Summer, our June is pleasant, the heat comes more in July. Temperatures I would say most afternoons above 20 Celsius. Mornings sometimes still cool, could be as low as 10 Celsius.

 

Important to remember: 1. European Summertime means the sun cannot heat up the valley by 10am, early morning excursions can be chilly, I recommend a jacket, especially in the Black Forest.

2. Basel to Amsterdam is several micro climates and the temperatures will vary throughout your cruise most likely. The Netherlands tend to be cooler and windier than France and Germany.

 

I suggest a good weather website, check the temperatures 10 days out from the start of your cruise and a couple of days before you leave, just in case. Most important in my opinion: sturdy shoes that do not mind a half day of rain getting on to them. You need to be able to walk on this, lots of it possibly, depending on town (sample of set stones near my house):

 

They are worse at Marksburg castle!

 

Weather graphics of previous posts are from this website, I have put in Mannheim for you: https://www.wetteronline.de/wetter/mannheim

But you may prefer an English one, like accuweather.

 

Enjoy your river cruise .

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you for this information!  We usually do Europe in July when it is so hot so that is why I was asking!  I will pack for chilly mornings and warmer afternoons!  We leave next weekend so I will also start monitoring the weather now.  Super excited for our first river cruise!

Can you tell me what the average temperature usually is the beginning of June?  We are doing the Romantic Rhine on Avalon departing Amsterdam June 4 and wondering what I should pack cloths wise!

13 minutes ago, hmcrn said:

 

Yes - if you pre-pay your gratuities (which we always do - SO much easier!), it includes everyone on the boat.  The only time you would give extra is if they gave over-the-top service.  

On Avalon, we have had excellent service, but there have been a few that have gone out of their way.  For instance i had asked for a specific after dinner drink the first night of the cruise, but they didn't have it, so i had something else.  The next night i went to the lounge after dinner, and the bartender came over and told me that he had gone into town that day and gotten the items needed. He handed me my drink for free that night as an apology for not having it the night prior!  I was stunned.  Needless to say he definitely deserved, and received, extra on that cruise!

hmcrn~. Thank you for this clarification!  Much appreciated!

We pore-paid gratuities when we booked.  Does that cover the cruise director and then the rest of the staff?  So then we will only have to bring cash to give anyone any extra?  I don't want to skimp out by thinking I had everything covered!

Hello!  We will be doing our very first river cruise in a couple of weeks!  We are doing the Avalon Romantic Rhine with 1 night Lucerne and 3 nights in Lake Como. I am wondering if anyone has done a beach day while in Lake Como?  And if so how and where?!  I found this: https://www.lidovillaolmo.it/en   Does anyone know about this place?  We would love a day to just chill and soak up some sun!  Thanks!

1 hour ago, hmcrn said:

 

Excellent!  Was it just the 40 Euro rapid antigen test that is resulted in 30 minutes?  

Or did you go for the more expensive PCR test?  

Thank you!!

When we went in September it was free...but it was the rapid antigen and we had the results emailed to us in 30 minutes!  

Cowboy~ Again, thank you for blogging for us and answering our questions!  I am so happy you had such a great time.  Enjoy all Amsterdam has to offer!  I do have 1 more question though!  We end our tour in Lake Como and have added on ourselves a few days in Milan before heading home.  My thought was to go ahead and test with Avalon before departure to check for COVID just in case.  My reasoning is that we have taken out their insurance so if we do test positive they will help cover costs and hotels in which to quarantine.  So, are we able to get tested with them even if we are not headed straight home?

Thank you Cowboy!  I think we will be eating in the lounge for dinner!

Cowboy~. Again...thank yo ufo this wealth of information!  I do have a question about the dinners.  We were feeling as if we may prefer to skip the long, formal dinners and eat on the deck...can you tell me what the differences are? We prefer to dress less casual but still would like the same choices mainly if possible!  Do yi get all the same starters, salads, mains, and desserts?  Do you get your wine included?

On 5/5/2022 at 4:20 PM, hmcrn said:

Hi Everyone! 

We are 23 days to our cruise - yay!  The Panorama on 28 May, Basel to Amsterdam. 

However - trying to make sure we can get the correct COVID test in Amsterdam to be able to board a plane back to the US.  (staying extra after we disembark). 

Is the rapid antigen test valid for boarding a plane?  Everything i read uses different terminology it seems.  

The main place to test is called SPOED Test.  They have lots of centers around Amsterdam.  

The testing they offer is the Rapid Antigen Test at 40 Euros, or the PCR Economy at 80 Euros.  

Big difference in price, and also the first one is results in 30 minutes, the second results in 24 hours.  

I think we can do the rapid as long as it's an Antigen test , correct?  

Thoughts???

We used Spoed last September coming home from Amsterdam!  Quick and easy!

Thank you so much for this!  We are taking our very first river cruise next month and are doing the Romantic Rhine A to B with an extra night in Lucerne and 3 nights in Lake Como.  We planned on doing the morning on our own in Breisach followed by the wine tour just like you did.  I am so glad to hear you loved the tour!   It is a bummer to hear about the dinners, but good for you for being so patient and understanding.  I am sure they appreciate that!  I will follow your advise and not pre book any paid excursions until on board.  Any other advise for a first timer?

3 hours ago, KSPlum74 said:

I have been cleared to fly tomorrow.  Had a zoom call with a doctor in CT.  He asked a lot of questions and then consulted CDC documents and gave me the Fit to Fly paperwork necessary to go home tomorrow.  Last obstacle will be the AA check-in agent since I cannot upload the Fit to Fly document to AA or VeriFLY.

I am glad to hear you can head home!!  Can you share how you got the doctors information in CT for the zoom call? Just in case we may need it.

6 minutes ago, Daisi said:

@dtenelthere is a lounge in the "bar" area, where there will be a light meal put out.  We never ate up there, but I think it's like a tasting menu of whatever they have on the full dining menu for the day. If the weather is good, you can even sit outside at the same level to enjoy your meal.  Just remember...when you are sitting in your room, you may be rafted to another ship, or tied up against the concrete wall, so you may not have much of a view. 🙂

 

Thanks!  I thought we would be sailing through out the night so we would have a view of the land going by😊. You can tell I am new to river cruising!!!

5 minutes ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Sounds like a good strategy but most people on board will not be doing the same.  The trouble with waiting until someone is symptomatic is that others could already be exposed.  
 

i like that Avalon is actually increasing the number of dining venues to allow for more social distancing.  On my recent Tauck cruise, they did the opposite.  They reduced the number of venues.

 

 

We are new to river cruising so it is good to know that Avalon has multiple dining areas.  We fully plan in the evenings while sailing to enjoy a bottle of wine while sitting in our room watching out the opened window!  Or up top!  Glad to know we won't be tested every single day and we will be happy to wear a mask while in the buffet lines.  For dinners, is there another option besides the long sit down dinner with everyone?  

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Sorry. I thought you were looking for an answer to your questions.

I absolutely was.  No idea why you would even say this.

Like I said....we travel carefully.  I prefer to be out in then open air so we will be taking as many meals as possible on the upper deck.  We will sit out there during sailing time, too, if we are not in our cabin.  Most lunches when we are docked will be eaten on shore more than likely.  We will do our best to stay in open air places. We are not doing any of the optional excursions that are a lengthy bus ride~ Not only due to COVID, but I hate being on a long bus ride.  I do not underestimate COVID....I just think we need to learn to live with it now and stop going out of our way to test every single person.  Test when symptomatic.

Of course I would prefer no testing....that would mean COVID is gone.  I totally understand the pre-boarding test, having to be fully vaccinated and boosted and mask wearing at the buffet.  I do not, however, want to wear a mask while walking around the ships decks, etc.  We have travelled internationally very extensively through out COVID.  Being cautious of course, but we still travelled.  I always pack rapid antigen tests just in case.  However, I wouldn't test myself daily.  I would test myself if I started to not feel well.  I personally think testing passengers daily is over kill.  And stressful.  We can not test all the people around us while on an excursion or on all the different transportation.  I feel as if COVID is something we are going to have to live with forever...it's not going anywhere any time soon.  We can not continue testing healthy people every day looking for it.

After reading horror stories of people on board different Viking river cruises being tested daily and if positive taken off the ship right away to a hotel where they are, I am a bit worried about that happening on Avalon.  Does anyone know if daily testing happens each morning on Avalon?  We are due to be on the Romantic Rhine with Mount Pilatus, 1 night in Lucerne, and 3 nights Lake Como river cruise at the beginning of June and now I am a bit nervous.  I do not want to be nervous Every. Single. Day. after taking a daily test wondering if either my husband or myself will test positive.  That is not a vacation to me.  Also, what is the mask policy on board?  My understanding is that masks are only needed when up at the buffet, and all other times they are not needed.  Is this true?