cruzers j&n

Yes that's right, you did mention in your review, sorry about that - suffer from Swiss cheese memory these days!  That is so wonderful that your sailing is coming up so soon....the only time we were able to have another cruise so quickly was when I booked a B2B.  However, all that glorious eating (and in my case, way too many cappucinos and cafe mochas at Cafe Bacio) had a very sad consequence...as I was moving into my new cabin for the 2nd leg, the assistant cabin attendant asked me with the most joyful expression:  "are you pregnant???"😩😭

Answer was no...and the main cabin attendant quickly dismissed himself and got the heck out of there, lol.

Safe travels on your next cruise, and thanks in advance for another lovely journey.

Benny!  Finally finished your review and I'll chime in w/the rest and thank you for such a wonderful review.  Loved how you kept things upbeat with so many photos - that meat extravaganza lunch buffet was incredible!😲

Currently booked on Apex this June going to Iceland/Ireland, fingers crossed that we'll be able to actually go.

Now looking forward to your next review, hope you're going somewhere soon! 😁

Hi everyone - I'm trying to figure out how many times we will need to get a swab stuck up our nose during the cruise, which has several Caribbean ports (St. Croix, Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, Dominica, St. Kitts & Nevis).  Does anyone know?  I asked my TA already but she can't seem to get a straight answer out of Celebrity.

As we're already fully vaccinated, we're really not looking forward to the nasal swab testing done on a daily basis, especially as I get nose bleeds very easily.

I think we will need a minimum of one test to reenter the US (we are departing/arriving back into FLL but assume we will still be required to get one before leaving).

I tried to search for an answer here but couldn't find so apology is this was asked previously and I simply missed.  TIA!

Hi Paul,

 Thanks for doing another live review,  I have always enjoyed how informative your reviews are, not to mention entertaining.  I have to comment on your last photo of you standing outside Tuscan.... it is great and screams: “ hurry up and take this picture, would you?”  😅. Seriously, your expression is priceless and captured perfectly.

Thank you again for taking the time to do these reviews, you are a wonderful blogger.

Hello - can anyone who is currently sailing with a non-alcoholic premium package verify whether the package includes frozen drinks (e.g., virgin margarita)?  Celebrity website does not indicate frozen drinks as inclusive although it is mentioned on other non-Celebrity websites.  Don't want to purchase only to find out after we board that they are excluded.  Many thanks!

Aww shucks, your blog/review is over?!?  Seriously, thank you so much for taking the time to share your family vacation with us, I definitely felt like I was traveling along with all of you (and having a great time).  This has been one of the most entertaining reviews I've read in a long time.

Have to say I absolutely loved your little one's pineapple sunglasses and cat ears headband, lol.  My niece has a similar headband, what a fashion statement.😄  Wish they had such fun gear when I was a little girl.

So now the question is....how can we all convince your hubby to book another cruise soon so you can do another review?  2020 is too long to wait!  Here are some ideas which I think would work well for your family:  Norway or Galapagos - I haven't been to Galapagos (yet) but both destinations are great for scenery and adventure.  We were really blown away with Norway (and yes, we hiked Pulpit Rock - where latest Mission Impossible movie was filmed - and were sore for the next several days so fair warning).

Btw, I know you were considering Oceania which personally I loved, however, when traveling as a family, I really feel Celebrity is a better fit, at least for us.

Thanks again for a great few weeks of entertainment!😃

Terry,

I have enjoyed following along on your journeys.  Many thanks for taking the time to do such comprehensive reviews, they are chock full of good info and photos too!  Appreciate you sharing all your insights.  I just booked a cruise (with Celebrity) to Asia and will have to dig up your reviews to that region as part of my research and planning.

I'm curious though....you've been to so many destinations, what would be your top 3 and why?  There are so many gorgeous places that I know this will be a tough task to narrow down to just 3 so if you want, you can include more. :)

Linda,

You are such a gifted story teller!  I can't tell you how much I (and apparently many others) have been enjoying your review.  It has been informative, engaging, and totally entertaining.

I can't believe you walked out of your car accident without any broken bones, you are one amazingly fortunate chick!  And thank goodness for that or else we wouldn't have this wonderful trip report to enjoy.

Can't wait for your later installments.  And happy to read you booked another cruise (and yes, you just HAVE to do another report) so something to look forward to later.  I was going to suggest you nudge your hubby for another cruise but you beat me to it.

You have a beautiful family, your girls are lovely but I have to admit, I am smitten by your youngest....she is so, so cute and if I were to ever sail with you, I would have a seriously hard time saying 'no' to that face.  Endless supply of candy?  Sure! :)

Nicnol,

We hiked Pulpit Rock back in July 2014 while on a Norway cruise w/Celebrity. Not sure if this will be your situation with Viking, but Celebrity actually offered this excursion but only as a small group and you had to ask the shore excursions desk as this is not normally offered with their 'regular' shore excursions. After hiking it ourselves, I can see why they would not want to be responsible for a large group. So you may want to ask Viking if they can take you as a private group. While you could certainly do it by yourself, all the logistics/transfers have to go just perfectly and I didn't want to worry about missing the boat (literally). Just a few other tips I think would be helpful:

1) Use the excursion as an incentive to get in shape (if you aren't already). I was so concerned about my 8 year old son having a difficult time w/the hike but he breezed through it with no effort! It was my husband and I that had the difficult time! My husband carried a heavy backpack which really weighed him down, so limit what you have to carry. We took about 2hrs for the uphill climb and another 2hrs for the climb back down. We went during peak tourist season so you will likely be able to go faster with less crowds and also when the weather is cooler.

2) The climb itself isn't terribly difficult - but walking on very unstable rocks/boulders can be a hazard. You can easily twist an ankle with all the wobbly rocks so take it slow. And wear good shoes!! Either sneakers or hiking shoes will be fine. I actually saw a young lady with dress shoes (heels) on the hike, apparently she did not do her research! For comparison, we climbed the trail to reach the vista/overlook of El-Khazneh treasury @Petra this summer and while it was definitely challenging, I felt Pulpit Rock was more difficult (again, with all the wobbly rocks).

3) Highly suggest you take an Advil BEFORE you hike rather than waiting later. Man were we sore afterwards!! The good news is that our excursion to Briksdal glacier the next day, which was labeled as 'strenuous' by Celebrity's excursion team, was a piece of cake compared to Pulpit Rock.

Enjoy the hike and Norway's scenery - it's truly spectacular. Hope this was helpful.

Thank you for your reply. Would you mind sharing who you used for your Plitvce lakes tour?

Enjoy the rest of your vacation, thank you for letting us follow along.:)

Thanks for sharing your trip, I’ve been enjoying reading along and all the great pix. Two quick questions: 1) I noticed you did several food tours, was there a particular favorite? and 2) when you were docked at Zadar, did you take the ship sponsored excursion to Plitvce Lakes or use an independent company? I’d love to do the same when we’re there next summer but am concerned about the trip being too rushed/crowded and making it back to ship in time given the distance if we went independently, so any insights you can share would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance and enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Sorry, can’t answer the spa or gym questions but do know why deck 17 was skipped....in Italy 17 is not a “good” number, similar to our 13 in the US, i.e., people associate it with bad luck.

Have a great cruise Bea! Can’t wait to hear your trip report when you return. :)

Thank you all for your helpful replies! I love the CC community. :)

Without doubt I will need to carefully think about this. I’m dying to try MSC as we love international travel and enjoy diversity of cultures. Just concerned I’ll be sick from all the motion ( and yes, I do take meds for this but am just very sensitive and easily get ill). Perhaps we’ll shoot for July in the Mediterranean when seas should be relatively calm. I’ll be sure to report back if we can go!

Hi RikerKirk,

Thanks for your review. I was wondering if you felt a lot of movement in your cabin? I haven’t seen too many complaints about this in other reviews despite YC being in the forward section of the ship. As you can probably guess, this is a biggie for me as I get seasick pretty easily (and yes, I do take along meds but still get ill if seas are rough). Thx and glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Hello, hoping experienced MSC cruisers can help me....from my research, it appears YC cabins are located on higher floors in the forward section of the ship, is this correct? I get seasick very easily so tend to book lower midship cabins, but can tolerate aft location as we love the views of the wake. Is there such thing as a YC cabin in the aft or even midship section of the ship? Pls note I prefer ships no larger than 3000 passengers so I guess this will limit us to the Fantasia class.

If YC cabins are all forward, I suppose the next best thing is a midship or aft cabin with Aurea experience, but how much difference is there in SERVICE levels between Aurea and YC? I am aware of the actual implications of class of service (i.e., what's included and what's not), but was curious for those that have tried both levels if you could provide a scale....such as 10 (great) for YC and 8 (very good) for Aurea? I've read several comments that it's either YC or chose another cruise line so feel like we "have" to choose YC for a good experience. Excellent customer service is a must when we vacation (we are actually not fussy travelers but have a child w/severe, life threatening food allergies so when we travel, we need top notch service with attention to detail).

Thank you all for your insights. Hoping we can make it work with MSC! :)

Thanks Dr. Cocktail for your quick reply! We too really enjoyed Oceania's specialties and agree w/you re their regular dining room (although still very good standard). Good to know Top Sail offerings were plentiful too. I hope we can get to try YC one day....so far, most of the more interesting itineraries (at least for us) are on sailings on ships that do not feature YC.

Btw, not sure if you've been to French Polynesia yet, but the Paul Gaugin cruise was an awesome experience and will have your sensory buds exploding in delight (assuming you're a foodie)! We went many years ago when it still fell under Regent vs. its now stand alone cruise company. But I'm hoping the culinary staff is still just as exceptional.

Thanks again for your review and I hope you continue to go on many cruises so you can write more reviews!:D

Dr. Cocktail - many thanks for your informative and entertaining review. I think I may have have seen your post previously in the Oceania forum....may I ask how if you found the YC dining comparable to Oceania? I recognize food is subjective but in general would you say the quality and variety is similar? Based on the photos and postings so far, I can honestly say I thought the YC offerings were just 'meh' and not on par w/Oceania but of course, if I were to actually experience YC I may be blown away.

I am dying to try MSC but hubby won't even set foot on a MSC ship unless it's YC. We're actually not fussy travelers but good service is a "must have" whenever we travel. His motto is if we're paying all this money for a vacation, we shouldn't be hassled and I tend to agree. Based on many reviews, unless you are in YC it appears MSC experience can be a nightmare although there are several members that keep things positive (thanks Bea, Kiki, Pete, etc.) so I recognize that people may exaggerate their experiences.

TIA:)

Dear Clandestino,

Many thanks for your informative review. I read it with much interest as the British Isles is an area that we have not yet visited. Quick question though: You mentioned you were traveling with your son. May I ask how old he is? I too have a son who is currently 11 years old and I was hesitant to book this sailing this summer, fearing that the ports of call would be too boring for him. Did you find that they were many children on your particular sailing, or did the passengers skew more to the 60+? FYI, we had we had nearly 600 kids on our cruise in mid August over in the Mediterranean. I would have thought this number of children is overwhelming but surprisingly we really didn't see many of them unless it's a sea day. Thx in advance.

We will be boarding Reflection soon and was wondering if anyone knows the price of a 10 day unlimited internet package (1 device)? I could have sworn the packages were discounted if we purchased PRIOR to the sail date, however, when I went online to purchase, there was no indication of a discount so was thinking it'd be best to wait to purchase on board. At least that way we can hopefully take advantage of a CC coupon. The price on website currently is $269/person. Thanks in advance! :)

Thanks for all the feedback so far!

@LHT28 - thanks for the info, this is EXACTLY what I was looking for. As always, I find your posts informative and helpful, so thank you, thank you! The odd thing is I searched Oceania's Cuba's FAQ and did not come across any of the info you posted so am grateful you posted.

@helenpsl - will report back on how we do on the visa situation. Let's keep our fingers crossed that one of these days we can get there!!

Hi CruisingRaven - yes, he would be traveling w/a US passport so it would indicate that he was born in Havana. No way getting around that one!

Hello,

We have been researching high and low for an answer and cannot get a consistent or reliable reply so am now turning to you CC experts. My husband is a US citizen but Cuban born (left Cuba in 1965), When the cruises opened up to Cuba, we thought this was the perfect solution given he was not interested in a land based 'People to People' exchange program...we would want some independent time to roam about freely and cruises seem to offer this combination. We cannot get a clear answer on whether he will be given 'trouble' by the Cuban Customs given that he is Cuban born.

We have consulted with various travel agents, the Cuban Consulate in Washington D.C., and also a third party visa provider (e.g., CIBT, It's Easy) and guess what? Yep, nobody has a definitive answer. We couldn't even get a straight answer out of the Consulate as it depends who you speak to. Incidentally, a rep from Viking Ocean told us that he would have no issues as he is a US citizen and would be covered in their group visa, however, our trusted TA has advised us not to go as she is very well aware that customs can give people a hard time if they choose to. :o

Since Frank del Rio is Cuban born, I would think that it should be ok for my husband to travel with Oceania since he out of all people would be familiar with all the legal visa formalities? Are there any other Cuban born US citizens that have cruised with Oceania (or other lines) that can share their experiences? I've been told that those that left between 1965-1968 are the ones that have the most difficulty gaining access, although I have no idea whether that is true or not.

Thanks in advance for any insights you can provide.

Hello - we're headed back to Rome this August and I am trying to finalize transfers. What is a good time to arrive at Civitavecchia so that the crowds are not so packed? Also, how late can we stay on the ship before we get kicked off to disembark? We have a 3 pm flight so I was hoping for a 10:30 am transfer to arrive at FCO around 12 noon. In the past we have had earlier flights so were off the ship by 9 am.

First time sailing on Reflection so feel free to add any suggestions (have sailed on Constellation and Equinox). Thanks in advance!!:)