Little Nell

We are going on Eclipse in July and if the shows are as bad as people say we will have a decision to make on our next cruise. We don't choose our holiday based on entertainment but judging by the comments on other threads about the loss of little things that made our holiday feel special such as snacks in the bar, freshly squeezed orange at breakfast etc, we may find our cruise not so special after all. There are plenty of options out there.

So disappointed to hear this. We are on the 31st July sailing.

I think that the cruise ship companies have over booked the cruises for the Baltics. Every cruise line seems to have loads of Baltic cruises for sale. We have been twice and really loved the itinerary, but not sure if we would want to go three times.

 

There is very little choice for 14 day cruises out of Southampton for instance in May/June/early July. Even the Norway Fjords cruises are mostly 7 nights only. I think people are fed up with Baltics, plus the fact that many are nervous about travelling to Europe.

 

We are not cruising this year as we like an early holiday out of Southampton and a land based one this time gave us more choice. I wish they would do 14 night cruises up to Svalbard, again we have done this cruise but with Princess before, but at least it was different and certainly spectacular.

I agree completely about the lack of choice in 2 week options. We are doing a second Baltic cruise this year and definitely won't do a third. A week to the fjords is not enough for us either. We went 3 years ago with Celebrity for 10 nights which was better. We want to go to the North Cape and Iceland which other companies do. Next year we are going to Alaska and unless they offer new itineraries from Southampton I can't see us travelling with them again. To be honest, we love Celebrity but the itinerary has to be right. We've been to the Med and eastern Med on numerous occasions on land based holidays and cruises. I think it will be land based holidays for us in the future.

Rocky Mountaineer Gold Leaf is fabulous. We did it as a land tour and loved every second of it. Scenery, food, service, all excellent and Kamloops is small but fun. However. the VIA Rail was not so much. Before you decide to do Via Rail there are a few things you should know:

 

1. the sleeping quarters are about the size of a jail cell. The 2 chairs convert to bunk beds for the night and let me just say that if either of you has trouble climbing a ladder to the top bunk, you're in trouble. Add to this the fact that if one of you is dressing, the other has to either stay in their bunk entirely or leave the room. The ladder comes down right up against the bathroom door. The bathroom is the size of a closet and, if you're small or average size, you can expect your knees to touch the opposite wall while you're on the throne. There is NO storage. You cannot bring a suitcase into your sleeper. You will have to bring a carry-on, the smaller the better. There is a shower in every car (not room) and it was surprisingly good and very private. 1 shower, 1 door, 1 lock!! The food was very very good but you have set dining hours with the first at 5 and the last at 9. The biggest problem is that the train is rarely on time and I don't mean a little late...I'm talking hours late. We were supposed to leave Jasper at 4 p.m. we left at 8. We were supposed to arrive in Edmonton at 4 p.m. and arrived at 3 a.m. The reason: freight owns the rails, passengers only rent them. If a freight train needs to pass the VIA has to pull to a siding and wait. Sometimes these freight trains are a mile long and sometimes there's more than one of them. Hence the scheduled times means absolutely nothing!!! I'm very glad I did this ride from Vancouver to Banff on Mountaineer and Jasper to Toronto on Via Rail. It was an experience I'll never forget but these are things the tour companies don't tell you and I believe you need to know.

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. It is exactly as I feared and not for us.

Yes, definitely for US citizens or if you're booking through a US TA. Not sure about UK citizens.

I will check with my TA. Thank you.

We've been on high alert for some time now. It hasn't caused any noticeable difference in travel arrangements. As a previous poster mentioned the message is about increasing awareness and vigilance.

Thank you very much for the replies. I think we are leaning towards the Rocky Mountaineer.

Thank you for the advice about Choice Air, I didn't know that. We may book through a TA, would we still be able to use Choice Air?

I think she's either on, or going to, Millennium whilst Steve Gayda is on leave.

Thank you.

Does anyone know where Sue Denning is going next?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

 

Go here. It's the Alaska section on Cruise Critic. You might get some very helpful information here.

Thank you. Will study this when it is not so late.

If nearly everything else is close, we would choose the Gold Leaf service on the Rocky Mountaineer!

We have driven most of Alaska's roads, multiple cruises to Alaska (from Seattle, Vancouver, and both Northbound and Southbound). We have also taken the Rocky Mountaineer, Gold Leaf Service, on their Great Circle route - a fantastic trip.

Thank you, Dakka2002. I appreciate you giving the benefit of your experience.

We are currently looking to book for 2017. We are considering the Celebrity package, 20 night ultimate Alaska and Canada cruise tour. Everything looks perfect except we have a similar offer (very little difference in price) from our TA which has a better Canadian tour which is on the Rocky Mountaineer, Gold Leaf, giving us an extra day on the train in daylight as opposed to Celebrity's offering with Via Rail, of an overnight in a sleeper car, missing out much of the Kamloops to Jasper journey. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has done the Canadian tour with Celebrity on Via rail or the alternative Rocky Mountaineer. Given the cost of the Rocky Mountaineer the TA's offer for a slight increase in cost looks the better deal. What is making me hesitate is that we are travelling from Edinburgh and are booking this blind as the flights are not available until September. I have a feeling that Celebrity will be able to put a more cohesive flight package together for us. I would appreciate your feedback because we are unlikely to do this trip again.

We were in 3138 on Infinity and loved the cabin except for a constant engine noise. The picture window and location are brilliant. We never heard the lifts at all and they weren't busy which made it easy to access all areas from this location. We found the storage just enough but my husband travels light. If I remember correctly the bathroom storage was lacking a bit.

Hi. We did a ship's trip to Cassis from Marseille. It was lovely.

No one minds you dressing up. When it gets contentious is when those who prefer not to are called "yahoos" (as was already said on this thread), or low life, or slobs etc. You do you. Dress up in all your finery. Just don't demand everyone else does the same. All good.

Good reply. I couldn't care less about formal nights but did play along. I like to think on all other nights I dress very well, in fact you could say evening chic.

The wines in the Standard package will probably be be house wines. We find in most restaurants they are usually fine. It does say they will be Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir etc.

We were next to the aft lifts on deck 7 and it was a lovely quiet cabin.

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We were on her before the last refit and have booked her again for 2017. If you liked Infinity you will like her....

 

Have a great cruise..

We loved Infinity. Thank you chemmo!

Don't no where others are seeing dress code enforcement, but my last X cruise (Reflection) before the change had no dress code at all on formal nights.

Evening Chic isn't a dress code anyway, but a justification for those that never bothered to feel better about how they are dressing. 2017 - Smart Casual. 2018 - anything goes, bring the "dressy" shorts and T shirts.

I am happy about the evening chic change and dress up every evening.

Thank you for your reassuring comments everyone.

We are not looking for glitz and water slides which is one of the reasons we love Celebrity but were just concerned by reviews.

There are other options out there but we would prefer to go with Celebrity.

We are considering doing an Alaskan itinerary on the Millennium in 2017. I am apprehensive about doing so, having read some less than positive comments about the condition of the ship and the food.

People are saying the ship is tired, that carpets in cabins are threadbare or soiled and the bathrooms are in need of some TLC.

Comments about the Infinity are more positive and we can be flexible about our dates. I don't want to go on a ship that we would be not be happy with and having sailed on Infinity a couple of years ago would be happy to go back on her but our preferred itinerary and date are on the Millennium.

I believe Millennium is due a refurb. How extensive is this likely to be?

We are wanting to sail early in the season, while there is still some ice and snow in the mountains.

 

What dates are you considering!

 

I like the one-way because we would get to see as far North as Anchorage.

 

Again, if you want to book a specific cabin, one of the cabins that is 'better' and in demand, it can't hurt to put your name on one now. If a deal comes up that is better than what you book, you can call and re-fare. Your booking is good with the deposit only, until the final payment date. 75 days before departure. No risks.

 

Right now, even with the promo, the cost of the similar cruise this year in 2016 is MORE than what we have booked for 2017, with Go-Best, all four perks.

We are open minded about dates. There are benefits whichever you choose. Itinerary will be the main concern. Thanks again for your advice!

Well at least the British know what we want and expect from X!!

 

Enjoy your next cruise and thanks again for your words of wisdom!

Thanks. You too.

Greetings Chemmo from a very cold North of the border :D

You are right, of course. Our needs and expectations change and until such times as Celebrity fail to meet ours we will continue to enjoy the overall wonderful experience they provide.

Not quite sure how they will handle the overnight in Curaçao if they cannot get in, as we couldn't in April 2013 ( Easter Monday) It was too windy, so we had an extra sea day.

IMO it's the best itinerary in the Caribbean, anything less than 14 nights is not worth the airfare. Although our 2nd week was Easter week, there were relatively few families on board. Certainly not Spring break students, as I believe they take the shorter cruises.

We sailed out of Fort Lauderdale, but the ship has now moved to Miami.

There's no telling who the CD will be, as Sue Denning will be moving to Millennium in January, although she considered Eclipse as 'her ship.'

Is Sue not coming back to Eclipse for the Southampton itineraries?