Bruceandmaree

9 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

As I mentioned on another thread if you need streaming TV perhaps cruising isn't the vacation for you. Keep in mind you are at the mercy of the ship's satellite service. Leave the TV at home you're on vacation.

Agreed! It is always annoying to go into a room where the previous occupant has been mucking about with the settings.  The staff are not paid to restore TV settings. It is just short of vandalism 

Given that most bars will also serve Captains Club drinks this change is definitely a plus in my opinion. Thanks Celebrity!

When we first sailed as Elite in 2017 it was a Yokohama to Vancouver repositioning cruise on the Millie.On boarding we were offered a drinks package at half price. We accepted! It turned out to be a good move as so many of our fellow passengers were Elite or above drink vouchers were issued to cope with the demand. (a black market in these precious vouchers soon developed)

There are two questions still exercising my mind concerning the announcement:

1 Will they serve canapes as before? I guess yes

2 Where will the event be held on the Edge Class ships which have no Sky Lounge. I reckon the best options are Eden Bar and the Club.

DW & I are doing a B2B on Edge next March.The second leg is a cruise only fare; hence the heightened interest in maximising our Captains Club benefits as newly minted Elite Plus members.

On 11/19/2019 at 7:13 AM, Werangels said:

I had the Viognier in the summer and agree.  It all sounds delicious.

An old friend of mine used to refer to Viognier was Verdelho with stockings. He was a gynaecologist as well as a wine lover so his description cannot be lightly dismissed.

10 minutes ago, hamrag said:

My understanding, based on what HGC and others have written, is that you can do so at any point for the remaining days of the cruise.

Thanks hamrag. We are Celebrity Elite with a first time booking on Pursuit out of Southampton in August 2020, I guessed it would be same arrangement.

40 minutes ago, hamrag said:

The cost to upgrade to the Premium package is $16pppd, and the Ultimate is $22pppd discounted to $20pppd with the 10% LBV discount (not available for Premium). On that basis, we are ruling out Premium and going with the much better Ultimate package, which includes the following scotches in addition to the 'complimentary' beverages:

 

Blended Scotch Whisky
The Famous Grouse, Johnnie Walker Red Label, J & B, Dewar's White Label
Chivas Regal 12 Years, Johnnie Walker Black Label

Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Glenfiddich Select Cask, The Glenlivet The Master, Destiller's Reserve, Highland Park Aged 12 Years, The Balvenie Triple Cask 12 Years, Laphroaig 10 Years, The Macallan Select Oak

Is it possible to upgrade part way through the cruise on a per day basis? 

I'd take a bottle of Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon. Its an old Napa winery which won a blind tasting in Paris back in the early 70's. It put Napa on the wine map. A gift like this will be better if it has a story.

The best learning tools I’ve found are on Youtube. Do a search for “tutorial Apple iPhone” You will see a number of good options to try. I find it much easier than reading a manual.

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Don’t forget to wear your America First badge so that you get the special prices while in Europe.

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I agree, and I would hope to see an Olympic, SS United States, and Ocean Liner restaurant on the future Edge Class ships. It would be a fantastic way to resurrect these wonderful dining experiences from the original M-Class ships. Also a great way to preserve the artifacts that Celebrity procured from these ships, and again having them in a setting that many can enjoy.

Yes. I wondered what happened to the Olympic Restaurant fittings on theMillie when they turned it into a Tuscan Grill. Celebrity apparently does respect their, and others, maritime history.🤩

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I don't often disagree with Marazul, but not so sure about walking from the TGV station to the Pope's Palace in 15 minutes. There are two train stations in Avignon. The main (Central) Station is convenient to the old town and one can walk from the station to anywhere in the old town. But the TGV Station is an entirely different facility which is located more than 5 kilometers (about 3 miles) from the Pope's Palace. There used to be a free shuttle bus that ran between the two stations, but not sure if that still exists and/or if its still free. But like all shuttles this does involve time waiting for the bus and getting through the traffic to the other station. Using a taxi to get to the old town from the TGV station is a good idea if one wants to save a little time.

 

 

 

I should mention that all the TGV trains can only go to the TGV station. Only the non-TGV trains use the Central Station.

 

 

 

Hank

The advice from Hank is good. We took a TGV from Lyon to Avignon in 2012. Some TGVs did stop at the town station in those days. It may be worth checking. We caught one that did and we walked to Hotel de Europe from the station as there were no taxis. Not easy hauling luggage over cobblestones.

On departure we took a taxi from the hotel to the TGV station. We travelled onward to Aix en Provence. Easy!

You do not need to pre book tickets. Check out the timetable on de bahn. The official German rail site. It is in English and has accurate timetables for all of Europe.

I’d highly recommend Hotel de Europe. ***** Napoleon stayed there. It has a Michelin starred restaurant which will not blow the budget too much. Avignon is lovely. We thought it nicer than Aix. The Popes palace is an impressive building but empty.

Enjoy

Bruce

I think a few things are converging at the same time.

 

The availability of capital.

Low interest rates to borrow money.

A strong economy and very strong in the higher end income brackets.

The opportunity to increase sales globally in several markets such as Australia and Asia.

 

At the same time there is a lot of building taking place not only in the luxury market but in the premium and mass markets. On the premium markets you have lines such as Viking and Oceania that are trying to take a chunk of the luxury market.

 

Are the lines overbuilding? Probably if there is a downturn which surely will happen at some time.

 

Keith

Well explained Keith. The laws of economics apply to the cruise industry in the same way as other discretionary expenditure. The trick for the consumer/cruiser is to be cashed up when supply is high and demand is low.

We did our first cruise in 2012. The $AU was high and the Costa Concordia debacle affected demand.

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We have been on 9 Celebrity Cruises. We have never noticed a vacant cabin either side of us or anywhere else on board for that matter. Supports the generally accepted wisdom that, come what may, the ships sail full. Anyone out there have a different experience?

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I saw a few kids on X a couple of times. [emoji1289][emoji67]*[emoji66]*[emoji66][emoji480][emoji850]

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This is from a facebook post that I'm unable to mention..

Ovation Of The Seas Trans-Pacific Cruise to her new homeport in Alaska!!

It will be in 3 legs:

Sydney to Honolulu ( 17 April to 2 May 2019) ( Moorea, Papetee, Bora Bora, Lahina, Honolulu

Honolulu to Vancouver ( 2 May to 13 May) ( Honolulu( Overnight), Hilo, Lahaina, San Francisco, Vancouver)

Vancouver to Seattle ( 13 May to 24 May ) (Icy Strait Point, Stika, Hubbard Glacier, Juneau, Skaway, Tracy Arm Fjord, Victoria, Seattle)

Anyone know where Ovation will be between 30 March and 17 April 2019?

Won a cheap, mesh ball cap once on the Royal version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. Answered an easy question related to centuries wrong TWICE! The question was something like "In what century did the war of 1812 happen". If I recall correctly, I completely blanked and said 18th century. When told to try again, I then remembered that the 1900s were the 20th century, so I confidently said that 1812 was the 17th century. :o They were bound and determined to give me that hat!

 

Congrats to the OP. Hope you have a great cruise.

The war of 1812...... wasn't that the one designed to make the USA great again (part of Great Britain that is). Apparently the Donald is going to do it without firing a shot. Good luck.

We had premium drinks package on Silhouette June 2016 in Baltic. Cellar masters is a lovely area. Service is slow but if not in a rush I would choose it as a place to chill anytime.

Forget about the self service machines. They are not included in package. I have never seen anyone use one!

I hear the canal is now able to take the big ships. Will X re-imagine their routes to take this into account? Perhaps more RTW itineraries?

We took the ho ho from outside the terminal. It runs a shuttle into town where the regular runs start. From there we took the two routes. Both are worthwhile and give a much better idea of what makes this lovely city special apart from the historical centre.

The most efficient use of time is to take route one and on the return loop hop off at top of the old town and walk down to the bottom of the city walls which is where the Ho Ho interchange is situated, taking time to see the sights of course, Then take the other route.

The marching band through the main square was a lovely touch. We caught it while having a beer in one of the restaurants on the square. There are also two or three lovely viewpoints from the top of the old town. Enjoy!

We have done four Solstice class cruises. Two on the Solstice; two on Silhouette. All great. Three Aqua Class one Concierge.

We are doing 14 days on the Millennium in November 2015 out of Singapore. Looking forward to the new experience. Aqua Class A1 in the new cabins on top floor.

Any insights from more experienced cruisers would be great.

We were on the Silhouette in Sept 2014 b2b started Venice to Civitavecchia then turn around to Israel finished back at Civitavecchia. The overall experience was fabulous. We did not change cabins.

The turn around at Civitavecchia was OK for us as we were tired and therefore happy to have a virtual sea day. We had originally thought to train it to Tarquinia for the Etruscan ruins but did not do any pre planning. We had a week in Rome in 2010 and did not consider returning for such a short time.

If we had wanted to spend the day touring there were three problems:

1 No tour options were offered by the ship.

2 the berth was not anywhere near town nor the rail line- as it was on a previous cruise in 2012. (getting to Tarquinia was therefore not easy)

3 there were some minor administrative matters to get past onboard - i.e. getting a new sea pass etc

On the positive side it was nice to chill out by the pool and watch the new cruise come to life.

This subject has been beaten to death on many earlier posts.

OK perhaps it has. However, we were on Solstice in 2012 and 2013 and may have some new insights.

On the first cruise (Mediterranean) Cafe Al Bacio was apparently unloved - free tables were plentiful. Second time ex Sydney it was packed and the staff were a little grumpy trying to meet the demand.

The only difference we could attribute to this change in popularity was the introduction of the 123Go promotion.

We are doing a B2B on Silhouette next month and anticipate Cafe Al Bacio to be busy. We have the drinks package.