toodietat

Our Family of 6 have just returned from a 2 week cruise on-board a Celebrity ship. We just tipped our "favorite over & beyond personnel"" with Aussie dollars on the last night/morning. They really appreciated it!!! No worries, the ship can exchange most currencies for them.

uktog I agree with your reply. In overall terms Celebrity, in fact, may well have resold the cabin, so in that case, would have received twice (or a fair percentage) of the new passengers fare. OK, the original passenger hasn't lost out after factoring in his insurance, however Celebrity lacked foresight in offering him. say, 1/2 deposit on any future booking, in order to hopefully retain his business - after all, isn't this logic in running a successful business. I myself was in this position a few years ago & was offered a small discount if I sailed with Princess within a year. I couldn't take up their offer due to further health problems, but I was impressed with their offer-both parties satisfied!!!

Our family of 6 (3 generations) have just completed a 2 week cruise on Century (concierge) & enjoyed our OJ daily in the Buffet - 1 only chocolate biscuit during the 2 week cruise & definitely no flowers, in fact, my request for a vase to hold my orchids I had bought onshore, went unfulfilled. I ended up substituting drink beakers from the Buffet. OK, we had a fabulous time, food, service, Fun Factory, staff etc were absolutely great, however if these paid "extras" are advertised, most customers expect them - no deal breaker - either omit them from the brochures for all Celebrity cruise ships or deliver!!

Interesting you should mention drones. Our Cruise Director had said he had not been allowed to operate his drone in the Asian ports we had just visited, but then when we docked at KL, there was a drone hovering over the Century, I assumed it was hi,s as he had stated that this was his intention - to capture the ship. another gadget to weigh up!!!

Just returned from a cruise on Celebrity Century, we were aft & there definitely was a camera mounted at the rear of the ship. I feel confident the camera was focused on the side of the ship & not on our balconies. In other words a safety aid.

Experimented with a clip on lanyard by cutting it to my wrist size & made it up as a bracelet, just clip off the sea-pass end, hand over, re-clip - worked great for me - good for women!!! The lanyard that I had was in 2 parts, long part for around neck (which I cut to the size of my wrist, sewed it together, then the second small part was used for the card, clicked onto the long part. I do not like having it around my neck (too hot) so I went for the bracelet style. No diving into pockets, handbags etc.

Thank you for your responses. I will look further into this matter. Yes, we will be meeting our rellies anyway (we live in the same state & visit regularly & have dined at a lot of the local restaurants), we thought a different venue for them would be welcome. We introduced them to cruising in February on Celebrity Century & they are hooked so would like them to have this dining experience.

Has anybody had any experience with the above? We sail into a Port where our Daughter & Son-in-Law live & as we have an overnight stay, we would like to invite them aboard to join us at a speciality restaurant. Is this possible?

Our family of 6 (3 generations) have not long returned from a 14 day cruise ex Singapore on Century to Myanmar, Phuket,Langkawi, Penang & KL. As we have all travelled extensively in Asian countries. we were very much aware of all the different aspects within these countries, which necessitates detailed research of the Ports on your itinerary. As long as you are very much aware of the heat (high humidity) when planning and regardless of the little "inconveniences" that may occur, your visit will be enlightening. Attitude (the need to experience cultures & view new sights) will be the reward. Century was a great little ship, great food, wonderful service with guests of very mixed ages & nationalities resonating into a happy ambience. Our only hic up was in Burma & this involved their Custom/Immigration Dept., largely because of inexperience in processing such a large group of tourists. Was very impressed with Celebrity's welcoming iced water/lemonade & ice cold washers on return from excursions.

Had a week in Singapore staying at the Oriental Mandarin & travelled in taxis daily - they are really cheap (in comparison to Australia that is) - always plenty available & drivers pleasant. I agree, Gardens by the Sea is a great destination (advise to go late in the afternoon - cooler), the Domes are magnificent (fee) if you are a gardener. The Zoo is another great site - I was originally concerned about the heat as we are elderly, but on arrival, found that the paths where mostly shaded by trees, with plenty of seats to "rest on". Singapore is a beautiful city, expensive though. We were first there 24 years ago, loved it then & again in 2013.

After doing some research (we are going there in February-Celebrity Century) it appears that there are 2 points for tender boats to dock at: 1 on the north & 1 on the south end of Patong Beach. From my understanding these dockings are for the smaller ships. Hope this helps.

As long as 6 years ago Princess Line had the "staggered embarkment times" ex Sydney & also MSC ex Venice 4 years ago. It is, in my opinion, a reasonable request, however I am quite positive that the various Cruise lines do not expect all of their passengers will be able to comply. In other words, if you can oblige, do so, if not, arrive as per your pre-determined schedule. then just enjoy, enjoy!!!

Please add to 2016 Jan 10th Legend of the Seas 8 days Brisbane/Cairns. Merry Xmas & Happy New Year to all our fellow cruisers!!!

As an added interest, I have read somewhere that there is a movement within Venice residents to have the current Port moved to somewhere else, as the displacement of water by so many Cruise Liners using this popular Port, is causing damage to the surrounding areas. This port is almost in the centre of Venice. Having been there & witnessed extensive flooding caused by tidal factors alone, I have no doubt they have every reason to be concerned. The city is highly dependant on the Cruise industry. Magic City!!!

Just an added point of interest - the bridge you can see in the Halong Bay photo was constructed & paid for by the Australian Govt. as a gift to the Vietnamese people after the war. Our guide told us this when we did an extensive 23 day tour of Vietnam. We really enjoyed the people & sights then, so have been back again. An overnight/s junk cruise is a must!!!

$1,000 USD OBC from RCI, free grats & 1 x 2pax Speciality Dinner from TA for our upcoming cruise in Jan 2016 (Australia).

Thanks for that information - we sail on her in February ex Singapore - 2 week Asian cruise, so good to know they are still attending to maintenance.

We sailed on the Divina some 3 years ago (when she was first launched) out of Venice, what a beautiful ship - so classy - didn't enjoy the food though!!!

Our USA TA emailed us all the documentation so we just printed out our luggage tags & attached them to our suitcases after we flew into Venice. Hope this helps.

Jveevers, unfortunately I thought that the "befriend" section in our profiles would allow us to contact via our email address, with Cruise Critic the go- between (as TripAdvisor allows). However this appears to be incorrect. In any case, hope you achieve a great deal. Happy cruising!!!

The 2 cruises I have booked are for 2016 (Jan & April) so I am hoping our AUD will be of better value by then. On the Jan 7d Bris/Cairns I scored $1,000usd obc, grats & 1 Speciality Dinner for 2. They charge $50 usd for cancellation fees within the prescribed time limit & ask for a $500usd deposit I subscribe to receive the US TA"s specials so if I can "befriend" you, I will certainly pass this onto you. Yes that's what I meant "if no promotions in the future"-be happy with the CCs discount!

Thank you for that advice jveevers, I too, have booked 2 cruises through a US outlet & have been able to snag healthy promotions. I seriously believe our Aussie TAs cannot offer the extra incentives to book through them. I had joined the Captains Club some time ago & was wanting to take advantage of this discount - so now I know!!! No incentives - go for the $500!!!

I am in Australia & my bookings have disappeared too! I haven't been able to look at the shore excursions etc. This is now the 3rd week!!

We are booked on Celebrity Century in Feb 2015 & the port is Ao Makham Deep Sea Port five miles south of Phuket Town. Hope this helps!

Unless it gets poured away.:eek:

There are bottle shops in every port, you could just wait til the land portion of the trip starts and buy something then.:D

Yes, there may be bottle shops in every port & city but that doesn't necessarily mean they stock your particular favoured beverage. We love our Aussie Bundaberg Rum & having travelled extensively, we have had very little success in finding our favourite tipple.

Please add Celebrity Century 8.2.2015 2 weeks Singapore return

Celebrity Solstice 1.4.2016 8 days South Pacific

Thank You