mouseRD

My understanding when cruises resume they all have to be 7 days or under initially.  We haven't had any notice of our 9 night cruise being cancelled so what is going on since when I looked up this cruise, it is still for sale as booked, a 9 night cruise!  We had been thinking it would be cancelled.  So now the decision about whether to cancel, make final payment (knowing that the cruise will likely not be what we are paying for), or take FCC when we already have cruise booked for 2022 (pre-Covid) so don't know now far out they will let us use it.  Also, prices seem to be way up from when we booked our cruise in Feb 2020 for Feb 2021.

We've only been on 6 cruises - all Royal.  Have a Celebrity cruise booked 2021 and we'll see what the cruising atmosphere is like at that time or whether we will postpone it; have another Royal cruise booked on Odyssey for 2022.  We, too, have looked closely at Oceania, Regent, and Viking - maybe one day soon.  We would also be interested in trying a river and/or barge cruise one day.

2 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

you could trip in your home

Oh my gosh!  I did that last week!  Fortunately, just banged up knee and tops of feet - ice helped quite a bit!  

As far as the cruising question, I keep vacillating back and forth.  I've read comments on both sides and I totally see where people are coming from on both sides.  We definitely plan to cruise/fly, etc. again.  I guess we will wait and see when November comes how we feel about cruising in February 2021 or if we want to push it back further.  

1 hour ago, anniedave said:

I was walking on some slippery coral, I stumbled… put my hand out to save myself and cut it on the coral’ it felt like he was disappointed there wasn’t more to the story... I almost wanted to embellish it to help him out ( I didn't ) …

😂Best belly laugh in a while!!!  Poor you, though!

2 hours ago, anniedave said:

A white party was on my ‘list’ so we were going

We've done a couple of those "must do's" - and left after 5 or 10 minutes!  Loved the humor in how you described your experience.😊

8 hours ago, anniedave said:

So next time you see a Brit not tipping please don't judge and think we are all miserly... we genuinely don't think about it. 

🤣  Too funny!

8 hours ago, anniedave said:

star sign cocktail

I hadn't read about that - another new drink to try!

8 hours ago, anniedave said:

one of the most difficult decisions is how to have your nails for holiday.

Exactly!  Love what you went with!  Your nail lady did a great job!

8 hours ago, anniedave said:

My favourite drink of all time is a Porn Star Martini … I have no idea how it got its name but it is very popular in the UK. Its a passion fruit martini that comes with a shot of prosecco... although I am never sure whether to drink the shot separately or pour into the drink.

I would love to try this!

Beautiful flowers from your family!  How thoughtful!

Maris, 

Just wanted to thank you for a wonderful, picturesque review.  Hoping to be able to cruise next year; will wait and see.  So appreciate seeing what you experienced.  

35 minutes ago, anniedave said:

The Adventure begins

 

We set off at Lunchtime to Heathrow. We had never flown from Heathrow before , preferring our local airport Stansted or when that wasn't possible Gatwick. We managed to get us and the cases in the car. 2 large suitcases, 2 carry-ons, an overnight bag for the hotel, a plastic wallet full of every piece of paperwork for the cruise , the kitchen sink … no wait I forgot to pack the kitchen sink. We found the hotel quite easily with the help of the sat- nav and went to check in. On checking in we discovered that the 'pods' were being repaired and out of action so got asked if we wanted to arrange for a shuttle bus to collect us the following morning or book a taxi. So originally we were going to use the pod which the hotel widely advertised … I was seeing it as an extra experience of the holiday but it would have involved a 5 minute walk from the hotel to the pod station,  taking the pod on a 5 minute journey to T5, disembarking, then from a machine purchasing a free ticket to use the internal rail system and taking a 10 minute journey to T3 disembarking - all this with 2 large cases and 2 carry ons for the cost of £12. When we asked about the price of a taxi it was £15 - the taxi would pick us up from the hotel drop us to the entrance of T3 . We were glad the pods were broken!. So after checking into the hotel you can imagine how excited I was …. after 22 months of saving, planning, waiting, our holiday was finally here. I wanted to go and look at the runway from the bar, have a large glass of something, talk about everything we had planned.... Dave who had come home from his night shift a few hours earlier and then driven to Heathrow.... was asleep! I contained my excitement by reading the latest  Cruise Critic posts whilst he slept. Then after a suitable amount of time ( well I thought it was ) I woke him so we could get changed for dinner. As part of the hotel and parking package we had dinner included, my understanding from looking at the website …. can you tell I love a website? was that we could either have something off the set menu or have so much towards the a la carte. With Dave with his fish allergy and me being kind enough not to eat fish when I'm with him  usually  means we are quite limited, but I've got used to it over the years and we always find a way round it. So I did eventually get my wish and we were sat in the hotel restaurant called the 'Runway' can you guess it over looks one of the runways! with a large glass of wine and started talking about our adventure. We were pleasantly surprised with the set menu - Neither of us could decide between the pate or the onion tart so we ordered one of each and then shared. This was followed by good old steak and chips and I cant remember dessert but I would guess I had something chocolatey and Dave had sorbet or ice cream. We then went back to the room and tried to get some sleep for our 4.30am start. The room was quite worn and old fashioned but very comfy and quiet and we thought a really good value deal for what we got.

I can feel the excitement you were feeling when I was reading that part of your post!  So wonderful!

58 minutes ago, anniedave said:

Ready to Go

 

Okay well everything was going smoothly and then in November there was a bit of a wobble. I had worked for the same company for 13 years working my way up. Unfortunately the higher up the ladder I got, the longer hours I was working and the more stress I was under, something had to give and sadly I had a bit of a melt down and ended up being off work sick. Actually thinking about it I think it may have happened sooner if I hadn't have had the cruise planning as an outlet for my stress. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who uses  cruise planning as a hobby and a way of taking my mind off other things?  After discussions with my husband I decided things weren't going to improve and my best option was to sadly quit my job. Once I had made the decision I felt like a massive weight had been lifted. By this time it was Christmas and less than a month to go to the cruise , so I decided to focus on the cruise, enjoy my holiday and then have a fresh start when I got back. It was definitely the right decision. I had a temp job for a few weeks when I got back from holiday and as I'm writing this I'm  just about to start a new job in a couple of weeks, which hopefully will be the start of a whole new career. Going away and all my new experiences whilst on holiday … and you will hear about all the 'brave' things I tried !!! definitely gave me a fresh perspective ..I know its a cliché but I definitely agree that 'life's too short to worry about the small stuff'. Okay I think you now have all the background so lets get to the airport.

Proud of you for doing what was good for you!  My sister always encourages me in this regard...and it all worked out in the end with more peace of mind for you.

Beautiful pictures!

We are booked on Celebrity Equinox next year 2021.

Celebrity Equinox only did a partial refit when they were in dry dock last year (had to go to Spain due to situation in Bahamas, so lost 2 weeks of time for refit due to travel across Atlantic and back).  Many of the cabins were not completely refitted - some reportedly were and others just received new bedding.  The new Suite Deck is minus a bar and jacuzzi that were in the original plans.

We were just on Allure in February 2020; some things looking a little worn/tired, but it was lovely and very clean and the staff is exceptional.  You will have a great time!

Thanks so much, Maris!

Thanks, Maris!  I’m going to look into that restaurant; any other suggestions for ABC cruise excursions welcome.  We’ll be on Equinox February 2021.  Our first cruise on Celebrity.

I'm enjoying reading this as well!  I also can't wait to see your pictures!

Which restaurant was the picture taken dining on the beach in Aruba?

Which cabin was "the creaker"?😄

We really loved Wonderland and would highly recommend.  We liked Hooked; a bit too much food for us, especially with the rocking of the ship that was taking place when we dined there.  

I don't see any you tube videos from October or November 2018; most are 2017 or early 2018.  Can you post a link?

"I agree completely, it does not matter the size of the dog it can still be a service/comfort dog. I am not saying I agree with people abusing this, but it seems people in the U.S. specifically, push things to the furthest possible to get what they want. I was on a flight once from FLL to DTW and about 26 people needed to have a wheelchair to board, but it was amazing how many in that 3 hour flight had no problem walking off the plane because they did not want to wait for the wheelchair on landing. I even mentioned it to the flight attendants and they said it was a joke, most do it to board first and the airline gets charged for that service. Which guess who ends up paying for that in the end?"

We were actually one of those wheelchair people! My husband had heart valve surgery out of state and when the MD released him to fly home, he recommended the wheelchair to transport us to and from the gate because it was difficult for him to walk longer distances at that time. We had no problems securing one when arriving at the Cleveland airport to fly home (one of the agents outside the airport helped us). When we deplaned, Charlotte airport was packed with Friday afternoon travelers and we were told we would have had to wait a very long time for a wheelchair. I remember there were 4 or 5 others sitting near us at the exit gate also waiting for transport. We were fortunate to secure a spot on one of those people movers; it would have been a nightmare to try to walk with my husband's weakened condition and wall to wall people at that time in the airport. He was so afraid of getting bumped by someone. We had paid extra for first class seats on this flight to have more room for my husband so he would be comfortable, so we would have been at the beginning of the boarding process anyway. So not everyone is doing this as a ploy to board first.

Thanks, cb. That’s the way Im leaning

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