Bridge Sail Away Experience

[mjmagee]

Looking at Jazzbeau's dailies from the Summit I notice the reoccurring opportunity for a "Bridge Sail Away Experience". Fee applies. Has anyone done this? What is the fee and was it worth it? Marilyn

[dtagirl]

We were on the Constellation a few weeks ago and my husband did the bridge sailaway. It is $75.00 and he said it was terrific! He got to do it in St. Maartin, it was supposed to be Grenada, but with the cases of Noro, the captain put it on "hold" for a few days. You meet about 45 minutes before you leave and you are included in the departure briefing and the sailaway. My DH couldn't stop talking about it! A few days later you get a certificate and a photo of the group with the captain. They have 12 spots.

I think though, our captain was so personable, that also made it special!

 

Pat

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

We were on the Constellation a few weeks ago and my husband did the bridge sailaway. It is $75.00 and he said it was terrific! He got to do it in St. Maartin, it was supposed to be Grenada, but with the cases of Noro, the captain put it on "hold" for a few days. You meet about 45 minutes before you leave and you are included in the departure briefing and the sailaway. My DH couldn't stop talking about it! A few days later you get a certificate and a photo of the group with the captain. They have 12 spots.

I think though, our captain was so personable, that also made it special!

 

Pat

 

Do they offer this every cruise? Dad would love it and he and mom are celebrating 30th Anniversary ( a few months early) on our next cruise to the Med.

[Essiesmom]

Not the bridge experience, but on Millie earlier this month, B2B passengers were invited to sailaway on the helipad, with canapes and champagne...free...EM

[Logger1]

Do they offer this every cruise? Dad would love it and he and mom are celebrating 30th Anniversary ( a few months early) on our next cruise to the Med.

 

We will be doing our first cruise on Infinity thru Panama this Nov. Boy, would I like to do this. I figure the canal portion a definate no go, but would love to do a port departure. Anyone know if it will be avaiable?:rolleyes:)

[nps001]

More than likely, during your Panama Canal transit they will open the helipad for all guests.

 

However, it was a mad house during our cruise--lots of pushing and shoving. I suggest waiting an hour or two. The crowds will thin and you can get close to the railing without any problems.

 

Don't forget to go on the lower decks where you can almost touch the sides of the canals from the deck.

[Muushka]

My husband is beyond excited about doing this on our upcoming cruise.

 

Of these ports, which does anyone think would be best?

 

Philipsburg/St. Maarten

 

St.John's/Antigua

 

St. Lucia/Castries

 

Basseterre

 

St. Thomas/Charlotte Amalie

 

We were thinking St. Thomas, because of the tender, may be more interesting.

And St. Lucia's port looked interesting (never been there).

 

Thanks!

[Taxguy77]

Four of us toured Europe in the 50s, and took a Jap freighter to NY as the only way the car and us could get to the USA at the same time. During dinner one night, we saw our car being lowered into the hold, and the Capt. invited the four of us to come to the bridge. For about an hour we saw the lights of two or three countries by eye and the land plus all the ships in the area. Very interesting.

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

I assume this is not posted publicly? Where do I go to find out if they will do it/register a spot?

[If only]

We were on the Constellation a few weeks ago and my husband did the bridge sailaway. It is $75.00 and he said it was terrific! He got to do it in St. Maartin, it was supposed to be Grenada, but with the cases of Noro, the captain put it on "hold" for a few days. You meet about 45 minutes before you leave and you are included in the departure briefing and the sailaway. My DH couldn't stop talking about it! A few days later you get a certificate and a photo of the group with the captain. They have 12 spots.

I think though, our captain was so personable, that also made it special!

 

Pat

 

We did the same thing on the Jan 14th cruise, out of St Thomas it was the best money we have ever spent. Captain Nickos Frantzis was one of the best Captain's we have ever sailed with. I hope we can do this again on the Summit out of St Marten.

[If only]

My husband is beyond excited about doing this on our upcoming cruise.

 

Of these ports, which does anyone think would be best?

 

Philipsburg/St. Maarten

 

St.John's/Antigua

 

St. Lucia/Castries

 

Basseterre

 

St. Thomas/Charlotte Amalie

 

We were thinking St. Thomas, because of the tender, may be more interesting.

And St. Lucia's port looked interesting (never been there).

 

Thanks!

 

We did it out of St Thomas & it was great because we were the 1st ship in & had to back out around a Holland America ship that was behind it.

[If only]

I assume this is not posted publicly? Where do I go to find out if they will do it/register a spot?

 

It is on the Daily planner, I guess most people do not want to do it due to the $75. charge per person. When we did it we met in reflections had canapes & sparkling wine then were escorted to the bridge it was supposed to be an hour in total but from start to finish we were on the bridge 1 1/2 hrs. The Captain seemed in no rush to get rid of us. The only thing they advised us it is only still picture's can be taken & keep very quiet as everything is recorded. It was great.

[excitedofharpenden]

I assume this is not posted publicly? Where do I go to find out if they will do it/register a spot?

It is a formal program now, introduced recently so it should be advertised on the ship. More details here:

 

http://www.celebritycruises.co.uk/news/latest-news/celebrity_inside_access/

 

Phil

[Muushka]

We did it out of St Thomas & it was great because we were the 1st ship in & had to back out around a Holland America ship that was behind it.

 

Ooooh, fun! I think he may choose that port and hopefully have the same experience as you.:)

[hcat]

will they still offer the free experience on the bridge to Elite pax?

 

it was very interesting esp. on S class ships...

[donaldsc]

If you go on a small boat cruise (<100 passengers), you can spend the entire cruise on the bridge - for free.

 

DON

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

It is a formal program now, introduced recently so it should be advertised on the ship. More details here:

 

http://www.celebritycruises.co.uk/news/latest-news/celebrity_inside_access/

 

Phil

 

Thanks! I think that's gonna be part of dad's Anniversary present!

[ghstudio]

If you go on a small boat cruise (<100 passengers), you can spend the entire cruise on the bridge - for free.

 

DON

 

When I was on the Xpedition, it had an open bridge policy...visit any time you like. They also let me visit the engine room, not the control room, while we were underway...interesting and very loud.

 

They may have changed the policies by now...I was on the Xpedition about four months after they put it into service.

[Adammara]

will they still offer the free experience on the bridge to Elite pax?

 

We were invited onto the bridge on Eclipse in October but it was at sea, we were also invited to the heli-pad for the sailaway from Venice. It was really cold on the sailaway, they brought out blankets to keep us warm! Still a very memorable experience.

 

Richard

[excitedofharpenden]

will they still offer the free experience on the bridge to Elite pax?

 

We were invited onto the bridge on Eclipse in October but it was at sea, we were also invited to the heli-pad for the sailaway from Venice. It was really cold on the sailaway, they brought out blankets to keep us warm! Still a very memorable experience.

 

Richard

The program started in December.

 

I guess the answer is it's a bit early to tell. I remember seeing a post from someone who cruised in December who was told that theirs was the last Elite bridge tour on the ship. Just a case of seeing how it develops.

 

Phil

[If only]

The Bridge Experience for $75.00 is totally different than going to the Bridge, you are actually invited to the meeting that the Captain has with his crew & the Pilot before they leave the port. They bring out charts to their next port & go over every inch of their trip to the next port & the weather forecast is factored in. It was actually quite interesting, we thought it was well worth the money.

[Algebralovr]

if you are interested in this, you probably register at guest services as soon as you get on board the ship. That was how we registered for the behind the scenes tour. I was told we would be invited the evening before, when the ship was ready for it. I don't believe you get a choice of which port you are on the bridge for.

It was listed in the daily for a couple of days, I guess u til it was filled. The cost was $75 for sail away and $150 for the behind the scenes. I know that the behind the scenes was limited to 15passengers.

[If only]

if you are interested in this, you probably register at guest services as soon as you get on board the ship. That was how we registered for the behind the scenes tour. I was told we would be invited the evening before, when the ship was ready for it. I don't believe you get a choice of which port you are on the bridge for.

It was listed in the daily for a couple of days, I guess u til it was filled. The cost was $75 for sail away and $150 for the behind the scenes. I know that the behind the scenes was limited to 15passengers.

 

The bridge only allows 12 people, there were only 5 when we did it.

[Muushka]

will they still offer the free experience on the bridge to Elite pax?

 

We were invited onto the bridge on Eclipse in October but it was at sea, we were also invited to the heli-pad for the sailaway from Venice. It was really cold on the sailaway, they brought out blankets to keep us warm! Still a very memorable experience.

 

Richard

 

We did the sail-away at a Caribbean port on Equinox one time. It was wonderful. I hope we do that on Silhouette next week.

[Project_gal]

We will be doing our first cruise on Infinity thru Panama this Nov. Boy, would I like to do this. I figure the canal portion a definate no go, but would love to do a port departure. Anyone know if it will be avaiable?:rolleyes:)

 

The canal portion is not a "no go" but I have not known it to be offered as a tour for which you pay. We have twice been invited to the Bridge in the Panama Canal. The first time we were there for the whole of the first half of the Canal, could wander at will and even speak with the Pilot and Master. The second time it was much shorter and we were much more restricted in what we could do.

 

Sue