Embarkation. What do you do?

[morbihan]

We were planning on arriving about midday at the port. Once on board, having lunch.

 

I have been reading different threads. Never even thought about waiting for the cabin to be cleaned! No problem. Sit in bar.

 

Never thought about suitcase size either. My husband doesn't fly. Still, if it is too big for the scanner, the customs can check it, can't they? It isn't enormous. Bought it lasr year as we bought a painting . .too big for the other case!

 

As regards to lunch, will a couple of thousand people be queuing also? Where can we eat other than Bistro on Five?

 

Might it be better to eat before we board?

 

All these last minute questions. Things that had never entered my head!

[KirkNC]

I would check your luggage, just put on your room tag and give it to the porters at the dock. We will also go to our room and drop off our carry-on if we can. As to lunch, it is certainly a bit zoo like at the buffet. We go to Bistro and it is quite quiet and enjoyable.

[rubydoobydoo]

Our cabin was ready for 1.30 last week. We only had hand luggage we wanted to keep with us

 

We went for lunch In the buffet and had no trouble getting a table.

 

I see other people say the buffet is crowded and slow but I have alwAys found it ok it just takes a little patience that's all

[morbihan]

Thank you both. I think I will stick to the original plan then.

[lovestx]

Morbihan,

 

We'll be on the same cruise and are planning on arriving at the arrivals hall around 11 a.m. When we got there in June 2012 around noontime, it was a total zoo checking in. Hoping to avoid a bit of that this year which is easy to do as we are spending the previous night at a Civitivecchia hotel.

 

We plan to check all our bags except for our carryons. Will have lunch at Bistro on Five as it's very relaxing and I love being served. But I understand that on the Silhouette, the Porch is another option for a $5 (?) fee per person. We will just check out the ship between lunch and when our rooms are ready.

[CRUZBUDS]

On our Eclipse cruise last month we both just had back packs and we checked everything else.

 

We previously always each had a rolling carry-on size bag, it was really nice to be rid of those rolling anchors while waiting for the cabin to be ready. It made dinning in the buffet so much easier.

 

We just made sure everything important/valuable was in the back packs.

 

Side note: on Carnival, Platinum member's (same as Elite) rooms are ready upon boarding and the checked bags arrive very shortly after that. Our last Carnival cruise we had all our luggage by 12:15 -- it was sweet. I wish Celebrity would do that... maybe start at Elite +. It was a great perk at little cost to the line. :)

Edited May 15, 2014 by CRUZBUDS

[Chazteach1]

Morbihan,

 

We'll be on the same cruise and are planning on arriving at the arrivals hall around 11 a.m. When we got there in June 2012 around noontime, it was a total zoo checking in. Hoping to avoid a bit of that this year which is easy to do as we are spending the previous night at a Civitivecchia hotel.

 

We plan to check all our bags except for our carryons. Will have lunch at Bistro on Five as it's very relaxing and I love being served. But I understand that on the Silhouette, the Porch is another option for a $5 (?) fee per person. We will just check out the ship between lunch and when our rooms are ready.

 

Any chance the hotel is San Giorgio? We booked that for late June cruise and wondered if anyone has stayed there?

[hcat]

Any chance the hotel is San Giorgio? We booked that for late June cruise and wondered if anyone has stayed there?

 

Great choice! We stayed there two nights pre-cruise and really enjoyed it..a very lovely place. We enjoyed walking all over the town, eating at the hotel night one with another couple from our roll call. . There is also a tram tour we wanted to take but it was not running. Pre cruise we organized a get together at a local eatery... great food and fun and the owner treated us all like family. On your roll call you can find out who is staying nearby.

 

MAKE YOUR TAXI RES INTO THE PORT EARLY AND CONFIRM OFTEN....taxi for us was best way right to the per area.

 

Unless things have changed in last few yrs, there was no real waiting area...just give in the bags and board so not a place we,d want to go to too eary....

 

Post cruise our limo driver was right there for us...spent that night in the airport town..Fuminico.....very authentic

 

Have a great cruise!

[hcat]

Erased dup post

Edited May 15, 2014 by hcat

[TeaBag]

We were planning on arriving about midday at the port. Once on board, having lunch.

 

I have been reading different threads. Never even thought about waiting for the cabin to be cleaned! No problem. Sit in bar.

 

Never thought about suitcase size either. My husband doesn't fly. Still, if it is too big for the scanner, the customs can check it, can't they? It isn't enormous. Bought it lasr year as we bought a painting . .too big for the other case!

 

As regards to lunch, will a couple of thousand people be queuing also? Where can we eat other than Bistro on Five?

 

Might it be better to eat before we board?

 

All these last minute questions. Things that had never entered my head!

Mast Grill (great hamburgers and fries, also hot dogs) and Aqua Spa cafe (deck 12 forward) will also be open at 11:30. There is no fee for these.

[billyelliot]

We were on Eclipse last week. They staggered boarding in Southampton. We were on the ship by 11.15 our cabin was ready by 1.30 luggage was also there. The buffet was ok no probs finding a seat

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chazteach1]

Great choice! We stayed there two nights pre-cruise and really enjoyed it..a very lovely place. We enjoyed walking all over the town, eating at the hotel night one with another couple from our roll call. . There is also a tram tour we wanted to take but it was not running. Pre cruise we organized a get together at a local eatery... great food and fun and the owner treated us all like family. On your roll call you can find out who is staying nearby.

 

 

 

MAKE YOUR TAXI RES INTO THE PORT EARLY AND CONFIRM OFTEN....taxi for us was best way right to the per area.

 

 

 

Unless things have changed in last few yrs, there was no real waiting area...just give in the bags and board so not a place we,d want to go to too eary....

 

 

 

Post cruise our limo driver was right there for us...spent that night in the airport town..Fuminico.....very authentic

 

 

 

Have a great cruise!

 

 

Shuttle from hotel picking us up at airport, 1 night, meandering in Civ. Then to pier via hotel transport. Glad to hear its a nice place!!

 

Thanks for the info!

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[ronay2006]

First time on Celebrity (Eclipse next week) & wondering how you know when your cabin is ready?

 

R

[WestLakeGirl]

they make announcements over the ship public address system

[Christine Frances]

We board as early as possible (we are paying for that first day so might as well get the most out of it lol) and head right to the oceanview/sunset bar and get a great table outside. We have usually have had our first drink and had lunch before the buffet fills up at noon:D Then we have another adult beverage while we wait for our room to be ready! Very relaxing!

[ronay2006]

Thank you WestLakeGirl.

Only been on 4 P&O before so hopefully we will like Celebrity.

Eclipse seems an amazing ship.

 

R

[lovestx]

Great choice! We stayed there two nights pre-cruise and really enjoyed it..a very lovely place. We enjoyed walking all over the town, eating at the hotel night one with another couple from our roll call. . There is also a tram tour we wanted to take but it was not running. Pre cruise we organized a get together at a local eatery... great food and fun and the owner treated us all like family. On your roll call you can find out who is staying nearby.

 

MAKE YOUR TAXI RES INTO THE PORT EARLY AND CONFIRM OFTEN....taxi for us was best way right to the per area.

 

Unless things have changed in last few yrs, there was no real waiting area...just give in the bags and board so not a place we,d want to go to too eary....

 

Post cruise our limo driver was right there for us...spent that night in the airport town..Fuminico.....very authentic

 

Have a great cruise!

 

We are staying at the Hotel Miramare which also gets decent reviews.

 

Do you happen to remember the name of the restaurant you ate in? We're arriving by train around 6 p.m. so just plan to wander the town for a bit of exercise, have dinner and get to bed.

 

I just assumed we could ask the hotel to call us a taxi on the morning of embarkation. Are you saying that taxis are hard to find then (which would make sense) and that I should reserve on in advance?