Celestyal Crystal - 7 night 3 Continents - March 21/2020

[rool]

I just wanted to come back to say that I have had confirmation that the included Cairo/Pyramids excursion is still going ahead.

The one with the Nile cruise has been cancelled as it was felt that there wasn't enough time in the day for this to be done.

I'm perfectly happy with that.

[carolmic]

December 22, 2019

I have read that there are two queues for embarkation for Celestyal cruises, one for Suites and one for all other cabins. Does anyone know if a Junior Suite qualifies for the Suite line?

[rool]

34 minutes ago, carolmic said:

December 22, 2019

I have read that there are two queues for embarkation for Celestyal cruises, one for Suites and one for all other cabins. Does anyone know if a Junior Suite qualifies for the Suite line?

I'm not sure it does. I think I read somewhere it is only S, SB and GS that qualify.

[girlguide]

On 2/13/2020 at 6:40 AM, rool said:

I just wanted to come back to say that I have had confirmation that the included Cairo/Pyramids excursion is still going ahead.

The one with the Nile cruise has been cancelled as it was felt that there wasn't enough time in the day for this to be done.

I'm perfectly happy with that.

 

There is a couple on You-tube posting videos of their experience doing this cruise in December - search for EECC travels

So far they have posted stuff about Athens, boarding the ship, day at sea, ship tour & the first 3 ports of call. On one of the videos she talks about the other Egypt excursion with the Nile cruise - she said they needed 80 signed up to run the excursion & so far they only had 20. So I'm not surprised they have cancelled that one & only offer the included excursion. Check out the videos if you can, they had a great time on the cruise. We're really looking forward to the trip.

[helengp]

We were on this cruise same time as the couple making the videos....I have watched them and have spotted my husband sitting out on deck 5. They really captured the spirit of the cruise and the tours and it's been great to see their videos to remind us of what fun the trip was. If you are doing this trip you won't be disappointed. 

[carolmic]

On 2/16/2020 at 10:20 AM, rool said:

I'm not sure it does. I think I read somewhere it is only S, SB and GS that qualify.

Thanks so much for the information!

[rool]

23 hours ago, girlguide said:

 

There is a couple on You-tube posting videos of their experience doing this cruise in December - search for EECC travels

So far they have posted stuff about Athens, boarding the ship, day at sea, ship tour & the first 3 ports of call. On one of the videos she talks about the other Egypt excursion with the Nile cruise - she said they needed 80 signed up to run the excursion & so far they only had 20. So I'm not surprised they have cancelled that one & only offer the included excursion. Check out the videos if you can, they had a great time on the cruise. We're really looking forward to the trip.

Coincidentally I was watching them Friday night. It's very different to the kind of ships we are used to but, as they say in the video, it is the itinerary that we are going for rather than the ship itself. The ship looks fine but the bars reminded me a little of those on a ferry across the Irish sea and rather brightly lit. It may have been like that just when they were filming.

We are not going to watch the Egypt one as want to keep some things back for when we travel 😁

[rool]

42 minutes ago, helengp said:

We were on this cruise same time as the couple making the videos....I have watched them and have spotted my husband sitting out on deck 5. They really captured the spirit of the cruise and the tours and it's been great to see their videos to remind us of what fun the trip was. If you are doing this trip you won't be disappointed. 

I'm going to have to look again now 😁

Did you travel as a couple and did you find socialising onboard easy enough as I noted they said the passengers were 80% greek?

[helengp]

Hello Rool. Yes, we travelled as a couple and found it easy to chat to other couples particularly when on the tours (2.5 hours on a coach you can't help but get to know some of your fellow passengers 😁). That said, we enjoy our own company so preferred to spend the evenings in the quieter areas rather than throw ourselves in to communal activities. We loved sitting out at the bar on deck 5 watching the world go by.....and as we were there during the UK general election, we quite often found ourselves putting the world to rights with likeminded travellers. We chose to eat in the buffet, but did venture in to the more formal dining rooms once where as a couple we were seated on a larger table with complete strangers......but we soon all got chatting. That said, we preferred the buffet for choice and speed.....we are not big on long dining experiences! So, really you can make what you want of it.....you'll enjoy it whatever! And there were multi nationalities.....the predominance of Greek travellers was not an issue....many of them speak English anyway and they were all very friendly.

Edited February 18, 2020 by helengp

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

We were on the March 7th sailing of the 3 Continents itinerary. It was when the Coronavirus situation was just ramping up. The Israel stop was cancelled but the others did take place as scheduled. When we got off in Alexandria the plan was to do the Cairo tour and rejoin the ship at Port Said that evening but with Israel cancelled the next day, we returned to the ship in Alexandria and the ship stayed there the next day in lieu of Ashdod. Everyone received a $100 credit on their folio which you could use for purchases in the gift shop or towards other excursions. For instance, 3 excursions were offered for Alexandria during our unexpected day there.

 

Unfortunately, subsequent sailings were cancelled because coronavirus was getting out of hand in Europe so most of their future passengers were barred from going to Greece.

 

Overall, the ship is small compared to most of the cruising experiences you might have had but I loved it. The crew was super friendly and helpful and it exceeded expectations.

[saltshell]

I'm also booked for March 21, but am going for 14 days. Pray coronavirus is history by then. Hope to meet you rool.

[travelingman]

On 9/8/2019 at 3:45 PM, girlguide said:

Welcome the Cruise Critic

 

Have you been on Celestyal's website? The itineraries are available with all the port times listed. We booked the cruises ourselves on-line. I can access both my reservations using my last name & booking number. I noticed on my reservation page they have added a pre-departure info booklet you can download as a pdf.

 

In Cyprus we will probably DIY with the hop on hop off bus. For Israel possibly a private tour to Jerusalem & Bethlehem.

 

Not a lot of current info available here on the ports of call board & this is a new itinerary for Celestyal. Hopefully there will be more info in December when the first cruisers return. No guarantee that any CC members will be on board. When we did the Cuba cruise with Celestyal the passenger mix was more European with some Canadian & American passengers. I don't remember getting much of a response on CC for a roll call for the Cuba cruise.

 

I am doing this cruise in November and have been looking for alternate excursions to see if I can save money on the tour cost.

For Israel I came across www.GuidedToursIsrael.com.

They will do a truly private tour or a small group tour for a minimum of 6 people to Jerusalem and Bethleham.  they also offer other tours.

For anyone interested in the cruise, the ship and ports take a look on you tube and search for EECC Travel.  She and her husband have a video for their time in Athens, Ship Boarding, Ship Tour, Their Cabin, All excursions and other things.  Lots of info.  There are a lot of other crusie related videos also.

 

Stan

 

[travelingman]

On 2/16/2020 at 9:47 AM, carolmic said:

December 22, 2019

I have read that there are two queues for embarkation for Celestyal cruises, one for Suites and one for all other cabins. Does anyone know if a Junior Suite qualifies for the Suite line?

 

I agree with what the two other posters said - only S, SB & GS but you have to get to the queue first.  Meaning, based on a review I read, you have to go through the same line as everyone before you can get into the area where the separate queue is.

Also read that this is one time when it may pay to get to the boarding a little later in hopes the queue to get into the check in area is smaller.  One reviewer in one of the suites said it took them 2 hours in total, most of the time spent in the first queue.

 

Stan