Opening Schedule

[cluso]

Thank y'all!

Booked our first SV for Jan 2024.  Hoping I picked a good one with a slightly larger balcony.  #7364 on the Equinox.  We like to be down closer to the water, but not right above public areas.

[mahdnc]

I found the accompanying Fleet Guide, updated for the upcoming 2024/25 season interesting:

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/CEL_2024_2025_Fleet_Guide_Flyer.pdf

 

[LuAnn]

4 hours ago, mahdnc said:

I found the accompanying Fleet Guide, updated for the upcoming 2024/25 season interesting:

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/CEL_2024_2025_Fleet_Guide_Flyer.pdf

 

Do you know what the blue (R) means? 

[mahdnc]

2 minutes ago, LuAnn said:

Do you know what the blue (R) means? 

 

Blue R = Revolutionized

Red letters mean new ship to the region

 

If you click on the link to see the entire flyer, you will find the key for the table.

Edited November 18, 2022 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

On another note, Celebrity is not offering any cruises that happen to be in the path of the total solar eclipse on Apr 8 2024.  On that day, Holland America and Princess will have ships in Mazatlan, Mexico.  Assuming that it stays clear, the passengers will be treated to quite the spectacle.  If you are not going to be on a ship, be sure to block out time for it to see on land.  The narrow path of totality will cross the USA cities of Dallas, San Antonio, Paducah KY, Indianapolis, Dayton, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Rochester.

 

 

My wife and I took our first cruise on Carnival's Jubilee which happen to be at the right place (Mazatlan) at the right time (Jul 11 1991) to see the longest total solar eclipse of the century (we would have gone even if it wasn't the longest).  Unforgettable sight. 

 

Aug 21 2017 Total Solar Eclipse, Paducah KY

 

 

Jul 11 1991 Total Solar Eclipse, Carnival Jubilee, off the coast of Mazatlan

Edited November 18, 2022 by mahdnc

[gerelmx]

19 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

If it's not in the chart there is no 1 cat upgrade.

 

 

Cruises from Southampton P1 and P2 have the same price, so no cat upgrade

Edited November 18, 2022 by gerelmx

[shipfriend_max]

9 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

Blue R = Revolutionized

Red letters mean new ship to the region

 

If you click on the link to see the entire flyer, you will find the key for the table.

Given that red ships are marked as “new ships” for the region, it is not 100% true. Celebrity Summit used to sail Alaska years ago until 2007. However, first Alaska season after the got “revolutionized”.

[TMLAalum]

Since the 2023 Iceland/Greenland on the Summit is the itinerary we hope to book for 2024, from the chart is appears that the Eclipse replaces the Summit for NE/Canada? Would being a larger vessel affect the routing? We are especially interested in the Greenland and Canadian Maritimes ports that the Summit visits!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, TMLAalum said:

Since the 2023 Iceland/Greenland on the Summit is the itinerary we hope to book for 2024, from the chart is appears that the Eclipse replaces the Summit for NE/Canada? Would being a larger vessel affect the routing? We are especially interested in the Greenland and Canadian Maritimes ports that the Summit visits!

We were on the Voyager Arctic TA this September which a bit larger than the S-class ship so it shouldn’t  affect the ports 

The only port that was canceled was Nuuk in Greenland , I believe that was because of the ice situation 

 

[Muushka]

16 hours ago, mahdnc said:

On another note, Celebrity is not offering any cruises that happen to be in the path of the total solar eclipse on Apr 8 2024.  On that day, Holland America and Princess will have ships in Mazatlan, Mexico.  Assuming that it stays clear, the passengers will be treated to quite the spectacle.  If you are not going to be on a ship, be sure to block out time for it to see on land.  The narrow path of totality will cross the USA cities of Dallas, San Antonio, Paducah KY, Indianapolis, Dayton, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Rochester.

 

 

My wife and I took our first cruise on Carnival's Jubilee which happen to be at the right place (Mazatlan) at the right time (Jul 11 1991) to see the longest total solar eclipse of the century (we would have gone even if it wasn't the longest).  Unforgettable sight. 

 

Aug 21 2017 Total Solar Eclipse, Paducah KY

 

 

Jul 11 1991 Total Solar Eclipse, Carnival Jubilee, off the coast of Mazatlan

Umbraphiles unite!  I give you the "Post of the month" award!

 

We traveled to SC to see the Great American Solar Eclipse in 2017 and planned to see the one coming in 2024.  We even have family in Rochester to share the experience with.  Imagine our disappointment realizing that the cruise we booked on X (Caribbean) will take place during the eclipse. 

 

But the way we look at it, we saw it once and it was more than amazing.  We are grateful for that!

[mahdnc]

20 minutes ago, Muushka said:

Umbraphiles unite!  I give you the "Post of the month" award!

 

We traveled to SC to see the Great American Solar Eclipse in 2017 and planned to see the one coming in 2024.  We even have family in Rochester to share the experience with.  Imagine our disappointment realizing that the cruise we booked on X (Caribbean) will take place during the eclipse. 

 

But the way we look at it, we saw it once and it was more than amazing.  We are grateful for that!

 

Thank you and, yes, at least you got to see one.  I had a near miss as we just booked a Transcanal cruise on Summit, but the embarkation date is Apr 20.  Whew.  We plan on going to Paducah, KY where my parents live, to see it although our actual viewing spot will be closer to the centerline.

 

Paducah also was in the path of totality for the 2017 solar eclipse.  If you look at the paths for 2017 and 2024, they form an "X" (for Celebrity?) and the intersection of the X is at Paducah and nearby Carbondale, IL.  A remarkable coincidence.

 

Evident on the map is the size of the umbra on the earth's surface.  2024's duration of totality will be about twice as long as 2017 (4 minutes vs 2)

 

 

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by mahdnc

[MamaFej]

We are booked on the total eclipse cruise on Princess. However, there will also be an eclipse on 12 August*  2026 during which totality will be visible from parts of Greenland, Iceland, and Spain. 

 

Maybe Celebrity will have a cruise that will catch part of this.

 

Time to start planning. 

 

*Happy 121st birthday, Grandma!

 

 

 

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

19 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Thank you and, yes, at least you got to see one.  I had a near miss as we just booked a Transcanal cruise on Summit, but the embarkation date is Apr 20.  Whew.  We plan on going to Paducah, KY where my parents live, to see it although our actual viewing spot will be closer to the centerline.

 

Paducah also was in the path of totality for the 2017 solar eclipse.  If you look at the paths for 2017 and 2024, they form an "X" (for Celebrity?) and the intersection of the X is at Paducah and nearby Carbondale, IL.  A remarkable coincidence.

 

Evident on the map is the size of the umbra on the earth's surface.  2024's duration of totality will be about twice as long as 2017 (4 minutes vs 2)

 

 

 

We will see it from our backyard on Lake Ontario 

but with my luck it will be raining out 

[mahdnc]

13 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

We are booked on the total eclipse cruise on Princess. However, there will also be an eclipse on 12 August*  2026 during which totality will be visible from parts of Greenland, Iceland, and Spain. 

 

Maybe Celebrity will have a cruise that will catch part of this.

 

Time to start planning. 

 

*Happy 121st birthday, Grandma!

 

 

 

 

 

Nice! Mazatlan will be a great place from which to view the eclipse. 
 

When Jubilee called on Mazatlan on Jul 11 1991, passenger representatives during the cruise were able to persuade Captain Gallo to deviate from the ship’s published docking schedule so that we could watch the eclipse from sea on a mobile platform that could seek out a sunny spot and evade cloud cover.  To make every passenger happy, he actually docked at Mazatlan twice. Once in the morning and a second time later in the afternoon!

[mahdnc]

23 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

We will see it from our backyard on Lake Ontario 

but with my luck it will be raining out 

Yes, cloud cover will be your enemy. Make sure your car’s gas tank is full. 

[MamaFej]

6 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Nice! Mazatlan will be a great place from which to view the eclipse. 
 

When Jubilee called on Mazatlan on Jul 11 1991, passenger representatives during the cruise were able to persuade Captain Gallo to deviate from the ship’s published docking schedule so that we could watch the eclipse from sea on a mobile platform that could seek out a sunny spot and evade cloud cover.  To make every passenger happy, he actually docked at Mazatlan twice. Once in the morning and a second time later in the afternoon!

Thanks, David.

 

One passenger has been doing some significant persuading of the ship Captain and Princess higher-ups to get us out to sea that day. It is looking very promising so far. 

 

Edited to ask if I may please copy this quoted post and add it to our Roll Call discussion, please?

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by MamaFej
Add question

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, MamaFej said:

Thanks, David.

 

One passenger has been doing some significant persuading of the ship Captain and Princess higher-ups to get us out to sea that day. It is looking very promising so far. 

 

Edited to ask if I may please copy this quoted post and add it to our Roll Call discussion, please?

 

 

 

Yes, of course, you can quote me on anything I have posted and anything afterward.

 

Here are some details of our Jubilee sailing:

 

Originally Jubilee was scheduled to dock at Mazatlan on Jul 11 from around 8 am to 5 pm or something like that.  The cruise started at Los Angeles on Jul 7.  We would spend two days at sea before we docked at Puerto Vallarta, and then the following day we would arrive at Mazatlan.  This cruise was not a custom scheduled cruise, but rather part of Jubilee's weekly Mexican Riviera sailing. 

 

Two days before we docked at Mazatlan, the various tour leaders for the groups that bought up cabins on Jubilee held a private meeting with Captain Giovanni Gallo and told him that we need to take advantage of Jubilee's mobility and be out to sea to watch the total solar eclipse which was to occur at around noon.  Being out to sea would increase our chances of evading cloud cover and it is a compelling argument.  He agreed.  All the passengers that evening received a notice in their cabins announcing an itinerary change.  The notice said that the ship would dock at Mazatlan in the afternoon after watching the total solar eclipse at sea.  Make sense.

 

As well intentioned as the change was, this upset a large number of passengers who were intending to be on land at Mazatlan to watch the eclipse.  These people were planning to photograph the eclipse using telescopes or telephoto lenses.  Because of the magnification involved and the longer exposures needed to record the detail of the sun's outer corona, the movement of the ship on the ocean would make getting sharp photographs impossible. 

 

So another meeting with the Captain was held the following day.  During the meeting, I am sure he was thinking about the adage, "you can't make everyone happy". From that meeting, all the passengers that evening received a superseding notice announcing that the ship would now dock at Mazatlan at 8 am (or something like that) to let the passengers who wanted to view the eclipse on land to get off the ship.  Jubilee would then leave Mazatlan at round 10 am (or something like that) and head out to sea to watch the total solar eclipse with passengers that wanted to stay on board (that included us).  Jubilee would then come back to Mazatlan at around 2:00 pm (or something like that) and dock for a few hours to pick up the land passengers and allow us some time to see Mazatlan.  Twice the docking costs for no extra charge to us passengers.  Nice.

 

And that is exactly what Jubilee did.  The weather at Mazatlan was nasty that morning--overcast and stormy.  I even saw two waterspouts before we pulled into port (I had gotten up real early to stake out our viewing spot on deck).  When we left Mazatlan to watch the eclipse at sea there was heavy cloud cover.  Using weather data that the ship had, Captain Gallo was able to maneuver Jubilee to a spot where there was a sizeable hole in the clouds just in time when the eclipse started.  Whew.  I still remember the gasps, roar, and cry from the passengers on deck the moment that last bit of the sun was covered by the moon.  It was amazing. 

 

We had nearly 7 minutes of totality.  Because we were out to sea with full view of the horizon, you could see the so called 360 degree sunset.  There were two bright neon pink spots/areas of light around the darkened moon's circle--those were solar prominences that are only visible to the naked eye during an eclipse.   A couple planets were visible.  When the total eclipse portion was finished, Captain Gallo started up the engines to head back to Mazatlan.  A pod of dolphins joined us and swam along the ship's bow wave--each one of them leaping out of the water as if to celebrate the event.  It was a very cool sight.

 

When Jubilee went back to Mazatlan to dock, word spread that many (or all?) of the land passengers got clouded out which, if true, would be very disappointing.  

 

I know that many people on this Celebrity board poke fun at Carnival but that cruise is a special memory for my wife and me.  It was our first cruise and it made me realize that I enjoyed cruising.  So I have Carnival to thank for that.  And even though I did not have the experience to appreciate it at the time, it is amazing to me in retrospect that the ship changed its docking schedule (twice!) at the request of passengers.  I have Carnival and Captain Gallo to thank for that.

 

Some other links to that special cruise:

https://ne-np.facebook.com/DennisMammana/posts/july-11-30-years-since-the-big-oneim-sure-that-in-everyones-life-theres-a-date-t/4335244179830291/

 

https://www.eclipse-chasers.com/article/history/tseByShip.shtml

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by mahdnc

[cluso]

1 hour ago, mahdnc said:

Yes, cloud cover will be your enemy. Make sure your car’s gas tank is full. 

 

That's what happened to us in 2017.  Our summer mountain home in Highlands, NC (4118 ft) was right under the path.  Alas, CLOUD COVER 🙄  

[mahdnc]

10 minutes ago, cluso said:

 

That's what happened to us in 2017.  Our summer mountain home in Highlands, NC (4118 ft) was right under the path.  Alas, CLOUD COVER 🙄  

same fate as my in-laws who live in Asheville although I don’t think Asheville was directly in the path 

[LuAnn]

21 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

Blue R = Revolutionized

Red letters mean new ship to the region

 

If you click on the link to see the entire flyer, you will find the key for the table.

Thanks!! I hadn't made it that far with "clicks"!! 😉

[villauk]

On 11/19/2022 at 12:10 PM, TMLAalum said:

Since the 2023 Iceland/Greenland on the Summit is the itinerary we hope to book for 2024, from the chart is appears that the Eclipse replaces the Summit for NE/Canada? Would being a larger vessel affect the routing? We are especially interested in the Greenland and Canadian Maritimes ports that the Summit visits!

That’s the one I’m waiting for too. What is the release date? It does appear that Eclipse is replacing Summit - shame as Summit is the only ship we haven’t sailed on in the current fleet, bar Edge class which isn’t on our radar due to the IVs, and we love that class.

[TMLAalum]

1 hour ago, villauk said:

That’s the one I’m waiting for too. What is the release date? It does appear that Eclipse is replacing Summit - shame as Summit is the only ship we haven’t sailed on in the current fleet, bar Edge class which isn’t on our radar due to the IVs, and we love that class.

I plan on looking starting 12/4/2022 when the Europe itineraries are expected to be published as soon as the 5th. On the Celebrity website go to Europe>Iceland. The 2023 Reykjavik to Boston shows up there so hopefully the 2024 Eclipse sailing will be published there rather than under Canada/New England later in the month.

[villauk]

3 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

I plan on looking starting 12/4/2022 when the Europe itineraries are expected to be published as soon as the 5th. On the Celebrity website go to Europe>Iceland. The 2023 Reykjavik to Boston shows up there so hopefully the 2024 Eclipse sailing will be published there rather than under Canada/New England later in the month.

 

Will do 😉. Thank you.

[LuAnn]

10 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

I plan on looking starting 12/4/2022 when the Europe itineraries are expected to be published as soon as the 5th. On the Celebrity website go to Europe>Iceland. The 2023 Reykjavik to Boston shows up there so hopefully the 2024 Eclipse sailing will be published there rather than under Canada/New England later in the month.

Will the T/As be released at that time as well? Thanks!

[TMLAalum]

13 hours ago, LuAnn said:

Will the T/As be released at that time as well? Thanks!

IDK, but maybe? Just keep checking both on Celebrity's website and here on Cruise Critic.