Questions from a Newbie

[ChrisMiss]

Hi to everyone,

 

You've all been so helpful to me as I've been planning our cruise, and I hope these questions I have aren't something that is covered extensively here over and over, but I did some limited searching and couldn't find a complete answer and I couldn't find anything on the Celebrity website.

 

This is my husband and my first "cruise ship" cruise. We're on the Millennium from Venice to Barcelona in September. We're getting to Venice at 9:30 am, got the airport to ship transfer through Celebrity, and were wondering: Since embarkation isn't until later, will there be somewhere to leave our luggage so we can go explore Venice for the day, or are we stuck watching the luggage till boarding?

 

The ship's not leaving Venice until the next day. If we are able to leave the luggage, would we have to be back at the official boarding time? And since the ship is in Venice overnight, will there be a time we HAVE to be on the ship by in the evening for some reason? In other words, if we come back to the ship and do the embarkation or have dinner there (although I think I'd rather eat somewhere local), can we leave it again and come back when we want?

 

And the same for Barcelona, the ship's there overnight. Are we free to traverse La Rambla as late as we want to that evening? :D

 

And also, on what food is included and what is not in the cruise price, I know there's several threads about this, but I'm getting confused now. I understand the main dining room concept, of course, and I understand paying at the "specialty restaurant," the fancy one. What about the other informal type restaurants on the ship? And now I've read something about daily buffets. What is that? And also, is the midnight buffet every night? I thought I read somewhere that it's only once or maybe twice during a cruise.

 

And lastly, I know that missed ports happens. I'm assuming that's mostly a weather thing. How many people have missed ports in the Med in the September/October time frame? Is it actually possible we might not see Athens, for example?? :( I understand that's the way it might be and they certainly try their best not to have that happen, but I'm hoping the Med is not as susceptible to that at the time that we're going.

 

Thanks so much in advance!!

 

Chris

***********************************

Windjammer Polynesia - May 1991

Windjammer Flying Cloud - May 2001

[frchteaze]

And also, on what food is included and what is not in the cruise price, I know there's several threads about this, but I'm getting confused now. I understand the main dining room concept, of course, and I understand paying at the "specialty restaurant," the fancy one. What about the other informal type restaurants on the ship? And now I've read something about daily buffets. What is that? And also, is the midnight buffet every night? I thought I read somewhere that it's only once or maybe twice during a cruise.

 

All food is technically included in the price of the cruise. The "fancy" restaurant(s) charge an extra fee that they bill as being for the servers' tips. Also the alternative casual dining in the evening (where the buffet is for breakfast & lunch) charges a small fee ($2 per person I think) for servers' tips. The aqua spa cafe, breakfast/lunch buffets, midnight buffets, main dining room, Cova Cafe pastries, midnight snacks in the bars -- all included for no extra charge.

 

Beverages are another story. :rolleyes:

[hajekfam]

Hi to everyone,

 

You've all been so helpful to me as I've been planning our cruise, and I hope these questions I have aren't something that is covered extensively here over and over, but I did some limited searching and couldn't find a complete answer and I couldn't find anything on the Celebrity website.

 

This is my husband and my first "cruise ship" cruise. We're on the Millennium from Venice to Barcelona in September. We're getting to Venice at 9:30 am, got the airport to ship transfer through Celebrity, and were wondering: Since embarkation isn't until later, will there be somewhere to leave our luggage so we can go explore Venice for the day, or are we stuck watching the luggage till boarding?

 

The ship's not leaving Venice until the next day. If we are able to leave the luggage, would we have to be back at the official boarding time? And since the ship is in Venice overnight, will there be a time we HAVE to be on the ship by in the evening for some reason? In other words, if we come back to the ship and do the embarkation or have dinner there (although I think I'd rather eat somewhere local), can we leave it again and come back when we want?

 

And the same for Barcelona, the ship's there overnight. Are we free to traverse La Rambla as late as we want to that evening? :D

 

And also, on what food is included and what is not in the cruise price, I know there's several threads about this, but I'm getting confused now. I understand the main dining room concept, of course, and I understand paying at the "specialty restaurant," the fancy one. What about the other informal type restaurants on the ship? And now I've read something about daily buffets. What is that? And also, is the midnight buffet every night? I thought I read somewhere that it's only once or maybe twice during a cruise.

 

And lastly, I know that missed ports happens. I'm assuming that's mostly a weather thing. How many people have missed ports in the Med in the September/October time frame? Is it actually possible we might not see Athens, for example?? :( I understand that's the way it might be and they certainly try their best not to have that happen, but I'm hoping the Med is not as susceptible to that at the time that we're going.

 

Thanks so much in advance!!

 

Chris

***********************************

Windjammer Polynesia - May 1991

Windjammer Flying Cloud - May 2001

 

If you have your transfer from Celebrity, they usually don't get to the port until shortly before boarding time. They may take you on a little tour (driveby) first. The ship is usually ready for boarding long before the stated boarding time and they usually will take your luggage as you arrive (except for your carryon).

There are several choices for breakfast and lunch - as stated by the previous poster. There is an omelet/fresh made to order egg and a waffle stations at breakfast. At lunch there is the grill with hamburgers and hot dogs and also the sandwich bar as well as a special of the day station (examples: fresh made caesar salad, barbeque, paella). There is a pasta station and a pizza station that is open from lunch through late evening. Sushi is also served early evening. You also can choose 24 hour room service. During dinner hours you can order room service from the regular dining room menu. There is no charge for any of these. Alcoholic drinks, and soda are not included - just coffee, tea, milk, lemonade, fruit punch, iced tea, iced coffee, and juice in the morning. However, there is a charge for coffe, tea, and hot chocolates in the Cova cafe.

Celebrity did away the nightly midnight buffets several years ago. They now have 2 buffets on a 7 night cruise and 4 buffets on a 14 night. The last formal night is the Grand buffet. The other ones could be fruit and sherbert, tex-mex, chocolate, tapas, etc. The Grand buffet is held in the dining room and it is open for pictures and viewing before opening for eating. The other buffets can be held poolside, in the Cova, or in one of the lounges.

On the other nights, Celebrity has Gourmet Bites at midnight where waiters pass around appetizers and tiny pastries in the lounges and casino. Very nice that the food comes to you so that you don't have to interrupt your evening activities.

[Wilcoam]

ChrisMiss...

 

X will transfer you direct from Airport to ship in 30-60 min increments from Airport. When a buss fills up ya go.

 

Unless you also paid for a pre cruise excursion, in which you may want to do that. Mind you. Venice is so small, in my opinion, you can do it yourself. Check-in at port, see your room, have breaky or lunch, book your spa times, and get the hell off the ship and explore the magical city on foot. The pier is walking distance to everything...

 

Your luggage will NOT go with you. If you tagged it properly, it will end up in your cabin, later. So pack a knapsack for the day.

 

In BCE, you will be asked to put your luggage outside your cabin the night before. Also pack a knapsack, or honestly, if you don't mind carrying your own luggage, you can do so. (Breaking the luggage rule is like breaking the formal dining rule, lot's do, right or wrong-lol). Unlike Venice, the pier is close, but you'll need a taxi, cos the pier itself is huge. As long as you're back by 7:00 am departure day, you're fine....

 

Think of the cruise ship as a floating hotel....with some rules (lol)

 

That morning, same procedure. You embark, grab your luggage, take either an X transfer to hotel/airport, or excursion, and again luggage will arrive later.

 

Makes sense?

 

jc

Millenuim 2005

Constellation 2002

[ChrisMiss]

JC,

 

Thank you so much for the luggage/transfer info! Yes, it all made sense and was extremely helpful. It didn't seem logical that there would only be one X transfer from Airport to Ship in Venice with so many people coming in on so many flights, etc. An hour or so, we can wait. And we had planned on doing Venice on our own.

 

Thanks again for info and advice.

 

Chris

[cozzello]

We are doing the same cruise next June, I will be anxious to hear your review. I am curious about your airfare, did you book through Celebrity and if so did you pay for the deviated airfare? What kind of flights did you manage to get? We are in cabin 7180, how about you? Thanks for sharing I hope your trip is wonderful.

Cheryl

[ChrisMiss]

Hi Cheryl,

 

I booked our airfare personally because we are going to be flying from Chicago to Rome and staying there for a few days first. I very quickly noticed (after I booked the cruise, of course) on Celebrity's Med excursions section that St. Peter's is closed on the day the ship's in Rome and there was no way I was going to miss that! So then we fly from Rome to Venice and meet the ship and Barcelona back to Chicago. I just felt I wanted to be in control of all that. ;)

 

We're on Deck 8, port side, back third. I just booked the cruise about a month ago, so I didn't have a lot of options on room location.

 

Thanks for your comments!

 

Chris