New Ship - Celebrity Journey

[mprice]

My wife and I are thinking of booking a cruise on this ship over Labor Day 2007, but have two concerns. We have sailed 4 Celebrity cruises (also 5 RCCL and 3 Carnival) and love Celebrity, but are concerned that something will be lacking due to the size, or maybe it doesn't matter as we are docked in Bermuda so Bermuda may be enough "entertainment". As we have never been to Bermuda, can someone tell us what there is to do...any ideas? Most importantly, we are concerned about the weather. Will the sailing be rough to and from Bermuda? What happens if there is a hurricane during the week of our trip? In the Caribbean the cruise would be diverted to other ports....to Bermuda there is no where else to go.

 

What is the age group on the Bermuda sailings? My wife and I are in our mid 50's.

[firedog001]

My husband and I are already booked on the Journey for Labor Day 2007. We have been to Bermuda three times already, we love it so much it doesn't matter how many times we go back. But we have always sailed on the Empress of the Seas (RCI), which is the smallest of the fleet. But the Journey is smaller yet. We were booked on the exact cruise on the Empress out of Phila, and our TA contacted us and told us to look into the new Celebrity ship going to Bermuda. Checked it out, she had fantastic pricing, going from oceanview on the Empress to Concierge Class, balcony, on the Journey for $200 more. So we too are not sure what to expect. I have to tell you, leaving New York, Newark, you never know what the seas are going to be like, one trip in August, the seas were like ice, you never felt the ship move. Next time in late Sept, we had some rough seas for about 12 hours. Now we did the repo trip at the end of Oct and it was one of the worst sailings out of New York for us. Once we got closer to bermuda it got calm. If a hurricane is out there, huh!, they have taken cruises north, new england states, but the passengers went nuts about it so not sure what else they could do.

Normally they offer enough on the ships to keep you busy. But in Bermuda they have alot of excursions day and night since you are docked for three days. Three times there and we still haven't seen everything.

We too are in our 50's and again not sure about any childrens program on this ship and from what i have read this is more of an adult ship.

Hope you join us on this cruise.

[Rev22:17]

mprice,

 

My wife and I are thinking of booking a cruise on this ship over Labor Day 2007, but have two concerns. We have sailed 4 Celebrity cruises (also 5 RCCL and 3 Carnival) and love Celebrity, but are concerned that something will be lacking due to the size, or maybe it doesn't matter as we are docked in Bermuda so Bermuda may be enough "entertainment". As we have never been to Bermuda, can someone tell us what there is to do...any ideas?

 

The ships of the R1 class have a very interesting design. Basically, Renaissance's concept was to provide all the amenities of modern cruise ships in a smaller package. Thus, the design provides two specialty restaurants (an Italian restaurant and a steakhouse), a night club, a multifunctional show lounge with a dance floor, a casino, shops, an Internet center, etc. There are, however, fewer spaces (and passegers) than on some larger ships, so some actiivities might happen less frequently than on larger vessels, and the show lounge does not provide the fancy features -- stage elevators, advanced lighting, etc. -- that exist on many newer vessels. Performances by "headliners" generally work as well as on other ships, but the production shows require major reconfiguration and rework to function in these ships' showrooms (though this does not sacrifice quality if it's done properly).

 

As to the three days in port, what do you normally do during ports of call? You can go to the beach, go shopping, take tours, or visit historic and other attractions on your own. Bermuda has no shortage of these activities.

 

Most importantly, we are concerned about the weather. Will the sailing be rough to and from Bermuda?

 

Bermuda is completely surrounded by open ocean, so the waters probably will not be as calm as the Caribbean. Nonetheless, these ships have excellent stabilizers so I would not worry about the ride.

 

What happens if there is a hurricane during the week of our trip? In the Caribbean the cruise would be diverted to other ports....to Bermuda there is no where else to go.

 

That's up to the cruise line. Ships scheduled to go to Bermuda have gone to Canada's maritime provinces and New England instead when hurricanes were approaching Bermuda near their sailing date.

 

Norm.

[joeinsb]

Having sailed on Oceania's Nautica (formerly R5, sister to the Celebrity ship which was R6), I can say that they are beautiful ships. The library is one of the most lavish on any ship and a great place to get away from the hubbub of daily cruise life. As for rough sea sailing, well, nothing beats size, although Nautica sailed smoothly during our Mediterranean junket.

[bbornino]

e were on the Tahitian Princess last year. It is a twin to the Journey. It is a wonderful ship! Balcony cabins were very luxurious and similar to Infinity. I want to go on the Tahitian cruise again! I want to compare it to the Journey sometime. I did see the Journey on its past life while on the Galaxy last September in Greece. I recognized the profile and a crew member said that he served on that ship before