Casa de Campo-What's Happening?

[sijid]

Does anyone know what's up with Casa de Campo? I keep looking at Celebrity's web site to check out shore excursions, and it says they're making changes, and to check back later. Is anyone out there enough of an insider to know the scoop?

[missemily]

Rumor has it on some other threads that casa de campo and grenada are being replaced by st. lucia and st. maarten for the southern caribbean cruise. The delay in being able to book excursions for casa de campo certainly suggests something is up. We've noted it as well.

[trcori]

... the eastern caribbean cruise? Millennium's 7-day EC swing, resuming in late fall, includes Casa de C -- I've also seen the "no shore excursions" available notation on the X Web site "itinerary details" page for a couple weeks now. Wasn't going to book one anyway but believe it or not, I was actually looking forward to Casa de C. If they sub St. Maarten (which I didn't care much for on the Century EC swing) I'll be bummed ...

 

TR

Millennium 12/12/04

****

Mercury 4/04, Infinity 8/03, Century 3/03 & 9/02

[Patrick IL.]

I sent an email to x as we are doing the eastern also. They said the website is being updated and to check back in mid-August. I keep checking too.

[dmarch@islc.net]

Shame about Grenada, I really like that island. I think everyone does.

[katiel53]

I like Grenada, and dislike St Lucia. The Constellation originally called at St. Lucia but I guess due to a lot of complaints, it's no longer going there. I would love them to drop Casa de Campo and put in St. Martin. Not too likely Celebrity will listen to me though.

[skyview851]

I wish they would drop Casa de C and switch to almost anywhere else. I would rather just sail around in circles, than dock there.

[missemily]

I looked on a travel agency website, and they are selling early '05 southern caribbean cruises on the Constellation with st. lucia and st. maarten and no grenada or casa de campo. Maybe that means it's official. Not sure, but the shore excursion site on celebrity for our 2/05/05 constellation cruise still includes grenada and casa de campo. I think it is just celebrity being a bit tardy in updating.

 

Don't know about the eastern caribbean cruise.

[stanjj111]

We are going on the 2/5/trip also. Could you post more info as to when and if the ports change? Thanks,

[jascruise]

We booked the Connie for Apr 05 while onboard our last cruise. We were told that St Maarten would replace Casa de Campo. No mention of Grenada.

[katiel53]

I sure wish that would happen for our Dec 4, 2004 cruise. It would be so much better. I have no idea why Celebrity decided to do Casa de Campo to start with. At least it they did Catalina Island along with the Casa de Campo, we could have had a fun beach day. Makes no sense to me, but hey, what do I know?

[Bisous3]

Add me to the list....we're sailing the Millie for Thanksgiving as we did last year, and frankly Casa de Campo was about as exciting as watching paint dry. I'll take St. Martin any day.

Suzanne

[trcori]

... for somebody with inside scoop to tell us the real deal about this POSSIBLE port switch, since there seem to be a fair amount of St. Maarten fans, can someone tell me what their favorite spot was? I was totally unimpressed during our fall '02 visit -- we took the water taxi over to town and while trying to make it down the beach a bit (to get away from all the motor traffic in the water around the "Everyting Cool" place etc.), I was solicited for braiding and whatnot more aggressively than ANY other place I've EVER been -- for all the complaints about Ocho Rios, our experience there was positively laid back compared to trying to run the gauntlet in St. Maarten. We finally just ducked down an alley and onto the beach to get away, and made it as far down the sand as we could (where we wound up in front of some houses, bothered only by a few wandering stray dogs, charming, and while it was a lovely sunny day, the water was murky) ... All tips welcome. If it does get subbed for CDC by the time of our Dec. Millennium cruise, we might try to check out the French side .. but I've heard mixed reviews about that too ... ??!

[Bisous3]

I love Orient Beach on the French side...lots to do as far as water sports (jet ski, giant trampoline, snorkeling), great beach restaurants, a really nice little boutique on the beach called Sexy Fruits where they have unique silver jewelry, interesting people-watching. I only have two complaints. One was, as you said, many interruptions by people selling stuff and hair braiders, the second would be the fact that it was kind of crowded due to the fact that there were about 4 ships in port at the same time. We went early, were on the beach by 9:30, and left by 12:30, when it started to become busier.

I discovered St. Martin on a cruise and went baack on vacation for a whole week. We love it there. I hope to spend my 40th there in November.

Suzanne

[buffett010]

We enjoyed Marigot on the French side on our cruise 2 years ago. We ate at a lovely restaurant called L'Oizeau Rare on a cliff overlooking the town and the bay. It was right next to the mall, and you could see the fort from the seating area. Then, we wandered around the open air market, where we purchased homemade hot sauce, and homemade rum with hand painted labels done by the gentleman's wife. He allowed you to sample any of his many varities of rum (pineapple, banana, ginger, etc.), and prices were very low (around $5/bottle). We were able to try sugar cane and fresh coconut there as well, then we visited some small shops and returned to the Dutch side to visit the Guavaberry Emporium. Our cab drivers both ways were wonderful, stopping to allow us to take photos at scenic overlooks, taking us to Simpson's Bay, driving us by his home and his family's homes on back roads to give us a feel for the entire island, and all this was for an agreed upon amount to just get us from the French side to the Dutch. The extra driving was totally spur of the moment, and very enjoyable.

 

We wouldn't mind going back in place of Casa De Campo. That port is the only one on our cruise that is showing no excursions available at this time. I guess we'll just wait and see what happens.

[skyview851]

Had my TA ask Celebrity about CdC, and she was told that they knew nothing about this port or why there are no excursions listed for it. According to the CS rep at X, "IF you go to the wepsite, the excursions will be listed". Does anybody have any idea of what is going on with this port?

[Gem Lover]

We are going on the Constellation on 11/6/04. If there is nothing listed for the Dominican, and Grenada and Barbados are ravaged by Ivan, that leaves us Antigua and St. Thomas. Maybe we'll spend the rest of time at sea ducking hurricanes.

[Patrick IL.]

Had my TA ask Celebrity about CdC, and she was told that they knew nothing about this port or why there are no excursions listed for it. According to the CS rep at X, "IF you go to the wepsite, the excursions will be listed". Does anybody have any idea of what is going on with this port?

 

I think x needs to check thier own website then. I was told that the website was being updated and would be listing the shore excursions at this port by mid August. This is at least what the email said from X when I inquired over two months ago. We went ahead and booked an excursion at St. Thomas, but still thier site says no excursions available at Casa De Campo. Our TA and myself can not get a straight reply from X. I suppose they feel its not a big deal to dock a ship for 10 hours at a port and not offer any excursions? This is what we are dealing with as far as the Eastern Carb. we have booked for our 1st ever cruise is concerned, very bad PR IMHO.

[judyfssw]

When we booked the Constellation the first time, shortly after it was launched, Aruba was on the itinerary. Before we cruised, they changed it to St. Lucia and one other island (memory is slipping). I wish that they would put Aruba back on the itinerary for the Constellation.

[trcori]

We have never booked excursions through the ship, so what worries me more personally re: whether CdC will be dropped before our 12/12/04 Millennium cruise is the chance that I might line up something ... might even send a deposit ... and bam! suddenly find out, who knows when, that there's a change. What we are trying to do is find out if there's a winter baseball game that day/night ... since La Romana (the "real" town to which CdC is apparently attached) has a team. -- TR

[stanjj111]

Does anyone know if there is a change in ports for the 2/5/05 cruise from San Juan?