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Review - Galaxy 4-14 Jan

iflyrc5

By iflyrc5,
in Celebrity Cruises

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iflyrc5

iflyrc5

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Review – Celebrity Galaxy 4-14 Jan 2008 – 10 Day Southern Caribbean

 

I have posted photos of the trip at http://www.pbase.com/iflyrc5/jan_08_galaxy_cruise

 

This was our 6th cruise and our first cruise with Celebrity. We have done 3 with HAL, 1 with Princess and 1 with NCL. As my DW says – all have been great – some just better than others.

 

Pre-cruise:

We flew into San Juan arriving about 3pm the day before our sailing. We had left zero degree weather in Indianapolis at 6am and the 85 degrees and sun in San Juan was a great start to our vacation. After getting our luggage we walked out the door to the Orange Taxi booth, told them we had 2 people and 4 bags, were given a slip with the cost and destination listed and led to the taxi by a person with an orange shirt and were on our way within less than a minute of walking out the door (wow – super efficient). We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Condado which was about a 15 minutes taxi ride from the airport. I had found this by searching the various forums on Cruise critic. It was nothing fancy but we would sure stay there again on a pre/post-cruise stay. It was an older building ( stories I think – we were on 5th floor) that was next to the Holiday Inn Express and a short block walk to Ashford Drive which is the main street along the beach. It had a nice outdoor pool and they rooms were very clean and the staff very friendly. They had the typical continental breakfast buffet which was very good. They also had a storage area for luggage while we toured. There are many restaurants within a 10 minute walk on Ashford, both local and USA national chains. If you need some last minute supplies there is also a Walgreens within a 7 minute walk and the prices are the same as in the USA.

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On the morning of embarkation we planned on touring Old San Juan prior to heading for the pier. We walked out to Ashford Drive, turned left and walked about 50 yards to the bus stop. For $0.75 (you need to have 3 quarters) you take the B21 bus (it runs about every 20 to 30 minutes) right to downtown Old Town. There are free open trolleys that run a route throughout Old Town – the only problem is they were usually full. We walked around Old Town with a general direction of heading up the hill to El Morro. This is a very interesting Fort to visit – as I recall the cost was $6 per person

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Our cruise documents said that boarding would not start until 7pm which seemed very late to us (sailing time was 10pm). Our TA thought we could board earlier but not certain as her calls to Celebrity confirmed the 7pm boarding. The documentation listed a toll free number and a number at the Port so I started calling the port number at 9am to see when we could board. After 6 calls at 30 minute intervals the phone was never answered so I tried the toll free number which was Celebrity offices in the states – they said we could board at 6:30pm. At about 1pm I figured I would try the port number 1 more time and this time we finally got someone to answer. They said that they hoped to start boarding not later than 2pm.

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After touring El Morro, we got on the trolley that stop just outside the entrance and rode down to the waterfront area and walked along the water down to the bus station where we picked up the B21 bus back to Condado to get our luggage from the Comfort Inn. The only problem was how to tell the bus driver where you want to get off – to make a long story short there is a yellow strip on the walls of bus – this is switch that alerts the driver you want to stop.

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Off to the Galaxy:

After collecting our luggage we walked across the street to the Holiday Inn Express where there were several taxis waiting and $20 (with tip) and 15 minutes later (lots of traffic) we arrived at the pier at 3:30pm. Gave our luggage to the port personnel, walked in the terminal, filled out the Disembarkation form (don’t know why we need to do it then and you need to know your flight time and flight number), were then immediately directed to a station where they ran our credit card through the reader, checked our passports, gave us our Sea Pass Cards and we were on our way to ship security check at 3:35. Through security then a 3 minute wait to get up the escalator, onto the ship with our drink and into cabin 9210 by 3:45pm. As we boarded they gave us a card that said we should go to the first seating for dinner at 6pm and that you could wear what we had on for the first night. We hit the Oasis for a little snack and a couple of ice teas then a walk around the ship to check it out. We got back to the cabin about 5pm and our luggage was there along with John and Jose our cabin stewards. We were traveling with 4 others that we met up with and all went to the Orion at 6pm for a very nice casual dinner. The Muster Drill (AKA Lifeboat Drill) was at 8pm. Our muster location was in a lounge and after having demonstration of how to put on the life jacket we were directed to our lifeboat station. Following dinner we finished up unpacking then hit the pool area for the 10pm sail-away.

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General Comments about the Celebrity Experience:

The embarkation process was fast and efficient but did we really need to fill out the disembarkation form at this time? The ship was clean but was showing it’s age but nothing that detracted from our trip. There was lots of staff to help and they were very professional but just not quite as friendly and outspoken as the staff on HAL. If you said good morning to them they would respond but it just seemed less spontaneous and uplifting as the HAL staff. The staff put up a very nice spread of coffee, tea, rolls etc. in the Stratosphere for our CC party which was not held until late in our cruise because of itinerary. The CD met with us and was willing to answer any questions. The only problem was that we had 60 people signed up yet only about 20 attended – too bad as it is interesting to meet the folks.

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Facilities

The gym has excellent equipment although it was rather small with only 5 elliptical machines and about 10 treadmills along with a good selection of weight machines. We can’t comment on the bars/lounges as we did not use any except the Stratosphere which was used for the CC get together. I have posted photos of the Stratosphere on my pbase site listed above. The aft pool was very nice and not crowded on most days – as best that I noticed they only opened the roof on the last sea day. The mid-ship pool was only crowded on the sea days. My concern there is that the “Chair hogs” would put there towel and book on a chair and then disappear for several hours – because of this there were no pool towels or chairs available for most of the fist sea day. I should also mention that the port side of the pool area is for smokers so if you could find an empty chair it was usually on the port side. The cinema/conference room was very nice with comfortable seating with movies held several times each day. There was also a Catholic Mass offered each day in this room. The theater was very nice with comfortable seating and there were always seats available at least for the early shows that we attended.

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The Oasis Buffet

We ate at the Oasis for Breakfast and Lunch. The food was fair to good but the layout was confusing, inefficient, not well marked and shutdown early. The scrambled eggs and sausage were cold the first 2 days so after that I either had an omelet or waffles which were excellent. The beverage lines were the biggest issue for me. The layout was not efficient – they need to have the cups/glasses in the middle of the station and then go one way for hot drinks and the other way for cold drinks. There was also no place to put your cup/glass if you were getting more than one and the drink station was way back which made it a problem for passengers with short arms. They have 4 drink stations but often during the breakfast and lunch time they would have only 2 or 3 open and the ice tea and ice was often empty. They have ice cream lines on both the port and starboard side of the buffet yet normally only one was open which often made for lines of 8 or 10 people. In addition, they shut down the lunch lines at 2pm which was about the time that many people were returning from shore excursions on port days. At lunch, some of the lines would go in the opposite direction along the buffet as they did for breakfast and without much signage to tell you what was where it made if very confusing. The pizza and pasta bar was good however they often only had one or two of the types of pizza available of the four that they listed. The grill at the pool was excellent and the hamburgers were some of the best I have ever had. The cookies were excellent where ever you could find them.

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The Orion Restaurant

We had table 513 which was near the aft end of the dinning room and we had the early (6pm) seating. Reynaldo was our waiter and Gilberto was the assistant – both were very friendly and efficient. We noticed that several of the tables around us were empty. There were 6 in our group and we were joined by Dennis and Jill from Wales which was very interesting – they were great tablemates and we hope to see them again on another cruise. For the most part the food was good but several nights the offerings were just not to my liking. I ordered off the “always available menu” twice and the steak was tuff and dried out. One of the people in our party was a pasta lover yet one night when they got it they said it was terrible and had to order a different dinner. It was also interesting that when shrimp cocktail was on the main menu for the evening you got 4 shrimp however when you ordered it from the alternate menu you only got 3. Overall the food was good but I liked the choices and taste better on our HAL cruise this past spring on the Zuiderdam. The one thing that was excellent every night were the deserts.

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Entertainment

We hit the theater each night for the show. There was no show the first night our as the sail-away was at 10pm. The second night was Judy Kolba who was very good, The third night was Pianist Pearl Kaufman who was also very good, the 4th night they showed the DaVinci Code movie in the theater and had a “Tropical Island Night Celebration” around the poolside at 10:30pm – we didn’t attend either so can’t comment. The next night was the Celebrity Singers and Dancers in their show Elements which was good. Don Sherman was next and was also good, next was the Celebrity Singers and Dancers doing their “Ole Time Rock’n’Roll” show – since my DW and I were in our teen’s in the 60’s we really liked this show – the younger crowd may not have enjoyed it as much. We then had jack Walker who is an excellent singer. The Celebrity Singers and Dancers were then back for a 3rd show called Dance Around the World – it was good but we didn’t like it as much as the Rock’n’Roll. The last night was a split show of Pearl Kaufman and jack Walker. Each of the shows lasted about 45 minutes and was preceded by a lightning Bingo game. The Party Band and Mr. Paulo Brasuca, a guitarist, played at various venues around the ship and were very good.

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On to the Ports –

Tortola BVI

This was our first Caribbean Cruise so in general we wanted to see the islands and get a feel of the culture. On Tortola we took the Celebrity “Historic and Cultural BVI Tour” offer through the ship. It was an excellent tour to get the overall sense of the island.

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Phillipsburg, St. Maarten

We had a sail boat for many years and love sailing so when we saw the “America Cup” sailing tour we had to do that one through the ship. If you like sailing and know anything about the cup races you need to do this tour. These boats are the actual boats the competed in the cups races with very little modification. Based on your desire you can be a very active part of the crew (I was a primary grinder and my DW was the main winch tailer) or just sit and enjoy. Even though they sailed with a reefed mail and only a 120 genoa we had a rail in the water and took a few waves over the bow – it gives you a real feeling of how the actual America Cup races were run. The only real issue was that it is a 3 hour tour but the sailing only lasted about 90 minutes because of the time on safety brief, getting us out to the boats and getting the boats ready to go. Following the tour you are dropped off at the tour office which is in the Town area. We spent about an hour or so walking the town then a short 10 minute walk back to the ship.

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Castries, St. Lucia

Based on what I had read on various areas of the CC boards we signed up with COSOL for our tour of St. Lucia and all I can say is this was an OUTSTANDING tour. This guy left school at age 12, worked in the banana groves for years, drove a tour bus then started his own business 7 years ago. Today he owns 7 new Toyota vans (about 12 passenger) with more on call when needed and all his advertising is via word of mouth and via the CC folks that rave about his great and excellent service. He is very concerned about providing excellent service to his customers. We were lucky to get COSOL himself for our driver and tour guide however talking to the folks on the other 2 vans in our caravan of vans everyone enjoyed their tour. We saw many parts of the island with many stops for photos, a mid-morning food stop with all sort of local foods (see photos) and a stop for a special bread (hot out of the oven) and cheese on the way back. Bottled water, soft drinks, local Piton Beer and punch that was available throughout the tour at no extra cost. COSOL was very concerned that we get back to the ship prior to sailing. Because of a somewhat short stop at St. Lucia (1000-1800) he asked if we wanted to see more of the countryside or go to the beach. The group voted for the touring but we did stop at the beach for about 10 minutes and those that wanted to got to do some wading along the shore line. One thing I will say is that the roads on St. Lucia are very winding and steep up and down hill. If you are person that is prone to getting car sick you might want to take some motion medication before the trip. The vans he uses are almost new Toyota Vans and the air conditioning works well. See the photos on the pbase page for the sites you will see on this tour. All this and the cost was only $45 per person – you won’t go wrong with this tour!!!!

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Bridgetown, Barbadoes

With 4 straight days of port stops we decided to not take a formal tour and just walk the town in Barbadoes. There is a nice terminal then a nice park area along the water front as you walk into town. It is about a 15 minute walk into town. You pass a fish market which was very interesting to walk through on our way to town. The Town was very crowded with lots of traffic and sidewalks packed with people. We used the map from the ship and spent about 2 hours walking around downtown and visiting the shops then worked our way back to the ship. The friends that were with us took a cab both ways and didn’t like the town as being to crowded and dirty. If you don’t mind a little walking I think that is the way to enjoy the visit. We then just spent the afternoon at the gym and around the pool.

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St. George, Grenada

Again – based on what I had read on various areas of the CC boards we signed up with Mandoo for our tour of Grenada. This was also an OUTSTANDING tour. Mandoo is a self taught entrepreneur that gives an excellent overview tour of the island. His van is nearly new and in excellent condition and he knows everything about the island and the people. He is very concerned about the people and the environment. The highlight was seeing the Mona Monkey up close – it actually jumped up on one of the members of our group. We made many photo stops and really got to see the culture of the island. I would say that this is “the tour to take” if you want to see and understand Grenada. Mandoo is very professional and an excellent host.

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Willemstad, Curacao

We did not signup for a tour ahead of time in getting to Curacao. This is a very colorful town and very very clean – much different than Bridgetown. It was a very short walk from the ship into town. We walked across the “pontoon bridge” to the Punda side and ran into a person in a yellow shirt selling the Casper Tours. This was a 90 minute tour that took us around town and then to several parts of the island in a very nice van with an excellent tour guide for only $15 per person. They made several stops and would even drop folks off at a beach and return later in the day to bring them back to town. I think they run the tour about every 2 hours. This was an excellent value for $15 and would recommend it to anyone that wants to see the highlights. When the ship was coming into the pier we notice a hotel and beach about a ¼ mile to the left. So after getting back to the ship we packed up the snorkel gear and headed out to find the beach. We found that we needed to walk out to the street then left about a ¼ to the entrance of the hotel. We asked at the entrance if there was a charge they said that if we were off the ship it was free. It was a very nice protected beach area with chairs and shade and only a handful of people. We spent about 2 hours swimming and snorkeling seeing some very colorful fish. We really enjoyed Curacao and it was probably our favorite port of the entire trip.

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Oranjestad, Aruba

At this port we had signed up for the Sailing and Snorkeling Tour through the ship. It was run by Red Sail Tours using a very large catamaran and was a short 5 minute walk from the ship to the pier where we got on the boat. There were about 50 people on the boat but it was large enough that it did not seem crowded. It was listed as a sailing and snorkeling tour however even though they raised the sails we motored all the way to the snorkeling stops and back. We motored to the first snorkeling spot that was about 100 yards off shore in about 12 feet of water. It was a calm area with lots of fish( photos on the pbase site). We had our own snorkel and mask but the tour provided all the gear if needed and it seemed in good condition. Everyone was required to wear a swim vest which worked out fine. We spent out 45 minutes at the first site then loaded back on board and moved out about ½ mile from shore to a WWII wreck that was in 60 feet of water. It was much more rough with a stronger current and fewer fish but still very interesting. There was an open bar during the entire trip but the Rum punch and other alcohol drinks was not available until after the snorkeling. Overall it was an excellent trip for first time and experienced snorkelers. After lunch we walked the town. Make sure that you go to the right over the small bridge and past the marina. There is a small park area where we saw numerous birds and iguana. They also have good prices on T-shirts ($4 each or 3 for $10) at the stands along the marina. A nice stop and clean town. This was our second visit to Aruba – we had done the island tour last time. We will be back in November 08 and will look for another snorkeling tour for that visit.

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Disembarkation

Our flight was not until 3:25 so we asked for the latest time for getting off the ship. We were assigned Purple 4 and an 11am time. By 10:15 they had gotten to use and were asking that everyone get off ASAP. The line going through customs took about 1 minute – since we were last off the luggage to not too hard to find and we were at the orange taxi stand like the one at the airport by 10:30. A 15 minute taxi ride to the airport ($30 with tip for 4 people and 7 bags). We were second in line at the United Airline ticket line then there was no line when going through security. We were at the gate and ready to go by 10:45 and then had a looooong wait for our 3:25 flight.

 

Overall we had an excellent trip – 85 degrees and sunny every day – excellent tours – met a lot of interesting people – would we go on the Galaxy again – you bet.

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Lois R "Live from...." Rare

Lois R

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Thanks for such a detailed review:)

 

Question about your day in Curacao. It sounds excellent.

So the company has drivers right there, available? I was thinking

of booking a tour but that sounds really good. 15.00? Sounds like

a great deal!

 

I sail in March and your comments were really helpful.

Thanks again:)

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DaytonGirl

DaytonGirl

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The embarkation process was fast and efficient but did we really need to fill out the disembarkation form at this time?

 

I actually think this is a fabulous idea! I've never been on a cruise that has done this (including an X cruise in September) but I hope others follow suit.

 

Having to interupt your vacation to fill out, and turn in, disembarkation information is always such a bummer. :( It's a nasty reminder that it's almost at an end. You might as well do it up front when you're filling things out anyway.

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iflyrc5

iflyrc5

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Thanks for such a detailed review:)

 

Question about your day in Curacao. It sounds excellent.

So the company has drivers right there, available? I was thinking

of booking a tour but that sounds really good. 15.00? Sounds like

a great deal!

 

I sail in March and your comments were really helpful.

Thanks again:)

After you cross the pontoon bridge to the Punda side look for the guys in yellow shirts (See my photos). I think the tours run about every 90 minutes. The bus holds about 25 people and the tour guide is very good.

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iflyrc5

iflyrc5

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I actually think this is a fabulous idea! I've never been on a cruise that has done this (including an X cruise in September) but I hope others follow suit.

 

Having to interupt your vacation to fill out, and turn in, disembarkation information is always such a bummer. :( It's a nasty reminder that it's almost at an end. You might as well do it up front when you're filling things out anyway.

 

The problem is you need to dig out your flight info and some folks may not have it with them when boarding. Then - even though we had filled it out we still got a notice about midway through the cruise that we needed to go down to customer relations about our forms - when I got there everything was ok so I don't know why they sent the note.

 

But overall it was a great trip - just a couple of little issues.

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iflyrc5

iflyrc5

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Where did you board? Which pier? in San Juan? Old Town?

 

And what type of ice cream was available in the Oasis Buffet? I'm assuming they served you?

 

Thanks for your review!

 

They use the Pan American Pier that is across the Harbor from Old San Juan. It was a $15 taxi ride from Condado for 2 with 5 pieces of luggage.

 

They usually had 4 types of ice cream plus soft serve. They serve it and they change the flavors during the day but usually had Vanilla and Chocolate all the time. They also had several types of toppings that you could put on yourself. There was also several types of cookies most of the time also. Speaking from experience, the chocolate chip cookies were excellent.:D

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cosmopolitan1

cosmopolitan1

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Hi Iflyrc5 !

 

thank you for your detailed review. we have booked our first cruise on the Galaxy on April 7 and were a little unsure what to expect - especially about arranging trips ashore - your review, and the other posts on this site have helped tremendously. i must say that we are really looking forward to it. especially swimming with turtles.

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islandgrandma

islandgrandma

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Hi there- to answer your question. There was a Charade quartet that was piano, accordian, violin and Bass- they were my favorite- they were usually playing in the evenings right outside the diningroom on 5th floor. They played from 5:30-6:15 and then again 8:30-10:30 some evenings.

Valerie Bouchard played the piano and sang in French and English most evenings in Michaels piano bar area. She has a very sweet voice.

There was azure quartet- playing in rendez-vous square deck 6 , a party band playing in the Savoy, and Paulo Brasuca a guitarist on deck 11 -poolside. All these were written up in your daily guide because the hours and locations frequently changed. Enjoy- BW

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reklawr

reklawr

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Thanks for such a detailed review:)

 

Question about your day in Curacao. It sounds excellent.

So the company has drivers right there, available? I was thinking

of booking a tour but that sounds really good. 15.00? Sounds like

a great deal!

 

I sail in March and your comments were really helpful.

Thanks again:)

 

 

Lois, If you would like an excellent tour company in Curacao try this link:

http://www.curacao-actief.com/index.php?id=54

Ask to have Anite as your tour guide. She is a wonderful person and gives very nice relaxed tours and she will modify the tour to meet your needs and likes.

We took her tour last march on this same Galaxy cruise. Chek her tours out. I'll bet you'll love Curacao-Actif.

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