First time on Celebrity: 14 Nights Scandinavia & Russia next August8th

[salseros2003]

Hi everybody.

Next cruise will be our 8th time but the first on Celebrity (Carnival, RCCL, Costa and MSC before) so we'd like some suggestions.

 

Dining

- Is the dress code different from the above mentioned cruise line? Elegant Jeans are admitted for dinner?

- which restaurants/food chances are on for free?

- Is buffet open for dinner?

- Cova Bar is free?

- any beverage package available?

- how many formal dinner for our cruise?

 

Port

- Are free shuttle buses for outside port area available usually?

-Any visa requirements are managed by Celebrity?

 

Cabin (outside cabin)

- which bathroom amenities are available? shampoo/conditioner in dispenser or bottles?

 

Past Guest

- is Rccl past guest status recognized by Celebrity?

 

Transportation

We'll have flights on our own: any transportation provided from London area to Harwich port? bus?

Is possible to arrange transportation to the airport while on board?

 

Thanks so much for any available answer.

[hylasgirl]

Hi everybody.

Next cruise will be our 8th time but the first on Celebrity (Carnival, RCCL, Costa and MSC before) so we'd like some suggestions.

 

Dining

- Is the dress code different from the above mentioned cruise line? Elegant Jeans are admitted for dinner? We saw many jeans in the dining room on Casual night. They were the younger generation, but we had a very young crowd on this cruise.

- which restaurants/food chances are on for free? The only restaurant that cost money is Muranos.

- Is buffet open for dinner? Yes, but not as a buffet.

- Cova Bar is free? No, the Cova Bar is not free for drinks. It is for snacks.

- any beverage package available? Yes, several. I bought the soda package. But there are wine packages also.

- how many formal dinner for our cruise? You should have 3 formal nights.

 

Port

- Are free shuttle buses for outside port area available usually? Never Free! But yes, available.

-Any visa requirements are managed by Celebrity? I recommend St. Petersburg by private tour, and I am sure many others will tell you the same thing. It ends up being the same cost and you will have an incredible experience. If you do this, you will be covered under a blanket visa. Same with a ship tour.

 

Cabin (outside cabin)

- which bathroom amenities are available? shampoo/conditioner in dispenser or bottles? They were available, but I am picky and bring my own.

 

Past Guest

- is Rccl past guest status recognized by Celebrity? Yes, but not many perks associated with it.

 

Transportation

We'll have flights on our own: any transportation provided from London area to Harwich port? bus?

Is possible to arrange transportation to the airport while on board? Check out the EUROPE boards with this question. There are many answers over there about this exact subject.

 

Thanks so much for any available answer.

 

Have a great time! This is an incredible cruise!

[JennAngel9]

To clarify-- I believe RCCL past guest status is only recognized on Celebrity when you get to the 2nd level of status (which I believe is 5 prior cruise credits) on RCCL.

 

Also, in our experience, taking the same cruise last May, jeans were really not seen in the dining room, and most people dressed quite a bit ncier than they would on RCCL and MUCH nicer than the average Carnival crowd.

 

Finally, in terms of transit to and from town-- do some research in advance. We booked exceptionally last minute and were not as prepared as I would have like-- as a result we bought the ship's shuttle to the city option (having been told it would be a 30-45 minute walk to the city) when it was really maybe a 5-10 minute walk in at least one port.

[kitty9]

In the daily paper you receive each night, it specifically states NO jeans in the dining room after 6pm.

 

There is no buffet in the evening, only a sit down area, for a $2 per person charge, in the buffet area of the ship.

 

Celebrity specifically states that it's up to each passenger to ascertain if a visa is needed for any port. For St Petersburg, if you're on a ship's sponsored tour, the ship will have the visa for you. If you take a tour from a local company like Denrus or Red October, the company will have your visas. If you want to step even one foot off the ship on your own, you will have to apply for an individual visa on your own.

 

Shuttles in the ports areas are not free, which I think stinks.

 

The trip from Heathrow to Harwich is very long and can be expensive if you take a private car. Even though you booked your own air, you can book Celebrity's transfers. The drive from LHR to Harwich can be over 3 hours, depending on traffic. You can arrange transportation to the airport on the ship, but again, depending on when your flight leaves, you might want to check out Celebrity's transfers.

[Project_gal]

Heathrow to Harwich is NOT an easy journey by public transport and you would definitely NOT want to take a taxi. Ensure that you organise something in advance. If you can get Celebrity to provide the transfer, take it. [From the UK, we have been unable to arrange tranfers if we use their air but arrange our own hotels - but then we often find we cannot do what US customers can.]

 

For St Petersburg, visas will be arranged for you if you take Celebrity tours OR other organised tours. However, if you plan to visit the city totally independantly, you need to find a local sponsor before you can obtain a visa. This will be expensive making some type of organised tour essential. We had a Celebrity organised private car and guide and it was the best thing we ever did. It sounded expensive but it was really good value for money.

 

The shuttle buses are not free [one of my husband's big gripes] but they are not needed [and thus not available] at every Baltic port.

[dixcy]

Hello

 

We are also on the sailing from Harwich on 8th August for 14 nights doing Baltics if you go to celebrity roll call forms we have been discussing alot about Russia if you would like to see what has been said.

 

look forward to meeting you on ship this is also our first ever cruise.

 

:)