Blazerboy

To be clear, "popular with tourists" often means it's a fun experience. Also my partner works there!

Also, Chateau Montelena is fun, with beautiful grounds!

There are over 800 wineries to try! Love Ladera, of course. Small, family owned and high quality. Wines from $40 to $300. Suggestions: Frank Family, Larkmead Ehlers - are all good choices in Calistoga. Best sparkling wine in the Valley is Schramsberg - fun tour, too. Popular with tourists: - V.Sattui - Castelli d' Amorosa "the castle" - also owned by V Sattui -Sterling just opened up, and has a funicular to ride up to the tastings. Sparkling wines: -Domaine Carneros, -Mumm or -Domaine Chandon are popular. Cabs: (besides ours) -Ehlers -Chappellet -Joseph Phelps Cakebread, St. Supery, and Grgich are all big and fairly well known. Can be fun to see larger operations. Tasting fees range from $45. per person to $125. per person, and some have add ons for food pairings. Some wineries will refund fee if you buy enough wine. Even huge Mondavi can be good to visit, as they are a big part of Napa history- for better wines, book the reserve experience. And that is just scratching the surface! Good luck and have fun!

Yes. I was there (Grgich) for an industry event to support the St.Helena Chamber of Commerce in November. Calistoga Chamber of Commerce had their holiday party on Wednesday night, when his passing was announced. I used to be a member at Chateau Montelena- where he made the famous '73 Chardonnay that won the "Judgement of Paris." That is truly what launched his career. In retirement, I'm working at a Napa Winery(tasting room in Calistoga), Ladera Vineyards, famous for its Howell Mountain Cabernets- coincidentally served on Celebrity ships back in early 2000's. As they now start at $179. per bottle, not likely to find there anymore (it would retail for $600. or so on Celebrity with their pricing structure) Sailing in two weeks, and will buy some good Spanish wines to bring aboard in Barcelona. And drink more Bourbon Manhattans, I guess. If you're sailings have the J Pinot/Vin Gris, it's a decent white from Somona. J was Judy Jordan's winery, but she sold out a few years ago to Gallo Brands. Reasonable price bt the glass and bottle. I don't see reds that I'll like. I am totally spoiled now.

Steele with an extra "e" was a Lake County winery founded by Jed Steele, former wine maker(many years ago) at Kendall Jackson. It's since been sold to Clay Shannon of Shannon Ridge. It was a decent Wednesday night wine. I think, given the list, I'll see if the Reserve Pinot from Kendall Jackson is drinkable, and stick with the Louis Jadot for white. O.k., and I might have to try the Mlabec! 🤣

Just seeing this now, but have been enjoying your FB posts. Hope the trip has been fun and relaxing. We must try the line sometime. Also hope your lectures went well- enjoyed them when you were on Celebrity. Andrew

We are on the cruise immediately following yours. The roll calls for these cruises have been remarkably quiet. Nonetheless, have a great trip, and we'll pass you on the 2nd as you disembark, and we board the ship.🙂

Wow. Lots of thoughts. 35-40 cruises under my belt. (That the belt still fits is amazing🙄) Started sailing when I was four. First cruise with Celebrity at 39. A similar comment to another poster- I adore having children at the dinner table...with a light hollandaise! At 60, 21 years later, the product generally still fits us. Silent disco. Yuk. But that it's there for others? Great. Never go to the shows. But glad they are there. Love the Martini Bar, but don't always live the music volume. Smirk at the "oldies" trying to look like they enjoy feeling hip, and then realize I am one. Ship is generally big enough that I can find food/drink/entertainment away from anyone annoying me (get off my lawn, kid!) Is there a point here? There is room for everyone. Bad behavior is just that, no matter the age. For the grumpies, try to enjoy the young as a spectator sport...and remember your youthful follies. For the young, have a little patience- we'll be napping soon anyway! And for another perspective: the "oldies" grew up with Rock n Roll, Woodstock and free love, so while our back braces hurt and our hearing aid batteries fail, we WERE once the radical young generation that were despised for our politics, lack of work ethic and our music. The more things change..😂 Happy sailing to all.

Sounds like a great cruise, and glad to hear your thoughts on the condition of the ship. We sailed on her for our first cruise with Celebrity, and many times since. Will sail on her in January just prior to her next drydock. All is good with another day at sea!

Yep. Understand. I wasn't charged, even though I booked, chose seats and gave my credit card. Saving the money was not the point for me either- upgraded seats for 17 hours of flying each way was! Celebrity pointed the finger at Choice Air, and Choice Air pointed it at my TA, who explained that both were wrong. I had to deal with this ON the plane. Hawaiian Air was the only helpful party!🙄 Since this experience, I have booked my own flights, leaving me in control. Flights by Celebrity claimed that, as a group booking, upgrades were not possible...not what they said originally when they took my credit card and assigned seats.(insert middle finger emoji here)

We had a really bad experience with Flights by Celebrity- they screwed up all out upgrades for four flights thia past January. Never again.

Get in line! Best for me was also 2019...17 nights total on two cruises.🙄 35 cruises total on all lines, spread over 56 years. I feel like a failure!😉 Actually, when I think about the average cruise for me being ten days, that means I've spent a whole year of my life on ships. See? I can impress even myself!😂

Retirement for both of us last year...winery jobs and Winter vacations to warmer climates is suiting us both. Morocco, Madeira and the Canaries next!

Nearly? I'm only an inch taller, and I had to stoop. I hit my head on the ceiling every day! (Hope you guys are doing well!)

All ships creak...some. But the explanation about workmanship likely is true, as modern cruise ships have their cabins manufactured off-ship then they are hoisted into place...like stacking of rail or shipping containers. The staterooms are the only area of ship construction done like this. There are videos of this process. With different crews working in various sections of the ship, it makes sense that there might be some variation in the quality of the install. But picture two shipping containers rubbing against each other, and the noise makes more sense. One issue is that these ships are not meant to sail in rough water. They aren't built for open sea travel the way ocean liners were built. Even with Cunard, there is a vast difference between QM2 and the others in their fleet, as it was designed to cross the Atlantic. The other issue is that they want to give better views and fewer obstructions in cabin design, leaving larger expanses of beams supporting large panes of glass. When you "twist" these things, they "groan" or "ping." My BMW wagon had a panoramic moonroof that creaked for 7 years on rough pavement. Same principle, and the dealer kept packing the surrounding areas with sound deadening material, but it didn't go away...until I traded it for a Volvo!😉 We sailed on Constellation in 40' swells, and combined with my over-consumption of Tiramisu- caffeine triggers panic attacks- the noises we heard all night made me think the ship was going to break apart. It didn't, and I've since taken many crossings on M and S class. All creaked, but it didn't bother me. This seems like a construction issue that ship engineers can fix some of the problems, but not all. Hopefully, they will continue to solve (as some have reported) and then address the issue more thoroughly during a drydock. In the meantime, use information here for planning your cabin choice! Or over indulge, as one person suggested...😂 Andrew