Celebrity Millennium Singapore to Hong Kong - March 3, 2013

[CruisinMaterial]

Originally Posted by lemursf

We have not booked any excursions yet, but we will not be going to Cambodia. I would like to see Angor Wat, but the sidetrip is pretty expensive and I don't want to pay for three days on the boat and then not be even there to use what I am paying for. But everyone is different, I suppose. Jay

As my fellow NCL loyalists have told me that I will probably only get to experience this once in my life so to go for it all. Angkor Wat is a great place and since I reside in a city which has the SECOND largest population of Cambodians nation-wide and having tons of friends, I feel this is a pilgrimage worthy of doing. Some of them have never been back to their native land and here I was presented with such an opportunity. Plus, snagging the last solo spot on that trip mad it all the more that I should do it. If I shouldn't have it would have been sold out! That's my look at it!

I re-read the tour for Cambodia too and I'm excited at the amount of temples we're going to get to see.

Are you doing the fixed late dining time or are you doing the FreeStyle dining option of dine when you want?

[hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com]

Hi we will be cruising on Celebrity Millenium departing Singapore 03 March 2013, 14 nights to Hong Kong. If interested in meeting up on board then let us know.
Paolo & Ashley

[CruisinMaterial]

Originally Posted by hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com

Hi we will be cruising on Celebrity Millenium departing Singapore 03 March 2013, 14 nights to Hong Kong. If interested in meeting up on board then let us know.
Paolo & Ashley

It's a pretty busy itinerary we have but the sea days would be great! There's the Celebrity Meet & Greet thing which you could sign up for. The regular roll call for this voyage has information there. Plus, I guess we have to go hunting for a GLBT get together time on a board somewhere by Guest Services (so backwards from NCL)!! I think Pied Piper is going to have cocktails together at some point too. Are you part of their group?

I've noticed a lot of the Pied Piper rooms except a few ocean view have all now sold out! The ship is truly filling up!

[hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by CruisinMaterial

It's a pretty busy itinerary we have but the sea days would be great! There's the Celebrity Meet & Greet thing which you could sign up for. The regular roll call for this voyage has information there. Plus, I guess we have to go hunting for a GLBT get together time on a board somewhere by Guest Services (so backwards from NCL)!! I think Pied Piper is going to have cocktails together at some point too. Are you part of their group?

I've noticed a lot of the Pied Piper rooms except a few ocean view have all now sold out! The ship is truly filling up!

No we are not travelling as part of the Pied Piper group in fact when we first enquired with PP about booking through them we were told in no uncertain terms that although we are gay if we didnt book our cruise through PP we would be ignored by the group. Being Kiwi's we have no time for that type of attitude especially from other gay guys so we booked directly through Celebrity and we will make our own entertainment with other gay non group 'cruisers' lol no pun entended.

[lemursf]

Since I am with the PP group, we will have the late seating so we can sit with the rest of the PP group. We actually prefer it this way. On the Atlantis all gay cruise in Feb, we just didnt like the open seating and having to make small talk with different people every nite.

If you are part of the PP group, you will have PP hosted cocktails the first nite so you can meet everyone and decide where to meet each nite before dinner.

If you are not part of the PP group, you will not be ignored. On my last PP trip (Australia/NZ), there were 25 guys booked with PP and 6 others (as far as I could tell) who booked on their own. We had no problem with them joining us at cocktail time or sitting with us at shows. (One of the other guys was a actually a tour guide for another group!) However, if you are not booked thru PP, you cannnot sit with us at dinner, since we have pre-assigned fixed tables. And oddly enough, on the last PP cruise, we had 4 guys who booked thru PP, that did not want to sit with us. Go figure on that one (2 Canadians and 2 Dutch guys).

I am not sure if you can switch to PP at this point, but I would encourage you to do so. I can assure you that they are not as snobby as they might have sounded. I admit, the small staff can be a bit of a PIA and sometimes hard to work with, but they do not come on the cruise. The PP host is sort of a free-lancer with a nice welcoming personality, who gets a free cruise in exchange for organizing the group.

[hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com]

Hi there, we thank you for your rounded and attitude that's what we would usually expect. It would be good to catch with other gay guys once on board. We do respect that we will not be part of PP on board activities but that should not stop guys from meeting up for non PP parties, dinners etc. We are both such lovely guys from down under both with impectable manners
Paolo-Andrea and Ashley
Deck 7

[lemursf]

Hi again, Paolo and Ashley. On the topic of "queens", I see we have "something" in common. You are from Queensland and I am originally from Queens NY and graduated from Queens College.

The PP group will be easy to spot in one of the bars so please come and join us each nite before our dinner time. We welcome everyone, especially if you are under 30 and cute!

[hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com]

We look forward to the possibility of meeting you on board plus others of the group. You are more than welcome to telephone us we are in Stateroom 7033. What with all the bars on board we would hate to finally find you all one night before the end of the cruise! As for cute! well let's just say, well at least our mothers still love us.

[lemursf]

I am afraid my partner and I are booked in "steerage" on the lowest level (2) of the ship. No worries, I absolutely guarantee that you will spot us the first nite. If not, I will call your room and let you know where we are. We love Australians/New Zealanders!

[hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com]

if we don't locate each other please do look us up and by the way may we be so bold as to ask your real names? However if you prefer not to give them we will understand.

[CruisinMaterial]

Originally Posted by lemursf

If you are part of the PP group, you will have PP hosted cocktails the first nite so you can meet everyone and decide where to meet each nite before dinner.

If you are not part of the PP group, you will not be ignored. On my last PP trip (Australia/NZ), there were 25 guys booked with PP and 6 others (as far as I could tell) who booked on their own. We had no problem with them joining us at cocktail time or sitting with us at shows. (One of the other guys was a actually a tour guide for another group!) However, if you are not booked thru PP, you cannnot sit with us at dinner, since we have pre-assigned fixed tables. And oddly enough, on the last PP cruise, we had 4 guys who booked thru PP, that did not want to sit with us. Go figure on that one (2 Canadians and 2 Dutch guys).

I am not sure if you can switch to PP at this point, but I would encourage you to do so. I can assure you that they are not as snobby as they might have sounded. I admit, the small staff can be a bit of a PIA and sometimes hard to work with, but they do not come on the cruise. The PP host is sort of a free-lancer with a nice welcoming personality, who gets a free cruise in exchange for organizing the group.

Oh boy! I can see that I may be part of the people who don't follow the group schema too well. The first night I have a shore excursion booked out to Singapore although I could cancel it before the voyage. I'll have to wait until things come in from PP. Their office staff said they have a list of group activities which comes out in January so that gives me plenty of time to assess and back out of things if I want. I have all the excursions booked so I don't get shut out.

Dinner in a regimented manner drives me nuts. I'll be honest. Plus with most of my excursions being all day long, dining when I want and where I want would be more my speed. FreeStyle dining is the only way to go on NCL and I've learned to embrace it with very open arms (see avatar, signature... he he.. ). I do know a couple on this cruise outside of the PP group and they're doing the Freestyle dining concept. Hmm...

Booking with PP was very interesting. I had a rep call me back when I inquired about their group option as it was MUCH cheaper than what Celebrity was offering for booking direct (for a solo person going). No worries on being in steerage on Deck 2. I'm in a broom closet somewhere. I don't know where quite yet as I'm still on guarantee. Except for that one phone call I've only interacted with them through email. That in all honesty is scary to me. I like the human touch and being able to talk to someone. Luckily Celebrity has been helpful every time I have called them about questions - either on the ship or on-shore stuff.

[CruisinMaterial]

Originally Posted by hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com

Hi there, we thank you for your rounded and attitude that's what we would usually expect. It would be good to catch with other gay guys once on board. We do respect that we will not be part of PP on board activities but that should not stop guys from meeting up for non PP parties, dinners etc. We are both such lovely guys from down under both with impectable manners
Paolo-Andrea and Ashley
Deck 7

I'm sure Celebrity will have a regular GLBT gathering somewhere so I'm sure that will be a place to go. Just remember to check that bulletin board by guest services for date, time and location. I don't know if it's nightly at a given bar but if I had to guess it would be at a certain time at the Martini Bar. Celebrity (working with Atlantis so much) should know by now we gays love our martinis! If not, you'll see me out and about on the ship on sea days. Most port days I'm off the ship early and back late.

[hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com]

We are not into scheduled dinning on cruises so we always do the 'come dine' times that way we can attend dinner when it suit us plus the bonus for us with dinning that way is that we meet new people every evening and not stuck with the same people. We will have to organise 'drinkie poos' in our stateroom for those guys (singles/partners)who are travelling on their own and not a part of a travel group. Hey! there nothing wrong with steerage even the Titantic had that class! mind you look at what happened to her

[hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com]

LOL that should have read as 'My time dining' and NOT 'come dinning', appears it's time for a G&T to straighten out my thinking! well it been a rather warm day here and the heat must have touch my brain.

[lemursf]

Our names are no secret. I am Jay and my partner is Eric. We have been together for 27 years and were legally married in Ca (when it was legal) a few years ago. We do not like freestyle dining. You have a choice of sitting alone with your partner (boring) or sitting at a larger table and exchanging small talk with (heterosexual) strangers. At least at the gay PP table(s), you get beyond the small talk after the first day or so. I will try to give you a call or leave you a note to let you know where the PP group is meeting the first nite so you can accidentally walk in on us. Lemursf

[tiggerman101]

Wow, you guys have really kept this thread going. I haven't checked on it in awhile. I wonder how large the PP group actually will be? As I said previously, my partner and I had no idea that there was even one for this cruise. I actually found out about it from the main roll call.

Right after we booked this cruise I saw that one couple was not "comfortable" with a group that was going to be on the cruise. They made a few veiled references to it and decided to book the trip in February to avoid the issue. I wondered if it was indeed a gay group they were so worried about so I googled the ship and date and found the Pied Piper group.

Anyway, we have everything pretty much nailed down for the trip now. Flights, hotels and tours are all a go. I just have to figure out time management in Singapore and Hong Kong. I am trying to figure out if a day trip to Lantau Island is something we should do. Other then that, i am so ready to go. It is hard to believe that I booked this over a year ago on the Allure. Back then I wondered if it would sell well. Now it is pretty much sold out.

My partner and I would be very interested in meeting up. We had a great FoD group on our Caribbean cruise this month and met nightly.

[hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com]

Once the cruise disembarks in HK we are taking a day tour to Macau and also another day trip to Guangzhou (by boat/bus). We have been to Guangzhou last year and spend a few day there so got to find some great places to visit on our own. if anyone whats to join us you are more than welcome to.

[hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com]

Hi Jay and Eric, we will look forward to hearing from you once we set sail. We always prefer to sit at a table for 2 and we delight in chatting to whome ver happens to sit in the next table for 2 in fact we have always had very interesting conversations with hetro's and in some case we have been the first gay coule that they have ever met. We always talk about things in general wish they appear to appreciate and that suit us also. Can't think fo anything nicer than to sit with ones partner at a table for 2 and look longfully into each other eyes, and giving little sighs every now and then while handing hands, and above the table!

[Toronto1970]

Originally Posted by hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com

No we are not travelling as part of the Pied Piper group in fact when we first enquired with PP about booking through them we were told in no uncertain terms that although we are gay if we didnt book our cruise through PP we would be ignored by the group. Being Kiwi's we have no time for that type of attitude especially from other gay guys so we booked directly through Celebrity and we will make our own entertainment with other gay non group 'cruisers' lol no pun entended.

This will be our first time cruising as part of a PP group, but last year my husband and I were on a QM2 transatlantic crossing that had a PP group on board. (We didn't find out that they would be on the same cruise until a week before leaving).

While we of course could not attend their private cocktail parties, or sit with them at dinner, we definitely met quite a few of the people in the group as part of the regular Friends of Dorothy meetings. (And in fact, it was through the interaction with them and their thoughts of cruising in a PP group that we decided to book this cruise through PP).

So don't feel worried that you will be "ignored" by people cruising as part of the PP group. It's just that you won't be able to attend any of their scheduled get-togethers. (Which is perfectly fair -- PP is a business after all!)

<that said, it doesn't excuse the rudeness it sounds like you encountered on the phone with them>

[hinterlandboyz2@gmail.com]

We wouldn't let ourselves become upset by PP's rude response to us. Just nice to know that other gay cruisers are more friendly. We certainly will not be 'put out' by not attending their functions, dinners etc. We have always made our joy entertainment and fun on board and this trip for us will be no different. We have always enjoyed meeting a wide range poeple gay and non gay and for us that is what makes for a great cruise.