crazyman3

Sorry, I forgot to answer your demographics question! We found it to be an extremely international mix ---we met a Norwegian couple who became our firm friends. There were many, many nationalities on board.

The age group was fairly mixed too although there weren't a lot of young children around.

We were on the Connie a for Christmas 2016: UAE to India and back via Oman. A fabulous cruise. Loved it!

Some extremely interesting ports and excursions. Highly recommend it.

For us, the highlight was a houseboat ride in Kerala.

Mumbai was crazy! Fascinating but hectic.

Celebrity celebrated Christmas but not too much --- it was fairly PC, recognising the fact that there were lots of non-Christians on board. So rather than 'Happy Christmas' on things it was 'Happy Festive Holidays'. Still, there were carols, a nativity display, a visit by Father Christmas, gifts etc.

The only moan we had to each other was the lack of a Christmas dinner in Luminae. So, we asked for some from the MDR ---they were awful! Turkey roll rather than 'proper' turkey... it was like being back at school! 

We highly recommend a Christmas cruise!

I recall one in a Celebrity Suite on my first X cruise. It was wall mounted.

When I used that suite again on a later cruise, the machine was gone!

Certainly Princess ships had DVD players in the 90s and early 2000s... 

I wonder if some cruise ships in the 70s had betamax...

Love the advice! 

Venice? Well, we do go for a long weekend in December ---and it's almost tourist free! Great!

If a cruise takes us there, we usually try to explore some of the islands (Lido is interesting and does not have many tourists) or we wander around the back streets. If it is an overnighter, I'm off the ship before dawn, camera in hand!

On 6/6/2019 at 6:55 AM, Wendylet said:

I have in the past used the laundry service on a Celebrity sailing but have tried to be careful with items I include as most of my clothing does not go in the dryer.  It seems that everything is put in the dryer and returned folded. Would it be possible (or unusual) to request that items just be washed and then returned wet to be dried in our stateroom? Is it possible for just a few items in the  bag to be handled this way or would the whole bag have to be treated in this same manner? Not even sure this is a good idea given you would need to be there when it is returned or you might have a wet soggy mess greet you upon your return! Advice or experience?

I always write my requirements on the top of the laundry list, as part of a mixed load

e.g. not to wash whites and darks together, don't starch the shirts, do not tumble dry the green sports shirt

I don't rely on my butler or common sense ----sorry!

Never had a problem once I've done this.

I have had a shirt badly frayed by the machinery once and on another occasion I received a thong ----which I hoped was returned to the lady in question!

1 minute ago, crazyman3 said:

 

My brother-in-law and I did the Glengoyne tour a few years ago. Amazing. Well worth doing! Don't drive!

A thought: you can go to Loch Lomond and enjoy Glengoyne on the same day!

23 hours ago, homeofthehound said:

 Thank you Fragilek - we do stop in Greenock however that is one port that we have an all day excursion booked to Edinburgh. We are supposed to return to the ship around 5:00pm and our ship doesn't leave until midnight, would you recommend anywhere special to visit in the evening hours that is close by and easy to return from by taxi etc. (I always worry about ease of returning to the ship if we take a taxi to a location). We would have loved to go to Glengoyne or another local distillery but I don't think that is feasible in the evening hours correct?

My brother-in-law and I did the Glengoyne tour a few years ago. Amazing. Well worth doing! Don't drive!

Thanks for the reassurance! Phew!

We've booked the Lisbon to Cape Town cruise many months ago. Of course it filled up very quickly. Now there is no information about it on the Az site.

Is this because the ship is full... or, my worst nightmare, Az are pulling the plug on it ----excuse the pun! Maybe the ship is being chartered...

Opinions please.

A foot note on this: we paid x amount for our room; the return cruise the following year costs twice as much for the same room! What is going on?

On 4/14/2019 at 4:09 PM, maggie.1008 said:

This is why a nice balcony is important to us. We havn`t gone to the pool in years. Not my idea of relaxing. 

Yes, that's us too!

English bubbly is excellent! In professional blind tastings a good English sparkling wine has been known to beat equivalent champagnes. In fact, some champagne growers are now investing in land in SE England.

Nyetimber is fab! Also, we love Wiston Estate and Chapell Down. Of course there are many more fine English wineries. 

A word of warning: prices are high. We're talking £35 for a bottle of Nyetimber ---- thank goodness for supermarkets that sometimes offer it for far less!

We've never had any issues with butlers on our X cruises ---except laundry! Not enough bags... same day delivery late... Yes, the laundry bags should really be down to the steward.... and yes, prompt laundry delivery at 17:00 can be difficult for butlers because of their need for breaks and also serve cream teas in Michael's Club.

There have been occasions when our butler has provided us with surprises e.g. a selection of cold food in our room when we returned mid-afternoon from an excursion.

Tips beyond those we've paid for? Usually money but once in a while, after some detective work, a gift.

A word of warning: I had the premium package on one cruise and ordered 'Russian Standard' vodka several times whilst in the Ensemble Lounge. Now, this vodka is very basic and does not appear on the premium list --- probably not even on the classic list! Therefore the trainee bartender thought that it must be charged to my account. I, Mr. Slightlyfrustrated,  dealt with guest services to have the charges removed. The next night... yes, you've guessed it! The same thing. Obviously, my next visit to guest services was in my Mr. Veryinconvenienced persona.

So, the being nudge on this is to check your bill, via your TV, daily.

14 hours ago, jelayne said:

 

The drinks aren’t free they are factored into tge cruise prices.

Ah, this was lost in trans-Atlantic translation! In the UK we put punctuation marks around a word to show that it is not quite a written. It adds a little irony, perhaps some sarcasm, maybe some humour.

By doing this to 'free' it explains that I realise that they're not free but covered in the cost of the cruise ---- just as a tank of fuel comes 'free' with a new car.

Hope this clears it up.

27 minutes ago, Morgsmom said:

We are on an upcoming British Isles cruise on the Reflection.  What is Celebrity's policy with regards to bringing back a bottle or two of local wine/cider/beer after a day in port?  I know there is probably a "stated policy" (such as we can bring on two bottles at embarkation AMS), HOWEVER in PRACTICE does anyone have experience with this?  

 

thank you in advance!

We've brought wine back on board and have been allowed to keep it. 

Once in a while, our bottles have been taken from us and then returned to us on the eve of disembarkation.

Frankly, with a drinks package, it's in Celebrity's interest to allow us to bring booze on board ---then we'll be drinking that rather than our 'free' drinks!

On 5/7/2019 at 6:26 AM, NeilWM said:

A very tough call that we are also pondering.

 

The beautiful Sri Lankan people rely so heavily on tourism to their amazing country, but security hasn't historically been their strongpoint and tourists are often targeted by terrorists in these situations.

 

At this stage we are still going as who knows in what country/at what time there may be a terrorist attack, but we will monitor the situation.

We were in Sri Lanka last year. A wonderful land holiday. 

Tourists are often targetted...  when? Where?

On 4/2/2019 at 4:05 PM, Mrs Miggins said:

If you do go to Katokolon you can easily visit Olympia as a DIY.  There are busses waiting that you take you there and back for as I recall 10 euros.  We visited the site on a Viking included excursion and I cannot imagine why there is any sort of age limit.  The journey is around 40 minutes.  I am over 65 and my husband does not walk well but we both enjoyed the site immensely.  Also the lovely rose garden near the entrance.

 

Also, there is the ticket kiosk that sells guide books.

Once inside, there is plenty of information about each site on a nearby board.

If you're really into history, you can purchase a book which shows how the site is now, then add the overlay and you can see how it was many years ago. I couldn't buy mine from the kiosk and so bought one in a shop in the local shopping street.

We send a bag of laundry every day. It's one of my chores on a cruise. 

I write 'No starch' as a general instruction. Also, for my sports shirts I write 'Please do not tumble dry'.

If something comes back damaged, I go through the Michael's Club concierge and seek recompense.

If something comes back with wrinkles, I deal with our butler. 

I do ask that my boxers are ironed.

What I do hate is chasing laundry! If we need to be out of our room by 17:30 then we need the clothes delivered on time. I have been known to growl on such occasions! 

We're sailing with Azamara next year.

We like the itinerary --- West coast of Africa.

Our Elite + status should serve us well but as we have booked a good suite, the loyalty perks count for little. This seems to be the same on X. If we're in a CS or a Sig.Suite on a X ship, the loyalty perks are small. Shame.

We have a X cruise booked for this coming August but that's it, nothing else booked with them. Perhaps we'll book X again or perhaps we'll move to Azamara. 

Interestingly, I received a survey through a survey company. It was about loyalty programmes on cruise ships. It was obviously about the RC brand including AZ  and X.

I was on the AZ forum here on CC and found that some passengers were also sent the survey directly by AZ. 

Have X sent our surveys to some passengers? Is X using the Zeniths to invite opinions instead of sending out surveys?

On 3/14/2019 at 10:57 PM, cruisestitch said:

But please, no Buy-one-get-one-free perks which single cruisers will never be able to use.

And no 'children come free' because some of us have no children!

I've had this with Celebrity on my last few cruises... except passengers were allocated (I think) boarding times. Suite guests were asked to board at their pleasure.

I'm surprised that Az are using a similar procedure. With much smaller ships than X, there shouldn't be the need.

Wait, wait, wait! Less passengers being processed at any one time = less shore staff = greater profits = happier shareholders...

We haven't sailed with Az yet... Novemember next year! Can't wait! So we didn't receive this survey via Az.

Instead, I completed it through a survey company. I'm fairly sure it was the same survey because it latched on to 'Celebrity' and 'Azamara' so quickly.

We're not people with a high income ---- so an average couple. However, I was able to complete it.

Plenty of frustration with some of the sections --- especially the three-options pages!

I didn't understand some of the American English ---- it had to be a 'best guess' from me.

Ah, Bonnie, a 'damp squib'... A squib was an old-fashioned firework... so a damp one is rather a non-event! A disappointment! 

I'm sure we'll give White Nights a go on our fab cruise next year.

We've loved cruising... but we also enjoy relative luxury... so we only cruise once a year and enjoy suites etc etc.

However, in the last 12 years we've had some very special land-based holidays: Sri Lanka, Jordan, Scotland, the Nile, Morocco, Venice (not on a cruise that time!), Dubai and Syria/Lebanon. Our favourite was Syria (just before the war) but Sri Lanka was remarkable. 

The cruises we'd like to do:

a) The West coast of Africa

b) UK to Iceland to Greenland to Canada to New England.

The former is booked! Azamara 2020! Bring it on!

The latter... can't find what we want unless it is a B2B. Ideas?

Thank you.

A thorough review!

We've booked our first Az cruise for November 2020. It's on the Journey.

Your comments about the lack of space in speciality restaurants is worrying... We haven't used a MDR for many years...

Also, your remarks about the entertainment do not fill us with confidence: we never go to the shows, preferring singers and other musicians in bars. What were they like on your cruise?

White Nights... mmm... sounds as if it was rather a damp squib. Anybody else with a comment about what to expect on a White Nights evening?