Barry ATL

We are on a 12/13/2015 cruise specifically because that is one of the slowest cruise weeks of the year. Most of the other teens will be out of school the following week.

There have been many threads on here about kids of all ages. Usually, the teens find others. If your intent is to entertain your teen, then Royal Carribean is a better pick. Celebrity is a bit more "refined".

Again, many teens go on Celebrity and have a great time. Some of the parents will chime in and give you more detailed info.

As a previous poster said, we all have our own way of tipping and for different reasons or motivations.

On our Carnival cruise in March we were in an accessilbe cabin. We always need a few extra things to make the cabin comfortable for DH and his wheelchair. My expectations for Carnival were low, so I was prepared for a lot of self service. Our steward stepped up as soon as we arrived. We needed some funiture moved around (read: beds) and a few other special requests. He impressed me immediately. Toward evening I ran into our steward in the hall and reached out to shake his hand and tipped him $10. For that short cruise I did that every day with our steward. It just felt right.

With tipping, you just have to do what feels right for you at that moment. There is no right or wrong.

I don't need to remember the ports. We don't budge as husband not that well.

 

We go for the ship, not to spend all day in a bus as the 'sights' flash by! Just to do absolutely nothing.

 

Now, of course, I have a purpose! Something to keep me out of trouble:D

Our next cruise was booked specifically for the ship. Do not care where it is going as we do not plan to get off. We upgraded to the premium package even though it will not be cost effective. It is going to be part of the experience. We are going to treat the bars like the MDR or buffet. Try new drinks and if we don't like one, we get another.

Someone on our roll call mentioned Slush opening up on the Eclipse. After someone described the frozen drinks, I said:

Oh, it is like an ocean bound 7/11 that puts happy juice in the Slurpees. :)

So, we are going to lose some weight before the cruise so we can try all of the food we want and all of the drinks.

Our personal challenge: Try to get one drink from each bar in one day. That will be a very "happy" day.

Oh... and as to college drinks. In my fraternity, we set up a big wash tub. 20 cans of various frozen Minute Maid and everyone had to bring a bottle of something to pour in the tub. :D

I wonder if the system would really let you pay $100,000.00?

We did Icy Straight Point twice about on two seperate cruises about 8 years ago. On one of the visits we did not do any excursions. We paid the $5 and rode the school bus into Hoonah. You can also walk it as it is only about half of a mile.

We had the best time in Hoonah. We ate at THE restaurant and had fish that came off of a boat that morning. We got to meet THE cab for Hoonah. It was one of our favorite port days because we went "off grid".

Our second favorite is in Nassau this year. We met "Brother Bo", the caretaker for the Anglican Cathedral. We ended up in his broken down mini-van riding all over the island with the doors hanging open. Had lunch at an ourdoor restaurant that is set up twice a week in the Fox Hill area.

My partner is in a wheelchair, so my point is that you should not be afraid to be adventurous. When tendering at Icy Straight Point the Celebrity staff carried Ken down the stairs (Summit) to the tender. The staff has always bent over backwards to help people with accessibility.

I've never done Alaskan cruise before, our first one is in September on the Solstice. We leave out of Seattle and end in Vancouver. Do you think this is something that will happen on our cruise?

You are going to AK on one of the best weeks of the year. We have done AK twice and both times were the first two weeks of September. Apparently, almost all of the kids in the world are in school those two weeks. Also, as you get north the weather does get cold. I liked the contrast. Hope you have a great cruise!

What about Clorox instead of high heat?:confused:

In food service, bleach is not allowed in the kitchen. It is considered a poison.

Some of the S class ships have been upgraded to the new system. Here is a link for those that obsess over this kind of stuff like I do:

https://www.on-waves.com/cruise-ferry

Click on the links at the left and see more details.

RC and Carnival are upgrading their Internet systems ship by ship. The new system has long range receivers that can hit land based cell towers further at sea. Combine that with a new high power (translate to higher speed) satellite and the internet pipe is bigger. On the upgraded ships RC and Carnival are offering the cheap prices on Internet. They even support an app that lets people on the cruise chat/text with each other for free. There are more features.

I am not sure if/when Celebrity will get the system.

Before anybody starts picking at my post, this is from a tech article I read about four months ago so please excuse anything that is fuzzy memory. I got to the article because I was researching the new app Carnival is playing with for onboard passengers.

I thought specialty coffees were included in the premium package and not the classic? I am sure someone here will know for sure.

Yeah... don't wait until you get on board. Customer service is giving different answers than the rep here on the forum. I am not saying they would not honor it onboard, but I do not want to spend my time at guest services negotiating. So, I paid in advance for the upgrade and will use the OBC for a spa visit or something.

What I am really looking for is an accessible cabin that has a little deeper balcony. On the Millenium class ships, the accessible cabins on the back of the ship (CC and regular) have very deep balconies. This gives Ken room to turn his chair. Our experience with regular accessible rooms is Ken can roll out on the balcony but has to turn sidways just a bit and then back into the room. Not a big deal, just one of those nice things if there happen to be something better on the S class ships without having to upgrade to a suite. Right now there are no available CC accessible rooms on our particular cruise. Of course that might change when final payment is due... so many rooms become available on that day. :)

I upgraded by phone. I did not want to take a chance because of the different stories I got from Celebrity customer service and the social media perso here on the boards.

Back to topic... the elevator has never been an issue for noise ... that won't bother us. I am very happy with the location of the room I have. Like all of us, just checking to see if there is something better. :)

Thanks for the quick response. We are not going to upgrade to a suite... that money is better spent with a spa visit.

I just wondered if there were any verenda accessible cabins that might have a different size balcony or would otherwiser be better.

My partner is in a chair so we book an accessible cabin. This is our first time going on a Solstice class ship. I got us in 7145. The only thing different about this cabin is the proximity to the elevator.

On the Solstice class ships are there any better accissble cabins I should be on the look out for?

Years ago we got the best accessible room on the Summit. Concierge Class, deck nine, on the rear. HUGE balcony.

Thanks for all of you guys help!

We got the go123 classic for our December cruise. I have been debating about whether to upgrade to premium. After reading this thread we are going to upgrade tomorrow. Just having the option to try many different things makes it worth it. With the classic package we will stick to what we know. With the premium package we would have more freedom to try new things without having the cost nagging us. We have been burned by not paying attention to the on board account and finding out at the end of the cruise that we spent $1000.00. So, just for the piece of mind and more enjoyable ship experience, we are going for the premium package.

(877) 266-1020

http://www.shipdial.com/shipdial/

It is pricey. $7.95 per minute.

Thank you, but this will not be necessary. We're sending an additional message to the ships to ensure that guests sailing do not experience this issue.

Hello Celebrity. Thanks for taking an active roll. I just got off the phone with Celebrity call center in Miami and their story is different. The gentleman told me that after teh 20th it would be a $16 upgrade. I mentioned what you said here, and he put me on hold. I waited for 11 minutes and gave up. It is very frustrating when different parts of the company are giving different answers. Thanks again for all of your help.

Freeport is an industrial port. They have built a small tourist area for the cruise ships. Basically, it amounts to a Senior Frogs.

Nassau is managable however if you end up on the furtherest pier, it is quite a walk just to get to the tourist area. A scooter or wheelchair is a must. The main street in Nassau is accessible, but some of the side streets are not.

My partner is parapledgic and of course uses a chair. If we do a port, we tend to go off grid. That of course is dependant on my man-handling the chair when needed. As long as you stay in the tourist areas in Nassau you will be fine. The Govenor General's house or the Cathedral would be a bit of a stretch for a wheelchair unless someone able bodied is there to push and help with curbs.

Thanks for all of the tips. I think the airport is going to be the best bet. Both chains have several hotels there.

DH is parapledgic (wheelchair) so, I think the best bet is to seperate the hotel from the shuttle, taxi or whatever transport we come up with for the trip to JAXport. Heck, if the hotel is free, I might even splurge for a cab. :)

I know this information is somewhere in the forum, but my sister in-law is offering a free night for us the night before our March cruise. She has points with both hotels. So, I thought you guys could give me a quick answer. This board is always so helpful. :)

We are booked in 9164 on the Summit for the 9/9/06 Alaska cruise. It is a handicap cabin. Most of the handicap cabins are about 250 sq ft which is bigger than a normal 194 sq ft CC cabin. For you folks that are soooooo familiar with those aft cabins (can't believe so many knows each aft cabin by room number) is that cabin actually bigger? I have not been able to get a definate answer from Celebrity... just a general answer. This is important because my partner is parapledgic and is in his chair at all times. A small cabin is claustriphobic to him because there is no room to turn (can you say Carnival?). I am sure it is a larger cabin as all of the other accessible ones, but just wanted someone who has laid eyes on it to confirm.

We are booked on the 9/9/06 Summit Alaskan cruise in cabin 9164. This is the first I have read about the deck chairs. During September in Alaska I guess there is not be too many folks outside. Our Princess cruise to Alaska last year was on 9/12 and by that time there was not too much outside activity unless it was mid-day. Also, the ship did not seem to be a late ship. No kids at that time of the year so by 11PM there was not too many folks still up... although, at 7AM there was a line waiting for a seat at the buffet.

One way or the other, if the noise is a problem, we will do like we did on the Sapphire. Turn the heat up, open the sliding glass door, and listen to the wake. We slept like babies. :)