Officer Dibble

Thanks everyone.  That's good to hear.

OD

We haven't cruised for a few years - Covid epidemic etc - but are on Equinox in April in an Aqua cabin.  The last time we sailed a choice of pillows was available.  Celebrity used to have an orthopaedic pillow, which was great for my bad neck!  Is this service still in existence?   Many thanks.  OD

The timings clearly vary by ship. We were on Constellation 2 weeks ago and shows were usually at 8.30pm and 10.30pm. On a couple of occasions there was only a single performance at 10.30pm

Mrs Dibble and I were among the 20 or so passengers who were caught up in the yellow landing card fiasco in Mumbai. Had we known in advance about the importance of checking for the Immigration stamp and signature, we would have done so the moment the landing cards were pushed under our door. Unfortunately we didn't! We were unable to leave the ship until our cards were correctly stamped and signed. I won't bore you with a blow by blow account of the ensuing fiasco; suffice it to say it took 2 hours before we were cleared to leave the ship. Needless to say our coach tour of Mumbai had long since departed! In fairness to Celebrity they did, after prompting, arrange a reduced duration tour for those affected but it wasn't very good and missed out a lot of the things we would have seen on our intended tour. We even had to buy our own lunch!! We were not happy campers!

Was in a Sky Suite a couple of weeks ago. My wife and I were incredibly disappointed with Luminae. Couldn't fault the staff, the service, the attention to detail or the presentation of the food but the food itself was tasteless. I know many readers will strongly disagree but the food, particularly any beef, just didn't taste of anything. We ended up either in Ocean Liners - excellent - or Tuscan Grill - very good - or in the Oceanview buffet upstairs, where all the food was very tasty. We certainly won't be bothering with Suite Class again.

I was on Constellation last week and there were cakes, cookies and pastries a plenty in CaB - just ask my waistline!

There is no protocol - you can't "reserve" a table.

OD

On our recent Panama canal cruise on Infinity, the ship departed a couple of ports at 3pm. So early excursion starts were inevitable if the tours were at all lengthy.

OD

I too got an email rather lacking in important information: number of cruises, forthcoming cruises etc ! Does make you wonder how Celebrity can get this so spectacularly wrong !

OD

Our cruise departs in 41 days and I emailed Celebrity to enquire when the tags would be available. This morning I received the following reply:

"We no longer offer the facility of preordering bag tags on our website.

Bag tags are part of your Guest Ticket Booklet with instructions for application.

The Guest Ticket Booklet should be sent to you from your travel agent, or if you have booked directly with us you can print your own copy."

OD

"We will pack and bring along with us two jars of peanut butter and one jar of jelly!!!!!!"

Better make sure it is low-fat peanut butter and jelly with no added sugar!!

OD

Thanks everyone for your feedback and comments. Most helpful. Interesting that Cunard charge £45 for the experience compared to P&O's £25. I guess this is a reflection on the relative quality of the 2 cruise lines?

Thanks again.

OD

My wife and I, along with another 100 or so would-be cruisers, recently took advantage of a P&O offer to tour one of their ships while it was docked at Southampton. We boarded the ship after all the passengers had disembarked and were shown all round the main passenger areas of the ship, including all cabin types. Our tour ended with a 4 course lunch in one of their main dining rooms. For £25 a head, we found the experience very useful in helping us decide whether or not we wanted to cruise on the ship in question and with P&O generally.

Does anyone know if Cunard do anything similar while their ships are docked at Southampton? If so, is there a contact number?

Many thanks

OD

If I could afford it, which I can't, I would fly first class and book a suite every time. Like I say, I can't, so I have to put up with flying economy and booking and AQ stateroom, which is the next best thing to a suite.

I don't begrudge suite guests their perks, as long as my perks - such as they are - are not downgraded to provide them.

OD

I can honestly say that in 3 cruises I have never seen anyone in Michael's club! In my opinion it is a complete waste of space. Why not turn it into a suite restaurant?

OD

Some of the balconies on Deck 6 will be obstructed by a view of the top half of a lifeboat. On Deck 11, and possibly 10 as well, some of the midships and aft balconies have a view partly obstructed by the large supports of the overhang from Deck 12. If you can find a photo of the Equinox it is easy to spot the obstructed views.

OD

Mrs Dibble always brings a small, lightweight travel hairdryer which is a lot more powerful than those in the staterooms. Also, have never seen 2 dryers in AQ - only the one in the draw by the TV. Where does the one in the bathroom live?

OD

We were on Equinox last month out of Venice and after we had boarded we saw lots of speciality dining "desks" around the ship. We were in AQ and I don't recall any 2 for 1 offers. However, I am pretty sure there were first night offers available.

OD

One of the first things we do is clear bottles out of the fridge to make room for the 2 bottles of wine we have brought with us!

OD

I'm pretty sure I have seen it in the small gift/sundries shop on Equinox. Mrs Dibble sent me out to get some nibbles to have on our balcony with our wine. I found some Pringles in the shop and am sure I saw some bags of popcorn there as well.

OD

Civitavecchia station is a fair way from the cruise terminal. I would personally go for a direct to cruise terminal car/taxi transfer from the airport.

OD

Mostly they just swipe your card but not always. It is worth checking your itemised account at regular intervals - via your stateroom TV - just to make sure that there are no incorrect additions.

OD

We did this in Venice in September. We went in to the city in the afternoon and returned at about 8pm. There were still some passengers checking in then. The gangway is open 24 hours.

OD

Can I please ask, if we transfer our booking over to our TA in the UK will our TA get his/her commission . Triona

I don't know the answer but I imagine that they would.

OD

We were on Equinox recently and while on board we booked a Pacific cruise for next year. Because we booked on board we got the benefit of OBC plus another of the 123Go perks. Celebrity already had details of our TA in the UK and everything was transferred to them. They have now taken over the entire cruise-only booking, including giving us the additional discount that they would have given us if we had booked direct with them. The paperwork shows the OBC and the free beverage packages. Hope this helps.

OD