GottaKnowWhen

Speaking of your (very fine) photography and the equipment you're using...

I went back and checked what I had done in 2018. Full-frame (Pentax K-1) and three lenses: 15-30mm for 7% of the shots, 24-70 for 10% of the shots, and the remaining 83% with 70-200. Of those with the 70-200 lens, about half were at 200mm, the remaining scattered across that full range.

I was more focused on wildlife other than birds: this was one of my favorite shots:

Waiting for Momma

18 minutes ago, prmssk said:

... I was in the shop yesterday wanting to buy a coffee mug.  I was encouraged to just take the mug with me as it was the last one.  The crew member didn't ask for my name or cabin number but mentioned something about invoicing us on Thursday.  It was a strange experience just taking something from the shop without paying for it.

You are in the Penthouse Suite. You are one of 40± passengers. You have been onboard since Saturday. They know who you are!

55 minutes ago, countess5 said:

...The night skies must be amazing. I remember being on the Big  Island in Hawaii back in the day and looking up to the sky, breath taking. I read somewhere on CC threads that there is an APP ( of course there is an APP for everything) that you point to the sky and it tells you what you are looking at. One that gets high reviews is Star Tracker Lite-Live Sky Map.

 

If anyone knows of others please share. 

...

Sky Guide

Not only the stars and planets, but it nicely traces the outlines of the figures in the sky so you can see e.g. what Hercules looks like. 

3 hours ago, prmssk said:

Today has been a lighter day both because of a lighter schedule and also the choices we made.  This morning as I was enjoying my coffee and going through my photos, I happened to look out the window onto our balcony just as a two Magnificent Frigatebirds flew through our balcony.  I had my camera handy and by the time I got out to the balcony, they were hovering just above the ship.  It was a female and juvenile.  Females have a white chest and black head.  Males are all black with a red pouch.  Juveniles have a white chest and head.

 

….

Thanks for your ongoing report! We were there in the spring, 2018. Booked to return late September 2025. I have been wondering how much things might have changed over the last 5 years, and was very pleased to note how much your experience matches my own recollections. From the airport arrival all the way through to your most recent post. And by the way, your picture of the Galapagos Penguin?  I think it is the same penguin posing in the same place. Probably paid to stand there and amuse the visitors.

Stan

43 minutes ago, Purplsmurf said:

Everyone complains about it…..just don’t buy it! Things could be worse, like sailing on Princess, which we just did. Can’t wait to get back to Celebrity next month!!

Easy to say “just don’t buy it.” Well duh, of course. Nobody is forcing anyone to purchase this. The issue some of us are reacting to is not the new product per se, but rather this as a symptom of the general strategy of marketing to the masses. It goes along with all the added 4-5 day booze cruises to NassU and the so-called private island. It is part of the general lowering of their targeting, a different passenger demographic. My recent Celebrity cruises have been like a revisit to drunken college frat parties. 

1 hour ago, Mr. Click said:

Yeah, everytime I see one of these cash grabs I think the same thing. We have a 10night southern caribbean in January and Greenland/Iceland in August and if the experience is anything like what I am reading about on these threads it will be time to move on.  Even thinking of canceling the Greenland/Iceland before final payment and just flying to Iceland for a week.  

I did the Celebrity Iceland to Boston via Greenland last year. (Preceded by other time on land and sea on/around Iceland.) My advice: do NOT cancel. Just alone the 4-6 hours spent traversing the Prins Christian Sund is totally worth the cost of the cruise. A highlight of our Iceland trip.

19 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

It is strange wording. The question is whether it upgrades you whether you have the basic or not, as in upgrades you just from basic or also upgrades you from nothing. It appears to be extremely similar to Royal's The Key program other than this strange wording. The main differences being there are no flowriders, ziplines, or rockwalls to give special times to, and The Key is good for one internet package per guest, not 2. But the wording in The Key about internet is not ambiguous like this.

 

On my second reading, I decided that I agree with Susanb10567 - it is probably just an upgrade from Basic to Premium. I find it a bit irritating that the wifi portion, whatever it is, is for two devices per passenger. Really? Do they think we are incapable of switching the link back and forth between multiple devices? 

All of this is quite irrelevant for me anyway. We'll go to the Galapagos next fall, then a spring 2025 Caribbean b2b. After that, any cruising we do will probably be Windstar or similar. Our fourth Windstar will be summer 2024 and I expect that to confirm our move away from Celebrity.

One other brief comment. Your story in some ways was de ja vu all over again for me. In March our 14 day Norway coastal voyage on Hurtigruten was stopped after 11 days due to mechanical issues. But, big difference, H chartered three planes to take us back to our debarkation spot in Hamburg, put us up in a high-end hotel for the remaining period of our cruise, food and beverage reimbursement for that period, and the option of FCC or cash reimbursement for the missed days cruising. All handled thoroughly and efficiently.

Thank you California Tuna for posting your experience. We live a few miles from one of the Great Lakes, our “ honeymoon “ cruise many years ago was an overnight from Wisconsin to Michigan. In the last 10 years we have done 25-30 ocean cruises, and had thought that for a Special Occasion cruise in 2025 we would cruise the Great Lakes for a change. Apart from the particular major issues you had with AQV, your general description of what you did see has gotten me to think about doing another European cruise instead. Maybe Western Med…

If you book an excursion on day four or later, then you can cancel onboard on day one or later, 48 hours prior to arriving in that port. If you paid by credit card, the refund will go into your account as Refundable credit, and will roll back to your card after the cruise. If you don’t use that credit in some other way in the meantime.

14 minutes ago, hcat said:

another money grab..to make yet another special group!  who will handle them? will they get a Butler?

 

Where will they  wait for the priority boarding,?  Will they board  before, with  or after suite guests? 

 

Where will they have their exclusive boarding  lunch?  mdr with Concierge guests?  In Luminae with Suite guests? other?

 

Where will they sit in the theater?  with suite guests? or take more space from others?

 

 Another group with priority disembark at tender ports.....we  can't All be first!

 

how does the math work out if folks order lots of room service,,,?

 

seems they  implementing the  model of  Royal C. Maybe a  good value on Royal  huge ships but not  really needed on X.   Too bad no mgrs are  left from CELEBRITY to turn things around.

 

They should just  serve better quality food with nicer presentations, and service and they can justify their prices and increase bookings which must be slumping.m

All good questions about the practical details.

i haven’t dug into the math, but I think $33/pd is not that bad since it includes the wifi and room service fees. It could be an ok value if those are important to someone.
The theatre seating perk? No thanks, we haven’t been to the shows in 4-5 years, the volume level is too high, even for my wife after she takes off her hearing aids. Well, once or twice we have briefly sat in seats in the last row, then made a quick exit when our noise level fears we’re confirmed.

On 10/18/2023 at 5:06 PM, Redtravel said:

Given the variations in the cabin layouts, guests have a choice.  That should keep everyone happy.  

No, that is not going to happen!😁

We did a b2b on Millennium in late August (August 18 & August 25) this year from Vancouver. Last year we did a seven night roundtrip from Vancouver June 17 on the Eclipse. In 2016 we did a b2b on Millennium, August 19, August 26 from Seward. Selected photos from all three are at the link in my Signature below.

Our 2016 started with a couple of days in Anchorage, then a train trip down to Seward, overnight in Seward before boarding for the b2b. Once back in Seward we spent a couple of days in that area, then by train to Anchorage. Overnight in Anchorage, train to Denali. Overnight outside the park, then by special bus to a lodge deep in the park. Four days at the lodge (day trips out to see bears etc.), back to the Park Entrance, train back to Anchorage. Picked up a rental car, drove to Homer. A couple of days there including a bear flight. Back to Anchorage, back home a few days later.

Our 2022 and 2023 trips were much less involved. We had either simple excursions or just walked on our own at the various stops.

We never had seriously bad weather. Our five times at Hubbard Glacier have all been on nice mostly sunny days. We've had balcony cabins, most recently on the aft; on our first b2b we switched cabins between the first and second legs because I was convinced that we wanted our balcony to face East. I was wrong. Good views in all directions throughout all of these trips.

I highly recommend spending time in mainland Alaska, not just the SE coastal region touched by the cruises. I highly recommend making your own train/car rental/hotel reservations on your own, preferably 10-12 months ahead (e.g., for the best seats on the dome car to/from Seward and to from Denali.)

There are several Alaska Touring resources, online and a monthly magazine. You don't need to limit yourself to the ship's land tours pre- or post-cruise.

As you can tell from the above, I have no strong opinions on the topic 😁

Stan

14 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

Good strategy but of no help to the OP who is already beyond that.

But possibly of help to others who could learn from their experience.

If more people would plan ahead, and if fewer people would just show up whenever they feel like it, then the whole check-in/boarding process would be less of a zoo.

7 hours ago, DaisyFire said:

12:01am in what time zone? 

the ship's time. If it is embarking from Lauderdale, then EDT.

On 9/9/2023 at 9:25 PM, Cruise till you drop said:

To my knowledge, there is no

longer fixed dining. Celebrity system still allows you to book Fixed (Early or Late) or Anytime but fixed does not exist

Been there, done that. We requested and received Fixed 8:15pm dining in June on Infinity and in August on Millennium. I would affirm that Fixed does exist.

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

Those of you with groups?  Was the food served family style and did the groups grab the food for themselves?  Or did they serve everyone?

Ours was individual servings. And 1-2 servers hovering nearby throughout.

We did this in Ste. Marteen a few years ago. First stop was a wine and cheese shop, discussion of new vs older vs well aged Gouda, taste testing including wine pairings. (9:30am!) Then to a market, some discussion of how to select among local produce. Then to a restaurant where our chef and local guy discussed/demonstrated making ceviche. More tasting with wine pairings. On to a French restaurant for a nice lunch. Then back to the ship (we opted to get dropped off in town.) That evening we had a galley tour, then a nice multi course dinner in a corner of Tucson restaurant with presentation/discussion by the head chef. The meal was supposedly built around items purchased that day in that market we visited, but I am not convinced. All in all, quite nice! We were outliers, the other 12-14 participants seemed to be two groups of friends, and it would have been a bit more pleasant if we had our own grouping. 
Stan

Best strategy is to sign in at 12:01am 45 days before departure (or within a few hours after that) and you will have pretty much a free choice of whatever time you prefer. The early time slots fill up fast. 
An alternate strategy is to book a 2-2:30 check in time, and at that point the lines are very short since so many people just go early.

Stan

6 hours ago, ROYALBOY said:

We are doing

13 SEP 2024
6 NT COASTAL VANCOUVER TO LOS ANGELES

b2b with a Panama Canal on the Summit.

In my folder of good ideas that didn’t happen, one that really bugs me is my plan to do a September 2023 b2b2b on Millennium from Seward to Vancouver to L.A. to Lauderdale via Panama Canal. But in 2023 the Millennium does a right turn at the end of the season and goes to Japan rather than on south. So I did a simple b2b from Vancouver-Seward-Vancouver. We have done the westbound Lauderdale to LA and quite enjoyed the whole trip. 
Stan

Back story: Since our first cruise 10 years ago I have always been able to pre-purchase items, usually flower bouquets and wine, by going to the right spot on the Celebrity site. The “gifts” then show up in our cabin on embarkation day. Except a couple of times I have timed the flowers for delivery on a special day, e.g. Valentine’s Day.

1. Flowers have not been an option at least since March.

2. When I tried to order wines for an upcoming trip, I was able to make choices from the very very limited selection. I could make purchases, then see those items by inspecting the Shopping Cart, but nothing I did would take me forward to a Payment page.

3. I emailed and pointed out that the Store site is broken.

4. I got a reply! The reply said I could call such-and-such number and place my order that way.

5. Grumble grumble. I picked a time when I had plenty of time, and called the number. The automated message was the same old Welcome to,Celebrity Reservations! Grumble.

6. Wait wait! Within 5 seconds someone answered the phone! He understood my reason for calling. Took my order for the two bottles of wine, applied my credit card, and done! I received an email confirmation almost immediately.

Moral of the story: the systems may be a bit clunky but there are workarounds.

Stan

38 minutes ago, StellaTN said:

I meant nothing is there at the port. I am sure Ravenna is lovely - but the port lacks infrastructure. I also have read taxis are very limited to get from port to city - there’s something like 30 total in the area. 

I was told 10 taxis. The owner of the Ravenna B&B where we stayed for a couple of nights before our June cruise knew we would be cruising, cautioned me about the transfer problems, and offered to arrange something for us. We didn’t need it as a local friend was giving us a ride, but it is worth noting that local hoteliers can be helpful.

I mentioned to my friend the business opportunities for someone to establish decent local transportation infrastructure for cruiser like us,  but I don’t think he will follow up.

On 7/13/2023 at 9:51 PM, cl.klink said:

It's not mid-Missouri.

 

- Joel

There is (used to be?) a nice bar in Columbia, hangout of sorts, good wifi. Skip was the owner. Other than that, there isn’t really anything in mid-Missouri.😁

Note that you need to get onboard the ship quickly. As others have said, that is not likely.

But assuming you magically get onboard (e.g., planes do sometimes land ahead of the scheduled arrival) then you need to first go up to 8th level, drop in the cabin whatever carryons you have, pick up your keycard (which shows your Concierge Class status) and then aft and down to level 4. Even if you know the ship intimately and have good luck getting uncrowded elevators, add at least 10 minutes to the time required from landing to lunch.

I like the Concierge Lunch. We try to schedule arrival and check-in times to make sure we can sit and enjoy that leisurely first meal aboard. Which for us has always meant we go to the embarkation city the day before, if not earlier.

On Infinity now from Ravenna. Got aboard early, room cleaning/setup still in progress. So, no notice of the Concierge lunch. Nothing on the app. Went down to the MDR, told to come back at 12:30 for our Concierge lunch. Communication gaps, but no real issues.

Once our room was set up we found a special bottle of wine and a note to come to the CC Officers greeting party next day at 4:45pm where we would be honored as the Top Cruisers. Wow, that was a surprise! A bigger surprise was that we later saw that gathering scheduled for 11:30am that day, not 4:45pm. No big deal, but a reminder to double check details.