CNPGOLF

Have they completed the upgrades that were scheduled prior to this 1st Alaska cruise?

10 hours ago, Arubamoose said:

We recently returned from Israel on the Odyssey.

We did not book through the ship.  We booked a three day package through Guided Tours Israel.

We did an overnight in Ashdod and a day ported in Haifa.

Day one we went to Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  Day two we did Masada and the Dead Sea.  Day three we went to Galilee.

Be prepared for long bus rides since none of the sights are close to the ports.

I would heartily recommend them as a tour company.

Not to say that we didn't run into a few hiccups along the way.

But it is Israel.  Just so long as your expectations are not unrealistic.  Security is tight.  The tours are long and tiring.  Ship happens.

We also used this tour provider for our cruise on the Apex in October.  They guides are fantastic and very knowledgeable.  Each day was 10 to 12 hours due to the distance and traffic. 

Jack Daniel's Rye

Pineapple Juice

Cointreau 

Cinnamon 

Lime 

Red Wine

9 minutes ago, nps001 said:

I can't believe we didn't discover this awesome concoction until this past week.     By chance is there anyone here who has either a picture of the drink menu from the retreat or, better yet, the recipe?   Thanks in advance.   

We asked for the recipe in the Retreat and the bartender said everyone does it a little differently.  If you look at the drink menu for the Retreat it has the ingredients. 

The food on Oceania far surpasses Celebrity.  Now the ship is smaller and less choice in activities so there is a trade off.

Just now, LGW59 said:

May I ask what made it a D+ at best, IYO?  I have seen individual app/entree offereings disliked, but never seen anyone say overall it being a D+. 

On more than one occasion they lost our food orders. The last time we just got up and left. We did tell the manager on duty about the issues. They sent a bottle of wine and asked us to come back. We didn't since the MDR was better.

I would take Le Petit Chef over Luminae every night. Our Luminae experience on our Apex cruise was a D+ at best. 

Just now, MarKay525 said:

Source?

We're sailing in early May and there are no gaps in sailings showing on Celebrity website in May.

 

We are sailing in September and I asked my travel agent if the retreat updates would be done by then. She called Celebrity and they told her that the ship would be revolutionized in May 2023.

The Solstice will be updated in May 2023.

We are currently on the Apex with 2000 guests and not all the stations in the OV Cafe are open. This is due to staff shortages and not being at capacity. 

The Celebrity app works fine on my Ipad air.

The cost of Oceania will be more but the food is so much better.

I would pay an extra 20% for this service. 

Try Guided Tours Israel

http://www.guidedtoursisrael.com/

5 hours ago, hcat said:

I'd stick with 12:55...

 

Even if disembark runs smoothly and limo is on time...long ride to airport

(traffic?)   Baggage check in  security line can take a long time at FCO..no way to know ahead of time.

 

Non stop is great but stress is worse!  We stay over extra night so lucky you can leave on disembark day...

We are staying and extra day for this very reason.  

5 hours ago, lovescarborough said:

Just had an email from Princess. From September 6th no pre cruise tests required for US, UK, and EU cruises with a few exceptions such as Panama Canal , Canada, and Greece. Also unvaccinated can travel but need pre cruise test. The whole pre cruise test is useless. All it gives is a snapshot in time. I know people who’ve been negative in the morning and positive in the afternoon. Having finally caught COVID myself a month ago, it was nothing more than a sore throat and a summer cold that lasted two days. Husband didn’t catch it from me either. 

I think those of us who have lost loved ones to COVID have a different view than what you have experienced. 

On 7/29/2022 at 1:35 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

Is the Vatican where you really want to be?  It's kind of an outlier in terms of Rome sites and not exactly ground zero for good restaurants (though there are a few).  

 

If you are staying two days and plan on spending both seeing the Vatican sites then go for it. But if you have a varied group of places to visit in Rome, you might reconsider....

We have been to Rome before but we have always been rushed through the Vatican so that is going to be our focus this trip. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. 

Has anyone stayed recently at Tmark Hotel Vaticano? We selected it since it was close to the Vatican. 

If we just wanted to tour the basilica (we did the museum tour on the last trip) what tickets would we need?

This is the same as other modes of transportation. 

11 hours ago, Ronin23 said:

But influenza is…and that has been around forever. People were not concerned about testing and isolation for that prior to COVID.

Influenza does not have the death rate that COVID has.

I find that people that just want to get back to normal were not impacted by COVID by having someone close to them suffer and die.

This virus is not like the common cold. 

People have do what they are comfortable with and not worry about others opinions. 

We did a professional tour of Tallinn and we really enjoyed it.  

While these conversations are good to enlighten everyone to the issues, everyone must make their own decisions on where they want to cruise. The last two years has taught us that policies can can quickly and we have to adapt.

The bottom line is if you are not willing to take the risk, don't cruise.  If you are willing to take the risk then have a plan.

We are going on our med cruise in October and we will take all the precautions we can.

And they will not stop sending them even if you ask.