Capt. Johnny

Great conversation on Suite guest embarkation in San Pedro, We will be doing this on March 4th, so thanks for the tips and help!!

Great information, thank you all, may just have to see what is covered when we get on board and how long it takes them to make one.  Hmnn, might be packing my own protein powder and shaker I'm thinking.......

47 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

There are protein smoothies at the Spa Café but at a cost. They are not a beverage that is covered on the package.  Blu has smoothies on the breakfast menu but they are not 'protein'.. Seems to be how they use over ripe bananas which I hate

Not a banana smoothie fan either, but glad to see they will be there in the Spa Cafe!

Thank you

We will be embarking on the Celebrity Equinox in mid March.  We have the premium drink package, and will be in an Aqua Suite, so will be eating at Blu as well.

Does anyone know if their are protein shakes or smoothies available on board the ship?

Are they covered under the premium drink package??

Thanks a million, don't really want to bring my own shaker and protein powder on board if I can help it.

Johnny

Next March will be our first stop in the Dominican Republic. Reads all the posts but two questions:

1. Has anyone ever been on one of the Celebrity ships and had the port cancelled due to weather or rough seas?

2. Has anyone done the segway eco tour? It says it is about 4 hours long.

Several months before we go, so will keep watching this post.

Hello, here is Celebrity Equinox in Cap Cana (Punta Cana) on September 1st.

https://www.facebook.com/cruisecapcana/

Thank you for posting!!

Great question and as usual great answer, we have the premium drink package in an AQ next March and looking forward to eating and drinking our way thru the BLU menu.......:halo::halo:

Great info folks, we will be in Equinox AQ 1603 next March, sounds like for we we like it should be great!!;p

So this thread was started after our first cruise. We are set to head on our 8th and 9th this year and have never had anything happen like the very first cruise.

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Thanks for your report on the 2016 Coastal. We are headed onto the coastal in Spring on 2017 after dry-dock and very much looking forward to it. Last cruise was on the sister ship, the Star and we loved it so it should look and feel pretty familiar in most places. Skywalkers was still on the Star then in 2015.

Older ships don't worry me as much as ships that are not maintained well. We found the Star to be very good overall and hope the Grand is the same.

Really happy to hear about walking on to the Queen Mary with your cruise card, that will eliminate the need for an excursion there.

Just so you know - I don't think it's a specialty dining package.

I think it's one meal in a specialty restaurant.

You might want to verify that with your TA.

True I may have mis-spoken on that one. That will still work out well for us, but worth checking on.

We just got off of a princess cruise in April and had not decided what our next cruise would be, but did pre-pay our next cruise deposit while on board. When this sip and sail deal hit my email, it took us less than a day to crunch the numbers. It is a great deal, maybe not for everyone. While we will take advantage of the drinks a little more than we did last time:D, we will also hit the specialty coffee's too, as it is for more than just the alcohol.

Not one to be pushed I did upgrade to a mini-suite to get the specialty dining for two package as well. :rolleyes: I checked the prices on the cruise I booked and they did not raise it one dollar before this offer, so maybe, just maybe this is a really nice promotion for those that can utilize it.

So they transferred our deposit money and no we are booked into late 2016. I think this works well for them to offer such a deep discount this far out. Sorry if not everyone is receiving this offer, not sure how they decided it as we have only sailed Princess once.

While I know what they say the unlimited beverage package is worth :eek: I do not yet know what the specialty dining package is worth, but I do know they are competing against other cruise lines and Norwegian has been offering something similar to us for several months.

Capt. Johnny - It sounds like you and your wife are doing a Princess excursion to Ho'olawa Valley? That's something that's easily done on your own with a rental vehicle. The hike is quite short and I think swimming there could be a concern due to the risk of Leptospirosis in fresh water pools and streams in Hawaii.

 

How many are in your group in total? I'd consider renting a vehicle or two and visiting some of the scenic areas in W. Maui and stop at a couple of beaches there. You could spend time in Lahaina after exploring. Lahaina is interesting for 2-3 hours, but to spend a whole day there might make for a long day.

:eek:Wow, Susan thanks for all the info, we will have to rethink this.....

Hi there,

I am a single mom with a teen and will be doing a first time cruise in March - on Princess Star, sailing on 03/21 out of SF.

 

I want to plan my own excursions and explore on my own rather than "order excursions" and pay a hundred dollars for one picture with a dolphin.

 

Has anybody else done this? Does anybody else have any advice, backpacking experience about things we could do on Hilo, Honolulu, Kauai and Maui, that doesn't involve ridiculous costs to go sight-seeing?

 

I know that islands are expensive but I am hoping that my early planning skills will help to save money and maximize my experience by being a smarter shopper.

 

If there's one excursion that is "must-see" and involves at least few hours, then I might still be open to that.

 

Otherwise, I am interested in people who are experienced and can tell me what to avoid in Hawaii and what should I definitely check out?

Good morning Real Woman1, I was actually searching for some port ideas when I found yours and we are on the same trip. We have it a little different though, My wife and I are both 50 and bring our parents with us on the cruise so we will be herding actually three sets of seniors on this cruise and they don't all agree on what to do at each port. I love many of the suggestions that have been said so far in this thread. I know some of the ports from an NCL cruise in 2012, but don't know much about Lahaina yet. We may see you at the roll call, if I can get them all on the ship and in that location in time. It will be an amazing trip, one way or the other, never had a bad cruise!!

The OP is asking about things to do in Lahaina and I'm in the same boat. We are coordinating a group of parents in their 70's and one set is thinking of just cruising around Lahaina instead of an excursion. My only port experience in Maui was on NCL and I believed it ported in Kahului, Maui which is more industrial. In Lahaina, with Princess we tender in but are there areas to just wander and enjoy??? No offense to tag along on the OP's post but I think we are all looking for things to do in or our of Lahaina.

Any help, so appreciated. My DW and I are going hiking and swimming in the Ho'olawa Valley.

We have never done the Spa pass and will be on the Gem upcoming. All the info is great to help us decide!

Thanks!! :D

In six days we will begin our fourth cruise. The was started after our first cruise and some of the hilarious (looking back) things that happened to us. We really enjoy everyone's stories and how it makes us all very very much normal.

We always talk about the first cruise and what happened before we set sail now and bring two sets of glasses for my DW. Hang on here we go again.:D

With 69 days until our next cruise, it always reminds us of our first cruise which started this thread.:eek:

Amazing stories..

I can't help but read thru these and see than reoccurring theme. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, keep cruising. Oh, and watch out for the ghostly bathroom attendant.

When I started this thread, no idea this many stories were out there or that so many of you would be willing to share. AWESOME!:)

In a few short months we will be starting our fourth cruise. Parts of our first cruise began this thread a couple years ago. Now we find ourselves cruisers, addicted to the five star service even with all of the amazing stories outlined in this thread.

So, I ask you, Besides being compared to a cross between the Griswold Family Christmas and a cruise vacation, what amazing things have happened on your cruise???

Take great care, Capt. Johnny:D

I've only cruised out of Port Everglades 3 or 4 times, but I've never paid more than $12 for a taxi between FLL and the port.

 

I usually rent from Alamo at FLL and I usually drop at MIA to take a cruise out of the POM, so I don't know much about the Port Everglades shuttle, but there always seems to be conflicting information about it on this board.

 

When I am staying in the Ft Lauderdale area and picking up and dropping at FLL I will rent from Advantage Car Rentals most times. They are now a division of Hertz and are at an off airport location. They have a shuttle to their facility which is very near the Eller Drive entrance to the port. I'm not sure if they will shuttle you to the port, but if you call the local office and ask for Rommel he has all the answers.

Thanks Music City!!:cool:

First off, Thank You to all who post answers to those of us not familiar with FLL. We are heading to the Oasis this July and doing my homework on our rental car. I will be using Hertz and saw somewhere that they might not be part of the car rental shuttle between the airport and the port anymore. Anyone with current info? I also saw that there is a closer place than the airport that is authorized Hertz rentals too, Crown Plaza or something similar.

Paying a cab back to the airport for under $20 doesn't sound too bad unless there is a better alternative. Just need some local advice on getting to Hertz to pick up our car for the week after our cruise.

Thank in advance everyone!!! :)

So when I started this thread it was after our first cruise and it was an amazing journey going through what we did. now with three under our belt and a fourth and fifth in the works, we are looking and feeling more like cruise veterans.

I will tell you though, we do bring a back up pair of glasses now.:rolleyes:

We never let the bad luck stop us and are now closing in on Cruise #3. Any other entertaining stories out there?;)

So when I started this thread I was really hoping that our second cruise did not try and re-create any of these same unplanned adventures.

We just got back and had an incredible time and guess what??? Everything went great, no falling, no losing diamonds, no stepping on my DW's glasses, knock on wood, it all went great, WHEW!!!

So we booked our next one to see if we can go the best two out of three.:D