jb_yvr

This is Alfred. Kevin and Stephen will be on to. With a crowd like us this going to be a blast!

Will be great seeing you again too!

I kind of feel like I am going on my first gay cruise :)

Jonathan

Hi all,

This is Jonathan and Randy from Vancouver.

We decided to try out the Escape for our yearly TA a couple of hours ago - so other than a cabin we have no real plans yet.

Anyway - looking forward to meeting everyone :D

Cheerio

Jonathan

We started getting the premium package a few cruises ago and never looked back. We are Elite Plus so we can do the social hour but we never bother with that because I always want stuff that is not on the list.

I like to sometimes have a fresh juice at breakfast and maybe an Aspen Coffee or Latte or two before breakfast. So at least $15 before tip right there.

Depending on my mood I want a few Chandons during the day at $11 each. Some beer by the pool, gin and tonic for sail away or sundowners - a few martinis before dinner $11 each, wine with dinner - and Evian for the night etc.

So for me not only do I save a lot of money but I also do not come home with a big bill. Also nice that I can try my favorite stuff like Ciroc vodka or Belvedere that I would not normally drink at home.

Most people will probably consume a lot less than me - but this is what I like to do when on vacation :)

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Hello Jonathan, nice to meet you! Premium Alc... Wow. ;-) why not it's a vacation. I think I will go with the premium non alcoholic package and get that tomorrow. Are you part of the G&L Silhouette FB group I created?

Smiles from Germany and see ya in 230 odd days.

Thanks - yes I am part of the FB group.

J.

Hi Jonathan,

 

What's it like for you all flying to Rome from Vancouver?

 

Judith

Hi Judith,

We normally fly Vancouver - London (overnight) - Rome. That takes about 8 1/2 - 9 hours (same time as from Dallas or Miami more or less).

This time we will fly Vancouver - Toronto - London - Rome so it will be a very long flying day.

We are all pretty good with jet lag and of course there is no time to waste on being tired - so I crack will the whip if need be to make sure everyone immediately gets out in the sun if possible to adjust to the 9 hour or so time difference.

J.

Thank you for the info Judith!

I just booked us two premium alcoholic packages :D

This is Jonathan (me) and Randy from Vancouver - we will be travelling with Russell.

When we first arrived at the ship last year (Reflection TA) they did not have our sea passes ready and had to print new ones, then on the ship they told us they had no proof of us having purchased the beverage package. Thankfully the very nice girl at customer relations spent about 15 mins hunting for it.

Lesson learnt - this year we will have a printout of that receipt.

Anyway - just thought I would say hi.

Jonathan

Hi everyone

For those not knowing us, we are Jonathan and Randy from Vancouver.

We are brand new to Oceania, however ironically we have tasted Oceania food. They had a soiree in Vancouver earlier this year where they did a wine and dine event and you could even try one of the "Tranquility" beds.

We opted mostly for the wine portion of the event, but the food was very good as well. I was not brave enough to stand in line to try a bed that had been tried before - I like my bedding virgin.:D

Anyway, looking forward to finding out more about O seeing that we know very little.

One of our first next steps is to get our Brazil visas.

Sorry to hear you guys have been under the weather, Russell; your Vancouver group helped make the cruise so much fun. Hope you all get well, soon. I have some great photos of most of the gay "mafia" and I'll send them out soon (send your email to: bart at cox dot net. Bob developed a nasty night time cough after we got home, but it may be medication related. I've been fine. I was afraid Bob's eating binge both before and on the cruise might have bad effects, but his latest blood work shows everything in good working order, so we guess the sea air agrees with him. Now looking forward to next year. If you've been checking, it appears Tangiers has been substituted for Casablanca. Give a big hug to the ladies and see you before we know it!

Bart

Hi Bart and everyone,

It was super nice to meet you all in person - I just wish I was a bit more vivacious towards the end.

I have been totally sick since our stop in St Kitts I think or even before - this is/was the worst cold or whatever that I think I have ever had - I have never coughed this much in my life. Today is the first day that I feel a bit better.

Needless to say after all of this, I need a vacation!!!

BTW - does anyone know how to send a private message to someone on this board?

We finally made it to Rome in the middle of the night after a 4 hour delay and missing our initial connection and only just making the rebooked one thanks to chaos in LHR security area in spite of having Fast track.

So for Wednesday we literally saw about 5 minutes of sun through the plane window.

Our luggage did not it make it so we must now waste several hours of our only day in Rome and $40 per person to go back to FCO to go pick it up because hotel delivery could only happen tonight as in nearly 24 hours later !!!!!!

Jonathan

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So we are packed and ready, didn't get any Euro's though, we will have to get that in Heathrow, I'm sure that will be possible. Just one more day at work, tomorrow, and then of we go, at 21:45 out of Atlanta, a few hours in London and Rome here we come.

Can't wait to meet everybody on this sight......!

Kim.:):):)

Hi - we leave at 21:45 tomorrow as well - just West Coast time - so I think we will have to turn off the lights - I think we are the last ones leaving! :eek:

We have a rather tight connection in LHR on BA to Rome at 16:10 and with the way our inbound flight has been going over the past few days it is kind of nail biting.

Hope you guys have a lovely flight.

Jonathan

Don't know if this makes me a hedonist or a masochist, but I just finalized booking and flights for the DECEMBER 1 (this year) Rome to Fort Lauderdale sailing on Celebrity Silhouette. This will be my 6th Celebrity cruise this calendar year! YAAY!

 

Actually I do have a (admittedly lame) reason...there are some dear friends aboard who I am going to surprise ...I'm not telling them until we're onboard...(this is second time I've done this surprise...also did it on their June Alaska cruise).

 

Looking forward to seeing everyone and safe travels to you all!!

 

Randy

Wow Randy - that sounds wonderful. We did 6 cruises in one year once - it took me a lot of gym time to try and fix that :)

Hopefully your friends don't read this or they will have to act surprised :)

Good evening... I'm currently in transit to JFK for our flight to Rome. We depart at 10 PM. Best wishes to all for safe and on-time travel.

 

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Hi Walter - do you have a stopover somwhere? I see nothing leaving at 10 JFK-FCO direct - or do you mean the Alitalia at 9:40?

Bon voyage - see you soon :D

Mine will definitely be pasta!

Mine too - and with my luck I will probably get bolognese sauce all over my clothes :D

All three, Walter! Other than last minute stuff, we're all packed. I'm notifying my credit card and ATM companies today, stopping by the bank and getting extra cat food (we're going to miss the fur babies). We leave for the airport at 4:00 am Friday; Bob plans to stay up all night. I probably won't be sleeping much, either. We arrive in Rome at 7:45 Friday morning, though I checked and the United flights have been arriving early. We should be in our apartment at 10:00. It should be mild—in the 70s all week in Rome; perfect sightseeing weather. Safe travels to all!

I have to march to the beat of the NYC/Silicon Valley drum which does not take kindly to vacations.

We kind of have the opposite type itinerary by leaving very late at night - our flight to London only leaves around 10pm so I still have a day at work before fun starts.

It will be fun though as we 1/4 of the 12 person first class cabin on the British Airways flight - so I hope they are well stocked with Champagne :D

My first bit of excitement will be to see if the supplied pajamas fit me!

Half of our 9 1/2 hour flight takes us way up north across the mind-boggling vastness of the planet called Canada.

Normally by the time I see Godthab (in Greenland) on the map I am sick and tired of flying and then we still have to go past Keflavik (in Iceland) and then I just want to get off the plane.

I cannot sleep on a plane so it is pure hell. Unfortunately we arrive in London just too late to take a shower in the arrivals lounge.

After a couple of hours of layover we need to do the LHR-FCO portion which is another 2 1/2 hours of flying.

We only get to our hotel in Rome around 9pm - just in time for dinner. Then one short day of doing our favourite Roman things.

By the time we board the ship and you guys see us you will all be acclimated and our jet lag will probably just kick into full gear. :eek:

Hello kittens!

OK - seeing that I rarely say no - I just got us 2 premium drink packages.

Was a bit of sticker shock at first with the Celebrity Canadian Dollar premium pricing making it nearly $2,000 for 2 people. I am going to drink THAT MUCH?

Now I will have to find other creative ways to spend my OBC.

I am actually really looking forward to having drinks with smoke coming out of them at the Molecular Bar - is the FOD held in that bar? According to the website the musical mood is "fresh from lounge to house" - sounds perfect.

I will be doing a bit of a trial pack this Thanksgiving Monday seeing that I am dealing with all new luggage for this trip. I am going as light as possible - which is ironic seeing that I can take 3 x 70 pound suitcases.

I have already reduced my load by one pair of shoes by NOT taking patent leather shoes for the tux. :D

After this cruise, I will have 9 credits toward Elite status on Celebrity and once I am Elite, that is compatible to Diamond/Diamond+ on RCCL. :-D

 

Definitely looking forward to spending more time together. ;-)

 

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Elite gives Diamond on RCCL - Diamond plus will take a longer journey to get.

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Randy -

 

I deliberated on this topic for a long time. I was inclined to delay getting the package until I was on the ship and maybe purchase after Tenerife. Then the "Celebirty Cruises" representative came on to a thread here on cruise critic and posted some information that indicated that it would cost more if you waited to get the package on the ship. After several weeks, the "representative" came back and made a new posting to correct some mis-information originally posted... the new information indicated if you have a Classic package and want to upgrade to Premium that this can be done pre-cruise or on the ship for the same price ($10 + 15% gratuity) per person per day.

 

Since I did not have a drink package as part of the promo, I bit the bullet and went ahead and purchased the Premium package for all 15 days. If you buy the premium package, here are the prices:

 

pre-cruise: $54 + 15% graturity = $61.20 per day, per person.

on board ship: $59 + 15% gratuity = $67.85 per day, per person.

 

Not sure what you drink preferences are, but maybe it would be worthwhile for you to buy the classic package (pre-cruise) for all 15 days and decide if it makes sense for you to upgrade to the Premium package during the course of the cruise.

 

For me, I like champagne and wine by the glass and the selection below $8 is not very wide ranging. I like the occasional martini and so the premium package will cover most or all drinks I would select at either the Martini Bar or the Molecular Bar. If the drink is more than $12, I only pay the difference. Also, if I decide to buy a bottle of wine or champagne, there will be a 30% discount if you have the Premium package. My one disappointment about the beverage package is that it does not allow for you to try wines at Cellar Masters from the dispensary. I hope that is the only restriction and not all of Cellar Masters.

 

 

 

You guys are wonderful and generous! :D

I have not really had time to think about a drink package and I am not sure I would get it because I always want what I cannot have - but thanks for the info esp about different price beforehand and the discounts - I am currently limited to 7 inches whilst lying on my hotel bed and thus I am having a sub-optimal research experience - so I will be sure to check it out later.

:thumbup:

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Should we be concerned that we dont have our E-Docs yet? I must admit that I have been very stressed at work and might have missed the delivery of them or lost them all together. Just to clarify, do these come by email (It's and E-Doc, right?) Any advice would be appreciated.

Boys, I really need this vacation!!!!

You normally get an email to say that your docs are ready, but then you go to the website to print them out and order your luggage tags etc.

So no need to fret :D:D

Just log on to your celebrity.com account and see what it says.

J.

Still no e-docs for the TA. Anyone else get theirs?

 

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We got ours on Friday

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I still can't imagine anyone traveling with that much luggage. We started flying Continental years ago, when their service beat United hands down. Now that Continental management is running United Continental Holdings, most expect United Global First to gradually wither away. It's already gone on most routes.

 

We're cruising Oceania next year from Lisbon to Rio (along with Walter and Iain and a couple other guys on our Reflection TA). I checked United's baggage allowances for steerage and saw one free checked bag goting to Lisbon, but two free bags of 60 lbs going to and from Brazil. Strange... Anyway, there was a thread on the oceania boards about luggage, and all these upscale ladies who cruise oceania were bragging about never cruising with more than a carry on. If they can doit, so can I. :D

We will contribute three people to that Oceania cruise :D

We can take 3 suitcases each, but guess who ends up having to carry them up and down stairs!

I think I am going to get a new rolling duffel for this trip - I quite like them in that they are not too huge and you can fit in a ton of stuff in them and they can be quite light.

So I will take that and my backpack and a "soft" type garment bag for the tux if I take it so that I can hang it on the back of the duffel.

In the past I have taken a "hard" garment suitcase type thing that folds in half but it is very hard to deal with, because each piece wants to roll in its own direction.

Super light travel is something I hope to master one day.

Jonathan

Just buy one at Harry Rosen, they will be more than happy to show you how to tie one on ( no pun intended! )

Men wearing measuring tapes around their necks scare me - what if they want to measure my inseam :D

How do you guys pack for two to three weeks cruise and pre cruise if you're not flying first class? We're in Italy one full week before November 1st. Its not going to be all warm weather until we get far south. More clothes. I really thought we would skip the whole dress up thing in an effort to save space. We're planning one suitcase each and a carryon weighing less than 8 kg. I assume we will go to a specialty restaurant on formal nights. Bill and I just returned from twelve days in NJ with family. We each had almost 50 lbs and that was all mid summer clothes.

So what's the packing secret?

That is a good problem to have. Unfortunately we only have enough time in Rome to go eat at our usual little pasta place and check out some hot priests.

I believe in rolling up clothes - they come out relatively wrinkle free and you can stuff your suitcase to the weight limit.

We always take backpacks as our carry-on - that is great for heavy and odd shaped items (by that I mean shoes) - speaking of shoes - stuff them with underwear and socks if you put them in the suitcase. Shoes alone can eat up half your suitcase though (running shoes, sandals, patent leather shoes for tux, dinner shoes, maybe flip-flops - that is a whole suitcase right there).

If your suitcase or carry-on case has outside pockets - stuff your flip-flops in there.

T-shirts and other cotton items are quite heavy - they are good in the carry-on because it makes your suitcase lighter.

You can wash your delicates every few days and hang them up in the bathroom on the rope - however esp on a humid cruise like this they will take a while to dry.

Natural fibers are not your friend in this case - the more unnatural the lighter and easier to dry. We will be sweating a lot - I hope - so quick-dry gym type shirts are great because you can be wet/dry within minutes and they weigh nothing and are wrinkle free.

A few ideas to ruminate on.

And lets face it almost ANY man looks great in a good tux.

Randy

You are so right. I tried on one of my dinner jackets the other day and I thought - damn you look good (JOKE!!!)

I *think* I will take my own but not sure.

This cruise will be pretty hot (temperature and humidity wise) and I always regret putting on all the stuff - I never wear ties and that bowtie always seem so tight ...

BTW - i have always wanted a "real" bowtie as opposed to the clip-on - does anyone know how to tie on and can teach me?

At least being dressed up leaves you with a couple of good pics of the cruise right. ;)

So under 10 weeks to go now - which seems like forever in my world - so we just booked a quickie one night from Seattle to Vancouver on Princess in the middle to make things a bit more bearable.

I will hold you to that... LOL

 

Now that all three of you are in suites, I will be sure to get you all to dinner in Blu so you can experience it again, hopefully for the better.

Ummm - we were always in suites :) I am still dying to see who is in a Reflection Suite - I would love to go into that shower.

Surely you know I am more Grizzly bear than Panda bear. ;)

However we might go have some bamboo with you.

As a starter :)

Not sure if you all know about this but Celebrity offers specialty dining packages. You can buy 3, 4, or 5 dinners for a reduced price. The restaurant options are already selected depending on which package you buy but the savings are tremendous if you want to try several venues. I will be buying one of those packages, but haven't settled on which one.

OK - so keep in mind - you have dinner in Blu - and then you need REAL dinner :)

Sorry - could not resist :D

I stopped reading at mac and cheese - oh okay those were actually the last words :)

Now add mashed potatoes and I am totally there

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