cruiserfromohio

I experience, as of yesterday, that you won't hear boo, from the shareholder benefit people.  They acknowledged receipt of my application for the shareholder within two days after I submitted it.  I didn't find how the application was accepted until I got my "Final Cruise Vacation Summary" yesterday in an email from my TA.  The credit was listed on that summary.

All depends on the route.  If you're going through Bermuda, it's a crap shoot with rough weather.  If you're going through the Caribbean to Florida, odds are the weather will be from OK to very nice.  I have done both routes in November.  The more northern route was probably the roughest I have encountered.  The southernly routes were wonderful.  The same comment holds going West to East in April.  Go south, good; go north through Bermuda, bad.

I got off the 1st Caribbean cruise on the Silhouette on Nov 30, 2018.  There was no luggage valet in that cruise, but I was told by the people on Guest Relations that the luggage valet would be available on the NEXT cruise.

Lots of luck getting luggage tags.  I leave Sunday, November 19th.  I requested tags online when they became available.  Nothing appeared in the mail.  I called the Captain's Club about 2 1/2 weeks ago, no luggage tags.  I know I can get them at the pier, but some of us like the assurance of making sure the tags are correct and attaching them to out luggage before we get to the pier.  As a previous poster said:  "Celebrity is consistently inconsistent."

I might add, the web site is is probably the worst commercial web site in existence.  They need to blow it up and start all over. 

No.  What would make you think that?

Yes, at least one night they offer lobster tail as an main menu option

I concur, if you have the time take the Alilaguna. If not, take the bus to the Plazila Roma and then the people mover to the cruise port. JUst as timely as a taxi, same route, and much cheaper.

I have used Choice Air mostly on international flights and have always found the pricing and airline choice to me excellent. I have a cruise from Ft Lauderdale coming up in 3 months and after checking directly with the airlines and booking sites like Kayak, I booked the flights with Choice Air. The price was the same, or a little less, as the other sites and the connections offered were better. It is always wise to check Choice Air for your airline arrangements.

I was there in September 2016. There are two post offices -- one in the colonnade and in a trailer. Both have a selection of cards and stamps. It took eight days for my air mailed card to reach me in the US. The neat thing about the Vatican PO is that you'll get your change in euros with the Pope's head on them. Different than the euros outside the Vatican.

If you're just going to St Peter's Basilica, it is probably easier to walk then take the bus or a cab. If you are going to the Vatican Museum, don't mess with the bus, get a cab. The cab is direct and takes you right to the museum entrance. If you're going to the museum, get a reservation or better yet book a tour through the Vatican web site. Walk right in and don't wait in what could easily be a 2 - 3 hour line.

Typically getting the train into Rome will get you to the station around 9 - 10 (depends on when you get up), so it is possible to book a tour of the museum and then see some of cathedral and be on a 4 PM train back.

Whatever you do, you will be awed by the place.

It has been a couple of years, but we used a company called See Amalfi Coast. They were very good, we go to Pompeii just as it it opened and beat the crowds, then we drove along to Amalfi Coast to Amalfi. Lunch in in the hills above Ravello. Really nice tour with a guide who spoke excellent english. They have a web site. Give them a try.

There's nothing wrong with the train. It is quicker faster and cheaper than a car, but be aware of your luggage. If you have a bunch of luggage -- 2 pieces per person -- you'll have to deal with it. Luggage on Italian trains, any trains in Europe, can be a hassle. You must get it to the train, on to the train, store it in a designated area, get it off the train and get it to your destination or the taxi. Luggage in first class is easier to manage that second class -- it is easier to stash. But you still have the get it on, get it off, etc.

A private transfer gets you from your hotel in Rome directly to the ship. The driver loads and unloads the car. So you miss all the hassle of handling luggage. But you pay a price for this service.

If you're young, and/or don't mind getting luggage on and off the train, are willing to hike from the station in Civitavecchia to the port entrance (or get a taxi), then by all means go for the train. If you're on vacation and don't want to deal with the luggage, book a private transfer.

What you encountered is a Spanish only tax. We just off a cruise that had three stops in Spain. Before every port there was a notice that there was a 12% (I believe) tax imposed by Spain on drinks, etc. purchased while the ship was in port. You should have been told, but the job of the person who sold you the dinning package was to sell package not inform you of port-to-port variations. Given that you weren't properly informed and could have avoided the tax by waiting, Celebrity should have eaten the tax.

Everything posted above is correct. There is one option not mentioned for people coming to Turkey and needing a visa. The Turks offer an e-visa that you can apply for before your leave for Turkey. It saves waiting in line at the airport, or port, to get a stamp. It is all explained and you can apply for an e-visa at: https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/. The cost is the same $20 and you need a major credit card.

Just another option.

Kathy,

We did this tour about 2-years ago and booked it online before we left the US.

The reason you get all these "shopping" stops in Ephesus is that the tour companies get a commission for bringing passagers to the stores/demonstrations, etc. All the tour operators want to take you there for a payment for bringing you there and a commission on anything you buy. Just watch the demo and say "no thanks you."

Used them 2 years ago. They are worth their rating on Trip Advisor.

There's a left luggage kiosk in the Piazzale Roma. You can pack what you need for your stay in Venice and leave the excess there. It was 3 euro/bag/day when we used it. When you go the airport, pick up your luggage and catch the airport shuttle bus in the Piazzale Roma. Using the Left Luggage Kiosk saves having to drag your stuff all over Venice.

Here's a part of a review I posted on the HAL board. It deals with our experience with AYW dining.

The ship was in code red status for a majority of the cruise. The code red status impacted some items of food service – no bread baskets or butter on the table, you had to be served these items; the service in the Lido slowed down. Code Red really didn’t impact the dinning room service. That said our service experience in the dinning room varied from horrible to excellent. We were assigned open seating dinning, or as HAL refers to it “As You Wish Dinning.” As implemented on this cruise it should have been called “As We Wish Dinning.” As reservations were only allowed very early (5:30 – 6:30) or very late (8:30 – 9:00). If you wanted to eat at 7 or 7:30 you had to show up in the dinning room and wait on line for a table. Then you got a table that the dinning room staff assigned to you, not necessarily the type of table you wanted. In our case we had a party of 4 and could never get a table for 4. The two nights we tried it HAL’s way and showed up at 7:30 we were assigned to tables of 8 and 10. In both cases the service was terrible - 2 ½ hours for dinner, cold food, order your meat medium rare and have it come out cooked way over well done, wait a ½ hour to have the table cleared, etc. The first night I complained to an assistant dinner room manager; while apologetic he admitted the area of the dinner we were seating in was understaffed! We partially broke the code when we started to call and reserve a table for four at 8:30 – the earliest HAL would allow us to book a table for four. One night we lucked into a table served by Buddy and his assistant, Boy. The service here was excellent – orders filled correctly, no cold food, no excessive waits for service. From then on we called and “reserved” that table every night. Soon we learned that we could reserve the table two nights ahead. It was too good to be true, and it was. HAL had their revenge. At the bottom of the reservation card you get every day is printed a statement that tables are subject to availability. The last four nights we eat in the dinning room, we presented ourselves at the dinning room desk with a reservation card that was for a table for four in Buddy’s service area, only to be told the table was not available. The staff had either seated another party at the table at 8 o’clock or had it reserved at 9 o’clock. The service at the alternate tables was poor at best. “As We Wish Dinning” is not well done to say the least. The staff on the dinning room front desk seems to be slaves to their computers and has no idea how to run a restaurant dinning room. Further there are “rules” about table reservations that can only be learned by experience. The “rules” aren’t published or made known to passengers at large; you stubble into them. HAL needs to improve their service for their “As You Wish” passengers or junk the entire concept and go back to fixed seating times. This experience soured my wife on ever taking another HAL cruise where we were forced into “As You Wish” dinning. But just so you don’t think service was bad only for “As We Wish Dinning;” it was also bad for breakfast and lunch in the dinning room – long waits, cold food, low staffing levels

Use the link above, and with the date and the ship's name you can find just what berth your ship will use. One thing that wasn't mentioned is that the terminal offers a free shuttle from the ship to the P. Roma, and the other way. Use that and save the $15 pp HAL will charge you. You can also get a water taxi directly from the cruise terminal to your hotel -- many euros, like 50 - 70. Best bet is to get to the P. Roma and take the water bus to the stop nearest your hotel. Pack a small bag and check the rest of your luggage at the left luggage stop in the P. Roma. Pick it up on your way to the airport.