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There were some great shots of the new CS verandas in Dan's talk on Friday. You can see his presentation on the Celebrity facebook page. Very nice addition to that suite.

Can anyone tell me if the CS balconies were added by making the total square footage bigger or did they infringe on the living room space by taking away some of that space and creating the balconies from part of the former living room area?

Sorry, in my previous post I meant the date to be Saturday, Dec. 1. However, Italy changes prices and times in December and June so this might mean there will be a delay before the Dec. 1 prices and schedules are available. You can buy mini tickets four months in advance but I think that by the middle of August you should be able to buy tickets online.

We just booked today and looking forward to a fun cruise. Looks like we'll have a good crowd aboard. Arriving in Rome a couple of days early for some sight seeing. We don't have transfers to the port so any suggestions are welcome.

 

Tim & Dale

Denver, CO

Depending on where you are staying, the train can be the cheapest and fastest way to the port. Most of the trains from the main terminal - Roma Termini - are "regionale" trains which are old, uncomfortable and have very little space for luggage. However, a few times a day there is a "Frecciabianca" train which is faster and uses the cars that used to be standard for long distance travel. Now that Italy has high speed trains for their main routes they use these comfortable cars which have much more generous space for luggage for secondary routes. The second class fare is either 9 (if you use the online "mini" advance purchase system) or 14.50 euros one way. On Saturday the 28th of Nov. the Frecciabianca train from Roma to Genova is at 12:10 and arrives at Civitavecchia at 12:51. The walk to the entrance of the port is short and takes less than 10 minutes or you can take a cab. From the port entrance there are shuttle buses to the ships that are operated by the port facility.

Jay in Tucson

I'm fairly certain Tom had told me close to 100. I seem to remember he said he had 99 cabins set aside. Hopefully I'm remembering properly. I don't want to be thrown overboard if I'm wrong! :p

Cabins "set aside" just means that he has a block for his group from Celebrity that he hopes to sell but he can return any cabins that are not sold. I hope that we can find a good venue for the FOD meetings. Last year on the B2B TA Solstice in Nov/Dec the first cruise held the meetings in Michael's Club which was comfortable, quiet and very conducive to conversation. The second cruise held the meetings in the Martini Bar which was crowded, very noisy and the blue light made everyone look ghostly so we skipped those meetings. You might have seen the comments on the main Celebrity board regarding complaining about the rap music (?) in the Martini Bar. Now Michael's Club is having a new look with the introduction of 50 kinds of beers which will probably make that room much more popular.

The Aquafest sounds great but our regular TA just came back with such a good price for the cabin we had on hold that we decided to stick with that agency. They offer group travel insurance from a good company at a very low uniform rate plus excellent OBC. However, we'll probably see most of you onboard, hopefully in a well-chosen location for FOD.

Jay in Tucson

On the last conversation I had with the organizer, he had mentioned that he had close to 100 people at the time booked. As for the booking fee, nothing showed on our invoice from them, so assuming it hasn't been charged and won't be in the future. Have done an Aquafest group about 5 years ago, however it was an organized group with entertainment, so my understanding is that this will be a bit different as there is not any scheduled entertainers. It is nice knowing you have the option to partake in the group activities or doing your own thing. Plus saving the extra $$, compared to the going online rate isn't bad either!

Wow. Hard to believe that there are almost 100 from Aquafest on this cruise and that there are so few of those commenting here. Anyhow, thanks for both messages. We usually do our own thing rather than partake in most group ventures but I think it is at least worth a call to Aquafest.

Just curious about Aquafest. We have a balcony cabin on hold with our regular Travel Agent for this cruise but just looked at the Aquafest site. Prices seem lower than most but in fine print is says that there is a $30. charge per booking and that if the group does not reach 50 persons the rates can be adjusted upward. Those terms make me uneasy. And our regular travel agent provides a very large OBC. Does anyone know how many are now in the Aquafest group for this cruise? I would appreciate it if anyone who has past experience with this group can provide information. We leave next week for Hawaii on the Celebrity Century and would like to make a decision about this cruise before we leave. Thanks.

Great photos. Any chance you can remember the name of the tapas restaurant in Barcelona. It looks great. Also wondering if it only offers late dining like many places. Thanks.

On Friday August 5 on the HAL Eurodam. The tour is from 3:00 - 7:00 PM which would give us time to see Alesund beforehand. The price is 495 DKR which seems reasonable to me.

 

Your taxi for the day idea sounds great, but I'm worried that it might be too expensive? :o

Shouldn't that be NOK - not DKR? I don't think you can use Danish money in Norway.

My partner and I have been on 63 cruises - 5 of which were Atlantis. We are now less likely to sail Atlantis again. The same performers and dances with ultra loud music drumming through the ship night and day. At first it was fun but we have had so many great straight cruises. in the earlier years it was a much more closeted experience but in the 60's and 70's the crew was allowed to mingle with the passengers and that presented some great opportunites. I especially remember the old Oriana in 1970. Mostly young rosy cheeked British and Australian boys who were happy to meet new people during the ship's very long world cruise.

We have found that the longer cruises have a more sophisticated group of passengers and it is easier to assimilate. Two years ago we sailed on HAL Amsterdam to the Orient, Australia and South Pacific for 64 days and met wonderful folks with whom we still correspond. Also, long cruises very seldom have any children at all. If you enroll on the CC Roll Call board of your cruise as a couple it won't take long for most people to figure out the relationship.

I've read a lot about AMEX not being taken very widely but I just returned from there and in 3 days in Sydney after the cruise I did not find one place that didn't take my AMEX. In fact every were I turned there were ads for AMEX, even david jones now has a AMEX card with there name on it.

 

Now I did encounter a couple of place that wanted to put a 3% surcharge on for using my AMEX, which wasn't so bad since all my visa cards did that automatically when used out of the US. So I used my AMEX exclusively since they didn't charge my 3% for each of my foreign transactions.

I also use AMEX because they don't charge the 3% but sometimes I found that the exchange rate was lower on VISA and MC and it became a wash. It's a good idea to find out what exchange rate each is using whenever possible.

My first cruise was not actually a cruise but rather an ocean crossing on the QE2 during her premiere year - 1969 from Southampton to New York. I was assigned the Columbia Dining Room but fortunately I met a fabulous lady and her charming daughter who were dining in The Grill Room and they invited me to join them as their guest. The service and food were unequaled. I was spoiled forever.

Initially there was only one Grill Room called "The Grill Room" with space for 100 passengers, not Princess and Queen's Grill which were debuted later.

My first cruise was not actually a cruise but rather an ocean crossing on the QE2 during her premiere year - 1969 from Southampton to New York. I was assigned the Columbia Dining Room but fortunately I met a fabulous lady and her charming daughter who were dining in The Grill Room and they invited me to join them as their guest. The service and food were unequaled. I was spoiled forever.

Initially there was only one Grill Room called "The Grill Room" with space for 100 passengers, not Princess and Queen's Grill which were debuted later.

Thanks so much for the great suggestions. We will definitely go to Shibuya, Harajuku, Yoyogi Park and hopefully will have time to include Shinjuku. Now if it just doesn't rain:(.

Hi. I am a Yokohama native, so I am happy to help you. Probably the easiest and most economical way is to walk from the pier to the "Nihon Odori" Station of the Minato Mirai Line, which is about a seven-minute walk from the pier. The path to the station is very clearly marked, but if you ever get lost, just grab someone on the street, and say slowly, "Where? Train? Nihon Odori Station?"

Thank you for your prompt and very informative reply. My travelling partner and I have decided to stay on the Minato Mirai Line until the last stop. If we have time to visit the Ginza later in the day that will be an open option. Our ship, the Amsterdam, does not leave port until 1 AM so we have a really full day to explore the city.

Any specific recommendations for our big day would be most welcome. Based on your information we will wait until our trip from Kobe to Kyoto to ride the bullet train.

Thanks so much again.

Need info on best way to get from ship to the terminal in Yokohama where trains leave for Tokyo. I have read that both the subway and bullet train travel that route and wonder if the extra fare for the bullet train is worth it.