dcbiker97

Captain just announced that we will be arriving tomorrow in Cyprus and then having an overnight in Cyprus. Then we will have a sea day.  In addition, we will be having a 2nd overnight in Egypt. 

4 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Thoughts with everyone. I am sure that they will make a sensible, informed decision. To be honest, even if they docked would anyone want to get off? What is the mood onboard if you don't mind me asking

Can’t comment on the mood as I’ve been up in the Retreat all day.  I have no doubt Celebrity will make the best decision it can.  

7 minutes ago, marco491 said:

Was Haifa first port of call? We were on this same cruise one week ago. Ashdod was the first port, then Haifa. Have they already rerouted as Haifa is further north? As Tel Aviv has already come under attack I can’t see Haifa being any safer. 

We’re on the cruise currently. Haifa is the first port (has always been the first). No word as of yet as to what the ship will be doing.  

We did the evening Butchart Garden tour last June through Celebrity.  It was basically a sprint through the gardens.  I think we got maybe 90 minutes there. Luckily we had been once before, but I would have been extremely unhappy if it were my first time. Also the gift shop was closed even though there were a number of busses from the ship tours.  

Hopefully they can go first thing in the morning to the UK Embassy in Athens.  I’m sure you already have this, but here are some emergency numbers (hopefully they are different than what you’ve already tried)

https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations/british-embassy-athens

I wish your parents luck in being able to go. We are on the cruise right after them. 

16 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

no, but the are colour/zone coded with the area of the ship 

Yes that’s true, but for reference for others, there’s no need to print the tags in color. I’ve printed out the tags in b/w since they stopped sending them.  For the OP, just have the porters do it at the pier. That’s the easiest way now. 

It will depend on the port if you can make the time you’re thinking. In general, the US ports will require you and the other B2B folks to go as a group through immigration so that could be after 9.  

I can only speak to the upcharge items in Tuscan when we are in a RS or above.  Our experience has been  about 50/50 whether they charge for it.  We’ve had times where they have provided it at no charge and others when they charged.  Official policy is that it’s not part of the complimentary dining for the RS and above, but some waiters will go ahead. 

It went very quick this past November. We got the declaration forms on the ship and the Australian authorities had someone there to collect it near the exit of the cruise terminal. If you checked yes to any of the questions, they sent you to another person. We checked "yes" for prescriptions and were sent over there. He looked at our form and we told hm that we just had prescriptions and he sent us along our way. 

4 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

That's not been the case for a year now. Starting last September when the new WCB menus came out they have been a lot more flexible. The back page of the menu now lists beers and wines and they will make simple drinks. 

 

https://profcruise.com/celebrity-bar-menus-2023/#world

I see a few beers and a few wines on the menu you linked to. Glad they’ve added some of those. Can you point to where they will now make simple drinks, as I did not see that on a menu. 

1 hour ago, ladylemondrop said:

Thanks all for replies - helpful! I will try world class bar as I have a mission there anyway… ☺️

The World Class's bar is really limited to a set menu and the ingredients they have are limited to that menu (except for some really nice Scotches). If you ask for something that's not on their menu, they will almost always request that you go to another bar for that drink. I've seen people over the years get extremely loud and upset at this, but that's how that bar has always been. 

Great pics of Athens. Your pics are making me even more excited as we will be there in 3 weeks. Which restaurants are in the pics that you went to?

On 9/9/2023 at 9:39 PM, GottaKnowWhen said:

We did this in Ste. Marteen a few years ago. First stop was a wine and cheese shop, discussion of new vs older vs well aged Gouda, taste testing including wine pairings. (9:30am!) Then to a market, some discussion of how to select among local produce. Then to a restaurant where our chef and local guy discussed/demonstrated making ceviche. More tasting with wine pairings. On to a French restaurant for a nice lunch. Then back to the ship (we opted to get dropped off in town.) That evening we had a galley tour, then a nice multi course dinner in a corner of Tucson restaurant with presentation/discussion by the head chef. The meal was supposedly built around items purchased that day in that market we visited, but I am not convinced. All in all, quite nice! We were outliers, the other 12-14 participants seemed to be two groups of friends, and it would have been a bit more pleasant if we had our own grouping. 
Stan

I came here to post my experience from St Maarten from several years ago.  My experience mirrors yours exactly.  I never did see the chef buy anything other than a spice packet so I kept wondering  all throughout dinner just how much was actually local. But it was a nice day going to various places on the island. 

As another Celebrity Elite+ thinking of trying Regent, I’ve been looking at the various stateroom categories. On Celebrity we always sail in a Celebrity Suite or higher because it has a separate bedroom and a sofa bed.  Every ship’s Celebrity Suite, even if a different ship class has separate bedrooms/sofa beds.  Looking at Regent, that doesn’t seem to be the case.  Are the 1br with sofa bed ship dependent on Regent (meaning is one ships Penthouse different than another)?

Even though we pretty much sail Celebrity exclusively, I love following Carnival’s brand ambassador John Heald on FB.  When he began posting the menus, I was quite surprised and impressed with their new menus.  Feels like they are going in the opposite direction of Celebrity. Most of those menus looks way better than what Celebrity has as of late. 

Just called my TA back and they called Celebrity. Celebrity put the OBC that they promised on a 2025 cruise we booked last week. 

I haven't. And I just called my TA for the status of the refund. While I was on hold, they called Celebrity who said that they have to manually issue the refund. I can't imagine having to do that for the thousands that were affected. 

We've stayed in a Signature Suite, which is our favorite on Reflection and have never heard any noise. We really haven't even heard any noise in the hallway. 

27 minutes ago, the penguins said:

We have done the Antarctic on Hurtigruten absolutely fantastic. A totally different experience to any other cruise line. Everything revolves around the "expedition experience". Everything is weather dependent so be prepared for frequent changes to the programme or as our Expedition Leader, Anja, put " if you find it hard to cope with the frequent changes think what it's like for me as a German".

Three quick tips:

The trips to the landings on the Polar Cìrkle boats are very wet and windy - wearing cheap ski goggles makes the experience much nicer.

Once on land you can't put anything on the ground which is problem if you need to remove gloves to use a camera. Fix your gloves to your coat with elastic though the sleeves  ( just like we did as kids) problem solved.

The floors in the cabin showers are electrically heated - very useful for drying gloves, socks etc.

The owners of Hurtigruten are British a bit of a surprise like N

MSC being Swiss not Italian.

Thank you!  Taking all the hints I can find. 

31 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I was just sitting here chuckling -    I was thinking it feels like After I cheated on Celebrity after a long monogamous relation for 23 years I decided I LIKE IT. 

 

Will Couples Counseling work and a reconciliation or will we agree to an Open Marriage.   

Love it.  We were supposed to be on a 2024 Buenos Aires round trip and as you know it got repositioned.  We are now taking our first non-Celebrity cruise in 12 years. We booked an Antarctic expedition ship on Hurtigruten cruise lines, a Norwegian company we once saw on the show Mighty Cruise ships.  We also are looking at Regent too.  It’s amazing because we were set to become Zeniths next year. Our relationship feels so one sided lately. 

As other folks have said, how you buy the excursions has no bearing. Just have one person go to the theater with all of the tickets to get the same number sticker to indicate the tour. Then you'll be together on the tour.

Staying on the ship. Been once to Falmouth and don’t have a desire to ever get off the ship there again.  

Hi everyone. We're longtime Celebrity (usually Royal or PH suite) cruisers and are looking to branch out to try something else. One of the things that is most important for us is how a ship handles special issues with food. He has a number of allergies (seafood, shellfish) in addition to having some very specific health-related needs (like having to have soft foods).  In Luminae, Celebrity's suite restaurant, we can look at the next night's menu and if there's nothing that my partner can eat, they will make him anything he wants (well if they have it). I'm assuming that Regent will bend over backwards to accommodate him, but wanted to hear from folks that have sailed Regent. Thanks! (And apologies for a food post)

5 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

Do Retreat cruisers get priority disembarkation?

Sort of.  You’ll gather in the Retreat lounge (or  Michaels club) and they will escort you to the area on the ship where you disembark. That usually allows you to bypass the others waiting in line. 

We did it last year on Celebrity Solstice. We only had about 75 minutes at the gardens so it was really really rushed. If this is your only time you’ll ever be able to go, then do it. But I’d recommend a much longer trip in the future as it’s an amazing place.