lisalovlee33

camera to phone? I've done this many times, but all it takes is bluetooth the devices together and transfer them over using an app. on the phone. No wifi needed when I downloaded photos from my cameras to phone.

I am one of the few that commented we could stay in until we're good and ready.

QUOTE]

 

I've heard those same exact words from people all my life and always wonder how far does their philosophy of "until we're good and ready" affect others.

 

To each his own.

 

bosco

 

Yes, I'm one of those people who has a mind to make my decision based on what I think is right. But, I do commend you for the ability to lift that one line from my post and twist it a bit by removing all context to make me sound obnoxious.

If cabins are ready then ofcourse we want to use them, if they are not then we cannot. Simple. When they are ready early and we can use them, nice, when they are not ready early, then there are plenty of things to do. I have seen no other pressure for cabins. I am sure people will ask if they are ready but for the reason that when they are let us have them, but no one has said here we must get in earlier.

 

I think it is about what is reasonable and I don't believe that this early time is reasonable for what is not a cheap cruise, well not what I am paying anyway. They also have not altered dining times sufficiently to prevent bottle necks and it has not taken into account the fact that timings for getting back into the country have not changed. It also does not account for people who have long journeys ahead of them and it makes for a long day and long waiting around periods. Nor does it allow for the vulnerable and disabled.

 

As for those who simply say "stay in", it has been suggested that they might even be the cause, because too many people have ignored 8am so they have moved it forward in the hope of getting people out by 8am. Thus punishing the people who have and will observe what is asked of them in order to get things ready for the next group of holidaymakers. But to try and excuse the policy by encouraging everyone to stay in their cabins is just not fair to the staff, and the staff have not made the rules. I am sure that they are not happy trying to balance, with less staff, getting things ready and pleasing the ones who plead for more time. If you lived on a grats economy for some of your wages, would you tell someone it made life very difficult for you as the cleaner if they did not get out on time and risk that extra gratuity?

 

I do not like the last morning, with cleaners in the corridors, the hustle and bustle, even when leaving at the right time, I still feel a bit in the way of the hard working staff. I certainly would not be happy in myself if I stayed like a dog in a manger when the staff were trying to get ready for the next passengers. No that is not a solution.

 

This 7am is just not reasonable to passengers and Celebrity have to solve it, either by moving getting into cabins later or by more staff being employed. I think if not then, whilst it is not my style, people will vote with their feet and simply leave when they want to. Once one has stayed past 7 does it matter if its 8 or 9 or...... and that is a recipe for chaos and real problems about new boarders and getting into cabins.

I am one of the few that commented we could stay in until we're good and ready. I'm by no means advocating people to stay in and inconvenience any cleaners and "risk them losing extra gratuity" from the next occupants. IMHO, Your comments are a tad dramatic. Neither did I meant we should "stay in like a dog in a manger". Long journeys, disabled, etc., all valid points but having a meal or drinks with your carry on luggages (yes, I am assuming 99% of the people will go have a meal or a drink when they board) is certainly not as tragic as you described.

In my past cruises, most of the time even when you leave the room on time, the cleaning staff is not even there yet. (yes, I have gone out and grab some food and came back and eat in the room). And even when they do arrive, unless you're the first room they come at, you usually have well over an hour before your room is up for the turnover. So when it's your turn, and you're still in the room, then leave.

So, yes, I think you're not inconveniencing anyone, not making anyone lose any tips, not hurting the next occupants. The manger will be ready as it should. :D In fact, as many has posted, it serves as a bigger inconvenience with everyone getting out at the same time which makes elevators impossible.

Since I don't care for the scotch at the happy hour, I ask for cans of club soda and bring along a little baggie for lime wedges. The reason I mentioned 3 is that we usually receive 3 drink vouchers per day on a Transatlantic. BTW, you need to ask for them to be unopened and, depending on the bar, might have to order them separately.

 

You know, I forgot to add the 2 bags of laundry into my added value list, although I don't remember what their approximate value might be.

 

lvz2cruz, re the shareholders benefit of CCL stock vs RCCL, you're right but the max benefit of $250 on a 14-day cruise still doesn't add up to the over $500 (again don't know what laundry might be worth - $50 for 2 bags?) I receive as an Elite Plus. I finally got tired of hardly ever being able to use the shareholder benefit so I sold my RCCL stock awhile back. We bought ours when we returned to Celebrity in 2003. During the time we could use it, it more than paid for itself in OBC and then later with a very sizable gain when I sold.

Ah gotcha. Thanks for the tip. My personal favorite for the upgrade is the free coffees!

I’m back-pedaling somewhat on my stance regarding the earlier departure time. Do I still think 07:00 is too early? Absolutely! Do I hope they go back to 08:00? Another resounding yes. But will it make me change cruise lines? Maybe. The earlier departure Thursday was merely the final annoyance in an overall annoying cruise last week. I ultimately had to escalate a ridiculous cabin maintenance issue (no blackout curtain) 3 levels to upper management; meet with Food & Beverage Mgr re serious food allergy mistakes; and deal with a very personable cabin steward who, among other things, told me that Concierge welcoming champagne was available “only on request.” Ditto most of the other Concierge perks. Maybe that was his way of dealing with 14 cabins. BTW, the blackout curtain wasn’t fixed until the final evening and of course we had to get up well before daylight the next morning (or as my DH used to say, might as well get dressed and stand in the closet all night).

 

Regarding my personal disenchantment with Celebrity, I’ve felt for quite awhile that we’re being nibbled to death by ducks. (Skip the rose vase and bad champagne and let me sleep an hour later, please.) However, assigning a dollar value to the Elite Plus perks I use (3 daily club sodas @ $10, 4-5 coffees/equivalent @ $20, 240 wifi minutes @ $109, and 1 gelato @ $4 ;)), equates to close to $500 on a 14-day cruise, my usual length. Is $500 worth getting up an hour earlier? For me and for the time being, it is. Nevertheless, will be trying out Azamara for 2018 TA.

Always learn something new. We're also Elite Plus. Can you elaborate on the complimentary club soda? Where do you get them? Is water or other soft drinks complimentary as well? I thought it was the specialty coffees and teas.

interesting post. In all our cruises, we never actually vacated the room at the time they wanted except for a few when we had an early flight home. They don't bother you. We usually leave an hour later. Once someone comes knocking when we overstayed for nearly 1.5 hours, but it was no big deal. They really can't kick you out. It's just a recommendation. You can choose to ignore it if you wish! :D

My dh and I have been driving to Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades the last few years but this year we are flying in and out of Fort Lauderdale. We can't print off of our tablets so I was wondering if Equinox still has a computer room where I could use their computer to check in with airline and print out boading pass the day before we get off ship? I would think that it's pretty busy that day but I don't know if they still have computers for people to use.

Yes, there's always computer available even on the last day at the computer room. Nothing to worry about, we've never had to wait since the new faster internet is in place. In the past when the internet was snail speed, you may have to wait 5 mins, but nowadays, there's absolutely no wait time.

Yes, the dealer hits soft 17 and no surrender. It was the case in our past 2 cruises this year. Also on the Eclipse, the minimum bet was 10, no matter what time and day it was. Casino only has about 2 tables running at night. I suspect it has to do with the 10 minimum.

If you've had the stock for 10 years, you should have been able to use it since they discontinued combining with other offers only around 4-5 years ago.

 

We purchased in 2009 at $16 and gotten benefits for just about the entire amount. Just recently booked a last-minute transatlantic this past April and got $250.

Your post really peaked my curiousity. Are you saying if we purchased the stock before they implemented the rules against combining with other offers, then these rules do not apply to us? We have our stocks about 8 years ago. And only within the last few years, we've been getting some rejections. I always thought the rules apply to everyone, and has nothing to do with when the stocks was actually purchased. Also how do they know when you purchased them? Surely we don't send them our stock history for the last 8 years. Can you clarify?

Thanks all for the responses. I really appreciate it.

To answer another poster's question, I most definitely will not get RS points. We were also blessed in the past with the RS upgrade and gotten the points of the category we booked in.

Also, the reason I don't want to contact Celebrity is I don't want a black mark on my name and take away my amenities! I know, I've too much time on my hands thinking of conspiracy theories!

Sorry, I may not be clear, when I say perks (did I say perks?!), I meant the amenities as per what's listed in the list of freebies under Royal suite as Groryjm posted. By no means do I mean the free gratuity. Sorry about the confusion. So I believe the consensus is yes to the amenities (free premium drink package, free internet, specialty restaurants - are the ones I really care about anyway). Thanks everyone.

Do they have 9.7 128 Gig Ipad Pro? Or what above 9.7 32 gig do they have. Thanks.

does your itinerary goes into Haifa or Ashdod?

Thanks, but from my experience, the information from past passengers here is much more accurate than what Celebrity provides.

We booked a regular suite GTY that didn't include any perks for a great price but was upgraded to the RS. Then I noticed all the perks that came with the suite, such as premium drink package, free beer in minibar, unlimited internet, free specialty restaurants.. Will we still be entitled to these perks at all since our original booking was just a basic no perks booking. thanks.

Well, I don't think it will be a problem, actually. The cruise line and the port will make sure you can get to and from the ship one way or another, although it might cost some money and you might have to get back to the ship earlier than you might like.

 

I called the Ashdod Port Taxis company and it turns out they do not have authorization to enter the port. They can drop passengers off either at Gate 1 or Gate 5. I'm not familiar enough with the port to know whether or how that might help you.

 

I actually think it might be a better idea to try to take a combination of a port shuttle bus and public transportation to Jerusalem, so you can see how that works before trying to do it on the way back, possibly at night.

 

One minor point: You might have realized this already, but I suggest not taking the train, as you would have to take a train north to Tel Aviv first, change trains, and then head southeast to Jerusalem. It should be much easier and quicker to get to the central bus station in Ashdod and then take a bus from there to Jerusalem. You might even be able to find a bus to Jerusalem that leaves from a location in Ashdod even more convenient than the central bus station.

 

At the end of the day, I think even if you don't make any specific plans, there will be plenty of options presented to you when you arrive, including possibly shared taxis.

 

Finally, I would check the Cruise Critic roll call. Maybe someone is already trying to arrange transportation to/from Jerusalem and is looking for others to fill a minivan/taxi.

Thanks for replying. And big thanks for making that call!!! In any case, I will try to get a hold of the right taxi company before I get off the port. And as far as them not speaking English, it doesn't matter either, because I figure we can always have a drink somewhere in Ashdod, or a meal, and have the someone from the restaurant make the call for us, or even a stranger with a cell phone while in town. Shared transportation is also a sure way to go as we have also taken a few independent tours from taxis right off the port. (in this case, I'm guessing where the shuttle drops us off).

I was also thinking the same thing. Just as a back up, in case I cannot get hold of the taxi getting back into port, I will need to know exactly where the pick up point is for the shuttle, and best way is to take the shuttle to town to begin with! The con is that we would prefer to get there early before it gets too crowded. I guess I can't have my cake and eat it! I also found out from researching the port that Celebrity Reflections had shuttles back from Ashdod latest at 930 p.m. (review from 2012). This is fine because we will probably get in 830 p.m. latest. We really like the flexibility of doing it on our own time, like we like to wander in markets, shops, stop for a drink, a quick bite, spend more time in certain places, less in some, and is not easy to do in a tour even a small tour. Of course that'll mean we don't have all the historical facts but I'm sure I can find them all in a guide book anyway. Anyway, thanks again.

So far, I've only been trying to iron out the fine details on how the port works. Thanks for the tip about the bus. Actually just gave me an idea!!! A great idea. Just need to figure if it'll work. Will think about that before I ask more questions.

Thanks

I think you are making a easy port day very hard.....just pre book a taxi or private tour aprox $100 p/p for all day and get dropped off next to ship.

 

When I was in Ashdod a few years ago,you weren't allowed to walk to port entrance...it is a container port.

 

There were taxis at the ship $5 p/p to port entrance or arrange private tours...we had to meet our guide at port entrance...so paid the $5 each or take the ships shuttle...this was on Ncl.

 

Ashdod is way too far to walk too.

 

If I was to do it again I would book a private tour again....have a look a Guided Tours Israel...they are highly recommended on CC...get 6 people and have a stress free day.

Thanks for the reply. We prefer to do it on own, mainly because we prefer to wander around and see places we really like and spend more time in places we enjoy or skip other places we don't. Flexibility is the main reason. Doesn't hurt saving a few bucks doing so as well. Do you remember how late these shuttle or cabs run? As far as pre-booking a taxi, certainly I've thought of that. I've called the taxi company number provided and spoke to 3 different person who don't speak English. Do you have the website to do this? We don't plan to walk to Ashdod. We just want to spend the day in Jerusalem.

So much uncertainty. I don't think there can be an accurate answer on this one. I'll throw in my 2 cents. If you are concern about losing money from Viator, then book Celebrity. If you're more concern about safety (yes, a bus is a bigger target), then take Celebrity. If you're concern about not being getting back to the ship on time (say if something happens at port) and you're on a private tour, the ship may leave if you miss cut off time. My suggestion is look for another tour where you can cancel the day before or won't charge you if the ship doesn't come into port. At least that you can eliminate some of the concerns!

Please don't move my post. This sounds like a port question, but really is a Celebrity cruise question on the port in Ashdod. Thanks.

We will be in Israel, Celebrity 26 Oct (Haifa) - 27 Oct (Ashdod) - 28 Oct (Ashdod). While in Ashdod on the 27th we are planning to visit Jerusalem on our own. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but after a bit of research it appears that I can't walk out from the pier to the town on my own. We will have to take either a shuttle or a taxi specifically contracted to come in and out of the port.

1) Is the shuttle setup similar to the ones in Civitavecchia where it doesn't cost anything and takes you from ship to port gate? Or is this one of those $10 (more or less) shuttle that takes you out to the city center?

2) Shuttle times. Any idea when is the last shuttle (usually)?

3) Are taxis generally a lot cheaper outside of the port and are they available where the shuttle drops you off? (taxis priced as 323 NIS as of 2015 at the port)

4) Our biggest concern is if we do Ashdod - Jerusalem on our own and return later, say around 8 pm, we may not be able to get back to the ship if the shuttle ends late, or if we couldn't find this one special taxi company that can actually go into the port.

5) What email address should I send my question to regarding the port for Celebrity? Any idea?

Please advise.

Thanks so much for replying. Yikes, this is going to be a problem.. I called the number and after speaking to 3 person, no one could understand my question whether they go into the port terminal. Can't imagine how I would be able to call them in Ashdod for a ride back. Well, unless i get hold of a local with a cell phone who's willing! LOL. Can anyone who's in Israel be kind enough to call the number for me and find out if that's the right number? I don't know anyone who speaks Hebrew. We were thinking of taking the taxi to Jerusalem, and on the way back save some money and just take the bus. The bus website was great and I was able to find the buses no problem. Thanks millions

We will be in Israel, Celebrity 26 Oct (Haifa) - 27 Oct (Ashdod) - 28 Oct (Ashdod). While in Ashdod on the 27th we are planning to visit Jerusalem on our own. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but after a bit of research it appears that I can't walk out from the pier to the town on my own. We will have to take either a shuttle or a taxi specifically contracted to come in and out of the port.

1) Is the shuttle setup similar to the ones in Civitavecchia where it doesn't cost anything and takes you from ship to port gate? Or is this one of those $10 (more or less) shuttle that takes you out to the city center?

2) Shuttle times. Any idea when is the last shuttle (usually)?

3) Are taxis generally a lot cheaper outside of the port and are they available where the shuttle drops you off? (taxis priced as 323 NIS as of 2015 at the port)

4) Our biggest concern is if we do Ashdod - Jerusalem on our own and return later, say around 8 pm, we may not be able to get back to the ship if the shuttle ends late, or if we couldn't find this one special taxi company that can actually go into the port.

Please advise.

Are we sure that military discount is a discount of the cruise price and not an OBC?

Have to write this. I think some posters still feel that because in UK or Europe, there's no tipping, then it translates to the cruise ship. But don't forget, Celebrity is a cruise ship run by Americans and by American standard tipping is essential and is part of the total salary. Just because you're from a country that doesn't tip does not mean you don't ever, or only do so ocassionally when the service is "exceptional" or "above and beyond".

For instance, do you not tip the 15% when you visit restaurants in the USA or Canada?

To the poster who chastised me about tipping in St. Petersburg - Are you kidding me? You don't tip tour guide when you assume tipping is not required in that country? Believe me, I've traveled enough to know you should tip regardless of where you are visiting (with the possibly exception of Japan, and even so, I'd still do). Tour guides that cater to cruise ship passengers especially US and Canada DO EXPECT a tip. And why not, it's gratuity, or gratitude towards a service rendered. Please don't be so "frugal".

Am quite surprised at some of the posts here, really an eye opener.

Are the gratuities the only remuneration that the staff receive?

 

 

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No but it's part of the salary

I think Celebrity should make sure the gratuities are charged MANDATORY on your shipboard account (or pre-paid). When you feel you don't want to pay because of whatever reason, then you go down and get it adjusted. IT's part of the crew's salary, much like the wait staff in North America.

We were on a Australia/NZ cruise, and the captain had to announce that we should tip during the cruise. Because the cruise before nobody tipped (or very little) because it was a lot of Australians and New Zealanders on the ship and they felt they didn't need to. They say in Australia and NZ, nobody tipped so why should they on the ship. Baffling, I know but it's true. When the captain has to make an announcement, you know it's not an isolated case.

On another occassion, while in St. PEtersburg, we took private tour with another Australian couple. Newly weds, the nicest people. After the tour, they didn't tip either, and when we asked them why they hadn't as we all should, and even states so in the tours, they say, we're Austrialians, and we dont tip. I felt so bad for the tour guide, I tipped for them!