Bev

Hi

We will be going to the Navigator of the Seas in Miami on the same day the Reflection arrives in Fort Lauderdale. Does anyone have any recommendations for shuttle services from the Fort Lauderdale cruise port to the Miami cruise port?

Thanks for your help with this!

Bev

Hi

We will be going to the Navigator of the Seas in Miami on the same day the Reflection arrives in Fort Lauderdale. Does anyone have any recommendations for shuttle services from the Fort Lauderdale cruise port to the Miami cruise port?

Thanks for your help with this!

Bev

Thanks everyone! We have two people in their 80s and others who couldn't walk distances, so walking is not really an option.

Bev

Hi

There are eight of us travelling together on a Celebrity Infinity Panama Canal cruise, arriving in San Diego early in October. We have booked an 11:50 am flight so, to be sure we can travel together and get to the airport with plenty of time for check in, we think it would be a good idea to use a shuttle service.

I have four quotes to transfer all 8 of us and up to 2 pieces of luggage each - Advanced Shuttle ($59), Prime Time Shuttle ($66), Go Airport Shuttle ($66) and Airport Shuttles ($291).

Does anyone have any information about these companies, e.g. reliability that they'll show up as planned, to help choose one?

Thanks for your help with this.

Bev

Another question

Would we be able to buy a multi-city (perhaps Sydney - Cairns - Melbourne - Sydney) airline ticket at the Sydney airport once we arrive in Australia?

Bev

Thanks for the tips BritinSoCal.

Bev

Bet,

I saw you are on the Solstice. We did the Solstice on our Top End cruise in 2013. Great ship.

 

We are on our first Royal Caribbean cruises, both out of Sydney.

The Radiance of the Seas to NZ and back 6 April-17 April

The Explorer of the Seas from Sydney to Seattle (TP) from 22 April until some time in May. This one is our longest cruise ever, 23 days.

 

We will be in Sydney from 17-22 April.

Planning on flying into Melbourne about five days prior to our NZ cruise.

 

There is a lot to do in Sydney. We used Gray Line for tours to the Hunter Valley and a city tour that included Bondi Beach. Also, did a harbor cruise. Did a private tour to the Blue Mountains that was super.

 

Hope the opera is going on while we are there, we saw La Boheme the last time we were there.

 

Still, we have five days and are looking for more things to do that we haven't done before. We may to an overnight Hunter Valley tour.

Hi

I think you'll enjoy the RCL ships. They're not as large as Celebrity's S class ships. I like the Rendezvous Lounge on the Radiance. I've been on the Voyager which is in the same class as the Explorer - the ice shows are great.

As for things to do in Sydney, do a search in this forum - some other threads list tons of things for anyone to consider.

Bev

 

For the Friday you could do a lot worse in my opinion than a visit to the Royal Easter Show. Never sure how to describe it to visitors, let's say a cross between a carnival with rides etc, an agricultural display, with farm animals and the like, many stands of products, dog, cat, horse, cattle sheep etc judging, cooking and craft displays a lot to see and do.

 

Thanks! This sounds very much like our Canadian National Exhibition - affectionately known as The Ex - an annual three week event held in late August featuring a carnival with rides, agricultural and horticultural fair, craft displays and contests, new commercial products for sale, and entertainment shows and probably a lot more I'm not remembering right now. I think we'd enjoy the Royal Easter Show.

Bev

Hi again

As you know, we'll be in Sydney from April 13 - 20. I'd appreciate thoughts about how to plan that week.

Both Good Friday and Easter Monday fall within that week. Are those statutory holidays in Australia? Will shops and attractions be closed on those days? Would it be better to tour in Sydney those days or plan a tour to the Blue Mountains or Hunter Valley or Canberra?

Thanks so much for your help!

Bev

Wow! Thanks to all of you for all this information.

It's always good to check with people that are close to things, because one just never knows how much you don't know. For instance, I would never have thought of fog problems in Melbourne and Sydney. You've given me "food for thought" about the amount of travel and I'm beginning to think that less might be best. Definitely back to the drawing board now!

Thanks again - I really do appreciate your advice.

Bev

Hi

Many thanks to all of you - I appreciate your thoughts and your time to share them. You've given me a lot to think about and increased my excitement for this trip.

Bev

Hi

Thanks to both of you - I really appreciate your advice and you taking the time to help. I wondered if we were trying to do too much.

We'd like to see the Great Barrier Reef, that's why the visit to Cairns. I know the trip from Cairns to Perth is long, somewhat like Toronto to Vancouver (I'm from Canada) but I feel I should try to visit my cousin if I can. If we were to spend more time in Perth, what would you think of going from Perth straight to Melbourne?

Another thought - we have not yet purchased our flights so we can change the departure date from North America to an earlier one - if we wanted to keep the original itinerary - Cairns, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney - how many days forward would you recommend we move the departure?

Generally speaking, how much time before a domestic flight are you expected to check in? In Canada, it's a minimum of 1 hour, preference is 2 hours. If it is the same in Australia, that would mean check-in for a 6 am flight would be incredibly early! Given that, I would prefer the idea of flying to Sydney the evening before.

Thanks again for your advice!

Bev

Hi

Three of us - adults 55+ - are booked on the April 3 Celebrity Solstice Sydney to New Zealand back to Sydney.

We'll have a week in Sydney post cruise from April 13-20. We have a quote from Hyde Park Inn for $215 or $237 per night for either a studio or deluxe room respectively. Are these prices to be expected for accommodation in Sydney? How safe is the area around Hyde Park Inn? How close are transportation (bus/metro), grocery stores, other shopping, reasonably priced restaurants?

We hope to alternate time in Sydney with day tours to the Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, and possibly Canberra. Any must sees/not to be missed?

Thanks in advance for any comments or tips you might have.

Bev

Hi

Three of us - adults 55+ - will be travelling from the east coast of North America to Australia. We are booked on the April 3 Celebrity Solstice Sydney to New Zealand back to Sydney.

Because this may be our only visit to Australia, we'd like to do as much as we can. I'd appreciate comments about the feasibility of these ideas:

March 17 Leave North America

March 19 Arrive Sydney and fly on to Cairns

March 20 A day to start to get over jet lag

March 21-23 Tours - Great Barrier Reef, Daintree Rainforest, Kuranda Rail

March 24 Fly Cairns to Perth (to visit a cousin over the weekend and sightsee)

March 27 Fly Perth to Adelaide

March 28-29 Adelaide (sightseeing, possibly Cleland Wildlife Park)

March 30 Fly Adelaide to Melbourne

March 31 -

April 2 Sightseeing, including Great Ocean Road

April 3 Fly Melbourne to Sydney; embark Celebrity Solstice

There seem to be a number of flights between Melbourne and Sydney - would it be a problem to fly to Sydney on the day of the cruise?

Thanks in advance for any comments or tips you might have.

Bev

Is everyone flying the same airline? Different airlines are in different buidlings and it is pretty spread out.

Hi

No, we're on Air Canada arriving Terminal 2. Our friend is on USAir arriving Terminal 3 Concourse E. Our BIL/SIL are on Westjet, arriving Terminal 3 Concourse F.

Bev

Yes. Just meet them where they come out of the concourse and then go down to baggage claim together.

Hi

I don't know the airport at all, that's why I'm asking all these questions. If we arrive in Terminal 2, will our baggage claim area be the same as that for Terminal 3?

Or, will we have to claim our baggage in Terminal 2, then move to Terminal 3 and wait for them outside the baggage claim area for Terminal 3?

Bev

Hi everyone

Now that our travel is so close, I hope you won't mind helping me out with a couple of questions about the FLL airport.

DH Peter and I arrive first at Terminal 2 Concourse D.

Our friend arrives next at Terminal 3 Concourse E.

Where would be a good place to meet up with her in Terminal 3? Is there an easily recognizable meeting point?

Then our BIL and SIL arrive last at Terminal 3 Concourse F.

Same questions - Where would be a good place to meet up with them in Terminal 3? Is there an easily recognizable meeting point?

Thanks so much for your help with this!

Bev

As much as we like Celebrity, we have found this cruise not particularly the best we have taken. If we would have to decide again about it, we would not have done that transpacific. It was expensive and did not meet Celebrities standards. Alaska we have enjoyed and we would come back anytime, but we would prefer not to do it with the Millenium.

Hi

First let me say that DH and I believe that even the worst cruise day is better than the best work day.

We did our first B2B2B on the Millennium in April/early May - Hong Kong to Shanghai, Shanghai to Seward Alaska, Seward to Vancouver. I absolutely agree with travelberlin. DH and I really like cruising with Celebrity but these cruises were not Celebrity's finest.

The transpacific cruise was not particularly rough but the weather was cold (30s F) outside. We were prepared for that but the ship was freezing inside too. Being an older ship, we don't think the Millennium is suited to such cold weather.

We had Select dining which used the port side of the upper dining room. There was a wind tunnel effect in the first part of the dining room - people seated there wore coats. Moreover, the service for Select dining was the worst we have ever had on Celebrity. It was not unusual to wait 15-20 minutes after being seated at a table before we'd see the waiter. There was a large outbreak of norovirus on board so there wasn't even bread on the table to nibble on while we waited for the waiter.

There were not many activities planned during the day; but this might be the new normal because we noticed the same situation on the Reflection transatlantic we just completed. And as travelberlin noted, these cruises were relatively expensive.

I might do this route again but it would have to be on one of the newer ships.

Bev

Hi

There are three of us that often travel together and share a cabin. We have been lucky enough in the last year to get a FV cabin - first on the Millennium (same set up as shown in the Infinity pictrures) and then recently on the Reflection (a real treat - it has two bedrooms and a huge living and dining area).

When we don't have an FV, we usually have a Balcony cabin where the sofa has a pull out bed. As someone else observed earlier, that can be uncomfortble for whoever sleeps on it. So, we ask our TA to request an egg crate mattress for us. If it's not in the cabin when we arrive, we ask our cabin steward to bring one when he or she comes in to meet us. The egg crate mattress makes a big diference.

Bev

I REALLY do hope you have a better ship than we did. We DID have a great time due to the other cruisers on the ship....a really fun bunch. We LOVED all the private tours we did and had great experiences with the 2 tours we did through the ship.....Bicycle in Hoi An and Night Safari in Singapore. We also chose this ship for the ports not for the ship. Many of the cruisers on our voyage were seasoned Celebrity Cruisers and very disappointed with the cruise and voiced their opinions VERY LOUDLY. I thought they were really a bit obnoxious to the crew since it was a management problem really, not a crew problem. With that said....Celebrity has had a few weeks to spruce up the ship, retrain the staff, etc and hopefully you will have a better ship experience than we did. We do not regret doing the itinerary but REALLY regret doing it with Celebrity. This was our first exposure to Celebrity.....NOT impressed and won't be back with them but will probably travel with some of the people we met on the ship. As a thank you from Celebrity for sailing with them.....their apology was to send us a $50 certificate to sail with them again before April......NOT going to happen! I hope you have a fun time...you will... they are great cities to explore.

Hi

We'll be heading to HK this spring. You posted on another thread that you arranged a tour for Hong Kong. How did your tour turn out and would you mind sharing the contact info for the guide?

Thanks.

Bev

Hi

DH and I and a group of cruising friends and family were on the Celebrity Eclipse May 7 cruise. We picked Rony's Taxis - the price was 90 Euros per van or car round trip. They were waiting on time by the ship holding a sign with my name on it. They took us to Bruges - about a 20-30 minute ride depending on weather and traffic - and dropped us in a corner of the main square. They picked us up at the same spot at the appointed return time. We appreciated the promptness of their service and the drivers were very friendly. We very much enjoyed our visit in Bruges.

Dimitri Hernou

Rony’s Taxi’s bvba

rony@ronystaxis.com

Tel: +32 50 344 344

Bev