foxyG

We were due to sail out of Venice on Infinity July 11 2021.  Received an email notice from Celebrity last week.  Gave them a call and they simply lifted & shifted us to the same cruise (with a different but IMHO better itinerary) on 10 July 2022. We've got a slightly better Concierge cabin and all 'perks' transferred at no extra cost.  Most importantly, they have honoured our FCC from our Jan 2020 cruise which was due to expire in Jan 2022.

Even more surprising was that Easyjet have allowed us to move our flights by 12 months with no penalty.  The new schedules are out for their flights up until end September 2022, so we feel pretty lucky!

We are going the following week, haven't applied for a visa yet, have you had a problem?

We're also going the following week (Wonders of Asia) and interested to know about Indian visas?

No mention of Government security advice in the letter I've just received. Here's the full letter we have just received regarding our 19 September 2016 sailing. Construction work is the reason given!

Dear GEORGE XXX,

Important changes to your booking on Celebrity Reflection / 9/19/2016

Your booking reference: XXXXXXX

Please be advised the Celebrity Reflection 11 Night Greece, Turkey & Italy itinerary has been modified as

detailed below. We are sorry that we have had to alter the ships itinerary due to construction work in the port

of Istanbul.

Original Itinerary Revised Itinerary

Day Port of Call Arrive Depart T/D Day Port of Call Arrive Depart T/D

Mon Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 5:00 PM D Mon Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 5:00 PM D

Tue At Sea C Tue At Sea C

Wed Santorini, Greece 2:00 PM 9:00 PM T Wed Santorini, Greece 2:00 PM 9:00 PM T

Thu Athens (Piraeus), Greece 6:30 AM 6:00 PM D Thu Athens (Piraeus), Greece 6:00 AM D

Fri At Sea C Fri Athens (Piraeus), Greece 5:00 PM D

Sat Istanbul, Turkey 7:00 AM D Sat Mykonos, Greece 7:00 AM 6:00 PM T

Sun Istanbul, Turkey 1:00 PM D Sun Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey 7:00 AM 6:00 PM D

Mon Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey 11:00 AM 8:00 PM D Mon Bodrum, Turkey 7:00 AM 6:00 PM D

Tue Mykonos, Greece 7:00 AM 3:00 PM T Tue Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece 7:00 AM 4:00 PM D

Wed At Sea C Wed At Sea C

Thu Naples / Capri, Italy 7:00 AM 6:30 PM D Thu Naples / Capri, Italy 7:00 AM 6:30 PM D

Fri Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 5:00 AM D Fri Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 5:00 AM D

You will see that the overnight call to Istanbul, Turkey has been replaced with an overnight to the existing

Athens, Greece call. The new arrival time for Athens (Piraeus), Greece is 6:00 AM and the departure time on

the following day is 5:00 PM. Due to this change the port order and times has been revised. The call time for

Mykonos, Greece is 7:00 AM - 6:00 PM. The call time for Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey is 7:00 AM - 6:00 PM. The

call port of Bodrum, Turkey and Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece have been added to the itinerary.

In view of these changes, should you choose to, you can change ship and sail date at the prevailing rate and

any complimentary amenities on your booking will be transferred across.

If you have any questions about this change, then you can call us on 01932 834194, Monday to Friday, 9am to

5.30pm. My team will be pleased to help you.

Once again, please accept our apologies and we look forward to welcoming you on board.

Yours sincerely

Kathy Barbrooke

Head of Guest and Trade Services, UK & Ireland

Building 3, The Heights, Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0NY.

Email customerserviceuk@celebritycruises.com

We are joining the Dream this Sunday for a couple of weeks. This is our first cruise with Thomsons so we've no previous experience to make a comparison to with regard to the main dining room menus. We have travelled quite a lot so have some idea of the food standards to expect. Will try and post photos from my Nexus 7 but not sure how successful that will be.

Got a list of free WiFi spots on the islands so won't be burning up a bill on onboard data charges. Just keeping our fingers crossed that our flight gets away from Gatwick before the next storm hits! Got a feeling that the strong jetstream might mean head wind and a longer flight timetime.

Thanks Foxy, yes i think that beach is gonna be pretty busy when the Dream drops anchor!

A nice chillout day i think, with plenty of rum punch!

How are your plans coming along for the other islands? We are doing an island tour of St Kitts with Clay Villa, and the rest still up in the air!

Well, our plans include the week before you guys arrive so it's a little different. :)

Bonaire is a snorkel trip with Woodwind cruises who seem to get great reviews on here. Aruba will be a local bus up to Palm beach & then a lazy stroll around Orangestadt before having a late meal at Pinchos (a 11 pm sail make an evening meal on the island a bonus) Curacao is a walkaround day as we've not been here before. Grenada is Grand Anse beach with regular Rum punch fill ups :D..At Barbados we are pushing the boat out on the Sunday and doing the "turtle cruise" with Elegance cruises....nice swimming and snorkelling trip with time for lunch, hopefully :)

We're doing nothing other than laying on a beach at St Maarten with easy acces to chairs and a bar as we've been before and there are lots of ships in that day. If you want to do anything there...book soon. St Kitts we haven't decided whether it will be S. Friars or Cockleshell Beach...another lazy day....and then a full day tour of St Lucia with Cosol Tours... crash out at Mayreau (two bars we've spotted are Dennis's and Righteous Roberts, up in WallTown) and finally.....a trip to see the hummingbirds at Adventure Farm in Tobago, we read the reports / reviews on Trip Advisor and it sounds fantastic.

Hope we meet up with you on the second week of our trip... you should be able to recognise me as I have a distinctive Lancastrian accent and don't look at all slim! and Merry Xmas to both of you from t'other side of the Pennines :)

Hi guys and merry xmas!

Can anyone throw any light on what to do when our cruise stops in the Granadines at Mayreau. From what i can gather theres nothing there, and the 3 thomson excursions are boat trips, which i dont really fancy. Is there any nice beaches? :cool:

We are on the same cruise & have not been able to get a lot of info about Mayreau. All we've managed to find out is that there are at least 3/4 bars (sigh of relief :) ) and some info from the two sites I've pasted links to below. Looks like it's going to be a very laid back, relaxing beach & bar day for us. Saltwhistle Bay seems to be the best beach. We aren't planning on taking a boat trip; it seems a bit pointless to come to a rarely visited island then take a trip to another island :rolleyes:

http://www.discoversvg.com/index.php/en/whattodo/eco-adventures/hiking/208

http://www.doyleguides.com/mayreau.htm

Kruzseeka, thanks a million for the information and advice. I know it will be useful to others who are heading out to the Dream in the next few weeks as well as helping us. I will grab a large Cuba Libre...stand in the warm, azure tropical waters with the sun beating down on my back and drink a toast to you, whilst enviously thinking how much nicer it will be in Dorset in mid January :D:D:D

foxyG - sounds as though you'll be passing within a few miles of us as you leave the Poole area - only wish I was joining you - the Caribbean has a very strong pull!!!!:D

 

You mention that you are not too bothered about the shows but if the theme suits (Queen? a show with excerpts of Chicago/Cabaret/Les Mis, Dance, Dance, Dance) it might be worth giving them a try. They usually last about 45 minutes with two shows per night and are really entertaining (at least we think so).

 

I don't think you said whether you have cruised in the Caribbean before but if you are interested, I could find some reviews from last year which will give you some info on the destinations/excursions. Let me know. But I really hope you have a great time. :)

We will give you a wave as we go past; although I'm sure you would much prefer being at home rather than having to return so soon to that hot, steamy and rum laden atmosphere of the Caribbean :rolleyes:

We've done a couple of cruises in the area before but some of the islands will be new to us. The only places we have nothing booked is Curacao, where we just plan to wander around Willhelmstadt and Grenada, where Grand Anse beach seems the most appealing. We are also still trying to decide on the best beach & bar for St Kitts.... toss up between South Friars Bay or pay the extra taxi fare to Cockleshell Bay.

We saw a "Freddie Mercury Tribute" on Azura in June and were very impressed. The act was called "Mercury Rising" and the guy, Steve Larkins, was both funny and musically talented. The only reason we tend to skip the shows is because of the "rush" from the dining room to the theatre to get a seat; although I suspect the open dining on the Dream may make this a little easier?

Geomagot,,, hope you enjoy your balcony (seems that news was a big surprise to EVERYONE! :p Have a few glasses in the Glass House...you've got to try the "Peller Ice Wine" made from frozen grapes...it's fabulous!(especially by the second bottle) Have a great cruise!

Well, Little Nell, Kruzseeka & geomagot....I will hang my head in shame for having doubts ;) Your replies have more than convinced me that we've made the right decision in choosing the Dream rather than P & O. We really picked this cruise for the itinerary and the more friendly atmosphere of a small ship. It really was those happy, dancing, maintenance guys at Gib that made us think we wanted to try Thomsons and to be fair the posts on here from people like yourselves have confirmed that we have made the right decision.

It's a great indication of a ships good reputation when loyal, regular customers are prepared to be constructively critical and still supportive of the product. I hope Thomsons realise that they are very lucky to have such a proactive and dedicated band of clients.

I'm happiest on a ship when I can find a nice, cozy bar to lean on whilst sipping a few Mojitos or G&T's during sea days..... having a good basic menu to choose from with the occasional indulgence (steak etc) so The Grill sounds like it will fit the bill nicely. We enjoy the odd show but it's not a deal breaker for us....happier sat in a piano bar with a few cocktails.

Our favourite cruise to date was on Jewel of the Seas, one of RCI's smaller ships...about 2000 pax but with plenty of views out to sea and lots of space to stretch your legs. The big ships with shopping malls and ice rinks just made us feel as if we were in the Lakeside Shopping Centre at sea :(

Glad to hear that we can enjoy the odd pre dinner G&T in the cabin, that was one of the perks we enjoyed on P&O. On RCI we had to resort to "rum runners"! Once again, many thanks for the reassuring words and I'm sure we will have a marvellous time and be back on here singing the praise of the Dream in the New Year.

Although we live in the "frozen North" we will be leaving from your neck of the woods, Kruzseeka, to make our way to Gatwick. Our dog spends his holidays with family, between Poole and Wareham whilst we're away so we have to travel from North Lancashire to Gatwick via Dorset and the reverse journey on our return!

We are traveling for the first time with Thomsons in a couple of weeks and are beginning to become a little worried about what we will find in terms of both food and service.

We have cruised a few times in the past 10 years, most recently with P&O on Azura but have always been attracted to having a "go" on a small and hopefully more friendly ship. We were docked alongside the Dream in Gibraltar earlier this year and thought she looked quite an attractive if slightly "retro" old lady and were even more impressed by the impromptu dance exhibition that some of the Dream maintenance crew (they were painting on the top deck) gave as we pulled away from the dock! Silly as it may sound, we thought that such a happy bunch of staff, even if they were just painting, must make for a good ship!

It's been very interesting to read the reviews from those who've recently returned from the TA trip. The comments about the food have been particularly worrying...I like my "grub"! The food on Azura this year was fine, not outstanding but OK. We ate in several "extra fee" venues and were more "wowed" by those experiences but still relatively happy with the main dining room and buffet options. My worry about the Dream is that there aren't the additional dining choices if the main areas are serving "so..so food"

We could have booked a "guarantee" balcony on P&O, for a 14 night Caribbean cruise for about the same price as we've paid for a higher deck inside on the Dream. I'm trying to stay positive as I still hope and expect to enjoy a smaller ship with 1500 pax a lot more than the 3000+ on Ventura or Azura. (Fingers crossed, tightly!)

Finally, can I ask what the latest situation is regarding taking alcohol on board for consumption in your cabin? Did all you TA folks get your "Mateus Rose" and "Vinho Verde" confiscated on embarkation at Lisbon? Did the "gangplank Police" seize your "Mount Gay Distilleries" Rum samples at Bridgetown :D

Thanks, in advance, for any replies and a Happy and Healthy Xmas to all on this forum.