sparky-elpaso

No problems here using Edge. Logged on to our reservation using the little blue sign in at the top right of the main page. Decided to check out the excursion reservation - was able to reserve and pay for one and got an e-mail confirmation.

We're retired so time of year doesn't matter. And we're working on our "bucket list" so:

1. Itinerary

2. Cost

3. Cruise line and ship

We decide where we want to go and then check the different cruise lines to see who goes there.

Since we don't have to worry about the time element we like longer cruises. If we have to fly across the pond we look for a b2b with a TA back to the states.

Yes for any and all.

Cool. Thanks.

You can also get Main Dining Room meals delivered by room service for lunch and dinner during the hours the MDR is open. No charge.

Is that for any cabin? We're just in a plain old balcony. :)

On our first cruise - to Alaska. We were out on deck during the stop at Hubbard Glacier - on the port side of the ship. An announcement was made that there were sea lions on an ice floe "at 9 o'clock". So I looked out to our left and there they were.

A lady and her daughter were sitting near us and the mom looked at her watch and told her daughter that didn't do a lot of good - since it was around noon or so.

I thought really fast about how to tell them the directions - 12:00 / bow of the ship - 6:00 / stern - 9:00 / port, etc. I didn't want to hurt her feelings or make her feel dumb but I figured they probably wanted to see the sea lions. She laughed and said thanks - she'd never heard those terms before.

Welcome to the cruising club. You're going to have a great time.

Love it. And I'm one of those who does take pics of food. I always have a couple of food related pages in the photo books I have made of our trips.

I read reviews but definitely wouldn't let them sway our choice of cruise destination or cruise line.

The ones I get a kick out of are the ones who give the cruise a bad review because of the weather or anything else that no one has any control over.

Thanks a bunch. Called this afternoon and got it - another $100 to spend.

Not terrible. iPhone only, doesn't scale properly on an iPad. (Been a long time since I saw an app do that.) Recognized my login immediately, showed my booked cruise. Has a functional countdown timer.

 

Much of the info, such as port listings, is displayed in no particular order and you have to just scroll sideways through it.

 

And the Tuscan Grille is listed as an "Italian Stakehouse". I'm not joking. Either the IT guys at Celebrity are just trolling me now, or I've reached some point of senility where I am confused about how to spell "steak".

Actually it's picking up the spelling from the regular website. One of those "autocorrect" things because the computer doesn't know the meaning of a word.

Ah, yes, I've met them -- the "Entitled" family. They are everywhere. And they treat everyone who is in any kind of customer-facing position as a incompetent servant. My DH works in retail, and the stories he can tell are insightful ;)

 

There is a small but growing group of people who think the world revolves around them. And when one of them has to wait for service in a shop, or for the ice water to be replaced, or anything else that involves "please wait your turn", the reaction to the perceived slight is disproportionately spectacular.

 

I know that sometimes service on a cruise can be not-great and I also know that some people expect far too much. I sometimes travel with a friend, in separate cabins. We usually have the same cabin stewards. She is constantly complaining about "her" stewards, yet I have no complaints about the same stewards.

Those are the types of folks who probably would find something to complain about if they had the entire ship and staff just for themselves.

I'm sure every crew member could write a book about some of the passengers they've had to deal with.

So far we've had incredible service on all of our cruises. Perfect? No. But I tend to like what my grandmother always said. When she got to be perfect she could expect other people to be perfect.

I'm another one that has a packing list on my computer that I modify depending on where we're going. We take longer cruises now that we're retired so a bit more advanced planning is required.

About 2 months out I start getting the OTC meds we want to take with us - 1 or 2 each time we go grocery shopping.

A month out I move most of the clothes into the "cruise closet" - hall closet by the front door. We try things on we haven't worn in while to make sure there hasn't been any shrinkage.

If we need anything we'll make a couple of shopping trips to the outlet malls.

I'll pack the carry-ons and backpacks a week before and the regular bags the day before we leave. Some things like computer, tablets, phone go in the backpacks the morning we leave.

I think one thing no one has mentioned as far as passport requirements. If a passport is required for a port it doesn't matter whether you get off the ship or not. The ship is in that countries "territory" so if a passport - or visa - is required you would have to have it even if you stayed on the ship.

I look at my passport as my "ticket to the world" - I can go anywhere / anytime.

Our last cruise was a total of 26 days with 2 days prior in London and 2 days after in NY. I think I gained about 2 or 3 pounds. :D

I ate pretty much whatever I wanted, including desserts. We ate in the buffet so I was in control of portion size. I tried to take small portions of meat or poultry and then fill the rest of my plate with veggies and salads.

It was a port intensive cruise and we were doing a lot of walking on excursions so I think that made a big difference.

Credit card for your shipboard account / or you can put down cash for your account after you board. Different cruise lines handle cash in different ways. You can't pay for things onboard in cash - the card you get is your cabin key / charge card / and ID.

We take cash for purchases on shore - souvenirs, sometimes a meal, etc. Although we take a credit card in case of emergencies or if I find something interesting that's a bit more expensive.

As far as the drink packages go it all depends on how much you think you would drink on a daily basis - and what the package covers. Some cover everything from sodas to specialty coffees to booze. DH and I aren't big drinkers - specialty coffee is our vice. :) But we might have an occasional beer or soda, sometimes a glass of wine for dinner, a cocktail out on deck in the afternoon or at the theater in the evening. So for us the package doesn't make sense.

Poached pear or apple for breakfast. I do make it at home once in a while but it always tastes better if someone else makes it. :)

Duck.

Vegetables like squash, broccoli, etc. - DH doesn't care for them and I hate cooking something like that for just myself.

Welcome to the "clan". Great review. :)

Holland America and Princess are considered to be the premier lines for Alaska - which, by the way, is an incredible first cruise.

Our first cruise was to Alaska on Royal Caribbean and we had a fantastic time.

I would check out the cruise line web sites to see what they offer and get an idea of prices, then go from there. Something like teacher discounts are probably the luck of the draw. The only cruise line I know of that gives routine perks for something is Princess and their onboard credit for veterans on every cruise.

If you can find a travel agent that specializes in cruises you might want to start there. It all depends on how comfortable you are doing your own research.

There's an Alaska board here on CC that you might want to check out - lots of knowledgable folks there.

And welcome to the great world of cruising. Prepare to be hooked. :)

Sounds like the one piece gym suits we wore in high school 55 years ago...EM

 

I remember those. :eek: I'm going to have to show this to DH - we were talking just the other day and I was trying to describe our gym suits to him and I don't think he got it (don't know how the subject came up).

"got as far as the "open up online banking" instructions which I don't need or want"

 

I'm not sure how you got to that.

 

I just did a dummy redemption and never saw that.

 

Again, go to the picture of the credit card on the Celebrity home page (bottom right)

 

Click on it.

 

You are taken to another site, run by BOA. You do have to sign onto that site, using your BOA password.

 

Then you can manage your rewards.

 

The fact that you got to some other part of the BOA website does imply that they might have been working on the part where you manage rewards, but as of a few minutes ago, it's all up and running.

It sounds like the OP doesn't have their online account set up on BOA.

I used the info posted last night to set up our OBC. Just a matter of using the Celebrity website as a "gateway" to the BOA site. Log in from there and just follow the steps. Worked like a charm and within a couple of hours I had the confirmation e-mail and printed it out. :D

Check out Panama Canal cruises on the different cruise line websites.

Some cruise lines have repositioning cruises that go down the California coast through the Panama Canal ending in Florida.

The timing for what you're looking for would be at the end of the Alaska cruise season - Sept. / Oct.

But then you would have to fly back - or maybe take Amtrak. The next repositioning cruises back to the west coast would probably be at the beginning of the next Alaska season - May.

Exactly so. There's no way I want to be on my own, trying to figure out where I am and how to get to where I want to be my first time in Romania. The trip from Bucharest to Brasov was a whole day trip, with a stop en route for lunch.

 

Call me wimpy, but the first time I'm in a "new" place in the world, I need a bit of hand-holding.

Agree. Especially in a place where I don't speak the local language.

If they're interested in photography a digital camera. You can find some pretty nice ones with decent zoom, etc. for under $100. Cheaper if you keep your eye out for sales.

I got my first camera when I was 7 (a loooong time ago so I had black and white film). Now kids can take as many pictures as they want. :)

Even northern routes aren't exempt. We missed a port in Iceland due to rough seas - it was a tender port so we just went on to the next one and overnighted there.