jajsmom

OK, I did a search but did not find anything. What do I need to check in? Is it better done on the web or the app? Does it start at midnight EST or another time? And then, how do you register for shows? I did not see anything online or the app for this. Thanks!

I've researched this port and don't exactly want to do an organized tour. I would like to see Mount Kirkjufell and the Grundarfoss Waterfall. Google maps shows them both to be about a 5 minute drive from the tender port. Will there be taxis where we dock, or people trying to sell us shore excursions? I realize that this is Iceland and not the Caribbean, but just want to know what to expect. And it looks like there will be one other cruise ship in port with us that day, an Oceana ship which only holds about 700, if that makes a difference. Thanks!

Don't feel bad. The "reef" was chopped up shrimp stuffed into a dumpling. No even identifiable seafood.

I checked cruisetime tables. I thought they had gone out of business during covid, so thanks for refreshing my memory. There will be 3 other large ships in port the day we leave, but they all return sooner than we do. I know the change fee is only 5 pounds per traveler, so I'd be willing to book this far in advance. Our flight currently arrives just before noon. How much time should we allow to get the bus? Would a 2PM bus (1400) be an acceptable time to book? And what is the earliest we should book on debarkation day. We can walk off, but our flight isn't until later in the afternoon. Thanks!

The food choices were just weird. They combined ingredients that didn't go together. One night, they had salmon on the menu. Everyone at our table was so excited. When we tried to order it, we were told that it was a mistake and no available. I prefer a "healthy" way of eating, and I also enjoy many different ethnic foods. The choices on our cruise were just wrong.

We're thinking of doing National Express in June. Our airfare is not finalized yet--we're booking through EZ Air. How far in advance should we book National Express to get the times we want?

We did a BTB the first two Australia cruises this year. the food was generally the same every single day. After 23 days on board, I didn't want to eat anymore. Came home after a month a few pounds lighter! Interestingly, we're from the US. We thought we didn't like the food at dinner as it was based on an Australian diet. We met some Aussies on an excursion who were also complaining about the food. They thought they were catering to the American crowd! The food was just weird and not good. We had been on the Sky Princess a few months earlier, and the food was much better.

That would be great, and well worth a few hour drive.

Thanks, good information. We live in Orlando, but would be willing to drive to Miami to get a better deal. and have extra money to upgrade.

After talking to Celebrity today, we booked the 10 night Southern Galapagos route for September 2025. We did get the airfare package (which we have to pay for the FREE airfare), but it is still less than we will be able to get on our own. And because flights are generally cheaper from Florida, hopefully we'll be able to upgrade too! It sounds like I will have to do the work in advance to see what the flight prices are. We can fly from Orlando to Miami, or even drive to Miami if we get a better rate. I can't believe our deposit was more than some cruises we have been on! Thank you all! time to start getting excited!!!

Thank you all. I will try calling Flights by Celebrity tomorrow and see if I can work this out. I did try putting the FLYGALAPAGOS promo into a new booking, and it told me that the code was not valid. The $500 pp is automatically being deducted, and I cannot make that go away. When speaking to my travel agent and the Celebrity agent earlier today, no one was able to make any sense of things. We're well over 330 days prior to the cruise, so no air rates will be available for a long time. And @prmssk and @mahdnc, thank you both so much for your live reports. You are both partially responsible for us booking this trip!

And one other question. I've had cruises re-fared in the past. Will Celebrity refare is the price changes on a Galapagos cruise? Thanks!

First of all, thanks to all of the recent LIVE from the Galapagos cruise reports!!! It really confirmed that it is something we would like to do. While it's hard to tell the real differences between the northern, southern, inner and outer loops, it looks like any of them will be a fabulous trip (and it should be for the price!😊) Celebrity currently has a "special" going, which is 20% off the cruise price (which is higher than it was prior to the sale), and free airfare, up to $750pp for the first two guests, good until the end of this year. So I priced a cruise on the website, and since it is a 10 night cruise, it includes transportation from Quito to Baltra. When I asked about the free airfare, they told me it was an extra $800! What, how is that free? They assume it costs $2300 for two people to fly to Quito, so you are "getting" $750 pp off. I live in Florida, and for the same time in 2024 (we're planning 2025), R/T airfare is less than $600 pp. So asked about booking our own airfare, and they said they will give us $500 pp off for that. However, that price is already built into the cruise, so we would actually be spending $1000 more for the cruise. And I asked if we could remove the free airfare later and was told sure. But then you would have to pay the prevailing rates at that time. So I feel like Celebrity is Bait and Switching us. For an almost $20K cruise, I feel like they are offering something and taking it away at the same time. My first questions at this time are for those who have purchased airfare, did you get a reasonable rate to Quito, or is it better to take the bad deal of "free" airfare through Celebrity? And for those who have previously used the free airfare deal, was it a deal for you? Did you actually get $750 off the price of your airfare, or was it just easier not to have that extra job of planning airfare? and when booking air through the cruise line, do you have any control over choices or airlines, flight times, cabin class, etc. I've put a 48 hour hold on the cruise, but need more information than the cruise line is giving me before I book. Thanks for any incite!

Thanks. another thing to think about.

I did see this. I was looking for more information on this. About how long would a hike down take?

I did use the search. I put in Flam train and bicycle back, and only came up with general things about the Flam train.

Thank you. Great info.

Thank you, very helpful! I guess I didn't look back far enough in my search, as this was from almost a year ago.

I did a search in the forum and could not find the answer. Even though the roundtrip railway was just released a few days ago, the slots for when we are in port are all full already. I did see that there is availability for taking the train up and bicycling down. I was not able to find information about this on the Norway best website. Has anyone done this? We would be in port on July 2, 2024. Are the bicycles included, or do you have to make reservations on our own. Would the weather be acceptable that time of the year for bike riding? DH and I both ride bikes weekly, but we live in FLAT Florida and do not have the experience with the hills. Any insights would be very helpful. Thank you!

It's great to see your review. We did this cruise, after the Australian cruise in November. What a great experience! and we had Santosh as our assistant server too. Our server, George, left the ship just prior to your cruise. Hope to get back to your part of the world someday!

Thanks! We will probably stay overnight in Southampton, as we've spent a lot of time in London in the past. And I like to be closer to the cruise port on embarkation day.

We're about 6 months out from a roundtrip cruise from Southampton. I've sailed out of Dover, and found flying into Gatwick to be much easier. So for Southampton, is it better to fly in to Heathrow or Gatwick? I can flights available for both. We tend to use public transportation. When I google map it, it's evening in the US, so it's showing me middle of the night options in England. thanks for your practical experience.

I can confirm that, as I live in Orlando, and my airfare R/T to Australia is more than my 23 days of cruising.

Disney is expensive all over. But you get what you pay for. If they were the same price as all other cruise lines, I would be sailing them much more frequently.

Thanks. Do I need to shut his account down? Or will it just become nothing eventually?