May B

21 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

And to note, Montreal (YUL) is another AC TATL gateway.  In my research, I've found (and flown) AC connections through there to various spots in Europe.  IMO, if you have a choice of connecting at YYZ or YUL, there is one preferred option (oui, oui).

Since I only have a non-stop to YYZ, but not YUL, I have changed more than once in YYZ. Last time, I was sad to see the state of the airport. My one and only time into YUL was fine, through either IAD or EWR, I don’t even remember which.

In December, we will be cruising in and out of BCN. I think we’ll just take whatever they give us, or what we find that’s fairly comparable, price-wise. Flying home from Stockholm was not wonderful, last June, but we survived just fine. It was certainly the earliest I ever woke up or departed a ship! 

1 hour ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

Have only been on Viking River ships and my guess is that space is such a premium that they can't do tables for two.

 

Plus, the ship is so small it's much easier to mingle. Though, I can appreciate the challenges of people with hearing difficulties as the dining rooms are not that big

I’ve never been on Viking River. When I first looked for a river cruise, I chose AMA. Out of seven nights, I believe we ate with one couple, whom we actually liked very much, twice. Once we ate with one other couple and they were fine. Three of the other nights we dined alone. One night we dined at the special restaurant, special menu, all 12 guests, iirc, at the same table. It was a nice experience … private room. We liked the couple we dined with, twice, so much that we saw them once when they were in our neck of the woods with some extra time before their flight home.

Did another AMA for the tulip cruise, great fun. I don’t remember dining with anybody! We did a Uniworld with two friends, but actually dined at a table of eight most nights. It was ok, but we generally prefer dining alone, or with our own travel companions. Last night we dined, just the four of us.

Heck, I never thought I’d opt to dine at a buffet for dinner, but Octantis broke me of that opinion. If we take a Viking River, we’ll just deal with it. The most important part is we’ll be together, and if we have to laugh about the experience, later, so be it.

On 4/28/2024 at 12:27 AM, CCWineLover said:

Joe - we agree on a lot but on this sadly we don't.  We will not do river cruising simply due to 1) the dining situation and 2) the inability to find a quiet place to get away from it all   Like you can on Ocean Ships.  To us that is more important than the need to see places easily, which we like better on river than ocean.  Of course, DW has hearing issues that make the mass eating a disaster for her, so I'm probably biased.  We so enjoy the World Cafe and CT and other places on Viking Ocean where those who don't want a mass loud eating experience can dine in a little peace.

It's sad, because we'd really like to go on more river cruises but it won't happen.

I believe on other lines such as AMA, Uniworld, probably Scenic and Tauck, you’re not always required to dine with others. 

24 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

We'll be on the 2025 Mardi Gras sailing. Do you recall when excursions to watch the parades and such opened up for booking? The only thing we can book right now is a cooking class that's costing $500/pp! Not sure if that's a 3 day long class, or we're going and catching the crawfish ourselves from the river before cooking them up, but too rich for my blood to learn how to make gumbo.

 

I was hoping Celebrity would offer some type of parade viewing day with a seat to put my butt in and rest without having to stand all day, as well as potty access. But there's nothing available for booking beyond that pricey cooking class.

Hi Sailing12Away, I’m with you! Funny take on the cooking class.

I think somebody on our roll call thread will post when the excursions get posted. You and I already chatted about this there!

Clearly Celebrity has done it all before, which you may have already read about. The excursions for parade-viewing sounded wonderful to me! The one complaint was that the bus had to change its pick-up location from what the driver had planned. I’ve seen the NOLA police in action for traffic control, and they are happy to change plans at any time if they deem it necessary. Or something akin to necessary. I’m sure the bus driver wished he could follow his original plan! The tour guide led the pax to the new pick-up point.

11 hours ago, lindsay_claire said:

Thanks for your response. Yes, it’s a Crystal excursion that arrives back at 9:30 pm. I will check the Reflections but good to know that there will probably be some dinner arrangement. 

I predict a lovely buffet in the Crystal Cove area in front of reception will welcome you back.

Have a wonderful time.

On 4/28/2024 at 4:45 PM, zelker said:

I was just thinking about how to do that.  So if our deposit is only 10%, and we have 180+ days to cancel (which is close to when balance is due), and only stand to lose $1k each if we cancel prior to 180 days, do we only need to insure $2k for now and then of course increase the coverage when we pay the balance?  BTW, no preexisting and not looking at Viking insurance.

No preexisting NOW. 
 

And remember the trip insurance companies include a change in your meds as a potential preexisting, even LOWERING your blood pressure meds! Or so I’ve read.

28 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Here a live trip report on a back to back 

maybe ask here 

 

I believe Jim and Iain are on Solstice.

5 hours ago, Helene1111 said:

Is the conversion to beef bar definitely occurring in June? Thanks! 

My recollection is “this summer”.

17 hours ago, occasional cruising said:

We are San Diego to Vancouver in late June —- the ship leaves ar 6 PM ———we are going to make a reservation for dinner that evening at a specialty restaurant —— Anyone know when the ship will hold its safety drill?

So are we on that cruise.

We have a nice little roll call thread, if you care to stop by.

7 minutes ago, Victory! said:

May B, thanks so much!

LOL, my daughter keeps correcting me “Infinite, Mom!”

I’ve been watching reviews and the area outside of Eden looks lovely.

I appreciate your help!

The inside of Eden is gorgeous, too!

There are many unusual things about the Edge ships. Personally, I love them. 

1. I suppose so, but the price might be higher than it is now. I think you should book what you want, when you book the cruise.

2. Concierge class might have a separate boarding line, and it might be quicker. I believe afternoon snacks are in concierge, around 4 pm. It’s just small but we like them, with a drink in our stateroom. We go to a bar and bring it back. Not even sure that’s still “a thing”, as perks have been shifting lately. The boarding day lunch is good, but if you board late, that perk is gone. Cruisers who love buffet breakfast and lunch don’t even think that’s much of a perk.

3. I don’t think so. It’s called infinite, not infinity.

4. It depends where the sun is in relation to the side of the ship you’re on. If your side is facing west and it’s late afternoon, you’ll have sun. When the ship is moving, it’s unpredictable. You’re not really “sitting out”. You’re sitting next to a huge open window. If you really want to “sit out”, either book a sunset veranda stateroom or an M or S class ship, not Edge class. Or go to the pool deck or higher, or other areas with lounge chairs. On Edge class, you can sometimes get full sun outside Eden. Usually nice quiet location.

Have fun!

14 hours ago, ryndam said:

Apparently not. There was no way the Crystal personnel were going to apply a milestone award to any type of cruise fare reduction. Onboard credit only. 

Frustrating! 

Rob, if you chose not to take the OBC, could the fare reduction be applied to a FUTURE cruise?

On 4/23/2024 at 11:45 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

I need to hire you as my social secretary.   You are of course correct -- Silhouette in November 16 from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale.    

 

In 2025 will be Equinox Nov 21 to Buenos Aires --- That one is really going to be an interesting trip.  Triple hitter --- Cunard, Oceania and the Celebrity.   That should be an interesting comparison.

People sometimes say you shouldn’t compare.

We like to laugh about the comparisons. As long as a cruise meets our expectations, we’re happy. If it exceeds, that’s even better.

And when we call a location on one cruise line by the name of another, we … just laugh! Laughter is good!

4 hours ago, retired dude said:

we live in tampa so there are no other options with celebrity out of our home port and rccl out of tampa is the same 20 year old ships that also need attention....It is what it is, and we just returned from taking cruises out of miami and lauderdale...At lease least we are trying to be loyal customers, we just expect that if you raise the cruise prices by 30% that maybe just maybe a few upgrades to the cabins might be justified....We enjoy celebrity and have for over 25 years, we just want a decent return on our investment.....and yes i have discussed this with the parent company.  Like  i said if the ships are full there is no need to right some of the wrongs...It is the corporate way....just say'in

Hey dude. I wonder if I know you. 😁

53 minutes ago, hcat said:

with TV  working we can check our daily account, watch the navigation channel and repeats of onboard lectures we cannot attend..

 

Maybe we'll see you cruising from Tampa one of these days!  (Already booked for 2025 from Port Ev..on APEX)..We are about 90 min south of TPA

At least you’re 90 minutes closer to Apex than we are!

Checking the acct. is one of the things Mr B likes, and I’m the one who likes the navigation channel. I don’t think either one of us knew we could watch onboard lectures. Have done that on Crystal and Viking.

He also likes to watch ESPN. 😁

31 minutes ago, 81Zoomie said:

I’ve never experienced topside seating on a tender/lifeboat. Interesting 🧐 

I agree!

30 minutes ago, hcat said:

you can always pick a diff ship..We are a NO until the in room TV system is turned on!  After that, we are a maybe...Port of Tampa would be the draw

T.V. is meaningless to me, though Mr B does comment, usually once/cruise.

Port of Tampa, YES YES YES. We’re booked for January and March of 2025. Well, we live 3.5 miles from the dock!

1 minute ago, metsfan1968 said:

Thank you. I'm guessing that means you need to speak with someone to book it and make the request?

Yes, and I think the category you’re paying for has to be available so they can get the pricing right.

If there are two categories of Aqua class or Concierge, the upgrade would go from the less expensive to the more, within that category.

It’s not much money but what the heck … money is money!

I’m late to this party, but I’ll try to catch up! I trust you are having an appropriately wonderful blast.

Have a wonderful trip! Bon voyage.

Rome is a wonderful city, as you have by now already figured out!

16 minutes ago, Roland4 said:

It's me Patty!!!!!😮

 

I am still learning how to use my iPhone and the pictures saved in an HEIC format. Had to figure out how to change them to jpeg. I tried replacing them, but now I am getting download errors. Turkey is partially blocking Starlink, they are still "evaluating it", and I think that may be the problem. Since I have passed the allowed time to edit, I will try reposting the pictures either later this evening or tomorrow.

 

I did discover that if you download the individual HEIC files, you can then open the pictures, or at least I could on my Surface tablet.

I could open all the photos on my iPad. I love them! Thank you for posting, and keep enjoying.

Pretty amazing, how long you’ve known a few of the staff.

18 minutes ago, skybluewaters said:

 

So, it's two votes for a BTO night on June 25 and one vote against.

As Meatloaf melodiously said, two out of three ain't bad.

Time to search for the old cummerbund

Make that three out of four. Mine also shows black tie optional.

Mr B won’t pack his tux for just one night. I’m glad you will!

I will also add that entertainment all the way around, as well as enrichment, seems to have continued to be outstanding after Crystal returned to service about nine months ago.

I do think they have pre/post land, perhaps not as many as they will when we’re further out from the restart. 
 

Shore excursions are never included and seem to be getting a fifty/fifty thumbs up/thumbs down reaction. On my November cruise on Serenity, one was wonderful, one terrible. We were refunded for some or all of the terrible one (which was not 100% terrible). I’m scheduled to take two in June and I expect them to both be fine, as one is in the US and one in Canada.

I’m not a smoker but I think I’m qualified to answer.

For indoors, there’s a place called the Connoisseur Club, which is devoted to smokers, including cigar.

Outdoors, smoking is allowed on one side of the pool deck, as well as aft on some of the decks, and I believe on port side of the promenade deck. In reality, there are rarely any smokers outside at all. The most are on the one side of the pool deck. Perhaps somebody can verify my recollection.