ticktock01

26 minutes ago, GALSews said:

If you dock at the port in Amsterdam, then we two septuagenarians were able to walk from the ship to the Ann Frank House in 30 minutes. 

Thank you!

Good to know. My wife and I are also septuagenarians.

12 hours ago, UKstages said:

just confirming... you have your ticket already for the anne frank house?

 

they go on sale exactly six weeks before the day of the visit. no tickets sold on the premises. i'm sure you knew that, but just checking. two hours is a long time in the museum, unless you spend time time in the cafe. it is indeed a short cab ride back, but it's also walkable... the whole city is walkable, if you have no mobility concerns.

 

the very last room of the museum has a video with otto frank, filmed in the 70s i think, for american television, if memory serves. don't miss it. he makes a rather simple but stunning comment about not just his daughter, but about all children.

Thanks for that information.  No, I don't have tickets yet. I will have my alarm clock set for 4am edt, which is 10am Amsterdam time on May 14, exactly 6 weeks before we get to Amsterdam. I want make sure I get tickets. 

If I don't spend 2 hours there I will just get back to the ship earlier. 

All of these caveats  are good advice. Fortunately, the tour that I was referring to was the Anne Frank House. There is no tour bus involved. I will have a 1:45 pm ticket and plan to stay about 2 hours max. I believe it's a short cab ride back to the ship. I should  be back on the ship long before last call. 

12 hours ago, dlh015 said:

Always have to smile when this sort of question is asked...because I just wouldn't even consider taking that chance. Playing 'chicken' with the captain is a losing proposition...

What a condescending post.

I wasn't planning on "playing chicken".

I thought  that the ship required us to be back 2 hours before departure.  I'm going to take a private tour.  That will get me back about an hour before departure. That's not "playing chicken".

I've cruised mostly on Celebrity in the past. They usually tell passengers that they must be back on board one hour before leaving a port.  I noticed that NCL, specifically the Prima, says we must be back aboard two hours before leaving a port. 
How strict is NCL about this?  If I get back to the ship one hour before the ship is due to leave, will that be a problem for me? Of do they say that just to make sure the last minute people get back in time?

21 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

 

NCL's transfer from Skarfabakki Harbour' to Keflavik airport is $75 per person. I called and asked yesterday while mulling over my options.

About half that price if you book it on your own through FlyBus. Just yesterday Flybus quoted me about $36 US

On 3/27/2024 at 1:23 PM, Junk man said:

 

Thanks for your reply. I am wondering if you noticed other cruise guests taking the same bus as yours. How full was your bus? I am trying to find a reliable transfer service avoiding expensive service from the cruise company.

On 3/27/2024 at 1:23 PM, Junk man said:

 

Thanks for your reply. I am wondering if you noticed other cruise guests taking the same bus as yours. How full was your bus? I am trying to find a reliable transfer service avoiding expensive service from the cruise company.

Can anyone tell me how far a walk it is from the pier at Skarfabakki, where an NCL ship might dock, to the Flybus bus stop?

I am planning to visit the Anne Frank House when my cruise on the NCL Pima arrives in Amsterdam in June. Can anyone tell me how far it is from the NCL cruise terminal in Amsterdam to the Anne Frank House? I saw something about it being fairly close to the Cruise Ship Terminal. Is it walking distance? If not, how far an cab ride would it be?

Can anyone tell me which cruise terminal Celebrity uses in Puerto Madryn?
It looks like there are two terminals:
Muelle Luis Piedra Buena, Puerto Madryn

Muelle Almirante Storni, Puerto Madryn
I've booked a private tour there and I need to tell the tour company where to pick me up.
Thank you

On 11/20/2022 at 7:38 PM, WNcruiser said:

From what I have researched, the only way to actually get ON Martillo/Harberton is through Pira Tours. All the other tours just go by on a boat as it is privately owned. 

Sadly, that tour doesn't leave Ushuaia until 2:00pm on March 18, the day my Celebrity cruise will be there. It's a 7 hour tour, so it won't work for me. The ship departs at 5:00pm.

Thank you all so much! This was very helpful.  Especially the photos that Upwarduk posted. I'm trying to figure out why I am 2A and our friends are 1A, and they are paying about $300 less than we are. That doesn't make sense.

I'm currently booked on the Reflection, in a Category 2A cabin.  It is a balcony cabin on Deck 7. How does that compare to other categories? Are there other balcony categories that are better or worse, ie: less or more expensive?
What do these numeric/alpha categories mean?

On 7/29/2018 at 12:46 PM, Purifyer said:

when I was in the Navy a old Chief told me to fetch a gallon of bulkhead remover. Doesn’t exist. Just a joke for newbies.

My first day aboard a Navy ship, my CPOf sent me after 20 feet of shore line. When I asked him where I might find it he replied "In the locker with the wind shifters".

I know that the Bistro on 5 was replaced by a Sushi restaurant on some of the Celebrity ships. However, I noticed on some cruise ship websites it still shows that it is on the Solstice. I wonder if these are old websites or it really does exist.  I enjoyed that restaurant.  Does anyone have any up to date info about Bistro on 5 on the Solstice?

My wife and I are doing our initial research for our 70th birthday cruise for an end of 2018 /beginning of 2019 cruise to Australia and New Zealand. We are trying to choose between a 14 day cruise on NCL Jewel Balcony cabin for $2,079 or a 16 day cruise on Celebrity Solstice for $3,549. (Celeb's 14 day cruise is $4,049, which doesn't make much sense to me). If we went with NCL the savings for the 2 of us would be almost $3,000, which is considerable for us.

We've recently sailed on Equinox and Reflection, which are Celebrity Solstice class ships in the past and loved it. Never sailed on the Solstice. We've also sailed on NCL in the past, but not on the Jewel and not in several years. We've enjoyed those cruises too.

We are not "foodies" but we do like good food.

I've read in other posts that the food is better on Celebrity and the entertainment is better on NCL. Both are important considerations.

So considering the substantial difference in the price of the cruises,

which would you do?

For some perspective, I've only been on 4 carnival cruises in the past. As long as its better than carnival, I will be greatly satisfied

Ahem, No food snob here, but it doesn't take much to be better than Carnival.

We've been aboard the Equinox now since 4/15. We will be in Ponta Delgada, Azores tomorrow after 7 days at sea. This is my second cruise on Celebrity. First time was way back in 1998. We've cruised many times on most of the other popular cruise lines. I remember my experience on Celebrity as being a cut above the others. Not this time.

Some of my observations and opinions. Others, I'm sure, will differ.

1. Service, as far as room stewards and front desk people are concerned, is great. they are all very accommodating and friendly.

2. Service in the dining rooms is a different story. Our waiters and assistant waiters are constantly forgetting things, making mistakes on our orders and have been very slow. eg: Getting raw chateaubriand, when ordered med. rare., giving 1 person cocktail sauce for their shrimp cocktail and forgetting to give the others at the table theirs, The menu clearly stated "Chilled potato soup". When the order came the bowl of soup was steaming hot. When I questioned the waiter he said "Oops, I forgot to tell you they changed it". These kitchen and waiter errors are happening very frequently.

3. The quality of the food in the MDR is just eh. Not terrible for the most part, but certainly not wonderful either. I can truthfully say that the food is no better than on NCL, Princess or RCCL in my experience.

4. The food in the Tuscan Grill, which so far is the only specialty restaurant we've tried, is outstanding. Looking forward to the Silk Harvest.

5. Entertainment is excellent. Allejandro, our Cruise Director, and his staff are doing an excellent job keeping us entertained during our 7 days out at sea.

Overall, I'm a bit underwhelmed and disappointed in this cruise, although I'm loving the transatlantic crossing. Next cruise I will probably choose a different cruise line.

....we also love X's room service breakfast on the balcony, even if we only order pastries and coffee and not a full breakfast its awesome to use as a wake up call, they call and 5 minutes later my pot of coffee arrives, just enough time to get up and put a robe on....its one of our favorite things about cruising, especially on X

Isn't there a charge for room service on Celebrity?

This is about the best I can do. I got this from the Celebrity Facebook Page.

I'm booked in 6208 on an east bound transatlantic cruise in April. I have done some research on it. You're correct. The balconies are a little larger for both rooms. I think 6210's balcony might be just a bit larger than 6208, but I'm not sure about that. I've been told that you don't really hear noise from the elevators when your door is closed unless you really listen for it. I would have preferred cabin 6240 or 6242 as I think the balconies wouldn't be as windy, since they are on the protected side of the hump. Also if you are going in an easterly direction as we are, the Starboard side gets the sun during the day. The Port side is shadier and cooler. Of course the opposite is true if you are going in a westerly direction.

The saunas are free and are gender specific.

 

I like to use the sauna, but I don't require all the fancy stuff in the Persian Garden.

I like the idea that the basic, gender specific sauna is free and available to all passengers. That is good enough for me.

As a fellow amateur photographer and fellow cruise enthusiast, I noticed that the quality of your photos is excellent. The DoF in all of your photos is also excellent. Even in your indoor shots. Were these HDRs or did you have enough good light to stop way down to like F16?

I posted a number of photos that we took from our balcony a couple of months ago. We stayed in 6208, one of the larger balconies on the slant. We learned to look over the obstructions.

Thanks!

The photos you posted and your remarks were very helpful as we are booked in Cabin 6208 for an upcoming TA cruise. We were concerned about the obstructions. Nice to hear, from a couple of people,that have been in this cabin, that it wasn't a big deal.

Terry

I would really appreciate a review of cabin 6208, particularly regarding how obstructed the view is. Thanks

I know this is an old post but I noticed you didn't get a response from anyone that know anything about the Equinox cabin 6208.

Did you have this cabin when you cruised?

We are booked in this cabin for a cruise next April and would like to hear how you liked it. How was the obstructed view?

Terry