nodandade

No excuse for the rudeness, outright hostility and nastiness that we have seen and been subject to on some of our entry experiences to airports in the USA over many years.

totally agree bpos,but we must all remember that although the usa will help defend her allies in times of need, the ultimate goal is to defend the usa at all costs both ex and internal.

the world is tinkering on the brink of another war,and the usa is only making sure that as few enemies are in their country as possible to reek havoc should their countries be struck by the usa and its allies.

the world is at a knifes edge at the moment,and all countries are tightening border controls and good on them.

this does not excuse rudness, but they expect their requests to be adhered to.

everyone needs to realise that if you are going to another country other than your own that that is there law.

google all the info before you go and if you don't like it, ''don't go'' / or don't get off

my wife and I have travelled to over 30 countries and if you comply and show that you are willing to co-operate then there is never a problem.

mark my words the day will come when we are as strict as most other countries are now around the world.

expect some to be arrogant, but you are going into their country, and right or wrong they rule roost

Its a rip-off! Don't be fooled into paying for that package as they are not even using professional camera equipment to justify the fees. They are using low end entry level DSLR cameras and no longer have the appropriate lenses for portraits. Furthermore the photos are a complete waste of time and an absolute joke. Sheer unprofessionalism at its highest by beginner photographers who just don't make the cut into getting into the profession on land. Examples are those boarding photos with all your hand luggage draped over your shoulders (no professional in their right mind would take a portrait like that), then there are the gangway photos in foreign ports with the stupid childish dress up dolls and you get other passengers lined up and grimacing in the background not to mention the nitty-gritty workings of a port that just look ugly and a photograph that is not even centred and framed properly. There is absolutely nothing creative about their photographs or the work they put in to justify that high price. Their equipment is substandard and I have seen passengers walking around the decks with cameras and lenses worth ten times the price of the cameras the ships photographer uses.

Brisbane 41 cool down,only a question about prices ,not about quality or ability.

HI Guys, wondering if anyone has been recently and know what the drink package prices on board were ? Specifically interested in the Premium Non Alcoholic Package. Do you also know if they were offering any discounts on specialty dining restaurants booked onboard ? I am used to travelling on Royal ships and found the prices of the specialty restaurants on Solstice expensive to book through our cruise planner. Thanks in advance :-)

can I just ask, have you already booked, as celebrity are offering free classic alcohol packages on certain cruises.

these packages work ,so you can get everything up to and including 'all' packages to classic level, then you can upgrade to premium once on board. it costs around $100.00 aus dollars to upgrade from classic to premium once onboard for a seven night cruise

cheers

We are thinking of having a drinks package on Celebrity Solstice and want to know if it is worth it, does anyone a copy of bar prices? Thank you.

having been on the solstice I can tell you that I don't think their bar prices are much different than most other cruise ships.the question of wether you want a drink package or not I suppose depends on how much you drink.prices are aprx beer $6-8 / wine by glass $7-15 / soft drinks $2-3 per can / specialty coffees $5-8 some include alcohol .I have found that if you have to buy your drinks as you go you tend to not drink as much but if you have a drinks package you tend to drink a lot more.

we are going on the solstice in april with both my wife and I having received the free drinks package, I am going to upgrade my wife to the premium package once on board as she likes the better quality wines

alcohol packages work very well for us even if we have to purchase them.

best you go onto the celebrity site and see what each package offers and whats best for you.there is no limit on how many drinks you can have only the quality of the product e.g classic package johnny walker red label + others / premium package johnny walker black label + others

I would base your findings on having a good or night out with friends and what it cost you for the night for drinks.

not saying everyone gets on the drink ,but when you are cruising it is a different world, and it can become very sociable.hope this helps

having not long been on the carnival spirit out to the islands (great ship / food /and cruise) the one thing that let the whole thing down was to see some of the attire some people did wear to the dining room.

to see most people dressed for the occasion and then to look at a table not far from you to see a person in (yes) a blue Jackie howe singlet / cap and /thongs(flipflops for the americans) and the rest of the people at the table with him not dressed much better was a total disgrace

one has to ask what sort of character these people were made of,even our 9 year old grandies could not wait to put on their good clothes to go to the main dining room.

I now think it is time for ''ALL'' cruise lines to put an extra note in the cabins 'EACH' day to tell people to dress correctly or you will 'NOT' be allowed to enter.

as to answer your question I would say no you cannot wear shorts into the main dining room.

their is out there now a whole civilisation of people who dress like they have absolutely no pride in how they look

clean it up cruise lines

has anyone done the 5 senses dinner on either the solstice or any of the s class ships in murano and what is your opinion of it

thank you in advance

has anyone recently had the 5 senses dinner in murano on the solstice, and what was your opinion.

thanks in advance

well we are home after our 8 night cruise from Sydney to Noumea / mare / isle of pines.the weather was terrific all the way,even to the extent that my sea sick son-inlaw took his wrist bands off and no tabs after the second day at sea.what a great trip it was, although not masses to do on the islands,there was enough, and we all loved beaches and islanders in general.

this is the second time we have cruised on the spirit, once back 12 years ago in alalska,she hasn't changed much, and where she has it is for the better.our two grand kids just loved the pools /slides,but most of all the kids club.dont know what carnival do in those clubs but I hope they don't change a thing because our kids 8 and 9 years old just could not wait to get back there everytime.

food was excellent everywhere.everyone of the workers were so polite, also the crew and officers.spotlessly clean all over the ship and although there were 400-500 kids on board, you would never know.

thanks carnival. for a great holiday you made our family even happier than normal. cheers

can anyone tall me what you get in a bubbles package for kids on the carnival spirit.i know it is soft drinks and juice, but can anyone tell me what sort of soft drinks and juices, e.g lemonade / coke / lemon/ orange juice / pinapple juice etc etc

thanks in advance

Hi Folks

 

Why not just stick to the rules , use your e-cigs in the same places that smoking is permitted...

 

Or be prepared to cop a $250 fine or even be prepared to be removed from the ship

 

Frankly if you break the smoking rules I for one would be happy to see you removed from the ship so you could no longer create a hazard to all on board

 

Regards

 

John

I cannot believe what you have written vk3dq.someone asks a simple question and you vent your anger on someone you do not know.for all you know this person (becl) could be a carer a charity worker or a millionaire who gives money to the poor or even someone just like you but that is trying to give up smoking.i as an ex smoker (and yes it is a bad habit) gave up 6 years ago with the help of tablets,it wasn't easy but I won in the end.try in your wisdom to help someone else give up the habit just like I did instead of coming down on them like a tonne of bricks.

another drinks question about carnival spirit.

can anyone tell me the aprx costs of soft drinks and juices on board the carnival spirit in Australia

thank you

going on the spirit in a few weeks and was thinking about shouting my two grandies a bottomless drinks package each.they are not really big soft drink drinkers but what other drinks are included.finally if one of them want to take a can of drink back to the room unopened for later will this be allowed

thank you

I may not have phrased my question enough.if I was to not purchase the bubbles package for my grandies, how much are the soft drinks and juices to buy as you go

thank you

going on the spirit in a few weeks and was thinking about shouting my two grandies a bottomless drinks package each.they are not really big soft drink drinkers but what other drinks are included.finally if one of them want to take a can of drink back to the room unopened for later will this be allowed

thank you

going on the carnival spirit in three weeks,and just wondering,my daughter wants to know if she can take her electrical hair straightener with her and use it in the cabin

I have told her, ''I don't think so'' as they generally take those things off you if you bring them on board.am I correct (I hope not)

thank you in advance.

we are going on a cruise soon to Noumea /mare / isle of pines,can anyone tell me what currency we will need to buy say, food / drinks / trinkets etc on these islands. if we need other than aussie can we get it on the islands

thank you in advance

We are doing two cruises in Australia, and we have two weeks between them, rather flying back home (Can) we decided to stay there. Anyone know of a good hotel down there? Reasonable price.

Thanks

hello there,

don't know if this info is to late for you but here goes.

when we do cruises out of Sydney(we are Australians living in queensland) we fly down to Sydney and stay in a hotel called '' the Sydney hotel cbd''.the staff are really nice, and it is smack bang in the centre of Sydney, in a nice safe area with coffee and eatery shops all around you.the rooms are spotless and taxi rank 50mtrs away on the corner.the rooms are small but very clean. around $135.00 per night for two people.i know there are plenty of hotels in Sydney but when we go we are out and about most of the time.

if you google the name above they respond quickly to e.mails

so you get the right hotel the address is

the Sydney hotel cbd

kent house

88 Liverpool st

Sydney

nsw 2000

hope this may help

I've just booked a family cruise on the Solstice after hearing (mostly on this board) what a great ship it is, one of if not the best sailing in this part of the world.

 

I've had trouble navigating the Celebrity website to find out what we can expect on this cruise, but the snippets I've read so far left me feeling like we're going to miss some of the things we've enjoyed on Princess;

- movies on the upper deck in the evenings

- free movies on demand in the cabins

- cheap soft drink/mocktail package

- indoor pool in cooler weather (for kids)

 

 

There must be lots of other wonderful things on offer which make Solstice as good as or better than, say, Golden Princess, so please... tell me what they are!

 

We prefer being outside on the decks when weather permits, and not keen to spend a bunch on optional extras.

 

Many thanks

having cruised on many cruise ships in different parts of the world I think your question is basically difficult to answer.yes we have cruised on the solstice and yes she is a gorgeous ship,but there are things on every cruise ship that stand out,and with to many to mention here,here are just a few.disregarding any freebies thrown in as part of your cruise,we are talking mainly about the ship itself.

msc poesia / the best entertainment of any cruise we have been on (to Iceland)

ncl Norwegian jade / best teppanyaki I have ever been to

diamond princess / best crème brulee I have ever had

the carnival spirit / the most fun ship of all

hal volendam / the most comphy and homely cruise ship of them all/ with the best pastries of any cruise ship on the ocean.

so cruising is subjective,and yes the solstice is a great ship,we are booked on her early next year, so she musn't be to bad.

all I can say is go on the solstice, she has some great features, and for us the best was the overhang on our balcony in aqua class and the ''must do'' murano restaurant.

cheers

Please don't take this as anything other than for information. Where are the smoking areas on the Equinox.I don't care about inside because I refuse to smoke inside unless there is a smoking lounge which no X ships have anymore. Thank you for your responses in advance.

wow isn't it nice for a change for someone on these boards to ask a straight question about smoking on board without it turning into a personal vendetta.

I am a re-formed smoker and still believe normal people still have some rights

thank you to all those friendly posters / smokers or not.

.

No alcohol package.

How old are kids?

boy 8 girl 9

thanks in advance for answers everyone

Food for thought: it is posible that the initial enquiry was intended to be to the contrary - can kids be avoided on the Spirit???;)

 

Phil

hello ned,

no we are taking our grand children on a cruise on the spirit and I just wanted to know about the spirit with children on it. we are going early nov 2016

will there be plenty to do etc etc, these children are well brought up and don't run wild.but do others.

also do you know if carnival do an alcoholic beverage package down under as yet

thank you

we are booked to go on the carnival spirit later this year, tell me about the spirit with kids please.

thanks in advance

Here it is ..The Seven Seas Regent World Cruise 2018

 

Seven Seas Navigator will be off in Jan 2018 for 137 days.

Heres the current price list.

But you will have to be quick. Note the most and the least expensive suites are already on wait list...:eek: and YES those prices are per person

 

you have got to be kidding,no cruise is worth that pricing

Have a 12 day cruise coming up. Concerned with diet. I'm addicted to X's waffles and used to have them every morning. Of course followed by burger, fries and a beer for lunch followed by several pina colodas. Brief rest then dinner. Oh forgot the specialty coffee with a handful of chocolate chip cookies.

 

I said used to. Now what do I do? Tempted to just eat whatever, whenever and worry about the consequences when I get home. A1C only 7.2.

 

What do the rest of you in this situation do?

hello there,i was also told I was type 2 about 1 year ago,this is what I did, not saying it is correct,just what I did,

no more half a slab of chocolate a day only a couple of squares per week.

cut back drastically on the salt intake

no more biscuits with sugar ,only sugar free biscuits

lost 6 kg's

only drink low alcohol beer, not to be tricked into low carb beer as low alcohol means low sugar / I drink 2.3% larger

eat plenty of veges (always have) and eat a lot more salad now.

cut down a lot on milk .

now not type 2 as per tests by doctor

but I still shout myself at least a couple of nice crème brulee's or tiramisu twice a week on a cruise or once a month when I am home.

type 2 is not going to lay you flat if you do something about it, but you can still live a great life.

don't starve yourself from the good like but do it all in moderation,i am 66 and I feel great.

hope this helps

although I agree dazzer01,and we should start somewhere, but it is a big ask to try to eradicate completely the outbreaks of viruses on cruise ships. we have been so lucky (my wife and I) having been on 7 cruises overseas and never had noro on any of those cruises.another thing that needs to be strictly monitored is when people return from shore visits,let me say I think this is where a vast number of bugs come from.having seen the nose picking habits from the Asian community in their countries to the vast amount of flies, filth , and bad sanitation in Egypt and the most of the middle east, it isn't any wonder that virus outbreaks on ships are prevelant.i have had many doctors tell me that when people come back from overseas on a plane for instance, and they get ill a day or two after, they blame the country that they have been to for their illness but in fact a lot of the problems come from the air system within the planes

so yes I agree start somewhere pay a little extra, and see if we can at least reduce the noro think ,even a little bit will help