lorilea

We just got off the Constellation in Ravenna on the 25th and we were able to book a transfer on the ship to Venice City Center (Tronchetto) at Guest Relations on the ship on the 23rd.  We had originally booked a car rental in Ravenna but with the recent flooding, we thought a transfer would be better if we could get it. Transfer bus was half full.

On 4/18/2023 at 10:53 AM, mrgabriel said:

It never hurts to politely ask!

 

We were on a New Year's cruise this past January and the weather was terrible the day before we sailed with a bunch of major North American airports closed or with severe delays. We were told by one of the crew that over 100 cabins were empty because people missed the ship. We counted, and there were 8 suites on our deck that had keycards at the door at 8 pm that first night. That would have been a good cruise to request an upgrade 🙂 

We actually missed embarkation for one of our Celebrity Cruises and joined the ship 2 days later at the first port.   I’d have been pretty sad if our room had been given away when we finally arrived😥.  Since then we have never made the mistake of flying in on the day of embarkation.  Lesson learned the hard way!

Also - we have been able to upgrade with Celebrity on arrival day. Just visited customer service and asked if there were any upgrades available and there were for a very reasonable price!

I agree with lorilea. We were on Summit for a 14 day cruise in October. As an experiment, we booked Aqua class and ate most breakfasts and dinners in Blu. The food and service were exceptional. The beverage service was also exceptional. The food was hot and not bland. One of the highlights was the night I mistakenly ordered the roast chicken. It was incredible. I wouldn't think I would say that about simple roast chicken, but it really was that good. I realize that food is one of those subjective things, but we are now spoiled and will have to go Aqua class from now on.

We also enjoyed Qsine, but I think you have to be in the mood for the show to really like it.

 

Ohiodoglover

I also ordered the roast chicken on the last night - on purpose - and found it to be really good as well! You're right about the beverage service as well.

We visited Coconut Beach Club last week and we were charged the quoted $45 but we were talking to some others who paid $50. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to pay $50. The beach was beautiful, they brought out some chairs for us, the drinks were good - check out the drink menu at the bar - I particularly liked the Coconut Martini - yum! We used the pool as well. Lunch was delicious - we had jerk chicken, fish, and olive spaghetti along with some rice/beans, salad, buns etc. They also served served wine at your table.

We just got off of the Summit on Dec 7th and ate all breakfasts and dinners in Blu. We were very impressed with the level of service from everyone. We found that it was less busy if we showed up early. While Eggs Benedict (one of my favourites) was not on the breakfast menu, we were able to order it and it was delicious. The made to order omelettes were excellent as were our daily smoothies - loved Mango. Now we will have to book in Aquaclass on all future Celebrity cruises!

We just did a whale watch with Harv & Marv last week. We did Orca 3 years ago.

Both trips were very different.

Orca - boat was full but we sat in a good spot, it was raining but waters were calm - watched 16 whales bubble net feed for 3 hours - incredible! Heard them on the sonar.

Harv & Marv - 6 people on boat, it was a beautiful sunny day but a bit choppy, saw quite a few spouts and a few tails - nothing really close. Saw puffins which I wasn't expecting. Orca's boat was in the same area and did not appear to be full - they would have seen the same thing we did.

If I had to choose - I would pick Harv & Marv as we prefer the small boat experience. Both companies are excellent as far as I'm concerned.

Surprisingly, we saw more whales from our ship this time. We saw 2 calves breeching over and over again one morning. My son could even see them from the bed. Last trip we did not see a single whale from the ship. You just never know.

If I might ask, did you feel the Orca boat was too crowded?

 

Karen

We didn't find it too crowded at all when we went. I'm not sure how many people were there but it looked like most of the bench style seating was filled. It turned out that we were seated in a pretty good location for viewing whales on this particular trip. We did go outside and climb to the top viewing area but it was windy, rainy and cold so spent most of our time indoors.

We chose Harv&Marv this time as we just wanted to try a smaller boat. We had done a private tour with Captain Davey in Sitka and really enjoyed it.

Well I'll be able to compare the 2 after our trip at the end of August.

I can tell you that we thoroughly enjoyed our trip with Orca Enterprises in July 2009 and would not hesitate to tour with Captain Larry again. The naturalist on board was very good. While the weather was rainy, we were very fortunate to spend the entire whale watch observing 16 whales bubble net feeding.

This time we booked Harv & Marv as we wanted a small boat experience. We had actually tried to book with them a year in advance for our trip back in 2009 and they were already booked. Had they already been full this time, we would have booked with Orca.

This brings back memories. I sailed on the Festivale over 20 years ago - my first cruise and all by myself. I'll have to check my albums to see what I've got.

Here are our plans. We've booked all lodging, transportation other than the ferry to Vancouver Island, and all excursions except the Nenana River raft trip - can't decide who to go with. I still need to come up with some options for dinners and things to do when not on excursions in the ports. We are not making any specific plans for Victoria as my Dh's Uncle lives there and is making plans for us. We are a family of 4 - Myself 46, DH 43, DS 14 and DD 11. We are going on the Carnival Spirit. The cruise was booked a year ago yesterday and I have been researching this for a year and a half.

7/10 – Fly Toronto to Anchorage, stay at Homewood Suites, pick up rental at Avis downtown, dinner?

7/11- Stop at Walmart for supplies, drive Anchorage to Healy, check into Aspen Haus B&B, dinner?

7/12 – 5:30 am Denali Park Shuttle to Wonder Lake (weather permitting), stay at Aspen Haus B&B, dinner?

7/13- Scenic Nenana Gorge raft trip, drive to Talkeetna, stay at Denali Fireside Cabins & Suites, dinner?

7/14 – DH & DS Fly fishing with Just Fly Fish @ 5:30 am, DD and I will sleep in and go to Roadhouse for breakfast, drive back to Anchorage, turn in van at Avis, stay at Comfort Inn Ship Creek, dinner?

7/15 – Train from Anchorage to Whittier, PWS Glacier Adventure Cruise 1:30 - 5:30, board Carnival Spirit & check into our Cat 11 suite (might as well do this right!)

7/16 – Cruising Prince William Sound

7/17 – Sitka –maybe Alaska Raptor Center in am, 4 hr tour with Captain Davey 1:45 - 5:45 pm

7/18 – Juneau – 9am Whale Watch with Orca Enterprises, drop off and pick up at Mendenhall Glacier, late lunch at Tracy’s King Crab Shack, Mt. Robert’s tram (weather permitting) – not sure what else as we are in port until 11pm

7/19 – Skagway – Chilkoot Charters Train/Bus to Yukon 7:30 – 2:30

7/20- Cruising Lynn Canal, Ketchikan –maybe Lumberjack Show, explore town, Island Wings Misty Fjords 4–6pm

7/21- Cruising Inside Passage

7/22- Vancouver – disembark and pick up Avis rental car, drive to Stanley Park, Vancouver Aquarium, stay at Holiday Inn and Suites North Vancouver

7/23- Capillano Suspension Bridge in am, Ferry to Vancouver Island, stay at Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour, meet up with family – leave planning to them

7/24 – Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour – again – planning is in the hands of Uncle Bob & Aunt Barb

7/25 – return rental car in Victoria, stay at Uncle Bob & Aunt Barb’s place,

7/26- Fly Victoria to Toronto