Clydesmom7865

Got half way to the airport before realizing the laptop bag with my computer, wallet and PASSPORT were at home on the sofa. :eek:

Had to break major laws to head home and get it and make my flight out. Learned ALWAYS check for the passport before pulling out of the driveway.

We wish to spend the morning touring Vancouver before boarding, in the afternoon. Can we check in our bags at the boarding area, in the morning early?

We are concierge class.

How early, if this is possible?

Is there a charge?

Thanks :)

I don't think they start taking luggage for boarding passengers at the pier until late morning. Too much confusion with departing passengers up until around 10:00 am.

You can check with your hotel often the bell stand will keep your luggage after check out for you for a small charge or even just a tip. This is a MUCH better option.

unfortunately it is not a Celebrity tour... it is Pacific Coast bus to Victoria for 2 nights post cruise... hopefully we will be able to arrange to get off in good time for the 11:00 am departure...

 

good advice re embarkation, we will plan to be there around noon to let the "rooster" types get through first

 

thank you for your reply

No worries. Simply put down that you have a 10:00 am flight so that you are off the ship by around 9 and have time for customs.

I posted this on "Ask a Question" - someone thought it might be better posted here...

 

We are on the Celebrity Century leaving May 18th - check in time is between 11 and 3... it is our very first cruise... should we be there right at 11? Will it be a 2 hour process? Once the cruise is over we have booked a tour with bus pick up at 11 am at the pier - what is the process for getting off? What do you recommend to be at the bus bay at 10:30 am?

 

thank you for your help

How long embarkation takes depends on what time you arrive. Since many want to start their cruise when the rooster crows at the sun and choose to arrive at the pier shortly thereafter, early arrivals could wait quite some time to check in and board.

I tend to arrive around lunch between 12 and 1 and waited about 30 minutes maximum for the entire process from getting to the pier to boarding.

When leaving you have to collect your luggage in a SEA of suitcases and go through customs. My last cruise took over 2 hours but that was mostly because the gangway was closed for 40 minutes because a passenger collapsed in cardiac arrest (and sadly died) and the medical crew had to start CPR and call paramedics.

If it is a Celebrity tour they will have a process for your to disembark so that you make the tour with plenty of time.

Dirty clothes? Do you really want a hamper of dirty clothes in your room?? Leave one of your suitcases open under your bed and toss the dirties onto one side of that.

I take along a small plastic trash bag and keep it in the back of the closet for dirty personal items such as bras, underwear and socks. Then on packing night I can squash it down and put it in the suitcase. Makes it VERY easy to do laundry when I get home as I can just dump it right into the washer.

For clothes that I won't wear again because of being dirty or unnecessary I simply fold them back up and back into the suitcase they go. Makes packing easier on the last night. Clean clothes stay on hangers in the closet, in the drawers, or over the bed where they are easily retrieved.

- Extra coat hangers - there are four of us travelling, so I will have a few things to hang up. I solve this by doubling up shirts and pants on one hanger. You can get 2-3 pairs of pants on a hanger you don't need one for each outfit.

- Extra small storage - I'm already going to bring along some foldable boxes for above the bed, but I take other hanging storage like shoe organisers and jewellery organisers. Is there room to hang these things I never brought any of that and did just fine. I have never used over the bed storage either.

- Air fresheners - are the rooms stuffy and could do with some freshness I haven't found any of my rooms stuffy but to each their own.

- Beach Towels - are there enough and can you take them off the ship As others said they ship will supply them no need to waste good suitcase space on unneeded towels.

- Clothes line - is there some way that I could string up a small portable clothes line on our balcony, or is that not possible (or forbidden) Clothes line on the balcony is a HUGE no no and given the winds on some of them you could lose your bloomers. If we wanted to see clothes drying on a balcony like hill billies we would sail Carnival. You can use it in the bathroom if you need one.

- Extra coolers - we have a foldable cooler that we use to store cold drinks. Is this necessary or is the fridge big enough Have the state room attendant empty the fridge. It is a small college sized fridge and should be more than enough.

- Lanyards - does Celebrity provide these? Are they worn by cruisers on Celebrity or are they considered a bit naff They are not popular but I use one on the days when my pants or shorts don't have pockets.

- Powerboard - are these allowed (we have a lot of electrical devices that need charging) I have never run out of outlets and usually bring a laptop, tablet, phone, and camera. You can try to bring one but it might be snagged. You can shop on line and find one of those "all in one" chargers that allows you to power up five devices at once. That should solve your outlet issue.

So when I read about fake service dogs on board, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I feel the same way. My experience is with the dogs trained to assist people with Epilepsy. The dog is trained to alert someone if the person has a seizure, sit by their side until help arrives, push a button on a special phone to call 911, and open a door to let rescue personnel in. Some become so in tune with their partner that they alert when a seizure is coming before it ever happens so the person can make themselves safe.

Like your situation there is a long waiting list and they must be matched to the right dog. There is great expense to get one and the requirements are very rigid. Far beyond getting a doctor to simply scrawl a note on a prescription blank and ordering a vest from the internet. The training time is also at least a month on site then followed up at home.

Please do not isolate yourself on the cruise simply because you have a service animal. Do not let the few abusers of the service animal privilege keep you from your freedom to enjoy the cruise like everyone else.

Though true that ESA's are not SA's (by law, not just opinion), it is more complicated to legislate the difference. But it is much easier to legislate appropriate behavior. Many local animal control regulations specifically state that service animals are not exempt from excessive noise or other public nuisance regulations, so there is plenty of precedence.

I disagree that it is more difficult to legislate the difference. A simple law stating that if the dog is not obtained from an authorized business that is recognized by the state and ADA as training and providing service animals then it is NOT a service animal but a companion or comfort animal A.K.A. A PET.

The problem is that those self absorbed idiots whose untrained animal is being taken where it doesn't belong will screech the loudest when you try to apply the law or rules of behavior to them. They count on the business not wanting the negative attention.

Case and point of a legitimate service dog and its owner being treated badly in violation of the law:

http://article.wn.com/view/2014/04/25/Disabled_man_sues_McDonalds_over_confrontation/

Robert Mingo, 52, who uses a wheelchair, is seeking unspecified damages as a result of his treatment at the Minneapolis franchise. Mingo's lawsuit says he was kicked out of the McDonald's last May after a manager demanded documentation that his service dog was legitimate. The Border Collie-Springer Spaniel mix named Max helps Mingo with daily activities

Mingo said he also visited the same restaurant in August 2012 and was told at the counter that the dog prevented him from being served. And when he rolled up to the drive-through, he was also told he could not be served, according to the lawsuit.

This guy has a legitimate reason to sue as he was discriminated against by a major chain that KNOWS BETTER. He didn't even kick up a public fuss he quietly left and got a lawyer. It is the obnoxious people who can't live without their pets that will generate the negative attention to get what they want.

The bottom line is if the dog is pushed around in a stroller it is a companion animal and nothing more and has NO business on a cruise ship or any other public business because it is not performing ANY service to the owner other than as a pet. Until we as a society stop allowing these self absorbed elitists push us around this behavior will not only continue it will get WORSE.

If the puppies are actually performing as a service animal they cannot ask you to leave. But if they are not actually serving as a service animal and are just getting socialized, the store might be within their rights to ask you to leave, regardless of the reason.

Most people who raise puppies for future service dog roles put a service training bandanna on them and have a set list of stores they use to take them to to socialize them and train certain public behaviors. The stores are typically aware that the person actively engages in training young dogs for this purpose so it usually is not too much of an issue.

I have a friend who does this and she uses smaller businesses at specific days/times. Rarely does she encounter a new employee who is unaware of their role and challenges them. It it usually quickly resolved when the owner/manager educates them on the training of future service dogs.

It's the "comfort" or "support" animals that are ill-behaved and by law don't have to be allowed on board in the first place since they aren't service animals.

There in lies the problem: comfort/support animals are NOT service animals. This is why there needs to be rigid guidelines and laws in place that legitimate service animals have been raised and TRAINED specifically for providing assistance to an individual with a identified need. An organization needs to be registered with the appropriate state agency for the disabled in their state as recognized in training and placing service animals. If your animal did not come from one of those recognized training groups then it is NOT a service dog and therefore airlines, cruise lines, and any other business does not have to accommodate your peeing barking chihuahua because you can't bear to leave Fluffy at home while you travel.

I understand that the cruise lines are in a difficult position here but there has to be some ground rules put into place and the guest should be made to follow those rules.

That is just it: they are NOT in a difficult position. All they have to do is issue a simple one page set of clear cut rules for the animal on board and if the passenger and their animal cannot comply the the animal cannot go. The line is SO afraid of a lawsuit and negative publicity that they allow this bad behavior to the detriment of the health and safety of the other passengers.

Number one priority: the dog gets ONE accident and after that if it is found to be using any area other than their approved litter box for elimination you are OFF the boat. No ifs ands or buts.

The sad reality is there are too many spoiled and entitled people who believe they are above the rules and label their pet a "service animal" so that they can do what they want because conventional rules of society just don't apply to those who are narcissistic.

I personally see absolutely NOTHING wrong with having to prove that the dog was issued by a bona fide agency that trains service animals. No internet purchased vest and "card" saying service animal allowed or worse a letter from someone with a degree that they paid to write it. I love animals and have owned dogs in my life but as much as I loved them I recognized that they just can't go everywhere with me and it never occurred to me to lie to create a scenario where they could.

I GUARANTEE you that if I was on a cruise with some spoiled obnoxious bark bark urinating and defecating where ever it wanted to and sitting on tables in dining areas not only would Celebrity hear about it loud and long but so would the Health Department along with my pictures and video of the incidents. In fact if I were to witness the elimination episode you would be amazed at how LOUD I could be in screeching OMG! Your dog just POOPED/PEED on the casino carpet! Aren't you going to clean that up?!!!" Then loudly discussing it with any nearby staff that aren't service animals supposed to do their business in approved areas. And no I am not worried about someone thinking I am harassing someone who is handicapped because TRUE service animals do not do those things and their owners certainly don't behave that way either.

That's just flat unacceptable! :mad: Doesn't matter who Celebrity has "partnered" with for technology, the service is for their passengers, not their tech partner. For the Apple fanboy staff to not know the basics of WiFi connection for non-Apple devices AND then to just flat LIE about it if you don't have an iThing is ludicrous.

Nice theory but that is not how business works. Apple pays for the privilege of being the provider of choice, to sell their devices, and promote their products to the passengers. Part of that contract can be the clause that employees NOT promote or support competitor products.

You assume that they lie about it but I have met people who are strictly one system user and have NO clue about how to use the other products. Such as myself: I have NO clue about Apple products so asking me how to connect your IPad is a waste of time as I do not know how to do it. It doesn't mean I am lying about it.

I better not hear them giving out that BS info when I'm within earshot, I'll openly shame them by stepping in and showing the poor passenger how easy it really is.

Then be prepared to risk being put off the ship. I simply happened to be in the lounge when all of their techies were on their break for the meal and got pressed into service by other passengers for help connecting. When the techies returned they made it CLEAR that I could no longer do that. It is their ship and their rules. You do not get to tell them how to run their business.

As for your claim that you will "openly shame" someone. Try being a grown up about it. By doing that all you do is make yourself look petty and vindictive.

Is there a prompt for setting up the wifi? Is there an extra charge for the wifi acct?

 

While we appreciate the free Elite minutes and ability to print our airline boarding pass at the lounge, having wifi for my tablet would be very handy. Does it work throuout the ship?

When I was on board there were three different Icons on the main screen. One for setting up an internet account, one for WIFI, and I do not remember what the third one was because I didn't need it.

There is no extra charge for WIFI you use minutes from your same internet account you just use your own device to connect rather than the computers in the lounge.

I cannot attest for ALL areas of the ship but my stateroom was on deck 10 midship and I had no issues connecting. Same for Oceanview Cafe and the pool areas. I did not try other areas.

Can you tell me which browser you use on your samsung? He told us it never works with chrome and then could not get it going on the stock browser or firefox either.

He is wrong. I use Chrome the majority of the time and if not that Firefox. My guess is he couldn't get it to work, didn't know what to do, and so blamed the browsers and device instead of getting help from someone else.

This is what I did:

I went to the lounge with my tablet. I swiped my seapass card and set up an internet account log in and password and then purchased the package I needed to start my online college classes during the cruise. Then I clicked "set up wifi access." You have to set up ANOTHER SEPARATE ACCOUNT for wifi specifically. This is what I think confuses people: the internet access and WIFI are separate. You can use the exact same log in and passwords for BOTH accounts (which is what I do for convenience) Once I have created the wifi account I LOG OUT of the lounge computer. Then pick up the tablet and try to log into ship's wifi. If it is set up right no trouble and you are on immediately. If not I repeat the account set up process for wifi until the device connects.

I had NO trouble getting my Samsung Galaxy Notepad or my PC laptop to connect at all. I set up my internet account through their lounge. Then I set up the wireless account and had absolutely no trouble getting on line back in my state room or in the Oceanview Cafe. I did not try my phone as I leave that on airplane mode but suspect I could have easily logged on. I even helped a half dozen or more people set up their non-apple devices.

My guess is that somewhere in the set up process a step was missed and that is why you had difficulty. You absolutely positively have to do it in order or the wireless does not work. That means setting up the internet account first THEN the wireless. This is where most of the people I encountered had problems.

Breakfast

Read a good book

Nap

Snack/Bucket of Beer

Spa

Hot tub or pool

Nap

Absolutely NOTHING

Lunch/more alcohol

Nap

People watch/Drink

Hot Glass show

Nap

Drink more

Nap

Pre-dinner snack/Happy Hour

Afternoon High tea

After dinner drinks

Nap

Theater show especially comedy

NFL Football in the casino

Casino

Specialty dining

Walk the decks at night

The list is endless and only limited by her imagination and energy.

More than welcome!

Now, we are on the Equinox doing the sailing you did back in 2011. Been to Coz & Cayman, the rest are new. Looking for something in Columbia, any thoughts?

EW

Check this board: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=500

I did that cruise in 2011 and our roll call formed private tours in almost every port. In Colombia we used Claudia. Had a WONDERFUL time! I highly recommend her. You can find her contact information on that CC board.

I too have been on many Celebrity cruises (17) and have never seen anything like those things being mentioned on this thread!

So because you personally have never seen it means that something NEVER happens? :rolleyes: I have never seen a bank robbery but that doesn't mean they don't happen.

What else have you NEVER seen so I know it too doesn't exist?

I do believe people come on here and just make stuff up for the wow factor. Unbelievable.

Yes, some people do make up outrageous posts for the wow factor but when a small number quietly and politely relate having a bad experience that generally lends credibility to the statements. I find it REALLY hard to believe that everyone who posts having seen bad behavior is simply making it up for entertainment. Especially considering I have witnessed it at the buffet, hence just one reason I did not go after one time and will not miss it.

Hi all

 

We have only cruised with P&O before and love going to the casinos.

Can anyone please tell us what the casino is like on the eclipse.

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Smoke free, plenty of table games, lots of slots (though I do not play them) and conveniently located. There is a bar there as well. I did quite well playing blackjack on both my cruises. I earned enough to pay all my shore excursions on the first cruise and pay my sign and sail tab for the entire 14 days on the second one. (and the SS tab was not light)

The one blackjack table has a side bet where if you make the side bet and hit blackjack you get to spin an "electronic" wheel. I was about to stop making side bets when a buddy said "don't do it blackjack is coming" so I did. Two hands later I bet $5 on the side to hit blackjack. Spun the wheel: the 100x multiplier hit!!! Nice extra $500 payout. The casino was not as happy as we were though. :D

I'm doing the TA in a week, and leaving today for a week in Denver prior.

 

I just listed my house for sale, so realtors will be showing the heck out of it while I'm away.

 

If they get a deal, is there a number they can FAX me on the ship, I'm leary to rely 100% on internet and emailing of the documents due to the spotty and often slow and unreliable connectivity (I will get some internet with CC perks, and also will have the AT&T cruise ship plan on my phone as well).

 

Just wonder if a fax is available as a backup and if so, how do I get the number?

Faxing to a ship is nearly impossible and certainly not the number of pages a real estate offer would encompass. It ties up non-emergency ship communications if it works at all not to mention it is expensive. I have read anywhere in the neighborhood of $12-15 per page! :eek:

Use internet when in port and acrobat now has an electronic signature that can be used and emailed right back. Your other option is to find a business center when in port and have it faxed there. For the rest of the TA just make sure your agents know that you are unavailable or have limited availability during the at sea portion of the trip.

I went once, it was beautiful. However to crowded and people were rude, killing them selves to get to the food, like they are going to run out...

I wont miss is. It was nice once but then lost its charm for me.

Norma

My sentiments exactly. It was nice the first time but after that it was a free for all as if it was the last meal on the Titanic. After a woman yelled at me because I "ruined" the picture she planned of some cream puff swan I decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

It's charged by the fraction of a minute.

It is something like .75 cents a minute with no package. If you buy a package of minutes the per minute price goes down the larger the package you buy. The lowest per minute charge is somewhere around .65 cents a minute.

The minute starts with the first second and is not rounded down but up. So if you have been on for 10 minutes and 03 seconds you will be charged for 11 minutes. This is why you watch the timer that opens as a separate window so that you sign off at the top of a minute rather than the bottom if at all possible.

With liquor the answer is YES… sometimes. You definitely need to take into account that prices vary between counties and states widely. For example, here in Florida we have pretty good pricing. Pick a state with a state-run liquor store and the cost can be double or more over what we pay. Yay taxes!

 

Most of the time duty free liquor is not a good deal for us. I have a list of brands I purchase and my favorite store has a quarterly catalog. It's easy enough to slip into my handbag to bring for comparison.

THIS. My father used to save a bundle on certain brands of alcohol he liked to stock his bar with and would get a couple bottles on each cruise to save money. I have other friends who are smokers who do the same with cigarettes and a couple of non-smoking cruising friends who grab the duty free cigs for their smoking friends at home.

We simply asked our Maitre D about dining in the specialty restaurants and what kind of deals were available? They get a bonus for booking so she got us 25% off and we booked two dinners and the champagne high tea.

No special acting skills required. Polite and direct seemed to work just fine.

Hello. We're going to be on the Celebrity Silhouette in a couple of months and we were contemplating trying Qsine this time. at USD 45 pp, it seems slightly expensive, especially when there is so much food available for free :)

 

However we did hear that on some days, Celebrity does have special offers like 50% off if they do not have many reservations. Would it make more sense to wait for one of those offers, or just book now (its a holiday after all, a little splurging doesn't matter)

 

Have any of you'll experienced these 'offers' while on board?

 

Thank you for your assistance.

 

Cheers!

 

Nick

WAIT. On my 14 day cruise we ate there twice and it was never full either time. We got great discounts by booking on board and had no trouble getting the date(s) and times we wanted.

It is fun but I would not have gone twice if my traveling companions had not wanted to go. Once is enough.

What is something you do on the last night that is fun?

I cruise with two girl friends and we do a leisurely un-rushed dinner and post dinner drinks together.