cat maran

Do you want a beach day? Try Cas Abao Beach. It is one of the most beautiful we've visited in the Caribbean. We took a taxi from the port and had them pick us up at a certain time. It is sheltered, with great snorkeling, a restaurant, showers, snorkel rentals. It felt like it was our private beach. We shared a taxi as it is about a 20 minute ride from the port. We went early, got picked up at 1:00 and still had time to enjoy the walk into the city, to cross the floating bridge and shop.

Just go when you are ready. The check-in lines begin to form between 10:30-11. The boarding time is "suggested". The majority of regular cruisers go when they feel like it and when it is convenient for them (like when you check out of your hotel).

Enjoy your cruise.

Just had to add my 2 cents worth...We cruised on the Equinox in March with the new shows. We look forward to the entertainment in the evening...until this year. With the one exception of Jayne Curry, the 11 nights of entertainment were abysmal. While we respect the production staff for their hard work, the talent of these young entertainers was marginal. The shows themselves were nonsensical, loud and difficult to both understand and follow. The other shows were not much better. One musical group from Las Vegas was so poor and SO loud, that we had to leave. We were told nearly half the audience walked out before they finished.

As for the standing ovations...compare it to every kid who plays soccer getting a big trophy. It used to be you got a standing ovation or trophy because you excelled. So don't put much merit on the standing ovations you hear about.

Celebrity needs to reassess who their cruisers are and reinvest some $$ in better shows as well as bringing back violinists, piano entertainers, vocalists with talent, some great comedians, ventriloquists...anything but the horrid entertainment they are now offering.

Though we booked our next Celebrity cruise while on board, we have reconsidered and have decided to jump to a RCCL cruise for a change of pace. Taking away our desire to attended the nightly entertainment took away a lot of our evening enjoyment.

We, too, just returned from our cruise (11 night Ultimate Caribbean on the Equinox) and would like to second the accolades for Dora (the Explorer) as a tour guide in Cartagena. She is a fine lady with an excellent business sense, is dependable and easy to correspond with. I started arranging a tour (after seeing many excellent reviews on Cruise Critic) many months before our trip as I was interested in a PRIVATE tour for 5 family members traveling together. Dora was always quick to respond and answer questions. Most importantly, when Celebrity changed the itinerary and neither my travel agent nor Celebrity had yet advised me of the change, Dora picked it up, made the change of date and time of our tour, e-mailed me and we were good to go. Imagine working with a tour guide that on top of things!

We were met at the end of the pier as arranged, taken to a clean, air conditioned van, and taken to all the spots we had requested. Because we were a private tour, we were also able to make changes as needed to our day's itinerary. Dora met us at the van and though she was unable to be our tour guide that day (due to the itinerary change with Celebrity she was booked with another group) we were very fortunate to have her niece, Veronica, a former teacher, as our guide who did an excellent job showing us her beautiful and historical city while giving us extensive information of the history of Cartagena. I would also like to add that our driver, Pilar, was excellent both safely navigating the busy streets and working with Veronica to always have the van waiting nearby when we were ready to move on to the next stop.

I highly recommend Dora and her staff for any tour you may consider in Cartagena.

For our private 4 1/2 tour we paid $80 pp for a party of 5.

All of them are on water taxi stops.

 

Bokampers, Flip Flops, & Shooters at the Shooters stop (Chart House is also on that stop)

 

15th Street Fisheries at the 15th SF stop.

 

All the rest are at the 9th Street Las Olas stop right at Mangos. Louie Bossi and Roccos Tacos will be heading East on Las Olas and the others will be heading West on Las Olas.

You're amazing. Thanks. Arriving in FLL this Saturday!

Ooh! My faves on the actual water:

 

Bokampers, really good food, on the water, hundreds of tvs.

 

Flip Flops, the only reasonably priced restaurant on the water.

 

Shooters, Fort Lauderdale original, good, kind of expensive.

 

15th Street, pretty good, not as good as Bokampers.

 

Las Olas, not on the water but worth getting off the water taxi:

 

Roccos Tacos, one of my favorite FLL restaurants.

 

Louie Bossi, amazing place, outstanding food.

 

Big City Tavern, best burgers.

 

Yolo, amazing food and atmopshere.

BlueHerons,

Can these be reached via the water taxi, and if so, which taxi, which stops?

It looks like the Itinerary is a newer one for the Reflection. In the past, the ULTIMATE was usually an 11 day cruise. It looks like yours is a 14 day with more ports in 2017-2018.

Do you love white sandy beaches, sunbathing, snorkeling, zip-lining and more sea days? Do the Southern Caribbean.

Prefer history, culture, land and/or walking tours, seeing the Panama Canal? Do the Ultimate.

Either cruise, either ship, you will have a great time!

They will have a queue.

Thanks BlueHerons.

We can always count on you!

We have stayed at several hotels in the 17th St vicinity. Some seem to have taxis in a queue or readily arriving for passenger transport to the port. Others, it seems a taxi has to be called.

Does the Embassy Suites have a queue of taxis in the mornings or will I need to call for one? We will be going from ES to the port on a Monday in February.

No worries. You can still rent loungers and an umbrella (around $25 I think) if you get there early and they set them up on the beach for you. You still have full use of the facilities. Others we know just walked down the beach to the right and found a nice shady spot under some trees, just up from the waters edge, and put down their beach towels.

We also went cheap on the transportation going and opted for the bus which dropped us off right in front of the resort. On the return trip there was a van waiting to take cruise passengers back to the ship. I think we paid $2 or less pp each way.

Thank you both, onebzemom and mitsugirly, for the excellent information. Seeing the pictures again got me excited to get going! We will be there the end of February. Five other ships in port that day, but we dock early.

Originally, I thought the lagoon was for snorkeling also, but it seems the area in front of the palapas is where we want to be. I guess the lagoon is for the iguanas!

We will be in Cozumel and have been to Chankanaab before, but not to snorkel. We will have our own equipment, but are a bit confused about the where and how. We saw a lagoon type area away from the beach - is this for snorkeling? We also saw the area on the beach where you "walk in". Is this where the statues are? Are fins necessary, or would just the mask and water shoes be good? (I've read that getting into the water can be rough on the feet).

Any specific info on the snorkeling would be much appreciated.

Coconuts is wonderful, mostly shellfish with very little in fresh fish options. Nice, on the water, ambiance. If you are taking a taxi it is a ways from Embassy Suites. Across the street from ES at the north end of the shopping center (within easy walking distance) is Bravo Ristorante. In addition to a huge pasta menu they offer steaks, veal and chicken options...as well as a good drinks menu. Check the sticky at the top of the Florida Departures board for more ideas.

Thank you both for sharing your experiences. Sounds good to me. We'll wait until we are on board.

We'll be on the Equinox next year and want to book a RCCL cruise for 2017 while on board.

Does anyone have current info on how easy this is? Is the future cruise desk helpful or will I need all the info at my fingertips?

Do you qualify for the usual category upgrade, on board reduced deposits and OBC? In other words, is booking on board worth waiting for?

If I book on board, I will transfer to our travel agent upon returning home.

Another vote for the Courtyard. Beautiful views, RIGHT across from the beach, Lots of nearby dining and Las Olas Blvd is just a bit of a walk; also not far from a water taxi pick-up.

Best coconut shrimp we've ever had right across the street at Coconuts Restaurant. There is no free breakfast or happy hour, but they have a decent on-site restaurant where we grabbed a light buffet on cruise morning.

There were continually arriving taxis on cruise day; cost was about $20 to the port.

We used SAS transfer which picks up at the Miami port. It will take you to the FLL airport (about $12-15 pp fare). Then we took a taxi from the airport to the Ft Lauderdale pier (about $18 for 2 plus tip). We figured this was the most economical. Taxi from Miami to Ft Lauderdale port could be closer to $80-100. Many of the Miami based transfer companies are not contracted to drop off at the Ft Lauderdale port.

FYI

I have never been on the Reflection, but have cruised on 3 Solstice and 2 Millennium ships. Don't count on the ATM on the ship to be available and handing out money. By the 2nd day of both 10 and 14 day cruises, the ATM was "Out of Order". And the sign never came off for the balance of the trips. Take the cash you need and store it in your safe, or pay the 5% and get cash at the casino.

In addition to what Happy Cruiser stated above (which is a great idea), if you are working with a travel agent, tell them which cabins you are interested in. They will actually get on the phone with Celebrity (while on the phone with you) and will check the availability of the cabins you are interested in. If the cabin(s) you want is not available, Celebrity will offer some cabins nearby that are. Ask for what you want. I don't think all the available cabins are ever listed on the websites of Celebrity OR travel agents.

The best...and closest! Bravo Italiano Ristorante is right across the parking lot. Italian, fish, chicken. Check out their menu on line. Also, they offer a discount off your entire meal if you bring a "boarding pass" for your cruise. I think any proof would work. I printed out a coupon on line. We were staying at the Renaissance last March. I would skip Bimini Boatyard. It is close, but in my opinion not nearly as good.

TRY THIS:

Go to the Message Boards and Under cruise lines, click on Celebrity. The 2nd "sticky" down from the top is the S-class cabin info. Click on it and it brings up a post that has "S-class cabin spreadsheet". If you click on that it will take you to the spreadsheet developed by LibraryLady. You can look up information shared by other posters of many of the cabins on all the Solstice ships.

Unless you NEED a car, I would skip it. We did this in March. Arrived late on a Saturday, took a taxi to our hotel in Ft Lauderdale where we stayed 2 nights. There are lots of things to do if you stay in the 17th Street area. In my research, I found hotels in FLL less expensive than in Miami. We arranged for SAS to pick us up at our hotel in the morning the day of the cruise. They were dependable, on time, and the van was large and clean. It cost $15pp. We got to the ship early and were able to board. I believe that SAS does pick-ups in the 17th St area and at hotels near the airport. A taxi estimate was closer to $100 and that didn't take into consideration if we hit bad traffic.

Does anyone know of a catamaran sail or boat trip that might include snorkeling (or not) but DOES NOT include Sting Ray City? I know this is a big stop in Grand Cayman, but "been there, done that" and we are more interested in a nice sailing day.

This is all really good info. I booked CC last time and my TA gave us $35. I think I missed out on a lot. So, since I just booked online last week, I should consider moving my reservation to a TA? Even if I booked an inside? I know no one can list TAs, but how would I find one that would help me with some decent OBC? I just want my beverages paid for. :)

Think Big Box Retailer.

Firstly, neither Celebrity or TA's may offer too much extra with an inside cabin booking. Consider booking an oceanview or balcony that may offer more benefits. Even though the initial cost may be more, with the OBC and drink package you may be ahead when you take the trip cost and minus out the benefits value.

With the new Big, Better, Best...choose the BIG option from Celebrity (included with your booking price for an oceanview or higher cabin) and choose the drink package as your one perk. Then consider using your OBC from your TA to cover gratuities, dining, excursions etc. A good TA may offer $150-$700 OBC for an oceanview or higher booking, but of course this depends on the itinerary, specific date, cabin type, and length of cruise.

Do the math.

Will they use Celebrity OBC first before the TA OBC?

Technically, yes, they use the Celebrity OBC first. Once your OBC is posted to your account, watch how your charges are being deducted from your account. Incidentally, not ALL OBC from TA's is refundable (if any is left, that is!) Sometimes only a portion is refundable. You can ask your TA what amount is refundable and what isn't. We had TA OBC left on one cruise and never even had to ask to have it refunded to our credit card. By the time we got home the amount had been credited to our card by Celebrity. Go Celebrity!

I also vote for doing your own research, comparing prices, then calling my TA to actually book. They get RIGHT THRU to Celebrity. They set you up with your final payment date and often offer better prices than Celebrity because they have purchased a block of cabins and offer a group rate. You get all the benefits from Celebrity PLUS what ever the TA is offering in benefits and OBC. You can keep checking price fluctuations and call your TA if you think there is a better deal to be had.