Beachdude
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Posts posted by Beachdude
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Not intending to offend anyone, but being a shopper who does much thinking, comparison shopping, and research, I have always wondered how many shoppers on a cruise make a costly purchase and then have buyer's remorse.
Of sure, I can help you here. Jewelry is usually an emotional purchase, so when someone isn't given the time to get past the emotion to use reason to measure their choice, emotion makes the choice. At home you can think about it for a few days. But the pressure of one port day motivates folks to satisfy their emotional urge. It's kind of fun to watch really.
I personally don't understand the humans emotional desires for diamonds, but I only have to watch Sally's eyes spin to see it. And you only have to look down the street at hundreds of jewelry stores in St. Thomas to know something is up. Strangely, I've noticed men on cruises have the same emotional desire for watches. I'm sure the same good deals can be found on the internet, but I guess when you put it on in the cool airconditioned store seperated by a stale hot humid tropical afternoon, patiences goes out the window. And hey, its a vacation, right. I don't wear a watch, but one of these days as I'm sipping on that free Red Stripe beer (aren't they so nice to notice my thirst), I may get that Rolex.
I disagree that a good deal can't be found on the cruise. I know diamonds pretty well and I have seen some good deals. But you need to know what you are looking at.
Sally and I have learned that we, "cough" "cough", will always make a few silly emotional purchases because of the rich exotic environement in that moment, so we just try not to spend so much that it hurts when the high of the moment fades away. A $500 ring doesn't hurt nears as much as a $5000 ring. And if you're look for something familiare like David Yurman, you won't go too far wrong.
And it's not just jewelry, we bought some expensive art work a couple years ago in Hawaii. We don't ever do that, but something came over us. Shesh, don't judge. Still, we have really enjoyed it though, so no regrets. As for that stupid Mexican hat, what was I thinking?
I'll bet some of you are surprised a strong mature man like me knows of the David Yurman line. Well, it saves time shopping every Christmas and I don't have to worry if it makes her hips look big. :D
Burt
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Your cruise card to open your door, charge your purchases, get on and off the ship
OOOh! I guess I wasnt paying attention. :o
Burt
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What is a sea pass. I just got off the ship and I don't recall any sea pass.
Burt
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They showed it on the Summit somewhere, not sure where. They showed the NBA final in one of the lounges. I was there, but can't remember which one.
But this leads me to the question of if there just isn't enough interest in sports for Celebrity followers to justify a sports lounge like on other cruise lines? We have season college football tickets and tend to cruise in the fall. For us a sports lounge might make a difference in choosing a ship. Are we just a small minority?
Burt
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We once had a passenger write a letter of complaint about a flight that diverted to Miami from South America. They complained that if they had put enough fuel on the plane in the first place they would have made all the way. And it was the "worst landing ever because the pilot didn't lower the flaps until the airplane landed on the runway." Well, what he saw was the Ground Spoilers rising to slow the aircraft. And believe me, the FAA mandates that enough fuel is carried.
Sometime you really can't make this stuff up. :)
I work in the research division of the FAA and I am continually amazed at what I read and hear about aviation from the press. Even the CNN experts say things that make us scratch our heads.
Burt
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You know, I'm just a little skeptical about the authenticity of some of these comments and questions. I simply can't believe that folks would say some of these things.
"Why is it so cold here?" Come on....
Some of the quotes posted might actually be funny if they did not sound so absurdly impossible. Really, they are mostly just sad.
Perhaps I have an unrealistic view of how brainless cruisers can be.
I can assure you the quotes about the cold pool water and the wave machine did occur and were quite serious in the nature of the discussion.
And yes, I am disapointed in the lack of perspective folks have when they are discussing these things.
Burt
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Overheard on the first sea day of our Bermuda Summit cruise last week:
"They must keep the pool water cold to keep the drunks from drowning."
And:
"Who do we ask to turn off the pool wave machine?".
Burt
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Do a day tour the first day so that you can get an idea of how to plan the other two days.
Burt
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I could have told you that the subway is a LONG way from the museum - bus is a better way to go.
NO no, we wanted to walk parts of the city and the walk from the subway to the museum was very enjoyable. The subway is a lot of fun, but sometimes we wonder how much we missed. Lucky for us subway enterance was right by the door of Wolfgangs, so we had to walk all of five feet in the rain that night. It all just seem to work.
There were several birthday parties at Carmines that night.
Burt
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Thank you for your review, we will be on that same trip in 3 weeks, in room 6125. I prefer a sit down meal to buffet food so we are looking forward to being able to eat in a MDR for breakfast and lunch again...something that we enjoyed on the Magic but wasn't available on the Splendor (aside from their Punchliner brunch). From what I have read there doesn't seem to be much in the way of comedians for evening entertainment; is this accurate?
Funny thing that we noticed was the the Breakfast and Lunch dining room had three times the crowd at the end of the cruise than at the begining. The staff was very busy.
There were two comedians on our cruise, I can't remember their names. We saw one but missed the other because we couldn't make his show in time. I would like Celebrity to add a couple more shows to give more times to see them.
Burt
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Thank you so much for your review! We will be leaving on Sunday and are so excited! Glad you enjoyed your time in the city - I am a born and bred New Yorker (now a suburbanite) so I appreciate the compliments - New Yorkers are often misunderstood :). What did you end up doing in the city (I had contributed to and been following that thread you posted before you left asking for advice on what to do).
It's difficult to be specific, but that thread helped a lot in understanding NYC and designing how to go about certain activities. We were changing our schedule even as we boarded the plane to NYC because heavy rain was forecasted that evening and the rest of the next day. We cancelled the Cubs game for Carmines Italian Restaurant instead. Not that we a big baseball fans, but we thought it a fun New York thing to do.
Turns out the rain didn’t come until much later, so we walked up Broadway and ended up having a desert in the Starlight Diner listening to great singing. The next morning was breakfast at Carnage’s Diner, then the experience of riding the subway to the Metropolitan Museum Art. That sounds easy, but it took a couple hours to figure out how all that works. Of course we spent a delightful day in the museum with a wonderful walk through Central Park back to our Hotel on 57th with a break watching kids have a great time at the Boathouse. We finished the evening off with a great steak dinner at Wolfgang’s Steakhouse.
Saturdays was shopping around 5th avenue and several blocks around because we walked and walked. There is a lot of site seeing in the area as well. We had lunch in Little China followed with a cannoli dessert in Little Italy. That was followed by seeing the sights around Battery Park up into the Stock Exchange area. Of course these destinations are all filled with adventurous subway rides. Always something for us Oklahomans to see. We went back to the hotel, rested and then went to Greenwich Village for a Keste pizza and back up to Carnage’s Diner for a huge Coconut Cream pie.
Usually Sally has every detail planned out months ahead of time, but this trip was left up to me because she was planning our daughters May 30th Wedding. AND I DID GREAT, except for transportation from the hotel on 57th to the ship. So after some advice from the hotel manager, they hired us a private car for $90.00. That was a bargain because the car turned out to be a stretched limo and the ride was about 45 minutes long. Great Fathers Day present. Sally was enjoying the ride so much she wanted the driver to show us around New Jersey.
I think those are the highlights. We didn’t get in a show because we didn’t have tickets and didn’t really know how to get them. But we stayed so busy that we weren’t disappointed. We will do it next time. As I said, everyone treated us great and we had a ball. Our feet were worn out. We are considering this trip with our family for next year.
Burt
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Thank you, Dani! That would be a time saver after a 12h flight, wow! In addition to Bermuda as an option, a lot of RCL routes go from New York down to the Caribbean. I think Norwegian does out of Boston as well. Thanks for sticking with me ;)
Boston would be a fun visit.
Burt
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Oh -- if I might be allowed one tiny correction: All SkySuites in the X fleet have bathtubs. The only exception I could think of might be the disabled-access suites. The tubs on Century even have jacuzzi jets! :cool:
Thank you. There are just some days that Sally love to have her bath.
We intended to look at another Sky Suite to compair but forgot. We wanted to see the aft suite next to us because the family that week had the whole deck 6 aft end. If our room was any indication, I am sure it is fantastic.
Burt
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WE HAD A GREAT TRIP. Weather was perfect, calm seas mild sunny temperatures all the way to Bermuda. Lovely calm sunny days while in Bermuda, and even calmer seas on the last sea day back.
This was our first Bermuda trip and it won’t be our last. The island is beautiful with beaches 2nd only to Hawaii. And there are no friendlier people I've ever met, they are always the first to greet you and will have the last word of “have a great day”. Just wonderful people. The example I like to give to show their natural friendliness is the flag man controlling traffic on some road repair who yelled “Good Morning” to all the traffic as they passed him. Really makes you feel welcome if not at home.
Sally and I have cruised four different cruise lines in the last 17 years on about 20 cruises. So my comments of the Summit are in comparison of other cruises and cruise lines, not Celebrity itself. While most opinions are subjective and I understand that draws some folks’ ire, I don’t see how to be credible without having different perspectives. So here goes on the Summit.
The Summit is a beautiful ship inside and just the right size for us. I am a man who enjoys the elegant lines of our creativity in art, building, cars, planes, and ships. The outside of the Summit is not elegant, but it makes up for it on the inside. I love the beautiful dinning room window that makes you feel close to the outside. I can certainly see why the Summit is a favorite among many cruisers, it probably is mine now.
We had the Sky Suite 6145 and it was beautiful. It had ample dark cherry wood trim, which I understand is a benefit of being connected (by a door) to the suite next door, but not typical of Sky Suites. The bathroom is huge with a tub, again I’m told another benefit of the connecting suite and not typical of a Sky Suite. The balcony is large enough to comfortably hold two chairs with a small table (where we ate breakfast about every morning) and two lounge chairs. The whole balcony is covered with canvas type of cover, which I liked better than the typical steel ceilings of most ships. However, if you like total privacy, this suite also has the emergency ladder from Deck 6 to deck 10 with a emergency exit hole in the canvas cover that allows visual access from many rooms above the suite. Sally and I have cruised in several different suites on Princess, Carnival, and Solstice and we like this one the best. The only minor comment of this suite is the door to the connecting suite. The rooms on the ship have good sound insulation, but the connecting door doesn't provide the same inslation to the other suite (which has a lovely baby grand piano near the door).
As for the cabin servicing, well you would expect great service with a suite and are our butler, Jose, was outstanding. Our butler on Solstice in comparision was not very good, but Jose made up and much more with his very attentive service to our room. He seem to read Sally's mind before she knew what she wanted. I wish I could do that.
OK, the food. Sally and I had breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining room and we don’t think the food taste or service is anything special over other ships or cruise lines. We were in no hurry, but lunch took us an hour and a half. So if you have plans to be somewhere and only have an hour for lunch, we don’t advise the dining room. We ate breakfast and lunch in the buffet and would rather not choose that option again if given a choice. We both thought the food taste was better than average as ship buffets go (and actually better than the dining room if you get it fresh from preparation), but the best word to describe the buffet experience is “Work”. We were pretty open minded of the new style the Summit buffet service, but the food stations are more complicated than the average buffet and require a lot of time to get the food that appeals to you personally.
We found the Bistro on 5 to be pretty good for the price and a lot quieter is you want a relaxed meal. Service there was pretty good too. Our favorite place to dine for all the meals is the Blu restaurant. The service is by far the best on the ship as well as quality and taste of the food. But since we were in a suite, we were a low priority and didn’t always get a table. We had room service for most of our breakfasts, which we thought was always good. I found if you want something that isn’t on the room service menu, to just right it in and you will likely get your request. Of course suite guest might get better consideration, I don’t know. We regret that we didn’t order room service for dinner. We just didn’t think about it.
We thought entertainment was OK, they have plenty of good musicians and groups on board. But not much is offered after 11:00 pm. We liked the entertainers and they seemed appropriate for most all ages. I give the Summit staff credit for finding lounges for special sport events like the NBA finals and the Soccer tournament that are still going on. Is Celebrity the only cruise line that doesn’t have a sports lounge on their ships?
Except for our exceptional butler Jose, we thought the Summit staff overall was friendly, but nothing over other cruise lines and ships.
We stayed in Manhattan for three days before the cruise. I can’t say enough about the friendliness from the folks in New York City. Every time Sally and I paused to figure out where we were or which subway to take, someone stepped up to give us help. My thanks to all who give us advice of keeping ourselves busy in New York City. Wow, too much to do and not enough time to do it. Anyone considering the Bermuda cruise should budget in a few days in New York City. It is a wonderful experience that will only enhance the Summit experience in Bermuda.
A comment on renting scooters on Bermuda: I want to first thank all those folks who gave advice of renting and riding a scooter. Bermuda doesn’t have rental cars, so transportation for tourist is either, scooters, buses or taxis. Since Bermudians are only allowed one car per family, scooters are the most popular method of transportation. However, the cars AND BUSES will pass slower traffic on the very narrow. I’m an avid motorcycle rider, but I found riding on the left side of the road to be challenging. Sally kept whispering “left” “left” just to keep reminding me of which side of the road to ride. That being said, we found the scooter very enjoyable because it gave us a lot of freedom to travel all parts of the island.
Well there it is, my subjective reflection of our Bermuda Summit Cruise. I think we will book it again next year.
Burt
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Got any suggestions for NYC on rainy nights?
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Well OK, packing now for a 7:00 am flight tomorrow out of Oklahoma City. We will be landing in NYC tomorrow around 1:00pm. Hope its is not too rainy there, we have a lot to do. I will be checking in now and then for any last thoughts, but here we come. Woohoo!
Burt
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OK, I guess I just don't get where you are coming from...
What exactly is it that you "bargained for" and not getting may be the answer I'm seeking to understand where you are coming from. What is it you wanted that you no longer can get from the buffet.
Ah good question, read the Summit reviews before they made the changes. That was the color I ordered.
I think what is important at the moment is that the crew seems to be responding to customer comments as well as adjusting to their new proceedures. change is hard for customers, but I have experienced change on ships before and crews struggle with change just as much if not more.
Burt
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He told me the primary reason for changing the delivery was in fact to ensure the food DID have the taste the chefs had intended. .
Yes, but that is not the point. It really doesn't matter what Martin had planned, it's how the customer feels about the product. Like I said, that isn't what I bargined for. Taste is subjective as everyone keeps saying, but mess up the expectation or force a change in habits, change comes hard.
Burt
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Opinions about food, IMO, are taken with a grain of salt (yes, pun intended)
Yes, I agree. However I think the comments about the Summit are different because they are about process of delivery more than taste. And many of these folks had enough experience with the Summit to note the differences.
Some folks can handle change and some not so much. But clearly Celebrity is trying something new that goes beyond the subjective taste. They are making objective changes in the food service that can change the behavior habits and expectations of experienced cruisers.
So while amny folks here felt Celebrity was being attacked by the disapointment of cruisers who experienced the changes, I think most readers saw the comments as descriptions of the changes. I would have felt ambushed had I not known about the new services and probably a little perturved of not getting the product I bargained for when we paid for the cruise.
Would we have considered a different ship had we known the changes would happen on this one little thing? Maybe, who knows? There are a lot of choices for summer vacation cruises and our past experience with Celebrity wasn't good. To me the changes in the Summit food services is kind of like getting a new car delivered with a different color. Yep, the car still performs the same, but subjectively I really wanted the color that I originally negotiated.
That being said, I look forward to the overall Summit experience because she has a good reputation.
Burt
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Happy to hear you enjoyed BLU! I think the brunch in BLU is a great new concept. I also heard the top suite guests are offered the same in one the specialty restaurants. :) I wonder if they are taking notes of what is left behind in the dishes to better mix and match the items in the small dishes.
Motion sick for 2 days and still made out with the bev package...good for you!!!
So we can go to BLU for the brunch once we board? Is that anybody?
Burt
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Good stuff, thanks.
Burt
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Burt, have you read the reviews in the review section of Cruise Critic? There are many different opinions as to the dining. I just looked at the first 5 or so, a few really didn't go into detail, but here are a few that did:
Good cruising!
No not there, but I've been reading on the Celebrity forums over the last three or four weeks. Celebrity has obviously made a big change in their food services and it is hard to track exactly what changes where. The buffet started off chaotic with cold food and just a general bad opinion. It seems they are improving week by week, but there are still mix opinions.
One thing that really stuck out to me are the comments of wasting more food because you have to take the additional food items on a plate to get what you desire. Along with that are the comments of less varieties of deserts at lunch. Sally and I like to take a small piece of serveral deserts and share them so as not to waste food. We don't like to waste food. It surprise me that some folks found that silly. But, there was one comment of approaching the situation as eating family style. That may be a solution depending on what is being served on each plate. But it does require more coordination between Sally and I for picking our food.
I have not seen any comments of improvement with breakfast and lunch in the dining room. We will likely not even consider the dining room except for evening unless the other options don't work out, which I don't expect.
I'm glad we are sailing now instead of a month ago so the crew had time to make improvements. We will see how it goes. This is just personal, but I don't think serving good pizza is a complement to ship food service. That to me is like saying the softserve icecream is to die for.
We will see. We aren't that hard to please, but food taste and quality service make a difference when trying to decide between to ships.
Burt
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It's Coco Reef
http://www.cocoreefbermuda.com/
You can email them to make a reservation for the day pass. $59 per person for use of the resort for the day including lunch and a glass of wine (kids under 11 are free, lunch extra).
I live in the NY suburbs but grew up in the city and lived there in my 20's. Check out Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side - from about 68th Street up to 80th or so. Lots of shops and restaurants and less crowded and touristy than midtown. While you're there check out Central Park. Go in on 72nd Street and pass through Strawberry Fields (Dedicated to John Lennon). At 72nd Street and Central Park West is the Dakota, the fabulous apartment building where Lennon lived and was murdered in front of. Also you must visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art (on the other side of the park)!
Wow, that sounds like a good day just right there, thanks.
Burt
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You're sailing next week, read the thread about those that just got off summit last week. Its 90% positive (OK I admit I have not properly mathematically computed that number, but my reading that thread seems that in almost every instance someone may have had a negative, they had far more positives) in its reviews. So I guess they are not being balanced and must all be cheerleaders too..
No, I've been reading their post and I believe most are being truthful, not defensive. As for me, we are trying to understand the food serving situation so we can plan where and when to eat.
Here is what I've learned. The buffet for breakfast and lunch is hit or miss and may require a little more time if we are on a schedule. The dining room for breakfast and lunch is not very good and timeliness is unpredictable. Room service has been pretty good. So, for tours that start early in the morning, room service might be the most dependable option according to the post I've been reading. I'm not sure about lunch as far as taste. Some folks like the buffet, some don't. Very few like the dining room for lunch. I would not say it was a 90/10 for and against. A lot of folks prefer the pizza and hamburgers. Hmm.
As for dinner, it sounds like everyone likes the dining room and Blue. So we are good there.
And most of the ships we have sailed on other lines provide bowls of fruit and snacks, so I am glad for the warning. I might have been one who just grabbed something to eat.
If that sounds a little too picky, well experience has taught us a lot of our habits. We use to could count on both buffets and dining rooms to get good tasting breakfast in a timely manner, but we have had some bad experiences the last couple of years on several lines that forced us to either walk out early without eating or get to our tours late. Of course we can change our habits to eat breakfast earlier, but what does that say about ship service. And the comments about the Summit seem to have shown that Celebrity is following that trend. That is why I am following those discussions fairly close. I would even consider eating breakfast in Bermuda if there were any positive comments for it, but nobody has responded to my request.
I'm not sure how I was put in the Celebrity haters club, all my questions were specific to the buffet and I don't recall making any negative comments since I have not sailed the Summit yet. In fact, most of the comments early on by the posters were specific to the food services, not the total ship services. Maybe that is just another defensive technique.
Please stay off the ship, we don't; need your bad attitude bringing the vibe down.I guess I deserve that. I let my emotion get the worst of me. We have different styles that clash, so I will learn to stay out of this situation in the future.
You won't see a bad attitude from us on the ship because we are long time cruisers with a lot of experience on several lines and know how to work with adversity. But as I said, I'm by nature pragmatic, so I can usually see the difference between those passing along experiences and those who are bias.
I guess it must be strange to most folks here that someone would actually use comments to plan around certain aspects of the ship services, but we do. Over the years we could count on the forum to learn about rooms and find the best choice to fit our cruising habits and desires. It didn't used to be hard to learn about different ships, but it seem like lately the forum members have got very defensive and purposly confuse facts with condesending opinions and conjecture. It's not just the Celebrity forum; I see it on all the boards, especially after a company made a few policy changes. They are all making changes. It will calm down on Celebrity once the new wears off. But just like in this thread, we just have to read a lot more comments to get an accurate picture.
I am looking forward to Summit because it seems to be a favorite among Celebrity fans. We are not really fans of any cruise line because each one has so much to offer, but sadly our worst cruising experience are with Celebrity, so it would be nice for this crew to impress us to a typical Celebrity experience.
My apologies to those I offended.
Burt
What clothes to pack for 7 day Alaskan cruise in august?
in Ask a Cruise Question
Posted
Yes, nobody said it specifically because they want you to be prepaired for the worst case, but the only time I wasn't comfortable in shorts was the glacier excursion where the boat got within 50 ft. of the glaciers. August can be very warm in Alaska and I would be surprised if you couldn't wear shorts comfortably the whole trip. Pack at least two or get those shorts with zip off legs.
Burt