lilghallinsf

Wonderful review. Thoroughly enjoyed it

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I did a cash account this past cruise for the first time because I typically don't use my credit card and only use a debit card. With a debit card they put a hold on a certain amount. I felt that it was fine until I had to use the infirmary. I had planned for everything and was only doing a small cash account. I agree that a small credit card would be best, even if a secured card is what you to do.

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15 TA's should make you an expert for this question: Is the weather warm enough to be outside by the pool during the day. I could never convince my wife to try a TA cruise unless we could be outside in the afternoon.

 

 

 

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I have done four and that is a hard question to answer because everyone senses cold in a different manner. Is the water sometimes cold? yes. Is it hot at times in the sun? yes. I would say that if you like to be in the water and sun, then you will enjoy a TA because you have sooooo much time to enjoy it, unlike a carribean where your time is dominated by ports. Go, enjoy it and hope that your weather is great. The route of course has a lot to do with the weather. But go! It is wonderful.

Thank you for this wonderful review. I really enjoyed reliving it through your review. We were also on this cruise and had all positive experiences. Can't wait for our Transpacific from Sydney in April.

 

 

 

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I have been to tenerife hour times. 3 times the last three years. Grant it, I wasn't able to get off the ship this past visit due to my illness but you saw things that I have never seen. Congrats. Always shows there is something to learn everywhere.

Your review is wonderful and so refreshing. So often you hear people complain and they seem over entitled. I love that this was your first trip to Europe and your first big cruise. We have take three transatlantics on Reflection. The same trip three years in a row from Miami to Rome. This year we are doing the Silhouette to Amsterdam. Your review is getting me excited and prepared. Again, thanks for the fresh perspective.

Interteresting post!

:-)

Enjoy your trip and thanks for explaining the reasoning behind your purchase.

When you post that you did it, you opened yourself to criticism, so you can't really be upset that a certified Dr made a comment. Thank you for helping those less fortunate and thank you to the Dr for explaining your reasoning.

Now, since we all want the same thing, a wonderful review, back to your regular scheduled programing....;-)

I just posted this on the main roll call, wanted to add it here:

 

Since Deb25 had success booking and filling a van with Martins Taxi to the center of Bruges, I thought I'd give it a try.

I sent an email to them to see if they still have transportation available.

If they respond yes, is anyone else interested in sharing the van?

 

From their site:"From Zeebruges cruise terminal to the center of Bruges and back cost € 100 per vehicle (up to 8 people maximum for the same price).

We bring you to the center ( Market Square). You can decide when you want to go back to the cruise ship by making an appointment with your driver."

Mark

Hi Mark just seeing this. The roll call for the cruise is rather boring in comparison to others that I have taken. LOL We are interested in this van if it isn't full.

Emanuel and I have taken 3 transatlantics and this will be our fourth. This time on a different ship with a different itinerary. We have done the Reflection Miami to Rome three times. Thought it might be time for a change. LOL since this is your first Transatlantic, please let us know what your questions are.

We are also staying in Amsterdam. I currently have three or four hotels booked and need to make a decision. Have you all decided on a place to stay and plans for Amsterdam?

We have taken three transatlantics on the reflection and your review was spot on. I especially love your comment on you're favorite part, meeting people. What a wonderful end to your review. We point this out often to our "non cruise" friends. As for Skylab, love them!!!! If you don't already, friend skyla j on Facebook. She and her husband oz are inspiring beautiful people who make the world a better place.

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We love Skylab. Get their cd. Great couple who live in Canada. We have kept up with them for the last few years

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thank you for the wonderful review. My partner and I are sailing on this same ta in April. We have always done the Reflection and looking forward to having a club on board.

Thank you so much Howard and Michael. Always nice to have another "gay" couple on board. We typically meet several. One year we traveled with our boss and his partner at the time. Everyone is always friendly and we have a great time. We have cruised out of Miami for most cruises but typically stay at the W in Fort Lauderdale. I forget where we stayed last year. We are familiar with Ft Lauderdale. We typically fly in a day ahead and get some time at the beach along with a quick stop at the drug store before we go to Miami. It will be nice to not have to rush to Miami the day of the cruise. As for the ports, we have both been to Paris but not together and not for only a day visit. I have been to Lisbon years ago and we have both flown into Amsterdam but never stayed. We are planning on a few days in Amsterdam and would love any advice we can get. Hotel suggestions and a things to see are very welcomed suggestions. We actually choose this trip for two reasons. #1. We have done the trip to Rome 3 times and thought we should do something different. Amsterdam is different. #2. The sea days. Those tend to be my favorite. We work so hard and are always tied to our phones. To have no contact for that many days is relaxing and we grow closer because of it.

We never gamble with medical insurance (your liability is unlimited) and simply purchase a decent annual trip medical policy which gives us $250,000 of medical coverage (compare this to the $10,000 given for many cruise line policies). But we do gamble on cancellation and are now far more then $100,000 ahead...which is he money we have saved by not buying cancellation insurance over the years. Some day we will possibly get burned....but will still be far ahead of the game.

 

To us, the big gamble is buying cruise line insurance that only gives folks $10,000 (sometimes more or less) of medical coverage. One single medical emergency can easily cost 10s of thousands of dollars...and unless you have other medical insurance your cruise could be very very expensive.

 

Hank

I agree. Use the website recommended on here or private message me and I will tell you the website to search. Peace of mind and also make the best decision for you financially.

Hello ladies and gentlemen, Calling all my brothers and sister, let's have some fun and make a wonderful cruise an even better time.

 

Howard and Michael in beautiful Fort Lauderdale

Greg and Emanuel from SF joining you.

Get insurance. It's cheap. I have an hmo. I am 50 years old and healthy or so I thought. Turns out that I had diverticulitis and an abscess on my colon. I had emergency surgery in Rome and had to pay in full out of pocket. It was the only trip that I didn't take out insurance. Never again

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Thanks for the wonderful review and photos. I was on this same cruise for the third time. However, I became very ill right before Tenerife. I was misdiagnosed with a kidney infection. Once we arrived in Rome, I had to be admitted to the hospital for an emergency surgery. I spent three weeks in Rome before I could return home. I enjoyed seeing the pictures and dreaming of another cruise.

This whole thread is funny. Lots of opinions. And yes I have eaten at the captains table.

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Captains club events or coupons?

do you have any copies of these?

Why didn't you book it with Celebrity and then transfer the reservation to your TA? Same price and more OBC.

 

Have never seen a TA with prices that are upcoming. Prices move up and down a bunch. The April TA cruises dropped on Monday at some point and some classes of cabins sold out in a very short time.

Because I was an idiot or I was distracted by the other things in my life. I will let you decide

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Thank you all so

Much. I see that it just popped back up. This time I won't miss it. I usually sail aqua but for this price I can't pass it up

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The reflection had a great price on the balcony guarantee for the Reflection TA. I knew it was there but by the time I got time to get ahold of my Travel Agent it had gone back up. I think it was posted as a Tuesday special.

I have noticed that sometimes people post upcoming specials that they have seen from their travel agent or from Celebrity. If anyone has the info, please let me know. Otherwise, I will just have to keep watching. It went up a good bit and the guarantee price was AWESOME.

I want to say how much I appreciate your posting this. While I would probably disagree with your assessment if I were in your shoes. Albeit I am a tad older at 50, I appreciate your post and allowing other 30 somethings the opportunity to read it. And lucky you to have so many cruises under your belt

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We always book AQUA so I'll give you my 2 cents based on our last cruise - Reflection in Sept 2015.

 

The robes - had to ask for them. Poor quality - worn out - totally different than when we started in Aqua years ago

 

Towels - mostly poor, and especially the bathroom floor mats. Occasionally we received the so-called suite towels that are large and fluffy. But most of the time they were smaller and thin. Real hit and miss.

 

Room Service - sorry, don't use it

 

Pillow Menu - have NEVER seen one on any trip. Seems like this is something the cabin stewards don't want to get into. I know, others will say the opposite but this is what I saw. If asked, they would ask what we wanted but no menu to pick from.

 

Don't know if that helps but that is my experience.

Thank you very much.. Obviously all of this is based on experience and every trip seems to be different for everyone. One person asked why I was asking and it was to get differing opinions. If the price difference weren't so great, I would do aqua but I can't justify it this year. Believe it or not, our first cruise on Celebrity and reflection was inside cabin so many they would think Aqua was a major step up. It is really about the value for me. If I can get have just as wonderful an experience without the price I am all for it. Funny that someone mentioned the footstool because I thought that would be something that I missed. I just don't want to book a two week cruise only to find myself and my partner saying everyday what we miss. I appreciate all of the honest feedback.

In 2013 we were in a deck 9, C2 on the angle, bigger balcony.

In 2014 a deck 8, 2A again on the angle.

Last Nov was our first Aqua 2 on deck 11, and found we missed the extra balcony space the most.

 

Our avg per day cost p.p. was within $10 of each yr. but the end cost was less for 2015 since we had classic, grats, and double OBC included in the fare. Only had the Classic included in 13/14.

 

Bottom line for us is that per day cost and the items attached, not so much the cabin category.

EW

We also had one of the larger "bump" balconies and that is worth every penny. The great thing is that I can find those in Aqua and the "basic" balcony.

Thanks for your reply.

Why are you asking your question when you already have done two cruises in Aqua class? Blu is the major reason for booking Aqua class. Sounds like you are trying to talk yourself out of it. Other than the special shower and Blu I didn't see much difference in spending the extra money. But we both thoroughly enjoyed the Blu experience.

Thank you for your reply. The reason I posted is because I wanted someone other than my own opinion. Isn't that why we ask questions?

We also fell in love with Aqua Class, but the prices on cruises these days are so outrageously inflated due to all the 'free' perks that for our next three cruises we have opted for a lower category. Would rather cruise more often than splurge on one! We even are going back to an oceanview for one of the cruises as it was around $800 versus $2200 for Aqua Class. I kid you not. I know I will miss the balcony, but we could take two of those cruises for the price of one (and in fact, we are doing just that - doing a B2B in OV for the price of AQ on one of the cruises. We admittedly got a good deal - the cabin has since risen to $1200 but you get my point)

 

We rarely order room service so the menu difference is minor for us. There is ample choice on the regular menu for standard menu items.

 

The only kind of pillows we prefer are feather rather than foam. We have never had an issue requesting them regardless of room type so that is not an issue either.

 

The heavier robes are nice, particularly if traveling on cooler itineraries like Alaska. Some actually prefer the lighter weight regular robes.

 

The showers are a bit nicer in AQ, but definitely not enough to justify twice the price.

 

The only other perk besides Blu is the spa area. On M class, it is less than impressive. On S class it is much nicer, but as we don't spend a lot of time there anyway it is not a game changer for us.

 

Giving up Blu is what we will miss most (and the balcony on our OV's!). We love the breakfasts in particular, and the more attentive and personalized service at dinner (particularly on M class - on S class the tables are jammed so close together that it is less relaxing IMHO)

Thank you for your thoughts. We rarely get up for breakfast so the Blu breakfast we won't miss.

I was also wondering about the robes, towels but it doesn't sound like that big of an issue.