calicakes

2 hours ago, Lena11033 said:

Just a quick update I’ll update with the other days when I get home. I’m currently in my room sick with Covid. I woke up this morning feeling terrible and did a at home test so just staying in my room for the last day. 

I'm so sorry to hear that.  I also came down with Covid for the first time while in Paris in Dec 2023. (I know I "caught" it on the Tube in London, everyone was coughing and sneezing and not a mask to be seen.   It sucks having it on vacation.  I did have a booster in Oct 2023 and had an entire pharmacy with me, including covid meds. 

@Jim_Iain I did send you an email.  

Thanks for the info about the reef.  I have to wait until I see my dr. on Friday before I submit all the paperwork for the travel insurance.  I haven't even thought about rescheduling this cruise.  I still can't believe X gets to keep my 9500.00 : (

18 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

Skiing accident at Kirkwood, CA.  Since both legs were involved, the healing time will be 4-6+ months.  We were just a couple of days before payment, but we had just paid our TA, so it is taking forever to have our airfare returned.  We also canceled our October cruise on Ascent, but we just did the Caribbean in December.  Actually, we had previously scheduled a b2b from Sydney, but changed to just Hawaii.  We have been to New Zealand, but not Australia.  Next year it is all Europe-my happy place!

Oh my gosh, I feel for your husband I can't even deal with one ankle and a tib fib fracture. How is he dealing with both legs?

Just now, Lastdance said:

Gosh...so sorry about that.  I keep hearing about people and their mishaps.  My DH is finally starting PT; we had to cancel our Hawaii cruise..  Hopefully, since time really goes by fast when retired, you will be onboard soon!

Why did you have to cancel? Were you past final payment?  I hope your DH is on the mend.    Our next cruise is not until October, just a 4 day on Virgin.  It will be the first time on VV, I hope its all that its hyped up to be.   Still on the fence about rescheduling this Australia GBR cruise.  Waiting to hear review regarding the actual excursions to the reef.  We had 3 scheduled.  I was able to cancel all those with a full refund. 

I'm so, so sorry about the loss of your Bella.  I'm currently sitting on the sofa with my two standard poodle boys glued to my side. When you don't have children, animals become much more to you than "dogs".  

I'm living vicariously through you since we had to cancel our upcoming Edge cruise.  We should be leaving for Sydney on Monday, instead I'm dealing with insurance headaches and trying to recoup the money from cancelling 2 weeks before the cruise. PS: Make sure your travel insurance will cover your costs of trip cancellation.  I found out we only have 5k for our yearly policy.  I did pay for the cruise with our Chase card and that has insurance as well. 

Anyway, I was at our local dog park on Saturday when 2 large dogs( I think Labs) barreled into me from behind.  I never saw it coming.  I felt my leg twist behind me and my ankle break.  I was rushed to the ER, had in reduced( popped back into place) and then surgery that afternoon to repair the break( my tib/fib) is also broken.  Everywhere i look, I have things laid out for the trip.  Snacks, toiletries, packing cubes.  So, depressing. It was going to be our first Eclass cruise and I "won" a move up offer from Aqua to a suite. 

I hope memories of Bella are sweet and a blessing to you, enjoy your cruise.  

@hcat

I have no way to contact you.  Just wanted to let you know we had to cancel our Edge cruise for the 25th.  I broke my ankle/tib/fibula on Saturday.( dogs slammed into me at the dog park)  Had surgery. Beyond disappointed is putting it mildly. 

17 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Ahh wish you could join us.... We now have two booked.     To me it seems like a steal.  The one for October 2024 was only about $8,500 (for both of us) in Queens Grill.  I would consider Queens Grill equivalent to SS.   Princess Grill similar to Aqua. 

Understand your remark now.    We will be pulling out our Tux as well as Sport Jackets for regular nights.    It seems that Jackets and collared shirts are the norm for "casual" night -  Black Tie or Dark Suite for Formal nights.   The theme for the second formal night is Costume i.e. masked ball (Tux with a mask if you choose to participate).

Well, considering the dress code, maybe we should book OV.  Julie will NOT want to get dressed up.  Getting her to wear a skort on this next cruise is a miracle. 

Just now, Jim_Iain said:

 

Honestly I've been on 6 cruises in the past year.   On our Australia / New Zealand everyone was so casual we didn't bother with our regular Jacket and Bow Tie on Chic nights.    I felt very well dressed with slacks and a Tommy Bahama shirt.  

Jeans or Chino's and a collared ***** (including a collard golf shirt) are kinda the norm.    Not judging but seeing a rather large older man in Bib Overalls and a 5 gallon hat seemed a little too relaxed.   He was asked to remove his hat -   Points for the Maitre'd

Remember -  Dress Code as posted on Celebrity Site -

 

Specialty Restaurants (Including Luminae for our Suite Class guests and Blu for our AquaClass® Guests) The dress code in Celebrity's Specialty Restaurants is Smart Casual for every night of your cruise. Evening Chic attire is only required in the main dining room on your “Evening Chic nights.”I

I was responding to your comment about Cunard.  We want to do the NY to Southampton TA in 2026.  

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

What can I say,  I'm taking my first Cunard cruise in October.

We're going to do a TA in 2026.  Not sure what we're going to do as far as dressing up.  Probably just hit the buffet. LOL

1 hour ago, hcat said:

Hello..

Thanks..it was a nice birthday cruise.! Glad u are moving up..You can still go back to BLU....space was often available. 

 

Are you bringing the portable washer?  We just sent out  1  comped load of undies/socks for packing purposes. of course we re-washed all at home!

 

Happy Sailing!

Lol. no laundry not schlepping that to Australia. I'll be washing in the bathtub, Or the dry bag we bring.

On 1/30/2024 at 9:28 AM, Kastaka said:

Oops, it looks like this is more contentious than I was expecting! I'm female, by the way. I have some corporate polo shirts from a few companies ago, it sounds like they'll be okay?

I like to wear dresses, my wife does not wear dresses.   I bring a dress( from Universal Threads @ Target) in black and another color.  Then, I bring a couple kimonos to switch out.  I talked my wife into buying a few sporty skorts and a few plain colored fancier t-**** from Target for our upcoming Edge cruise.  She didn't want to have to wear pants.  I convinced her that skorts are basically shorts with a piece of fabric over. 

@Hcat,  Happy Birthday.  I hope we experience the same level of service in a few weeks on Edge.  We were in AQ, but we did a move up offer and now we'll be in Luminae.

4 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 I didn't read that last sentence until after I replied.   Congratulations on the Move Up.    I have always enjoyed Blu.     To be honest on E-Class I thing you have better menu selections than Luminae. 

 

 

Well hopefully they will let me eat at blue if I so desire.

I don't want to start a new topic, but does anyone know why I can't see the Luminae menus in the app for our Feb 25th edge cruise?  I did get my cabin by a move up offer.  I can't see Blu either. 

@Jim_Iain Do you know? 

4 hours ago, Pennstatedj said:

We just came off the Ascent in 12242. I would not stay under the ocean view again. Any of the rooms you are choosing from are great. You cannot see down onto any balcony but you can see people at the railing from above and we could see the people at the rail when they were standing on the OV. Remember it is a long walk to the elevators. We had btb cruises and walked 7,000 more steps a day on the first cruise versus the second cruise where our room was near the elevator. So beware. The room itself was ok and balcony was not as big as a S class ship, but it is a balcony instead of an infinity room. 

We are in 12260, Sunset Sky Suite on the Edge next month.  We "won" a move up offer from an Aqua class.  

4 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

The culture on the island though is just not a safe space for LGBTQ folks so I choose not visit.

We're also a same sex couple, I would NOT visit Jamaica either.   I lived in Ontario, Canada with my Canadian ex wife.  We had a large Jamaican population that was there during the summer for agriculture.  Nice folks, but we had a few visit us at our yard sale and ask some very inappropriate questions.  

7 hours ago, lorimay said:

We were once in Labadee having lunch at the food area close to the fence. There was a crowd of people begging for food on the other side of the fence. When security would walk by they would duck down, then pop up after they left. They were holding bowls and plates. It was difficult to enjoy our all-you-can-eat buffet with hungry people only a few feet away on the other side. We had an interesting discussion with our kids about it. 

 

Back on the ship we mentioned it to one of the crew. She told us they actually pay a lot of money to the fisherman's village near by and that no one was starving in the area. I think that's the RCCL party line. I will never go back to Labadee.

Once I saw the food being offloaded from a Celebrity ship, sitting outside in the hot sun before it was brought over to the buffet area.  I thought " Nope, not going to eat that".  For me, it was the pregnant dogs walking around begging that was the nail in the coffin. 

1 hour ago, mahasamatman said:

 

Haiti is only half of Hispaniola. It's like saying the Korean Peninsula is North Korea.

No mansplaining necessary.  I know that Haiti is half, the other half is the DR.  I can read a map.  The US State dept advises against going to Haiti.  Not sure what the Canadian Government says.  

35 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

I mean in fairness normally the Canadian Government lists the US as 'green' but then has take normal precautions which then goes on to state particular states to be cautious about and the types of crimes that could happen throughout the country. Take that what you will

 

I'm just across from Detroit (like a 20 min drive) and as much as I want an early flight there is NO WAY I'm driving across the border/through Detroit alone at 5:30am lol

It's not that bad, I did it all the time. You don't get off the freeway ,you just stay on until you get to the airport.

There is also a warning to avoid Haiti. Labadee( RCC's private Island) is on Hispaniola which is Haiti.  

Personally, the one time we went to Labadee, I did NOT enjoy it and a member of our roll call had his bank card compromised.  My key card was also deactivated.  There were pregnant dogs running around and the vendors would not take No for an answer.  

Just now, cruisestitch said:

Suite passengers can hoard at any time

LOL.  I'll be hoarding anything I can. LOLOLOL

We just "won" a move up offer from Aqua to a Sunset Sky Suite on Edge in Sydney next month.  Can we check in any earlier than our 12:30 check in time? 

• Ship: Celebrity Edge
• Length of Cruise: 12 Days
• Cruise Sail Date: Feb 25, 2024
• Date email offer received: Nov 28, 2023
• Captain’s Club Tier: Select( Elite after this cruise)
• Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: TA
• Current Cabin: AQ Aqua Class
• Bid?  Yes/No: Yes

If YES -  Bidding Details:

• Cabin Category: SS - Sunset Sky Suite
• Bid Offer: Bid $1260pp on (Min bid $960pp with a weak chance)   The chance was still "weak" however, it was successful.  
• Notification Date: Jan 23, 2024
• Accepted / Rejected: Accepted

Like the poster above me, we booked this cruise when everything was still included.  We paid 6900 for Aqua class with pre-paid grats, wifi, and classic beverage package. We also have 800OBC from TA and 350 from Celebrity.  I was happy with that.  If we didn't win the bid, It was no big deal.   

My wife is a picky eater, so Luminae is no big deal for her.  I enjoyed it.  

@kml246 We'll be getting on when you get off!! 

4 hours ago, hcat said:

i always thought the EDEN set up would be great for food demonstrations and hands on cooking classes.. not sure if they bake bread down there.

 

We miss the cooking and baking demos where they picked a few guests to participate.  They were very popular and fun!  Held in the main atrium,  EDEN and the old  Bistro on 5..

They probably don't bake any breads from scratch anymore.  I'm assuming they come in frozen, or pre-baked and frozen. 

25 minutes ago, maureenk said:

You will love the Galapagos!  We did Flora in Oct of 2022. So awesome!!  Is Red Ginger on Oceania?

Yes, its on Marina and maybe other ships.  It wasn't on Insignia or Sirena.