For those planning a 2013 Eastern Med Cruise - yet another trip report!

[Lois R]

Sorry for the delayed response....we just got back from a cruise last night!

 

I am surprised that Celebrity will let the four of you book this cruise without someone in the party being 21. Maybe I have misunderstood their policies but you might want to check before you go too much further in your planning.

 

There will definitely kids your age to hang out with but most will be with their families. It's a very port-intensive cruise so it's not hopping as say a Caribbean cruise would be. People tend to go to bed early as most people want to get off the ship early to see the ports each day.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

Hi, you are not wrong about the age requirement. Someone must

be at least 21 years old in the cabin.

 

From the website:

 

No guest younger than age twenty-one (21) will be assigned to a stateroom unless accompanied in the same stateroom by an adult twenty-one (21) years of age or older. A guest's age is established upon the first date of the sailing.

This age limit will be waived for: minors (under 21) can be berthed without an adult (21 or older) in the stateroom only when at least one parent is sailing and the staterooms are physically adjacent (directly next door or directly across the hall) to one another; for underage married couples; and for active duty members of the United States or Canadian military. Certain other restrictions and conditions will apply; such as compliance with the age of twenty-one (21) alcohol policy, and proof of marriage for underage couples or proof of active duty military status

[Lois R]

Oh....I missed that last post.....parents are going too:D;):)

[mommamd]

If you are still checking this thread, my 70 year old parents are worried that our teenager daughter will be harassed in the Grand Bazaar, did you have that experience?? Should we wear maxi dresses and head scarves?

[lovestx]

If you are still checking this thread, my 70 year old parents are worried that our teenager daughter will be harassed in the Grand Bazaar, did you have that experience?? Should we wear maxi dresses and head scarves?

 

Happy to keep checking this thread and be helpful to others:)

 

I wouldn't say that my teenage daughter was harassed any more in the Grand Bazaar than the rest of us. We were with our guide and she claimed that the vendors would harass us less because of her. It's just what they do. Nothing sexual or rude. Just in your face trying to get your attention. I never felt uncomfortable though I will say that I don't like this way of doing business. It was the same in Kusadasi.

 

Just smile when your parents bring it up and say that you don't have definite plans to visit the Bazaar. I always find with my worry wart mother that it's best to tell her things after the fact!

[PatriciaF]

If you are still checking this thread, my 70 year old parents are worried that our teenager daughter will be harassed in the Grand Bazaar, did you have that experience?? Should we wear maxi dresses and head scarves?

 

We were on this same cruise in November.

 

In Istanbul women are generally dressed as you would see them in any big city. If you are visiting some of the historic mosques, like the Suleiman Mosque you will see women in very conservative dress, head scarves PLUS, but I think these are woman from other Islamic countries.

 

While I wouldn't recommend short shorts and tank tops, I don't think maxi dresses and head scarves are necessary.

 

If you are visiting a mosque, I would plan to wear what you would in a church in Italy--which requires sleeves, knee length dress or capri pants. A shawl or light sweater would probably meet the modesty requirements.

[mommamd]

Thanks!!

[cc41]

Thank you Lovestx. We are booked on this itinerary on Reflection 9/30/13. Your review has so much useful info and the pictures are great. This was a great effort on your part and greatly appreciated!

[lovestx]

Thank you Lovestx. We are booked on this itinerary on Reflection 9/30/13. Your review has so much useful info and the pictures are great. This was a great effort on your part and greatly appreciated!

 

Lucky you! Glad my trip report is still useful. You will have a wonderful time.

[Wine-O]

Lucky you! Glad my trip report is still useful. You will have a wonderful time.

 

We are on Reflection this coming October and booked the same Naples itinerary that you took with Johnny. Is there anything you would do different, spend more time somewhere else (maybe Sorrento), and/or a different location for lunch?

[lovestx]

We are on Reflection this coming October and booked the same Naples itinerary that you took with Johnny. Is there anything you would do different, spend more time somewhere else (maybe Sorrento), and/or a different location for lunch?

 

We probably would have preferred to have lunch in Ravello or Positano. May have just been that our restaurant wasn't that notable. We LOVED Ravello as the views are spectacular, it isn't that crowded and it's just charming. It may have made for a late lunch but I could have passed on Amalfi.

 

It was a great day. You will not be disappointed. Just expect HUGE crowds in Positano.

[Sinppu]

Hi,

I found this thread using the search engine.

We are sailing on a Transatlantic on the Equinox next April and you gave me really great info, both verbally and visually :)

 

Thanks so much for your effort, it was a very nice read and you have a lovely family :D

[lovestx]

Hi,

I found this thread using the search engine.

We are sailing on a Transatlantic on the Equinox next April and you gave me really great info, both verbally and visually :)

 

Thanks so much for your effort, it was a very nice read and you have a lovely family :D

 

Thanks so much for the note, Sinny (I lurk on the Post a Picture thread so have 'seen' you there as well). Glad my pictures and descriptions have been helpful.

 

Currently, I am driving myself insane trying to find my lovely family an equally great cruise for June 2014....not enough options on Celebrity and we've become 'addicted' to Blu. May switch to Princess or Oceania. Or may just do Celebrity and repeat many of the ports!

[Sinppu]

Currently, I am driving myself insane trying to find my lovely family an equally great cruise for June 2014....not enough options on Celebrity and we've become 'addicted' to Blu. May switch to Princess or Oceania. Or may just do Celebrity and repeat many of the ports!

 

I'd recommend Western Med. Spain is fantastic (love that country) and France offers quite amazing ports too. The French Riviera still has a piece of my heart somewhere...

Or come to Scandinavia! I'll show you around ;)

 

But I know how you feel. I looked for the perfect cruise on Royal Caribbean for weeks but at the end just bit the bullet and booked Celebrity due to their far better itineraries.

Who knows which I'll prefer :D

[lovestx]

Sinny, I hope you love Celebrity as much as we do!

[NCruiser2012]

Thank you for your lovely review. We are cruising on the Equinox next June also with our kids (young adults). It is good to see that there will be others their ages on the cruise.

 

Just some thoughts:

 

We have had the same problem in the past where we had to book a child under 21 with an adult. We were able to go to guest services and get the cards adjusted so my husband and I were in one room and the kids are in another. This was on NCL. I am not sure if Celebrity works the same way.

 

I always have problems with taxi drivers understanding me. I usually print the name of the location and the address on a piece of paper and give it to the driver. I print in large letters so they can read while they drive. Your hotel in Rome seemed hidden, so I am not sure this would have worked in your case.

 

I hope Celebrity still opens the balcony dividers. NCL has stopped doing this.

 

I enjoyed your review. I know it was a year ago, but it is helping with our planning!

[celebrity]

Thank you for your lovely review. We are cruising on the Equinox next June also with our kids (young adults). It is good to see that there will be others their ages on the cruise.

 

Just some thoughts:

 

We have had the same problem in the past where we had to book a child under 21 with an adult. We were able to go to guest services and get the cards adjusted so my husband and I were in one room and the kids are in another. This was on NCL. I am not sure if Celebrity works the same way.

 

I always have problems with taxi drivers understanding me. I usually print the name of the location and the address on a piece of paper and give it to the driver. I print in large letters so they can read while they drive. Your hotel in Rome seemed hidden, so I am not sure this would have worked in your case.

 

I hope Celebrity still opens the balcony dividers. NCL has stopped doing this.

 

I enjoyed your review. I know it was a year ago, but it is helping with our planning!

I can personally attest to the fact that your balcony divider can be opened up on the Equinox. We did this on our Med cruise last month. The cabin steward did it for us. Loved it!

[NCruiser2012]

Wonderful! Thanks!

 

I can personally attest to the fact that your balcony divider can be opened up on the Equinox. We did this on our Med cruise last month. The cabin steward did it for us. Loved it!

[lexmiller]

Great review, and I hope you publish it in the official review section of Cruise Critic - it is a STICKY at the top of the forum, the 3rd STICKY from the top, in case you aren't aware. This will help others who are googling to find your review efficiently, otherwise, it will be missed. Here's a copy/paste of the STICKY, where reviews are to be published:

 

Sticky: Back from your Celebrity Sailing? Please write/submit your review... (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 ... Last Page)

LauraSIf you're just back from your Celebrity cruise...we'd like to publish your review:

 

Go Here To Have Cruise Critic Publish Your Review: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/index.cfm

 

If you've already posted here on the Celebrity forum, you're ahead of the game! Simply copy/paste the text from here. Note that while submitting your review you'll be able to "rate" your ship, and the results will be compiled in our Cruiser's Choice Poll.

 

Thanks!

 

Laura

__________________

Laura

Sr. Manager Community

community@cruisecritic.com

[Dmgmd50]

Sinny, I hope you love Celebrity as much as we do!

 

Lovestx:

 

We will be taking the 11-day Eastern Mediterranean cruise in June,2014 on the Reflection. We will be taking our 12 year-old grandson as his Bar Mitzvah gift. Your review has given us a great deal of insight as to what we should do and not do. ( we have seen the rug show and will skip it this time!) We considered Aqua Class but cannot because our grandson is too young to eat at Blu. We have enjoyed the select dining in the MDR on other Celebrity cruises as well as the specialty restaurants.

 

Thanks for your detailed report and photos.

[lovestx]

Lovestx:

 

We will be taking the 11-day Eastern Mediterranean cruise in June,2014 on the Reflection. We will be taking our 12 year-old grandson as his Bar Mitzvah gift. Your review has given us a great deal of insight as to what we should do and not do. ( we have seen the rug show and will skip it this time!) We considered Aqua Class but cannot because our grandson is too young to eat at Blu. We have enjoyed the select dining in the MDR on other Celebrity cruises as well as the specialty restaurants.

 

Thanks for your detailed report and photos.

 

Mazel Tov to your grandson, DMGMD50!! I didn't realize that there was an age cutoff in Aqua...

 

You will have a wonderful trip. Please be in touch if you have any questions.

[Sinppu]

Sinny, I hope you love Celebrity as much as we do!

 

I hope so too!

You'll find out soon enough :)

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Lovestx,

 

I just re-read your trip report :) I read it the first time as you were posting it live. However, we are trying to do this same trip next year (on Reflection). We are hoping for a good last minute deal. But being a planner, that doesn't really make sense haha! I am "planning" a last minute cruise if that makes sense.

 

I had a question about Istanbul. Istanbul and Santorini are the top 2 places on our list. We are interested in purchasing a rug. Were any of them affordable? We cannot spend thousands but we could spend a couple hundred for a small rug. Just to remind us of our trip :) Were there any under $1,000?

 

Also, besides the rough day you had where you missed Mykonos. Were there any other rough days? I get sea-sick, on our med. cruise last year we only had 1 sorta rough day, but not too bad. I've heard of people missing Santorini due to winds, I would be so sad to miss Santorini!

 

We wish we would have bought more souvenirs on our first Med. cruise.

 

Thank you,

Ashley

[lovestx]

Lovestx,

 

I just re-read your trip report :) I read it the first time as you were posting it live. However, we are trying to do this same trip next year (on Reflection). We are hoping for a good last minute deal. But being a planner, that doesn't really make sense haha! I am "planning" a last minute cruise if that makes sense.

 

I had a question about Istanbul. Istanbul and Santorini are the top 2 places on our list. We are interested in purchasing a rug. Were any of them affordable? We cannot spend thousands but we could spend a couple hundred for a small rug. Just to remind us of our trip :) Were there any under $1,000?

 

Also, besides the rough day you had where you missed Mykonos. Were there any other rough days? I get sea-sick, on our med. cruise last year we only had 1 sorta rough day, but not too bad. I've heard of people missing Santorini due to winds, I would be so sad to miss Santorini!

 

We wish we would have bought more souvenirs on our first Med. cruise.

 

Thank you,

Ashley

 

Nice to hear from you Ashley. I have been thinking of you and hoping that your wedding planning is going well and that you are enjoying all of the celebrations :) It will be here before you know it!

 

When we planned this cruise, I booked it in November 2011 and then re-booked when the prices dropped in January 2012. Our TA (whom I picked on the 'competing cruises' website as they gave us the best deal and good OBC, simply cancelled our booking and rebooked. We got the two rooms back that I really wanted and had research. So that may be an option for you.

 

We never asked prices on the rugs. Didn't want to make it look like we wanted to buy. I would post a question on the port pages here on CC. Where did folks felt they got the best buy? Istanbul? Ephesus? I have no idea.

 

I forget if you and Travis collect Christmas ornaments. My hubby and i started doing that when we got married 22 years ago and it's a great tradition Our tree is full of travel-related ornaments that bring back great memories. And they are generally inexpensive (under $20) and easy to bring back home.

 

As for rough seas, I think we had another night where things were a bit rocky but not very noticeable. Just bring a few precautions and you'll be fine. I didn't hear of any people on our ship getting sick....just a bit off-putting. And our friend who slept at the solarium pool all night clearly had a fear of sinking that was irrational (as all fears are...and I have lots of them!).

 

Wish you guys could come with us in June....would love to meet you guys! Still not sure which of three cruises we are taking but are booked on a Rome to Venice on Silly right now.

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Nice to hear from you Ashley. I have been thinking of you and hoping that your wedding planning is going well and that you are enjoying all of the celebrations :) It will be here before you know it!

 

When we planned this cruise, I booked it in November 2011 and then re-booked when the prices dropped in January 2012. Our TA (whom I picked on the 'competing cruises' website as they gave us the best deal and good OBC, simply cancelled our booking and rebooked. We got the two rooms back that I really wanted and had research. So that may be an option for you.

 

We never asked prices on the rugs. Didn't want to make it look like we wanted to buy. I would post a question on the port pages here on CC. Where did folks felt they got the best buy? Istanbul? Ephesus? I have no idea.

 

I forget if you and Travis collect Christmas ornaments. My hubby and i started doing that when we got married 22 years ago and it's a great tradition Our tree is full of travel-related ornaments that bring back great memories. And they are generally inexpensive (under $20) and easy to bring back home.

 

As for rough seas, I think we had another night where things were a bit rocky but not very noticeable. Just bring a few precautions and you'll be fine. I didn't hear of any people on our ship getting sick....just a bit off-putting. And our friend who slept at the solarium pool all night clearly had a fear of sinking that was irrational (as all fears are...and I have lots of them!).

 

Wish you guys could come with us in June....would love to meet you guys! Still not sure which of three cruises we are taking but are booked on a Rome to Venice on Silly right now.

 

Thank you! Yes, just over a month away- AHH! The big day is November 30th.

 

Thank you for all the information, this was helpful. Christmas ornaments are a great idea! We shall start that tradition :)

 

Who knows, we could end up on that cruise! I would love to meet you and your family too! Basically, we know we want to go to Europe via Celebrity again next year. We want to get all the traveling (at least big trips like Europe) out of our systems before we start having kids :rolleyes: However, being a police officer and teacher (and grad student) we do not have a lot of extra money hanging around.

 

We are hoping that a med. cruise anytime from May-October will offer a great deal (and air) at the last minute- after final payment. We are going to start saving so we have the $$$ needed and ready to book. I am assuming since it would be after final payment we would have to pay it all at once? Of course, we are taking a chance and there could not be any last minute deals :mad:

 

And being a planner like yourself, booking last minute is going to stress me out with the planning... but I enjoy it :D

[lovestx]

Glad you like the Christmas ornament idea. I know it's done by many but it's a great tradition.

 

Send me a note via email (ccrosner@aol.com) as i have a few other planning suggestions that probably don't belong here).

 

Carol