Celebrity Infinity - Oct 24 2013 - T/A Harwich to Miami - Pied Piper sailing

[Petert102]

On our eastbound TA with PP last spring, PP had no excursions planned in advance that they could give us any info about. (In fact, I don't recall any at all. On board, Bruce may have recommended certain excursions through the ship.) That was our first PP cruise, so I don't know if that was typical or not.

 

I will say, though, that Bruce scored big when our ship was diverted at the last minute from Cobh (Ireland) to La Coruna, Spain. Obviously, no one had anything planned for La Coruna. Fortunately, Bruce was familiar with that port and immediately advised those of us with PP to book a ship's tour to Santiago de Compostela. Many of us did, and we had a fun day together.

 

Do any of you PP veterans have any info on whether we are likely to know about any PP shore excursions in advance?

You may well be right about the lack of excutsions on the T/As, they have tons on the Caribbean Island Hops, I do not recall if they told you before the trip what they were offering, as we seldom do organized excursions, my mind is a blank on this one....Senior Moment

 

Peter

[Turtles06]

Five months till sailaway!

 

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone. And much gratitude to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.

[BlazerMB]

Five months! Thank the good Lord it will be five summer months! Can't wait!!!

[Petert102]

Just got back from England last night.....Good trip, but prepare yourselves for the prices which, with the exception of the Pubs, are breath taking

 

Peter

[Hobie]

Welcome home Peter.

[BlazerMB]

Welcome back! Glad you had a good trip. No cheap eats huh?

[Petert102]

Welcome back! Glad you had a good trip. No cheap eats huh?

Just remember all those meals on the ship and the added Pounds !!!! Anyway, you Guys and Gals need to fast in London in preparation for your Pilgrimage at Santiago de Compostela. Remember that Beer does contain ALL the Food Groups at low cost. British food, apart from being very costly, does not rank high on the ratings for Gastronomy....to quote a Staff Member of mine from there "My Mother thought that Corn Starch was an exotic spice !!!"

 

The poor Brits had their entire summer last weekend...just imagine...three successive sunny days with a temperature of 78F !!!!!! With that being over they have nothing but rain. cold and grey skies to look forward to for the rest of the summer !!!! Poor Things

 

Hugz to all

 

Peter

Edited May 29, 2013 by Petert102

[Talldkny]

Hi Everyone:

 

I am happy to see there are several other travelers already booked on the "Pied Piper" repositioning cruise in October. I will be travelling with a friend. This will be my 20th cruise, my second with "Pied Piper." Last year I was on a 15 day Celebrity Cruise to Hawaii with "Pied Piper."

 

We are planning to spend three days in London before boarding the ship in Harwich. The last time I was in London was 1994 on business. I am looking forward to visiting some friends and playing tourist for a couple of days.

 

I look forward to meeting you all onboard.

 

Frank

[Turtles06]

Hi Everyone:

 

I am happy to see there are several other travelers already booked on the "Pied Piper" repositioning cruise in October. I will be travelling with a friend. This will be my 20th cruise, my second with "Pied Piper." Last year I was on a 15 day Celebrity Cruise to Hawaii with "Pied Piper."

 

We are planning to spend three days in London before boarding the ship in Harwich. The last time I was in London was 1994 on business. I am looking forward to visiting some friends and playing tourist for a couple of days.

 

I look forward to meeting you all onboard.

 

Frank

 

Welcome aboard, Frank, we look forward to meeting you.

 

There are enough folks already booked through Pied Piper that they are sending Bruce as our host, so that's great. He did a wonderful job on our TA last spring aboard the Eclipse.

 

Judith

[Petert102]

Hi Everyone:

 

I am happy to see there are several other travelers already booked on the "Pied Piper" repositioning cruise in October. I will be travelling with a friend. This will be my 20th cruise, my second with "Pied Piper." Last year I was on a 15 day Celebrity Cruise to Hawaii with "Pied Piper."

 

We are planning to spend three days in London before boarding the ship in Harwich. The last time I was in London was 1994 on business. I am looking forward to visiting some friends and playing tourist for a couple of days.

 

I look forward to meeting you all onboard.

 

Frank

Welcome Frank + Buddy

 

It looks like we have a great PP cruise in the making, Paul ( my Husband ), Howard ( Buddy ) and I will also be in London for three days prior to our sailing and staying at the Marble Arch Thistle which is above the City Of Quebec, Pub. This is so convenient for making or nightly offerigs to the Goddess of Booze, AND they also have a Grotto, where wonderous things may be found !!!! We have arranged a bus pick up from there to take us directly to Harwich on the 24th. We actually fly over from JFK on Oct 17 and will be spending three days in Brighton on the South Coast which is very Gay.

 

Mega Hugz

 

Peter

Edited June 7, 2013 by Petert102

[BlazerMB]

Welcome! Tom and I are arriving in London on the 20th and are also staying at the Thistle Marble Arch. I am sure we will be saying many Pater Nosters downstairs also! We were thinking of a day trip to Brighton. Is that doable??

[Petert102]

Welcome! Tom and I are arriving in London on the 20th and are also staying at the Thistle Marble Arch. I am sure we will be saying many Pater Nosters downstairs also! We were thinking of a day trip to Brighton. Is that doable??

Brighton is just 55 minutes away from Victoria Railroad station and the trains leave several times an hour. If you have not booked the MA Thistle yet, why not save some cash and stay at the Brighton Thistle for a couple of nights, we are staying three nights. Brighton is very Gay and awash with Shrines to make offerings to and "Visions" in various states of availability for the night . There are also four buses an hour on National Express from Heathrow, they drop you off just yards from the Brighton Thistle. Suggest you spend the weekend in Brighton before going to London as it is humming with folks from London who have either places there or stay for the weekend.

[Turtles06]

Hey guys, I posted this on the "main" roll call but wanted to flag it here too: we had the incredible good fortune to snag a corner FV, and so we've switched out of 8046, which is one of the two C2 cabins with a bigger than normal balcony thanks to its location at the end of the hump. I wanted to let you all know in case you might be interested.

 

Have a great weekend, everyone.

 

Judith

[BlazerMB]

Hey Peter: That's an interesting thought. I am in Fort Lauderdale for a few more days, but I will discuss it with Tom when I get back to Rhode Island! Thanks for the tip.

[Turtles06]

Only four months to go!

 

I hope everyone is enjoying the start of summer...

[BlazerMB]

Some days four months seems like forever! But I don't want to wish the summer away. Nice and warm in RI so we will be enjoying the summer days!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Petert102]

Some days four months seems like forever! But I don't want to wish the summer away. Nice and warm in RI so we will be enjoying the summer days![ATTACH]276738[/ATTACH]

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Fire Island is FAABULOUS, the season is getting ramped up. We are now able to spend longer out there, Fridays to Tuesdays...heaven. Baking in New York, but cool out there

 

Have decided to hold off giving the Thistle Hotel Chain our cash until Mid-August

 

Mega Hugz

 

Peter

Edited June 25, 2013 by Petert102

[Turtles06]

Some days four months seems like forever! But I don't want to wish the summer away. Nice and warm in RI so we will be enjoying the summer days!

 

Don't worry, we aren't wishing the summer away, just excited that a trip booked so many months ago is now getting relatively close!

[studhilo]

Don't worry, we aren't wishing the summer away, just excited that a trip booked so many months ago is now getting relatively close!

 

Do worry - I am wishing the summer away. Autumn can't come fast enough. 117F this weekend here.

[BlazerMB]

Yikes!!! If we were leaving tomorrow I couldn't be happier!!! Lol

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Petert102]

DOMA IS DEAD - THANK YOU BILL CLINTON FOR NEEDLESS YEARS OF DISCRIMINATION THANKS TO YOUR FOCUS ON MONICA AND YOUR LACK OF MORAL COURAGE AND LEADERSHIP IN YOUR FAILURE TO USE YOUR VETO PEN, TO DO WHAT YOU KNEW IN YOUR HEART WAS RIGHT !!!! - I CAN NOW BEGIN TO BELIEVE IN THE SUPREME COURT AGAIN I can now enjoy our cruise after facing a huge federal tax bill to tax my Health Insurance Benefits that I had under Paul's Healh Insurance Plan, as his legal Spouse !!!

 

Peter

Edited June 26, 2013 by Petert102

[Turtles06]

DOMA IS DEAD - ... can now enjoy our cruise after facing a huge federal tax bill to tax my Health Insurance Benefits that I had under Paul's Healh Insurance Plan, as his legal Spouse !!!

 

Peter

 

That federal tax on health insurance for gay spouses was definitely one of the (many) real harms of DOMA. So glad you won't have to pay it any longer.

 

What a great day for equality!

[Khepre]

Hi everyone,

 

I have booked the Infinity TA for 24 Oct directly through Celebrity... not through Pied Piper. Am traveling solo and do not think that I know anyone else on this cruise (am also new to CC so do not know if I "know" anyone here either :)).

 

Am quite a cruising newbie...Have only been on 2 previous cruises, both with Celebrity (5 day and 7 day in the Caribbean)... so not sure what to really expect for a 14 day TA... But, am really looking forward to so much down-time! But, am also a social creature and am hoping to make some good friends on board to share the experience.

 

Can one participate/"tag along" in any PP events if not booked through them?

 

All the best,

Chris

[Petert102]

Hi everyone,

 

I have booked the Infinity TA for 24 Oct directly through Celebrity... not through Pied Piper. Am traveling solo and do not think that I know anyone else on this cruise (am also new to CC so do not know if I "know" anyone here either :)).

 

Am quite a cruising newbie...Have only been on 2 previous cruises, both with Celebrity (5 day and 7 day in the Caribbean)... so not sure what to really expect for a 14 day TA... But, am really looking forward to so much down-time! But, am also a social creature and am hoping to make some good friends on board to share the experience.

 

Can one participate/"tag along" in any PP events if not booked through them?

 

All the best,

Chris

Chris

 

Google Pied Piper, you will see all the rules and Regs there. Basically, you cannot tag onto Pied Piper Events if you did not book through them, this is dictated by the Cruise Line itself. However, if you contact Pied Piper, Celebrity may allow you to assign your booking to them as they are a Travel Agent, Pied Piper will guide you on the process of doing this. I did this once, when I had booked with Royal Caribbean before PP announced that my sailing was one of their cruises and I was allowed to assign the booking. Pied Piper does give its guests a substantial discount on the cruise lines posted price, you may not be able to obtain this as part of your assigned booking. If Celebrity does allow this, and your booking is assigned to Pied Piper, you will be allowed to participate in their private events.

 

In any event, there is a gathering of the Clans or Diwan at the Martini Bar at 7pm every night, so even if you do not manage to transfer your booking, you will still have a social time. Be sure to book late sitting dinner so as be able to do this

 

The advantages of PP as against going solo are:

 

1) On this trip we will have aPied Piper Host, who will be Bruce so I believe

2) Seating at a Pied Piper table in the dining room, so no awkward forced converstaions with folks who do not share your values

3) A couple of private cocktail parties

4) Some times they orgnanize Pied Piper shore excursions

 

Using this board, try to reach out to your fellow travellers now, before we sail, then you will have a group of not such total strangers to inter act with.Go back over the past postings and you will see that there are quite a few single folks traveling with us. Remember there will also be more folks who have not posted on this board, the T/A's tend to be very well patronized with "Family" so I doubt that you will be lonesome

 

 

Give my regards to Amman, which I remember with some fondness from the Early 1980s, including many happy Thursday lunches at Al Bustan restaurant. I wonder if it is still there ?

 

Peter

Edited July 2, 2013 by Petert102

[Khepre]

Chris

 

Google Pied Piper, you will see all the rules and Regs there. Basically, you cannot tag onto Pied Piper Events if you did not book through them, this is dictated by the Cruise Line itself. However, if you contact Pied Piper, Celebrity may allow you to assign your booking to them as they are a Travel Agent, Pied Piper will guide you on the process of doing this. I did this once, when I had booked with Royal Caribbean before PP announced that my sailing was one of their cruises and I was allowed to assign the booking. Pied Piper does give its guests a substantial discount on the cruise lines posted price, you may not be able to obtain this as part of your assigned booking. If Celebrity does allow this, and your booking is assigned to Pied Piper, you will be allowed to participate in their private events.

 

In any event, there is a gathering of the Clans or Diwan at the Martini Bar at 7pm every night, so even if you do not manage to transfer your booking, you will still have a social time. Be sure to book late sitting dinner so as be able to do this

 

The advantages of PP as against going solo are:

 

1) On this trip we will have aPied Piper Host, who will be Bruce so I believe

2) Seating at a Pied Piper table in the dining room, so no awkward forced converstaions with folks who do not share your values

3) A couple of private cocktail parties

4) Some times they orgnanize Pied Piper shore excursions

 

Using this board, try to reach out to your fellow travellers now, before we sail, then you will have a group of not such total strangers to inter act with.Go back over the past postings and you will see that there are quite a few single folks traveling with us. Remember there will also be more folks who have not posted on this board, the T/A's tend to be very well patronized with "Family" so I doubt that you will be lonesome

 

 

Give my regards to Amman, which I remember with some fondness from the Early 1980s, including many happy Thursday lunches at Al Bustan restaurant. I wonder if it is still there ?

 

Peter

Hi Peter, thanks so much for the detailed reply. I think I will contact Pied Piper and see about the possibilities...

 

I especially like the possibility of getting a PP dining table. On both of my previous Celebrity cruises my sister, her husband, and I have had to change the pre-assigned table after the first night due to a variety of compatibility issues. The first one was easy because we'd made some FOD friends already at the CC sail away and when they heard they asked us to join their table -- which was much, much more fun!

 

I will also try to reach out here as you have suggested -- although I tend to lurk in these sort of forums :-)

 

As for Al-Bustan... it is still here. They still make, IMHO, the best mutabbal and shanklish to be found in Amman! I look forward to your stories of Amman in the 80s and your reasons for being here; I only came to work in Jordan for the first time in 2001, when it was a much different place than when you knew it.

 

Much obliged,

Chris