Millenium Transatlantic 11/18/05

[Steddi]

Hello Iceland calling

 

It is great to see so many family members on this cruise. We are an Icelandic gay couple, cruising the Atlantic ocean (18th of November 2005 on the Millenium) just as our great great great .....grandfather Leifur the Lucky did in the year 1000. He found America and hopefully we will also get lucky on our cruise :-) Although we are taking the easy and warmer way :-)

We have been many times in Barcelona so if family members wants any information on Barcelona please write. It seems to us that only Americans are on this forum , we do hope that you welcome Europeans as well. We do look forward seeing you all on the Millenium.

 

So Bruce and Dan we hope to get an invitation to the FOD party you are having on your veranda.

Greetings from Reykjavik Iceland

Steddi and Nonni

[ahoymatey3]

VoyagerX,

 

Thanks for the useful information. I’m also very jealous about your 9-week adventure. I’ve been on The Amsterdam’s sister ship, The Maasdam, and loved it. The itinerary looks outstanding. Someday….

 

[ahoymatey3]

Such an unfortunate event with the hateful CD and bartender. I think X has probably gotten better. The Millie just finished a gay cruise (RSVP I believe) last week. If 2000 FOD’s didn’t get the bad ones shaken loose, nothing will.

 

[ahoymatey3]

Joe proposes that we tell Mr Rivera ( or whoever) that we WILL meet in the martini bar at 6PM on night 1. Let's all wear pink in case it's not publicized. That's probably easier than red shoes:o . If we don't like the bartender we can always switch venues.

 

It might make sense if we all shared last names so we can communicate on board. I understand we have voice mail in each cabin. It might make more sense if you would like to e-mail this information to me. I'll put a list together and e-mail it back.

 

Dick and Joe

miadik@bellsouth.net

 

I've already bought new red heels :eek:

[ahoymatey3]

Welcome, Steddi. How very interesting you're from Iceland. I hope to vist there someday. The group is growing, still.

[Jerry & Kirk]

Bruce......Generally speaking, I would agree that one should use a ships tour

 

or a reliable private guide when traveling by ship, but you never know what

 

might go wrong. In fact, I was on a ships tour in Capri and the bus driver

 

decided to end the tour early (don't ask me why) and left me stranded all

 

alone on the very top of the mountain....with no money in my pocket! And

 

in Bali, we hired a registered tour guide and a driver, but we still missed the

 

last tender back to the ship.....looooong stories. Ask me about it when I see

 

you....but not in front of Kirk, because he's heard these stories a thousand

 

times and he will KILL ME if I tell them one more time! Get the picture???

 

Jerry

[Brucemcdou]

Steddi and Nonni - Glad to hear you're on board - we look forward to meeting both of you. It also sounds as if you're very familiar with Barcelona - do you know when you'll be arriving and where you'll be staying?

 

Jerry - We'll make sure to ask you about your shore excursion adventures while Kirk is powdering his nose in the little Friends of Dorothy room. I'm intrigued why/how a tour bus driver left you in Capri - are you sure you hadn't offended him? We look forward to finding out more!

[Faygelah]

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm dying to see what a Spanish "classy drag restaurant" is all about! Thanks voyagerx for the good info. We're getting a little bit overwhelmed with everything there will be to do in BCN and are trying to figure out the highlights for three probably jetlagged days.

 

Sorry to hear about the bad experience with Mr. Rivera. we also had a bad experience on a previous Millie voyage with CD Edwin Rojas. He feigned not understanding what we were asking for. He's really a jerk and a piss-poor cruise director. I hope this is the same guy and there's not another homophobic CD out there.

 

I understand from another thread that Sudi will be bartending in the Martini Bar for our trip. If it's true, we're in for a treat. He's a hoot! We should definitely camp out there before dinner.

 

We're eager to meet gay Icelandic Vikings (or is it Viqueens?). Welcome!!

[Brucemcdou]

Hi - Dick of Diknjoemia suggested that we keep a list of names and cabin numbers so we could find each other on board. I think that's a great idea, and fortunately it's already been done! One of the active participants on the "main" Roll Call board for this cruise, Karen (aka, "Hajekfam") has been keeping a running list of everyone who joins the roll call. I've cut and pasted the most recent update from Karen below.

 

I think that Faygelah (PD & Rick), Brucemcdou (my partner Dan and myself, Bruce), and Ahoymatey3 (what is your real name, anyway?) are the only ones who are currently included in Karen's list. I really encourage the newcomers here, Jerry and Kirk (and their friends), Dick and Joe, and Steddi and Nonni, to introduce themselves on the main roll call and Karen will add you to the growing list. It's a really nice bunch of cruisers.

 

If for whatever reason you'd rather not participate on the main roll call why don't people at least post their first name(s) and cabin numbers here and that way we can use the phone system on board to reach each other.

 

SCREEN NAME – NAMES – FROM - CABIN # - ARRIVAL – HOTEL

Faygelah - PD & Rick - Chicago, IL - - Nov 15 - Hotel Barcelona Universal

- Bob & Maxine - Chicago, IL

wadlaw - Gerry & Larry - Wharton, TX

Naples Runner - Stewart & Sonia - Naples, FL – 8106 - Nov. 13 – Hotel Colon

hajekfam - Karen & Jim - Bolingbrook, IL – 7166 – Nov. 16 - Le Meridien

Brucemcdou - Bruce & Dan - San Francisco, CA - 8166

cruisetaker - Debbi

themirsk - Melanie & Matt - Boynton Beach, FL - 6104 - Nov. 16 - Hotel Apsis Atrium Palace

- Allyson

gann - Don & Margaret - Springfield, IL – 7206 - Nov. 17 - Hotel Aspis Atrium Palace

Bobbie63 - Bobbie & Bernie - Las Vegas, NV – - Nov. 16 – Duquesa de Cardona

Elly022 - Elinor - Las Vegas NV, and Debbie - Laurel, MD – - Nov. 16 - Duquesa de Cardona

amyr - Amy & Cliff - Clearwater, FL - 8170 - Nov. 17 - Montecarlo

- Ellie and Mollie - 7208 - Nov. 17 - Montecarlo

cirpi - Bradford & Ann - Lacey, WA – - Nov. 14 – Nunez Urgell

- Caroline - Mercer Island, WA

grampastan4 - Stan & Fran - Lyndhurst, OH

MrsSeabird - Jackie & Burt - Southern NH

Sunnystone - Kathryn & Peter – Las Vegas,NV – 8146 - Nov. 18

- Dolores - Boston, MA and Doris - LasVegas, NV - 8159

kvonwalsh - - CT

Bugeye - Karen & Jim - Cove Point, MD -

permey - Bob & Paula - Harlingen, TX -

joemooch - Joe & Linda - Clermont, FL - 8162 - Nov. 11

- Paul & Donna - Clermont, FL - 8177

- Jack & Mary - Clermont, FL - 8160

ahoymatey3 - - - - Nov. 16 - Hotel Axel

MicDenver - Michelle & Max - Denver, CO -

bythebay - Karen & Harvey - Tampa-St. Pete, FL - 9000 - Nov 16 - apartment

MartyT - Marty & Sheila - Palm City, FL -

Set - Dave & Sylvia - Ontario, Canada -

- Bill & Joan - Ontario, Canada

mwilliams - Ken & Marianne - Virginia -

CRUISEATLANTIC -

Dasman - - Chicago, IL -

Ksuzem - Kim & hubby-to-be - Frisco, TX - - - Hotel Jazz

Bayako - Betty & Carpen - Vancouver, Canada

italia - Matt, Lorraine, & Michele - Valencia, CA

WASUP - Marlene & Steve - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - 9011 - Nov. 17

twotogo - Susan & Warn - Santa Barbara, CA - - Nov. 17 - San Augustin

TomK - TK & Sandi - Naples, FL

jobinhume - Jobin

sginva - Dan & Sandra - Leesburg, VA - - Nov. 16 - Hotel Colon

Kenosha -

[diknjoemia]

Welcome to the "Iceland Guys!

 

I called celebrity today and was advised that I could contact our cruise director via the "cruise comments" e-mail. Here is what I sent:

 

Thank you for contacting us. This is an automated confirmation that your email

has been received. Our representatives will reply to your inquiry in the order

in which it was received. Please reply only if you need to provide additional

information related to your original email. Follow-up emails regarding the

status of your query may further delay your response.

 

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to service your

request.

 

[THREAD ID: 1-RH639]

 

-----Original Message-----

From: miadik@bellsouth.net

Sent: 08/11/05 3:55:07 PM

To: web_cruise_comments@rccl.com

Subject: To: Cruise Director - Celebrity Millenium

 

Dear Sir or Madam:

 

Customer Service suggested that this might be the best way to contact you.

 

We will be sailing with you on the November 18,2005 crossing. This will be our

first Celebrity cruise, though we are fairly frequent cruisers on other lines.

We are looking forward to this experience very much, and have heard good things

about Celebrity and the Millenium.

 

For the past week or so, we have been exchanging information with several

fellow passengers on one of the message boards. On previous cruises, we have

enjoyed "Friends of Dorothy". I suspect that you are familiar with FOD, but in

case you are not: we are members of the Gay/Lesbian community. We have noted

that other folks have activities that meet their needs while sailing. It is

helpful that we have a venue to meet, have a few cocktails and socialize

before dinner. This is good for us, and can add to your bar sales, as well as

making many of your passengers even happier with your service.

 

I'm hoping that you could arrange space for us in one of the lounges at around

6pm each evening, if that is convenient. If not, I'm sure the group would be

open to alternatives.I'm also requesting that "Friends of Dorothy" could be

included in the daily newsletter, stating the time and place for the meeting.

 

At this point, there seem to be about 20 of us who would be attending, although

I'm sure there are more who haven't found the message boards yet.

 

Please feel free to communicate how you feel about this suggestion back to me,

and I will share it with the other passengers . If it's possible to schedule a

time and place now, that would be helpful.

 

Thanking you in advance for your assistance:

Richard G. Clayton

miadik@bellsouth.net

 

I'll let you know what I find out!

 

Dick and Joe

[ahoymatey3]

Dick & Joe, nicely written letter. I'll be interested to see if we get a response.

 

Brucemcdou, ahoymatey3 is my real name ;) (some people call me Scott).

[Faygelah]

Great letter, Dick. I like the idea of a FOD gathering every night (though why they can't just call it Lesbian & Gay or LGBT is beyond me).

 

We're in cabin 6135, by the way.

 

PD

[Brucemcdou]

Thanks, Dick, for writing Celebrity. I'll be interested to see what response you get.

 

Scott/Ahoymatey3 - Is there an Ahoymatey1 and 2? Is that like Sr. and Jr.?;)

 

PD - So you and Rick have one of the "secret" CC cabins with an oversized balcony in the high-rent suite neighborhood? You must have snagged it early on. We're really happy we finally got our corner aft FV - we had to watch availability and call to change cabins twice to end up where we are. And they couldn't pry us out of there now!

[ahoymatey3]

You guys sure you want to associate with someone in a lowly 2b (although I did get one with a bigger balcony #7180)

[Brucemcdou]

Ahoymatey - Hey, every cabin is a good cabin in my book! We've been in insides, outsides, balconies and suites, and we've been on five different cruise lines so far. Haven't had a bad cruise yet.:D

[ahoymatey3]

Very true, Brucemcdou. I've had insides and outsides, never a balcony. And probably won't again. It was just too good of a bargain to pass up. Insides are selling for more than my balcony now. :eek:

[Faygelah]

We are kind of spoiled when it comes to cabins. We've only cruised twice before, on the Millie and the Connie, and thanks to these boards we knew to get cabins with supersized balconies. We were in 6136 on our first Millie trip and we had an aft on Connie. Both 6135 and 6136 are in between large suites and have balconies about triple normal size. Having breakfast on our big balconies every morning is our idea of heaven. We got really lucky and snagged two aft cabins on deck 9 for our parents for this trip.

 

We want to try an inside cabin someday on an M-class ship. There are plenty of nooks and crannies onboard to enjoy, and we think it would encourage us to get out and socialize more and participate in the ship's activities.

[diknjoemia]

"Fay":

We have done both inside and outside. For us, we spend so much time enjoying the ship and exploring the ports; that all we seem to do is sleep, change clothes and ******** in the cabin. So it has been difficult to justify larger quarters. We've never invested in a balcony , but may if we do Alaska sometime.

 

How did you all find this cruise? We got a great deal via "Travelzoo", and ditto the air to Barcelona.

Dick and Joe

[Brucemcdou]

Faygelah - you're lucky that you found these boards with all the good advice on it early on. You've certainly done well so far! We still haven't been in an aft balcony on an M-class ship - we may ask if we can peek in your parents' cabins just to see the aft deck. Our first few (OK, our first half-dozen) cruises we didn't care where we were and didn't really think we had a choice. Now we've gotten to the point that we try to plan far in advance and select a "nice" cabin for a "big" cruise, such as the transat on Millie this fall or our transat on Jewel OTS next year. We're going on a six-night coastal cruise on Infinity in two weeks, and we're in cabin 9000, one of the oversized category 4 outside cabins at the very front of the ship. We've always heard that they're larger than a Sky Suite for "regular" cabin prices, and we'll be able to see for ourselves. As you suggest, that's the sort of thing you can only learn on these boards.

 

For shorter cruises, such as the two or three-day relocation cruises we can get out of San Francisco every spring and fall, we've taken inside cabins at tremendous discounts, and just treated it as a cheap, fun weekend getaway. We just got an e-mail from Princess advertising a two-night relo from Vancouver to San Francisco in mid-September with inside cabins at $59 pp!

[ahoymatey3]

I was looking for a transatlantic, when I found this one. I wanted an inside, but they were all under the aerobics studio. I thought that would be too noisy. Compared outside vs. balcony and the price wasn't that much different. It probably won't happen again. I found it on a site for 'cheap cruises'.

 

I booked last April, during a post-cruise depression. Glad I did, too. The price went up $800 a couple weeks afterwards.

 

Its only 3 months now until I fly out to BCN!!! :D

[Jerry & Kirk]

Hello all you sailors!

 

Can anyone tell us if there is a shuttle at the dock that will take you too the

 

hop-on-hop-off bus? Someone said there WAS a hop-on-hop-off bus at the

 

dock. Can somebody confirm that?

 

J & K

[ahoymatey3]

Hi Jerry & Kirk. Are you asking about the port in Barcelona? If so, I checked the map that came with my bus pass, and yes it does make a few stops down by the ports. The port is a very large area however, and I don’t know exactly where the ship docks. It could still be a long walk.

 

[Jerry & Kirk]

Hey Scott,

 

Yes, we were thinking about the port in Barcelona. We'll look into it further...thanks for your imput!

 

There's a possibility that another friend of ours will be joining us on this cruise....a str8 gal/pal that we've been on 2 cruises with and recently spent the day with in Honolulu when our respective ships were in the same port on the same day. I hope Suzanne says, YES. You will love her southern drawl! She leaves this Friday for a med/transatlantic cruise on the Golden Princess, but still seems to be interested on going with us on the Millie...we'll see.

 

Later....J & K

[diknjoemia]

But who's counting? (besides ME!:)). We were excited about this trip before we found this BBS. Now that we know you all are going, we feel even better.

 

No news from the cruise director yet. If nothing in a week, I'll make more inquiries.

 

Dick and Joe

[ahoymatey3]

Counting? I’m already packing! LOL