Millenium Transatlantic 11/18/05

[diknjoemia]

I received a reply from Celebrity today. They asked that I forward our request to mcpherson@rccl.com. This turns out to be an invalid email address. I now have the fax number for the Millie from Customer Service. We'll se how the "old" technology works. Stay tuned. Film at 11.

Dick and Joe

[ahoymatey3]

Thanks for the update. Either way it works out, from previous posts it looks like the martini bar is ours….

 

[Jerry & Kirk]

Hello all,

 

For those of you who are past passengers of Celebrity, do you know if

 

bottles of hard liquor can be purchased aboard ship to consume in your

cabin?

 

If so, what might a liter of, say vodka cost? Also, what about cigarettes,

 

are you forced to only buy them by the pack in one of the bars if you want

 

to consume them?

 

J & K

[joeyanddavid]

Hello all,

 

For those of you who are past passengers of Celebrity, do you know if

 

bottles of hard liquor can be purchased aboard ship to consume in your

cabin?

 

If so, what might a liter of, say vodka cost? Also, what about cigarettes,

 

are you forced to only buy them by the pack in one of the bars if you want

 

to consume them?

 

J & K

Hey fellas.. Just a thought you should buy your cigerettes in the duty free shop in the airport then you will have as many as you want for your trip..

 

We recently quit so its not a concern for us. As far as Alchol I have heard that many will bring their own aboard thus no confusion.

 

Just a thought!

[Brucemcdou]

Jerry & Kirk - To my knowledge, Celebrity has never openly allowed passengers to buy liquor for onboard consumption in the duty-free shops on their ships. I have read on the boards about an unofficial policy of allowing you to take bottles back to your room if you bring your Celebrity canvas tote bag to hide them as you carry them back, but I've never tested it myself. I'm perfectly capable of drinking plenty in all the many bars on board! I know that the Royal Caribbean boards are currently being roiled by RCCL's recent change in their policy on their ships, and RCCL owns Celebrity, but I haven't seen discussion of any change in Celebrity's policy. I'm afraid that I don't know anything about the cigarettes, but suspect that it would be treated the same way.

 

As Joey and David say, plenty of people carry on their own liquor, within reason. You've always been able to carry on bottles of wine, and there's a corkage fee in the restaurants so it's obviously permitted if not even encouraged.

 

I bet that Celebrity probably has less of a concern about the occasional bottle in your carry-on bags than, say, RCCL since Celebrity has a more mature passenger base that is less likely to go overboard. As a figure of speech, of course...

[diknjoemia]

As the celebrity "rookies" I can provide limited input. Most cruise lines allow for carton/multi carton cigarette purchases for consumption on board. The selection however is usaully limited to 4-5 brands, but the prices are about what you would find at an Indian reservation ( no state taxes). This was true on RCCL and shoud be true for Celebrity, which is owned by RCCL. If you buy Cuban Cigars on board, you must smoke them before we dock at FTL.

 

I have purchased liquor in the Cayman's, but even that was delivered to the ship. I think they would prefer we lubricate our livers at the bar, but our lungs are another story.

 

Dick and Joe

[Jerry & Kirk]

Hello all,

 

Bruce and Dan, Dick and Joe, Joey and David........Since there seemed to be a slight difference of opinions about purchasing liquor and cirarettes aboard ship, I decided to call Celebrity direct and pose the question.

 

This is what I was told.....

 

A "new" policy went in to effect on August 5. You may NOT bring any liquor aboard ship at embarkation or from any port stop, except from "some" Caribbean ports (I didn't ask details). Liquor can NOT be purchased in shops on the ship to be consumed (looks like they've got us by the short and curlys). However, cigarettes can be bought in the duty-free shops in unlimited amounts. Soooooo, I guess I'll have to smoke more and drink less???

 

Later guys,

 

Jerry (and Kirk)

[diknjoemia]

Thanks for the follow up Jerry!

 

Dick (and Joe)

[joeyanddavid]

Thanks Jerry

[diknjoemia]

No news since I sent the fax. While we all know where we intend to meet and when; my concern is that there may be a lot more "family" on board than we know about. The best way to reach them is through the daily "bill of faire" distributed to the cabins. So, we will see what develops.

Dick ( Joe is napping).

[campingman]

Im standing up now.

From my own experience cruising with Celebrity i have never taken alcohol aboard their ships.

 

Other readers on this thread can vouch for that.

 

Jingies i just fell over?

 

I must have been struck by lightening.Funny that we have not had a storm in Sydney for years?

[diknjoemia]

I actually received a response from a real person at Celebrity Customer Service. I'm not sure how helpful this is, but here goes.

 

We can arrange coctail parties through 1) Cruise Critics or 2) The travel agents we used to book the cruise in the first place. In questioning the #2 option, it seems that I am part of a group already( I was aware of some sort of "consolidator" arrangement with the travel agent I used, Cruise Connections, but apparently I am part of their group/ gay-str8- bi or otherwise. I think the assumption is that we all have some easily defined relationship with one travel agent. If we follow this advice we will possibly have 20 cocktail hours to attend, mostly by ourselves. Unless there are a bunch of us who share the Cruise Connections "group". The Cruise Critics possibility would result in a less "HOMO"genous group than what I would prefer.

 

We can also wait to board and make our request of the CD or Hotel Manager.

 

I have received no answer to my fax to the CD as yet.

 

However, I did determine that "The Millennium" has a local address to which mail may be sent. It is: Celebrity Millennium PO Box 019008 Miami FL 33101-9008. I have already sent copies of the original request to the CD and the Hotel Manager via the PO box. If more of you would like to as well, I might appear less like the lone ***** crying in the wilderness, and we may get some positive results.

Thanks

Dick

[Faygelah]

Dick:

 

Thanks for your work and for the update. I'm going to send an email or fax as soon as I get around to it. I think we all should.

 

What the powers that be seem not to "get" is that we are not asking for a special cocktail party because we are a group; we are asking that they provide a venue for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender passengers to be able to identify each other and we will then feel like part of a group. They probably don't understand -- or choose not to understand-- the experience that most of us feel in a mixed group of being "on guard" for fear that someone around us is disturbed by the very fact that we exist. They probably don't think about the fact that many of us feel more at ease when we can be with others who we know will not think it at all notable that we express affection to our partner.

 

I can't help but think that our asking for a FOD get-together will make it easier for other gay and lesbian people.

 

Having said that, Rick & I attended two cruise critics get togethers in Chicago where we were the only same-sex couple and we didn't feel anything other than completely welcomed and acccepted by the others. I generally prefer mixed groups to LGBT groups, frankly. Even still, I want Celebrity to acknowledge that there is a significant LGBT group of passengers and not only do they have a responsibility to make us feel welcomed but it is in their corporate interest to do so.

 

::crawls down off my soapbox::

[diknjoemia]

Fay:

 

To say nothing of the unfounded fear that we might turn the "Millie" into a floating bath house. Let's keep those cabin doors closed y'all :p !

 

This reminds me of the maiden voyage of the RCCL Explorer of the Seas. We were a part of the first Gay RCCL Cruise on that sailing ( ours from Ft L. and another group from California made up around 300 or so of the almost 3k passengers on the ship. We were advised by our travel agents on the first night, that any hanky panky would result in our departing at the next port. Not quite walking the plank, but close.

 

In some ways the cruise was a lot of fun, it was Haloween, and our groups won the costume contests almost across the board. But the "Gay" part was a near disaster. Our agents were totally useless, scheduled events never happened, and most of the guys were looking for much younger and buffer companions than Joe and I.

 

So, like you, we prefer "mixed company" on the cruise. But we find that FOD adds a lot to our enjoyment, and want it badly to come together.

 

Dick and Joe

[ahoymatey3]

Dick & Joe - thanks for all the hard work. If our write-in campaign doesn't work we can make our requets in erson. We can plan it. Imagine a line out the CD's door requesting an FOD. How could he/she possible refuse?

[Steddi]

"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? "

Sorry for the late reply:

We will be in Barcelona on the evening of the 17th. As usually we will be staying at the "Hotel California" a very nice small, gay friendly hotel in the Gothic quarter. It is only one minute walk from the "La Rambla"

 

We hope all the work you guys have done on the FOD will have a positive outcome..Thank you :-)..but still we like to quote one of our great family member that once said :

"Don't Dream It, Be It"

Steddi and Nonni

 

 

 

 

[Brucemcdou]

Steddi - thanks for the hotel recommendation; we'll take a look at it. I like to stay at a hotel that at least has a fitness room when I travel so I don't have to go out and find a gym in a strange city. Right now we're booked at the Hotel Axel, although we're waiting to hear some feedback from a friend who'll be staying there soon. I'm not sure when (sorry, Ahoymatey) but sometime before we go. If it sounds too downscale we'll still have time to change our reservations.

 

Dick, Faygelah and others - thank you for all your work to get a response from Celebrity about an onboard FOD meeting. Our experience with Celebrity over the years has been that's it's virtually impossible to get an intelligent response from anyone about any questions until you're actually on the ship. Once on, chat with both the CD and the Social Hostess (they're always nice-looking, charming young women who LOVE gay men...) and ask for a scheduled FOD in the daily. Even one FOD will give an opportunity to meet some others you might not otherwise run into. Once there's been at least one scheduled meeting, I don't care if there's any more listed on the schedule, because the group can take it from there.

 

We just got off a six-day Infinity cruise, and there was a scheduled FOD every day in the Martini Bar, 7:45 p.m, which was listed in the daily. Our Cruise Critic group was also "unofficially" meeting every evening before dinner in the Martini Bar, so the two groups kind of melded by the second or third day. There were already three gay couples in the Cruise Critic group and there were absolutely no issues with that. As Faygelah says, we prefer a mixed group anyway - we've never, ever had any negative vibes or experience from our fellow str8 cruisers. We all have a love of travel and meeting new people in common!

[Brucemcdou]

Ahoymatey - I just found out that our friend will be staying at the Axel in Barcelona October 7th to 23rd. While it's still before we go it's a little later than I thought - sorry for telling you it was "soon"!

 

We've reserved anyway, as it looks nice, the location is good, and the price is pretty good for BCN that time of year.

[ahoymatey3]

brucemcdou - no problem. Another poster on our regular roll call has a friend who is a repeat customer of the axel, recommends it highly.

 

Welcome back, and how was your trip? Will you be doing a review?

[Jerry & Kirk]

Hi all,

 

We were just wondering if anybody knows how many warm days we might

 

have after leaving Europe? I don't know about you, but we always find it a

 

bit of a chore packing clothes for two different climates. Any

 

suggestions?....layering summer clothes in the colder climate????

 

J & K

[Brucemcdou]

Hi, Jerry & Kirk - you may want to post this on the "regular" Roll Call thread - I think that Karen (Hajekfam) has done this same itinerary at least once before - southern Atlantic crossing late in the season. Faygelah - have you done this itinerary before? Also, this year's crossing is later than ever before due to the earlier rescheduling of the drydock.

 

We're assuming it will be chilly (40's) and perhaps rainy for all the European/Med stops, so we plan to take a waterproof/Goretex type jacket to go over a warm sweater or fleece. Once we leave Malaga and head to the Canary Islands, and then across the Atlantic, we're assuming it will be more pleasant but still not hot - maybe mid-60's? And for all those "at sea" days don't forget there will be a 20-mile an hour breeze out on deck as the ship is sailing - depending on whether the prevailing breeze is with us or against us.

 

I'd be very happy to be wrong, but I'm certainly not planning on taking any shorts or summer clothes!

[Jerry & Kirk]

Bruce......Thanks for your advise, I just posted on the regular Roll Call thread.

 

Jerry

[diknjoemia]

Don't forget we are ending this in FTL. Unless it's unusually chilly, you'll probably feel comfortable in Shorts for the last couple of days. I've made it a habit to check The Weather Channel before going anywhere, and pack accordingly.

[Brucemcdou]

Ahoymatey - a friend and his partner were just in Barcelona (for the Atlantis Med cruise) and checked out the Hotel Axel. Although they didn't see any rooms, they said they thought it looked very upscale, in a Euro-trendy boutique hotel way. They ate in the restaurant in the lobby and also went up to the roof deck, where there's a small pool and a decent gym. We feel much better after this report!

[Blazerboy]

No guarantees, but I did a similar itinerary four years ago, leaving Lisbon on the 9th of November and landing in Miami 11 days later. The seas were like glass, and the weather was WARM- in the 80's for five of our six sea days. I was actually hot doing my laps on the deck in a t-shirt and windbreaker.

 

Hey Bruce, nice to see you and Dan last week. We'll post if we can squeeze in the Spring repo on Infinity. Bon voyage to you all.

 

Andrew