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First time Celebrity Cruiser: The Expectation compared to the Reality


mfs2k
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14 hours ago, mfs2k said:

 

I’m concerned the TA’s may be a bit too many sea days for me. I love sea days in the Caribbean but that would be very different. 

I'm sure you're not alone in being concerned about a lot of sea days, but fortunately they don't bother us (or many other folks).  I think all the ones we've been on have been pretty full, if not sold out.  The Roll Calls have always been very active with lots of events planned during those sea days and there are daily lectures (usually 2-3 different lecturers), bingo (sometimes twice a day), etc.  At least this has been true on Princess through whom we've done all our TAs.  On the western Med cruise on the Eclipse we also had at least one lecturer as there were a number of sea days as well.

Edited by BarbinMich
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I always worry about the weather – can’t do anything about it.

Always worry about getting to the port on time – can’t do anything about it.

Always worry about the house, cats, dogs, children.  Can’t  do anything about it.

Always worried on the cruise about losing documents.

I do not worry about getting ill, sinking, disasters or anything global, so I’m pretty lucky really.  Expectations are not cruise or company specific so I know I shall enjoy lots of things I was not expecting to.  Hence, keep planning to a minimum .  I do enjoy reading CC on a quiet evening however for a few tips.

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On 4/3/2019 at 8:43 AM, colliece said:

You sure are, we are in Clayton.  My son is already counting the days.  We jumped on this cruise kind of last minute and got a great deal, but we really wanted to try Celebrity.  Let me know how you enjoyed your trip.  BB Kings is great, but they are removing that club from several of the HAL ships.  We loved our HAL cruise, we are holding off making our next reservation until we sail with Celebrity.  From what I have read I feel confident we will not be disappointed.  We are going to do an Holiday Asian cruise and Alaska next summer.

 

Hope you have a great trip, I wish I was heading out this week.  Work has been crazy and its been 8 months since our last cruise.

 

I've been following this thread and the Celebrity board because we're considering a Summit itinerary.  I'm a regular on the HAL board and this is the first I've heard of them removing the BB Kings venue (?).

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On 4/3/2019 at 12:03 PM, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Thanks msf2K, we've had so many Market Discovery tours cancelled either due to vendor problems or not enough booked that we are hoping to finally do another one in November.  Our 1st  and only one was in St. Maarten.

 

Ooo, I hate to hear that MaryLou. We had one cancelled, understandably, after the St Maarten hurricane. We have another one scheduled on the Equinox this summer, it is our only scheduled excursion, really want to do the tour.

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On 4/4/2019 at 4:02 PM, mfs2k said:

 

I think our expectation for a European cruise is exposure to various cities and countries along the itinerary.  I don't suspect we'll be taking every bus tour to see everything.  We're not big on sightseeing.  I'm sure there will be a lot of places to walk around and explore, like we do regularly in NYC on our own.  Not afraid to grab a guidebook and take a little trip or a cruise tour to Venice from the port, for example, grab lunch in a highly rated spot, with a pretty view, and hop on a gondola to take pics in a Cathedral. 

 

After the cruise, we'll likely followup with other land trips, driving trips or maybe river cruises to places in Europe we want to focus on.  Clearly, Europe is a HUGE place, with so many wonderful places to visit and see, and can never all be seen in 1, 10, or even 50 trips.  We know that.  But a cruise is a nice way to travel and get an overview.

 

I'm sure most Europeans don't expect to see the entire USA on a cruise from NYC to New England.  It's a little taste.  There's so much more for other trips.  

Sounds like the perfect perspective.

 

You will have lots of good resources including CC for planning. My biggest point was really be aware of the distance from port to what you want to see - especially Florence and Rome, if you go there.

We did most of the ports on our own, as you described, but did the small group, Rome or die in a day trip in Rome and in Florence we took the cruise ship tour ou your own tour, where they drop you off at a prominent landmark in Florence and you do the sightseeing on your own - those approaches worked well for an overview of those 2 cities, where there is a good long trip from the pier.

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2 hours ago, cangelmd said:

Ooo, I hate to hear that MaryLou. We had one cancelled, understandably, after the St Maarten hurricane. We have another one scheduled on the Equinox this summer, it is our only scheduled excursion, really want to do the tour.

I've heard that Cozumel is usually a go.  The ones we had cancelled were St. Lucia and Jamaica, and I think one other.  It was right after the program started and was early in the season.  I don't think the vendors were providing the level of service Celebrity wanted.

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On 4/6/2019 at 9:53 AM, cangelmd said:

Sounds like the perfect perspective.

 

You will have lots of good resources including CC for planning. My biggest point was really be aware of the distance from port to what you want to see - especially Florence and Rome, if you go there.

We did most of the ports on our own, as you described, but did the small group, Rome or die in a day trip in Rome and in Florence we took the cruise ship tour ou your own tour, where they drop you off at a prominent landmark in Florence and you do the sightseeing on your own - those approaches worked well for an overview of those 2 cities, where there is a good long trip from the pier.

 

It seems like it wouldn’t be too hard to spend more in the ports than on the cruise. 

Im curious what the average spend is for a 10 day port intensive European cruise on top of cruise costs and air. 

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On 4/7/2019 at 1:48 PM, mfs2k said:

 

It seems like it wouldn’t be too hard to spend more in the ports than on the cruise. 

Im curious what the average spend is for a 10 day port intensive European cruise on top of cruise costs and air. 

Could be a lot, LOL.

Our trip was 20 years ago, so bear that in mind.

We did Villefranche on our own, Napoli on our own and Malta on our own. We did the drive you into town and drop you off tour in Florence and the big ship tour in Rome. If I remember correctly (it has been years but the amount was breathtaking to us at the time) the Florence drop you off tour was less than $100 for the 2 of us, then we had pre-purchased tickets to the Uffizi and Accademia, and had lunch and gelato. The Rome tour was probably more like $600-$700 for two, maybe with tip added on, but we saw at least the highlights of everything in Rome, no way we could have seen all that we saw by ourselves, and we were first off the ship and last back on. Very little forced shopping or any of the annoyances that happen in the Caribbean. The goal was to see all that could be seen of Rome in a day.

All the rest of what we did probably was less than half what we spent on those 2 excursions.

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