Jim_Iain - First Non-Celebrity Cruise in 22 year - Ponant vs Celebrity Comparison

[theopup]

Always enjoy your photos

[PANIN36]

12 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

doors and street art. 
 

 

 

 

Wait! Pictures of doors?

Woohoo, Jim is back!

Looking forward to following along with you and Iain (a bit late) on this trip.

Hope you both have a wonderful time.

 

Vien

[Jim_Iain]

We awoke to an dreary drizzly morning.   Suppose to have some heavy rains around noon.    Since we do not board until 4:00 PM the hotel was kind enough to give us a Late Checkout.

 

Checked on the Ponant Site - Le Bellot Webcam - https://us.ponant.com/le-bellot

and she was approaching earlier this morning.

 

Many of you remember that Celebrity USED to have Bridge Cams on their ships.

 

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, PANIN36 said:

Wait! Pictures of doors?

Woohoo, Jim is back!

Looking forward to following along with you and Iain (a bit late) on this trip.

Hope you both have a wonderful time.

 

Vien

Vien -- good seeing you.  

 

I was really surprised Milwaukee doesn't have many interesting doors in the areas we have been.

 

[Jim_Iain]

On 9/3/2023 at 10:09 PM, phoenix_dream said:

 If you like German food, check out Mader’s.  Awesome.

ps, they are known for that.

 

@phoenix_dream   We had to try your recommendation.   We were a little apprehensive as their portions look so HUGE and they were. 

 

It was incredible but we could only eat half our portion in order to save room for desert.

 

Iain had the Wiener schnitzel and I had the The Beef Strudel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

15 hours ago, JaneStarr said:

Did you buy anything?

 

No... but I almost said let's get a live lobster lunch.   It surprised me to see at least two places with tanks full of live lobsters.  

 

We did find a really nice sandwich shop directly across the street from our hotel.  

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, hcat said:

Outstanding photos.. some are very interesting .. loved the doors, public art and bright flowers!  Looks like a  thriving city that has not been ruined!

It is a beautiful city.    This is very much a business district and even this morning there is no hustle and bustle like most cities at 9:00 Am

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, GonzoWCS said:

Let the comparison begin!

 

Cheers

 

Difference -

 

Ponant have Webcams on all their ships and Celebrity has removed all of theirs that use to be on their ships (10+ years ago).

 

Checkin -   Celebrity is very good with choosing a checkin time and ability to download Luggage Tags and Boarding Passes. Ponant on the other hand just told us to show up at a pier at 4:00 PM as oppose to getting on the ship starting at 11:00 AM for Celebrity

+ for Celebrity

 

App -    Celebrity's App has come a long way and while many complain it is pretty good and allows booking and viewing Menus.   Ponant's App is pretty much stationary and has no live data or the ability to perform any function on it.

+ for Celebrity

 

Excursions -    Both Celebrity have the ability to book excursions in advance.   Celebrity allows you to do this on their website and pay for the reservation.   Ponant requires you to Call Reservations starting 30 days before the cruise.   They put you on a list and tell you it will be confirmed and paid for aboard the ship.

+ for Celebrity

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, haynesra said:

Always look forward to your pictures, especially the unique doors!

I really do enjoy doors and have taken pictures of 1,000's of them worldwide.   I got started while living in Dublin.   Someone gave me a gift of a cocktail table book -  Doors of Dublin.     Evey door in Dublin, is a different brightly painted ornate door. 

[SHIP TRAVELER]

Bon Voyage....looks so exciting.  I was the planner at your first ever slot pull on the Solstice.  I am glad you continued attending "slot pulls" and can see the "savings" of an hour in the casino for a dollar or two plus or minus. Phyllis

[Pantheral]

22 hours ago, hcat said:

Wow. what a great photo..

 I was so sad when our local Gimbels closed . My prof career started in the early 70's  wearing  business suits bought at reasonable prices from Gimbels...Had to be blue or blk suits skirted below the knee,  no minis. white collared blouse, hosiery, high heels and a coach handbag.

 

Boy how things have changed!

My first charge card was from Gimbel's in 1981, which I applied for at the exact store that is now this hotel! First purchase was the first edition of the game Trivial Pursuit which I still own!

 

At that time, Gimels and Boston Store on 4th and Wisconsin were the two anchor stores of a downtown indoor mall that stretched 4 blocks. Like most malls, it is now a shadow of its former self.

[Pantheral]

If you are looking for a nice indoor activity this morning due to the rain you could visit the Milwaukee Historical Society up the street: https://milwaukeehistory.net/visit/hours-and-rates/. I am guessing you passed it on your way to Mader's. BTW, glad to see you went there and had a good dinner.

[GonzoWCS]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Excursions -    Both Celebrity have the ability to book excursions in advance.   Celebrity allows you to do this on their website and pay for the reservation.   Ponant requires you to Call Reservations starting 30 days before the cruise.   They put you on a list and tell you it will be confirmed and paid for aboard the ship.

+ for Celebrity

Really like Celebrity's excursion process.  Recently over Labor Day we were offered 45% off.  The process to cancel and re-book our excursions was seamless and the refund prompt!

 

Cheers

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, SHIP TRAVELER said:

Bon Voyage....looks so exciting.  I was the planner at your first ever slot pull on the Solstice.  I am glad you continued attending "slot pulls" and can see the "savings" of an hour in the casino for a dollar or two plus or minus. Phyllis

Phyllis

 

You got me hooked on the CC Slot Pulls.    You did such a good job.   I can't imagine keeping track of all the details.

 

I finally talked Iain into doing one on our last cruise and he had so much fun we have signed up for one on Edge.  

[Jim_Iain]

43 minutes ago, Pantheral said:

My first charge card was from Gimbel's in 1981, which I applied for at the exact store that is now this hotel! First purchase was the first edition of the game Trivial Pursuit which I still own!

 

At that time, Gimels and Boston Store on 4th and Wisconsin were the two anchor stores of a downtown indoor mall that stretched 4 blocks. Like most malls, it is now a shadow of its former self.

 

Times have sure changed.   My first job out of University was with Goldsmith's in Memphis.    Like Gimbels and Boston Store they are all gone now.   

 

I still say we lived in the Golden Era and it will never return.

[Jim_Iain]

39 minutes ago, Pantheral said:

If you are looking for a nice indoor activity this morning due to the rain you could visit the Milwaukee Historical Society up the street: https://milwaukeehistory.net/visit/hours-and-rates/. I am guessing you passed it on your way to Mader's. BTW, glad to see you went there and had a good dinner.

Latest forecast is the biggest part of the storm went south of us and is hitting Chicago.   It is suppose to clear up by 11:00.    

 

I did bring our Slickers (rain gear)  so up for anything.    They are totally waterproof including velcro strips that cover the zippers.   

[Jim_Iain]

21 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Really like Celebrity's excursion process.  Recently over Labor Day we were offered 45% off.  The process to cancel and re-book our excursions was seamless and the refund prompt!

 

Cheers

 

I did much the same and cancelled and re-booked about 10 excursions.    That 45% sales was one of the best sales I've seen in awhile.

[Poconolady]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

@phoenix_dream   We had to try your recommendation.   We were a little apprehensive as their portions look so HUGE and they were. 

 

It was incredible but we could only eat half our portion in order to save room for desert.

 

Iain had the Wiener schnitzel and I had the The Beef Strudel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That strudel looks amazing!

 

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

@phoenix_dream   We had to try your recommendation.   We were a little apprehensive as their portions look so HUGE and they were. 

 

It was incredible but we could only eat half our portion in order to save room for desert.

 

Iain had the Wiener schnitzel and I had the The Beef Strudel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gordylad]

following and very much enjoying........

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

3 hours ago, SHIP TRAVELER said:

Bon Voyage....looks so exciting.  I was the planner at your first ever slot pull on the Solstice.  I am glad you continued attending "slot pulls" and can see the "savings" of an hour in the casino for a dollar or two plus or minus. Phyllis

 

Hi, Phyllis!  Good to see a post from you.  Hope all is well.

[Gia2cats]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I did much the same and cancelled and re-booked about 10 excursions.    That 45% sales was one of the best sales I've seen in awhile.

I was pleasantly surprised at how seamless the entire process was. Saved a bunch of money. 

[Jim_Iain]

1 minute ago, Gia2cats said:

I was pleasantly surprised at how seamless the entire process was. Saved a bunch of money. 

My only initial concern was one of the tours was sold out and took about 5 minutes to come back in inventory.    It did come back and all was good.   I think on that one tour we saved about $100.

[wrk2cruise]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

@phoenix_dream   We had to try your recommendation.   We were a little apprehensive as their portions look so HUGE and they were. 

 

It was incredible but we could only eat half our portion in order to save room for desert.

 

Iain had the Wiener schnitzel and I had the The Beef Strudel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forget dinner let's go straight to desert!

[hcat]

Won't be long now til you can board..We are all counting down!

BON VOYAGE....!

Edited September 11, 2023 by hcat

[DaKahuna]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Many of you remember that Celebrity USED to have Bridge Cams on their ships.

 

 

 They still have those camera's but do not share them on the Web anymore.  We got some wonderful views from the one on Millennium when we went through the Panama Canal on the ship's TV.