Galaxy boarding time

[taffNo1]

Hi

We are sailing on on the Galaxy on 04/07/08 out of San Juan. Anyone got any idea when they start boarding as sailing time is 10pm.

Thanks:D

[Lsimon]

I seem to recall they had already started boarding when we got there last year not much after noon. But I've read in other threads that it has been as late as 1PM or so.

 

We usually like to get on board early to start enjoying our cruise!

[Buckeye Geo]

Your documents are going to state boarding is at 7pm.. I do not know why they do this, but as Larry stated above you can board starting at 12 noon or a little later.

[iflyrc5]

They started boarding about 1pm on our 4 Jan Galaxy out of San Juan and the documents said 7pm - go figure.... Is Celebrity trying to get us not to eat dinner on the first night??? The muster/lifeboat drill was at 8pm.

[wx@sea]

Our documents said 7 PM, but we got on around 2 PM on 1/4.

[mamaday]

Our docs state boarding starts at 2 pm. From others I have heard as early as noon. We'll let you know in a couple of weeks as we leave this Friday.:o

[taffNo1]

Thankyou all for the info. Aren't people nice on this site. I'm looking forwards to our cruise much more now.

[eandj]

Hi

We are sailing on on the Galaxy on 04/07/08 out of San Juan. Anyone got any idea when they start boarding as sailing time is 10pm.

Thanks:D

 

You have a couple choices. If you have time, before boarding the ship you might want to tour San Juan. That's why Celebrity has a late departure. It allows passengers, who might not otherwise be in San Juan again, time to check out the area. The port is right next to Old Town which is very nice. Also you might want to tour one of the forts in town.

If you choose to board, your room may not be ready until 3:00 or so. However if you haven't been onboard the Galaxy before, you can use an hour or so to acquaint yourself with the ship and have something to eat. If you are flying in the same day from a cold climate, make sure you pack something in your carryon to change into once you get to San Juan.

You will be assigned your seating for dinner that first night. You'll have an opportunity to make some changes if desired on that first afternoon.

Have a great time. We really enjoyed the 2 cruises we have taken on the Galaxy.

[islandgrandma]

We saw the 7pm advised boarding time but we needed to do something with our luggage so we went the ship at about 1:30pm to see if possible to leave luggage and we saw folks getting on and by 2pm we were having a late lunch on the ship- suitcases arrived at the room by about 3pm- gave us time to unpack before a 6pm supper. good to have all settled before supper and sailaway at 10pm. BW:)

[snausman]

I could use some help on a couple of questions I have about our trip. And of course where else do you go to get the correct answer but here.

 

I am trying to set up a tour in Roseau, Dominica with Antours, and Anison has told me that we do not dock in Roseau but at Cabrits National Park. Is this true or not. We leave on April 7 on the 11 night cruise. I need help from all of you who really do know where we dock at. Thanks for the help.

 

Laura

[Lsimon]

I could use some help on a couple of questions I have about our trip. And of course where else do you go to get the correct answer but here.

 

I am trying to set up a tour in Roseau, Dominica with Antours, and Anison has told me that we do not dock in Roseau but at Cabrits National Park. Is this true or not. We leave on April 7 on the 11 night cruise. I need help from all of you who really do know where we dock at. Thanks for the help.

 

Laura

 

Last year we docked in Roseau. As for this year: The first 11 day trip of this year (post TA and post holiday cruises) finishes Friday the 25th. It left January 14. I suggest you find their roll call and post the question there, and look for any review or comment threads about their cruise on the main Celebrity boards after they get back.

 

Also cruisecal.com site for Roseau lists the galaxy there on April 15, while the Cabrits calendar does not - not exactly authoritative but they got their information from some place.

[snausman]

Last year we docked in Roseau. As for this year: The first 11 day trip of this year (post TA and post holiday cruises) finishes Friday the 25th. It left January 14. I suggest you find their roll call and post the question there, and look for any review or comment threads about their cruise on the main Celebrity boards after they get back.

 

 

Thank you I will do that.

 

Laura

[mollydogsmom]

We're on the Galaxy on 2/4/08 and our cruise documents say 2:00 boarding in San Juan.

[bdpatrick]

I could use some help on a couple of questions I have about our trip. And of course where else do you go to get the correct answer but here.

 

I am trying to set up a tour in Roseau, Dominica with Antours, and Anison has told me that we do not dock in Roseau but at Cabrits National Park. Is this true or not. We leave on April 7 on the 11 night cruise. I need help from all of you who really do know where we dock at. Thanks for the help.

 

Laura

 

 

Hi Laura,

 

We just got back from the 1/14 sailing and we ended up docking in Cabrits, Dominica. We received a letter in our cabin the Thursday before (we docked on Tuesday the 22nd in Dominica) advising us that due to the large number of ships in port, Celebrity was docking us in Cabrits for our convenience?? All excursions that had been booked with Celebrity prior to this ended up being cancelled and a new list of excursions was released on the Friday. As an added note, it is a good 1 to 1.25 hour drive to Roseau from Cabrits.

 

My wife and friends ended up doing an excursion to Traffalgar Falls and the Sulfure Springs, in total, they we're gone from the ship for over 7 hours. They came back 15 minutes prior to the ship leaving. They told me that due to the amount of ships in port that day, that Roseau and all the stops they made we're grossly overcrowded with tour buses and every one from the ships.

 

If you do decide end up in Cabrits and don't do an excursion, the Cabrits National park where the ship docks is absolutely stunning and well worth the walk around.

 

Another schedule change from this cruise was Celebrity reversing the dates we docked in Aruba and Curacao due to the large number of ships in port in Aruba. So if you have excurions booked with local operators in those 2 ports, I'd check with them just to make sure.

[w&k]

We went through the same Roseau/Cabrits controversy for our trip on the Galaxy (2/25 sailing). I had to change our dive operation because of the change in dock.

 

According to the port schedule - there are 5 ships in port on our day, and I'm quite glad we're off on our own. ;)

 

Here is the website for Dominica that I found with a link for the port schedule - it also has a schematic map of the island showing the locations of the ports.

 

http://www.dominica.dm/site/cruise.cfm

 

Currently shown dates are:

 

MV GALAXY 01/22/08 CAB

MV GALAXY 02/12/08 CAB

MV GALAXY 03/04/08 CAB

MV GALAXY 03/25/08 WBB

MV GALAXY 04/15/08 CAB

 

CAB=Cabrits

WBB=Woodbridge Bay Deep Water Harbor

 

Have a great trip!

 

Wendy

 

ps in case you need some more help - I have put together a little website for our trip - you might find something useful.

 

Galaxy trip website

http://www.freewebs.com/galaxy-02-25-08

[marylander2]

... Celebrity was docking us in Cabrits for our convenience?? All excursions that had been booked with Celebrity prior to this ended up being cancelled and a new list of excursions was released on the Friday. As an added note, it is a good 1 to 1.25 hour drive to Roseau from Cabrits...

 

...the Cabrits National park where the ship docks is absolutely stunning and well worth the walk around...

 

bdpatrick,

we were on Galaxy with you. I am not sure what "convenience" that captain's letter was referring to, but I was really furious. One of the reasons we went on Galaxy was a possibility to visit (once again) Scotts Head Marine Park, which is on the opposite end of Dominica from Cabrits.

This last minute change most certainly was a huge disappointment. Yes, the park is stunning, but there is nothing else around the pier where the ship was docked. The Portsmouth is nothing but a dump, granted that Roseau is also not a Louvre, but there is nothing to do in Cabrits but wonder around the Natnl. Park. We walked around the park, crossing "saddle" (gorge) twice, and finally found a spot to snorkel - ironically, right next to the ship... - but that was not even close to Scotts Head, where I had absolutely great snorkeling a few years back.

So if you have pre-arranged tours (aas I did with Frodos in Roseau), chances are you may not have them. Be careful with pre-paid tours/local operators. not because of the fraud from their side, but because of the said "convenience" arranged by X.

It makes me wondering how far ahead these intineraries are being thought... X definitely knew about "congestion" in Caribbean ports way before the cruise.

Yeah, I know, the fine print about "...reserves the right to change itinerary without further notice" etc., but it still can have a bit more organization in it.

[snausman]

Hi Laura,

 

We just got back from the 1/14 sailing and we ended up docking in Cabrits, Dominica. We received a letter in our cabin the Thursday before (we docked on Tuesday the 22nd in Dominica) advising us that due to the large number of ships in port, Celebrity was docking us in Cabrits for our convenience?? All excursions that had been booked with Celebrity prior to this ended up being cancelled and a new list of excursions was released on the Friday. As an added note, it is a good 1 to 1.25 hour drive to Roseau from Cabrits.

 

My wife and friends ended up doing an excursion to Traffalgar Falls and the Sulfure Springs, in total, they we're gone from the ship for over 7 hours. They came back 15 minutes prior to the ship leaving. They told me that due to the amount of ships in port that day, that Roseau and all the stops they made we're grossly overcrowded with tour buses and every one from the ships.

 

If you do decide end up in Cabrits and don't do an excursion, the Cabrits National park where the ship docks is absolutely stunning and well worth the walk around.

 

Another schedule change from this cruise was Celebrity reversing the dates we docked in Aruba and Curacao due to the large number of ships in port in Aruba. So if you have excurions booked with local operators in those 2 ports, I'd check with them just to make sure.

 

Thank you sooooo much for this info. It really helps when planning out what we want to do. We did not have plans for Curacao, we thought we would just walk around getting a feel for the island. And again nothing really planned for Aruba either.

 

Laura

[snausman]

We went through the same Roseau/Cabrits controversy for our trip on the Galaxy (2/25 sailing). I had to change our dive operation because of the change in dock.

 

According to the port schedule - there are 5 ships in port on our day, and I'm quite glad we're off on our own. ;)

 

Here is the website for Dominica that I found with a link for the port schedule - it also has a schematic map of the island showing the locations of the ports.

 

http://www.dominica.dm/site/cruise.cfm

 

Currently shown dates are:

 

MV GALAXY 01/22/08 CAB

MV GALAXY 02/12/08 CAB

MV GALAXY 03/04/08 CAB

MV GALAXY 03/25/08 WBB

MV GALAXY 04/15/08 CAB

 

CAB=Cabrits

WBB=Woodbridge Bay Deep Water Harbor

 

Have a great trip!

 

Wendy

 

ps in case you need some more help - I have put together a little website for our trip - you might find something useful.

 

Galaxy trip website

http://www.freewebs.com/galaxy-02-25-08

 

Wendy, thank you also for all your info. Love your website, that is great. I posted the links on my roll call for everyone to check it out.

 

Laura

[bikinibottom]

...

Another schedule change from this cruise was Celebrity reversing the dates we docked in Aruba and Curacao due to the large number of ships in port in Aruba. So if you have excurions booked with local operators in those 2 ports, I'd check with them just to make sure.

 

We are on the 3/17 sailing and I have a couple of questions based on what I have read on the above posts.

1. When were you advised about the switch in Aruba and Curacao order in the itinerary, was it prior to sailing or once underway? We have rented cars at each island so that could really impact our plans.

2. Did they still offer the river tubing in Dominica? We have tried to do this excursion in the past and weren't able to because of weather, so we were hoping this spring it might actually happen, but now with the change of ports I wasn't sure.

 

Thanks!!!

[bdpatrick]

We are on the 3/17 sailing and I have a couple of questions based on what I have read on the above posts.

1. When were you advised about the switch in Aruba and Curacao order in the itinerary, was it prior to sailing or once underway? We have rented cars at each island so that could really impact our plans.

2. Did they still offer the river tubing in Dominica? We have tried to do this excursion in the past and weren't able to because of weather, so we were hoping this spring it might actually happen, but now with the change of ports I wasn't sure.

 

Thanks!!!

 

Question 1:

 

We we're advised when we showed up at the dock in San Juan just prior to checking in.

 

Question 2:

 

I believe that they still did offer the river tubing. Unfortunately, I did not keep a copy of the list of excursions offered from Cabrits, so I'm not 100% sure. Sorry about that.

 

Sylvain

[JoeAndMichael]

Don't know if this will help you, but we just had to throw this into the mix:

 

We've been to Roseau, Dominica twice and were SO impressed by the delightful Champagne Reef excurson that we took the same excursion the 2nd time there.

 

They take you out to a spot where there are underwater volcanic vents that continuously release bubbles that float to the surface giving the impression that you're snorkeling in champagne. The colorful fish love it, and so will you.

 

So, if you snorkel and get the chance..... !