Thomson Celebration Colourful Coasts (TFS) Any advice - newbies!

[tt2505]

Can anyone offer any advice/tips to us????

 

This is our 1st cruise & I'm scouring all the websites I can find for tips etc.

 

We've travelled to the med & carribean previously but always on air holidays.

 

Should we take all the port excursions or is it safe to 'go alone'?

Can you take drinks ie bottles of wine/spirits back on board?

What is the cost for a bottle of house wine onboard?

 

I've lots of other questions - help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kruzseeka]

Hi - and welcome to the forum!

 

I've found this link to a question about the Canaries cruise relating to the Destiny which I posted some time ago - not surprised you couldn't find it!

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=847502

 

It refers to the Destiny but the itinerary and port info should be the same for Celebration. It's quite safe to DiY (although perhaps for the first time I would recommend taking an organised trip from Agadir).

 

Yes, you can take drinks/alcohol on board and can buy duty free on board to drink in your cabin - much more relaxed attitude here than on some American lines.

 

We've just returned from a trip on Celebration and the house wine was £10 which we thought very reasonable - I think there are choices too for both red and white varieties. They will also cork it and let you finish the bottle the next night if you want to. We don't think they're at all over-priced and the house wines are not bad either - at least to our taste. We tried several others paying as much as £12.50 for wine that retails in our local supermarket for £6.50 which in the circumstances doesn't seem like too bad a mark up - compared with some restaurants.

 

We love the Celebration. I think it's an excellent choice for your first cruise - the atmosphere, entertainment and service on board are all fabulous. It's going in for a refurb at the end of the month so should be looking good when you go.

 

Enjoy - and feel free to ask questions. Don't worry that they've been asked before - if they have I'm sure some of us will remember and find some links or answer them again. We all start off knowng nothing about cruising til we've done it - and become addicts!!!!

[tt2505]

Thanks Kruzseeka, you are a superstar :D

 

I've read your post with interest. We're booked in cabin 692 - any ideas if that's ok, we just asked for one with a double bed!

 

We've also booked the all inclusive, have we done the right thing? we're not BIG drinkers, however, we do like wine with meals & as we have one full day at sea i'm sure we'll enjoy a cocktail or two in the afternoon ;)

 

How about sea-sickness, what would you say is the percentage it affects? what pills to take? Best cure?

 

This cruise started off as a cheapie holiday,(we've got it for £459 basic) to use our last leave days of the year. Oops, I've created a monster :eek:

 

sorry, almost forgot. I've read mixed reports on clothing for the formal night - some say jacket & tie for men & others say shirt & tie. Do we need to pack my husband's jacket just for one night & if so is the formal night really worth it?

[kruzseeka]

Cabin 692 looks pretty good to me - more or less mid-ships, low down so least affected by rough seas. I think you'll be fine there.

 

As to AI it all depends on how much you drink really and how much it cost you. There are some threads on here relating to the AI package and you will see there are differing opinions. If you have AI though at least you can order drinks, cocktails, cappuccinos, virgin cocktails etc. all day long without worrying about the bill at the end!

 

For motion sickness I swear by Stugeron (available at Boots etc.) and I don't consider myself a good traveller (can get car sick reading maps etc and windy roads). We've been in some pretty rough conditions on occasion but I take 2 pills if I anticipate a swell or begin to be aware of more movement than usual (2 hours before leaving port if the forecast looks a bit bumpy) and have never missed a meal, touch wood!!! I think it's this medication that's available from Reception and also the active ingredient is what's in the injection which some people have. I've found that usually when people are ill, they've not taken any preventative medication. We've just got back from a trip which was fairly rough but passenger numbers didn't seem down too much although we had one trip when only about 33% turned up for Captain's Gala night. Later in the cruise on an even rougher day hardly anyone seemed to miss dinner - I think they'd learned from experience to just take the pills!

 

As for formal night it really is a matter of choice. The % in DJ's varies considerably. On 2 week cruises, it's my experience that more men will wear formal attire perhaps up to 75% (there will be 2 nights when formal wear is appropriate). On the recent one week Autumn Cities it was more like 30% - much lower number than I've ever seen before. We quite enjoy the occasion to dress up and it's part of the cruise experience for us. Most of the ladies wear long/dressy outfits but the men can get by in lounge suits or at least a jacket, with shirt and tie of course. I think it would be more likely that without a jacket on formal night you would be very much in the minority and depending on your outlook could feel a bit obvious. That's not to say you couldn't do it if you wanted to - but most people who don't want to dress up a bit more than usual for the formal night will usually elect to eat in the Lido restaurant.

 

Hope this helps - I'll have a look now to see if I can find the AI discussion thread and put it in another post for you if I track it down.

[kruzseeka]

Here is the thread on the AI so you can see what others have said. But now you've bought it, I'd just relax and enjoy!!!! ;)

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=785624

[tt2505]

Thanks again,

 

You're being really informative.

 

1 last question - well for today anyway ;) - from reading through the posts I can only find references to large tables in the restaurants. Are there any tables accomodating 2? We don't mind sharing on some occasions, but not every night.

[kruzseeka]

Yes, there are some - but not many. We had a table for four for just the two of us though for the whole trip and although we were willing to share, our waiter never bothered to put anyone with us (I think this is probably easier for them to do if you dine reasonably early before the dining room gets too busy). You can say you don't want to share if that's what you want. We find many people go to the same table every night - the waiters will save it for you if they know you are coming but it's entirely up to you. You just go in and tell the head waiter you're gong to ****'s table (name of your waiter). We like to go back to the same waiter(s) as we've known them for some years and they are more like friends!

 

Breakfast and lunch in the main restaurant is more go and sit anywhere although again you can ask for a table for two if you wish.

[jessthepest]

We have the same cabin booked (although don't know at this stage who in our party will be staying in it) so will be able to let you know in a couple of weeks what it was like!

[tt2505]

Thanks for that. Hope you have a great time :)

 

We have the same cabin booked (although don't know at this stage who in our party will be staying in it) so will be able to let you know in a couple of weeks what it was like!

[newbys]

We join on 5th December and as its our anniversary would like to share the table with people we had sat with before as we did on the Emerald in June .How does the dining work on the Celabration ?????:)

 

 

 

[kruzseeka]

On Celebration, it's 'open dining' so you turn up when you're ready (with all of your party) and will be directed to a table. You just say 'table for four' to the Head Waiter as you go in and that's it! If you just say 'four of us' they may direct you to a table with other diners - a table for 6/8. But if you want a table for 4 - ask for it.

 

As I said before, if you develop a good relationship with your waiters, you can just mention the waiters name as you go in and they will wave you on to that waiter's area. If you make it known to the waiter you'll be back the next night, they'll be expecting you and in our experience will save your table - but to be fair to them you would have to give them an idea of time as the tables are used at least twice each evening and as it isn't set dining, people are rolling up throughout the dining times. The waiters will encourage you to come back to them (obviously, better for tips - 'cos although they're included, the service is so good, I think most people choose to give a little extra to regular waiters or cabin crew). If you want to though, you can sit somewhere different every night - but still as a party of 4.

 

All of this applies to evening, during breakfast/lunch not all the dining room is in use, and not all the waiters on duty so it's usually a case of sit anywhere - but again just make your wishes known.

 

Enjoy- the atmosphere on Celebration is fab and the waiters are great. :)

[jessthepest]

tt2505 - we had Cabin 692 in the end - considered leaving you a message somewhere but didn't want to graffiti the cabin so thought against it.

 

I think you'll find its fine, a bit noisy at night with the sailing, i.e. creaking and groaning as the ship rocked from side to side :eek: and water splashed against the porthole lol but I found it quite soothing. Normally I have trouble sleeping when there's any noise but I discovered the wonderful world of 'Nytol' on this holiday so I have no idea if it would have kept me awake or not, I don't think so though!

[tt2505]

tt2505 - we had Cabin 692 in the end - considered leaving you a message somewhere but didn't want to graffiti the cabin so thought against it.

 

I think you'll find its fine, a bit noisy at night with the sailing, i.e. creaking and groaning as the ship rocked from side to side :eek: and water splashed against the porthole lol but I found it quite soothing. Normally I have trouble sleeping when there's any noise but I discovered the wonderful world of 'Nytol' on this holiday so I have no idea if it would have kept me awake or not, I don't think so though!

 

Thanks 'jessthepest' what a coincidence eh? I can't wait to see my husband's face when I tell him about the water against the porthole :eek:

 

I hope you had a great time & you're not finding it too chilly back home :(

 

Any tips for us? what excursions did you do? how was the weather? I could go on & on & on ;)

[skoozie]

:eek: water on the porthole of 692. I think we are 2 decks lower We are 456 and 452 will we be totally submerged then???

 

My son on checking the weather has been instructing us all on how many cruise boats have sunk over the last few years how quickly they go down where not to stand when they do etc etc:eek::rolleyes: Sons eh who'd have them.

 

So Jess can I pester you for tips too. Best trips, area of restaurant etc as only a week need to hit the deck running so to speak:) btw daughter just asked me is it too cold for swimming?:rolleyes:

[kruzseeka]

Breathe a sigh of relief, skoozie - cabins 452 and 456 (Deck 3) are a deck higher than 692 (Deck 2)!

 

We were once on the Deck 1 (lowest deck) and we were submerged alternately, seeing huge waves towering above us one minute then disappearing below water level the next!! To be fair there was a quite a storm raging (English Channel - we had to make a run for Le Havre harbour for safety!) and I was quite relieved when they came to batten down the porthole at midnight! Having said that, it wasn't a bad ride - no sickness (thank goodness for Stugeron) - it was seeing the sea at such close quarters which was most off-putting. They didn't bother shutting down the portholes on Deck 2 so I'm sure you'll be fine - what's a splash or two when you're enjoying yourselves? Keep drinking the cocktails!! :)