Boatharbour

Hoping this will issue will be resolved overnight. It was driving me nuts until I switched to Chrome on my iPad. 

41 minutes ago, SkiPro62 said:

It’s Secondo Bacio on the Apex deck plan

Also, if you go to the outside area on the aft, there are stairs to the Sunset bar immediately above. 

We’ve usually experienced long waits on the phone with Celebrity and even longer waits for responses to emails. Price drops are impossible to secure with NRD. 

By comparison we’ve had to contact Princess twice in the past few weeks and on each occasion we were connected to a consultant within a few rings. Our changes were handled quickly and smoothly including a price drop of $4000. 

We’ve taken several European cruises on Celebrity and in general felt that they were dressier than some other itineraries. On our Baltic cruise last year many people dressed up in the evenings and not just on the chic nights. 

All ours were cancelled for our January 2025 sailing. 

On 4/12/2024 at 5:02 AM, MacMadame said:

believe Celebrity Cruises has indications on the menu as to allergens for every dish. (I saw it on a YouTube video or I'd link to the menu to show it.) You might want to check them out.

Celebrity does have allergen labels on most items in the Oceanview cafe ( buffet). They also have dedicated GF sections in this area. The menus in the main dining rooms listed various dietary options. At every meal we were asked if anyone had food allergies or special requirements at the start of the meal. 

Thank you so much for this wonderful review. We sailed with you on the first leg to NZ and wholeheartedly agree with your comments. You have an engaging writing style and I look forward to reading about your next trip. You deserve another holiday after such a long journey home!

52 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

The 2nd pic looks like a Sky Suite on the starboard side of the ship

Edited 51 minutes ago by Cruise till you drop

Yes it is a sky suite as mentioned in my post. Fantastic location and balcony apart from a bit of soot.

Apex deck 10 last year. Can’t remember the cabin number but it was one off the centre. 

Edge deck 8 sky suite 8308 two weeks ago. Both locations were quiet. 

10 hours ago, Muffinz said:

We've not received any e-mail from Princess about changes to the dining times or anything... but we can't make dining reservations for the MDR until our cruise is paid in full in September (for December 14 Cruise) - that's what the message on the app tells me "to access dining reservations, your voyage must be paid in full or you must be Platinum, or Elite Captains Circle member or have Full Suite or Mini Club Class Suite"

This is the email I received yesterday.

Dear Princess Guest: 

Princess Cruises recently announced it is making a significant enhancement to the main dining options found across its fleet, designed to give you the ultimate in flexibility and choice when it comes to your dining experience. 

Starting with voyages departing September 14, 2024, Princess will designate separate dining rooms aboard every ship in the fleet* to three table service options: 

• Traditional dining offering an early and a late seating every evening 
• Reservable dining times 
• Open seating to support walk-ins anytime 

To support these changes and the transition to the new system, main dining reservations that you may have already made will be cancelled. 

This change does not affect anyone booked in specialty dining restaurants or suite or reserve collection accommodations, who enjoy a dedicated dining room on Princess ships, where no reservations are required. 

Starting June 17, you will be able to use the app ahead of your voyage to opt for traditional seating in a dedicated dining room with the same waiter, same table and same time each night, or flexible dining, allowing you to enjoy dinner at any available time and table size of your choosing in either the Reservable or Open Seating dining rooms. 

* Reservable and Walk-in Anytime Dining will be combined into a single Main Dining Room location aboard Coral Princess and Island Princess.

8 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

In many, if not all of the state rooms, those bottles are firmly attached to the wall. Ask your state room attendant for a second bottle of body wash to leave at the sink.

We were in a sunset sky suite on Edge two weeks ago. The three bottles in the shower/bath recess were sitting in a plastic tray and not attached to the wall. 

1 hour ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Guess lots of you missed the beginning of this thread and the press release that there are new dining reservations setup.  Thus anything after 14 September has been cancelled and bookings will open on June 17th.

Oceanlover - you and everyone else will need to wait for MDR reservations 

I’m a first timer with Princess and didn’t realise that the pinned thread addressed the issues I was having. Rookie error. 
By coincidence I received an email from Princess today outlining all the changes to dining with the start up dates. 

We took the body wash pump out of the shower and left it on the sink for handwashing during the day. Popped it back in the shower when needed. We’re not great fans of bars of soap.

We had a medical evacuation in Milford Sound on the Edge 10 two weeks ago. The ship stayed at the end of the sound for three hours until a helicopter arrived and landed on the shore. A tender took the patient to the shore. 

An interesting and balanced read. 
 

https://www.cruisecritic.com.au/articles/should-you-take-a-large-cruise-ship-to-antarctica

1 hour ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Princess cancelled ALL MDR reservations for cruises starting on or after 1 September.   Your loyalty level does not effect the cancelations.

 

Starting in June (date TBA) reservations will be accepted for the new dining room setup. 

From the pinned thread it looks like bookings will be possible from 17 June. 

35 minutes ago, the penguins said:

we could but you have already said you are going to take the cruise -  which to me is a sort of double standard.

Everyone is free to make up their own choice.

 

I have opted for a “cruise by” and not a landing. I won’t be leaving any footprints unlike you. No double standards at all. End of story. 

5 hours ago, WisCruiser2 said:

See the recent post about "New Dining Room Changes Coming Fleetwide?"

This is our first sailing with Princess and I was starting to think I had imagined I’d made the dining bookings with our first cruise which is next January. However we did get a refund for the specialty bookings we’d made, so I know I had booked dining previously. It seems there has been a change since then and unless you’re at certain loyalty levels or have paid in full, you can’t book ahead of time. Thanks everyone for your responses. Very helpful. 
 

6 hours ago, the penguins said:

 

 

I totally agree that it's important to have different view points.

However your solution would wipe out a lot of the world's tourism industry including for example snorkling/diving on the Great Barrier, and all safari's.

Antarctica is unique in that it is protected by an International Treaty/Convention (not one or a group of countries) which tightly controls all aspects of how the area can be accessed/exploited. Almost no tourism visits are permitted on the main land and all commercial exploitation of the mineral/oil/gas reserves are banned. The fees paid by the Cruise Lines helps fund the Convention.

 

 

I am talking specifically about Antartica which is perhaps the last frontier that hasn’t yet been spoilt by the impact of tourism. All of your responses are about how it makes you feel and what it does for you. The last time I’ll say it - but in what way does it benefit Antartica for you to step onshore to take your trophy photos and say you’ve visited the continent? 
Can’t we leave at least one place on the planet free from tourism ?? The end. 

51 minutes ago, Sprocket said:

Use the website I’ve had to make some of mine that way.

I’ve just tried that but the site refers me back to the app for dining bookings. Maybe I’m not looking under the correct tab, but I can’t find a link on the website. 

Several months ago I made dinner bookings for our January 2025 cruise on Sapphire Princess. Since then we’ve cancelled and rebooked the cruise at a lower price. I now need to rebook our dinners as we have a new booking number, but the app won’t let me. I’ve tried different dining rooms and specialty dining to no avail. 

Does anyone know what this error message might mean? Thank you.

9 minutes ago, the penguins said:

from our experience the lengths the expedition cruise ships go to to protect the environment is extraordinary:

1) during the voyage down all outer clothing that will be worn ashore has to be vacuumed to remove all possible contamination.

2) boots provided to use during the landings are disinfected as you return to the ship and are then dried before the next.

3) All outer clothes are checked before you can reboard and are hosed down as needed.

4) Once on land you are forbidden to put anything on the ground, to pick up or move anything, or to use anything like tissues.

5) you can't approach any animal or interfere/cross any penguin pathway. If animals approach you must stand still and wait for them to pass.

6) Any breaking of the rules will result in an immediate warning and a subsequent breach will result followed in you being banned from future landings.

We agree with your mum and always try to " leave nothing but footprints and take nothing but memories.

Landings give you the unique opportunity to see animals and birds living in an environment where they have no fear of man and indeed where animals give us the briefest of looks before returning to their normal way of life.

The ships contribute to the Antarctic Organisation that works to preserve the area.

The "Cruise by" option basically gives you the opportunity to see ice bergs but nothing of the wild life that makes the area unique. 

We have done it both ways and provided that the ships continue to operate within the rules laid down by the Antarctic Convention I see no issues with them offering this type of cruise.

Indeed you could argue that the traditional cruise ships that are not ice strengthend and carry over 2000 passengers are potentially a bigger threat than ships that are designed to operate in these waters and are limited to around 200 passengers.

It's a choice we all must make individually.

 

 

 

I still ask though - in what ways do these landings benefit the Antarctic environment? There will always be an impact no matter the steps you take to minimise.

I’d rather leave the landings to scientists and minimise the exposure the wildlife has to humans. Do you really, really need to view this unique wildlife in its natural environment?

You and I are always going to disagree on this topic but I think it’s important that another perspective is provided. 

One other perspective to think about. 

Does Antarctica benefit in any way from tourists landing on its pristine environment? We’ve chosen the cruise by option. As my mother used to say “Look, but don’t touch”.

1 hour ago, Tiggipaws said:

Good morning

 

I am new to Celebrity and have a couple of questions regarding this cruise

 

1. Do they normally have dates for this cruise in February or March?

2. There are quite a few cabins unavailable are they sold or being withheld?

 

Thank you

I’m not sure if you have already booked,  but you may want to look at other cruise lines for this itinerary. Celebrity only spends 2 days cruising in Antarctica. Holland America and Princess are there for 4 days. Departures are December to February.
As weather conditions can impact where you can go and what you can see, it’s better to have more time in the area to maximise viewing opportunities.
We were originally booked with Celebrity for January 2025,  but the cruise was cancelled. Turned out to be for the best for us. 

1 hour ago, Shadow9612 said:

I believe the retreat sundeck (on those ships that have one) is accessible only to retreat guests ...

On Edge class you need a pass to enter the Retreat Deck and Retreat lounge. Luminae is located away from the other dining rooms.
The suites themselves were located in various parts of the ship and not on a dedicated area. We were in a SS sky suite which was a very long walk to the retreat areas, but worth it for the wake view.