mickeysgal

2 hours ago, swigso said:

Hi

having stayed in one of the end cabins in the MC the was no connecting door between the cabin next door. The set up is the same as an aft corner suite on the S class. The deck plans show connecting but that is only due to the hallway.
There is a door into the hallway and then each cabin has a separate door to enter the cabin. Each time we have been in these cabins the out door is left open so that there is no need to use your card other than to enter your cabin.

I suppose if a family were using both cabins the hallway door could be kept locked and the other cabin have their door kept open. 

Hope this helps 

If you look at the floor plan - each floor configuration seems to be different. It looks like you’ve stayed in a cabin with just a connecting door in the separate vestibule not interior to the cabin.  And the video above - he clearly says some cabins have interior connecting doors . I wonder also if it varies ship to ship.

On 6/26/2023 at 12:46 PM, newtampagirl said:

We stayed in one on the Beyond. The only thing I didn't like was that the bathroom opened into the room by the bed, not the hallway. I like to leave the bathroom door open at night for the night light. The balcony is deeper so it can fit chairs and a lounger. We booked an end MC suite in November. I wiil say that if you get one of those cabins you lose some privacy since people above you off to the side can see you if you are sitting by that window. The price difference between the MC and Sky suite makes it worth it. We never saw the Magic Carpet go up and down, It does that between 5:30pm and 6pm and we were on our way to dinner. I think as more people realize that there is no real in-room connecting door, these cabins are going to be booked more frequently just for the savings alone. I had to explain to our TA how these were configured.

I do believe on some floors some of those Magic Carpet cabins DO have interior connecting doors. If you pull up the floor plans, it’s clear some do, some don’t. The video posted a few responses up in this thread confirms it. 

We are considering booking a suite on a Caribbean cruise on Beyond.  For the Retreat sun deck, are there any loungers in the shade? The one video I found of the retreat deck looks like the loungers are all in the direct sun.  Searched the boards and I can't find this topic addressed either.  Anyone?

23 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

In my opinion, do not get an aft balcony. Owing to the complaints I compiled over the past couple of years, the aft cabins on the PoA can suffer from a "sewer smell" that ranges from annoying to nauseating. The main cause needs a combination of factors: The wind has to hit the ship's funnel at the right direction, which then causes the both the sewage plant output and the funnel exhaust to be blown into the AC intakes for those cabins.

 

It worried me so much that I moved our cabin to mid-ish and ahead of the funnel. (Ours was 9622). And without the Na Pali sailing, there's no right or wrong side to be on for scenery. Most of the time, by the time we got underway, it was after sunset, so no scenery at all. 

 

I've stopped updating the reports, now that I've taken the cruise.

Very interesting - I wasn't aware of any smell.  Thank you .  The cruise is costly so if we don't "need" the aft for views, then so be it. 

We are starting to plan a Pride of America Hawaii cruise.  I always wanted to book an aft balcony on this ship due to the Na Pali coast sailing.  Now, with that coastal sailing removed from the itinerary, is an aft still worth it/necessary?  Is it still so scenic that you'd still need an aft or is a regular balcony on the side of the ship enough...and if so, what side of the ship is best for viewing?  Thanks.

On 2/25/2024 at 1:13 PM, tommy921 said:

Yes, whilst this (our) Portugal/Med cruise isn't too badly affected, our other cruise to Norway is.

For that cruise, we now arrive in Flam 1 hour earlier at 7am, BUT we leave 3 hours earlier at 3pm. This has caused huge inconvenience for many who have booked excursions there - especially on the train. So we lose 2 hours.

For Tromso, we arrive 4 hours later at 1pm and leave at the same time - so we lose 4 hours.

For Honningsvag we arrive 1 hour earlier but leave 2 hours earlier.

We have been on a many Celebrity cruises and have had our fair share of cancellation of ports due to weather, which are not the fault of Celebrity. The most memorable being anchored outside St Petersburg for 2 days (high winds) and missing Bar Harbor (a weather bomb).

Like BigAl94 - post #60, I don't recall anyone saying the ship is not seaworthy. The post by chengkp75 - post  #56 is very informative as to the rules and regulations.

As we had to transfer two cruises last year to this year for medical reasons with my wife, we are very loathed to cancel these two, and we will just have to 'lump it'. But our UK Celebrity cruise rep will be told our dissatisfaction!



 

We are also on this sailing and are disappointed in the port time changes.  It's a very expensive cruise to say the least.  My concern is sailing in the North Sea if there is an issue with engines or stability.  Hoping Celebrity gives more detail so the speculation of what's truly behind all this can stop and give booked customers the time they need to make a decision go/not go.  I remember this happening on a Princess Alaska cruise a few years ago...it created quite a stir...reduced port time, cancelled ports, little compensation, people cancelling, etc.  

On 1/28/2024 at 11:57 AM, Globaliser said:

 

0 stops is very unlikely. On the current timetable, the fastest trains generally have 3 intermediate stops, and the other fast trains generally also stop at Clapham Junction. It actually looks like there aren't any slower trains in the current timetable, but IIRC there used to be a third train every hour that took about 15-20 minutes longer and called at more intermediate stops.

 

It's actually more important to check that there are 0 changes. There's generally no reason to choose a journey that requires you to change between London Waterloo and Southampton Central. The exception is if there are engineering works or there is disruption for some other reason, in which case things will by definition be out of the ordinary anyway.

 

But mickeysgal is absolutely right: before you book, you will be shown the journey time (or you will be able to work it out from the departure and arrival times). I think that for an occasional user there are few if any good reasons to use the Trainline to book, but that's already been covered earlier in this thread.

Thank you - my apologies...I meant to stay changes, not stops.  

1 hour ago, dickinson said:

Thank you. Are trains labeled as fast as opposed to, I assume, ones with lots of stops?

When looking at the time table it will say how long the journey is along with how many stops.

if you look at Trainline website for example, it lists London Waterloo to Southampton as 1.5 hours , 0 stops.

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

We're considering the "Cruise from Stavanger to Lysefjord" - Have you done that before and liked it?  Recommend it?

Yes - I LOVED LOVED LOVED IT. Spectacularly scenic. Took a ton of pictures and it did rain a bit so prepare for that in case.  Pulpit rock is wayyyy up there but you can see it from

the boat. I did finally get through on the Rodne site and booked it. We booked direct last time as well. Saved a ton of money. The sightseeing boat is within walking distance of the ship. Easy to get to. 

Rodne fjiord cruises in Stavanger....are they still actively in business?   We booked with them before and when I try to book on their website, no matter what date I put in for the fjord cruise, the website just spins and locks up. 

Help!  We are new to river cruising and looking at the 2024 end of Nov sailings.   We are currently looking into a Nov 26 cruise from Regensburg to Budapest, so we thought we'd fly in early to Munich to perhaps cover Munich and Salzburg on our own. Traditionally, what dates would the market start to be open?  It would be best for our work schedules to take an end of Nov cruise, rather than sometime in Dec, but  don't we run the risk of the markets not being even open yet?  

On 9/23/2023 at 4:26 PM, hallasm said:

Stavanger and Tromsø are two fine Coastal cities with good excursion opportunities.

Olden and Flåm two deep fjord ports - Olden: Loen Skylift viewpoint and Briksdal glacier - Flåm: the railway and Stegastein Viewpoint. Sailing through the fjords to the ports is 5 to 6 hours - be at upper deck to enjoy the scenic cruising at sun rise (4:30 am). 

Honningsvåg: North Cape is a must.

I have only visited Kristiansand on business - not the most interesting city. Anyway a good itinerary 

Hello  - for Olden, our port time is 8-5.  So I'd like to be back at the ship at 4pm.  Is it possible to do both the Loen Skylift and the Briksdal glacier on our own - somehow?  Any suggestions as to how?  The cruise line has two distinct (very pricey) excursions and there is no combo of the two.  

Also, in Kristiansaid, they are offering a train excursion - Setesdal Line Railway.  Anyone ever ride this steam train to Royknes?  Is it worth it?

thanks in advance...this thread is awesome.  

3 minutes ago, hallasm said:

‘Arctic Circle cruising’ is just another word for ‘Sea day’ - you are passing the Arctic Circle but nothing to see. There is an ‘Arctic Circle Globe’ at Vikingen island, but you’ll probably not be close enough.

Inside Arctic Circle you’ll have midnight sun.

That’s what I thought. Thank you. 
What is your opinion of this itinerary? 

Hi- we were on a cruise a few years back to the Fjiords and loved it so much we want to visit again. We are heavily considering this itinerary - it’s almost sold out. Please excuse my lack of knowledge on this but when the itinerary says Arctic Circle cruising…for two days, what would one expect to see? 

We have a ship tour booked but we tend to like to do things on our own .   I've been reading the other recent post on this forum on how walkable Istanbul is and how to navigate the tram.  That said, is it still worthwhile to stick with the ship tour  as they most likely have access tickets already in hand?  If we opt to do this on our own, are the lines to access these sites so lengthy that it's in our best interest to stay with a ship tour? We are overnight in Istanbul, so that first day timing isn't critical to be back on the ship at a certain time. Our goal for the first day was Hagia Sopha, Blue Mosque, Cistern, Grand Bizarre.  Thanks to all.

11 hours ago, killarneylady said:

If you go back into the email you got confirming your bid, a link should bring you back into your bids and you can see status. 
 

Mine all still say pending and can be still modified...and we are 11 days away.  Does that mean we are out of luck?

1 hour ago, euro cruiser said:

It's not hard to find taxis in Rome, it's just expensive.  I would first go through the concierge at your hotel, and I wouldn't wait until you arrive.  Call/e-mail the hotel today and see if they can arrange it for you.

Will do.  

I should have booked a private car transfer awhile ago.  But things here at home (water flooded our house) caused us to delay booking some final aspect of our trip.  Shoot, at one point, we didn't think we'd even be about to go and thought we'd have to cancel.  Now, I can't find a private car service that has availability.  What are my options here?  Is it possible to just arrange for a cab (maybe via hotel concierge)  to take us from our Rome hotel to the port? I don't want to leave anything to chance but this may be all we have.  Conversely, at the end of the cruise, is it hard to find a cab at the port to take us back to Rome?  Train would be our proffered last choice...I'd like to save time as much as possible, and cab seems to be the way to go.  Help!  

15 minutes ago, sammyboots said:

Yes that's the norm. What happens is that they will eventually go to either expired or bid accepted. Or sometimes all but one of the bids will come up as expired and one is left as pending, usually this is a good sign that your bid will be accepted.  However they can stay as pending for weeks. 

Thank you! 

When I log into Celebrity, and select the Move Up option, all my bids (4) say Pending.  Is that the standard status one would see once a bid is placed?

On 6/27/2023 at 12:44 AM, sbcs5390 said:

The firewall might make the cabin a bit quieter, actually. 

That's what I'm now thinking!

1 minute ago, jelayne said:

I believe those are fire walls.

Thank you!  I was wondering if there was any reason to avoid cabins around these gaps.

What are these gaps between cabins? 

I'll admit it, I haven't paid much attention to endless debates on infinite verandas as we usually book sunset verandas. But here I am with a concierge booking on deck 11 of Beyond. Deck 12 is under the pool deck and cafe. I've searched and can't seem to find the answer.  We can still move our cabin to something on 12,  but how shadowy and dark does the cabin get with the overhang?  Conversely, how sunny - and hot - does the IV get when there is no overhang?  I don't like to sit in the direct sun -   I prefer shade. And I don't want the blinds closed making it dark like an inside cabin.   From what I understand with the IV, it's all or none with the blinds.  If the IV gets too sunny on deck 11, then I may risk the possibility of noise above and move my cabin to deck 12. Its a port intensive cruise, so I'll be up and out most of the time anyway.  I just don't want a super sunny and Hot cabin.  

3 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

For the sail in to Istanbul, assuming you're traveling north up the Aegean Sea, you'll pass the old part of Istanbul, with its domes and minarets on the port side. But once you're docked it's a matter of luck. Some ships will dock port-side in and some will dock the other way around.

 

Thank you