CHEZMARYLOU

We will be sailing in late July/August 2014 and booked 2 independent whale watches in August 2013. If there is an excursion you don't want to miss you should book it as soon as you can.

Mary Lou

Mellissa Snow has just announced that she will not return to Celebrity as a CC hostess.

 

We wish her well in life on land.

Thanks for sharing. We sailed with her to Alaska and she was/is a great CC hostess.

Mary Lou

Thanks for the review and photos. Azamara is on our bucket list too, maybe 2016 if the itinerary is right.

Mary Lou

For any recent Equinox cruisers that have had Blu as their dining room--is there escargot available in Blu on the menu. Just trying not to get my hopes up! Or I guess we will have to dine in the MDR one night.

We just returned from Equinox and ate in Blu 2 nights. There was no escargot on the menu those days.

Mary Lou

Unless the rules in Australia are different from the US, any unused pre purchased on board credit is refunded back to the credit card at the end of the cruise.

Mary Lou

Just off Equinox. The Cruise Director is Drew Raitch. Food & Beverage Manager, Irina Ryazanova.

Irina did an excellent job arranging a Chef's Table and was a great host.

Mary Lou

We were told that there is no room service on disembarkation day, even for suite guests. We went to Blu and had a nice, quiet, made to order breakfast.

Mary Lou

We've been on 2 cruises with a lot of children. The one from Baltimore was a nightmare with kids behaving as the OP described. On the one from Newark to Bermuda they were very well behaved. We're hoping for a good experience on our July Alaska trip.

We've sailed over New Years the last 2 years with very few kids. This year the NY cruise also includes Christmas. We were chatting with a passenger who sailed a similar cruise and said they had a lot of kids because of Christmas. We are passing on a holiday cruise this year.

Mary Lou

We've sailed on both and did not find much of a difference. We just got off Equinox and saw the captain and staff all over the ship. One Maitre'D saw us drinking a bottle of wine at the buffet before we decided what to eat for lunch and got us a cheese and cracker plate to go with the wine.

Mary Lou

We just sailed Equinox in a suite and the breakfast menu for room service did not include smoked salmon. 1st cruise in a long time that I did not have it at lease once.

Mary Lou

You will earn points for the land portion also, based on your stateroom category.

According to their website, the airport offers luggage storage service but they do not have much information about it on line. They do have a number to call.

Here's the link to the airport.

http://dot.state.ak.us/anc/travelerInfo/passengerSrvcs.shtml

Mary Lou

You are charged the difference + gratuity for any drink over $13, although if it is only .50 or $1.00 we were not charged. Martini's are under $13 except for the flight.

You can get wine in Cellar Masters as long as it is not from the machines. Most of their selections on the menu are $13 or less. Wine flights and tasting events are not included in the package. The wine events varied in price. I think the basic tasting was $15, and a port tasting at $20. The Reidel workshop was $87 and included a set of 4 glasses. A champagne tasting was $45, wish we could have gone to that one but it conflicted with another event. We did the around the world at $20.

We ordered bottles of wine half of the evenings and got a 30% discount. They might have this reduced to 20% by March.

Mary Lou

We used the hotel's shuttle. The 1st one left at 10:00 AM. We took the 11:00 shuttle and were at the pier and on board by noon or sooner. State rooms were ready around 1:30. Sailing on Equinox this year is nice because they use pier 18 which was built for the RC Oasis and Allure ships.

Mary Lou

Two of us shared 3 items and we each had the Painters Minion. Except for the spring rolls the other 2 items were small. We each had a dessert. We were full but not uncomfortably so. We sat next to 3 people who seemed to order everything on the menu. Don't know how they did it.

We just dined at Silk Harvest with 11 others and I think they brought out ever item on the appetizer and main course menu for us to try. My DH & I shared a dessert. Again, we took small bits and did not leave overly full.

Mary Lou

Only Equinox and Island Princess are in PE on 1/31.

Equinox sails Dec 30 so I hope it isn't in port on the 30 th. If it is I'll be very upset.

Mary lou

I'm taking 2 gowns for our New Years cruise, one red and one purple. I am taking 4 other dresses, black, black & beige, a blue silver & black, and my "cruise dress" a very old (vintage) multi color tropical that I just love the cut of. I'll wear silver sandals with the gowns and black slides with the other dresses so not too many shoes to pack.

I do have black gowns but they are not going this time.

Mary Lou

I did not pay a bill on line but on our last cruise I got an email from our bank that our checking account balance was below the amount I set for email alerts, which was totally unexpected. Since I was concerned I did log into our account from my lap top via Celebrity's WIFI. Once I found the problem I used the log in to transfer money until I could get home and deal with the issue. Did not have any security issues but maybe I was lucky.

Mary Lou

I'm a manicurist. You can get a temporary acrylic extension by some one who can sculpt a nail. If you go to a discount strip mall shop they will slap a tip on you and acrylic your entire nail. You can have a sculpted extension just on the outer 25% and have the gel polish put on top and know one will know the difference. And to all those who think acrylic ruins your nail...acrylic doesn't ruin the nail it is the person putting the acrylic on.

Thanks for this info. I go to a salon in a mall but it is far from a discount strip mall. Think Coach, Nordstroms, Tumi, Aldo, etc. I'll look into this.

Mary Lou

Thanks for all the replies. I just had a large family gathering for Christmas and no one noticed the short nail, even after discussing fashion, hair, etc., so I've decided to just let it go and have them all filed short and get my usual cruise gel mani.

Mary Lou

Thanks for sharing. We sail in 9 days for New Years. The only time we've had towel animals was last New Years Eve, but we've always had chocolate on our pillows.

Mary Lou

We've traveled with champagne in our checked luggage so no problem with pressure. Just be careful with the caps on your products. I've had some of the push type caps get pushed in and they leaked in our luggage. Make sure they are hard to push. I also pack them in zip lock bags and if in glass containers I might use bubble wrap.

Mary Lou

Help, I've been doing everything I can to keep my nails from breaking before our New Years Cruise. You guessed it, I broke one today, really short. What is your experience with acrylic nails? Do I need to get every nail done or just a repair on the one I broke? What do they do to attach them and do they damage your natural nails? Any advice? I have an appointment for a mani/pedi next Friday. I usually get a gel polish for my cruise. Thanks.

Mary Lou

Overall, this was an enjoyable cruise. The weather wasn't the best but 11 days on a ship beats work, cooking and cleaning!

So agree & are looking forward to boarding on the 30th.

Mary Lou

Do you get robes in all Celebrity cabins, (even oceanview) or just suites?

Celebrity provides robes in all cabin. Some are waffle robes and some are terri cloth depending on the cabin. Sometime the waffle robes are preferred especially in the Caribbean.

Mary Lou

There is a lot of interest on the topic of Brunch on Celebrity.

 

Here are some pictures I took while on the Silhouette in Nov 2013.

 

Enjoy!

 

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2013/12/brunch-on-celebrity-silhouette-nov-2013.html

Ok, now I'm hungry and just might have to go on our New Years cruise. Thanks for the pictures.

Mary Lou