Covepointcruiser

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Sure looks like you are suffering.   Fantastic photo.    Are you posting a live on Seaborne?   We definitely have Seaborne on our list.   We are defecting from Celebrity after 23 years -   my simple way of seeing what's out there due to Celebrity's decision to make their loyalty useless to us.   If you travel in a suite even as as Zenith it's useless as you have to now book all inclusive duplication all of our "Free Benefits" .     Might as well enjoy a real Premium Line

We are posting live from the Seabourn Odyssey.   We anchored outside of Atuona in Hiva Oa, see even spell check knows nothing about these islands.   We had to skip the port as seas were too rough for the tenders.   Captain is doing a scenic sail around the islands instead.   Entertainment is not to Celebrity standards but food is excellent.    Tonight I have counted 17 entree choices between the classic and daily evening menu but it includes 4 vegan entrees.    This is a repositioning cruise so it is less expensive.

Enjoying your travel thread, wonder when they will return with cruises to Cuba.   We were there once on Azamara.    We are currently suffering through a Tahiti to Hawaii cruise on Seabourn Odyssey.    We are visiting extremely small islands and have now hit the first of the Marquesas.   So many islands and only 2000 people total.    No docks and we are waiting for the water to calm down enough for tenders.

A Navy Blazer is all you will need to look at though you made an effort.

Will you be happy with your cruise if it is Greece, Egypt and not Greece, Israel and Egypt.    Israel is always iffy.

We have been converts to smaller ships when we care about the itinerary.   They can visit ports you will never see on Celebrity ships.   If they are also luxury ships, all the better.   Azamara offers a nice middle ground, better than Celebrity, but not luxury and with good prices.

You are correct, she should not have been given a choice given the circumstances on board.

If there is a port, corpses should be unloaded as anything can happen with power and equipment on ships.   It’s not like there is an alternative when you are at sea.

Bur his posts would not be 35+ pages long if we didn’t have sidebars about travel on Celebrity and Europe.

What Suite do you have on the QM2?   If you have a Q2, it will be much better than a Penthouse on Celebrity.   Any Queens Grill cabin will compare favorably with Celebrity but Q4 and above have additional bathrooms and benefits.    The Q1s are two story suites and are very grand.   If you are in a Princess Grill suite, it is similar to a Sky Suite.    You will dine in Princess Grill instead of Queens Grill.   We have been in all sorts of weather, including a hurricane, on the QM2 and she handles the weather smoothly.    We always take Bonnie to be safe and it does not cause drowsiness.    Pack for elegant evenings, a tux does nicely for 5 out of 7 day.

We were very surprised on a recent embarkation in Papeete that we had no wellness check or health questionnaire.    A Seabourn, not a Celebrity ship, but they had 5 cabins in quarantine on the previous leg and required masks to be worn indoor.   No masks on our 4/15 sailing, so I guess we are lucky.

One would hope all of the comped cabins for Blue Chip members would be the first canceled.   Anyone on a comped cruise should go before those paying full fare.

Unless Celebrity caused the death, what responsibility does the ship have?     I am not sure you even have the option of burial at sea although that would seem better than contaminating food or drink storage for remaining passengers.   If the body cooler(s) were available, how man could they hold?    Will insurance cover offloading of body at next port, this can be expensive.

No toilet breaks.   Visit restrooms right before you embark the zodiacs.    If you are landing to a small village onshore there might be a bathroom, although we only spotted one in a museum.   All the kayak excursions we saw were only on the water with no landings.    Nuuk is the only city type landing and restrooms were available in the museums and shopping areas.    

We have found the air conditioning in the indoor dining spaces on the Odyssey to be set to a low temperature making men in jackets comfortable but ladies requiring sweaters or shawls.    This tropical voyage is not tropical in temperature in public areas.

Could you possibly book refundable flights?    United is still advertising no charge for booking changes.   The Marriott Group allows you to cancel without charge 48 hours in advance and they have many properties in Japan.

Celebrity should skip this port in the future, the infrastructure is severely lacking.

There are only two “formal” evenings on this cruise.   Anyone who could not pack a jacket has the option of Earth and Ocean, Colonnade, or Room Service.    The dress code is for the Restaurant.

3 hours ago, pukekolive said:

Millennium goes to Alaska in November each year until the following March. When the March 2020 and later cruises were cancelled due to Covid, we were offered lift and shift to the 2022 Asia season on Solstice/ Millennium. Japan was not open in the 2022 season so these cruises were canceled in turn and 2023/ 24 cruises offered. Personally, I think it is this latter lifting and shifting that has caused the overbooking.

Is the Millenium doing winter cruises to Alaska??   Now that would be interesting cruising.

Third world countries always present dangers.   It’s lucky you did not have a more serious injury.   The conditions in most, if not all, of the Caribbean ports are deplorable.    Safety standards are severely lacking if they exist at all.   You need good insurance plus emergency evacuation when you travel.    Traveler beware!!

Expedition excursions on zodiacs are normally included.   There are not enough zodiacs to take all passengers on an excursion at one time.   We were broken into 3 or 4 groups, and were given different times to report to the zodiacs.   They did it by color.   

We ate early last night in the Restaurant and were surprised by the number of tuxes and glittery gowns.   We did not see that on the Ovation in the Caribbean.    We dressed up to the code but many seemed dressed for the QM2 standards.    Did not see the overly casual passengers but we sat by a window on the side.   They seemed to be very short of staff.

Love following your trip.   We are currently “suffering” on the Seabourn Odyssey trans pacific though we are only doing Papeete to Honolulu.    The evening buffet on your ship looks great so I hope that is the end of the complaints.   No shortage of choices for the evening meals in the MDR on Seabourn.   I counted seventeens choices of main courses between the classic and special evening menu.

Onboard Odyssey now and they are specifying “elegant” jeans, whatever they may be.

The UA flight was not only delayed.    The Friday flight from SFO was canceled for whatever reason, and that threw all the passengers trying to find another way to PPT, not easy under any circumstances.   Some were put on the next days flight 4/15 and that was also delayed by an hour.   
Not a great way to start a cruise and yes they are jet lagged.   Glad we came in on Thursday.

We were reminded 3 times to not get to the boarding area early in Papeete.   That is because there was no boarding area.   There was a small tent like you see at any port, no building or place to wait.    So it depends on where you board your ship, so if you are in an area with no facilities it would be wise to board at your boarding pass time.

Thank goodness ripped jeans are only stylish for twenties and under.    What about the pants worn way below the waist with underwear in full show?    I don’t like it when people don’t make an effort in the evening.   I at least hope they have showered/cleaned up so I don’t have to smell them.   That really puts me off eating.