hawkesbaynz

Check in for my late September Beyond cruise opened 16.00 BST yesterday. Bagged a 11.30 check in time although 11.00 available. Unlike previously did not need to upload vacc. status but advised to bring to boarding. Likewise the Supervised LFT documents.

This week I booked an overnight trip to Hanoi with X when we port in Halong Bay Vietnam. There was a count down on the website. We took the last 2 slots and now it is SoldOut. The cost was £366 each but we had loads of OBC. We usually do private tours but when it involves a 3 hour journey on a famously busy stretch of road I went with X. I have a 3 week South America tour with Oceania next year. All there tours came out early with the usual baffling charging scheme. Have booked all private tours incl. TBL. Always demand to be back an hour before departure.

My Labrador Winnie wanted to be the Silhouette’s dog and tried to swim out to her in May. She heard that Jim was on her! Unfortunately although a labraotter it was too fast! Regarding the 4 MDRs can you just wander up to them of an evening and ask to be seated. I cannot see us booking anything in advance. It is like herding cats to arrange anything for our September Beyond cruise. Luckily it is my birthday and I have booked/paid for a couple of speciality restaurants, so no arguments for those nights. Am still not aware of what anyone is doing in any port.

Brits used to get free calls and data roaming in Europe. However after Brexit we were informed that we there would be no change! Not surprisingly now for all new contracts you will be paying for calls and data roaming unless you have a very expensive contract. A Boris bonus. I toured New England use Waze as a Satnav on an IPad with a Three IPad Sim contract in 2019. No longer possible. Am purchasing a third party SIM to put in a spare phone for future travels. @kwokpot ‘s contract looks great.

@Robjame sorry if I caused offence. Most drugs have contra-indications. However I doubt you. and most vaccinated people, would need the drugs as you will get mild symptoms. In the UK there is set criteria for prescription as a limited number of people would benefit it from it in the community (eg immunocompromised and arguably the sick unvaccinated). A doctor needs to apply to the local health board. Naturally a different case in hospital. There is no need to over medicalise a mild illness in the majority of sufferers.

Drat..... thanks😀

Can you clarify the dry dock for Marina. Your article states October 2022. My understanding was that it is Debuting November 2023 post refit. Just interested as we have a cruise on her early 2023. Great article otherwise.

My understanding is that Paxlovid has contra-indications with many drugs. Likely folk who are unwell with Covid have more co-morbidities thus more drugs to potentially interact with. Why would someone who is unvaccinated buy a relatively under researched drug (in comparison with the vaccine) when they do not believe in vaccines🤔

Immunity for a month my understanding with current Omnicrom.

I think that NCL may shoot themselves in the foot with this new plan to allow the unvaccinated on the ships. You do not need to be a medical professional (I am) to know that a PCR test 3 days prior to the cruise will not provide protection against contracting Covid 19 on the ships. We all know that the level of Covid has been higher on the ships than has been advertised. I am amazed that the NCL Medical Director did not make a big thing of this. I would have resigned in disgust. I know that the other cruise lines have had issues with recruiting and retaining medical and nursing staff. I doubt NCL has not had a similar issue. Imagine the potential pressure on these staff! Fact is that if you are vaccinated, even if you are medically compromised, you have an excellent chance of surviving Covid with minimal symptoms. However if you are not vaccinated you can get seriously ill and end up on a ventilator, long term CPAP or in the morgue etc. Imagine the issues the onboard medical staff will have. Will small caribbean islands wish to take them? Will Oceania ships be banned from porting. And more importantly for me (as I am sick of trying to convince these ignoramouses to get jabbed and and care little for them), will it effect my well earned and expensive holiday!

Enjoying the cruise😀. Loved the pictures too. Nice to see pictures of green grass too. Our fields are becoming dust bowls with our drought ( and this is England). Now my mother is Irish and she takes my Scottish wife’s breath away with her frugality. You will enjoy Iceland. We were there during a rainy November and took refuge in the Whale Museum - a good few hours spent😄. The prices again took my Scottish wife’s breath away😳.

Look forward to hearing your report. Will be on Beyond next month for our first E-type cruise. West Med Barceona to Rome. Also interested to hear about the ports as we are on a similar cruise in 2023.

I think it is a good thing although I would test myself prior to a cruise. I am surprised they would let unvaccinated adults aboard. They can get Covid-19 the day before the cruise or whilst onboard. Fact is that they become sicker and more of an issue for the onboard medical team. Hospitals here are full of ventilated unvaccinated or on CPAP. I would not wish to be unloading someone into an ICU in a caribbean island if i was a Dr/Nuurse onboard (I am an RN)..

@Denny01 I think you were being humorous but you achieve Virgin Points from collecting points with flying Virgin (or Delta) or using their UK Virgin Bank Mastercard. They may have a US version too. We have about 250,000 points but have no space in our calendar for an extra cruise….. even a virtual freebie. Mainly people use Virgin points to fly to the USA but limited availability outside NY & Boston, and try getting through to their call centre😮

@Gatordad1967 Virgin are offfering their third opportunity to book a weeks cruise this Summer for 115,000 virgin points. Mainly Med. But Carib. too. I am wondering if that is a reflection of how well they are selling the cruises for cash. Is the Adult Only concept working for them? There is a small cruise line in the UK called Saga which are offer over 50s cruises. The new small ships look great and itineraries good too. However Saga is a brand historically synonymous with old folks holidays and my 62 yr old wife will not countenance giving them a try. My friends elderly mother had a great cruise with them in a solo room of which they have many. We love Celebrity and rarely see children causing an issue. Never travel during school holidays. The Retreat obsession with X is irksome tho. What really annoys me is travelling Business Class and having a noisy child adjacent to me. All that cash for a comfortable flight spoilt by crying and tantrums.

Glad you had a great time😀. The Celebrity Suite life is sweeet! I booked a SV Suite as a surprise for our first post-pandemic cruise on the Silhouette last September. I was concerned I had made a mistake as DW has already been ruined with Business Class flights thus i cannot book any cruise holiday special deals with TA as they usually include economy flights. It could have been expensive, although the dog would have been happy as it would have curtailed our travels. We loved the suite and the service from out host/butler. I really enjoyed Luminae and the food/service but she preferred the MDR meals and the ambiance of Blu. Never really 'got' the Retreat Lounge and preferred the livelier bars elsewhere. The Retreat would have been great as am not that keen on the Pool Deck but the weather was not that great and it was a port intensive cruise. I think if the price was right on an E-class I would try it again but I think Aqua or SV cabins and the MDR for us in the future depending on ship &/or price We have a couple of Oceania and a Princess cruise booked in the coming year. Mainly for the itineraries which can be Celebrity's weak point.

Took 50 minutes but managed to get through to the philipino call centre. The IT system was down so she could not give me a price😬. Asked me to call tomorrow. After discussion she will email me with the price.............. I get the impression from my last few call to Celebrity that the telesales folk have a tenous grasp of the system. I started asking about the premium upgrade with the Elite benefit but realised she knew less than me so gave up.

Thought I need to change an Alaskan/West Coast B2B cruise Sept 2023 as family commitments. Thought I may change it to a Far East cruise cruise in November. We had cancelled that previously due to thje pandemic. The website yesterday had good prices. However cabins were not available on any of the sailings?? Icalled and held on for 20 minutes but advised to leave my number and email address........ not heard a thing. Today the website briefly gave me prices and cabins but at £2000 more for an Aqua! The website has since gone down for all the Solstice sailings. Am currently holding on to discuss to see if this was an error. TAs still have original rates. At those prices I will be on Seabourne.

We always get an Uber from Miami Airport. Very easy and good value. Pick up out of the arrivals doors. I can see the benefit of a private car service but as a non-US citizen passport control can take a v.long time and I would not wish a driver to be waiting.

We had a fantastic land based holiday on Anglesey last year. Amazing quiet beaches. The Labrador loved it. Thanks for piccies of the Sirena who we will sail on in November😀

I just received $100 dollars OBC from Princess. Celebrity UK give me 10% off the entire cruise for DW and I excluding taxes which can be several hundred dollars. Pretty mean Princess😒

We have sailed five times on Celebrity and have a further four booked. Love Silhouette. I wistfully gazed at her sailing out of The Solent whilst dog walking on Saturday. Have sailed Aqua, MDR and Retreat. If possible sail Aqua as Luminae wasted on DW and am priced out of the suites. Also sailed P&O, Royal Caribbean and Marella (a UK tour operator sailing old ships). Enjoyed them all but much prefer Celebrity. I have booked the new Enchanted Princess next June really to give it a wiz and am really impressed by the itinerary for a seven day East Med cruise. Price is decent. Am sixty this year and hopefully retiring. Splurging out on a couple of Oceania cruises including South America with Antarctica. Celebrity does not do a similar itinerary. Looking forward to tasting the much vaunted food😀. Doubt if we will be able to afford this line in retirement ☹️ Am looking for a Transpacific in 2025. Other than Holland America and Oceania the other cruise lines, including Celebrity, just seem to be moving the ships from America to Australia with a complement of paying guests. The aforementioned HA & O have numerous stops and a far better itinerary. This is where some other lines beat Celebrity!

Hotel Portofino is on Britbox and apparently on ITV here in the UK. Good tip. Great actors. The Edge sat behind me on a flight to Geneva. I was off skiing and I imagine he was visiting his off- shore Swiss bank account. As it was Business class the steward served us using our surnames. Interestingly he was not called Mr Edge or Mr Evans! Boy was one of my favourite LPs of the 80s. I thought that was U2s peak (perhaps The Joshua Tree). Great report. Good tips for Portofino😀.

@Redking I became an awful coffee snob after living in NZ. Instant has not passed my lips in 16 years! Al Bacio serves decent coffee. Is there a mini Al Bacio in the buffet as there is on the Silhouette? As a Brit and lover of Fush n chips I found the best Battered fish in NZ. The chips were a disappointment. With NZ fish, English chips and Irish tea I would be in heaven! Enjoying the review Lunastella. Keep it coming. We will be sailing this itinerary in September. Good tip for Marseille. Am think of a self guided tour. Unfortunately it is a Sunday and our preferred Wine Tour is not available.

We are off to Japan for a X cruise in April 2024. I will hopefully book Avios seats with BA 355 days prior to the holiday. To whichever airport in Tokyo. Most airlines will not have availability before December 2022 for November 2023. January is a good time for sales. I have never used Celebrity Air. We book the cruise only and arrange our own flights and hotels. Maybe worth joining Jacksflightclub in January as it send you emails for all the cheap air deals. Also Google flights.com too. You can track prices. I would say have a look at next seasons Japan Roll Calls (are there?).