chewap

I have been cruisng since 1973. I am in the habit of asking where some of the food items are bought. Cruiselines have lots of countries to buy their foods.

West Coast doesn't have all the types of foods that the cruise lines serve.

They have to buy their tropical fruits from other countries where they have their trusted vendors. I know for a fact that the catfish was bought in India. NCL buys Australian lobsters which s the best in the world according to my taste buds.

 

Regarding the porters..... they always do a great job because I always tip them. They do work for a private company that keeps an eye on them.

 

If it is raining the luggage will get wet so I use plastic bags to pack my clothes. I have flown on air lines where my luggage got all wet when the luggage was left for hours while the plane was being fixed.

 

I plan to stay positive because after my adult son died of a brain tumor I told myself that nothing could be as bad as losing my son. So what if I get my luggage late to my cabin. I still plan to enjoy my cruise. Plus, I can also find a ship cruise worker to take my luggage to my cabin since I am handicapped if the porters are not available. LucyR.

The porters are longshoremen and are not allowed the cruise ships. In Seattle they do not have porters(Longshoreman) to take your luggage, but you put your luggage on a conveyer belt yourself. In the Seattle Times , they posted what a full time West coast longshoremen makes- it is $180,000/year and retirement, they get $80,000/yr. I have a friend who graduated from the Univ of Washington and found that the best paying job is a longshoremen, he is a now retired longshoremen. They work a 6 hour shift but get paid for 8 hrs. He was a crane operator and there are 3 operators assigned to the crane, each one working 2 hours in the 6 hour shift not bad for a 10 hour week making $180,000/year. I don't know why a mediator isn't involved in this labor dispute that has caused great damage to the farmers (fruit exports from Washington and businesses) , but I think it is political not to have a mediator.

I have a question... never been to Seattle so I have no clue. We are staying in the Hyatt downtown. It is really near the Space Needle and apparently there is a bus type thing to Pikes Market. So.... my question is.... how far is it from the train station (am track). Should i look for something on the other side of the city. We are taking the train to Vancouver. Just looking at the map I can't tell how far things are. I just don't want to pay $100 or something crazy just to get to the train station. Not so worried about down town... can't be any worse than the outskirts of Charlotte. Thanks so much for any help!

Pike Street market is only 4 blocks west of the Hyatt. You may have a better option to stay in Edmonds Washington 20 miles north of downtown Seattle. The taxi fare would be a more, but you would save on the Hotel bill. The train to Vancouver stops in Edmonds and it is a easy walk ( 2 blocks at the most) from the hotels. Edmonds is on the water and there are several waterfront restaurants.

Ok...if no one has stayed at this particular hotel ..... can someone comment about this part of town?

What I really like about the Four Points Sheraton is that it has a two bedroom king suite with a queen sofa bed. And the price isn't that bad.

Reviews from one of the trip sites are good.

Downtown Seattle has become a very dangerous place since AG Holder nationalized the Seattle Police. The Seattle police cannot confront any one, as a result crime has gone up 80% and arrests have gone down 40%. 200 Seattle police officers have filed a lawsuit against President Obama and AG Holder that has kept them from doing their job. I would suggest you would look for lodging outside of Seattle.

Hi - we will be arriving in Seattle on the train from Vancouver at 10pm on a Friday night in June - Seattle accm is at about $300 per night for a 2* place and a lot more for higher star ratings. There will be 3 couples travelling. Can someone suggest where we could stay out of Seattle a bit to get some more reasonably price accommodation? We only need it for 1 night. We realise we'll then have to pay extra for cabs / transport to and from the hotel, however we would recoup this by paying less for the hotel. Our plan is to return into Seattle on Saturday morning for a look around and then out to SeaTac for a later afternoon flight out. SeaTac could be an option, but we can't seem to find a way there that won't take hours to get there that time of night. Thanks in advance for any responses.

You can go to Edmonds Washington, just north of Seattle. Several hotels in that town and the Train stops in Edmonds. Any of the hotels in Edmonds is no more than a 3 block walk to the train station. Also further north is Everett and vicinity with many hotels. Everett is the last train stop going to Vancouver.

I was on the Eclipse in March. Forgot my jacket at home. only had a shirt and tie. I was denied entry to the MDR because I didn't have a jacket on. For the 4 formal nights we ended up going to the buffet, which was exactly the same that was on the MDR menu.

Well, the description says it was off the coast of New Zealand..not Vancouver.

It is a Joke-don't be so serious. I will try to get a better video as you can't see the full video.

See the below video taken inside the ship. Another fun activity was added-Bumper cars!!

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cruise+in+rough+seas+video&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=DE738094A50A2AFD5DA7DE738094A50A2AFD5DA7

You said that Celebrity told you that it was the TA that gave you less than the promised amount. Did you ask your TA about it? Did you ask to call your TA while on the ship? I've had to call a TA several times from a ship and Celebrity always made and paid for the call. Celebrity only credits what they actually receive from the TA. Very, very possible that the fault is with your TA. Have you had any follow up with your TA? What have they told you? Enjoy future cruises with whatever line you take. I can assure you that whomever takes the cabin you're not booking with Celebrity will enjoy their cruise.

You sound like you work for Celebrity. I did contact my TA and after extensive research and time with Celebrity, they said that the S/H OBC as part of Celebrity's policy was combined with the other OBC's given by the TA, thus the $200 reduction in OBC's. Again, with the policy of RCL, S/H OBC is almost worthless. They screw their shareholders even when Celebrity approve the $250 Shareholder credit and gave me only $50 OBC of the approved $250 Shareholder credit.

Jem

 

In theory, you can get up to US$250 OBC per cruise but this is increasingly not combinable with other offers. Other offers are so frequent now that that there is very little chance of being able to take advantage of the shareholder benefit.

 

We did buy the shares in 2008 and they have been very beneficial for us BUT we purchased them when the share price was much lower than now and the exchange rate was much higher. If we sold the shares today [at today's price AND exchange rate] we would have made almost £2,000 and, in addition, we have received almost £1,000 in OBC including OBC for a cruise we have not yet taken.

 

I am certainly considering selling the shares once we have taken that cruise and the price and exchange rate are both favourable again because it does not look like we will get much more benefits.

 

I think that it may be easier now but, when we purchased the shares, it was extremely difficult to do so in the UK. Because of the way we had to purchase them we do NOT get dividends and the costs of keeping a share account are high. If you have a large share portfolio, it may be more viable for you but, otherwise, I think it would be a gamble at the current share price and exchange rate.

I took a Celebrity cruise (14 days) in March and had $500 in OBC from my TA. After I booked, I applied and received approval for the $250 OBC for a total of $750 OBC. When I was on board, I noticed that I had only received a $550 credit. When I went to the front desk, they said that the TA only gave me $300 OBC even though on the booking and the promotion showed $500. Celebrity was wrong on the explanation and I found out that on Shareholder credits are combined with the TA's given OBC. I will not cruise on RCL cruise lines any more and only travel on the Carnival owned cruise lines (Princess, HAL and Carnival) and NCL, that will give you the full S/H OBC. You would think that RCL lines would give the full S/H OBC instead of screwing their S/H's that want to take the advantage of the S/H credit. I will never cruise on any of the RCL owned cruise lines and ships from now on with their shortsighted policy.

Westerdam in view of my house now.

Westerdam going to Glacier Bay NP on Tuesday, then Juneau instead of Sitka on Wed. The rest of the Scheduled ports are the same.

Will they need a pilot to leave port? Do tides have anything to do with why they may still be sitting there?

 

And to everyone who is keeping us updated, thanks very much. Certainly hope the ship is able to leave soon!

A pilot is required by the Coast Guard. Will get off in Port Angeles- 3 hours from Port. In Alaska, a pilot is on board 1/3 of the time. I will be seeing in the next 30 minutes from my house, the Westerdam heading North.

On many levels they are similar, we sail both based on itineraries. X is more contemporary in style of ships, no promenade to walk around but still quite nice. The smoking policy is much more restrictive on X. Food and service are similar. We found entertainment to be similar. If you enjoy wine, X's offering blow HAL away.

I was on the Eclispe in April, there was more smoking on the ship than any cruise I have been on. Everytime I was out in the balcony, smoke was drifting up from lower decks. Also on one side of the pool, the smoking area was packed. It may have been the result of 40% of the ship were Europeans. Last year I was on the Westerdam and did not notice the smoke on the balcony. Only place was the Casino which you had to go through to get to the MDR. 2 nights, the casino was smoke free and the Casino was packed. You would think that HAL would get the hint that most passenger do not like smoke and will stay away. Like KirkNC said HAL and X is very similar.

Posted wrong site Here is the correct one.

To get a flavor of Seattle look at the video.

http://kroooz-cams.com/portcams/us/juneau1.php

We were in Juneau last Memorial Day and it was 84 degrees. Went to Mendenhall Glacier and kids were wading in the lake with the Icebergs. Bring shorts as in May it can get very warm with 18 hrs+ of sun. Mendenhall Glacier was packed with locals plus cruisers from 4 ships in port. Very long lines for the limited restrooms. The rest of the cruise, the temps were in the 50's and low 60's, very similar to where I live in Washington State.

The concerts are a nice choice, and I don't think they are replacing anything. If they are I doubt it is anything that will be missed. I love my steel drum guys during sail away, an off and on by the pool some times throughout the cruise but I also agree a variety is nice out there.

 

The PROBLEM is when the other music is a DJ! If you get a good one, they keep a decent party atmosphere going, play a variety of songs and at a decent LEVEL THAT HUMANS CAN TOLLERATE! Get a bad one and they play nothing but club music all day without anything else and they play it so damn loud you can't even have a conversation on the serenity deck unless you yell. It's hit or miss. :mad:

I was on the Liberty last month. The D played the music so loud, you could not even carry on a conversation. You came away with your ears hurting. When the DJ started talking, he ramped up th volume ever higher. Complaints were made to the Cruise Director, but he would not correct the situation.

We were on a Princess tour 5 years ago and on a walk on the trail above the waterfalls,3 men with guns came out of the jungle and had everyone lay down and took wallets and all jewelery-leave your rings on the ship.

Both do a great job at what each does. If you wish to ride in a large air conditioned coaster bus with many and see the island, then Thenford is the answer but if you want a more personal tour for a small group(2-6) then Royston is your answer. They are 2 very different types of tours & operators.

Last year, we took the island tour that included the beach. The tour with Thenford was the best tour we have ever taken. There was only 6 people in our van. Thenford asked how long we wanted at the beach-all went snorkeling, we agreed for 1 1/2 hours. Other people that I tod about Thenford all said that the Thenford tour was the highlite of their cruise.

Still laughing. Are you a writer??