CruisinCons

Have a great trip!  We'll be getting on as you are getting off!

I had meant to ask @DragonOfTheSeas but I'll post it here and maybe one of you can answer.  I'm starting to pick my dinner outfits, and I'm wondering on how the evening temps are on the ship.  I've often noticed it's very chilly in dining rooms and theater in the evenings on the Caribbean cruises, as the ac is blowing full force in the hotter temp areas.  But this is not that type of destination, as Bermuda will still be "cool" during the daytime, and our temps here in the mid-atlantic states are not that warm consistently yet.  So trying to plan what to wear for dinner.  Normally, I wear sleeveless dresses, and bring a sweater.  But will the ship be too cold for that?  Should I be packing maybe short-sleeved dresses with that sweater? 

24 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

Re straws:  We were on Grandeur in January, and were given paper straws.  We thought they were just fine, taste-wise and durability-wise.  No way would I take my own straw and try to wash it myself.

We use metal and glass straws at home, and have a brush to clean them.  I've contemplated a few times bringing them with us, and quite honestly the thought of carrying around a dirty straw is not something I want to do.  If I had some sort of pouch maybe...but then I'd need something to carry that pouch.  

On 4/15/2019 at 3:50 PM, beed2010 said:

Update

i just realized I should call and book for my cruise and was informed by the hotel (I called directly to the hotel) that these packages are currently unavailable but to check back in a few months. 

If anyone knows of park and cruise hotels I’m Baltimore I am looking for one now as well ☹️

We're staying here:

Holiday Inn express Baltimore at the Stadiums

1701 Russel St, Baltimore 1230

410-727-1818

$143.22 park & stay with shuttle to and from port.

4 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I almost had a calamity last night.  I plugged my phone in to charge overnight.  This morning when I went to unplug the phone the nub you plug into the phone and the phone were red hot.  Luckily the phone had turned itself off when it got too hot.  The cord it toast.  I had to use a napkin to pull it out of the phone. Scary!  The phone seems to be fine.  I will have to wait until we get to Baltimore to take it off airplane mode to check out calling and messages. . . . OK back to the cruise blog. 

Oh no!  You weren't using the European plug with an adapter, were you?  That outlet charges much faster than the US outlets do, so we use that one a lot.  But never over night.  My husband is afraid that something would happen.  I made the mistake of plugging the hairdryer into that adapter once and it fried the hairdryer.  Stateroom attendant laughed at me, I guess it happens a lot. 

10 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

 I thought we were talking about automatic gratuities on drinks, not meals?  If you don’t like the drink service you still can’t leave less than the automatic 18% or 20% amount. 😠

 

Dan

As all human conversations do, we took a minor segue in this one to discuss how tipping percentages are going up at restaurants as well as in these drink packages, and seems to be a trend everywhere.  

Thanks for the live blog!  We're on Grandeur April 25th, and this is our first Vision class sailing.  We spent 16 nights on Radiance class in the last few months, so not expecting Grandeur to be too much different, just a but smaller.  Will miss dancing in the nightclub every night though.

My husband has done it three times now: Adventure, Harmony and Serenade.  Loved it every time.  Each time has been a slightly different experience, in what and how much they made.  

He'll be doing it again on Grandeur later this month.  

Kind of off topic but not totally...but we were at a restaurant recently and were surprised to see on the bottom of the receipt where they tell you how much the tip would be, there was a new line.  22%.  22!  It listed 18, 20 and 22.  15% had been replaced with 22%.  We don't eat out all that often, but have never seen 22% before.  

For those of us not in the suites, can you share some photos of the common areas?  I see a lot of questions related to the suites but not a lot from us regular folks. LOL 

I checked on Friday morning.  Little pink banner that said 10% off.  Not sure how they were figuring that, as the sale price was $69.99 a day.  Regular price all along has been $69.99 a day.  Where's the 10%?  LOL 

Honestly, there is not much. Assuming you're on Anthem; I'd choose one of Royal's post-cruise options that take you somewhere then to the airport.  There is not much at all to do.

The only reason to go to Jersey Gardens is to avoid sales tax on clothes.  We don't pay it here in NJ, so it's a bonus to those who live in states that do.  There is not enough time to go to NYC.  The only thing that maybe you could do, but it would take some planning and trying to find something to do with your luggage, is to go to Liberty Science Center if you have kids with you.

I just remembered our repo cruise is only 6 nights, so no CC meet-up.  So that won't get me an invite. 

As many times as we've sailed out of NJ, we've never been fortunate to get the pass by.  My husband asked one of the bridge officers about it on one trip, and they said they have to get special permission and it's all based on traffic at sailaway, that it rarely happens.  Maybe Celebrity has an "in" that RCCL does not.  LOL  Anyway, we're on the Summit sailing in October for her repo.  First time on Celebrity, in Aquaclass, and Elite status.  Hopefully one of the three will get us on the helipad.  LOL 

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yes they still have the invites.   Due to status and traveling in suites we are always invited to at least one.  I have also read here on CC that on occasion they have invited the Cruise Critic's that signed up for the meet and greet. 

 

In October we had the best helipad arrival I have ever done.   We sailed into Manhattan  under the bridge and past Lady Liberty.   It was spectacular. 

Celebrity sails out of Bayonne, NJ not Manhattan.  How did you go past the Statue of Liberty?  It is north of the port and you can see it in the distance.  Bayonne (Cape Liberty) is directly across the harbor from Brooklyn, Manhattan is north of it. 

We'll be on the newly refurb'ed Summit.  Can't wait! 

We're new to Celebrity but will have Elite benefits thanks to our Royal status.  Are morning cocktails included in Elite breakfast, or are they extra?  Is there a specific area of the dining room that the Elite breakfast is served?

5 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

 

I hope you have a great Charleston Visit.  I'd stay away from Meeting Street and King Street above Cannon Street at dusk. Huger street is probably fine in the daylight walking but definitely not in the evening. You may enjoy the bars/restaurants on NOMO. North Morrison Ave.

Thank you!! 

20 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

In my option the White Horse has gone downhill.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Bummer.  Okay, crossing that off our list. Sigh.  I'm really struggling with planning our visit this April.  It's not working out with what I want to do/visit.

On 1/3/2019 at 2:05 PM, djandnic said:

Thank you all for the replies and suggestions.

I know it's been a while, but a few years ago we ate at the White Horse Pub & Restaurant in St. Georges and it was delicious. 

I really wish the Orange would run on the weekends.  We're in port from 1pm Saturday until 2:30pm Sunday.  We did a land vacation a few years back and have been craving these amazing cinnamon rolls from a shop in St. Georges.  You have to get there early as they sell out quick, so we wanted to get up and out first thing Sunday morning.  But to take the bus from the Dockyard will take forever and we will most likely not make it in time from the other side of the island.  We will be arriving too late on Saturday for the cinnamon rolls as well. 

On 2/4/2019 at 9:04 AM, jean87510 said:

I am not sure how long you are in port but last April, we used H20 water sports to rent a boston whaler and I cannot recommend them highly enough.  We took a taxi to their location and met with the owner.  He did a brief tutorial with us, gave us a map to show where turtles were, good spots to snorkel, etc. and we were off.  I will say it was a fantastic morning for 4 hours. You can request bait to fish (although I am not sure if this is a good idea since you can't eat them).  We purchased drinks from him.  He had a cooler we used.  It was my first time in Bermuda, and I think it is up there with being my favorite due to its beauty and its people.  Nicest people Ive ever met on an island.  I have 5 kids of my own and I know mine would have loved the boston whaler at any age.  We drove the boat over to the Vixen and snorkeled there.  You do have to watch everywhere for the jet skiers since they were everywhere that day and aren't the most careful.  The jet ski tours were the only ones who seemed to notice there were snorkelers.  I think your plan with Blue water sports is good for one of the days though.  We took a scooter over to the blue hole and swam and explored and did not use the ferries at all.

How were the water temps in April?  We'll be in port April 27 & 28th this year.  We have a 1pm Saturday arrival and depart 2:30pm Sunday, so not ideal hours for much, unfortunately. 

On 2/8/2019 at 7:55 PM, HOSKI said:

We have the same issue sort of.  We arrive at 1 pm and leave the next day at 2:30.  We will probably take advantage of the dockyard after we go to the zoo the first day and then again the second day till we leave.

We're in the same "boat" LOL.  We're on the April 25 sailing and struggling with what we're going to do with the hours in port.  We've been to Bermuda multiple times, with a 5 day land vacation in there as well.  What we WANT to do is difficult based on the Sat-Sun port days and time of the year.  For Saturday, I like the idea of the sunset cruise excursion offered by the ship, but I think it'll be too cold on April 27th.  I wish I had thought more about the itinerary when we booked this cruise.  For me it was about the timing, the price, and we needed to get away.  

I've been working on my port plans all day today.  At least in Charleston we've got a good solid day.  Okay...back to reading posts.

We did a land vacation to Bermuda that week a few years back and it was wonderful.  Like anywhere you go, the temperatures vary year by year and quite honestly it's very hard to predict if it'll be warm enough for the various activities.  All our photos from our trip were in shorts & t-shirts, with a light jacket for the evenings.  

Kids that age do not mind the cold at all, and I think you'll have a hard time keeping them out of the water.   Our kids were in high school at the time and had no problem going not only in the ocean water but our hotel had caves on the property and there was swimming in there - that water was ice cold as it gets no sunlight and they were in that water anyway! 

The only things we ran into was reduced schedules with public transportation since it's technically not "tourist season."  But we weren't out and about all that much at night, and our hotel had a stop for one of the main bus routes at it's entrance.  We also had a Swizzle Inn within walking distance, where we had dinner each night. 

We have an overnight coming up the end of April and do not expect to go in the water, but our now college-aged kids are not with us.  Otherwise they would be in the water while we watched from shore.  😄 

Thanks for all the great information locals!  We've got a one day stop on April 30, visiting on Grandeur of the Seas.  We're great with just wandering on our own, but want to make sure we wander where it's safe to wander so I was hoping for some guidance on which direction we should Uber to and which direction it's safe to walk. 

Looking on Google Maps there are a lot of places within a 2-3 mile walk but I did see a post earlier about visitors staying out of the area where Leon's is.  We were thinking of walking to Palmetto Brewing as the 2 mile walk is easy for us, but it seems to be close to the area Leon's is in.

Thanks! 

On 2/2/2019 at 7:36 PM, mafig said:

What Royal cruise departs from or stops in Charleston?  We'd love to visit.

We're on a 7 night out of Baltimore on Grandeur in late April.  We have an overnight in Bermuda and one day in Charleston.