Swabia

My wife and I will be traveling from Delray Beach, FL to Port Everglades is a couple of weeks to catch a cruise on the Rotterdam. Any opinion about whether I would be better off driving and parking at an off-stie facility with a shuttle service (e.g. park by the ports) or just taking an Uber/Lyft to the port? My primary concern about the Uber/Lyft option is that the driver may not be familiar with the drop-off route down by the port and leave us some distance away from the check-in area with our luggage. Justified concern, or not? Thanks in advance, Doug

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Hi Folks! I got an email from HAL yesterday concerning my partial transit of the Panama Canal cruise that's coming up in December. It basically said that many countries require entry visas and that I would be denied boarding if I didn't have the necessary documents for my cruise. It also recommended that I connect with their preferred visa provider to obtain those documents. However, according to the preferred provider's website, none of the countries that I'll be visiting on the cruise require visas (e.g., Bahamas, Jamaica, Panama, Costa Rica, Columbia and one of the ABC islands). Is this just a standard email that everyone gets as the cruise date gets closer, or am I missing something? Certainly, don't want to be denied boarding! Thanks in advance, Doug

Good Morning Fellow Cruisers, My wife and I will be doing a partial transit of the Panama Canal on the Rotterdam this December. We will be staying in an aft cabin. I've read here and elsewhere that some folks prefer to stay on the ship to enjoy the canal instead of getting off, getting on a bus, then onto a smaller ship to go through the locks again and then catch up with the Rotterdam someplace else. Seems like a hassle. It also seems as though the same (or similar) list of excursions is being offered each day the ship is in the canal area. So, are we better off staying on the Rotterdam or going on one of the excursions? If the former, any recommendations what we should do on board while many are off (e.g., specialty restaurant reservations, relax by the pool, just observe the canal from our aft cabin, etc.)? If the latter, what type of excursions might be worthwhile for us to experience? Thanks in advance!

Is there a specific form that needs to be sent along with the evidence of stock ownership?

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Can I add value to my onboard credit account both pre and post departure date through a HAL gift card? If so, how best to do it? Thanks in advance! Doug

Wife and I will be sailing on HAL for the first time this December on Rotterdam. Learned about the Club Orange benefit from this board. Signed up for it based upon the perk of the Club Orange dining area alone. However, was just able to upgrade our cabin to an aft-facing veranda as another one of the program's benefits. Not sure, but I'll guess that the value of the upgrade likely equals or might even exceed the cost for Orange Club. By the way, my TA was able to add Orange Club to our booking and I was able to make the upgrade without paying for it in advance. Called HAL direct to upgrade the cabin. They were very helpful. Again, Thanks Everyone!

Good Morning All! My wife and I are sailing on Solstice this Friday on our Alaskan adventure. I booked an Aqua Class guaranty for this cruise, not necessarily to save a bit of money, but because that's all that was available in that room class when we booked several months ago. Now, some three days before sailing, we still haven't been notified of our cabin assignment. At this point, I'm figuring that Celebrity won't assign us a cabin much before our scheduled check-in time and only do so based upon COVID-related cancellations. Just wondering if this possible scenario will cause us any problems with our luggage or any other aspect of the check-in process at the pier. As always, the help and advice from folks on this board is greatly appreciated.

I personally know three couples who went on three separate Celebrity cruises to Alaska all within the last three months. All of them tested positive for COVID upon their return home. So, on one hand, you really have to question the real benefit of testing. But, on the other hand, I still feel better knowing that everyone has tested negative prior to boarding the ship.

Did plain old no cost cabin upgrades die with the start of the "move up" bidding program, or do they still happen sometimes?

There appears to be a discrepancy within the Celebrity contract concerning bringing wine onboard on embarkation day. In one place the contract states: "Guests wishing to bring personal wine onboard with them embarkation day may do so, limited to two (2) bottles per guest". However, elsewhere it states: "Two bottles of wine per stateroom are allowed on embarkation day". What's been the experience? Can I bring a total of four bottles of wine on embarkation day for my wife and myself to enjoy or just two? Also, am I right that the $25.00 corkage fee is waived if I bring a bottle of wine to a restaurant and have either a classic or premium drink package? Thanks in advance for your responses. DB