cwtravel

Doubletree Gallery One has a restaurant although pricey.

If you stay at this Doubletree there are some very good restaurants at the Galleria Mall (Seasons 52 & The Capital Grille) and there is also a decent food court in the mall. The mall is a 5 minute walk from the hotel.

Budget has a drop off on 17th street, close to a port entrance and they also have a shuttle. My recommendation, if using either the Thriffty or Budget (or really any of the ones with airport locations) is to drop off your luggage first & then drop off the car. It makes it a lot easier, in my opinion, especially if the van is full and needs to make multiple stops.

Christmas cruises are very festive and designed for families and people who love lots of children and the family holiday activities.

 

Christmas cruises are also the most expensive of the year.

They are also the most fully booked cruises of the year (more people and longer lines).

If something goes wrong in your cabin (flood, no aircon, no toilet) you will not be moving. All cabins are fully booked.

On a Christmas cruise, every time you board an elevator, you find that some clever child has pushed the buttons for every deck.

Late at night you find out how soundproof your doors are not when you hear packs of children racing and screaming down the corridors.

 

Christmas flights lose more bags than at any other time of the year.

More Christmas flights are delayed and cancelled than at any other time of the year.

Cruise lines receive more complaints at Christmas than any other time of the year.

More Christmas cruisers remove gratuities than at any other time of the year, so your service staff is not entirely thrilled to be working for half salary during the holidays instead of being with their families at home.

Cruise ships have more domestic disputes during the Christmas cruise.

if you have any emergencies - family or otherwise - there are no seats available on any flights home.

Christmas week typically has the worst weather of the season.

 

 

If you are having any challenges with flights, lost suitcases, or the cruise, the people in the corporate offices who normally fix those problems are all on holiday - just like you.

If you are cruising around Christian countries, you will find many attractions and tours are not available around Christmas.

If you were not tired of Christmas music 24/7 for the 3 months leading up to your cruise, you certainly will be ready to kill someone by the end of the cruise.

 

Having said all that, there are many people who absolutely love Christmas Cruises.

Over the past 34 years I have worked 32 Christmas cruises.

2 were absolutely wonderful.

About 10 were very painful.

20 were complete disasters.

 

How lucky are you feeling this year?

Hello,

I have been on 4 Christmas Cruises (2000 w/Celebrity & 2006, 2010 + 2013 on Princess) all as a guest. Apparently my family has been lucky, based on BruceMuzz's comment, and I have enjoyed them all since my entire family have also been on board.

All have been from Ft. Lauderdale and we have flown in the day before for each one. For Christmas we have gathered together, generally in Skywalkers to exchange a few gifts usually late morning/early afternoon. Two of the cruises Christmas was a sea day and twice, including last year, Christmas was in port.

If you have a group and want to eat together I would recommend going with Traditional Dining.

Check the prices, last year the cost on the Crown went down quite a bit in September. Plenty of Kids on board but had more last week on the Caribbean Princess.

Enjoy your trip!

Hello-

I was on the 7/12-7/19 sailing in cabin B242 (slightly forward from the forward elevators) and had no problems with the Wifi in our cabin or on the balcony. I found the speed to be fine for what I do, which is check/ send email and read newspapers, surf the net.

Hi-

The wife and I are also on the 7/12 sailing and it looks like 4 additional ships in port that day. I am assuming we will dock at Crown Bay so I will either do the ship tour to St. John or go to Emerald Beach, which I like and is usually less crowded and closer than the other beaches.

Hi-

Wife & I did a tour with Jim Archer Tours in March while on the Solstice and it covered everything/place Terry writes about and we really enjoyed being on a small tour. Sorry, I do not have a link to their website but you can Google or check out Tripadvisor, which is where I found them. Enjoy, the NZ/Australia cruise is great!

Chris

I did the Solstice Auckland to Sydney earlier this year and thought it was a great blend of ports and sea days. If given the choice between the Solstice & Oosterdam (which I have also sailed on), no question I would pick the Solstice.

In my opinion the Solstice is a much nicer ship, the standard balcony cabins are very comfortable, service is good throughout the ship and, as a non-smoker Celebrity has the best lack of smoking. I believe HAL still allows smoking on balconies and definitely in the casino. If you get an Aqua Class cabin on the Solstice you eat in Blu, which I enjoyed on an earlier Solstice cruise.

The Diamond or Golden Princess would be my second choice, especially of the Emerald Deck 8 mini suites are available. No balcony smoking on the Princess ships but they do allow smoking in the casino.

Dunedien, or even the town where the ship docks ( Port Chalmers)would be your best bet. I used the laundry service on our Auckland-Sydney cruise in March and was very happy with the service. I'm not sure if the could do it but why not request cold water only?

The wife and I have done 2 westbound crossings, one had 5 consecutive days Funchal to St. Martens and the last one, in 2012 on the Reflection had 9 consecutive days Malaga to Miami. Both were great cruises and I was not bored on either one.

I love the extra time you pick up going east to west and thus doubt I would ever do an eastbound crossing.

Chris

I am considering the same thing, from the Ruby to the Reflection in November. I will most likely get a car but have you tried SAS?

I believe your ship will dock at Crown Bay, and if that is the place I would go to Emerald Beach. It is a beautiful beach, at a Best Western resort so there are facilities, a restaurant/bar and generally it is easy to get a taxi back to the ship.

Our first Princess cruise was Nov. 2002 on the Golden, Eastern Carbbean. If Sitmar counts I did do one on the Fairwind, in 1976 when I was a teenager.

Chris

Pam-

For me it's the mini on the Ruby but to a certain extent my wife will make the final decision.

Chris

The wife & I currently have bookings on the Ruby & Celebrity Reflection, both departing the same day (11/29), both going to the Eastern Caribbean. We have been alternating between Princess and Celebrity for the past 4 or 5 years and our last two sailing were the Crown Princess 12/1013 in a aft Mini and the Celebrity Solstice 3/2014 in a regular balcony. I am a fan of both ships, am Elite on Celebrity and am currently Plantium on Princess but will be Elite after our next sailing. Cost is about the same.

I am leaning towards the Ruby, I like watching NFL football in the evenings at MUTS. My wife likes both, always buys diamonds from a shop at Havensight where the Reflection should dock but likes the Emerald deck Mini-suites. We both like Blu on Celebrity and also their thermal suite. Most likely we will fly into Fort Lauderdale regardless of the ship but the Reflection sails from Miami.

Thoughts??

Chris

Hello-

In the fall the Regal and Ruby are both scheduled in St. Thomas on Wednesday. Any idea if both will dock @ Crown Bay or would one go to Havensight? I am on the Ruby, have been to both Crown Bay and Havensight a number of times each, kind of like the way Crown Bay has developed the past few years and also like Emerald Beach but, Havensight has some shops my wife always visits and St. John's is easire to do on your own.

Thanks-

Chris

There is also a Mercure Hotel very close to the harbor. This picture was taken from our room in the Hilton, the Ferry Building is the brown/tan building and directly behind the clock tower is the Mercure (it is the building with the red letters you can see in the distance).

I thought the Crowne Plaza would also be a good choice though it is up the hill from the waterfront. There is a hop on/hop off bus stop near the CP, and also near the Hilton.

Chris

Hello-

I stayed at the Hilton in March before our Solstice cruise. This hotel is right on the water and the ships dock either right next to the hotel or one pier over.

The boarding for the Solstice actually used part of the hotels meeting rooms/convention space.

Plenty of restaurants close, the ferry building and harbor right at the hotel ( or very close). The only downside is the hotel can be a bit expensive.

Have a great trip.

I have sailed on the Solstice 3x and the Reflection once on a westbound TA. I am a big fan of the Solstice and the "S" class ships but I choose the Reflection because of the addition of the Porch and the Sunset Bar area is much better.

Chris

We only saw the area from inside Sabatini's. I would have hoped that only the tables and chairs on the port side would be for smokers and that the starboard side behind Adagio would be for non-smokers. That is the way it is outside behind Club One5 and the Wedding Chapel on the Grand.

 

 

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I was on the Crown over Christmas and of the 4-6 tables, with the fountain in the middle, probably half were smoking and half were not. With the wind though I smelled the smoke from the "non smoking" side.

I agree that both Adagio and Skywalkers are great quite indoor spaces during the day. If they want to be outdoors, there are some tables and chairs outside of Adagio/ Sabatini's and very nice lounge chairs around the Lotus Spa Pool. Both of those areas should be quiet.

 

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Unfortunately the tables and chairs outside Adagio are now a smoking area.

How were either of the Hilton's? We are going to use hotel points to save some money (so we can spend more on touring)

 

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The wife and I stayed at the Barcelona Hilton (the one on Avenue Diagonal not the Barcelona Diagonal connected to the conference center near the beach) and were quite happy with the choice. This was for 2 nights before a TA on the Reflection in 2012.

The hotel is nice, lots of shops and restaurants in easy walking distance (Starbucks almost next door if that is important). The hotel was an easy taxi drive from the airport and to the ship, the metro is very close and there is a hop on/hop off stop really close (tickets were also sold at the front desk). There is a large department store a couple blocks away, right at the metro entrance, with a full market in the basement for water, sodas, etc. I am a Hilton Honors Member (Diamond) so we had access to the Executiove Lounge which was great. Next time we are in Barcelona we will most likely stay at this Hilton.

Chris

ANA is an excellent airline, much better than United in my opinion. If taking one of their flights from say Tokyo to Washington Dulles, they will have Premium Economy seats, which are much, much different than United Economy Plus.

Premium Economy are wider seats with more leg room and generally are in a small 30-40 seat cabin with dedicated flight attendants for that cabin. Meals and service are better than in economy. Of course the cost, unless you catch a sale, is generally much more than regular economy but much less than business. United's Economy Plus are the same economy seats with a little added leg room. I doubt you will be able to get PE on ANA for a couple hundred dollars more than regular economy.

My wife & I just flew Qantas to/from Sydney in their PE and were very pleased. There is no way we will ever do a long (8+ hours) again in economy. It is too bad, in my opinion, that the US carriers have not installed true PE seats on their long haul flights.

Smoking on Deck 5 is on the port/left side so I have always booked a cabin on the right/starboard side. Was in 6144 in March, everything was fine, no smoke issues.

Chris

Hello-

I was on the Solstice for 12 nights March 22-April 3, Auckland to Sydney, in a regular balcony cabin. It was my 3rd time on the Solstice and my most recent prior Celebrity cruise was June 2013 on the Summit.

All the bathroom stuff is the same. I was a bit disappointed in the Elite reception but I prefer the drink coupons. Sure, there might be a few additional changes but nothing significant, in my opinion. I did think in some areas the Solstice needs a little sprucing and my wife was disappointed in the fish choices/entrees in the dining room but otherwise it was an outstanding cruise.

Chris

We were in Akaroa a few weeks ago on the Solstice and in Akaroa, and pretty much every stop in NZ, there were plenty of tour operators on the pier/dock.

Trip Advisor was very useful for me to find, price and arrange a couple of tours on our cruise. In my opinion, there is no need to book any tours through Celebrity except for possibly the overnight tour.

Akaroa is a beautiful port, it is a tender port and the ship anchors pretty far out.

Have a great trip (we did)

Chris