Devo1459

2 sides to every story.  Their website is clear no refunds.  They could have described their experience in 3 minutes. Typical bloggers they ranted on and on about it so they could have YouTube content. 

Am I reading this correct?  I’ve had two Moderna shots no booster.  I can only test in the two day window?

When can one expect to get off the ship?  Arrival is 9pm(later then most ports) I know there can be delays, but if all goes well, how early off the ship.

Thnaks!!

We sailed on the Vista before Covid. Love the Havana area. Totally worth it.  
my wife loved the swing and Lanai. I thought I would miss leaning over the balcony rail and seeing the ocean. Wasn’t the case. I too loved the lanai.  The Havana pool area is awesome. No young kids. Quiet and at times feels like your own private ship. Access to your room from the lanai area is nice. You dont have to go to the interior to access your room. 
we love Havana cabins so much we just booked a Cabana room for the Panorama on August 6 and the Horizon for April 15th, 2023. If you have more detailed questions let me know. 
 

We have two cruises planned this year.  One being the N Amsterdam out of Venice in July.  Although I am not overly concerned about getting the virus, the last thing we want is to be somewhere in the world and then we can't get back to the USA.  What a nightmare for those Diamond Princess passengers.  The next 60 days will be interested, I am not a dooms day kind of person at all but the cruise industry could take an astronomical hit.  We shall see.

If things continue to get worse then our refundable deposit last day to cancel date of April 10th will be the day we cancel.

At this point in time, I dont see how they can keep the Venice itineraries that are this summer.

I would think since you ignored the advice of the state department and went on a trip anyway and got sick then there is a clause in the insurance that says you took the risk but your not covered.  It actually makes perfect sense.

I have been in email contact with them and they are telling me 10am docking and meet up at 10:30.

We are sailing on the Vista this Saturday the 24th. Our Carnival itinerary says we arrive in Cozumel at 9am.

The snorkel excursion company says we are coming in at 10am.  Cozumel is on the same time as Galveston where we sail from so its not a ships time issues.

How do I confirm this?

Anyone been on the Vista in the past few months and ported at Cozumel?

I guess ask guest relations when I board?

Thanks

My opinion comes from the fact its not in the back.  So its a side view.  No hot tubs. It looks lame. Maybe I am wrong time will tell.

5 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Your response is obviously dripping with sarcasm, but compared to the 3 Vista Class ships, the Havana location according to the schematics that have been posted will be totally different on the Mardi Gras as was posted by Jimbo.  The Vista class ships have a pool, two hot tubs, a connected bar and a great aft view on deck 5.  The Nardi Gras will have a substantially smaller pool with no hot tubs, no connected bar, and be relegated to a small strip of turf on the starboard side.  This area was an afterthought. 

I have to agree.  I looked at the Mardi Gras deck plan and the Havana amenities and location are just a shell of what it is on the Vista class ships.  Stupid design!!!  Have not done a Havana yet but sailing on the Vista in 4 days and have a Cabana room so I will let you know what I think.

Some people are just never ever ever happy.   ha

I am following this thread now.  Its gonna be a good one.  I love a good laugh.

The Havana Cabana walk area only has access from the pool area.  The only people going by the Cabana's are other guests in the Cabana area.  Yes, people above the cabana's can see down but there is also space in the cabana that they can not see down.  If you want to sit naked then the Cabana's are not for you.  If you want to pay a premium and not have a packed bar and pool area with no little kids screaming this is for you. I love the concept.

The whole idea of the Havana area is less people and NO young kids.  My kids are all grown up now so I for one am very much looking forward to my Havana Cabana on the Vista the end of August.  I don't believe there should be any exceptions for access to the pool area during Havana hours.  7am=7pm.  You want access?  Pay for the upgrade.  Its pretty Black and White.

GET IT!!! I love drink cards.  Want a bloody mary with breakfast?  No worries hand them your card.  A beer mid day?  Bottle of water to hydrate.  3 beers in the pool later....pre dinner martini.....glass of wine with dinner.  couple more bottles of water... a drink at the show..... I rest my case. 

Agreed.....Guys burgers way better.

WE have done 3 Celebrity cruises as we just got off a 2 week Baltic cruise.  We have also done about 9 Carnival cruises.

As mentioned above.  Way younger crowd on Carnival.  You don't see people wearing baseball caps on backwards in the dining areas on Celebrity.  The pool areas are much quieter.  I believe the service and food are at least a notch above Carnival.  Having said that we are sailing on the Vista this coming 24th of Aug. We like the celebrity product too.  Food is Lido is always good.  I think Carnival's Steakhouse is better.  Im getting older now and don't care so much for the mass crowds at the pool area so we are doing Havana this up coming cruise.  Hey, its a cruise, Carnival, Celebrity....who cares enjoy.

Answers to the above.

Yes, SPB was great.  The guide we had for the two days was fantastic.  She was a fire hose of information. I would use them again.   We had a group a group of 4 couples.  I believe it was $640 per couple.  This included a driver too in a large Mercedes Van.  Lunch both days was included too and it was very good.

In Stockholm the ship docked at Frihamnen.  Way to far away to walk.  We grabbed a cab each way.  Was about $25 Euros.

In Copenhagen we docked near the little Mermaid statue and it was a nice walk into the main areas.

Yes we did get into Catherine's Palace.  The tickets were included in the tour and of course they had them all prearranged.  There were visitors there that were on their own and the wait was 3.5 hours to get in .  It took us about 20 minutes to get in. 

A little about us.  For my wife and I this would be our 20^th cruise.  3^rd on Celebrity.  3rd on an S Class ship.  Prior ones being Solstice and Silhouette.

We flew into Amsterdam 2 days early using Celebrity Air.  Since we were flying out of Phoenix we did not have an option of a direct flight.  I searched air fare weekly and was coming up with around $1450 per person RT, connecting through varies cities.  Sometime in January a rate of $711 RT popped up on Celebrity air and I booked it asap.  Going we flew to Salt lake with an 1hr and 25 minute connection then non-stop to Amsterdam.  Our return we changed planes in MN St Paul.  Both flights worked out perfect and were through Delta/KLM.

When we landed at Schipol we collected our bags, went down the escalator to the trains and found a train to Centraal.  As we landed early we dropped our bags off at the Luxor hotel and headed out to explore. The Luxor hotel wasa only a 10 minute walk from Amsterdam Centraal Train station.  We would stay there again.  Very clean and great location.

Embarkation:  The morning of the cruise we snagged an Uber near our hotel and were at the port within about 15 minutes.  We had a boarding slot for 10:30-11:00 am.  It took us about 20 minutes from getting out of the Uber to being on the ship.  So smooth!!

Cabin:  We originally had a basic balcony on deck 8.  About 3 weeks before the cruise I was hunting for a suite or some sort of upgrade.  I was able to upgrade to Aqua class deck 11 for an additional $780 for the cabin. Celebrity added all gratuities paid and $200 on board so it only ended costing about $70 per person for the upgrade.  Our first time in Aqua.  Our cabin steward was Steve ( real name?).  He was fantastic.  Every time we left the room when we came back it was all spiffed up.

Aqua:  Loved it.  I pretty much used Persian garden every day.  I loved the steam room and cold room. I also took most of my showers there too.

Food:  Lido food.  We thought the was really good.  So many selections all day long we never went hungry.  Blu…was fantastic.  Rambo was our head waiter and we requested him every night.  He was over the top fun and good at his job.  The food was really good too!  We rarely had to wait for a table.  Some nights they gave us a pager and we went and had a cocktail while we waited for our requested table.  We did eat breakfast in Blu a number of times but also ate in the Lido area too.

Coffees:  Loved going to deck 5 sitting down and ordering a coffee.  They even waited on you and the snacks and coffee were included in the Classic package.

Bars:  We tried every one of them out. Love the Sunset bar, but we had several cold days and you just didn’t want to be there.  Martini bar awesome as always.

Entertainment:  We don’t do the shows much on cruises.  We did see one comedian pre-dinner and he was pretty good.  The atrium bands and music were really good and we enjoyed listening to them pre-dinner time.

Days at Sea:  We pretty much hung out at the Solarium pool.  As I mentioned there were several really cool days and being at the main pool was too cold.  But, a welcome relief for us as we were escaping the desert heat anyway.  The water temp in the solarium pool was nice.

Excursions:  With the exception of St Pete, Russia we created our own walking tours.  Prior to the cruise we mapped out on google maps what we wanted to see at each port.  If the ship was close to the town we walked from the ship, if not we grabbed a cab.  In St Pete we found 3 other couples and we shared a 2 day tour through SPB tours.  Thank you Bruin Steve for putting that together.  The other 3 couples were from Cruise Critic.

Debarkation:  Super easy.  We walked off the ship at about 7:45, walked our bags over to Amsterdam Centraal(about a 12 minute walk) and grabbed our train to Belgium.

Post Cruise:  We stayed 3 extra days and took the high speed train to Brussel’s.  From there we took trains and visited Bruge and Antwerp.  So much fun.

The last day in Europe we took a train back to Schipol early in the morning and checked into the Sheraton right on the airport.  From there we headed out to Volendam.  Such a pretty part of Netherlands.  After hanging out in Volendam for a while we headed back to Amsterdam for some more shopping and dinner.  From there a train back to the Sheraton and then back to the USA the next morning.

We love Celebrity.  Staff is so friendly, food really good.  They do a great job.  Feel free to ask questions and I will answer.

Does anyone have any copies of wine lists that are currently being offered within the Fleet? 

Sailing on Reflection next week and was curious.  Champagne too, my wife likes it by the glass.

Thanks

Thanks for all the advice.  I have heard Blu can be a zoo 😂...We are doing the Baltic on the 26th so the sun won't be setting until after 10:15 most nights so eating late and avoiding the crowds won't be an issue.  We also plan on Murano, Lawn Club and the Porch too!  Also, call us weird but we do like the MDR too! 

My upcoming cruise on Reflection we are in Aqua, and my booking also states I have Select dining.

I thought I would chime in. 

My wife and I (late 50's) are on this cruise too.  In fact we are doing the two days in ST Pete with Bruin Steve.  Its going to be a fantastic cruise.