jam19872016

On 3/24/2024 at 8:49 AM, bluewater1298 said:

Yes! I'm interested in how the shuttle back to the hotel was. Would you recommend doing it that way instead of parking at the cruise terminal?

And please let me know when you sail again! After our cruise in April, we have several land vacations scheduled so I probably won't be lurking on these boards until the fall.

Thank you again for wonderful review and for all the food pictures...especially at Al Bacon!

Take care!

I will be sure to include my thoughts on the shuttle with my wrap up. There were some issues but overall I think I would use them again, especially on a longer cruise like this where it was cheaper than port parking.

I will be sure to post a link next time I cruise.

20 hours ago, Missusdubbya said:

Wonderful review, thank you!

Thanks for following along 😀 

On 3/23/2024 at 11:07 PM, cinderellen said:

We’ve had Sue on a couple cruises and absolutely love her. I want to be her when I grow up 🤣

I enjoyed her a lot unless she was the reason for the below average entertainment. She was quite a character though. 

On 3/24/2024 at 7:48 AM, riredsox said:

Thank you for this wonderful live report!  I was on for the 12 night Mardi Gras in February and was pleasantly surprised how good the MDR was.  Happy future sailing!

I wanted to do that cruise! I did it in 2020 and it was so much fun! One of these years the stars will align for me to do that one again!

It was an exhausting travel day but we made it to my mom's around 330 so probably an easier day back than most people, especially as there seemed to be a lot of Canadians onboard.

I plan to wrap this up tomorrow with our travel day as well as my final thoughts. I also have the pictures from Cartagena to share still. 

Thanks again for following along!

13 minutes ago, Travelling2Some said:

Thank you for a wonderful "sail along".  We are on the Constellation in May.  I will be thinking of you and torn between all the wonderful treats you generously shared and the warning about the darn 18 lbs.  I wonder what will win . . . Nahhh, I already know.

Enjoy your turn! 

3 hours ago, hcat said:

  Enjoyed the review..

 

How long will it take to trim that weight down.? Was it worth it? What were your favorites?

 

Elevator situation sounds very bad..hope you and your mom get off the ship OK..Safe trvls!

Hopefully not too long. Once I get going again the weight comes back off pretty fast for at least the first several days.

Totally worth it 😆. 

The Brownie sundae and the red velvet cupcake from al bacon. None of the meals had enough to them to stand out even if I enjoyed them. The St. Patrick's day buffet was very good.

5 hours ago, az4ship said:

Thanks for the great review.  Alway love your trips! Hopefully another soon. Safe travels home 

2 hours ago, Altamar said:

Safe travels.

Thank you 😊 

5 hours ago, bluewater1298 said:

Thank you for a wonderful review and letting us sail along! Safe travels to your mom's house and then on to yours. Like I always tell my children (who are your age) "Let me know when you get there!" 

 

Made it to my mom's 😀

5 hours ago, SusieV said:

 

Many years ago they used to sell the unlimited specialty dining package on Celebrity for $29pp/pd but you had to buy for the whole cruise. They were pretty limited. Of course specialty dining was cheaper then too.

 

I was so excited to see the Fraisier dessert is back! It's my very favourite treat on Celebrity.

That would be a much better than the current price. 

Last call at 949. Having some issues getting the scooter offloaded but I'm in no hurry.

All numbers have been called. Heading out at 931.

1 minute ago, riredsox said:

What is a UPD room on Royal?

Sorry, it's the Unlimited Dining Plan. It allows unlimited specialty dining for one upfront cost with a few exclusions.

I have seen it on the Celebrity cruise planner recently but not seen any discussion about it, likely as the price Celebrity wants nobody is buying it. Even for this 12 day cruise with almost no upcharge dining the cost was almost $50 pppd plus gratuities. That's insane.

50 minutes ago, luvcruzing said:

Eighteen pounds?  Ugh!  That would hurt me to my bones.
 

Thanks for taking us along. Now safe travels home.

It does indeed! Hurts in the waist as well as I squeeze into pants that were already snug 18 pounds ago 😬.

Thanks for following along 😀 

1 hour ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

Sad to end a vacation but it’s always kind of nice to get home…

I am looking forward to adult sized bed again 😆 

1 hour ago, princess76021 said:

Safe travels home!!

Hugs from Texas!

(And don't forget to let me know when we are cruising again please)

Thank you! I will send out the bat signal (princess signal?) when I'm cruising again. 

6 hours ago, perfect match said:

Thank you for another great review! I’ve enjoyed following along with you and your mom on this cruise. Hope you’re sailing again soon! 🛳️

I hope so too 😀. Thanks for following along. 

2 hours ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

A good bananas foster takes the ick out of it too…sounds very similar.

Guess I'm still waiting on a good one then 😆. 

9 hours ago, Germancruiser said:

Oh, what´s wrong with her elevators? Thx.

They seem to be working again but had intermittent issues the first several days.

The back set was the worse, with two out of three stuck. I heard one person say he got stuck. 

The middle set seemed to malfunction just when getting heavy use, like port days, they would not open for certain floors even if the call button was lit up. Eventually it would come but you never knew how many times you would be skipped. Conversely, when you did get on, it was amusing zipping past all the waiting floors while people looked on at bewilderment.

The front set did that one time but I witnessed no other issues.

They seem to be working now but for how long is anyone's guess. 

Now we wait. 

Doing a final sweep of the room and then heading out to wait. They want us out by 8 but we are a couple minutes late.

Checked luggage has begun being called at 758. Tags 1-2. My mom has 27 because we are not in a hurry.

Breakfast has arrived.

Salmon and cream cheese.

Walkoff has begun at 721. All walkoff may leave. I guess a smaller ship does not need to organize their walkoff process.

First time at MDR breakfast.

+4.2 for a total vacation gain of 18.0.

Good morning from Tampa.

I didn't sleep too terribly last night but 630 is still an awfully early hour. 

Finishing up last of the packing and then grabbing some breakfast.

All packed and readyish to go in the morning. Guest relations told my mom they will carry her scooter off for her in the morning. The debarcation paperwork says otherwise but hopefully they know what they are talking about as that will be impossible for me to manage. 

There is still a bit of rocking and hopefully that will aide in me falling asleep quickly so that I am rested for the long drive home tomorrow. 

Thank for following along. See you all back in Tampa. 

Good night.

6 minutes ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

Oh yes, the only place mushy old bananas belong is in banana bread.  Certainly not in some of the forms you’ve seen. 

I feared they were in the stuffed chicken dish but those were ok. Or too small to notice.