scdreamer

Have been to many of these lovely ports, and Kotor is one that has remained my favorite over the years. Sailing into port at sunrise through the fjords was just amazing (and we had a double rainbow on the way out in the late afternoon).

Depending on your level of fitness, climbing the old steps up the side of the mountain and all the way to the old fortress is something I am so glad we did. The subsequent views were spectacular, and the climb itself was enchanting.

I would return to Kotor in a heartbeat.

How about if you have any-time dining? We will be on a Baltic in June, so actually there will be a view at dinner, since the sun is up quite late. Would you just ask when you show up?

I think it depends on whether the cabin location is substantially better. And of course, the added price.

We will be visiting Kotor this Sept. on Equinox. I am looking at the excursions offered by Celebrity. Did you use them or did you set up private excursions? If private, which tour company did you use? Which of the 2 excursions was your favorite as this may be the only time we get to Kotor.

 

Thanks for the info.

We, too, thought Kotor was a wonderful port.

We did not take any formal tours. The walled old city is small enough to easily explore on one's own, with many shops and sidewalk cafes.

We climbed to the old fortress above the city for spectacular views of the city and surrounding fjords. It was the very best part of our day in Kotor, and highly recommended, if you are at all fit. There are many many steps and switchbacks, with amazing vistas the whole way up and back down.

We took Millenium to Seward about four years ago, and it was a wonderful cruise.

We had an extra day after our arrival in Seward and departure from the Anchorage Airport. We spent the day taking an excursion out of Seward by boat to see the orcas, and see them we did! It was amazing. There were a number of passengers from our cruise doing the same.

We then took the afternoon train to Anchorage. We bought the first class tickets and sat in the elevated domed cars, which allowed us great views of the scenery along the way. Saw a bear and some mountain goats and other wildlife. There was also a lovely dining car, with very good food and service. I can't recall exactly how long the train took to Anchorage ... maybe three hours?

We stayed in a hotel in Anchorage, didn't really do any exploring there, and flew out the following morning.

Enjoy your cruise!

Celebrity boarding docs are giving specific boarding times, set according to deck of cabin assignment. I am wondering if they are preparing the cabins for occupancy in the order in which they are asking passengers to board, i.e. are the cabins on the decks that are allowed earlier boarding going to be ready before the cabins on the decks with later boarding times?

We have an early boarding time, but not sure if that means a longer time on the ship without being able to get into our cabin.

I've never done an actual ship-based cruise tour before or after a cruise, but have stayed pre and post cruise in many cities, both in Europe and the US and Canada on our own.

My guess is if you are more comfortable having them make your travel arrangements, and moving along en masse with a group, it could be okay. We always opt to make our own arrangements and do smaller private tours, as we tried a ship tour once and found that there were many passengers with mobility issues, which slowed everything down considerably. Getting on and off the bus seemed to take up half the time.

I realize not everyone is at a place where they can go it independently, but if one can do so, it seems preferable.

Okay, now I see it.

I don't think it's scamming the system. After all, Celebrity would still be getting what they asked for in the GTY fare for two, and the phantom no-show will not be eating any meals, etc.

But your "friend" would have to have paid for the cruise by sail date, and a no-show would mean losing that money. Not sure how that would make it cost less than for a single.

I don't understand why the problems with the Celebrity website are never fully resolved. It's not rocket science. Who in the world is their inept IT provider? All I can imagine is that nepotism must somehow be involved ...

Hard not to consider just how much business they must be losing in the long run.

We were in a similar situation recently, past final payment on a CC, and hoping to upgrade to a newly offered suite GTY. Our TA got us on the phone three-way with Celebrity, and they agreed to allow us to pay a minimal amount for the upgrade ... but, in doing so, we would have had to give up the perks we had from our initial booking. That included the drink package and prepaid gratuities. In the end we decided to stay put.

We are booked on a June 21 sailing to the Baltic, and made our final payment a few weeks ago. I'm not very concerned that the SPB port will be cancelled, although I suppose nothing is impossible. I would imagine that in that case, another port would be substituted. We would, of course, be somewhat disappointed, but that's a part of the adventure of travel. If you can't roll with the punches, maybe it is best to stay home.

We had to rebook this cruise, switching from August to June, because of a new grandchild arriving in late summer. When we re-booked in January, our June sailing fare was significantly higher than the initial fare had been for August - for a lower category (now partially obstructed) veranda cabin.

Just before final payment was due, I saw that the fares had decreased quite a bit - called our TA and we were able to upgrade to a concierge level and even get a $1400 reduction! We were also able to keep our 1-2-3 perks. :)

Since then, we've watched the fares go all over the place - checked with our TA about upgrading again to a suite, and we could have done it for only a couple hundred dollars, but we would have had to forego the perk - so we decided to stay put. :rolleyes:

I don't know how they set the fares, it seems as if they are up and down with no rhyme or reason, but I'm sure Celebrity has their reasons. Not sure if perhaps the unrest in Ukraine has anything to do with this particular itinerary ...

Wait until you get on the ship to upgrade. We upgraded in advance and then were offered a cabin upsell to a suite - a very good deal, but we would have lost the 123 promo, as well as the $$ we spent for the upgrade to premium. :(

We probably would have foregone the 123 promo, but not the actual dollars we had spent for the upgrade to premium, so we turned down the suite.

Just curious - if you have more than one glass of wine over the course of dinner, is that a trigger for charging you? Sometimes a dinner in the MDR can last a couple hours, and I can easily have two glasses of wine over that period of time.

Let me suggest an alternative. It's very hard (impossible) to see Paris in a day...actually part of a day given you'll be on a bus in both directions (2+ hours each way). Consider that you will be in Normandy where there is so much WWII history...the cemeteries, the beaches, you can stand in a german bunker overlooking the beaches and see what sitting ducks the allied forces were.....and some incredible French sites like Mont St Michel. Why not save Paris for a trip to Paris...and see the area that's close to where you dock which is wonderful.

I would agree with this. Our first time to Paris, we had an apartment for ten days, and even though every day was full, we still did not get to everything we wanted to see. I can't imagine trying to see even one or two sites in the limited time you will have there. I think having just a few hours would kill me ...

Some of you seem surprised that one can have a good relationship with a trusted TA. It's not hard at all to attain that. It's all about building a working relationship based on loyalty and respect. Instead of searching the internet for the absolute lowest prices and/or highest extras such as OBC or prepaid gratuities, you should be searching for someone who will do the best job possible for you, instead of giving the best discounts.

 

We have TA we have been using for many years, for both cruises and land vacations. I don't get the most OBC from her, but I do get 100% support. For an example, on our next cruise we used a Passages certificate that was purchased before the date of the recent changes that allowed promotional perks to be combined with the certificate. Our friends booked with a more recent certificate that was issued after that change date, and were allowed to choose a perk from the "Pick your perk" promotion. I asked why they got that perk, and we couldn't, and out TA explained the rules of the program differences on both sides of that change date. I accepted this explanation. After all, those were the rules for the different certificates. A couple of days later she called me and told me she had talked to her contact at Celebrity about the differences, and that contact took it up the chain of command until she obtained a "waiver" for us to also get that perk. I had not asked her to do so. She did it on her own. That is the sign of a good TA.

 

Our side of this equation is our loyalty to her skills and not to the best deal. She rewards that loyalty by going the extra mile to make sure we have the best vacation possible. It's a two way street, with both sides showing respect and consideration for the other.

 

THAT is how it works.

This has been our own experience with the TA we have used over the last few years.

I might add that I see the entire process as a partnership. I keep an eye on the X website before final payment, and if something that looks like a good possibility for a price reduction, upgrade, etc comes up, I email our TA, who always gets right back to me. I don't expect her to constantly monitor everything - I know she has many clients with many transactions all the time.

Quite often those great prices posted after final payment are for the less desirable cabins in a particular category. For example, an inexpensive verandah cabin easily turns out to be a guarantee for an obstructed view.

I try not to look at the fares once I've made my final payment - it detracts from my happiness at going on the cruise if I obsess over not getting the "best" fare.

We do, however, keep an eye on the fares before the final payment is due. Just a couple weeks ago, we were able to upgrade from a partially obstructed verandah to a concierge class with a savings of $1400 on two fares! But now that the final payment date is past, I'm not going to be looking anymore. That's crazy-making. And I have too many other fun things to plan getting ready to visit ports.

Another point - if you booked early for the cruise, you were probably able to shop around for the best airfare. Having to wait until close to the sail date will often mean paying a higher price to get to the port.

Yes, it's often true that once the final payment date has passed, the prices go down. While it may be frustrating to see that, by reserving your cruise and cabin earlier (possibly for a higher fare) you are assured of space on the dates you want to cruise, as well as your choice of cabin.

Those who are more flexible have the option to wait to book after final payment, but there is no assurance that there will be space if the ship is sold out, and many times the available cabins are limited.

I think if it's going to make you crazy to see the lower prices after final payment, it's probably best not to look at the website :rolleyes:

I guess that my DH and I are very fortunate to get antibiotics from our doctor before we leave for a cruise. I am the only one who has ever had to use my antibiotics...we did a small group excursion to Lake Bled in Slovenia last May. The weather was unusually cold, wet and it even snowed. To make matters worse, I was in the very back of a van that had very little heat, while my DH was in the warm front seat. That evening I started feeling awful; didn't know if it was from the ship or the excursion, but decided to take a Z-Pac because Montenegro was a private tour in two days. Well, it worked and I never got really sick, just tired and a slight headache. I rarely take antibiotics, so I made sure to add some extra probiotic too! Worked like a charm! Probiotics are a must for staying healthy and well while traveling...my opinion!:)

There has been an awful virus that causes a long lasting cough going around everywhere this year - regardless of whether one is traveling or not. When people are coughing (or sneezing), the droplets are airborne immediately, and no matter how careful you are about touching things, you just can't stop breathing.

As far as probiotocs go - I, too, had the cough that turned into a secondary infection and had to take antibiotics last month - something I rarely do. My pharmacist told me that it's not effective to take the probiotics while you're on the antibiotic, because the meds just immediately kill the probiotoc bacteria, along with the bad bacteria. She suggested that I wait a few days after finishing the antibiotics to start with the probiotics.

Definitely first world problem.

That has happened to me.

 

Log in to "My Celebrity" page. It says:

 

My Celebrity

 

My Reservations

 

In small blue leters on the same line as "My Reservations" "Don't see my Reservation" Add Here.

 

Just click the Add Here and put in your name and booking number, click and it will appear on the next page. And you are done.

But I can see the reservation - at least the part where the date and name of the itinerary are. When I go to the manage my reservation drop-down and click on view reservation, that's when I get the red lettered message that says the access is not working because of maintenance. Five days now - very frustrating. I don't understand why they can't get their IT together. It's not rocket science, and seems to be an ongoing source of frustration for passengers and POTENTIAL customers.

Do you see that, Celebrity???? POTENTIAL customers, who will end up somewhere else because they can't get anywhere on the Celebrity website! That translates to LOST revenue.

Doesn't anyone at Celebrity care about this?

Grrrrrr

I would like to look at my reservation - we have a guarantee for a cruise in June and I think that's the best way to see if a cabin has been assigned (I know it's still early) - for the last four days I have been trying to view my reservation on the Celebrity website, but it always comes up with a red message saying the website is under temporary maintenance. I am able to sign in and bring up the basic itinerary and date info, but not the specifics.

Is there any other way to see the details of one's reservation?

Wow, this sounds like an intriguing idea to me. So many choices, and hopefully much easier for kitchen and serving staff to get meals to tables without delays that can bring about lukewarm soup, etc.

I'm not a big RCI fan, but would likely be swayed by these choices.

We, too, considered ourselves "beach people," and were uninterested in Alaska. That is, until we went.

The scenery is amazing - be sure to do the Inside Passage itinerary - and the ports offer so many different things to do. After the cruise we took the train to Juneau, and that was another wonderful day. I have heard the land options are really great.

I wouldn't hesitate to go on another Alaska adventure. So much to see and do, it's not possible to take it all in with just one cruise.

Especially since your parents - the ones you are honoring with this family vacation - have expressed an interest in going to Alaska, it seems like the perfect solution.