TeaBag

We love the free cappuccino at Al Bacio for Elite +.  Our special lounge always has a balcony, Pinboy🤣.

Great pictures.  Thank you for taking us along

5 hours ago, 39august said:

Spa cafe is usually not open on embarkation day. 

I believe you are right.  It is another victim of the cuts. It was our go to place on embarkation day after dropping our luggage.  Lots of space and quiet because few knew about it.

Maybe they need to get someone who knows what IT is all about!  I had a few hours to pay for a cruise I had on hold and I couldn't get to first base with ANYTHING.  They had my birthdate wrong.  I couldn't change it.  Said my email and password was wrong.   I couldn't get my husband's name in as the second passenger.  Never mind that we have been sailing with them for 30 years.

I then phoned them and got someone who straightened it out.  About an hour's waste of time with all  this.  Do they want our business or not?

Good news.  We thought Dan did a good job at Celebrity.

Maybe now I can get my points for the cruise I took in May!  I have lost count of the number of times I have written to them. I no longer get a response.

Are you sailing from Seattle to Vancouver now?

Interesting thread SJ.  Thanks for starting it.

I sympathise with cruises, restaurants etc trying to keep their meals as they were years ago.  I was cleaning out my freezer the other day and came across a pkg of flank steak (one of 2 left) with a price of $48 on it from late last year.  The other day in Costco, I saw the same package with 2 steaks in it for $95!!!!!  How can companies cope with this inflation?  That being said we have started cruising lines other than our favoured Celebrity.  We board Eurodam on Sun, a first with HAL  We always avoided HAL as we thought it was a cruise for old f*rts, then we looked in the mirror one day!🤣

Keep cruising everyone even if you have to select a cheaper cabin.

Thank you so much for getting back to us, Mark.  I do so hope you can all sail on the 16th cruise.

I would really like to know what happened to the poor folks on their special cruise.  I keep thinking about them.

On 9/28/2023 at 5:46 PM, doghog said:

Our first cruise was with American Hawaii Cruise Line on the SS Constitution in 1991. We were hooked. Second cruise was with Celebrity on the Zenith in 1994. We thought this ship is huge. We'll never find our way around. Paid ($35.00 per person) to join the Captains Club. I believe it was called the Founders Club (?). 

Yes, you're right.  It was Founders Club.  I think everyone got their $35 back as an OBC later, but there was a period of about 6 years where we didn't cruise so we didn't get it back.

Michaels Club back then was not just for suite passengers.  This was where we went to hear Perry Grant and laugh our heads off......"positions everyone!"

Our first Celebrity cruise was the Meridian.  The food was amazing.  I'll never forget the vegetables served in little baskets with handles and the swan floating in a pool of chocolate sauce.  Yum.  Zenith was next.

3 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

There have been NO mention of changes to full transits. Only partial transits.

Thank you.

We are sailing Oct 8 on Eurodam from Vancouver and we have not heard anything about an itinerary change due to Panama Canal problems.  This is a repositioning cruise.

Nice to look at your pictures in Vancouver again, Norris.  We are boarding Eurodam 2 weeks today, Vancouver to Ft Lauderdale.  This is our first sailing on HAL also and we are looking forward to trying it out.  They do have some lovely itineraries.

On 9/20/2023 at 10:52 AM, KAKcruiser said:

I would definitely try to get the credit before you get on the ship.

Thank you.  That's what we thought too.

We are new to HAL and already we're not too impressed.  We have submitted our shareholder info twice now and no response.  We have only 18 days to go and I wonder if someone on the ship will be able to give us the OBC.

Teabag  Eurodam Oct 8, 2023  20 days Panama Canal.  First HAL cruise.

We cancelled Azamara Singapore to Perth to Melbourne for Dec 2023 and I hated to do it.  I have a leg problem and we didn't think it wise to be on those long flights to Australia right now.  we booked Westerdam Sydney to Vancouver Mar 30, 2025.

1 hour ago, Cruise Junky said:

Thank you thank you thank you. Really didn’t want to part with $4,500 Canadian two years in advance!  

I would never have known about this.  Cruise Critic scores again!  I sure hope this materialises as it is a birthday cruise for both of us.

Thank you CSNJ.

Where are you sailing Tracey?

Start a roll call and maybe there will be someone on there who likes to organize private excursions which are smaller, cheaper and better than the cruise line's.

Check the ports of call section on CC.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/464-italy-ports/

Civitivecchia (port area) is a ways from the city.  We have taken the train to the port but others like Rome in limo.

We are about to sail on our first HAL in less than 4 weeks so we are first timers too.  This is also for our anniversary...56th!

Bon Voyage and enjoy Rome.  It's a lovely city with much to see. 

Ours is $200 each for a 20 day cruise.

Great read.  Thank you for taking the time to post on your wonderful cruise.

We are new to HAL, taking our first cruise in 4 weeks time from Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale.  We are Celebrity refugees having sailed 40 cruises with them and getting fed up with the direction they are taking!!

I envy you sailing for 77 days.  If I were able to do that, I would never get sick of my T-shirts etc, as I would have to keep throwing them away for larger sizes!!

Bon Voyage!

Thank you so much Haljo and pmjnh for your suggestions.  Now to tell you the story and it was partly my fault!

When we decided to sail with HAL, the first thing I wanted was a mariner id, so I got one.  I don't really know why they gave me one as I already had one!! I had forgotten about companies under the same umbrella using the same id for people.  We obviously got ours sailing Princess 25 years ago.  I would never have sorted this on my own.  I phoned HAL and got this great guy who sorted it all out for me.  Using my old number, I accessed my account and everything was hunky dory!  No wonder I had no booking on the new number!

So now we are all checked in, luggage tags printed as well as boarding passes.

Isn't it great when you find a person who does a wonderful job?  I told him he made my day.

Yes, we will enjoy our cruise especially since it sails from Vancouver (Panama Canal).

1 hour ago, Cruise Junky said:

That’s the cruise we’re doing on Azamara.  

Great choice!  We had a cabin on the back of the ship and it was great transiting the canal.  Bon voyage to you both.  i think you get a few more days than we did.  Ours was 23 days.

Celebrity loyalists for 30 years, also leaving Celebrity except for one last cruise in April.  AQ prices are insane and that is what we usually booked.

We are sailing HAL for the first time in 4 weeks and we have already sailed Azamara twice and loved the experience.  Suez canal was amazing on the Spice route itinerary.

When you screw your loyal customers, it's all over.  We don't want to spend our hard earned money on a cruise that is not so bad!