cangelmd

Have embarked from both Civita and Amsterdam in the last 12 months, Long lines for cabs in AMS on return, otherwise great experience. We were able to drop off bags at AMS terminal very early and enjoy almost a full day of sightseeing. Civita was for a TA in a suite. Similar experience to Suite embark in FLL, even had a small lounge setup. Disembark from a TA is always a mess, but that’s custom’s fault, not the cruiseline exactly. My most interesting Euro cruise that may better answer your actual question was on RCCL, over 20 years ago. One week western Med cruise for our 20 th wedding anniversary. We had school age kids, so could only be gone one week without them, so we took the shortest Med cruise we could find. (I would never fly all the way to Europe now for just a week, but I’m a lot older). We had never been to Europe at that point, and took a cruise because we thought it would be more time efficient. The passengers were about 50-50 Americans and Europeans. Lots of Spaniards (left from Barcelona), and many of them were in bigger groups, families and friends, celebrating all sorts of things. It was also over the weekend of the Gran Prix in Monaco, and most people got off to go to the race. For the Europe contingent this was much like a Caribbean cruise, but they dressed up a lot more. Partying, going to pool and beach. LYou could pick out the Americans, they had all been out sightseeing all day and were exhausted. So the answer is depends on if a trip is appealing to Europeans/UK and many are

LOL, I feel your pain, literally. Early on, the PCR test required an NP swab, that’s the mining for brains one, I thought we had moved to nasal for all tests, but the person doing the swab has to be trained properly. We have a B3B this summer in Europe and while we will bring tests and masks, especially for bus trips and the first leg, I really don’t want to worry about getting booted off the entire time we are gone. Thanks guys

Right, I’m talking about B2Bs not connected to a TA or TP. I did a fall TA and I know it was one of the few remaining cruises to required a monitored test then.

Im a little confused by some of the responses to B2B questions- Are monitored Covid tests required for B2Bs in the Caribbean or any other locations outside of Australia, NZ, and maybe Singapore? If you test positive on your B2B can you continue on in quarantine or do you have to disembark and fly home or quarantine on land?

I think, but don’t know that there’s a hierarchy with the specialty restaurants being at the top. They are really running in the regular dining rooms, even Luminae.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, I know they will try to accommodate and I may well ask on our coming up cruise - we aren’t very demanding and like trying new things, so I’ve worked around. Jim, we generally find 2-3 senior “sommeliers” who are quite knowledgeable and a few junior people who are fairly knowledgeable and then other juniors who are truly learning. I like to go to the Wines of the World event, not because they pour great wines ( I think a lot of times it’s ok wines they don’t have enough remaining to put out into the dining rooms), but because I can talk to most of the wine stewards in one place and meet some of the more experienced and learn about some wines that are available on board.

To me, that’s been an issue in Luminae since always - pre-Covid. I get around it by OVC salad for lunch almost every day, where I can control the type of greens and the amount of dressing. I try to order any green salad they offer in Luminae, with an occasional Caesar. On an S-class, I check the MDR menu every night, looking for the Bibb lettuce salad, it’s a fav. The struggle is real, and kind of annoying at those prices. I like Caesar well enough, but they put way too much dress8ng usually

They didn't happen to say if they are still closed on Mondays? Are they using the same website?

Celebrity is not set up for groups traveling together to be in separate classes, it just isn’t. If you are the designated cat herder, you will find yourself resentful because you will end up missing a lot of suite benefits to tend your herd. Save your money for a separate trip in suite class. The suite luggage, at least in FLL is in a separate section - Group 1 and sometimes 2 if there’s a lot of luggage

Since you liked the mudSlide so much, you should definitely try a Bushwhacker. It’s a northern Gulf Coast specialty, even though I think it was invented on At. Thomas. Im enjoying your review, but not the OVC pictures!

We used Weyline Taxi Company. Had a great experience, although we had a driver, not a tour guide. She had a good bit of experience as a driver, but had never done a tour before. It was fascinating just chatting with her about her life, the area, the impact of Covid on her business and Dorset and Peppa Pig. I will also say that her car would have been tight for 4 people all day, let alone 6 or 8. I don’t really know any other specifics, we were originally a group of 4 and this was a reservation our friends arranged, but then tested positive for Covid on the pre-boarding testing (this was this past May), so couldn’t go.

We did Keukenhof on ur own this past spring with a combi ticket, worked well. Not sure about getting there from Rotterdam, though. We also did the whisper boat, bought those tickets on site. It was beautiful, even though the flowers were nearly gone when we were there.

I'm bumping this back up and hoping that someone who cruised to Bergen this summer might be able to answer. Where does the Dokken/Jetevik port shuttle drop off passengers? It is a 1 km walk from where I think the dropoff point might be to Bryggen, so I think we will be OK no matter what, but I'm concerned about returns. We will be there in late June, there are 3 ships scheduled to be in port that day. We have a 1:00 pm arrival, so I'm quite concerned that we will be at the Dokken/Jetevik port.

I’m not sure how lucky you were! I was on the same TA in a suite no less, and it took a solid 45 minutes, maybe closer to an hour to disembark. Special suite courtesies ended at the gangplank where the backup began. Granted we had a later flight and we were not there to leave until later, but by the time we were leaving, customs was running through the entire crew and there was a big backlog inside the terminal. TAs are one of the most prone to customs delays. flip side of this for us is that because of difficulties in getting our second flight, it’s often good for us to get out of FLL as early as possible so we have more choices of second flights out of ATL to home. On this same TA, our early afternoon flight out of FLL was delayed, we missed our ATL flight home, and ended up on the very last flight home that night. Flying is really hard right now!

My DH would say no IV, ever, but after being on Apex on a relatively cool weather cruise, I think that’s what IVs are best at. You can sit in the chairs and see out as well as little forward and back as well. I thought the chairs were reasonably comfortable. The rail will obstruct many peoples view at least a little, but the same could be said for a balcony rail. The bigger issue for me is still do you want to see Glacier Bay…

I’ve done LPC 3 times now. The price is getting a tad high. The first 2 shows were fun and the food was excellent. The 3rd time about a month ago was very meh, both food and show. I would recommend either going to the original if it offered or LPC and friends, not the newest show.

Thanks for the replies. I thought it highly likely we could leave the bags at the terminal. I will look at the Villages, I have a rough idea of how far it is. Our biggest consideration is getting an early start, in order to make it home that day (we will spend a night on the way down). Bob, we’ve done rentals to Atl from Mob when flying international, it can be a great option, but this time we want to get on the road ASAP. We checked PNS first thing, it was maybe $25-30 less a ticket. I don’t think DH looked at AA. We were trying to use companion tickets, so the $760ish is a 2 for 1 price! I think the problem is spring break, it’s just really expensive. PNS and Gulfport used to be our cheaper options, but it’s uncommon now for either to be enough cheaper to make it worth the drive (we live in WeMo, about 10 minutes from the airport). Everyone hopes when the new airport opens, the airfare will be the same. It will be actually less convenient for us.

Quick question- we think we are sailing from the old terminal and coming back to the Edge terminal This will also be our first time parking at FLL. Can we drop off our bags with the porters, then circle around, park and shuttle back, OR do we have to park first and shuttle with our luggage? DH is peeved that we can’t fly. Even with Delta 2 for 1 companion tickets, our flights were $750. Regular price for 2, main cabin, was almost $1500 from Mobile to FLL. I know it’s spring break, but crikers!

Passport and wallet in the safe with any jewelry. I used to put my electronics in the safe, but my more valuable “toys” don’t fit in the E class safe, so I don’t bother anymore! On my last cruise, I only brought 2 pairs of earrings that were at all “valuable”, so I left my jewelry roll in a drawer as well. As others have said, the stateroom attendants wouldn’t be employed long if they started stealing,

We are leaving on the Equinox in March from the older Celebrity terminal ?29?. Does anyone know if we can drop off luggage then circle around to the parking deck, or do we have to park first and take the shuttle with our luggage?

This, this is the story of my life! We have spent 25 nights on the Apex since May. Fourteen nights on the TA and 11 in May. We had an IV on I think deck 8 in May and were on deck 10 for the TA. Apex does seem noisier than S class and I think what people are saying is true - it’s related to the ship motion and certain cabins are worse. On each trip, we had a few rough days, and that’s when we noticed the noise, but it was louder and more localized on the TA. I’m a light sleeper and was awakened at least one night on each trip. DH even noticed on the TA. Having said that, our experience was not as bad as those mentioned here.

We rarely take shore excursions in the Caribbean- we have better beaches where we live, and since I have to be careful about the sun, it’s hard to go to a beach if we don’t know what we are getting into. We first of all, enjoy the ship. We try to find something to do ashore at least twice per 7 days. Before Covid, we began a habit of seeking out a local restaurant ( we started that visiting San Juan, post-hurricane), we enjoy walking and mild hiking, so try to work that in, shopping for the grands is one trip, and then I research the islands and try to find one sight or activity to do. We are running out of those, so it is getting harder. The message boards for the individual ports are a solid resource for independent excursions and activities-we’ve found some of our favorites on those.

2 socks equal one item. You list your items on the laundry ticket and write Elite at the top. It can be interesting sometimes - I have a pair of pajamas that I sent that has a white top and blue shorts. The top looks like a t shirt, it is a t shirt but not. I didn’t think and listed as pajamas and didn’t get the top back. Our smart and intrepid cabin attendant found it for me, the top had been delivered to a couple of other cabins looking for it’s owner. On my next cruise I was much more careful about how I listed items.

I just got back from this Nov Apex TA. We left on Oct 29. I am not at all prone to seasickness, but I took meclizine twice, once when I was feeling the motion and no one else seemed to be affected, and a second time when significant motion was expected and the captain recommended people take precautions. It was rough that evening. My answer is be prepared- hard to know how rough it will and how it will bother you. I traveled with someone more prone to seasickness than I am. She felt the meclizine made her feel worse than the motion and didn’t take anything the second time we were warned about rough seas. She had her sea legs by then and it didn’t bother her. Be prepared.

This volcano has been dead for a very, very long time