prmssk

My true passion right now is birds and macro flowers and so the crop sensor body is the right choice at this time (I don't make nearly enough use of my wide angle lens) but I did want the option in the future so all the lenses I have purchased work with a full frame body. My dad is the one who got me into photography. My first camera bodies came from him.

Not long before the pandemic we sailed the Harmony of the Seas, the week after Thanksgiving and there were almost no children on board and I agree it didn't feel crowded at all. We really enjoyed the cruise.

Thanks for sharing! That is the wide angle lens that I carry around (but with a crop sensor D500). It is a nice lens and I agree to get the shots you are getting take a lot of patience and a fair amount of skill.

@dad son teamIf there truly are that many rooms open, I think your odds are great! Good luck!

@mahdnc I'm really enjoying your photos. It takes me back to my college years when I toured Rome and several other Italian cities during a study abroad. What camera body and lens are you using for these landscape shots?

I understand that. I hope a cruise line tour gets added but unfortunately, it may not. Planning shore excursions has been a challenge for me on our spring cruise because the cruise line just isn’t offering many and private tours don’t always fit the schedule of when we are in port. So I can sympathize with you.

I know it has been a challenge for cruise lines to line up tours with contractors they trust at a price they can negotiate when there are so many staff shortages all over the world. And this is an ongoing process. I keep seeing new tours added for my April cruise. in the meantime, you may want to start researching private tours in case Celebrity isn’t able to offer it.

I think you missed my point that we in the US really aren’t in a position to judge what decisions an Australian makes about travel. And it is not at all productive to blame the traveler for traveling in the first place. To me, this whole scenario is a reflection of the challenges created when a few countries are hanging on to protocols while the rest of the world fully opens up combined with the cruise line having horrible communication, losing test results, and providing no support at all to the passengers left stranded. Maybe the original poster wasn’t entitled to a flight back home but in my opinion it is reasonable to expect the cruise line communicate clearly about what was happening and provide at least some support in making new arrangements.

The Puerta Maya pier has a posted schedule here: http://m.puertamaya.com/Port-Schedule.aspx I can’t find a schedule that lists which ships are at which of the other two piers.

Although I think I would not put myself in their position of flying so far from home with the uncertainties, I'm not sure those of us in the US who have had access to close to home cruising for over a year now since the restart can truly put ourselves in the position of someone from Australia where close to home cruising is only just now starting.

The cabin on S class ships is the same whether you are in concierge class or a standard verandah. So with concierge class, the extra you are paying for is just the few extra amenities (like embarkation day lunch).

Princess hasn't been testing for B2Bs on most cruises for a number of months now (with exceptions for destinations that require it) and their protocols have clearly stated that (as opposed to Celebrity written policy that B2B testing is still required even if it isn't always happening). What Princess announced this week is that they are dropping the pre-cruise testing even for unvaccinated passengers. They are only going to require a pre-cruise test for a very limited number of cruises (mostly just Australia/New Zealand and a select few very long cruises like their 28 day cruise to Tahiti). Now, the example of what recently happened on the Eclipse (described in another thread) is still unavoidable on any line because that cruise was headed to Australia. My point in all this is that things are changing rapidly and every time one cruise line announces a change, we often see others re-evaluate their protocols.

With Princess now dropping almost all testing this week and NCL having already done so (obviously with exceptions for specific destinations in both cases), things are changing so rapidly that I suspect protocols will be different in January.

Let me try. Let's say you are taking the test in Rome at 1:00 a.m. today, Wednesday, October 19 Rome time for a departure on Friday. If the test results are shown in GMT, it would show you took them at 11:00 p.m. on October 18. Without the GMT time zone clearly shown or if someone glances too quickly, they might think you took your test a day early.

And not usually into the cabin unless important. On my last Carnival cruise, I was so relieved the speaker in our stateroom was broken! I really didn't want to be interrupted every time a new FUN event was starting. I don't have to worry about that on Celebrity.

The general how a cruise runs is actually very similar to Carnival. A cruise is still a cruise with many of the same protocols and routines. What will be different is the vibe and activities offered. Celebrity is a lot more relaxed and lower key. You won't find water slides and roller coasters and things like that. Instead, it is more of a resort atmosphere with pools, lounges, music, shows, trivia, etc. You will also find that generally the service and food is a step up (although Carnival does have some good food at times).

$17.50 USD per person, per day for Inside, Ocean View, and Veranda staterooms $18.00 USD per person, per day for Concierge Class and AquaClass staterooms $21.00 USD per person, per day for guests of The Retreat. https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/gratuity-program

We cruise both because there are a lot of great things about both. Give Celebrity a try and see what you think for yourself. You can always go back to RCCL if afterwards you decide Celebrity isn't right for you.

There are photo packages offered for both my November cruise on the Constellation and for my spring cruise on the Eclipse. It's under the photo section in the cruise planner.

In the case of the Eclipse one-way itineraries mentioned in this thread, it is a repositioning cruise. The Eclipse does Alaska during the Alaska season and Australia the rest of the year.

My experience with specialty restaurants is that more is made to order which makes it easier to modify on the spot as compared to the MDR where pre-ordering the night before is more important. Celebrity has always done an amazing job with my dairy allergy.

Biding on the suites means that you would lose your access to the Persian Garden and free exercises. You would gain Luminae (instead of Blu but you could still order from Blu and even dine there if space is available). You would also gain the retreat deck/lounge and get a butler and access to the concierges. If you win a bid, you would still earn loyalty points at the Aqua class level and you would keep whatever wifi and beverage package you currently have. if the Persian Garden and exercise classes are important to you, I would just stay where you are.

My app for our cruise next month out of the US lists a price of $13 for martinis from the Martini Bar. Where are you cruising out of? I have this vague recollection that certain parts of the world require the gratuity to be included in the menu price and that the cruise line takes that into account when that is the case.

We were originally scheduled on a round-trip to Hawaii, first on HAL and then the pandemic hit, then on Princess when we rescheduled, but after some research, we decided a one-way would actually be a much better trip as it would give us a chance to add extra days in Hawaii. So we cancelled our Princess round-trip and booked the Eclipse for next spring from Honolulu to Vancouver. Round-trip would have been much nicer with regard to flights but it really doesn't give you much time to enjoy Hawaii. And although I'm not one of those people, I think the number of sea days for a round-trip would be more than a lot would want. I fear my husband and maybe even his Mom would have found it way too much if we had stuck with the round-trip.

Who are some of the staff in Luminae now? We had the most amazing team last year and I realize it is a long shot since they would have had time to go home by now and may not have returned to Connie but it would be great to see some of them again. Russell, Gede, Suraj, Milo, and Ana are a few that I remember.