Bellfree Bat

On 4/27/2022 at 10:10 AM, schittenden said:

My understanding is that the cast of Caravan was in isolation during our cruise.  Not sure about Rockumentary.

Rockumentary did not show during our cruise due to new Production Cast practicing to perform Tree of Life for the first time. It was too labor intensive to "build" the tree for practice and the stage for Rockumentary at same day.

2 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

I know there’s Macallan on board because they have a tasting for a fee. 

Yes, there is Macallan and a few other Scotches onboard but not really the interesting varieties for most whisky enthusiasts.

Unless they have solved their supply/sourcing issues, no. The Whisk(e)y variety was lacking on Apex in late Jan/Feb. They did have OFC and WR Baccaratt priced secondary per ounce if you want to pony up the cash!

It was our experience that you could. Ask your waiter if they would be able to. Read the room. If super busy, I would not ask for anything special.

I am pretty sure that there were Tai Chi listed on our sailing...It was either in Eden or Rooftop Garden...

1 hour ago, Silkroad said:

Yes, I remember your Edge review, and we had some discussions about music and cabins when I was posting my Edge review (April 2019, on her first transatlantic with passengers). 
 

Early in this review, you mentioned that you had heard some people on your Edge cruise telling others not to think the Edge experience was the typical Celebrity experience. That was what made me ask what you thought after having tried a Millennium class ship. Personally, I’ve found the three ship classes unique in some ways, but I’ve found the overall “Celebrity experience” very similar across the ship classes. We sailed on Edge again last October, and we’re to sail on Equinox in a few weeks (fingers crossed) so we’ll have another opportunity to compare two ship classes. 
 

Thanks for the information about Tampa. We’ll definitely try sailing out of Tampa if we can find the right itinerary. I love the thought of being able to walk from the hotel to the ship. Thus far, we’ve only been able to do so in Southampton. 

In December, we went from Apex to Connie, with 2 days in-between, and loved both! Apex was hip and modern and Connie more of classic cruising. The food and service on both were impeccable, as you would expect from Celebrity. There were only 400 guests onboard our sailing so like having a private yacht!

Pretty sure that SAS did not transport between ports. BC, we took a taxi...

18 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

We were also on that cruise and absolutely loved it.  We also got parade tickets and choose Lafayette Square B for Lundi Gras for $30 pp... not through the cruiseline but through the official site.  What great seats!   The people that booked through the cruiselines were upset because I think their tickets for much of the same as what we got were over $200 pp.  
We also were at place with a balcony on Bourbon Street for Fat Tuesday.  It seems to me that someone named Anne set it up for people on the roll call.  I wonder if we were on the same balcony … it was a smoking deal for what we got.  The balcony was kind of small but think everyone that booked it got their turns at going out there to throw beads.  I understand we were only supposed to get a couple or few hours but we were allowed to stay all day.  They even had a most delicious king cake.  
Anyway, I’d highly recommend it if Mardi Gras is on your bucket list.  We had an absolute blast!  
Our roll call was huge and so many helpful people on there to help set up group activities.  
 

The only issue we had, and I think we were on the first cruise for celebrity cruises, was that their disembarkation procedures when we got into NOLA and for getting back onto the ship at night we’re a pretty scattered.  I think we waited for nearly 6 or 7 hours to get off the ship when first arriving and others were all cutting in line ahead of us.  Getting back on the ship after a couple of long days out also had two hour lines … something to do with the clearance not being high enough so you almost had to limbo through the entryway.  I’m sure those issues have been resolved by now.  
BTW, Mario V was the hotel director of the Equinox at the time and did have a couple of talks about New Orleans and Mardi Gras in the theater before we arrived.  
Being a resident of NOLA, he was very knowledgeable and helpful.  
 

 

 

We might have been on the same balcony. The food was great and drinks were flowing with a really great bartender. We threw beads, went down and wandered and caught more bead to just go back up to throw them. We may have been the last to leave that afternoon! I forgot who arranged it...

The disembarkation was a mess that first day but we just went and had dinner and then left the ship and ran into our first parade. Great memories!

16 hours ago, markeb said:

Back to the OP's actual question.

 

Macallan is one of the best known Scotch Whiskies in the world. Macallan is located in Speyside, a region of the Highlands of Scotland that has a fairly recognizable style. Moderate alcohol, some oak, and generally no peat or smoke that are common in other regions. Macallan chose to market itself as a Highland Scotch versus a Speyside Scotch, which is a trivial pursuit question versus a real difference.

 

Macallan seems to make 1000 different whiskies (Another trivial pursuit question: whisky without an "e" generally means Scotch (although other malt whiskies, such as Japanese Whisky, usually omit the "e"; whiskey, with the "e" is generally Irish or American. But again, Makers Mark is a "Whisky"). Which is a challenge with a Macallan tasting.

 

The tasting can be hit or miss. At least a couple of us on CC who are regular whisk(e)y drinkers have had radically different experiences with the Celebrity tasting experience. Because of the number of variations in Macallan, it's really useful to have someone who knows their stuff guiding you through the tasting. And it also helps if they know whether you can actually buy the product they're tasting. Almost all Scotch whisky makers make "travel editions". Those are duty free only products. You can buy them on the ship, or in duty free in Heathrow, but not in the US. but I confess to being a whisky snob. I'm hearing an 18 or 19 year old Glenmorangie calling me right now...

Cheers from another NOVA whisky snob who was drinking some travel/retail GlenDronach last night!

We did the Mardi Gras cruise in 2017 on the Equinox. We loved it. Saw parades and went in on a balcony rental at the top of Bourbon Street with food and open bar. They did not do much on the ship for Mardi Gras, though. Thinking about the Constellation one...

19 minutes ago, miched said:

They have Louis XIII at select bars.  You would have to ask what bar they would have it at.   On the Constellation it was at Cellar Masters.  
 

It was also available in the Duty Free shop for around $4000.   
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Yeah...$4k...Not going to happen! LOL!

I am a whisk(e)y drinker and would like to explore the Cognac options available onboard APEX next week. Does anyone have a list of what is available at the bars or in the shops? All I can remember is Hennessy White in the shops.

In December we had a great Beyond the Podium presenter, Jim Kennedy, on APEX. Who is presenting the lectures this week?

First time doing a B2B and question about parking...

It seems like it is a little expensive to park in the cruise terminal garage for 2 weeks and looking for suggestions/alternatives.

I am sure this has been discussed before but unable to find thread in search. 

Thanks 

We have this itinerary on the 29th sailing... Will you drop a hint to the Captain that we would not mind a Ste Maarten stop instead?

Maybe... Probably... 

What is your backup plan if there is a delay in disembarkation? Traffic or TSA debacle? I think that the cruise line does not recommend any earlier than 11 to be safe. 

20 hours ago, jamestown478 said:

who did you contact to have that done? I have the same situation in January and am trying to figure out what to do.

I spoke to the Captain's Club Host

We were on a side to side, with 2 days in between, and they were able to test us the morning of debarkation to meet the 2 day requirement. Made it easy for us!

Are you able to get off the ship and wander the port area in St Kitts without an excursion? Sure hope so!

11 hours ago, spammie said:

Question - We are Elite+, can we upgrade using our discount to Streaming once we are onboard?  The thought of having to call and be hold forever..........is something I would like to avoid.  Thank you!

I called earlier today and was not on-hold long at all. I just looked at my call history and it was less than 9 mins to hold and upgrade my husband's plan. Cost was $88.20 with the 30% Elite discount. This was for a 7 night Apex Cruise in December.

9 hours ago, lahoban said:

Has anyone seen Pelotons on the Reflection? I purchased the spin classes just in case they don’t. 

I think Edge and Apex are the only ships with Peletons. On the Edge, I think there were just two of them on the floor. 

The bikes on Equinox had SPD clips...it's been a few years though...There were also cages.

The Edge did have Peletons on board and I suppose they had the Look/Delta pedels but I used the bikes in the studio.

9 hours ago, ChampagneBar said:

Biker19 and not-enough-cruising,

 

Many islands do require a Covid test within 3 days of arrival on the island.  So are you guy saying that islands are exempting people arriving on cruise ships?  What island(s) did you guy visit that you were able to get off the ship?

I did see this on the Celebrity Site. Not sure if Royal is doing the same...

*The St. Maarten government requires all unvaccinated guests age 10 and older, be tested 2 days prior to disembarking and visiting St. Maarten. Test will be provided onboard.

I am not sure if this will work for us. We are disembarking from Apex on 12/11 and embarking the Constellation on 12/13. I am sure that they have too much to do on the turn-around day to test us but will give them a ring.

• It's been a while for me and redeemed BOA points for OBC. Does not show up in my account...Hopefully will show up onboard but I should check!