newtocruiseinblue

On 12/18/2023 at 10:56 AM, syesmar said:

Thank you for sharing! It looks lovely. Is there any noise overflow from the World Stage, or is it fairly sound proof?

I apologize for the delay in answering your question. I am feverishly catching up for the Christmas holiday since returning from my cruise. While I was not in the library when there was an event going on in the world stage, I could imagine that you could probably hear some noise from it. I did not sit and read in the library but found some quiet places on board to get away and read. I did see people sitting in there and reading though. Seemed like a nice place to read. Cheers to Holland America! 
 

18 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Hotel GM Mustafa said all ships have to be compliant by 2027 and this was HALs first to be done, so many similar modifications are coming to the rest of the fleet.

Some of the changes are obvious, but others are more subtle. The removal of the casino staircase was to accommodate enlarging the casino.

The Explorations Cafe Bar is really different and looks great. It seems to make that entire area look bigger even though the overall footprint didn't change.

Here are some explorations cafe pics! I loved the Christmas touches on the art installation. Someone said they removed tables by the windows and installed this art (I assume to make room for wheelchairs) 

Just off the Nieuw Statendam Roundtrip Eastern Caribbean Dec 10th sailing and wanted to share my experience with the new library on Deck 2 by the World Stage. It was bright, peaceful, and beautiful! I loved the selection of books, checked one out and read the entire thing on the day that HMC was cancelled due to high winds. I highly recommend a visit!! 

17 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Happy to hear the bread pudding met Institute standards; we quite enjoyed it via room service each morning w/pre breakfast coffee 🤭

The large chocolate croissant is what Grand Dutch Cafe serves; they also have a strawberry (red "ribbon") and 1 that remains a mystery to me (the "ribbon" is natural color so it blends w/the croissant - think it's maybe vanilla,  but didn't ask). The chocolate is indeed very different in those large ones, but they're pretty 😉 

I had the strawberry and it was delicious 

13 hours ago, atexsix said:

I wonder if the Ocean Bar still does 2 for 1 Happy Hours?  Those were the days!

The happy hour is BB King all drinks 50% off…3-4 pm daily followed by trivia 

Once onboard, am I able to make main dining reservations through the app or do I need to go in person or call dining reservations? 
 

thank you and cheers! 

Really enjoying this thread! It sounds like you are enjoying the sea says…I was wondering about that as we might like to do a TA someday.

also I was wondering if you had found any cool spots to just sit and chill out and enjoy the view around the ship. 

Thank you!

3 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Today's Daily 

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! We are on an upcoming sailing on the ship. I was wondering, the champagne tasting or wine tasting, is there gratuity added to the price or is the price listed the total? Thank you so much! 

The classic beverage package is listed as $45.99 for the black Friday sale….how much is this discounted from the typical pre-cruise price? Thank you!

2 hours ago, Stockjock said:

I think most of you realize that there have been very few PUP offers recently. I did a pretty extensive survey today on potential new Celebrity ports, but they did not offer me any PUP points.

Yes, the new CEO is really taking the joy out of life by being stingy on the PUP opportunities. So will it be a Merry Christmas or will it be bahumbug for PUP? 
 

Cheers! 

On 11/9/2023 at 12:24 PM, tschwa2 said:

They are using the orange X other places too.  This is in my cruise planner for Apex.  

Good catch…I will keep an eye out as well…maybe they are slowly rebranding 

18 minutes ago, cyntil8ing said:

The temporary profile photo was for 24 hours. It's back to what it was before.

Thank goodness they listened to us 😁

14 minutes ago, nikel said:

Celebrity used to be so classy.....little by little they are destroying the look.

Also from what I can see so far the new itineraries are only 5 - 7 days.  

Carnival here we come !

I’m not loving the new layout and landing page for cruises -it’s just like Royal Caribbean…it’s getting too much like Royal 

Thoughts?

34 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Traveling to Istanbul and Kusadasi is safe until it isn’t. I think that cruise lines will have a problem booking passengers to the area until tensions lesson because many people have a problem making distinctions. I think cruise lines are canceling Turkey because their customers are canceling. 

So true! I didn’t even feel completely comfortable in Kusadasi last summer. I wouldn’t go there now. 

4 minutes ago, zitsky said:

This is like canceling a trip to Chicago because of crime in Mexico.  
 

What do they think?  A year from now Turkey and Egypt will be in a war with Israel?

Sadly, one can’t deny that tensions in Turkey are higher and anti-American sentiment is at an all-time high due to the Israeli war and the Ukraine war. No one knows what tomorrow may bring and there is a global warning for all Americans from the state department for travel. 
 

Also, there are many areas of Mexico that I would not dare travel. It isn’t safe in some rural areas due to the Cartels.

11 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Pro-Palestinian crowds try to storm air base housing U.S. troops in Turkey | Watch (msn.com)

 

Still wanna go?

The US Department of State travel level for Turkey is level 2, exercise increased caution with the exception of the following regions, which is “Do Not Travel”: 

• Sirnak province, Hakkari province, and any area within six miles (10 kilometers) of the Syrian border due to terrorism.

I personally would not feel comfortable traveling in Instanbul at the moment but I traveled to Kusadasi a couple of months ago and traveling with a tour group to Ephesus is safe. 
 

20 hours ago, PH2 said:

Well the email says to add the promo code "at checkout" and I know I take things literally most of the time, but that would seem to suggest to pretty much anyone that it gets added at the end of the booking, not beginning. But I found it. The fare was the exact same with or without the coupon, just $25 for each passenger was subtracted from the fare with the coupon. I'll take what I can get before fares go any higher. 

Yes I was happy to see I didn’t have to wait until the “Black Friday” sale to apply the coupon. Thank you! 

5 hours ago, PH2 said:

Nevermind, I accidentally found it. It's on the page where you choose the number of passengers. Counter-intuitive, but whatever.

I was just going to say there…I use a travel advisor and she adds mine…

Yes it is November and time for another PUP opportunity. We need a sacrifice from the new leader to show appreciation to the already loyal Celebrity followers!! It’s about that time……

one new thing I noticed (may have been discussed elsewhere on the board) is the new landing page when searching for a cruise on my laptop (did not see it on my mobile device)….. it is styled exactly like Royal Caribbean and made me shudder a bit. 

So, just for good measure, the last pup opportunity was sent at the end of September to watch a video or am I missing something? I’m really starting to have PUP withdrawal over here. And, no Halloween “treat” from Celebrity? Hmmm….can we still watch the last video for points or is that expired? And, if so, does anyone have the link?

Cheers!

6 hours ago, hcat said:

good catch.. they really want to stuff the ships to the  max! 

 

Glad AQ class only allows 2 per AQ  cabin..

What does it mean for a cabin if three? No discount for a third person, only if you have four?

Isn’t there a bonus $50 if you signed up for Black Friday alerts?? 

3 hours ago, SSAtlantic said:

I am sure this has been discussed but… we booked a cruise for next fall while on board and used the $100 per person non refundable future cruise deposit. If we switch the cruise to another, I am thinking we pay the $100 per person change fee and that is that. Is this correct?

We did not plan to have to switch the cruise, but our original booking is to a current war zone and we are not comfortable with keeping that cruise. 
Thanks

Where was the destination? 

Thanks for the review - sounds like an interesting adventure! I appreciate the details as I’ve always wondered about this type of cruise. I would give it a try for fun and cruising for one night is better than not cruising at all.