anniedave

On 5/3/2023 at 2:11 AM, ChattTenn said:

MSC USA still shows as a Norway cruise.  We also are looking at June 15, 2024 sailing and would hate if that sailing won't go to Norway fjords. 

We are doing 1st June 2024 norway / Iceland cruise and yesterday got an email saying Flam had been switched to Molde which doesn't look as nice ! 

Hi, we have done 2 other cruises but new to MSC . We are travelling with another couple on Virtuosa & just booked for June 2024. I'm the designated planner ( I enjoy the planning almostcas much as the cruise itself ) !! Could someone tell me how far out excursions show up on either app or website  - I just want an idea of excursions available / prices so I can look at options &  do comparison with some of my own options I find ! Thanks 

On 6/28/2022 at 11:20 PM, wowzz said:

Does seem strange - on our BA flight to BCN, there was an announcement that masks should be worn,  and everyone totally ignored it. I guess the cc decided that  the odds were against them ! 

We had a BA flight to Barcelona on 3rd July- BA had subcontracted the flight to iberian airlines- as Iberian is Spanish - Spanish rules are still wearing masks on public transport including flights. We had friends who flew same route but on a  standard BA flight & they didn't need masks ! Depends on airline rules 🤷‍♀️

I usually go for breakfast then go & get a mimosa from sunset or pool bar ( but this isn't usually until about 10am ) .  Late night food - pizza & few snacks in the buffet until 1am or you can order room service until 5am - small  fee of $4.99 for however much you order after 11pm . 

Thanks everyone we have some great suggestions and lots of ideas to think about 🙂

28 minutes ago, chemmo said:

The fact you are cruising  in June rules out our favourite cruise ever which was a Trans Pacific from Hawaii to Sydney. Your time limit would be a bit short too as in addition to the long cruise you would want some time in Hawaii and Australia. Perhaps one to consider for the future, we did it as I retired.
 

When we cruised Alaska we combined it with a road trip of Washington State and a stay in Seattle. Fantastic part of the world. Seeing Mount St Helen’s had long been on our wish list. We did the tour first, followed by a couple of days in Seattle followed by the cruise. We seemed to pack so many experiences into the time. 
 

Also agree with emmas gran that the Far East is also fantastic. Cruising Hong Kong to Singapore gives you quality city breaks too.

 

You need to think about what you want from your cruise/holiday as well as the destinations you plan on visiting. For example, our Alaska/Washington state cruise was fairly hectic rather than relaxing.
 

As it is your anniversary cruise the Mediterranean can be hard to beat for romantic locations. Our favourite Med cruise was Barcelona/Barcelona calling in at Malta, Sicily, Santorini, Rhodes and a few other ports. A nice balance of things to see and do but you can avoid the hustle and bustle of long excursions by doing most things independently as you literally moor up in the main site seeing area, no coaches or taxis needed. If you are considering the Med I would browse a map first, look for places you really want to visit and then look for cruises that have some of them on. The beauty of a 10 night Mediterranean cruise in your time frame is that you can either fit in good city breaks at the start and end or simply add on a crash out quality resort break…
 

We have also made several Caribbean cruises special by adding on trips to the Gulf Coast, the Florida Keys and Disney. Generally these cruises are cheaper in our experience than when we have cruised from elsewhere in the world meaning you perhaps may choose to upgrade to a suite? Equinox has been Florida based all year for a few seasons. She usually has some 10 night itineraries.

 

In our experience there is no such thing as a bad cruise! Whatever you choose to do I am sure you will have a fantastic time! Sincere best wishes for a fantastic anniversary cruise, we spent our 40th anniversary in lockdown, we still enjoyed champagne but unfortunately on the patio rather than on a balcony!

 

 

Thanks Chemmo....we can have some flexibility in dates ...if we went a month earlier or later it wouldn't matter. 

Will prob want to mix hectic & relaxing .

We visit Barcelona every year for a music festival , did Malta for our honeymoon- husband disliked it !!! And have done several holidays to Rhodes.  Santorini is on my bucket list though and I def want to visit Italy.

We aren't Disney people as we don't like theme parks 🤣 but I do want to visit the keys & the gulf Coast.  Yes def thinking about a suite for our 25th !! . Thanks some great suggestions  hope you get to celebrate your 40th soon 

1 hour ago, emmas gran said:

I have reread your post and if you want to cruise in June it is probably limited in itinerary 

Thanks Emma..... ideally June but happy to have some flexibility  for the right trip!! - did husband's 60th birthday cruise in Feb this year- husbands 60th was Sept 2021. 

We have spoken about the far East- so that's an idea. 

The problem with Australia is we have 2 separate lots of old friends who live there who would be disappointed if we didn't visit them whilst there  & we don't want it to be about rushing around seeing people ! 

Some great ideas thanks.  

We have done 2 cruises - 2020,2022.  both on Celeb in Aqua class, - Reflection to ABCs & Millenium to Eastern Carribean . We want to plan something different for our Silver wedding anniversary in early June 2024 . ( I know itinerarys aren't released yet) We like the idea of Alaska but also thinking about a B2B ( can be ship to ship) but don't want 2 Alaska cruises. We are from the England - but I have never been to Scotland or Ireland  and have visited some of Europe on land based holidays ( Spain, some of the Spanish & Greek Islands-)  but not all. ( never done Italy)  We love sea days so I was thinking about a transatlantic - husband not so sure.

We will be able to get about 23 days holiday from work which will need to include travelling time ! We  will start to save now so we can splurge a bit  - but don't have an unlimited budget 

Would love a holiday with lots of contrasts & would love  some suggestions from you seasoned cruisers with lots of experience. 

Thanks 

12 hours ago, Mimiya11 said:

On 3/14/2022 at 10:55 PM, Ferry_Watcher said:

would bring a latte from Al Bacio to breakfast at Blu.  Most times the coffee at Blu just wasn't very good - although breakfast itself was absolutely fine.

 

I always do this too.   

If you are in Blu you can ask for a latte, cappuccino etc at breakfast and they will get it for you- depending on Blu location will come from Al Bacio  - to have with breakfast 🙂

18 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

Thanks again for your comprehensive review,

Sorry you had such a bad flight home. It sounds like BA haven’t got their act together yet. Before Covid we thought they were going downhill, sounds like they have maintained their standards!!

One last question, were the Uber taxis cheap or similar to U.K. prices?

 

hope you are having a relaxing weekend. Thanks again,

Libby

Tbh we don't usually use Ubers much in UK. Ubers were cheaper than taxis but a couple of times I couldn't log onto uber and a couple of places were so busy we decided it was just easier to get in the taxi line. I think uber from port Everglades to hotel near Miami airport was about $30 but then an uber from hotel to southbeach was nearly the same price . About $15 -$20 dollars to get from strip to downtown in Vegas in uber & $20 - $25 in a cab . 

Well London - Miami - Fort Lauderdale - Dominican Republic - St Thomas- St Croix - Antigua-  St Kitts & Nevis - St Maarten - Fort Lauderdale - Miami - Las Vegas - Miami - London..... 22 nights & 23 days we are finally home.
We had an amazing time we loved our adventure . There were lots of highs and a few lows but we know we are so lucky to have the experience.
Will we cruise again ? ... definately if we  have the chance .
Will we cruise Celeb again? - we aren't sure yet , we are going to explore other options for a possible cruise in 2024 to celebrate our silver anniversary 
Will we go Aqua again if we go Celeb ? - prob not ...we ate off main dining room menu more than Blu and I was really unimpressed with the spa on Millenium.
Did we enjoy the Millenium? - we know every one has their favourites ...we def preferred the Reflection over the Millenium but if we sail Celeb again we want to try edge class.
Will we go back to Vegas ? Probably not . 
Thanks for following along hope you have enjoyed my review . 
 

The next morning we got up and left the room and headed to the airport for our 12.30 flight. We checked in and had a burger King before getting ready for boarding . Whilst waiting to board our names were called to go to the desk and we were given a nice surprise. Someone who had booked exit row seats was unable to open the doors so they had swapped our seats to exit row with extra leg room free of charge. We had an uneventful flight back to Miami ( I slept alot!) and at the airport we grabbed some sandwiches, drinks and snacks to eat in our room as we had decided we were too tired to go out. We arrived at the hotel, - (the same Best Western) we had stayed in the night before we flew to Miami checked into our room and after the food went to sleep.

Yesterday morning we had the free breakfast at the hotel ....it was very underwhelming - fruit, yoghurt, toast, croissants, coffee, juice and some 'meat patties" & eggs that we avoided ! It was nice that checkout wasn't until noon and our flight wasn't until 5.15pm  so we made the most of that - and got the free shuttle to the airport at 12.30. I had already checked in online the night before - which was a complicated process as I had to complete passenger locator forms for our post days in the UK - along with vaccination details etc.  Knowing that checkin  time for the BA UK flight would be  whilst we were in the air between Vegas & Miami and wanting to ensure we got seats together I went online to pay for seats the day before and was happy we got 2 seats all on their own at the back of the plane. 

We had a few hours to kill at the airport and found a smoking bar linked to TGI Fridays where we stayed a couple of hours and I had an amazing caesar salad. The flight home was probably the worst service we have had on a BA flight. We didn't get offered a drink until nearly  3 hours into the flight - it came as the same time as our meal. By the time they got to us they only had chicken left and had run out of Coke . They then seemed to give up offering tea & coffee before they got to us. It took us 3 times of asking & an hour wait to finally get a cup of coffee! . In addition to this it was freezing on the flight . Everyone was wrapped up in blankets & piling on clothes !! . After the appalling flight we eventually arrived back in the UK and after a quick taxi ride back to the hotel we collected our car and headed home.
 

Sorry for delay in finishing up trip report . I am sooooo tired.
After spending the afternoon dozing & packing we had a brilliant night at Evel Pie on Freemont street  watching one of our favourite bands . It was quite amusing as we were the only ones there ( other than a couple of their friends) who had heard of the band and the locals thought it was amusing we wanted to get our picture taken with them. We even  donated some money so that the band did a personal video message to our daughter & her boyfriend who are big fans and were jealous we were seeing them!
If anyone is in Freemont street & wants somewhere casual for a beer & slice of pizza I'd def recommend it . At the end of the night we got an uber back to the Venetian and were planning on spending some time on the slots....but I was so tired we just went straight to bed!.
 

On 3/10/2022 at 4:35 PM, Kristal Blade said:

Thanks for this terrific review. We are going to be in Vegas in May, our last visit was about 20 years ago. Good to be pre warned about the prices, we will definitely take more cash now and brace for the credit card bill when we are home.

Are you having to do a pre flight Covid test? Has that been easy to arrange?

Safe travels,
Libby

Hi, as we flew from Miami to Vegas you don't have to covid test between US states so no testing was required. At the moment you still have to wear masks on public transport cabs, ubers, monorail etc in Vegas - but you don't have to wear in the casinos / shops.  

On 3/10/2022 at 4:15 AM, sciencegrrl said:

Thank you for adding this on to your cruise report!

 

We are heading there next month and am wondering if it may be the last time in a while.  Background: he grew up in Vegas, his family owned a club from the 30s to the 80s (we both worked there underaged in the early 80s).  Vegas is changing mightily, both for the good and bad.

 

Yes - all the locals we spoke to said how much Vegas had changed in recent years - how much prices had increased - so it sounds like it's not just tourists affected! 

Today we have...done absolutely nothing !!! Read  slept  watched TV - Dave went out to buy some headphones for the flight tomorrow and get us dome lunch.   We have done most of the packing ( just tomorrow night in Miami before we go home) and checked in for our flight tomorrow. 

For our last night in Vegas we have a special unexpected treat . A rockabilly band called Delta Bombers who are based in Las Vegas who  we like - announced a couple of days ago that they are doing a last minute gig- a fund raiser for Ukraine in a pizza bar in Vegas tonight. We are used to seeing them in the UK at large festival venues with a couple of thousand people so tonight in a small venue will be very different. It won't finish until about 1am and we need to be heading to the airport before 10am.Hence the lazy day and organised packing. Off to get ready now !! 🙂

Vegas Post Covid 

So we are nearly at the end of our time in Vegas and whilst we have had a great time & glad we came, I wanted to share our observations as we know others are  thinking about coming back to LasVegas

This is just our views - 
Alot of the fun themed hotels are disappearing & being replaced by bland towerblocks with no  character. 
Alot of the free stuff to do & see in the hotels seems to have disappeared and been replaced with upcharges ie $20 to see the sharks in the aquarium - something that previously would be free to entice people in.  All the stuff that used to have small charges have massively risen $120 for 2 people -  10 minutes on a gondola. 

Post covid most of the cheap all you can eat buffets are closed and have been replaced with individual food & drink prices -  from the high end strip hotels down to the lower. end Freemont street prices are high ! 
$10 - $16 dollars for a glass of wine
$7-$10 for a bottle of beer  
$10 - $15 for 2 coffee's. 
Steak dinner $70+ 
$16  for a frozen Margarita ( & that was freemont street!!) 
Plus 8.25 % tax added to all food & drink bills
Plus most places adding 15-20% service charge to bills 

The low end tables ...table games that used to be $1 minimum bet are now $15 - $25 minimum depending on time of day. And alot of the table games have been replaced by machines so less fun to play.  

Tourist fee is added to nighly room rate- between $10 -$45 a night depending on the hotel
And then on top of that 12.5 % tax. You can still have fun, there are still free things to do...but Vegas is definitely not the place it was !!! 

Woke up yesterday  morning and decided to start the day with watching parade of gondoliers....however when we arrived at 9.50 it wasn't happening. Maybe someone decided a parade of singing gondoliers wasn't covid safe ? Anyway we grabbed a coffee & muffin and decided that we would get the monorail & visit some of the hotels on the strip.  

We bought 24 hr passes $13 . One of the things we found today was that the monorail stations are really badly sign posted - after eventually finding the one in Hurrahs we went to check out the new Sahara ...built to replace the old Sahara we had stayed at on our first visit to Vegas - very disappointed the new hotel looked like an old tower block. 

After having a quick look round we got back other tube and headed up to the other end of the strip . Got off at the MGM and as we walked though we remembered when the lions used to be there. We walked past new York New York and headed into the Excalibur - shaped like a castle  one of the old themed hotels we hadn't been to last time around. At least this looked like a proper Vegas Hotel! We had a fab drink at Dicks last resort bar in the hotel where they act out rude grumpy staff- quite funny ! . We then headed back to the Venetian for our evening ahead. 
We had a nap ...had done a lot of walking and got ready to go across to the Mirage . First item on the agenda was to watch the volcano show - def worth viewing . Then we watched the Cirque 
Last night I dragged Dave to Mirage to the Cirque du Soleil show ..'Love' based on the songs of the Beatles. It was a big weird  but I enjoyed it ..I had to wake Dave up twice 🤣🤣.... he said he liked the acrobatics and aerial acts but the dancing was boring !!  If you are a Beatles fan def worth a watch ..sorry not allowed to take pics or videos during the show .
After that and a walk round the Mirage we headed back to the Venetian for some late night slots and a Subway sandwich - we both wanted to ear something plain & simple- chicken salad & beef & onion ! Then headed to bed about 1.30am 

Today has been  really lazy day . Dave being a British football fan ( Tottenham Hotspur) was excited to find a channel on the TV with the Premier league games. So today at 12pm.( 8pm UK time) Spurs were on the TV and he could watch . So we got up and picked up some takeaway breakfast from one of the food courts at the hotel ( not impressed ) and then spent the day having some much needed rest ! Watching TV, reading , sleeping . Later on we headed out to the Venetians ice bar. Minus5°. We got 1 basic package which was entry , gloves , coat and one enhanced package which included 2 drinks - then had 1 drink each. There is a VIP package which includes a fur coat, hat to take home as a souvenir & photo. It was great fun with great photo opportunities but it does get cold very quickly! After our ice cocktails in ice glasses we needed a coffee to warm up!

Later we headed to the Grand Bistro for dinner & shared some smaller plates - veg spring rolls & chicken Samosas and a salad and I had another cocktail. Then after dinner we gave another donation to the casino.
Whilst we are loving the Venetian in general
the tables are all quite high stakes for people who just like a little bet and don't want to lose a fortune! so we are sticking to the slots . Off to bed with only 2 more days to go before we head back to Miami - sad to think this time next week I will be back at work !

I definately think my favourite thing in Vegas is the Bellagio fountains 

Yesterday we decided to explore &  visit a couple of places we hasn't been to before as well as one of my favourite things. 
One of the things on my to do list was to visit a place in the venetian that did cake shakes . I had seen a picture and they looked delicious ... especially with my sweet tooth. The plan was to get there for when it opened at 11.30 have a cake shake , then get lunch later elsewhere on the strip. However....as usual we got lost and by the time we had found Black Tap ...and got on the wait list for a table and got in , it was nearly 1pm. So we decided we might as well have lunch... Great burgers , giant onion rings and an enormous cake shake meant I had the cake as takeout. 

After that we headed to the Flamingo to see ....you guessed it.... the koi carp...and the ducks and the turtles and pelican ...oh yes and the flamingos 😀. It was quite a menagerie....we also did some peesent shopping for the kids and grandkids ...usual tacky holiday gifts ...keyrings...magnets...t shirts etc...they expect nothing less!! . Then we headed to the Bellagio - 2 reasons...they had a new botanical gardens I wanted to see...plus I love watching the fountains. Unfortunately the botanical gardens were closed...they appeared to be dismantling the Chinese New year display & putting up a new one. I had also forgotten how much I love the glass ceiling flowers in reception at Bellagio. Then we stayed and watched the fountains... twice. 

We then decided it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready to go out. On our way back we stopped to watch 2 amazing young men who are street entertainers ( see video) 

After getting ready we got a taxi to the Luxor to see the Blue Man Group. You aren't allowed to film or photograph  the show but if you get chance you should go. It was an hour and a half of wacky comedy  and entertainment with lots of audience participation - we both really enjoyed it...even Dave who doesn't usually like shows. After the show we went back to the Venetian and spent an hour or so giving the Casino some of our money via the slots!! Then headed to bed.
 

We then got an Uber to Freemont Street - we hadn't realised part if it was closed for a festival - but still enjoyed the light show and a frozen Margarita from one of the street bars is a must !! People were  zip lining over our heads which was interesting . We tried to find somewhere to eat and ended up in the golden nugget booking a table at the steak house - 90 min wait so we headed off to play some slots and Dave found an old racing game he liked.
We had dinner and I ordered the Country style steak which I had never had before ....it was interesting!   After dinner we decided the time difference had caught up on us ...it was 11.00pm - so got an Uber back to the hotel. 
 

On the recommendation of a friend we have a guided tour of the neon museum this evening and then plan on heading to Freemont street .

So after a nap we got a taxi to the Neon museum it was a fun & informative hour learning not only about all the old signs but also some if the history of the hotels . The old sign for the Sahara hotel that we stayed in 15 yesrs ago that has now been demolished ( but then rebuild) was at the museum- which we found interesting . Def recommend it if you want something different to do in Vegas. 

Loved this shop that is made to look like a cake shop but everything is for the bath etc ...😁

Weather was quite dull & windy today but it didn't matter because apart from the evening we were inside !