Norcal Cruiser

Prayers and concerns offered all day!

What a treat for anyone on the Infinity to be in San Francisco today. We were on a boat in the Bay. Such a great airshow. The pool deck was lined with people that stayed on the ship. Our jackets were not needed.B eautiful day on the Bay!:)

OP here for the last time. I didn't stare anyone down despite being accused of it. I didn't think I was judgemental. I just stated an observation that I found unsettling. We had a great cruise. I stated that as well. We were seated at a two top table one night 6 inches next to a couple who didn't put their phones down for the entire dinner.4 out of the 6 tables around us had the majority of diners cell phones in hand.5 out of 7 nights we totally enjoyed the couple seated next to us we compared dinners and wine and enjoyed each others company. It was fun. Whatever, I guess we have to accept the new normal. I by the way am only 57.I am not looking for things to complain about. We just love cruising. There are too many posters on here ready to condemn other opinions.

OP here I felt my original post was mild and non judgemental despite getting called that a few times. To clarify we did see tables where non family groups were sitting together and ignoring the other people seated with them. We also observed numerous occasions of a finger held up to the wait staff so they could finish their text. We hadn't experienced that before and we are pretty experienced cruisers .Just offered my opinion sorry if I hit a nerve with anyone. We had a great cruise can't wait for the next one in Feb. And I hope the few people who called me judgemental are not at our table!

I am a fan of the evening chic dress I wore new black jeans with black flats and a dressy top. My shoes were tieks . Most expensive shoes I have ever bought. I just really had an issue with the cell phones at the table. Not chic at all.

I honestly thought the exact same thing. I am as addicted to my I phone as most others but on a cruise it's in my safe and I don't miss it.

We were on the Solstice May 27th Alaska cruise and observed something we hadn't seen before. Several tables near us had many cell phones out texting and watching videos while ordering and even when eating. My opinion only but I think this is so rude to the dining staff and your fellow diners. Hopefully not the new norm. I have no problem with people snapping quick pics of the food but these phones were out and being used the entire dinner. We had a good cruise but this was unsettling.

There have been conflicting reports about whether elites have been receiving priority tendering. I would love to hear from a few people that I've traveled in the last month that are elites or elite plus, to learn if they received priority tendering.

We have elite status and were offered priority tendering in Juneau3 weeks ago.

I am also sailing in two weeks and it isn't looking good to make it into Tracy Arm. We paid for the catamaran excursion which is not cheap and I really wanted to see Tracy Arm as every person says it is absolutely amazing.

 

Is the catamaran in Endicott comparable? I don't want to just see a glacier. I want to see all the amazing things that you apparently get to see as you make your way into TA.

 

Will they allow you to cancel and get a refund on the excursion in this case? Not that I would but just curious.

We took the catamaran trip the end of May this year we saw some amazing glacier calving, waterfalls and icebergs very similar to Tracy Arm.On the way back to Juneau we found 3 Orcas we watched for a while.We enjoyed the excursion a lot.

Wow! Sounds fabulous. I am on the small catamaran excursion to the glacier and eventually Juneau. Did the excursion continue on from Endicott or was it cancelled?

The catamaran excursion still goes to the Dawes glacier in Endicott Arm. We have done Tracy Arm a few times in the past and did Endicott arm a few weeks ago. We found it just as spectacular as Tracy Arm

Over the years I've only read a couple of trip reports where people saw bears at Herring Cove. The last one was Stiley's report visiting in late june 2014 if you want to look it up. They went via a taxi cab tour; drove back a few times and finally had success.

We saw 3 bears at Herring Cove two weeks ago on a tour with Ketchikan Taxi Tour!

After the first couple of days of our cruise we stopped using the menus as much of what we requested was not available...we told the Sommelier the type of wine we liked and always had something pleasant brought to us. Some of them we never saw on any menu. There was always a pleasant Kendal Jackson as a standby! Some Sommeliers seemed to make more effort than others....I think the OP unfortunately didn't have a good one. The MDR manager should have come back to them...

 

As Jeylane said...it became a positive for us as it encouraged us to try new wines. I am sure you will be fine on your cruise and if you feel the selection is below standard voice your feelings...

We were always offered the Celebrity label Kendall Jackson wines.Call me a wine snob Kendall Jackson is a grocery store brand available in our area by the bottle for the price Celebrity charges for 2 glasses.Cafe Bacio always offered the seeker Chardonnay. An individual can't even buy that it's a bulk wine purchase not premium wine.

We have, on occasion, found that a particular wine (s) that was on the menu was not available or ran out mid-cruise. When this has happened we have always been offered alternatives that were equally as good or better than the wine on the menu.

 

When the MDR manager didn't follow up I would have followed up and if that didn't work I would have contacted the F & B Mgr.

That has been our experience in the past. This time it was every premium wine on the menu by the glass. It wasn't the servers fault they would have gotten better tips. It was only a short 7 night cruise didn't feel like standing in line going up the chain of command.

Just off the Solstice yesterday morning. This was our 13th Celebrity cruise. We had a great time with one exception.As part of our cruise deal we got the classic drink package. I work in the California wine industry so we paid to upgrade to the premium drink package. Really looked forward to the fine wines available. Every day multiple times in the MDR , Cellar masters and Café Bacio we tried to order premium wine by the glass that was on their drink menus. They never not once had the premium wines by the glass available. The third day onboard we had a conversation with the MDR manager who acted surprised when we told him about it. He wrote down our stateroom number and promised to call us back with an explanation. He didn't. We have another Celebrity cruise booked in February.We are not complainers normally and always find a lot of enjoyment when we cruise. This just rubbed us the wrong way.:(

Before you call, first compare the amount of the OBC to the cost of the gratuities to see which would be more advantageous for you.

 

If you come out ahead with the OBC (as is often the case), be grateful and leave it alone.

 

Only call to complain if the OBC is less than the cost of the gratuities.

If they are the same, it really makes no difference.

 

 

like !

Not stressing! First world problem. Just never had it happen before.

We often book directly with Celebrity never had an issue. We booked with a TA this time because it was a good deal on a great stateroom.Paid in full in Dec. Now I am supposed to contact Celebrity about changing OBC back to prepaid gratuities? Not my job this time I think . I will call the TA on Monday. This is a big time TA that advertises on this site.

My TA just informed us instead of prepaid gratuities we will get additional OBC. Whats up with that? This cruise is next month.

Cruise season has started.We'll be on a ship in San Francisco two weeks from tonight.Can't wait to head north again!

Good to hear that!

I'd be ticked off if English wasn't my primary language to arrange transportation to find out it's a different pier. That's why I posted this . It's an easy change for those of us that live here.

Experienced cruiser who recently changed my password.:)

Doing the doc dance today but noticed that Celebrity has the Infinity docking at pier 35 when the Port of San Francisco has it docking at pier 27.I am local so not a big deal to us but heads up to anyone coming from afar. Pier 27 is the new cruise ship pier in San Francisco.I don't think Celebrity has updated their data base since the new terminal opened. :)I could be wrong but Celebrity needs to address this.