Bruin Steve

We're leaving in two weeks for Rio to start our Infinity Transatlantic cruise. We arrive on April 10 and are staying at the Hilton Copacabana. The original plan was to relax on the 10th, going on a full day Rio tour on the 11th...then to play it by ear on the 12th and board on the 13th... But, with all the talk of safety issues in Rio, we're re-thinking that day of the 12th. Maybe better to take another organized tour that picks up and drops off at the Hilton. I was looking through day tours and notice several to Petropolis...some with a visit to the brewery, others just Petropolis tours. There seems to be a large number of companies doing these. Almost too many to sort through. We would want something that is definitely IN ENGLISH. Fewer people the better, though we'd like a relatively low price so we'd want a tour with others rather than just an expensive day with the two of us and a tour guide. First, worth visiting? Second, and more important, ANY RECOMMENDATIONS? Thanks...

I have had issues with service in one dining venue or another a couple of times in the past...and mentioned it to guest services. And, that evening, we have been visited at dinner by the Maitre d'. But I wouldn't ever characterize it as "confronted". Both times they dropped by to make sure they understood our issues, asked if there was anything they could do, assured us that the issues would be addressed if they could...and have given us something as a token--either a bottle of wine or a free meal in a specialty restaurant...both of which outweighed the issue at hand.and greatly appreciated. We've usually taken the opportunity to thank the Maitre d', vent a little but also commend those crew members from whom we have had excellent service. I have no problem at all with the visit by the Maitre d'. I think they really try hard to keep the customer happy.

When I said "best", it was not only cost...The option was presented as "Iberia", not level...and the main advantages were: 1) Nonstop rather than routing through Toronto, JFK, Chicago or Heathrow... 2) Time of flight--departing BCN at 2:00 pm, arriving LAX 6:10 pm local time...2:00 pm leaves us plenty of time to wake up in Barcelona, have a nice breakfast, check out of the hotel, getting a ride to the airport and check in at a leisurely pace...going through customs not until we are home and not dealing with it mid-trip...and arriving LAX at 6:10 pm means we are, in the least, catching an Uber from LAX around 7:00-7:30 after the height of rush hour traffic... I always anticipate we could get schedule changes...our United flights to Rio changed multiple times and now we are departing earlier and have to get to LAX at the crack of dawn...but I never anticipated any change in airline.... Never seen that before...and I travel a lot.

There is NO GIG-BCN air leg... We are going LAX-GIG on United... Then Rio to Lisbon on Celebrity Infinity...a 13 night cruise visiting Salvador de Bahia, Brazil...La Palma, Canary Islands...Tenerife...Madeira...and ending in Lisbon... 3 nights in Lisbon, then Lisbon-BCN on TAP... 1 night in Barcelona... Then we board Symphony of the Seas for a 7-night cruise to Mallorca...Marseilles...La Spezia...Rome...Naples...and back to Barcelona...one more night there...then... BCN-LAX on "Level/Iberia"... We tried every possible combination of two or three one-ways, open jaw, whatever. Tried kayak, expedia and individual airline sites...What we got with Celebrity Air and TAP worked out best by far.

Actually, yes... We saved significantly with Celebrity Air on our LAX-Rio and Barcelona-LAX legs...Celebrity Air's price for the Lisbon-Barcelona leg was significantly more than we paid biooking that leg directly with TAP...and all Celebrity Air offered was a change of planes in Madrid on a several hour itinerary. TAP gave us Lisbon-BCN nonstop. But on the two longer legs, Celebrity Air saved us several hundred dollars per person. But Celebrity Air is a bit clueless in a sense...up until I explained it all to them today, they did NOT know Level was involved. They thought nothing had changed since I booked it and that it was still on Iberia. This morning, they sent me a new confirmation email stating that it was "operated by Iberia for Level". They told me to call Iberia myself to confirm amenities. The agent at Iberia said, basically, "Trust me. You'll get food and drinks"...then he said he'd send me a confirmation by email...and proceded to email me a confirmation for some other passenger's January 18 flight from Venice to Chile!!! When I pointed that out, he finally sent us two confirmation documents for us on "Level" letterhead. Confirms flights, luggage and seats but neither mentions food or drink...but again, he told me "Don't worry...everything will be fine".

That was one of my new concerns now that this flight has been taken over by them. The Iberia site does say my included baggage includes THREE 23 kg pieces. I assume the extra one is due to my One World Ruby/American Airlines Gold Million Mile status...I know that status gets me two free pieces of luggage when I fly on Alaska Airlines--another One World member. I called Celebrity Air and asked and they told me that they ONLY sell tickets that include luggage and food on international flights...but I'll likely call back and try to get written confirmation.

Disclaimer: I don't necessarily know it's the worst. I haven't experienced every company's customer service. But, in MY experience...well...here goes... I booked airfare for my upcoming cruises--Celebrity Infinity 13 nights Rio-Lisbon and Symphony of the Seas 7 ights Western Med--through Celebrity Air. LAX to Rio on United via Houston and Barcelona-LAX on Iberia. As is typical lately, we were able to get seat assignments, immediately and free, on United back when we booked...but, Iberia wouldn't allow seat assignments until the thing was actually ticketed...and then, not without an extra charge. No problem, I thought, I'll deal with it later. Well, we're getting really close (the Iberia leg was only 45 days away and the whole cruise including air paid in full)...so... First I call Celebrity Air. Often, in the past, they've helped me get the seats...they did it for the United flights. But they tell me to deal with Iberia myself...they do give me the ticket numbers--often needed when dealing with the airlines. Before calling Iberia, I go to their website since often one can just deal with it there. But, though I can pull up my flight details, it says "no seats" and there is no clickable link that will bring up seating choices. So, I call... The agent I get (after the typical time on hold) is very nice...and things seem to be going fine...He finds us a window and aisle near the front in the 2-4-2 configuration plane. He tells us the cost will be around $75 US. No problem--I sort of expected that. He says they can't take credit card info over the phone, but he'll send an email with a link to where I type in my credit card info...and he'll stay on the line with me while I do it...Seems like everything is going perfectly. Not so fast. After I input the Visa card, he says "uh-oh...it won't work". Then he tells me the issue is that though the tickets are through Iberia, the flight is actually operated by "Level" and I have to contact Level to get seat assignments (First time in my life I have ever heard of Level...In Fact, our original confirmation with Celebrity Air clearly states "IB-2623 - IBERIA AIRLINES - Operated By IBERIA AIRLINES"). But, okay, I call "Level". A recording comes on and tells me the office is CLOSED and I should call back during "business hours"...which turns out to be business hours in SPAIN--starting at 10:00 am Spanish time--which is 2:00AM MY time in West Coast America. In the meanwhile, I try the Level website. Unbelievably, the Level website doesn't even recognize my reservation. Tried the 6 letter code, tried an alternate code, tried their alternate method of inputting route, date and email. Nada. So, I stay up until 2:00 am. At 2:00 am, I call Level and explain the situation. After some discussion, they tell me that, although the flight is operated by Level, my ticket, being issued by Iberia, if I want seats, I have to get them through Iberia. "Really?" "Sure". I hang up and call Iberia. The Iberia agent I get this time looks up my booking and tells me that I have seats--the same ones the first guy said he tried to get me and failed. He sends me an email from Amadeus which actually shows seat numbers. I say thanks and hang up...and go to sleep. In the morning, I decide to check and make absolute sure. I check the Level website. It still does not recognize my reservation. I check the Iberia website. It still says "No Seats". I check my Visa card website. It does not show the $75 charge. So, first I call Level. I ask why I can't see my reservation on their website. The agent says that, since the ticket is by Iberia, they won't even have my reservation anywhere on their system...and they can't give us seats...I have to call Iberia. I asked if he could just check the flight and tell us if our supposed seats are even assigned or still available. He says "no". I ask "If Iberia can assign us seats, how doies Level know that they've been assigned?". He doesn't know. Seriously. I hang up an call Iberia again. I explain everything in detail. The agent says "We can't assign you seats". You cannot get seat assignments until you show up at the airport for the flight. I ask "Why?". He says "Because it's a codeshare". I tell him that's ridiculous. I've been on lots of "codeshares" and it's never been an issue. And, if Level is assigning seats...and if we're running late to the airport, we could find a full plane with only scattered middle seats in the back of the plane remaining. He insisted that is just how it works. My wife takes the phone from me and tries phrasing it differently. The agent is still a brick wall. Not only a brick wall, he remains silent for minutes at a time. Doesn't answer our questions. We ask "are you still there?" He says "Yes"...but still doesn't answer. We hang up. I call back one more time trying to get another agent who, maybe, talks. I finally get one. He says "let me check". After several minutes of hold time, he tells us that we have "pending seat assignments"...we just have an "amount due". He directs me back to the Iberia website. I again input my Visa card info. This time, it goes through. The agent forwards me several emails with confirmation and receipts. The seats finally show up on our booking on Iberia.com. The reservation still does not show up on Level.com. We have seats. We think. It only took 7 phone calls to seven different agents over a period of about 20 hours from 4:00 pm yesterday Pacific Time to Noon today. Now I just have to worry about what kind of an airline "Level" is.

Already booked long ago...

I'm extremely happy to hear this. We are heded out on a long trip in a couple of weeks...Flying to Rio de Janeiro and doing a 13 night Transatlantic on Celebrity Infinity, ending in Lisbon,,,we spend a few days there, then fly to Barcelona to catch the Symphony of the Seas, then home from there. We booked the LAX-Rio and the Barcelona-LAX legs on CelebrityAir/RCCL Air2Sea, but the options they had for Lisbon to BCN were a little crazy and way overpriced--and all needed to change planes in Madrid. I found a flight on TAP--direct Lisbon to BCN, less than 2 hours, 23 kg of luggage each included, for $76 US per person...less than a third of what we were looking at through the cruise lines...and saving us several hours... Hopefully, our experience will be as good as yours.

We were in Aqua the second 12 night cruise in a B2B just prior to the pandemic. We typically show up for dinner at 7:00...never had a wait, but also never got a window table (not sure we cared)...but always in the same area--about the third or fourth row from the window. My wife wsn't thrilled with Blu and missed the waiters we had on our first non-Aqua leg...so, when we got to the last night, we actually went back and ate in the MDR... For our transatlantic Rio-Lisbon cruise on infinity coming up in three weeks, we recently had the opportunity to move up to an A1 Aqua...My wife was hesitant but has decided to give it another try. If there is a great benefit here, it's that the ship currently appears to be half-empty with 61 Aqua cabins and a handful of Aqua Sky Suites still available. I am hoping that means we won't have any problems getting seated at Blu...and, since on M-Class, Blu is adjacent to the MDR, it will be easy for me to also order off the regular MDR menu when I want...correct?

Thanks for letting me know...I never got notified by Wyndham, Marriott or the hotel. I called Marriot tonight and the guy, at first, didn't even know they had something named "Zone Hotel". It doesn't show up as one of Marriott's "brands" on their website. The guy finally did some searching and "found" the htel, then found my reservation--a completely different reservation number than on my original Wyndham confirmation. I looked it up on the Marriott system...The base room rate was the same. Somehow, the taxes went up from what i had originally been confirmed as by about $2...not a big deal. But the "free breakfast" that shows up on my original confirmation has disappeared. The guy said he'd contact the hotel about it and they would get back to me in 2-5 days.... I checked the current room rates for the same room (with breakfast) on the Marriott site and it is now approximately DOUBLE my reservation price ($181--or is it $183--versus the current $360!!!). For $360, I could have multiple really nice hotel choices in Downtown.

Long Beach is a BIG city...half a million in population, covering 52 square miles. The Grand Prix is in Downtown--near the harbor, southwest corner of the city. LGB Airport is in the extreme north of the city. The World Cruise Center is in San Pedro, 6-8 miles across the very large harbor. The drive from San Pedro to LGB Airport, going through Downtown Long Beach is about 15 miles...but, during the race (and, really, most ANY time or date), a smart taxi driver or Uber/Lyft driver will avoid Long Beach almost entirely and go 110 North to the 405 South...adds about 4 miles...but not necesserily much more drive time since it's all major freeways. You'll bypass the race area and probably won't have much in the way of extra traffic...You have VERY LITTLE to worry about with a 4:00 pm flight.

If you stay in a hotel at or very near the Placa Catalunya, a good way to get there from the airport (or return) is to use the Aerobus... https://aerobusbarcelona.es/?lang=en# Cheap easy bus that picks up right at the terminal and drops off right on the Placa Catalunya... 6,75 € per person one-way or 11,65 € pp for a round trip ticket. Frequent buses. We took it both ways last time. Pre-purchased tickets on the internet. For our hotel, we only had to roll our suitcases across the plaza. The "stop" is right in front of northern end of the El Corte Ingles department store.

Stayed at the 1898 for four days pre-cruise the visit before lat...and LOVED it. Maybe the only reason we didn't go back this last visit or this next one was that the prices for our dates were a little high and we got the H10 Catalunya Plaza (which we also love) for a much better rate. We had also booked the Jazz for a trip that got canceled during the pandemic. I don't think you can go really wrong with any of those... But, between the 1898 and the Jazz, I think the 1898 is a little nicer...and the location is a bit better as well... If all else is equal, I'd say take the 1898...IMHO

I guess we're pretty well settled on most of what we do...and may stick to the hotel after dark... My last big questiuon is this: We are pretty much looking at day one as a "kick back and relax" day to recover from a long day of travel and time zone changes. Day two, we have that full day Rio tour. That leaves day three. Original thought was to play it by ear, perhaps go visit sights around town on our own. The new thought occurred that it may feel safer to go with another organized tour--tour provider/driver/guide who know what they are doing and where they are going...maybe another small group with 4-6 others--safety in numbers. So, the question is, after doing the full day seemingly "complete" Rio tour on day two, is there another different tour--either full or half day--that would be very worthwhile to take??? Thanks...

Are you guys sure you don't automatically get the Premium drink package with a suite? We certainly had it on the last two cruises when we were in a suite...that and the streaming WiFi and the gratuities and a bunch of OBC... And, looking at the booking page for my upcoming April Infinity cruise, it shows this graphic: Or...is it something about the "MoveUp" thing where the perks remain what you had with your original booking? I've never used MoveUp to upgrade on Celebrity. But, IMHO, the real value of having a suite (aside from the obvious larger room--which actually means little to me when I use the room mostly to sleep and change clothes) is Luminae, the Premium drinks and the dedicated Retreat areas where the service is impeccable and I don't worry about what I order. If that doesn't come with the MoveUp, I can't figure why I'd bother to use it to move up to a suite. For this next one, I'm in an A1 Aqua class and the MoveUp isn't yet available (It is on my immediately following RCCL Symphony of the Seas cruise--and the minimum bids to move up to a suite on that one are outrageous!). If I want to move up, I think I'll skip this nonsense and just call my TA and have her call Celebrity and renegotiate...WITH all the expected amenities of course. OTOH, I've already got drinks, wifi and gratuities. And we'll give Blu another try...even though my wife REALLY prefers Luminae.

Why do so many people want to come onto these boards to bash so many fine cities? Mary Ellen doesn't state where she comes from, but there is a good chance it has a crime rate much higher than Seattle. The FBI published the homicide rates for the 50 most populous cities in America (2021)...and Seattle ranks WELL DOWN THE LIST with 5.6 homicides per 100,000 population. To give an idea as to how dangerous that is compared to other American cities, Memphis, Tennessee led the list with 48.7. Atlanta was at 32, Kansas City 30.7,Louisville, KY 30.5, Columbus, OH 22.4, Houston 20., Dallas 16.5, Nashville 14.6, Tulsa, OK 14.3, Fort Worth, TX 12.6, Oklahoma City 11.5, Charlotte, NC 11.1. Many others on the list in double figures. Seattle, again? 5.6. Crime rates? Forbes published the 15 most dangerous cities in America... https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2023/01/31/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-us-crime-in-america/?sh=6a071c064b25 15 Most Dangerous Cities in the US 1 St. Louis, Missouri 2 Mobile, Alabama 3 Birmingham, Alabama 4 Baltimore, Maryland 5 Memphis, Tennessee 6 Detroit, Michigan 7 Cleveland, Ohio 8 New Orleans, Louisiana 9 Shreveport, Louisiana 10 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 11 Little Rock, Arkansas 12 Oakland, California 13 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 14 Kansas City, Missouri 15 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Funny, Seattle doesn't even make the list. Seems it would be a whole lot safer for a lot of folks to enjoy Seattle than to stay home... Homelessness and drug problems? Look around...they exist EVERYWHERE in America today...Yet we continually cut budgets for programs to deal with these...but homeless and drugs are EVERYWHERE. I was on a cruise recently and mentioned that, after the cruise, we were headed up to Portland Oregon to visit our daughters. A woman responded "Portland? I would NEVER go to Portland. That's got to be the worst city in America. Someone there tried to set fire to a police station!" i asked her where she was from. She proudly responded "Oklahoma City!" I said, "Oklahoma City? Isn't that where someone actually BOMBED the federal building and killed 168 people???" So many people, even here on cruise critic, seem to love to bash so many fine cities. Most don't care about the actuall facts or statistics. They NEVER look at their own home towns or areas. Their opinions seem to be formed by ignorance and anecdotal information only. Yet they love to give advice on where NOT to visit. Ignore them. When you visit Seattle, enjoy it for all of the many wonderful things it has for you.

How much do they charge for that round trip? Our hotel doesn't appear to have too many restaurant choices nearby...I was thinking of Ubering to a restaurant...

Uber from LAX right to Long Beach... Stay at one of these: Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Centric at the Pike, Renaissance, Westin, Maya Doubletree, Residence Inn Downtown, Hilton. First four are in the prime tourist area of Downtown, very near LOTS of restaurants, shops and attractions...Maya DT and Residence Inn are across the bridge, VERY close to Carnival Pier and Queen Mary...Hilton is near the prime area, a little off to the West...

One amenity per cabin...You need to agree on it...and share the wine...or decide who gets stuck with the cheap toiletry bag...

Well... So, a bottle of wine priced at $99.99 will cost us $60...and a bottle of wine priced at $100.01 will cost $80... Think we'll ever see a $99 price on the wine list?? Of course, either bottle retails back home for about $12...and they buy it wholesale for $5...So they really don't mind selling it to you either way... If my wife wants wine, she'll just use the vouchers for the cheap "by the glass" stuff... Unless we get that cheap "Gift Amenity" Muscatel (which I found on the internet for $5 a bottle!)...

Oh boy! How unexcited can I get? Last cruise, a month ago on Navigator of the Seas, I requested a beach towel... It wasn't in the cabin...no explanation...complained to Guest Services. They told me they were out. Eventually, the Crown & Anchor Host gave us a nice tote bag (probably the new perk). It started coming apart (handle stitching coming out) during the ride home. We requested Coke Zero as our beverage. That was missing too...only water. After telling Guest Services, they eventually sent us two cans of Coke Zero...and four more waters... We'll be on Symphony of the Seas in April. I guess I'll never get my beach towel. I was going to ask for Heinekens this time. Oh well. We already bought the "12 bottle water package" because my wife doesn't trust tap water and 4 bottles wasn't quite enough...Now we'll get six...Plus 12...So, 18 bottles of water for a 7-night cruise. But my wife says she wants at least a bottle per day...so she wants me to keep the package...it's only $12 because we purchased during the "sale"... We took a look at those pix of the toiletry bag... My wife said let's just get the cheap Muscatel...even though we get 5 free drinks a day each...We'll probably take it off the ship and drink it on our one-night post-cruise stay in Barcelona... I showed myt wife the photo of the new "crystal block",,,and showed her our older crystal block from Jewel of the Seas a few years back. She said she doesn't know what either is good for...but, the old one, at least, was "classy"...The new one looks like an advertisement behind a pane of glass... Oh well...at least I'm only 501 points from Pinnacle!!!

I travel with a couple of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SY5O5K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 It allows me to plug the adapter into a euro outlet, then plug the lamp pack in to the adapter...and my CPAP into the other adapter outlet. Buy two and use both lamp outlets without giving up either lamp!

We have not stayed at the H10 Montcada, however, last two visits, we stayed at the H10 Catalunya Plaza--which we loved so much we've booked them again for both our pre- and post cruise this April/May... H10 is a Spanish chain which operates 13 hotels in Barcelona alone. The Montcada is a 79 room hotel, the Catalunya Plaza, where we've stayed, is a 46 room hotel. Considering the smallish size, I think H10 does a very good job of managing...and there were some very good amenities. The breakfast at our hotel was EXCELLENT...with both a very diverse and well done buffet plus an excellent menu of cooked items which you could order and have delivered hot to your table. There were nespresso machines in the room as well as one in the lounge areas--along with some snacks and pastries throughout the day. The restaurant also had a small bar...and gave us a free welcome drink of choice for each stay. We had a minor problem with out room the first stay (not of their doing--construction in the building next door) and, after we mentioned it to the hotel, they responded by upgrading our room for our return stay. Now, personally, I don't like the location of the Montcada...though, overall, it's not bad...You are in the Barri Gotic--the old quarter...not far from the Cathedral or the Picasso Museum...but about a 15 minute walk from Las Ramblas or from the Placa Catalunya... After staying in 6 or 7 different hotels in various locations in Barcelona, I've gotten to where I always choose to stay as close as possible to the Placa Catalunya. It's the easiest location from which to walk to most sites or to pick up various form of public trasportation or tours...and for airport transpoirtation...sort of the center of everything for tourists in Barcelona...One of the things I love about the H10 Catalunya Plaza...

We often cruise out of LA in December/January...and we've, generally, had great experiences. In fact, we just did the Mexican Riviera on Navigator of the Seas one month ago--January 20-27. Weather was great in all three Mexican ports--in the 80s and sunny in all three. Seas were calm. Couldn't ask for better. Cruising ANYWHERE, one can always run into rough seas or bad weather. That being said, this has been an extremely unusual winter here in SoCal. Rainfall this season is up to 14 inches for the season--Well above our average...but would still be extremely low compared to most other places in the world... And, if you've booked a cruise out of California for next winter orr the one after, the odds are you will NOT see a repeat of this season's weather. IOW, DO NOT cancel any West Coast cruise based on the OP's alarm...