NRG

We are new to Celebrity but platinum on RCL and Princess. Our most recent cruises were with Princess.  I’m considering a Maine/Canada 9 night on Summit in May.  There will be 3 sea days, can anyone tell me what to expect for activities?  I’m not expecting excitement, remember we like Princess,😉 But Princess shows movies in their theater on sea day afternoons and I enjoy that.  What will the Summit have besides bingo and art auctions?  Thanks for all replies!

Keith, thank you for your response. The Argonaut looks very nice but now I see that they charge an additional daily resort fee, increasing the price difference between the two hotels. Anyone out there have experience with the Hyatt Centric? Thanks

I am looking for a hotel for 2 nights precruise and these look like my best options. What do you think? BTW, visited SF years ago and stayed at the Palace Hotel. I actually want the Fisherman's Wharf area now for the precruise tourist experience :D. Thanks in advance.

Actually I said we went back to "look". My initial post is intended for cruise visitors who have only a day or two in Barcelona so please move on.

EnricM we just walked Passeig de Gracia and took pictures of the three houses, there were lines to enter we did not.

My husband and I just returned from a land trip to Madrid/Barcelona. I always go to Cruise Critic for advice so I thought I would return the favor. We flew into Madrid, stayed 4 nights then took the high speed train for 3 nights in Barcelona. The train experience was great. We did 3 prebooked tours in Barcelona and I recommend them all:

Food Lover Tour: We did their Picoteo tapas tasting tour. Julie was our guide and there were 3 couples in all. Very good food, walked around and visited 4 different restaurants we would not have found on our own.

Barcelona Day Tours: We did the 4 hour City Highlights Tour. We were picked up in a mini van at our hotel, 12 people in all. We went into Parc Guell, otherwise just did outside of attractions including La Sagrada Familia. This was a really good tour in my opinion, since Barcelona is a big city and some attractions are far apart it saved us a lot of traveling around on our own. We went back on our own later to look at the Gaudi houses. The tour ends at Sagrada Familia so you can book a time to enter on your own or be dropped back at your hotel.

Runner Bean Free Walking Tour Gothic Quarter: It rained off and on the morning we did this tour but it didn't matter. There were I think 12 people on the tour, probably would have been more without the rain. Very informative and very worth doing.

We flew home Saturday morning, there was no problem going through security. Our flight on AA to JFK had a 4 hour delay due to mechanical issues (the toilets didn't work :o) but there was no sign of any strikes. Eventually the plane took off.

I'll try to answer if anyone has questions.

Thanks to all for your replies. We've been to Santa Monica on previous trips so I would prefer Marina Del Rey or Manhattan Beach. The Strand House sounds nice, any other ideas?

We will be staying at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach the last weekend of March. My cousins live in Brentwood and I want to meet them for lunch somewhere in between. I was thinking of one of the beach towns, somewhere with nice shops we can walk around and also restaurants with a water view. Would love to hear your suggestions of towns and restaurants. Also, suggestions for your favorite casual restaurant in Long Beach that is not a national chain. Thanks!

Previously our travel summary mentioned staggered boarding for the Golden this Sunday, but now I do not see the notice. Does anyone know if they decided not to do it?

I just checked and it is gone from our 7/21 departure too! It still says check for staggered ckeck in times but the list of decks and times has been removed. All the complaints seem to have paid off, looks like a dead issue for now.

The cigar bar doors were closed on the starboard side my entire cruise, the main hall to the princess theater, (it use to be open and very stinky on the two othercruises on the golden)...I had to go to the cigar bar to get ice, since my room steward was not great about filling my ice bucket twice a day and my refrigerator did not work from day 1 to day 4 in the late PM even tough I complain to my steward, everyday, and he YELLED at me, and then I complained to the pursers desk for two days... the window suites have their own private hallway and it does not stink...only the cabins where smokers previously occupied it....like my cabin :(

We are booked in F311 on the Golden to Alaska next summer. It was less $$ than the BB balcony I would usually book so I was happy to get the suite perks. Thank you for sharing your experience and your pictures. It seems that everyone who has ACTUALLY stayed in these cabins says they are quiet and not affected by cigar smoke. The stale smoke in your cabin is awful but something that could happen in any cabin on the ship. I do hope that will be better after the new no smoking policy goes into effect. It sounds like F309 need deep cleaning, did they offer to do that when you complained about the smell?

"One couple in our group walked off at 7am. So you will be fine."

Thanks for the great review and all the info Janet. When your friends' did the self walk off at 7am do you know how long it took them to get to the airport? What time was their flight? I am thinking about doing the same for our cruise next summer if we book a 10:45am flight out of SEA. I always like to be early off the ship and at the airport before the lines form. Thanks again.

Great review so far....can't wait for the rest!!