Orsino

Ouch. That looks like bad news to me. Edit: other thread says the ship met a helicopter. Wow, I didn’t realize helicopters had that much range.

We were on anthem in star class in March. After two days of in restaurant dining, we tried in room dining and found that to be much smoother for our party and we had all meals in room from then on. We were four in the star class room and two not in the room. Genie was fine with it. We had bought the dining package for the other adult as well as drink package. i think it boils down to numbers. A few extras isn’t going to be a big deal. I mean, the room sleeps 6 and the TABLE seats 8 so I think they are kind of inviting extras. mat some point though, too many would be too many. I think that as long as the food order fits on one cart, no one is going to care since the effort required is the same. That and having the dining package for non star guests if ordering from specialty.

The original iPhone is an interesting comparison for a sudden and substantial drop in price. The original iPhone, when released, sold for 600 USD (which was high for a phone back then). Apple dropped the price by 200 dollars to 400 USD (33%) only two months later. The backlash was huge. Apple ended up issuing store credit to those who bought at 600 USD. (I think it was 100, but I don't remember exactly). So yes, often price drops are 'too bad, so sad', but sometimes the circumstances warrant the company to 'do better.'

I happened to do my first suite experience earlier this month in a 20k room (anthem, royal loft, so the big one). It’s kind of crazy that we did it, but we took our moms and the great big space was perfect because they didn’t leave the room as much. So it was worth it for the views for them and I wanted to be in the same room so I could keep an eye on my mom. (We slept on the couch!) We would not get this room for just the two of us, though having done it, it is very tempting. We also lucked out with the anthem engine troubles and skipped port canaveral and got about 3k back. Perfect for us since the whole point was to look at the ocean from the suite, so we got an extra day to enjoy the massive balcony and ocean views. 18k for 4 people. I can live with that.

My wild guess is that the randomness of strictness is probably more of a function of the randomness of how many show up early. If half the ship shows up at 9:30am then they sort of have to be strict on arrival times. If most follow their port arrival times and only a few slip in early, then there is no need to be strict. i have no idea if this is true, but it seems like a better explanation than mood.

I was on anthem 12 March to 19 March. I would describe Day two as cool but not cold. I remember walking around on the top deck without a coat or jacket. Long sleeves weather for me though. Day two was very foggy and cloudy. They cancelled North Star ‘flights’ which I think is a good thing since they were charging for them on this sea day and the views would not have been interesting with the fog. The surprise for me was day 7 was warmer than I anticipated. At this point we were at the same latitude as Maryland and since we had clear sunny skies in the afternoon (and calm seas!) it was like a bonus day in my mind. weather varies of course. Nassau should have been our warmest day, but it was cloudy and windy so the day before and after were superior.

One note about Chef Table and Star Class. You should book Chef Table (and pay) for the night you want it and get the difference refunded when on board. Since they sell Chef Table on the planner, it is possible to sell out if you wait for your Genie to book it for you. I don't know how much a problem this actually is, but our genie mentioned by email that we should book ourselves it if we were interested (we were not).

For Spectra's Cabaret I would describe it as Complimentary AND Reservations Recommended. You could get in to see it without a reservation, but they will let the people with reservations in first. If you are the type to show up 5 minutes before a show starts, then the reservation wouldn't do you any good. If you are the type who likes to show up early for a show to secure good seats or many seats together, then Reservations would be highly recommended for you. The ship does not charge for reservations.

By the way. There is laser tag now.

I’m currently on anthem. We received notice of the cancelled port on Friday night before sailing so I wouldn’t make assumptions until Saturday.

I just left coco cay two hours ago and this thread is the first I’m hearing of seaweed. We had a great day and no smells or seaweed on the beach (south beach, I didn’t go anywhere else).

My understanding is that you can book for 2 people and leave it at that. If the 2nd person doesn't show up to board what are they going to do? They can't force the 2nd person to go on the cruise. I'm also under the impression that when your 2nd doesn't show up, you can have the port and taxes for that passenger refunded. In other words, you don't have to change it to one person. I think you don't get double points though. We did this, but then passenger 2 decided to join.

I'd be okay with IV if the design of the room made better sense. We liked the non-balcony balcony on river cruises and felt the added space in the room was worth not having a true balcony. Plus we could enjoy a balcony-like experience from a comfy sofa by the open doors. On Celebrity, IV looks like a balcony space shoved indoors. No point to that. The design of the room should take advantage of the space and not make a lower quality fake balcony experience. I'd like to see a comfy sofa next to the window, that would be more worthwhile because while I like balconies, the chairs are never all that comfortable. So when they put two chairs and a table by the IV... what's the point?!

Very kind of you Jim. I appreciate the offer. I’m not much of a wine drinker though and there is no way my husband can drink a whole bottle himself. I hope you can find a better home for your Chardonnay. Going into this cruise I was wary of the all included drink package, but I’m getting value at al bacio. It is freeing to be able to order as much coffee and tea as I want.

Earlier it was accurately reported that the soft serve machine was broken. I’m happy to report that as of right now it is working and the soft serve is quite good. My husband is very happy to have his beloved soft serve.

In my opinion, Quebec City is the perfect cruise port. So many interesting things within walking distance of the port makes visiting this port so easy. When we got off the ship I was surprised to find ourselves right next to our favorite restaurant in Quebec City (unfortunately closed on Mondays). Returning to the ship and going out again later is also a breeze.

He is back. I will have to try a dry cappuccino.

I very much enjoyed reading this thread in preparation for our joining you on this cruise. I think we saw you in the retreat lounge by the window from the deck 4 promenade before dinner. Your comments on Al bacio are on target. It has become our favorite place on the ship.

We are also on Summit on 31 August. I'm new to celebrity, and was surprised to find that we could book main dining online before the cruise. We did ours around the time of final payment and nothing was available between 6 and 8PM. I assumed everyone else already booked the 6 to 8 times, but it seems that the seasoned Celebrity cruisers didn't know about booking ahead either. Or maybe Celebrity doesn't offer times between 6 and 8 at all?

No. I'm not sure. The Island Explorer webpage makes no mention of it and specifically states "The Island Explorer is not Acadia National Park." I suppose it would make sense that NPS supports the Island Explorer, but they certainly make efforts to keep them separate.

I think the NPS does a decent job with the Acadia park pass, especially given the "openness" of Acadia National Park compared to other parks. Because Acadia was granted land, the roads and access points can't all be gated as there are far too many of them. This results in being able to drive into the park without going through a manned gate. I also think they are reasonable in issuing parking tickets with instructions on how to buy a park pass and cancel the ticket. I do agree that communication of what pedestrians are supposed to do could be better. The fact that a pedestrian pass exists always confused me as we buy a vehicle pass, but sometimes opt to leave our car in Bar Harbor. (We are not required to buy both, but it feels weird not having anything when walking into the park since the vehicle pass is in Bar Harbor) As for Island Explorer, the routes were terrific until Covid. Now, for Bar Harbor, the main thing "missing" is direct service between the Village Green and Jordan Pond House. (We tourists need our popovers). But, you know, covid. Also Island Explorer is not associated with the NPS. In other words, park pass payment doesn't pay for the Island Explorer. Its funding comes from elsewhere. It's a free service, so I don't complain. Imagine everyone in Bar Harbor having to drive or hire a taxi. eeek! The other great thing about Island Explorer, is you can plan an open ended hike. That's what we are planning to do for our Bar Harbor port day. (if it doesn't rain)

In 2021, this building was closed. The nps.gov website does not list the village green as a purchase location. You can purchase at the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce on Cottage Street (Third party seller). You can also buy a pass online at: https://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/fees.htm According to NPS.gov you can also buy at the Jordan Pond Gift Shop (third party), which is a little bit out of order, but as long as you buy your pass, they don't care when during the day you do so. The old practice was to ticket cars without a pass and allow the driver to buy a pass to cancel the ticket. The IE bus driver doesn't check because most everyone leaves their pass in their car. As stated by others above, I also don't recommend taking the #1 bus to the Visitor Center from the Village Green as that is in the wrong direction of the main loop. It's mainly a hub for people driving cars onto the island who need a place to park.

For the non-fiction crowd going to Canada/New England, I recommend Cod by Mark Kurlansky. I read that on my first Canada/New England cruise and it fit the setting perfectly. For mystery fiction set in Quebec Canada, I recommend the Gamache Series by Louise Penny. It's mostly Montreal, but book 6 goes to Quebec City and incorporates many locales into the story. Book 6 contains spoilers for previous books, so be warned if you skip (like I did, but worth it to preview Quebec City before a visit).

That was quite a while ago. I think we were near Adventure Ocean which was a concern for noise, but turned out to be not bad. I think the only noise was mid-day and nothing in the evenings. I do recall that the glass on the balcony was not clear due to salt. We got our room steward to clean it, but he left us with the impression that he's not supposed to. It wasn't a dealbreaker for us, but if you spend a lot of time on the balcony and want to be able to see through the glass, then it is something to consider since I think forward cabins are more prone to salt spray.

Thank you all for your thorough and thoughtful responses (and so quick!). I knew I could rely on Cruise Critic boards to give me the information I needed. I'll lay it out for my sister and let her choose. She may not even be able to join us, but I wanted to know what was what.