cruisingtheword

Recently I had to visit the ship doctor for the first time on any cruise - not for any major illness or accident but I contracted bronchitis/sinusitis and the OTC meds I brought with me were not adequate. As others said, it was not cheap but we will be reimbursed by our travel insurance company. Received the antibiotics I needed as well as other meds. As we had pre-purchased several shore excursions through Celebrity that I was not able to join, it was nice to learn that the ship doctor could authorize cancellation with full refund - I didn't even think to ask about that but the ship doctor volunteered the information. So even in my "minor" illness category, Celebrity receives 5 stars!

What a great post and so timely for us as we will board the Millennium in Yokohama this Sunday!!! It has been awhile since we were on a Celebrity ship (we were on both the Horizon and the Zenith shortly before Celebrity sold them) so we seem to have an amazing track record of sailing on Celebrity's older ships, which we actually like because we like the smaller ships. Have cruised on a number of other cruise lines as well, but Celebrity has probably been our favorite. We, too, enjoy the initial glass of champagne, join the herds at the buffet for lunch; however, this will be our first cruise with the drink package so I'm envisioning a pina colada to go with my lunch instead of iced tea! As soon as the rooms are ready we will head down, unpack our carry on bags (as well as our other bags if they have arrived), read the Welcome Aboard newsletter and find out what is going on the rest of the day, complain a little about the Muster Drill but know once we are done with that, all our responsibilities are over for the next 14 days! We also check out where our table is in the MDR, tour the ship, and now that we have the drink package decide what libation is best suited for sail-away. Leaving Thursday for Tokyo, my head is already in the clouds and my heart is on the sea!:p

Princess also requires that everyone sharing a stateroom be on the same beverage package.

My husband and I use the plastic pouches and we also entered China in Beijing and left from Shanghai 1.5 years ago and had no problems. Actually I was a little nervous about customs/immigration in China and it was no problem - they were professional but friendly and very welcoming to foreign tourists.

I prebooked 10 excursions over the summer for our Oct. 16 cruise on Millie and I printed out my order history which shows the price we paid for each of them. I checked that price against what Celebrity is showing now and none of the excursions we booked are cheaper now, matter of fact I found one that was 75 cents more than what we paid. :rolleyes: So don't be too worried if you can't determine if this is a good deal, it most likely isn't!

Our free drink package doesn't show up under our cruise summary either. It does show up under order history on the Celebrity website.

We used Sinorama for a 14 day trip to China last year including a 5 day Yangtze River cruise. Prices were wonderful and it was the most "all-inclusive" trip we've ever had - all meals, tips, external and internal flights were included. Our tour director was fantastic and our group was very compatible. I would not hesitate to take a trip of any length with them.

thank you so much for your quick reply! I knew we didn't need a Visa for Hong Kong, I was just afraid that with staying in an hotel, post cruise in shanghai, we might need some documentation on our Visa. Will you be staying in a hotel when you get to Shanghai or is it a port call?

We just have a port call in Shanghai so we will not be staying in a hotel. However, as long as you can show the customs agent your return air ticket if they ask for it I can't imagine you would have a problem. I was very apprehensive about how we would be treated by the customs agents in China but found them all to be serious about their jobs but very friendly and welcoming. I really doubt you will have any problems.

No, my understanding is that once you receive the 10 year visa (which we also have), it is good for multiple entries into China without any further documentation required. If your passport with the visa in it expires, as long as your new passport shows the exact same name and date of birth as the previous passport, the visa is still good. You just have to travel with both your old and your new passport. BTW, you don't need a visa for Hong Kong, only Shanghai. We are on the October 16th Millennium cruise from Yokohama to Hong Kong with a stop in Shanghai with exactly the visa situation I detailed above so I have researched this topic.

Thankfully, my husband and I visited China in March 2015 and purchased 10 year, multiple entry visas which actually were the same price as single entry visas. The visa application form was not clear about this, but fortunately the visa service we used here in Atlanta reviewed our form and changed our request to the 10 year, multiple entry visa. Therefore, we do not have to worry about our day in Shanghai on our Oct. 16 cruise because our visas are still valid. Actually my husband has had to renew his passport since our trip to China but I verified with the Chinese government that as long as his name and birthdate are the same in both documents, he can carry both his old passport with the Chinese visa and his new passport and it will still be honored. I'm saying this because if you decide it is worth it to get the visa, be sure and request the 10 year visa - $140 IS expensive for one day in Shanghai, but hopefully over the next 10 years you will have another opportunity to visit China. It was a wonderful trip, the history and culture are fascinating and the Chinese people were wonderful. I assure you, your $140 will be well worth it, if you are able to make it back to China in the next 10 years.

I so appreciate all the replies and possible reasons - helped me to verify that all reservations are intact and then to learn that apparently it is a promotional gift from Choice Air. My TA could tell that it was linked to our airfare but couldn't explain why. Now I can sleep soundly so I can wake refreshed with all kinds of marvelous ideas of how to spend our newly found $500 credit!:cool:

Thanks for the suggestion to check my booking - I did and everything seems fine. Same cabin, all shore excursions and drink package still showing as paid and airline reservation (through ChoiceAir) is fine with same seat allocations. Apparently Celebrity just determined we should get a better deal (and I already thought it was pretty good!) ;)

I guess you and I were winners of the Celebrity lottery!

Maybe that is it. Our cruise is from Tokyo to Hong Kong. I never heard about that special, but as I said, I'm not complaining, just curious. Also, we are just in an OV, so no suite perks for us. Anyway, I'll certainly enjoy the credit until someone tells me I'm not entitled to it! Now if they would just upgrade our airline tickets from coach to business class!

I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but our credit card statement this month reflected a $500 credit from Celebrity. After calling Celebrity, who referred me to our travel agent, who then referred me to Choice Air, who referred me back to the travel agent, the only explanation I got was from the travel agent who says our account reflects a $250 credit for both my husband and me in relation to our airfare but he has no idea why. I checked the airline website and our reservation seems to be intact with the same seat assignments I chose over 1 month ago. However, it shows as being ticketed on August 10 (the credit was applied on August 8th), but as I said the tickets were reserved and paid for in late June/early July. As long as we still have tickets on this flights, I'm not going to complain too loudly, but it's really a mystery why we got this $500 credit. Has anyone had a similar occurrence, and if so, do you know why?

We were very fortunate with our airline booking. Last February when I was looking for the best prices for our flights from Atlanta to Tokyo, returning Hong Kong to Atlanta, Turkish Air was by far the cheapest. Being that I had heard good things about Turkish Air and we would get a free tour of Istanbul during our 9 hour layover in both directions (all entrance fees and meals covered by the airline) we decided it was worth it to have the 33 hour flight to see a city that was still on our bucket list so we booked non-refundable tickets. Then the terror attacks started increasing in Turkey and these tickets no longer looked appealing at all to us. However, since we had non-refundable tickets and our trip insurance would only cover cancellation if a terror attack occurred within 7 days of our trip, we were stuck - could not forfeit $2200 and then have to purchase new tickets on top of that so we just prayed for the best. Well, our prayers were answered because Turkish Airlines actually cancelled one leg of our return trip to Atlanta and put us on the same flight the following day which then made our trip home total over 60 hours. I was able to use this as a reason to cancel the entire ticket for a full refund. I then went to Choice Air, found direct flights on American Airlines (total flight time half of what it would have been on our original Turkish Airline flights and these tickets save us almost $200. Life is good!!!:p

Just read your review twice and I'm still laughing - thanks! My only regret was I didn't get the chance to sail with you! Susan

This is discussed a lot on the Asia ports of call cc boards. From what I can tell, if your cruise involves arriving in a Chinese port from one country and departing that Chinese port to continue on to a 3rd country, you are not required to purchase a visa for China ahead of time if your stay is less than 72 hours. However, in the case of the cruise we are going on (Celebrity Millennium in October 2016), we will arrive in Shanghai after being at one port in Japan and will go to a different port in Japan after Shanghai, so we will need a visa (fortunately we already have our Chinese visas as we were in China on a trip in 2015). We learned then that a 10 year multiple entry visa for China costs the same as a one-time Chinese visa so we are prepared. Also, from what I've read, a visa is required even if you do not get off the ship.

Of the cruise lines I have sailed on, I remember MSC as having the best pizza - often would have a piece of Margarita pizza around 4:00 to hold us over for late seating dinner. I also remember Carnival and Princess as being good. Don't remember the pizza on Celebrity or HAL, but I did think the rest of their menu was superior so I may not have even tried the pizza. Also thought Costa's pizza was good but MSC is definitely the winner.

I don't think so. My husband and I have taken a number of Caribbean cruises with several different cruise lines (including 2 on Celebrity) and we always drive to the port from our home in Atlanta, GA. Therefore we have been not been burdened by airline luggage restrictions and have carried everything we wanted to make our cruise more pleasant including a bag for our favorite pillows, etc. No cruise line has ever had a problem with our "excess" luggage.:)

Standard balcony Cat. 2D = cloth bag

 

They're basically like a bag you'd use at the grocery store instead of plastic bags. I've gotten them on almost every cruise line now. Kinda makes it fun to use at the grocery store. When everyone else has boring bags, I have something that reminds me of cruising. ;)

So funny you say that cause I'm the same way, I have a Celebrity bag, a HAL bag, a Princess bag as well as a couple that list a number of cruise lines (must have been from a TA). Every time I use them at the grocery store, I'm reminded of all the fun we've had cruising - can't wait to get my next Celebrity bag next October!:)

Thanks for the thoughtful post above. My husband and I love Celebrity, have also sailed on HAL, Princess, Costa, MSC, and Carnival as well has Viking River cruises. We look for the best deals to the places we most want to visit, the actual cruise line is secondary. However, that said, I get most excited when I know an upcoming cruise is on Celebrity because its quality of service, entertainment, and food best fit what my husband and I enjoy. As it has happened, we seem to end up on the older Celebrity ships which we actually end up considering a blessing rather than a curse. We were on one of the last sailings of both Horizon and Zenith out of Tampa before they were sold. We loved the convenience of the Port of Tampa (as we live in Atlanta it is one of our closest ports, so very easily driven in a day) and we particularly loved the smaller ships. We don't care about rock climbing walls, multiple restaurants, etc. when stacked up against the crowds and lines you face on the larger ships. We are currently booked on the Millennium's sailing from Tokyo - Hong Kong this October and are very happy to be on one of Celebrity's smaller, older grand dames. It is nice that she will be dry docked for updates shortly before our trip, but I have no doubt we will love her every bit as much as we did Horizon and Zenith.

Can these gift cards be used to pay for excursions?

I believe I read in the FAQ section for the gift cards that land excursions and EZ Air were excluded.

The purchased bottle will last longer if it is for his use only - why should I drink out of the "purchased bottle" if I can order by the glass using my drinks package without an additional charge? Just trying to not abuse the system yet still get the most value from it that we can.

Since we're on this topic again, let me ask a different question. I am considering getting the all inclusive drink package, but my husband is not interested in it; however, he does enjoy wine with dinner. Would it be legit for me to order a bottle of wine at dinner using my 40% discount but only having him drink from the bottle? If I wanted a glass of wine, I would use my card to get wine by the glass (under $10) which is included in my all inclusive card. Not trying to cheat the system, just make the most economical choice for our personal preferences.