dcbiker97

I would also check in with Guest Relations to see if they need to input a special code in their system to allow it. They could code their card to only work with the parents. Have no idea if that's the case, but good to do that before you leave the first time. 

I posted this in the Florida forum, but didn't get any hits. Did Celebrity ever offer luggage valet at Tampa? We've sailed mostly from FLL and Miami where it was offered pre-COVID and I know it's just being reinstated in some ports. We're sailing out of Tampa in March and am curious as to whether it was ever offered in Tampa.

Did Celebrity ever offer luggage valet at Tampa? We've sailed mostly from FLL and Miami where it was offered pre-COVID. I know it's just being reinstated in those ports, but was curious as to whether it was ever offered in Tampa. 

31 minutes ago, Zrf80 said:

No one is blaming Celebrity for changing itineraries on short notice.  It’s obvious that any decisions they make is for the safety of their staff and the passengers.

 

With that said, as a business you have to respect your customers and what they paid for.  There is no doubt that the majority of passengers booked this specific sailing for Israel and Egypt.  And even though it’s short notice, you cannot expect your passengers to accept a substitution of Jerusalem with Mykonos.  Or Cyprus for Alexandria.  It’s not an apples to apples comparison, not for what we paid for.

 

Im been on Caribbean cruises.  I’ve had ports of call changed due to bad weather.  I’m sure most can attest that there is a big difference when you’re comparing Bahamas to Bermuda vs Jerusalem to Santorini.

 

Celebrity, as a fair practice company, should acknowledge this and give their passengers leeway.  It doesn’t have to be a refund. But at least FCC so that we can book another cruise more to our liking.

Yes, while that would be nice in an ideal world, we agreed to their terms and conditions when we signed up and paid to go on the cruise. Take a look at them and see what they are allowed to change and substitute with no notice on their part.   The  only way to get around that is to not cruise.  

1 minute ago, RD64 said:

Celebrity and the other cruise lines had to make these itinerary changes literally over night. It seems like so many people on these boards have not given any thought to the complexity of changing a cruise line itinerary at the drop of a hat. This is an extremely fluid situation and will continue to be so - I do not see cruises returning to the area until at least 2025, given that the Med season starts in 6-7 short months.

Totally agree.  I’m on the cruise now.  While

I’m extremely disappointed in not being able to go (this would be the third try), I booked full well knowing that this part of the world requires flexibility.  I’m grateful for Celebrity for doing all of the legwork to change our ports. I’m sure there will

be a lot of sleepless nights among celebrity staff and am grateful for their hard work given what’s happening.  This is nothing compared to the real world right now. 

The captain recently announced that all stops in Israel were cancelled.  We are now heading to Cyprus and will

overnight there.  Then we will have a sea day and arrive in Alexandria Egypt a day early and have an extra day (now a total of 3 days) in Egypt. 

Captain just announced that we will be arriving tomorrow in Cyprus and then having an overnight in Cyprus. Then we will have a sea day.  In addition, we will be having a 2nd overnight in Egypt. 

4 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Thoughts with everyone. I am sure that they will make a sensible, informed decision. To be honest, even if they docked would anyone want to get off? What is the mood onboard if you don't mind me asking

Can’t comment on the mood as I’ve been up in the Retreat all day.  I have no doubt Celebrity will make the best decision it can.  

7 minutes ago, marco491 said:

Was Haifa first port of call? We were on this same cruise one week ago. Ashdod was the first port, then Haifa. Have they already rerouted as Haifa is further north? As Tel Aviv has already come under attack I can’t see Haifa being any safer. 

We’re on the cruise currently. Haifa is the first port (has always been the first). No word as of yet as to what the ship will be doing.  

We did the evening Butchart Garden tour last June through Celebrity.  It was basically a sprint through the gardens.  I think we got maybe 90 minutes there. Luckily we had been once before, but I would have been extremely unhappy if it were my first time. Also the gift shop was closed even though there were a number of busses from the ship tours.  

Hopefully they can go first thing in the morning to the UK Embassy in Athens.  I’m sure you already have this, but here are some emergency numbers (hopefully they are different than what you’ve already tried)

https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations/british-embassy-athens

I wish your parents luck in being able to go. We are on the cruise right after them. 

16 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

no, but the are colour/zone coded with the area of the ship 

Yes that’s true, but for reference for others, there’s no need to print the tags in color. I’ve printed out the tags in b/w since they stopped sending them.  For the OP, just have the porters do it at the pier. That’s the easiest way now. 

It will depend on the port if you can make the time you’re thinking. In general, the US ports will require you and the other B2B folks to go as a group through immigration so that could be after 9.  

I can only speak to the upcharge items in Tuscan when we are in a RS or above.  Our experience has been  about 50/50 whether they charge for it.  We’ve had times where they have provided it at no charge and others when they charged.  Official policy is that it’s not part of the complimentary dining for the RS and above, but some waiters will go ahead. 

It went very quick this past November. We got the declaration forms on the ship and the Australian authorities had someone there to collect it near the exit of the cruise terminal. If you checked yes to any of the questions, they sent you to another person. We checked "yes" for prescriptions and were sent over there. He looked at our form and we told hm that we just had prescriptions and he sent us along our way. 

4 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

That's not been the case for a year now. Starting last September when the new WCB menus came out they have been a lot more flexible. The back page of the menu now lists beers and wines and they will make simple drinks. 

 

https://profcruise.com/celebrity-bar-menus-2023/#world

I see a few beers and a few wines on the menu you linked to. Glad they’ve added some of those. Can you point to where they will now make simple drinks, as I did not see that on a menu. 

1 hour ago, ladylemondrop said:

Thanks all for replies - helpful! I will try world class bar as I have a mission there anyway… ☺️

The World Class's bar is really limited to a set menu and the ingredients they have are limited to that menu (except for some really nice Scotches). If you ask for something that's not on their menu, they will almost always request that you go to another bar for that drink. I've seen people over the years get extremely loud and upset at this, but that's how that bar has always been. 

Great pics of Athens. Your pics are making me even more excited as we will be there in 3 weeks. Which restaurants are in the pics that you went to?

On 9/9/2023 at 9:39 PM, GottaKnowWhen said:

We did this in Ste. Marteen a few years ago. First stop was a wine and cheese shop, discussion of new vs older vs well aged Gouda, taste testing including wine pairings. (9:30am!) Then to a market, some discussion of how to select among local produce. Then to a restaurant where our chef and local guy discussed/demonstrated making ceviche. More tasting with wine pairings. On to a French restaurant for a nice lunch. Then back to the ship (we opted to get dropped off in town.) That evening we had a galley tour, then a nice multi course dinner in a corner of Tucson restaurant with presentation/discussion by the head chef. The meal was supposedly built around items purchased that day in that market we visited, but I am not convinced. All in all, quite nice! We were outliers, the other 12-14 participants seemed to be two groups of friends, and it would have been a bit more pleasant if we had our own grouping. 
Stan

I came here to post my experience from St Maarten from several years ago.  My experience mirrors yours exactly.  I never did see the chef buy anything other than a spice packet so I kept wondering  all throughout dinner just how much was actually local. But it was a nice day going to various places on the island. 

As another Celebrity Elite+ thinking of trying Regent, I’ve been looking at the various stateroom categories. On Celebrity we always sail in a Celebrity Suite or higher because it has a separate bedroom and a sofa bed.  Every ship’s Celebrity Suite, even if a different ship class has separate bedrooms/sofa beds.  Looking at Regent, that doesn’t seem to be the case.  Are the 1br with sofa bed ship dependent on Regent (meaning is one ships Penthouse different than another)?

Even though we pretty much sail Celebrity exclusively, I love following Carnival’s brand ambassador John Heald on FB.  When he began posting the menus, I was quite surprised and impressed with their new menus.  Feels like they are going in the opposite direction of Celebrity. Most of those menus looks way better than what Celebrity has as of late. 

Just called my TA back and they called Celebrity. Celebrity put the OBC that they promised on a 2025 cruise we booked last week. 

I haven't. And I just called my TA for the status of the refund. While I was on hold, they called Celebrity who said that they have to manually issue the refund. I can't imagine having to do that for the thousands that were affected. 

We've stayed in a Signature Suite, which is our favorite on Reflection and have never heard any noise. We really haven't even heard any noise in the hallway. 

27 minutes ago, the penguins said:

We have done the Antarctic on Hurtigruten absolutely fantastic. A totally different experience to any other cruise line. Everything revolves around the "expedition experience". Everything is weather dependent so be prepared for frequent changes to the programme or as our Expedition Leader, Anja, put " if you find it hard to cope with the frequent changes think what it's like for me as a German".

Three quick tips:

The trips to the landings on the Polar Cìrkle boats are very wet and windy - wearing cheap ski goggles makes the experience much nicer.

Once on land you can't put anything on the ground which is problem if you need to remove gloves to use a camera. Fix your gloves to your coat with elastic though the sleeves  ( just like we did as kids) problem solved.

The floors in the cabin showers are electrically heated - very useful for drying gloves, socks etc.

The owners of Hurtigruten are British a bit of a surprise like N

MSC being Swiss not Italian.

Thank you!  Taking all the hints I can find.