Lalof

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

Do you mean a plug adaptor or a power converter?

 

The former only allows you to use the European-style plugs but does not change the power settings for US (e.g., 110-120 voltage) appliances.

 

The latter convert the voltage from the US standard to the EU standard).

 

Most appliances sold in the US in the last decade are dual voltage, including chargers for most phones, computers, etc. Meaning you don't need a converter, only an adaptor.

 

 

Thank you!  I guess I don't even know what I mean.  Maybe I mean an adaptor that we can plug our phones/ipads in to charge?

We are 5 short months away from our trip to Rome and then on to our cruise on the Ascent.  Does anyone have a recommendation for a power adapter we can use in Rome and then at the end of our cruise in Athens?

On 11/16/2023 at 1:18 PM, megr1125 said:

I loved Hotel Lancelot and am staying again if I keep my fall cruise plans.

 

SUPER friendly staff, great location, their breakfast was nice and they do offer dinner each night.  I ate in the hotel one evening and it was delightful.  Rooms are small if you book a regular one but then again, so are all rooms in Europe (or mostly  anyway)

 

I really do not like Rick Steves (I liked him before he was such a big "brand") but his tour group stayed at Hotel Lancelot and one evening they sat in the lobby/bar area singing and having beverages.  It was lots of fun.

We are staying at Hotel Lancelot pre-cruise.  Do you remember the approximate cost of the breakfasts or dinners?  I can't remember if the meals are included or not, but I think probably not.

On 11/16/2023 at 11:52 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

The location of Hotel Lancelot is very nice, especially if your plans include seeing some of Rome's ancient sites -- very close to the Colosseum, Forum, Circus Maximus, Baths of Caracalla, Domus, Aurea etc. There are also decent restaurants in the area, as well as one of my favorite "lesser visited" sites, the Basilica of San Clemente. And my favorite museum, the Capitoline.  If you want to get to the Vatican easily, you are close to the Colosseo metro station (have to change at Termini). Or taxis are usually available at the Colosseo station as well.

 

I've also heard some positive comments from people who've stayed there.

 

Unfortunately, I know nothing about Hotel Raffaello other than its location (to me) is not as good as Lancelot's. It is closer to Termini (central train station) - not the prettiest area. 

Could you share some of your favorite restaurants near Hotel Lancelot?  That is where we are staying in 2024 pre-cruise.  Thanks!

On 12/19/2023 at 10:52 AM, Galaxy2004 said:

Just off Ascent this past Sunday and can report on 2 of them. We did dinners in Eden and Rooftop Grill. Was 3rd time doing Eden and it was as good as it was on Apex last year, with service being exceptional. We arrived 30 minutes early and they rushed to clear a window seat so we enjoyed watching the wake as night fell. Filet was perfect and DH said same for the lobster casserole. Rooftop Grill was really good except the steak, which I ordered med-rare, was closer to rare. It was still a great steak. For us, the corn was the star side dish and the pork sliders were the star starters. It was also perfect weather, so that added a lot to the experience. We got lucky and got pre-cruise discounts so would do again for those prices. Not sure about $75 PP that some are reporting as the new price for Eden. 

Did you hear any feedback from people having dinner on the flying carpet? It's a bit pricey so I'm curious if it is worth the money.

Hi! I'm looking for feedback from those who have tried the various specialty dining options on the new Ascent. I know the ship is new, so maybe not a lot of feedback available yet.

Thanks

I think we are ready to jump and book Hotel Lancelot for our stay next July.  I would be interested to hear if anyone stayed there in the last several months, and if so, how was your stay?

Thanks

This might be a strange question, but could anyone recommend a Rome hotel that has queen and/or king sized beds?  I seem to be running into a lot of hotels that show the rooms have a double-size bed,  and that won't work well for myself & my husband.  Thanks!

39 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

what are the 2 half-day tours ?  Do they interest you ?

The tours are of the major highlights, plus we would have a day to do whatever we want. Trying to find out what hotel would be included as that might also be am important piece.

We are on a Celebrity cruise next July.  We leave from Rome (Civitavecchio).  We plan to get to Rome a few days early so we have some time to explore.  And eat. (Mostly eat). Celebrity offers a 3-night pre-cruise package for $1,444 that includes a driver pickup at the airport, hotel, 2 half-day tours and then transport to the port. Has anyone taken a package like this?  Did you find it worthwhile?  We are debating whether we could finding out own hotel/tours/transportation could result in spending less money, but taking up a bunch of time to research and book.  It seems like there could be some comfort in having the cruise line take care of the details for us.  

Thoughts?

2 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

First, everyone is going to know you're a tourist regardless of what you wear, so stop trying to be something you're not.

 

Second, Italians under the age of sixty wear them all the time.

 

Third, as an example Nike has more than 40 stores in Italy:  Nike Stores in Italy. Nike.com IT

 

The notion of Italians not wearing jeans, sneakers, baseball caps, etc. is at least twenty years out of date.

Thank you! The vlogs I saw were posted within the last couple of weeks, so I thought this was a current situation. I’m glad to hear it is not! 

I have seen a number of video posts online from people who have taken Mediterranean cruises. They are saying don’t wear tennis shoes because it screams “tourist.” But, if I can expect to do a lot of walking, wouldn’t good tennis shoes be the most comfortable? What are other Mediterranean cruise travelers wearing for shoes?

I know different people can have different experiences.  I have seen information online indicating you are not allowed to bring a backpack into Pompeii and also there are no lockers or valet-type holding area to drop your backpack.  I have also seen information saying you can bring in a backpack-- though it didn't specify if there was some type of size-limit.  And.... I have seen that you cannot bring in a backpack but there are lockers available to leave your backpack.  Very confusing.  I have a camera bag back pack that I would love to bring in just so I don't have to carry the camera around my neck. But, I do want to be respectful of whatever the rules are there.   Thanks

I'm looking at excursions for Pompeii.  It looks like 4 hrs is a typical time listed for the excursions.  If I assume a total of 1 hr travel time, that would mean the time spent at Pompeii is more like 3 hrs?  Or maybe 2 1/2 if there is time to get from the bus to inside.  Is that enough time to get a look around?  I know the place is huge so I don't expect to see everything.  Alternatively, would it be recommended to find our own transportation there and have a pre-hired guide so we could spend a longer time there?  I would love some feedback from those who have been there.  Thanks!

The ships & rules belong to Celebrity.  As long as those rules are applied equally across the board, that is all I care about.  (ie, if women can wear dress shorts to MDR, so can men)  There are ample dining options so if I don't want to abide by the dress code one evening, I can find somewhere else to eat.

On 3/17/2023 at 12:41 PM, ILgirl said:

I booked a 13 night sailing on the Edge which is my favorite ship.  Starts in Vancouver on 9/20/24 and ends in Honolulu.  I’ve never been to Hawaii or Vancouver so I plan on tacking on a few days on each end to explore.  I’ve also wanted to try a TA sometime.  This itinerary includes five days at sea after leaving Astoria, Oregon( first port after Vancouver) so this cruise gives me a taste of that experience as well.

I did a similar cruise years ago with Celebrity, but we left from San Diego and went to the Hawaiian islands, and then sailed back to San Diego. I have never had a more relaxing cruise than that one.  I think you will love this! 

On 3/7/2023 at 8:33 PM, mskaufman said:

Even at the sites you mention I found a telephoto lens (400 mm) useful. The telephoto gives you the option of closeups.  I tend to use a 16-400 zoom.  Here is an example from Florence.

 

Excellent points you have made.  The picture from a distance is beautiful, but to be able to get the close up of the figures is the cherry on top!  

We are planning a Mediterranean cruise.   When we cruised Alaska last summer, we rented a good telephoto lens because we new we would likely need it for animal sightings and possibly while cruising Glacier Bay.  In thinking about the Mediterranean cruise, it seems like we wouldn't really need the telephoto lens as much since we will be closer to the sights, such as Pompeii, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, etc.  Are we thinking correctly, or will a telephoto lens be of value?  I'm just wanting to not carry around that huge lens if I don't need it much. 

Thanks

4 hours ago, Loracpin2 said:

Since you're new to these Boards, post the date and ship of your cruise and someone will reply with the link for your Roll Call.

P.S. Pre-retirement, I made countless trips to Minneapolis and two members of my Staff lived in Edina. 

Celebrity Ascent, July 27-Aug 2, 2024. Greece, Turkey & Italy 7 night.

I looked in the Celebrity roll call but I didn't see this cruise listed by anyone yet.

57 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

@Lalof, here are the two letter ship codes--if you are interested in looking up the shore excursions (and their prices) for other ships:

 

Apex = AX

Ascent = AT

Beyond = BY

Constellation = CS

Eclipse = EC

Edge = EG

Equinox = EQ

Infinity = IN

Millennium = ML

Reflection = RF

Silhouette = SI

Solstice = SL

Summit = SM

 

I need to credit @NorthStarStateCruiser for posting this hack: link.

 

Because it wasn't clear: when you insert the sail date of interest into the URL, it has to be in the YYYYMMDD format.  And again, make sure you are signed out of your Celebrity account when you paste the URL into your web browser otherwise this will not work.

 

BTW, @jelayne's advice to join the Cruise Critic roll call for your sailing is a very good one.  You can often join a private shore excursion which often is cheaper, with a smaller group, and the private tour is more time efficient which allows you to cover more ground than a standard Celebrity (motorcoach) tour.  Win-win-win.

 

David

Thank you!

If this is the wrong area to post this question, I apologize.

We are doing a 7 day Mediterranean cruise in 2024. We are trying to do a general guesstimate of what our budget should look like.

For those that have been on a Celebrity Mediterranean cruise, can you give us any ideas about the general range of excursion costs?

Would you say the excursion costs might be in the same range as say an Alaska cruise— if you have been on a Celebrity Alaska cruise.

Would they run in the $200-$300 range per excursion, or more?

We are planning a 2024 Mediterranean cruise on the Ascent. (I know, I am way early in my planning)  We have always booked our own airfare, thinking that we can find better deals.  However, I recently saw a posting from someone that said the airfare through the cruiseline saved them hundreds.  

Wondering if anyone has any experience to share or feedback on booking airfare through the cruise vs on you own?  

We just returned from our land first. We started in Fairbanks. We had tested within 2 days of arrival. No one asked for our results. I had to volunteer them to the cruise desk at the Westmark. We tested for the cruise on our 2nd day at Denali. They had the testing set up right in the resort. Our results were emailed within 2 hours. We wore masks the whole time and while we weren’t the only ones, we were a minority. We were scheduled for a table of 8 at the dining room. 2 of the couples didn’t make the ship. We met a person who said 26 out of his Denali group of 40 didn’t make the ship due to testing positive.

23 hours ago, CafeBruno said:

On our recent Alaska Cruise Tour, we packed my wife's CPAP machine in the suitcase that went with us to each stop, and I hand carried my CPAP, and my backpack, with me on the bus/train. When we left the bus for restroom stops, I just left the CPAP on the bus. No problem, you can carry it with you, no medical form needed for the typical ResMed CPAP bag. 

Thanks! I am going to put MY CPAP in it's bag and hand carry it between locations. I'm so glad you shared this info.

In the HAL cruisetour  information, HAL suggests that people carry their CPAP machine with them in their hand carry luggage piece.  I had planned to put my CPAP in my small luggage that HAL will transport to meet me at each stop. (Denali, Anchorage & then the cruise)  My carry backpack is filled with my camera & lenses, medication, etc.  There is no way I can fit my CPAP in it too. Yikes.  I'm sure someone has been in this situation... any suggestions?  I'm sure hopeful that putting my CPAP in the piece HAL will transport would be safe enough?