challahmom

This December is our first cruise on an edge class ship.  We’ll be on the Beyond. Which of the 4 main dining rooms did you prefer?

Thanks for the heads up about sablefish, malaclypse cod.  We’re not familiar with it, but will definitely try it!  Is it practical to walk to Salmon n’Bannock from the Pan Pacific?

Another dining request is for vegetarian Asian restaurants?  Are there any that are worth trying?

Thank you for the suggestions!  We live on the other west coast, on St Pete Beach, FL.  We also get excellent fresh fish!  We’ll be sailing on the Equinox from September 10-30, 2023.

We look forward to enjoying your delicious fresh “cooked” fish!

Great suggestions! 

Which restaurants would you recommend for fresh fish?

1 hour ago, martincath said:

Sorry @challahmom, never stayed in the PP so can't commend on how generous the Club Room nibbles are - but there was a rumour floating around that they were suspending free breakfasts until June. As to the cruise package, I really don't understand why they even offer it given how many folks have reported being able to get their bags taken to the ship without it, from all classes of rooms; while the 'officialness' of the process seems to have varied a little over time I haven't heard of a single person being refused the service!

Thank you!  I may post on the general Vancouver/West Coast board.

On 4/24/2023 at 1:07 AM, martincath said:

From Pac Central you could walk to the YWCA Hotel if you're in remotely good shape, or spend about $6 on a cab - if they have a room for you it's the best deal in the region, the only hotel that is both budget AND modern, rather than a reno of a really old building (the new wing was built right before Covid hit, the old one renovated just this year, and it's a modern concrete tower building). If you can handle schlepping bags upstairs, then the Barclay is in a nice, quiet West End location and even cheaper than the Y but lacking the mod cons; say $15 cab from Pac Central, $10 to pier next day.

 

Glad to hear a review of the actual hotel for the Atrium; em-sk is correct that the blocks immediately around it are fine, it's really just traversing the space between it and downtown that sucks - buses along Hastings are among the worst in the city for 'binners' bringing their haul aboard, which makes for an often-loud and sometimes-stinky journey. And if you're cabubering everywhere because you don't like taking the bus, whatever you might save at the Atrium compared to a downtown budget hotel would be frittered away fast! From Pac Central or Chinatown I'd guess $20 on the meter each way; downtown core ~$25; so easily a $50-60 round trip with tips if you checked in and dropped bags then decided to hit up a nice resto for dinner.

 

But if you're going to be hit with a cancellation fee or just can't find any rooms downtown that are remotely comparable in price for your date, for just dinner the Atrium's location could be worse: there are some good casual spots for dinner that are walkable from the Atrium; personally I'd be comfortable walking quite a bit west to at least Nanaimo St: the likes of Tamam (Palestinian), Petit Saigon (Vietnamese), James (Chinese), and several decent Pho joints are all closer than that, within a quarter mile and right on Hastings so easily found. Just shut your eyes on the shuttle next morning! Getting to the Atrium from Pac Central on arrival, tell the cabbie to take Terminal to Renfrew - this loops you well outside the most tragic bits of the DownTown EastSide, as well as hinting to the cabbie you're familiar with town as it may not look it but thanks to some roadworks, one-ways, and central dividers it's almost the shortest and definitely fastest unless you get stuck in commuter traffic; ***** about the road closure at Prior making you go the long way if you want to sound hyper-local!

 

 

I have 2 questions about the Pan Pacific:

1.  If we book a Club level room, do we need to book the cruise package or can we just tip the bellman to take our luggage to the port?

and

2.  Is the lounge breakfast sufficient or do we need a rate with breakfast in the dining room too?

AAA has a better rate for the Club level room, but it doesn’t come with any extra amenities.

Thank you,

Joanne

Thank you all for your insightful reviews!  Did any of you stay in a “quiet” infinity balcony stateroom?  We’d appreciate if you’d share cabin numbers.  

We are loyal Celebrity cruisers.  We hope to book the Beyond, but are leery due to the issue of excessive noise in some cabins.  Any insight would be greatly appreciated!  Thank you.

Thank you all for the great pics and information about the porthole balconies!  The staterooms look bright and inviting.

Will someone describe the pluses and minuses of the Celebrity Beyond verandah staterooms with a porthole.  Are these rooms exempt from the loud noises?

We’d like to spend 3 days before a cruise in July, out of Rome (Civitavechia) somewhere not too far from the port.  We’d appreciate any suggestions of a town and/or lodging?

How did you find that great deal?

17 minutes ago, euro cruiser said:

Just for fun, take a look at these two villas in the Sorrento area:

 

Villa Glenna: Self catering villa in Sorrento, Italy (summerinitaly.com)

 

Villa Dulcibella: Self catering villa in Sorrento, Italy (summerinitaly.com)

Thank you so much.  We’ll take a look.

Thank you for your suggestions!   We’ll look into them.  
 

We do have beautiful beaches here in St Pete Beach, FL on the Gulf of Mexico.  We would consider a beach, if we could find a decent property to accommodate our group of 10 adults, 5 grandchildren plus 3 in cribs. The key word being decent.

If we were to stay on Capri before the family wedding, where would you suggest we stay?

Hank,

Thank you for your suggestions.  We’re a nice sized, varied-age group of grandparents, children and grandchildren from 1-13 years old.  It would be fun to spend a few days somewhere between Rome and  Capri, since we’ll be in Capri for 5 nights for the family wedding.

Joanne

Thank you for all the helpful information!  We have a family wedding in Capri, Italy this summer, 2023.  We’re 10 adults and 8 grandchildren, 2 of whom are toddlers.  We’re looking for a nice, family friendly place to stay between Rome and Capri a couple of days before the wedding.  I’d really appreciate any suggestions.

Thank you!

Dritan,

Where did you stay in Sorrento?  I’m looking for family friendly hotels in that area, Amalfi coast or Naples?

Any recommendations for a restaurant serving good fresh fish near the Harbour Nights?

Thank you for taking the time to post your reviews!  We’re on the May 26th sailing.  Would  love  to know  “WHO'S ON BOARD” as far as the officers.  Enjoy your sailing!

joanne

The Falmouth Culinary Walking Tour sounds interesting. For anyone who participated, do you recommend it for vegetarians?

Join us 11/2/2017 for

Jewish Heritage Tour of Curacao with Gigi Scheper:

"Here is my tour description

This is my tour description :

Beth Haim Cemetery, oldest in walled Jewish Cemetery of the Western Hemisphere dating back to 1659.

Mongui Maduro Museum /Library .

Biggest private library and archives of the island of island .

CURACAO Liqueur Factory, home of the World Famous Blue Curacao.

Drive through the old Jewish Neighborhood of Schaarloo 1850-1970.

Mikve Israel Emanuel and Jewish Cultural Historical Museum.

Transportation , fees Curaraco Port Authority and all entrance fees included $ 80 per person .

If I can get a group of 15 I am able to lower the fee with $5 as I am able then to spread out the charges of the Curacao Port Authority over the group .

Regards,

Gigi

giannascheper3@gmail.com

The comments about her tour, both here on CC and on TripAdvisor are excellent. If interested contact Gigi at

giannascheper3@gmail.com and

Joanne (on the Equinox) at Challahmom@aol.com

Sorry we're not on your sailing. Our Equinox sailing leaves October 27th. Hopefully our Curaçao Jewish Heritage Tour will be Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017.

Gigi responded to my email very quickly once I sent it to her correct email address:

giannascheper3@gmail.com

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your response. I just received Gigi's new email address from the Synagogue, Mikva Israel. I'm awaiting a response for our sail date the end of October. If it works out, I'll let you know the outcome. Otherwise enjoy your Jewish Heritage tour of Curaçao with Gigi!

Joanne

Thank you for including us on your cruise! Your pics really make us anxious to board the Equinox on October 27rh for our next cruise. When you gathered with Elite and Elite + for the breakfast before disembarkation in the Tuscan Grille, do they still serve pastries, juice and coffee?