teacher2cruiser

Thank you for your help.  I suppose it might be helpful to mention that we will be sailing on the Carnival Miracle out of San Francisco.

Twenty-one cruises and we've always driven to the ports.  This is our first time flying to a cruise port, and I am unsure how luggage is handing when disembarking the ship.  Do we put it out the night before disembarking and pick it up to carry to the bus if we have the airport transport, or do we put it out and not see it again until we get to our home airport?

I hope I worded this question so that it make sense.  I appreciate the kindness of someone that can give me some clarification.

On 5/4/2022 at 2:50 PM, Abr155 said:

Don't mean to hijack this post BUT, so many here received upgrade offers.  Just curious, how many Carnival sailings have you sailed?  Just wondering if it's something typically reserved for repeat, loyal guests.  October cruise will only be our second Carnival cruise.  Happy with our extended balcony, but who wouldn't love an upgrade fairy offer for a suite?

 Twenty-one cruises in my past, and I've never been called by the upgrade fairy. 

On 4/1/2022 at 5:30 PM, lbfluffy said:

It has been 5 years since we have been on Carnival. We decided to take a family vacation with our two adult children. My daughter is a teacher. Her class starts back on Jan 3rd. We researched the best fit for us that would go over Christmas and New Years. The Miracle works perfectly since it would be a back to back. Plus we are from California and do not want to spend extra to fly. Our agent is working on the best deal for us. She gave me a quote for a quad balcony. Pretty good deal. I’m having her check an obstructed balcony as well. I know two cabins would be nice too, but that is $900 more even with putting my kids in an inside. I’m looking forward to our time as a family. Now I need to find dog sitter since my son  are is my dog sitter. I know the Miracle has received poor reviews, but we sailed on her in 2014. Any cruise for us is a treat.

We did Princess over New Year’s Eve last year and loved it. Does Carnival blow the foghorn as well at midnight?

 

Thanks 

What's a "quad balcony"?

On 10/23/2021 at 8:52 PM, Pellaz said:

 

I think that's only a Texas requirement, as it starts the moment you board on, e.g., Florida departures.    But you have to pay local sales tax until the ship is 12+ miles offshore.  

That's how it's done out of New Orleans too.  You must pay the sales tax until the ship is out into open waters.

Thanks

Of these hotels, which would you recommend for a one night pre-cruise Seattle stay?  We will arrive in Seattle early afternoon and hope to check out the Space Needle and Chihuly Gardens.

Hilton Garden Inn on Boren Avenue

Holiday Inn Seattle Downtown Lake Union

Holiday Inn Express Seattle Sea-Tac Airport

On 1/8/2020 at 10:43 AM, Gardyloo said:

It's not really "downtown" nor is it anywhere near Lake Union (typical Holiday Inn smoke) but is in a rather trafficky location a decent walk from many restaurants etc.  https://goo.gl/maps/j7uvnBKetn7A5UEp9 .  It's okay for a night, but if your aim is to see the sights in Seattle, there are better locations.  Of course if the price is right, you could take Ubers everywhere and probably break even or come out ahead.  

Thank you!

Do you have something you would suggest for two nights similar to pricepoint of Holiday Inn?

Does anyone have any experience staying here pre-cruise?

Thanks for any info!

When I was last on the Valor (May 2019), there was bbq inside upstairs from the buffet daily as a lunch option.  The Carnival website doesn't show Valor as having a bbq option.  Have they changed this?  Thanks.

This was our 17^th cruise, but our first with Celebrity.  Previous cruises have been with NCL, RCI, and Carnival.  I will share some of my observations and make a few comparisons to my past cruise experiences.

Prior to the cruise, we drove from Mississippi and stayed one night at a Holiday Inn Express in Ocala, FL and two nights at the Hilton Marina in Fort Lauderdale. The Holiday Inn Express in Ocala was a new hotel and perfect for a good night’s sleep. The Hilton Marina in Ft. Lauderdale was a great pre-cruise hotel for us.  Although the hotel is older, the location, the view from our balcony, the pool, and the water taxi made it a super choice for us, and we would definitely stay there again in the future.

On the morning of our cruise, we left our hotel at 10:00 and arrived at the terminal by 10:20.  It was pouring rain. We checked our luggage then proceeded to park.  There was no shuttle from the parking garage, but we trudged through the rain to the terminal.  Being concierge class, we were called promptly and found out that we could go to our cabins to drop off our carry-on bags and get our seapass cards. Waiting for 1:30 wasn’t necessary as we’ve always had to do in the past with other cruise lines.

Upon boarding the ship, my first impression was that there was this wonderful fresh smell……NO SMOKE.  We had a veranda room on the ninth floor, and we were pleased.  In comparison to Carnival and RCI, the bathroom on Celebrity wins hands down!  There’s a shower with a door that allows you to turn around without bumping into a waving shower curtain, and there’s ample space for shampoos, etc.  As for cabin storage, I feel that Carnival wins this with three closets.  Beds on Carnival and Celebrity are far better than RCI and NCL.  Our bed on the Equinox was not too soft, and not too hard.  In a word – PERFECT!  The balcony was a nice area, and we enjoyed it very much. We had excellent housekeeping service twice each day.

The Equinox is a beautiful ship! It’s elegant, clean, and inviting.  The fourth of July decorations were great!

Our first meal was the Concierge lunch in the Silhouette Dining Room. This was quite a treat.  I’ve never experienced such peace and quiet at a boarding day lunch. Have I mentioned that the ship had a wonderful fresh smell?  We had all of our evening meals in the main dining room except for one night.  We wanted to try the stir fry in the buffet one evening, and we enjoyed it.  The dining room ambience and food were a notch or two above other cruise lines. We had select dining and we were able to have a table for two each evening.  Some of our dining room favorites were French onion soup, Caesar salad,  shrimp cocktail, shrimp Louis, spring rolls with sweet chili sauce, smoked tomato bisque, prime rib, lobster, shrimp scampi, Mediterranean seafood medley, cheesecake, and the Grand Mariner Souffle.

Breakfast most mornings found us in the Oceanview buffet.  We enjoyed the fresh made-to-order omelet stations, bacon, fresh fruit, and juice.  My husband was disappointed that there was no chocolate milk offering any day, and it didn’t make sense to us.  So many choices, so why not offer chocolate milk? We went to the dining room for breakfast one morning, and we had a pleasant experience there.

Lunches on Celebrity Equinox didn’t offer the choices that we enjoy on Carnival.  No Guy’s burger, BBQ, Wok, or Deli.  The choices on port days were Oceanview Buffet or Mast Grill.  The Mast Grill burgers were fair, and the buffet had some good food, but crowds and confusion were a daily affair at lunch. 

We enjoyed a few visits to Café Al Bacio.  Coffee was great, but the pastries were dry and overrated. Service was wonderful.  We never tried the cakes.

We were on the Western Caribbean voyage. We purchased two excursions. In Key West, we rode the Old Town Trolley. I highly recommend it. It was an excellent opportunity to see many Key West attractions. In Grand Cayman, we rode the Jolly Roger, and I don’t recommend that one. We didn’t see much more than flora and trees.  We chose this because we had previously seen the stingrays, the turtle farm, Hell, and the rum factory. We likely would have enjoyed exploring on our own more.

We were invited to the helipad for sailaway from Costa Maya – a really cool experience. We also received an invitation to a galley tour on the last seaday.  Both of these were special events that were a surprise to us.

Captain Kate is a main attraction of the Equinox and quite charming.  We enjoyed her daily announcements. She’s certainly a money maker for Celebrity, and yes, we bought our picture with her too. She also has her own jewelry line onboard, and no, we didn’t purchase. 

The popular outside spots were busy during the day, but there were always chairs to be found.  We enjoyed the solarium one day – peaceful and relaxing.

Evening entertainment for us consisted of nightly casino visits, a show, and two comedian nights.  We especially enjoyed the comedians.  They were perfect for our age group! Sashi was an amazing solo entertainer.

When we received our luggage tags for debarkation, our number was 24.  I went to guest services and explained that we had a long drive ahead of us and they quickly exchanged them for 11.  Facial recognition made Customs and debarkation extra swift. We picked up our luggage and were in our car by 8:30. So easy!

Celebrity employees are trained to be courteous, smiling, and efficient. We didn’t see a bad attitude the entire week, and the service was top notch.  This is another way Celebrity stands above Carnival, RCI, and NCL.  As for patrons, I didn’t notice much difference except for fewer children.

Have I mentioned that the ship had such a pleasant smell?

This was our first Celebrity cruise, but it definitely won’t be our last.

6 hours ago, crzndeb said:

I think that most of these types of questions are innocent enough, although most posters probably don’t think there are probably lots of people in the same situation. Pretty soon, a couple, becomes a hundred. There are lots of similiar type inquiries...can I bring so and so and their friends to the past guest party, can the dining room heat my babies food, will the bartenders blend my protein drinks, and the list goes on. I’m sure on a cruise ship with a few thousand people, several have the same request.

Honestly, I thought that's what the message board was all about - asking questions and getting information.  I've always sung the praises of Cruise Critic, but I am seeing more and more personal attacks.  I'm a  teacher, and I teach that kindness is never a mistake. 

We are traveling to Alaska with another couple who have less cruise experience than us. Apparently I asked a really bad question.

We also stayed in a 9th deck concierge cabin and our cabin was perfect (well except for the small balcony table, you are right, it is worthless).........Pillows were great with no smell and our refrigerator appeared to be brand new as I could still see some packing tape on the small shelf inside.  As another poster said, the dry dock didn't go off as planned so it looks like changes continue to be made during sailings.

Wow!  I guess an innocent question from someone who had no intentions of beating the system, but rather just considering how it might work when traveling with other family members deserves such nasty and snippy replies. 

And I definitely could figure out on my own that I could sit in the regular area. I personally get no pleasure from talking down to others on a message board.

If two couples are traveling together and only one couple has priority boarding due to being platinum, will the two couples be able to both sit in the priority area and board the ship together?

I have 24 points with RCI (gold level and one cruise from Platinum). I have a cruise booked with Celebrity (Concierge  7 nights in June 2019) and then another with Celebrity (Concierge 7 nights in June 2020).  Do the points merge since Celebrity and RCI are owned by same company?  Any benefits on Celebrity by being a past RCI customer?

If anyone can explain this simply (if there are benefits), I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

7 hours ago, BNBR said:

When did po' boys become a Fort Lauderdale local food?!  🙂

 

If you want a low key local type place, try Southport Raw Bar.  15th Street Fisheries is also awesome as recommended but much less casual.  Kelly's Landing is really good but it's New England food.  Laspadas is a pretty well known sub shop in the area if you just wanted a quick lunch, basically best hoagies you may ever have.

 

Las Olas restaurants don't jump out as casual/local to me.  Think more "Las Olas prices" ($$$$).  Maybe The Balcony which is a NOLA concept and not too pricey, you can get your shrimp and oyster po' boys there for sure.

Are shrimp and oysters not local seafood Florida fare?   I have certainly had my share of seafood po boys in the panhandle of Florida.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Is there a pizza menu?  (First time with Celebrity)

Thanks to both of you for the info!

4 minutes ago, capriccio said:

Check out the 'cruise and save' section of their website:  https://watertaxi.com/save/.

 

You can cross reference restaurants with this site (including the Fort Lauderdale Restaurants sticky at the top of the page) and TripAdvisor. 

 

During the day the Sun Trolley (www.suntrolley.com) also gives you easy and cheap ($1 ride/$3 day pass) transportation to/from the beach and Las Olas but I think they stop around 6 pm so you would need a taxi/Uber/Lyft for dinner.  They are not expensive.

Thanks!  This lets me see things I hadn't found on the watertaxi site.

My DH and I are going to arrive at our hotel, The Hilton Marina in Fort Lauderdale, two days pre-cruise at the end of June..  I know we plan to ride on the water taxi, but I'm hoping others might suggest activities and restaurants (possibly shopping) nearby.  I have researched the water taxi, but I still can't figure out particular restaurants that can be  at the stops.  We are interested in casual places with local food (like shrimp and oyster poboys). We may spend most of our time lounging by the pool, but I am hoping for some suggestions from my beloved Cruise Critic experts.

Thanks!

On ‎3‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 10:26 PM, Luvcrusn said:

Order a Frozen Toasted Almond and remember who recommended it! Have fun!

Which bar for the Frozen Toasted Almond?

We will be sailing on Celebrity Equinox in June. Carnival usually has a special at least once during the cruise where you can fill a laundry bag and have it done for $15. Does Celebrity have anything similar?

4 hours ago, maryhou said:

If you want a place to see the front of the ship all by yourself go to end of deck 7 on the left side.  There is a door there that take you outside.  We went a few times and had the place to ourselves. 

Are there any chairs there, or just a standing area?

30 minutes ago, maryhou said:

will you come back and tell me what you guys loved & what we shouldn't miss at the end of the month??  What ports are you visiting?  We are doing Aruba, Curacao, and DR, we haven't been to any of those places yet.  

Yes, I will!  We're going to Aruba, Curacao, and Grand Turk.  Aruba and Curacao will be new for us.