lhsail

6 hours ago, oakridger said:

Calistoga Hotel | Area Information | BEST WESTERN PLUS Stevenson Manor

 

Stevenson Manor - Best Western Plus Calistoga

 

I stayed here last May in one of the King with mountain view balcony rooms.  As you know, Calistoga is the northern end of the Hwy 29 Napa Valley area. Many wineries/restaurants/sites are within a short drive from Calistoga and a short drive over to the Sonoma Valley!  I liked this recently remodeled hotel and the rate is good compared to many other places.  It isn't fancy but a nice place to use as a base for exploring the valley.  I like it because it's quieter than staying in the more southern towns along Hwy 29.  

 

As to staying in the city the night before boarding the ship, unless you really want to do something specific in San Francisco I don't think you necessarily need to if ship boarding is in the afternoon as usual.  On the weekend the traffic in Napa Valley is heavier than weekdays and weekdays you don't want to leave for the city much before 10am or so due to the commute traffic.  Where will you need to return your rental car in SF?  If it was me, I would sleep in a bit and have a nice breakfast in Calistoga then head over to the city.  Drop bags at the ship and return the rental car.  Then you will be ready to board in plenty of time with no rush and no repacking for one night.  

 

Please come back and let us know what you decide!  What cruise are you taking? (Looks like maybe Princess to Down Under?  Nice!)

 

~Nancy

Thank you for the great information. Many years ago we stayed at the Foothill House a few times. Calistoga is a beautiful area, kind of looking to try something different this time. 
 

We are taking the Ruby Princess through the Panama Canal into Galveston. We’ll be dropping our car off at the Hertz location at Fisherman’s Wharf. 

Appreciate all the recommendations. I have to admit I’m shocked at the prices given the fact we’re looking at late November/early December (after Thanksgiving) and weeknights. 

Thinking St. Helena might be a good match for us if we decide on Napa vs. Sonoma. Does anyone know anything about the Southbridge Inn?

2 minutes ago, outoftowner said:

Thanks to the information on this chat and others, I called 800-760-0654 option 3 to speak to the rewards desk. The first call I got a guy who did not know what to do. He did tell me he could not find the OBC credit from the Credit card and  told me someone would call me back within 48 hours. No one called. My second phone call and 49 minute wait on hold, I got a lady who did know what to do. She got our credit card OBC credited to our reservation and helped me cancel an excursion and rebook it using the aforementioned OBC.

it might take a few calls and many minutes on hold, but it can be done. I have decided to not use the Celebrity credit card after this next trip. Too much incompetence for a small return.

I have called twice and been on hold so long I had to hang up. Very frustrating. But, it will pay for the drink package upgrade once I finally get through. 

Hope this isn’t too far off topic. We are sailing out of San Francisco in early December. Looking to spend a few nights in Napa Valley before cruising. Many years ago we stayed in Calistoga every fall, but haven’t been back in many years. Two questions. One, what area of Napa Valley would you recommend? Two, do we need to move to San Francisco the night before sailing? (FYI, we’re not interested in spending our son’s inheritance on lodging 😄)

Thank you all for the information. 

3 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Assuming that you have another cruise planned on Celebrity, you might want to consider redeeming the points for reduction in cruise fare rather than onboard credit.

 

You will see the credit you redeem  show up on your credit card statement.

 

then instead of having OBC, use the card for settling your on board account and start building up new points to redeem on the next cruise or later.

Appreciate the information. At this point we don’t have another cruise with Celebrity that has not already been paid in full. And, I have another credit card I use more for paying off cruises as it has travel insurance attached to it. 

On 5/18/2022 at 2:48 PM, JeanieC,Aston said:

I remember Perry Grant in Michaels Club in I think 2015,,before it was given over to suite guests.

My memory for years is not that good these days though,,,it could have been 2014 or 2016.

He was not my cup of tea.

But, a lot of fun!

12 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

I am NOT a fan of the card due to amount of spending you need to do receive the $100 OBC

We took the card out when booking an additional week while onboard last summer. Agree that it’s benefits are not very good. Will not be renewing. 

10 hours ago, sn2792 said:

Whenever I add OBC from credit card on Celebrity, I have had to call to get it added. The number I used is 844-418-6824.

Interesting that I would need to make a call in addition to requesting online. Not very efficient. 

11 hours ago, WestLakeGirl said:

Lhsail, how did you order?  Email? By phone? On the web?

I did it on the bank’s website. 

Requested OBC from my Celebrity credit card for a July cruise a few weeks ago. It is not showing up in My Account. Can someone with experience tell me when I will see this?  Want to use it to upgrade the beverage package with our 10% Elite discount (at the new price!). 

We have been on nine cruises since August. Not once have we felt like our cabin steward put us at risk. This is an airborne virus and there will be many more exposures than your cabin being cleaned.

Just want to say “thank you” to those that have posted their experiences. We have a 21-day European cruise with Princess for which final payment is just around the corner. We have decided not to move forward. Although the chances of any of these scenarios is slim, we feel it would not be the same with all this hanging over us. We’ll keep cruising closer to home. To those who are working through this, prayers. For those who are moving forward with their travel plans, I truly wish you nothing but smooth sailing. 

On 5/15/2022 at 6:14 PM, abritinva said:

I booked one on Millenium for August on a big box TA website.

Completely different from the FV on the Solstice class. Had a FV on the Summit for several cruises last summer and fall. Totally spoiled?  Afraid once occupancy picks up booking an FV will become more difficult. 

Don’t know when you’re sailing. Think you have to be a party of five to able to book initially. In March we had a chance to do a Move Up bid for a FV on the Reflection. We pulled our bid, but for a family with kids would definitely consider it. 

3 minutes ago, VitaminSea53 said:

I am really surprised as that contradicts the Celebrity website. 

As am I. We have cruised with Celebrity seven times since August departing from either St. Maarten or Fort Lauderdale. We have always used “days” as a guideline, not “hours” and have never had a problem. Maybe European departures are different. 

Just wanted to say thank you to all who are posting about their experiences. We have a September 21-day Med/Greece cruise on another line and am watching their board as well. This information is critical to us making an informed decision. We really want to go and have FCC which would cover which is surely a trip of a lifetime. But, the risk of spending any of that time in quarantine is off-putting. And the longer the cruise, clearly the greater the infection rate at this time. Decisions, decisions. 

5 hours ago, citruscruiser said:

Captain Matt just joined

So glad to see he has come back as scheduled.  He was on break when we sailed in March, but we are on the Equinox again 7/10. He was our captain for three weeks last summer on the Summit and are hoping to catch up with him. 

Given the high call volumes and wait times you think they would get this programmed so you can do it online and get the appropriate discount. 

29 minutes ago, camella said:

Just arrived back from this trip and the last count I heard was 35.  However I believe there were many more.  We weren't feeling 100% and thought maybe we just had a cold because they keep the a/c cranked up (I guess to keep it like a hospital so the germs don't breed?)  However, when we got off and got home and tested and sure enough we have it.  I was on Apex in March and they were CONSTANTLY cleaning the bannisters, the elevators, etc.  I did not witness this on this ship.  I only saw them once during the entire trip cleaning the banisters.  Now that they are getting ready for another group of passengers they were cleaning more but not nearly as much as the Apex and this ship needs it.  It was not up to Celebrity standards in my opinion. 

I find this surprising. We were on the Equinox in March and there was plenty of regular cleaning taking place. They were even cleaning the bathroom stalls after each use. 

We have a significant amount of FCC from canceled cruises in March and April 2020. We have booked a Med/Greece cruise in September which would use all of it, but we are uncertain about moving forward with that cruise. Currently a portion has been applied to that cruise, that FCC is set to expire 12/31/22.
 

There is also a portion of our FCC that has been extended until 4/30/23 (because it had been applied to a January cruise which we canceled when   Omicron was raging). We just booked as a possible backup cruise in December to use the FCC that expires 12/31, should we decide to cancel the September cruise. Of course, Princess applied the FCC expiring 4/30 to that cruise. 
 

I have been frustrated all along that Princess chooses to arbitrarily allocate the FCC. Has anyone had any luck with getting Princess to reallocate FCC?

Nice relaxed way to begin your cruise. We really like the salmon, it seems better than any other preparation throughout the cruise. 

On 4/25/2022 at 1:42 PM, runningtide said:

Here is my analysis. I’ve been an engineer my entire life, and as such I’m data driven. I’m leaving next week out of Port Everglades on Equinox. For the past month or more, I’ve been active on CC as I always am before a cruise. Both Linda and I had original Covid-19 before vaccine was available. Not pleasant, but thankfully , home care only and back to normal after a few weeks. 
We are both fully vaxed and boosted. Early 70s , but still active with a few age related issues, but nothing that would keep us from cruising.., especially considering we are both life long sailors who still spend a lot of time on the water.
As for the “data”….there isn’t any reliable data out there. Official comments from RCI and CDC would lend you to believe positive rates on board less than 1% . If you are on the Celebrity board, you are hearing numbers all over the place. This board is crowded with post after post about Covid  positive cases, quarantine protocols, masks issues, etc. Many people would clearly believe it’s to much of a risk to cruise with Celebrity.

Now…let’s look at RCI. Twice the number of ships, and many ships rated some of the largest in the world. Easily twice the number of passengers as Celebrity’s ships. As one would expect, since Celebrity and RCI are managed by the same organization, Covid procedures and protocols would be the same. 
So answer this observation. Why on RCI boards, which are easily several times more active than Celebrity, is there almost no discussion of Covid on board or quarantine fears. Granted, there are threads about testing , vaccines, etc…, but that’s it. I paged back almost 15 pages, and only a few references. You would think with the passenger load so much greater than Celebrity, along with twice the number of sailings, there would be a lot of Covid related activity. 
I understand RCI has a younger crowd, especially families with children. And some of their cruises are a little shorter, but they also offer plenty of 9 to 12 day schedules just like Celebrity. 
 

So why the dramatic difference in Covid discussions between the two boards? I have my own observation, but I’ll keep it to myself. My analysis is…., the data out there is completely inaccurate. Neither Celebrity, RCI, or the CDC, has any factual Covid numbers that are reliable, if offered at all. 
 

Bottom line…I’m still sailing with appropriate precautions. Hopping to still have a safe and enjoyable cruise.

 

All the best my friends………..See you on the next tack !
 

 

 

 

 

In our experience, Celebrity is more transparent about Covid on it’s ships then other lines. And, there seems to be plenty of Covid discussion on the Princess boards. 

We have done 9 cruises since restart. Have only masked when required, have socialized and met some new friends, did the ports, etc.  Got Covid when we were home in January, fortunately very mild. I have been religious about Vitamins D and C since the onset. DH not so much. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I would also suggest an email to Lisa. This is not a step I take lightly, but did so regarding some issues we had in finalizing plans for the Summit last August. They contacted me promptly and stayed in touch until things were resolved.