cluso

Not to hijack, but all the people that responded about Alaska cruises/ cruise lines. We did a 9 night Celebrity cruise out of Vancouver/and back several years ago as far as Hubbard. Looking to go again, at least 9 nights. But we don't care about a covered pool, or entertainment, and don't want to be on a bigger ship than Celebrity S class. Any suggestions?

Maui whale season December-March. The best month is February. You can even see them from shore/balcony. 🐳🐳🐳

Just returned (yesterday) from a cruise on Connie (see preceding post). Cabin attendant said they don't do this anymore, too time consuming for the crew and more mistakes made on bills.

Just returned from an 11-night sail on Connie (yesterday). Asked the cabin attendant to remove the minibar items. He said "don't worry about it". I checked our account daily on the app. It was always correct and when we left the ship, it was correct. We only had 2 charges since we had a drink package and prepaid excursions. When we returned home the final invoice had minibar charges added. I emailed Celebrity and will notify AMEX if Celebrity does not respond. If someone could please post a picture of the card with minibar prices, that might help some of us defend our minibar case. It was in the drawer above the refrig. Who knows, maybe everyone should take a picture of it in case the same thing happens to you. BTW--Connie had a big Noro/Covid breakout during the last half of our voyage. They went strictly to crew serving everything, including the knife, fork, and napkin bundles. It was never announced on what the numbers were. We didn't catch anything, but we always steer clear of the crowds and use our balcony for outside time (no Edge class ships for us). We had to fill out notices as we left, answering questions about if anyone in our cabin felt sick. Reading follow-on Connie reports, they had to have a Hazmat team deep clean the ship and have a CDC health inspection. Boarding was delayed many hours and travelers had a "not so nice" first day experience. The good news, we finally made Elite Plus on this cruise. 😎

Just did Dora, 11 March 2023. Outstanding tour, and only three of us on the tour. Very nice A/C van, with an excellent driver. Perfecto! 😁

Just returned from a 2 day port stop. The barrio is small and easy to walk on your own. Got some awesome pictures!

Just spent 2 days in Cartagena off of Celebrity Constellation. No problems. A polite “no gracious” worked.

That's the point. It is a beautiful ship, but many people are paying to see the beautiful sites and locations, not sit around in closed up spaces. It's what we used to call cruise ships, not floating resorts. Real veranda cabins all the way.

Take the Silly, with a balcony, and enjoy all the views. The Edge class is about the ship, not so much about the location.

Actually, I think Celebrity went to the two wines per person (not cabin), because it might save them a small amount of $$ on guests that have drink packages.

Curious about what you did in Cartagena. How was the antique train ride in Puerto Limon?

We have had the opposite experience. We lived in Germany for several years and drove to France a lot. Stayed all over the place. One time we were getting gas at a rural gas station, about the time of the 50th anniversary of D-Day. A few older Frenchmen apparently saw my car tags and came over and hugged me and thanked me for liberating them. Tears were in their eyes. I wasn't even born yet on D-Day (June 6th, 1944). They hugged my husband, too. We've done DIY canal boats on the rivers and canals in France, mostly in rural settings. The locals were wonderful. We learned so much, such great experiences.

Dup

We have never had a problem with the French islands, or France itself. Enjoyed Martinque numerous times, including doing bare boating with the Moorings. When the Renaissance line dissolved, Princess acquired 2 of the R-ships. One was renamed the Tahitian Princess. We had a great cruise around the Polynesian Islands. However, those cruises didn't last long and Princess pulled out. From what I heard, there were a lot of "issues" on both sides. BTW, Star Clippers sails to quite a few islands in the Caribbean and Costa Rica, and of course the Med and SE Asia. We have done over 14 cruises with them. Different experience and most enjoyable.

Yep, Grand Cayman is a throw of the dice. When we anchored, 5 other BIG ships were there. We finally got off 3 hours after arrival. The town was a zoo. We walked south to the Sunset House and had a nice relaxed late lunch. It's on the water and caters to divers (it's a hotel, too).

I hope this trip has been wonderful and busy, too. Many of us are hoping you will write an end of trip review on this thread. Please, please, and thank you!

Bump up. Hope the OP is having a marvelous cruise and is taking notes for an end of cruise review. Hint, hint. And thank you!

Yep...🙄

Was there several years ago. Do not commit to any drivers until you are outside the port gate. There was a sign there with rates to different places. You didn't have to haggle. Paid in US dollars. If you commit to a driver inside the gate, your price could be jacked up and they will steer you away from the sign. It happened to us, we didn't see the sign until we returned. 🙄

The drink menu at Cafe Al Bacio was specific--our last cruise was the Oct/Nov 2022 TA on the Connie. We have always gone for an after-dinner decaf "Cafe "Ole" at Al Bacio. It was covered in the Classic Package--some drinks were not. And we always got lattes or Cappuccinos in the AM. I hope this hasn't changed. The AM coffees in the Elite lounge are not as good as Al Bacio.

I better take a screen shot of this. On the "Manage My Reservation" coffee isn't listed in the Classic Package.

Based on another thread, I checked the Classic Package and there was no mention of specialty coffee/coffee drinks. Did they really do away with that? I know there was some limitations on the alcohol coffee drinks before. It was still advertised when we booked our cruises. ???

Also on the March 6th version of your trip. Only difference is we go to Key West instead of Grand Cayman. Following along, enjoy!

Thank you for the input, we will be touring with Dora in March. The first time we were in Cartagena, we just caught a taxi to Old Town-walked around, took lots of pictures, and had lunch. Vendors weren't too pushy.

Buying a package doesn't mean you will get to choose all your specialty restaurants. You are guaranteed the first one, but then it's a roll of the dice, especially if the ship is nearly full. Make sure you read the fine print about the packages. If you reserve the restaurants separately, at a little higher price, you get what restaurants you reserved. We got caught in that a few years back and could not go to all the restaurants we thought we could.