socreader

Because of promotions and a Celebrity Passages benefit, we have a lot of OBC on our Scandinavian cruise. We don't usually go on Celebrity excursions because we prefer to do them on our own, and we also have the beverages package. We cannot book any spa treatments using OBC at this time because they have to go through Canyon Ranch rather than the ship. The only way, I have been told, to be able to use OBC for the spa is to book onboard. With only two sea days on a 12 night cruise, I think it may be difficult at best to get an appointment on a sea day. We are also in a suite so we receive two complimentary dinners in a specialty restaurant (and with the new suite restaurant, we may not even use this benefit). So, we are looking for suggestions on how others use their OBC. I must say, I hope all our problems are this big!! :)

It has been our experience that we need to wait until we are onboard to use our OBC. But, you can always have your Butler use his influence to obtain the desired spa times and treatments- it is part of his job. If Celebrity has rolled out its new suite policies you will be assigned a concierge who will do everything in their power to meet every desire - truly. We were on the Infinity for the Month of March in a Celebrity Suite. Infinity was the test ship for the new suite treatment. There was nothing we wanted that was not made an effort to obtain including a personal interview with the Chief Engineer for DH . If we were not in contact with the Concierge that day she called us to determine if there was anything we needed and did a followup to see how it went. She arranged a hard to get restaurant reservation for 8 and assisted with making sure we had great goodies for all of the folks on the Cabin Crawl. Have a great cruise we love the Celebrity Suites.

Hi all,

 

I'm about to book a cruise on the Infinity from Argentina to Chile for January 2016. I've never booked this far out before but at least I have the choice of most cabins remaining!

 

To date I've only been in an FV on the Millie, and I'm booked in an FV on the Mille in December as well. For the South American cruise, it'll just be my son and I (unless I find a husband between now and then - hahaha :D) - so I won't be able to grab an FV.

 

The prices for a CC or AQ are too high so I'm deciding between the sweet sixteens or the cabins with the extended angular balconies like 6048 or 6053 and those above. I expect the weather on this cruise to be cool so thought that the wind protection offered by the 6048/6053 style cabin might be a good idea, but I'm concerned about the view looking "back" due to the angle of the balcony as this cruise has quite a lot of scenic cruising.

 

Alternatively I am considering the "forward" facing angular balcony of 7166 or 7174 style...

 

Any suggestions from past South American cruisers who may have been in these cabin types?

We just sailed this cruise as a B2B in March. Any starboard side cabin would be great for viewing if you cannot be in an aft cabin. Around the Horn it is very windy and you may need the wind protection. It was very warm in Buenos Aires and Valpariso but cold and snowy in Puerto Montt. BTW, This cruise sells out almost every sailing so booking early should give you the cabin you want. Have a great cruise. My favorite port was by far Ushuia.

My boyfriend and I will be leaving Aug 15 for our first ever Alaska cruise. We're very excited...but having a harder time than usual figuring out what shore excursions to do - not much is jumping out as must do. I've read a bunch on this site, though our roll call is still pretty quiet for being less than a month before sailing.

 

We stop in Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau and Victoria. The one thing I'm pretty convinced I want to do is the White Pass Railway in Skagway. The one thing my boyfriend is adamant about is visiting the Alaskan Brewery in Juneau.

 

I love photography and will be taking my DSLR camera and looking forward to getting good photos. So I'd prefer trips that get out and look at things and don't just point out a pretty waterfall as we zip on a bus. I absolutely love the outdoors and being in nature and seeing animals and such. I also love anything to do with crafts and seeing people work on local crafts.

 

My biggest limiter is that I'm not in great shape physically. I have no problem standing or walking over flat ground for a couple of hours. I can easily get in an out of busses or walk on gravel. However, a rugged hike or zip lining isn't happening; neither is kayaking or white water rafting or biking. Also out is anything that involves small airplane or helicopters. Since I'll have been on a boat for 7 days, getting on another one isn't super high on the list of priorities, though I'm willing to do it as a means to an ends if the tour is right (it's just not going to be a big attraction).

 

So with the above in mind, are there shore excursions that you've done that you'd highly recommend? (Or heard that other people have done and really liked them?) Or would we maybe be better off and not book anything and just rent a car or go off on our own? Are the Alaska piers like other ones we've been to where you leave the boat and there's a billion companies offering a variety of tours?

The White Pass Railroad is not to be missed. Whale Watching and going on a crab boat take not a bit of exersion. Have fun and take great pictures. :).

I've read some reports (though none confirmed) that travelers with Global Entry can go to the next available agent (i.e. skip the line) in Customs. The theory being that Global Entry is technically available for those re-entering the US via air or sea and the procedures for airports clearly spell out if the machines are not working, you see the officer and jump the line. However, since there are no machines at the cruise ports, many have concluded (and some say TSA has confirmed) that you can jump the line there as well.

 

DH and I just got our Global Entry/Trusted Traveler and this would be AWESOME if it were true (except for all of the dirty looks we are likely to get from those standing in line.)

 

Anyone know?

Didn't you pay for the privledge? We have not used ours yet but are eager to find if this is true. Making disembarkation easier would be a joy.

Hi all. It has been an interesting couple of weeks for us. We already had a river cruise booked for this summer on Viking but then we started thinking of a cruise around Christmas with the kids...so we booked the Silhouette for Dec 2014.

 

Within days, friends called saying they had just booked the Summit for March 2015 and did we want to join them....so we booked that one too.

 

And after a day or so we thought a flight to San Juan was a long way to go so we booked the second leg of a B2B on the Summit in our same Aqua class cabin. Helps justify that long flight :D

 

Apparently the cruise bug bit us! We now have 4 cruises booked (counting the B2B as 2). And yes the free drink package may have influenced these decisions....

 

So it got me thinking, what is the most future cruises you have ever had booked at any given time?

We currently have 8 booked for the next year between RCI and X.

On our recent Celebrity Constellation cruise to the Norway Fjords, the Cruise Director, ( Jay Cee) attended the Meet and Greet on the first sea day. He stood next to our Captain, and made a startling statement.

 

He said that "Cruise Critic is contributing to the demise of the cruise industry because cruisers get together on Roll Calls and arrange private excursions." These excursions "hurt the companies that run cruises, as it takes away badly needed revenue."

 

He went to say that such privately arranged excursions should be limited to very small groups only and kept private, not publicly discussed on the boards. The Captain never said a word.

 

Has anyone else had experience with a Cruise Director making such an announcement?

 

Can anyone in official Celebrity or Cruise Critic positions respond to this? In my thirty cruises, this is the first I ever heard about this issue!

We have not experienced other than very supportive Cruise Directors. I wonder if he still has a job? He was out of line and you all should have booed him right there in front of his Captain. We usually try to take or organize small group tours ( max 10 to 12 people) due to the flexibility it gives us to chose where we want to go within the time frames we have. There are some specialized tours such as the lagoon tour in Pago Pago that is so small it could not happen with the cruiseline. However, there are some tours which cannot be done privately due to time constraints - a trip to Paris from Le Harve ( if the train times do not work) or a sail to the Barrier Reef in Australia.

I will be interested to see how this plays out. The home office does read the boards.

does celebrity off land and sea vacations? I would like to maybe do a 7 day cruise with a few land days. Would Princess be a better choice?

We will be taking a 7 day northbound cruisetour to Seward and then To Denali and back to Fairbanks in August. There is a variety of cruisetours offered. Check the X website under Cruisetours.

Has anyone done the Norwegian Fjiord cruise and what did you think of it?

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

We loved the cruise but would not go again in early May. It was cold and snowing in some ports.

We did the 6 night Celebrity pre cruise tour and then the southbound 7 night Millenium cruise leaving May 30th and finished with two nights in Vancouver. Each trip I do a Shutterfly photo books with everything we did and photos of what we saw. This year it ended up being two books - one for the land tour and one for the cruise and Vancouver. If anyone is planning this trip, I would be glad to share one or both books if you send me your e-mail address. The books took so much of my time - I have not done a review yet but both portions of the trip were fantastic in my opinion.

We will be on the Millie in Aufust for a similar cruise tour northbound. Do you know if there was entertainment and what kind in the Cova Cafe after dinner?

We came across a great sale on the Seranade with RCI. She will sail Dec 6 from New Orleans to the Western Caribbean and we were able to get great military and loyalty discounts to pay less than half for the E1 cabin price.

We've sailed in both 1104 (many times) and 9256 on a b2b. Although many people prefer 9256, we found we prefer 1104. There's more usable balcony and less wind when the ship is at sea.

We will be sailing on the Radiance Aussie Top and Bottom cruises in Feb - March 2015 in 9256. Wind will be a good thing especially near the Equator on the top cruise.

Come join us on August 8th, 2015!

Yes, come join us. There is a recently started roll call so, stop by.

We will be on the infinity august 4th.We are trying to join someone for any excursion available, preferably d day beach, honfleur or fecamp. If anyone has room for 3 please email me at georgeyanghk@yahoo.com

You might want to check the roll call for that board. I do know an excellent private guide who has assisted us 2 times with such tours his e mail is : christophe_rault@hotmail.com. He is excellent. Maybe you can put your own tour together.

We are too. For us the second half of a b2b starting in Sydney.

There iare very active roll calls for both Solstice 2015 Sydney to Honolulu and Honolulu to Vancouver legs. If you have not done so please come join us. :)

If this will help:

You can actually walk all the way to the left in this pic. Not enough room for a lounger there but a chair can be moved there. But definitely has room for 2 loungers near the door. We had 9256. Here is its balcony:

 

IMHO you can't go wrong no matter which aft cabin you select. All have oversized balconies and unobstructed views. Grab it immediately.

Thanks for posting the pics of the verandah of 9256. We will have that cabin for an Aussie Top and Bottom cruise on the Radiance in 2015. Since we will be there about a month it is good to know we will have space on the balcony to move around and have some meals out there. Is the cabin larger than normal or about the standard D2? Did you find any issues with shade on the aft?

Great review and very helpful. We will be on the Radiance Top and Bottom Aussie cruies in Feb 2015.

We recently enjoyed an long cruise with Celebrity - touching soil in New Zealand, Papeete, Moorea, Bora Bora and Hawaii.

 

Our reviews are quite long with images and are broken up into:

 

Overall ship review + video

 

Bay of Islands

 

Papeete & Moorea

 

 

Bora Bora and Hawaii coming soon.

 

 

Worth a read for anyone who has never cruised before.

 

:-)

Really nice review.

Yes, loved it last year so have booked it again this year! See the link in my signature for lots of information.

 

Gae

Gae,

Ther are active Roll Calls for both of these 2015 cruises and some excursions are listed .

These are all helpful but are there any others out there that can add to the list....I plan to copy the thread and send to my sister to help ease her concern about 4 sea days in a row.....THANKS!!!!:):)

She can find the Cruise Critic Rollcall for her cruise and get to know some of the others on it.

Hi everyone

 

We are cruising to Sydney to Hawaii in April 2015, and we are contemplating doing the next cruise. It will go from honolulu to Vancouver.

 

We have never been to Hawaii, or to Vancouver.

 

We will be travelling as a family, mum, dad and son 8 and daughter 7. On the first leg we will also have my mum and aunt with us.

 

Price wise we think it might work out an economical and easy way to see hawaii, plus we have always dreamed of going to Canada.

 

Is it too long on the one boat? What else should we consider?

We just did 28 days on the Infinity. It went faster then we thought and we got to get to know staff and our fellow cruisers much better than ever before. Participate in your roll call. We will be on the Solstice for the same cruises and there is an active roll call . Ther are many on the Rollcall who are doing the same and some have children with them.

Is there some secret to cruising regularly that I am not aware of? I just booked my second cruise in 10 years and it is costing me a fortune for a Sky suite, specialty dining and beverage package, let alone the flight and hotel stays. Is everyone out there a billionaire or am I just paying rack rates stupidly? I researched a bunch of online cruise sites, but Celebrity offered just the same price for the cabin I wanted. So what gives, get up off your secrets to great cruising, I want to join you....

We know couples who only book inside cabins and travel on cruises most of the year. We prior to this year always booked suites. We then retired and have downsized our home and our cruises to a balcony ( D2 on RCI) and sometimes Concierge class on Celebrity. There are some cruises where you do not need a balcony - a Transatlantic for example- and inside will work. How much is your cruise budget for the year? That determines how many we take.

When traveling in confined quarters like a cruise or anywhere please wash your hands often - with soap and water.Before meals, after using the bathroom. Runnign water on your hands does not solve the problem. You must use soap. Also, please cover your mouth when you cough. Not with your hand but with a tissue or your sleeve. Then do not shake hands with some one. Please do not touch a food item and then put it back. If you touched it you own it. If there is an item such as peanuts in a bowl please use a spoon or other utensil to place it on the plate. Do not take some put it in your mouth then go back for more using your fingers. Please consider your fellow passengers and their health - which by the way could effect yours. Rant over. Thank you all for your future consideration.

A picture is worth a thousand words!!:D

 

Here is a picture of Radiance's aft cabins and balconies.

 

Thanks, Patti I now have a better idea of what the verandah looks like and how much shade it may offer. We had a large verandah and lots of coverage on a Southern Caribbean cruise this past Fall on the Eclipse. If the sun was shining on our side we could not use the verandah. I guess it happens. The photo has shade - and enough to cover the 2 chairs and the lounge. It gives me hope. :)

We are booked on the Radiance for next February for an Aussie Top and Bottom Cruise. How much cover does the large verandah provide if any? It will be very hot on the top part - we are advised- and we will need cover to sit outside and enjoy our verandah. Also, is the cabin standard size for a D2 or is it a bit larger or smaller due to location?

We live in Canberra, so maybe a Sydney visit will be a more viable option for us, do you have much time prior or post cruise in Sydney?

We will have 2 days pre cruise and 3 days post cruise in Sydney.