janabelle61

Following along!  I love your photography and you inspire my future travels.  Can't wait to follow this new adventure 🙂

My experience has been that coffee drinks containing 'premium' alcohol (such as Bailey's) will have an upcharge - depending on the server and your frequency in the space 😉.  Classic Pkg has an upper limit (mine was $10, but it may have gone up over the summer?) and some of the drinks were over that by a dollar or two.

Wow!  I just picked up the Key for my October 2024 cruise for $1/day over the internet cost 🙂  Great deals on other things, such as specialty dining lunches, as well.  Thanks for the heads up.

On 9/2/2023 at 12:49 PM, maggiecharlie said:

We currently have this booked but have been receiving some negative comments.  Sounds like I can add yours as well.  Thanks for information.

 

I can't comment on other experiences,  of course.  I was on Celebrity Millennium and enjoyed the trip. You could go outside and on the top deck if the surroundings inside were not to your preference. It is a long day and some time on the bus to join the ferry and return to the ship, so plan for that. We had no issues with port times, but again, this may be ship specific.

On 9/2/2023 at 12:09 PM, maggiecharlie said:

How were the bathroom facilities on the ferry and waiting for the ferry?

 As I recall, there were bathroom facilities at the pier awaiting the ferry and the typical facilities on the ferry itself, but I don't recall using them. At a minimum, they were unremarkable,  neither bad nor exceptional. 

There were also facilities on the bus for the return trip.

FWIW - I would this excursion again!

Jim - I follow quietly most of the time, but wanted to thank you for the Mackinac Island pictures!! It was home to me for several summers during college and I miss the island.

I would imagine the restrictions on entry to the hotel last year were Covid related as typically there's been a small fee to enjoy the porch since the early 80s.

We were fortunate in that the excursion wasn't canceled or delayed, but they are definitely both valid concerns to be aware of when booking.

There is a risk of cancellation with the excursion.  The Canal Authority schedules the smaller boat traffic one day before and if the time doesn't fit with the ship schedule,  they will cancel.  Fortunately for my sailing we were able to go, but they notified us with our excursion tickets.

The ferry itself is nice, with lots of seating.

Not a rumor 😞 I was on the Millennium last week (5/19-5/26). The dessert menus were changed and listed only two 'classics' - Apple Pie and Creme Brulee. They offered Cheesecake one night and Chocolate Cake another, but otherwise they were off the menu.

I asked for Cheesecake one 'off' night and they brought it for me, but YMMV in the future. 

Julie, Looking forward to following along!  I just booked the reverse of this cruise and will be interested in your port activities and the experience around the horn.  Please enjoy and post when you can.  Jan

Thanks for this! I've had an excursion 'system cancelled' three times and no one could tell me why.

Today, I was able to book a non-World Wings version off the same excursion (first time it was available), so I'm hopeful this one sticks.

I'll add my thanks for this wonderful review! I'll be on the Summit this fall. Your thoughts and beautiful pictures really brought this cruise to life and helped me to fill in some empty spaces in my planning.

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

I guess it depends on the ship.  I used the solo BOGO on the Sept. 5 Oasis sail.  IMO. it's not automatic as the person at Giovanni's helping me had to contact some 5 individuals to get approval.  I could have been that I went to Giovanni's as soon as I boarded and possibly not enough bosses around.😀

Thanks, Nelblu!  I just turned D+, so trying to anticipate my options for my next cruises in January.😀

If you sail solo, can you use the 'free' portion on a second night?

19 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

This is the way to do sailaway. 
 

 

Congrats on your return to sailing!  I'll be following closely. 

I'm starting to get that 'something very exciting is going to happen' feeling and I'm still 2 weeks out.  Covid test scheduled today and dusting off the suitcases - it's starting!  

No questions - just please enjoy every moment of your return to cruising.

Thanks for doing this!  I'll be on Serenade in a month, rather than Ovation, but I don't think anyone posted about their test cruise and protocols seem to be changing almost daily. 

Will really enjoy hearing about ports - what's available, what restrictions do you run into?

This makes me sad!  I'm retiring soon, sailing more, and was looking forward to collecting them.

January 24, 2022 - Vision, but now I'm strongly considering jumping on a Sept Alaska sailing!

I made the decision to move forward with my original retirement plans and have numerous cruises booked for 2021/2022.  Not boasting or bragging, just happy that it looks like cruising will resume and I'll be able to pursue what I've planned for and dreamed of for so many years!

I received the email, but oddly, it referenced an Oct 2022 cruise that I have booked and ignored the Jan 2022 and April 2022 cruises I have booked!  I have slightly different expectations for January than I do for October, as I expect restrictions and protocols to change over time and stated that in the survey.

17 hours ago, MADflyer said:

The only ship that Royal had booked already for Maine ports previously for 2022 was Empress of the Seas. 

 

With Jewel heading to the MED and then possibly on to Dubai, it would seem that Voyager would likely head over to Boston or Bayonne. It would seem likely that in addition to Anthem that Oasis and then one other ship would do Canada / NE sailings as well. There are not port bookings currently to accurately predict the season. 

 

 

Thanks for the info!  I'm less concerned about the ship than the itinerary at this point.  My work prevents me from sailing the New England itinerary in the fall, so I'm anxious to spend time their after I retire.  For now, I'll just be patient (hard to do after not cruising for so long!) and watch for updates.

Question for those of you that follow future sailings - Is there any word on Canada/New England for 2022? 

I'm retiring and planning some extended cruising fall of 2022.  Celebrity has their itineraries out, but I'm really looking for Royal and hoping they deploy their itineraries soon.

5 hours ago, Daniel A said:

E-mail is notoriously not a secure form of communication.  It is not encrypted and almost any middle school student has the ability to hack and read e-mails.  (Even Princess' corporate e-mail system got hacked recently.)  Never share any personal information in response to an unsolicited e-mail.  Even if this e-mail does actually come from NSW Police, it is certainly an amateurish attempt at soliciting investigative information.

This exactly!  Whether this is a legitimate investigation or not, you should never share something like a passport number, driver's license number, or other personal information via email.  Please don't do this.

I'll be retiring, so plan to be cruising a lot more in the next few years!

Don't plan on being able to do anything of substance unless you need practice stroking around a minuscule ice rink.

 

The number of sessions will be very limited (sometimes only one a day, if any).

 

If they do have any sessions for "advanced" skaters with their own skates, the only criteria for "advanced" is owning a pair of skates. You are likely to be on the ice with a elementary school age hockey player who is bombing around the ice.

 

My daughter who was a high level competitive skater at the time, said she wouldn't bother packing her skates the next time.

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