watertraveler

Typically, when does Celebrity decorate their ships for the Christmas season?

Sorry if this question has been asked before but what is the earliest flight I should book if I don't want to walk off with my luggage? I'm arriving into FLL and flying to BOS.  There is a flight that leaves around 11:00. I know the airport is close to the terminal.  Can I realistically have the cruise line handle my luggage and still get to the airport for a morning flight?  

8 hours ago, island lady said:

The line WITH reservations was twice as long as the "without reservations" line.  

Wow!  Go figure.  

1 hour ago, mafig said:

Looks like Serenade is off my list.👎

Although we have sailed on the Serenade quite a bit, I would bet that the line waiting for MTD is not restricted to the Serenade.  On our most recent cruise on this past October, we had a party of 10 reserved for MTD.  With a few adjustments, we were assured that the table (and waiter/asst. waiter) would be ours for the entire cruise. It was delightful.  We got the know the waiter and asst waiter, he learned our likes and dislikes, and the sommelier knew exactly what to bring to the table each night.  This was sooooo different from our cruise in June.  It couldn't have been better. It would seem that this was the perfect dining experience.  However, when making dining reservations for our cruise this coming fall, the earliest time slot was 7:00 or later.  Finishing dinner around 8:30 was not a good option for us so we swtiched to the early seating. 

What I don't understand is, while there is the ability to make advance reservations for MTD, every night there was a line of people a mile long waiting to be seated in the 'no reservation' line.  It could go much smoother if people just picked up the phone and made a reservation.

2 hours ago, kruzerci said:

MTD used to work very well, but it has not lately. 

We loved dining with MTD since it started.  It offered a little flexibility for those of us that didn't want to eat that early or that late.  We were always able to keep the same table just by talking to the maitre d' but it does seem to have changed.  This past June, while on the Serenade, we were not able to keep the same table and were shuffled around each night.  When MTD first started, it seemed like this was the way of the future, but RCCL seems to be focusing more on traditional dining times.  Could this be another way to get people in and out quicker, kind of like what the new streamlined menu will accomplish?

On 9/8/2022 at 1:58 PM, PORT ROYAL said:

Yes, plenty of taxis available 

Are they right as you get off the ship or do you have to walk through the tunnel to get a taxi?  I remember having to walk through the tunnel after a shore excursion but can't recall where we picked up our transportation.  Thank you !

Can anyone tell me where you can get a taxi once you get off the ship?  Is there a taxi stand right there or do you have to walk through the tunnel in order to find a cab?  Thank you!

45 minutes ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

Use one if the at home tests the government sent and log onto Rapidtestandtrace.com. It is proctored, costs $20/pp, and you have the results in 30 min.  

This is the company that we used for our cruise to Alaska.  I can't say enough about how professional they were.  From the start of the process, they walked us through,  stayed on the line with us until the results came through and we had our email with the results in less than 2 minutes!  Spend the $20.00 for each appointment, use your government issued at home tests and get tested while you are at home! 

For those traveling from another country, you can still use this company.  My brother used the company in Vancouver prior to the cruse and everything went off without a hitch!

Good luck (sorry that so many people did not take your problem seriously.  It is stressful)

There's always something memorable about each and every cruise. Thank you for posing the question so I could go back and examine all of our past cruises!

Probably number one would be our 2005 cruise to the Sea of Cortez on the Spirit of Endeavor. We experienced the BEST whale watch EVER!!!, coming eye to eye with a humpback whale. We swam with sea lions and watched pods of dolphins swim alongside our ship. 

A close second, for another reason, was the cruise we took in 2007 on the Radiance of the Seas. We were excited because it was supposed to be an 8 day cruise but Jet Blue cancelled our flights out of Boston.  They told us to go home and rebook (right, it was February vacation!).  Luckily, we had booked our air through RCCL and the agent was able to rebook us out of Pittsburgh!  10 of us rented cars, drove to Pittsburgh and were put up in a hotel for the night.  We flew to San Juan the next day and met the ship having missed just the day at sea (we heard the weather was terrible so we didn't miss anything).  To this day, we joke about the cruise we took that left from Pittsburgh!

So grateful that we have all these memories to look back on!

It all went off without a hitch.  They walked us through the steps, stayed on the line until the 15 minute wait time was over and we had our negative results by email almost instantaneously.

On 7/7/2022 at 10:49 PM, Travel R said:

5x on the Serenade … I am jealous. If I had the money and time, the world cruise is a dream of mine. Loved the layout of the ship and how you can see outside from almost anywhere (although the windows in the MDR need to be cleared) - as mentioned above, my family enjoyed the MDR vs the WJ, but seating outdoors was nice (especially for lunch on that first warm day waiting for departure out of Vancouver). Service was  fantastic!

Well, I thought 5 x's was a lot until we attended the recognition party for upper tier passengers.  There was a couple who had been onboard since 5/7 and another gentleman who had been on the Serenade 17 times!

Sounds like you were on the cruise after us.  We were on the 6/19 sailing and the weather was cool and cloudy for most of the week.  This was our 5th time on the Serenade and, although I love this class of ship, she definitely needs some updating before going out on the world cruise.  For the most part, we enjoyed the entertainment that was in the different areas of the ship, like the pub, schooner bar and centrum.  This was first time we went to the main dining room for breakfast, usually we end up at the Windjammer because it has outdoor seating, but because of the weather, the dining room was actually more enjoyable!  We love the hump cabins, also!  We also had MTD and had made reservations for 6:30 each evening(early seating was too early and late was too late!).  In the past, we were able to request the same table for the week but, for whatever reason, we were unable to do that this time.  That was disappointing.  Over all, great service, great week!

What is the normal 'all onboard' time before leaving a port of call?  We have a private excursion that arrives back fairly late to Juneau and, although its a reputable company, I'm a little concerned about the time that I will need to be on the ship. 

Thanks, all!  

Oh, we'll be doing that for sure!  I was just trying to get everything on the app.  Traveling in the pandemic era is not easy!  

Just checking ~  Can anyone tell me how long it took for RCCL to validate your vaccination info when you put it into the app in preparation for getting checked in?  I've done my online checkin and have my arrival time.  When I put in my vaccination info, it says that is validating my record.  Its been like this for a week. I'm not sailing til June 19th.  Did I put it in too early or is there a glitch?  Thanks for the help!

Twangster ~  Thank you so much for you detailed report. One question - we are on the 6/19 sailing and I noticed that you went to Ketchikan. Our itinerary includes Haines.  Was there a change or was that included from the beginning?

Thank you all for your advice!

Thank you for all your replies!

Does anyone have information on how to rent a scooter? We'll be sailing from Vancouver in June. Im on hold with RCCL to see if they offer scooter rental directly from the cruise line and protocols for using a scooter once onboard.

Thank you for any assistance.

Think I might have answered my own question! 😂  Don't most people book with 'always included' package?

On RCCL, drink vouchers are issued to passengers who are D. D+ and Pinnacle in place of the happy hour each night.  Does anyone know if Celebrity is doing the same thing?

Thank you for any info.

22 hours ago, Garyjames220 said:

also the room they said they will only allow one cot and the sofa bed. Anyone have any ideas if they might give you a second cot on board or if not what do you do to make the sofa bed safer for a 18 month year old. The guy on the phone said put extra pillows etc around it 🤷‍♂️

 

With regards to the sleeping arrangements for your little ones, I had a friend who sailed with their little guy.  He was too old for a pack and play but they felt they needed a little more secure sleeping arrangement than just the sleeper sofa.  Instead, they turned the sofa around so the front was facing the wall.  They stuffed pillows against the wall and made the couch up as a bed.  It was a soft and cushy with no chance of him falling out of bed.

On 10/9/2021 at 3:09 PM, dmpuszcz said:

Just got off Symphony last week and we loved it! About 2500 passengers but never felt like it.  I really like them serving the food better in the Windjammer and hope that continues after COVID.  Only needed masks inside which wasn't much.  Outside and dining areas you didn't need to wear it.   Boarding was quick and walk off was even quicker.  Diamond Lounge was open. Someone would make the coffee, latte's, etc (lattes never tasted right so I started getting them from the promenade with one of my coupons.  Much better.

I didn't realize that one of my coupons could be used for a cappucino from the Promenade Cafe. 

Don't miss it!  The ribs were just right.  We had a conversation with a crew member who said they smoke everything right on the ship and RCCL is considering putting additional bbq's on other ships if the concept goes over well.  (so we were told)