bobnjeff

What's up - guess it's because of time of year - the Christmas crazies ugh !!

 

Can't wait until it's all over and we are finally sailing away to Bora Bora.

Us too. Can't wait for it to be over. Actually we will be escaping some of it. We will be on the Century for 15 nights starting on Dec. 6th to Hawaii from San Diego. Cruises this time of year seem to always be very cheap so we have been doing one for several years plus we get to escape a lot of the holiday madness.

Our plans, flights etc. are all confirmed for the trans Pacific. We will start looking into the ports after the new year.

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Last chance, anyone onboard with us?

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One more time bringing this up to the top so anyone else going on this cruise might see this thread.

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Hi BobnJeff. We're not on your cruise, but on the same one starting 11/21. We haven't had any responses either, although I only started the thread yesterday. I kept waiting for someone else to start. Don't be dismayed, though. We usually find friends on board who don't use CruiseCritic. Good luck to us all!

 

Jim & John:confused:

We always have good time regardless. We assume there will be some FOD. But nice to chat with a few here before the cruise. Hope your cruise goes well.

Jeff

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Keep on trying, anyone on this cruise with us?

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Welcomed you guys on the other thread too. Should be a great cruise. Lots of us onboard. Two friends from Scotland are joining us plus we hope to guys from Boston. Are you new to cruising? Celebrity?

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Welcome aboard Paul and William. We will have our gaydar on at elite cocktails and hope fully spot you. We are looking forward to a great cruise.

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Checking again to see if anyone is joining us on this cruise.

One more time. Prices have just dropped so...... maybe someone has joined us!?

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Hi Mate

Rob here from Sunshine Coast.I will be on this cruise with my partner Geoff.We have also booked an Aft cabin on deck 7

Cheers Rob & Geoff

Great to have you aboard. Lots of time until the cruise for planning. Jeff and Bob

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I think we have been on about 20 cruises. Only once on the Solstice. We prefer smaller ships though we were on the Eclipse back in March. We are going on the Century in Dec. Out of San Diego to Hawaii for 15 nights. We have been on Celebrity many times and are elite in their repeat club. Lots of extra perks. We have never done Aqua thus not Blu but I hear it is very nice, quiet, extra service. We like to travel a lot so we always take a cheap inside cabin. We get all of the other parts of the ship to enjoy and spend little time in the cabin except to sleep and clean up.

We are retired innkeepers from Maine but we now live in Ste-Adele Quebec in the summer and winters in Sarasota FL.

If you go to the regular thread for this cruise on the Celebrity roll call area you will find lots of info about what people are doing in the various ports. We tend to go on whim, last minute sort of thing. Scout out what looks interesting but rarely plan in advance in case the weather sucks or something better comes along at the last minute. Sometimes we will share a car rental or taxi with table mates on the ship. We go with the flow. So check out the other thread and join in. We have had pretty good luck with meeting open minded folks on the regular boards as well. We are not in your face gay but definitly do not hide. We dine late and ask for big table and we have always had a great time. There will more then likely be more FOD on board that are not here on cruise critic. Celebrity post when and where on a board down in the main lobby of the atrium. Easy to find. We go to Elite cocktails from 5-7 they are free! But then we venture off to find where the FOD are, usually the Martini bar but as the group gets together sometimes we move. On the Eclipse we went to Michaels a quiet piano bar so we could talk more easily.

I will stay in touch and look forward to meeting you on board. If you have any questions ask away.

Jeff

Hi. My partner and I are taking our first cruise on the Celebrity Solstice and would like to meet some fellow travelers while on board. We would also like some input from other LGBT folks who have taken the Solstice from Auckland to Sydney---land tours to take/avoid, which ports are most interesting, and in general what newbies like ourselves ought to try/avoid. We are both over 55 and are still pretty active so would enjoy learning about physical activities to do, walking, hiking, etc. Also are the drink packages worth the price?:)

We have been to Auckland and Sydney before so we know

are way around there, but the other places in NZ are all

going to be new.

 

 

Any tips, info will be greatly appreciated.

Jeff

Hi Jeff

We are on the March 22nd sailing Auckland to Sydney. Are you? You didn't put a date in for your sailing. This will be our 1st time to that part of the world. We are sailing Auckland to Sydney then 8 nights in Sydney then getting back on the Solstice for 18 more nights Sydney to Honolulu. We have a couple of nights in Auckland before the cruise. Big trip. Hope you are on the same cruise.

Jeff

Checking again to see if anyone is joining us on this cruise.

Hi

Please no one take offence to this question but I see this thread falls under the "special interest cruising, gay & lesbian cruisers, G and L roll call" banner. I believe there are contributors on here who, like myself, are not gay or lesbian but who have been drawn to this thread for various reasons. So, my possibly stupid (but, hopefully, forgivable) question is.....do the originators or G and L contributors to the thread object to others being on here too?

Thanks.

Diane

I assumed everyone posting here had already figured that out and were open to it. So all those with open minds are welcome here as far as we are concerned. We do not discriminate.

Hi

In the spirit of sharing(!).....

I'm Diane, retired, married to a guy for nearly 29 years who hates travelling but is happy to cat-sit at home while I wander the world! Originally from Britain, I've been fortunate to call Canada home for over 40 years. My travelling companion on this voyage is Lucy, an old school friend from England who I've known since we were 4! She now lives in Edinburgh, Scotland but summers with us on our small island off the west coast of Canada, near Vancouver.

 

 

 

I'm old school about dining too, preferring to build up a relationship with the dining room staff rather than having new ones each night. I'm probably even OLDER school since I prefer early dining! Also like tables of around 8

people, if possible.

 

 

 

Still looking for Moorea and Papeete ideas!!

Diane

Diane,

We have friends joining us from Edinburgh too, small world. We all meet on a trans atlantic last Dec. On the Connie. My parents do the cat sitting for us. Can't imagine sitting at home while the other half enjoys the world!

We have been cruising since 1987. Our first was on the Norway, the old SS France after NCL bought her. I have a bot of claustrophobia so when Bob told me we were going on a cruise I freaked out. We had a tiny cabin down in steerage with bunk beds. I fell in love woth cruising and booked the next one for the following year a 21 day cruise from Athens to Rio. We do mostly long stuff now. This trip will be 40 days with 12 on the Solstice from Auckland to Sydney then 8 days in Sydney then this cruise plus all of the traveling a a couple of days in Auckland. Too much to think about! Thankfully Bob is really organized and keeps it all together for us.

Years ago we meet a couple on a cruise that had a great outlook on cruising. For years when they were younger, they were in their late 70's when we meet them, they would fly to a country then get on a bus go to the end of the line and explore. Even as they got older and that kind of travelling became a bit too difficult they still did the same thing but on a cruise in each port they would get off, rain or shine, hop on a bus or just walk and explore on their own just trying to soak up a little of each place no particular goal in mind, no need to see everything but enjoying all the small little things to be found along the way. We have adopted that outlook and travel just to see what life is like else where in the world. Not needing to see everything in day but enjoying the little bits here and there. A beautiful park, the local markets, unique alleys and back roads. Sometimes the best plan is no plan.

Hi folks,

Fascinated that there are two threads! I went away on a cruise and came back to find all sorts of drama going on! Can I join this merry band??!!

 

I always felt the whole point of CC was to meet people and to exchange helpful information! So, in the spirit of asking for help, I'm still looking for ideas on what to do in Moorea and Papeete. Got BB and the NZ stops organized. Any bright ideas? I don't really want to just rent a car with my friend, but we'd be happy to split costs with others if any

ideas are offered!

 

 

 

Thanks.

Diane

Please do join the group. We have done the car sharing thing in the past and have really great memories from those adventures. It is the kind of thing we prefer to do infact for our next cruise Dec 6th on the Century to Hawaii we have a car booked in each port. We have not planned yet for this cruise but will look into it as the time gets closer. We tend to prefer to just eander a new place and see a few things on our own or with new friends from the ship. Not into the big organized and $$$ tours.

One other thing I will throw out there and see if anyone is interested is setting up dining tables of like minded folks. We have done it for the last few cruises and it has really worked out well. Mind you we have never really had any bad luck with just going with who the cruise line puts us with but it can be fun to arrange tables too. We are late dining. We prefer to have the same table, waiter etc. Rather old school I know but it works for us. We like a table of 8 maybe 10. Well just someting to think about.

I also think it is nice for us on the thread to share just a bit about ourselves so I will start it off. We are a married couple together since October of 1986. We are retired innkeepers, for 23 years, from Ogunquit Maine, you can google that! We now summer in Ste-Adele Quebec 45 minutes northwest of Montreal in the mountains in our log cabin on 37 acres in the woods. We tend to escapists at times! Winters we spend in Sarasota FL. Seems like a huge city to us when we first get there but really is just a small city on the west coast, home to the Ringling Circus and Siesta Beach one of the to 10 beaches in the US, we never go! Well there is just a little about us.

Jeff and Bob

But nice to see so many wanting to join our group! Once again I say welcome to all, the more the merrier! Nice to have our whole thread back!

I don't do drama either and I tried to put a halt to it on the other thread but apparently it didn't work....would I be welcome here?

Everyone is welcome as far as we are concerned.

It seem like Celebrity the company is lost, floundering, rudderless since Michael Bayley took over the helm. Why make a formal announcement of a 4 week dry dock, cancel peoples vacations and all that entails including enticements to get these people to rebook other cruises. Then basically cancel the dry dock. Yet no notice as to why, what etc. It seem to me that he needs to take control of this floundering company and figure out what he is doing with it. What ships is he going to keep, upgrade etc. What direction in terms of atmosphere and type of guest does he want to attract because he is slowly driving away some of us with loud music, staff reductions, food quality etc. I have been loyal to Celebrity for the the last six years but.... has been on a down hill slide. I realize that tne economy has been tough. But Celebrity seems to have grown too fast and too big for themselves. I hope they find their direction soon!

I was checking into the main thread (have you ever seen such drama?!) and saw that there was another specialized one... You all sound like great folks! I have booked two pre-cruise excursions from Sydney, April 7 - blue mountains and April 9 south coast rain forest and waterfalls. Into scenic & photo ops! I booked for a party of 6 and have space for two more on each. Email me for details if interested!

 

Sherri

I thought it was about to turn into a fist fight! Ugh, keep me out of that stuff. And they think we are drama queens, ha! We booked a studio in Darlinghurst between our two cruises, the March 22nd Auckland to Sydney and then the April 11th trans pacific. Sherri email on the way.

Jeff

We are booked. Is there anyone else joining us?

HI Guys,

 

Sorry I missed this as we are rebuilding at present.

 

OK Sydney is one of the world's great cities up there in the top ten by my reckoning.

 

As to where to stay there are lots of options that will give you a very different type of holiday.

 

I'd personally be looking around kings cross and surrey

hills.

 

 

 

Check out airbnb and you will likely find something much cheaper than a hotel. Sort list some stuff and flick it on to me and I'd be happy to give you feedback.

Thanks. I have checked out airbnb but no one is yet ready to book that far out. So we will wait awhile and see what comes up in the future. I have looked in Surry and will post anything here before I book to see what anyone from AU thinks.

Well this thread has not been active in a while so I thought I would move it up and also ask for some help from the Aussie boys. We are staying in Sydney for 8 days before the cruise, we are on the cruise before from NZ. We are looking to rent a small, inexpensive apartment in Sydney for the 8 days. Any suggestions as to what part of the city or where to find them would be of great help. We are looking on Airbnb but....

Thanks Jeff and Bob

We are thinking of taking another cruise in 2014 but we (42 and 49) are beginning to feel RCCL is too young for us. We love higher quality culinary choices, relaxing entertainment neither of us are dancers, we don't want the high energy disco, we love high levels of service on a cruise. How is HAL in the GLBT community? It will be our frist HAL cruise.

I am 51 and have been on HAL twice back in 2008 and 2011. Both times were great. Meet great guys onboard. Great service and food and entertainment. Both times were on the smaller HAL ships, the Veendam and the Amsterdam. I love the smaller ships. We have a cruise booked on the Veendam for Dec of this year. Hoping the price drops a bit more. We are also booked on Celebrity which is cheaper. Celebrity is great but I find HAL just a little nicer and more traditional. Give them a try I am sure you will have a great time.

I did not find annoying loud canned music all over the ship. But the poster who mentioned the open atrium is correct. The party band plays on the lower level and the sound travels up the ship. We were midships on deck 7 and could hear the band inside our cabin. Agree with the observation that there were a few dark, overly quiet, uninviting spaces-- Cellar Masters was deserted.

The MDR was very noisy-- not sure if it was because of the music or not. I could barely converse across the table for two with my husband.

Yes it was the music. When they set it at a level higher than necessary then as people enter the room they have to talk over it to be heard. And the people next to them have to talk louder and so on. Background music in a dining room is there to fill in the spaces of potential dead silence. I seriously doubt you could ever find a moment in a room with a 1000+ people where there is dead silence. Turn the music way down if not off and the whole level of noise will be much lower and more pleasant for everyone.

The dining areas. Especially the main dining room. I a large room with 1000+ people it is already going to be a very noisy space. Why add loud rock style music on top of that. People have to talk over it so it gets louder and louder. I realize some people like loud pubs. So make one of special restaurants that way. Q-sine? It is already a hip happening place and so it can be the place for hip happening music. But do we need that in all of the dining venues? I hope not. I have no issue with Martini. If that is what they want it to be I will go elsewhere on the ship. But if they continue this loud music in too many of the dining areas especially the main dining room I will have to cruise elsewhere. It also use to be so nice to go out to the Oceanview bar area and have a nice quiet breakfast or lunch and escape the noise and chaos inside but with the new loud music it is no longer a peaceful place to go. Maybe at least during meal times they could find a way to tone it down. I talked with several staff on board about this several times and the answer was always that it was be controlled by headquarters not onboard. They were told what to play and what level. No adjustments allowed. Please help us Celebrity. I have three more cruises booked for the next year and wish to stay on board.