sandav
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Posts posted by sandav
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Thanks for the lovely photos. Does anyone have photos of the seating in Cafe al Bacio?
Sandra
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As I stated at the start of this discussion, we were on that cruise and yes it was a very rough crossing and the ship was busy inside. We never felt the need to re check where our muster station was and never did we feel at risk. Well maybe walking across the Sky Lounge floor was a bit challenging but there was always someone there to steady you when you staggered and my husband slipped on the ice on the deck as we sailed into Boston! It wasn’t icy in Boston, cold but bright. We have done quite a few TA’s now and truthfully we would quite happily do the same one again.Any cruise can have rough seas and I would imagine certain seas are more prone than others. That is the risk you take when cruising. Last year on Silhouette was quite extreme. As far as I’m aware Oscar reached Hurricane status. As far as contacting Guest Services about rescheduling private tours, I can’t remember how we knew about it but we did.They were very helpful. We’re not doing a TA this year but all this talk is making me wish we were. We are doing Silhouette’s Canaries before your cruise but even though we got a good deal I keep looking at Silhouette and Reflection’s TA’s.
Sandra
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Agree with bringing snacks onboard. We bring crackers onto the ship to have with cheese. Have noticed over the years that the choice of crackers has lessened. Crackers and cheese with glass of wine or coffee on the balcony mid afternoon while at sea. So relaxing. Our TA’s have had a variety of age groups but probably more on the over 40/50’s. What we have noticed is that some people (Snow Birds) use the crossing to and from the U.K. to relocate. We have spoken to people who ‘winter’ in Florida and ‘summer’ back home in the U.K. and use the April and October/ November crossings instead of flying. On our first TA we mentioned to a lady we were speaking to that we were still waiting for one of our pieces of luggage. She said she was still waiting for 4 pieces. She said it was much less expensive to cruise over with all the benefits of a floating hotel than pay for all that extra luggage.There also tends to be a high number of Elite and Elite Plus on board. At times it could be really difficult to get a seat in the Sky Lounge for ‘Happy Hour’ before they changed where you could use your vouchers. You can even use them now in the MDR before 7pm.
Sandra
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43 minutes ago, GerScot said:
Despite having done many cruises we will be taking our first ever TA in October and I am intrigued as to what will be different from regular cruises?What should we expect?
Probably for us the main difference is the number of sea days. We love sea days. We had always thought the days would be long but not so. There are often 3 Beyond the Podium speakers talking on a variety of subjects each sea day, each talk lasting about 45 minutes. Entertainers do an afternoon show as well as an evening show sometimes.
There are the usual trivias and progressive trivias, other game shows, dance lessons and activities during the day. We are also balcony people and being Scots weather doesn’t usually bother us. As long as it’s dry on the balcony we’ll get those tartan, woolly blankets and sit wrapped up on the balcony, read our kindles and watch the sea.The weather can vary depending on the route the ship takes. Southern crossings tend to be warmer than norther crossings. Sailing west also gives you longer days as you gain hours. We’ve sometimes been a bit tired going east with the number of hours lost especially if we’ve been up late and there is an early speaker the next morning.
We’ve only had one rough crossing and that was last October on Silhouette from Southampton. The ship had to change its route, arrived a day late in Boston and missed out Nassau altogether. Balcony furniture was folded down for most of the crossing and the outdoor decks were closed. Lots of rocking and rolling. It’s just a matter of luck, the crossing the year before had been very smooth. Guest services were very good and allowed us free phone calls to rebook private excursions if needed. The. Captain had a huge map outside the Ocean View each day so we could see the progress of ‘Oscar.’
For us an ideal holiday, a mix of ports and sea days. Enjoy.
Sandra
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That makes sense. $10 difference + 20% gratuity makes $12. Mus be more expensive to wait until boarding .Don’t understand why though.
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Thank you for all the information. We are looking at this cruise for next year.
Maybe someone could explain to me why it costs $14 per day plus 20% gratuity to upgrade from Classic to Premium Alcohol Bev Package. As far as I can see it is $59 +20% for the Classic and $69 + 20% for the Premium each day. Maybe I’m missing something. We have the Classic as part of the offer on our next cruise and plan to upgrade to the Premium. Maybe it costs less to do it before boarding. I’ll need to phone and find out .
Sandra
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We’ve never had a queue at fast trak but maybe we’ve just been lucky.We’ve used It many times. Anyway enjoy your cruise.
Sandra
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5 hours ago, mirnsd said:
We are officially on our way to Barcelona to join Celebrity Constellation for a 9 night sailing from Barcelona to Venice. Celebrity sell this sailing as French Riviera and Dalmatian Coast.
We are mother and son from central Scotland and this is our 4th cruise with Celebrity. This will be my first time live blogging as we sail but I've been inspired by the many others who have shared their sailings on here.
We are currently sitting in a very busy Edinburgh airport after staying at the Hilton Doubletree last night. Very impressed with the Hilton at the airport. We always fly in one or two days before our sailing, so will have an overnight tonight in Barcelona.
Not impressed by the organisation this morning in Edinburgh. Security was the worst I've ever seen it and I'm a regular in the airport here.
My main inspiration for the live blog is Constellation has been getting some mixed reports lately and before we sailed I didn't see many live blogs covering her. I hope to be able to answer any questions for those who are booked on future sailings and I hope to be able to confirm that some of the negative reviews were a poor reflection of the ship. That's the plan anyway.
We are flying through London Heathrow as we couldn't secure good direct flights at the times we wanted. British Airways both flights.
Anyway. I will update as the day progresses as we are due to board our London bound flight in the next few minutes.
I hope you will follow along.
Michael
Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk
You might already know this but Edinburgh Airport does Fast Trak Security for £4.49. We use it all the time and it makes quite a difference.
Sandra
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We'll be starting our first ever Royal Caribbean cruise very soon on the Independence. We've never sailed with them before and so I ask those familiar with recent cruises on this class of ship :-
We expect the entertainment to be significantly better and more varied on Royal Caribbean.
We expect the overall service to be better on Celebrity.
We expect food in the MDR and buffet to be slightly better on Celebrity.
We expect specialty dining to be very similar with Celebrity (In particular Murano) to have the edge.
My perceptions are all based on reading threads on Cruise Critic forum. Am I close? :D
Also, we're Elite on X so apparently we've automatically been enrolled in the C&A program on RCL. We have their equivalent of the premium drinks pack, so are there any real benefits worth bothering with as a diamond member? :)
Thanks in advance.
I have recently returned from a Mediterranean cruise on Independence of the Seas with my daughter.
Entertainment -
The ice shows were excellent.
Grease show also very good.
Entertainment on the Royal Promenade also good but be aware if you want to sit and watch it arrive very early to get a seat or be prepared for a long stand among very large crowds.
Headliner shows in the Royal Theatre. First night Beatles Tribute Band excellent. After that went downhill. I enjoy a comedian but there were far too many on this cruise.
Food -
MDR . The times we were there we found it pretty OK and the waters friendly and helpful. Service was fine but not up to Celebrity standards. We requested Malbec wine. We got a glass, no bottle was brought to the table to show us it was Malbec. No big deal though.
Windjammer Buffet- Very, very busy. The food stations are not as well set out as the Ocean View on the Solstice class ships so many people crowding and queuing.
I enjoyed the food though. Service here is poorer than Celebrity. The waiters work very hard but there is simply not enough of them.
Coffee bar. No waiter service here at all. You queue to get your coffee and then hope there is a seat available. Coffee is served in paper cup, you have to ask for a mug’ ceramic’.
Sorrentos - great pizza.
Independence has a good variety of bars with entertainment but as the ship is so busy , it can be difficult to get a seat. Again bar staff are very friendly but table service is much more limited than Celebrity.
Be aware this is now a ship for families with children. It has great facilities for children, sky pad, climbing wall, flowrider, water slides.
This is great for the children but not so great for adults at night. The ship has a show lounge with dance floor but don’t expect to be able to dance or even sit and listen to the music on offer. This seems to be a great place for very young children to run around even up to be 11pm at night. I really felt for the waiters carrying loaded trays of drinks. How these children didn’t cause an accident is beyond me.
I would sail on this ship again if the itinerary suited and no schools are on holiday. When we left on 30 June, we heard there were about 1000 children expected for the next cruise.
I spoke to quite a few Indy loyalists who say they won’t be back, With the new cabins added during the recent refurb the ship is now far too busy and service has fallen from what it used to be.
Sandra
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Yes, all aboard was 7:30pm. There is a shuttle that will take you to the Exit Glacier. It's a couple blocks from the terminal. Doesn't operate till late may so we couldn't do it. You can get VERY close to it after a short walk.
Harry
Thank you once again.
Sandra
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The printable luggage tags are in your e - documents which will be emailed to you in due course.
Sandra
For the last few cruises we have printed them and put them in cruise luggage tag holders we got from Amazon. Works very well, no problems.
Cruise Luggage Tag Holder Zip Seal & Steel - Royal Caribbean & Celebrity Cruise
Sandra
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How do I print my luggage tags, please? I have printed my Xpress pass, but didn't see any info about luggage tags. I must have figured it our for our first X cruise last Dec., but can't remember what to do.
The printable luggage tags are in your e - documents which will be emailed to you in due course.
Sandra
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I will be posting about the return cruise just not many photos. Takes too darn long to upload them. May be a few but just one less than my frustration threshold. ;)
Back to back procedure was as follows:
Option 1: Go ashore between 7 and 9:30 am with old card. Must wait till after 11am to re-board and get new card. Take Transit Pass with you.
Option 2: Rendezvous lounge at 9:30. Get checked out with old card and turn in same (we get it back mid-cruise for souvenir); get new card and new pic and get checked in. One couple held us up as they strolled in around 10am (par for the course!). Do not have to leave the ship. After this process is completed, you may get off ship but once again, no re-boarding till general embarkation begins (approx. 11am). We did option 2 then waited till rooms were ready (@ 1pm), checked to see all our stuff was moved (IT WAS. YAY!), then we went off the ship. Take Transit Pass for easier re-boarding. Hope that answers your questions.
Harry
Thanks again. Was reboarding time up to about 7.30pm? We are thinking about a private tour when off the ship at Seward.
Sandra
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Islandtine87
Thank you for taking the time to post this review. We have really enjoyed following it and your cruise to Alaska.
Sandra
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travelling1969
Thank you so much for taking the time to give all this information and photos. I know you said you will not be posting about the return cruise to Vancouver but If possible could you give some information about the turn around procedure at Seward eg when you received your sea pass for the next part of the cruise, when you were able to get off in Seward and when you had to be back on board. We hope to do this B2B next year and this would help us with our planning for Seward.
Thank you once again.
Sandra
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Thank you for all the information and photos. We enjoyed following along on your cruise.
Sandra
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Put a review into Trip Advisor with your concerns on how Packer Expeditions handled this problem. I’m sure their office in Skagway could have got in touch with the ship regarding the situation with the train and how it might affect your return. Packer Expeditions has excellent reviews on Trip Advisor so I’m sure they would take your concerns onboard. Also companies don’t want bad reviews, bad for business.
Awesome photos. How hard was the hike?
Sandra
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So I woke up around 6AM on sea day 1 and we were passing through a passage of some sort. I’m or the port side of the ship and had nice views, the view lasted till around 9AM and then we were out in the open water again.
Sent from my iPhone using Forums
Thank you
Sandra
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Where near FCO would you suggest staying over night ?
We have stayed in the Hotel Tiber at Fiumicino. Close to the airport with a shuttle service. Very good reviews on Trip Advisor.
Sandra
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We have Premier Access with United Airlines. Can we do this if we walk off the ship WITH OUR LUGGAGE AT6:45 AM for a 9:45 am flight ?
I really doubt it. It would be really tight. It took us an hour to get to the Airport with Rome Cabs and that was with light traffic. That’s only 2 hours until the flight. Even with Premier Access and Fast Trak Security you have passport control. When we were at Rome last month the line for non EU citizens was very long. Then there’s also the walk to the gate. There’s also no guarantee you would be able to be off the ship and in a car to the airport by 6.45am. I truthfully would not attempt that but then I don’t know how easy it is for you to change your flight.
Sandra
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Self disembark starts around 7-7:30, not 5:45. The ship may list 5:00 am as arrival but that is NOT an indication that you can disembark then.
I totally agree. In my post above I stated that it would be necessary to get off at 5.45 but that I didn’t even think that was possible. We have just returned from Reflection’s recent Transatlantic. Guest Services told us all luggage would be in the terminal by 7am. We left the ship just before 7am and collected our luggage, The ship did issue a letter with information for people who had early flights to contact Guest Services about early disembarkation but I don’t know what happened regarding that.
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********** dot com position locator shows west of Vancouver Island
marinevessel dot com shows Solstice leaving the Inside Passage
Sorry marinetraffic dot com
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Sorry the other site won’t show as it’s actually a travel agency. Maybe you could suggest a good tracker.
Thanks
Sandra
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What tracker do you use?
Sent from my iPhone using Forums
********** dot com position locator shows west of Vancouver Island
marinevessel dot com shows Solstice leaving the Inside Passage
A Few Random Silhouette Pics
in Celebrity Cruises
Posted
Thanks for posting these. So glad to see they’ve not changed the type of chairs. One of our favourite places as well. On Silhouette at the end of May. Iceland and Ireland.
Sandra