Peteymil

On 5/3/2024 at 7:44 PM, Sucellos said:

You can always check official and updated info on the webpage of the The Norwegian Public Roads Administration:
https://www.vegvesen.no/trafikk/kart#/?lat=62.45366&lng=7.66343&zoom=11&layer=fer,tra,ctv,tfl
(Click on the "road closed" signs in the map to get updated estimates for the end date for the closure) It might certainly open before the current estimate of May 31st if the weather warms up, but next week is extremely unlikely (as in very close to zero percent probability).Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. 

I appreciate your response. I don't think the tour operator wants to say no because they would rather I commit to the alternative. Since I do not like the alternative, I would rather know the truth!!

45 minutes ago, hallasm said:

There is a map here showing which sections are closed due to snow - the southern part is expected to open May 20 and the northern part 30 May. Many mountain roads in Norway are closed until the end of May.

Thank you so much

46 minutes ago, JohnAlleb77 said:

 

Local media said on 27th of april... "opening date not possible to say, probably in the end of May..." 

so helpful, thank you

Does anyone know how I can find out if Trollstigen has opened?  My tour operator says as of today it is not open, and our excursion is in one week.  They have offered an alternative excursion, but I would not take the one they offered so I would have to cancel in the next 5 days to get my money back.

Is there any site I can check?

Does anyone know how I can find out if Trollstigen has opened?  My tour operator says as of today it is not open, and our excursion is in one week.  They have offered an alternative excursion, but I would not take the one they offered so I would have to cancel in the next 5 days to get my money back.

Is there any site I can check?

9 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Windy, raniny, cold days the balcony is not a pleasant place to sit and read, the IV is.  Just got off a cruise with chilly, cloudy days, rough seas and rain.  Did not use the balcony to sit on once in 9 days.  The extra space in the IV was much appreciated. 

I can understand that. I've never been on a 9 day cruise with bad weather every single day. With a regular veranda or an infinite veranda, I'd be very unhappy! Glad you enjoyed it.

Does anyone know where to find the list of liquor brands on the premium package. I know I've seen it before but when I searched online I couldn't find it.

51 minutes ago, cruise47 said:

We liked our IV Aqua cabin on the Beautiful Ascent. One plus, IMHO, you have more protection from bad weather. When it rain for an example you still can enjoy your IV cabin.

I still enjoy my Aqua cabin on M-class and S-class ships when it rains. Just as much protection with the balcony doors, so I don't think that is an advantage.

26 minutes ago, manmachine said:

When you PAY to upgrade then yes you get the higher point level.  Or at least we always have.

Same for us, every time we pay to upgrade, we get the upgraded points.  (Of course it's different if you do a move up).

8 hours ago, jelayne said:

Why?  Unless you spend hours a day on a balcony.  The better dining options (3x a day), a larger pool, great solarium, more outdoor seating, plunge pool, better spa and a new ship.  

It's all a matter of opinion.  We do spend time on our balcony and for me, I don't love just looking out the window on a cruise.  I think the older ships have a lot of character and I can always find nooks and crannies.  I'm not a spa person so that doesn't matter.

Also I don't agree that there are better dining options 3x a day. I do like the four dining rooms on Edge class but that is one meal a day, and I find the options for breakfast and lunch pretty similar on all Celebrity ships.

On 4/27/2024 at 4:39 PM, cincymel said:

How do you find out if your cruise will be having any theme nights -- so we can pack appropriately fun outfits?

There aren't alot of theme nights on celebrity.  Lately people have said that for the full moon they have a "sparkly party" or white party, but it is definitely not a mandatory thing to dress specifically, it is just a deck party, and it doesn't happen on every cruise.

On 4/27/2024 at 12:16 PM, marne-c said:

 

My wife and I now happily sail with Regent, after Oceania twice in a row sinned unpardonably.  (See my signature line below for our cruise history.)  But our dearest friends wanted to do an eastbound transatlantic with us, and a Celebrity Ascent itinerary best matched our desired timing and price point.  I was dubious, since I had read here on Cruise Critic plenty of not-so-great things about Celebrity (mostly on penny-pinching).  But I was willing (grudgingly) to give it a college try.

 

Whoa!  Start to finish, the cruise was excellent in every way.  A major mental reset for me.

 

Let’s start with the food, the key reason we originally left Celebrity and began a long set of Oceania cruises.  The food on the Ascent was outstanding, certainly the best we have had on any cruise ever.  Food preparation was spot-on throughout, even for difficult-en-masse entrees like lobster and duck.  Amazingly, this held true for MDRs as well as specialty restaurants.  We were AquaClass, and so could eat regularly at Blu.  Again, comments on CC about Blu being boring were thoroughly wrong.  We had plenty of variety, without annoying (or even noticeable) repetition.  Even the buffet had terrific food, in astounding variety, sensibly and spaciously presented.  So food, ten stars.

 

The Ascent is near brand-new, having debuted right at the end of 2023.  As expected, everything sparkles.  The design with very well thought-out, providing plenty of venues and charming nooks-and-crannies for pax to hang out.  We had nine sea days (seven of them consecutive), and the ship never felt crowded.  My wife and I have and will continue to sail venerable vessels like the RSSC Navigator, so shiny-new is not a requirement for us.  But it was marvelous.

 

And there was another surprise for me.  I’ve seen threads here on CC praising one or another captain or cruise director.  But in 20+ years of cruising, my wife and I never had had a captain or cruise director than made any kind of impact on our on-board experience.  Until the Ascent.  Captain Tasos is the consummate leader — intelligent beyond measure, with a heartfelt love of people, accessible to everyone and thoroughly focused on mentoring the entire staff to radiate these same qualities.  And the guy is funny as hell.  On the PA and in multiple SRO theater presentations, Captain Tasos and his (much shorter) sidekick and straight man Cruise Director Alejandro had pax rolling in the aisles and (deservedly) singing his praises.  It would never have occurred to me before to choose a future cruise based on the ship captain.  But now Captain Tasos would add serious weight to my cruise considerations.

 

And likely stemming from the leadership and mentorship of Captain Tasos and his hand-picked executive team, the Ascent crew has been superlative.  (With one exception noted below,) they entirely have been personable, competent, on-the-spot and endlessly willing to make our cruise special.  Highest marks. 

 

What else?  The entertainment was plentiful, focused and competent.  Granted, not much to my taste, but my taste is waaaay out there, and no cruise yet has really hit the entertainment mark for me.  WiFi:  This was the first time we’ve shipboard service by Starlink, and we had the best throughput and consistency we’ve ever had on a cruise.  Embarkation was the smoothest and fasted we’ve ever had, an astounding experience given the 3200+ pax on this sold-out itinerary.  Disembarkation was a snap too.

 

Was there anything negative?  Yes.  We had a less-than-satisfactory experience with Future Cruises.  (The manager later apologized abjectly.)  I didn’t like the cover on our bathroom trash can.  And the switch on the Infinite Veranda window and the TV remote both occasionally had Y-chromosome lockout enabled; they’d only work for my wife.  But this happens at home too with the FireStick remote in our bedroom…

 

So would we sail Celebrity Ascent again?  Absolutely!  We’ve already booked the westbound transatlantic this fall.  Would we sail with Celebrity again on a non-EdgePlus class ship?  We’d certainly consider it.  

 

So I was wrong to hesitate — we had a seriously wonderful time on Celebrity Ascent.  No regrets at all.  

 

--Marne

Like you, after 34 Celebrity cruises, I never thought the Captain mattered. But Captain Tasos, especially paired with Alejandro was incredible.  At Liars Club, we laughed until our stomach hurt, and we even looked forward to daily announcements. They were both wonderful.

21 hours ago, FloroidaCruise said:

If I paid $20k for a Celebrity suite, and someone else paid $3k for cheapest inside stateroom available, and we are both bidding on the Iconic Suite, does MoveUp only look exclusively at which of us has the highest bid amount or do they take into account that I also have paid for a more expensive stateroom?  So if the inside stateroom person bids $10,000 and I bid $7,000 will they win based solely off of the bid amount or is the fact that I already spent $20k vs the other bidders $3k stateroom taken into account?  Basically wondering if Iconic suite is available if I buy the cheapest stateroom available so can go larger on the bids.  Thank you!!!!!!

 

I understand your question, I wish I knew the answer.  But I wouldn't book any stateroom unless I would be happy staying in it.  You cannot count on a move-up because there may be no cabins available to move up too.  So buy the cheapest stateroom only if you would be happy in it for the cruise.

My ATT international plan works in the Bahamas. Does anyone know if it is covered in coco cay?

Loved the Summit last September.  So much charm.  

Unforeseen things can happen, but I don't think it always can taint the ship.

Recently on Apex, and the toilet flooded into our room.  Things can just happen, but it didn't ruin the trip or our impression of Apex.

22 hours ago, LMHSRN said:

What was your experience with the Alcove on the Reflection?  Did you get a bottle of wine/vodka?    Were you served beverages via the sunset bar if you had a package?  How late were you allowed to stay in Alcove?

Yes, we were served beverages via the sunset bar with our beverage package. We could technically stay until 9:00 pm

1 hour ago, countess5 said:

My vote would be Silhouette. A much better Sunset Bar which has been expanded and love the Lawn Club for dinner. We have sailed M ships and they are nice but to us S class a bit better with offerings. 

 

 

Agree 100%. So many beautiful spots to sit outside on the Silhouette near the Sunset Bar.  They got rid of the wasted and underused space.

16 hours ago, ICANTWAITTOCRUISE said:

Was this on celebrity? Most here including myself have not had that experience. Interesting though and u wonder if it varies by port?

I had that experience before they started assigning boarding times, but not since. To the OP, the earliest time is usually 1130 so I'm not sure why you think at 12 o'clock time so horrible

On 6/30/2022 at 10:56 AM, Josie201 said:

I should have been more specific .... I know the stateroom attendant has to do it.

 

Are the SV on Edge class able to be opened between all cabins on all decks?  If anyone knows... Thanks.

We had 3 across, the largest in the middle and one on either side.  All three could be opened although the opening to the starboard side was smaller.

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

From a quick google.

 

Female donors who have been pregnant are more likely than others to have these HLA antibodies in their plasma. The antibodies could be harmful if transfused into certain patients.

 

 

Thank you, I always wondered about this when hearing they asked for male donors.

On 3/29/2024 at 7:59 PM, ohiolovescrusing said:

The nine Celebrity Cruises’ ships now offering pickleball include two Edge Series ships—Celebrity Beyond and Celebrity Apex; plus Celebrity Constellation, Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Equinox, Celebrity Infinity, Celebrity Millennium, Celebrity Solstice, and Celebrity Summit.

The Ascent also has one. 

7 hours ago, Sharon1313 said:

Hi all, we have been on Silhouette in the past and never paid much attention to the Lawn Club. For our upcoming cruise we have a port day where we are planning to stay on the ship and we’re considering renting an alcove. On CC website it makes a big deal about the smart casual dress code, including no shorts…? It seems weird to sit outside all day in long pants. Is there anything to do up there? Or should we just plan to spend the day at the pool. TIA for any insight!

Dress code is for the dining room. They really need to fix that. We were in our swimsuits all day. 

On 3/29/2024 at 1:28 PM, keesar said:

A few positives to add:

 

-Check in process at the pier has greatly improved

-Able to drop off your luggage in the room when you board

-No more gimmicks like all female bridge cruises

Why is that a gimmick? Oh right, and I suppose if you see an all male bridge, that's a gimmick too?????

5 hours ago, zitsky said:

I think jeans should not be in the dress code.  Definitely not ripped jeans as some posters in the past claimed were ok because they were “designer”.

 

I think jeans are subjective.  So Celebrity might allow someone in ripped designer jeans but my relaxed and worn jeans might not be ok?

 

It’s not hard at all to dress up like an adult.  People can be an individual on their own time.

 

I think it is rude to say "dress up like an adult".  Jeans are within the dress code. I'm sorry you don't think they are "adult", but it has nothing to do with being an adult.  

On 3/15/2024 at 5:19 PM, hcat said:

most won't, but suit yourself seems to be the way things have devolved

Disagree.  I see more jeans than tuxedos.