suncityga

Anyone tried Blu lately on the Millenium? I have read mixed reviews about it on "M" class ships because it does not have its own kitchen on the "M" class ships.

 

What did you think of "Blu" on the Millenium? I want to make sure it is still going to be worth the up charge from a regular balcony. I am booked in the newer deck 11 Aqua class cabins.

 

Thanks for your help.

In May 2014, we were in Aqua Class on the deck 11 (1108) on our recent Transpacific crossing (Yokohama to Vancouver) on Millennium and we really enjoyed it. We have not been in Aqua on ''S' Class ships, so we can not provide you any comparison information. However, our overall Blu experience on Millie was very good... the food & the service was great and we did not have any 'wait time issues'. My wife loved having breakfast at Blu.

Looking forward to the SPB/Moscow update!!!

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See attached photo (#1) showing how the balcony size changes slightly because of the celling on deck 10. The second photo shows the smaller balcony overhang on deck 11... and the very large balcony overhang on deck 9. Photos were taken on Millennium in May 2014.

I'm doing Infinity next on Deck 11 Aqua Class Port Side like you. Are all the cabins the same size? Are the balconies the same also? Did any have restricted views? I'm only asking about Aqua on the port side like you, deck 11.

 

 

 

I'm doing cabin 1125 on our next trip.

 

 

 

CaptDave

I believe all the cabins on the port side are the same size and some of the balconies are slightly larger than others. Our cabin did not have a restricted view in any direction and I do not believe any of the port side (or starboard side) cabins have any restricted views.

One of the things we read prior to our cruise was that the balcony overhangs (both sides) were small and they did not offer a lot of sun protection. It is true that our cabin had a small balcony overhang, but since we were doing a Transpacific crossing in May... It made our balcony more enjoyable.

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Looked on the room sticky, but could not find information about our room in Aqua class deck 11. Any feedback on those rooms? We are not in the aft section.

We were on the 14 night Millennium Transpacific sailing last month and we had an Aqua Class Cabin on Deck 11 (#1108). We loved our cabin and really enjoyed the location with easy access to elevators/stairs. If you have any specific questions, please let us know.

Help please

 

Our party of 6 land in September at Narita Airport 2 hours too late to take advantage of Celebrity Cruiseline's transfer service to the ship in Yokohama port. Any advice on getting ourselves & our luggage to the Millennium will be hugely appreciated. It will be our 1st trip to Asia so we don't know which end is up!

 

Louise

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1850200

Since this will be a 13 day TA......we''ll probably spend at least $3000. My wife loves being in the spa, drinks, specialty restaurants, and pre paid tips. A 3% fee would be $90.

 

I might just use my United Visa that has no fee. Just to be safe.

 

Shelton

One of the reasons to use the RCI VISA is the benefit of double points on RCI purchases. We have used our RCI VISA Card for on board payments many times in the Med, South America and on Transatlantic crossings and we have never had any 'transaction fees' of any kind by BOA. With a $3,000 on board payment... you are looking at a $60 in future OBC.

Hi

 

We booked through booking dot com and to be honest we weren't sure what we were going to get! We had a 1 bedroom apt that hadn't been refurbished. It was spacious, clean and had everything we needed.

 

We are from Melbourne but go to Sydney quite often as my in-laws live there. They came into Sydney to meet us last weekend and we stayed at The York again and this time had a 2 bedroom apt which again was very spacious, clean and not refurbished

 

 

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Thank you ! ! !

We've stayed in most of the main hotels in Sydney.

Last February we sailed on the Radiance and left booking hotel until the last minute so not much choice. We stayed at The York by Swiss-Belhotel and were very pleasantly surprised. The hotel is apartments, cheaper than any hotel I've stayed at in Sydney, own kitchen, lounge, laundry. It's a 3 minute "downhill" walk to OPT. I can recommend it to anyone for pre or post cruise.

 

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Thank you for your post.

My wife and I have been looking at The York by Swiss-Belhotel for our 3 day pre-cruise in early April 2015 and we are considering the apartment option versus a hotel room.

It appears The York has been in the process of refurbishing their apartments for the last couple of years. Did you have a recently refurbished apartment? Did you have a one bedroom apartment or a studio? Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you for your help.

Same here. I did a couple of mock bookings logged in and no discounts even though they were included in the list of 409.

 

I think there are still things to be worked out. I find it hard to believe that they would have sailings on almost 2/3 of their sailings.

I saw "Discount" after selecting the stateroom and then going to the link 'view summary of charges' below the total price.

Question for me, though, is what is the fine print? Is it or is it not combinable with a Next Cruise certificate.

Fine print from the RCI Website... I also see 409 cruises. The cruise I checked, my Diamond Balcony Discount was NOT combinable with this new program (per C&A Rep and fine print). Keeping the Diamond Balcony Discount was a better deal for us than the discount under this program by about $20 total. Obviously, the original cabin price versus the current cabin price plays a large role in this calculation.... a change in the port taxes may also affect your decision.

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We also used Cruise Tauranga/Learning Journeys and had a great time. We went to Wai-O-Tapu instead of Te Puai for the geyser/thermal experience and it was an absolutely fantastic.

We have this scheduled for Feb 2015 --so glad you had a wonderful time. Did you take binoculars with you? They also recommended hiking boots --did you need them?

Our guide (Brian) had binoculars in his truck and the four of us shared them. We did not have hiking boots... there is a lot walking over trails going to their private conservation areas but I would not say that hiking boots were needed for our tour.

It is truly an amazing experience ! ! !

Need information on private tours in Dunedin and Akaroa NZ. Having trouble finding private tours any suggestions??? Thanks

In Dunedin, we did Elm Wildlife Tours (http://www.elmwildlifetours.co.nz) in March 2013 and it was one of best tours ever. We did the Otago Peninsula Close Encounters with Nature and saw a lot of wildlife (yellow eyed penguins, royal albatross, hooker sea lions and fur seals), plus the absolutely beautiful NZ coastal scenery... including a picnic lunch overlooking Saunders Cape. Our guide was Brian (the original founder of Elm Wildlife Tours) and he was very knowledgeable & personable.

Our ship will dock at Laem Chabang.

Could someone please suggest a private tour company for Bangkok that they have use before?

 

Thank you.

Danny

We used the "Thai Tour Guide" (http://www.thaitourguide.com) in March 2013. We (2 couples) had a fantastic tour and we would highly recommend them. Our personal guide was Mr. George (and a driver) and they were excellent.

We were picked up at Laem Chabang in a very comfortable van for the ride to Bangkok. We visited the Royal Grand Palace, The Royal Temple and The Temple of the Reclining Buddha in the morning... In the afternoon we did a private long-tail boat canal tour and the Flowers/Vegetable market. We were dropped off at our hotel (Citypoint Hotel - on our own). The next morning we did Maeklong Railway Market, the Damnern Saduak Floating Markets (old & new) and visited the Elephant Village. We were back to Laem Chabang to board the ship in plenty of time. It was an absolutely wonderful experience and Mr. George's knowledge and enthusiasm was a great plus.

Bangkok is an amazing city.

The ship departs Yokohama at 8 PM and boarding time is around noon.

Does anyone know if passengers are allowed to sightsee in Yokohama after boarding the ship?

Would there be an issue with Japan's Immigration/Customs?

Thank you.

Thank you for the great review ! ! !

It brought back great memories of our BA to Valparaiso cruise on Infinity in January 2012. :)

Another volunteer guide website to check... we will be in Tokyo in May and have made arrangements to use their services. We have exchanged emails with the TFG guides assigned to us and we look forward to enjoying Tokyo with their help.

http://www.tokyofreeguide.com/

More info from TripAdvisor:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g298184-r134338516-Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html

Hi,

sorry, I could not do a CC search.

Does anyone have a PDF of Lair Bear Nassau Walk that you can post or email to me? It appears all the links to his walks are no longer available.

Thanks

Great review ! ! ! Thank you for taking the time to do it... the photos are fantastic ! ! !

We are sailing on Oasis for the first time in October (westbound Transatlantic) and look forward to enjoying the many 25 hour sailing days.

As of now, we're going to spend three or four days in Sydney, then three or four in Brisbane. We're very comfortable in the Hampton Inn in the U.S. The Hampton has free breakfast, free Internet, airport shuttles, and is very clean. The "per night" cost is usually about $125.00 USD. It's a Hilton brand in the U.S. Is there a comparable hotel in Sydney and Brisbane?

 

Thanks so much,

Agree with maryann that it will very difficult to find anything in $125 USD price range in the Sydney Harbor area and also agree that TripAdvisor is a great resource. Others on CC may be able to provide you with a good match to the Hampton Inn brand in Sydney & Brisbane.

We know the Hampton Inn brand in the USA and have also stayed at the YHA in the Rocks. The YHA has a great location with a great rooftop view and it's a good place to stay at as long as you keep in mind that you are staying at a YHA (HI) hostel. It is not like a Hampton Inn or most midrange motel chains in the USA.

Sydney and the Sydney Harbor area are absolutely incredible ! ! ! :)

Isn't the Allure in the Med next Sept?

In September 2015.

Allure will start a 12 night eastbound transatlantic crossing on 19 April 2015 and return to Fort Lauderdale on 06 Nov 2015.

Oasis is in Europe in September 2014.

Yes... it is refundable.

Has someone taken a photo of the veranda of these side cabins?

Photos were taken in January 2012 after Infinity added the deck 11 Aqua Class cabins.

Photo #3 is from Deck 11 looking aft on the starboard side as you approach the AQ cabin area.

Photo #4 shows what was mentioned earlier about the railing on deck 12 being far enough back that they can't see into your stateroom.

In our opinion, ships like Oasis and Allure are great for transatlantic crossings because the number of sea days involved allow for more time to enjoy the ship... more difficult to do on a port intensive cruise.

The westbound transatlantic pricing of Oasis in October 2014 and the westbound transatlantic pricing of Allure in October 2015 were very similar during opening week. The 2014 Oasis pricing started going up quickly and today it's over $600 per person more than it was during the first week of booking. (Cat D8)