Tangocherie

How can they plan ahead with all these storms still active and the season not yet over. It is a logistics nightmare for all cruise lines! Let's hope all the caribbean can come out this with the least possible dammage!

Luc

Fellow cruisers,

Unfortunately, as expected, we have received this most recent advisement from NCL regarding possible changes to the itinerary of our 12/18/17 sailing on Norwegian Jade. I said "unfortunately" because I would have hoped that these violent storms would not be part of this cruise season. All our best wishes to all affected:

Dear ,

Norwegian Cruise Line is heartbroken at the terrible impact Hurricane Irma had on several islands in the Eastern Caribbean - ports that we have called on since the start of our 50 years in business, some of which are included in the itinerary that you are currently booked on.

In the wake of this devastating storm and as part of our recovery efforts, we are working closely with our partners on the ground to determine the best way to continue to provide relief to the areas impacted by and recovering from Hurricane Irma and to determine the extent of damage that it inflicted. We are anticipating that your current itinerary will be adjusted to ensure your comfort, safety and an outstanding guest experience. We expect having this information to you within the next two weeks as new ports of call are secured.

We appreciate your patience during this very difficult time. At Norwegian Cruise Line safety of our guests, crew and ships is our number one priority, and we hope you understand that these changes are necessary.

Sincerely,

Vivian Ewart

Vice President, Passenger Services

Justin, congrats on your paid upgrade. That was a nice deal. Enjoy your balcony! :)

I am also glad to return to HAL after having a less than enjoyable cruise because of my neibhors' being heavy smokers. I swore to myself, never again on a balcony. Now, I'm looking forward to my soon to come transat cruise on Koningsdam, with a veranda. YIPEE!

Looking forward to receiving an invite soon!

Just had the soda package on our 08/24 cruise. It was great since you get such a great variety of drinks including many non carbonated flavored water. Have fun on your cruise!

Gazing at the stars....

How do folks keep their passports, seaPass card, cash and credit card safe when snorkeling? Do all RCI excursions offer a means of keeping these safe? Are there available lockers? Any tips for when you are snorkeling on your own?

 

We have the following booked:

Nassau-- Rainbow reef tour. This looks like it will be off of a boat, so presumably there will be someone there who will manage it?

St Martin-- Pinel Island. It sounds like the excursion is basically a bus that takes us to the ferry and picks us up. So does anyone know if there are lockers or facilities on Pinel Island?

St Thomas-- St John snorkeling adventure. This will be a boat that takes us to St John, but it isn't clear that the boat stays with us. And I doubt Turks bay on St John has lockers. Does anyone know how this is managed?

 

While reading threads, I've seen a few mentions that you must have your real passport nd seapass card with you on excursions, but nothing about how to keep them safe when snorkeling or swimming. Is it not an issue, and I'm being overly paranoid?

It is not required to bring your passport with you when you leave the ship. You only need a photo id. When I snorkel, I carry my money and cards in a watertight plastic case worn around my neck. Things stay dry in a good quality case.

Thanks Yorkvillain. This was an entertaining review. It's helped with my anticipation of my forthcoming cruise on Grandeur on August 24.

What kind of scotch do they use?

In my most recent cruise,it was Grant's.

What is available during social hours? I am a newly grandfathered Elite via RCI Diamond, so have no knowledge of Celebrity offerings. Do they do frosted drinks ? (not me, DH)

A few cocktails such as appletini, dry martini, manhattan. Some spirits, dry gin, bourbon, vodka. Beer and wine including sparkling. Unfortunately for DH, no frozen drinks. By the way , on our repo cruise aboard the Summit from San Juan to Bayonne, happy hour was from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm.

Still no Coke machines on Celebrity. Last sailed in November.

The ship supplies beach towels to bring ashore. No need to buy them in NY.

Thank you Campolady for your gracious assistance.

Dear Campolady. I have taken a look at the hop on hop off bus tour. It takes us to the sites we wish to visit. In your opinion, would this be an interesting option for transportation purposes or should we just take a taxi from the cruise terminal. There are two of us in our party.

Thank you Campolady for such an informative and interesting thread about your adopted city. We look forward to visiting it on October 6 of this year. Our ship is scheduled to arrive at 8:00 AM and departs at 6:00 PM. This is what we would like topartke in or visit: el Castillo de Gibralfaro, Alcazaba, have some churros, visit one or two tapas bars, the Picasso museum and if time allows the Pompidou Center.

How do you suggest we go about this? I would appreciate your counsel on transportation, timeframes, etc. Once again thank you so much for your assistance. This will be our first real visit of Malaga. Our last time there, we took a tour to visit the Alhambra. Your thread has convinced us of staying to appreciate this lovely city.

Len, I just wrote you a long, detailed response to your post. But Cruise Critic's new CAPTCHA software zapped it, even after I correctly proved that "I am not a robot."

 

For anyone that hasn't had to deal with this annoyance over the last three weeks, count yourself lucky. I have wasted the equivalent at least several hours researching questions and posting detailed information only to have it disappear EVEN AFTER I correctly go through their ID process.....

 

I apologize, but I am not going to respond to any detailed questions again until after Cruise Critic fixes this issue (which they said they would more than two weeks ago!!!!) :mad:

Cruisemom42,

What a shame it would be to loose the benefit of your enlightened counsel because of cruise critic's new limitations. Hope they fix this soon!

Luc

These would not be "public" areas, but we were in a Spa Neptune Suite 10006. For whatever reason, the barrier to the front of the ship was open from our balcony for the entire cruise. The only access to this was from our room because the access was closed from the other suite 10005 (but it would be able to be accessed from that suite as well).

 

 

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Dear djhsolara,

I understand there is not a public area on deck 10. This is quite clear from the deckplans. However, the question remains for decks 7 to 4. Thanks to anyone with any help.

Luc

On the deck plans, I notice that some of the decks have space outside past the forward staterooms. Do passengers have access to these outside decks toward the bow? On other threads for other lines these are sometimes referred to as secret decks.

Thanks for your replies. Haven't chatted with you in a while.

Do ANY hotels in Rome offer something like free airport pick-up?

Cheers

Len

Hi Len,

On a previous post, I gave erroneous info. I have since learned that you can indeed take a regional train from Roma Termini to Civitavecchia. However, it is nevertheless advantageous to take it from one of the other stations to avoid that long walk.

Hello Len,

Please find this link for many options to get you from FCO to Rome:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187791-c144716/Rome:Italy:To.And.From.Fiumicino.Airport.Fco.html

As far as getting from your hotel in Rome to Civitavecchia, take a look at this site: www.romelimousines.com/.

By the way they also offer transport from FCO to your Rome hotel.

Regards,

Luc

If you leave from Termini station, I believe only the high speed trains go to Civitavecchia. They cost around 28 Euro. If you take the regional train, the cost is around 7 Euro. Regional trains to Civitavecchia can be taken from Trastevere or Ostiense stations which means a lot less walking lugging your baggage to get to the platform. Cruisemom42, correct me if I'm mistaken.

You could put a courtesy hold on it until your TA comes back.

Let me join the corus and extend my sincere thanks for all you have done for us as host all these years. Andy, I wish you all the best for your future endeavors.

Thank you all for this encouraging information.