cyntil8ing

Been to Bermuda four times on Celebrity Summit. It arrives Wednesday morning, departs late Friday afternoon, giving 3 days with enough time to do things. NCL does this from NYC too.

We have never run out of things to do. Highlights include Horseshoe Bay, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, Bermuda Zoo and Aquarium, Crystal Caves, St. George's, Hamilton, Southlands, Tom Moore's Jungle, and our repeated favorites -- biking on the Railroad trail and renting boats to cruise around the west part of the island.

We wanted to go back this year after not having been since 2014, but Celebrity switches to a New England/Canada itinerary in August, when we were looking to cruise. Instead, we will be going on Carnival Magic. It departs Norfolk, VA on Sunday, arrives Bermuda Tuesday at 9:00am, departs Thursday at 4:00pm. It was sold out when we found it a few months ago, but immediately after final payment, two or three cabins became available. We grabbed one.

I’ve done about 15 cruises on each Carnival and Celebrity. I am a fan of both, and they definitely compete for my bookings. I have upcoming cruises on both.

I am excited about the new menu options and delighted by the new entree salads. I have always been a big fan of the Indian vegetarian option available each night, often choosing it once or twice per cruise.

I’ve looked forward to the daily menu reveals this week. Lots of old favorites, plus some new things I am looking forward to trying. The new menus won’t be in place before our August cruise to Bermuda, but the will by next year’s cruise to Canada and Greenland. 
 

We have done Summit to Bermuda four times over the past 12 years. Unfortunately they switch to Canada in August, when we can cruise, so we will be doing it on Carnival Magic from Norfolk this year. 
 

I am not all that unusual in liking both lines. While there are a lot of Carnival-only diehards, I’ve met lots of folks on Carnival cruises that also enjoy Celebrity, but not as many the other way, or at least who will admit it. 😀

I just booked Hyatt Place via ValueTrips based on this thread, so thanks! Our confirmed rate was $149. If I were to book on the Hyatt website without advanced payment, the member rate for that night is $292. The savings seems nearly too good to be true.

And what has happened to hotel prices? They've nearly doubled in the past few years. We look for inexpensive for pre-cruise as we generally don't arrive until evening, then leave first thing in the morning. There's no such thing any more, and it's everywhere, not just FL. Heck, I am paying $220 plus tax for a Hilton Garden Inn before our cruise from Norfolk. Sorry for being a crotchety old whiner, but sheesh!

Detailed here: https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/updated-captains-club-brochure-v6.pdf

It may be a foreign government requirement, not the cruise line, and all cruise lines have some form of this. Rather than maintaining a list of countries and their ever-changing requirements, it's easier to just have a requirement.

This is from https://www.usa.gov/travel-documents-children

This concerned me when my son was young. He was internationally adopted and is of a different race. All it would take is one port agent getting a wild hair. I always had all my documents in order, maybe not in hand, but scans I could easily produce if needed. We always travel with passports.

Only once did I have a care. My son was about 4 and we were returning from a cruise. The US Customs agent asked him who I was. My son answered that I was Mom and we went on our way. He has been asked in airports also.

Yes, it’s correct. See https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2544/~/minor-guest-policy

15 minutes ago, binro01 said:

What amount did you get back? The taxes, port expenses and fees?

Maybe? We got back about $70. Not sure what the taxes, port expenses and fees were. Probably more, but I never did the calculation. I was pleased to get anything.

My daughter was a no show for our April cruise. We received a credit back to our credit card a week or two after the cruise, nothing onboard. We went to guest services onboard, and they said we should call corporate, but we never did. 

2 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

 

Awww, could be my dog's twin. This is Henry wearing his cheeseburger. He went through a phase where he escaped under the fence to go on walkabout. This was an attempt to foil him. He gave up rather than be seen wearing it outside. Like your luggage, he now wears an Air Tag.

1 hour ago, natefish95 said:

How do you say "fugly" en francais? 

*** weren’t overly concerned with aesthetics.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/***-uboat-pens

39 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

I miss the casino bar too. Hate that they pulled them on Vista and (almost all of the) Spirit classes. 
 

also, that looks tasty, what is it? 😂

Mine is Tito’s with just a splash of cranberry, not enough to qualify as a Cape Cod. My husband’s is chilled Kraken. 
 

The display is, I think, on the port side staircase outside the comedy lounge. You’ll know it when you see it! 👀

40 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

I’m telling ya. It’s a different kinda cruise. Alchemy, 9:30p

Last year, the Pride streets rolled up early. Lots of busy port days take it out of you. We're late night people, so we spent a lot of time in the Casino Bar when it was the only thing open. I am so sad to read it's gone. 

I haven't read mention of the Comedy Club. Is it just not your thing? We went to at least one show each night, often two. That's where we learned about the dildo display. Have you found it?

It's not showing on either schedule yet, but both have availability. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ijmuiden: https://felisonterminal.com/en/cruise-calendar/

Amsterdam: https://sea.cruiseportamsterdam.com/cruise-calendar/

Either way, enjoy Amsterdam! It was my favorite port stop. Take a canal cruise. We loved https://flagshipamsterdam.com You can pay on board; you don't need tickets in advance. Boats leave about every 15 minutes.

We also went to Anne Frank Haus and the Van Gogh Museum, but booked both weeks in advance. Both are sold out unfortunately.

I don't want to speculate, but last year on Pride, our "Amsterdam" port was really Ijmuiden, a 35 minute taxi ride from Amsterdam. I hope your port is actually Amsterdam.

In either case, here is helpful information: https://www.whatsinport.com/Amsterdam.htm

Make sure you look for the giant shrimp and the tower at sailaway! Too bad the restaurant wasn't open yet, but it appears you found lots of good alternatives!

We took our kids, then 5 and 8, to Bermuda for their first Celebrity cruise in 2011. They loved it. We did it twice more after that, and also a handful of other X ships and itineraries. Celebrity is awesome for the little ones. Lots of family activities — bingo, family silent disco, scavenger hunts, talent shows. They were too young for the water slides and zip lines then. The kids club was more sedate and less crowded, which fit their personalities better. 
 

Lots of great fun for littles in Bermuda. Our first trip, we went to the zoo and aquarium and rented a small boat to tool around and visit the Vixen shipwreck. They still talk about jumping off the boat. On another trip, we went to Crystal Caves and Gibbs Hill Lighthouse. The beaches, of course, were huge hits every trip.
 

We switched over to mostly Royal and Carnival for summer cruises when they were 10 and 13, but they still love Celebrity. If Celebrity didn’t switch over to New England in August, we would be coming back this year. Instead, we will be returning to Bermuda on Carnival. Can’t wait!

Ok you've convinced me, I will be booking Chef's Table on our Pride Greenland cruise next summer. It says Sold Out in my planner, but I assume it's just because the cruise is still a long 443 days away! Good thing I have three others booked before then.

Thanks for this thread. I joined in late when you got to the ports we visited last year. It's a nice trip down memory lane.

7 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

I can’t believe we have a full seven day cruise left ahead of us. It’s amazing. Tomorrow is La Coruna, where we have nothing planned. I think we’re going to use it as a rest day, just walk around town a bit, but sleep in some and unwind. It’s been very go go go since Barcelona. But first, Vigo! And Chef’s Table tonight!

La Coruña was one of our favorite ports from our Pride cruise last summer. We walked to Hercules Tower, but didn't buy tickets to go up. We just wandered the grounds for free. Then we walked back through town, stopping at an amazing restaurant for lunch. We still rave over the mejillones (mussels) from that day!

Restaurant: https://entrebateas.webnode.es

We cruise in August most every summer due to school schedules and pricing. We've left from NJ, MD, FL and PR over the past 15 years. This year, we are leaving from Miami on the 12th and Norfolk on the 27th.

Only once have we had weather-related issues, in 2015 on Adventure out of San Juan. Our itinerary was changed twice due to two different storms. Luckily, leaving from San Juan, there are a lot of options. We ended up in Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao with beautiful weather. We re-booked the original itinerary for the following year and got to complete it.

The northern departures don't have as many re-direction options, but at least they don't, for us anyway, require flights, so that's one fewer point of failure.

Our thinking has always been to book what we want, be flexible, and buy insurance.

2 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

On the off-chance you might see this post, what did you think of City Airport Taxis?  We will be arriving in IJmuiden and will need to make our way to Amsterdam.  Right now, it’s looking like a taxi to Haarlem Station and then the train might be the best bet but I sure would like other options.

 

Thank you to anyone who can offer information.  Posts on transportation from IJmuiden to Amsterdam don’t seem to contain much information.

I get notification. 🙂 

Honestly, City Airport Taxis is just a booking company. They run the web site, when they get a request, they broker it to local taxi drivers, so I imagine there's some luck involved. We got a great driver. Are they all? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

The title is incorrect. They do not lose their status. They just revert to their own earned points.

It's no different than those of us who get reciprocal status via Celebrity. We get the status, but our points are only what we have earned on Royal ships. I am Diamond with 50-something points. I don't get a jump start toward Diamond Plus.

10 hours ago, kwokpot said:

You don't know your Carnival and Celebrity ships. The Horizon and Edge BOTH LAUNCHED IN 2018. The fact that you thought there was a 20 year difference between these 2 ships when they were actually launched the SAME YEAR goes to prove my point that No, ship cabins aren't exactly the same. 

I apologize. You posted a lot of photos from your Pride cruise last year. We were on a few weeks after you, so I had followed your posts. I assumed ithe photo was Pride.
 

The newest Carnival ship I have been on is Vista, and I don’t honestly remember the bathroom.

4 hours ago, debsjc said:

Was there a ride share pick up area at the port? 

There is a shuttle bus from the ship to exit the port. The Uber picked us up and dropped us off right at that spot outside the gate.
 

Taxi drivers, I think, were allowed to drop off at the ship, but not Ubers. We still had to take the shuttle bus.

The ride back was more expensive because it was peak travel time. It was 23€.

30 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

A standard cabin bathroom on the Carnival Horizon vs Celebrity Edge. Tell me again this is the same thing? 

You’re showing bathrooms from ships with a 20 year age difference. Hardly a fair comparison.

Carnival linens and bedding are nicer than Celebrity. I sleep much better on Carnival ships.

We’ve done over a dozen on each line and have upcoming cruises booked with both. We tend to go Carnival with the family and Celebrity as a couple. Both feel like our home away from home.

We did a ship transfer last summer. I am glad we did it, but I would not do it again. We spent 6 hours on a bus for 4 hours in Paris. 
 

Sixty days before our visit, I bought tickets to the Eiffel Tower Summit the day they went on sale. They sold out that day, so don’t wait. It was the only thing we got to do. I had envisioned lunch at a sidewalk cafe, but instead we bought a baguette at a convenience store to eat on the bus.

But the Eiffel Tower was glorious and though it was a lot, I am happy we did it.