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6 hours ago, Docked Discoveries said:

Hi Joel, 

 

Jeremy here, I am a port lecturer, with many years Asia cruise experience. Whilst South East Asia is my favorite part of the world, if looking to avoid long walking distance, perhaps Japan is the better option?

 

Most ports in South East Asia involve arriving into container ports that require transport to get anyway, albeit to amazing places.

 

With Japan, you often dock much closer to the cities / towns you are visiting, and on top of that, you have great access to public transport / taxis if you aren't taking tours. Yes Japan is more expensive, but its also more accessible.

 

Here is a link to all my port information pages for Asian cruise ports that might help you decide:

 

https://www.dockeddiscoveries.com/asia

 

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

Jeremy

Thanks, Jeremy.  This is helpful.

Appreciate.

- Joel

28 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Again, just looking for confirmation as to whether they are or not.  I actually don't assume my source is correct as it goes against everything I've always heard and I've sailed Celebrity for more than 75 cruises.  But if I'm wrong I'd like to know once and for all.

 

When you are onboard, can you ask the butler?

- Joel

It's not mid-Missouri.

- Joel

I have often been able to do this at my pre-cruise hotel

- Joel

Go have a good time.   It'll be fine.

- Joel

Sorry to read about your troubles.

This is one of several reasons I do not check bags.  18 years and counting as a one bag carry on traveler, including several week long land trips to middle wast and elsewhere, long and short cruises, anything else.

 Check out onebag dot com

- Joel

1 minute ago, ChucktownSteve said:

yes

... ask a stupid question ... 😉

- Joel

52 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

The best time to book a cruise is when the itinerary if first released.  I do that often and have never found a lower price no matter how many sales they've had after that!  Never been able to lower my original price.

Then, is it known ahead time when, generally speaking, new cruises (and prices) are initially announced?

- Joel

Grew up in Oregon.

In Astoria, rent a car (there's a place a few blocks from pier). In Astoria, drive up to the Astoria Column (https://astoriacolumn.org/), for a great view of Astoria and the mouth of the Columbia river entering the Pacific:

Then drive 45 minutes or so to the south to Ecola State Park (https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=136) for this famous iconic view of Oregon Coast: 

From there, can have lunch either in the nearby town of Cannon Beach, which has lots of great lunch spots in a tiny downtown dotted with art galleries and shops, or also could have lunch in the nearby town of Seaside (go to Norma's for excellent fish and chips and more). Or, return to Astoria and get lunch at Bowpicker (https://bowpicker.com/), an outdoor stand serving one of the best fish and chips in the US (https://www.oprah.com/food/the-best-thing-to-eat-in-every-state/9).

- Joel

21 hours ago, markeb said:

Has RCG filed an 8K? If not, they don't expect it to be late (that would definitely be a significant event). Otherwise, wait until mid July when they file their next 10-Q with the SEC, but if there was any indication of an issue in the current market environment, they'd be crazy not to have given notice to stockholders...

Thanks very much!

- Joel

56 minutes ago, jmdlv1 said:

We are also on the 11/22 sailing.I hope there are no delays.

I wonder how reliably other new ships have kept to timetables for new sailings in the peri/post - pandemic era?

- Joel

Just now, lola2013 said:

I’m curious as to why you ask the question.  Just general curiosity?…or have there been reports of delays?

Susan

Cuz I'm set to sail on the maiden voyage!  I'm trying to think about how strongly I should have a backup vacation plan!

- Joel

What's your bet -- will this new ship be ready in time for its first scheduled sailings?

- Joel

On 5/1/2023 at 4:48 AM, roger b said:

 Hi Joel,

             My recommendations are Lilas or the Skybar both restaurants have lovely views and food (15 /20 mins from port)

https://www.lila-portals.com/

https://www.hotelalmudaina.com/en/sky-area

Make sure you Book !!!!

roger b

 

Just left Palma. Went to Skybar and really enjoyed. Thanks!

- Joel

13 hours ago, JoePDX said:

Unlikely you can find out the actual terminal in advance.   There are reader boards as you enter the port area indicating where each ship is docked.   So if this is for a car service, they will know where to go as long as they have the ship name.

 

Joe

Thanks. 
 

- Joel 

18 minutes ago, roger b said:

 Hi Joel,

             My recommendations are Lilas or the Skybar both restaurants have lovely views and food (15 /20 mins from port)

https://www.lila-portals.com/

https://www.hotelalmudaina.com/en/sky-area

Make sure you Book !!!!

roger b

 

Thanks Roger!

- Joel

I'm looking for a nice place for lunch, ideally with a nice view, for Sunday May 7 in port with Celebrity Infinity.  DW cannot do much walking or much stairs, so a taxi to a nice place to eat is likely the day's "activity."

Any ideas?

- Joel

How can I find out which specific cruise terminal Celebrity Infinity will sail from leaving Barcelona on May 6, 2023?  It appears to be the Moll Adossat pier, but which terminal?

- Joel

3 hours ago, Mark_T said:

Based on what those unfortunate enough to have been dumped by Celebrity have been told, I would wait until after May 1st, as that was the deadline for them to 'Lift & Shift'.

 

If you booked direct, you should have received an email by now if you had been cancelled, the greater unknown is for those booking through a TA as the emails will have gone there, for the TA to relay onwards, and those have not always been handled promptly...

Thanks

- Joel

4 hours ago, Mark_T said:

That is an unfortunate post to quote as it perpetuates the myth that the cruises next year have been cancelled.

 

They have not...

 

... what has happened is that celebrity have monumentally messed up the numerous 'Lift & Shift' transfers from the previous couple of years of covid cruise cancellations, and ended up with large numbers of double or triple booked cabins which has resulted in having to cancel reservations that guests thought they had confirmed many months ago...

 

Some have been able to 'Lift & Shift' once again, others have not and are dealing with the fallout from non-refundable air fares etc.

So, is it your views that what we can book, now, on the Celebrity website represents true vacancy?

- Joel

1 hour ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

What reasons are the rumours offering for the risk of cancellations next year in Asia?

 

There is a thread about Celebrity overbooking due to high demand and low inventory, and some people are being forced to cancel a cruise as a result.
 

I’m wondering if people have been seeing this with other cruise lines too. 
 

- Joel

6 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Yes.  I would try other lines and check the availability.  

Thanks. 
 

-Joel

5 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

For this particular region I would choose an 'R' ship IF I had a reasonable expectation that the planned ports were the "downtown" ones at Bangkok and Saigon.

Only the 'R' ships have that flexibility.

That docking factor is a higher consideration for me than being on an 'O' ship which has other advantages.

 

Insignia is due through that region in May & June on their World Cruise; so closer to the date you could ask on their roll call.

Another info source is to use a site such as 'marine tracker' and  see in real time where they actually dock.

Very helpful. Thanks. 
 

- Joel

3 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

If you select Japan you might want to book yesterday.  The best dates of 2024 have been double and triple booked by Celebrity and the cruisers are lifting and shifting to 2025.

 

 

I’ve been reading that here.
 

Do you think this is just a Celebrity issue?

- Joel

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

A lot there rolled into one question! 😂

 

We are currently booked for the Riveria 4/1/24 cruise in Japan. This cruise has a decent itinerary and you get to see many of the main sights. One can typically find tours, meetings their physical criteria, with a combo of private tours via the Roll Call or Oceania ship offerings. 
 

Oceania cruises are commonly comfortable, enjoyable, and they offer good food. Other cruise lines offer more variety in itineraries, such as a Japanese circumnavigational, along with more immersion into the food and culture of the country visited. Riveria, sailing in Japan, will offer the exact same foods as the other O ships sailing in the Caribbean or doing a TA to Europe. Any local offerings, typically in the buffet, will be highly Americanized to suit the palates of most O travelers. This is the reason we always do large regional on shore lunches when we cruise Oceania. To get the flavors and the variety of the visited countries. The best meals we have on a cruise is rarely aboard ship. This isn’t to downplay play Oceania’s food, but we don’t pay to fly to Japan , or elsewhere, to eat Americanized French, Italian, or other dishes. But that’s just us. 
 

Our cruise is 14 days. We will fly in 3-4 days early to do some sightseeing and tackle jet lag. Highly recommended to all. We will then stay 3-4 days post cruise to travel and visit some sites/cities our cruise omits. With flight times and time zone changes, one should reasonably expect this trip to be 23-24 days minimum. 

Some really good points. 
 

Thanks,

- Joel