Can'tstopcruising

thank you for answering, but it didn't seem to work!

I always got the most recent post first.

Now it is last.

I don't know how to change it.

Help!

Thanks!

We do b2b out of Florida, usually a 10 and 11 day or a 12 and a 9 day.

There was a time when I said I would never do that because I preferred to stay in the Caribbean and do a 10 and 11 day out of Puerto Rico.

I don't know if any cruise line offers that anymore.

Celebrity, if you read this, please bring back the 10 and 11 day from Puerto Rico! Jan/Feb.

Bottom line.....21 days away from the snow and ice....who can complain!

Wow! Thanks for that. It's on my bucket list, too.

End of July, leaving Juneau, we all stayed up past midnight, freezing outside, waiting, waiting. The captain announced it was coming! All we saw was some light. No colour. Too bad. He was teased relentlessly after that!

We usually do b2b for 3 weeks in the winter. Our booking for 2020 is so much higher than 2019 that if it doesn't come down, we will be looking at alternatives.

We just returned from Seattle.

For me, number one was the Chihuly exhibit. Delightful. Second was market. Also enjoyed ferry to Bainsbridge island.

Favourite restaurants, Petra, Etta's and Matt's (3)

Have fun!

In my experience, each time we board the ship our sea pass is scanned.

I assume the same goes for staff and crew.

How, then, does anyone else get on?

This is a serious breach in security and should not have happened. It doesn't matter who the stowaways were. There should not have been any.

When we first booked our b2b for 2019, it was higher.

We always book early and usually there is a window when the rates dip for a while after.

Maybe the same will happen for 2020.

So far, nada.

Maybe the

The warmest options are, based on historical averages, the Canary Islands and Madeira. Crete and Cyprus can be OK temperature wise as well. Without knowing what your interests are it's difficult to make recommendations.

 

We get away for some winter golf to the Canary Islands. Each of them has a different character. Our favourite is La Gomera (small island of Tenerife). Very quiet, great walking and not touristy at all, and the one golf course is great.

Thank you for your suggestions.

We haven't been to Madeira or Cyprus. We like to do sight-seeing in comfortable weather. We like to walk (not hike!), visit interesting venues, including museums. Bus tours are out!

We usually book b2b for about 21 days in the winter.

Prices have been increasing, while quality has been eroding.

We are on for this winter, even though our Florida hotel is a fortune. (I think hotel prices are through the roof).

We are booked for 2020, but if prices don't decrease, we may look elsewhere.

We enjoy going to Europe in the winter and maybe we can find a venue that is not too cold!

Europeans..any suggestions for Feb-Mar?

We have done Andalucia a few times and did the Algarve once in the summer and froze one March in Malta!

And that's the key! Points, perks, levels are just things you accumulate over time. IMHO one cruises because they enjoy the experience. You select a particular line because you believe it will fulfill your cruising desires. You might select a cruise based on itinerary, size of ship, or line. Whatever floats your boat. Sometimes we over analyze and fail to enjoy the moment. I've come to realize how short the time we have to experience life and how I've been blessed to be able to experience the world with the person I love most!

I love your post...especially the very end!

We are currently at Hyatt Place on 6th near the Space Needle, departing from pier 91 tomorrow. The Hyatt has a free shuttle that runs to 4 specific locations hourly by reservation, but not to pier 91. They will arrange a car for you from Ace's, $10 per person to the pier.

 

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We will be staying at Hyatt Place.

How do you like it?

We did this 2 summers ago and a couple of ports on our alaska cruise had Jr. Ranger programs that were fantastic for my kids (6 & 9 at the time)

Thank you for the information.

Is it easy to find?

We don't do many European cruises just because we have no interest in driving one or two hours to visit a place.

One easy European cruise we did take was the Adriatic out of Venice, ending in Rome.

At most of the ports we could get off the ship and walk into town.

If you find such a schedule to your liking, you could google the ports and see what would be interesting to your kids

We are taking our grandkids (5 and 7)this summer to Alaska. We plan to get off at each port and find something easy to get to that will be interesting for the children.

I got my kids a balcony cabin for the same reason.

Actually it was my dil who insisted.

My husband and I are in and inside!

But, if your dil hasn't expressed any concerns yet, try not to worry.

Enjoy!

Why not change their cabin to an inside or outside?

Is a balcony worth all that anxiety?

OK I thought of a pet peeve and it's not about other pax.

I really don't like when the ship I am sailing docks out in the boonies. It is so annoying to wait and wait and wait for transportation.

It has happened to us too often.

The last cruise, we docked further away in Curacao and Aruba. Princess had our usual slot both times.

The worst was in Copenhagen one year. The Constellation had the good spot and we were miles away, had to pay for and wait for the shuttle. It was very poorly organized.

We always tip the guy when we arrive at the port. Nothing extravagant, after all he takes the luggage and throws is on a nearby wagon (or whatever you call it!)

But, one time, we had to wait in a long line to enter the terminal and we had to keep our luggage with us. It was hot and difficult. I was not a happy camper. When it was our turn, the porter actually asked for a tip. I told him how I felt and he said he understood!

I am fascinated by all those who book suites.

I just checked our 2020 b2b and the total in Canadian dollars amounts to $7286 for an inside and $19,846 for a skysuite.

Do you think Luminae is worth the difference?????

First, I would like to suggest that your wife take Bonine. We take one each night, beginning the night before the cruise. It is a little chewable pill that is easy to take and it doesn't interfere with drinking.

Nine times out of ten, we do an inside and we often stay on the ship for 3 weeks. No problem. We don't feel deprived and we are very comfortable.

I think the Silhouette does have insides on deck 3.

We always take deck 8 midship.

As for alone time....there are so many venues around the ship, both inside and outside where it is quiet.

Don't forget...just the moment one of you decides to have down time on the balcony, it may be too sunny, too hot, too windy, too cold.

A balcony is not the end all-be all!

Enjoy!

You seem rather confused by my post. Yes, waiters in the US have to declare tips - that has NOTHING to do with what I posted. In the US if a business makes a tip mandatory, it is considered income for the business and the business is taxed on this revenue. So if this same rule applies to Celebrity, if they enact a mandatory service charge they may very well be taxed on this - they may also have to pay commissions to travel agents on it and/or incur other fees. Therefore for Celebrity to allot $15 per/person per/day towards staff gratuity, they may need to charge an extra $18 per/person per/day (or thereabout) because of the additional taxes/fees they would incur.

 

In the US, so long as gratuities are not mandatory, restaurants do not incur any taxes/fees on gratuities left by patrons - so I am saying this might be a significant factor as to why Celebrity does not just make the gratuities mandatory, even though there is certainly an expectation that guests pay them (as it is how the staff is compensated - and if one stiffs the staff on gratuities, they are in essence making them unpaid servants). And this is why I say not paying gratuities to the hard-working staff is despicable; it 100% is despicable and I proudly stand by that.

There are restaurants that auto-tip for large groups. Are you saying that ;in such cases, the restaurant becomes responsible for the taxes, rather than the recipient of the tip?

The reason gratuities are not mandated likely has to do with legal implications.

 

 

At least in the US, if a restaurant makes a gratuity obligatory, it is actually subject to being taxed. I am not certain of the laws/rules impacting Celebrity, but it is possible if they made the gratuity mandatory, they would have to declare that money as income and therefore be taxed on it (and possibly pay commission on that portion of the fare and/or other fees). For every $10 in gratuities, there may be $3 (or what not) in taxes/fees if removing gratuities was not allowed.

 

 

Also, Celebrity likes to have their fares appear competitive; if the gratuity was compulsory, they may also have to include it when advertising the cruise fare (at least in some markets), and therefore they would appear to be more expensive than the competition.

 

That said, as customers the onus is on us to realize that nearly all of the hard working staff's income (referencing staff that is part of the tip-pool) comes from these tips. Not tipping at least the recommended daily amount suggested by Celebrity is absolutely despicable behavior (aside from the extraordinarily rare occasion where one receives poor service, addresses this with appropriate supervising staff/officers, and the poor service continues) - not paying the gratuity essentially turns the hard working staff into one's unpaid servants.

1) are you telling me that in the US, a waiter or waitress does not have to declare their tips?

2) If the cruiseline did not allow removal of daily tip, why would there be legal repercussions? On the website before the end of the booking procedure, there is an amount for gratuities, which one can pay up front or later.

I don't know (or want to know) who removes their tips, but calling names (eg despicable) is in itself despicable in my opinion,

I can't understand why so many on cruise critic are so concerned with who tips what. Perhaps that is because you once worked for tips?? But that is no reason for the vitriol displayed here.

We shouldn't be so quick to judge others.

We took our boys to Alaska when our youngest was 7 - quite a journey at the time, but we enjoyed it so much as a family that we said we would return one day and this is the year. Looking forward to seeing some spectacular wildlife again ;).

Have a wonderful trip!

We are taking our son, dil and 2 small children on the Solstice to Alaska this summer.

We didn't consider Disney because of the price!

But friends of ours took one of their kids and family on Disney in Jan. and they loved it. As a matter of fact, the grandparents want to go again without the kids because the food and service is so much better than Celebrity!

After our cruise, I will post the success of our venture!

I agree but celebrity should just include this in there fare and that goes for all the other lines also, if that was the case nothing could be removed

I wonder how many pax actually remove the gratuities???

And I wonder why Celebrity allows this practice????