SeaCBear

I love this drink. And I don't even like gin! On Princess they sell something called a Flirtini which is very similar.

French 75. I found most bartenders don't know it. Same parts Champagne and vodka, add lemon juice and simple syrup. The classic way is to use gin instead of vodka, but I'm not a big gin fan.

 

 

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When I log in to my Cruise Planner I now see three Beverage Packages - Standard, Classic and Premium.

The Classic Package is $86.32 CAD per day, the Premium is $86.45 CAD. I think - for an additional .13 cents - I'd splurge for the Premium package. :)

Funny you mention the Ritz Carlton. I was at the Ritz Carlton in downtown Toronto all day yesterday for a conference, and I met a friend in the lobby bar after for a drink. The cheapest glass of wine was $16, and martinis started at $18. Everyone in the bar (except me, because the conference was full of bankers in dark suits) - was wearing jeans. The didn't surprise me, or bother me at all. Even if you're having a $300 dinner for two in a restaurant downtown here, many will be wearing jeans.

I like to wear a jacket/tie or suit on some nights because I like the way I look. Admittedly, I sail Celebrity, in part, because I think (but do not know) that more passengers embrace the legacy of cruising and dress for dinner - somewhat formally on some nights, and still a bit "dressy" on others. It would bother me when the line would not enforce "no shorts, t-shirts, or flip-flops" in the MDR. I switched to AQ years ago, and it has not been an issue there, and I don't think the new policy will be a problem. I am totally fine if people are in jeans, and I probably will wear a very dark pair of jeans with a jacket myself on the last night (and maybe the first night as well).

I hope the new dress code doesn't encourage people to wear torn jeans, or feel that because jeans are allowed, it means it's ok to,wear flip-flops or crocs instead of shoes in the dining venues. i don't think people that are hoping others don't dress down (to an extreme) are allowing others to negatively impact their vacation, nor is it wrong to look for a certain "standard." People that stay at Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons chains expect a certain service level, quality of the rooms, amenities, and the general "style" of fellow guests - it's part of the brand image. If Celebrity lets people take the dress code too far in the casual direction, I do think they risk alienating some portion of their customer base. I am sure they did the research and know the risks, and they are making the business decision they think is right.

Hi everyone - does anyone know if the Gastrobar is open for lunch on embarkation day?

And also, is it only open for lunch every day or is can you also go there for dinner, or a snack in the afternoon?

Thanks!

Totally agree with the OP's post, and the comment below. My

husband and I are 56 (but of course, we are a YOUNG 56 :) ).

We preferred to eat at The Porch shortly after boarding, but there is no Porch in on the Eclipse, which is our next cruise.

We have enjoyed lunches at Bistro on Five on S class ships in the past, but for three of us (my husband, my son and me), $30 seems a bit too much for what is offered.

And the scrambled eggs you eat in a hotel in the U.S. may quite likely have been prepared in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Full Story

Yes, January 5th.

Do you have a cruise booked in the next month or two? They seemed to target upcoming cruisers.

Celebrity certainly has my email, but I've received no notification at all about the change.

Except for the mass blast email about the change, that went out to everyone that has their email in their 'My Celebrity" profile with Celebrity. Even people without a cruise booked in 2 of the FB groups I am in got the email.

It is not just a CC bit of info.

Yes, as I said, " in recent years". But it's not been that long. Cunard announced that change to "informal" evenings in March of 2013.

So what was a slightly confusing dress code for the remaining nights –- a mixture of “elegant casual” (jacket but no tie for men) and “semi-formal” (jacket and tie for men, cocktail dresses for ladies) — has now been replaced with plain “informal,” which means men must still wear jackets, but ties aren’t required.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/blog/index.php/2013/03/19/is-cunard-relaxing-its-dress-code/

Men haven't had to wear ties for years on Cunard during informal nights. Most of us still do.

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Richard Spacey, according to his Twitter feed, is on the Eclipse now (CD) until January 24.

Does anyone know of any details for the Eclipse at all please? Thanks.

I know, it really does look stuffy doesn't it! I went on that cruise with my (then) 22 year old son (husband couldn't get away from work). We loved the itinerary, and went with Cunard for a number of reasons, but weren't really looking forward to the ship or the Cunard 'experience'. Well, we had an amazing time. The ship was beautiful, the entertainment outstanding, and the food was very, very good. (No beverage packages though!). People were, overall, friendly and fun.

I like dressing up sometimes (and took my one long dress, and various cocktail dresses), but people get quite dressed up even on non-formal nights on Cunard. By the end of week one, I was really getting tired of feeling the need to dress up every evening. One night near the end we just went to the buffet instead.

So I will dress up if I feel like it on our upcoming Celebrity cruises in January and April, and dress up because I have to on Cunard next May!

Oooh ballroom dancing, yeah don't do that either. That looks hella stuffy. Won't be going on that line.

The majority of women are in gowns on formal nights on Celebrity? That's certainly not at all what I've seen, in the Caribbean or Europe.

Even when we cruised for two weeks last year on Cunard, IN Europe, there were many women in cocktail dresses, not gowns. There have been many references to Cunard on this thread, but they too have altered their dress code in recent years. Men no longer need to wear ties on non-formal evenings.

I recently read Greg King's book, "Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age". In it, he refers to Emily Post's advice regarding appropriate dress on an ocean liner:

So perhaps we are actually returning to "Traditional Dining" dress rules.:D

You can see more etiquette advice for "de-luxe" steamer travel, from Emily Post, here.

I'm fine with the new dress code. I do enjoy dressing up, and probably still will, but it's nice to know I don't have to if I feel like wearing a nice sundress and pretty flat sandals.

But the reference to 'designer jeans' for men cracks me up - sounds so '80's. What are designer jeans now? These, for $675? :D I guess Versace jeans would qualify, for $695.

This has been a very interesting discussion, on many levels.

I don't know anything about HAL lawsuit, but I do want to point out that there is a huge amount of incorrect information and erroneous assumptions repeated frequently regarding the McDonald's coffee lawsuit that you reference below. The 79 year old plaintiff in that case was very seriously burned (the photos here show the horror - but they are very graphic), and only asked for $20,000 to cover her stay in hospital and numerous skin grafts. McDonald's offered her $800. You can read more here, if you're interested, or watch the NY Times

I'm sorry, I know this is very off topic, and no - I'm not related to the case in any way. :) I just feel this poor woman was very poorly treated by the media, and the story lingers on more than 20 years later with very little understanding of the truth.

Anyway, I'll go back to lurking now.

I never wrote that I didn't believe that the man hurt aboard the HAL ship wasn't due some compensation for his injury. Based on the tiny scrap of information I have, I believe it was due to a malfunction on a sliding door, hence HAL should be held responsible. I also have no idea how severe his injury was, and any lasting, permanent damage he has. I do think 21 million is excessive, as I think 2.65 million for spilling a cup of coffee on yourself is too much, but that's way off topic.

Well, in answer to my own question, I just found this photo of the Golden Lion pub lunch Menu pub (QM2) from last month - and it does include a vegetarian pot pie.

Hello everyone - does anyone know if there are any vegetarian items available for lunch in the Golden Lion pub on the QM2?

I've looked at the menu, and of course we could ask, for example, for the Ploughman's Lunch without the ham, but I'm just wondering if there are any other options.

Thanks for any input!

Well, there's a two day Norwegian Breakaway Cruise leaving New York City on February 12 and returning to NYC on the 14th, with no stops. Isn't that a "cruise to nowhere"?

They used to have cruises to nowhere but the feds have determined that those are a violation of federal law. Some refer to that law as the Jones Act. This Act prohibits transferring cargo/passengers in a ship between two US ports unless the ship is US flagged or it must have an intervening stop at a "distant" foreign port. Of course, if the ship is US flagged then it must be staffed with members of the US Maritime Unions. Norwegian, IIRC, tried that around Hawaii but had to stop the practice of US flagging due to customer dissatisfaction with crew services.

You won't have any trouble booking this on board, but I can tell you that there were at least 15 if not 20 participants when my husband and I did this on the Reflection in 2010. We loved it - and I'm enjoying wine out of one of our Riedel glasses right now. :)

Can assure you that you can book on board as Reidel participation is very low. ....always less then 10 people.

When we did our first transAtlantic on the RCL Mariner of the Seas, it was just out of dry dock. It arrived in Miami on time, but we were quite late leaving port, and there was still quite a lot of work happening on board as we sailed - carpet work, floor work around the pool, painting, etc. But, nothing that spoiled our cruise - it was a wonderful vacation.

We always have a balcony, but we really prefer to get our breakfast at the buffet and eat outside at the aft of the ship. Beautiful views in three directions, and (usually) soft breezes.

On our recent transatlantic, from Fort Lauderdale, all passengers' passports were collected before we boarded. We were told we could pick them up again after our first port, Lisbon. We took our receipts to Guest Relations after Lisbon, and picked up our passports with no issue.

Our son, however, did have a problem flying home from Amsterdam, where our cruise ended. (My husband and I stayed on an extra week). Our passports were never stamped in Lisbon, and the immigration officials at the airport in Amsterdam said our son's passport had no proof of the date he had arrived in the EU. There were a few frantic emails between him, and me, as I sent him copies of our cruise documents as proof, etc. He eventually showed the officials various photos he had taken in Lisbon, with the dates taken, and they finally allowed him through to boarding.

So if you are on a transAtlantic, and your passport IS taken by the cruise staff (and this has happened to us before on another cruise), just make sure you have a passport stamp indicating the date you arrived in the EU!

The taking, and keeping, of passports has nothing to do with Captain's choice. It's all predicated on the rules of the countries you're visiting. My passport has been taken on more cruises than I can count, and in many instances it's done to make things easier for the passenger. Can you imagine having to stand in line in many ports, to have your passport checked by local officials? When the cruise line takes your passport, you're free to leave the ship once it's cleared, and officials check passports while you're off touring.

Thanks for this! I just put a hold on the ebook at the library - sounds like great pre-reading for our trip to Norway.

Hi everyone,

I posted this on our roll call, and thought others planning on a Baltic cruise might be interested as well.

 

I just finished reading a very insightful, well written book about the countries Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.

I highly recommend you read it.

"The Almost Nearly Perfect People" by Michael Booth.

 

Sue

 

Note: These reviews are on Amazon.com

 

Bill Bryson goes to Scandinavia. (Christian Science Monitor (Ten Best Books of January))[snip] (The Times (London))

Hi everyone - we had a wonderful time on our recent TransAtlantic cruise (our second TA) on the Celebrity Silhouette.

Our cruise left from Fort Lauderdale, and ports were Lisbon, Le Havre, Zeebrugge (Bruges), and ended in Amsterdam.

I've posted my photos on Flickr of the ship (including our Family Room 8107), and each port, including Amsterdam.

If anyone has any questions at all, I'm happy to answer if I can! :)