HookedonSXM

HOOKEDON - Just for info....did you have the Celebrity insurance or 3rd party?

I've always wondered if you might be treated better if you have Celebrity's.

We usually take other insurance as we want higher medical/evac coverage.

Hope we'd get the same wonderful treatment from the cruiseline to the extent possible.

Of course, it's always more expensive because of our age.

Hello BridgeMates,

We had 3rd party travel trip cancellation/trip interruption insurance which we purchased through our travel agent. This will be the first time we have had to make a claim. With 7 days left in the cruise, our last minute, one way airline tickets home from Panama ($2700), a hotel room in Toronto for a few hours en route home, and other miscellaneous expenses which should be covered it will be a rather large claim.

Even without insurance we would have done exactly the same thing, It's one of those things you hope you never have to use, but nice to have when something like this happens.

To answer your question, no not Celebrity insurance, just a third party.

Beth

We embarked on Reflection out of Fort Lauderdale on January 29. This was our fourth cruise, but the first one in 5 years. All previous cruises were also on Celebrity ships. It was our first time on Reflection. The ship was beautiful, and service, as we have always found,

was excellent.

On the morning Friday morning ( February 2 ) we received a message that my husbands father had taken a turn for the worst and had perhaps only hours to live. We immediately decided to get off of the ship ( we were in Colon Panama).

Here is where the truly amazing customer service of Celebrity shone through. They helped us in any and every way possible. From helping us find, select, book and check in for flights, to arranging transportation to the airport in Panama City, making appropriate arrangements with Panama customs, finding the off duty photo manager so I could collect any photos we had taken, they even offered to help us pack. They credited us for unused beverage package days, pro rated our wifi package, credited unused specialty dining packages. They truly went above and beyond any expectation we had of how they would be able to help.

We were so impressed with the level of service and compassion extended to us by Celebrity that day, I can't imagine ever sailing with another cruise line.

We are currently in the whirlwind of family and a funeral. Once all of that has been dealt with I will write a letter to Celebrity thanking them and some specific crew members for their caring compassion and excellent service.

I pray that none of you ever need such help from Celebrity, but know that if you do, they will help you in any way possible.

We live in Canada. I ordered ours on line just before Christmas. They arrived right at the beginning of January.

We have been in FV at the aft of deck 9 twice on the Millenium. No issues at all with vibration or noise that I recall. We loved both those rooms and will only book aft rooms now.

We are going to be in Cartagena on the Jan 29 sailing of Reflection. We have booked a tour through "Tours by Locals". This is our first time using this company, but all the reviews are positive.

We have several Tumi pieces that are 4 wheel spinners, including carry on size. Pricey, but we travel a lot and definitely feel good quality luggage is worth investing in. I definitely feel you should check Tumi out. We also have a Briggs and Riley carry on which we find very well designed (lots of well placed pockets etc) and we use it often, however it is a 2 wheeled bag, so I can't comment on their 4 wheel spinners. I will say we use the Tumi more often than the Briggs and Riley. Just our opinion. YMMV

Assuming the cruise is during a school break period there will be other young adults on the ship. We spent Christmas and New Years on the Equinox in 2011 and our then 16 and 17 year olds loved it. They spent almost no time at the organized kids club, but had no problem meeting other similar aged young adults who they very much enjoyed spending time with on sea days and in the evenings. They had no trouble entertaining themselves. They even continue to stay in touch with a few of them to this day. I assume you are paying his way, and really he should be happy he's going.

We have brought soft drinks by the case on board without issue several times. Once was at embarkation, we just put a luggage tag on it and it was delivered to our room. Have also brought on board when returning while in port. Never a problem.

Thank you so much for the trip report UKPete. We are sailing Reflection in January and enjoyed following your travels while getting a preview of the ship. Safe travels!

Beth

I know its been a while, but I haven't been on CC much. If you get OneNote for the iPad, the link should work for you.

Ann, we will be overnighting in Cartagena on Celebrity Reflection in early February. Thank you so much for posting the link to all of your research. It was very helpfu!

Beth

St. Marten is our "home away from home" for 2 weeks every year since 2001. I assume you are referring to Sunset Beach Bar on Maho Beach, at the end of the SXM runway? It was wiped out by Irma and to the best of my knowledge has not reopened yet. I expect they are rebuilding but when they will reopen would be at best a guess. The Driftwood Beach bar on the other side of Maho Beach ( beside the Royal Islander) has reopened already.

If you are planning on airplane watching, please be aware that although the airport has finally reopened to some commercial aircraft, it will be many months yet before anything close to " normal" returns in terms of the number of daily flights. Many airlines have pulled out altogether until May. The airlines that are beginning to fly to SXM again have significantly reduced the number of flights.

We are booked to cruise on Reflection January 29,2018. It's our first cruise in 5 years, 4th cruise ever, all on Celebrity. We received an email from Celebrity today advising us that for 3 days some shore excursions and other add ons are on sale 20% off. If we wanted to book an unlimited wifi package, a photo package, and a 3 night specialty dining package should we book now? Or are we better to wait until we get on board? I realize there is no way of knowing for sure, just wondering what others experiences may have been.

Thank you!

We toured with Royston's cousin Ashton on Dec 27 2011. He was very good. We did the all day island tour which included the Batik shop/botanical gardens. He was so knowledgeable about the various plants and trees on the grounds we had various people from other tours tagging along after us attempting to listen to what he was telling us. We also stopped at Brimstone Fortress, the black rocks, where the atlantic meets the Caribbean ocean and to a look out point where you can see Nevis.

He was very informative and was constantly giving us information about what we were seeing. You can tell he is proud of his island and enjoys showing it off. Lunch was also included and there was a cooler full of drinks to help ourselves to throughout the day. I highly recommend him.

We have used Levi (bumping tours) twice now, most recently on December 29 2011, and we highly recommend him. He is knowledgeable, energetic, and very happy to show off his island. He is very personable, and willing to accommodate. We also love Dominica and the beauty of both the island and the people and hope to go there on a land based vacation some day. Of all the tour guides we have used on any island Levi is our favourite.

Beth