TroubleT

I apologize for the confusion. The flight is Chicago - Dallas - Sydney on Quantas.

Does anybody know if the bar is open for the passengers of all cabins on A380? Or is it just for First and Business Class? Also, I understand that we all have different level of tolerance, but I've heard that A380 is designed much better to handle long flights in Coach. But is it really so or do we need to invest into Premium Economy (can't afford BC :-( )?

Thanks for your help!

4774Papa,

Would you please provide Eyewitness travel contact information?

Thanks!

In 2011 we used Experience Normandy. Our guide was Eva Ruttger - excellent! The best tour ever!

info@experience-normandy.com

http://www.experience-normandy.com

We visited Ashdod & Haifa recently on a cruise and use Tal Megged.

Can highly recommend her - very professional and excellent English. If you contact her, please tell her Paul had recommended her.

Tal Megged

Licensed Israeli Tour Guide

talmgd@gmail.com

As I mentioned in my first post we used Moti, however out guide on day 1 was Tal. And she is fantastic! We just loved her! Probably the best guide we ever had.

I look for a cruise on the Reflection (Italy, Greece, Turkey) starting September 30. I wonder if the weather would be better in begenning of September. Is October (first week) is rainy? I love sun! Thank you.

We were in Greece/Italy/Turkey in October 2014. The weather was absolutely fantastic! It was sunny and warm, but not humid and hot. I've read a lot of comments about October in Europe and couldn't believe it. Now I know - the best time to visit Europe is October (at least early October).

We booked a 12 night russia and Scandinavia cruise for July. and I have to say I just looked at the times in port and I'ma little disenchanted. We get in later (9:30-10) and leave really early some as early as 4!? Has anyone been on this cruise and can you speak to the experiences on this cruise and what to do in some ports with such little time?

 

This is the one thing I find disappointing with celebrity. , when we cruised Azamara we were in port much longer.

Erikamac,

There are 3 pages of sailings for July 2015, so I am not sure which one you are on. But all of them (I am pretty sure) will have overnight stay in St. Petersburg. The ship will be in port from 7 AM till at least 7 PM the next day. As for Stockholm, we did Scandinavia and Russia cruise a few years ago, and we were there from 10 AM till 5 PM - it was enough to explore the city and to see the major attractions. Just plan your day in each port so you use every minute of your time wisely.

We agreed, so we booked B2B2B :) I doubt we'll do all 38 days, but we'll see!

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Hey Jenna, :)

Lyuba's vote is for November sailing (B2B) - it does look amazing!:)

T.

...Also plenty of Russians now taking vacations.

That's the crowd you WANT to sail with! :D:D:D Good luck!

Anyone else seen this-Constellation to be based in Abu Dhabi.

 

Be the first to experience our brand new cruises from the magnificent Abu Dhabi,as well as new and inspiring itineraries for 2016/17 across India, Asia and the South Pacific.

 

What's more, for a limited time you also get our fabulous 123go! offer*

 

http://www.celebritycruises.co.uk/cruise-deals/on-sale-now-captains-club.aspx?ecid=5430400&rid=649229619&lid=Indian_sailing_title&emsc=UKCELDEC14TUESOSNEMCC

Great news! Thanks for posting it!

We are looking at a Constellation 10 night cruise out of Rome next June which has an overnight in Sorrento, Dubrovnik, and Venice. Thoughts on an itinerary with a lot of overnights? Do you lose the cruising feel to the vacation? What are the pros/cons to an itinerary loaded with overnights?

Mickeysgal,

As you mentioned, overnight ports have pros and cons. We stayed a few times in ports with overnight itinerary.

It's my opinion and experience only...

Pros... More time to explore the area. You don't have to rush back to the ship for sail away. You can have late (!!!) romantic dinner on shore.

Cons... If it is an overnight stay then the ship usually arrives to port in the afternoon (sometimes it is a very late afternoon). So you don't have the full day. And usually the ship either sails early in the afternoon the next day or it is the disembarkation day so the second day doesn't count. Unless it is an overnight in St Petersburg (Russia) where you have 2 or even 3 full days.

I am pretty sure you will hear more opinions about an overnight stay. But I think your itinerary is overloaded with overnights.

Honestly, considering the current prices we don't have any intention to be in that race to get to Z level. As a matter of fact, we'll get to Elite + level only after our next cruise. But we'll seriously consider other cruise lines for our vacation and will only look at Celebrity if the price is really right. But as of today, Celebrity prices are unreal.

I am interested to know where you found the foldable cubes for only $1?!. I plan to get some for my next cruise. they sound like a great idea.

I got them at Dollar Store. And the cubes were $1 each. We used them even in our wheelchair accessible stateroom - very convenient to store socks, underwear, swim suites, PJs, etc.!

$975 for 11 night Med cruise. One half came from Celebrity, and another half came from TA.

I've read that the gangplank is open 24/7 on these types of boardings, that they move the check-in process to the gangplank after hours. Many people may arrive on late flights for example, this is especially true in asian ports that do this often.

 

Bascially approach the boarding area, and follow the signs, Security may need to call a staff member in to handle the check in routine.

Thanks, Cle-guy! I guess we can start planning overnight stay now! :)

I just wonder if Celebrity sends any "official" information on the process of embarkation in overnight port.

When we sailed on the Silhouette to the Adriatic in 2013, we overnighted in Venice. The muster drill was just before sail away.

Great!

How about boarding on day one? Do they have a time frame for boarding (e.g. 12 PM to 5 PM)? Or can we show up at 8 PM on day one in the port and get on board without a problem?

Thanks!

What time do you sail in the morning?

The cruise officially starts on June 20, 2015. But the ship sails on June 21, 2015 at 6 PM.

I know it's not the first time then the cruise begins with overnight in one port, so there should be someone who already knows "the drill". :) Please help those in need! :)

Just a quick question for somebody who already experienced that...

If the ship stays overnight in the port of embarkation - when do they have Muster Drill: on day one or on day two just before the ship sails?

Our cruise starts from Istanbul (overnight) and would like to take a full adventage of it.

Also, how late can you embark on day one? If we have the full day tour and will appear in port at 6 PM or later - will they allow us on board?

Thanks!

We were in wheelchair accessible stateroom and that is why (my wild guess) they didn't have the storage shelves over the bed:

Best is to leave them home.

Thanks for your reply, but I didn't ask if I should take them or leave them home. My question was: where to place them.:)

Some use the overhead storage cabinet above the bed to store them. Could also store under the bed.

There is no overhead storage cabinet above the bed in our stateroom. I know that for sure because we already stayed in the same stateroom.

 

We found that a closet shoe hanger rack and a closet cubical hanger worked for us. Everyone is different and has there own preferences.

 

Magnets work to keep papers off of the horizontal surfaces as the walls are metallic.

 

That is why we bring additional storage cubes because there is no enough space for 3 of us in a closet or in the drawers.

We'll be sailing on Reflection (soon), and since it will be a longer cruise I decided "to create" additional storage in the stateroom (regular veranda stateroom). We are bringing $1 fabric foldable cubes to organize small items from our wardrobe (socks, t-shirts, etc.). I remember that there was a shelf over the bed on Solstice where we could place those cubes. Reflection doesn't have these shelves. Question for those who used the cubes in the past: Any idea where we can place the cubes so they don't clutter the room but help to organize it?

Thanks!

I just called to buy the package and it's sold out for my cruise. I was able to get the four night package.

 

Does anyone have experience with this issue? Specifically, was it available on ship if sold out prior to cruise?

 

Thanks!

I have never heard about this "issue" as sold out package. Would you please tell us what sailing it is?

We will be embarking next month on the Silhouette TA, our third TA but our first at the "Select" Captain's Club level. As I understand it, the "Select" benefits include:

 

"One standard bag of laundry (wash, dry, fold) at discounted price on all Celebrity Cruises of 12+ nights"

 

Our TA is 15 nights, so this perk would apply. My question goes to the timing. Are we permitted to fill a bag at any time and get the contents laundered for whatever the discounted price is (once of course), or must we wait until the ship tells us this is available? If the latter, does there seem to be a standard time for this during a cruise of this length?

 

Thanks for the help (maybe we'll pack less this time. :) ).

You can fill a bag even on the first night of the cruise and send it to laundry. BUT... you can't fill it (I think 2) days prior to the end of the cruise.

No jar of cotton wool in a standard cabin on Eclipse last week, may only be concierge/aqua and above.

Or maybe you just need to ask now. On our last June Med cruise we were in standard balcony stateroom and didn't find the jar. We "reminded" about it our stateroom attendant and the jar was there and replenished when needed.

Please update us on Reflection: who's on board?

Thanks!