Turtles06

What an awful situation. I hope the ship can get things fixed soon!

Hi Sue, I hope you are having a wonderful time! We’re looking forward to our first sailing on the Rotterdam in July!

On the Jewel class ships, that is the dedicated concierge for the Haven and non-Haven suites. They usually set up there during breakfast so that they are easily available to suite guests in person during that time.

Another option is a travel CPAP, like the Breas Z2, which doesn't use water. If you want, you can use a Heat Moisture Exchanger (HME) with it for some humidification. The advantage of the Breas over another popular travel CPAP, the ResMed Air Mini, is that you can use whatever mask you use at home with the Breas, but the ResMed uses only certain proprietary ResMed masks -- not all of them. Even my own ResMed mask will not work with it.

And, as a general matter, have better guides.

I agree. (But as folks have pointed out above, it's very likely that some lights get left on or turned on unintentionally.) And while I have no personal experience yet on Celebrity's newest class of ship (the E-class), Celebrity solved the problem on the M-Class ships and S-Class by not having any lights on the balconies. 🙂

Agreed, one of the most spectacular sailaways. It never gets old. Not too shabby sailing out of Bayonne or Brooklyn either (especially when a ship out of Bayonne makes a detour to go past the Statue of Liberty, but you can't count on that).

That's not correct. If you re-read my comment above (post 3), you'll see a Roll Call was started for the Breakaway cruise Feb. 4-11, 2024. I've checked the NCL web site, and the Breakaway leaves New Orleans on Feb. 4, 2024 -- your post says Feb. 5, 2024, so you may have a typo. But there IS a Roll Call for the Feb. 4, 2024 Breakaway cruise, at this link posted in my comment above; that appears to be the Roll Call for your cruise, and you should go to that thread and join in (unless you are booked on an entirely different cruise in Feb. 2024). Also, there's an entire forum here on CC for getting help in how to do things here on CC It's called the Need Help? forum, and it's here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/859-need-help-using-the-forums-check-here/ There's even a thread explaining how to create a new Roll Call (although you may not need to do that, given the information I've posted above):

I'm very sorry for your loss. As noted above, there's a separate forum for Roll Calls. I just checked the Breakaway Roll Calls for Feb. 2024, and someone has started a Roll Call for the Breakaway, Feb. 4-11, 2024, at the link below. Not sure who has the embarkation date wrong, or whether NCL has changed it since that Roll Call was started, but in any event, you do need to post over in the Roll Calls forum. Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise and your lovely photos. We love the Gem; we spent 23 wonderful days on her this winter. Over the years, Cagneys has been inconsistent for us. But this winter, it was great, and we wound up eating there four times. (We even cancelled our last reservation at Le Bistro to do so.) Keep enjoying your cruise!

I hope it’s still on the Breakaway when you sail. We loved it so much we went back the next night. We’ve since seen it on tour in the U.S., as well as in London, which was of course extra special.

Having spent a couple of days last fall in North Wales/Snowdonia during a three-week tour of the UK, the itinerary of that Busy Bus tour looks like it would be very interesting. That part of Wales was gorgeous, even in the pouring rain (which is the weather we pretty much had). Very interesting city. I really loved the Cathedral in particular.

Lots of good advice above. On our only NE/Canada cruise to date (which was fabulous), we sailed out of Bayonne on the Celebrity Summit. Had one day at sea, then our first port was Boston. Since then, Celebrity has started those cruises out of Boston, which means a port the very next day. I was very happy to have had a sea day after we embarked. It's not a big deal, but the early part of the itinerary is also something to consider. Also, sailing out of NY Harbor (even from Bayonne) is just much more spectacular than sailing out of Boston.

Since @smillerholmes is in the process of reading it, and is transiting southbound, I just want to point out to them that soon after sailing under the Atlantic Bridge, as the ship is approaching the Gatun Locks, they can see off to starboard the only visible remnants of the original French excavation. It will look like a creek, and easy to miss if you aren't looking to starboard. Here it is: (photo by turtles06)

Very cool. We actually saw a substantial partial eclipse in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in the fall of 2013 on a TA aboard the Celebrity Infinity. Those of us who knew about this in advance brought the appropriate protective eyewear for viewing the eclipse (and extras that we distributed to others), and I had a special solar filter to protect my camera lens. I did get some good photos of the eclipse (a couple are below), but, back then, this being my first eclipse, it did not occur to me also to get some photos of the shadow of the eclipsed sun cast on some of the ship's surfaces. Still, it was a great experience. I always though Celebrity had missed a great marketing opportunity by not having the Celebrity Eclipse right there at the time. 🙂 (photos by turtles06)

Are you hosting your CC friends? 😂

Same here. I buy them directly from whatever ticketing mechanism the theatre is using. (Typically Ticketmaster or Telecharge in NY. Service charges are obscene. Of course, so are the ticket prices.)

There's no question that a genuine expedition cruise to Antarctica is very expensive. I certainly don't mean to pry into your personal finances and I mean this most respectfully, but looking at the lengthy international trips you've mentioned in this thread that you've taken or plan to take, have you actually priced an expedition cruise (in comparison to the trips you have spent money on)?

The eclipse will occur on April 8, 2024. The link below will show you a map of the path of totality: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eclipses/2024/apr-8-total/where-when/ Where is the Volendam scheduled to be on April 8, 2024? If by chance it's in Mazatlan at right time of the morning, you would be very lucky (assuming the weather also cooperates).

Where did you "find that out"? It's just not correct. Panamax ships -- those that can fit through the original locks -- will go through those locks except in very unusual circumstances. If you haven't already discovered it, the Panama Canal forum here on CC is a great resource for learning about the Canal and what to expect during your transit, and for asking questions. And I hope you've read David McCullough's "The Path Between the Seas" -- you will appreciate the Canal even more. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/54-panama-canal/ Enjoy your cruise.

I just want to point out that the Panama Canal cruise is only a partial transit. With the caveat that I find the Canal fascinating and have done four full transits, I personally think a full transit would be preferable. (Maybe do Mexico this time and do a full transit of the Canal when you can at a future date.) If you do wind up taking this cruise, please consider a shore excursion that will take you through the Pacific locks in a small vessel. Read up on this over in the Panama Canal forum to see if that type of shorex is for you (long day, hot). Enjoy whatever you choose!

I agree that it is utterly ridiculous that something purchased on line, such as a shore excursion, cannot be cancelled on line. The technology exists, other cruise lines use it. My only takeaway from the obstacles imposed by NCL is that they want to make it difficult to cancel something. @cruiseny4life thank you for the reminder about using the chat function to do things like this. It's better than having to call, but really, it should require nothing more than logging onto your account and cancelling whatever it is yourself.

It’s not a tender port for all ships. From my reading here on CC, one ship is assigned the sea walk — a sort of floating dock that allows guests to just walk off their ship. @queen_kathy1 did not say what ship she’s on, but looking at the official cruise port calendar (at the link below), the Nieuw Statendam will be in Geiranger on July 29 from 10am-7pm, and will be at position 4B/SW. From what I’ve read in this forum, SW is the sea walk. https://www.stranda-hamnevesen.no/cruise-calls/

Tips are never required, but I don't know anyone who does not tip them.

I agree, it's a good idea to go the first night, and maybe even the second (since the first night can be really hectic for some folks), and get a sense of the group.