waggie

Thank you so much - it looks wonderful

Waggie

6 minutes ago, ROCruiser said:

We took the 16:00 bus from Narita to Hotel New Grand. They did have two quick stops at Haneda Airport terminals before reaching Hotel New Grand. There is no stop at Monterey, but Monterey is just a block away from Hotel New Grand.

Yes it is  great service if you arrive at Narita later in the day. However, as I mentioned we arrive at 12.35 so are unable to take this bus.

I have just received this reply from the Limousine Bus website:

Unfortunately we have no direct bus service from Narita airport to “Hotel Monterey Yokohama”.

 We regret only 3 buses are operated from Narita airport to Hotel New Grand, leaving at 16:00, 17:50 and 20:20.

 We have the bus service from Narita Airport to Yokohama City Air Terminal (YCAT), where it takes about 10 minutes by taxi and it costs about 1,500 yen per a vehicle to “Hotel Monterey Yokohama”.

The timetable and details are shown as follow:

https://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/areas/bus_stop/nrt/ycat/dep/23/5

We are sure to deal with the senior discounted ticket for the bus between Nariata airport and YCAT. It costs 2,200 yen for an elderly person.

Great information for later arrivals, but unfortunately, we land at Narita from London at 12.35 so will have to take the very frequent bus to YCAT. 

If anyone else is landing around that time on Friday 8th.November maybe we could link up and share a taxi from YCAT?

6 hours ago, Fouremco said:

That makes more sense. 

Thanks for all your help. I will wait and see in November.

Do they also have Apple watches for sale?

We will be on Millennium in November.

Thanks

Thank you so much Anne

Waggie

Can you tell me when Dubai Garden Glow opens?

The website isn't showing dates or prices yet.

Thanks

Waggie

It is a shame that a great gesture by a cruise line AND passengers should descend into someone having to defend their donation!

This might make you smile:

As we arrived back at our hotel in Beijing (it is not only cruise excursions!) our guide stood up, rubbed his hands and said....."Now for the bit i like the best"...he lost his tip too!

4 hours ago, Wine-O said:

I would move to 3115.  The corridor is now not that quiet as before since they moved the entrance to Tuscan back aft.  🍷

We have moved. -thank you so much for taking the time on your own vacation to help!

The UK website still shows the restaurant in  the deck plan - thank goodness for CC,

Thank you bkbarrym - CC folk are so good at sharing ideas.

We are not worried about port or starboard as we have no idea which direction the ship will berth each day on our port intensive cruise! 

We will make a decision tonight before this topic gets everyone moving cabin!

4 hours ago, Wine-O said:

Better yet, enter Tuscan thru the door right across from 3127.   I did check this afternoon, and the other two crew doors were for supplies/bedding.  They were open, so I peaked in.  🍷

Wine-O  - we are booked in 3132 - do you think we would be better moving to 3115 from this previously quiet corridor now that Tuscan guests (and Elite breakfast) have to use that area?

You might find this link helpful - I did!

OP - Thank you so much - the description and pictures are excellent. We have 3132 in November.

The UK Celebrity site still has the old deck plan - so googling this is good advice too - thanks yvrdave!

Celebrity Zenith loyalty members (their highest tier)

I am Elite and achieved that when it was the highest tier - in the days when everyone shared a dining room, enjoyed Michaels Club for small music or comedy sessions and could relax anywhere on deck.

But I suspect that folks without status on Celebrity who were on our sailings probably had essentially the same time frame as on your sailing -

Celebrity (and Cunard) seem to treat you (in many ways) as second class citizens

unfortunately it seems that Celebrity is becoming obsessed with status - such a pity. 

I understand that immigration procedures must be adhered to and wanted to clarify how this was done so that all my research for the Japanese ports allowed for such details/potential timescales.

My post (3) was an enquiry and not intended to side track into a status topic.

jkgourmet - thank you for posting your experience - so sorry that your day in Hakodate was spoilt.

We were planning to spend the day with a Goodwill Volunteer guide too when we visit in November.

Do you know if everyone had to go through the immigration process even if they didn't leave the ship in South Korea?

Did Celebrity give you any chance to explain that you had a tour booked? Or, did their excursion groups go first?

On 3/3/2019 at 4:23 PM, bfgood2 said:

Thank you so much Miaminice for your wonderful travelogue! We just booked on the Westerdam (HAL) Japan 14 day cruise Mar. 28, 2020 RT Yokohama. We are just starting to study the ports and like you, really like to book out our tours or sometimes go it alone. Any like minded travelers who want to join up please contact us.

 What board did you use to find others to join your group in Tokyo?

Have you looked at Cruise Critic/Roll Call/HA/Westerdam page? - you can join your fellow cruisers there and see if others have started planning tours.

.

Dancer Bob, sorry to read that - we were tendered in December 2018 and the area was, as I said in my review spotless. There were several toilet blocks and all clean - but I always take tissues anyway! 

This has to be the best part of cc- even better than a busy roll call!

The advice is so good. Well, we now have booked flights to Narita at a better price than yesterday, a hotel in Yokohama for the night before our cruise and now great ideas for getting there- only 10 months to go!

Thank you SeaDog-46 - and Tara Jane for all your help.

I was just about to give up on the cruise as direct flight prices  from London rose yesterday by over £300 -stupidly I had delayed purchasing!!!

I have just looked at using Haneda with Cathay Pacific from London via Hong Kong, makes for a longer journey, but when we get there  we will be close to the port. Hotels - most Yokohama hotels have free cancellation only until April.

Can you give me a link or details of the bus please?

18 minutes ago, new_cruiser said:

I would take the Narita Express from Narita to Yokohama Station and then taxi for the short distance to the cruise port. It is a comfortable train and one of the lower cost options. 

Thank you new_cruiser - that is such useful information.

I will google that now.

There are several sites with information about getting from the airport to the cruise.

I am interested to know what options other people have found - they all look very costly.

We are cruising with Celebrity in November.

59 minutes ago, cachouonacruise said:

Thank-you very much Chemmo and Varoo for these precisions. 

 

I have read quite a bit on these boards and the use of the word “concierge” seem to correspond to a different reality, depending on the cruise line or cabin class. I just wanted to confirm my understanding for our next cruise.

 

Thank-you for the suggestion to drop by and say hello! It sounds like a good idea. P.s. We were in a regular veranda on Solstice and in AQ on Infinity, and I don’t remember having seen a “concierge desk”. Do you know where it is located on the Connie? 

 

Once more, thank-you for taking the time to respond to my request. I really appreciate the support.

We were recently on Connie and Raphael the Concierge -Concierge had his desk in the Library (but that will probably change when the ship has her major renovation this year)- he was delightful.

The ship was fine - perhaps a little tired in parts but kept beautifully clean throughout. We had the cabin that had been converted into an infinite balcony - similar to Edge - we chose it 'just because we could' and I am glad we had the opportunity to try it at Connie prices not Edge!!!!

We felt that the food in MDR had improved this last year (2 cruises - Connie and Silhouette) and Oceanview buffet had a great selection through the day, especially the fresh grill section on these evenings when you don't fancy MDR. The service was friendly and efficient - considering the ship was very full we always found a table without waiting.

This was a Holiday cruise, slightly different demographic to usual - lots of 2/3 generation families having Christmas together. There were more 'young people' onboard and I felt this affected the activities and entertainment - no craft activities etc.

The entertainment in the Theatre was okay - a few acts that we had seen before, but usually a great way to end the day. I felt that there was not as much classical/duet/trio music in the bars and lounges though.

The crew worked very hard - all those special events - Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New years Eve and finally taking the bars and lunch by tender to Sir Bani Yas Island beach (Abu Dhabi). However, the Senior Officers were not as visible as on previous cruises.

I hope this helps.

Waggie

We were on Connie recently. Let me try and explain. We entered Qsine by the aft elevator. The new cabins appeared to be accessed from a corridor in the Grand Foyer Deck 3 area close to the midship elevators . I would say that these cabins are what was the front of what had been Ocean Liners, and Qsine is at the back of that.

German Navy's diagram shows this better.

Waggie