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In our experience the Middle East is the greatest area of concern. There is a long list of prohibited items and the quantity of items is also monitored (as in only enough for personal use and length of stay). As others have suggested a doctors letter as well as a copy of the prescription and original packaging are advisable.

We did a RS shortly after its partial revolution. One of the negatives were the two sun chairs on the balcony which were lie back with foot stool but without any cushioning. Have these been improved? We did ask the butler to round up some cushions for us, which he did, but as they had no attachment to the chairs it was’t ideal. We would have happily swapped them for the pre revolution rattan….

Just so angry for you! No excuse. It is things like this that take the ‘edge’ off a holiday. So pleased your holiday as a whole was wonderful though…Received an email from a friend this week recently back from an RC cruise who had arranged for a bucket of champagne to be by their table on arrival and a cake to be presented at the end (both obviously at extra cost). On arrival no champagne visible. My friend went over quietly to the M’D who then got moving but the moment was spoilt. To add insult to injury the cake came saying ‘Happy Anniversary’ not Happy Birthday….Needless to say refund for champagne and cake given but you can never recapture the special moments you have planned and looked forward to.

I’d forget the £100 and stick with FBC. Much as £100 is not to be sniffed at FBC does offer an extra layer of protection, I guess. I certainly wouldn’t want to rely on BA to pull out all the stops for you! Surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly) I know of two couples (who don’t know each other) who have changed their usual routine of flying into Europe two days pre cruise to adding one week+ land holidays to their Mediterranean cruises this year. They both independently had the same reasons. Increasing cruise fares meaning they are only having one cruise this year not two. This releases ‘spare’ holiday days to use up. Worries about flights and prices of flights too. Both told me independently that they are sick of airports, changes to flights, stress of possible changes even if every does go according to plan…. I must confess I can see their point of view…

Your call…If it is a same day sail or afternoon flight arrival sailing next day I would stick with FBC simply so if anything goes wrong it is up to them to sort. If you are flying in a few days early I would be tempted to cancel and rebook, £100 buys a lot of tapas! Also in our experience BA customer service has nose dived in recent years…I wouldn’t rely on them to offer fantastic service if anything goes wrong…a couple of examples. We booked a Paris flight and paid a premium for booking the early morning flight rather than the late morning flight. Near to date we were told our flight time had changed to the later time. The later time now matched our earlier time flight number. There was now a new flight number at the time we had originally booked ££ more…Absolutely no attempt to resolve our complaint and request to be transferred back to the time we had booked. We booked business to the US. We booked our seats early, (three of us) and regularly checked. Thank goodness we did we ended up totally separated…We literally had to argue to at least get two in close proximity…No explanation or apology and if I hadn’t registered for wheelchair airport transfers (indicating I had some mobility issues) I am not sure they would have done that. More frustrating, when we actually got on our flight it looked like our three seats close together had been allocated to strangers, not a family group with children as we had been told.

Two very different experiences. One time, lovely couples, lovely food and a wonderful evening. Second experience we had Mr. Know it all and his wife Mrs. Drink it all. Despite the efforts of the other couples it was simply unpleasant. No matter what topic was introduced Mr. Know it all interrupted with a monologue…By the end of the meal I was beginning to understand and sympathise with the state Mrs. Drink it all was in…

We only have gone for the cheap flight offer once to Rome. It was direct (budget airline) on the day of the cruise but owing to a delay didn’t arrive until 2pm. We knew the budget airline didn’t have another flight to Rome for two days. You can imagine how we felt sat in the lounge looking at the ‘delayed’ sign. We had booked a Celebrity transfer to the ship to feel more ‘secure’ of getting to the ship. On landing we were then sat on a coach for over an hour waiting for a Gatwick flight. Yes, it was cheap but we found it stressful. When we looked at all options for Barcelona we chose to arrange independently and fly in two days early. We chose Lufthansa with a connection rather than the budget airline which we could see on flight data had a reputation for last minute cancellations…Slightly more expensive but lots of options if one flight had a problem. We did know our flight details at the time of booking but if I remember correctly we had booked the cruise only about two months before…

Another wonderful adventure to follow vicariously! Sincere best wishes to you both for a fantastic vacation. It is wonderful that you have managed to fit things together so well. Enjoy!

Enjoy!

There are a couple of different saunas…Basically you have seen what there is. We enjoy for a quiet half an hour occasionally on a port day (free perk with elite). It tends to be one of those spaces that some people love and will enjoy and others, like us, quickly find boring. We did have free access one cruise. On sea days we found it can be busy and, as with sun beds, you do get a few people who will settle rather than take turns or will talk loudly making it far less relaxing. We didn’t use it much..

Uncertain but I think new itineraries come out for Europe November (ish). From this year Apex takes over from Silhouette doing the Southampton cruises. I have browsed a few for next year and they are significantly more expensive than Silhouette has been. Probably, a premium for a newer ship as well as reflecting inflation… We loved our cruise on Eclipse to the Fjords, we cruised early May and had fantastic weather…Sometimes if you really fancy a cruise and it fits in with your schedule the best option is simply to book it!

Fjords cruises are always popular with Celebrity and tend to sell out fairly quickly, especially suites. We booked the PH a few years ago as the itinerary was released and within a month the remaining RS were more expensive than what we had paid for the PH. Supply and demand….I write this simply to say that prices may head up rather than down, regardless of what ‘offer’ is on. Friends (regular Celebrity cruisers) have just booked a Princess cruise for Norway. Not their usual cruise choice but it was significantly cheaper and there was a 14 night as well as a 7 night option. Might be worth pricing…

Suite prices seem really high across the board at the moment. In the Mediterranean they were really becoming expensive even before covid. In previous years we have booked RS or PH on release of itinerary and then seen prices go up as rooms available drop. Now they seem to be constantly high from release to weeks before sailing. I have been looking at the M class which I fancied doing again but I can’t believe the prices they are charging on Infinity and Constellation which are well overdue a makeover… At the end of the day we all have to make a choice of booking or not/upgrading or not. I think we all have a number in our heads as to what a cruise is ‘worth’ and if the price is above that then we look at other options…

I don’t know if you have friends with a baby of similar age but we met two couples who always cruise together with their respective youngsters. This started when their first babies were below one, they now have five little ones between them 18 months to five years….They spend time as individual families, time as two couples with children and have times where one couple has the little ones and the other has a break… During their cruises they manage time off and time on parental role… Works really well for them cruising together. Just an idea if you have family/friends in a similar situation…

We love S class too. There is so much about the ‘flow’ of the S class and the many quiet places there are to simply enjoy the view…

Hi swjumbo, Just a quick message to wish you a fantastic ongoing cruise! Is the ship sailing at less than full? I assume it must be as you were able to move rooms easily…

We take a passport photocopy with us at every port. Never need it but you never know…

Sometimes people post the ‘Who is on board’ sheet that shows the Captain and other staff including cruise director. Obviously, as staff rotate it changes. If you post a question a week or so before boarding giving your ship name and date someone may post the list for you.

In our experience in colder areas they usually have ‘family time’. If I remember correctly it is about 4pm to 6pm.

Two cruises with partial charters both on RC so I don’t know how relevant. One in the Med was a doctors convention. They seemed to all dine in one area of the MDR at breakfast at the same time daily and late seating in the evening. Staff knew when to expect them and were ready and staffed accordingly. During sea days they had various daily events in the theatre (when it normally would have not been used) and on port days they went off on their own excursions. The quietest buffet at breakfast time we have ever seen. Also the quietest sea day poolside experiences ever too. Our cruise was enhanced by their presence! The second experience was in the Mediterranean with a large group of affiliated Mexican families. We were told it was a Quinceanara (hope that is correct) celebration. Family members numbered about 300 from babies to grandparents. The fifteen year old girls (lovely to see them all dressed up) were a bit giddy poolside but less of an issue than their younger siblings who entertained themselves in the lifts, buffet and corridors….The early morning buffet had lots of unaccompanied youngsters, poolside full areas of chairs were ‘reserved’. If you unfortunately sat poolside then group members surrounded you conversations would take place over you. Individually the people were lovely when we chatted with them but quite simply we felt we were invading a private party…

Sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise! Enjoy every meal, every drink every smell of the sea…I strongly suggest on boarding you head to guest relations to complain about your early boarding and demand to be last off the ship…

We stayed at the Grand Harbour. We were travelling with our adult son at the time so wanted a two room suite with sofa bed/additional bed option in the lounge area. We upgraded to a harbour view suite which had big windows overlooking the bay, access to the concierge lounge with free breakfast and cocktails and snacks in the evening. Whilst the upgrade wasn’t cheap the room was lovely, a genuine suite and we felt we had value for money from the concierge perks. This was pre covid so I don’t know if it operates the same now… Without the upgrade to concierge facilities and a harbour view room the hotel didn’t have masses of facilities if I remember correctly. A big breakfast option but fairly expensive, a small rooftop pool a restaurant that was OK but again expensive. However, very close to lots of nice restaurants and shops and the ferry just a minutes walk away. I do hope someone who has visited since we did can confirm… If you aren’t bothered about extra space, the view and the concierge perks available with an upgrade you could probably find a better room in a hotel with more facilities (indoor pool) cheaper. I don’t think we would have booked this hotel without upgrading…

Ask your family or friends if they can recommend…Social media sites you are a member of could be a good start. Also decide what is important to you, just a few things to consider…These thoughts may help to focus your discussion with family and friends. Do you want a cruise specialist or a general TA? Do you want a named agent or are you happy to deal with whoever answers the phone? Do you want a local TA or are you happy with phone/email contact? Final advice, check if there are any ‘small print’ issues to get extra OBC. We have seen a couple of advert to reality anomalies over the years… Excellent discounts but you needed to purchase their insurance. Excellent OBC but with a room category not a specific cabin, a specific cabin was more.

There are a few email addresses, the Captains Club one often responds fastest in our experience even, as in this case, it isn’t a Captain’s Club issue. Things are looking positive from the above responses. Hope you have a fantastic time!

I would think it is one of those things that can be arranged by prior arrangement. We were on a cruise that had a group of twelve motorcyclists. It was great in the morning to see them all go off down a ramp in the morning. There bikes were kept somewhere in storage. We also saw a tandem regularly leave the ship on a Caribbean cruise once, I think that was a RC cruise. Suggest you email Celebrity and take a copy with written agreement with you on boarding. Definitely not something I would risk taking a verbal response from a Celebrity agent for as most of them probably don’t know the answer and you definitely don’t want an argument at the port! Hope you get a response from someone with personal experience. As a by the way you may need to check your bike is covered in your insurance both for damage/theft and liability in the countries you are planning on visiting. Also there are ports (usually container ones) where you have to be bussed to the port exit so worth checking your itinerary thoroughly. Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise.