EMED2010

The shuttle originates from in front of Canada Place, if you look at the bridge's website you will see their sked and a map...the St. Regis to Canada Place about 5 easy blocks.

Thank you!

Duplicate post - sorry I can't delete it!

We loved our deck! We only ever heard noise from the Centrum once and even then it was pretty muted. I would book the same room again in a heart beat.

That's good to hear! We have been near the elevators before on Grandeur and Explorer (even though we take the stairs 90% of the time) and we never heard any excess noise. I like the convenience.

We are also flying in the day before and arriving around 11:30 and want to do Capilano. We are staying at St. Regis. How close are we to the shuttle to Capilano?

How did you like your deck? We are booked in 8088 which is one deck up on the left of the elevator. I've seen loungers in pictures so I was hoping we would have one.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Can you tell us about your excursions please?:D

I can't wait to hear more! I also booked the day the cruises opened up to get the room I wanted and the price has only gone up since. Out of curiosity, what room did you book? I booked 8088 which is one of the ones with the huge balcony that costs the same as the regular ones. I wanted to book a Southbound too for the same reason but the other couple traveling with us couldn't go on the dates we wanted so we had to change to Northbound.

It is finally here our 30th Anniversary bucket list trip. Land and Sea ALASKA!

 

What did you pack and wish you left home and what did you leave home and wish you packed??

 

Also, for tips on tours, land and sea, room service on sea, Knick Knacks, food on street, how much cash are you comfortable bringing?

 

Appreciate all the great help during this 1.5 year journey to this point!:D

I hope you have a great time!!! We are going in August to celebrate our 30th too!

We used Tour Designer en Provence with Catherine when we docked in Toulon in 2010. She was fantastic! She is still there so I have provided a link http://www.provence-travel.com/#_=_ which will hopefully work. I don't know how far Cannes is from Toulon or if they pick up there, but it can't hurt to ask.

I booked my August 2015 Alaska cruise the day it opened in March 2014. I wanted to get a specific room so I booked right away. I was able to get the price reduction when they ran a sale (buy one get 2nd 50% off). Since then, the price just keeps going up.

We took this excursion on May 16th and it was the highlight of our trip(not that everything else wan't magnificent). We enjoyed the dog sledding, but the additional glacier landing is what made the trip. The tranquility and majesty of the glacier will always be remembered.

Glad to hear this. I figured if we were going to spend that much, we might as well pay a Lille bit more and do the extra landing. I really wanted to see that beautiful blue.

My baby girl!

When you say husky, most people think of Siberian Husky...Alaskan Husky is a totally different animal....:) if you are interested, look up Sabastian Schnuelle on you tube....he is who has the glacier tour....a good friend and a great guy..also take a look at yukon quest 2012. The start. It is about 4-5 minutes long...gives you an idea...Have fun on the Herbert..I think it is the most beautiful glacier there.....but I have to admit, I am biased....:D

I do have a Siberian Husky and I've seen pictures of the Alaskan ones and noticed how different they look. I'm interested to see how the personalities match up. What I've experienced with my current husky and my previous one is that they seem to have a pure joy in living. They are truly happy dogs and extremely lovable. I will definitely check out the videos!

I believe that they are THE most professional outfit there is. I know most of the people who do dog sled tours and I believe that they are the best. It is the only group that I would allow use my dogs...have fun up there...it is absolutely wonderful...say hi to Matt if he is on the ice...all of these guys...and one gal are very professional pele and know what they are doing, as oozed to some of the tours that use high school kids who have no experience. The pilots at Coastal are great too. They have even had puppies named after some of them...

Thank you!!! That's great to hear! I am really looking forward to it. I LOVE huskies and have one of my own so I can't wait to experience what these dogs can do.

Awesome trip report and beautiful pictures! I hope to one day sail Celebrity.

You're all being very kind with your comments. I'm booked on Celebrity Solstice next year on a B2B Auckland - Perth (Fremantle) - Sydney but it's incredibly expensive and will take a deal of thought when final payment comes around. If I do get to go there'll be a 'Bit of a Blog' over on the Celebrity board.

 

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I've organised a private tour on Santorini tomorrow. Here's the itinerary as described by the guide :

 

When the boat arrives in Santorini a tender will take you to the old port of Fira (the capital of the island) and then you take the cable car up to town.

 

We will meet you at 11:00 AM in front of the cable car exit up in Fira holding a sign with your name.

 

I am looking forward to provide my service to you and to your companions.

PS: IF there are more boats in port that day please try to get the first tender(s) to avoid the crowds and long lines for the cable car.

 

Itinerary

 

Our first destination will be the village of Oia at the northern tip of the island, the most picturesque of the villages with its unique blue-domed churches, old two-storey mansions and narrow cobblestone streets paved with marble and lined with tiny shops, cafés and restaurants, Oia is the perfect place to fully appreciate the beauty of this remarkable island.

 

On the way back we will stop at Firostefani the village next to Fira to see and photograph the famous most from the post cards and travel magazines Blue Dome church build on the edge of the cliffs with the volcano on its back ground, this is THE one you shouldn’t miss.

 

After we will drive south and stop at “Santo Wines” at the highest point on the cliffs for more views of the caldera, the new port where the ferries and hydrofoils from the mainland or other islands arrive and a closer look of the Volcano, this is another place for photo taking and you can also taste the wines if you like. (optional not included in the price).

 

Next we will drive along the black beach and stop at a traditional tavern for lunch to try some local specialties. (Not included in the price).

 

Our tour will end in Fira where you can spent your remain time before getting back to the ship.

 

The above tour is approximately 5 hours where you will see the whole island from the one end to the other.

 

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Celebrity Equinox is due to anchor at 0700; we are due at 1000.

This is exactly the kind of tour I want for Santorini. Who did you book with?

We are booked with Fishes for August and she was so helpful and nice to deal with. I also had the pleasure of speaking with the woman at Glacier Wind (they were full) but who was so pleasant and not afraid to send me to one of her competitors. That impressed me. Both places seem to get high marks on a trip Advisor.

I'm very excited!!! I was able to book the helicopter dogsled with extra landing tour today. I just wanted to give some info of some things I found out.

I wanted to call instead of booking online because there are two couples paying separately. Last week there were four times available for our date but this week there were only two showing on the website. However when I called, he told me that they do have more times than what were listed. There was an 8:15 and then he had them every hour after 12:15. I asked what he would recommend and he said he would book the early time. That way if the weather is bad there is a chance to get on a later flight which is something I have seen recommended all the time on this site. I also asked him if they could drop us off at Mendenhall after the flight instead of taking us back to town. He said it was out of the way but they could call a taxi for us which would pick us up at there and take us to the glacier for $15. Then we would only need to pay for the shuttle back. I thought that was very nice and a great idea. That will save us a little bit. (Yeah, I know! What's a few bucks after the cost of the helicopter?:rolleyes:)

I'm looking forward to this so much and they seem very nice to deal with.

Excellent review!! I really enjoyed it and your pictures are fabulous! I hope you will do more reviews in the future.

I'm really enjoying your review. This is the first time I've seen pictures of most of your stops. It's absolutely fascinating!

I have my name and address permanenetly as the first picture on my camera.

I love this idea! Thank you!!

We always try to let them know. We just stop by the MTD stand and let them know. There is usually someone there most of the day.

We always make a reservation. We choose MTD not because we don't want a reservation but because we don't want to eat at 5:30 or 8:30. We prefer 7:00.

As a Brit I have difficulty with the whole tipping thing that American Companies have going on. If Service has been included in the bill, its included. Why pay more? I get completely irritated by service that is in your face the whole time. Serve me, yes, but don't bug me the whole time I'm eating!

 

Its the same with the cabin staff. Yes be friendly, but do your job unobtrusively just do it, its what you are paid for. I wish they would just charge what they need to charge and pay the staff appropriately. Rather than have the whole fuss and bother of tipping.

 

Oh and while we are on the subject, 10% is considered a good tip here in a restaurant. This is why UK restaurant bills are more expensive, they are inline with what it actually costs to pay someone appropriately for their work.

 

I'm sure this is going to cause a tirade. Feel free.

Actually, I like your idea! I would rather pay a higher fee for my meal than have to worry about tipping. I always tip 18% in restaurants at home and hate having to sit there and figure it out after my meal. I would much rather hand my credit card over, sign and be done. On the ship, I do tip my waiters extra, but then we have always had really nice ones. Pressure to tip in the US has really gotten out of hand and I wish we could handle it the way your country does.

Wow! Love your pictures. How close to shore was that shark?

We booked tour GCC7 Catamaran Sail and Stingray city . this was one of the worst tours we have taken in my 58 cruises, 1st we were stuffed into a very uncomfortable bus with no leg room ( I am 6' 4") then Catamaran was way over crowded for the amount of people ( approx. 40) and staff on boat was just 3, and one of those was the photographer , when we got to stingray city there was no one supervising getting on and off the boat, I cut/scraped my head getting back on and was bleeding quite a bit, crew had me fill out a report for RCCL about the injury. I was very surprised that no one from RCCL inquired on what happened or how my health was after getting back on board.

 

This was my 1st excursion in many years with RCCL ( did not do any last couple of cruises) , if this is typical might need to rethink my 12 day Europe cruise that we just booked, send e-mail to RCCL and waiting for a reply

Please don't book ships tours for Europe. You can get so much better tours on your own. I never cruised prior to my Med cruise but I found this site, got info on tours and decided to book my own and then found people here on this board to share the tours with. Just an example for Rome: we paid half the ships tour cost and had only 8 people on our tour. Your experience sounded awful. I can't imagine being crammed on a boat with that many people. Good luck and happy sailing!