obxgirl

I just looked at this tour and seems a bit pricey at AUD $249. You felt it was worth it?

It was a full day tour. I definitely thought it was worth it. We saw some unusual sites and learned much about the life of the indigenous people. It was very different from anything we did on our trip.

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We have never had a problem getting our drink of choice on the Relection, Eclipse, or Equinox. I drink a vodka that is usually available only at the Martini Bar, no problem. On our May trip on the Eclipse, I ordered a drink as early as 11 AM and as late as 11 PM. There was food available off and on all day. Loved our evening bartender, Nevil.

Check out Northern Territory Indigenous Tours from Darwin. Tess and her husband are wonderful. We enjoyed our tour to Litchfield National Park where Tess spent much of her childhood and where her family still owns land. The termite mounds alone are worth the trip. My husbamd enjoyed the lunch of barramundi, crocodile, and kangaroo. I enjoyed the salad and watermelon.

We are Elite class on Celebrity and still love the line. We will be on a B2B starting on April 29 and cannot wait. We have never had a problem that we felt was big enough to share with others except for one bad disembarkation in Bayonne that actually resulted from a port problem. Go and enjoy.

When we were in the penthouse on Equinox, our butler was the head butler who also supervised all of the other butlers. I do not know if that is common practice on Celebrity or not. Trust me, we did not need a list. He knew exactly what to do. He met our every need without being overbearing. He brought cappuccino whenever we wanted it, provided white tablecloth service when eating in the suite or on the balcony, changed out the bottles of liquor for our preference, made sure we always had mixers, made all of our reservations, secured an additional lounge chair for the balcony, saved seats for the shows on formal nights, and more. As far as tipping, when in a suite, we always tip additional to the butler, but have to say we have always had excellent service.

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Thanks for all the earlier posts about Dave's tour. I've decided to book the Hansa tour in Warnemunde and then spend a few days in Berlin at the end of our cruise. I have only one question: how early did you book? My cruise isn't until September 2017, but I want to make sure I get a seat on the tour. Thanks for any replies. :)

We booked early with Dave and were surprised to receive information from him on the other ports we would be visiting. He also recommended a tour in St. Petersburg that was so good we have recommended it to others. It has been several years since we took Dave's tour but we still think he is the best tour guide we have ever used. We hope to take one of the river cruises he offers on AMA waterways.

We visited Cartagena in December 2011 and felt safe on our private tour. Our tour had a minibus that took us to the monastery at the top of the hill overlooking the city, which the buses could not do.

 

The tour company was Doratours.

We also took Doratoyrs three years ago and never felt unsafe. We went to the monastary, the old town, and the emerald museum. There were many peopke trying to sell you things in old town but they took no thank you for an answer.

We were on the Equinox in April. Bistro on Five was included for all suite guests on port days only. We were in a sky suite.

I love a Chistiana vodka martini. The martini bar is one of the only places I can find it.

The corner sky suites have poles. We never saw it as a problem. We have also stayed in a non-corner aft sky suite on the Reflection. It did not have a pole.

Dave is the best. I would not hesitate to do any tour with him.

I am a type I diabetic on a pump. Admittedly, being on a pump makes it easier because I can count carbs. That said, a good rule to follow is the more straight forward and simple the meal choice, the better. It is much easier to determine how much insulin to take for a steak and baked potato than it is for something with a sauce. I find sorbet, panicotta, or a fruit tarte to be a good desert choice.

We were on the Reflection in June 2014 and did the excursion to Oia. We enjoyed it very much. Would do it again! We tendered to busses which took us to Oia then back to Fira with a stop at a winery. The walking is through narrow streets, some uneven pavement and for us very crowded. Such a beautiful place to be! Have fun!!!

We did this cruise in 2015. Our toyr to Ola and Firs was as described here. I have a bad knee and did not find the tour to be too strenuous.

The Penthouse Suite on the Celebrity Solstice Class ships is fantastic, twelve hundred square feet of luxury. I do not know if we will ever get to do it again since we got a great deal on an upgrade from a Celebrity Suite. On the other hand, we have also been happy with the Sky Suites on the aft of the Solstice Class ships.

1) Norway cruise to above the Arctic Circle

 

2) Northern transatlantic - iceland, greenland,....

 

3) Lower Amazon to Iquitos (although ships may be too large for that cruise)

Numbers 1 and 2 are on my wish list.

We were in the Penthouse suite on the Equinox. It was amazing. If I remember correctly, it was 1200 sq. feet. The bedroom itself was larger than most cabins. The bathroom was all marble with a hydrotherapy tub, two sinks, a rain shower for two and a separate toilet and bidet. There was a hydrotherapy tub on the deck and the deck was about five times larger than a standard deck with two chairs and a table, a table for four, and a lounger. The sitting area included a sofa and two chairs, a grand piano, a table for six, and a bar. We had a walk in closet in addition to another closet and a second full bathrom. We were allowed to select two bottles of liquor of our choice and mixers plus we had access to the mini bar. We had a wonderful butler who provided white tablecloth room service on the deck or the dining room table when requested along with our choice of cappucino or latte at any time. We loved Michaels Club where they kept my favorite vodka, Christiana. We visted there each night to enjoy the quiet or the special entertainment. We were fortunate to be able to upgrade from a Celebrity suite for a reasonable price and would do it again in a minute. If you ever get the chance, go for it.

So far I have found Christiania on all of the Celebrity ships including the Reflection in July. Even when in a suite, they have made it availabke for me in Muchael's Club.

I have asked on several threads about the Reflection Molecular Bar and the changeover to the New World Bar without any information . Does anyone know if this has happened or is the Molecular Bar still functioning ? :confused:

We were on Reflection July 7-20. The Molecular Bar was still there but with fewer drink choices overall. Seemed to have kept only the favorites. Have added a few that seemed to be from the New World Bar.

We were on the July 10 sailing of the Reflection. We never found Luminae to be crowded and were always satisfied with our table and the service.

We will be in four Greek ports in the next three weeks. I will let you know how it goes.

From what I understand (we are first time Celebrity cruisers, normally we are RCCL cruisers), we are in a Sky Suite where there is a stateroom attendant, an assistant attendant, a "European trained butler" and a concierge. First, is this correct? And second, what is a reasonable tip for the butler and concierge? We usually leave $100 for the stateroom attendant at the end of the week on top of the included tips paid in advance. So I guess we'll also give $100 to the asst. stateroom attendant. Not sure the concierge merits $100, but curious on the collective thoughts on it, plus on the butler.

As everyone has said, tips are a personal thing. We tip the attendant and sometimes the assistant, dependent upon the service received directly from him or her. We also tip the butler. The only cocierge we tip is the one stationed in Michael's Club when we are in a celebrity suite or above.

I am a little confused. You said that you are Elite. Did you take your 180 free minutes per cabin (two people)? You should get that number of minutes per cruise. I guess you must be working a lot.

We were just in suite class on Equinox. I drink Christiania Vodka. The bartender, William, made sure it was avaulable for me.

After an evening out, coming back to a clean room and a turned down bed.

Watching the water and relaxing.

Unpacking once.

Having a good martini after a long day of sightseeing.

Thirty eight for us but think we could stay all year if we could afford it.