conbon78

11 hours ago, jj6961 said:

Hi Beth,

 I also won, and haven’t received any additional information.  Keep hoping for an email with a reservation number.  I’m in South Florida you?  Are you coming down from NY for 2 days. ⛴

Did you receive the email to register? Someone on FB said that once they logged in, the reservation appeared on their account. I'm calling the Captain's Club this morning to see if they have any information.

On 9/30/2021 at 4:06 PM, analini said:

Yes!  I learned today that I am one of the winners.  😀

I was notified too, but haven’t heard anything since then. Have you?

We just returned from the Celebrity Eclipse that departed 3/1/2020. I had a hard time finding good information on this port, so I wanted to provide some insight and feedback. There are 3 main excursions to do in this port: Peninsula Valdes, El Pedral Lodge, Punta Tombo. We did Peninsula Valdes and toured with Babel Viajes.

Peninsula Valdes - things to know before you go:

• It is a 1 hour drive to the visitor center. There is nothing to see at the visitor center, but it is just a stopping point for bathrooms as there are NO areas to stop once you enter the park. 
• Once you leave the visitor center, it is another 1.5 hours (on a mostly gravel road) out to Caleta Valdes, which has 3 areas to stop. (Total of 2.5 hours of travel time from the port). This is where our excursion and all of the Celebrity excursion buses went.
• Try to go at high tide. It was low tide when we went and everything was super far away and we didn't really get to see much. Also, the season to see the majority of whales/seals/penguins, is not in March. In fact, the whales are not usually around during the cruising season, so it is unlikely that you will see them.
• Puerto Piramides was very pretty, but the shore excursions do not go here as I don't think the buses would be able to go on the roads surrounding it.
• Overall - this was the WORST shore excursion I've ever been on. We basically saw absolutely nothing and spent a lot of time to get there. We would look at the elephant seals that looked like rocks that were far away. Nothing was close up or close by. Do not go to the peninsula to see penguins as the other options have way more penguins. Bring good binoculars if you want to "see" anything. My recommendation is to avoid this excursion if it is March (and/or any other time of the cruising year) as it was awful.

El Pedral Lodge:

We did not go on this excursion, but everyone onboard that did - raved about it! It was 1.5 hours driving (about 30min on gravel) out to the lodge, but the penguins were all over and came right up to them! We saw a lot of pictures and it really looked fun. We were super jealous we did not do this.

Punta Tombo:

People onboard that did this felt similar to how we did about Peninsula Valdes. It was a 2 hour bus ride each way (not on gravel). In March, the penguins have mostly left, so they didn't get to see many and they were not very close by.

Onboard, we debated with other passengers about who had the worst excursions (Peninsula Valdes v. Punta Tombo). Puerto Madryn as a town is really awful as well. There was basically nothing to see, no where to shop, and all around not great place. However - IF you want to see penguins, I would recommend El Pedral. We did a penguin tour in Punta Arenas, but I think it was still better at El Pedral. I hope this review is helpful for someone because I wish I had not wasted 5 hours of my life in a van on a gravel road.

We are traveling BA to Chile in March, so I’m assuming fall weather. I was figuring packing summer wear for Buenos Aires, but what about around the Horn? Should we pack like an Alaskan cruise??

Also, is there anything you would recommend packing that you either forgot to pack and wish you had or were so thankful that you packed?

There were about 40 people on the boat. I don’t really have any pics. It wasn’t very crowded though. Here was the sister boat in front of us.

We just returned from our Thanksgiving cruise and it was our first time in St. Maarten. While yes, some of the island wasn't in ideal shape from the hurricane, a lot of it was still nice. In fact, out of our 5 ports, St. Maarten was hands down our favorite. We took the water taxi over to the shopping, then took a real taxi out to Maho Beach (Airport Beach). We had lunch at the Sunset Bar & Grill, which is huge now! (My parents have been a lot and said it was all new). The planes landing overhead was so fun. Wait for the KLM from Amsterdam and the JetBlue from JFK. I thought the experience was better when you were in the water when the planes were landing. If it was a jet, it felt like it was going to just come right into the water. Would highly recommend! Loved it and cannot wait to go back! Plus the water was beautiful!

If your kids enjoy travel, I would really recommend taking them to airport beach. This was our first time and having the planes land over your head was so fun!

We hired a taxi at the port. It was $9pp if you have less than 4 people, otherwise it would have been $7. The drive out to Cockleshell beach was very pretty since you can see the Atlantic and Caribbean. The beach was nice, although some of the other ports (Antigua and St Maarten) were prettier. The snorkeling was decent - even saw a stingray! We went to Reggae Beach on Cockleshell Beach. Our driver came back and met us when we told him too. St. Kitts is very pretty and I would recommend getting out of the port. The port had fun shops, but it wasn't overly cheap and most of the stores had similar stuff.

We just returned from a Celebrity cruise that stopped in St. Lucia. We did the Coastal Cruise to the Pitons. It was a great shore excursion! We cruised through Marigot Bay and stopped at a different area that had some snorkeling and a great little beach. We were only there for 30 minutes. The cruise out to the Pitons was beautiful and I would highly recommend it. The staff was friendly, the catamaran wasn't overly crowded, and the Pitons were 100% worth it to see from the water.

We took a taxi from the port to Alleyne's Bay (by the Lonestar restaurant). This is where a lot of the snorkel trips go to find the sea turtles. Unfortunately, we didn't see any turtles, but we were able to swim out to the boats and look around. The beach was beautiful and the area was very nice. The Lonestar restaurant is pretty fancy, so we rented beach chairs ($7 per chair) from The Top Deck, which was next door. They had a full bar, restrooms, and really friendly staff. Since it is about 20 minutes from the port, we would have had to either call a cab or take the bus. The bartender took us out and showed us where to pick up the bus. It was $1 per person and they accepted USD. The bus took you directly into Bridgetown. You get off at the Terminal, which is obvious because it's an outdoor bus station. Then you walk across the street to the water and walk to the port, probably about 0.5 miles. It wasn't far or a long walk. I would take the bus again as it was actually really easy. Another thing that I would do in the future is going shopping around Holetown. It's a very cute town with a bunch of shops directly across from the beach. 

We hired a private taxi at the pier. The driver was very friendly and nice, but I wasn't overly impressed with Antigua. It was $40pp and there were 4 of us. We asked to spend an hour at a beach, which was beautiful. We drove through the rainforest (not eventful). The road condition was poor. The town at the other side where the tourists go was very nice, but if I had to go again, I would just take a taxi to a beautiful beach. The color of the water was amazing.

We just returned from a 10-night Celebrity Reflection to the Eastern Caribbean and we did an excursion in St Lucia. We don't normally as I hate excursions, but I was super impressed with this one and would highly recommend it! We did the Coastal Cruise to the Pitons and it was really amazing! The staff was friendly, the boat wasn't super crowded, you go into Marigot Bay, and get to see the Pitons. 

We'd like to do a tour of Giant's Causeway from Dublin, but we don't want to be on a large tour bus with 100 people. We'd like something more private. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Our cruise ship is in port from 7am - 4pm in Sitka. I really want to see the otters and possibly go to the bear rescue. Is there enough time to do both? Can you see the otters if you go kayaking? Thanks!

We are planning to go whale watching in Juneau. Still unsure about Skagway or the other ports. However, in Ketchikan,we were looking to either do the zodiac boats or fly in the seaplace with Island Wings. Which would you recommend?

As a caveat, we were in New Zealand in September and flew through the Milford Sound, which was amazing. Just wondering if the flight is worth it. What do you see? Would you recommend it? The zodiac boats look fun, but will that be the same as whale watching in the 6 person boat with Harv & Marv?

Thanks for any advice or thoughts you may have!

Did you go to the beach last time? They are really close to the pier. Not sure if a taxi would drop you off, or you could rent a quad.

It's round trip for the 10e bus. Tons of companies.

The easiest way to do that in 4 hours is renting a car. We rented in Fira, then drove to oia and spent some time. Then we went to a winery. Then onto the red sand beach. I would like to spend more time in Oia, but it's definitely possible.

When you get off the boat, there are tons of bus companies that take you to Olympia for 10e each. It's the same as the bus from the ship, but much cheaper. We decided to rent a car, only 35e, and see the beaches as well.

We were very bored in Olympia and not impressed. We don't love those types of sites, although Ephesus was awesome. But at least we saw it! The beaches were very pretty.

You definitely don't need a tour in Mykonos. It's not very big if you don't mind walking. We walked through town, then took the bus to a beach. We missed the pink pelican, which I was hoping to see. In Rhodes we did the same - bus to beach, then wandered around town.

We definitely recommend a balcony on a cruise in the Med. the water is amazing and it's beautiful to just sit and enjoy from your room.

If you like beach destinations, look at Greece. We went to the beach in Rhodes, Olympia, and Mykonos. We did go see the towns too, but the ports were smaller where you could have a beach day if you wanted. The big ports like Athens, Venice, Rome aren't necessarily good places to go to the beach since there is so much to see.

We did a shore excursion with our ship where we spent 1/2 day in Pompeii and 1/2 day in Amalfi Coast. It was excellent! We took a small boat out to the coast. Amazing views!

We took the bus to the beach for awhile, then walked around the town. It was nice, but nothing like other ports in Greece. Reminded me of Florida.

I would walk to the terminal (or jog) and get on the earliest train available. There are some express trains, so check those times. I think you can make it. Navigating the trains is easy - just remember to validate your ticket

We wished we had done the boats to Oia! Definitely will next time. Only 8e