beltane

Thank you everyone! As always... big help! 😊

Hello... Hubs and I just recently signed on for a fall New England cruise on the Regal this month. I have a couple of questions (unfortunately there are no members in the roll call for that cruise) ...we have never cruised in cooler weather, only Caribbean. Will the interior of the ship be warm at night? I'm wondering for my evening outfits if I could still wear short sleeves or if I should plan warm evening attire. Will ladies still be wearing strappy kinds of club dresses and sandals at night? Plus, I assume they offer more blankets on the bed, correct? Thanks for your help...

We've been seriously delayed on 2 cruises. One time we lost an engine just off the coast of Roatan and hobbled back to Tampa slowly. Arrived at 2:30 p.m. so not only were we late getting off, but the cruise terminal was jam packed with angry cruisers who hadn't been able to board yet for the next cruise! The second time we were on our way back to Fort Lauderdale and my husband noticed the ship was turning. Sure enough we were doing a U-turn. Finally was announced on the system that we were headed BACK to Puerto Rico to drop off a gravely ill passenger. That time we got back into port by 10:00 a.m. for disembarkation. You don't always get off the ship in a timely manner.

I'm with Meatloafsfan... we seldom have dessert immediately after dinner. We usually will go to the show or for a walk, and then go to Cafe al Bacio and have dessert and tea/coffee there. Such a treat. We will order several and share.

I am a chronic slopper. Seriously I cannot go 4 hours without slopping food down the front of me. Because of that I honestly need to have at least 2 T-shirts for each day and cannot count on being able to re-wear an evening outfit -- because most likely it will have food down the front of it after the first wearing. So I DO pack a lot of clothing and I usually DO go through it all. Getting it all in a carry on is never gonna happen. However I have learned to pare down on my purses and shoes. I now only pack one evening clutch, one day purse, one pair of evening flats, one pair of sandals and one pair of walking shoes. I don't even bring heels anymore because I have given myself permission to never torture myself in heels ever again. My husband doesn't hobble around on heels, so neither do I! I also force myself to use their terrible hair dryers so I don't have to bring mine. I don't bring near the beauty products and make-up that I used to bring -- although I do always prefer my own soaps and shampoos/etc, I can manage fine with the refillable 3 oz bottles from home. My decadent anal obsession is my fabulous fully stocked first aid kit. Hubs used to tease me about my first aid kit until he needed it a few times. Now he says "I hope you're bringing the whole drug store, right?'

We fly from Toronto and the flights are consistently less expensive to FLL than MIA, so we always plan on flying to FLL and taking a shuttle down to Miami. Sometimes we do it the day we land, and sometimes we do it the morning of the cruise, depending on the time of our flight. Usually for us, the hotel and the shuttle on top of a FLL flight still make it worth our while. We have had a couple times where we got a good price on a flight to MIA, but that's unusual for us. You just have to make sure your flight on disembarkation day gives you enough time to get up to FLL again... which we have done successfully many times.

Thank you all for your advice. I had a gut feeling the level 9 cabins were more suitable for us, so it's nice to get confirmations ahead of time. I'm going to go ahead and book on that level. Cheers! :D :cocktail:

Hi all... hubs and I are looking at a November cruise on the Infinity and want to try Aqua class. I see that the A2 cabins are on deck 9 and the A1 cabins are on deck 11, at one end of the ship. Has anyone been up on the A1 section? I see that the movie screen is immediately above, and I am concerned about noise when we sit on the balcony. Plus, I cannot find any information if there is much coverage on the balcony, and I prefer being able to sit in shade.

Does anyone have any opinions one way or the other? Many thanks.

I clicked the link for the sitz bath, and Amazon also suggested this product, a "travel bidet", which I thought looked helpful:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008CSDKSQ/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B008CSDKSQ&pd_rd_wg=TH75d&pd_rd_r=NAKPBENBV6088TRDQ4GD&pd_rd_w=5pg2y

Hope your friend sorts this out so he can enjoy his cruise.

I have shoulder length, very thick hair and if I use the cabin dryer, I need a full hour to dry my hair. My own portable Babyliss does the job in 15 minutes. Well worth the space in my suitcase.

We usually prefer the walk-off option. Because I do not like being rushed on the last morning, Hubs and I have developed a nice little disembarkation routine... on the second last morning, we go up to the buffet and choose some fresh fruit, a couple of containers of milk, cereal, yogurt, muffin, etc, and basically take a easy quick 'breakfast' back down to our cabin and put it in our fridge. The next day on our final morning while I am in the shower, Hubs goes to Cafe Al Bacio and gets us a couple of Americanos and we enjoy one last peaceful breakfast in our cabin. We finish last minute packing and then head down to wait to leave. It works very nicely for us and is much less stressful not having to deal with any possible cranky rushed people in the buffet and elevators, etc.

We just got off the Summit yesterday (Feb24) and had 6020 all week. It was LOVELY! HUUUUGE balcony and if you need shade, you can keep your chairs closer to the sliding doors, under the above balcony. If you want sunshine just sit out nearer the railing. According to Celebrity's website, they consider 6020 to be "slightly obstructed" because of the two pillars... which baffled us because we did not find them to be obstructive at all. It was a large, private balcony and we would book it again in a heartbeat.

I just went through this exact thing yesterday. Phone Celebrity and ask them to email them to you. I had mine in my inbox before I said goodbye to the nice young lady. Easy and fast and printed them right away.

Hubs and I were on this cruise too! I actually found the slower pace for dinner nice. I hate being rushed through dinner and one of my pet peeves about cruising is having to choose my entire meal as soon as I sit in my chair. I like a few moments to sip the martini I brought in with me and gaze over all the options. My husband and I are chatter boxes, so we don't mind too much having more time for that. We enjoyed the live music all over the ship. We did not go to any of the theater shows. Enjoyed the comedian. I did not enjoy the buffet, but I seldom do with ANY cruise line. I don't like the "frenzy to get to the food". We had an ocean suite and found the extra room in the cabin and on the balcony to be VERY nice. Yes, our steward did ask if we wanted morning service, or evening service, or both. We never do like morning service, makes us feel rushed, so we asked him for evening service and extra towels, which he was happy to provide. We had a great cruise too.

Hubs and I spend a LOT of time on our balcony -- enjoying coffee or wine, listening to music and talk talk talking. If I know our balcony won't have loungers and just chairs I always pack 2 inflatable beach balls from the Dollar Store. When you inflate a beach ball almost, but not completely they make the BEST foot rests to put up your feet and relax! :cool: We also bring our tiny blue tooth speaker to enjoy nice music out there (no worries, not too loud :* ) I love Spotify and when you have a paid account you can save all your music to your phone and you don't need wifi to access it all.

Out of 11 cruises, we have been VERY late twice. One time our ship lost 1/2 power off the coast of Roatan and we paddled back to Tampa an entire day late. Another cruise on the route home, our ship had to turn around and sail BACK to within helicopter distance of San Juan for an emergency pick up of a very sick passenger. We were 4 hours late arriving in port for that one. After "disembarkation lightning" striking us twice I now try my best to give us a bigger buffer zone for our flight home. I usually aim for mid-afternoon, 2 or 3-ish.

For Hubs and I we choose purely on itinerary and dates. I have found that flights from Toronto to FLL and MCO are much less expensive than flying in to MIA... but for the right itinerary I will find a way to work it out. For example it is very easy to shuttle to the Miami cruiseport when flying in to FLL, and we often do that if the flight is much less expensive.

Judgment of people who have animals with them is the same as judging those who need to take the elevator one floor. You don't know their circumstances or what service the animal is providing.

Very true. One time I parked in a handicapped spot, with proper vehicle permit, to go in a building and get my 90 year old mother who requires a walker and assistance. As I was going in the door, I could see my mother sitting in the chair I told her to wait in, a guy walking past me muttered "you sure look handicapped!" He had no idea that the permit and spot usage was for my mother whom I was helping who he couldn't see since she was in the building.

When I was in college one of my professors was deaf and had a hearing ear dog. A sweet little Lhasa Apso named Oreo. To look at my teacher it would be easy to say "Sure! Service dog!" because often deafness is an invisible handicap. But Oreo was highly trained to tell her when someone was at the door, when the phone was ringing, when the smoke alarm was going off, if someone was behind them, etc. When she became pregnant Oreo went back to service dog school and learned how to come and get her if a baby is crying. Really amazing little dog.

I love walking by doors that have been decorated.

Me too! They always make me smile. Happy people enjoying a special occasion and their vacation --and not hurting a soul.

One time at the buffet an utterly beautiful strawberry cake was brought out. It was covered in luscious whole strawberries that had been dipped in chocolate. The kind of dipped strawberries you order for special occasions. Seriously a gorgeous cake. The woman ahead of me proceeded to pick EVERY SINGLE chocolate dipped strawberry off the top of the cake, put them on her plate and left -- leaving a plain vanilla cake behind for the next people.

Once I saw someone wearing their cruise provided bathrobe at the breakfast buffet

Okay... I must ashamedly confess: I have done this! I wasn't thinking. I had thrown on the robe over my bathing suit to go up to the pool. It was lunch time and I was feeling snack-y. My only thought was "I could go for a snack..." and so I did! :D I didn't think anything of it, just wanted my snack! As I wandered to and fro happily choosing things for my snack, suddenly a very handsome officer came up to me and said "Excuse me ma'am but bath robes are not allowed in the buffet." I giggled and said "You're kidding, right?" I figured I was far more covered up than many of the other cruisers in various forms of dress and undress. Again, very nicely and respectfully, he said "No ma'am. I'm afraid I am not kidding. Bath robes are not allowed." I said "I'm terribly sorry. Where can I leave my tray while I go down to my cabin and change?" to which he replied "Just for today, please go enjoy your lunch. But in future please wear clothing to the buffet." LOLOLOL!!! I now make sure I bring something appropriate to throw over my bathing suit if I'm going to be around the pool at lunch time.

We've done concierge and standard veranda and for us, the difference is negligible. We did not drink the wine (it was Celebrity's own house brand), did not enjoy the "canapes" (hummus and crackers) and the "fresh flowers" was simply one little posey in a little vase, and it was mostly dead halfway through the week.

That said, we DID enjoy the foot rests on the balcony. I also noticed a difference in the quality and thickness of the bath towels, and the robes.

Apparently you get "priority" seating at dining with concierge, we have never noticed a difference. We have always been very pleased with our seating at dinner.

Yes, the tote bag is nicer and the gold card was pretty :D

All in all, if the price is right, of course we will go concierge again in the future. But if a standard veranda will save us a couple hundred dollars, I'm very happy with it and will have a wonderful cruise anyhow.

• are the hair products provided in the room any good?
  
• how well does the hair dryer work?
  

Thanks :)

I don't care for any of the soap/shampoo/etc products. I always bring my own. As for the dryer, I have thick, long hair and their hair dryers take FOREVER to dry my hair. I can see if someone has fine to medium hair, or shorter hair, you will do just fine with their dryers. I have a powerful portable hair dryer that I bring.

Were you able to get the smaller martini at the Martini Bar?:confused:

Every single night at 5:30 p.m. :)

Favourite drink is a dry gin martini with an olive. I've had Classic and Premium packages and the only difference for my martini is the size... and frankly I PREFER a small one because it is ice cold and tasty, I enjoy it, then I order another fresh one. When they bring me a larger premium martini I often can't finish it fast enough before it becomes warm and I don't enjoy it. So, even with a premium package I will usually order a smaller martini, and just have 2 or 3 fresh ones instead of one large one that quickly warms up :rolleyes: I'm also a cheap date -- I prefer Beefeater which is available classic or premium. So I'm a happy cruiser.

I did not like how my hair felt or smelled, and didn't enjoy the soap either. I bring my own.