hillbilly73

Oh no the "do you need a passport to cruise" threads are so much fun. How would we ever function with no debate on that and the answer was always yes. 

We have sailed from New Orleans 4 times January will be our 5th. We love the sail down the river but as mentioned in February you will only have about 1 and 1/2 hours of daylight with a 4:00 PM departure, then it is just shore lights. If you are looking at this upcoming February the uptown Mardi Gras daytime parades that can affect getting into and out of the port. Start on the 15th and end on the 25th. You may need  a lot of patience and a local with ideas to get around. Hotels will be very high during that time.  As far as hotel costs one reason we picked January this time is hotel expenses. Outside Of New Years and if the Saints have playoff games they  are relatively reasonable for such a popular destination.

On 7/24/2019 at 8:41 AM, Zach1213 said:

 

Absolutely true. Southwest is by far the biggest airline at my home airport, but I rarely (relatively, rarely) fly them because the bulk of my travel is international longhaul. As I get older and business travel wears on me more and more, I am flying Southwest more because I just want to get there and get home (and they have, by far, the most nonstops out of my home airport), and I fly enough that I can have status on both Southwest and American. But the bulk of my travel is still American/OneWorld, with the associated perks of ExecPlat status.

Before I retired traveled exclusively continental US and my employer didn't care about my points. Get in and get out at a good price was the concern. Tracked for 2 years percentage of my flights from KCI on each airline. It came out to almost exactly 40% on Southwest. At the time I believe 42% was the published number for departures for WN.  

I had the same experience as the OP and went to new reservations then had to be transferred to the group handling the rebooking. It is totally luck of the draw.

After the long wait the person I worked with was patient with my questions and helpful in working out the options to rebook.

Al

Taxi over to Barrichinna restaurant in Old San Juan they will store your luggage. Taxi stand right down the street when you are ready to leave. Drinks and food are good there too.

Al

To cruise with such wonderful people you will meet on that cruise any price is a good price.:rolleyes:

I looked back at hard copies I saved of pricing when we booked last February and your price is about the same for a 2B with those amenities as it was then.

I see you just joined the roll call make sure to post any questions you might have.

Al

Kenny Chesney Somewhere in the sun. Not specific to cruising but makes me think about cruising.

Thinking of Jost Van Dyke often right now.:(

Thanks for the responses. One of the guys from our roll call contacted Epic we have 3 easy and we have another diver on the thread so we should be able to come with 4 at least in less than 24 hours since the email so hopefully more and we can work something out with them. Omeinv please report back after your trip. Capt_BJ we will shore dive if nothing else works out. Scanditaly we are on the Equinox the week before you guys. We did the stingrays in February it is blast.

Al

We got a cancellation email from Celebrity for our dive excursion. Another passenger called and it looks like they are cancelling all dive excursions on Cayman. The 10:00 AM arrival and 6:00 PM departure makes a late arrival for morning dives, that is why we booked with the cruise line to begin with. Anybody else in the same situation and found an alternative?

Al

Last February we self disembarked Reflection @ Port of Miami and were at MIA before 8 AM. Everything went smoothly, but as others have mentioned there could be unforeseen delays.

Scrabble6 We were on that cruise assume you were close behind us we lined up second to disembark and were at MIA before 8:00 AM. Apparently there was a escalator break down behind us causing delays. So it can change even within the same cruise disembarking.

Al

If it's the Four Seasons I would jump on it! Just FYI other travel sites are not allowed on CC.. So this thread may go poof.

Discount hotel sites are OK this forum actually has a stinky at the top for posting bidding results.

Works fine for me.

Yea for us now too, normally the calendar and the schedules are synced up together for some reason there was a delay this time.

Southwest calendar is updated to March 7th, the banner that shows flight schedules is updated to the 7th even shows when in July the next release is. The only thing missing is the schedules themselves. Never seen that before with them. Don't they have fairly new computer system they went to?

Just came up.

Al

Anybody done a private dive excursion with a port time of 10 to 6? We were on Reflection this year with the same port time so hopefully some one can inform me. Right now we are booked with the ship.

Al

Anybody else wonder why the first image you see on Celebrity's webpage is of Labadee? Like saying "look at this beautiful place you can't go there on our ships anymore but isn't it nice".

Al

Just got off the reflection today. The hamburgers at the mast grill were not edible. Hardly saw anybody up there. No loss if that goes away.

Was on Reflection in February and that certainly was not the case then long lines all day long especially on sea days. Same thing on the Summit the previous November.

Docked in St. Marrten a lady was shaving her husbands back on their balcony on the ship directly across from us. He was just standing there drinking a beer enjoying life.

Just checked with passengers who have left the Celebrity Solstice in the past couple of days and those currently on the solstice. They confirm that cans of soft drink are included in the classic package although as one passenger put it she prefers her softdrink in her Bourbon

Soltice roll out of the package changes isn't until 4/20.

To early the roll out schedule for the updated packages that Celebrity posted on here hasn't even hit all the ships yet. Then you have to allow for time to get all the crew on each ship entirely up to speed. Next month probably would be a good time for this post.

Jack Daniels now premium what the heck, they have went too far now. :)

Wasn't Red Stripe premium before?

Al

We have found a online agency we deal with that returns approximately 10% or more of the cruise cost in the form a refundable OBC. We still enjoy the face to face and knowledge of Celebrity their onboard people provide. The first time we booked onboard we waited until we got home and went through the transfer process. It is very easy and as said is 60 days from booking. Now life is even simpler we have used the same agency for about 8 cruises on different lines with good results. The key is finding that agency you like and trust.

So now that we are primarily Celebrity converts we book on board the interfacing and ability to see exactly what the agent is seeing in way of perks and deck plans make it very pleasant. I know before I set down what the TA is going to provide in way of OBC and Celebrity sends the booking directly to the agency. It is very nice to look at the credit card when returning home and finding a credit on the card. Also the fact the wife won the very nice bling at the Future Cruise department give away the first time we did this helps.:D

Regardless of if is or isn't available, luggage valet can only be used for flights after 1 pm

 

 

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Actually it is 11:30AM if you disembark from Miami and fly out of Miami.

Last week off the Reflection . Lined up at walk off location 6:45 AM walked off 7:00 AM in taxi by 7:15 AM at MIA 7:45 AM. Checked in luggage TSA precheck line two people in front of us at gate by 8:20 AM. There is a chance you can make it.

Al

Congratulations we are on the same cruise. Murano has the special Valentine menu that night. Times are filing up I looked last night and after 6 and before 8:30 are sold out now. Since we don't get into Cayman until 10 would defintley start with a leisurely balcony breakfast maybe a couple mimosas while enjoying the ocean view. We will celebrate 33 years the 13th so don't make the rest of us anniversary guys look too bad ok.

In the last month or so, Margaritaville recently opened its new location on the International Pier. The website shows a waterfront location just before the security entrance leading to the ships.

Thank you for the info thought we were going to miss Margaritaville this time in Cozumel