Big Chief

Several years ago we boarded the Silhouette in New Jersey and a bag failed to arrive at our cabin. Ship's staff were wonderful. Although my bag was never found, Celebrity gave me a $200 OBC and replaced the bag.

I'm a little confused. You decided to pay $65 a day each for a classic alcohol package because it covered specialty coffees etc.; did you really expect to spend over $65 a day per person on non-alcoholic drinks??

Am I just a cynic, or will it be just a short time before you'll be required to "swipe your card" at these refill stations!?

Big Chief: We're on the same cruise as you The website is confusing and I think its left you with a bit of a misunderstanding. On day 4 we port in Castries, St, Lucia from 8:00am - 4:pm. then cruise Soufriere Bay later that dayy. Its the same for Matrtinique. On day 8 we port in Fort-deFrance from 8:00am - 5:00pm then afterwards cruise by Mount Pelee. Hope this helps. If I'm wrong, please let me know. Cheers.

Yes I was confused, the website had a notation on "St Lucia and Martinique" of CO (with no times mentioned) which at the top of the itinerary page says CO=cruising only.

Thanks for letting me know that we dock and then scenic cruise. I feel much better. Maybe we will see you on the cruise.

Wow Kazu, are you on the HAL payroll!?

You must not be aware that many ships are visiting these ports during February, as a matter of fact the Rotterdam still intends to call at St Lucia on 2/18.

You don't know when HAL made this decision, I know when they announced it!

(As far a "sailing around" is concerned was there ever consideration given to other ports instead?)

While I certainly have sympathy for those suffering from the hurricane, I am just curious about what HAL knew and when did they know it? Sorry if you felt compelled to defend the cruise line. Perhaps I was wrong to express my concerns in an attempt to get full value for my hard earned dollars.

Earlier this year HAL announced that cruise ports scheduled for after 2/1/18 would be unaffected by the recent hurricanes. Well it turns out that the itinerary (while technically not cancelling a port) published on the HAL web site for the 2/14/18 Eurodam cruise (11 days) now has converted 2 ports to "cruise only" (St Lucia and Martinique). This game of semantics, essentially create a 3 sea day cruise to a 5 day "sail around. I find it interesting that this "cruise only" designation was not added until the final payment deadline passed. HAL will probably rely on their contract of carriage and state they can change anything they want, anytime they want.

While flying in early does have some benefit, it's not a protection against bad weather. Let's say you are sailing on a Sunday, you decide to fly in on Saturday. A storm hits and your flight on Saturday is cancelled. No big problem, you say, I'll fly in Sunday morning. Well the way airlines work you can be pretty assured that all the Sunday flights are all mostly sold. So all of the "saturday" passengers will be vying for the few (if any) available seats on the Sunday morning flights. Not a pleasant experience.

Last year we had scheduled to fly in 2 days early, and still missed the cruise as there were no seats available the next day and the only seats available on day 2 arrived late in the afternoon (4:40PM), so we booked flights to the first cruise stop (Aruba on cruise day 3, covered by travel insurance).

As I said flying in early can allow for sightseeing, relaxed dinners etc. and is sometimes a good idea, but weather will always be an issue.

Is WiFi available on Harvest Caye? Free/Cost?

Secret files (stored both in area 51 and Roswell NM) contain the wisdom of all the extraterrestrial alien landings.

The effect of gravity as it pulls through the hundreds of feet of seawater beneath your feet, exerts a stronger pull/affinity for your bodily fluids. Hence the pooling in the feet.

It also causes tongues to be firmly attracted to cheeks.

Notwithstanding all the prior comments, if a situation arises in which you must fly home from an intermediate port (sickness, death in the family, miss the ship {it happens}, etc.) you MUST have a passport. You may not fly into the USA without one!

In any event, check with your credit card company. One of the benefits attached to my card is Cancellation insurance (which covers a subpoena).

I believe you will be able to reschedule, but if not, you may be saved by your credit card!

There definitely is a significant taste difference, (No calorie versions). Coke has aspartame; Pepsi has sucrolose.

I know you can take bottled water off the ship; but if you bought the Aquafina water package on board and take some of the ship, are you permitted to bring any unused back on board?

The ship will change to "Atlantic Time Zone" after first night and remain ontil the final night. In other words the ship time and local time match throughout the cruise. (Just off the 2/21 Eclipse cruise)

Celebrity Eclipse

2/21/16-3/6/16

The quality of crew was outstanding; they were generally polite, efficient and pleasant. The condition of the ship was outstanding! Weather was perfect and the sea conditions were ideal. Luggage Valet disembarkation was quick and painless. The Moonlight Sonata food was average.

Unfortunately, this will probably be our last Celebrity cruise.

Embarkation took over an hour. The SeaPass cards failed to indicate the beverage package which necessitated an immediate wait at Guest Relations; the sink stopper was broken and the drainage channel above our balcony leaked, (not an auspicious start for one’s vacation). The five sea days were chaotic, “chair hogs” ruled the day. Seating at the various bar areas was often unavailable. The entertainment was average and the production shows failed to meet the demographic of the ship. Internet is excessively expensive and excruciatingly slow.

(A subjective thought) The ship seemed crowded, probably because so much of the space is poorly used. Luminae ,Michaels Pub, and Blu are restricted; Bistro on Five, ,Gastro Bar, Murano; Quisine, Tuscan Grill , the Gelateria, future cruise desk and the iLounge, are increased revenue locations; the Spa, Casino ,Photo Gallery Cellar Masters , Park-West art gallery/auction , Logo shop, Bvlgari shop and Tobacco/Liquor shop are self explanatory.

(Editorial Comment) Celebrity states “…(in a) continued effort to Save the Waves, we are no longer delivering the Guest Questionnaire to staterooms”. On this 14 day cruise we received over 20 pages of “advertising” and inserts, in addition to the daily “Celebrity Today”. In years past the end of cruise questionnaire was the equivalent of a single page (double sided). I guess one more page would have been the “straw that broke the camel’s back”.

This is only my opinion and not necessarily the viewpoint of all who have sailed on this cruise (so save the flames and roasting)

Rumors abound about the following potential revenue streams....

Lounge Chair Rental fee (Free for Suite Passengers)

Baggage Fee (waived for Zenith Members)

Elevator Use Fee (or purchase Elevator Package)

Enter/Leave ship Fee (rumored to be $1 USD)

$25 Cruise Booking Fee ($50 if booked over telephone with a live agent)

Most of the times we were in Blu, tips were pooled between all of the staff. Luminae on the Eclipse were sharing as well. Maitre d kept a list of who gave what so that the waiters knew who gave and how much .

I'm a little confused, if I exchange an extra gratuity in a "handshake" with a waiter etc., how does the maitre'd know? Does the waiter inform him (seems like too much of an honor system)?

I too, have been "locked out" of my reservation on the web site and have been unable to order luggage tags.

I sent an email to the Capt Club about a week ago requesting tags and lo and behold they arrived today!

Put simply, their IT is an arrogant horrid disgrace. The web site, in my opinion, has NEVER worked correctly or consistently.

I have not been able to access my reservation in over a week. It’s not only a question of on line check in, ordering luggage tags or purchasing beverage packages as, technically, they could be ordered, albeit after a being on hold, by telephone (interestingly the lack of web access directly impacts the volume of telephone calls). It’s the inability to peruse potential shore excursions and the like which is just not effective by e-mail or telephone.

So if Celebrity thinks this is not a revenue issue, they have another think coming. This deficiency is so disrespectful to Celebrity clients that, at the very least, it warrants a response on this forum by Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, notwithstanding her broken promise (made on this forum) to provide contact information to Cruise Critic members.

Shame!

You would think that in the 21st century Celebrity would have a better handle on their IT. This is truly a frustration for clients (and travel agents as well).

There are some on this board who lament the "negative" nature of many postings. I say the Celebrity web site is dysfunctional and disrespectful to customers and is, without a doubt, a longstanding and indefensible negative.

It is ironic that they have no difficulty sending numerous promotional e-mails.

Is this forum not called Cruise Critic? Criticism can be positive or negative (although most people would consider "to be critical" a negative posture).

Perhaps a name change to CRUISE COMMENT is in order.

I agree with Andy, perhaps the reason for increased criticism is the increased rate of change and the concomitant reaction of cruisers to the change.

No coffee on the standard package.

OK, let me refine the issue a little. What would happen if your cabin was not inhabitable (i saw a you tube video, for instance, of significant flooding from the ceiling due to broken pipe)?

I realize this requires some speculation, but there must be some cabins "in reserve" (even if only one or two) .

She just only came out of dry dock last year!

To keep it easy I ask you why bother? If you arrive at the pier with something showing you are on the ship from either your TA or Celebrity show it to the porter and they will tag your luggage. Next go to the check in and hand them the same documents and your passport. In 5 minutes they can fill out everything and you can board. Actually takes less time this way.

 

And yes, i do understand if everyone did this the whole checkin at the pier would slow down a lot.

I apologize if I misunderstood your post, I thought it was you who asked "why bother?" not the OP.