AlibearNS

We took a bus from the Ala Moana Center back to pier 11 last year. We got on a bus on Ala Moana Blvd. in front of the Center and asked the driver to let us know when to get off. We were let off near Ruths Chris Steakhouse. It was about a 5 minute walk to the ship. The route # was either 19 or 20.

 

Check out Honolulu's bus website. http://www.thebus.org/

Thank you for the info :)

Thanks for the replies. I never thought to use google to search the bus times :o I'll take a look, but the taxi option sounds better if they're not regular. I'll start panicking if it gets late as the ship is leaving that night.

What is this rail construction you mention, Astro? You have me curious?

We'll be dropping off our car rental in Waikiki Saturday evening, and as the ship doesn't leave till 11pm and the Ala Moana Centre is open to 9pm, we thought we'd walk there and finish off the day with some shopping. I've googled and it's a 40 minute walk back to the ship from the mall and we'll be tired after a full day out. Is it easy to get a taxi from Ala Moana, or do buses/shuttles run to the pier regularly into the evening? Which number do we get? I've just spent ages searching and trying to work it out, so thought I'd ask you guys for help :)

We, too, loved the swim against current pool on the Emerald when we used it back in October 2014. Since then we have been on the Star and the Ruby, and it was not working on either. Staff seemed uninterested when we pointed this out. Such a shame.

We love sea days, too. Never been bored. DH says they force him to relax, which is exactly what we want to do on vacation. We have 10 sea days coming up in less than 2 weeks, on the Star to Hawaii, and the kindles are loaded ready, but I'm equally happy sitting at a bar people watching. As we have the drinks package for the first time this cruise, I suspect we will be doing a lot of people watching :D

We were on the Ruby and wondered what happened with the Jewel. She was doing our itinerary in reverse, but just as we arrived in Cabo San Lucas we saw her come in, turn around, and go immediately out again. Anyone know? Quite a few of us were puzzled by this? She was already in San Pedro when we arrived back.

We went to the dining room and the lady at the door turned us away.

We love embarkation day lunch, and this happened to us in October on the Star Princess. We arrived at around 12.40pm (as soon as we could after boarding), and were told the dining room was already full and we should go to the buffet. A crowd started forming, people were complaining as the place was pretty much empty with just a few tables in use. Eventually they opened up a few more tables and let some of us in. It really wasn't busy at all, they had no problem coping with extra tables.

It's not a great start to a cruise when you're made to feel unwelcome. it's as if they really don't want passengers to turn up to this lunch - so why offer it?

If you buy wine by the glass in the DR they will write a ticket for each one and go get it. They will not have the bottle nearby.

So when we finish a glass of wine, we'll have to get someone's attention to "buy" another? And sign each time. On Celebrity we only signed once, and it kept coming. We don't drink a lot of cocktails/spirits but we do like 2 or 3 glasses of wine at dinner. Thanks for the response. We wouldn't buy the package, but it comes with our Hawaii cruise on the Star next year so trying to understand how the Princess version works.

Earlier poster is buying one AIBP and then using that package's bottle discount to buy a bottle that can be shared within their party of 6.

 

Buying a glass at a time means no sharing with others

Ah, thanks, that makes sense :)

Question. I notice people talking of purchasing bottles of wine at discount in the MDR. Surely we can order wine by the glass in the MDR on the AIBP?

The way it worked for us both times on Celebrity, the waiter would keep our preferred wine in an ice bucket near our table and fill our glasses as many times as we liked. It was wonderful :) Does the AIBP on Princess to work the same way? Can someone confirm?

I thought they were putting in the new Gastro Pub in the Wheelhouse? My DH works at the dockyard in Victoria, where the Ruby is right now. He says she's looking good. I think she sails for Vancouver sometime today.

We're on the Star over Halloween. Will they have a scary movie on MUTS that night, or on the TV? Traditionally, we always watch a scary movie at Halloween. Come to think of it, it's the only time we do. DH has a tendency to jump a lot when watching scary movies :D:o:D

We really loved afternoon tea on our first two cruises, on the Sapphire and then the Emerald. Couldn't wait for cozy tea on our Ruby trip in June, but we were really disappointed. They said (quite abruptly) they weren't doing tables of two for afternoon tea, and the only option was to join a large table. We weren't offered choices in types of tea, and had to wait a long time to be served any food. It felt very awkward, and not special at all. We drank our tea, and then left, feeling like we may have well have just gone to the buffet :confused: We never went back.

Cruising again in a few weeks, on the Star, and will try to persuade DH to try tea again. We definitely had a table for two on the Sapphire, so hoping the Ruby's policy of large tables only won't apply on the Star.

I found a car service: http://affordabletowncarcompany.com/ - I just put in the times we wanted pick up/drop off and I was sent an quote. Initially the quote was $160usd, but when I booked the car this morning, it had gone up to $170usd roundtrip plus tip.

 

We asked to be picked up at San Pedro at 7:30am and then picked up at Disneyland at 8pm in the evening to go back to the ship. If something should happen, and we are not able to get into San Pedro, we will be calling the car service to cancel - there's a $25 cancellation fee with 24 hours notice. We don't plan to pre-buy Disneyland tickets just in case the ship is delayed. (As far as we can tell there is no advantage to pre-buying tickets for a single day).

 

Like I said, I'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks for the information :)

We're on the Star Princess, leaving in 18 days! San Pedro is our first port, so I have been assured that customs will not be an issue. We found 2 people to share the car with us (yay!) and I think we decided against the Park Hopper - with Disneyland closing at 6pm, we figured everyone without the special event tickets will be heading over to California Adventure for those final two hours. Also, we figured we'd be pretty wiped from all the Disney craziness!

 

Thank you to everyone for your comments and suggestions! I will let you know how it goes!

We are on the same cruise leaving later in the month. As we've never been to Disneyland, we'd love to see it. May I ask what transport service you are using, cost, and what times you are being picked and dropped off? We arrive on Sunday 1st November. I guess a Sunday will be very busy!

We were on the Ruby in Alaska last month and we love MUTS, too.

We reused everything we wore down Tracy Arm Fjord. Hats, gloves and lots of layers. Sometimes a lightweight coat. They do give you blankets. We had 3each, and we were nice and warm. It was very enjoyable :)

Thankyou Celebrity Rep. I think the final step in all this is to reassure us that this information has been passed on to all the ships for cruises that go into 2017 under those booking conditions because this thread re-ignited a couple of days ago when your confirmation wasn't heeded by the ship crew as per their written instructions.

 

If there is confusion onboard I don't think our statement that we read this on a forum is going to carry any weight.

 

Some here scoffed at my suggestion that a confirmation letter that we could print off would be a good thing in such situations. And would have helped the poster who reported the confusion currently on the ship.

We sail next week on the Solstice and plan to upgrade using OBC, so have been watching this thread with interest. Thank you Celebrity for sorting out the confusion quickly, but please let the ships know asap.

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. It's perfect for new cruisers, and even us regulars, who weren't sure on the finer points.

I do have one question; sorry if it's there and I missed it. I understand I can upgrade classic to premium up to the last two days of the cruise, but it says beverage package can be bought on board from one of the tables/bars on embarkation day.

If I have no beverage package at all, can I purchase one halfway through the cruise. An example is that our cruise is port intensive for the first 6 days, then 5 sea days back. Could someone buy a classic beverage package 6 days in for the remainder of the cruise? I'm assuming it works like the upgrade, but thought I'd check :)

2 days; tender port; first day Kona Street Festival; 2nd day, we took a beach shuttle to Kahalu’u Beach. We had our own snorkel gear since we had planned to snorkel at the tender dock. At the Beach Shack we paid $10.00 per person for the transportation to Kahulu’u Beach (they refer to it as turtle beach). They also rented equipment and chairs. You can also rent items once you get to the beach. Good, warm water; easy waves; swam with turtles. Scandinavian Shaved Ice beside the big tree across from Hulihee Palace. Be sure to try their Lava Flow. It is so good.

GlendaleAZ, we were thinking about making our way to this beach to snorkel but threads about it, and about transport there and back, are quite old. Someone said we could get a taxi back via the hotel nearby, then I read the hotel had closed.

So pleased to get updated info. Is that $10 return? How did the transport work? Was it a regular bus? How often did it run? Any more info on this would be great - thanks :)

We’re arriving in Fort Lauderdale late on the 31st December, staying on 17th Street, and will have one full day to explore before getting on our cruise on the 2nd January. We’ve never been to Fort Lauderdale before, but after a full day’s travelling on the 31st, looking forward to a relaxing, stress free day.

Originally we planned a lazy day exploring all the eateries and bars, using the Water Taxi – was really looking forward to it – only to find it doesn’t run New Year’s Day :eek: I’ve found one tour, Fort Lauderdale Everglades Tour with Airboat Ride and Alligator Show (4hrs) on DestinationLauderdale.com which picks up at the hotel at 1pm and runs for 4 hours but I can’t find any reviews or info on this company. Has anyone used these people before? Any alternate suggestions for New Year’s Day in Fort Lauderdale?

We're early fifties, young at heart, and have sailed most of the major lines over the last 10 years (except Carnival/Disney). They're all a little different. This is what we think:

RCI - lots of things to do, big shiny ships, a lot of fun, great service. Perfect for families or couples. Entertainment/food - really good. Definitely will sail again sometime. Really like RCI

Princess - New to princess, but we found them so professional. Gave us a safe feeling that if anything goes wrong they will sort it straight away. We find Princess very relaxing, great deals, and we loved the food. We could be hooked. Sailing again next week :p

Celebrity - Relaxing, made to feel special, our fave line (next to Princess) for a romantic break but they tend to be expensive.

HAL is a little staid, and a bit dull regards activities. The ships are older, creakier - but for the right itinerary, I would go again. The service was great, the food fabulous. We liked HAL

NCl - Ugh. Last two cruises (this year) were terrible. Poor service, poor staff attitude, frequent mistakes, sworn off them forever. Never had a bad cruise till NCL, then two in a row :eek:

Aha, Google is my friend. I now see 8250 as available. I'm going to see if I get it but either way I'm happy. Thanks again everybody :)

Well, this morning I checked first thing and 8250 was not showing, then five minutes ago the agent emailed to say it's ours!

Yay! Thanks again for all your help :D:D:D I'm so excited!

Yes, but we're not allowed to name it!

Aha, Google is my friend. I now see 8250 as available. I'm going to see if I get it but either way I'm happy. Thanks again everybody :)

I think the agent's gone home for the day but I could email and see if it's still there in the morning and grab it if it is. I love the one we got, but the hump does look really good, especially so close to the elevators/stairs.

One question, how do you know it's available? The Celebrity site only shows me five on deck 9 when I select 1B (unless I'm doing something wrong)? I tried 2 other travel sites and they showed me more available, but still only deck 9, with no option to get to deck 8. Is there a special site that shows all the availability?

Thank you all so much - the problem was resolved amazingly quickly as per your instructions. My agent got back to me within ten minutes, saying he could do even better than the two I'd picked as possibles, and offered me midship 9230 which wasn't showing as available :D:D:D

Without Cruise Critic I'd still be in that forward cabin! I love this site :D

ps TMLAalum How do I find out whether the cabin is bed near bath or balcony? I'm intrigued :confused:

Thanks guys - you've all been so nice. And beyond helpful. I was a little worried about posting, half thought I'd be told off for complaining :eek: I do get the concept of a GTY, and if it was after Final Payment I'd put up with it, but I walk with a cane and suffer seasickness so if I can get out of having that cabin, I'd be very happy. I've emailed my travel agent, asking him to speak with Celebrity on my behalf. If I don't hear back I'll phone him and push the issue tomorrow. Either way, as soon as I hear anything back I shall let you know. Fingers crossed they will move us.