gwsster

Goodness, had to check to see which forum I was on.....Nope it was Carnivals. I thought I got switched to another cruise line forum for a minute with the rapid change off topic. Sheesh.

I didn't notice any big difference in service, but you are off the ship most of the time so it really is a floating hotel. The one thing I would tell anyone booking is that the rooms on this ship are small. The rooms really are only used for sleeping as this is a port intensive cruise. We ended up booking a suite as it was more cost effective for us rather than booking 2 balcony rooms. If I did this cruise again a inside room would be just fine for me...and I love my balconies, as you are off the ship so much or around the pool or eating!

If you were to skip one, I would skip Moderno's. The different meats were all overloaded with garlic. The restaurant wasn't busy either. The best part of Moderno's was the salad bar. The other specialty restaurants were fine and we enjoyed them.

Our party of 7 is sailing on the POA in January 2018.

 

We are doing the 3 meal dining package and want to know which restaurant you think is best and which one you would not do again.

 

Thanks!

If you like to snorkel there is a tiny little cove across from where the tenders dock. The water may look a little cloudy but the fish I saw are better than what I saw in Hanauma Bay. I think there is a little hut where you can rent snorkel gear. They also sell short excursions near the dock. Sauer-Kraut is right, check out the Hawaii boards for additional ideas.

Wow, this is an "entertaining" thread. It is a big disappointment to have a lot of $$$ spent to have a bad cruise, I get that, but hurricanes happen and all cruise lines were affected. The best responses to the thread so far in my opinion...Ncklhaus nearly made me spew my coffee this morning....

I can't take it anymore.....it's "were" not "where"!

Sorry, but I needed to get that out. ;p

Are you "loosing" your patience? :)

Just so I'm clear, your grievances are:

1. The captain didn't navigate around a hurricane properly. Just out of curiosity, what's your nautical background?

2. You're mad you didn't get a free meal at La Cucina because the seas were rough.

3. Your apple juice was delayed.

4. Missing perks related to your Latitudes status. Did they forget the chocolate on the pillow one night or something?

Ahhh, this is very helpful advice.

Glad it worked for you.

 

For any thinking of doing this verify that your auto insurance will cover you in Canada.

Or, get the rental car agencies insurance.

The idea wasn't meant to be a transcendent revelation, not everyone reads ALL of the forums. I've seen the question asked and decided to share an idea for those who may not read all of the forums. What happened to if you didn't have anything nice to say... ?

Hardly the transcendent revelation it is being made out as here.

This was a great idea my dear friend came up with mid cruise. We were 2 couples traveling on the same ship. We had 6 bags between us and didn't have a flight out from Vancouver until just after 6:00 pm. We wanted to do something post cruise in Vancouver but didn't want to drag our luggage around. There is a luggage storage facility at Canada Place but the bag storage fee is between $10.00 to $15.00 per bag. The drawback was we would have had to make our way back to the port to collect the bags.

RENT a CAR! My friend said, We could put all 6 bags in he car and take an excursion. We were able to go to a museum and then to lunch. We were then able drive ourselves to the airport and drop the car off there. The $60.00 to $90.00 baggage storage fee + the cost of a taxi saved us some $$ and gave us some flexibility. The savings was more since there was 4 of us but solved a lot of problems.

I would book early, It was fortunate we booked 3 days ahead as the Port Hotel was out of cars for those wanting one at the last minute.

The best for me was Disney (all of the Disney cruises for me) the happy atmosphere and happy people make it extra special. They played the horns "When you wish upon a star" very cool.

The absolute worst was on my last cruise on Celebrity Infinity this month. NOTHING going on at poolside, NO music Nada. They had a burger grill open but no drink station, everyone was crowded into the buffet. It was the most underwhelming sail away in my opinion. This was my first Celebrity cruise so wasn't prepared for the lack of enthusiasm for sail away.

There was one in the cabinet in a drawer where the Mini Fridge is kept. We were in a balcony cabin....A C-2. We never used it preferring to use a hooded rain jacket, easier to manage in wind and crowds.

Thanks so much!!❤️

 

 

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I was on the Infinity to Alaska (older crowd) last week and ended up not wearing a dress at all for the "Chic Night". The posts from previous Celebrity cruisers were spot on about seeing a little bit of everything in the main dining room. In my opinion Celebrity dining is no different than NCL or Princess in their dress codes for the main dining room.

What I saw on the ladies were nice tops and dress slacks/jackets. There were some nice cocktail dresses too. What I noticed that the Gents wore some suits, mostly sport coats with button down dress shirts, or golf polo's or mock turtleneck long sleeve T-shirts under the sport coat and short sleeved Tommy Bahama's style shirts. I did see 1 Tux on a Man, could have been more but they were rare on this itinerary. The Hostess did request a gent to remove his hat while dining but I didn't see anyone turned away. I think the itinerary and length of cruise will determine how "dressy" the cruise will be. I would definitely bring dressier clothes on a European trip over a Caribbean or Alaskan trip.

I would skip Moderno's....everything tasted the same...Garlic. I would do Teppanyaki, Cagney's and Le Bistro.

Just off the Celebrity Infinity last week. The volume was too loud in the hallways for announcements and in the Constellation lounge. I got up and left. Good heavens I think the HAL ship next to us in port could have heard the announcements. I don't know why venues think that volume so loud that you can't have a conversation with someone next to you is entertaining. I mentioned this to the crew member who stated that they get complaints all the time but Celebrity thinks that it is enjoyed by most cruisers.

Now you are wondering why I am asking about HAL. It is the music and the shows. They are so blasting loud as to leave you mostly deaf or your ears ringing afterwards. We enjoy going to shows even on a cruise ship. We also like to dance without being bombarded by rap or hip-hop at ear splitting levels!!! Celebrity even played rap at one of their outdoor specialty dining venues:mad:.

In terms of service, amenities and food I found that Celebrity is more alike than different from NCL.

Just my 2 cents. Comparing NCL to Celebrity is apples/oranges. Try Celebrity. More laid back, older crowd, depends on what you are going for.

We could book a 3 night package on board for $109.00 per person. They have a table set up near the buffet. We did the Tuscan Grill the first night (didn't buy the package) for $35.00 per person, discounted from the usual $50.00 per person. It was a great experience and had great service and food. We did the Tuscan Grill again on our last night on board for $50.00 per person. The food was great and the service great but the restaurant was much busier and noisier than on our first night. We spent $85.00 per person for the 2 meals, if we had bought the 3 night package we could have eaten at another specialty restaurant for $24.00 more per person. We were on a 7 night cruise so 2 nights at a specialty was good for us. On a 12 night cruise I would opt for a 4 night package.

I've got a 12 cruise coming up and I'd like to try all the restaurants over the course of the trip. I see I can pre book a 4 night package and save about 33% on individual prices.

 

I understand that they book you in one of the restaurants for the 1st or 2nd night. Is this mandatory? I was thinking that if there is a good discount offered for those nights onboard, I could book that in addition to the package and use the package later in the cruise.

 

 

If We are not to worried about when we have dinner would I be better to just book individually on board to save a few extra ££'s over a package.

 

Lastly I don't see sushi on 5 included in any pre book options, is this just a a-carte venue, or do they also offer pacakages and discounts on board?

 

Thanks.

Celebrity's marketing for a new ship is "Puffing". I know Celebrity's goal is to attract younger modern people to cruising. It comes down to disposable income and affordability as to why I book a cruise. I am closer to retirement than being a Millennial. It will be interesting to see if the Edge draws a younger crowd.

If the Edge comes in with an itinerary I like and with a price point I want to pay, then it is up for consideration. I am not sold on the claims by Celebrity that they are a step above some of the other mainstream lines, I found that from my Celebrity cruise last week that they are just alike the other cruises I have been on with other lines with the exception of Disney.

Puffing Law and Legal Definition. The term “puffing” refers to “extravagant claims made by sellers in order to attract buyers.” It is the exaggeration of the good points of a product, a business, real property, and the prospects for future rise in value, profits and growth.

We got surprised by my Husband's boss with OBC for our cruise last week. She "inquired" from my husband which cruise line and destination. She called Celebrity and they told her they couldn't confirm any reservation for security sake. She said that is OK, I just want to buy them onboard credit. She gave them DH name and they found the reservation without divulging to DB (Dear Boss) our itinerary nor confirming which cruise we were on. When we got on board a beautiful card that this OBC from Rochelle was on our account. It was the most pleasant surprise.

We just got off of the Infinity last week. Smoking for the most part was on deck 10 on the port side of the ship. It is the area around the outdoor pool. The area has tables and loungers and the rail area is enclosed. I think there might be one other inside area. The Casino is non smoking and wasn't as busy as I have seen on other ships. I didn't see that many smokers at any given time when making my way to the Buffet and the ashtrays were cleaned. Have a great cruise!

Top shelf!

Glad Sal will find some cigar buddies on board!

We'll chat up the Sunset Bar foljs to maybe set something nice up back there, if permitted.

You are a class act David, I am glad that you are making the best of the vacation. I bet when you make your next cruise vacation, this experience will be remembered. Cheers to a good time and I hope you and your wife are having a great time.

I am the OP, sitting here in Celebritiy's cafe sipping a latte reading these posts. I am not going to give any more details or complain to the president. I started this thread to see how prevalent involuntary bumping was and fortunately it seems minimal. Yes, this is my side to the story but I think I have portrayed it accurately.

 

My wife got the call, spoke maybe a dozen words to the agent, broke down crying and handed the phone to me to deal with the agent as she couldn't. Believe me, the $200 OBC we were given to compensate for her distress doesn't begin to assuage the hard feelings we developed after this episode. We paid almost $7,000 for this cruise and its value to me at least is now a fraction of that. But DW wanted to go in spite of how we were treated, so here we are.

 

David

Something doesn't smell right that Celebrity would do this 2 days before a vacation...If this happened to me I would have the same reaction at the OP. Some folks are retired and can be flexible with changing travel arrangements. This would not be the case for my DH and myself as our Bosses would not be "flexible" with Celebrity changing our vacation plans. I hope that his cruise is a good one for them.

I agree about both of these cabins. I just left both of these cabins on the Infinity. We were in 6030 and friends were in 6035. We could run across the ship to take in the view of Hubbard Glacier. Needless to say, I was always watching our reservation to make sure that we didn't lose our rooms. This was our first Celebrity cruise as we were comparing cruise lines for future travel.

Actually, there have been times when we have researched and booked early, just to get a specific cabin. For example, we've been lucky enough to snag a corner "Sweet Sixteen" (6030 & 6035) on a couple of our Millie-Class cruises. Although these cabins are among the cheapest Veranda (2C) categories, their oversized balconies put them up among the best-kept secrets in the X fleet. So, if I had one of those booked, and I got a call offering to 'upgrade' me to a randomly-located Concierge Class Cabin, I would definitely decline. :eek:

CruiseRaider: PLEASE feel free to upgrade me! :halo:

Getting ready to leave for our Alaska trip in a few minutes on the Celebrity Infinity. This will be our first Celebrity trip so am curious what the difference will be from our previous sailings on NCL, Princess and Disney. Have not done RCL as we tend to like the smaller ships. Thanks for the good review!

I agree, accrued vacation time is like a savings account. Some employees cash it out.

If the employee says they are sick, we can't ask. If they take off more than 3 consecutive days sick, they can be asked to provide a Drs note for release to return to work. I accrue my sick leave, would rather be at work, my boss knows if I call off, I am really sick. Dr. Appt's and Medical tests are considered eligible for sick leave as well as stress. Believe me if sick leave is abused the employee won't be an employee for very long.

I don't view retaining time off that will eventually be paid as "leaving it on the table." To me, that's a savings account.

What is surprising is that it's OK to use sick time when not sick.

Why do people leave thousands on the table? Fear. Fear that if all their vacation time off is used the employer will replace them.

It isn't always fear, sometimes it is an economic decision. In a State Government agency and if you lose your job, vacation hours have to be paid, you lose all sick leave. Many employees will use sick hours before vacation hours to keep reimbursable vacation hours on the book. Employees hook up a sick day to a long holiday weekend to get a few days off.

There is a cap on vacation hours of 16 weeks (640 hours) that can be kept on the books so some hours need to be used to accrue more. Most employees start with a week after a year to start and two weeks after 3 years and 3 weeks after 5 years and 4 weeks after 10 years of service. I love my job and feel that I have enough vacation time to meet needs. My Boss makes sure I get the requested vacation time with enough notice and we respect her usual preferred weeks off during the year. The other good thing is if you have a LOT of vacation time some employee's once a year will "cash out" a week or two so they have $$ to go on a nicer vacation.

4 clothes pins. Used to hang hand wash in the shower area or to hold drapes together.

Wow, going on our first Celebrity cruise on the Infinity in a 2 weeks. I hope I am not bored and disappointed with the lack of entertainment and mediocre reviews of the food. This may be a One and Done on Celebrity. We have done NCL, Disney and Princess and all have been good with pro's and con's. The one drawback to Princess was the beds, every cruise was like sleeping on a rack and that is what has kept us away. I hear that the beds have been replaced so may want to try them again.