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BABA 7

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Posts posted by BABA 7

    Just back from the equinox to the caribbean...any questions?

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    We're back from a wonderful 10 night Equinox Cruise to the Caribbean. Everything was great...food, service, and entertainment! If you have any questions, please ask & I'll try to answer them. If you have a cruise booked on the Equinox, you're in for a treat! :):)

     

    Thanks for you offer! Will be sailing on the Equinox in 7 more sleeps...10 day cruise.:D

     

    Did you have Dominica as one of your ports? If so what are the must do/must see?

     

    Thanks Baba 7

    Mekong River Cruise

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    We are going on the AMALotus in September. The tour starts in Hanoi on the 2nd and we board the boat on the 8th.

     

    Hi Gayle,

     

    Have you gone on your cruise yet? It's a long 17 days till ours...so want to get out of this cold....the week in Cuba was heaven!:D

     

    May I ask who you booked your trip through....and are they looking after any visas and your air?

     

    Dianne

    Thoughts on Equinox

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    It was a mix of fast rapids and then just a slow flowing river. I think there were four or five big rapids total. For the most part though it was just slow. The bus to and from where we started and ended was about an hour and we spent an hour, possibly more, tubing. Plus you have about 20 minutes at the falls. I think overall it was around four, four and a half hours long.

     

    Thanks so much for your reply....did you book this through the ships tours, or did you book on your own....do you know if it is possible to book this on the pier upon arrival?:confused:

    BABA7

    Thoughts on Equinox

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    St. Thomas

     

    This is one of the locations where we did an X tour. We did the tour that went to St. John and then allowed you to explore on your own. While it was ok and defiantly easier than having to taxi over to redhook to grab the ferry, I would not book this tour again. It left directly from the pier where we were docked. The boat they use for this excursion is rather small which meant it was difficult to get out of the sun which was not ideal. Also on the way back it started to rain and there was no where to go. We did have a great time in St. John though. Overall the way the whole tour was run was off putting including the fact that X printed the wrong time on the tickets which meant we all spent an extra 30 minutes standing outside in the sun prior to the tour starting. I will fully admit this may have colored the way I saw the rest of the excursion.

     

    St. Kitts

     

    Here we did another X tour. We hiked up to the summit of the volcano. We booked the ships tour for this since it started earlier and meant we didn't have to worry about missing the ship since it takes six hours. Our tour guide for this tour was excellent. The hike up the volcano was difficult at times but defiantly do able although we did loose three members of our group along the way. That said, since I have now checked this off my bucket list I wont be doing it again. :rolleyes:

     

    Barbados

     

    In Barbados we went on our own to the beach. We went to the boatyard. It was a quick $5 pp taxi ride to get there. For $15 you got a chair, a shared umbrella, a welcome drink, had access to all the toys/facilities and got to take a shuttle for free back to the port (those started around noon). One tip for this is that if you are going to go make sure you go early otherwise they will run out of chairs.

     

    Dominica

     

    In Dominica we took another X tour where we went river tubing. This tour was a lot of fun. In addition to the river tubing we also stopped at Hibiscus falls which was very nice. This was our second time to the island so we had previously done a general island tour which I would recommend to anyone who is visiting this port for the first time. Its a beautiful place.

     

    St. Martin

     

    In St. Martin I organized a private tour for a group of friends from our roll call who had all cruised together the previous year. We visited Orient Beach, Marigot and Maho Beach. This tour was a blast but I had done the exact same tour the previous year with the same company so I knew it would be fun. I have some videos I took at Maho that I can post if anyone is interested.

     

    I'll be sailing on the Equinox in March....love your posts...could you expand you info of the river tubing....length of time tubing...etc.

     

    Thanks Baba7

    Thoughts on Equinox

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    St. Thomas

     

    This is one of the locations where we did an X tour. We did the tour that went to St. John and then allowed you to explore on your own. While it was ok and defiantly easier than having to taxi over to redhook to grab the ferry, I would not book this tour again. It left directly from the pier where we were docked. The boat they use for this excursion is rather small which meant it was difficult to get out of the sun which was not ideal. Also on the way back it started to rain and there was no where to go. We did have a great time in St. John though. Overall the way the whole tour was run was off putting including the fact that X printed the wrong time on the tickets which meant we all spent an extra 30 minutes standing outside in the sun prior to the tour starting. I will fully admit this may have colored the way I saw the rest of the excursion.

     

    St. Kitts

     

    Here we did another X tour. We hiked up to the summit of the volcano. We booked the ships tour for this since it started earlier and meant we didn't have to worry about missing the ship since it takes six hours. Our tour guide for this tour was excellent. The hike up the volcano was difficult at times but defiantly do able although we did loose three members of our group along the way. That said, since I have now checked this off my bucket list I wont be doing it again. :rolleyes:

     

    Barbados

     

    In Barbados we went on our own to the beach. We went to the boatyard. It was a quick $5 pp taxi ride to get there. For $15 you got a chair, a shared umbrella, a welcome drink, had access to all the toys/facilities and got to take a shuttle for free back to the port (those started around noon). One tip for this is that if you are going to go make sure you go early otherwise they will run out of chairs.

     

    Dominica

     

    In Dominica we took another X tour where we went river tubing. This tour was a lot of fun. In addition to the river tubing we also stopped at Hibiscus falls which was very nice. This was our second time to the island so we had previously done a general island tour which I would recommend to anyone who is visiting this port for the first time. Its a beautiful place.

     

    St. Martin

     

    In St. Martin I organized a private tour for a group of friends from our roll call who had all cruised together the previous year. We visited Orient Beach, Marigot and Maho Beach. This tour was a blast but I had done the exact same tour the previous year with the same company so I knew it would be fun. I have some videos I took at Maho that I can post if anyone is interested.

     

    will be doing the same cruise on the 14th of March....just a quick question re the river tubing in Dominica...how fast is the water, are there any rapids and also, how long is the run time wise?

     

    Baba 7

    Been on the Equinox Lately?

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    We love Equinox, for sure. Boarding her again March 14th! But, the music by the pool IS lacking. The a cappella men sang for 15 minutes or so a couple times a day and a band played (if I remember correctly) for 2 hrs in the afternoon every day. That's it. We really missed having a band (preferably a Caribbean band) play for the afternoon, not just for a couple hours a day. When I'm sailing the Caribbean I love to hear Caribbean music, steel drums and all :-)

     

    I'll also be sailing the Equinox on the 14th.....I'll bet that it is as cold in Michigan as it is in Ontario....OHHH sun and warmth...can't wait!!:D

     

    BABA7

    Bragging about being rewarded for complaining.

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    I was reading thru some Celebrity Cruise Critic member's reviews tonight and I am always so surprised that people almost seem to brag about what they are given when they complain. "I heard noise over my balcony and I got future cruise credit" "I smelled smoke and I got wine and chocolates" "I complained about bad service and got free specialty dining."

     

    All I can think is just wow, really? It seems as if the goal to complaining is not to right a wrong but to see what freebies they may get. On our last Summit cruise a couple of months ago our Aqua class cabin had a mostly non flushing toilet. We had to notify guest services after our (very good) stateroom attendant could not get maintenance to fix it. It actually never flushed properly and maintenance had to work on it daily. But the hotel director kept calling, checking in and offering all sorts of freebies. We politely said "no thanks" just a flush is all we need. He seemed utterly amazed.

     

    My favorite story is one from years ago when I was cruising alone with my young son, I think it was the Constellation. Well, on boarding day after an hour or so our sea passes stopped working to pay for things. We went to the desk and stood in line and then spoke to them and it was a mistake in the system, it took a while but they fixed it and said sorry. No big deal. Then it happened again. Back in line, get to desk and I smile and say "guess what?" they apologize again, it takes a while but they fix it again, I smile and said thanks, no worries, busy day, computers mess up, have a nice day. Later that night in our room we find cookies, chocolate strawberries and a model of the ship for my son, with a note that read "we rarely get happy smiling people at the "complaint desk" we appreciate you, you made our day" signed guest services staff.

     

     

     

    If you're going to get a freebie, that's the way you should want to do it. :)

     

    Isn't that refreshing....usually it's just the 'squeaky wheel" that gets oiled!!

     

    Congrats!

    Any sales on beverage pkgs?

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    I'm in the same boat as Baba 7.

     

    Booked before the 123 came out. (Or after. Or both?):confused:

     

    So I bought the Premium Bev package outright and bought the Premium N.A. for my wife. Oddly it is the non alcohol drinks that make this worth the cost. (But that's a topic for another thread.) Won't do that again.

     

    Anyway, I think it's true that they put the cabin on sale when the 123promo is off.

     

    As for buying after the fact, I would just buy it now. You can always cancel up to 4 days previous to sailing, so if it goes on sale they would have to honor the lower price.

     

    On the Equinox 1/20... Can't wait. The high in MN will be -17

     

    Happy sailing.

     

    Well, we are of the same thought re the bev pkg....I will be ordering the Premium pkg....I'm also sailing on the Equinox, but not until 3/14/14....would love to hear any hints from you when you get back!

     

    Just to let you know, you also win in the temp dept.....I'm in SOUTHERN Ontario and we a -5F.:eek:

    Any sales on beverage pkgs?

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Or you can try the risky option of canceling current cruise. Then rebooking and adding drink promo. I'm to nervous to try something like that. I have seen where people are successful with it though.

     

    Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

     

    It does sound tempting, but since I'm travelling with others, I really don't want to take the chance!

    Any sales on beverage pkgs?

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted · Edited by BABA 7
    spelling

    Call your TA and have them call Celebrity...sometimes depending on the price you paid, you can add it...are you still prior to final payment? That makes a difference...

     

    I could only wish!! But the answer is yes the final payment has been made!:(

    Any sales on beverage pkgs?

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    I'm not sure if they included people from the U. K. Or not.. Is that where you live? Otherwise with the current 123go promotion. The classic drink packages is free. I really don't know how they can improve on that price..

     

    Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

     

    I'm in Ontario, Canada.....and when we booked, the 123go was not offered :(....

    Mekong River Cruise

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    Hi BABA 7,

     

    It will be nice to meet someone who lives quite close. Have you read this thread about the Mekong trip? It goes back a few years and is quite long but there is lots of information about the trip as well as links to great reviews.

     

    http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1301812

     

    Have you booked your flights yet?

     

    No, haven't looked at flights yet....two trips prior to this one that I need to wrap up the details....:D

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