SoCalTraveler

We've heard bad things about Heathrow as well, but in May we had a connection there from Terminal 5 to Terminal 3, and made it in 63 minutes, which, we understand, could be a record. Seriously, you can check on various sites, such as Flight Aware, for your flight's recent arrival times. I would also consider a private driver to shuttle you to Southampton.

Update. We took the shuttle the second day. The signage in the terminal still says the shuttle goes to city center. However, the signage on the bus has been changed to shuttle only. We took it to Gaia and got an Uber to where we wanted to go. When we left, there were two families arguing with the staff about a shuttle that does not go to Porto despite being advertised that it did.

We are currently on Infinity. I retract my previous comments which were based on my experience from last August. Prior to the cruise we received an email from Celebrity which offered a discount if we booked in advance and said the sample meals included lobster and filet mignon both of which we have had at Le Petite Chef. when we got on board and saw the guy soliciting reservations, he gave us the menu. There is only one show for our ten day voyage, rather than different shows. And the main course is either short ribs or brazino fish. My wife then visited Le Petit Chef and confirmed that with the host, and cancelled our reservation. my previous comments were based on a variety of shows and a premium dinner. It’s not that I don’t like short ribs, but that’s already been on the menu. In Blu. It was very good, but I don’t have to pay $120 to have it again.

Understood. We saw the construction. But other Celebrity tours got across a bridge and were in city center across from the train station. And, in any event, if the shuttle can’t get into the city center Celebrity should say so. The elevator, sky cabin and Uber are not free.

We purchased a two day shuttle pass from Celebrity to Porto City Center. However, the shuttle only runs to Gaia, a suburb across the river from Porto. To get to Porto you can walk and ultimately take an elevator, or take a telecabine to the top of a hill and walk across the upper deck of the bridge. Both involve extra fees. 2 mile walk. The signage on the shuttle clearly states Porto City Center. There are buses in Porto. There are tourist buses in Porto. There are even Celebrity tour buses in Porto from the same company which runs the shuttle. has anyone run into this? Have I missed something?

See my comment above for our cruise which was cancelled with our luggage in the trunk. (By the way, Celebrity also paid something towards our new higher fare to Miami.) Don't let this land tour cancellation ruin your vacation. There are other cruises and other land tours; in Alaska particularly with Holland America and with Princess.

We had a Celebrity cruise cancelled when the ship ran aground and was damaged. On Monday night first reports of the grounding surfaced on Cruise Critic. On Tuesday Celebrity notified us and was trying to figure out what it was going to do. On Wednesday, while I was in my car with the luggage in the trunk (and friends in England were on the bus from the car park to Terminal 5 at LHR) Celebrity cancelled us; it found alternate arrangements for a few of the passengers. We got a credit and cash back. On Wednesday night we booked a different Celebrity Cruise using the credit. On Thursday we flew to Miami. On Friday we boarded the replacement cruise. We you have too many lemons, make lemonade. Adding a little vodka helps as well.

We love the French onion soup. The secret to good French onion soup is the wine; I've had it made as described above and with various red wines. Some years back, a buddy and I went to Montreal and made dinner reservations at the five top restaurants for French onion soup. Each of the first four was different and each was great. Then we went to the 5th restaurant and the chef was not making the onion soup that night. The only choice was tomato soup. So we grudgingly ordered that. It was the best soup of the trip.

We have done three different shows. Very entertaining. The service was excellent, especially considering the food is served at the same time to the guests. The food was also very good. Think of it as a specialty restaurant with entertainment. We've gone as 2 twice, and once as 4. When we went as a 4, the lady at the next table was a single, so she joined our little group. Here in Los Angeles the same deal costs far more than on the ship.

A few years back on a cruise I saw a man in shorts and a T-shirt refused entry to the restaurant on the first night. He noted his suitcases had not yet been delivered. The host tried to ignore him, and turned to me. I pointed to shorts guy and said, "He was here first." He and his family were then seated. I ran into him several times thereafter. His suitcase showed up on the last night of the cruise. Another guest had received it and just kept it in their cabin. (Who knew cabins were so spacious?) I believe his story was written up on one of the travel sites. I'm old school, so I bring a blazer, but I think this debate ended when airlines started charging for luggage. You had three groups. The formal people, the casual people, and the people who would dress up but balked at paying $100 bucks for a extra suitcase to haul dress up stuff for one or two nights. It is not like "An Affair to Remember" where the guests dressed to the nines every night. And some folks, like us, have added extensions where baggage is further limited.

We have asked for price drops a couple of times. Once, on Princess, it was denied but Princess extended a very favorable upgrade and perks offer for a nominal price, which we jumped at. And once, on a cruise line I'll only mention by initials, RCCL, the price dropped significantly, but RCCL refused to give anyone who had paid in full (we were past the payment date) any consideration, while selling cabins as cheap as possible. One fellow we met got an interior cabin with the liquor package for a 15 day cruise for $460.00; another couple down the hall paid $470 each. The subject of these price reductions was not only talked about more than any other cruise we've been on, but was the subject of multiple questions to the Captain at a talk the Captain gave; the answer each time was that no one on the ship has anything to do with setting prices.

The version we can access is missing a line, but as I read the contract, if you are a U.S. citizen but take a Celebrity Cruise which never touches the USA, then you must bring your claims in England or Wales. I can see that more clearly on the Galapagos contract. Since we have upcoming European and Galapagos cruises, that applies to us.

I just presumed that they changed the venue for disputes to England and Wales for US citizens cruising in Europe. I thought the previous rule was that in the event of an issue we had to sue in Miami, which, for California residents like ourselves, is not terrifically practical. Now we would need to retain a barrister in England. Fortunately, in all the cruises we have taken, we have never even come close to any hint of suing the cruise line, and we always have insurance. (we've never had an insurance claim on a cruise, either.) Celebrity has always been more than fair with us; our experience includes a Celebrity cruise cancelled last minute (on our way to LAX last minute) pre-pandemic.

A few observations: We use Apple iTags. On one occasion I was able to alert an airline that my luggage was nowhere near the plane. Our flight was delayed and then a cart with lots of bags (including ours) showed up and were loaded. One time we arrived early to the pier in New Orleans for a Transatlantic. We dropped our bags and tipped the porter $5 at about 11:30 a.m. Had lunch in the dining room. The 4 p.m. sail kept getting pushed back. At 5:30 p.m. we did the muster drill while still docked. Looking down at the pier, we could spot our bags still on the cart on the dock. They were finally delivered at about 11. I asked the Captain about the delay in sailing, etc., at a Q&A, and she (yes, she) replied that a Transatlantic requires a lot more turnaround. I asked if the folks at RCCL in Miami understood that when they scheduled the cruise. She moved on to the next question. If your bag does not show up, buy clothing (and keep the receipts) at the various ports (I've been to that Marshall's in San Juan) or on-board shops. Do not let this problem interfere any more than necessary with your vacation. I have my homeowner's insurance, travel insurance, and whatever the cruise line will do. I don;t need the cruise line to "lose" my vacation as well because my bag went missing.

I've always just submitted one redacted page from my brokerage statement. There is now an electronic option, rather than fax or mail. On our upcoming cruise, it took about 48 hours for the credit to appear in my account. I redact with a scissors rather than a Sharpie.

We have only been on one Carnival cruise (see below) and multiple Princess cruises. The comparison is that we took three day cruises out of San Pedro/Long Beach on both Carnival and Princess. Carnival was a booze cruise. Plenty of folks were tanked all the time. I don't mind people drinking beer; it's the bartenders leaving the caps slightly on in a bucket of a six pack. The drinkers left the caps everywhere around the pools and spas. Glasses for mixed drinks and soda were around the pools and spas and one night someone broke two. By the time we left the bartenders had still not rounded up anyone to clean the broken glass. On Carnival, one night we were in the Jacuzzi on the fantail, where there were two Jacuzzi's side by side. After removing beer bottle caps from the edge of the Jacuzzi (left by folks still sitting in the Jacuzzi who could not be bothered to just throw the caps into the bucket), we were treated to a couple in the next Jacuzzi, how should I say it? enjoying themselves. The crew did not care. On Carnival, the folks in the room next to us had kids who thought pounding on our common wall was neat. At 6:00 a.m. each morning. When a ship officer could not get them to stop, he told us there was nothing he could do. On Carnival, food service was slow; no matter how slow the food service was actually getting a drink or a bottle of wine at dinner was slower. (We would have spent more on booze had they only been prepared to actually sell it. ) We had two food incidents that were amusing. My son wanted tater tots with his breakfast. The waiter brought two on a full size dinner plate. My son wanted more. The waiter said he could only bring two at a time. (We're talking about tater tots here.) I then asked for tater tots for everyone (we were a family of 12) and the waiter brought 12 dinner plates with two tater tots on each. And one morning my request for English breakfast tea took an hour and the assistance of the maitre'd to get the three components, hot water, tea bag and cup. Full disclosure: we own stock in Carnival and have used the shareholder benefit. I think there's a difference.

We were on a TA leaving New Orleans, scheduled to leave at 4:00 p.m. We figured to sit on our balcony sipping banana daiquiris and watching the Mississippi Delta slip by. We checked in without difficulty at 11 or 11:30 and had lunch in the dining room. At 5:30 they ran the lifeboat drill with the ship still at the dock loading stuff; luggage, crates of food, etc. From the rail we could see our bags still on the dock. We sailed around 6:30 or so, and the Delta is so dark then the mosquitoes bump into each other. Our bags were delivered around 11 p.m. Later in the cruise I went to the captain's talk. Other passengers asked about the delay and the captain said that for a TA they need to load a lot of stuff so it took longer. Folks asked if we were waiting for late arrivals and the captain said, "no." So I asked, "When HQ scheduled this TA two years earlier, knowing we had 15 days ahead of us, do you think they could plan for the long turnaround." The captain diplomatically noted that the ship captain has nothing to do with arrival or departure times. (PS, it was a great cruise.)

In 2019 a cruise we were scheduled on was cancelled at the last minute. (Last minute as the suitcases were in the trunk of my car halfway to the airport.) The cancelled cruise was not eligible for shareholder credit. That night, we booked a replacement cruise and I e-mailed Celebrity. When we boarded the ship two days later the credit was reflected in our shipboard account. Great service!