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.  

24 minutes ago, Scottishclover said:

Just back from Porto and this may be due to a lot of road closures as the metro is being extended right down to Ribiera. At the moment, only tram traffic and pedestrians are allowed over the bridge. The lower level is closed to cars. The whole centre was very congested with traffic due to all the closures. The quickest way to get around Porto just now is by walking.

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?

18 minutes ago, JayBird7 said:

Sorry for being a novice.  I bought into the cruise/cruisetour as a single package - price, excursions, packaging and flights.  It was all Celebrity.  All payments to Celebrity.  Cancellation by Celebrity.  If you want to parse out the cruise and cruisetour, so be it.  The stain and pain persists.  Comment all you want but I am trying to put this behind me but I will continue to cast all blame on Celebrity.

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.

8 hours ago, the penguins said:

It's not where you cruise but, as from now, where, as detailed on your booking form, you live. Address in the US, US conditions apply, address in the UK, UK conditions apply. 

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!

We used this company at its Burbank location for a Puget Sound cruise.  Very efficient.  Not inexpensive, but we have filed claims to get reimbursed. 

Try:  https://www.covidclinic.org/san-diego/

Remember, you will need a specific test as prescribed by the cruise line.

On 4/7/2021 at 10:25 AM, royallondon said:

Thank you victory2020 for your updates, appreciated.

 

Regards

I think we're booked on the same cruise, Regatta leaving LA on Sept. 23.  Having had 4 of our last 6 cruises cancelled (and only three for COVID reasons), we are handling the uncertainty more easily than others as the port is about 40 miles South of us.  For our cancelled cruise in Nov 2019, some folks were on the tram from the car park to Heathrow when that cruise was cancelled.  We were on our way to LAX to fly to Quito via Panama.

In any event, RoyalLondon, if the cruise is cancelled that close to departure, contact us and we'll go on a hike to the Hollywood sign.  

Seriously, I expect restrictions to be eased if not lifted as the political pressure to do so, both in California where our governor is facing a recall election, and nationally, is great. 

9 minutes ago, cavydad said:

Just to add to the discussion our travel agent called at 7:30 am on Friday to tell us our cruise had been cancelled. We left for Peru on Saturday at 5:30 am. In spite of Celebrity we are having a wonderful time in Peru.

 

Has anyone heard back from Celebrity on the future cruise credit? Does it have to used on one trip or can it be used for separate trips? I contacted Celebrity a week ago with this question and have not heard anything.

See my long post above.  Celebrity's position is that the credit has to be used on one cruise.  In our case, Celebrity made an exception because several employees gave us erroneous information which we had acted upon.  Why Celebrity's employees don't know this answer off the top is unknown to us.  (In Celebrity's defense, I had an issue with a credit with RCCL some years ago, and when it finally percolated to the top, an RCCL executive told me that RCCL's credits were "bewildering.")  

Thus, your refund plus the credit ought to pay for a cruise on the Flora.  And I think that's the real purpose of the credit, to let you still have a Galapagos vacation even though the Flora costs more.

In the alternative, if you find two cruises you want to take and want to split the credit over the two cruises, call Celebrity and ask.  The worst that will happen is that they say no. 

Let me review the chronology better.  And keep in mind our conclusion that while we are disappointed our cruise was cancelled, we appreciate that Celebrity gave us a fairly large credit to use.

First, background.  We need to plan our vacations a year in advance or more.  There are certain times of the year we simply can't go.  Thus, it's not a possibility that if the Nov. 9 cruise we were on was cancelled that we can go Nov. 16 on the Flora.   Second, we followed Celebrity's tribulations with the lobster issue (in January, I think)  and the licensing issue (over the summer), so while our vacation time was fixed and cleared, we had a year of concern that the cruise would be cancelled.  Once our payment went final, we were committed.  

The Xpedition ran aground on Nov. 5.  I learned about it that evening (via Cruise Critic, of course) at about 8:00 p.m. PST.  We called our TA, who called Celebrity, and she was told that our Nov. 9 sailing was still going forward.  Absolutely.  Positively.  (I was surprised she could find someone at that hour.)  However, our TA's report was that Celebrity knew of the grounding and that it wasn't a problem, our cruise was going forward.  

Thus, on Nov. 6 I loaded the car with the luggage and drove to work in Los Angeles.  On my way in, at 10:00 a.m. PST, I received a call from our TA's office with Celebrity on the line, reporting that the Xpedition cruise was cancelled, but that Celebrity was trying to see if it could get a smaller ship to take us.  I agreed to that.  At 3:00 p.m., I called Celebrity, and was told that the smaller ship was no longer an option, and that everything was cancelled.  Note that I had to call.  My DW was going to leave for LAX at 3:45 p.m.  (Folks who were on the roll call with us had parked their car at the Heathrow car park and were on the shuttle to the terminal when they got their cancellation call.  I think there were others who posted here that they were already in South America.)

We reserved another Celebrity cruise that night, because we were told, in no uncertain terms, in two recorded calls, that the credit that Celebrity was giving us was usable over multiple cruises.  We got the only available cabin on the new ship.  We found airline seats (coach to Miami, first class back) at the last minute.  These were the last two seats available on any airline with non-stop service to any airport in South Florida from any airport in the LA area.  They were not inexpensive.  Well, they cost more than the cruise.  (We turned down an RCC cruise that we had a slight preference for because the credit could not be used on a sister brand, and we knew that.  And we explored simply flying to Hawaii for a week.  We spent hours, and our TA spent hours, trying to find a last-minute alternative.)

Thus, on November 7, having slightly re-packed, we went to LAX to fly to Florida.  On the way, our TA called to say that Celebrity had determined that the credit (not the refund) could only be used once, and since our new cruise was relatively inexpensive, Celebrity was unilaterally taking the charge out of our refund.  Attempts to speak to Celebrity were unsuccessful as the Galapagos desk was overwhelmed with getting the folks in Ecuador home and cancelling arrangements for those of us going on the Nov. 9 cruise.  

We arrived in Miami late on Nov. 7, and stayed at MIA in a fairly unsatisfactory hotel.  How unsatisfactory?  Well, in the end they did not charge us and they gave us enough points for three future nights stay in the chain.  And we were the lucky ones.  More than 20 guests showed up with confirmed reservations to find there was no room at the hotel, and everything at MIA was booked.  The lobby was a nightmare.  (Had the hotel inquired of us, we would have gladly switched to one of their FLL locations nearer to Post Everglades.)

On Nov. 8, we took an Uber to Port Everglades.  We dropped our luggage.  At security, we were told in no uncertain terms that we were not on the list, despite having, on our phones, a confirmation.  Their conclusion?  We were at the wrong terminal despite the confirmation on our phones.  It was suggested that we leave, which we refused.  Security finally got a supervisor (it took multiple requests and our refusal to get out of the security line).  The supervisor took our passports, and 15 minutes later confirmed we were on the cruise.  Security abandoned her position, leaving us at the front of a line (the family behind us had a fellow in a wheelchair).  I was able to look over the entire list, which was both alphabetical and by cabin.  We were not on the list, and there was no addendum.  Our cabin number was not even on the list.  So much for Celebrity needing to clear us with the government.  Whether Celebrity ever told TSA that we were on the cruise is unknown to us.  Our TA was on the phone the whole time with us and Celebrity in Miami; our TA reported that Celebrity was sending person to walk us through boarding.  No one ever appeared.  (Lest someone be concerned, I received my first government security clearance in 1964.  We have Global Entry.  It's just that everyone ought to be on the list.)

At check-in, the clerk could not find us.  She refused to get a supervisor.  Just refused.  Multiple times.  Again we were told we were at the wrong terminal.  And that's after she looked at our phone confirmation that we were on the ship.  When we refused to leave, the next clerk over had heard our argument, and he proceeded to look, at he found that our reservation was attached to another reservation (and not alphabetized or searchable by name; he found it by searching the cabin number), with 4 of us in a standard balcony cabin.  He assured us that the others had cancelled.  (Which is probably why we were able to reserve that cabin at the last minute.)  

We boarded the ship and went to the buffet.  When cabins were ready, we went to our cabin, where one of our suitcases had already arrived.  Our cabin steward appeared and welcomed us, by name.  Only it was the names of the folks who had (we hoped) cancelled.  When we corrected him he wanted to know what we were doing in the wrong cabin.  We ordered him out, and he went to report to his boss, and, we assumed, security.  We called the front desk.  (The chief steward removed him from our cabin service; he reported that they receive a list of guests a week in advance, and that he had no updates for this cruise.  No updates at all.  Apparently this steward breached some protocol for guests with the wrong names.)

I went to the naughty room to get our other suitcase, where I had been busted for having a non-surge protected extension cord.  The Xpedition, as well as the new ship, have wholly inadequate electrical outlets.  This is a design defect.

We went to the front desk to deal with the confusion and the credit issue.  They could not find us listed at first.  They did, however, call the maitre'd, who, remarkably, had our names but not our table preference.  (Keep that in mind.  The maitre'd had our names.)  The front desk got in touch with Celebrity, and after three days, and apparently after listening to the recorded calls (and our TA had a recording that their agency head had listened to), Celebrity agreed we could use our credit on two cruises.  (Had Celebrity told us initially that the credit was good for only one cruise, we would never have booked this replacement cruise.)

We went to the tour desk to book tours.  After some searching, the tour lady found us, attached to the couple who had apparently cancelled.  She, however, was intent on selling us tours, and we booked three.  (All very good.)  We swam with sting rays in Grand Cayman (highly recommended) and visited the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza near Cozumel.  (Also highly recommended, but it's a long ride.)  We arrived back late to the ship after the sting ray tour, and because it was a Celebrity excursion, that was absolutely no issue.  

We are in the Captain's Club.  We never received any communication from the Captain's Club about events (such as events where there are free drinks!)  A few days in I found the Captain's Club lady.  We were not on her list.  She searched her e-mail and confirmed that she had received no e-mail that we were going to be on board.  She gets her list a week beforehand, and sometimes updates.  She had no update for us.  (Our status is known to Celebrity, and was appropriately marked on our ship cards.)

Now don't get me wrong.  First, the folks who were actually on the cruise that went aground undoubtedly have more disruption than us.  And Celebrity was overwhelmed with details given the cancellation, although I will note that the Celebrity folks I talked to reported that they were in Overland Park, Kansas, which is exactly what you think of when you think of Galapagos cruises.  Thus, shifting Miami-based people to assist may be tough.  Second, in the end, we got a cruise in the week we had off from work, and we have a credit we have used to book another Celebrity Cruise.  Celebrity, in giving the credit, recognized the impact a cancellation has on people, and we appreciate it.  However, it would not have hurt Celebrity to e-mail the new cruise and say,  "Mr. & Mrs. Socal will be aboard.  Please make sure they have a good experience."  We know Celebrity e-mailed the maitre'd.  Why no one else was notified, and why the reaction we got ranged from telling us we were in the wrong terminal or that security was going to be called is beyond me.

And a PS.  We're shareholders.  There is no shareholder credit on a Galapagos cruise.  On Nov. 7, before we left for the airport, I e-mailed the appropriate department with our cruise information (pulled up old letter in Word, and modified it) and attached a copy of a page from my brokerage statement.  On Nov. 8, when we first went to the front desk, and they finally found our account, the shareholder credit was on our account.  

As one of the folks cancelled in November, as we booked our air through Celebrity, we received a full refund.  People who booked air separately received up to $400 p/p for change/cancellation fees.  And some either used the air and made separate arrangements or were already in South America.  (Our cruise was finally and officially cancelled about 6 hours before we were to board our flight.)  

We recently booked a last minute cruise.  Reserved afternoon of November 6.  Sailing November 8.  On the evening of November 6 I e-mailed Celebrity with our request for shareholder OBC.  I have the letter saved in Word, and I copy a page from from brokerage statement, redacting the account number.  Confirmation was received by e-mail on November 7.  On boarding, the OBC was clearly reflected on the bill.  We later received another OBC but it caused no issues.

I wish the rest of the late booking process went as smoothly.

My RCCL investment has done quite nicely over the years.   The OBC is an added perk.

We have previously encountered issues with combinability.  Senior RCCL executives described their pricing and credits as "bewildering."  That's their word, not mine.  Hopefully, with the change this past June, it will be slightly less bewildering.