photabitha

Hello 

We have done this cruise twice now around end January/February and both from Singapore on the Millennium and due to do it again in 2025. 

Most of the ports in Vietnam are a long way from any of the popular sites.  An excursion is a must, either with the ship or private/with a group.   Getting off the ship in Halong Bay (amazing sail in) is something you can do and this has developed a lot over the years.  Hong Kong and Singapore also are ports you can hop off and easily transverse.  However, these will be at the beginning or end of your cruise. 

As another person has mentioned, Bangkok is an overnight.  We have a ship tour of Bangkok on your own, book a hotel on the river and you can either book tours, or see quite a lot from the water taxis on your own as many of the sites are near to the river. 

On our next visit, we will be leaving from Hong Kong and ending in Singapore and a couple of days at the end. 

Be aware the weather in Hong Kong and Halong Bay can be chilly so be prepared clothes wise.  The rest of the ports were hot.  We did get one beautiful day in Halong Bay on our last trip, but on the first visit it was raining and freezing cold. 

For a 12 night cruise, we purchased three wash, dry and press packages.  We also had items pressed when we embarked that were creased in our case.  Everything was pristine and ironed to perfection. 

Wow, what a view!   

The balconies come in different sizes in the aft cabins.   You need to research your choice of room on S class as some are significantly wide, although shallower than M class.   I would also be delighted with this!

I do feel for the OP as we lost a bag on a flight from UK to Sydney (change in Singapore).   We had two days in Sydney pre cruise, but the bag did not turn up in time!  It was my husband's case and we had to shop in Sydney for everything!  We also had most of our  toiletries in the case and some shoes of mine.   It was a nightmare and cost a small fortune.    The checked case was found, but half way through the cruise when we were in Auckland.  They said they would fly it out, but that could have been a bigger headache and we agreed to collect it at Sydney on our return.   When we flew back, we collected the lost bag, but our luggage weight then exceeded the maximum weight due to the extra clothes and small case we had to buy, although the airline in question waived that fee.   I kept all receipts for the purchased items and we had not been greedy, but purchased only the items to get my husband through the cruise and dressed in accordance with the guidelines of evening attire.  At Sydney airport, we were told we would have to claim on our insurance.  I informed the  lady with whom I spoke that our insurance Company had not lost the case and why should they pay!  I made the claim on my return and we were reimbursed every penny - they were absolutely marvellous and did not quibble.  I would rather not have lost the bag however.  I think we will go down the Air Tag route and we also cross pack!

We have just returned from a cruise and pre purchased the laundry package (wash, dry and press).  You can get a lot in that bag!   There is an offer at the moment for pre cruise purchase. We also had further laundry during the cruise all washed and ironed to perfection.  As we are elite plus, we get two bags of wash, dry fold which we took advantage of to come home. 

I would think the 3 bags of laundry would need to be put in at the same time, but not sure on that one.

We have stayed in the S1 corner suites on deck 8 and 9 - these were pretty much the same size, although the pole was in a different place.    I believe balcony on deck 6 may be significantly smaller however. 

Hello.   I am not sure there is actually any set percentage in getting the upgrade.  We had a similar situation when on a cruise last year.  We made two bids for two different upgrades, one almost immediately expired, but the other remained pending.  We found out, I think 3 days before sailing that we won the bid, cabin allocated and we checked in with the new cabin.  Everything was in place for embarkation.   We had booked a sky suite originally, and bid on a Celebrity suite and Royal suite - we were allocated the Royal.   Good luck!

Hi.  
Your ship will be tendered off Firá (Thira) and this is where you take the tender to and from the ship.  If your dinner cruise ends here around sunset, you should be okay to take the tender back in time.  There will be a queue however.  If your trip ends elsewhere, you may be very short on time.  You will need to get back to Firá and then either take either the cable car (massive queue after sunset) or walk down, the winding steps to the sea level.  These steps are used by the donkeys (please don’t ride the donkeys!) and the lighting is poor and the surface uneven and slippery with donkey deposits!   

Where your trip ends I would say will give you a better idea as to whether or not the risk is worth taking. 

On two of our recent cruises (within the last year) Elite status had a voucher in the paperwork on embarkation day called Dress to Impress.  It was a whole laundry bag of items pressed for $20. we could not believe it as my DH always  has all of his  shirts  pressed after unpacking and I also have a great deal of linen garments.  The bag was the fabric laundry bag and we got a lot in!    Sadly on our last cruise we did could find the offer.  It is worth looking for the voucher and pop it in the bag. 

We have sailed on Celebrity cruise in Europe on the 4th July  and,  as others have said, apart from some food in the buffet appropriately decorated there was nothing else celebratory.    I remember because the 4th July is my birthday.   We  will  also be on the cruise this  4th July out of Civitavecchia and I am looking at a Big '0' - our own small celebration may happen! 🤪

Hello.  We face a similar issue.    It appears there is testing at the airport  although I have not looked into this as we are in Rome for two days pre cruise.  There are a number of Farmacia who  have testing all over Rome and some are open on a Sunday.  Thus far,  it appears we can turn up without an appointment for an antigen test back in 30 minutes or so, although my search continues as I would prefer to have an appointment booked.  I did email our hotel who gave us the nearest testing Farmacia to our hotel on a Sunday so very helpful.  If you are staying in Rome try this.  

Have a great holiday!

We sailed on the first two day pre inaugural  cruise.  The ship is seriously stunning and we have cruised on all classes of Celebrity ship.     

The changes made from the Edge and Apex are amazing.   

We were able to view all classes of cabins during the cruise and they are luxury all the way, whichever class you travel. 

We were blown away and we going to book a cruise for sure.  The crew are so friendly and we found very efficient. 

There are a great deal of posts on Instagram. 

Give it a go - you will not be disappointed!

I agree, the taxis are inexpensive and readily available. 

We have stayed at the Fairmont  and also the Pan Pacific, both in Club rooms.  Our preference is the Pan Pacific as the Club lounge is 360 degree view and the they are amazing!   

Check out sunset at the CE LA VI Bar and Restaurant on top of Marina Bay Sands (cover charge and expensive drinks, but worth having one).   

Eat at the Hawker centres as they have the best food (in my opinion) and cheap. 

As previously noted the distance from the Marina Bay Cruise terminal to the MRT is very close.  We have sailed twice on Celebrity from Singapore and both times from Marina Bay. 

We are back again next year in November 2023 - cannot wait!   Enjoy your cruise. 

We always tip on top of the auto gratuities, if appropriate which is usually the case.     In Luminae, it is my understanding they  pool their tips and we leave the tip for all staff and the same in Blu.    We do like to frequent the Martini bar and usually give a tip, however this has been  treated differently.  On most occasions, it ends up in the bucket and the bell is rung, but on some occasions we have noted it ends up in the pocket of the bar tender to whom we have handed it, albeit addressed to all staff!   We also give to specific staff, but always address the recipient on the envelope - e.g. our stateroom attendant, retreat host (if we have one), waiter, sommelier and assistant if we are on select dining.  

Hello.   On our last cruise in January 2022, we were sailing in a Sky Suite and put in two bids, one for a Celebrity Suite and another for a Royal Suite.  Our Celebrity suite bid was a fair bid on the indicator, but our Royal Suite offer was very poor (we bid slightly higher than the Celebrity suite).  The Celebrity Suite bid expired fairly soon after we made it, but the Royal Suite bid was pending right up until two days prior to sailing when we received an email to say our bid was successful.    

We spoke with another couple on our cruise who also bid for a Celebrity Suite and their offer was lower than ours, but they won that bid.  

We already had the Suite Class perks with the Sky Suite, but we did get the additional perks of the Royal Suite - two bottles of spirits, wifi, free specialty restaurant bookings, laundry etc.  We already had a  drinks package, but I think would would have got that too had we not already had it.   It was a fabulous cruise and we were pleased we made the bid.  

We were on the Silhouette in October  and we were offered this within the first couple of days on sale outside of the Ocean View.  I think it was $40 per person  and took place on the last night.  It was fabulous, but lots of it!   The offerings were not  spicy hot that I can remember.  I think the menu we had was a little different to the one shown, but it was great and well worth it.   

Looking forward to your review.  We always enjoy following your travels - bring it on! 👏👏👏

Looking forward to following you on our journey!

2 hours ago, 38anchor said:

I posted earlier but just wondering if  anyone has managed get their PCR cost refund yet? We sailed 17th July and nothing yet. I did get a call from USA Celebrity a week ago asking for my debit card details but nothing. Not happy 😞 

Hello.  We were on the 3rd July sailing and arranged our own PCR test.  We submitted the request for a refund on the 17th July, received a telephone call about a week or so after that requesting bank details (which I found a little unnerving ) and received the refund on the 4th August, although I was told it could take up to 30 days to refund.  I hope that helps. 

We are sailing from Tampa in January 2022 with friends on a twice cancelled cruise flying from the UK.
 We too are wondering whether we will be allowed to fly and what will happen on refund.  For us, whilst we may get the deposit returned and/or vouchers, but it is the extremely low cost of our holiday and upgrades which will go down the pan!  

The original cruise was cancelled due to redeployment of the ship and we were given incentives to book on the Tampa cruise.  11 nights Caribbean, upgraded to a suite for the same cost as Aqua, $700  of onboard credit, drinks package, WiFi, gratuities, upgraded flights on a BA sale all for under £6k!  We will never get the same cruise for the same price with the flights we have. 
Although we would ourselves look at the state of play in US re Covid before we decided to travel, I fear UK and  European travellers will not be allowed into US by January 2022. 

We took US $ on our cruise 3rd July.  We always a fair few dollars and tip on top of the already paid/included gratuities.  On this last cruise we had around 100 dollars left out of our OBC and we signed the form and shared the monies we had not used.   I am sure GBP will be gratefully received however. 

22 minutes ago, Minnie29 said:

Does anyone know what testing is happening once onboard the ship?

Crew testing before the cruise and once during we were told at the end of our 3rd July cruise.

Here are some pics of our  S1 corner cabin.  The Ship looked fabulous. 

We are on board this cruise 3 rd July  and this is our experience. 
 

Embarkation - arrived slightly early and set to wait.  We were told no problem  and to go in.  Initial two checks of sea pass on our phones.  We joined the queue which snaked a bit.  Passport and sea pass check and security.  We then needed to go through checks with people with iPads who photographed our vaccinations (and the QR) vaccination code (under travel), PCR test etc.  We were cleared to board and then all sat in an area and were released in small numbers on board.  This all took around  an hour. The waiting in the seating area was the most frustrating - so near, but so far!  We were clapped on board and it was a very wet eyed, emotional experience.

FYI.  No  priority boarding for anyone that we could see.  
 

Crew greatly reduced - they cannot share cabins.  Crew are super friendly and pleased to be back, but there are areas where there are delays, especially with tables at mealtimes as distanced tables.  
the suites must be pretty booked as Luminae very busy.   The main restaurant has many empty tables for distancing purposes. 

The bars are a bit strange where you have to sit on chairs at the bar, but facing away and not have your drink on say the ice at the Martini bar.  Other areas in bars where you cannot sit.  Polite signs asking for space.  
The Retreat deck and Lounge very well staffed and luxurious.  We had sunny weather yesterday afternoon so quite busy, but not today and it is quite chilly. 
 

The lifts are almost instantaneous!  
Oceanvirw - many stations closed as obviously they do not need to cater for so many.  Food served to you.  Plenty are staff around. 
 

It is honestly so great to be back on board and really great to see the crew who have mostly been back at home and so relieved to be back working.  
 

We are really pleased we took this cruise - it has been worth the wait! 

As for the luggage tags, we had these prior to check in with the Guest Booklet. If you log in to your Celebrity account, you will see your cruise and there is a heading for documents.  If you click on that, you should see ‘print e-docs’ and you can access your Guest Booklet which includes your luggage tags which you can then print.