SeasideMemories

Looks like $0 Upgrades for Oceanview to Veranda; $49 and $99 upgrades from Concierge to Aqua on “select sailings”. Celebrity likes to play games with the pricing so this may or may not be a deal for you.

Here’s the link where you can choose View Cruises to see if it applies to your cruise and if it buys you anything https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-deals/special-offer

Hope this helps!

You can follow the car’s progress as it makes it to you. You will get the drivers name and make of car and license plate to look for. When done, don’t forget to rate the driver on the app.

The app will also tell you what kind of car is coming. Always confirm with the driver that it's YOUR driver before jumping in!

Great advice to remember to check that the car that pulls up is in fact an Uber driver (and not just some random person) and also matches the driver and car/plate you are expecting. The driver will also have the name of who they are there to pick up.

It’s easy to sometimes get into a rush especially at the airport when there may be many people waiting for Uber cars. Have had it happen a couple of times where people started to get into the car that was there for us thinking it was theirs. Thinking they would have been in for quite a surprise when they wound up at their destination if they didn’t happen to be going where we were! :o

It really is a quick and easy way to get around once you get the hang of it!

Any suggestions on locations, excursions, or private tours for snorkeling?

Definitely check out Calabaza in Barbados! Still think that was one of the best tours we have ever done! They only take a handful of people so not crowded at all and very personalized service. The sea turtles were just amazing! Lunch, drinks and the crew were also excellent!

We are scheduled to do Woodwinds in Bonaire this May. Haven't done it yet but it does have great reviews and we are looking forward to it!

Surely you could have thought of a better thread title. I'm sailing on Silly for the first time in March and truly expected this to be a report on the ship.

So you clicked and the topic wasn’t what you expected or useful to you. Happens all the time.

There are many threads that are exactly what you are looking for. No reason to scold the OP for posting a question that they had and wanted to know the answer to just because you wasted a click and 5 seconds to find out it didn’t apply to you.

For sure the rates may vary based on time of year and ValueTrips has some black-out dates but for our reservation this May the rates are:

Member Rate $180

Advance Purchase (non-refundable) $186

Standard Rate (refundable) $199

ValueTrips Rate (refundable) $119

Pretty good deal!

Definition of chuffed: British

: quite pleased : delighted

What a great deal!!

Hope this comes through... I put this together this morning - Compares Classic and Premium alcohol selections. CHEERS

Very nice list! Thanks for taking the time to put it together and share!

Once we did something similar - 5 nights out of 10, and we could tell our table mates felt uncomfortable with us doing that, and frankly somewhat miffed.

When I've been at a communal table, I've often seen the server bring the two ordered entrees at the same time.

That has been my experience as well. I wouldn’t dream of ordering more than one thing if it meant they were brought out one at a time while everyone sat and waited!

What we did find important was getting to know one's sommelier more than the waiter. The sommelier can perform all sorts of miracles with supplied wines that we don't even see behind the shades.

Yes!

We booked a table for 2 on early dining seating.

Just to clarify, I’m talking ordering one or two things extra and not everything on the menu. I am a “little” bit of a slow eater but we’re not talking hours slow…lol

I didn’t know that you could ask for a table for 2 in Traditional Dining. Called Captain’s Club today and had that request noted on my reservation!

Seems like the perfect solution to me!

Many thanks to all who took time from their day to respond! It is truly appreciated!

We are booked on what will be our 4th cruise with Celebrity next May and have selected Early Traditional Dining for the first time.

The first 2 cruises we were Aqua and dined in Blu at a table for 2. The last cruise we chose Select with a table for 2.

We really did enjoy conversations with those at the tables next to us on our previous cruises, especially since the tables are really close. But our table, while close, was still separate. This will be our first time dining at the same table with others so have a few questions.

We like to try different foods and may at times order 2 appetizers (or none if nothing looks good) or an entree plus one to share, or maybe even 2 each if it's a really good night, etc. So not necessarily picking one from each category. I also tend to be a bit of a slow eater. Are we going to mess up the service flow if we do that?

I'm guessing that if we will not be at dinner on a particular night, we should let our table mates and server know so they are not waiting for us. Correct?

With the current specialty dining package discount sale we are considering buying a 6 night specialty pkg (which is the smallest pkg with the discount). On a 10 day cruise if we were to be eating elsewhere for 6 of the days would that be rude to our fellow table mates?

Considering maybe getting on the waitlist for Select if that would make more sense for us.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Bonnie was my first wife's name and let me tell you she came with a whole host of unpleasant side effects!!

announcement and discussion is at the top of the page

Sorry for the duplicate! I see it is up in the "stickies" section. I looked through the regular posts but didn't check there!

Just saw this announcement today! Sounds like some pretty extensive upgrades coming down the pike in the coming years.

https://www.celebritycruisespresscenter.com/media_photos/1507234950_Celebrity-Revolution-Infographic.jpg

We ate at La Bamba Mexican and Spanish Restaurant in the Harbor Shops plaza right near the hotel when we stayed last December and thought it was very good!

My husband had the carnitas and I went with the picadillo, black beans and rice along with maduros plantains. Both were very good! Margaritas were also quite good! Very reasonably priced too!

Not Florida seafood but sure hit the spot!

He definitely agrees that our policies (again, we can NOT speak for all policies) DO require covering all 'payments' (refundable or not).

We also go through Steve at tripinsurancestore and have used Travel Insured several times. Have spoken with Steve and Becky quite a few times with questions about what does/doesn't need to be insured to maintain the pre-existing waiver.

You only need to insure your pre-paid and non-refundable expenses. So anything that you have already paid (not just guaranteed) that would not be refunded to you if you were hit by a bus as you were pulling out of your driveway to start your trip.

The tricky part comes when you leave a couple days before your cruise and your hotel or other non-refundable expenses hit your card a couple days after you have departed in case you are a no show. So now it is not pre-paid (prior to leaving your home) and is not refundable. This meets the criteria of non-refundable but not pre-paid so, to my understanding, would not be covered and does not have to be insured.

Travel Insurance only covers anything that you cannot be reimbursed for from another source. Whether it be through a refund from the cruise line, an excursion provider/hotel, etc or, if your policy is a secondary policy, after your applicable primary health, home owner's, etc policy has paid.

There are some gray areas that still puzzle me as to whether or not to include them. In that case I tend to err on the side of caution and bump up into the next $500 bracket of coverage and it's usually not all that much more.

A link to some pretty good info on the pre-existing medical coverage waiver from Steve's site.... https://tripinsurancestore.com/how-travel-insurance-pre-existing-medical-conditions-coverage-works/

Hope this helps a little.

It's all really kind of confusing. Good advice also that, when in doubt, talk to the professionals.

Edited to add: Some of the expenses that you don't necessarily have to insure "may" come in to play under trip interruption insurance. I just haven't personally researched that as much. Also, in order to have the pre-existing condition waiver for most, but not all, policies you must purchase the insurance within so many days (varies by company) of putting your deposit down for the cruise, even though the deposit is (most times) refundable.

When we did his tour (2015) I did have to email him a couple of times but I think it was because they were traveling and enjoying some time away. This was in late August/early Sept timeframe.

I emailed him, waited 3 days or so and then emailed again and he responded a couple of days after that. A lot of tour operators take their vacations during the "off season" months but he has posted pictures of his tours on his website the latest of which was just a couple of days ago.

I was able to get to his Shutterfly page so not sure what happened there. Here's the link https://myislandstours.shutterfly.com Email I used was what's listed on his website (myislands@aol.com). I think I would email again. Sometimes emails get lost.

Best of luck!

It is a shaded section of the plexiglass that you can see through but it does have somewhat of a mirrored quality to it that, in my opinion, wouldn't be something I would like. The cabins themselves are in a great location and many have only a piece of the plexiglass that contains part of the X so wouldn't totally rule it out. Just depends on what is important to you.

Here are some some photos someone took that I saved away when we were looking at Solstice a few years back.

They may give you a better idea of what I mean. The X is only across the hump cabins on Solstice and not the other S- Class ships.

Hope this helps!

Edited to add.... Also the angle of the camera may slightly exaggerate the reflection because it also shows the cabin balcony divider's reflection quite clearly in the non-shaded area of plexiglass and I don't recall ever seeing such a strong reflection on the "regular" cabins railing.

I believe on the first Chic night they serve Tournedos of Beef which I always thought was a small filet. Usually very good. Haven't been in the MDR for awhile so I'm not sure that's still on the menu.

Not sure I would try the extra fee steak in the extra fee restaurant on the cruise I have already paid for my dinner in theory.

My husband said the same thing almost verbatim!

This thread from last spring has a link to fairly recent photos of MDR menus (as well as other menus) for a 7 day Silhouette Carribean cruise.... http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2337209

We used them to plan for our Dec 2016 Silhouette cruise and they were still correct at that time. Menus and days served are subject to change, of course, and not sure how 9 days vs 7 will impact things but the photos should at least give you an idea of what types of things were served.

Funny but I never noticed that there wasn't a filet mignon night but then I'm not a big beef eater. Pretty sure my husband had the filet the night that we went to Lawn Club so that probably kept him happy...lol

Hope this helps!

Thank you all for the info and suggestions!

We went ahead and booked our first 10-day cruise (and our first on Equinox) this morning! With the exception of Aruba, where we spent our honeymoon 30 years ago, we have not visited any of the islands on this cruise. Very excited!

We are considering booking a Southern Caribbean cruise for early May 2018 out of Miami and have a couple of questions that I hope some of the frequent cruisers can help answer.

We have cruised just a few times all with Celebrity and all in the late October-early December time frame. This will be our first foray into the Spring season and also our first 10 day cruise (the others have been 7 day; 2 from San Juan and 1 from Port Everglades) and are just wondering how it may differ.

So the questions…

- Is early May still considered Spring break time or end of school year celebration time where there would be more college kids or children on board than normal?

- How does the weather in Florida/Southern Caribbean compare early May vs late Oct-early Dec?

- We would be flying in a day early to FLL (have a compensation voucher for JetBlue). Would you stay the night there and travel to POM in the AM or stay in Miami?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide!

I have to agree that many times questions are posted that a really quick search would have answered and sometimes I do roll my eyes a bit. But, since I'm not the one answering the questions I figure no biggie.

My pet peeve tends to be more when a question is asked and people take the time to answer, whether it be on this thread or any of the forums here, how few people come back to acknowledge the response or to give a simple thanks.

Being fairly new to cruising I try to contribute when I feel I may have something to offer even though I am fairly limited in that capacity. But I always take the time to thank those that have taken their time and knowledge to provide input to me to make my experience more enjoyable even though they really didn't have to!

They are the backbone of what makes this site work!

Thinking about doing this excursion in June 2017. Does anyone know what the "Skyline Drive" portion of the excursion entails? Does it take you to Drake's Seat or near Blackbeard's Castle?

When we did it through Celebrity in Oct 2015 there were two stops. One was at Mountain Top where there is a souvenir shop for quick shopping, a banana daiquiri and a photo op. There was also a restroom here. The other was at a pull-off area that overlooked the Havensite cruise ship port for another photo op. There were also some vendors there with tables set up selling T-shirts, hats. etc.

I wrote about our experience with the excursion here... http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2421498 (Post 18).

Hope this helps!

We we put into a Uber vehicle a few weeks ago before we realized it wasn't a taxi.

I am sorry that you had such a bad experience but I am not sure how that could have happened with Uber. It almost seems as if there was something shady with whoever put you in that car because, unless something has changed very recently, your Uber car would have been requested using an app on your phone. You would see the amount it would cost before agreeing to it and, since Uber is a cash-less system, payment would be made via whatever payment method you have on file with your Uber account.

We have used Uber in Miami and Fort Lauderdale and it has worked out fairly well. I liked being able to see the price up front as well as the driver's current location and estimated time to pick up. Something to be aware of though is they have periods of time where they may be super busy (lots of cruise ships, festivals, etc) where the rates can be significantly higher than normal (surge pricing) but that will be noted and reflected in the price you are shown in advance of confirming your ride request.

Have done Javin's tour and loved it! General info from our day can be found here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2448835&highlight=javin Anything specific you'd like to know?