lhbsurf

I was hoping to see some replies to this topic...my kids are going with our grand kids, ages 7, 7, & 3 and are asking for what to do here.  Did you find anything?

I did this and it showed the excursion booked, but it still showed I owed a balance for the shore excursion when my TA looked at it on her screen.  She had to go in and use the OBC to pay for it.  I could not.

8 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Exactly what I am saying 

That's good to know - I've been denied it so often on Royal and Celebrity that I quit asking..... managed to buy 100 shares years ago at $13.85 and originally worked well and paid for itself many times in dividends and OBC.  Later, they started denying the OBC's because I had gotten some perk or other (I could never exactly tell what it was).  I didn't even ask for it for my 12 night Transatlantic... but I will for the upcoming B2B in Australia!  Thanks for the info! 

Moonhearts,

Not to discourage you, but I just returned from Marina on a 34 night back-to-back. On our cruise, there was exactly one teenager (she may have been early twenties) on the first leg. (I didn't see any on the second cruise.) She ended up hanging out with another British couple she liked so she didn't have to stay with her parents 24/7.

I am 52 years old and was called "the infant" on this cruise by many of my fellow cruise mates. As you already knew, Oceania is not a cruise line many of us would choose for our children (mine are 24 and 28 and I wouldn't even consider taking them - they would be bored with the ship and the extra cost would just not be worth it).

That being said, to me, there are 2 parts to a cruise vacation - the ship and the ports. The Greek Islands are amazing and I'm sure you'll have an awesome time there. While there probably won't be an abundance of teens for you to hang out with (though maybe a few more than on our itinerary which was South Pacific/Panama Canal), the ship is beautiful with awesome food and amazing staff. If you adjust your expectations (it will NOT in any event be the party atmosphere you'd find on Carnival or Royal Caribbean), I would think you could have a pretty awesome vacation. If your parents are older (maybe you arrived late in life?), I don't see Royal Caribbean or NCL being a very good fit for them, so maybe you can consider it a free opportunity to see an amazing part of the world at a very young age (we did not take our kids on any of our European cruises - you're very lucky really). You'll have lots of opportunities to do vacations exactly as you wish to in the future!

Thank you for your reply.

We are booked on the Oceania Marina in January 2019. Let me know how you like Oceania.

We will be flying out of Atlanta to and then on to Papeete.

Is this what you did?

Did you buy your round trip airfare from Atlanta or as two round trip tickets?

Which airline did you use?

I am looking forward to hearing which Intercontinental area you liked better - Motu or Bungalows.

Thanks and have a great trip.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Why don't you send me an email at Lhbowles at comcast dot net and I can answer your questions more easily. I also took some pictures for you today that may help.

As to the Motu bungalows that had only two pilings in the water, I believe all of those were torn down during the 2015 renovation. There are definitely fewer in the lagoon area than when we were here last. We had some friends stay in one of those and when they got in the water, it was only waist deep. I did a walk around and all the current OWBs have all pilings in the water.

We have stayed in the Lagoon Overwater Bungalows twice (I don't know if superior or regular). I can't remember the first number, but the second time (2014) we were in 509 - very close to the end. They are on the left end if you are looking toward Moorea with the most gorgeous view and very quiet. The freshwater showers on the platform are the great - we never left the bungalow except to eat because it was so wonderful! Decent snorkeling right under the bungalows. I would definitely stay in them again. We are going again, leaving tomorrow and are trying the Motu bungalows, so I can let you know what I think of them in comparison in a few days.

Omg no! That certainly wasn’t meant as a dig! Really sorry if it sounded that way! Just explaining that I am only just learning about the different boards!

I've read your post 5 times and for the life of me can't figure out why the poster thought it was a "dig". It didn't sound that way to me at all! It took me a while to learn about the port boards and I would have appreciated someone mentioning them to me also when I was new to the boards. However, much of the info on St. Thomas may not be as relevant with the hurricane damage, as I notice that even Celebrity is only offering 4 excursions in this port.

We are also on the January 20th cruise. We have been to all of these ports before, but the hurricane gives a new wrinkle. It sounds to me like San Juan is still in big recovery mode. My mother is headed there in early January for a cruise beginning in San Juan. They had a lot of trouble finding hotels because many of the rooms are taken by workers helping with the recovery effort apparently. I'll post any info I glean from her about San Juan.

We elected to take a catamaran cruise to Nevis from St. Kitts. However, if you are at all interested in history, they have a wonderful UNESCO World heritage site Fort that we visited last time, with a visit to Carambola beach after.

From St. Thomas, we often visit St. John, but that doesn't seem like an option this time. We are going to play it by ear - probably shop some in the flea market area, maybe eat lunch downtown & shop there, and maybe take a taxi to Magen's bay.

As others have posted, we are making a bigger effort than usual to spend some $ on each island to help with their recovery, even though it is a small part. We are looking forward to some sunshine and warm weather!!!

We are booked in cabins 2223 and 2214 but have read a few negative things about chair scraping and noise from the bar. Should I switch cabins? Any thoughts?

Like previous poster, I avoid cabins under most public areas. I am a very light sleeper and the scraping chairs keep me awake. It doesn't bother my husband at all. It just depends on your preferences.

Is it possible to move down a deck?

Can somebody who was on the Reflection last week (or on this week) please tell me if the Elite Cocktail hour was held in a lounge, or if they issued drink coupons instead?

 

Thank you! Looking forward to our sailing on the 28th! :D

On the 14th sailing it was in the Sky lounge.

Hope you're having a great time! Enjoy dinner tonight....we have yet to do a Top Chef cruise but they sound like fun. Thanks for the update on the Molecular bar. We will be jumping on board on the 28th. If you happen to stop by the Martini Bar I'd love to know who is working there.

 

Cheers & Happy Sailing!

We were on this cruise last week and saw in the Martini Bar... Florin, Christopher, Joe, and one other I can't remember - sorry! Very busy most of the time!

We love the M Bar! Does anyone know is the main bartender on the Reflection?

Last week it was Stefan...

I'm not sure if I am relieved to know that was a real survey from Celebrity and not a virus-infected spoof or if I should be worried that Celebrity's marketing department took a "recreational" field trip to Colorado.

 

I don't follow X on FB so I didn't realize that those questions had been posted there.

 

I'm not really sure why I got the survey since I haven't cruised with Celebrity since 2012 and being in my mid-40s, I am probably not their target demographic. I have another cruise booked on Silhouette for next year so that may explain it. I'm really not good with word association so they probably wouldn't have liked my answers.

 

Last year my company was doing marketing research because the PR folks thought we should be known as the "Ferrari of our industry." They showed us a picture of a 458 Spider and told us to write down the first two things that popped into our head. My thoughts were overpriced and compensating for a lack of masculinity. Apparently the correct response was quick performance and high quality. OOPS! :o

I agree with ghstudio...I am in my upper 40s and I got the survey also...I'm guessing that makes us their target audience, but I don't quite know how to answer it...what I think they "currently" are or what I'd like them to be. Even then, I don't see how it tells them anything!! My best advise is to put the Martini Bar back like it used to be!!! But they don't seem to much care about that!

Jackie,

Upon reading your story, I looked at your signature to see if you were on Equinox, because my husband and I could see the end of your story transpiring from our balcony. We wondered what was happening, as it was obvious you were distraught.

Made me think about many things regarding our frequent travels...thank you for sharing your experience.

I know many things may not be "required" by the cruise line...but a company as powerful as Celebrity could do more than they did to assist you. Glad to hear your husband is ok.

We had to move a booking made on board during 1-2-3 Go promotion from December 2015 to November 2015. The cost of the cabins was the same...I was pleasantly surprised that TA was able to retain ALL my perks!

Experiences like Aussiecruzer's is what I am afraid of. Waiting two hours to tender is terrible! I really want to book a private whale watch, but don't know what time to book it for. Not booking until 4 pm will make it really difficult to also visit Mendenhall Glacier. But it seems unwise to book before then based on the above experience. Anyone else out there than can offer other experiences to know if that was an anomaly or pretty standard?

We were on Solstice tendering in Juneau August 2014...I must say it was horrible!! We waited 2 hours in the Casino for them to call our tender ticket. Unfortunately, I believe that is pretty much the norm. We went right at the time they said to get tender tickets....apparently, others were told to show up early and had waited in line over an hour to get a ticket, but they didn't get on much before us. Some people had luck waiting until about the time they wanted to leave and begging the cruise line personnel to let them on the tender...but I wouldn't do that personally.

We were late for our tour....but everyone else was also, so they waited on us for Harv and Marv's Whale tour (they were aware already that the tendering on Solstice was taking forever...I'd recommend taking the cell phone number of your tour operator as we did.) We were a nervous wreck, but it all turned out ok!! I probably wouldn't sail Solstice again just because of the tendering in Juneau.....but if I were on it again...I'd just be mentally prepared!!! I think we booked 4:00 which was the earliest they would book it and still had time for a quick trip to Mendenhall (to view, not to land.....).

Last August, I had a huge bouquet from Pikes Place Market in Seattle. The Hotel Manager saw me as I was boarding and took them from me and procured a vase - they were on the desk in our cabin when we walked in and lasted all week.

I don't think you will have any troubles - we have carried them on in Barbados and Tahiti too.

We've had 1540 on Solstice and loved the location! Booked it again on Equinox in March. I turned down the free Captain's Club upgrade, because I don't consider those cabins under the Aqua Spa and whirlpool/pool to be better. I am a light sleeper!

You will never be able to do the open market and Serfina's in the time allotted on the tours you mention. The line up in Serafina's is crazy most times and well worth the wait.......Lots and lots of stalls to browse through in the open market also.

We plan on taking the public bus when we go in April as we have been 2 or 3 times but never have enough time on excursions to see what we want to see.

We went to Serafina's on Bernard's tour and had plenty of time...I guess it just depends on how much time you spend in the Open Market....

We also are Captain's club members who declined the A1 in favor of our preferred A2. We chose an A2 (1540) slightly forward, under the hair salon. We've had one in same location in similar ship. The A1 they offered was under the whirlpool/aqua spa, which I'm sure would be noisy at times - and I'm a light sleeper. We also did not want the shaded balcony for a Caribbean itinerary. Just because it's location is "technically" better, doesn't mean it's a better cabin in my opinion. We passed and got a cabin we know we'll love. Plus the forward elevators are much less busy than others and you are so close to spa and Persian Garden's - it's great!

I just checked the flight prices and they are double what it costs to fly in to Seattle... So Seattle it is! Actually the other celebrity ships are more expensive too... Probably due to the more popular itinerary. We are booked in Aqua Class... Did you get an opportunity to check out the spa or Blu? I am thinking heated tile loungers will be a winner after a chilly day.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We had our first Aqua Cabin on Solstice in Alaska and loved it. I particularly enjoyed the heated loungers and aromatherapy sauna in Persian Garden. We also really loved Blu-the food was great! Breakfast is wonderful there too...the Oceanview Cafe was crazy busy (busier than any other Celebrity ship that I ever have been on!), so Blu was a wonderful place for breakfast (chocolate croissants were usually warm there!! plus they have amazing parfaits and fresh squeezed OJ). Another option was the expanded room service menu which we also used several times....was especially nice the day we were cruising Tracy Arm Fjord to eat breakfast in our room and be able to view the scenery and hear the commentary from the naturalist on our TV.

And.... I will second the previous accolades for the naturalist Brent Nixon. He is completely fabulous. We have heard talks on previous ships, but nothing like this ....he is amazing, a researcher and quite gifted entertainer/speaker - definitely go hear him when you can. He is much more than boring lecture (which I like anyway lol)....he DEFINITELY was a great asset to this ship and taught us so much about the wildlife and scenery we were going to see!!

Oh...and to your previous question about side of the ship...I don't think it matters really - plenty of scenery on both sides of the ship from what I could tell. We were in Aqua Cabin 1540 and loved the location.... so much so that I booked the exact same cabin for our Equinox cruise coming up in March.

Thanks for your response. I noticed that it says on the website: cruising the inside passage from 6:30 pm-10:30 pm... I am assuming that means it will be dark, right?

Do you have any recommendations for shore excursions? We have $500 on board credit and our beverages and gratuities are paid for so I thought it might be wise to use our credit for excursions. The only catch is that we would have to wait until we are on board to do that. Would that limit our choices?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

It's light a long time in the summer in Alaska, so depending when you go, it might still be daylight most of that time.

We did Solstice last summer...it was my first trip, so I thought the scenery was wonderful...if I had more experience, possibly I would have been more disappointed about the "Inside Passage", but I doubt it... I think the biggest drawback to the Solstice Itinerary is that it tenders in Juneau (or did last year) and it was a nightmare....we waited for hours to get off the ship and almost missed an independently booked tour.... be sure to be mentally prepared for this.

They used to let you double dip but no longer. 5 1/2 years ago the stock hit a low of the low to mid teens. I should have bought then! Have done ok though.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

I actually bought the stock from a Cruise Critic Member tip (years ago( that it was very low in my IRA at $13.85 per share...needless to say, I'm thrilled AND I have more than paid for the amount in my OBC.

However....that being said...I rarely ever get it anymore with all the promotions they run.

We also enjoy the food in Blu... especially for Breakfast. The Oceanview Cafe was just a zoo on our last cruise in the mornings....was worth the extra $$ just for the warm croissants, yummy parfait, fresh squeezed oj, and relaxed pace!!

I also really enjoyed the aromatherapy steam room and heated loungers, though I know many people don't - was like a mini relaxation spa for me most every day.

I'd go for it if it wasn't a huge amount more.

Thank you! Reflection is a beautiful ship. I see that you did the TA, was that your first one? I'd love to do one.

 

Congratulations! If you have any questions, let me know.

 

It really is a tough program, but it'll pay off!

Yes..it was our first and only Transatlantic so far. We weren't sure if 9 days at sea would be too many...due to Pod issues, it ended up 10 straight days -they cancelled Tenerife :( ....it was NOT too many. We agreed it was the most relaxing vacation ever. We had a balcony and spent many hours on it relaxing -- infact, most days, we didn't even know what day it was....heaven!!! Since most of the trip back is on the ship, gradually changing time zones, with a short (for us) flight home, we returned home very rested. If you get a chance to do a TA - I'd highly recommend it!!!

On Solistice in August, the chocolate croissants in Blu were usually warm....and divine!!! In Oceanview cafe, they were fresh, but never warm. But I don't think you could necessarily count on them being warm every day even in Blu. Thankfully they are small...I usually could stop at one....but the warm ones.....I had to have two:D!!! So yummy!!!