chrismakris

Any of the convenience stores downtown should have them. Just do a quick search of 7-11 downtown Victoria or Shoppers Drug Mart. Should be within walking distance of what you're doing downtown.

I paid a $450 deposit.

 

How long do you think Celebrity was going to keep your money without ever telling the cruise you booked was gone?

 

All those cruises, all those people ($$$$$). This seems to be a scam?

 

CaptDave

Understand that nothing is official until all the paperwork is signed. Imagine if Celebrity had given you and everyone else back your money months ago and then at the last second the company decided to pull out of the charter.

Celebrity is now stuck with an empty boat. Everyone cruise money is now on somewhere else. They would probably have to discount rooms just to be able to fill them up.

While on most nights I believe I dress in what is now called"chic", I looked forward to the formal nights.

When was the last time you dressed up with your significant other for a night out that didn't involve a wedding or any other event that needed you to reach back into the recesses of your closet and dust off that suit or tux you bought 15 years ago.

I will miss seeing the couple in their 70's dressed up(much better than me) on formal night. Or the family who take their young kids to dinner all dressed up because now they don't feel they have to. These little things are what cruising great.

Everyone has a different idea of what chic is and I have a feeling this will cause more problems than enforcing a formal night dress code.

While I can understand why all of you are angry, I can't help feel sorry for the customer reps that you are dealing with.

They have to receive hundreds of phone calls of people who have had their vacation plans suddenly cancelled without warning.

Some will be ok as they will switch to another cruise, most will be angry and some will be irate. After dealing with many angry and irate customers I can only imagine where their heads are at. I would probably be a little short too. Just remember they aren't the ones who cancelled your cruise. The actual people that make those decisions don't have to answer the phone.

They probably got a heads up that morning or the day before about what was going to happen. Probably dreaded heading into work today.

I also agree that your compensation is unfair. $100 is a little out of sorts.

The fact of the matter is that Celebrity "rented" out their boat at a premium. No perks to offer, no price drops after final payment, nothing like that. Everyone who wants to drink will probably have to buy a drink package. All of us in their situation would probably do the same thing. At the end of the day the only people they are held accountable to is the shareholder. At the end of the year that's who they need to make sure is happy.

I'm assuming you are talking about the Westin Wall Center by the airport. It is about a half hour taxi drive to the port.

Other than a few little bumps going over a couple of the bridges it's a pretty smooth ride out to the port. In a private charter bus you may feel the bumps a little more which might upset him.

Wonderful story. Thank you for sharing with us. Sometimes we forget all the things the crew do to go out of their way to make sure we have an amazing vacation.

Hi Cruzeluver,

 

Interesting. I highly doubt Summit has been chartered for 3 months. I think it's a redeployment, and they are moving Summit elsewhere. We'll see how this plays out. Stay Tuned !

Not totally sure about the redeployment. She is still scheduled to do her April sailings out of San Juan. We'll find out more when the new deployment schedule comes out.

How about an Elite++(ZEN) that includes Elite+ perks plus 1 specialty dining for 2, free classic beverage package and a free 3 night Bahamas(OV) cruise at 1750 points?

You could. I guess. What time does embark begin and what time do you sail? I would probably want to get a hotel and grab a little bit of sleep before you get on your ship(Even if it's for 5-6 hours). The lack of sleep over 2 days might throw your body off and it might take you a couple of days to start feeling the same again. Not very good if it's a port intensive cruise.

With a 10:25 pm flight you can do quite a bit. First stop though has to be for lunch and I would recommend going straight to Salumi. Some of the best sandwiches ever. Either the Culatello or the Porchetta. Can't go wrong with either. Just get there early. There's usually a little bit of a wait.

After that you can work your way to Pike Place Market, Space Needle, Experience Music Project etc.

So our travel agent has been great at looking after everything for us BUT the results certainly weren't what we would have hoped....

 

 

 

AA has changed their schedule so dramatically that there were no "replacement" flights that made sense. We would have had 15+ hour trips, with redeyes landing the morning of the cruise, etc., etc.

 

 

 

So, we cancelled with AA and booked United flights to San Juan. Calgary to Houston to San Juan. Because the Houston-San Juan leg is a redeye landing at 6 a.m., we're flying the night of the 28th rather than the 29th during the day so we can have the one day to rest a bit and there's no extra night in a hotel (already have a hotel booked for the night of the 29th).

 

 

 

Our return flight is on WestJet, with just one stop in Toronto, but now we don't leave San Juan until 4 p.m. as opposed to 11:30 a.m....means we're getting back to Calgary very late, but at least only one connection.

 

 

 

Still a little bummed, though, as this ended up costing us an additional $200/each. If we had booked these flights back in March when we booked the AA flights, I doubt we would have paid this...

 

 

 

Thanks for the advice everyone! Very helpful!

Helpful hint with the Westjet flight to Toronto. We just took that flight back from San Juan and the agents didn't get there until 12:00 to start the check in process.

1) If you can check in to your flight before you get to the airport, do so. There is a separate line for those who just have to drop off bags.

2). If you can't, get there as soon as you can. The lineup stretches for quite a while.

3). You'll see a long lineup where everyone is lining up to get through security in the middle of the terminal. There are actually 2 checkpoints. Try the second one if the lineup is crazy long. Took us almost an hour to get through the first one.

Thanks so much for the advice! I'm looking at options now, both on AA and other airlines. We were so pleased with our original selection; this sucks as the other options are mostly 3+ stops, 13+ hours with redeye flights. We may miss the little time we had planned for in San Juan.

If you're going to red-eye it then I would try to leave Jan 28th and get into SJU on the 29th. Get to your hotel, grab a nap and take a walk around at night.

The nice thing about the Summit is that it does not leave until 8:30 pm but you can drop your bags off at around 11:00 am. That gives you all day to explore old San Juan before having to get back to the ship by 6:30 pm for muster drill.

Don't worry about it. AA should be able to switch your flights because of the itinerary change. There is a good chance there will be a re-routing. Fortunately you have given yourself an extra day to get there.

Either that or you will have to re-book.

Choice Air is supposed to get you there on time, so I wouldn't worry too much about it until you hear back from your TA.

There are only 3 certainties in life.

Death, taxes and Celebrity website issues.

Computerized? Yuck!

Agreed. They asked me if I wanted to play as there was one more seat but I politely refused.

Do they have poker - and if so, what is the level of play?

Just got off of Summit and they had a $60 Sit and Go tournament at a computerized table. That's the only poker game I saw go on the whole time I was on the boat. $2500 in starting chips and I think the blinds started at $50/$100. May have even been $100/$200.

Cab fare to and from the ship + any additional tips for exceptional service + whatever you feel parting with at the casino + tips for excursions.

Usually we take $600-$800 but we come home with some of it.

Cruise docks on a Saturday. Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam. It says it docks at 7:00 am. Currently, I am booked on a HAL transfer from pier to airport. I also booked my flight through HAL.

Plenty of time then. Saturday won't be that busy, so I don't foresee any issues then. Have a good time!

If it's a beautiful day I would either do Stanley Park or Granville Island. Leaving the downtown core to go up to Grouse Mountain just doesn't sit right with me with only a short window of time in Vancouver before you have to get back on.

I would personally do a stroll around Granville Island and have some lunch there while listening to one of the musicians play by the water.

Don't forget to grab a couple of Lee's Doughnuts before you head back.

What day of the week does your ship dock? If you are on one of the cruises that arrives on a weekday you might want to take a flight that's at least an hour later.

By the time you disembark and get through customs and grab a taxi you would probably be in the middle of rush hour. 45 minutes to an hour to get to the airport.

Then after you check in you would have to go through customs at the airport. 45 minutes to an hour depending on the lineup.

You would probably be running to your gate. And that's assuming everything goes right at the dock with ship being cleared on time.

If it's a weekend docking you might be ok. But better safe than sorry.

We attended the Galley Tour last week on Summit. During the Q&A I asked about the thought behind changing Normandie to Tuscan. I don't think the Food & Bev manager was too happy about fielding the question. He did say that it was to meet the perceived demands of the new way people want to dine (my interpretation of his answer). We are also quite unhappy with this decision.

I hate to see Normandie go. The lobster and tenderloin are two of my favorites. But I never saw more than 50% of the tables seated while we were there (or in the other Murano-esque restaurants on the other M-class ships). So I understand wanting to make better use of the space.

I booked last week on the Summit as well and the only reservation they had left was Friday at 6, so we snapped it up. While in there I observed that the restaurant was never full even though I got the last reservation

It then dawned on me why. Normandie is at least a 2 hour meal if you do the whole spectrum. Therefore it is a slippery slope booking each table more than once. The last thing you want is to have people spending that kind of money on a specialty restaurant and then having them wait for their table.

I'm going to assume that they know how long the average table sits at Tuscan and realize that it is much less than at Normandie. Getting an extra 4 or 5 tables a night over 365 days of cruising at $50 a person is hard to pass up.

Sooooo.......I'm thinking of retiring soon. Any chance you might have an extra certificate you'd like to hand out? [emoji13]

In all seriousness. Good on you. It's nice to see how much you value your employees.

Another way may be just to let her know that you will purchase an x amount of day cruise and for her to pick it out. You can then pay in full.

Don't forget that there is the BBB pricing structure as well to take into account.

Thanks for the advise...is it close enough to walk or will a cab be required?

Cab it there and then take the Aquabus across the harbour and walk back to your hotel. It'll be a little bit of a walk back but you can meander through some of the streets and do some more shopping if you like.

Don't forget to get a doughnut from Lee's Doughnuts. Some of the best in town.

I've never to my recollection had an issue with any of the food in any of the dining venues being too salty. You have to remember that they are cooking for so many people that over salting the food is never a good thing and they would rather let you decide how salty you want your food. It's why there is always salt on the table. [emoji6]

As for the sauces, that's the only area where I could see the food over salted. Just ask for it on the side and test it out. If it's too salty just add a little hot water to thin it out.

Yeah...another couple is going on this cruise with us and they have already booked QSuine...which I want to do but they did it on formal night...so hmmmm. I saw where Normandie is going away for Tuscan Grille...if they offer a good discount we may try it...I guess the Connie cruise will give us a taste of what to expect in the MDR.

 

I take it you had a great experience at Normandie? Looks like a nice place/romantic.

 

Thanks!

John

Qsine is good. If you choose to do it I would try to join your friends. Qsine is a venue that I believe is more enjoyable as a group though as you can fill up pretty fast as it is tapas style.

Normandie is true fine dining with table side cooking. If you do the whole spectrum of the menu(appy/salad/dinner/dessert/cheese) you're looking at a $250 dinner for 2 for $100. The service is wonderful and the food just as good.