chrismakris

Hello,

The itineraries for Galapagos 2017 have come out. I have made it my goal that this is my 40th birthday present to myself. We will be travelling in September. My question to you is which itinerary is better? Inner or Outer?

I always believe that situations like this should be resolved on a case by case basis. Hypothetically, should the OP just want to cancel altogether because of the emergency, then yes by all means dock the 50%.

A quick look on the =X= website shows that there are still cabins available in all categories except inside on her current cruise.

However in this case the OP wants to move her money to a different cruise. As long as its only the one time, if the cruise she wants to move her money to costs more and there are equivalent cabins available I don't see why =X= should not try to accommodate her as best they can. It's just good business sense. Happy customer = repeat customer.

Thanks for your replies. I just was thinking that cyber Monday deals might be better than waiting for upcoming cruise. Smaller deposit isn't that significant as a promotion for me. Also, since the beverage package isn't very important to me, but on board credit and free gratuities would be great

Don't forget that the beverage package isn't just about the booze. A few coffees, bottled water and pop can add up fast. On a port day with an excursion you could easily rack up $10-15 in coffee and water purchases between breakfast and grabbing when getting off/on the ship in port.

I would rather silence.

As far as their concerned right now everything is still a go and that's how you need to view it as well. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do some research into other ports in the area that Celebrity might have to divert to if whatever disagreement that the parties have can't be resolved.

Be prepared so when everyone else is up in arms because of a last minute change, you can sit back and make the decisions quickly because of it.

Normally when DW and I plan a trip there is usually a long discussion about where to go and how much to spend. When the 123Go All Inclusive sale came up, I decided to check to see what was available in September and October as we like to go away on vacation for our anniversary.

I booked the Summit repo cruise out of NJ at what I thought was a great price. We love the ship and the Caribbean. I have planned to surprise her on Christmas with the cruise as a gift. Since then the price has gone up $500/pp in the two and half weeks since I purchased it.

I couldn't be more happy right now. With the 123Go All Inclusive package I feel like Celebrity is paying me to go on their cruise.(As long as DW wants to go.)

How about you guys? Any stories on deals you obtained recently?

Lower deposit and an OBC are the main ones. If you book on board right now you could be looking at quite the bonanza of OBC if you book a Concierge or higher room with the 123 All inclusive(if they're combinable).

I am thankful that my brother married an American girl giving us another holiday to celebrate and another excuse to have turkey. ;)

In all seriousness. Happy thanksgiving to everyone!

The Summit attracts a more laid back crowd. If you're looking for partying til 2 in the morning then she's not for you.

The live music is great, the shows are above average at best but if you're looking for a hip where you can sit down and start a conversation with someone new the Summit would be a good choice.

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My wife and I were the same ages as you guys when we chose Celebrity last year for a Caribbean cruise. It was our first.

We were blown away by how nice everything was. From the food to the staff everything. We booked another cruise for the same ship 3 days in. The thing I liked most is that the ships are smaller. I never felt like I had to be wowed by anything.

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i must try this OLD fashioned ..im a manhattan drinker but i'd like to try this ... i just recently had a manhattan with makers and I liked it ... i will sample each of these on my next cruise in january

Oh you'll love them. If they have Makers and Woodforde, do one of each for sure and then stick with the one you like.

You bourbon drinkers need to come visit Kentucky and go on the Bourbon Trail. You visit the different distilleries, all have wonderful tours and sampling. There is even a "passport" you get stamped for each distillery you visit. It's a blast and Kentucky is beautiful! Come in the spring, see the foals with their mamas in the Bluegrass, and go to the races at Keeneland in Lexington in April and October, or visit Churchill Downs for Derby. First Saturday in May!! Central Kentucky is beautiful.

 

Shoot me, but my fav bourbon in an Old Fashion is Jim Beam!! Believe me, I have been drinking them for a longgggg time!!

That would be awesome to do. My brother and I have always talked about going to Churchill Downs for Derby Day because his birthday falls on Derby day every 4 or five years.

Now if I could get my hands on a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year Old. Then we're talking.

You an upgrade at any bar to the premium package. They will put a sticker on your Seapass card.

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Thanks all for your information.

I think we will leave the excursion early but instead of Maho Beach we will go to Orient Beach instead. We will be sailing on the Summit from Bayonne in October and Philipsburg will be one of the stops.

There will only be two ships in port that day will a total of 5500 pax The Summit will be in port for an extra hour over the one we're currently on. I think that will be the better choice.

That being said will there be any issues to consider getting back to the ship from Orient Beach? It looks like it's about a half hour taxi ride. Is that correct?

That's funny because I find Makers very sweet and Woodford less so. WR is relatively cheap where I live at $27 for 750ml so I'm amused the cruise lines all classify it as a premium option.

I find that Woodforde makes a better Old Fashioned than Makers. Now if they have Basil Hayden Bourbon on board then we're talking a whole diferrent story.

Up here a bottle Woodforde is $50. Dang taxes we pay

For some people(like myself) it's more about quality. I can definitely taste the difference in my drinks of choice when it comes to the brand used.

For instance. My drink of choice is an Old Fashioned. Under the classic package I would get Makers Mark. Not the best quality but decent. Leaves a little bit of an after burn though. With the Premium I get Woodforde Reserve which leaves a sweeter taste.

With beers its more about the craft beers if they're available. The generic Budweiser/Coors Light etc. give me real bad heartburn. Craft beers for some reason don't.

I definitely would do a quick look to see how many other ships are in town that day. If there are many and/or some of the huge ones, I would allow twice the time you think you would need. We gave up renting cars in St. Maarten because driving was just so horrible due to traffic.

There are two other ships in Philipsburg that day. The Eclipse and Regal Princess. Total capacity of 8400 pax that day. I looked into what was available on both ships and I'm gonna assume that there are 7000-7500 booked for all three ships.

Another issue with getting back from MAHO, we stayed for the planes, and took a taxi back, Took a while, but we got there. However the taxi driver left us off at a shopping village near the port (we assumed the ships were right at the waters edge we could see from the street...), we got out and started walking to the water to realize we had a 2 mile walk (er, uh jog) still to get to the ship.....We were the last 3 to get on board - the gangplank came up behind us. We had 5 minutes to spare :D Lucky, as it was a transatlantic sailing, and next stop to meet the ship was Southampton 9 days later!

 

They stop traffic at the street at the airport/beach when planes leave, so factor that traffic jam into your plans as well.

 

Traffic was a bear near the port, so the taxi driver clearly didn't want to deal with it, also if we sat in the taxi, it may have still taken that long or longer to get there.

 

Have you checked flight schedules yet? We found most big planes came in way after it was safe time to get back, but your times may vary.

I checked some of the websites that tell you what comes in and seems fairly consistent for what flights come in each day. The big AF/KLM is scheduled to arrive at 3:05 pm that day after looking on Expedia. If that is the case then we would leave right after it comes in. So 3:30 at the latest. Should give us plenty of time.

My timing for that day is as follows:

10:15 a.m. Excursion starts

12:45 p.m. Leave Excursion (Excursion is supposed to end at 1:15 with drinks etc. Gonna skip that)

1:15 p.m. Arrive at Maho Beach

4:00 p.m. Leave Maho Beach

5:00 - 5:30 p.m. Get to Ship

6:00 p.m. Sailaway

Does that sound doable?

Also how much would a taxi cost?

Hello.

The ship leaves at 6:00 pm that day. My thinking was leave the excursion at 12:45 p.m. (supposed to return to ship by 1:15). Get to Maho by 1:15 p.m. and leave approximately 4:00 p.m. Gives us about an hour and half to get to the ship.

Thanks all for the information

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Hello all,

I've tried asking this question last week in the Ports of Call section, but have gotten no answer as of yet.

We will be in St. Maarten and are planning on taking the America's Cup sailing excursion. We also want to go to Maho beach to hopefully see the big planes. Unfortunately by the time the excursion ends, we get back to the ship and take a cab to Maho beach the big planes will probably be over.

My question is can you instead of taking the Celebrity bus/van back to the dock, just grab a cab from the excursion spot and go on your own?

I figure this will save us time about an hours to an hour and a half depending on where the excursion takes place.

Thank you

Congratulations to you.

I must say that phoning up and getting all uppity on them was probably going to be a bad idea. I think you handled it correctly and got what you wanted. It's amazing how many people don't try to work with the company when a problem arises and instead go straight to being angry and what are you going to do for me?

Sounds good. Can't wait to get back to her in January.

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I wouldn't worry too much about it. We brought my father-in-law with us last year in a regular veranda cabin and we were just fine.

I'm assuming you're talking about shared spaces like the bathroom and such. Just try to time things right. Figure out who takes the longest to get ready and always start with that person. If your running behind someone can always go shower up at the spa/gym. That is a suggestion I've heard plenty of times on CC.

This is the argument my wife and I get into every time we go away, whether it be one night or one week or one month. I have a carry-on suitcase that I can fit one weeks worth of clothing in. I will buy clothes on the trip to wear and leave behind for charity clothes I don't need anymore. Washed of course. I come back even.

Now on to the Mrs.

She needs to bring one full large suitcase. Usually six pairs of shoes and two weeks too many of clothes. Our conversation always seem to go like this in my mind:

"Honey, you already packed a blue blouse. Why do you need another one?"

"Well, this one is more of a darker blue that goes with these shoes that I packed over here. The other blue shirt is a light blue that goes with that pair of pants and these shoes. Now if the moon isn't in the right position in the sky on the second Friday we are away then I will need these shoes to go with the dark blue top that I'm holding. And I can interchange with one of the four red shirts I'm bringing. What are you bringing?"

"7 t-shirts, 3 shorts, a pair of sandals, a nice outfit for formal night some underwear and socks and whatever I wear to the airport."

"You're such a guy!"

San Juan will be one hour ahead of EST and all the ports are on the same time zone. No need to worry about ship time.

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Thank you for this. It definitely makes things easier when trying to figure out between cabin categories with or without the promos.