miched

A few years ago I used a TA that participated in group rates.  If I booked for the group rate to get the extra OBC I would have to pay a larger deposit.   That was before Celebrity start the refundable and non refundable rate.   He was the owner of the travel agency and had a stroke so no longer in business.   I have since used a warehouse store.   So I don’t know if group rates want more deposit.   The best thing about using those certificates is the OBC and if booking a non refundable rate you only lose $100 instead of the regular amount required.

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

My only reservation about that cabin is that it is on deck 6.    What is below it?   Deck 5 that is a part of the common area and above the Raw on 5.     Can be very loud during the evening from the activities going on in that area.  
 

The other is all of the Retreat areas are on the upper decks at the bow.   The MC cabins are more in the middle  of the ship.   You will have a little distance to walk to the elevators or stairs.  Even if you are capable of using the stairs those areas are many flights up from deck 6.  They are on 15 thru 17.   So for the most part you will always using the elevators instead of the stairs for a few decks if you were on the decks where most suites are located.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Try to find any VP machines with 9/6 in Vegas or casinos in any state.   As rare as hen’s teeth.  
 

Hppy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

On 9/16/2024 at 9:21 AM, thebutlerdidit said:

I don’t normally choose chocolate desserts, as the caffeine in chocolate can keep me up all night. But I saw the chocolate pill pass by on its way to another diner and had to try it. It was very good! 
 

That is the only thing worth ordering.   I always asked the servers and they would never approve or recommend anything else on that menu.    
 

You have to remember it from the main menu as it isn’t shown on the desert menu.   We overlooked it on many cruises because of that until one night the assistant server asked us if we ever tried it.   She suggested  it and we have been ordering it ever since.  A must do for any chocolate lover.  
 

That rest of the menu is as bad as the Kelly Hoppen designs.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Look at the menus and decide what you would like and appeals to you.   We have done it a few times.    Our problem was way too much food.   Was it better quality or that much better?   Perceived value,  pay more then it has to be better.   I have a lot of OBC on our next cruise and doubt if I will book any.   I will try to get it back in the casino and then when I get home will splurge  to dine at the White Porcelain Castle.  🤪😱🤗

This is my opinion and I am sure others will have different ones.   Some may agree and others won’t.   
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

The Reflection is the last design of the S class.  The Reflection and Silhouette have the most specialty restaurants.  If those aren’t of any interest then the other S class ships are just as good.  
 

If in Aqua the Persian Gardens is the best with more features on the Reflection. 

If in a regular veranda you will not notice much difference in any of the S call ships.   They are all very nice.  Choose the one with the itinerary and time that suites you.

Unless there is a reason to stick with a S class I would suggest the Edge class.   The only thing some don’t like is the infinite verandah but it is a love hate thing.  The pluses of the edge class offsets the few negatives of the IV.  

Happy cruising 😱🚢🇺🇸🌅
 

If you plan on using the X app for messaging you have to keep checking it as it send no notifications.    Almost useless.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Why would you want to get upset and ruin your cruise by watching the results?  
 

If that is what you want to do I am sure there will be an app or website you can watch or as others have said in your cabin.   Recently I was at the doctor’s and the food network was on the tvs in the waiting room.  I asked the receptionist about that and she said that it is the only channel they found that didn’t cause arguments and fights in the waiting room.   😱

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅 

When it is the lowest???    Problem is it is like the stock market with the disclaimer that past performance  does not guarantee future results.   Try to figure out when it is the lowest, same applies to cruises.  
 

Best time to buy is when you find the cruise and cabin you want.   Adjust if it goes down. 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Don’t get one next to me.   I am hard of hearing and have the TV turned up full volume.    My wife also likes to have the TV on all night.      

I also play drums in a heavy metal band and am always pounding on anything and everything trying to find a new sound. 
 

My wife is also a screamer.   She was a groupie and we fell in love because of our wild times together after our shows.  
 
Not true but it can happen to have a very noisy neighbor.  We had a few.  One was when smoking was allowed on the balcony.   The male would sit on the balcony smoking and have their door open.  He was facing away from the door and talking very loud to his wife that was in the cabin. 

Another time some kid was  on their balcony practicing their trumpet every day and night.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

I am going to be on a 11 day cruise starting on Sept 30.   I checked the app for our dinner menu.   It cut out after 7days with a blank screen.   Basically giving me the 7 day menu and not showing anything after the 7th night.   From previous cruises and tours of the galley  I know that they have different menus according to the length of the cruise.  When touring the gallery I seen posters  showing the menus  for the each length of a  cruise. 
 

The App sucks.   It is hard to negotiate and not reliable.

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅 

I called this parking lot.   I am on a 11 day cruise.  I was told that the parking would be $200 and I can just drive up without any reservations without any problems.   Apparently I am getting the 2 week discounted rate.   This is a lot cheaper than the one that is recommended by Celebrity that is the Falcon lot.   They wanted $350.  
 

Hope this helps. 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

57 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

We used the Fargo lot in July, but we took the shuttle rather than walking. We lucked out as the shuttle had pulled up right next to our car we so hopped on board and were off in minutes. We did arrive very early, so the traffic around the one-way "loop" was light and it didn't take us long to get to the embarkation/luggage drop-off point. If this 40-minute wait is typical at peak embarkation time then walking is certainly easy and would be a lot faster than 40 minutes ;o). You can get a feel for the walk by looking at the route on Google Street View, the only problem spot would be right after leaving the Fargo lot. You have to negotiate the very wide and busy Summer Street which could be fun if you are dragging suitcases (we never travel light when we are driving to a port). Once across Summer, it is an easy walk to the terminal. I would guesstimate it would be about a 10 minute walk from the Fargo lot and Google SV agrees with me.

Thanks for the reply.  My wife is claustrophobic and wouldn’t like being on a crowded shuttle for 40 minutes.   She won’t  get on an elevator if it is crowded and will get off if a lot of people enter. She will no longer fly so we drive to the ports and do road trips. 
 

Is it suggested to have reservations or just drive up?  I read that cruise passengers get a discount by showing their cruise ticket.  Is this true?  

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

On 9/9/2024 at 4:21 PM, dsarah said:

We are back from our cruise and so glad we followed the recommendation to not drop off one person with luggage at the terminal while the driver went to the parking lot. We left on Wednesday, Aug. 28 and traffic was absolutely horrible.  Maybe something was going on?  We parked at Fargo and luckily the shuttle driver squeezed us on. It took the shuttle around 40 minutes to go from the lot to the cruise terminal which is a 5 minute drive! The process at the terminal was very disorganized, and porters were hard to find.  We vowed to never leave from Boston again. 

Would it be better to walk instead of taking the shuttle? 5 minute walk doesn’t seem that far even with luggage as we have probably walked further with our luggage at the ports in FL. 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

During the first few days of the cruise go to GR and ask for a printout of your folio.   Then using the printout have them show you what is refundable and not refundable.   Then ask what happens to the refundable if you don’t use it.   It is best to find out from those in charge and before the end of the cruise at the last minute so you have a chance to use it. 
 

The casino may be very crowded on the last night as passengers will be trying to use their NR OBC and the machines you may want to play will be occupied.   We play VP and try to use ours during the earlier part of the cruise because that. 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

We drive to FL and use to buy liquor on board.   We found that Total Wine,  or Costco in Fl  had better prices and we didn’t have to deal with carrying it off of the ship.  If we drive  thru Kentucky we would stop at both of those stores because their prices were even better.  Indiana now has the best prices if you are in that area.  KY is good for bourbons that you can’t get anywhere else.  
 

The duty free shop on board will match any liquor prices that are on the Islands.   Problem is you have to have a receipt or photo.   The stores watch you like a hawk to prevent taking photos.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

If you want the points then pay the full price.   You are getting the room at a discount.   It  is the same as if you got a free upgrade.   You don’t get the extra points.    

When you move up to a suite you don’t get the perks that come with it, you only get the amenities.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Handle with care, this side up, fragile, delicate, glassware and etc.   all any of that means is toss it and handle like anything else.   

Remember the scene in Farris Bueller.with the Valet? 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

4 hours ago, hcat said:

or not deaf yet!

loud does not improve content!

The old joke for a rock band “if you can’t play, play loud”.    In the 70’s a friend went to a rock concert.  Naturally I asked how was it?   The answer, they were fantastic.  They really played loud.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

I think It depends on the length of the cruise, and/or category.   Sometimes even the TA.   Some TA’s want the money ahead of the time so they can make sure that the payment is made on time. 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

If you go to a TA make sure that there is more than one person that you can deal with.  I had a great TA and used him for many years.   He was the owner and a had a secretary.   The problem occurred when he had a stroke.   I had about 5 cruises booked with him and had no way to access them.  I would try to contact him and never got any return calls or emails.  He was also a widower.   I didn’t know what happened.   He was going to give the agency to his secretary when he retired but quit about  6 months prior to his stroke and he couldn’t find anyone to take her place.  He recovered enough to give access to another TA and they contacted me and told me about his stroke.  The service wasn’t as good and I was basically stuck with them.  I never booked any new cruises with them.   I changed to a Big Box agency and haven’t had any issues.  I think they give 5% on store credit.  They don’t participate in the move up but I am not interested in paying more for something that isn’t in my budget because it is a “good bargain.”

I have kept a few with Celebrity and they didn’t really do anything special and the waiting time to get thru was as bad as it usually is.   The TA deals with that for me.

Another thing to think about when dealing with Celebrity is they only deal with Celebrity cruises.   It is nice to have a relationship with a TA that gives other travel options.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

I learned my lesson about wearing water shoes when in Jamaica staying a a resort.   I went into the water for my wife to get a photo showing the sunset.   I was walking backwards per her directions and it felt as if I was stepping onto a broken glass bottle.  I immediately backed off.   When I got out of the water my foot looked as if I stepped on a pin cushion.   There were a lot of little black marks that looked like slivers.   I went to their medical department and I was told that I stepped on a sea urchin.  She said that I was lucky that I didn’t fully step on it as many do that ends up causing a lot of medical issues.  She gave me a salve to apply on my foot.  
 

That is very cruel about the tails being removed.    Personally I don’t get the fascination of swimming with them, dolphins, turtles, and yes even pigs, or riding on a swimming horse.  There is a reason that they put bags under the horse’s tail and I don’t want those apples floating around me.    I always think about the cowboy bandits riding away after robbing a bank.   They have to be easy to find as the horse always leaves a trail to follow.    
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

I receive Emails from this person who is an avid wild adventurer that does a lot of travel that involves stuff most would never do.   Here is an article about his unfortunate encounter with a Sting Ray.  
 

He is a mathematician that has a website about gambling that gives the odds and strategies on just about nothing or game you can think of.   He recently did one about playing Deal or No Deal on a Celebrity ship.  

https://wizardofodds.com/newsletter/sting-ray-encounter/

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

If you value it don’t send it to the laundry.

Happy crusing 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

We will be on the same cruise.  We booked this tour.   It takes you to the Pacific 

Destination Highlight: Panama Canal Locks and Culebra Cut Cruise

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅