Just Back From Galaxy Med Cruise

All I Can Say It Was Fantastic Nothing Bad To Say About This Cruise At All Been On 11 Cruises I Think This Was Run The Nicest. Food Was Fantastic The Crew Makes You Feel Like A Prince And Princess. Weather Was Great. The Ports Were More Beautiful Each Day

Will Definatelty Recommend It

Thanks

Rhonda

Gee, tell us how you really liked it? :D :D

Seriously I am happy to hear that you had such a wonderful cruise. How did you feel about the condition of the ship itself? Rusty old bucket or classic dame?

Did the ship make the Turkish stops as scheduled?

So glad to hear things exceeded your expectations!

I was on this same cruise.

She's a 'classic dame'. In great shape. Were there rust spots here and there? Occasional time worn areas? OF COURSE!!! She's 10 years old but doesn't look a day over 3.

The crew is constantly cleaning and updating. All hot tubs/spas wre working. The Stratosphere windows are still fogged (probably will stay that way until drydock sometime next year). Celebrity's shows/entertainment are still inconsistant ('ELEMENTS' suuuuuucked!). The food was excellent. Orion dinners were stellar in both presentation and execution--- don't miss the Chateaubriand, it blows the filet mignon away. The service was superb! I actually heard a woman in the Oasis Cafe (buffet) complaining about the service there. ITS A BUFFET, MORON. You get your own food and drink and most of the time a crew member grabs you tray from you to escort you to a cleared table. What more do you want??? Maybe they could de-crust your specially requested fried bologna sandwich tableside!!! The buffet quality is better than the dining room quality on NCL.

Every crew member we encountered was pleasant, courteous and couldn't do enough for you. We did hear second hand of one bitter/nasty crew member in the dining room but that was from a couple that constantly complain... always consider your source.

I can't comment on shore excursions because we booked private drivers and did not use the ships tours.

Oh yeah, the beds ARE being swapped out. We had friends on the 9th floor and we were on the 12th floor in concierge class and both beds were great... no difference in quality even though CC is supposed to have pillowtop mattresses. We all slept like babies...

The Galaxy is a wonderful ship and her staff and crew treated us like we were VIPs. It was the best vacation I've been on in my 42 years... don't think I'll ever top it.

Please Rhonda and Stoneybeach - Tell us all about the excursions you took through the ship or on your own. I find this information really helpful in trying to decide on which excursions to pick!

Glad you had such a great cruise. We are planning this Med cruise for our next one. It will be our 1st on Celebrity.

Please Rhonda and Stoneybeach - Tell us all about the excursions you took through the ship or on your own. I find this information really helpful in trying to decide on which excursions to pick!

Glad you had such a great cruise. We are planning this Med cruise for our next one. It will be our 1st on Celebrity.

elainb: I'll jump in here as well. I was on Galaxy in June. I posted a review here:

http://www.cruisereviews.com/Celebrity/Galaxy45.htm

and some pictures here:

http://www.*****/travelpage/aspgallery/view_ad.asp?Ad_ID=2512

and here:

http://www.*****/travelpage/aspgallery/view_ad.asp?Ad_ID=2514 (Capri)

and here:

http://www.*****/travelpage/aspgallery/view_ad.asp?Ad_ID=2515

Note that there are two E Med cruises on Galaxy, 10 nights and 11 nights. The latter goes to Istanbul, and has a different route/itinerary round the Aegean as a result.

I too would like to know about the shore excursions "on your own" in Naples and Nice. Is there a way to see the Amalfi Coast with public transportation? I really would rather not use the cruise line excursions and have been unable to hook up with any group tour for Amalfi.

Tom_UK,

Thanks for the link to your review.

It is nice to hear some positive comments regarding Galaxy. :D

I too would like to know about the shore excursions "on your own" in Naples and Nice. Is there a way to see the Amalfi Coast with public transportation? I really would rather not use the cruise line excursions and have been unable to hook up with any group tour for Amalfi.

We were on the cruise before this one and agree it was fabulous. entertainment sucked though.

Book a private tour guide/driver we did and it was worth it. You wouldn't believe how narrow the Amalfi coast road gets. I doubt there is any public transport.

Good luck.

For Elaine & lilbit:

In Naples we had Carlo from Limoinrome (Claudio Caponera-- search the Europe board for his info & reputation). WONDERFUL. We omitted Pompeii so we could spend more time on the Amalfi Coast. We visited, in order, Ravello-Amalfi-Positano-Sorrento. Going the reverse direction skipped a lot of traffic. All are beautiful towns but our favorites were Amalfi & Positano. We had lunch in Sorrento WAY down on the docks at Delfino (?), I think. Not only superb, fresh seafood but Italian standards that were perfect (gnocchi, eggplant parm, roasted peppers, in-house made limoncello, etc...). It sits on a pier and juts out into the bay. Stunning views. Entire tour was 8hrs, 6 people, and around 600 euros. Carlo was excellent. Knowledgeable, personable, stopped where we wanted for photo ops... just a great guy.

In Nice we had Michele Legrand from Revelation Tours (also search the Europe boards for his info & reputation). LEARNED A LOT. We saw Nice, St Paul de Vence, Monaco/Monte Carlo, Eze and a lot of back country/short cuts that were beuatiful. Michele is EXTREMELY knowledgeable about the towns/region and its history. He knows special 'off the beaten path' places with beautiful vistas and panoramas. We got more than adequate time in each place and tons of information (written and verbal) in between stops. Michele even brings an iced down cooler of water and soft drinks for refreshments... not to mention his candy basket with Fragonard towelettes to freshen up with. Entire tour was 8hrs, 6 people and also just under 600 euros.

In both cases the companies/people are highly regarded on these boards. The ships tours for the same amount of time and less stops/towns are more expensive per person as long as you have 6 or more people to split it between. Personally, I would HIGHLY suggest a private tour over a ship tour if you really want to experience the local culture and learn about the areas and their people. A private tour also means less walking because the minivans/vans can enter places that busses can not. You are also not sharing the tour with 200 other people with fewer stops and less opportunities to ask questions.

Hope all this rambling helps you out....

Glad to hear the Galaxy is still doing well. We just booked her for Feb 23, 06 out of SJU 10 day Southern Car. Too excited. Even more now that I knew she is still the same excellent ship we sailed on 5 years ago.

Stoney - Thanks for the info. I can't believe it - we ate at Delfino's when we took a bus tour of Italy this past spring. The food was superb - the fish was the freshest I have ever eaten and the wine was also great. Got to love that Italian wine - no preservatives (and no headaches)! Good suggestion about doing the coast in reverse.

Please Rhonda and Stoneybeach - Tell us all about the excursions you took through the ship or on your own. I find this information really helpful in trying to decide on which excursions to pick!

Glad you had such a great cruise. We are planning this Med cruise for our next one. It will be our 1st on Celebrity.

in naples we did amalfi coast and sorrento tour which we loved was our second trip down the coast truly gorgeous. idont think there is public transportaion there. we did greek isles on our own they are small enough to do on your own took a bus up to oia on santorini definately worth it.

we did monaco own your own with nice trip through cruise ship. did mt etna and taorima in sicily trully gorgeous place and must to go. the last day we did the tuscan countryside tour which was fabulous. had lunch at tuscan farm house winery included with tour. yes the tours are pricey but then you dont have to worry about missing a train back to ship it all depends what you want to do and see. only places isaw ship was worn was outside by pool deck otherwise no signs of wear. it is beautiful ship was told they redoing her in april shes going drydock.. any other info i can give you? let me know

Rhonda

Could you please give specifics on your Nice/Monoco experience? I also was thinking of doing a combination ship/on own Nice & Monty Carlo. What particular ship tour did you take and how & what times did you go to Monoco? Before the ship tour or after? Sorry for all of the questions but Nice is my last homework assignment for our upcoming 11/10 cruise. Thanks!!!

hi we did nice and monaco on your own tour they took us to nice in morning monaco in afternoon. so we did lunch on our own in monaco lots of nice place to eat its small place so it left plenty of time nice we had a few hours much wasnt opened till around 10 am they have a great outdoor market which is fun..

will be glad to provide anymore info thanks

rhonda

We just returned from this cruise as well. The ship was fine. They were scraping, varnishing, and painting the entire trip which was a little bit of a nuisance I thought, but I guess it had to be done. It's kind of like wait staff sweeping the floor around you while you are trying to have your meal. Our mattresses had not been changed and our pillows left a lot to be desired, but we have really nice down ones at home so a little spoiled. The thallosotherapy pool didn't impress us, so we didn't pay the 20 bucks to partake.

The food was ok. We ate in the main dining room one evening, but enjoyed casual dining more. Just make your reservation by 5:30 each evening. Breakfast was our favorite meal and the sushi bar was nice.

We did the exclusive Amalfi coast and while it was on the expensive side for our budget, it was well worth it. We thought Sorrento and Positano were just fabulous and we enjoyed Pompeii as well. We did Mykonos on our own. This is just a great place to walk around. We took a mid morning tender and then spent the entire day there. Bought several hand made shawls and some nice jewelry. Also had lunch at a sea side cafe, sat outdoors and took in the beautiful scenery. The water is crystal clear. Great olives and wonderful wine.

Santorini...we did a tour here to the winery, but we could have done this on our own. We found a wonderful restaurant in the late afternoon and sat under huge yellow umbrellas and watched the first rainfall they had had since March. The sunset here was amazing.

Toarmini was the sweetest surprise. We did Toarmina on your own. Hiked up to the Greek Theatre and the views from there were superb. Found the piazza at the bottom of the hill and took in the vistas from there as well and got some great shots of the church...the one with the skull and crossbones. Loved shopping here.

Nice was on Saturday morning and we arrived in time for the farmer's market. Fabulous and one of the absolute highlights for us. We bought more great wine here, olives, cannolis, and ceramics. Left from Nice and was taken to Monaco. Beautiful and clean and the most wonderful garden we walked through to get to the palace. Arrived just in time for the changing of the guard. We found the people here much less friendly than in Italy. Not just us, we heard this from many on our tour. We were not loud, ugly Americans. Professionals, dressed appropriately, not demanding and can speak enough French to manage well. Still, we felt a chill that we had not experienced until this time.

Florence and Pisa on Sunday. I loved Pisa...there's nothing there really but the bell tower and the church or baptistery, but it's just beautiful and open and very lovely. I was most looking forward to Florence and we headed there in the afternoon. Arrived in time for Mass at the Duomo and this was very moving to say the least. The Church of Sante Croce is impressive as is the entire city, but it was the first place we encountered gypsies and pick pockets. The city itself was rather dirty and had a lot of graffiti and we found that tragic.

The biggest disappointment was our arrival back in the USA. We flew into JFK in NYC and we felt like we had landed in a third world country. Immediately upon entering the terminal, we were met with overlfowing garbage cans, the bathroom were deplorable and far worse than anything we had seen thus far. The seats were stained, dilapidated and torn. The place was a mad house. We kept our alcohol hand cleanser out and readily available. I will never fly into this airport again. Even after 8 security checks in Rome, I will choose it over JFK.

It is funny to note, we had read all the postings in regards to alcohol being brought onto the ship. My girlfriend decided to smuggle 3 bottles in and not tell me because I am such a 'rule follower'. When our luggage arrived to our cabin, I saw her face go pale when she opened her suitcase to find a little note saying her suitcase had been selected for a random search. Oddly enough, her liquor had been placed neatly on top of her folded clothes and their note laid on top of it. So much for smuggling it on. We also bought wine and brought back to the ship after each excursion. Not one time was it taken from us and held. It set out in our stateroom in plain sight.

And just a hint...you will need more Euros than you will expect. Many of the smaller shops and street vendors deal only in cash. We did our exchange on the boat at the bank but I saw many people using the ATM's. Another tip....ladies bring an over the door organizer for all of your toiletries. We were three women traveling together and this came in so handy, also... a power strip was a god send.

And last but not least, one of the best tips we got on this site, was to get cash advances at the casino on our sign and sail cards. This way it did not ring up huge finance charges on our charge cards for cash advances.

We enjoyed Karaoke both nights in the Savoy lounge and found the cocktails here were about $7.00 for what we were paying around $12-14 poolside. Stratosphere was fun as well... a little hoakey for my taste.

The one show we went to was 60's rock n roll and two of the dancers had wardrobe malfunctions and the audience got a full boob shot. The gentleman in front of us guffawed so hard, his false teeth flew out. That was hysterical.

Greek night was fun and the food there was pretty fantastic or maybe we were just starving after a full day in Mykonos.

All in all this was just a great cruise. The three places I would go back to would be Sorrento, Positano, and Taormina.

Have a great time and happy cruising.

StoneyBeach1 - Ted & Ann Marie, A few fellow Murlanders are sailing Galaxy next fall, and we'd love to have you join us at a get together we are planning to share your experiences and tell us what we have to look forward to. Please e-mail me at hmw608 at aol dot com. Look forward to hearing from you.

Yes, Rhonda, I agree with you all the way. The Galaxy is a

great ship and the crew makes the cruise everything that it

should be. 'Bless them one and all.

Thanks for your input on the connections roll call.

Being on it ahead of the trip did make the planning all

the more fun.

Moreover, being able to plan and share rides and tours

on it was a big plus financially and otherwise.

Hope more cool cruisers make more comments here

because it helps give others such useful information.

Now it's back to the oatmeal and old clothes--to REALITY.

Caio, Chris.

What a great report! We are doing this cruise on 10th November and I feel I want to copy your post and use it as my "official guide".

I thought we were all set to sail until I read your great advice. :)

Your pix are amazing. Thanks for sharing. Meg

I was on Galaxy in June. I posted a review here:

http://www.cruisereviews.com/Celebrity/Galaxy45.htm

 

and some pictures here:

http://www.*****/travelpage/aspgallery/view_ad.asp?Ad_ID=2512

and here:

http://www.*****/travelpage/aspgallery/view_ad.asp?Ad_ID=2514 (Capri)

and here:

http://www.*****/travelpage/aspgallery/view_ad.asp?Ad_ID=2515

Thanks for making available your gorgeous photos. Do you mind sharing what type of camera and lens you use?

Thanks for making available your gorgeous photos. Do you mind sharing what type of camera and lens you use?

Always pleased to share!

I've got a Nikon D70 DSLR. Most of the shots I've put on those pages were taken with the 18-70 kit lens that I bought with the camera, which I've always found to be a very good lens. However, the interior shots on Galaxy were taken with a Tokina 12-24 w/angle zoom, with the camera mounted on a table-top tripod and using a remote control to trigger it. I took about a hundred interior shots during the morning of one of the sea days: it kept me happily occupied for hours! And there are also a couple of shots (one from Capri, and one from Santorini) taken with the long end of a Nikon 55-200 zoom.

They were all taken as JPGs. Post-processing was in Photoshop CS, but only involved some levels adjustment where required and moderate sharpening.

Great photos Tom. Now I really can't wait to get there!

Mary Lou