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Lee & Mike's Cruise Notebook


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We wish we were doing that cruise!

 

No, we had planned to do the Equinox but things shifted. We found Celebrity's air to be as reasonable as anything. If you live anywhere near a border city, check fares from the U.S. as they're often less. We live in Ottawa and we found that fares were often cheaper from Brulington, Vt. or Syracuse, NY. We also found better fares from montreal or Toronto than from here.

 

Some say it is cheaper to buy a roundtrip Europe ticket than a one way. Maybe consider breaking your trip up into two tickets. One to get you to the port of embarakation and one to get you home from the end. There's a good web-site called kayak with the w's before it and the dot com after that we find most helpful

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Hi, Lee:

 

I noticed that Celebrity has "Family verandas" on Century (195 sq feet) which would solve the problem of their usual, smaller verandas (175 feet). Trouble is, they are on the back of the ship! Have you ever looked into the question of whether this is an undesirable location to have a balcony room? Thanks for your thoughts!

 

Rick and Cathie

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We like an aft balcony but some don't. The Celebrity ones are tiered like steps and so the people above and below you can see you. I also really like how quiet the corridor is because, naturally, nobody needs to walk past your room to get to theirs.

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We also heard about the vibration issue and the odd placement of the beds in the Aft balconies. You mentioned the small size of the 175-feet veranda on Century in your podcast but your rave review implies that you must have gotten over that. We do not like small rooms but it is probably hard to notice a mere 20-feet of difference. At least to avoid some of the horror stories I am reading about Aft balconies, I suppose 20 feet is no big deal.

 

By the way we enjoyed your pictures and Mike's report of the Carnival Dream! One question my wife just asked is do you think Century would be a good choice for 12 day cruise in the Mediterranean or should we wait and book a cruise on Brilliance later? Century stops in Sicily, Brilliance is Santorii, but Century is cheaper in September than Brilliance. We're all confused! But its a nice dilemma to be confused about!

 

Rick and Cathie

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We've had afts on RCL ships but never on a Celebrity one.

 

In the Med., we think what you want is a really comfortable ship. Either Century or Brilliance would count as comfie. Brilliance has two specialty restaurants but the one on Century is truly special. The martini bar is great on Century and the Champagne one is great on Century. They're both terrific ships and I would go for the better price.

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Thanks, Lee. My wife just told me that this really answers her question perfectly. You guys have just been so helpful and we hope that some day we meet up with you on a future cruise. Keep those reviews and podcasts coming (not to mention the sensational pictures)!

 

Rick and Cathie

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Lee:

 

I put in a plug for your podcasts in a posting I placed on a board for our upcoming Mediterranean cruise on Century on September 7 (Yes, we booked). I also put out the word to people sailing on that cruise that we would like others to consider joining us on the tour with Sylvie Di Christo.

It then occurred to me that since you have so many friends who cruise, and since you have travelled with Sylvie, that you might keep this in mind if you learn of any friends planning to cruise on Century in September. I know that's a stretch but, if you know of any, please let them know that we are looking for others to join us on the tour with Sylvie.

 

The message I posted read "My wife and I will be sailing on Century on Sep. 7 and we have booked an excursion in Villefranche with Sylvie De Christo, who has a great reputation as a tour guide. We are going to see some of the lovely hill towns around the port, but not Monaco. We are hoping that others will join our tour because we like to tour with people and also the cost goes down the more people join the tour. So far there are only my wife and I but I believe the cost per person is 70 Euro per person if there are 6-8 people in her van. She's not cheap but she has a terrific reputation. You know this if you have listened to "Mike and Lee's cruise" podcasts. Let us know if anyone is interested."

 

Thanks,

 

Rick and Cathie

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Hi - I'm one of the readers that picked up on the word Rick and Cathie (tiptop33) put out on the Sept 7 Century rollcall. I never would have found it otherwise. I love your website, there's so much helpful information that you have posted. This will be our first Mediterranean cruise and I'm really overwhelmed by it all. Your site is a help in what to expect at the ports.

Patty

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Mike and Lee-

 

Thanks for the great site with reviews of your cruises. Awesome pictures and great information!~

Hoping to plan a Med cruise for 2011 on an S-class ship.

 

thanks again for taking the time to do such a detailed review

Debbie

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After a long absence due to technical issues, our podcasts are available once again for subscription through iTunes.

Search for Cruise Notebook in the iTunes store and click Subscribe.

 

(Any subscriptions made previously under the old name will no longer work. Sorry!)

 

I guess we better get to work, we have a few new cruises under our belt to talk about!!

 

Mike

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I posted a review on the iTunes site for your podcasts. It should appear there soon. The text reads:

 

"Mike and Lee, as a companion to their "Cruise Notebook" web site, have produced these extraodinarily professional dialogues based on their extensive experience cruising a variety of lines since 2005. They give you the straight, unbiased scoop about the process of booking, arriving, staying at hotels, embarking and enjoying what they have called their "obsession" with cruising. It may become your obsession too after listening to these two knowledgeable raconteurs. Ditch your tour guides or at least listen to these first!

Thanks for restoring these programs to iTunes.

Rick and Cathie

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After a long absence due to technical issues, our podcasts are available once again for subscription through iTunes.

Search for Cruise Notebook in the iTunes store and click Subscribe.

 

(Any subscriptions made previously under the old name will no longer work. Sorry!)

 

I guess we better get to work, we have a few new cruises under our belt to talk about!!

 

Mike

 

Awesome! Can't wait to hear about all your latest adventures!

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I posted a review on the iTunes site for your podcasts. It should appear there soon. The text reads:

 

"Mike and Lee, as a companion to their "Cruise Notebook" web site, have produced these extraodinarily professional dialogues based on their extensive experience cruising a variety of lines since 2005. They give you the straight, unbiased scoop about the process of booking, arriving, staying at hotels, embarking and enjoying what they have called their "obsession" with cruising. It may become your obsession too after listening to these two knowledgeable raconteurs. Ditch your tour guides or at least listen to these first!

 

Thanks for restoring these programs to iTunes.

 

Rick and Cathie

 

wow...thanks!!

 

Mike

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After a long absence due to technical issues, our podcasts are available once again for subscription through iTunes.

Search for Cruise Notebook in the iTunes store and click Subscribe.

 

(Any subscriptions made previously under the old name will no longer work. Sorry!)

 

I guess we better get to work, we have a few new cruises under our belt to talk about!!

 

Mike

 

I was so happy when I opened up I-tunes the other day and found your review of the Solstice cruise downloading. I really like listening to your podcasts via I-tunes on my I-pod. Please keep your reviews coming. I am going on two cruises in the next year with another one in the works that we may book for my sister's 50th birthday next week.

 

Brenda

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We agree. They do a nice job of covering all the cruise bases, from the cabins to the excursions to the ship facilities and the overall cruise experience. So many cruise critic reviews are professional in many ways but they tend to overemphasize or underemphasize one or another aspect of cruising. These are nice in that the different aspects all are balanced in terms of coverage. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that some things they prefer to ignore (rock climbing, basketball and the like) are also of no interest to us! :)

 

Rick and Cathie

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Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that some things they prefer to ignore (rock climbing, basketball and the like) are also of no interest to us! :)

 

There's rock climbing and basketball??? Oh, I think we passed those on the way to the martini bar....(hee-hee)

 

Thanks for the compliment!

 

Mike

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That's easy to explain-- the changing colors in the Martini bar must leave one "color blind" to the other locations on the ship. Or so the excuse goes (but who needs an excuse?) :)

 

Rick and Cathie

 

That's funny! One of the first times we were sitting there, it became obvious that mike was no longer listening to me. He was staring off into the middle distance and then said "Did you notice the walls are changing color?" He seemed to be worrying that he was having a stroke.

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  • 2 weeks later...
After a long absence due to technical issues, our podcasts are available once again for subscription through iTunes.

Search for Cruise Notebook in the iTunes store and click Subscribe.

 

(Any subscriptions made previously under the old name will no longer work. Sorry!)

 

I guess we better get to work, we have a few new cruises under our belt to talk about!!

 

Mike

 

Thanks for the wonderful reviews and photographs! I have three cruises planned and your blogs have been so helpful! Glad you had a good time and am looking forward to the next ones. Please do not stop cruising!

 

Nina

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I just tried to subscribe in the iPod store, but the "subscribe" button is greyed out and you can't click on it. Please tell me what I'm doing wrong! Thanks in advance for taking on such a project! :)

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I just tried to subscribe in the iPod store, but the "subscribe" button is greyed out and you can't click on it. Please tell me what I'm doing wrong! Thanks in advance for taking on such a project! :)

 

Don't know what would cause that...I just checked on iTunes and the Subscribe button is available.

 

Is this what you accessed on iTunes?

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cruise-notebook-podcasts/id355783040

 

BTW...just posted a new episode about Sapphire Princess. More to come soon.

 

Mike

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I just noticed this section of the boards after a couple of years of visiting.

 

We have a cruising-related web site which includes photos, journals, reviews, podcasts, Cruise Compasses (from RCI), tips and links to favourite cruising web sites.

 

Visit the site at: http://web.mac.com/thecruiseguys

 

Comments welcome!!

 

Thank you so much for sharing! Your level of detail and pre-cruise planning is phenomenal. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" - a motto I live by as well.

Your Brilliance of the Seas adventure was great fun to read and I am ever more excited for my own Med Cruise this May.

 

Thanks again!

Kerri

Scottsdale AZ/ Philadelphia PA

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