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KathyC

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Everything posted by KathyC

  1. We did that sailing (slightly different ports) in September and I do not remember a Mexican night. The menus are slightly different on the European sailings, as they cater to a different crowd. There were only 800 American aboard our Anthem sailing, and 2600 from the UK. I thought I had kept my compasses but I can't place them at the moment. I remember more of a Mediterranean theme each evening, with one Caribbean thrown in. Matt did that sailing over the summer, here is his Compasses: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/anthem-of-the-seas/sun-09032023-0000
  2. Depending on where you are embarking or disembarking, you can take a train to the port. We flew into Anchorage, and took the train from Anchorage to Seward where we got on the ship. If you are disembarking in Seward, you can do the opposite. If you are round trip from Seattle or Vancouver, not going to work for you, sorry.
  3. Found these individual operator details, if it helps anyone out: https://www.thetrainline.com/trains/great-britain/industrial-action We have tickets both by train & bus from Waterloo to Southampton on the 3rd. Looks like our options to get from the airport to the hotel on the 2nd area all okay, for now.
  4. We purchased our rail transportation from London to Southampton through Trainline, for the morning of the 3rd. Got this email today: Really hoping that our train is fine for the 3rd.
  5. We're on Anthem in a couple weeks and so far only the additional charge "extended" experience is showing for us. Of course those sold out the day they were released, LOL. Same with the iFly. But those are extended special sea days things, not the regular ones that are free. I keep checking each day to see if anything else opens up, but nope.
  6. Check with the hotel you are staying at, maybe you can arrange to leave your car there & grab an Uber to the port and back. We've done that a few times, and we live in NJ less than an hour form the port. We book through Way.com at a local hotel then Uber each way.
  7. Honestly, being very slow to plan and prepare. I'm not overly enthused about this trip, but hope I will once we get in the air. I'm most excited about England and less about Norway. I watched some port videos on YouTube about a month ago, and took notes. Bought Skylift tickets (Olden) direct from them yesterday. Only "excursion" we're doing, other than the ship airport transfer that stops at Stone Henge on debarkation day. Am in the process of thinking about what to do with our day in London on Saturday. Plane lands around 6am, not sure how long it will take us to get to hotel. Probably won't pre-book any transport that day just in case there are delays. Kinda bummed that there is not changing of the guards on Saturdays. May just pick up tickets for the Hop On/Off bus, and use it as we please for the day. Gotta research it more to see if it's worth the cost. Need to look at the train schedule and pick up tickets for our train from London to Southampton on Embarkation Day. We purposely chose the 12pm arrival time, so we'd have a bit of extra sleep time. So that is my first priority. LOL
  8. Hello, We're on this sailing and I'm just starting to plan. I've had a busy last couple of months and well, I'm getting to it now. LOL Check-in is tomorrow, and I assume we'll have a check-in time like for US departures? We'll be taking the train from Waterloo Station to the cruise port, I have to look up train schedules. Matt mentioned in his podcast that he downloaded an app and bought the tickets ahead of time. He wasn't specific with details so going to at least find & download that tonight so I can check the train schedules to know what a proper check-in time would be. Does anyone know if we tip porters there? Tipping in Europe in restaurants is very different than in the US. But not sure about outside of restaurants? I only listened to the beginning of the podcast, figured I'd listen as I make my way through the planning. Matt was pretty specific that he did not need to exchange money for anything, but I still feel like I'd need some pounds. But he didn't talk about that in his podcast. Thanks!
  9. I tried to play but couldn't get it to load. Will try again.
  10. Glad you enjoyed her! We loved our time spent last October. The Rooftop Garden Grill had the best food we found. So good. We're on Summit in a couple weeks, curious as to how different she will be post-restart. Last time she was shiny & smelled of refurbishment.
  11. Thanks! I think that's the conclusion I came to as well. I found a couple dates that Summit and one of the Oasis class ships (I can't remember which one at the moment, lol) both are sailing and the Royal ship was at terminal A and Summit was in G. Love it, as G is right by the trolley stop!
  12. We went on our first Celebrity sailing just after we turned 50, and were more than ready. Our kids were both in college at the time, and we had no need for "family" type activities. Now they are both in their early-mid 20s, out of college with full-time jobs. We prefer not having lots of kids running around when we are on our vacation to relax. We don't need zip-lines, rock walls, ice skating or bumper cars. We've done it all, no need to again. I still enjoy the silent discos, dancing in the club at night, parties on deck, and wonderful entertainment. Celebrity gives me exactly what I am looking for. Plus, the casinos are non-smoking so I can actually go in them! The only thing I miss is the piano bar - live music is everywhere around the Celebrity ships throughout the day, but no one to sing along with. That being said, I've sailed with many horrible musicians in the Schooner Bar. One 10-night Serenade sailing we went once and never went back. So I remind myself of that and I then forget I'm missing it. I can't have Billy Pando on every sailing. LOL Shorter sailings will be more active with a younger crowd, longer sailings will be more older, retirees who are available to go on 9+ nights, and the 7 nights will be a mixed crowd. We did a 6 night repo and that crowd was super fun. We kept the silent disco in the club going late one night, so they extended the food service in the buffet an hour as we were all coming out at 2am looking for pizza. My point is: you are ready for Celebrity when you find yourself without kids in tow, you've stopped playing mini golf & climbing the rock wall, and it's more about the food, the entertainment, and the sea. Each Celebrity sailing we have been on has been a different experience.
  13. We're on Summit in April and I'm trying to find out which berth she will be at, it's not as easy as it used to be! We'll be taking the Trolley over from the hotel and if we're pulling the luggage all the way to Terminal A I want to know ahead of time. LOL It's only a 5 night cruise, so we'll be flying with a carry-on size bag anyway. But I like to be prepared. There used to be schedules months out with exact info. Hoping for Terminal G, cause well, I'm lazy in my old age.
  14. My kids grew up cruising, and as adults now would rather go to other destinations when traveling as a family. I'm sure if grandkids ever happen we'll consider Royal again.
  15. Gen X is getting up there in age, many of us are retiring now. Once our kids outgrew the toys on Royal, we hopped to Celebrity and don't plan on going back.
  16. There are a couple posts in this topic that are comparisons of Royal to Celebrity. My suggestion is you read through those (one is mine from pre-covid). We are former Royal cruisers who choose Celebrity first now. It's a different experience.
  17. I have no idea. I've never seen anyone wearing any type of status-related item.
  18. Some of the Elite benefits seen are advance discounts to upgrade drinks & wifi, special tours, like backstage (which was really fun I have to admit) special debarkation area, discounts on wine bottles, red rose in our stateroom. One thing I noticed on X versus RC is the emphasis on status. On X, no one cares. I've yet to see a Zenith walking around wearing a name badge. No one talks about it, compares, brags, etc on X. The only people who bring it up are RC cruisers. LOL Status is a different vibe all together. Edited to add: the wine tasting. One of the bottles they served us retails at home for $400. If you can find it.
  19. Who knows, maybe this sailing will have lots of 11 yr olds he can relate to! My boys have had different experiences each sailing, all based on the number of kids in their age groups, even when they sailed more than once during a year. Sometimes they flat out didn't like the kids in their group and barely went, and others they kept in touch with for a long time after.
  20. No. But two Celebrity ships I have been on, one pre-shutdown and one post, have given free drinks in the casino as long as you were playing, no matter the status. On Summit pre-covid, it was at anytime. No one on Summit asked for my seapass card when I did order a drink. They just looked to make sure my light was green on the machine, and asked what I wanted. On Beyond, last October, I believe it was the same, but we didn't spend a lot of time in the casino that trip, and I usually already had a drink with me. I don't think you can get ANY drink, though. Nothing fancy or expensive.
  21. As Elite on Celebrity, pre-cruise I get a discount on drink package and wifi upgrades only. Nothing else until I am on board.
  22. Honestly - I wouldn't want him to slide up. This just about 12 yr old is now in a group with teens who date, drive, have freedoms that your son doesn't know, and are working post-high school plans. They try to separate the 12-14 from the 15-17, but there are a lot of joint events and depending on the size of the group they may all be. Remember - you don't and won't know these kids and have no idea what your 12 yr old will be exposed to. Some of the things my kids shared with me were...interesting. My boys, now 25 & 23, started cruising when they were 4 & 2 and participated in kids programs across three different cruise lines.
  23. We loved Beyond. Make sure you eat at Rooftop Garden Grill.
  24. Welcome to the Blog Hazel. I'd suggest changing your title of this post to something other than "Mrs" or you won't get too many people that will click on it. I do not know the answer to your question, but thought I'd try to help you get one. My guess, looking at the Celebrity website, is that they are testing out the port as there are a lot of cruises from there in 2024. As for your Sept 30th on Millennium disappearing from the website, I would first check your app or cruise planner to see if it's still listed there. If so, check with your travel agent to see if they know anything. Sometimes sailings get hidden from the website for various reasons, IT has taken it down to make changes/additions, it's full, for example. Last thing you can do is call Celebrity and ask directly if you do not have a travel agent. Good luck!
  25. We were on Beyond for her repo from Cape Liberty to Ft Lauderdale, so our times were different. It was her first sailing in the US and the showtimes were a bit different. But I would say that the 7 & 9 hours were most common. But all shows are not in the theater. Eden has some shows as well, and they are not to be missed. Those varied by evening. On our nine-night I think there was 3 or 4 different shows over five or six nights, not all were repeated or even offered more than once a night. I didn't keep the daily schedules, sorry. So if you want to see everything, I'd go for the early seatings as much as possible.
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