Sunday, July 29 - our first port - Key West.
Beth was excited to visit a bookstore there because it is a non-profit bookstore owned by one of our favorite authors, Judy Blume (Are you there God, it's me Margaret and SuperFudge). So after breakfast in Luminae we gathered our stuff, got some water and headed off the ship. We walked out of the port area, and turned to Google maps to guide us for the about 12 block walk to the bookstore. We arrived just after 10:00 and were relieved to see that it was already open.
Sadly, Judy was not there, but the very nice young lady told us that if we bought books, they could be autographed and then shipped. Beth bought a book for her super fan daughter, and I got one of her adult books. Both will be shipped to Beth in about a week. We also asked where we should go for Key Lime Pie. She gave us a couple of suggestions consistent with what we'd read on the web. We decided to go to the Key West Key Lime Pie CO, with Kermet's as a back up.
Our other stops were planned to be Starbucks so Beth could download books to her Nook, and a mail box or the post office so she could mail letters to her kids. We decided to do the pie first (everyone should have a piece of pie at 11:05 am) since there was another ship coming in, and we wanted to get the pie before it got too crowded.
So, we made a slight wrong turn, and ended up at the Key Lime Bakery. We decided to turn and around and find the shop we planned to. About 5 minutes later we arrived, ordered our slice of pie and sat down to enjoy it. Right after we started, a tour group arrived, and their leader said for everyone to find a place and he'd bring the pie. We decided to finish quickly to give them the table, but all but one couple disappeared. They told us it had been a bike tour, but was at the end, so I guess people took their pie and left. We had a nice chat with the couple that were there, and then decided to go to Starbucks, then post office. I found a Starbucks about two blocks from the post office, back by where the book store was. So back down the main street (Duval) we went. We found the Starbucks, and a CVS nearby, so we decided to go to Starbucks, then post office, and then a stop at CVS before heading back to the ship.
We had our coffee, Beth did her download, and we headed to the post office. We arrived at the location, and no sign of it. We asked in a store and they pointed us to a brick building across the street. We walked over and saw it was the side of it. The grounds had a couple of iguanas, and a lot of chickens running around. Beth mailed her letters, and we headed back to CVS. We bought a few items and then headed back to the ship. As we were approaching the pier, someone tapped us on the shoulder from behind. It turned out to be our friend Melissa from the sweep team in San Diego. She and her relatively new husband were also on the cruise. We decided to have breakfast in Blu tomorrow morning.
We headed back on the ship, dropped our stuff, and went up to the buffet for lunch.
Later in the afternoon we headed to Michael's club for afternoon tea. We enjoyed cucumber sandwiches and chicken sandwiches, as well as desserts and scones. We'd been invited to the helipad for Sailaway, so at about 4:35, we made our way to deck 6. A security officer was there, and told us that the group had already gone, so we headed down the hall and joined the group.
We spent some time talking with our roll call people, and enjoyed watching the Florida keys disappear.
Tonight was formal night, and so after leaving the helipad, we got ready for dinner. It was evening Chic night, so we had reserved seating in the theater. At about 6:45 we headed down to the theater. Jo seated us and we settled down to watch Jessie Hamilton Jr sing. He's most known for playing Simba in the Lion King on broadway. He was moderately entertaining.
We then headed to Luminae. There weren't a lot of good seats available, so Auri (the maitre'd) suggested we go to Michael's to wait for the table. Serken, our favorite waiter, said it would be about 10 minutes. We sat down and started chatting with a couple from the San Diego area. Turns out they are in the room next to us. By about 8:30, the concierge had left, so we asked one of the bartenders to call the restaurant. She did, and they said it would be about 5 to 10 more minutes. Ok, we continued chatting. Finally, close to 9, Auri arrived to tell us our table is ready.
For dinner, I had beef tartare, a tomato watermelon salad and cote de beoff. All good.
After dinner, we headed up to the room, still catching up on sleep.
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Monday, August 6, 2018
Sea day, sea day
Our first of two sea days. We started with a breakfast in Blu with our friends Melissa and Ryan. It was good, and similar to Luminae, but not as good. They mentioned that they wanted to see a suite, so we invited them to visit us tomorrow around 5.
Next up was the Cruise Critic Connections Party.
At the gathering we met many of our fellow cruisers, including a couple of ladies who were also flying out of New York on Friday. They were on the 9:00 flight from Newark (yes, one of the ones I thought about protecting onto) and it was cancelled. Apparently, they flew into Fort Meyers at 8 am on Saturday morning, and just made the ship. Like me, they'd contemplated booking a back up reservation to Grand Cayman.
Immediately following that, we headed to the casino for the slot pull. We all kicked in 15.00 and loaded it onto a machine. That gave us 5 spins each. The idea is that after everyone spins, you cash out and split it. One alternative is to keep playing until you run out of money, which is what we did. That took until about lunch time, so we headed to Luminae.
During the slot pull we arranged to have dinner at 8 with a couple of our roll call members.
We ordered lunch, and then our friends Danna and Bruce walked in. They were at a two top near but not next to each other. There was an open four top, so we asked someone if we could move, and just did it. That confused things, and our orders were on slightly different timing, but it was all good. I ordered the lamb burger, and Beth decided to try to make the Luminae burger into a grilled cheese sandwich (cheese and the great bacon jam). However, she just asked for it without the beef, so that's what she got. I realized, when I got the burger, that their burgers are just too thick. So, I cut it in half horizontally and ate half that way. Perfect.
After lunch, we brought our computers to Cafe al Bacio, and enjoyed coffee and tea until around 3, then headed to Michaels Clubs. When the butlers arrived to serve the tea, I asked Jo if he could bring 4 wine glasses and some cheese and crackers tomorrow. He assured us he would take care of it.
After a nice tea with some of our cruise critic friends, we decided to head to the room, and then back up the Sky Lounge to watch the ocean.
Following that, we headed to the theater to see Charlie Peachock - a juggler who was a finalist on America's Got Talent. He showed some videos of that and did a bunch of juggling combined with humor. Very entertaining.
After that, we headed to Luminae to meet our friends. We were seating with Serkin, our FWT (favorite Turkish waiter). One of the appetizer was a kale salad that looked great, except for the kale. At home, we use Blue Apron, and I get kale a lot. I know that to make raw kale palatable, I have to massage it a lot. I didn't trust Celebrity to do that, so both Beth and I asked if we could have it with Romaine instead. His comment was that that would be a caesar and we could have the standard one. We explained we wanted the parmesan, lemon, and especially the roasted tomatoes. Somehow, he made that work. I followed with the NY Steak and finished with a pine nut flan. After dinner, Beth and I took a walk, and head back for the night. The plan for tomorrow is to go ashore and just see Georgetown.
Next up was the Cruise Critic Connections Party.
At the gathering we met many of our fellow cruisers, including a couple of ladies who were also flying out of New York on Friday. They were on the 9:00 flight from Newark (yes, one of the ones I thought about protecting onto) and it was cancelled. Apparently, they flew into Fort Meyers at 8 am on Saturday morning, and just made the ship. Like me, they'd contemplated booking a back up reservation to Grand Cayman.
Immediately following that, we headed to the casino for the slot pull. We all kicked in 15.00 and loaded it onto a machine. That gave us 5 spins each. The idea is that after everyone spins, you cash out and split it. One alternative is to keep playing until you run out of money, which is what we did. That took until about lunch time, so we headed to Luminae.
During the slot pull we arranged to have dinner at 8 with a couple of our roll call members.
We ordered lunch, and then our friends Danna and Bruce walked in. They were at a two top near but not next to each other. There was an open four top, so we asked someone if we could move, and just did it. That confused things, and our orders were on slightly different timing, but it was all good. I ordered the lamb burger, and Beth decided to try to make the Luminae burger into a grilled cheese sandwich (cheese and the great bacon jam). However, she just asked for it without the beef, so that's what she got. I realized, when I got the burger, that their burgers are just too thick. So, I cut it in half horizontally and ate half that way. Perfect.
After lunch, we brought our computers to Cafe al Bacio, and enjoyed coffee and tea until around 3, then headed to Michaels Clubs. When the butlers arrived to serve the tea, I asked Jo if he could bring 4 wine glasses and some cheese and crackers tomorrow. He assured us he would take care of it.
After a nice tea with some of our cruise critic friends, we decided to head to the room, and then back up the Sky Lounge to watch the ocean.
Following that, we headed to the theater to see Charlie Peachock - a juggler who was a finalist on America's Got Talent. He showed some videos of that and did a bunch of juggling combined with humor. Very entertaining.
After that, we headed to Luminae to meet our friends. We were seating with Serkin, our FWT (favorite Turkish waiter). One of the appetizer was a kale salad that looked great, except for the kale. At home, we use Blue Apron, and I get kale a lot. I know that to make raw kale palatable, I have to massage it a lot. I didn't trust Celebrity to do that, so both Beth and I asked if we could have it with Romaine instead. His comment was that that would be a caesar and we could have the standard one. We explained we wanted the parmesan, lemon, and especially the roasted tomatoes. Somehow, he made that work. I followed with the NY Steak and finished with a pine nut flan. After dinner, Beth and I took a walk, and head back for the night. The plan for tomorrow is to go ashore and just see Georgetown.
Saturday, August 4, 2018
So happy to be here
After a short sleep, we were up around 9 to grab breakfast before leaving the hotel, just in case we can't get food for the next week. (ha).
The hotel had a very nice buffet for their elite members, and after enjoying juice, coffee, an omlette etc, we headed over to the CVS next door so that we could get sunscreen and Beth could pick up her sea sickness bands. Perhaps the world's best placebo.
Following that, we went back to the room to pack up and grab an uber to the port. She wanted to send letters to her daughters, so, as we were checking out, asked the front desk if they had stamps. They did not, but did mention that there was a post office next door. So we left the bags, and found the post office. Of course it was closed, since not all are open on Saturday. And this was one of the few post offices that didn't have stamp machines outside. So back we went for our bags. Beth summoned Uber and we were on our way.
Not long after, we pulled up to the pier. Last year, there were two ships in, this year there were 4. Two Carnival and the MSC Seaside. We quickly gave our luggage to the porter, and heading inside. As we were checking in, wearing our Mardi Gras beads to identify us as Cruise Critic, the couple behind us introduced themselves as members of our roll call. They were another of the several people who had taken advantage of the last minute price reduction to move to a mini suite.
Check in went smoothly and we were shortly on the ship. With our welcome drinks in hand, we headed to Michael's club to wait for the rooms to be ready. We sat at a corner table, and a crew member brought us a small plate of appetizers. I stopped to chat with fellow roll callers Ann and Greg, and Beth soon joined us, so we moved ourselves over with them.
At about 1:10 I asked the suite manager if the rooms were ready, as it was getting close to restaurant closing time. She confirmed that our deck was ready. We went to the room, dropped our bags and headed out to lunch. On the way out, our butler Jo introduced himself. He mentioned that he'd be bringing appetizers to our room each night and a few other things.
We headed down to Luminae for lunch and met the hostess, Maitre'd and some of the wait staff. We settled down at one of the window tables. For lunch, I ordered one of the famous Luminae burger. The jam on it was great, but the burger is way too thick. I had to take it out of the bun. Beth had the risotto and pronounced it very good.
We were starting to push uo against muster drill time, so we decided to just stay around the lower decks to wait for it.
Our muster station was Michaels club, and I noticed that this one was taken a bit more seriously than our previous drill. There was a life jacket demonstration, and then the silly movie. After that the station leader went through some of the safety information.
< By this time, it was pouring rain. We were planning to do the usual Cruise Critic mast bar meeting, so we headed up. Too wet to get there, so we went to the Cafe Bar instead. No one was there, so we grabbed a drink. Eventually, the rain let up a bit, so we went up to Sunset Terrace Bar. No one there either, so walking under the overhang we headed towards the center of the ship. We then ran into Bob and Vicky from our roll call. We chatted with them and some of the other CC folks for a while, and headed back to the room to get ready for dinner and the show.
We decided to go see A.J. Jamal, a comedian. I've seen his name around cruise ships a lot, so thought it might be fun to actually see him. He was basically funny, although he had three very embarrassed boys on stage with him, so that was honestly more painful than funny.
After that, we headed to Luminae for dinner. We had our soon to be usual waiter, and enjoyed the first night dinner. It was nice that Yun, the Sommelier, did base our wine on what we were eating. I started with Burrata cheese and a steak for dinner.
After dinner, it was back to room, since it has been a very long couple of days.
The hotel had a very nice buffet for their elite members, and after enjoying juice, coffee, an omlette etc, we headed over to the CVS next door so that we could get sunscreen and Beth could pick up her sea sickness bands. Perhaps the world's best placebo.
Following that, we went back to the room to pack up and grab an uber to the port. She wanted to send letters to her daughters, so, as we were checking out, asked the front desk if they had stamps. They did not, but did mention that there was a post office next door. So we left the bags, and found the post office. Of course it was closed, since not all are open on Saturday. And this was one of the few post offices that didn't have stamp machines outside. So back we went for our bags. Beth summoned Uber and we were on our way.
Not long after, we pulled up to the pier. Last year, there were two ships in, this year there were 4. Two Carnival and the MSC Seaside. We quickly gave our luggage to the porter, and heading inside. As we were checking in, wearing our Mardi Gras beads to identify us as Cruise Critic, the couple behind us introduced themselves as members of our roll call. They were another of the several people who had taken advantage of the last minute price reduction to move to a mini suite.
Check in went smoothly and we were shortly on the ship. With our welcome drinks in hand, we headed to Michael's club to wait for the rooms to be ready. We sat at a corner table, and a crew member brought us a small plate of appetizers. I stopped to chat with fellow roll callers Ann and Greg, and Beth soon joined us, so we moved ourselves over with them.
At about 1:10 I asked the suite manager if the rooms were ready, as it was getting close to restaurant closing time. She confirmed that our deck was ready. We went to the room, dropped our bags and headed out to lunch. On the way out, our butler Jo introduced himself. He mentioned that he'd be bringing appetizers to our room each night and a few other things.
We headed down to Luminae for lunch and met the hostess, Maitre'd and some of the wait staff. We settled down at one of the window tables. For lunch, I ordered one of the famous Luminae burger. The jam on it was great, but the burger is way too thick. I had to take it out of the bun. Beth had the risotto and pronounced it very good.
We were starting to push uo against muster drill time, so we decided to just stay around the lower decks to wait for it.
Our muster station was Michaels club, and I noticed that this one was taken a bit more seriously than our previous drill. There was a life jacket demonstration, and then the silly movie. After that the station leader went through some of the safety information.
< By this time, it was pouring rain. We were planning to do the usual Cruise Critic mast bar meeting, so we headed up. Too wet to get there, so we went to the Cafe Bar instead. No one was there, so we grabbed a drink. Eventually, the rain let up a bit, so we went up to Sunset Terrace Bar. No one there either, so walking under the overhang we headed towards the center of the ship. We then ran into Bob and Vicky from our roll call. We chatted with them and some of the other CC folks for a while, and headed back to the room to get ready for dinner and the show.
We decided to go see A.J. Jamal, a comedian. I've seen his name around cruise ships a lot, so thought it might be fun to actually see him. He was basically funny, although he had three very embarrassed boys on stage with him, so that was honestly more painful than funny.
After that, we headed to Luminae for dinner. We had our soon to be usual waiter, and enjoyed the first night dinner. It was nice that Yun, the Sommelier, did base our wine on what we were eating. I started with Burrata cheese and a steak for dinner.
After dinner, it was back to room, since it has been a very long couple of days.
Monday, July 30, 2018
Are we sailing?
So, Beth and I are off on our second Celebrity summer break sister's cruise. I've been in NY for bout a week, since I went with her to camp visiting weekend last weekend.
Our day started great - we were packed and ready to go to the airport (JFK) early, called a ride and away we went. About 5 miles from the airport, we got notices that our flight was cancelled. We both immediately got on the phone to the airline and were put on hold. We were on a 3:30 flight, but there was a 2pm flight so maybe we could get on that.
We arrived at the airport around 1:15, still on hold and were directed to a very long line for people with cancelled flights. There was no way we'd get to the front in time for the 2pm, so it was a good thing we were on the phone. We both got called about 10 minutes in, and it turns out it didn't matter because every flight to Florida on Jet Blue was sold out. And by Florida, we had them look at Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa. The best they could do was fly us to Boston from La Guardia tonight, and a 7 am flight to FLL from there tomorrow morning. It arrived at 10, so we would have made the ship, assuming not late. In the meantime, I looked at the United App, and found a 7pm flight to Miami, but from Newark. We bought it for not a small amount. Now we had to get to Newark from Kennedy, about 35 miles. We called a ride company and the driver showed up around 2:30. It took almost 3 hours, so we we a bit nervous. (Well I was, Beth trusted what Waze said). We arrived around 5:30, so plenty of time. During this time, we were canceling the rental car in Fort Lauderdale and replacing it with one in Miami. The first plan was to rent a car, drive to the FLL hotel, and come back in the morning. Beth asked why we were driving just to sleep, so I called Marriott and changed the hotel to this very nice one in Miami. At about 6:15, they pushed the flight to 7:15 - ok, still arriving on time. Then got pushed a few more times, until it was 8:30 and they boarded us at 7:45. We pushed at 8:44 and then were held while a flight went out to see if they could get around the weather. We'd get the news at 9:15. At about 9:30 the announcement came for flight attendants to take their seats for departure, and we took off soon after. While it was unclear if we'd depart, I actually booked a reservation to Grand Cayman. I was happy to cancel it on the way to the hotel. We were also worried about the crew timing out (Beth said they told her that it came close.) So here we are getting ready for our last sleep before the trip. I'm going to try to add a picture of us waiting for our bags in Miami airport, completely relieved to actually be in Florida.
Our day started great - we were packed and ready to go to the airport (JFK) early, called a ride and away we went. About 5 miles from the airport, we got notices that our flight was cancelled. We both immediately got on the phone to the airline and were put on hold. We were on a 3:30 flight, but there was a 2pm flight so maybe we could get on that.
We arrived at the airport around 1:15, still on hold and were directed to a very long line for people with cancelled flights. There was no way we'd get to the front in time for the 2pm, so it was a good thing we were on the phone. We both got called about 10 minutes in, and it turns out it didn't matter because every flight to Florida on Jet Blue was sold out. And by Florida, we had them look at Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa. The best they could do was fly us to Boston from La Guardia tonight, and a 7 am flight to FLL from there tomorrow morning. It arrived at 10, so we would have made the ship, assuming not late. In the meantime, I looked at the United App, and found a 7pm flight to Miami, but from Newark. We bought it for not a small amount. Now we had to get to Newark from Kennedy, about 35 miles. We called a ride company and the driver showed up around 2:30. It took almost 3 hours, so we we a bit nervous. (Well I was, Beth trusted what Waze said). We arrived around 5:30, so plenty of time. During this time, we were canceling the rental car in Fort Lauderdale and replacing it with one in Miami. The first plan was to rent a car, drive to the FLL hotel, and come back in the morning. Beth asked why we were driving just to sleep, so I called Marriott and changed the hotel to this very nice one in Miami. At about 6:15, they pushed the flight to 7:15 - ok, still arriving on time. Then got pushed a few more times, until it was 8:30 and they boarded us at 7:45. We pushed at 8:44 and then were held while a flight went out to see if they could get around the weather. We'd get the news at 9:15. At about 9:30 the announcement came for flight attendants to take their seats for departure, and we took off soon after. While it was unclear if we'd depart, I actually booked a reservation to Grand Cayman. I was happy to cancel it on the way to the hotel. We were also worried about the crew timing out (Beth said they told her that it came close.) So here we are getting ready for our last sleep before the trip. I'm going to try to add a picture of us waiting for our bags in Miami airport, completely relieved to actually be in Florida.
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Going Home
After 10 fun filled days of seeing new cities and towns, and making lots of new friends, it was time to leave. We'd joined a shuttle from the port with 4 other people. The latest we could get was 9:00, although our flight wasn't until 3pm. Our luggage tags indicated that we could just disembark whenever we wanted and our bags would be waiting. I'd asked the concierges how long we'd need to get off the ship - my thinking was it wouldn't be long because there should be no reason to go through any sort of customs, since the entire cruise had been in both the EU and the Schengen area, ie passport free zone. And they confirmed you just walk off and get your luggage and away you go. Of course, we did have to get out of the room by 8.
So we left at 8 to grab our last breakfast at Luminae. After breakfast we said goodbye to the staff with lots of hugs, and went back to the room to grab our carry ons. Glen needed to use the restroom, so I headed to Michael's to wait for him. Just about 8:45 he arrived, so we said good bye to concierge Adrianna and headed to the gangway. Sure enough, walk off, grab the bags, and look for the shuttle.
It was a bit chaotic there, so I left Glen to wander the port area. At the far end, I found the driver. I told them I was going to get Glen and back I went. I found him, lost him in the crowd, but he quickly after a call to me, found us, and the 6 of us introduced ourselves to each other. We loaded the van and away we went.
By 10am, we were at the airport. I was concerned about our friends JoEllen and Alan, since they were traveling to Atlanta, at that point in the midst of the visit from Hurricane Irma, so I texted her. Yes, their flight to Atlanta was going and on time at 12:30.
We tried to check our bags, but was told by the stern looking Lufthansa employee that we couldn't check our bags until 3 hours before the flight. I then asked about trying to get on a earlier flight since there was one leaving at 11:45. Even if we couldn't get the earlier flight from Munich to London, we could at least get to Munich, which would probably be a better airport. We were directed to the customer service counter for Lufthansa. They said since it was a United ticket, we'd have to go to the United counter, or call. The agent gave me the European number to call. We then, with bags trekked down to the end of the terminal where the US flights go from. When we asked about about the United counter they said there wasn't a counter. So I called. They could move us, but only for several hundred dollars. I guess we are staying put.
So we grabbed a luggage cart, loaded all our luggage and took the elevator to the 2nd floor and the food court. Actually it was more of a counter service restaurant with stations like a corporate cafeteria, actually. We staked a table, and then I went to get us some coffee. I got in the coffee line, but was then told I had to go to the order counter first and pay. So I did, and of course had to explain that to the next American in line.
We enjoyed our coffee, hung out at the restaurant until noon. While there, got a confirming text that our friends were on their flight. Went back to Lufthansa, checked our bags, and were directed to the Alitalia lounge.
United Club it was not. We noticed a food section with no labels, and lots of seating areas with used dishes glasses etc. I finally found two seats, moved some dirty dishes, and we settled in (said dishes were not removed for at least an hour and half). Our 3:15 flight was ontime until about 2:30, when it went late, along with almost every other flight on the board. Agents said it was the weather.
We finally boarded, and I think we were about an hour or so late. The flight attended assured me that we wouldn't miss our connection in Munich. I was just a little worried, since we'd go through passport control there, but she let me know it wasn't far, and flights to London were always late.
Upon arrival, we headed directly to passport control, up one level in the same terminal. No line, so we headed toward the gate. We stopped for a brief break in the Lufthansa lounge - much cleaner than the Alitalia one. The flight was showing on time, so we headed to the gate just after 7. We were told that due to ground holds from London weather, we were delaying boarding and departure. Eventually, they decided to board us about 20 minutes after we were supposed to depart and sat on the plane for a while. We left about an hour late.
My original plan was to check in to our hotel and walk to a local pub for dinner. Our late departure would put us on the bubble for that.
When we arrived in London, we had to go through customs, and we did get a fast pass for that. Grabbed our bags, and headed to where the buses were. For the London airport busses there are no free shuttles, but there's a 5 pound "hoppa" bus which has about 5 routes, each of which visits different hotels and terminals. The first bus we saw said "Renaissance" so I asked the driver, and he said they didn't, I needed a different number. From what I saw from the website, it would be another hour, and the hotel was close enough to the airport that the price would be close, so we took a cab. Most of the drive was getting out of the airport, but we soon arrived at the hotel.
By the time we checked in we decided, due to two meals on the Lufthansa flights and some snacks, we weren't really hungry, so we passed on the pub. About then I got a text from Jo saying the'd landed, but in New York, not Atlanta. I offered to share my sisters contact info, but it seemed they had the situation under control (I found out later they did manage to get home in the middle of the night).
The next morning we had breakfast in the restaurant, and noticed it backed up to the runway, so after breakfast, since our flight wasn't until mid afternoon, and due to London being an hour earlier than central Europe we were up early, we took a walk through the parking lot to watch the planes take off.
We then grabbed our bags, and waited for the next bus that went to our terminal. It came roughly when the schedule said it would. It was the same number we'd seen the night before.
When we arrived at the airport, we checked our bags, and then headed to the VAT refund area. I suggested we go there first so that we could then put our purchases into checked luggage, but apparently I wasn't clear enough so the bags got checked.
Things got a bit interesting at the VAT refund area. We had to do it in London because that was our point of departure from the EU. (Brexit hasn't happened yet). Because the amount had to go from Euros to Pounds to Dollars it dropped considerably. They also had to give some change in Pounds. On the way to the lounge and the gate, we stopped in a store and bought a few odds and ends. Not enough to use up the pounds.
Our visit to the United Club was uneventful and our flight was on time. I was happy to see that all three Godfather movies were on the entertainment system, because I wanted to see them now that I visited some of the filming locations.
Things were going great until about midway through Godfather 1, when the entertainment system froze. And froze. The rebooted it. Freeze again. etc. Oh, wait it was also on the personal entertainment system, so I could watch on the phone. Nope, that was so slow that I could watch a minute, wait for it to reconnect and then watch another minute. Eventually I gave up and watched some stuff that I had on my laptop. We did get some flight credit for the inconvenience.
That was the most interesting thing about the trip home. Arrived in LA, waited for our SF flight, all good.
Thus concludes our first cruise to the Med sea. And I still can't spell it. Next cruise is a 5 day to Cabo in February.
So we left at 8 to grab our last breakfast at Luminae. After breakfast we said goodbye to the staff with lots of hugs, and went back to the room to grab our carry ons. Glen needed to use the restroom, so I headed to Michael's to wait for him. Just about 8:45 he arrived, so we said good bye to concierge Adrianna and headed to the gangway. Sure enough, walk off, grab the bags, and look for the shuttle.
It was a bit chaotic there, so I left Glen to wander the port area. At the far end, I found the driver. I told them I was going to get Glen and back I went. I found him, lost him in the crowd, but he quickly after a call to me, found us, and the 6 of us introduced ourselves to each other. We loaded the van and away we went.
By 10am, we were at the airport. I was concerned about our friends JoEllen and Alan, since they were traveling to Atlanta, at that point in the midst of the visit from Hurricane Irma, so I texted her. Yes, their flight to Atlanta was going and on time at 12:30.
We tried to check our bags, but was told by the stern looking Lufthansa employee that we couldn't check our bags until 3 hours before the flight. I then asked about trying to get on a earlier flight since there was one leaving at 11:45. Even if we couldn't get the earlier flight from Munich to London, we could at least get to Munich, which would probably be a better airport. We were directed to the customer service counter for Lufthansa. They said since it was a United ticket, we'd have to go to the United counter, or call. The agent gave me the European number to call. We then, with bags trekked down to the end of the terminal where the US flights go from. When we asked about about the United counter they said there wasn't a counter. So I called. They could move us, but only for several hundred dollars. I guess we are staying put.
So we grabbed a luggage cart, loaded all our luggage and took the elevator to the 2nd floor and the food court. Actually it was more of a counter service restaurant with stations like a corporate cafeteria, actually. We staked a table, and then I went to get us some coffee. I got in the coffee line, but was then told I had to go to the order counter first and pay. So I did, and of course had to explain that to the next American in line.
We enjoyed our coffee, hung out at the restaurant until noon. While there, got a confirming text that our friends were on their flight. Went back to Lufthansa, checked our bags, and were directed to the Alitalia lounge.
United Club it was not. We noticed a food section with no labels, and lots of seating areas with used dishes glasses etc. I finally found two seats, moved some dirty dishes, and we settled in (said dishes were not removed for at least an hour and half). Our 3:15 flight was ontime until about 2:30, when it went late, along with almost every other flight on the board. Agents said it was the weather.
We finally boarded, and I think we were about an hour or so late. The flight attended assured me that we wouldn't miss our connection in Munich. I was just a little worried, since we'd go through passport control there, but she let me know it wasn't far, and flights to London were always late.
Upon arrival, we headed directly to passport control, up one level in the same terminal. No line, so we headed toward the gate. We stopped for a brief break in the Lufthansa lounge - much cleaner than the Alitalia one. The flight was showing on time, so we headed to the gate just after 7. We were told that due to ground holds from London weather, we were delaying boarding and departure. Eventually, they decided to board us about 20 minutes after we were supposed to depart and sat on the plane for a while. We left about an hour late.
My original plan was to check in to our hotel and walk to a local pub for dinner. Our late departure would put us on the bubble for that.
When we arrived in London, we had to go through customs, and we did get a fast pass for that. Grabbed our bags, and headed to where the buses were. For the London airport busses there are no free shuttles, but there's a 5 pound "hoppa" bus which has about 5 routes, each of which visits different hotels and terminals. The first bus we saw said "Renaissance" so I asked the driver, and he said they didn't, I needed a different number. From what I saw from the website, it would be another hour, and the hotel was close enough to the airport that the price would be close, so we took a cab. Most of the drive was getting out of the airport, but we soon arrived at the hotel.
By the time we checked in we decided, due to two meals on the Lufthansa flights and some snacks, we weren't really hungry, so we passed on the pub. About then I got a text from Jo saying the'd landed, but in New York, not Atlanta. I offered to share my sisters contact info, but it seemed they had the situation under control (I found out later they did manage to get home in the middle of the night).
The next morning we had breakfast in the restaurant, and noticed it backed up to the runway, so after breakfast, since our flight wasn't until mid afternoon, and due to London being an hour earlier than central Europe we were up early, we took a walk through the parking lot to watch the planes take off.
We then grabbed our bags, and waited for the next bus that went to our terminal. It came roughly when the schedule said it would. It was the same number we'd seen the night before.
When we arrived at the airport, we checked our bags, and then headed to the VAT refund area. I suggested we go there first so that we could then put our purchases into checked luggage, but apparently I wasn't clear enough so the bags got checked.
Things got a bit interesting at the VAT refund area. We had to do it in London because that was our point of departure from the EU. (Brexit hasn't happened yet). Because the amount had to go from Euros to Pounds to Dollars it dropped considerably. They also had to give some change in Pounds. On the way to the lounge and the gate, we stopped in a store and bought a few odds and ends. Not enough to use up the pounds.
Our visit to the United Club was uneventful and our flight was on time. I was happy to see that all three Godfather movies were on the entertainment system, because I wanted to see them now that I visited some of the filming locations.
Things were going great until about midway through Godfather 1, when the entertainment system froze. And froze. The rebooted it. Freeze again. etc. Oh, wait it was also on the personal entertainment system, so I could watch on the phone. Nope, that was so slow that I could watch a minute, wait for it to reconnect and then watch another minute. Eventually I gave up and watched some stuff that I had on my laptop. We did get some flight credit for the inconvenience.
That was the most interesting thing about the trip home. Arrived in LA, waited for our SF flight, all good.
Thus concludes our first cruise to the Med sea. And I still can't spell it. Next cruise is a 5 day to Cabo in February.
Most recent and (probably last) ship tour
Today was Naples, and our last stop before disembarking in Rome tomorrow. For this port, we'd booked our first ship tour in quite a while. We opted for that because all the private tours our friends were hosting were longer than we wanted. We (at least me, and I do all the booking) wanted Sorrento and Pompeii, but not the Amalfi coast. Celebrity had what they called a Taste of Sorrento with Pompeii - Small group. Since it was what we were looking for, and also had some tasting, I thought it would be a good tour for us. I picture about a dozen of us with personalized attention from a guide, much like all the private tours we do. Because it was before Celebrity changed their policy, we paid in advance (now you can use on board credit).
So, up early since we were supposed to go to the theater at 7:45. At 7:20 we went to Luminae, but they weren't open yet. We then thought we'd get the express breakfast in the dining room, but they weren't open yet either (with tours departing that early you'd think that the restaurant at least, would be open to accommodate them). So up to Cafe al Bacio for coffee and a pastry. At 7:45, we arrived in the theater to collect our (pretty much hated) stickers. The few times I've done ship tours recently it was for things like flights, so not a sticker thing. Oh well, I can suck it up for a day.
They called our tour and told us to go down to deck two. Down we went and off the ship. There was a line of buses there each with a number corresponding to the stickers. This I expected, but what I did not expect was that our small group was in a full size bus, not a van. It was too late for a refund, and I really wanted to see the sights, so I hoped for the best. We got in, as did 22 other people. Turns out their idea of small is 24. Mine is 12, no more than 16. oh well.
We headed out with the guide, Fabio, on a headset explaining what we were seeing. Our first tasting was a Lemocello store. They offered Lemoncello, candy, and olive oil tasting, and we're pretty sure it was simply a kickback store for the guide company. We were there with full bus tour 15 - same tour name, just without the Small group designation.
After a couple of tastes and pictures of the view and 10 minutes (of the allotted 20) we went back to the bus without buying anything. Our next stop was to be a farm to taste mozzarella.
We arrived at the farm and were escorted into a room that looked like a restaurant or a bar with table set up with a plate with 3 kinds of cheeses, bread, bread with a hot spread, and a couple of pieces of salami. Also on the table was white wine and water. About 1/3 of the room was set up for us. After we finished the tasting, we were ready for our tour of the farm, but Fabio was busy talking to other guides. We gathered him up, and watched a cheese making demo, and then got a tour. That was fairly enjoyable. We also did purchase some olive oil in the gift shop, because the sample was great.
From there we headed to Sorrento. The bus stopped in a square, and we thought we'd be on our way, but wait - there was a shop we were hearded into so we could learn about how wood inlay is done, and by the way, they ship free and today only the price quoted would be charged in US dollars, not in Euros.
Once we could escape, we wandered around for a while and grabbed a pizza. We then went back to our meeting point, stopping at a grocery store to get some lemon candy for Glen's work. (We got some for us too - yummy!)
Next stop - Pompeii. The road in was full of campgrounds, hotels, restaurants, etc and looked totally like a tourist trap. We parked in one of the many lots and walked to the plaza in front of the site. Our guide led us to the cameo store, and told us to go in, take the brief tour while he got the tickets. So, we had to learn how they make cameos. We got out as quickly as possible. When Fabio caught up with us, he had some people with VR headphones for us. Those were cool once we were inside. Armed with a bottle of water, we went in.
We visited several sites within the sites, although I would have preferred more time there, and less time at stores. I sent Celebrity an email about that after the cruise. Got an apology and that was about it.
Once we finished there, back in the bus and back to the pier. On the whole, I thought the excursion had been misrepresented, and I remembered why I don't do ship excursions.
At Michael's club later we ran into to Claude and he said that their private tour went to the Lemoncello stop too, so maybe it's standard.
Dinner, and then packing. It was a great trip and we will be back on Celebrity again.
So, up early since we were supposed to go to the theater at 7:45. At 7:20 we went to Luminae, but they weren't open yet. We then thought we'd get the express breakfast in the dining room, but they weren't open yet either (with tours departing that early you'd think that the restaurant at least, would be open to accommodate them). So up to Cafe al Bacio for coffee and a pastry. At 7:45, we arrived in the theater to collect our (pretty much hated) stickers. The few times I've done ship tours recently it was for things like flights, so not a sticker thing. Oh well, I can suck it up for a day.
They called our tour and told us to go down to deck two. Down we went and off the ship. There was a line of buses there each with a number corresponding to the stickers. This I expected, but what I did not expect was that our small group was in a full size bus, not a van. It was too late for a refund, and I really wanted to see the sights, so I hoped for the best. We got in, as did 22 other people. Turns out their idea of small is 24. Mine is 12, no more than 16. oh well.
We headed out with the guide, Fabio, on a headset explaining what we were seeing. Our first tasting was a Lemocello store. They offered Lemoncello, candy, and olive oil tasting, and we're pretty sure it was simply a kickback store for the guide company. We were there with full bus tour 15 - same tour name, just without the Small group designation.
After a couple of tastes and pictures of the view and 10 minutes (of the allotted 20) we went back to the bus without buying anything. Our next stop was to be a farm to taste mozzarella.
We arrived at the farm and were escorted into a room that looked like a restaurant or a bar with table set up with a plate with 3 kinds of cheeses, bread, bread with a hot spread, and a couple of pieces of salami. Also on the table was white wine and water. About 1/3 of the room was set up for us. After we finished the tasting, we were ready for our tour of the farm, but Fabio was busy talking to other guides. We gathered him up, and watched a cheese making demo, and then got a tour. That was fairly enjoyable. We also did purchase some olive oil in the gift shop, because the sample was great.
From there we headed to Sorrento. The bus stopped in a square, and we thought we'd be on our way, but wait - there was a shop we were hearded into so we could learn about how wood inlay is done, and by the way, they ship free and today only the price quoted would be charged in US dollars, not in Euros.
Once we could escape, we wandered around for a while and grabbed a pizza. We then went back to our meeting point, stopping at a grocery store to get some lemon candy for Glen's work. (We got some for us too - yummy!)
Next stop - Pompeii. The road in was full of campgrounds, hotels, restaurants, etc and looked totally like a tourist trap. We parked in one of the many lots and walked to the plaza in front of the site. Our guide led us to the cameo store, and told us to go in, take the brief tour while he got the tickets. So, we had to learn how they make cameos. We got out as quickly as possible. When Fabio caught up with us, he had some people with VR headphones for us. Those were cool once we were inside. Armed with a bottle of water, we went in.
We visited several sites within the sites, although I would have preferred more time there, and less time at stores. I sent Celebrity an email about that after the cruise. Got an apology and that was about it.
Once we finished there, back in the bus and back to the pier. On the whole, I thought the excursion had been misrepresented, and I remembered why I don't do ship excursions.
At Michael's club later we ran into to Claude and he said that their private tour went to the Lemoncello stop too, so maybe it's standard.
Dinner, and then packing. It was a great trip and we will be back on Celebrity again.
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Second Sea Day
Our second, and final sea day. Honestly? I missed sea days on this cruise. Maybe that's why I sail the west coast so much - lots of sea days there.
Prior to the cruise, we'd booked the backstage tour excursion for 12:30. We'd done the ultimate ship tour on Princess, and thought we'd enjoy this as well. Once on the ship, I realized the timing of the tour meant that we'd miss lunch at all venues, including the full lunch at the buffet. I'd gone to the Shore Excursions desk to try to change it to the 10:30 tour, but that was full. They also wouldn't let me waitlist it. I then asked the Michael's concierges to try to get me on the waitlist, but they actually got us on the tour.
So after breakfast, we headed to the shore excursions desk, where we checked in for the tour. We'd actually been told it was at the Passport bar, but there was no one there. A gentleman sitting there said that if that's why we were there, we had to go to the Shore Ex desk next door. We did, and found the check in. We were given a lanyard and an ear piece.
Right around 10:30 our guide appeared, a shore ex representative from Germany (I'm not sure I ever had her name right). She explained that she was our escort, and that commentary would be done by the crew members at each venue. She also explained that we will have body scans before the bridge and the control room (I guess nobody cares if you ruin the laundry or poison everyone).
Off we went - first stop bridge. Wand scan, and in we went. One of the bridge officers took us to one of the wing bridges, the main bridge was roped off from us (I've been on the bridge of 4 Princess ships and have always been able to walk the whole bridge). We learned the function of some of the instruments, got some questions answered, and then went off to our next venue.
Following the bridge, we headed to the crew area of the ship. Our next stop was the laundry, but on the way we went through the crew dining room, and bar, and headed down the main corridor, dubbed Highway 95. There were all kinds of announcements, activities, and accolades posted. In the process, we waved at some of the Luminae staff (they mentioned seeing us at lunch and seemed happy that we'd seen their digs).
The laundry master explained the workings of the laundry machines, and it was kind of interesting to see all the automated folding machines, etc. I did look for my shirt while I was there, but there was a lot of things there. (To end the suspense - it was delivered when we got back - Celebrity 1 Princess 0 on finding lost laundry).
Following the laundry visit, it was the engine control room, and another body scan (since we'd been together and not out of sight of our guide, I'm not sure what they were looking for). Lots of dials and security cameras there. I think Glen liked that part, partly because he'd worked on power turbines and he could see the monitors for the ship's turbines.
Following that we went to the environmental control area, and mostly it seemed to be about recycling bins.
Then onto provisioning - the stores of food items, all temperature controlled. We also saw where food is loaded onto the ship. Carlos, the head of provisioning, was the only presenter who didn't need to use the microphone.
From provisioning we went up to the galley, and pretty much got the same tour we did on the public galley tour on the Equinox.
We exited through the dining room. I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to go into the wine tower. They took back the earpieces but we did get to keep the lanyard. Cool. On Princess, we got robes, snacks, stationary, chefs jackets and pictures, but that cost 1.5x as much. Overall a good tour, and worth doing once.
From there, I went to the mega sale to try to find small Kipling backpack. I did find one, but not as small as I would have liked and not on sale as much as I would have liked. However, since we had a lot of on board credit, I went ahead and purchased it. Glen texted me that my missing shirt was in the room. I then went back to the room to drop off the backpack, get Glen for lunch and get reunited with my shirt.
As mentioned earlier, some of the staff at Luminae mentioned seeing us on the tour. Today, we ate in the back room of the restaurant - there are two rooms, and the back has the large tables, so we were usually seating in the front because it is somewhat quieter.
After lunch we relaxed in the room for a while, did some reading and I worked on the blog - at that point about 3 days behind (as opposed over a month behind now). Following that, back to the stores to use up the OBC and get enough back for Vat. With jewelry for me and sunglasses for Glen, I accomplished both.
It was late afternoon by that point, so we decided to get dressed for Evening Chic night early and go to Michael's. We hung out there until it was time to meet Claude and Carolyn for dinner. They eat earlier than we usually do, so we couldn't go to the 7pm show before dinner. Since Celebrity does two shows a night based on fixed dinner seating we knew we could go after dinner.
Tonight at dinner, I decided that Glen should see the butter dishes that the main dining room has (they have 3 sections with 2 or 3 different choices, such as different aiolis, etc). I asked our waiter for some, as well as a couple of breadsticks. I got the butter, and an entire bowl of breadsticks. Next cruise, I'll get the butter every night. Dinner was great with lively conversation. It was nice having friends to have dinner with a couple of times.
After dinner we headed to the show, called Broken strings. It was a boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets back with girl thin plot taking place in a bar. Not to the level of the first show. I was a bit disappointed that on this cruise there were only those two shows.
Following the show, we headed to the room to watch a bit of TV and get ready for our last day.
Prior to the cruise, we'd booked the backstage tour excursion for 12:30. We'd done the ultimate ship tour on Princess, and thought we'd enjoy this as well. Once on the ship, I realized the timing of the tour meant that we'd miss lunch at all venues, including the full lunch at the buffet. I'd gone to the Shore Excursions desk to try to change it to the 10:30 tour, but that was full. They also wouldn't let me waitlist it. I then asked the Michael's concierges to try to get me on the waitlist, but they actually got us on the tour.
So after breakfast, we headed to the shore excursions desk, where we checked in for the tour. We'd actually been told it was at the Passport bar, but there was no one there. A gentleman sitting there said that if that's why we were there, we had to go to the Shore Ex desk next door. We did, and found the check in. We were given a lanyard and an ear piece.
Right around 10:30 our guide appeared, a shore ex representative from Germany (I'm not sure I ever had her name right). She explained that she was our escort, and that commentary would be done by the crew members at each venue. She also explained that we will have body scans before the bridge and the control room (I guess nobody cares if you ruin the laundry or poison everyone).
Off we went - first stop bridge. Wand scan, and in we went. One of the bridge officers took us to one of the wing bridges, the main bridge was roped off from us (I've been on the bridge of 4 Princess ships and have always been able to walk the whole bridge). We learned the function of some of the instruments, got some questions answered, and then went off to our next venue.
Following the bridge, we headed to the crew area of the ship. Our next stop was the laundry, but on the way we went through the crew dining room, and bar, and headed down the main corridor, dubbed Highway 95. There were all kinds of announcements, activities, and accolades posted. In the process, we waved at some of the Luminae staff (they mentioned seeing us at lunch and seemed happy that we'd seen their digs).
The laundry master explained the workings of the laundry machines, and it was kind of interesting to see all the automated folding machines, etc. I did look for my shirt while I was there, but there was a lot of things there. (To end the suspense - it was delivered when we got back - Celebrity 1 Princess 0 on finding lost laundry).
Following the laundry visit, it was the engine control room, and another body scan (since we'd been together and not out of sight of our guide, I'm not sure what they were looking for). Lots of dials and security cameras there. I think Glen liked that part, partly because he'd worked on power turbines and he could see the monitors for the ship's turbines.
Following that we went to the environmental control area, and mostly it seemed to be about recycling bins.
Then onto provisioning - the stores of food items, all temperature controlled. We also saw where food is loaded onto the ship. Carlos, the head of provisioning, was the only presenter who didn't need to use the microphone.
From provisioning we went up to the galley, and pretty much got the same tour we did on the public galley tour on the Equinox.
We exited through the dining room. I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to go into the wine tower. They took back the earpieces but we did get to keep the lanyard. Cool. On Princess, we got robes, snacks, stationary, chefs jackets and pictures, but that cost 1.5x as much. Overall a good tour, and worth doing once.
From there, I went to the mega sale to try to find small Kipling backpack. I did find one, but not as small as I would have liked and not on sale as much as I would have liked. However, since we had a lot of on board credit, I went ahead and purchased it. Glen texted me that my missing shirt was in the room. I then went back to the room to drop off the backpack, get Glen for lunch and get reunited with my shirt.
As mentioned earlier, some of the staff at Luminae mentioned seeing us on the tour. Today, we ate in the back room of the restaurant - there are two rooms, and the back has the large tables, so we were usually seating in the front because it is somewhat quieter.
After lunch we relaxed in the room for a while, did some reading and I worked on the blog - at that point about 3 days behind (as opposed over a month behind now). Following that, back to the stores to use up the OBC and get enough back for Vat. With jewelry for me and sunglasses for Glen, I accomplished both.
It was late afternoon by that point, so we decided to get dressed for Evening Chic night early and go to Michael's. We hung out there until it was time to meet Claude and Carolyn for dinner. They eat earlier than we usually do, so we couldn't go to the 7pm show before dinner. Since Celebrity does two shows a night based on fixed dinner seating we knew we could go after dinner.
Tonight at dinner, I decided that Glen should see the butter dishes that the main dining room has (they have 3 sections with 2 or 3 different choices, such as different aiolis, etc). I asked our waiter for some, as well as a couple of breadsticks. I got the butter, and an entire bowl of breadsticks. Next cruise, I'll get the butter every night. Dinner was great with lively conversation. It was nice having friends to have dinner with a couple of times.
After dinner we headed to the show, called Broken strings. It was a boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets back with girl thin plot taking place in a bar. Not to the level of the first show. I was a bit disappointed that on this cruise there were only those two shows.
Following the show, we headed to the room to watch a bit of TV and get ready for our last day.
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