JohnG

Princess tries to protect the UK agents by only letting them book UK customers. They, in turn, can't book North American passengers. Same with Australia. Not a problem with other line. There are ways around it, like if they have temporary address in the US, or a PO box here. Then they pay the same as we do. I've had customers from England, Ireland, Switzerland, and Panama.

There are two current ports in Jamaica. Are you going to Ocho Rios or Montego Bay?

Mary Lou, Last night Karen asked me how many days and said she needed to start packing. She makes list and lists and lays everything out weeks in advance, unlike me who packs the night before. I think she is in withdrawal because March to November is the longest she will have had to go without a cruise in years! I'll be going to my national conference aboard the Pride Oct 4, so I don't have as long to wait.

Carnival Platinum members can get a galley tour.

We have always attended and always will. I wonder if the frenchman and his daughter who drowned in the sinking of the Louis Diamond in Santorini skipped the lifeboat drill. I don't want someone who skipped it panicing in a real emergency and interfering with others. On HAL I remember they took the names of those that didn't attend and made them attend another one the next day because they knew exactly who they were.

Joey and others thought a CruiseCrazies group cruise would be fun and asked me to look into some of them. When the Constellation 13 night Caribbean one came up, we agreed on this one. We have arranged various things to do together during the cruise, including some joint excursions, dinner in the specialty restaurant, some casino activities, game days an a scavanger hunt, etc. But the group members can participate in any or none of them together.

We sailed on her in Dec 2008 and January 2009. Love the ship and the service. The 2 for 1 martini special on 3 of the 4 nights wasn't bad either. We were in oceanviews both times. My only comment on the stateroom was that storage space is minimal, and on a longer cruise it would be tough. It is the former Pride of Aloha, and it still has plenty of Hawaiian decor and photos in the hallways. We like that and hope they don't change.

Years back in Cozumel we rented a motor bike and took two falls. I gashed my leg under the bike in one of them. I washed it in salt water and after returning the bike, an relaxing at Carlos and Charlie's, I went back to the ship, Sun Princess, and they gave me a tetanus shot and cleaned and bandaged it so I could go to formal night. My insurance covered it. In Europe last year aboard the Summit I needed to see the Dr about meds because my BP meds were in my missing luggage for 4 days. He didn't have any in stock, but wrote me a Rx and I was able to get it filled in Dubrovnik in a pharmacy for my regular med.

I spend a fair amount of time in the stateroom and balcony. My wife likes the sun and spends plenty of time up on sun decks. I just get sun poisoning and so I spend time reading or watching TV or napping in the room or on the balcony. I usually spend about an hour a day in the internet cafe catching up on business. I have to use sunblocks that contain parsol 1789 as an ingredient.

My wife thinks I just like the costumes!

Hyperion is Paula's reason for booking this cruise. Close friends. We like the broadway style reviews the best.

Judson, a river cruise is in our intentions for 2010. Want to do the Seine/Rhone area of France in the burgundy and red wine area. We have now done Tahiti, Hawaii, Alaska twice, Canada/New England twice, the Mediterranean twice, and about 40 Caribbean trips. And we have hired a taxi once, in Antigua, to tour the island and go to a beach. He gave us a nice narrated tour, an waited at the beach till we were ready to to return.

I don't think you can confirm it any more than you can confirm in advance when formal nights are. It is up to the ship's hotel director. On Mercury, because it was cold weather, it was indoors in one of the large lounges after dinner and lasted for hours with dancing. On the Summit it was warm weather, so they could do dinner outdoors. I just wore white pants and a white celebrity t-shirt. My wife and daughter did similarly with simple white casual clothes.

The introduced the white night and the brunch a year ago when I was on Summit in Europe. The white night was one night that they encouraged everyone to wear white and served dinner around the pool area. They even draped some white banners, etc. I seem to remember them, too, last Sept on the Mercury, Joey. I was on there the week after you, on the last Alaska inside passage of the year for her. The brunch is only 1 day, in the dining room, with carved ice figures, omelettes, carving stations, fresh shrimp, eggs benedict, waffles, fish, pastries, chicken, and much more. I was locked out for a while and just got back in. Wouldn't let me log in at all. Jason emailed me that they are working on it. A patch they put in the software to address some other bugs seems to have created more problems, so the are removing the patch.

I just spoke with Roberto's replacement, the Area Sales Manager, and told her I wanted them to ensure we have arrangements for moving 15 or 16 people and lots of luggage from the hotel at noon to the Port of Miami. She said 'no problem' , that they have 2 companies they work with, and she will arrange it and ensure the manager at the hotel is aware. She will send me something in writing to confirm it, she said. I told her that Roberto had said that the company they use is about $10, and she said that sounded right. I'll let you know as soon as I hear back from her.

My t-shirt is white, too. I forgot about the cross-over from RCCL. I have 5 completed Celebrity cruises 6 credits, and 4 RCCL cruises plus one they didn't count (Freedom inaugural). RCCL lists me as Platinum, though, I guess because of the Celebrity credits. I'll need 1 more credit after this cruise to move to Celebrity select. The RCCL C&A website says: The benefits of the two programs will stay independent, and the number of sailings a member accrues on each brand will not be combined. They just give you the highest equivalent level attained, on both lines. I've sailed Carnival 14 times and obviously enjoy it. But Celebrity is definitely different. I don't mean to say better, just very different. Carnival is better if you have kids with you, as they have excellent programs. But Celebrity is a little more laid back. The wonderful thalassotherapy pools, more people observe formal night, and some excellent features they have been introducing, like an international wine festival/tasting, Roderer crystal wine tasting, white night, and the grand brunch buffet that replaced midnight buffet. Pizza to order in the afternoon and evening, not just what they offer, but will make whatever you want. And my favorite, the martini bar and performances by the bartenders.

do you have a standard pack you use John.. I mean.. wow you must not fluctuate a lot in weight I'm only 15 lbs heavier than I was when I retired from the Navy in 1984. I pretty much hold this weight since I started having high BP and type 2 diabetes about 6 or 7 years ago. So there really isn't a problem packing. Tux, white jacket, tux accessories & shirts, several pair of trousers, shorts, polo shirts, floral shirts, t-shirt, underwear & a few pr socks, 2 bathing suits and tops, snorkel gear, dress and formal shoes, and two plastic 750 ml bottles of gin. That's all I need, unless I pack a few miniature bottle of champagne for Karen. I just sort of "know" what to pack. No lists.

Great, Rose! Bring back memories of last summer when we took my daughter on the Summit for 12 days Venice to Barcelona for her HS graduation. And your observations about doing research in advance are right on. Thanks.

It drives Karen nuts, but I don't pack until the evening before we leave no matter whether it is a long or short cruise. She on the other hand, begins months in advance with lists, day by day plans for clothes during the cruise, and begins laying out the clothes weeks in advance, and is packed at least a couple days in advance.

I'm sure you have read some of my many reviews posted here. I've been writing reviews for years, probably 10 years. Long before I became a cruise TA. Because I had been on other boards, before this one began, I knew the kind of questions people ask. So I write reviews from the viewpoint of trying to answer the questions people would have about the ship and itinerary/ports. I've never had a bad cruise, so I've never written a bad review. Some cruises are better than others, due to service or food. I try not to pass judgement, just tell it as I see it. I remember one cruise specifically that I went on looking for problems because of poor reviews. We had an outstanding time and service. After the cruise I read a review of the same ship and sailing date we were on and you wouldn't know we were on at the same time. It was all negative.

I found that if I logged out, and then logged in, instead of repeatedly trying to log in, that it worked.

To get to the Group I just click on Groups at the top of the page, ritht above the Shore Excursions link. After selecting the Connie Goes Crazie group, I'm in. Once in a while I had to log out and relog in with the new user name (email address) and password I received last Monday. Since Joey has posted a number of discussion topics about the group cruise there, there is significant information posted there that is not in this thread, so you really should try it again. John

St Johns, Antigua has a lot to offer. If you have never been to English Harbor there are excursions that will take you there, or you can hire a driver. It was the dockyard Lord Nelson used in the late 1700's and today it houses a marina, arts and crafts. We hired a driver one time to take us across the island, past former sugar can plantations, etc, to beaches on the other side of the island. He narated history along the way. He waited at the beach till we were ready to return. The town of St Johns has a casino, lots of art, craft, and the usual jewelry and souvenir shops, and even an indoor market similar to the straw market in Nassau. Plenty of places to shop. You could also get a taxi to take you to Dickenson Bay/Beach, where there are bars and restaurants and water sports vendors, and I'm sure you could sit in the shade. Most of the all-inclusive resorts, like Jolly Beach Resort, offer day passes for about $60 per person.

I posted a few days ago that when the issue was raised, I contacted the cruise line and found that Celebrity will let a Captains Club member book up to 12 people starting 60 days out. If John and Joey, for instance booked two groups totaling 19 we'd have it covered. They said that we might have to have the times slightly staggered to accommodate that many. I had the impression it wasn't a matter of 6 ,8, or 10, but more like some smaller adjustments, like 7, 7:15 or 7:30. See my post #4400 The issue you raised is that they are allowing booking individually now, and will they have room for two groups totalling 19?

We can still get gas at $2.37 per gallon here in Eastern Virginia.