TheSkipper

Joanand joe: Very interesting info. I have a small compass that always goes with me. Have to take it out on our balcony and watch the directions. I would never have guessed, but just looked at a map and see what you mean. Charging the video cam batteries, DVD play is ready and charged, next comes the digital still camera and then all our electronics should be ready. Need to run down to Radio Shack and get a male to male mini AV cable to connect my video cam and portable DVD player just in case I cannot connect to the stateroom TV. Thanks to all of you for the good wishes. Roe is running around doing a lot of errands and shopping today, but I think we are in good shape. Kind of like the Red Eye flight thing. Gives us a full day for last minute stuff before heading to the airport at about 9PM. Thanks again,

Hey, Hey, next cruise in only a week away. One week from tonght we will be doing a red eye into FLL and boarding the Coral Princess for a Panama Canal run to San Francisco. This one seems like it has been a long time coming, but it finally has sneaked up on us. :grin: Got to go over all the cameras and electronics, get the suit cases from the garage and start to get serious!! :cheesy:

Looks like this thread has been sitting dormant since December, Did the Group Cruise fall off the radar?? :undecided:

I think she is under repair in Bremerhaven where I was stationed in another lifetime. :grin:

Here is a little good news for cruisers (like us) who are scheduled to fly with Delta on upcoming cruises.!! :grin: Delta, Pilots Union Reach Tentative Deal By HARRY R. WEBER (AP Business Writer) From Associated Press April 14, 2006 9:01 AM EDT ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines Inc. and its pilots union reached a tentative agreement Friday on pay and benefit cuts that could avert a strike at the nation's third largest carrier and ease uncertainty among travelers over the busy Easter weekend. No details of the agreement were released. The deal would be subject to ratification by the airline's 5,930 pilots. The pilots union had threatened to strike if its contract was thrown out. Delta, which has been operating under bankruptcy protection since September, has said in court papers that a pilot strike would put it out of business. An arbitration panel had until Saturday to reach a decision on Delta's request to throw out its pilot contract so it could impose up to $325 million in annual pay and benefit cuts. That decision is now on hold with the tentative agreement, but it could resurface if the rank-and-file pilots reject the agreement. "I'm very pleased the parties have reached a tentative agreement," the panel chairman, Richard Bloch, told The Associated Press. He declined to comment further, referring questions to the parties. In a statement, Delta said the deal also is subject to bankruptcy court approval, but the airline believes passengers can book with confidence. "We have worked hard together as a team to forge an agreement that is good for Delta and all of its constituents," said Delta's chief financial officer, Ed Bastian. The pilot strike threat had unnerved Delta passengers, some of whom scrambled to make alternate travel plans over the busy Easter weekend. The threat also hurt bookings on the Atlanta-based airline. Delta's mainline carrier operates 1,722 daily flights and had more than 118 million passengers last year. In his memo to pilots, the chairman of the union's executive committee, Lee Moak, said the deal was reached early Friday morning. He said union leaders will meet in the next week to discuss the deal and determine whether to recommend it to the membership. "We will not hurry," Moak said. "We will proceed in an unrushed, methodical manner." Delta's pilots previously agreed to $1 billion in annual concessions, including a 32.5 percent wage cut, in a five-year deal in 2004. But Delta, which has imposed pay cuts on other employees, said it needs more from its pilots. The company says the average earnings of pilots last year who worked the full year was more than $157,000. But the pilots union has said the figure was inflated by overtime and they have projected a significant decrease in average pilot earnings for 2006. The negotiations between the company and the union picked up steam on Tuesday, when negotiators for both sides intensified talks at the Grand Hyatt hotel in New York. Those talks continued through the night Thursday. Delta pilot Keith Rosenkranz, who has been with the company 15 years and generally flies international routes to Europe and South America, said he's not sure how he will vote on the deal. He said he needs to see the details first. "I was a little worried last night that my last landing in Rome was the last of my career," said Rosenkranz, who lives in Grapevine, Texas. He said he's glad at least there is some sort of resolution, though union member ratification is still an unanswered question. "I think the Delta pilots have always been willing to help the company in a time of need," Rosenkranz said. "We've proven that repeatedly over the years. But there does come a point when you have to stand up for your profession and the things that you negotiated in good faith, and if the company is not willing to recognize that then I'm not going to vote for something that continues to take."

We really enjoyed your pics JBond!! Sorry the weather did not cooperate, but no way to perdict or control that. :huh: It is great to drive to a cruise once in awhile. We do it about once every two years or so. It's about 5 hours to San Pedro or San Diego from Las Vegas, not too bad and it sure beats flying to Florida. We've never sailed the Island Princess, but she looks beautiful. We will be doing the Coral and Crown this year. :cool:

No hurry to pack. We usually leave it until the night before departure. However, our next flight to a cruise is a "red eye" so we will probably do the actual packing the day we depart. We do however, lay out stuff in the guest bedroom a week or so in advance. Just don't pack it right then. We are under a month now, so time to start thinking about getting our act together. I'll start by getting all the camera and electronic gear rounded up.

Terry, It's a shame that all your planning went down the tubes. But, perhaps this will turn out for the best. We had a similar (but much smaller) problem a few years ago when Celebrity sent the Millie into an unscheduled drydock with engine problems. We had to switch to the older and smaller Century which we had already sailed aboard twice. We had booked a balcony on the Millie and since the Century had no balcony cabins except in their Sky Suites, they upgraded us to a Sky Suite. We then decided to take our twin 13 year old Grandsons with us and we all had the time of our lives. This will afford you the chance to do a good comparison of Celebrity and Princess, sailing Princess while the memories of Celebrity are still fresh in your minds. Might be interesting. We did back to backs aboard NCL and Carnival a few years back. Just got off NCL's Sky and went down the pier and boarded Carnival's Paradise. Very interesting. We found our inside cabin on the Paradise was much more spacious and comfortable than our so called mini-suite on the SKY. I think over all Carnival won the comparison and I never would have expected that!! Sounds like you have an alternate plan in place, so put your troubles behind you and enjoy what could be a vacation of a lifetime! :wink:

Enjoyed your photographs. Looks like you all had a great time. :wink: Welcome home! :grin:

I guess we are going to have to try Carnival again. It has been a long time and it is apparent that they have come a long way!! 130,000 tons, thats a BOAT! :rolleyes:

Howard, Don't think you need to worry about a cancellation of your trip on the Crown. :wink: We will be a few weeks behind you and are really looking forward to sailing on this new beauty. We sailed the "old" Crown three times over the years. Including a Northern European Cuise right after she was taken over by Princess from Sitmar.

Shari, Having met and sailed with you, you would be fine with Princess or RCI, don't know about HAL, have not sailed with them yet, but we will! As long as we are talking Europe, if anyone comes across a great cruise that includes St. Petersburg, Russia, drop me a note. That's our next European adventure. Have done the Med a couple of times as well as parts of Northern Europe and Great Britain, but 2007 is going to be our year for St. Petersburg and he Hermitage. Having already retired, we love the longer (10-20) day cruises. Makes the long flights to and from Europe worthwhile.

I should have guessed that one. We honeymooned on the Majesty! Too many ships since then I guess. :wink:

We have sailed Celebrity many times and the food is outstanding! Not to worry. Of course, this is subjective, everyone has their own taste. If you do not get late seating by the time you board, go to the dining room and see the Matrie'd as soon as you board the ship. If their is a spot they will move you. Late seating is very popular especially in Europe where people are ashore on excursions almost daily and want time to rest, shower, etc. before going to dinner. Enjoy your cruise.

They are now saying the fire began on a balcony and a cigarette is suspected. That could mean someone dozed off or the butt was flipped overboard from a balcony above. I guess we will all pay more attention to the on board safety drills from now on.

Just passing this along. SANTIAGO, Chile - A bus carrying cruise ship tourists plunged off a highway in northern Chile and tumbled 300 feet down a mountainside Wednesday, killing 12 Americans, U.S. and Chilean officials said. Two other U.S. tourists and two Chileans  the driver and the tour guide  were hospitalized in serious condition, said Juan Carlos Poli, a city hall spokesman in the Pacific port city of Arica. The tourists were returning to Celebrity Cruises' ship Millennium from an excursion to Lauca National Park when the driver swerved to avoid an approaching truck on a rugged highway near Arica, 1,250 miles north of Santiago, he said. The bus went off the narrow highway and tumbled down a steep mountainside. Poli said the bus, which had a capacity of 16 passengers, "was totally destroyed." "We have confirmed that all the victims were American citizens," Poli told the Associated Press by telephone from the hospital. U.S. Embassy spokesman John Vance also confirmed the 12 U.S. deaths and said the embassy was sending consular officers to Arica. The victims were all in their 60s and 70s, but authorities would not immediately confirm their identities. The Millennium was docked in Arica, and the cruise line said the ship will remain there until further notice. It had been scheduled to leave for Peru early Thursday. The ship was carrying approximately 1,500 guests and 920 crew members. The accident occurred 25 miles northeast of Arica on the road leading deep into the high Andes Mountains, connecting the coast with the Bolivian capital of La Paz. The cruise line said it was flying family members of victims to Chile and sending a special assistance team to the ship to help its guests and crew. "We continue to work with Chilean authorities and the U.S. Consulate in Santiago to assist our injured guests and the family members of those who died in this tragic accident," said Dan Hanrahan, president of Celebrity Cruises. The ship is on a 14-night South American cruise. It departed Valparaiso, Chile, on March 19 and was scheduled to conclude in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on April 2. Poli said autopsies will be conducted during the night so the bodies can be sent home as soon as possible. Celebrity Cruises, which is owned by Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises, said the private tour was not affiliated with the cruise line. Looks like Celebrity is doing all the right things. May God be with the families.

Hi Joey, We have changed planes in both London airports, no hassle whatsoever. All I can remember about Barcalona is that it was raining cats and dogs when we were on our way to our ship. We had planned to do the Rambla until we saw the weather. All of Joe's advise is correct concerning currency and ATM's. Do not other with traveler's checks they are a pain in the you know what to cash in some places and are heavly discounted, so you lose money in the exchange process. ATM's are everywhere. The only time we were slowed down at Heathrow was when the immigration officer noticed we had our passports stamped in Israel. That prompted some questions, but no big deal. It's a long, long flight from LAX to LHR, so plan on trying to sleep or at least bring a good set of head phones to listen to the music and watch the movies. You are in for a great time!

We depart aboard the Coral Princess on May 3rd out of FLL thru the Panama Canal and disembark in San Francisco. :wink:

You might want to consider a large SUV type cab. We did this in Ft. Lauderdale when we had five in the group. Simply told the guy calling the cabs what we needed and he sent us around the corner of the terminal where there were severl oversized cabs available. We used a Ford Explorer that even had rear seat TV. I would think at Miami there should be something similar available. More than a regular cab, but a heck of a lot cheaper than the per person charge for the Cruise Line shuttle. :cool:

Welcome aboard! We have done fifteen or so Celebrity cruises and will try and answer any questions you may have. We started sailing with them on the Inagural of the Zenith and find them to be an outstand cruise line. The food is great to put your mind at ease on that score. In general, they do an outstanding job. Lots of very nice touches that I think you will enjoy. BTW. I spent a couple of years in living in London. Where in the UK do you call home??

Hooked?? How can anyone get hooked?? More like addicted if you ask me. We took our first cruise just to give it a try and 45 cruises later are still doing at least two a year! Welcome to the club! :wink:

You sure had to know you were at the right office! I've never seen anything quite like it! Thanks

Enjoyed your review popsec. We have sailed aboard the Zenith three times including her maiden voyage, so she is very special to us. The second time we sailed on her we were invited to a private dinner party given in honor of Mrs. Chandris (owner's wife). We were the only non-Greeks at the event and had a ball. The last time we sailed her was out of NYC to Bermuda and I have some great video taken from her deck of the Twin Towers! We have also done her sister ship the Horizon a couple of times. Very much like the Zenith, so you would probably enjoy sailing aboard her.

Will be waiting for your review! Doing the same cruise aboard the Coral on May 3rd so will be looking for all the inside scoop. :grin: Enjoy your cruise and take care of that ship. :wink:

Don't think the name in and of itself is really going to make a real difference. But, time will tell.