We've never really had a problem with bringing wine on board Celebrity ships. Now RCCI is another story. They take it from you as you board and it's returned to you on disembarkation.
Garry
I guess we were just lucky on our Jewel TA -- we had 4 bottles with us in our hand luggage. Maybe due to the fact that the security machine broke down while we were embarking (we really weren't responsible), they tried to rush everyone through after they got it going again. They just weren't looking very carefully after that!
For those of you that enjoy attending Enrichment Seminars, I just found out that David Perry will be onboard this TA. He usually speaks on the "Myths, Legends, and Facts of Oceanliners." He's a great speaker, and a really nice guy. I email him regularly (he lives in San Francisco), and I recently asked him about this TA.
Unfortunately, Bill and I have to cancel this trip. Sniff, sniff. Bill has to be in China on business, and the scheduling just won't work. I even tried to figure out if I could meet him, but it's too crazy an itinerary to work it all out.
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Unfortunately, Bill and I have to cancel this trip. Sniff, sniff. Bill has to be in China on business, and the scheduling just won't work. I even tried to figure out if I could meet him, but it's too crazy an itinerary to work it all out.
Karyn
Oh Karyn - I was looking forward to meeting you....hopefully another time.
Anything more specific with Patrick for Barcelona? Looks like we have a pretty nice day there (8am ~ 6pm), but need to know if there will be time for another side trip pre/post tour.
The destination I am proposing is Sant Cugat del Valles, an upper middle-class residential town in the outskirts of Barcelona. 1 hr. drive from the Port, part of which is a scenic drive. St.Cugat is located right behind the hills that surround Barcelona, so the scenic drives will be the crossing of those hills (1,500 ft).
On the way, we stop at Tibidabo, where there is a beautiful church and an impressive view point over the city at 1500 ft. elevation.
Sant Cugat has a beautiful and big medieval monastery. This is not an active monastery (except its church, which is St. Cugat main parish) so we get to visit everything. It is exceptionally complete and well aintained. (Not visited by mass tourism groups yet; mostly local school groups).
Most of central Sant Cugat is a pedestrian only area. On a Saturday morning a nice opportunity to witness the daily life and feel of the locals, unspoilt yet by the tourist industry. Quite different from central Barcelona.
Lunch: again an important feature of the excursion. I will arrange lunch at a nice non tourist oriented restaurant. Prices similar to this year, maybe a little higher as we'll be closer to the "big city".
After lunch, we drive back to the Port.
I am estimating a timespan of 7 hours, 9 am to 4 pm. Departure at 9 am 11 am Arrival at St. Cugat including stop at Tibidabo 11 am to 1 pm Visit of the Monastery with a little free time to explore central St. Cugat. 1.30h to 3 pm approx. lunch Drive back to the ship - estimated arrival 4 pm, with a good safety margin.
In a later message, he told me there were no wineries in the area but he could take us to a nice wine shop. After we have our port stop in Marseilles, we can decide if the rules abord the ship would make that worthwhile or a waste of time. I'm sure he would drop anyone off near La Ramblas that wanted to strike out on their own for a short time.
Karyn, very disappointed you and Bill won't be with us on this one, but you just can't be in two places at once, can you? I see from the other thread that Andrew and Ed aren't coming either Hoping to sail with you again soon.
Sounds like another great tour, Bob. I see that once again, he fully appreciates our interest in his lunch plans
Interesting idea of making Marseilles the "test case". We're actually lucky in that some of our party will be staying in Florida for a visit with relatives before returning home, and if we get "stuck" and have good wine returned to us at the end of the cruise, they'll be fully able to "deal with it" there and won't have to schlep it home to Colorado.
We have other friends from Colorado who will be on Equinox starting 13 September for a longish Med cruise (they're new to Celebrity), and we'll press to get as much information from them as we can in all respects, but this one in particular.
Meanwhile, all reports from anyone else regarding the Equinox vino situation welcome. It's going to be a long ride home from Tenerife, and we need to stay well lubricated.
Ah - I keep meaning to ask this as well. If/when anyone hears if they've got the "wine package" program in place in the new ships and has any idea of what they're offering, that would be nice to know, too. I've been under the impression that this was supposed to have been rolled out fleet wide some time ago, but also understand that it wasn't.
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), they tried to rush everyone through after they got it going again. They just weren't looking very carefully after that!
Hoping to sail with you again soon.
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