Couple questions for first cruise

Hi,

I'm going on honeymoon with my wife on 14 night South Caribbian cruise from Celebrity Cruises in November.

I'd have couple questions.

I've been checking out for celebration packages. I couldn't find info about when they are arranged? I'm interested in premium package. Will they ask me on what day I want them to arrange it?

Second question:

We are traveling throught travel agency and they have reserved Main dining room for every evening. Am I free to dine in other restaurants like Sushi on Five if I want to?

Do you suggest to book special dining for couple evenings or is the Main dining room good enought for first timers?

3rd question:

I've checked Spa prices and they seem to be very high for what I have used to pay for massages. Are they worth it?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

Which cruise line? We've been carnival and NCL and main dining room is nice just busier. On those to lines your not obligated to go to the dining room.my wife did a spa once and they're a bit of a sales crew as they try to sell you during the cruise. Best bet is your excursions stops will have much much cheaper massages.

As for celebration packages I can't call moment as I've only done a birthday for a kid.

If by chance your headed to Curacao you should find someone to take you to the Blue Room as it was Amazing. Aruba is great but snorkeling there is just ok. I would do the Trike bikes in Aruba.

Congrats and good times.

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We have sailed on Celebrity Lines a few times and really enjoy the experience.

Celebration information is under Plan a cruise. Click on that and you will see in the second column Special Occasions. Click on Special Occasions and you will see Weddings and then Honeymoons.

You do not have to eat in the Main Dining Room every night. You can make reservations to dine in the specialty restaurants for an additional charge, order room service ( I don't know if you'd have an extra charge for this...depends on the type of cabin you are in), or eat in the buffet area. We have enjoyed the specialty restaurants.

Spa prices are quite a bit higher than prices most places on shore. I haven't had a massage on board, but my daughter has and despite the price, she said it was worth it. If you have some on board credit, you could use that for a massage.

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Enjoy your honeymoon on Celebrity!

You can have dinner the a $pecialty restaurant any night you please! :)

The Main dining room is included in your fare. If you wish to go elsewhere...you certainly can! No worries about that!

As far as how you are seated....we enjoy tablemates, since we are together most of the day...it's nice to have other like-minded folks to chat with at dinner! Don't be afraid of tablemates!

Spa prices are VERY high...compared to land spa prices. Unless you have some great need for a massage, I'd do it at home.

We love the main dining room just because it is so different from your normal dining experience. It feels like vacation to me!! We have used the spa a few times and to me it's not worth it. Services are not great. Last massage I got onboard I couldn't stop laughing, it was awkwardly bad. BUT that being said any massage is better than no massage. : ) enjoy your honeymoon! Cruising is the best!!

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Go to the Maitre'd. in one specialty diner and ask for an Honeymoon meal at whatever day and time you wish and they will take care of the rest. They love celebrations and will go all out. Tip accordingly, including the Maitre'd. Don't hesitate to ask for something special ahead of time to eat either.

Which cruise line? We've been carnival and NCL and main dining room is nice just busier.

 

 

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You might want to read the OP as he clearly stated Celebrity.

Onboard spas tend to be high, although they often offer specials on port days if you are not planning going ashore. I think a specialty restaurant would be a good choice a celebration. Which one depends on what you guys like best.

For when the celebration packages happen, it's been a while for me, but if you can't pick the day of delivery when booking the item, it will be the first day.

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Why not just book a massage on the beach at one of the islands for your special day and surprise her by telling her after you board about your arrangements?

Thanks for tips everyone!

Go to the Maitre'd. in one specialty diner and ask for an Honeymoon meal at whatever day and time you wish and they will take care of the rest. They love celebrations and will go all out. Tip accordingly, including the Maitre'd. Don't hesitate to ask for something special ahead of time to eat either.

What is Maitre'd?

On Celebrity, the food is awesome and my spouse and I did not feel the need to do any of the specialty restaurants. We really enjoyed our tablemates and you get to know the waiter and assistant waiter well, when you go regularly. They get to know your preferences well too.

My husband has enjoyed getting massages on board, but it is more reasonable off the ship (even $25 for 30min) on the beach, so try that too.

Congrats! Celebrity is awesome. We went on our first cruise and "LOVED IT" we are going again in 30 days.

My advise, dont worry about much until you get there, everything works out.

You will have fun. Yes, make it well known you are on your honey moon. They will make your days extra special!

Also did you know, that if you go to their travel people they can arrange private shore excursions? anyway I digress.

Dining:

With your fare, the dining is included in main room. Depending on your class its either the main dining room or blu specialty room. You can reserve a specific time or go ad hock. We always due the casual dining as we never know when we are on the ship.

Food is awsome and I love the dining room. You do have to share tables sometimes but its fun to have table mates.

The dining room is fine dining and menu changes every day or night. I usually get breakfast there and some dinners.

To be honest, I like a lot of different food, and I have some food concerns.The best place for us is the buffet which is stunning on constellation class ships. Food is same as in their restaurants and you get a variety of stuff and its a bit faster if in a hurry. We tend to eat at off hours when the buffet is empty.

Specialty dinining:

Specialty restaurants cost money but you can buy a package. The food is amazing there and you can 100% walk in anywhere. The food is great. We at at the bistro one night and it was a 5 course meal and absolutely wonderful. If your a foodie get the package.

Drink packages:

This is an interesting subject and there is a science to this according to some poeple. All lines are are unclear on website. I was scared on my first cruise but pricing isnt that bad. If you dont get a drink package you basically get tap water. Not recommended.

You can buy onboard. They have sheets explaining what is what very clearly when you arrive. We usually do as they have sales sometimes. You can buy per day if you want. However you should state that you only want x amount of days before hand its assumed you buy for the cruise duration.

Really for us there are a few options that work. We are not HUGE alcohol concourses and I am more of a Hineken/corona guy. We are going to opt twice for the "classic" package. it seems to give us what we want for best price.

The reason we did this is becuase it gives us access to many mixed drinks, a fine selection or beer for me and gives us a lot of non-alcholoic options including specialty (starbucks style) coffee from coffee bar. (important to me) .

My expireince with this package, you can get basically any drink you want with a decent quality of alcholol. No One ever told me no you cant have that. Mind you if you only require kettle one or expensive alcohol go premium and enjoy.

Here is a comparision of the alchohol you get with classic vs premium.

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/media/celebrity/shared_assets/pdf/Classic-Premium-Bev-Pckgs.pdf

Be careful though as the preimum may lack some options like specialty coffee, read fine print.

There is also wine specific packages available.

Hope this helps, and enjoy your Celebrity Cruise

We love the MDR for dinner. The specialty restaurants seem nice. We only ever at at one once, and that was only because we sailed over my wifes birthday and carnival gave her a $75 voucher for a spa service and a free meal for two at the restaurant. I don't know if I would ever pay out of pocket for the speciality restaurants.

Good choice on Celebrity, my guess is that you will enjoy it immensely.

By coincidence, our first cruise was a 14 day honeymoon cruise on Celebrity. I had never cruised before, had some trepidation about it, and now I'm addicted.

I'm going to echo most of what is already on here. Try not to isolate yourselves in the main dining room with a a table for 2. We prefer traditional dining and tables of 6. You will most likely end up with 2 other couples, and soon you will look forward to meeting them for dinner as part of your day so you can share adventure stories.

With traditional dining, you dine at the same time every night with your table mates and will have the same wait staff. The wait staff will get to know you and soon you will be amazed at how much becomes automatic.

For us, knowing our dining time creates a set point in the day that everything else gets planned around. If you can't make it one night, no worries, there are other options.

The massage is a splurge. My wife usually gets one per trip, I never have. Expect to politely decline additional services when you're in there if you go.

If somebody else has not already pointed it out, the Maitre'd is the restaurant head honcho, and the one to approach with any special requests or if you have a problem in the restaurant which I highly doubt you will.

On our first trip, we were seated with another couple on their honeymoon, and another couple who cruised that particular ship at least 4 times a year and became our guides.

Splurge at least once for a specialty restaurant and you can make this your celebration dinner. Back in the day, we were on Summit and the "Normandie" was the specialty restaurant. We booked a full wine pairing meal on one of the formal nights. We didn't mention our honeymoon at the time of the reservation, but our experienced cruising table mates knew our plans and ratted us out.

Come time for dinner, and we find that our table is in the absolute center of the restaurant, right next to the harpist. We felt like we were on stage. I swear there were spotlights on that table. The entire staff of that restaurant fussed over us for 3 hours. We each had our own individual waiter, plus an assistant, and the sommelier. I don't know if that experience can ever be replicated.

At the end of the meal, we are absolutely stuffed, and they come out with a "happy honeymoon" cake. We were horrified when they all started looking disappointed that we could not eat it, we'd already had 5 courses including desert and there was no way we could eat another bite. Turned out the joke was on us. They knew we couldn't touch it and had already prepared to have it sent up to our cabin.

Enjoy the trip. Anything you want to arrange can be done once you have boarded the ship if you have not done it in advance.

Regularly check prices; they often drop significantly, and you can get the reduced price--but only if you ask for it. They certainly don't notify you. For example, our December cruise dropped by $500, and I'm hoping there are more to come.

You might also look at Celebrity's current booking bonuses. For example, if you book a suite, you get the premium drink package, on board credit, unlimited internet, and grat. Since you have 14 nights on board, all those perks could be enough savings that it would be worth it to book a suite, or higher category balcony, etc. to get the savings on the other stuff.