Jump to content

Midlo

Members
  • Posts

    62
  • Joined

Everything posted by Midlo

  1. I really don’t know for sure about in suite dining from specialty restaurants but I think they would have if I asked. Our butler specifically told me he had access to all the food on the ship and had relationships with managers in every restaurant. I really don’t think he would have said no to anything if he could possibly make it happen. Enjoy your cruise. The balcony on that ship with that itinerary should be great!
  2. Just off Equinox in a PH suite. As to the question of whether it is still worth it or not there is no one answer for everyone. It really depends on your expectations and your personal financial situation, but to me it is still worth it. The service from the butler, room steward and Luminae staff could not have been better. I have stayed in the PH and RS many times over the past ten years and really didn’t feel as though anything was taken away. I have never ordered specialty dining room service so if it’s not available, I don’t miss it. There was no limit on laundry despite what you read. Any request I had, like afternoon snacks for example, were met with “of course, would you like me to mix it up.” My only complaint has to do with the lack of comfort of the new furniture both inside and outside. But that has been beaten to death in other posts so I’ll leave it at that. Overall though, for the size of the suite, the superb service you receive, and the other included perks, it is still worth it, but they are getting close to my limit.
  3. Just off Equinox visiting those same three ports. In Aruba some taxis pay for a permit that allows them to pick passengers up right at the ship. We saw one sitting there and assumed it was reserved but it was just an open cab. We took it to a beach and saved about a ten minute walk to town first. There was also a shuttle bus available between the ship and entrance to town. In Curacao there were golf carts taking people from the ship to the port exit and back for free.
  4. Just got off Equinox yesterday. Had $1500 in OBC non refundable so I tried my previous method in a slot machine with mixed results. I at first tried to transfer $1000 and it wouldn’t let me do it. Then tried $400 and it worked. I cashed it out but then got blocked. Used DH card and got another $600. Every time I tried after that I never got same result twice. What seemed to work was to charge an additional amount to room which was offset by the credit, then transfer to cash in casino. I did end up actually just gambling 50 percent of the transferred amount which is what they require to not get blocked and ended up winning a couple hundred dollars in less than five minutes. I wish I could give you a method that works but it seemed totally arbitrary. When I was blocked I asked a casino employee for help but it was not productive.
  5. Different ships seem to have different policies but the following has worked for me on one ship that has been revolutionized and one that has not. At the roulette table, split your promo chips in half and play with a partner. Each of you bet small amounts, one on odd and one on even, or red and black. One of you wins and the other loses each round. The only way you lose is 00 or 0 . You will eventually end up with your winnings in refundable chips. Take them to cashier and convert to cash. The other method is to go to any slot machine, follow instructions at cashier window or ask any attendant to enter credit in machine. When I did it I didn’t really need to play at all, just cashed out and took slip to cashier. Again, I know this may not work on all ships but it did for me twice on different ships in the last year. I have another cruise coming up shortly and again have a rather large amount of OBC so I hope it still works.
  6. I’m just under 6 ft and have the same problem with many of the new chairs. Last cruise on Equinox in PH I couldn’t sit on the balcony without bringing cushions from the living room sofa outside to support my back. I asked our butler to try sitting in one of those chairs as he was about my size. At first he was convinced there were cushions missing from the back. Then he just said “Well,, no one has complained about them”
  7. Yes they did. It was an extension cord that I keep in the pouch with the cord for the machine. I’ve never used it on a cruise because they always supply one and tape it down for me. They confiscated two plug adapters too that are supposedly allowed according to some sites. They returned those as well after we got off the ship.
  8. I’ve brought my cord in the bag with my cpap on the past 15 cruises with Celebrity. On the Summit this past May it was confiscated by a gleeful person monitoring the X-ray machine with what looked like a trainee next to her. First and only time.
  9. I would check the balance online periodically. My due date for final payment was December 26 so mine is showing a past due amount with my reservation at risk of cancellation. It looks like just going into Fbc triggered a change in my balance. I didn’t purchase anything. In fact, it appears that once you have a past due balance it freezes your ability to click on anything. I’ll not be searching FBC after this is fixed again.
  10. It’s happened to me twice in the last three days. I have a cruise booked and paid in full. When I logged in to Celebrity I had a 0 balance but when I started checking flights on the app I noticed I couldn’t click on choices. When I backed out to the home page I had a balance due that was an error in my original booking. After an hour on the phone with Celebrity two days ago it was fixed. Today the same thing happened again with a different balance due that is past due. Not a warm and fuzzy feeling.
  11. Thanks for the interesting review. Summit is our second favorite ship ( next to Equinox) and in fact we are on her now for the May 6 sailing. We arrived in Bermuda early today at 11 AM instead of 5 PM. There was a medical emergency onboard so they sped here as fast as possible. Don’t know any other details but we did see them transported from the ship. The weather for this entire cruise has been perfect. The only thing that could be better would be a little bit warmer for the people headed to beaches but even Thayer should be happy. I have to agree with the OP about the officers and crew on this ship. Everyone is extremely friendly and helpful. Even fellow passengers are the friendliest we’ve ever encountered.
  12. I’ve had vastly different experiences in plus or minus. Work through your butler and see what kind of connections he or she has. I’ve had the Matre d at Murano tell me that I could just show up any time and he would personally accommodate me because we were in a top suite. Other times no such luck.
  13. Been thinking about this thread and my recent cruise in a PH on the Equinox. I feel like I owe it to our butler, Sebastian, to give him kudos for his exceptional service. Having had some good ones and mediocre ones, I want to say he was one of the best. He is a true professional. He is one of those who is always watching and thinking about what he can do by almost reading your mind to make your cruise exceptional. He found out from the Maitre d at Murano that we were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. I was trying to keep it low key and hadn’t said anything to anyone else. We came back to the room afterwards and it was filled with balloons and a big Happy Anniversary sign. He made everything seem effortless and almost as if I didn’t even need to ask, he already knew!
  14. Just off Equinox and my bar setup in the PH had Canada Dry tonic water.
  15. I didn’t see anything in the op’s posts that indicated that they mistreated or didn’t appreciate their service staff. I think their point was that after reading posts by others about over the top treatment in the top suites by butlers and others they were disappointed by their experience. They didn’t let it ruin their cruise and they didn’t make a big fuss over robes. They just gave a review of their experience.
  16. Don’t understand their reasoning but they own the ships so it’s their choice. We enjoyed the piano in the PH. We listened to it while having a drink or two while getting ready for dinner around 4:30. As far as bothering neighbors, on our last cruise we sat next to the couple in the RS next door and I asked them if they could hear it. They said no. Hope they weren’t just being nice!
  17. They did, the only ones left are on ships that haven’t completed the “upgrades”. Equinox is one of them.
  18. The PH has loads of extra storage space, a much larger bathroom and shower, and the piano. The piano comes with an invisible piano player that doesn’t even ask for tips. 9C8BCC6E-BBA9-49E4-AC1A-6AED33AD8AD1.MOV
  19. Yes, Pete Baker. Just got off Equinox and he was very visible. He made a video of his presentation about the Queen and it is available on the ship tv. Worth watching.
  20. Midlo

    iLounge

    Just off Equinox and no inventory in I-lounge there either. Only thing they had were sound deadening earphones.
  21. Just got off Equinox and the chairs on the deck of the PS look the same. Unless you are 7 feet tall they are difficult to sit in and very uncomfortable. The seat is too long and the back has no cushion. When we did sit on them we brought cushions outside from the living room sofa.
  22. Getting back to the original question, has cruising lost it’s sparkle? Just finished glancing at all of these posts and obviously the sparkle has a different meaning to everyone. This question hit me because we just returned from the Equinox last Saturday and I was asking myself the same question. We were in a PS suite and while we had a great time and enjoyed everything, I couldn’t help but to notice things that could be defined as sparkle missing. For example, in the past you were greeted with a glass of champagne upon boarding, there were a dozen red roses on the table in the suite, a bowl of fresh fruit replenished daily, and during the week a bowl of chocolate covered strawberry’s would magically appear with a thank you card from the Hotel Director. Not to mention the days when you would come back from dinner to find towel animals on your bed. All of that is history. For me the sparkle is at it’s best on the first day after you get to your room and you know you still have the entire cruise ahead of you.
  23. For what it’s worth, both my wife and I had managed to avoid Covid for the past three years. We both got the Latest Moderna booster two weeks before the Oct 6 sailing. We also flew first class on the way to Ft. Lauderdale to try to minimize contact. Our cabin was on deck 11 so it was difficult to avoid elevators. My symptoms began on the ninth night so probably got it mid week. Would I do anything differently? No, I don’t think so. I agree with the original op statement that you should expect to get it and plan accordingly. It was great to get back to cruising after a three year hiatus.
×
×
  • Create New...