CHEZMARYLOU

38 minutes ago, Airportlimbo said:

Does anyone have the current chart of extra OBC for booking onboard? I’ll sailing next month and weighing booking now with the current promo vs waiting.

It varies based on cabin and length of cruise.  A 7 day cruise goes from $100 for inside up to $350 for upper level suites..

You can sign up for Go Green pre cruise. Try this link.

Celebrity Cruises

Transportation, luggage handling, tours and accommodations are included but there are also extra excursions you can book for a price.  The tour guide will have information when you arrive.

Food and drinks are typically not included, unless it is included as part of the excursion.

2 hours ago, Shellyd22 said:

Can someone tell me how to do online check in without a passport? Can you just skip over that section if you’re using DL and birth certificate? I understand passport is highly recommended but we don’t have time and it’s not needed for my closed loop itinerary. Thank you 

When you are checking in on line there should be a drop down asking what form of documentation you are using. I don't know about the app.

Our last cruise was out of Ft. Lauderdale and the website had the correct check in date.

Invest in an old fashion ice bag and put the ice in it to keep it frozen longer.  On our last cruise I had a fractured bone in my foot and our butler brought me an ice bag 2 times a day, in addition to filling the ice bucket.

1 hour ago, hrhdhd said:

Well, you can arrive at the port when you want. You can board as soon as the ship is ready.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "security lines" upon debarkation. There are no security lines, just immigration lines. You don't get to bypass those.

The "security line" is the area where Celebrity personnel "ding" you off the ship one last time. There is usually a line waiting to exit so if in the Retreat you bypass that line and are taken right to the sea pass scanner. Depending on the terminal you might just use facial recognition so there is no immigration line to stand in.

At Port Everglades, once you check in at the Retreat area you will either be seated in the lounge until the ship is cleared for embarkation, or you will be directed to go directly on to the ship. If you get there early you will be among the first to embark. Other cabin categories will start to embark once the 1st group in the retreat are boarding.

For disembarkation you can wait in the retreat lounge and will be able to disembark as soon as all of the retreat luggage is off loaded at the terminal. If you are not in a hurry you can wait in the lounge until you are ready to leave.  The concierge will lead you to the front of the line.

Thanks for the report.  We cancelled a March cruise so hoping the wines will improve by December. 

5 minutes ago, Winemaker_1 said:

I guess I should have.  He was very nice, but very over-worked.   We were just ordering a simple cheese plate, so I didn't think it was worth bothering him for this when room service could drop it off.

Best to call your butler.  Even if he is on a break there is someone covering for him, or he would notify RS to get your cheese plate pronto.

IMO you can never have too much duck, unless you cook it daily when home.

@GenerationXThanks for another fun review. I'm glad to see they are bringing back some cooking demonstrations, they been lacking for a few years now. I did one similar years ago, it was held in Tuscan. Can't wait to see your review.

11:55 is the typical time and they are strict about it.

4 hours ago, Mrs_Tiki said:

I will add that to my packing list. However, I can’t find an electrical outlet in the bath, so it will be a battery nightlight, if there is such a thing!

Thanks for the comparison, always looking for alternatives and reviews like yours helps.  BTW you can get battery operated, motion sensing night lights.

We were delayed over 2 hours waiting for excursion busses to return from the PC.

The LV fee for suites, at least upper level suites, is waived.  I have seen that there are no overweight fees because they are not weighing your luggage. They are very strict about flight times. We did receive a paper luggage tracking #, it was part of the bag tag that you tear off.  Flying United we were able to use their app to track our luggage. We've used it often and only once was a bag delayed. The airline was able to track it. Their explanation was it was flagged by TSA for secondary screening and did not make the flight.

One thing to be cautious of and will probably not happen again (knock on wood). If there are predictions of bad weather and a very real possibility that your flight will be cancelled think twice about using LV.  Happened to us on our last cruise.  I got a text at dinner that our flight was cancelled and nothing was available the day we were to fly. We didn't know when we would get a flight out.  Had we put our luggage out before dinner we would not have had it at the hotel in Ft. Lauderdale.  Luckily I was able to exchange the luggage tags for standard suite tags so we had it at the hotel. 

Besides raising Koi, wine is my hobby. I'll leave the koi at home because they hate to fly but I think I should be able to bring as much wine on board as I can carry. I promise not to take up a table at Al Bacio all day.

26 minutes ago, Shellyd22 said:

I’m glad everything has been wonderful. Previous posters comment said theirs was “nonexistent”. Why such a big difference in service? Are peoples expectations vastly different or are some people getting way different service in the same suite class? Maybe a little of both? I don’t know but consistency would be nice so people understand what they are purchasing. 

It appears to me that Ascent is getting all the previous cuts slowly restored and the other ships are being ignored.  I hope this changes soon, we are not all sailing on Ascent and my expectations are the same as they've been since we started sailing with Celebrity and in suites for 11 years.

I would not be in favor of giving CC members access to Luminae, even for one meal.

1 hour ago, billc23 said:

I'll be on the Ascent tomorrow and report back on the PH and RS. Perhaps they fixed some of the design issues that are present on the Edge/Apex. 

Thanks. I think I saw pictures of the PH on Beyond, and maybe Apex, where there are doors between the shower and passage way. I did find the open dressing area to be weird but liked the sliding doors.  We'll be checking our Beyond in December.

12 minutes ago, billc23 said:

Similar issues in the royal suite. No door between the bedroom and bathroom is a design failure too.

Yeah, I can't believe they designed it without a door between the bedroom and bathroom. Also, on Edge in the PH the shower is accessible from either side of the bathroom via a walkway but there is no door between the shower and walkway so the walkway is wet if someone is showering, or just after a shower.

10 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

You have impressive pain tolerance. What did you do when giving birth—drink some whiskey and used a stick to bite on?

I avoided that which is why we can sail in suites. The only downside is not having grand kids to help with chores like snow shoveling and moving furniture.

13 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

How did you figure out the broken bone in the end? 

 

I saw my doctor 3 days before the cruise and she gave me pain meds for the cruise and recommended I get an x-ray. I waited until we had been home 3 weeks before I got it. Broken 3rd midtarsal that was just about healed. Never even used the pain med.  I had a choice of them or wine and opted for wine.

6 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

The last time we had a butler on a Celebrity cruise, I asked him why would a passenger ever ask for unpacking assistance.  He told me that he had suite passengers in the past who were very old and feeble that actually needed the help.

I don't consider myself either old or feeble, but I could have used the help on our last cruise.  Unbeknownst to me I was cruising with a broken bone in my foot. I never asked for help unpacking or packing but our butler was great about bringing me a bag of ice twice a day and a bottle of Veuve to aid in the packing.

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

I've been doing quite a bit of searching on Regent, Silver Seas ect.    Isn't a Penthouse equivalent to a Sky Suite?  If not what level category would you compare it to on Celebrity?  

 

 

 

I've checked out other lines and it seems on a lot of the higher end lines the PH is the equivalent to a SS, one room and one bathroom.