CruiseNYC

We're going to be back on Princess later this year, on the Enchanted Princess.  Does anyone know if the suite breakfast is held in Sabatini's on this ship?

Thanks for your help.

31 minutes ago, JFontaine said:

On Edge the Main Dining Rooms and Blu (aft,  decks 3, 4 and 5) are at opposite ends of the ship from Luminae (forward, deck 12). It's not like Millennium where they all share the same kitchen, or are very close.. 

Yes - I see that now!  It was really nice to have so many options.

On 2/7/2022 at 9:35 PM, sjayo said:

When I asked him whether there was another menu to order from, he said no. But when Sara asked him if she could order chicken that wasn't on the menu, he offered up that there are always items not on the menu that are always available. This appears to be true at every restaurant. For example, at lunch today Sara asked for her sandwich on gluten free bread -- which they didn't have. So they went elsewhere on the ship, fetched their excellent GF bread, and made the sandwich using an item that wasn't on the menu.

 

The steak I had was cooked on both sides, and it was listed as a ribeye on the menu. It did not look anything like a prime rib; unless they cooked it as a prime rib and seared both sides after cutting it. Regardless, it tasted like a prime cut of beef -- it was outstanding. Not like an A5 Matsuzaka mind you, but one of the better ribeyes I've had. It was better than a Snake River Farm American wagyu.

I'm very surprised that they didn't offer the menu from Blu and/or Main Dining Room.  We were on the Millennium in December and when we sat down, we were handed 3 menus!

This past December on the Millennium we were celebrating our anniversary.  We came back from dinner and this is what the Retreat Host had done.

On 1/19/2022 at 7:41 AM, Babr said:

Since cruising started, guests requiring oxygen therapy or dialysis have not been allowed to sail. Have you checked with NCL to see if that restriction has been lifted?

Currently, only Carnival, Princess and Holland America won’t allow guests requiring dialysis. We sailed with Celebrity last month and it was lovely. However, my DH is on peritoneal dialysis so he does the exchanges on his own.  
For hemodialysis, Dialysis at Sea is an excellent option.

14 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

When you buy a ticket that has change fees there is no difference if purchased thru Celebrity Air or direct from the airline.  If you need flexibility today one needs to purchase a full economy ticket or better.   The airlines are the ones charging the change fees.  Not Celebroty Air who is simply a consolidator. 

FWIW I book directly with the airlines unless Celebrity has a group fare.  Booking with Celebrity when about golf the flights are changed is crazy IMO.

It was more about the unresponsive team at Celebrity. If I book directly through the airline, I can always change the flights myself - and risk eventual change fees. 

I think I’m done with Celebrity Air.  I do like the idea of not having to pay up front but when the flights keep changing and you attempt to make changes, the change fees add up and you may or may not receive a response from Celebrity Air.  
This past cruise, they rescheduled us to a flight that would have had us waiting at the airport for about 5 hours until out flight home.  I tried numerous times pre-cruise to change the flight without any satisfaction from Celebrity. When I asked on board with the Retreat Concierge, they quoted a change fee which was more than if I had bought a new ticket.  When we got to the airport, I was able to get the earlier flight for a $75 fee per person - which was fine with me!

This is so funny (not) but we were about to book a cruise on Crystal Serenity.  After our December 2021 Millennium cruise, we wanted to try something a bit more upscale and went through Crystal's itineraries until we found just the right one.  Their itineraries are/were really lovely. 

Then, of course, I started following the bankruptcy of Crystal's parent company and decided to wait a bit more.  Good thing.  We ended up booking something on Celebrity Edge for December 2022 yesterday.

Just checked a photo of the inside our fridge from last month's Millennium sailing.  The main label shows:  Stella Artois Belgium.  Label on neck says:  Imported

Hope that helps!

On 1/12/2022 at 5:08 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I had the same experience and someone told me I needed a hearing aid.   So much for our snarky members.

 

I had a problem with the 1st agent but none with the second one who read my results.   My hearing may be declining but instead chose to use headphones and It helped in our second rounds of tests.

Being told that I needed a hearing aid would have been more kind than what our darling daughter uttered😆

On 1/8/2022 at 4:34 PM, judatt said:

We ordered 4 of these tests and received 4. We are going on 2 cruises with 3 days between cruises so needed To rest before each cruise. They are not specific to individuals so you could use one and your spouse the other. 
 

however, let me give you a word of caution. We did our first one yesterday and had an issue. I went first and downloaded the app and followed instructions and called the number. The call center is either in India or is staffed by folks from India. The person I got was obviously new with a thick accent. The instructions were not clear and there was lots of background noise. You could hear a lot of people talking. My test came back invalid. So my wife went next. The person she got to guide her was great. Very clear instructions and even pictures as to how to do the test at each step (I didn’t get the pictures). Her test came back negative and we now knew what to do so I used one of the kits for our next cruise and called in and got a helpful guide and everything worked well and I also got a negative. 
 

but now we are short a test kit. So I called Optum and explained the situation and they are sending a kit to our hotel that we are using between cruises. Assuming it gets here all in all not a bad process. 

Interesting.  We had the exact same issue.  The proctor was extremely difficult to understand and it seemed as if the volume on his side was turned way down.  We could not hear him and, when we could, it was very difficult to understand him.  Fortunately, as we are complete tech idiots, we had asked our daughter to come over to help.  

There are many people on here who have said it was fairly straightforward.  That's probably true if you are somewhat tech savvy.   We were very happy to have our DD here to help decipher the instructions.

Recently did a Teams meeting while in port in San Juan. We had the upgraded WiFi.  It went pretty smoothly!  Voice cut out maybe once or twice but otherwise as if I were working remotely from home. View was much better in San Juan!!

Absolutely agree with above.  Booking air through the cruise line has been a great option for us.  Prices are pretty good and if you end up canceling your cruise, you don't have to also deal with airline tickets.  If there's any problem with flight cancellations or weather issues, it's incumbent on Celebrity to get you to the ship.  We have always been able to arrive a day or two before the cruise - no problem.

On the other hand, I would not book transfers right now through the cruise line.  We have found that it was just as easy - and less expensive - to take taxis/Uber to and from cruise port.  We had no desire to get on a bus with 50+ people to get to the airport.  We returned to Port Everglades on December 27 and there were plenty of taxis waiting.    

Thank you all for your diligent and informative updates.  So disappointing to end a vacation like this. I’m sure many of the quarantined have waited a very long time to be able to cruise again. 
 

Wishing you all a speedy recovery and safe travels home. 

On 12/5/2021 at 4:05 PM, canderson said:

PH and our RS had Lavazza coffee makers, on Constellation.  Can't say if Millie is the same.

Yes we did have a Lavazza  - and our Retreat Host brought us a pitcher of cream, too.  He gave me a crash course on how to use it and I loved having it. 

On the Millennium in December, I booked a hot stone massage the first day of our cruise. I also booked a seaweed wrap for later in the week and was given a $50 credit for the second service.  Both were fantastic.  I’d highly recommend. 
I had a facial, too, and the aesthetician was more interested in selling product than anything else. I thought the facial was worthless and, again, after she was done, she tried to sell me thousands of dollars of product. 
Very disappointing. 

Yes. They say 24 hours but we recently found they were very flexible, particularly if we were re-scheduling and not actually canceling.  

We were on both. We heard that there were 4 on the 12/13 cruise.  We haven’t heard anything about the 12/23 - sorry!

We're just off the Millennium and we would agree that service is really what sets Luminae apart from MDR.   We were usually handed all 3 menus (Luminae, MDR and Blu) so there was plenty from which to choose).

We did have lunch one afternoon in Metropolitan and when the waiter reached straight across the table in front my husband to grab something, we decided that Luminae was our happy place.

The other thing about ordering at Luminae is that if you would like to have an appetizer as a main course, they'll adjust portion size for you.

We just did a B2B on Millennium (Dec 13 - 27) and they tested the day before the second leg.  However, they did not give us our results - printed or emailed!  I phoned the Retreat Host and went to Guest Services and were told that they weren't going to give us anything unless we tested positive.  We met in the Rendezvous Lounge for turnaround and we were escorted off and back on - without any proof of negative test status.

We also enjoy the casinos on board. We are currently on the Millennium. The cruise is quite full - as is the casino. We enjoy 3 card poker but we are sitting shoulder to shoulder at the table this weekend.  (We were also on the cruise prior to this one - which was empty - and the tables for that cruise were also empty for the most part.). I wear a mask in the casino but most people do not. 
Jim is 100% correct: there is no social distancing enforcement and people often stand right over your shoulder watching. 
That said, the slots paid pretty well this cruise and the tables were kind to us too.  

8 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I will definitely agree with you on that.   We have been on some rough cruises and it as really dangerous showering.    I just remembered that the tubs on the M-Class Celebrity Suites have a grab bar but with the height of the tub it can still be difficult to get into it to shower.   Maybe we should start commenting on it in the reviews at the end of the cruise.

Great idea!  It’s our last day so they’ve already told us about the forthcoming survey.  
Please be sure to check your on board accounts. Celebrity has charged us for gratuities - which were included in our fare. They are aware of the issue - I called and the travel agent emailed - and we’re going to follow up again today. 
(Even though it was Christmas weekend, our travel agent responded and emailed the Retreat Concierge.)

We have thoroughly enjoyed cruising on Celebrity although I did hear a woman complaining last night that she’ll never take another Celebrity cruise.  She felt that the food and service were subpar, not up to usual Celebrity standards.  My only comment would be that there was definitely a different vibe on the 4-night, current cruise compared to the previous 10-night one.  I might have also been griping had this leg been our only experience. 
Sad to be ending our vacation but also looking forward to getting home. We’ll definitely sail on Celebrity again. 
 

We’re now on the second leg of the B2B and what a difference. I believe we’re close to 1900 this sailing (4 night) from 400+ first leg (10 night). Although Luminae has been fine the times that we go, the rest of the ship is packed. People are crowding into elevators; I had to get off and walk down today as the concept of 4 per elevator was non-existent.  Unless I’m drinking or eating, I’m wearing my mask.  We’re spending most of our time on this incredible balcony although I did go upstairs to see if I could spend some time in the pool today. That’s not happening.  
Not sure that I’d travel again over a holiday (particularly when I don’t have to) but the rest of the trip has been fantastic. 

We’re currently on Millennium, doing B2B. We keep getting email from Celebrity about checking in for the next cruise - which we did last month. I wasn’t sure if they knew we were on board so I spoke with the Retreat Concierge. Sure enough, they have all our info.  Odd that they can’t filter out the folks who have already responded. 

We are on the Millennium now (Dec 13-23) sailing with only 400+ passengers. We will stay on for the 4-night Christmas cruise (Dec 23-27) and we’ve been told there will be 1700+ on board!