FBrew

10 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

These are the differences between Retreats and Yacht Clubs....#1 MSC Yacht Club Restaurant is OPEN port days. Celebrity Luminae is NOT open port days.

#2 MSC YC has reserved seating in the theatre for YC guests at all shows. Celebrity only Gala night.

#3 Royal Suite on MSC has 2 cushion deck lounges on the balcony. Celebrity RS can only accommodate 1 non cushioned deck lounger.

#4 MSC has reserved pergolas/cabanas for RS & OS.. Celebrity on sundeck; it is FCFS chair hoggers that get those.

#5 More attentive butlers on MSC . Celebrity hosts give one their telephone number which many times is forwarded to room service.

#6 Walk-in showers on MSC YC, Celebrity has low profile tub/shower combos in CS and SS.

#7 Elevator OVERRIDE key cards for suite guests on MSC. No such amenity on Celebrity.

#8 No non-suite paying Diamond card holders taking up real estate in YC venues. Celebrity has non suite Zeniths in our venues.

#9 MSC All suites are within a gated community with a short climb up or down to all venues. Celebrity depends on what ship.

#10 MSC a new pristine Ocean Cay out island with its own employees and no bugs crawling all over the lounges. Celebrity has mostly Nassau.

#11 MSC offers Individual escorts on and off the ship. Celebrity one must assemble and be escorted off in groups (always waiting for some straggler).

#12 For those that enjoy buffets MSC YC has its own buffet at the One Pool Deck

#13 Celebrity has one great feature that MSC lacks; Cafe al Bacio has no peer on MSC for its selection of 12-14 mouth-watering pastries.

#14 YC has the best entertainers on the ship providing evening music in the TopSail Lounge, nothing in the Retreat Lounge.

#15 YC Pool Deck has a pool, only Celebrity E-class ships have a pool.

#16 MSC YC has much better price than the Retreat

Thank you for all the information and comparing the 2 cruiselines. You did an excellent job. 

21 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

I quite liked Divina and did a live review, the link for which is in my signature. 

 

I compared a number of things between theYC on Divina and the Retreat on Celebrity.  All in all, in my opinion the YC wins out.  Both have their strong points for bang for the dollar, it’s YC in my opinion. 

 

Thank you for the information and I enjoyed your review. Enjoy your cruise.

10 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

We also did a Divina live thread, just a few weeks before @DaKahuna. We were pleased to serve as his advance team. There is a link in my signature to our live thread from our transatlantic on her last year and a Caribbean on her this past April. She's a cozy ship and the crew always talk about how much they like that the YC is a bit smaller. They say it allows them to get to know everyone better.

Thank you for the information and it was a great review.

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

I quite liked Divina and did a live review, the link for which is in my signature. 

 

I compared a number of things between theYC on Divina and the Retreat on Celebrity.  All in all, in my opinion the YC wins out.  Both have their strong points for bang for the dollar, it’s YC in my opinion. 

 

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

I quite liked Divina and did a live review, the link for which is in my signature. 

 

I compared a number of things between theYC on Divina and the Retreat on Celebrity.  All in all, in my opinion the YC wins out.  Both have their strong points for bang for the dollar, it’s YC in my opinion. 

 

Do they have luggage valet on MSC? I am going to read you review now. Thank you

9 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I blame it on our showing up before 1100.  We had like 25 -30 plus YC guest that where in the terminal when we showed up a little after 1000.  

 

 We did not go through this on Divina. We walked it, walked right up to the desk after waiting for one couple who were in front of us.  Easy peasy. 

 

How did you like the Divina?  We are on the Divina YC for 14 days in March. We have cruised Celebrity for the last 10 years.  Thank you

58 minutes ago, awhfy said:

We were told 7+ nights for LV

We were on the August 4th sailing 6 nights and we got LV.

The don't do LV for transatlantic cruises? They didn't last year I was hoping they would start this year. 

59 minutes ago, MAGSMFC said:

A couple of questions please.

 

 Does the Retreat sundeck supply sun tan lotion as I am sure I have seen a photo of sun lotion bottles somewhere.

 

Do you have to keep your finger on the button of the hairdryer to make it work.

 

Many thanks

I was just on the Beyond and the retreat sun deck does supply sun tan lotion they also have plastic dishs to put the sun tan lotion in. I was also on the Beyond in March and they supplied sun tan lotion. On the Beyond it is where the towels are.

Thank you best $29.00 I have ever spent. I am gonna date myself I have been using it for a long time.

Do they have luggage valet on the 6 night cruise on the beyond? Thank you

On 3/26/2024 at 1:36 PM, RK-NC said:

Thank you to all. This has been an interesting read. We've been researching MSC YC and we sail on Beyond in 17 days in a Sky suite. It looks like the sundeck bar has seating - maybe that's meant to be a gathering spot? I sort of think of the lounge as a quiet getaway spot. I counted 9 bars on Beyond - lots of places to go for the action! 

Are you sailing August 4th? We are on that sailing. Enjoy your cruise!!

Who are the bartenders at the retreat pool bar and the retreat lounge? Thank you I am on the Aug 4th sailing. 

Does anyone know what is the earliest flight you can have from Fort Lauderdale using luggage valet? If this question has been asked before I apologize. I tries the search button and I still couldn't find anything.

Thank you

I purchased an unlimited dining package for my 4 night cruise on the Silhouette. On embarkation day do you go to any specialty restaurant and make your reservation for the 4 days or do you have to go to each individual restaurant? I haven't been on a Solstice class ship since before the pandemic.

Thank you,

Phyllis

I booked a Princess Transatlantic Cruise November 1,2025 2 weeks ago it is a brand-new ship.

On 3/5/2023 at 4:22 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

Strenuous is very subjective. There is a wide range of ages and fitness levels on cruises. I would say that the tour will likely involve significant periods of standing and walking, as well as perhaps getting into and out of boats to travel between the villages. If there is free time, exploring the towns on foot will mean uphill and downhill walking, sometimes steep. The tour should state whether any hiking is involved, but most of these tours use the train or boats to go from place to place.

 

 

 

Thank you.  I found a tour that is a minivan and no boats.  I will start doing outside walking next month. I will train for this excursion.

Have a great trip to Japan!! Thanks again.

Phyllis

On 2/8/2023 at 7:30 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

La Spezia is the best port from which to see the Cinque Terre ("five lands" or villages). Have you been there?  Worth looking into, but can be very crowded in peak season. You can go from village to village by train or by boat.

 

https://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/

 

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/planning-visit-cinque-terre

I am interested in taking a tour of Villages of Cinque Terre at the end of October.  Would you consider this to be a strenuous tour?  I am looking at booking with Italy tours.  

Thank you,

Phyllis

3 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Looks like a funny price on the Ascent Fall 2024 TA. Aqua Sky  Suite about $4000 per person, while Regular Sky Suite is $5800 per person. Celebrity Suite is only about $200 more per person than SS.

 

So, of course I had to book it 😉😉.

Thank you. After you posted this, I went and put an aqua suite on hold. It is 4100.00 with taxes.  I just checked now it has been corrected it is over 6000.00 per person now.  Thanks again.

33 minutes ago, CruiseFan94 said:

2024-2025-europe-itineraries.pdf 5.72 MB · 3 downloads

Thank you very much.  It will be easy for me when I book my TA tomorrow. 

On 11/23/2022 at 7:17 PM, Treacher1 said:

Booked this cruise about a week ago - friends wanted to join us - can you believe ALL retreat suites are totally sold out??? Or do you think some are held and will have to be purchased AFTER the 75 % off second guest in cabin?  Just surprised all sold out already for 2024.

There is a S1 sky suite available now.

The Eclipse will be doing the Bayonne to Bermuda sailings.

58 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

The other day @jelayneposted a pic of the retreat lounge bar on Beyond. I didn’t see much of a bourbon selection. 

Has anyone ever had any luck with special requests?  
 

If you see certain brands in other bars onboard, would they order them for the retreat lounge and make them available for the duration of your cruise ?
it seems this would be a nice way to “go above and beyond” for suite guests. 

 

When you go to the retreat lounge and if they don't have the bourbon, you like ask them if they can get you some. They are very accommodating. I know if they don't have the wine, I like I will ask them for the brand I like.  See you on board Wed.

Phyllis

43 minutes ago, NJ Gal said:

FBrew--What yearly policy do you buy?  Since this is our 3rd cruise this year, maybe an annual policy would have been better than three separate ones from Celebrity?? As we are getting older, a good medical policy is always something to consider.  

Anyone else have an annual policy?  Which ones?urance

Allianz All trips premium plan. You know as you get older your travel insurance premium goes up. The yearly premium doesn't go up because of age. The amount I get is 10,000.  There are different amounts you can purchase. It covers everyone in the house up to the 10,000. I have medicare plus an advantage insurance plan.  The advantage insurance plan covers me when I am out of the country. I still like my travel insurance. 

Phyllis

8 hours ago, PinkSandGirl said:

TRAVEL INSURANCE 

 

Yes.  I always purchase it.  I should look into a yearly plan since I purchase it a few times a year. 😉

 

I always say it's better to have it and not need it then the other way around.  I just consider it a trip cost.  When I look at the overall cost of the trip, the insurance is probably one of the least amounts I spend. 

 

I used to get it through the cruise line but then one time I thought I would look for something myself.  I pay less and have better coverage.  My credit card provides coverage for things but I purchase it for the Medical Coverage and Transportation.  Again, I hope to never need it.  Peace of mind. 

 

✈️🚢🧳

I am on this sailing.  I purchase a yearly insurance policy.  I find it cheaper as I get older. In this day and age, I wouldn't leave home without it. It covers everybody in my household.  In April Jet Blue cancelled my flight Fort Lauderdale to Boston. The only flight we could get was from Miami and the flight was $900.00 insurance paid.

8 hours ago, PinkSandGirl said:

🍹

49 minutes ago, jelayne said:

They have had the Cattier champagne which was out of stock for some of our earlier cruises.  We have let our sommelier pick most of our wines and they have been excellent.

Is the sommelier giving you premium wines? Do you drink red or white? We are on the Beyond for next cruise 9 days. I would think with this brand-new ship there wouldn't be problems. After the Beyond we go on the Summit for 5 days maybe I will pick wine and bring it with me. How is Luminae?  If you go to the retreat pool deck could you please find out who the bartender is at the bar? How is the Butler? Enjoy the rest of the cruise. We are on the TA for next year.

Thanks,

Phyllis

3 hours ago, mfs2k said:

Do you think Celebrity should have the option to limit specialty dining to one reservation per restaurant on a sold out cruise so more people have the ability to experience high demand restaurants?

No because I am going on the Beyond Oct. 26th and I booked my 2 specialty restaurant back in February.  I have also booked my specialty restaurants for the October 23 Beyond transatlantic and March 2024 partial Panama Canal.