JDPCruisers

Agree on the West Coast. With SF, LA, and SD you would think they would have more sailings out of CA. We are heading out this afternoon for our non-stop flight to London, then B2B to Scandinavia/Norway out of Southampton. Looking forward to it as this will be a first for us to those locales.

We did Boston to Quebec RT last fall on Celebrity and enjoyed. We are also looking at SS for Alaska, which we haven't been back to since pre-COVID. That itinerary has some smaller ports we did visit before. Decisions, decisions (good problem to have)!

Thanks. I think you might have us leaning towards trying SS as we do not have anything booked for 2027, yet. Looking at an 11-day Miami RT in early January 2027 to get "our feet wet". Itinerary actually has some Carribean islands we haven't been to....go figure! Seems like with their price lock-in and cancellation policy it's easier than some other lines we've looked into.

Agree, that’s why I like to sit at the bar so I can see. Trust but verify! Plus, I’m just a bar guy/fly.

No worries, thanks!

Do you recall the bartenders in The Retreat lounge and Retreat pool bar? Would be great if we had Johanes again (have had him a couple of times).

Thanks. Hopefully, we will have him on Apex. Our favorite butler has been Walter who we've had multiple times, but he is no longer on E-class ships.

Do the wet clean items come back pressed? Any restrictions on the number of items per day?

Thanks to all for the helpful comments and information. Any decent alternatives, such as the Piper, to Duc de Valmer would be welcomed!

That is the personal touch that we always appreciate, as well. Out last cruise the pianist in the bars was so loud that you could not have a good conversation.

This certainly sounds like an elevated buffet, which we tend to avoid on most cruises because of the normal chaos. So, thanks for elaborating.

Good to know where SS stands with you guys, so far.

Have had that on other lines and that works! Thanks.

Is it Cattier or is there an alternative for no upcharge?

Curious, what is the house Champagne on Princess? Does it vary by ship or location? We are looking at what Princess offers in the Sanctuary ships.

BTW, in recently in the Retreat do you recall who are the Concierges?

Thanks.

Just checking with those recently or currently on Apex, what is the house Champagne? We have the Premium beverage package.

Mind sharing the name of the Butler?

I can understand that as we have always been Retreat guest. Perhaps, our Oceania was a one-off with them but if it was, there were a number of couples we met cruising them for the first time (mostly to experience going through the Panama Canal) and felt the same (food somewhat equal or not as good as X, they ran out of Chardonnay for two days and almost had a minor revolt on their hands, and a little on the boring side...at least for us and I'm almost 70). Oh, and maybe more cruise lines are do this, but they would move the bartenders and servers around so at any given time you had to track down your favorites, not that bar hopping is necessarily an issue! I will look forward to your final impressions/ranking of your recent non-X cruise experiences, Jim. Continued good cruising!

Just getting caught up on your first SS review and look forward to the rest of your journey as we have been interested in possibly trying, as well. Also, checked out Grand Melia and wow!

Like you, we did our first cruise on Oceania in Jan/Feb and did not think it was an upgrade from Celebrity or "Luxury". We are back on Celebrity Apex in a couple of weeks from Southhampton to Scandinavia/Southampton to Norway (B2B and looking forward to it.

Anyone currently or recently on Apex in the Retreat mind sharing who the Concierges are? We will be on in ~3 weeks and looking forward to being back on the Apex. Thanks.

Agree with the others, we always fly in the day before for both domestic and international. Like to play it safe and have some time to de-stress from flying nowadays.

Yes, my mistake!