chimchimtx

We have booked with Viator many, many times and have always had excellent experiences. I only book people with lots of good reviews though. The locals are ALWAYS very well informed on ship arrival and departure times (often more so than the Celebrity employees) and they know exactly what they need to do in order to get you back to the ship in plenty of time. We are doing our very first excursion via Celebrity in Bimini but only to go to the world resort. We had OBC to burn and that way we don't have to worry about taxis. If we were actually going to tour something I would have booked local.

Thanks everyone. That is about what I figured. That isn't really my idea of small either. We booked a tour with a local guide instead.

It depends on what you are wanting to use it for. We sailed Aqua in September and it's included in our rates, but we did not use it as much as I had hoped. There are heated loungers and two types of steam rooms although they are basically identical. They gave them fancy names but the only difference was one had some sort of essential oil piped in as well. I personally would probably not pay extra for it, but if that is something you see yourself using then it might be worth it. The time we went it was pretty empty. It is part of the spa area too and they weren't super friendly, so I don't know how it would go getting robes etc.

I rarely to never book Celebrity excursions as I have always had excellent experiences with highly rated local tour guides. But our next cruise will include Cozumel so I am considering a ship tour at that port for safety reasons. I have tried to research this and I see Celebrity says their "Signature" Small Groups are 24 people or less, but I am not sure if this is the same thing as a regular small group excursion. The only post I am seeing on CC is years old and pre-Covid, so I am looking for any feedback from someone who took a small group tour recently. Thanks!

She posted last week's hotel where she specifically said she was staying for seven days and yesterday she posted a new hotel in Florence. She does not appear to be vacationing onboard. As has been suggested, following any of her accounts would answer your questions far better than crowd sourcing the internet with people who are sharing hearsay, their best guess, their experience ten months ago, etc. She posts multiple times a day keeping people up to date on where she is and what she is doing, but almost as often I see someone post an incorrect answer to a Captain Kate question.

I was not impressed with the Blu sommelier on our recent Equinox cruise. My husband is not a big wine drinker and just ordered Pinot Grigio each night. She knew we were on the premium package but because we weren’t making a big fuss she kept slipping in the cheapest thing she had. When I ordered a Pinot Noir she brought me a 6.99 BOTTLE…cupcake or barefoot. I can’t remember exactly but similar quality. She asked if it was ok and when I said “I guess if that is all you have” she kept pouring. We were close enough to the tray to see the options that night so I flagged her down and made her switch it to the Decoy I could see. Lesson learned. I ordered by name after that. I could tell by her face she realized she had been caught. Very disappointing since there wasn’t a list of wine available to look at and she sure wasn’t sharing what they had each night.

Yes we always bring heavy duty hooks for hanging clothes to dry, hats, bags, etc. Equinox has two small knobs on the wall, so the extra hooks came in handy for lighter items.

I was the same way with lemon tarts. I specifically searched them out bc of Jim’s posts. I too like plain lemon. No whip. He was right. They were perfection. Last week Equinox had them once and then they disappeared. Only had chocolate the rest of the entire 9 day cruise. I did see that the buffet had full cookie jars every day though. I don’t know how they compare to the cafe but cookies were at least always available.

Just got off Equinox, Aqua class, included basic wifi. Reading emails was a stretch. The signal in our cabin was better but if you wanted to even read the text of an email anywhere else on ship it was impossible. It was definitely my biggest complaint. "Including" something that isn't functional should not be touted as a benefit.

The included wifi on our recent Equinox cruise was useless. It's was comparable to saying we 'include' a free umbrella but the umbrella has holes in it. We sailed Aqua and had premium beverage package so we weren't expecting to spend too much extra. But then we had to blow a large amount of OBC on internet packages. We had to have working internet for work. I share that just because it could possibly sway your decision when determining cost/value of each package option. From what I have read here internet is a very large fail for Celebrity currently across most ships. Hoping the new Elon Musk satellites are better, but not counting on it since his cars are terrible...

Not true at all. There are several timeless classics you can order every night. Escargot and filet being two of them. The regular menu also had steak several nights as well. I just got off Equinox and had steak 3 of the 9 nights.

Probably pier 25 but they will say on your xpress pass once you check in and get a boarding time. Port Everglades is not a huge port. You’ll be able to see the ships driving in.

Just walked off Equinox. The sign outside basically says no shorts. That’s about the extent of it. We saw a little bit of everything this last week including tank tops and graphic tees. The maitre’d was basically non-existent all week so I don’t imagine him enforcing anything. We had a lovely time. Service was excellent but dress code wasn’t a thing really. Most people had nicer clothing on but even chic night was toned down.

We are also on Equinox. We were told 1800 this week and 2700 get on tomorrow. They sound worried that they are getting 900 extra passengers tomorrow and frankly I don’t blame them. They all look exhausted and overwhelmed already. Service was great but the staffing shortages will only be greater and more apparent with another 900 people onboard.

Yep. Got the same email. I had asked for resistance bands months ahead of time and the instant the email went out. Nope. Not on board. I was told they didn’t have more. I was told they didn’t have ANY. The list the steward was consulting was short so I don’t think they ran out. (Maybe they sold off all the items during Covid to make money??? Don’t get where they would have gone to) Was offered a yoga block and one other thing instead which I can’t remember now. There is a yoga mat in the room but the vast majority of the extra options did not exist so I would not plan on getting them.

So we are currently on Equinox in Aqua. I booked it as we were coming out of Covid primarily bc of the smaller dining room for Blu for breakfast and dinner. Tonight was the first night (night 8 ) that we had to wait for dinner and that was only bc we asked for our specific server and it was the last chic night/lobster night so the place was packed. It’s been at most half full the rest of the nights. The food has been hit and miss but they are so nice and will switch out anything you don’t like. One night my fish wasn’t even edible, but the guy next to me ordered the same thing and loved it so it’s kind of all over the place. My only real complaint for Blu is that I haven’t been that impressed with the sommelier. I finally learned to ask for wines by name bc even with the premium package they will bring you the absolute cheapest wine option. (ex: I asked for a Pinot noir and she brought me The Naked Grape). I thought we would go to breakfast more but the hours are horrible (7:30-9) so if you want to sleep in on a sea day forget about it. Persian gardens are ok. The spa staff leaves a lot to be desired though and you have to go through them to enter. It’s very small on Equinox so don’t expect much. The afternoon canapés are mostly a miss. Some are tasty. Most are terrible. And all tiny! As in dessert bites that are the size of your pinky nail. All of that to say I love the smaller, more intimate, atmosphere of Blu but that is the only real value I see in the increased price so I would base it mainly off that “perk”. (They don’t have any of the in room exercise items they claim to offer. There are about a dozen options and were then told they only have a yoga block.) The rest won’t make a huge difference in how much you enjoy your cruise. We did get invited to a helipad sail away. The free champagne and drinks were terrible but the view was great. Also on Equinox it’s one of only two floors that are cabins only so it’s super quiet.

Currently on Equinox and haven’t had any issues ordering off MDR menu. They do have the usual shrimp cocktail, French onion soup, salmon etc but dh ordered a pasta last night that was only on MDR menu. They knew what entree he was asking about immediately and didn’t bat an eye. They have gone above and beyond to honor every request.

I purchased OBC last week and the rep failed to tell me that 'on-board' meant ONLY once you board. When I called back to find out why it wasn't showing I was informed the only OBC you can access ahead of time is their promotional OBC amounts. They sent me a receipt so I would have it to take with me but they said it's not available for pre-booking....which defeated the whole purpose of what I was attempting to do. They assured me it would be there Saturday when we board.

Not only have we heard of them they hold a very fond place in the hearts of our family. They were my daughter’s favorite group as a child! She called them the woogies. It was in fact the first concert she ever attended. At age two.

We are new to Celebrity and having an issue with my husband's account not recording PUPs. I spoke to a CC rep and they said they would get the points credited, but that of course hasn't happened yet. I then emailed the same info to the CC email. Again no response. Should I link our accounts so his missing point don't matter and he can just float on mine? I am a bit hesitant based on the issues some people are having with linked accounts. I don't want to make things worse. I am a bit concerned they will link them and delete mine and make us both 0 again!

All of the port of call boards are dead! We are doing Grand Cayman and the ABC islands and it has been tough finding out info for anything that still exists post-Covid. There are some recent Google reviews for the beach club. That will probably get you more feedback. Or trip advisor. We are doing Bonaire Cruisers so we can explore on our own. Check out Gone Caribe tours if you are going to Curacao. They have been super to deal with so far. We are doing a private tour with them.

And I JUST paid for the proctored tests because we were on 9 nights and the previous "new" guidelines from last week said 8 nights was the cut off for no testing....so irritating. Could they have not figured that out instead of changing it again DAYS later???

100% a safety issue. The roads are not very wide. We were driving up and as someone else said…so many unskilled riders! We frequently came around curves to find people all over the road and several times children in our lane. It’s all downhill and they lose control of their bikes. It was very scary as a driver even going so slow. The speed limit is low but with the blind curves and drop offs it would be near impossible to avoid an accident in some cases. We even saw people getting way too close to the edges. We aren’t locals and even we were surprised they were allowed to ride down.

And I have a Carnival offer but want a Celebrity one!

I had mine inexplicably change from USD to pounds or euros for a week or so after booking. Can’t remember which now, but it did settle out eventually and has stayed the same since then. You can call and receive a detailed receipt as well. We did this for our premium package confirmation that wasn’t clear on our emailed invoice. I also took a screen shot of what the balance should have been when it was displayed correctly just as back up. We are now past final payment and all is good and it is still showing $0 due. It only displayed strangely for about a week.