LouisV

15 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Agree with Scott here-- its more of a modern interpretation, the food is very ok (and its pre plated so you don't have choice like you do at others), and it is breathtakingly expensive for what you get. Far, far better values on more traditional luaus than the show they put on at the Royal Hawaiian. 

Thanks for your comments. And I’m going to enjoy every minute of it!

I'm staying at the Royal Hawaiian and going to the luau at the hotel pre-cruise. 

On 2/18/2023 at 5:21 PM, WestLakeGirl said:

Dave’s not here, man😂😎🥸😱🙄

shades of younger days!!!!!!

On 1/9/2023 at 10:50 PM, Adara said:

Longtime solo cruiser here and, oh my yes, I'm with the folks that hate the single supplements.  (Death to single supplements!)  And, by the way, if I have to pay for two people in the room even though there's only one of me, I damn well better get TWO chocolates on my pillow.

As for the dining alone thing:  oh hell yes.  On land, on sea, in a house, with a mouse ...   If I want to eat solo in the nice restaurant, I'll eat solo in the nice restaurant.  Reservation for one.  I'll read a book on my phone, or people watch, or just sit and think.  (And once, at one very lovely tea establishment, I was even offered a selection of reading materials to accompany my scones.)  Don't let them make you feel like you don't belong.  ESPECIALLY on a cruise, where you have literally already paid for a table in that nice restaurant (and with the single supplement, you probably already paid for a table for two!)

I love dining alone, anywhere!!! 

Just now, Bo1953 said:

... are you willing to continue the task???

 

😂😂😂

 

bon voyage

If I must!

On 1/10/2023 at 6:28 PM, WNCtourist said:

Thank you for your reporting. Sounds like it's going to be difficult to find decent food anywhere on Celebrity now.

cruising is such a hardship!

On 4/2/2022 at 9:10 PM, YVRteacher said:

Hi!  I just returned from my first solo cruise.  I loved it.  I think this was my favourite vacation ever.  I loved doing what I wanted when I wanted.  If your ship has a thermal spa, consider buying a pass.  My experience at dinners is that the tables are so close that if you say hi to the people sitting next to you they will engage in conversation . Several times people saw me at a table by myself and invited me to join their group.  I did not attend any solo gathering because I was too busy enjoying the sun but I did attend the Cruise Critic meet and greet and pub crawl.  I am very introverted so this whole cruise was a stretch but it ended up building my confidence and inspiring me to travel on my own even more.  Have a wonderful trip!

I'm going on my first solo cruise in May 2023, Honolulu to Vancouver and then home to Castlegar. 

Mommie dearest brought me up with the saying " well what will people think?". I'm now 65 and frankly I don't give a damn anymore.....going on my first solo cruise on May 9, 2023. 

On 10/23/2022 at 2:05 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

If I feel someone(s) are staring at me, I return that prolonged staring.  That solves the "issue" very quickly.  

 

 

Very funny!  I like your sense of humor.  

I'm a solo cruiser going on the Eclipse on May 9, 2022.

Mo 

8 hours ago, vickykay said:

Really looking forward to this next segment as we are doing Hawaii to Vancouver next May.  I’m in awe as to how you packed for a cool weather cruise and a warm weather cruise.  Enjoy!

I'll be doing the Hawaii to Vancouver next May as well! 

I'm loving your post!! I'm sailing Hawaii to Vancouver in 2023. 

My first solo cruise is coming up May 2023 - Honolulu to Vancouver BC. 

7 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

The sentence says: "the one way to or from the islands" involving Vancouver, as Vancouver is the only legal place to sail to or from the West Coast on a one way cruise involving Hawaii.

Have a lovely day!

yes. I may have misunderstood your point when you said a Hawaii cruise can only be sailed out of Vancouver to meet legal requirements. I'm sailing from Honolulu TO Vancouver. 

On 7/10/2022 at 10:22 AM, CruiserBruce said:

First, please do some reading and research. These are tremendously broad and subjective questions...there will be (and already have been) a very wide range of answers.

 

First, yes, it is almost always better to do Hawaii as a land trip as opposed to a cruise.

 

There are 3 types of Hawaii cruises. First, the NCL Pride of America 7 day entirely within the islands. Second, the roundtrip from the West Coast ports. Typically 14-16 days. Lastly, and rarest, the one way to or from the islands out of Vancouver (can only be sailed out of Vancouver to meet legal requirements.

 

The "best" cruise line is one that meets your needs. About half a dozen cruise lines do the West Coast/Hawaii 14 days cruises. Who have you sailed with? Repeatedly, so you know and like their product? Try them first.

 

There is essentially only 5 ports (2 on the Big Island of Hawaii), most cruise lines hit 4, sometimes a ship with hit both on Hawaii. So there is only so much variety possible in routes/itineraries.

 

We always sail with a balcony cabin, would never consider an inside, but that is just us.

I'm sailing from Honolulu to Vancouver on May 9, 2023 on a Celebrity ship. 

On 7/10/2022 at 10:22 AM, CruiserBruce said:

First, please do some reading and research. These are tremendously broad and subjective questions...there will be (and already have been) a very wide range of answers.

 

First, yes, it is almost always better to do Hawaii as a land trip as opposed to a cruise.

 

There are 3 types of Hawaii cruises. First, the NCL Pride of America 7 day entirely within the islands. Second, the roundtrip from the West Coast ports. Typically 14-16 days. Lastly, and rarest, the one way to or from the islands out of Vancouver (can only be sailed out of Vancouver to meet legal requirements.

 

The "best" cruise line is one that meets your needs. About half a dozen cruise lines do the West Coast/Hawaii 14 days cruises. Who have you sailed with? Repeatedly, so you know and like their product? Try them first.

 

There is essentially only 5 ports (2 on the Big Island of Hawaii), most cruise lines hit 4, sometimes a ship with hit both on Hawaii. So there is only so much variety possible in routes/itineraries.

 

We always sail with a balcony cabin, would never consider an inside, but that is just us.

I'm sailing from Honolulu to Vancouver on May 9, 2023 on a Celebrity ship. 

awesome!

1 hour ago, HskrCrsr said:

It looks like Celebrity recently, and quietly, increased the discounts for drink packages and upgrades for various Captain's Club levels.

Old info:

 

New info:

 

The columns on the right are Classic, Select and Elite. Elite Plus also got a small increase.

 

There might have been other changes but this is what caught my attention. Peanuts perhaps but not quite nothing. It might not offset the recent price increase but dulls the pain, just like the packages themselves.

Where can I find this on their website?

wow! I can only dream...enjoy!!!

Just now, maggie.1008 said:

I was hoping someone had ordered wine by the bottle package and let me know what wines were offered 

I'd be interested in knowing as well.

I didn't know that Celebrity offers discounts for solo cruisers. 

TeaBag - just booked for May 2023. 

Mo 

We were on the Equinox in November and Celebrity is definitely not what it used to be. It's sad to see the quality of the cruise experience slip so far.

We just came back from 10 days sailing in AQ on Equinox. This was my 5th time in AQ and I can say that Celebrity is scaling down even in comparison with TA we took in November 2015.

Cabin amenities: Towels are not as luxurious and large as used to be.

Toilet paper is 3d world country quality - FLL airport had better toilet paper.

Since I bring all my own toiletries - cannot comment on quality of provided in the cabin. No more daily bottles of water ( I know X discontinued bottled water sometime ago).

Persian Garden: Rules are not enforced, therefore people are taking naps there. I assumed that they oversold Persian Garden passes and AQ guests could not use PG at their leisure. There were always a wait for loungers - we've tried different times of the day.

BLU:VERY limited dessert menu: 2 items to choose from and even those are not creative or memorable, 6-8 flavors of ice cream. Ice cream is not dessert for an upscale restaurant.

They do offer the same boring 4 choices of " classic" desserts.

OV had better dessert choices. We were told that they got a lot of comments regarding limited dessert menu. I hope X is reading our surveys and make some changes for a better. Time will tell.

Last evening dinner choices were not very good. Fish was dry, meatloaf was missing flavors.

Bread choices for dinner are the same every day - consisted of bread sticks, cut baguettes and some days will be added 2 pcs of dark bread for 4 people - go figure....:rolleyes:

Breakfast was good.

Service was still very good.

In addition to AQ experience I would like to add, that there is NO more gourmet cheeses, dry fruit or nuts were offered in OV during the cruise.

Blu and PG were the main reason I would book AQ, but with these changes - it is not worth the price. 3 cruises next year - none in AQ.

So it's not just me. We got off the Equinox on December 9th and had a CC cabin. The first thing I noticed was the welcome drink. It used to be a glass of sparkling wine and now its down to 2 swallows. Maybe Celebrity should just scrap it....We asked for cheese and crackers (something simple that we could identify) for our afternoon snacks. We got saltines everyday. Our cabin steward said that Celebrity doesn't have any fancier crackers than that. The flower in the cabin is also gone. Our toiletries were mixed brands and weren't consistent. I know these are just small things but noticeable none the less. We'll still cruise Celebrity but times are changing for sure.