Pinboy

5 minutes ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

It's worthwhile to try and make reservations before hand because then you don't have to deal with it once you board and you'll be seated right away if you show up within 15 minutes of your reservation time.

"  you'll be seated right away"

From our experience---- Not necessarily.

The Host/Hostess will take your room number , but, will seat whomever has already checked in whether they had a reservation or not.

3 minutes ago, espmass said:

It used to be such a headache waiting so long at Anytime without a reservation

Correct-- But, you will have a choice of 4 MDRs to select from instead of the one MDR on the other class ships, plus, you can order whatever you want from any restaurant and your Server will get it for you.

We never waited more than 5 minutes.

From our past experience on E Class ships:

We made reservations on line at the various (4 ) restaurants for each night of the cruise.

On board , we preferred X instead of Y where we had a reservation on various nights.

Absolutely no problem to switch and in future we will not make any reservation on the E class ships.

Suggestion :

Don't spend time making reservations---

It's " Anytime Dining " on the E Class ships--- Just go to the restaurant of your choice and you might have to wait a few minutes.

Lastly, If you are dining in X and want something from the menu on Y your Server can get it for you.

( If you like meat---Try the beef tenderloin --- If you don't like meat--- wait for suggestions from other CCers )

14 hours ago, Whinenowine said:

As I tell my friends all the time, you shouldn't give a rat's ass about professional reviews or what people say you should drink.  if you enjoy it, drink it;

LOL--- Oh Yea ???

Tell that to "You know who " after "someone " enjoys 3 diet cokes on a hot afternoon after a game of golf !!!!  

4 hours ago, Baggy178 said:

Rule #1 - a fool and his money are easily parted ...

LOL-- Finally, I can contribute to this thread !!

" a fool and his money are easily parted " ???

Oh Yea ??  Not so fast !!

Ya never met Big George ?? The loudest, cheapest " you know what " at our golf course !!

The guy is the biggest %$^%$#%%^ and he don't spend no money. 

He also cheats on his score-- if that means anything !!

The last time I played with him was in 2006-- the next time will be in 2096 !!

Rumor has it that he's going on a cruise in 2026 and was asking around if anyone knew who, etc etc.

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

911.  What’s your emergency?  😂

--I'm going on a cruise and didn't receive my luggage tags.

--We have $ 18 OBC left --- Any suggestions because we don't want to lose it

--It's 2 am and waiting for room service---Should I tip the delivery person $ 3 or is it included in the AI package--- Hurry with your answer because he/she should be here in 42 minutes with our 4 burgers, diet cokes, chocolate chip cookies, etc .

-- My Waiter forgot to bring my 3 shrimp cocktails at the same time and didn't apologize. Where do I go to remove the Gratuities ?

-- An old fart sitting beside me is , etc, etc 

-- I split Kings playing Blackjack because I had a "feeling" and lost $10--- The man beside me had 4 black chips in that little box in front of him and when the Dealer took 'em away the guy starred at me for 21 seconds , mumbled something ( not very polite ) , got up and left. 3 minutes later he came back to the table and pointed at me to his friend who mumbled something pretty loud. What did I do ??

-- And finally--- Here it comes ------ After " payment in full " has been paid the Captain has been changed . Now, what should I do ??

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

I shouldn't even bother responding

Thank you for responding-- I must say I read and misinterpreted your post.

What prompted my response was the numerous threads about Gratuities , especially the one regarding whether a gratuity is included in room service where there was quite a debate and the impression I was left with was that " It's included, so why should I tip any more "?

As we both know and appreciate the hard work the Staff does for us and to not tip for room service is certainly not the way I treat Staff-- and, you appear to be the same.

With that, I now understand your post --- you are " bang on ".

This all very confusing and I doubt anyone on CC really knows the answer.

We've asked many Staff, including a Hotel Mgr, about the gratuity distribution in specialty restaurants, elite breakfast in Tuscan Grill, Stateroom Attendant, and the most reliable answer ( IMO ) is:

If you provide cash in an envelope or directly into the hand of your Server or Room Attendant they are allowed to keep it for themselves.

If you add it on as " Additional Tip " located at the bottom of the bill, it goes into the gratuity pool.

Therefore, I assume the same would apply with the Butler--- whether they are part of the AI or not.

" plan accordingly " ? For what ?? To save a few $$ ??

12 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

They also often tell you where to get a light snack or drink.

LOL--- Reminds me of a tour we took " years " ago in Costa Rica to see a banana plantation.

Talk about wasting $$$ --- After 1 minute and 15 seconds I was done !!

Not only did our tour guide tell us where to get a snack or drink , he was nice enough( ?? ) to take us to his cousins souvenir ( junk ) stand for 30 minutes. Lucky for us, the %^#^ was on sale that day and he stood right by the cash drawer to make sure nobody got ripped off .

Then on the way back to the ship he had the driver stop the bus ( 20 minutes )--- wiped his eyes  and told us that we are the best tour group he ever had.  He went up and down the aisle showing us ( only the women looked !! ) pictures of his kids ( 6-7 ?? ). What a great guy !!

However, when we got back to the ship some of the men ( including said writer ) tried to get off by the back door ( guess why )--- but, it was locked !!

Mind you, he did hug all the women and shook every man's hand .

The cost, oops, tip to get off the bus was $10(US) !!!

But, it was worth it----- for our tour group to be the " best he's ever had "--- that's something !!

Rumor has it that the very next day there was a tour group ( nicer than ours ) that was the best , etc etc.

LOL--- Who needs University Marketing courses ? Just send the kids to Costa Rica to take the banana plantation tour !!

1 hour ago, Bo1953 said:

pb I keep waiting to be on the same sailing for such great hospitality on your part... LOL

 

Please do not forget me when you are ready to splurge!!!

 

Cheers and bon voyage

" great hospitality" ?? " ready to splurge " ??

Who ?---- Me ??----- I did WHAT ??-----  Really ??----- OH, $%#^ !!! 

Anybody get the number of the bus that hit me before I bought that bottle of wine--- when I don't even drink ?? 

Holy Cow-- It's a misprint --

When someone was typing up the menus they got all mixed up and wrote $ 100,000 instead of $ 100 and nobody proof-read it prior to sending for print.

I'll bet, at every table someone asks the Sommelier :

" How many of the $100K bottles of wine have you sold " ? 

LOL--the answer --- " On the last cruise we sold 3 , but none on this cruise so far ".

Who's going to spend that kind of money on a bottle of wine ? 

( It's ok, I get it--- It's none of my business how anyone spends their money )

I doubt Ralph Kramden , winner of the " Safest Bus Driver " award would have spent that much on a bottle of wine or even stayed in a suite.

37 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

The vote is getting too close for me...I'm on the edge of my seat!!

 

Sadly, we know there are 6 people that we don't want to cruise with...

Be nice if the 6 people identified themselves.

IMO--- All 6 are just being " funny ".

In all of our cruises we never encountered anyone playing their music or watching a video without earphones in the Solarium ( where we always sit ).

However, on occasion ( very seldom ) in the MDR or Specialty restaurant when we were seated we noticed ( heard ) some rude, obnoxious , loud mouths (a guy wearing a cowboy hat who just ignored the Maitre'd when he was asked to remove his hat ) so we asked to change our table and were accommodated immediately. 

9 hours ago, ldubs said:

Tough guy name calling as suggested by others might make good reading on a forum

LOL-- Don't you think it adds a little more " spice " to the conversation than:

" Oh, excuse me, I don't mean to disturb you, but, do you mind , if you have time , to kindly lower your music. I will gladly lend you these ear phones so you can continue to enjoy your music "?

5 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Never in my (long) life have I seen so many careless, reckless, aggressive, inconsiderate, illegal driving behavior as I see since Covid.

" since Covid " ?

So, were you driving in Montreal at the time ??

LOL--- The driving there has nothing to do with Covid.

Hope you can read and translate the signs ( all in French ) while traveling at 140km in a 90km zone in order to keep up with the traffic. 

Hey, it's all good there--- especially the food !!

Here's the "real " answer:

" Hey, hey, yes YOU, You goof --- Turn your f---- music down  before I send that guy over there, yes, the big guy with the gorgeous blond you've been staring at for the last hour listening to that crap " !!

Now---- What do we/you about loudmouths sitting nearby in the dining room ? 

17 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

I always see this as the justification for putting a magnet on a door, but I legitimately cannot see how it helps until you're up on the door

"  until you're up on the door "--- Now, you " got it " !!

It sure helps those that love to decorate their door with upside down pineapples.

Otherwise, I don't know why anyone would decorate their door anyway.

Mind you, on our last cruise we noticed that Harry and Sally were celebrating their 10th anniversary. Harry looked like he could have been celebrating his 50th,Sally her 10th.

Who do you think put the decoration on the door ??

Did Harry even notice it after 4 days ??

2 hours ago, SunnySunflower said:

I haven’t been on the Eclipse and would love to decorate the doors to our staterooms since my family are on different decks and it can be easy to get turned around.  Will that work on this ship?

"love to decorate the doors"

Are you kidding ?? You will love decorating your door -- ( Not suggested for young kids though)

Get a few decals/magnets with pineapples on them and hang them upside down.

Talk about fun --- You will /might have more "fun" than you planned on.

"Will that work on this ship?"

I assume you mean " will decorating your door work (to have fun) " ??

That's a tough one---I'm no magician ---And besides ,I don't do" tricks ".

17 hours ago, yellowhat said:

Stay tuned..counting out business days..I was 3 days out of their law of 30 days...Yup.. 36 hours

Perhaps it's 30 consecutive days rather than 30 business days ? ( I don't know ).

Perhaps it's 36 hrs in Southern Ontario , but, 72 hrs everywhere else  ? ( I don't know )

Perhaps you are complaining to the wrong crowd ? ( That one I do know--- it's yes )

Perhaps call your TA ( Big Box Travel ) and get them to try for you ?

Suggestion re: Future Cruise Dept on board

If you are not prepared to make a booking on board, it might be a good idea to purchase a Future Cruise Certificate. How it works if you don't cruise in suites :

Cost $ 200 ( US )

Must book a cruise within 6 months of purchase

The $ 200 you paid for the Certificate is applied as the deposit instead of $900

Based on the number of nights of the cruise, you receive additional OBC over what the cruise price is.  Example-- Cruise price includes $400 OBC, certificate based on10 nights adds another $200 OBC -- $ 600 Non refundable OBC  ( not enough to purchase a preloved Rolex ).

3 hours ago, the penguins said:

" General comment - we have no issues with sharing a table with Posters on CC. They have all turned out to be ok in real life".

" our different cultures and ways of approaching issues ".

How did you arrange to meet ? Do they still have Meet and Greet gatherings ?

( I assume it wasn't  from the upside-down pineapple on the door " Activity " ) ?

Is it common for CCers to reveal their name if/when/how they meet in person even if not sharing a table for dinner ?

" sharing a table with Posters on CC "--- I said " some "of the Posters on CC "--- meaning " some " of the continuously negative posters on CC.

" our different cultures and ways of approaching issues " -- 

LOL-- That's exactly why we decided (?? ) to leave a table in the middle of our dinner without even staying for desert on a cruise " way back when ".  As a matter of fact, we just got up and walked away without saying " Nice meeting you ".

Since then, we've met many very nice people at nearby tables--- always fun.

5 hours ago, the penguins said:

Great answer except your number 5 which either misquotes me or I wasn't clear. We never have a table for 2. Our choice is a table for 6 sharing in Any Time ( Select) Dining.😊😂😊 

LOL-- I read your post 26 times and NOW, I get it . 

" sharing tables at dinner is a major part of our cruise and with Aqua you have your own table".

" sharing table, major part of your cruise" ---Now that's easy-- you enjoy sharing a table.

LOL---I read it as because it's a major part of your cruise you did not want to share a table, and when you further mentioned "with Aqua you have your own table "--- That's what I was referring to in my comment about always requesting a table for 2 in the MDR.

LOL--- (General comment)-- Would you like to share a table with some of the Posters on CC??

Compilation from above posts with input/advice:

1--I'm looking at a cruise on Celebrity Reflection -- Excellent choice( Service-Food--Cleanliness )

2--I agree on Reflection the Concierge class amenities are not worth paying extra -- Not worth anything extra. The concierge lunch is a big Zero--- Nothing special.

3--We like the Deluxe Veranda (DV) which are on the slant of the hump at mid ship.   Due to the slant of the balcony they are 2 or 3 times the size of a regular balcony.   Absolutely correct-- a good choice

4--There are a couple of extra features that come with the concierge room like a bottle of rather inexpensive bubbly wine, a dining room lunch on embarkation day (as opposed to the Buffet), and extra Captains Club points.-- Not worth the extra charge.  

5-- sharing tables at dinner is a major part of our cruise-- Same for us-- We always request a table for 2 and are always accommodated

Trust the above posts-- you will not go wrong.

6 minutes ago, keesar said:

On this cruise, a group booked ALL of the Specialty Restaurants for the entire night.   Good for Celebrity but not good for a couple that wanted to go to Murano to celebrate their anniversary.  

Totally understand your frustration.

The group ( apparently very large ) most likely arranged everything long ago.

If it were us, we would be disappointed also, and celebrate our xx anniversary the next day.

Also, I'm not sure we would enjoy our dinner with the rest of the diners being a part of the same group. One table could be louder than the other , and, the other louder than, etc etc.

3 hours ago, Les43 said:

We sail in less than 3 weeks and have completed check in. Luggage tags are ‘pending’. When do they become available to print?

Nothing to worry about---

The Porters at the pier have luggage tags and will attach them for you--

Make sure to remember your cabin number and to say Thank You ( $$ ).

LOL-- Don't try telling the Porter that you have the Gratuities Included package unless you don't mind wearing the same clothes for the entire cruise. 

2 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Is it appropriate to ask how you define overpriced?

No--- It's none of anyone's business how someone defines " overpriced ".

It depends on their wallet ( $$ ) and the value they perceive for the price.

Agree ??