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RICCruisers

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  1. I’m not sure why you would want to do this. You can get pretty much any drink you want at the dedicated bars. The only real outlier might be Eden, where they have their own menu of drinks and you can get any of those at the Eden Bar. There isn’t anywhere to sit in the Specialty Restaurants to enjoy your drink, only tables for guests who have paid for their meals. Each of the bars onboard should have a package that has the “ingredients” for all of the drinks offered ship wide. Some bartenders may or may not know the list exists. It’s basically a xeroxed list stapled together.
  2. No they are not 3 or 4 times higher. As an example - Eden is $60 plus 20% gratuity for $72.00 per person. Fine Cut Steakhouse is $65.00 plus 20% for $78.00 per person. The 20% gratuity is new within the past 3 or 4 months and the cover charge is up about $10-$15.00. More like a 40% increase.
  3. I’m sorry to bring disappointing news to you. As of January 1st the dinners in the OVC have been cut back drastically. There are several topics that discuss this change. You may or may not find what you are looking for at dinner. We were on the Edge Cruise that began on 1/2/23 and went to the OVC after we finished our dinner in the MDR around 7:30 and the place was almost empty and I would estimate only 25% of the food stations were open. Here is a video that includes a good description of what the OVC is currently offering at dinner. It’s discussed a little way into the video.
  4. You have got to be kidding!! Do you think Celebrity should be understanding that my portfolio took a big hit this past year and give me a break on their inflated prices??
  5. The 4 hours refers to the optional Six Course Tasting Menu. If you are a smaller party, 4 or less, 1.5 to 2 hours is realistic.
  6. The lounge/bar area of Eden is available to everyone. It is a great area to enjoy cocktails anytime it is open. Some of the seating areas have chairs that are low to the ground and not the most comfortable. The bar staff of Alex, Victoria and Nemo are great. Give it a try, I think you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.
  7. We just returned from a cruise on Edge (1/2-1/13). We ate in Eden twice and enjoyed it both times. It sounds like you have been reading about the Eden restaurant from when it first opened and there was a unique show that was interactive and a totally different menu than the current one. The only holdover from the previous iteration of Eden is the drink menu which offers some very “interesting” options. The new/current menu is much more like a regular specialty restaurant with options like fish, chicken, meat. We ate in Eden on two previous cruises when the previous menu and show were taking place and enjoyed those too. The current menu likely appeals to more passengers and eliminating the unique show also expands its appeal to a larger audience. There is an acoustic show that takes place in the Eden bar each evening but that is on Deck 5 and the restaurant is on Deck 4. You don’t really hear the music in the restaurant. One final note. There is a Wine Paring Tasting Menu Option on the current menu that is an additional $100 above and beyond the cover charge you pay and you cannot use your drink package to offset any of the cost. It breaks up your meal into 6 Courses. It uses the exact same menu offerings. Unless you are a real wine connoisseur or have a bunch of onboard credit I don’t see the value.
  8. So I have not read through all of these posts but from what I did read it appears the discussion has morphed from Prime Rib to the virtues or lack there of about Tilapia and every other cruise line except Celebrity. What I can tell you that we were on Eden last week and Prime Rib was on the menu one night and I enjoyed it.
  9. We also drove from VA. They were checking boarding times. We had 11-11:30 and arrived 10 minutes early but they let us enter where we sat and waited until about 12:15 when they started to board in groups based on where you were seated. They did stop allowing people into the waiting area for about 20 minutes because it was full. There were queue lines to enter based on assigned times. A lot may depend on how many passengers are expected. If you get there we’ll before your assigned time the likelihood is you’ll need to wait. As far as lunch options it’s the OV Cafe, Mast Grill, Le Grand Bistro. Spa Cafe and Eden Cafe were not open. No real tips other than cruise with an open mind and don’t sweat the small stuff.
  10. To answe some of the questions that were posed. The photos I took were after we finished our dinner in Normandie at about 7:30. Much of the seating area in the OV was dark. Those of you familiar with the OV on Edge know about the area on the back wall where they traditionally offer made to order steaks and fish etc. That area was totally closed. The photos may have been a little exaggerated due to my shock in how little was actually open. We did not walk to the back of the OV so I can neither confirm or deny the Pizza area availability. On the question about a Room Service charge. We still have not been charged for our Room Service breakfast from this morning and I will challenge any charge if it does show up since it was not on the menu card we filled out the night we placed the order. The only mention of a charge in the App is the $4.95 charge for the late night service. One additional change we noticed today was the lunch in the Eden Cafe. The size of the terrific brownies and chocolate chip cookies has noticeably decreased. The food was still very good but to a chocolate aficionado like my DW it was disappointing. Especially since she spent an hour in the fitness center today before lunch to offset her cookie enjoyment. 😉 On a positive note, we saw the 9:00 Kaleidoscope show. We’ve seen it before, but this cast was terrific.
  11. We are having a great cruise. I can’t speak for guests that prefer the Buffett over the Dining Rooms.
  12. One more thing to add. They had staff clicking in the number of people entering the OV tonight. A sure sign that X is tracking the number of guests “eating” tonight. What they don’t track are the number of guests that enter and exit without eating once they see the basic offerings.
  13. OMG OMG. We just finished dinner in Cosmopolitan and went up to the OV. It was a ghost town. The reports are correct. If you favor the OV for dinner, do not expect to have much of a choice. I will try to post a photo of what we saw. We didn’t check the pizza area, but this is the most egregious cutback that we’ve ever seen. Not to sound too cynical, but I guess RCL has to figure out a way to continue to pay their top Executives $2,000,000+on the backs of cruisers that save all year to afford a vacation on one of their Modern Luxury ships. I can only hope that tonight was a Chic Night and maybe this was a one off and that a real dinner service will be back on future evenings.
  14. We are currently onboard Edge 1/2/23 sailing. I had heard about a possible Room Service charge. The X App does not indicate a charge and we ordered Room Service for breakfast today and to my knowledge there was no charge. I’ll keep checking my account to see if it shows up. I cannot speak to the OV offerings since we didn’t eat there last night. I asked our waiter last night about the passenger count and he said about 2,200 which surprised me since I did a mock booking last week. It appeared there were close to 50% of Veranda and Concierge cabins available. All Suites and Aqua were booked at 100%. I was expecting about 1,900-2,000. He said the numbers went up quite a bit just before the cruise started. I may try to run through the OV tonight to see what is being offered. The OV for lunch on embarkation was excellent , but since that was the primary location for food it was undoubtedly necessary. Hope this helps.
  15. I think you should totally skip all specialty restaurants if you are used to paying $35.00 for 2 people.
  16. I saw it on the internet so must be true
  17. Are you sure it is $40.00 per day? It has always been the difference between the two packages. The new daily prices are $109.00 for Premium and $89.00 for Classic. Have you actually purchased the upgrade? It would be $40.00 if you are upgrading for 2 people which may be required with the new drink Package requirements.
  18. You are both correct. The new maximum for Premium is $17.00. The question now is what is the current price of Above The Clouds. The App for Beyond has the current price as $15.00. Who knows, they may change it for the next cruise.
  19. It’s a decent Pinot Noir. It’s on the Premium Package.
  20. Time to do some price shopping for your insurance.
  21. Look in the top right of the photo. It states Drinks, Wi-Fi and tips included. That is Classic Package, Basic Wi-Fi and Tips. You can upgrade the drinks and Wi-Fi on your own.
  22. I was checking some pricing yesterday and noticed the same thing. I skipped the part where you entered your CC Number and it then gave the option to add the AI. You may want to try that.
  23. I believe this is the picture you are looking for. It’s a picture of Edge so I don’t know if the cabin numbers are the same as Beyond. The original was done by Vt Cruiser who was the Queen of Edge. She passed away a few years ago and is sorely missed.
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