fabby50

The have frequent specials on board, sometimes more depending on whether you're on a popular cruise or not.  If you're on a more popular cruise, they also can get booked up, you might not get the time or day you want.  I usually prebook one massage and then evaluate what's on offer once I get on board to see if I want to book more.  You can use the OBC either way.

Do you know what the Salty Dog is being change to?  We were on Discovery a couple of months ago and missed it.  One her again in November and was looking forward to trying.  Thank you!

And, if it's important to you, no alcohol at the PCC.  My husband does nothing in Hawaii without a mai tai 🙂

Your best bet would probably be to look at the perks for your room category and, if not listed, as your room attendant if any are available.

A lot of the lines offer coffee makers in their suite categories but not in others.  We have coffee makers in our NCL and RCCL suites, and in a cabinet in the NCL one was a hot pot as shown above.  We have never had either in mini suites or balcony rooms on these lines.  Never had on Carnival or Princess, no matter what the category.   It is a perk for some lines.

11 hours ago, nini said:

 

Actually, it could be. When you have a gene that makes you produce cholesterol like a cholesterol factory..... then you become vegan. It can be quite a bummer!

This is why I started, my father had a double bypass at 45, we produce cholesterol like crazy.  I am a vegetarian, but only eat small amounts of non fat or low fat dairy.  I did eat fish for a couple of years in my 20s, but that's been decades ago.  Became a vegetarian at 18 and I'm 65 now, no heart problems have come up yet and I'm the only one in the family that hasn't had problems.  It works.

Ladyshopper23 - good job on the explanation, I gave up years ago trying to explain it 🙂

13 minutes ago, xamsx said:

Hubby and I have done three Celebrity cruises in the last six months. The OV buffet was wonderful pre-Jan 1. The cuts in food quality that were complained about after the first of the year in the Celebrity subforum are real. While we never went hungry, there was a real difference in the quality of food post and pre-January 1st. The only meal that was the same was breakfast.

That was my experience too - went in November and then again last month.  World of difference, especially at dinner.  

Thanks for posting a vegan menu, knew they had a vegetarian one, but not vegan.  I don't usually eat in the MDR, especially when I cruise solo, so I'm hoping on my next solo cruise, they'll let me order from it through room service.  When solo, I usually end up in the buffet.

In regards to the Celebrity buffet, it appeared to me that budget cuts are noticeable and the "nice to haves", at least ones I enjoy, have been trimmed.  A few examples, if you wanted grapes, you had to take them off the decorative display by the cheese, there were no berries, kiwi, etc., just apples, oranges, grapefruit, etc.  The only dried fruits were raisins, no nuts, just sunflower seeds.  The cooked food was lukewarm, a problem a lot of ships have, but to get hot food, I would go to the stir fry or pasta station and have them make me something.  They do have ice cream, which was very popular, but I thought it was low quality, not much flavor to it.  The thing Celebrity does have, that I really enjoyed and wish other ships had, as far as food, was the spa cafe.  The fruit plates, lunch salads (the Thai noodle salad is yummy), breads, just about everything there I greatly enjoyed and I wish they were open for dinner too.  I love the concept of having an area of healthier food options, especially lower sugar and sodium.  I got to where I would go in the morning and get a fruit plate to put in my in room refrigerator.

When things started to have deep discounts because of COVID and we were thinking of retiring, I decided to book every line that sails regularly out of Los Angeles so I could figure out which line we liked the best and would like to book regularly in the future, the advantage to us is no air fare, we can drive to the port.  We have gone on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Carnival and NCL all within the last six months.  We preferred Carnival Panorama overall, followed by Princess Discovery, then Royal Caribbean, and lastly, Celebrity.  I didn't include the NCL cruise because we took the one out of Hawaii and it is a unique experience on its own.  My only disappointment with the Panorama is they only do one route, while the others will do various Mexico routes as well as California coastals.  I am booked on a solo on Discovery Princess in November and we're booked on Crown Princess for a Pacific Northwest for an extended family cruise next April.  I mention Los Angeles because the RCCL and Celebrity ships that sail out of here are older and probably not a good example of an experience you might have on a newer ship.  We were on the first sailing of the Panorama as well as the first sailing after the COVID restart.  Discovery is a nice ship too with lots of dining venues.

2 hours ago, rbtan said:

What if the dessert has dairy? Will you still eat it?

I am a vegetarian, not a vegan, I eat dairy, mostly on vacation, but have some types of yogurt and cottage cheese at home.  I don't eat eggs.  I am a work in progress, maybe I'll make it to veganism before they put me in a box 🙂  Usually, by the time I've eaten a roll, a salad, a baked potato with vegetables, I am full and am satisfied with a spoon of my husband's dessert or just coffee.  I sometimes ask for berries, they seem to accommodate that, you can also ask for anything to go.

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Exactly right.

For a couple,  spending $80 in the CG is silly, if one diner is a vegetarian.  

Go to the MDR of your choice, and your partner can have a steak for $20.

We never eat in the MDR, gave that up years ago when they started reducing the staffing.  Everything seems rushed, servers overworked, tables crowded, etc.  What is "silly" to some people makes sense to others.  We go to the specialty restaurants more for the service, the staff, the atmosphere.

I am a vegetarian and we usually eat at the Crown Grill twice during a week as my husband likes his filet.  When I have asked about vegetarian entrees, I am usually offered an entree from whatever restaurant is closest to the Crown Grill, if it's the Italian restaurant, I end up getting the eggplant.  If I don't ask for anything special, I will order a salad, asking for the items I won't eat to be left off, a baked potato with no toppings and the asparagus.  It/s fine for me, I don't have a big appetite and it leaves room for bread and dessert if I want it.  I don't know if that would do for your daughter or not.

42 minutes ago, pompeii said:

We took Vias on our recent TA on the Enchanted. Our steward gave us a kettle and I either ordered milk from room service or picked up a glass of milk from the buffet the afternoon before. Frankly, it worked out better than waiting for room service coffee in the morning or getting dressed enough to venture down to the IC to get it. 

I understand you can get kettles on European cruises, but I haven't heard of anyone getting one in the US.  I am in California and go on a lot of Coastal and Mexico cruises and haven't been able to get one.  Its probably a stocking problem rather than a safety issue.  

I am usually up by 4:30 or 5, so room service at 6 to 6:30 is a little late.

I tried an experiment on my last cruise.  I took Via Instant coffee (Starbucks).  I've found the water on cruise ships to be exceptionally hot, so I made myself a cup of instant first thing in the morning.  It was fine as long as you didn't cool it down with milk, next time, I will take non fat milk powder.  It wasn't super hot, but it got me going in the morning until I could get room service delivered from between 6 and 6:30.  I also ended up liking the Via better than the room service coffee (it was stronger).

Yes, went last month.  Tenders through the night.

Muster station, drop off stuff in the room/safe, lunch, where depends on the ship and what status for a particular cruise I have, if I haven't been on the ship before, after lunch, I start at the top and do a common deck tour, and then the gym.  The first day is a great day to hit the gym, there's usually no one or only one or two people working out and it gets my cruise off right.

Just got off her this morning, hope you have a great time!

I saw a couple of free casino drink postings on the daily planner.

14 hours ago, amevola said:

Hi, fabby50,

Did you see the menus on the website or just the other items?  I cannot find the menus, however, it's not a big deal if they aren't there.  I just like to be as familiar as possible with the website.

Thanks!

Yes, go to the dining section, select the restaurant and there is a link to the menu for that particular restaurant.

Just look at it all on the website. works fine.  I have the same problem on the app and I'm leaving 4/1.

As a vegan leaning vegetarian (I occasionally eat dairy products), what I get tired of is the chefs seem to think all we eat are pasta dishes.  We are going on our first RCCL cruise in a few years since they have now returned to California, and I sure hope I can get something other than vegetarian pasta or other Italian food.  I have not had much luck on Celebrity, NCL, Princess, etc.  Of all the main stream lines, I've found Carnival to be the most accommodating.  I find it most frustrating in the specialty restaurants where they put on their menus they'll make a vegetarian choice, all you have to do is ask, you do, and they say they can make you pasta.  I usually end up with a plain baked potato and whatever vegetable they have instead, for an extra specialty restaurant charge.  My husband is a confirmed meat eater, which is why I end up there, he wants his filet mignon.  First world problems are the worst 🙂 

I cruise twice a year solo.  I am not single, but I find going alone is good for all kinds of things (sense of independence, etc.) and I picked cruising because I feel it's a safe way to travel by myself.  I used to go to a health spa, but for the price, I can go on two or three cruises.  Look for single supplement discount sales.   The first time I did this, I did it because Celebrity had a sale and I got a week in a spa balcony cabin with a drinks packages, tips, etc. for $1,500.  What I do now is reserve the cabin I want when I want to go if I think the price is right for even two people and then keep an eye on discounts and sales.  If you go off season, something usually comes up as the cruise gets closer.  I am going on a Celebrity week long coastal cruise on 4/1 and have gotten two discounts and an additional $500 cruise credit since I booked about 8 months ago.  Its running me around $2,500, but with drinks, tips, and $500 cruise cash included.

Our problem has usually been that everything is green before we reach port, then it all disappears when we try to board and we board the old way, showing all our paperwork.  I still print out everything, it has saved our bacon on numerous occasions and not just on cruises.  Recently had a pricy pre-paid stay at a hotel in Honolulu, got ready to check in and they had NOTHING.  If I wouldn't have had my printouts, I am sure they wouldn't have spent as much time trying to find us within their system.  Turned out they had put the reservation in my middle name, which I never gave them (just initial), so I am still baffled by that.

We usually give $20 for the two of us, especially if we are visiting an underdeveloped country.  Since the pandemic, so many people were out of work and we feel they need the money even more these days.  Have seen many people not tip at all or just give a dollar or two.

I have found the tip about writing I'm not interested in hearing about or purchasing any products on the slip to be the most effective method.  Trying to stop them mid-stream has never worked for me.