DCPIV

It's RCL unless Princess also has a property there I'm not aware of.

I'd go for Summit unless I was just curious about MSC or Virgin. Summit is a fantastic ship. It was redone recently and is in great shape, and all reports are that service is excellent. I've sailed on Summit twice, and I would again in heartbeat if I were in your place. I enjoy Freedom class ships and have sailed on them a handful of times, but there's no way in the world I would pay more for that cruise over anything Celebrity. I can't speak to MSC or Virgin.

I don't know about the perks, but I'd pay twice the price of a Sky Suite for the separate bedroom and the fantastic balcony. DW also is one who loves that tub on the balcony.

So that's what it was. I thought my allergies were acting up again! 😉 I miss y'all!

It's in the Solarium.

I want to get back to Summit even more than I thought I did!

Just to confirm, yes, your classic package is good in the specialty restaurants.

Howdy! I've begun packing in earnest. That means it's real! Our first cruise of 2023! This was something of an impulse cruise to the extent there is one. Sometime during the wackiness of the restart, we were thinking about taking a chance on what looked like a good deal for a SIgnature Suite on Reflection. New ship for us. New sort of room. So few had sailed in a Signature that we had a hard time getting some opinions (and thank you all y'all who did give us your thoughts!) We went ahead and pulled the trigger. In the end, we were so happy we did. We had a fantastic cruise and absolutely loved the room. We fell in love with Reflection, as well. Here's a snapshot from that wonderful week: (terrible photo, but whatcha gonna do?) We had such a great time that we had to go for it again. Same ship. Same room even! Different itinerary but familiar ports! It's a true vacation--just getting away for a week or so. We'll spend the rest of our time between now and our Satuday flight to FLL getting ready and earning the vacation. I look forward to reporting on the ship, but I'm not concerned. All reports around here are good! Give me your questions, as well, and I'll see what I can do. I'm not the greatest or most prolific photographer in the world, but I put up what I can (wifi permitting). Cheers!

The only times I have NOT seen the Martini Bar happening at night for more than 20 minutes or so has been on sailings where the ship was roughly 25% full and roughly 13% full. It was still very active on the 40% full sailing.

I believe these are just delivered to your room and treated in the same way as if you brought them on board (i.e., corkage fee only if you don't have a package).

We've had some take notes and some not. I'm perfectly happy to see someone take notes, especially at embarkation when all hell is breaking loose. I'm more confident that it'll get done.

Yes, it is. It looks like Regent, Silversea, Seabourne, Windstar all are alternatives. Azamara also is when they have a ship down there. We were aboard Onward for a very nice cruise in the southern Caribbean back in December.

It's a balance, I suppose. They need to consider how it's diluting the loyalty. As folks are noting, many have accumulated weeks worth of points for nothing. I expect, though, that they've made that calculation.

If you do a search, you'll see quite a few 10-12 night Caribbean itineraries. Perhaps it's not what it once was, but it's there. I'm not trying to be some sort of cheerleader, but what you said is just wrong.

Antigua can take larger ships. We were recently there on Equinox, but that was a longer cruise (10-night). It used to be a very common Caribbean port. We've also been to Grand Turk, Grenada, other Bahamas (Bridgetown), St. Vincent, and Dominica, but that was on a smaller ship (Silver Wind). As far as I know, only small ships can go to St. Bart's. Royal Caribbean and Princess sail to Trinidad. I don't know who sails to Barbuda, but that's definitely a tender port. There's another thing, tender ports are becoming less popular with the mass market cruise lines.

The only answer is that you'll just have to wait and see when you get on board. It's entirely in the Captain's discretion as to what ship time is. In any case, it won't be hard to know what ship time will be. If nothing else, you can ask your friendly dining waiter the night before. They will know. When I started cruising nearly 30 years ago, ship time never changed (unless, perhaps, you were crossing more than 1 time zone). It was what it was when you boarded, and it stayed that way. Of course, that's also when you had to manually set your watch. Nowadays, it seems that ship time regularly changes to local port time. I suspect that is because nearly everyone now relies on a device that automatically changes to local time.

Well, that was an 11-day cruise. We've been on longer Celebrity cruises out of Florida that have gone to Aruba, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and Puerta Plata (along with Martinique, Barbados, and St. Thomas, but those are hardly anything rare for a southern Caribbean cruise). Other itineraries hit Cartagena, Panama, Costa Rica, and maybe some other spots, but those also are 11+ nighters. By the way, Martinique can keep itself. The only thing I find attractive about Martinique these days is the view from the ship.

You could have been charged because you lost wifi for any number of reasons. Going ashore would do that, of course, but it also could blink out on the ship. Definitely put your phone on airplane mode (and then turn wifi back on). As a second layer of protection, also turn off data roaming before you turn on airplane mode. That's just in case you accidentally turn off airplane mode. By the way, you need to turn on wifi calling while you still are in your home network. Go ahead and do that now if you haven't already.

We board Reflection on Sunday. According to the app, Sushi on 5 will open at 11:30, but you cannot make lunch reservations in advance (that's for any day). Just show up and see if they can seat you. Keep in mind that it is a la carte, so you will pay. The app also says that Mast Grill opens at 11:30.

You might be able to do the upgrade online via "Manage Reservation." There may be a link you can click on around your stateroom information, but it's not always there. However, you still want to call because they can make sure you get the best deal. The first time I did a direct upgrade, I thought I knew what it would cost after comparing fares, and it was essentially the same as the minimum MU bid. I still called because I had a question. I am VERY glad I did because I saved about 40% from what I expected to pay (i.e., about 60% of what the minimum MU bid would have cost) BEFORE upgrading all the other goodies. Now, I doubt anything like that will ever happen again, but it sold me on calling!

And Celebrity is one of the ones selling them to tourists. I constantly wonder the same. For the life of me, I don't understand it, but I cannot claim to understand many things folks get all worked up about. That said, folks lose their dadgum minds around here for crawfish. I grew up eating them, and I like them, and I love having or going to a crawfish boil. However, that's a whole lot different from going to some place and spending beaucoups bucks on them (especially in January and February when they are only about bait size).

Size certainly is part of it. Only so many ports can accomodate these ships just on size. The port also needs a certain sort of facility for cruise passenger travel (it ain't the same as freight). There are some islands we've been to on smaller ships that larger ships do not go to (although it's changing a bit). On a related note, you have some islands that don't want any tourists or, at least, don't want cruise ships. Pricing is another reason. As mentioned above, the popular cruises go out of Florida. It takes a couple days to get down to the southern islands, so that limits what you can do unless you extend the cruise beyond the also popular 7-night format. While some to sail from Caribbean ports, the air fare to get there keeps a lot of folks away.

I agree completely.

Since you are looking to upgrade to a suite, you can call 1-877-RETREAT instead of the main number. That might save you a bit of time. Definitely go with the direct upgrade if you know you want to do it and the price works for you. You'll not only get to choose your room, but you also will get the upgraded wifi, upgraded drink package, and suite gratuities included in the fare. If you go with Move-Up, you would only retain the standard drink package, wifi, and gratuties. You would have to pay for upgrades out of pocket in addition to the MU bid.

The only other advice I can give is to call 877-RETREAT and talk to a shoreside concierge. I believe it's option 3 you want. Maybe they can do something for you or, at least, give some better advice. I don't think anyone knows whether they still do that program you described, but it's sure worth asking about. Even if it doesn't, I would be surprised if Luminae cannot accommodate your son at least a couple times If nothing else, you can have a dinner or two (or as many as you'd like) with your son in your suite. You have a fantastic dining table in there and even a half bath. You can arrange it with your butler if you want it served in courses. You also have specialty dining (which is included for your and your husband). We were in an RS on Equinox last Fall, and it was fantastic. Best cruise ship room I've ever stayed in.