goofysmom99

I look at the shareholder benefit as a nontaxable dividend and lately, have been applying it to gratuities.  

1 hour ago, billc23 said:

I have no problem with Silversea being in the RCG family. If one does't like the performance of their VW Jetta, would they not purchase a Porsche because money goes to the VW group?  

 

The Volkswagen Group sells passenger cars under the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Cupra, Jetta, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT, Škoda and Volkswagen 

 

Hopefully Silversea stays the same quality they have.

I get it.  I receive the shareholder benefit on Silversea, too.

30 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Seems like we are comparing apples and oranges here…600 passenger ships, totally different experience..

I'm counting on it. 

I can count on one hand the number of productions shows I've been to on X in the last decade so won't miss those.  Casinos no longer are as entertaining as they once were for me, so that's OK, too.  I do enjoy lounge singers/musicians, chatting with other folks where we can hear each other (sans DJ), trivia, enrichment lectures, and being able to order decent wine by the glass without a surcharge.  Also hoping to find better dining options (better quality proteins).  I'll be in Luminae next month, and will be interested to see if the food has improved since last March when I wasn't at all wowed, at least in a good way.  Willing to try something new for the comparable price of a sky suite (actually, as a solo, it's $5K less).

"The end of the month" is already too late to fix the bumper-car school of management that Celebrity has embraced.  I'm so disgusted, I just coughed-up another 25% deposit today for Silversea.  Granted, it's still within the RCG family but I'm betting/hoping SS isn't out to dismantle its brand/reputation like X has done.

15 minutes ago, asnaleah said:

The pizza is delicious at Oceanview

I just discovered that this past November on Constellation.  It was the best GF pizza I've ever eaten!

3 hours ago, George C said:

 we don’t mind paying extra for what we want. 

I think they're counting on that.

Dress sandals are fine, just no rubber flip-flops (and everyone knows exactly what those are).  I have never worn a closed-toe shoe in Luminae, MDR, or specialty restaurant.

7 hours ago, billc23 said:

The  Superior Veranda you may book is far nicer than a Sky Suite, so that should be the comparison price wise! The veranda rooms have better storage, a nicer bathroom, a table to have meals in your cabin or on the balcony, comfortable furniture, and a heavy curtain between the sleeping area/living space. You mentioned all the other inclusions and I will add that the alcohol brands are higher quality, the food has much more variety with higher quality proteins, the public space to passenger ratio is much higher as is the crew to passenger ratio, no segregation/hierarchal system... no crowds, no lines.  

 

You're absolutely right.  My $9800 Superior Veranda cabin (video) is waaay nicer than a $16,000 sky suite or my $8000 C1 on Summit, and it's 2 nights longer.  And there will be no nickel and dime upcharges for a decent glass of wine (of all the boneheaded management moves X has made over the past year, that one's a real prize-winner).  Anyway, I've been looking at lots of Silver Moon videos on youtube today.  That's one classy ship with a new-to-me layout.  They maximize aft views for everyone with the locations of the lounges and restaurants.  I'll be taking a deeper dive into itineraries this weekend, too.  Yup, very impressive.

After reading this thread earlier today, and the threads about the solo price-gouging, I checked a cruise site where it's easy to plug in where, when, and how many pax to compare fares across most lines.  I was specifically looking for solo supplements.  OK, then I decided to compare cruises I already have on the books with the competition.  The one that made my eyes pop was April 2025 Panama Canal transit.  Silversea Silver Moon (2020 build) 18-night transit out of Ft Lauderdale is $9813 for Superior Veranda vs my Summit April 2025 16-night transit, concierge C1, $7982 (a sky suite is $16K).  Silversea price is port-to-port so no included hotel, air, or driver, but from Orlando, I don't need any of those.  So it's a direct comparison.  $1831 more = gratuities, wifi, excursions, butler, cabin fridge restocked with bevs/alcohol, 24/7 room service, and specialties.  Oh, and onboard washers (I prefer to do my own stuff, believe it or not).  Not much to use OBC for so my TA will send a check.  I'm zenith so, yes, I get comped bevs, wifi, and laundry, but after a disappointing 16-night TA on Constellation in November, once I factor in gratuities and 2 additional nights, it's a wash.  I'm not talking about a sky suite either - it's a wash between a concierge cabin and a comparable veranda on Silversea.  I had my TA put a hold on Silversea this afternoon (Summit was booked onboard so only $100 loss).  

My TA, also a zenith, knew exactly what I was talking about.  Seems she and her daughter (also a TA) had just last week switched from X to Silversea for 2025 Alaska because they also discovered they receive more for less $ on Silversea.  Better itinerary, too.

I still have three X cruises - two next month and one in November, then nada.  I genuinely hope my November TA on Silhouette isn't my last cruise on Celebrity, but it very well could be.  Makes me sad and mad.  It took nearly 20 years to reach zenith; it's taken just12 months to lose my business and my trust.  If management ever regains sanity, I'll reconsider.  

Hand sanitizer doesn't work well against norovirus.  https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/prevention.html

I got it on Summit last year (last night, first time ever).  And of course I needed to drive home for 4+ hrs....it was awful!

Does everyone tip in/at Cafe al Bacio, too?  It's part of the drink package.

1 hour ago, Baynanno1 said:

 For the first time in our cruising life, we had no desire to book another

There's a lot of that happening.

1 hour ago, mahdnc said:

We also saw the cruise ship, Vasco de Gama (Nicko Cruises) which we saw in Singapore and Halong Bay. 

 

 

I sailed her when she was the Statendam, one of her previous lives.

I would always choose a hump except for an July/August Caribbean/Med cruise.  When cruising resumed in July 2021, I booked my usual hump (first behind the hump) on the Eclipse and it was too hot to use.  The metal walls absorbed the reeeally oppressive heat and radiated it back well into the evening.  Changed my cabin to one ON the hump on following cruise which allowed better air flow and was cooler.  However, lesson learned - I won't be cruising Med/Caribbean in any cabin mid-Summer ever again. 🥵

4 hours ago, paulh84 said:

Celebrity cruisers torqued off over pricing go to Oceania. Formerly loyal Oceania cruisers torqued off over Oceania's pricing go [somewhere?]. Former Celebrity cruisers are the Oceania newbies while Celebrity also fills their spots with new guests. Odd how that works out......

Oh, I'll be still cruising on X since I receive PBP (such as it now is), wifi, and Retreat access but I sure as heck won't be booking/wasting $$$$ on a suite.  I’ve booked SV/CC (w/specialties most nights), or AQ cabins and saved enough to pay for my Oceania and Regent cruises.  I'm not steamed over pricing, I'm steamed over value.  Regent and Oceania have raised prices, but they don't appear to have radically cheapened their product, unlike X.  That's the difference. 

5 hours ago, islabahia said:

We cancelled our X cruise and moved to a PH on Oceania (less expensive than X for more days and a butler).

Ditto.  Much nicer cabin, butler, beautiful shower (no silly bathtub/shower combo), and an impressive balcony with loungers, dining table, and chairs (Vista, Deck 7 PH2).  I'll be able to have room service from the main dining room AND specialty restaurants, unlike any category of suite on X now.  Oh, and there's a Retreat-like Concierge Lounge and Sun Deck (which I doubt I'll use any more than I do on X).

I still have a few cruises left on X but I'm also branching out to other, more sensibly-priced cruise lines that provide greater value.  That's something I never, ever thought I'd do as recently as 12 short months ago.  What a difference a year makes.

On 12/28/2023 at 10:49 PM, cruisestitch said:

Honestly, I would not try to do a gluten free request from room service.  The toast would be made in a toaster that is used for all kinds of bread, and there would likely be crumbs and some cross-contamination.  I wouldn’t trust it. 

Not true.  Room service has a dedicated toaster.  GF baked goods are made in a separate oven and distributed throughout the ship.  I've been ordering GF from room service on X for 15 years uneventfully.

You need to print "two slices of gluten free toast" or "two gluten free muffins" or however many you want.  That's pretty much their GF continental breakfast repertoire.

9 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

With crew always change ships how would you know who will be serving on a ship so why avoid a ship ? 

In April we had captain Matt , CD Giovanni and Mark as Active director on the Reflection and had a fantastic time on the ship 

This November we had Mark on the Constellation, ( it was his final cruise for this contract, saw him at the Tampa airport ) and Caption Matt and Giovanni were on the Edge

 

A reason to avoid Reflection if booking a suite is because it has 111 suites vs 66 on Silhouette, and unfortunately the Retreat/Michael's Club and Luminae are the same size (always crowded).  The Silhouette still has the full-expanse Sky Lounge that was chopped up for additional suites on Reflection.  That's why Silhouette remains my favorite ship, even when not booking a suite.

10 minutes ago, billc23 said:

It sure does. I wonder how the no uncharge drinks get around inventory control? I know what butlers and servers did in the past. I copied a response I posted in a different thread:

 

 

For what it's worth and perhaps apropos of nothing, I have been on sailings where my account shows, every day, many charges for drinks that I never had. They were all billed a $0 because they were included in my drink package.  It turned out that my butler would deliver drinks to SS passengers in their room and use my card to charge them. I asked my butler about the charges and he said it was for his convenience. Later he confided that he likes to delight his assigned guests and any request put on the PH guest card is not questioned.

The Luminae sommelier would not charge passengers who did a move up bid, without a drink package, for drinks in Luminae - they went on someone else's card. My suite had included specialty dining so I often would order sushi to be delivered as an afternoon snack. My order often had extra items on it that were delivered to several SS down the hall. 

None of the above bothered me but I guess it bothered Celebrity. What will bother me is being charged an extra $2.50 for a glass of an inexpensive wine in the Retreat lounge after paying $40,000 plus for my all included upper suite on a 7 day sailing. 

It seems to me that Celebrity is taking away the ability of staff to delight their customers for a small amount of current revenue. Shortsighted in my opinion. 

 

 

This happened on my recent November Constellation TA quite a but.  Anytime I ordered a drink in the Oceanview/Sunset Bar, there would be five or six other $0 charges.  Only occurred at Sunset though, never anywhere else.  I wasn't in a suite but am a zenith and guess they never question those either.  Hoping the upcharge goes the way of the cookie....if enough people complain to the home office.  Please complain, one and all!

13 hours ago, jelayne said:

Why keep writing, vote with your $. 

Have two upcoming cruises on X, joining dear friends taking their last cruises (health).  They're Zenith, too, but in a SS the first leg, then PH on second.  I want both cruises to be memorable and special....in a good way.  Since she likes certain wines, I'll write.  After these two cruises, I am voting with my $ (Oceania and Regent).

This warrants yet another cranky email to the home office.  It's getting old.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if they do spring a third level.  Classic, premium, and deluxe.  They just might be testing the waters to see how many are willing to pay an upcharge.  Then give deluxe to upper suites and premium to junior suites with an option to buy up.  I doubt they're through fiddling with sky suites.

Edit:  I noticed sky suites were significantly reduced on 2025 TAs where they were also referred to as Junior Suites.  I'm sure there won't be an advance announcement either, just like butlers.

Report is coming from Summit, now.  Anything that's over $17.

On 12/15/2023 at 2:00 AM, alserrod said:

 

 

 

 

I wrote this post about transportation in Barcelona.

I hope you find it interesting but feel free to post there further questions

 

 

 

 

Do you have a suggestion for someone traveling solo who cannot stand in a taxi line?  I do have wheelchair assistance from the plane, to luggage, and to the curb.  I can't imagine a wheelchair pusher would push me through a taxi line.  I've used reserved services in other European locations but haven't found anything for Barcelona that comes highly recommended, or even sort of recommended.  Thanks.