Nashna

Premier Parking looks to be about $150.00 cheaper than parking at the pier in Miami. Has anyone used their services?

On a 7-night Divina, I saw four or five in the YC dining room. However, they were all part of a group, so it might not have counted. Plus, they were very unusual tuxes with sumptuous textures and colors. They looked great.

Some of the best fries are served at our Club House here at the Regency. Near you, Great American Restaurants have the best thin ones. In the past, we lived in Burke Centre and then South Run in Fairfax Station. In fact, we were at Rafagino's in Burke for dinner last night.

LIfe is too short to eat limp fries...

Typically, the shorter the cruise, the younger the clientele. On one of our first cruises, a 10-day Panama cruise, our dining assignment was with two WW2 veterans and their wives. There was almost a 40-year age difference between us. The age difference didn't matter as we enjoyed listening to some fascinating stories about their service.

Thank you. While we enjoyed Regent in the past, their current price point doesn't allow us to travel as much as we would like. However, I am confident we will enjoy Oceania based on our friends' enthusiasm for O and the positive CC posters.

If you haven't been to Miami before, I would suggest staying overnight. Pick an interesting hotel close to an area of interest to you and spend the day as a tourist. You will most likely be off the ship no later than 11:00 am. I wouldn't head right off to the airport, as spending an afternoon and evening in an airport hotel is not the best way to end a great vacation.

I found dining in the YC; folks were more nicely dressed than in the MDR. No shorts or flip flops at night...think country club casual. I don't think you need a specialty dining package. We were very happy with the options offered in YC. Remember that if you like your waiter on the first night, you can request to be seated in their section every night. If you decide to do a specialty restaurant, it can be easily arranged with the concierge. I recall the Top Sail Lounge was open until 1:00 am. You will receive a special daily activity sheet just for YC. Just one word of warning...be prepared to be pampered.

They appreciate money and recognition. Recognition truly helps them in their career. There will be many outstanding staff members who you will encounter. Sometimes only once in a sailing. A great hint I got here on CC was to take a photo (make sure you get their name tag in the picture) so you can remember those crew members who went above and beyond to make your cruise special. On our last sailing, it was the omelet cook and a bartender that provided amazing service. These two were in addition to our room steward and servers, whom we also thanked via the survey and extra tips.

They just introduce you to the concierge and the officer in charge of the YC, and give you an introduction to the services such as the restaurant and Top Sail lounge hours, they will offer you drinks and advise you of the status of your room.

Since several people have mentioned Prime Rib on the menu after April 1st, I hope this means that X has responded to the myriad of complaints and returned to their pre-January 2023 food service. Hopefully, they will also go back to a decent menu selection.

Years ago, I organized a bar crawl at an all-inclusive resort with 7 bars. The resort handled it perfectly. When the bar manager realized what was happening at the first stop, he assigned two bartenders to accompany the group of 40 around to all the bars. At several stops, they were waiting for us with special drinks. I think Celebrity might have been more accommodating to this group.

As a newbie, I appreciate the ability to ask frequent O passengers questions. The advice and recommendations I receive on CC are invaluable. When we board a new ship, my husband is no longer shocked at my insider knowledge. My first O sailing will also be my 61st cruise. There has been only one line on all those cruises I wished I had never sailed on...Costa. After reading many of the posts, my expectations for our Vista cruise are that we will enjoy the lower passenger count, the food, service, accommodations, specialty restaurants, and our fellow passengers.

I have sailed on most cruise lines except for Silver Seas, Viking, and Oceania. I sailed in the YC in January 2020 and loved the experience. I enjoyed the service in the Yacht Club much more than my Seabourn sailing. Post Covid, we sailed on the Enchanted Princess (mini-suite, Club Class), Apex (Aqua and Sunset Verandas, and the Edge, Sunset Veranda). While my 2022 Apex sailing was fantastic, we were shocked at the lower quality and food selections after X changed on January 1st. We would have sailed post-Covid with MSC, but the itineraries were not to our liking. We were happy that their New England/Canada itinerary checked off all our boxes, and we are booked on the Mera in October. The cost for a balcony YC stateroom was a bargain. I think you will enjoy the YC experience. The vibe in the YC lounge is very much like a private club. We found our fellow passengers to be friendly and enjoyed socializing with several after the cruise.

At the resort.

My first MSC Cruise was in a one-bedroom Aurea suite on Divina in January 2020. We followed that sailing with the 7-Day cruise in YC. I was very glad that we sailed in Aurea first. We were able to sit in a special section pre-boarding. Embarkation was delayed by 45 minutes, so we had plenty of time to watch butlers escorting passengers. Once YC passengers boarded, there was a mad dash from passengers rushing to board. We did not have priority as no one was checking. Our room was spacious, with a large wrap-around deck, a comfy couch and chair, and a picture window. Our room steward was great. We dined in a special section of the MDR and had fantastic service. The Matre de stopped by to visit each night. On most mornings, we ate breakfast in the regular MDR, as the Aurea section was only offered during dinner. What a difference! The breakfast service was basic as the wait staff did the bare minimum. The Aurea sundeck was nice. However, it was very windy, and we did not spend much time there. We preferred to sit by the pool. We went to guest relations several times inquiring as to our B2B when we would transfer to the YC. We never got a definite answer, just that we were not to worry. We were instructed to leave our luggage in our stateroom. We arrived at guest relations with our carryons and were told to have a seat, and that they would call our butler. He arrived within five minutes and proceeded to take our carryons, give us our new boarding passes, and escort us up to the Yacht Club. When he heard that we had not had breakfast, he escorted us across the ship to the YC restaurant. When we returned from breakfast, our room was ready, and the pampering began. We were blown away by the difference in how we were treated throughout the ship when we used our YC card. The Aurea experience was great. The Aurea stateroom was twice the size of the YC. However, we didn't get the extra service that the YC provides.

I started one a few days ago. I waited three weeks after making my reservation as I would have preferred a more experienced O passenger to take the helm.

I have been a member of Cruise Critic for many years. I have used this site to obtain valuable information on our sailings and have been happy to offer my observations. I have participated in Princess, HAL, Regent, Seabourne, MSC, and Celebrity Boards before and after sailing on those cruise lines. My 61st cruise and first on Oceania will be on the Vista on January 31st, 2024. Since we made our reservation, I have followed the Oceania Cruise Critic Board. I have been very impressed by the Oceania posters on this site. The quality of information, lack of snarkiness, and genuine interest in helping newbies like myself have been very welcoming. I'm looking forward to cruising Oceania.

We are also jumping away from Celebrity as well. After sailing on various cruise lines, we thought we had a home on X. We sailed on Regent, Seabourn, and all the major lines. Regent's pricing has become way too high for us, and Seabourn didn't give us the warm fuzzies. Listening to our friend's advice, we are taking our first Oceania cruise in January.

Whatever kind of fries are served...please make them crispy. Limp fries are an abomination.

Yes, with a side of ketchup and a salt shaker...

We are at the point in our lives where we don't wish to stand in lines, get up at 7:00 am to hog a chair by the pool, deal with the wait at guest relations, or arrive an hour before a show to get a seat. We enjoy being served and pampered. The Yacht Club experience starts when you pull up to the pier and step into the YC white tent; you are whisked through the embarkation process and brought to a lovely lounge waiting area where you can sip champagne while waiting for the ship to clear. YC passengers are the first to board. A butler will escort you on the ship, show you around, and introduce you to the concierge. The concierge was available to help you with any reservations or issues you might have...you no longer need to go to guest relations. Our butler and his assistant were there to make sure everything was perfect. If our butler was unavailable, one was always ready to assist. We were pampered when entering the YC to the end of our cruise when our butler escorted us off the ship.

Went to the Prime Cut on our January Edge cruise. The price was $65.00 per person, plus 20% tip. I had the prime rib, while my husband had the filet mignon. My prime rib was sub par. The matre de asked how our meal was, and I told him that the prime rib was tough. He offered to get me another entree. My husband was very happy with his filet and was almost finished, so I declined the offer. He then said that he would "talk to the chef." I requested that he not, as the prime rib was cooked perfectly. It was the quality of the piece of meat that was off. I cook prime rib at home, so I am familiar with the various options...this was not a prime or a choice cut. Interestingly, we decided to go to Fine Cut because the MDR didn't offer prime rib. While my husband's entree was with the $78.00...mine was not.

I just finished 18 days on the Apex and Edge in early February. We sailed in a Sunset Verandas on both sailings. We were on the Apex in January 2022 and absolutely loved the ship, food, and service, which is why we booked X for our 2023 sailings. Check on the Celebrity CC boards; you will find very negative comments regarding the changes X made on January 1st to their meal choices, the food quality, and the added charges for room service and a second lobster tail. While we loved our stateroom, the service, entertainment, and ambiance of the ships, the food cutbacks persuaded us to search for alternative cruises. There was no filet mignon, prime rib, or higher-priced fish. We had planned to book Beyond for January 2024 onboard the Edge, but we changed our plans and booked Oceania instead. Sadly, the choices that X made to cut costs have damaged their brand. I really enjoyed sailing with Celebrity and will follow CC to see if X addresses their passengers' complaints in the hope that we might sail with them again.

We were thinking about doing this tour. However, some reviews from cruise ship passengers on Trip Advisor are not encouraging. They reported that those who booked the trolley with the cruise line went on the trolley first, leaving those that had booked online to wait 45 minutes for the next trolley. Others said that they had to wait at a stop for an available trolley for over an hour because cruise ship passengers all wanted to get back to their ships to make their cruise departure. Some said they had to take an Uber back to the pier at an additional cost. We are exploring alternative transportation to get where we want to go in Boston. Any suggestions are certainly appreciated.