sunshine nana

I would love the separate bedroom and extra space, but DH loves the aft, so we wouldn't take the change. Maybe on a TA, he would agree, but we are going to the Med.

We have always booked a mini-suite on Princess , but Celebrity really doesn't have a cabin class that compares. We went with an upsell to an S1 on Equinox last year and loved everything about it. The extra room, great bathroom, wonderful wrap-around aft balcony, "free" specialty restaurant meals (one or 2) and the wonderful service of a butler. We loved it. We ate in Blu every night and almost every breakfast. On our cabin crawl, I thought the balcony cabin (including AQ) were too small for us. We have been in a penthouse suite on NCL and the room was great, the price was less than Celebrity, but the MDR, butler and concierge were not good.

I am very sorry you had such a bad butler and indifferent concierge after paying so much money. We had a worthless butler and concierge for our first NCL suite, but we had gotten a very cheap upsell to the aft penthouse because the stock market crashed in fall of 2008 and many people canceled. We loved the extra room, the parties (one in the empty Villa!) and most of all Cagneys for breakfast and lunch. We had to fight for everything else and it wasn't worth it except we did get the concierge to get us a good table for the MDR. All of our excursions etc. were done ahead by us.We just threw out the snacks, never used the phone or coffee maker because the butler didn't know how they worked. We were never told of the chocolate buffet. When we embarked, the person who was to escort us to our cabin didn't know where it was. We did. We were never escorted to anything and when we ran into the concierge, she didn't know us! Needless to say, we tipped the steward extra, but the concierge and butler got very little.

For our second NCL suite, we also had a nice upsell and a little bit better butler, but the concierge took the higher end suite passengers onboard and never came back. We had to board with the general crowd. This concierge was very rude when DH asked her one question and lied to us by telling us we could not self-disembark. We still had a great cruise and again enjoyed Cagneys, but the hostess never recognized us and we had to show our cards every day for 7 days!

We decided that we would pay some extra for an aft suite, but never pay a lot for any NCL suite as the service is just not there!

We have been on Princess, NCL and Celebrity. Am looking at Seranade Med. cruise nest Sept. and am wondering how suite perks on Celebrity compare to Royal.Especially S1 on Celebrity to Grand suite on Seranade, Size of cabin, balcony and perks. Thanks

I am so sorry for what has happened to you. It confirms my decision after our second cruise to never put our luggage outside the door. Our second cruise was on Princess rt NYC. When we disembarked, our luggage was no where near where it was supposed to be. We eventually found the bags, but it was the last time we did that! I hope you can get some satisfaction.

Thanks for the replies. I am going to put in for the stock OBC and see what happens.I wonder if another 123 will be offered that we can get even if we took the 15% off. We'll see.

My question was whether we can now get OBC for our stock since we are not getting any other "perk" such as 123. Thanks

We came out ahead with the Thanksgiving 15% off our next cruise, but had to give up our 123 choice leaving us with only TA OBC. Can we now get stock credit from Celebrity? That would help ease the pain of losing 123.

Did you have any problem boarding the bus at either end? I have read horror stories of pushing and shoving and not getting on the bus at some stops in Europe. Thanks

Thanks for the info on the war museum and weather!

We will be on the same itinerary next Sept. Thanks for the great review - it helps that you included prices. I have 2 questions: where was the war room in Malta? DH is a WWII buff and we would like to visit it.

2nd question how much rain did you have? What were the temps during the day? Thanks

Thanks for the through review. We have been in suites on both NCL and Celebrity, but always book a mini-suite on Princess because as you stated, Princess does not provide anything extra other than space. Since there are only 2 of us, a mini is fine. I would think Princess would provide free internet and with the lack of a butler, the concierge should provide some extra service such as helping you get a new card.

I would hope that NCL would realize that embarkation sets the tone for the cruise. Neither time in a suite did we have the concierge or her assistant escort us to our suite. The second time, we were not boarded until the mass boarding began. I felt that was because we were in a Romance Suite, not the Haven. The suite life needs to start with embarkation.

Our first butler did nothing more than bring coffee and yogurt for breakfast for the seven mornings. He did not bring menus or ice or ever empty the ice bucket from the embarkation bubbly even after we asked. We told him not to bring the snacks. We tipped him $2 per morning as we would have anyone who brought coffee to us. He seemed shocked! We generously tipped the steward extra as she went the extra mile. Neither concierge did anything for us, one was outright rude the one time we did ask. We were not escorted to our suite or given notice of the chocolate buffet. We were not told how to get priority tendering. Neither was given a cent. Our second butler was better, but still did not do anything other than bring some am coffee and bring clean wine glasses. We tipped him $40.We have another suite booked on NCL and after reading CC, I will be pro-active for getting what we have paid for in booking a suite. If we do, we will tip generously as have on our Celebrity cruises in suites.

We have been on the Jade 2 times and the Gem once. We have sailed Princess 5 times and Celebrity once. I have to say unless we can get a full suite, we do not sail on NCL. The NCL suites are not that much more expensive than the minis on Princess but you can eat in Cagneys for breakfast and lunch and the cabin and balcony (aft for us) are great. The food on NCL for dinner is not as good as Princess or Celebrity in terms of quality, variety and service.I would do research on CC for all the lines that have the itinerary you want and compare space, service and price. We were on the Jade and Gem and Celebrity for Med cruises. NCL in a suite was a good value and the entertainment was better than Celebrity.

Compare Celebrity's ports to Princess or NCL for the Med/Adriatic. They are so much better! I agree, new places need to be added to spark interest in those of us who have already been there.

We love ocean cruises and are now considering a river cruise. We just returned from a land trip in France and Germany and were surprised that some hotels did not have a/c. We were very uncomfortable in Munich in June and if we opened the window, the noise on the street was very loud all night. Are the river boats are conditioned? I can't seem to find in in the literature. Thanks

I'm glad to hear the DVD delivery is back. We were in an aft suite on the Gem in 2010 and the butler told us there was a charge for the DVD's . Glad that has changed back. Thanks

If we are expected to give a $5 tip in Blu when we are in a suite, do we still pay the full gratuities for that day? I'm asking because on a port intensive cruise in the Med., we usually have a small breakfast from room service and eat lunch on land. We always give the steward an extra tip as well as the butler. Adding $5 more to eat in Blu seems like a lot unless they subtract $5 from the gratuities added each day to our bill.

We were told by our concierge in May of 2010 that self-embarkation was not allowed (we were on NCL Gem in Venice). We sat on our aft deck and watched MANY people do just that! Next time, we will self-disembark and get off the ship early with our own luggage,

I just booked a European cruise for May 2014. When I asked about 123 offer, the Celebrity rep. said that if they extend it beyond Mar, of 2014, I can get it if I pay the price at that time. Is that true? I hope someone has experience. Thanks.

Wait until you see how the butler and concierge treat you. Our experience has been that the concierges concentrated on the higher end suites at the front of the ship, not the aft where we have been. We make our own reservations for dinner, excursions etc and prefer to eat in Cagneys or dining rooms, not our cabin. Our second concierge was rude the one time we did ask her a question. She also told us it was not allowed to do self-debarkation (wrong information).Neither time did we get escorted to our cabin by the concierge or butler. They took the high end suites first and we waited. The second time, we didn't get on the ship until all the cabins were called.

Our first butler did nothing. We did not know then that we could get breakfast other than the short form he put on the door. We also did not know we should ask him for dinner menus so we could decide when to eat at a specialty. Neither time we were invited to the chocolate buffet early.

We love the suites because of Cagneys for breakfast and lunch, larger room, and priority tendering. We have paid extra for these perks. We had great stewards and tipped them extra. We did not have great or even good concierges either time and one butler was terrible. We did tip the second butler extra because he did provide extra service. Do not feel pressured to tip people who do not do a good job.

Thanks for the review! We have been to many of the ports. I too was thrilled to see the Acropois, but very disappointed in the rest of Athens. When we stopped there again last May we went on a private trip to Corinth which was very inspirational. We did stop in Mykonos. It was really only a shopping area, fun, but not a highlight.

Can we book one lounger for the entire cruise, but alternate using it between DH and me? He would like to use it early and I would use it later in the day. Is this possible? Thanks.

Nice complete review. I tend to agree on Blu, DH likes the extra attention we received, but I want to try the MDR next time. We did buy the 5 bottle wine package as we do not drink bottled water, lattes or alcohol except with dinner. That went very well in Blu. We also really enjoyed Murano and the Grill.