kevinyork

Very uncommon on repositioning cruises, but that said in May on my Millennium Transpacific crossing they were offering buy one get one free liquor packages the first few days - first time I've seen that offered !

The uncommon part is that they are not offered as a perk but definitely available to purchase on the cruise planner or onboard. BOGOF was an excellent deal.

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I am so surprised on the surly and unhelpful staff and the ignoring of food allergies. My experience specifically on this issue is that at every single dining experience I was asked about the food allergy as I had notified Celebrity in advance of sailing to the special needs department.

 

 

 

As for cabin attendants, our experience is that they are some of the best we've had on Celebrity, taking the time to introduce themselves, which didn't happen on P&O.

 

 

 

Once again I am surprised as Celebrity IMHO have a far superior selection of specialty restaurants than P&O (at least 6 on Solstice class ships as opposed to 2 on P&O). Again IMHO the bathrooms are far superior than the dated ones on P&O with glass enclosed large showers and not the dreaded curtain that clings.

 

 

 

In general I believe the food is better than on P&O, the buffet is streets ahead of P&O (and other lines too) in terms of design and food quality.

 

 

 

Yes, the cruise may cost more, but with drinks packages included (where the measures are larger not the UK pub measures served on P&O which is why they appear less expensive) they are competitive to the P&O ones we had booked (but have cancelled).

 

 

 

You get what you pay for and for us it's Celebrity, RCI or MSC (although trying NCL in 2018 replacing the 2 P&O we had booked).

 

 

 

As I've stated many times (much to the disgust of many on here), Celebrity have a far superior embarkation process, the dress code is more relaxed, and as mentioned before there's none of the 'holiday camp' atmosphere with the flag waving sail away.

 

 

 

Many like that, I loathe it as I expect and enjoy a more low key atmosphere. Even the more 'American' lines don't have such a rowdy sail away.

 

 

 

To me the Millennium and Solstice class ships on Celebrity are designed better with passenger flow a major consideration and there's none of the trekking up and down we experienced on Azura to get to some venues.

I was going to post my views, but the above says all I would have wanted to post.

As a final note our next door neighbours were P&O cruisers. They decided to join us on our Celebrity cruise last month and haven't stopped talking about it, " the service was better on Celebrity than P&O" "the buffet was better than P&O" "the entertainment was better than P&O" "the ship was beautiful" "the cabin was much better than a P&O" and finally....."the boarding was way better than P&O).

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Celebrity and Royal both support the ethos of cruisecritic by holding (Celebrity Connections, Royal Meet and Mingle) meetings onboard for cruisecritic members which works well alongside the roll calls on here. However it is true it's mainly the Americans who participate in the roll calls and onboard meetings. Our Sep Royal cruise from Southampton has just hit the minimum 24 people subscribed for an onboard meeting to take place but our Celebrity British Isles cruise on Celebrity last month had 150 people subscribed, 95% of whom were American. The amount of local independent tours they planned was impressive.

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Just to address the weather question, it will be very nice, maybe too hot in the big cities but very pleasant otherwise.

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Rachel and I went to the show at 9, it was incredible with blow up creatures and arial ballet. Loved, loved, loved it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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That show was excellent. The best show we have seen on Celebrity. A bit surreal but superbly staged and probably expensive to stage. Much better than the Chandelier show it replaced. Many will have missed this show as usually the last nights show is a medley of several acts that have already been seen. Nice to have a show designed around the Eurovision Song Contest Winner by Sweden in 2012!

Thanks so much for your report. Brought back memories of an excellent cruise.

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Love these drinks list. Thanks so much for all your hard work to compile it.

 

Does anyone know if Celebrity use the pre mix cocktails. Like Long Island/Mai Tai. As I'm not a fan, I know I can ask for a fresh one but when by the pool or sat down getting waiter service, you can't always know. Thanks in advance

They do use pre mixes, it was Island Oasis but has just changed but cannot remember the new brand, for things like Sour, Ice Cream Mix, Mango, Pina Colada mix, Strawberry all of which are used in the Cocktails but I've never seen anything like Long Island or Mai Tai mixes.

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We were on Eclipse last month. As well as the 3 productions shows on the chart above they had an extra one called "Amade". It was a Mozart inspired show put on by the professional theatre performers. What was interesting is that it seems they put on a production show on the first and last evenings as they can leave the set in place so the last show on one cruise becomes the first on the next cruise. The new show Euphoria was excellent and a big step up in terms of production values and costumes. Nice to see a Eurovision Song Contest winner (Euphoria 2012) becoming the main theme in a Celebrity show. Maybe Celebrity have listened to the feedback on their in house production shows. Very glad to see the demise of the terrible Chandelier.

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Hi

Can you tell me about the shuttle bus service in le havre.

 

I'm only guessing here but is it a local bus that takes you into town and then onto a shopping centre not far from the train station.

The ticket was an allday ticket and you can use it on on local busses and trams. This was the ticket that was used in our recent Thomson celebration cruise and I wanted to find out if they do this for all cruise ships that dock in le havre as will be there again ln a few months.

 

Cheers bill

We stopped in Le Havre last month on Celebrity. The shuttle is provided by the port and cost €4 return. You buy the ticket in the terminal, a bargain price. Yes it's a ticket you can use on buses and trams. The shuttle did go into town and then onto the shopping mall. Although it doesn't look possible you can also walk into town in around 20 mins, 35 mins to the train station. There is a nice beach in Le Havre with a promenade. Just head left beyond the container art monument or head north from the first drop off. I can also recommend getting the local bus from outside the station to Honfleur 30 mins away. It's beautiful. Check the bus timetables online though as there are not many services.

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Im assuming not but where RCI adhering to the email they send out about boarding times per deck?

Royal and Celebrity do not enforce boarding times at Southampton.

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are any wines available on the classic drinks package? wife likes white (pinot gris) and I'm partial to the odd Merlot or Can Sav

Here's the list of the Classic Package wines on Eclipse last month.

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Do you remember about where you were dropped off?

 

 

 

And was that same place to get bus back to ship...assuming it was 10 for roundtrip??

 

 

 

Thanks for info!

 

 

 

We have overnight there on our cruise next week and are renting a car from Sixt which is located downtown.

 

 

 

I thought we would just walk if there was some kind of "port shuttle" that takes to the entrance to port...but not sure if they have that or just the bus you took??

The port is industrial and the road into town has lots of roadworks so the journey is slow. You could walk from the port to the point and get the tram but it's a messy journey and not easy. The only shuttle is the €10 into town.

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Can I just interject a little...for all the negative comments on here it's an insular forum. Please post your unhappy comments on twitter and Facebook. They have instant impact and force a reaction. They hate negative social media and such posts stopped Celebrity cutting back on their drinks package inclusions a few years back when people threatened cancelling their cruise. Celebrity reversed their decision within 3 days. Companies live or die by social media these days and their social media teams feed back current issues daily to their PR teams. Just a thought if you really want to stop this change.

One feedback form is just that, one Facebook or twitter post reaches thousands of potential customers.

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Love it!! Going to be in Copenhagen next month. Can you tell me how far the HOHO bus is from where the ship docks? I have trouble walking long distances. Also, I've been checking the weather channel, but, as a resident, what should I wear, jeans or capris?

When we were on Eclipse in Copenhagen the HOHO was on the quayside waiting. August in Copenhagen should be dry and sunny at around 22 degrees.

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Hi - more questions for recent Eclipse cruisers...

 

How much is the wifi package on board?

 

Think we paid $15 per day in June.

 

On Baltics cruise how many formal nights were there (evening chic)?

 

3 Chic nights on a 14 night cruise.

 

 

What was the entertainment like and do they still do the Cirque de Soleil type show?

 

They have a new Cirque show called Euroria. Excellent plus a Mozart inspired show. Shows are at 7 and 9. The silent disco held 3 times is excellent fun, you have to do it to really get it. Q

 

Liars club, excellent. A groove night in the Sky lounge was very good, plus an Abbas mania night.

 

What time were the shows - are they 7 and 9pm or later?

 

As above.

 

Is it $10 + 18% to upgrade from Classic to Premium drinks package?

 

Yes that's the upgrade price.

 

Does anyone have a list of the wines included in the package....wondered what rose there was (that isn't ghastly zinfandel LOL)

 

(asking for friends who are taking their first cruise this weekend as it is years since I have cruised on X..)

Thanks.

Wine as below:

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Hoping there may be some thanks forthcoming given my bloodied finger from answering your many questions.......[emoji1]

Sorted!

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Thanks, Helen. I have my photos on my iPad and In the cruise critic app reply screen I just hit the icon with the rectangle with two triangles. It goes to my photos and I select. The photos upload and put a URL code in my text.

 

Here's what my screen looks like after I choose a photo from my iPad.

 

 

JoAnn

 

 

 

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I don't have the cruisecritic app but the tapatalk version is pretty much the same. If I hit the two mountain signs I can select from my iPad photos and they just upload. Not sure what is wrong here but maybe try the main tapatalk app?

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Saw the London original in the late 80s and the Oasis version is every bit as professional as that was. We went to a matinee on Oasis and maybe that makes some difference in that people are not thinking they are wasting an evening and could be doing better things so less leave at the interval.

I think you need to be in the stalls with a good central view to appreciate the costumes, make up and dancing otherwise you could feel disconnected. It's never been my favourite musical and I don't think it's right for a cruise ship (unlike We Will Rock You on Anthem) but you cannot knock the effort they put into this. It has a very loose story linking together songs which vary in style.

And yes Old Deuteronomy sits on stage in the interval (just like in the original) at intermission and you can go onto the stage and have your photo taken.

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We had the new menus on Oasis this spring and really enjoyed them. I think I've read they started in the fall of 2016. I asked our waiter if they would be on our Indy cruise in Sep and he said they would but have seen nothing to confirm that yet. We sail Celebrity a lot and though the new menus on Oasis were a lot like Celebrity offerings.

Surely they have tested/tweaked them enough now to roll them out fleetwide?

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http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/HelenREMfan/media/bWVkaWFJZDoxNjQ3MzQxMzI=/?ref=1

Not sure what you posted but the link results in a weird result with no option to view other pictures.

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Where did you get your info from?

 

Nowadays in the states I would say that more than have of the normal cheeses I see are not animal rennet. Animal rennet ones seem to be the super fancy cheeses.

 

And it's an enzyme from calf stomach, not the stomach itself. Still requires a dead calf, but I like to be exact.

 

Rennet is not something I tweak about when dining out. If I'm concerned that day I just don't get the cheese. I know to not get Parmesan in Europe because from what I've read it must have animal rennet to be called Parmesan in some European countries. But as I mentioned I like to be exact, so I would like to know the source of the info. :)

The info came from a head chef on Anthem 2 years ago and a head chef on Celebrity Eclipse last Sep. Both confirmed cheeses onboard were not vegetarian. Our communications with the UK Managing Director of Celebrity resulted in all cheese being removed from their vegetarian main dining room menu fleetwide.

If as you say 50% of US cheese is vegetarian then why do the cruise lines not buy it!

In the UK about 90% of cheese is vegetarian. In fact it's less expensive to make cheese with microbiobial rennet than animal rennet. However the cruise lines are not fully aware and Class any dish with cheese as being vegetarian.

So that's the source you asked for. I have no issue that some US vegetarians are ok about cheese that is made with animal rennet but a V on a UK restaurant menu means (legally) that no animal died to produce a constituent of the meal. If other markets have more liberal definitions of what a 'v' on a menu means that's fine, but they have to explain what it means on the menu so people who don't eat meat derivatives for moral, health, or religious reasons are not misled.

Finally to get that enzyme from a calfs stomach, an animal had to die. That's the opposite of what a true vegetarian diet allows.

So I take it you are not a true vegetarian?

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anyway each night just pick the dish with the " V " after it . It means VEGETARIAN .

 

 

 

:

Unfortunately not entirely true. Royal don't carry any vegetarian cheese onboard (apart from the Indian cheese paneer) but they use cheese in many dishes which are labelled with a V. So choosing a V marked dish which contains cheese means the person will be eating meat by virtue of the animal rennet contained in the cheese.

Celebrity have recently removed all cheese from their separate main dining room menu for this exact reason, to avoid misleading customers through their vegetarian labelling as they use the same food suppliers as Royal Caribbean. As long as vegetarians are happy to eat animal rennet (calves stomach) in the cheese used in the dishes marked vegetarian then that's fine but sticking to the real definition of a vegetarian, Royal's use of the V isn't strictly truthful.

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Saturday, June 10

Le Havre/Paris

 

Today we would board a bus for Paris to stay overnight. This was the only Celebrity-sponsored excursion we would take on this cruise, Paris on Your Own.

 

We left about 10:30 am on a double-decker bus from the port city of Le Havre. It's a very industrial port with lots of oil storage tanks ringing the port, and a sculpture made of painted shipping containers. It's definitely not somewhere you could walk or even hail a cab./url]

We loved Le Havre. We did a Segway tour independently on day 1 which was excellent, we walked from the port. We saw the beach, the next seaside resort and the military base at the highest point before touring the city. The next day we took the bus to Honfleur which was stunning and great value. There was a shuttle bus from the ship at €4 which was amazing value if you didn't want to walk. It went to the town centre then to the new shopping mall and was valid for 24 hrs.

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What great responses thanks to all. I suppose in an ideal world there would be two 7 night different itineraries we could join together. We don't want to add a land tour onto a 7 nighter as we love cruising. When we go on vacation it is to be taken care of so driving around on a land based trip for us right now doesn't suit. Someone mentioned an ex San Diego cruise followed by a 7 night Alaskan that sounded great but I cannot find the San Diego departure section anywhere. Failing that possibility maybe we could mix up two of our must do's and visit Las Vegas followed by an Alaska cruise segment?

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We are booked on one back to back which does not violate PVSA next May. It is Celebrity Infinity May of 2018. Itinerary is U.S./Canada West Coast... San Diego to Vancouver, then Vancouver RT to Alaska. We cruised the San Diego to Vancouver itinerary in May of 2017 and loved it so much we booked it again...this time combined with Alaska itinerary.

That a great idea and a great itinerary, many thanks.

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Great review. Going to Amsterdam next week. We have booked tickets to Anne Franks house. How much time do you need for the audio guide tour?

Around an hour is fine to listen to the full guide at each spot.

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