kearney

Not sure of a European trip...but for the Caribbean... few wear jackets, fewer suits and even fewer formal wear ...although we have seen a few. Frankly Covid changed the way I pack. It used to be that Day 1 'formal' night, DH would wear. jacket, tie, dress shirt, tie, nice pants and nice shoes... by the second one we were down to dress shirt, tie, nice pants and comfy shoes. With Covid and all the distancing... we dropped the jacket and nice shoes. The way I figure it... what are the odds of ever seeing these people again..and if you do.. are they really going to say... 'oh there goes the guy who didn't wear a jacket'. 

4 hours ago, peachcreamsicle said:

I hadn’t considered Alaska, but will definitely suggest. The sheer number of cruise lines / dates available bodes well for finding an option that fits everyone. 

you might check on of those online cruise sellers... there is one begins with "cruise"..... on this site you can select time frame, itineraries and cruise lines... and they will give you a list of options. That might be a good way to start... sorting through options... from there you can use your TA or go direct and see the best deal you can get. Note the cheapest times for Caribbean are during hurricane season also about a week after US Thanksgiving (but schools are in session), Alaska is always a bit pricier than Caribbean, but perhaps airfare between Toronto and Victoria might offset cost of flights to Florida or NY. I think New England cruises may be in the fall during school session.  I have used this to pick a few cruises..then I do a spreadsheet to track pricing on my preferred trip. Note... port fees in Alaska are much higher than in Caribbean... Don't forget the hidden extras of drink packages, gratuities etc.

22 hours ago, Ukigirl said:

One more, if you had to choose one specially restaurant which would it be? Oh and one day we hope to be in the playoffs again, Detroit Red Wings have been in the “rebuilding years “ long enough!

Tuscan grill for the view, more of a steak house type menu with generous portions. Murano is more of a foodie experience..with table side cooking of some items..only place with real lit candles. I like both.. have not been to Le Petit Chef... seems even more of an entertainment focus. 

For some reason this situation reminds me of when we built our house... My husband and I had totally different ideas and we had trouble coming to a consensus ... the builder's decorator seemed experienced at this problem... so she would select a few options based on colors I liked and then presented those options to my husband to chose. Come up with options based upon parent's preferences for itinerary and type of cruise experience they would like and then present options based on other family members timeframe needs.  Alaska on Celebrity might overcome lack of zip lines etc. Another thought is a Royal ship... for a Caribbean itinerary... The Freedom and smaller ships would have some of the zip line frills but not as much of the pizzaz and might be both less expensive and less kid filled....than the mega Royal ships. But focus on what parents want.

They usually have a deal for specialty restaurants on reservations on the first night.. consider sunset dinner at Tuscan grill....nice view out of the back while sailing down the Florida coast. Also the first night can be hectic in the main dining room as everyone gets into the swing of things. Try the Sky lounge when departing various ports for a nice view out the front. I am not a big sun person, so I prefer this to the sunset bar.  For a quiet drink try the Ensemble Lounge outside Murano Restaurant they usually have a trio playing. Martini bar can get crazy but fun.. if too loud... try the Passport bar on deck 3... still get the grand foyer entertainment..but just a bit less noisy. We love the S class ship... many nice spots to sit and read if you want to do so outside your cabin and the sun... the library is a nice spot. If you like to walk the track.. try doing so at around 7 am before it gets busy...

We were also on that Reflection sailing that returned on March 13 2020. I do recall someone during the CC cocktail hour commenting that we would know we were in good shape..healthwise..if Grand Cayman allowed us in. I recall how crowded it was. This was one of our first cruises with wifi..and I kept checking Covid status.. recall hearing how there were three port workers who came down with it... sometime around the time we boarded .... on the drive home we learned that the cruise lines were cancelling all sailings after Mar 15..  the Reflection sailing that left the day we returned..ended up turning around a day or so later... as I recall ports were closing... we really dodged a bullet as they say. We did sail again in the fall of '21 and twice in '22... getting Covid on our last cruise.. last day... so no real hassle.. actually it made departure especially easy..and the Covid we had lasted a few days.. very mild vs the early versions.

The ultimate Southern Caribbean cruises are longer than 7 day cruises.. not really an issue for spring break.. A few years ago we went on an Easter timed cruise, it was a two week cruise.. we had perhaps 100 kids... vs passenger load of about 3000. Most of the kids were younger and British..I assume their break was longer than US breaks. Hardly noticed them... but our typical 10-12 night cruise has a dozen or so kids. We like the S class ships over the E class. The E class noise issues are mostly structural.. and there are a few cabins over the Club area that are impacted by heavy bass sound..or at least that was the issue on Early Edge ships. I suspect the entertainment is better on E class... the theater is spectacular.. We love the Sky lounge on S class with great views out front with large windows.. especially Equinox..since the view has not been impacted by the planned redesign which took some of that space for suites. Lots of nice quiet spots on S class ships.. they are very much alike..but Reflection has and extra deck with more cabins.. can't recall the difference between Silhouette and Equinox..except Equinox has the glass blowing where the Lawn Club is. and a few other differences.

I thought the complaint was about E class ships... the S class has the Sky lounge and a number of other spots... E..not so much

Interesting post. We were on one of the maiden voyages for Edge and found the theater sound mixing was off... the vocals were impossible to hear and were drowned out by the instruments... overall impression was that it was too loud to be enjoyed. I thought that perhaps this was just because the ship and all the theater crew was new... The other issue was the loudness in the Martini bar. With all the specialty restaurants opening up to the atrium.. there were lots of complaints about sound disturbing diners. I find the S class less noisy although the atrium.. especially around the Martini Bar can be very loud after dinner...in particular... But they do have quiet options...like the Ensemble lounge or Sky Lounge

On 3/26/2023 at 12:16 AM, kwokpot said:

Juice blends aren't available at dinnertime in the MDR. Last month on the Solstice the Iced Tea at the buffet was sweet tea and it was disgusting. I don't know when Celebrity changed to sweet tea or if it's fleetwide but it was never sweet tea before this year. 

Oh no!! I only drink unsweetened iced tea for lunch..

When we were on one of the inaugural Edge sailings. My husband noticed that when I was off on an excursion the captain kept the windows locked..for quite a while as the various windows on the ship were cleaned. The washer is a lot like a car wash ...with a high intensity spray, so you can see why they want the windows up. He thought that they were locked for an hour or more. I am not sure they do this every time they are in port, but it did annoy him at the time. 

The comment about determining if you will like an IV based upon how much time you spend on the balconies in past cruises.. seems to be a good tool. I burn just thinking about the sun, so I am not a big balcony user and having the cabin go right up to the edge of the ship, was nice. For my husband, he prefers a regular, real balcony. I think this type of cabin would be great if sailing someplace like Alaska or Scandinavian fjords.. where you could get a great view regardless of weather staying in the comfort of your cabin.

I have never seen behavior like that described ..on Celebrity... but combining spring break and St Patricks day is a deadly combination. In the past I search out when various colleges were having their spring break and then avoided those weeks...plus if sailing in the spring.. I stick with longer itineraries... 10-12 day cruise will weed out a lot of younger folks...although now with remote working..I suppose that strategy may no longer work. 

We usually schedule cruises more than 90 days apart. In the past I have bought an annual plan which is better for medical coverage and lighter on trip cancelation. My thought process was that if something happened and I needed to use the insurance... I could still cancel my next cruise before final payment. I have only had to use insurance once and it more than paid for itself...  And since I am now 70+, I would never cruise without it.

51 minutes ago, wanderlust58 said:

Since I wasn't helpful in suggesting Luggage Free, perhaps someone can explain what exactly Luggage Valet is/was. 

Luggage valet is a service where, at the end of the cruise, they take your bag directly to the airport and it is checked in..so the next time you see your bag is when you get off the plane. I only works when you are leaving the ship... but for a nominal fee you can avoid taking your suitcase with you to the airport.  Isn't the service you were talking about one where you can ship your luggage straight from your home to the ship and I assume back again at the end?

7 hours ago, RichYak said:

The port agent. 

I just saw this discussed in a video blog... I never noticed this..but apparently they usually put the port agent contact info in the daily schedule... and the video blogger suggested taking the info along when you go into port. Great suggestion.

5 minutes ago, fedexretiree said:

I do use email but I turn off the data so that way as you say the roaming charges don't kill my phone bill.  If I do that I can text or call and no problems it's just sometimes out at sea for 2 days you run into areas that don't have any cell service at all.  On a previous trip we were with friends who's husband is a VIP with a huge company and has a cell phone that can work all over the world he was without service for 2 evenings while out at sea.  My luck is that's when stuff happens...lol

Understood... I have back up plans for my back up plan....:)  We started cruising back in the olden days..in part as a way of being able to tell bosses..that they couldn't reach us. I had one boss who was called on the ski slope to come back... and after flying home..his boss couldn't recall what the emergency was... sad but true.

My observation is that longer cruises and those during school season will have fewer kids... We have sailed a lot in the fall and there were maybe a dozen kids... but during an easter cruise..which was a two week one.. I was surprised that there were 100 or more... but since most of the passengers seemed to be British I assumed that their break was longer.  We prefer the more relaxing feel of Celebrity..but don't mind  an occasional activity packed cruise on Royal. But sometimes the packed schedule..I find stressful..and requiring planning...which I like to avoid on vacation

Be careful leaving your phone on cell service while at sea.. the roaming charges will kill you. Set to airplane mode... so I have been told. I usually provide the info listed earlier and then check email periodically for important messages.

I see you don't use email... you might consider setting up a free email on something like gmail and practice logging on..  to get comfortable with it and then perhaps get wifi for a day or two.. so you can check. If you are Elite you get 90 minutes...and this can be split up over several days. I use the computer onboard and log in periodically to check gmail.. only spend a few minutes... that way you can make it last... and you can always buy a day of wifi.. late in the cruise.

My brother in-law once suggested to a niece that she pack boxed wine... without the box in her luggage.. the idea being that it would not show up in X-rays. The thought of a leak... would give me pause.. 🙂 

2 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Not sure this will work but here is the thread when I was told Martinique only on a Sunday. A more regular and reliable poster than me was told this by a crew member it seems. Proved to be wrong but now another poster here may stop having a dig at me and insinuating I was trying to deflect blame. Post 12 on that thread.

I was told that as well... and I recently was looking at a similar cruise and you guessed it.. it stopped on a Sunday. Perhaps it has something to do with number of ships at one time and not a fast rule. but a member of the crew told me that as well.

On 2/23/2023 at 9:25 AM, baggal said:

Celebrity is not known for varied and interesting itineraries. 

 

We were very recently on a 11 day Southern Caribbean cruise on the Holland America Rotterdam.  With the exception of St. Marten and St. Thomas  which we had previously visited multiple times, all the other ports were new and interesting to us:  St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Barbados, and Martinique.  We took the ferry from St. Thomas to St. John for a day at the beach there.  And then finally, a stop at Half Moon Cay, HAL's private island (which Celebrity doesn't have).

 

My advise to you is to look at other cruise lines.

We started sailing Celebrity because of its longer itineraries.... up to 14 days... this allowed you to get down to the southern Caribbean and spend some time. Now they don't have the 14 day trips anymore or very few..but we have done a number of 11 and 12 day cruises... hitting a number of islands including the more infrequent stops in Martinique, Dominica, Cartagena. We have been to the ABCs a number of times along with St Lucia, St Kitts, Barbados, Antiqua, Barbados, St Thomas, BVI, St Croix, and the usual Mexican stops. There have been other cruises which stop along various countries in Central America..but those did not fit into our timeline. Now with Covid there have been a number of islands reconsidering cruise ships.. including Grand Cayman.. I hear Bermuda has some additional fee. I do think ship size is a factor. I heard that Martinique allows the ships on Sundays to avoid impacting their normal business activity...  I have not checked itineraries out in the future... but I suspect there are reasons that some of these other places are not showing up... beyond ship size. Tendering can be an issue... we have missed several stops in Grand Cayman because of high winds and seas..and same for Cozumel...before they built additional pier.   I think there may have also been a cruise that stopped in St Vincent...but it was a one off..as I recall... they was before the volcano blew. So I don't know what this poster is talking about

One problem I see with the changes..will be the reaction of people who haven't been on Celebrity since before the Pandemic.... we sailed in '20 just before and twice in '22. There were so many changes during that period due to health protocols.. reduced capacity and staffing as a result... that like the frog in a pot of slowing heated water... we pretty much went with the flow. So these new changes, while annoying are part of the pattern and we understand the pressure businesses are under with inflation and past supply issues. But I think it would be more of a shock if we hadn't cruised during this period... and suddenly the experience is not what we remembered.  I have to be honest.. the room service changes and extra charge for additional lobster and other similar changes don't really bother me... but dropping Beef Wellington and prime rib along with dining room service issues... bother me more... along with the significantly higher fares... I hope the executive office is following CC.. Candidly I don't think I have seen so many comments on service and quality before...

2 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

Probably.  But then they shouldn't offer that deal for the 1st night.

Other thought is that the reason for the deal is not enough interest in first night... although we prefer it... I like a sunset reservation... table by the window as you sail past the Florida coast.

On 2/19/2023 at 3:32 PM, jean87510 said:

Husband and I went down to the 5th floor to hang out on the Promenade outside.  We love these types of areas as they are shaded and quiet.  We both commented how much we missed Celebrity.  Just a better overall experience than Royal or Carnival.  Better food, drinks, people, workers...etc...  It really is apparent especially when you normally do one line.  So far we have been really happy with our experience.

This is why I love the S class ship.. there are lots of places to choose.. quite tucked away areas and the noisier more party type spots... Also I like the different bar options each with a different feel

On 2/18/2023 at 4:25 PM, jean87510 said:

Did notice that mysteriously all these first night reservations are suddenly available at the Tuscan Grille where for months nothing was available with the sale price.  Just an observation.  We will try Blu or the OVC.  Or both!  Going forward, I would call to book the 1st night reservation instead for the specialty.  We were given 2 metal bottles of water that our room steward K said he would replace at least once daily.  Getting ready to head to gym to either jog or elliptical for an hour and also check out the Persian garden thermal area.  Plus checking out some of the classes as well.  I like Yoga but not a fan unless we are in calm waters which never seems to happen when doing the balance poses.

I think if you get a specialty package ... not the first night deal... that you can't make reservations in advance until you are on the ship. So they may hold some for those who plan on using the multinight package