markeb

My understanding as well. CMS is focused on service. WSET focuses on communication and education. You’ll find WSET types in the actual wine industry and corporate sales more than in restaurants.

There aren't any Level 3 WSET Awardees on the ship, and it's unlikely there are any CMS Advanced Sommeliers. (The two programs are radically different, WSET really doesn't refer to it's awardees as sommeliers, and CMS refers to its levels by name, not numbers.) And if there were they probably wouldn't have the freedom to develop the wine list and manage the purchases, which is a major part of being an Advanced Sommelier in most restaurant environments. You may have never had a good sommelier. And "level 1", by which I assume you mean Introductory Sommelier, is pretty much just a weekend course and written test. Most will probably be in the food and beverage business (bar and restaurant). They're just not going to have the experience of a Certified or Advanced Sommelier which are much more stringent and involved requirements. I've been very impressed with higher level sommeliers at better restaurants.

I wouldn't be surprised to find a credentialed sommelier in some roles on the ship. In fact I have in the past. I know years ago on HAL the chief wine steward/wine manager not sure of the exact title was probably a CMS Advanced Sommelier (HAL at least at the time called their wine servers wine stewards, not sommeliers, which was more appropriate). Although HAL had their wine stewards wearing tasting cups, so that part of the theater was definitely present. I've run into at least one on Celebrity who had worked as a sommelier in London and was at least Certified, maybe Advanced. He was doing the cruise gig for experience (and he was an Indian national so the pay was probably decent). If you look at the roles CMS discusses for their graduates, it would be entirely appropriate for an Advanced Sommelier to run the "B" of the F&B operation on a cruise ship. The real drop off, as you say, is in compensation for a Certified Sommelier who'd probably run the wine operation in a specialty restaurant. But they probably would have more responsibility and compensation on the floor in New York, London, San Francisco, etc.

The basics are in the Wine Spectator link. The individual restaurant's wine director/sommelier is responsible for the submission. I don't know if they handle that in Miami, but the award is at the restaurant (venue) level, not the fleet or ship. It should be a submission from each venue.

I just came back to ask how much of the trip you'd settled on. Sounds like you have. FWIW, you don't need a cruise tour in Alaska. You can do pretty much anything yourself. Just takes a bit more work, but gives you more freedom. We did an on-our-own trip to Denali in May, for instance, and had an extra half day on the way back to Anchorage in a rental car and did the out and back 15 mile drive to Savage River. That's when we saw this guy... Wouldn't have seen him on a tour. He wasn't there the day before when we were on the Tundra Wilderness Tour. Just something to keep in mind.

And before everyone jumps in to complain about the by the glass offerings... From Wine Spectator: "Wine Spectator's Restaurant Awards recognize restaurants whose wine lists offer interesting selections, are appropriate to their cuisine and appeal to a wide range of wine lovers. To qualify for an award, a wine list must present complete, accurate information, including vintages and appellations for all selections. Complete producer names and correct spellings are mandatory, and the overall presentation of the list is also considered. Lists that meet these requirements are judged for one of our three awards." They're an award based on the wine list, which is going to be the bottle selections. Which are honestly pretty impressive. When you get into the quality of wines that would win these awards, the prices are high, but not out of line with a high end land-based restaurant. By the glass doesn't impact the award. In all honesty the only restaurant I've been in with a great by-the-glass selection was a Michelin 3-star with tasting menus. I'm pretty sure I've been offered pairings from the tasting menu in some cases. I don't look at the list there. I've got a CMS Advanced Sommelier making recommendations from a list curated by a CMS Master Sommelier. I'm not even trying... https://www.winespectator.com/articles/about-the-awards

As far as I've seen all the dining rooms have a "sommelier", at least in title. And I've always seen them present and pour from the bottle at the table, in the dining room. I could be wrong, but I read the OP having issues outside the dining room where it would not be unusual for a bartender or server to simply bring you your drink. Without showing the bottle. I don't understand why they would attempt a substitution without asking you. There's no financial sense for most of the wines on the ship, especially with the packages. I mean at cost the Villa Maria should absolutely be in the Classic Package; it's neither expensive nor premium. Which is true of almost everything in the Premium Package. A Chilean Sauvignon Blanc will have a different flavor profile from a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, but the only reason it's less expensive is Chilean land and labor is less than New Zealand land and labor and the shipping costs are probably lower. The Marlborough style of SB has become the most popular style in the US. A Sancerre is also made with Sauvignon Blanc, will taste completely different, and is certainly not inferior to a Marlborough SB. I don't see those on the ships. I can probably tell a cheap gin from a good one in a martini. Once there's a mixer involved I couldn't tell you the difference between Grey Goose and Titos (or Stoli, etc.) in a cocktail. I can definitely tell the difference between whiskies served neat. So I'll order a named gin for a martini out of the premium package, a Bloody Mary is from the well for me, and I'll be picky as heck about any form of whisk(e)y.

Just seeing this thread. It's been a while since I did a HOHO in Manhattan, in August, and of course it rained! The Uptown loop was very nice. It was kind of made for just staying on and went to places I wouldn't have gone walking or riding the subway. Grant's Tomb, the Apollo Theater, and a lot of places I've forgotten. With mobility issues, I'd cautiously recommend the downtown loop, but the bus gets stuck in some really bad traffic and you are going to places you want to get off and see. You honestly can't see the Empire State Building when you drive by on a bus (OK, you can see the first few floors, but so what). If you understand and accept the limitations, you should get a good look. My gut tells me to do the Downtown loop as early in the morning as reasonable and do the Uptown loop in the afternoon. But that's just my gut with no real data. If you don't plan to go back Downtown, then get off at the Battery and look at options to reboard on Broadway closer to Wall Street or Trinity Church (depending on mobility). That will let you walk through the Canyon of Heroes, see Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange, Federal Hall where Washington took the oath of office as the first President, and the church and cemetery (Alexander Hamilton, his wife, and others are buried at Trinity Church). It's one of the best half miles you'll walk in New York if you're vaguely into history.

This was covered fairly exhaustively in the FAQs and discussion here on Cruise Critic when this came out. I'm not Zenith so can't do this, but if you are Zenith, logged on with you Captain's Club number (or presumably on the phone with Celebrity or a TA) you are supposed to see Zenith only pricing that is "discounted" (in the finance/economics sense) by some factor that does not charge for the drink package and Wi-Fi. It's a separate fare basis and the discount/credit whatever does not equal the retail price of the packages. And it's only available to Zenith members and only for the Retreat. I also don't know (makes no sense that you would be) if you're offered the standard AI pricing, other than seeing the published fares. The fare is supposed to just be there. If you didn't know there was a difference, you might not know you were receiving it. I don't know if a TA has to specifically request it or it it's just there when they book using your CC information. I would assume (Zeniths can correct me) that once a Celebrity phone rep pulls up your information they would also see that fare. It's NOT a rebate. It's a Zenith only fare. The drinks and Wi-Fi that are part of the standard Retreat fare are covered by the loyalty program. When it was first implemented some people were very unhappy as to receive the Zenith rate they had to reprice the cruise at the current rate which actually would have increased their cost. That should be in the past but it's an illustration that it's not just a straight discount.

You keep using that word. I do not believe it means what you think it means. (Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride) And it actually means, in this case, exactly what the terms and conditions, which I'm guessing the OP agreed to without reading (like your MS Crowdstrike License agreement...). Specialty dining in the evenings and lunch on sea days.

Princess says the Medallion is "quarter sized" although in other threads I've seen 1.21 inches as the diameter. That would be around 31mm, or about the same size as a Lady's Rolex Datejust. So yeah, the size of a Rolex. But not the size of a Sea Dweller Deep Sea, if that's what you were thinking earlier. Which would be about right for that wrist.

That's actually the frustration. These are all things with no data requirement. A rechargeable vacuum for my keyboard and an Airmoto portable tire inflator. Probably a couple of other things that I'm not thinking of. No reason they shouldn't charge off of USB C that I know of. Probably they can't step down the wattage and just don't accept the power, versus phones, tablets, and most of my other charge only devices that do just fine.

We're skipping the iPhone 15 but will probably get an iPhone 16 early next year. Which will mean we can ditch the Lightning cables for good! My wife still has a set of Bose headphones that charge by Micro, and I think I have a rechargeable flashlight that does as well (but it doesn't travel with me). Probably keep USB A to C cables to plug the phone into the car (especially rentals) when traveling, and I have some devices that have USB C connections but won't charge off of a USB C charger, which is truly frustrating!

I'm not aware of any cruise lines that use a wearable that require you to wear it. People use them by choice.

With no USB C ports, Old Faithful is soon going to just be old... I think I recycled my Anker 6 port USB A brick.