chemmo

Thank you so much for the additional information. Group size sounds ideal and with lunch (good) and dinner (so so) I guess reasonable value…I think I may look up a range of food/wine related tours by locals before deciding….

So enjoying your cruise! Thank you so much for taking us along…

For an extra fee there is Sushi. This is an a la carte menu and you can enjoy as little or as much as you like. We find it very enjoyable once or twice per cruise. Usually once per cruise Tuscan will be open for a fee lunch. This is a reduced menu compared to the evening one but usually at a lower price. The buffet on Celebrity, in addition to usual items, often is themed. Indian, Pie Day, Italian…This will be in your daily newsletter. Much as I don’t enjoy buffets every day it is nice to graze there a few days…We will often put together a salad and sandwich and take it somewhere else to eat… We have rarely been to the MDR lunches on sea days so I will let others describe. Again for a fee there is always the option of the all day room service menu. If you are shattered after a few busy sightseeing days and have a balcony this can be a really enjoyable option…

We tend to simply see the gratuities as part of the cruise fair when booking a cruise with stated daily gratuity rates as many do. Celebrity follows this model. We then budget extra for those staff that go above and beyond… I must confess I don’t know why you are saying ‘we don’t have a culture of tipping’ in the UK? We do! Restaurants, hairdressers…Perhaps it is less prescriptive (doesn’t suggest a %) but it is still there… The snag with this is twofold…firstly you won’t see directly everyone who serves you and secondly if this was generally allowed some guests may simply see removing gratuities as a way of reducing their cruising costs. Much as I know this isn’t why you are querying sadly some people would cancel their auto grats and then find excuses not to pay what staff see/expect as part of their salary. Agree, on the odd occasion we have had iffy service we have brought it to the attention of an appropriate staff member and it has been corrected. No reason to remove gratuities. I agree that the phrase ‘When in Rome’ is fairly appropriate. We choose Celebrity knowing its tipping policy and accept it as it is…

Remember you will be using the MDR or buffet for breakfast and lunch even if not for dinner. Hence it would not be reasonable to cancel dining gratuities even if you could. Remember your room attendant and others are also part of the gratuities too.

Thoroughly enjoying your review. I have been particularly interested as we are on Infinity next year. So pleased your chefs market tour went so well. Something I have always fancied doing. However, reviews seem very mixed. If possible could you give a bit more detail about the actual tour…How big was your group? How long were you in the market for? Was the food you ate in the evening eat food purchased during your visit? Thank you!

Seriously, despite the laughs, keep checking your account over the next few days just in case!

I guess I felt offended and targeted as I was one of very few who was looking at the use of the Solarium from the viewpoint of families…I totally understand and respect the reasons why some people really don’t want children in the Solarium. I expect those posters to understand that others (like myself) have a different viewpoint. I love the humour in many of your posts. I value your contributions. I expect you to value the opinions of myself and others with a different viewpoint without needing to see us as ‘bad’ or ‘thoughtless’ cruisers which is the implication I took from your comment.

Happy Birthday!

Nasty! Sincere best wishes that your treatment is soon over…

I find your remark a little offensive. I follow the dress code on Celebrity and in any venue or country I visit…I never remove gratuities or taste food at the buffet. Just because my view on this topic is different than yours why do you have to assume I am a nonconformist? I accept that others may have a range of views that differ from mine…I totally respect the views of others. This post was not about allowing children into the Solarium all the time, simply about them having access some of the time…

Firstly not all children are the same…many children and teens prefer the ambiance on board a Celebrity ship to a RC one. I speak from experience. Also many people sailing are multigenerational groups. They are looking for a cruise line to suit every family member. To be honest none of this is relevant…What is relevant is that Celebrity is not an adults only cruise line. As you have said families could move to RC they could tell you to book Virgin! I honestly simply think that it is not unreasonable to open a facility (Solarium) for families to enjoy at a time when the people who have the facility the rest of the time are rarely using it. As I said in my first post I cruise with a family at present who are all adults so I have no personal axe to grind…I simply feel that begrudging access for families at a quiet time is no big deal!

I would at times say the outdoor pool is not friendly to families…There is always the ‘serious swimmer’ who feel it is appropriate to do full lengths in a pool regardless of swiping out of the way two six year olds and a grey haired elderly lady (me). To say nothing for the clique of elderly ladies (not me) standing in one area unwilling to move even when they are blocking access to the steps… Also there is that temperature issue…There are many cruises where the outdoor pools are only for the hardy! The Mediterranean end of season, The Far East isn’t consistently hot and both TA and TP cruises can have many inclement days… All I am trying to say is that I cannot see the hardship for most adults to have the Solarium open to families for just a couple of hours a day…

No, but the Solarium is often empty so why not let families enjoy it?

Gosh, I feel a bit on my own but I think families should be allowed to use the Solarium between set times (5pm to 7pm?) daily no matter where in the world the cruise is… Most adults by then are either getting ready for dinner or already enjoying an early evening drink. It is years now since we have cruised with a child but as long as Celebrity is taking the money off families then I do feel that their needs/wishes should be taken into account….

Also looking forward to your review. We are on Infinity, also in a suite so interested to see how you find the suite experience….

Safe and pleasant journey home, thank you for a wonderful vicarious vacation!

Agree plus drink, drink, drink…anything nonalcoholic. Also agree…This is especially important if the ships doctor (unlikely but possible) suggests a quick visit to a hospital at your next port of call. Request and save taxi receipts etc as well as cost of prescriptions, scans, consultation etc. Sincere best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I’ll bet whatever suites they were in their minibars were stocked…I would also bet if any of them were in standard balcony cabins they didn’t get charged for room service… Seriously, I do hope a few people they talked to on the cruise expressed concerns about some of the recent changes. I sincerely hope that they are continuing to follow threads on CC that genuinely express concern about maintaining the standards and ambiance that has made Celebrity stand out from it’s competition….That should have been the focus of their fact finding cruise…

What a fantastic day you have had! I have a sneaky feeling you will both be enjoying a couple of weeks in Italy (minus a cruise) in the next year or two…Your love of wining, dining and soaking in the atmosphere of the places you visit shine through… We have been lucky to enjoy several land tours in Europe over the years and along with the history, architecture and art the highlights for us have always been the little local restaurants in the back streets off the main tourist areas…I fondly remember one little restaurant we wandered into in Crete…We ordered a drink then saw another table getting some very tasty looking little plates of assorted starters and decided to ask for the menu. As we spoke no Greek and our hosts spoke very little English at first there was some confusion…We finally worked out there was no menu it was ‘Papa’s choice of the day’ (a set three course menu)…The wine was house wine and at the end of the night Metaxa came without being ordered…We arrived at about 8pm and left at midnight….One of the most magical and romantic meals ever. Much as we love cruising and find it a great way to get a flavour of a country you do really need to revisit your favourite spots on a land tour…I think you will need to do some homework when you get back home…

Thanks for a clear and factual review and some pictures that show both the look and the practicality of the suite. Enjoy and please keep posting!

What a lovely breath of fresh air your adventures are bringing! Looking forward to the next instalment….

Enjoy, all of you!

Looking forward to following your adventures…Between my favourite live travellers at the moment I may need to start my morning coffee time early… Time for you and your husband now to switch off from the ‘real world’ and enjoy some couple time… We have visited many of your ports of call either on land based holidays or on cruises….Enjoy!

Agree. The only thing I would add is if you are travelling in a suite then there is no suite deck on Reflection, a basic one on Equinox (one level no water feature) and a much nicer one on Silhouette (two levels, jacuzzi, very nice seating and bar area).