hurwitz5

I wouldn’t even take my family to Disney World until the youngest one of our children was 3 years old and toilet trained. Didn’t want to spend big bucks on a vacation that I wouldn’t enjoy. Unless you have help from relatives, etc., it’s easier to stay home. However, if I were cruising with young children. I would sail on RCCL and not Celebrity.

Sorry to hear that the newspaper has been discontinued. My husband and I went to Guest Relations every day to get the newspaper - at 10:00 am. The US edition was popular. Saw editions from other countries remaining in their slots. Celebrity - please keep printing the US edition.

On the S class ships, we have been assigned to Michael’s Pub for the muster drill. It is overcrowded, with very few seats. It’s an uncomfortable start to the cruise.

Only buy alcohol on cruises when driving to the port. Not worth the risk of bottle breaking when we are flying. Besides, we can’t afford to add more weight to our checked luggage.

Read on ship reviews that Celebrity Reflection is being refurbished in 2018. Does anyone know the dates of refurbishment this year and what is being done? Will be boarding the Reflection on January 4, 2019.

Please consider getting a smart phone. We find that having an IPhone makes life easier in many ways - including traveling. It gives us a sense of security.

We have taken 40 cruises on 5 different lines. As of the past 5 years, we have sailed primarily with Celebrity. We always looked forward to the production shows, but have been disappointed with latest shows - since Celebrity chose to create original shows with an emphasis on cirque de soleil. Many of these shows are too repetitive and with music that most people have never heard of. We preferred the older production shows that focused on Broadway and popular music and included beautiful dancing and staging. The performers are still talented, but they are not given the right material. We enjoy most of the non-production shows.

We enjoy the Elite Cocktail Hour. We have been on 20 Celebrity and never take the drink package. We have late dining at 8:30, but we also go to the show every night at 7:00. So - having a few drinks before the show at the Elite cocktail hour (6:15 to 6:45 pm) makes for a full evening. It’s a real free benefit, versus the drink package.

Amsterdam is the worst European airport that we have flown out of. We took a Viking River Cruise, ending in Amsterdam. Viking dropped us at the Airport more than 3 hours before our flight. We must have gone through 3 or 4 security lines. We boarded our direct flight to Newark, NJ about 10 minutes before the plane door closed. It was very nerve wracking. Hope you have a better experience.

We were on 2 cruises in January. We had the muster drill in Michael’s Club - based upon location of our cabin. We had to stand at the drill, but we prefer to arrive late for the drill. The last people to arrive at the drill are situated to leave the drill first. That’s my husband’s strategy.

On the Eclipse in January 2018. Found the towels in our stateroom (inside cabin) and the towels on the pool deck to be good quality- not threadbare.

Leisuretraveller223. Sorry your friends had a bad experience on their cruise. I agree that there should be a consistent policy for dealing with illness on Celebrity cruises. It’s bad enough being sick while on vacation.

Had the flu on the January 7 sailing of the Eclipse. Got sick on the 9th day of the 14 day sailing. I was quarantined for 3 days - while I had a fever above 99 degrees. I received very good treatment from the medical facility and from other crew members. I was given Tamiflu, as was my husband (no symptoms). My husband was not quarantined. I ordered room service and it was promptly delivered. Guest Relations called me daily and sent me free bottles of water. Two pay for view movies were available to me - for free. Kudos to Celebrity for the caring treatment I received.

Have taken Viking River Cruise - 14 days - Budapest to Amsterdam. The food is very good and we enjoyed the daily tours in the European ports. We thought about taking a Viking Ocean cruise - but NOT in the Caribbean. We are not interested in tours of the Caribbean islands. Just enjoy taking a cab to a beach, and shopping.

Have 2 cruises booked for January 2018: 14 nights on the Eclipse and 7 nights on the Equinox. We live in NJ, so we are just happy that be cruising in the warm Caribbean. We have 4 days in the ABC islands, which are unaffected by the hurricanes. We will go with the flow regarding the other islands, We also love the cruise experience.

When is Celebrity going to get rid of Toppers, Chandelier and other horrible production shows? We used to look forward to these shows, but the new group of shows that have debuted during the last 2 years need to be retired.

I also agree that the Ensemble Lounge is poorly designed and has uninspired entertainers. A lot of other lines have a great piano bar - Celebrity should try this.

We haven't sailed on Royal Caribbean for a long time. Celebrity (17 cruises thus far) has been our cruise line of choice for many reasons, one of them being the availability of many shady lounge chairs at the outdoor pool. There are also many lounge chairs at the indoor pool (no extra charge for this area). We are thinking of trying an RCCL ship because we would like to experience different entertainment. Which RCCL ships have shady seating (no extra charges)?

Let me clarify my comment above. The production shows had very talented performers and beautiful sets and costumes. The silly stories in these shows and the choice of music were lacking. People enjoy shows with music that they know from Broadway or pop music. Sue Dennings did a one woman show on a January cruise we were on and her selection of music was great- the audience loved her show. Most of the non-production shows were enjoyable.

On the Eclipse in January 2017. Hated the 3 production shows: Topper, Rock and Chandelier. Perhaps Euphoria is better (seems like it replaced Chandelier). We have been on 17 Celebrity cruises and my DH and I used to look forward to production shows. We are very disappointed in the new shows. Whoever created these shows should be fired: a waste of talent and money (sets, costumes).

We are Elite and never take the drink package. We prefer getting a lower price for the cruise. We enjoy drinks during the Elite cocktail hour between 5:00 and 7:00 pm. The coupons (3 each) are the best for us, as we get one alcoholic beverage and bottles of water and/or cans of soda. The extra water bottles and soda cans are brought back to our cabin for later consumption. We find the free bag of laundry (each person) to be another great perk.

We loved the Mast Grill on the S class ships, as did many others. The burgers, hot dogs and fries were very good. It was a good dining option if you were sitting at the pool. We had late dining (8:30 pm) so a burger or hot dog at around 5:00 pm from the Mast Grill hit the spot. Sorry to see it go. We sailed on the Eclipse and Reflection in January 2017. On the Eclipse, the MG closed at 5:00 pm; on the Reflection, the MG closed at 6:00 pm.

We took the cable car up to the town and then took the bus to Oia, a beautiful place. We took a cab back to town and took the cable car down to the tenders. IMHO, walking up or down the donkey paths is NOT a good idea. I don't like cable cars, but the ride is 5 minutes each way and is safer than the donkey paths.

I would use OBC to purchase a watch, jewelry or purse, before purchasing a camera. There is not a large selection of cameras on board.

I'm surprised that people are interested in purchasing cameras. We use our IPhones for taking photos - very good quality and easy to edit photos and send them to friends and family. If you like taking underwater photos, then a special camera would be needed.

We sailed on the Reflection in January 2017 and it didn't feel more crowded than other S class ships. We especially liked the reconfiguration of the Sunset Bar and the outdoor dining area just outside the Ocean View Cafe. The outdoor dining area has a lot more tables because the bar and staircase were removed from the center of the area.