terrydtx

There are several places that have excellent Clam Chowder on the wharf by the bridge that crosses the Columbia River, fresh crab season is during the winter so any crab will be frozen. One place I remember is the Sea Crab House Restaurant. You will love the Oregon Coast and Astoria.

On the Equinox in Blu you can order any night from the MDR menu. The service and ambience in Blu is much better than the MDR, so IMO you should dine in Blu and the nights you want the MDR entrees just order them in Blu. We did that one night in Luminae last year on the Equinox but it was a mistake as the MDR entrees we ordered were terrible. My wife ordered the Veal Oscar and it was nothing like any veal Oscar she had ever seen. I can not remember what I ordered but it was disappointing. I did order the escargot from the MDR menu a couple of nights and they were delicious.

How was the dinner cruise, we are doing that same shore excursion when we are there in August. How was the food and wine?

I am surprised that the cabin TV does not show the ships position and speed, does it have a forward view of the forward ship's web cam? We had all of that on the Equinox last year. I also use Google maps on my tablet to find out exactly where the ship is located, it works off the GPS satellites and online information.

Which ones have a coffee maker in the cabin? I have been in suites on NCL, Royal and HAL none had coffee makers except the high end most expensive suites. I also do not recall inside dining tables in those same lines with entry level suites the size of a Celebrity Sky Suite. While the Celebrity Sky Suite is the entry level suite, the Celebrity Royal and above suites have espresso coffee makers and dining tables.

Our balcony on our Equinox Sky Suite had a 30" normal height table with 2 chairs which worked perfect for having in suite breakfast.

An S2 Sky Suite on the Infinity is better than 90% of all cabins on all cruise lines. You will enjoy a SS on the Infinity.

Blu is not that far from the MDR kitchens like Luminae is on the E Class ships.

Thank you for your insightful review, while it may not have been all you wanted, at least being on a cruise ship is better than being home. After almost exclusive cruising with HAL for the last 10 years, we have decided at 72 years young HAL is too old for us. Last year when our Westerdam 14-day Greek cruise for our 50th Anniversary was canceled by HAL we decided to book a Sky Suite on the Celebrity Equinox in the Caribbean. We were blown away by Celebrity's service, food, entertainment and their Suites only Retreat product. We since have booked 6 Celebrity cruises over the next 2 years, including our cruise this August on the Celebrity Reflection prior to our HAL Oosterdam Greek cruise. Our August 14 day Greek Oosterdam cruise is the rebooking from our canceled Greek cruise last year and this will most likely be our last with HAL

Blu is not open ever for lunch even on sea days. The Luminae is open for lunch on sea days. Look in the Celebrity app and you will not see any lunch available in Blu. This was one of several reasons why we stopped booking Aqua and went to the Retreat, we did not like, not having lunch access in Blu on sea days. On port days we eat on shore to sample local food.

We booked our August 5th Sky Suite on the Reflection when Celebrity had a great sale promo back in January. We are on the 12th deck midship and out cost was only $4108pp for 10 days and that was the all included rate at that time. Today that same cabin costs about $1400pp more because they are almost sold out. At the time we booked, the S1 Sky Suite was only $300pp more than Aqua Class on the 12th deck with the Indulge package added. I have to admit we got a great deal back in January.

I agree and even a Royal Genie could be a demeaning as Butler if demeaning at all. PRH is a better description than Genie of the job description. The term Genie gives me images of a voluptuous Barbara Eden scantily clad and living in a bottle.

The Revolutionized S class ships have the updated Retreat Lounge that replaced the Michaels Clubs. This thread has gotten way off the OP's original post about having a poor experience with a Butler.

Not what I would have thought "Naked" meant. That is like saying the lady was naked with her clothes on, LOL Sounds like the ship has run out of the Dive In sauce since neither of what you ordered had any.

In 2021 the Florida legislature passed a bill that overturned the Key West local ordinance that banned cruise ships.

What are Naked Fries, if not just plain fries without any seasoning? Now the Dive in Sauce is what makes the burgers so good.

Good question, we book "Bare Bones" Sky Suites and we get almost all of the Suites amenities and benefits of the Retreat that includes: 1) A personal Butler 2) Premium drinks up to $15 3) Streaming WiFi 4) Suites only Luminae for all meals except lunch on port days 5) Exclusive Retreat or Michaels Club lounge with full service bar and bar tender at no charge 6)VIP check in and VIP waiting lounge at home ports that have them 7)Priority Embarkation and tendering 8)priority disembarkation 9)enhanced room service menu that includes gourmet breakfast items like Crab Benedict 10) Afternoon canapes and appetizers in your suite cabin 11) Exclusive Retreat Sun deck on E Class and M & S class Revolutionized ships 12)Reserved Theater seating on Evening Chic nights 13)Full time concierge services to book dinners and shore excursions 14)OBC of $300 to $600pp depending on cruise length What of the above listed included Sky Suite benefits and amenities makes a Sky Suite "Bare Bones?" About the only things a Sky Suite doesn't get that the Royal and higher suites get other than larger 1 bedroom cabins are the 2 bottle sprits set up and unlimited specialty dinning.

We may have to look into the MSC Yacht Club as we absolutely love the Retreat Suites on Celebrity which has almost as many amenities and great service as you described above with MSC. We can also book a Sky Suite for less than a Neptune on HAL. If you look at my signature you will see after our upcoming Oosterdam cruise we are booked exclusively with Celebrity in Suites for our Ocean cruising.

I would take a Sky Suite on any Celebrity ship over an Aqua on an E Class. I do not like the IV balconies and a suite or SV is the only way to not have one. We board the Reflection in August in a Sky Suite. Next year it's the Apex in a Sky, and 2024 B2B on the Edge in a Sky.

We prefer to our drinking in the Retreat Lounge, at least we can see what is going into our drinks and if the bar tender is out of something he will go find it on the ship. Last year, I asked for Buffalo Trace Bourbon on the Equinox, the Retreat Lounge bartender told me he didn't think there was any on the ship. The next day to my surprise the lounge bar tender had a bottle of Buffalo Trace for me. Guess who got a nice cash tip at the end of the cruise? Its little thing like this that keep us on Celebrity booking the Retreat.

That pampering is what keeps loyal Celebrity customers booking the more expensive suites and from testing the waters with more premium and luxury cruise lines. It sold us on the Retreat and the cancelation of our much more costly Oceania bookings.

We have found very good Brunello di Montalcino's in wine bars for under 30 Euros.

Exactly!!!

Our PRH on the Equinox last year was just awesome and he was always asking if we needed anything more from him and he gave us his card with direct phone number the first day we met him. The second day of the cruise my DW and I were walking down the hall to our cabin with drinks from the bar in hand and he stopped us and said "next time call me and I will get your drink"s. He brought our breakfast to our cabin every morning on time and still hot, he also set up our table on the balcony and poured our first cup of coffee. The first morning he asked how breakfast was and I mentioned the pot of coffee was a little weak, he said he would fix that and every morning after he had Cafe al Bacio add several shots of espresso to make the coffee stronger. He asked the first day what we wanted in our Mini Fridge, and we said premium water (I hate the canned water) and wine, no sodas as we don't drink them. He kept our room stocked with liter bottles of Evian water and the 1/2 bottles of Kendal Jackson red and white wines, which we were never charged for. BTW, we had a conversation about being called a Butler or Personal Retreat Host. He said he preferred Butler as did most of the other Butlers. He said he worked hard to get a Butler position and the tittle was like a rank that meant much more than PRH. He was very proud to be a Butler and liked the Butler tittle.

Years ago when we departed Barcelona there was a wine shop between check-in security and the ship. We purchased several bottles of good Spanish wine to take onboard with us. No problems so after we got to our cabin we went back off the ship and got more wine, I do not recall any of the bottles being more than 10 Euros.