Silkroad

Were you turned away from the MDR on embarkation when stayin in a suite? Surprising, but you do have the Luminae to use.

What is your problem? I was merely trying to answer a question with an accurate answer! I have not attempted to have lunch in the MDR on embarkation day because I have never sailed in Concierge class cabins. On my next cruise, I will have lunch in the MDR because I will be in a Concierge cabin. Further, I have not been in a suite since the advent of Luminae, so I certainly wouldn’t know a thing about dining there! Your sarcasm is unwarranted and unappreciated.

With the arrival of the Edge, Eclipse was positioned in another market. I had time looking for a round trip to Hawaii. At last my dream will come true in 558 days I will board she in Vancouver.

That sounds wonderful! I hope you have a fabulous time:)

We are on the same cruise. We are not retired either. I will be 55 and hubby 60. We are hoping to retire in about 3-5 years. We are Sue and Rick.

I’ve seen you on the roll call. We’re Michelle and Alan. Looking forward to meeting you at sailaway:cool::cool:

I’m glad im not the only one who noticed (see post 82). I hope OP is enjoying his time onboard and unaware of the comments made by others who would rather be on CC instead of making the best out of the situation.

I did notice your post, but it appeared that nobody else did, so I decided it wouldn’t hurt to try again;). I too hope the OP hasn’t even bothered to check the thread because he’s having a great time:)

Thanks Lloyd! Great photos and I love the video link in the article:D.

A thread from long ago but the pain of it all is still relevant. Boarding our 14 night Eclipse cruise this Sunday and can't wait. Our very favorite Caribbean itinerary.

 

Call me cynical if you will, but here is my thought as to why they are cancelling the 14 night cruises. I have sailed several in the past few years. On each and every one of these cruises in my mid-60's I have felt like a youngster, or at least one of the younger ones onboard. We are NOT Celebrity's desired demographic. End of story

I suspect you’re at least partially right about the motivation for the itinerary changes. We’re a little younger (not yet retired) than you, but perhaps we’re not the demographic X wants either. If so, it’s a pity because we have enjoyed X and planned to book some longer, more costly itineraries once retired (such as Australia & New Zealand, Norwegian Fjords b2b Iceland, South America b2b to San Diego, Mediterranean b2b WB TA). I suppose we may find we must look elsewhere, but most alternatives are unappealing or cost significantly more (and we’re not sure their “included” features meet our needs or desires).

We do still purchase or upgrade beverage packages, book a 3 night dining package or book Murano for one night, and have lunch in Sushi on 5 on occasion. We rarely book X shorex because we’d rather join small CC groups, explore on our own, or just relax on the ship. We’ve not set foot in the casinos, rarely enter the shops, and only once tried overpriced chair massages. I wonder how many people truly spend much more than we do, regardless of age.

We’ve one of the last 14 night Southern Caribbean cruises booked on Reflection, 7 December 2018. This will be our first Caribbean cruise. I hope we enjoy it as much as so many of you have enjoyed Eclipse. I also wonder if we’ll feel like youngsters lol. I hope you have a wonderful cruise this month:)

Tedw, I see your point. If I were still flying from the west coast, I too would prefer the 9 and 12 night itineraries. In fact, we did a 12 night for our first cruise (Mediterranean) because I refuse to cross the pond for less than two weeks and we prefer to fly to distant ports two days early. Should I hear that the 9 and 12 night Caribbean Cruises aren’t “booze cruises” I’ll give them a look. Mind you, we’re not teetotalers, but we’re not at all interested in being around a bunch of drunken party animals. Only a bit tipsy, happy party animals are great though:D. I hope you and your friends have a great cruise!

Hope everyone remembers that the OP made only one factual, unemotional post. It was merriem and jenniparks who made the subsequent posts about missing the fjords.

Actually, naming a cheesy course might have been more appropriate!

Awwwww don’t ruin my cheese course;p. Perhaps this is the beginning of something new on X menus. Soon we may see menu selections and cocktails named after Captains, Cruise Directors, and other high visibility officers and staff:evilsmile:

I guess the level of irrritance comes down to time, how much you paid for the cruise and business class tickets, poor communication, and not getting what was advertised. You know I cannot comprehend the level of passivity of people today. Maybe when you get older you will GET IT

Having read this thread, here’s what I get. Yes, I have dreamed of visiting this region, with land trips on both ends of a cruise like yours, but I cannot do it before retirement. I would be quite disappointed about missing the sounds, but my first thought was for the dangerously ill passenger and his or her partner. My second thought was that should I have your experience, I’d hold my beloved husband close and be very, very thankful to be able share even a changed itinerary in a spectacularly beautiful region with him. I imagine the evacuated passenger and his/her partner would trade all the fjords in the world if they could be sharing what you and your husband still have. Precious time with the person you love most.

OK, I give in. You forced me to come clean. I confess that I am really Sir Richard Branson and I am trying to quietly, surreptitiously create doubt in reader's minds about Edge, a direct competitor to my Virgin Voyage's upcoming and yet to be named first ship. My goal is that readers will instead book cruises on my new ships.

 

BTW: I am thinking of naming my first ship "Eden", and the second "Magic Carpet". :evilsmile:

Good one:')

It’s a shame from our not-yet-retired perspective too. Even though we’ve only a short flight to Miami or Fort Lauderdale, it’s so difficult to get time away that it’s not worth it for a 7-day cruise. That’s simply not enough time to relax enough to forget all our passwords lol. We’re not attracted by the “booze cruise” reputation of the short cruises either. However, Celebrity’s marketing predictions may be inaccurate. If they don’t fill their 7-day cruises, I expect they’ll bring back the 14-day cruises the following year.

So the MDR is only open to Concierge and above on embarkation day? Are there any other choices? Sushi on 5 maybe? We loved Bistro on 5 too. But it sure looked empty much of the time.

No. The MDR is only open to Concierge Class passengers on embarkation day. Not Aqua. Not Suites.

In this real world,a lot of people just talk the talk but in realty never walk the walk:rolleyes:

Is the sarcasm emoji the only one on your device?

So, let’s hear it. You mock and chastise others for their tipping decisions without stating your own. Let’s hear all about how well you tip the restroom staff on Celebrity ships.

OMG. if every cruiser think like you there won't be many hard working men and women came from the other side of globe to work for us.:rolleyes:

I have heard too much of applause please show me your appreciation.

That’s a rude and unnecessary comment. Tipping beyond the automatic gratuities is a personal choice. I myself have tipped a couple of friendly and hard working attendants at the end of a cruise and mentioned that I would praise them, by name, on the survey. Every one of these ladies thanked me for the tip, but seemed most thankful that I would mention them on the survey. Our praise on the surveys can make a difference for their raises and the possibility of promotions.

Glad I could be of help! Some friends we met cruising years ago told me about it and I've been so thankful to them ever since. Just as an FYI to get the cancel for work included you need to buy the gold or platinum plan. It is not offered as part of the sliver plan.

 

The medical insurance is secondary if you don't purchase it within 15 days of making your deposit which is why we just buy it right away. They will allow you to change the destination/dates once so we have never really had any problem if we changed something after the fact. I personally prefer the medical insurance to be primary just because it means I can just go through one source if something happens. Again, I've always had great interactions with their agents over the years and have found them to be extremely helpful.

Thank you for the FYI. I’ve been purchasing Allianz policies within 14 days of deposit for the cancel for work, so that works for me:).

I would also like to second the Travel Guard Gold policy because it is one of the few policies that also automatically includes cancellation due to work reasons. I realize that won’t matter to many, but if you are working it is great since most other plans include it as an add option. I also like that if you purchase your trip insurance within 15 days of your deposit they upgrade your medical to primary and up some of your other amounts as well. With all this included we have found their prices to be the most reasonable when comparing plans.

 

We have had to file two claims with them over the years. One was medical and the other was using the cancel due to work option. Both times it was minimal hassle to get the appropriate paper work to them and they reimbursed us quickly.

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This is very helpful. I’ve had to add the “cancel for work” clause to our Allianz policies. The medical insurance point is also of interest, and it’s nice to know they’ll pay claims promptly. Thank you!

I wonder if it would help to have a quiet word with the Concierge upon boarding. I’ve heard they’re usually available at that time, and it doesn’t seem like an unreasonable request. Best of luck to you:).

I was looking at menus and happened to notice a salad in Le Grand Bistro named La Salade Lutoff. Lisa Lutoff-Perlo's favorite salad, maybe? I'll have to give it a try. ;)

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/edge/content/uploads/2018/02/Le-Grand-Bistro.pdf

OMG how did I miss that? Oh. Right. It was because I was staring at the cheeses and the wines:evilsmile: (though I will try the salad lol).

On the other hand, as soon as Ivana looked into their reservation she would know these were suit guests. My question then - digressing a bit - I thought specialty restaurants were included for suite guests ie they would not have needed to buy a package?

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I thought the same thing. Ivana may have known. We won’t know unless a non-suite guest tries to get assistance from Ivana.

Specialty restaurants are included with some suites (Royal and above, I think).

If you do it, please come back and let us know how it went. :D

Will do, but it won’t be for this ship because our dear friend took care of it for us:D. Someone else on this thread may want to give it a go. If I’m successful (or unsuccessful) with one of our other bookings, I’ll report back here.

I do not think Ivana knew I was in a suite...now Domy(Reflection) did know that when when I booked for two this April. Remember how much trouble we both had just trying to get this information for our prior cruise? It would be nice to have the facts, so everyone would know.

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Exactly. And I still don’t know the answer, since I’ve not tried it myself. That’s why I’m asking. Since I’m not in a suite for any of my current bookings, I’d love to know I too could get specialty dining booking assistance from the Dining Administrator. If you think Ivana didn’t know you were in a suite, I guess the answer is yes.

Thanks! I'm still in FPC withdrawal - planning for our Edge cruises helps keep me happy. :D

You know, I’ll bet you could hop off the FPC, catch up at home, and return to FL in time to join us on the TA;p. DH says I’m a baaaaad influence lol:evilsmile:

I plan to do a live report from the Edge starting Nov 21. I was able to get the Go Best package since I booked right away and have unlimited internet. Between exploring the ship, eating and drinking at 29 venues and posting on Cruise Critic, I don't think I will have time to sleep. :D

I loved your Flower Power cruise review! I would have considered booking the 2019 FP cruise if I hadn’t already booked the spring TA on Edge:D. I can’t wait for your Edge review;p.

Yes. Sorry, I meant to say that as well. It is my understanding that we must book restaurants using the package once we board the ship.

I want to add that I believe the person Lastdance mentioned (Ivana) is the Dining Administrator for Edge. I had thought such pre-cruise resources were only meant for suite guests, but I could be wrong. Does anyone know if these resources are available to all of us?