Z3RACERGIRL

You can book Hyatt Place thru, http://www.valuetrips.com/AMS/FL/F17.htm

for a considerable discount. Some dates are blocked from the discount. The rates for next year have not been posted as of yet. If you can wait it should be no more than what they were last year.

This is exactly what I’ll do. Thank you! [emoji4] You would think after 39 cruises I would have the hang of things...[emoji6]

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When I visit Tripadvisor, their site shows rates somewhat less than what you are finding for hotels on the SE 17th St strip. right near the port. For your January 5, 2019 date, they show the Hyatt Place at about $US300 through Booking.com, the Extended Stay is only $US212 through a variety of sites, and the big Renaissance at around $US270 (I see the prices in Canadian dollars and I'm converting to US $$$s so there may be a little variation in prices). Our usual fallback area when 17th St prices are high is Plantation, just up the 595, but at the time you are looking at, right after Christmas, the prices aren't that much lower and would be offset by higher transport costs to Port Everglades.

 

 

 

 

 

You could also wait until September, when the Valuetrips.com rates for the Hyatt Place are due to come out according to posts here on CC. We just booked the Hyatt Place at $153 for our early November stay.

 

 

 

Best of luck in your search.

Very helpful. Thank you! [emoji4]

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Another reason we stay at Embassy...FREE, i.e. Hilton Honor Points!

I’m not a member. [emoji58]

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I am trying to book a room for one night on Jan 5, and haven’t found anything less than 300$ per night. Hyatt Place is 410$. We stayed there a couple of years ago, and loved it...but....I can’t believe the rates for a one night hotel stay are nearly half the cost of a cruise! I am open to any suggestions for alternative hotels- We don’t care about proximity to grocery store and/or shopping, restaurants,etc. Just need a comfy bed and a quick ride to the port.

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Just got back from the Carnival Sunshine. Here’s what I thought (BAD and GOOD). Feel free to make comments or ask questions.

 

BAD

 

Wifi: Did not work half of the time, but when it did work, it was horribly slow

 

Comedy Club: I read many reviews about the unique layout of the club, and I knew what to expect, but the crowds were absolutely ridiculous. 30 minutes before the show even started, there were already crowds of people standing at the back with nowhere to sit. It was crazy and chaotic.

 

Lounge/Theatre: Also very crowded. Always fills up before the show starts. Many standing at the back or sitting on the stairs

 

Breakfast Buffet: Same exact items ever single day. No variety.

 

AirConditioningg: Inconsistent. Freezing in some areas, sweaty and sticky in others

 

Lido deck chairs: On the first sea day, there were no chairs available to sit at. I walked around the whole ship 3 times and could not even find one availble place to sit.

 

Water pressure. Horrible water pressure in the newly added staterooms on Deck 5.

 

GOOD

 

Entertainment: Performers were really talented, cruise director was funny and caring.

 

Options from Lunch: Wok, Guys Burgers and Italian pasta bar were delicious

 

Decor: Nice and modern

 

Service: Staff was almost always friendly. Guest services, Housekeeper, and waiters were all pleasant to deal with (Only one exception where a guest services worker rolled his eyes when I told him that I lost my sail & sign card).

 

Waterslides and games: Fun, although the paint on the slides is fading and some of the games could be in better conditon.

 

6pm Dinner: Very fast and efficient service. A large 3-course meal was served every night in about hour. Food in the dining room was always good, with 1 or 2 exeptions.

 

Casino: Unlike other ships, the casino was not at all smokey.

 

Thanks for posting this. We sail Sunshine in less than a week. [emoji41] You give me hope about using the casino, smoke seems to be an issue for the majority. My other concern is the lack of consistent WiFi onboard, to check on our home security. This is the only way my hubs can truly relax. I’m now looking for WiFi spots while in port. [emoji58] The comedy club is our fav thing at night, my hubs doesn’t care much for production type shows, so I guess I’ll be bolting from dinner early to get in line. They have always been popular and crowded on any ship, seems the Sunshine is pushing the limits though.

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If you have the WiFi plan, you can also log on to the desktop computers in the “Internet cafe”. Those could give you a shot at a bit faster speeds.

 

 

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We can only monitor our home security cameras with a phone app, they aren’t accessible from a desktop computer.

Well for anyone cruising on Carnival Sunshine don't waste your money on the internet. I paid for the best internet they had and barely could load a web page. No chance of loading my home Camera's. Never came close to loading.

Greetings from East TN [emoji41] Thank you for posting this. We sail on Sunshine in less than a week, and the only way my hubs can truly relax on any cruise is having our home cameras available 24/7 to check on our kitties and property. Our last 5 cruises have been with Celebrity and the ship WiFi worked fine, but I’ve heard mixed reviews about the WiFi on Sunshine. It’s time to start searching for WiFi spots while we are in port, or this cruise may not have a happy ending ..[emoji58] I know HMC won’t have WiFi since it’s their island, but Nassau and Freeport should have many options.

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Hi! If you still have all of your fun times can you please let me know how many evenings/days there is a "friends of Bill W" meeting? Also would be curious of dates/times of "friends of jimmy k". I've only noticed it once in your fun times but it's hard to zoom in. My understanding is they had these every day or every other day. Thank you so much for your help! We are on the 8 day Christmas cruise in a couple of weeks!

These meetings are held daily on every cruise I’ve been on, the times varied with each cruise.

This is the first time we heard her story, glad she shared her story here.

[emoji122][emoji173]

There are 8 of us seniors cruising together. We were looking at the alcoves as a place to go on a sea day where we could all relax and be together. Uncertain how crowded the public areas are to do this? What do you think? We were going to split the cost so $75 per couple. Still wouldn't recommend? Not sure why they wouldn't face the ocean either...

Not sure which ship you will be enjoying, but you should all be able to relax together on an upper deck without using the alcoves. There were abundant lounge chairs available during our cruise. The chairs around the pools are more crowded. Enjoy your cruise!

So what? It's illegal now to post in more than one place?

Apparently. [emoji85][emoji6]

I would write a letter to Canyon Ranch At Sea and voice your displeasure. Here is the address and phone numbers:

 

 

 

Canyon Ranch At Sea

 

8600 E. Rockcliff Road, Tucson, AZ 85750

 

Ph. 520-749-9000

 

Fax 520-235-8535

 

 

 

Possibly they will be more understanding and refund your money.

Thank you. I will contact them directly.

We even spoke with guest relations manager on the ship, who confirmed that there was no one above them at Canyon Ranch Spa. Not sure what would be in their interest not to "make it right".

I hate that anyone else had to deal with Vivian, it took everything in me to remain composed and not get ugly on that last day. Are you planning to contact CR Corporate Headquarters?

Fish Lover, thank you for the insight. I was told by guest relations that there was nothing they could do since CR was under their own contract as well. I just thanked them for trying and went on my way. I didn't know about the Marketing Manager. I'm thinking at this point I will contact CR just to speak to them about Vivian.

I agree that venting here isn't resolving anything but perhaps will keep someone else from having the same experience. I wasn't expecting such a spirited response [emoji846] In retrospect, I shouldn't have said disaster, I should have titled it "Flawed Marketing Plan promoting Persian Garden results in Epic Fail with Spa Manager Vivian's Poor Customer service skills." Wait, is that too many words? [emoji848] I have great empathy for the long hours that most crew endure. The stewards and waiters work their rear off for us and smile and remain positive ALL the time. They set the standard. Vivian should follow their lead.

While you may be correct that the sellers part of the contract was fulfilled and is legally safe ground in refusing a refund, it's actually a very poor business decision. Not only did they lose a customer on the Reflection, they lost a customer at every one of the Canyon Ranch spas. And this customer always frequents spa services on a cruise. I would say they'll lose more than $88 on this cruisers next Celebrity Cruise alone. But even harsher for Canyon Ranch, is that this customer is doing what we all do when we have a bad experience with a business.......telling everyone.

100% correct.

And then AFTER you posted your own thread you came into this one and posted your rant again for the third time. (It records your posting time) It just smacks of attention seeking or trollish behavior of trying to attack Celebrity by flooding the group with negative posts.

Because THIS is the thread I thought I was responding to (not the 'rants' thread), I did paste it here after the fact. I honestly didn't realize some of you read every single post on every single topic every single day. I wouldn't call this 'flooding' the group. I come here to search for specific questions and answers a couple of times a year...hardly troll behavior. Again, since reading my post 3 times didn't get the point across, I am not attacking Celebrity. You are way off with that comment. I love Celebrity! I have never asked for a credit on anything after 38 cruises. However, after owning a successful business for over 25 years, I know how to treat others, and I expected a more professional resolution process regarding this issue. Now please, give me time to figure out how to delete my duplicate annoying posts before firing off again. Or let's just leave well enough alone, shall we? Tis the season for JOY [emoji319]

This is the third thread I'm reading where you have posted this same story including one that you started. We get it. You had a bad experience. You don't need to keep posting it again and again.

I posted this under 'rants' before realizing that I wasn't replying to the thread that specifically asked about Persian Garden passes. I then created a new post/title simply because I didn't think it would be visible. I guess some of you read every post, I usually ask and answer questions and move on. I thought this board was to HELP others, not critique every keystroke. It wasn't my intention to saturate anyone's daily activity. I didn't realize the heavy presence of self appointed forum police patrol. Good grief. You are in charge of your eyes, simply skip along to your next interest.

My sentiments exactly. I was expecting when I logged on, reading about a pax getting hurt or the ship being damaged.

Please don't criticize my wording. I was trying to be general with the title. The ship is still in one piece and no one was hurt. Now, go put on your positive pants and carry on.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2432256&page=6

 

 

 

See post #105

I originally posted this on a thread entitled "Celebrity Rants" before creating a new post. I'm not sure why this is problematic for you.

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We just sailed on the Reflection 12/10-12/17. Lovely ship, and overall nice cruise, but my experience in the spa was quite the opposite. A little background..this was my 38th cruise and I've frequented the spa on nearly all of them. Never had a single bad experience with facials, massages, etc. I am familiar with the Steiner group that run the spas for other cruise lines as well as Canyon Ranch which Celebrity now uses. I am recovering from a serious surgery, and heat therapy has been instrumental during the healing process. I fell in love with the heated tile loungers on the Silhouette last year. As soon as I stepped aboard the Reflection, I went to the spa and immediately bought the unlimited weekly pass for Persian Gardens for 88.00 - it was the one thing I had anticipated most about the entire cruise. Ironically, during the spa open house tour, all the beds were full, but I didn't think much about it. I asked how soon I could use the pass, and the gal said not until later during dinner hours. That was fine. Came back that night and beds were full. No big deal. Returned at lunch the following two days. Beds were full again. Came back late afternoon and overheard another lady at the desk complaining about the same issue, and just left. I am not a complainer by nature, and I was also mindful that I was in the waiting area where people who were spending money to relax could overhear me and didn't want to create a negative vibe. After two port days, I went up and asked to speak to the manager (Vivian) after making sure no one was around. I explained what had happened. I politely asked her for a credit on my account. She told me the pass was non-refundable. I told her I hadn't even been able to use the pass a single time all week, she suggests I go use it right then- I was already dressed up for dinner at this hour, and couldn't. She just shrugs and says try tomorrow. I was shocked at her lack of professionalism, I've never seen this aboard a ship...ever. I went to guest services ( a first for me, as well). They contacted the spa on my behalf, and told me the spa would be calling my cabin later in the evening. No call, no voicemail. The last sea day, I return to the spa and spoke to Vivian who again refused the credit and told me to go use the beds right then, that she would personally make sure they were being rotated. I literally couldn't believe my ears. I reminded her that this wasn't like a pool lounger, that I had paid for something that they just were not providing, and that wasn't acceptable. It's not good business to oversell a service. The cruise was almost over. She became very argumentative and STILL insisted there was time to use the beds as long as I was onboard one last day. I truly left feeling insulted. I never did get to use the pass a single time. This alone could have ruined my cruise, because I was dreaming about those loungers for months, and was very disappointed. I won't return to another Canyon Ranch Spa, ever, this could have been handled so much better. FYI- It wasn't even about the credit, I actually disembarked yesterday with 78$ worth of OBC that wasn't ever spent. As a business owner, I just cannot imagine treating a client like this, and wanted others to know. Purchase the passes with caution, and low expectations.

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We just sailed on the Reflection 12/10-12/17. Lovely ship, and overall nice cruise, but my experience in the spa was quite the opposite. A little background..this was my 38th cruise and I've frequented the spa on nearly all of them. Never had a single bad experience with facials, massages, etc. I am familiar with the Steiner group that run the spas for other cruise lines as well as Canyon Ranch which Celebrity now uses. I am recovering from a serious surgery, and heat therapy has been instrumental during the healing process. I fell in love with the heated tile loungers on the Silhouette last year. As soon as I stepped aboard the Reflection, I went to the spa and immediately bought the unlimited weekly pass for Persian Gardens for 88.00 - it was the one thing I had anticipated most about the entire cruise. Ironically, during the spa open house tour, all the beds were full, but I didn't think much about it. I asked how soon I could use the pass, and the gal said not until later during dinner hours. That was fine. Came back that night and beds were full. No big deal. Returned at lunch the following two days. Beds were full again. Came back late afternoon and overheard another lady at the desk complaining about the same issue, and just left. I am not a complainer by nature, and I was also mindful that I was in the waiting area where people who were spending money to relax could overhear me and didn't want to create a negative vibe. After two port days, I went up and asked to speak to the manager (Vivian) after making sure no one was around. I explained what had happened. I politely asked her for a credit on my account. She told me the pass was non-refundable. I told her I hadn't even been able to use the pass a single time all week, she suggests I go use it right then- I was already dressed up for dinner at this hour, and couldn't. She just shrugs and says try tomorrow. I was shocked at her lack of professionalism, I've never seen this aboard a ship...ever. I went to guest services ( a first for me, as well). They contacted the spa on my behalf, and told me the spa would be calling my cabin later in the evening. No call, no voicemail. The last sea day, I return to the spa and spoke to Vivian who again refused the credit and told me to go use the beds right then, that she would personally make sure they were being rotated. I literally couldn't believe my ears. I reminded her that this wasn't like a pool lounger, that I had paid for something that they just were not providing, and that wasn't acceptable. It's not good business to oversell a service. The cruise was almost over. She became very argumentative and STILL insisted there was time to use the beds as long as I was onboard one last day. I truly left feeling insulted. I never did get to use the pass a single time. This alone could have ruined my cruise, because I was dreaming about those loungers for months, and was very disappointed. I won't return to another Canyon Ranch Spa, ever, this could have been handled so much better. FYI- It wasn't even about the credit, I actually disembarked yesterday with 78$ worth of OBC that wasn't ever spent. As a business owner, I just cannot imagine treating a client like this, and wanted others to know. Purchase the passes with caution, and low expectations.

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We just sailed 12/10-12/17. Lovely ship, and overall nice cruise, but my experience in the spa was quite the opposite. A little background..this was my 38th cruise and I've frequented the spa on nearly all of them. Never had a single bad experience with facials, massages, etc. I am familiar with the Steiner group that run the spas for other cruise lines as well as Canyon Ranch which Celebrity now uses. I am recovering from a serious surgery, and heat therapy has been instrumental during the healing process. I fell in love with the heated tile loungers on the Silhouette last year. As soon as I stepped aboard the Reflection, I went to the spa and immediately bought the unlimited weekly pass for Persian Gardens for 88.00 - it was the one thing I had anticipated most about the entire cruise. Ironically, during the spa open house tour, all the beds were full, but I didn't think much about it. I asked how soon I could use the pass, and the gal said not until later during dinner hours. That was fine. Came back that night and beds were full. No big deal. Returned at lunch the following two days. Beds were full again. Came back late afternoon and overheard another lady at the desk complaining about the same issue, and just left. I am not a complainer by nature, and I was also mindful that I was in the waiting area where people who were spending money to relax could overhear me and didn't want to create a negative vibe. After two port days, I went up and asked to speak to the manager (Vivian) after making sure no one was around. I explained what had happened. I politely asked her for a credit on my account. She told me the pass was non-refundable. I told her I hadn't even been able to use the pass a single time all week, she suggests I go use it right then- I was already dressed up for dinner at this hour, and couldn't. She just shrugs and says try tomorrow. I was shocked at her lack of professionalism, I've never seen this aboard a ship...ever. I went to guest services ( a first for me, as well). They contacted the spa on my behalf, and told me the spa would be calling my cabin later in the evening. No call, no voicemail. The last sea day, I return to the spa and spoke to Vivian who again refused the credit and told me to go use the beds right then, that she would personally make sure they were being rotated. I literally couldn't believe my ears. I reminded her that this wasn't like a pool lounger, that I had paid for something that they just were not providing, and that wasn't acceptable. It's not good business to oversell a service. The cruise was almost over. She became very argumentative and STILL insisted there was time to use the beds as long as I was onboard one last day. I truly left feeling insulted. I never did get to use the pass a single time. This alone could have ruined my cruise, because I was dreaming about those loungers for months, and was very disappointed. I won't return to another Canyon Ranch Spa, ever, this could have been handled so much better. FYI- It wasn't even about the credit, I actually disembarked yesterday with 78$ worth of OBC that wasn't ever spent. As a business owner, I just cannot imagine treating a client like this, and wanted others to know. Purchase the passes with caution, and low expectations.

Thank you all. The MDR just seemed a little tight on space for everyone to be shlepping luggage around. Glad to know they have set aside an area to park it. Trying to plan ahead for tomorrow. [emoji4]

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Ahh, makes sense. Thanks.

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Concierge class can have lunch in MDR now in lieu of buffet, but surely people aren't dragging carry ons through the dining room like you see at the buffet. Any recent travelers with insight?

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B, how was the lighting at the dressing area mirror? Seems like it isn't bright enough to do makeup on this tired face [emoji6]

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