NCteacherlovescruising

10 hours ago, tjc73 said:

Such interesting conversation on this thread. I work in the wine industry and am technically a sommelier based on my education, so I generally don’t ask for help.  I have cruised a lot on Disney and they only have a couple of Somms on board and they are typically assigned to the specialty restaurants, but are accessible by anyone on The ship. Usually the offerings in the MDR are pretty mainstream, but if you want a wine from a specialty restaurant or bar they will get it for you (on disney). 

Typically I don’t expect the wait staff to have any wine knowledge. If you have the title of “Wine Steward” you should definitely have some basic knowledge and if you are a somm you should have the education to back it up AND even if you are selling a limited selection of wines contracted by massive corporations you should know your stuff! Jackson family wines should be conducting staff trainings if they have they have the biggest contract. 

A lot of times on cruises there may be wines I don’t know so I may ask for a sample especially if it’s a by the glass pour. There is no reason why they can’t bring you a 1oz sample to taste the wine and if you are undecided and it is by the glass a sample should be offered. 

I’m  sailing Celebrity for the first time on the infinity. We upgraded to the premium package as from my previous cruise experiences the wine under $10 a glass are usually not to my liking. it Looks like the offerings in the MDR are limited, even for the premium package. Hoping there are more wine selections in some of the bars or Cellar Masters. 

As for all of those itching to try Caymus - it’s way too pricy on the ship and I think it’s overrated and quality has gone down. Put your money into Duckhorn or even their second label, Decoy. These are great wines and I’m happy the Decoy Cab is in the premium package!   

We found the Caymus 2012 Special Selection quite enjoyable, and purchased a few bottles, however I agree about Duckhorn. We have the premium package so will most likely be drinking Decoy on our cruise. We also purchased a Caymus special Anniversary bottle which was quite good, but by the time we opened it and realized how good it was they were sold out. What, if any, whites would you recommend in the premium package. We rarely drink whites so I have no idea what’s good. 

15 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

The Decoy cab is $14/glass (or at least it was in April).

 

The wine list can vary, but here is one from the MDR:

 

 

 

 

Looks like it’s in the Premium Package. Thanks!

18 minutes ago, George C said:

We drank mostly decoy Cabernet, micheals stocked it after we requested a better red wine. Also like almost all Chianti Classico. 

Was the Decoy in the premium package?

27 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I know what you mean! This seems to be the way of it with Celebrity. 

 

 

 

Phil 

I kind of like that music.  I wouldn't want to hear it 24/7, but I wouldn't want to hear anything that frequently.

39 minutes ago, UnorigionalName said:

Do you expect cruise lines to age with you? or you go to other cruise lines as you age?

Why can’t people of all ages enjoy the same cruise?  Obviously I don’t think X tries to appeal to families with children because they don’t have the big water slides, etc. Beyond that, ships are huge. They should have plenty of space to have something for everyone. 

4 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

 

I love the M class ships on Celebrity.  Typically, we'll book Celebrity with two perks (classic drinks package and either $300 OBC or gratuities, whichever is more $) and you get great value.  Enjoy your cruise.  

We were fortunate they were offering all 4 perks when we booked. 😊

2 minutes ago, Sascol said:

 

Are you referencing VINYL albums?  Yes - that's a thing.  A very big thing that all age ranges are into.  It's kinda cool.  I was referencing albums in general (CDs, etc.).  I had so many of both when I was younger but now just listen to everything on line.

 

I know....off topic everyone, sorry!

Oh yes, sorry!  He did refer to them as a vinyl collection. I didn’t realize that was a thing now. Vinyl what I think of when I think of albums. 

7 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

Not necessarily African Americans. Low prices attract more people from lower socioeconomic levels who of course vary in their food preferences, but with more tendencies to use fast food establishments. I did not cruise with Carnival since 2013, but read about great new options of fast food on board of their ships.. like "Five guys" and such.

Carnival not so cheap anymore. We typically price a few cruise lines and now that others are bundling in their beverage packages and other perks, and Carnival doesn’t, they sometimes price out higher now. When we booked our Summit cruise, it was cheaper than Carnival, NCL, and RCCL. 

6 minutes ago, Sascol said:

 

I was thinking the same thing - anyone interested in techno music does not know what an album is!  I don't think many under 40 buys albums at this point with all of  alternate ways to obtain music now.  I'm in my early 50s and have not purchased an album in about 15 years.

 

That being said, we have sailed many times on Celebrity and have never had an issue with the techno music itself or its volume.  There have been times on almost every cruise we have taken where at some point the music somewhere annoyed us, but the situation referenced on this thread is not bothersome to us.

Our son, 22, has a friend with quite the collection.  Our son stayed with him and his girlfriend one weekend (they live a few hours away on the coast). They listened to many albums that weekend and our son came home a fan telling us about the awesome sound produced. 

I was telling him about this thread and he said it’s not techno, it’s EDM. Then he proceeded to have Alexa play both types of music for us so we could hear the difference.  He quite enjoys educating us old folks. 😂

1 hour ago, the_dylaness said:

 

On the table?

I can't tell if you are exaggerating or not but if not, that is absolutely disgusting.

I don't even wear shoes in my house much less on the surface where I am eating.

No, they don’t dance on the tables people use for dining!!  😝😂 They have tables they use for that purpose. 

4 minutes ago, CruisinCons said:

 

 

We have one client that makes $150k a year teaching people how to put on make up on YouTube.  Another makes over $1M a year putting together those annoying "lists" that try to get you to click through.  I kid you not. 

That’s just crazy!

1 hour ago, oskarNZ said:

We have sailed on the Reflection and the now retired, Century.

 

The live music was actually very good - particularly on the Reflection, and I would say that it was an entertainment strength of Celebrity’s.  

The evening shows were a mixed bag.  The musical numbers were good, but not hugely memorable.  I avoid magicians like the plague (a personal preference) and somehow we managed to miss all the comedy shows, so I can comment on those. 

 

There were always a few trivia throughout the day, and in the evening there were the occassional men vs. ladies type games.  We went to a few and they were okay - have attended better on other cruises.

 

As mentioned, they do host a few onboard lectures.  I went to one about Bletchley Park which was interesting, but the other few were on topics that didn’t interest me.  I can’t remember what those topics were, but they were all unrelated to cruising.   The port talks we were offered did read like they were all talks about the excursions on offer so I only went to one (and yes, it was about the excursions).  

 

It was really during the day that I would have liked to have seen more on offer - particularly things like art lessons or cultural lessons about the countries your visiting, or lessons on how to play certain games like mahjong etc etc.  

On the Reflection, they changed their art studio into a paid photo place, which I thought sadly showed a sign of moving away from cheap or free entertainment to profitable sales.  

I’m not a lounge by the pool kind of gal, but found I was doing it more than usual because of lack of other things to do.  You could tell most the ship had the same thoughts as the pool area was always very busy.  Similar to when they held a big budget movie in the theatre (that’s the main show theatre, not the cinema) and the theatre was pretty full.  I think that speaks mountains about what else was on offer that a film would be that busy.   

 

At the end of the day though, I need to emphasise that I did love both of my cruises with Celebrity and would cruise them again if the itinerary and price was right.  They just don’t offer enough of a product (purely because of entertainment) to keep my loyal.  

 I’m much more concerned about the nightlife than day. I’m perfectly content to lay by the pool with a good book or listen to music. 

16 minutes ago, kidz_rn said:

If the weather's nice, get ready to wait in in the hot sun in a long line and pay extortion prices to rent lounge chairs and umbrellas at Horseshoe Bay. 

I plan on bringing a towel to lay on, no need to overpriced chairs. 

19 hours ago, Aralim said:

Music is constantly changing, and those changes will invariably upset one group or another used to the older styles. But  places that play music meant to cater to a wide range of humans have to change with it or their customers are going to age out and never get replaced as word gets out that the place is “old style” / “square” / “uncool”.

 

I agree!

2 minutes ago, Mynki said:

 

I'm not convinced they are targeting 23 to 38 year old's (millennials). I don't think they'll be too many in that age bracket who can afford the suite life. As for those who can, I'm not sure many would choose Celebrity due to the entertainment. They do exist onboard of course, but not in any significant numbers and certainly not many in suite class. 

I agree not many millennials can afford the suite life, nor would Celebrity be their first choice, they just looked like their style to me. I could be way off here.  

1 minute ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

I don't think millennials are the size to fit in those "chairs."  Maybe kindergarteners but not normal people.  Total abject fail.

😂  I was referring to their minimalistic style. 

6 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

Oasis class ships are completely different from any others. They are the best bang for the buck.

Princess and Celebrity are both laid back cursing verses others. Celebrity offers very good food. Out last cruise was on the Equinox one evening was unexpected. They had a thing called PARTY LIKE GATSBY run by a DJ. It was in the small atrium and it was packed like sardines. The music was so loud they closed the fire doors to the state rooms.

Nothing like it on the Reflection or the EDGE.

I know the Summit won’t be anything like the Oasis of the seas. I’ve never seen any other ship like it!  I’m very much looking forward to cruising on the Summit, although the entertainment may be a little lacking I think they will make up for it in others areas. 

25 minutes ago, aml3679 said:

We have been on both, Celebrity, of course, is our favorite.

 

What I notice:

 

Less children and teenagers.

 

Less crowded.

 

Staterooms are more classier.

 

Food is better.

 

Carnival has laundry rooms which I think is a nice perk.

 

Celebrity has the 4 perks.  When I looked at pricing, by the time I added everything up, I was surprised that Carnival was more expensive.

 

No hairy chest contests.

 

No announcements in your room.

 

The number one thing I hated about Carnival, without any advanced warning, they would swoop down and clean the windows in front of the balcony.

 

 

 

Given all this we should love Celebrity!  I also found Celebrity to be cheaper than Carnival when you add the value of the 4 perks. 

7 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

You indicate 1 Princess cruise. Celebrity is very similar.

I’m hoping not. That was our least favorite of our 10 so far, with the Oasis of the Seas and The Getaway being our favorites. 

30 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Those are unfortunately out of my league.  But my favorite more reasonably priced wine is Conundrum, by Caymus.  We usually can get it on the Premium Beverage package.  Not a cab, but a very smooth, fruity, full-bodied red blend.  Many who like cabs should like this one.  Not sure of the onboard cost, but can find it in stores between $20 and $25.  Going to Napa this fall and going to go to the Caymus vineyard, where the tastings include Caymus.  Can't wait. 

 

ps - learned about this wine from an excellent wine steward we came to know from sailing in AQ.  He's been on several sailings with us on various ships.  There are some great ones onboard!

It's certainly not our every day wine, but we do enjoy it on special occasions or when we are just being irresponsible with our money.  Total Wine carries an excellent cab for around $30 called Seven Rings.  We also enjoy Molly Dooker's Scooter, which is a Merlot and their Two Left Feet, which is a Shiraz blend,  in the 20's at Total Wine.  They also have a nice variety of good French red wines in that price range.   It's difficult on ships to find a descent cab in the packages so we tend to drink more cocktails while cruising and just have wine with dinner.

25 minutes ago, K12Guy said:

Our sommelier on Eclipse (Yan) a couple years ago introduced me to Mer Soleil, a very good Chardonnay, and a Pinot Noir under the same label. I've not had the Pinot Noir, but will assume it's also tasty. Each cruise brings new wine adventures for us. Unfortunately Yan is currently on Equinox and our next sailing in August will be Eclipse. Unless we can somehow get Yan transferred. She is the best of the best, in my opinion.

 

That reminds me, another thing we do while cruising we don't do much of at home is drink white wines.  We are really red wine drinkers, as such I'm not nearly as picky when it comes to whites, as long as they are dry.  

31 minutes ago, misterkevin said:

Carnival cruisers are more likely to be markedly overweight. 

My husband and I are both in what I’m assuming were your undesirable passenger category of being overweight.  Hopefully you won’t have the displeasure of cruising with us. 

16 minutes ago, bethtex said:

Mister Kevin- Carnival is cheaper and markets mostly to Americans, so it will be more economically, socially and racially diverse I would expect than a more expensive line. 

 

So looking forward to trying Celebrity.  Will be even more interesting we are going from it straight to a Silverseas cruise, then 3 mos later may go back on Carnival with some friends. Guess sometimes you want fast food vs moderately priced sit down vs fine dining.  

We actually priced Carnival, NCL, and RCCL before booking our next cruise with Celebrity because we got the best value with Celebrity, all things considered. 

4 hours ago, attitudeda said:

 

First off its a he not a she.

So now you all know if you see CC HH again it equals Captains Club Happy Hour.

Sorry!  My mistake, but with no picture I had no way of knowing. 

Thanks for explaining. We will be taking our first Celebrity cruise in September so i was completely clueless. 

1 hour ago, Water709 said:

No one seemed to want to

use the high mini stools anytime we were in The Retreat, including this morning waiting for the word to disembark:

1 hour ago, Water709 said:

And the mini circular chairs were not used by most passengers in the Retreat either.  I don’t think the designers were thinking about comfort or practicality when they chose these:

To me it looks like they are trying to reach the millennials with their new designs. 

36 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I had one cruise with Celebrity on the Summit out of San Juan in November '17.  This was about 1 month after Maria made a mess of things, so keep that in mind.  I've had a dozen Carnival cruises - four from SJ - and about half have been the equivalent of Journeys cruises.

 

My comparisons, worth about what you paid for them:

 

* The fellow guests I interacted with on the Summit were more sophisticated and frequent travelers on average than those on Carnival

* I ate exclusively at the buffet on the Summit, and I thought it was very good - certainly better than Carnival, which isn't bad at all.

* The Summit had a small Apple Store and its public access computers were Macs.

* The Internet access was E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E ($50 a day, $250 for the week).  I can't remember how good it was or if I bought a day, but it surely wasn't as good as the Horizon's, which I experienced later.

* There were fewer Puerto Ricans/Latinos than expected on the Summit.

* We had a rock star-level celebrity as the Captain, the one American woman on the high seas.  She was fun the hear announcements from (she made most of them) and very easy to understand.

* On the other hand, if I didn't see the cruise director at our meet & greet, then I probably wouldn't have recognized him.

* There were more lectures and such, which I appreciated.

* There were fewer announcements, which I also appreciated.

* There was less emphasis on PARTY-PARTY-PARTY FUN-FUN-FUN stuff, which I had mixed feelings about.

* Service-wise, I didn't notice much difference.  The staff I interacted with on the Summit was efficient and friendly, but no more so than the Carnival ships I have been on.

* I didn't notice much difference in the excursions.  The Summit's might have been a bit more expensive than the equivalents on Carnival.

* I liked the Summit's room service menu much better.  The service here was good the one time I tried it.  Carnival, despite its additions, is far behind on this in my eyes.

* The overall crowd seemed about the same as my Journeys cruises - mostly older, a few families and kids, but not many. 

* I was one of the first 10 people off the ship, which was amazing for someone with no status at all.  I guess no one wanted to self-disembark?

 

Overall I enjoyed my experience on the Summit and would happily take another, if the price were right (I got a super bargain fare on this one AND a pile of OBC) and I could fit it in my schedule.  I'm still waiting, but hope springs eternal.

I appreciate your detailed comparison!  

What type of lectures are are you referring to?  Were they sales pitches?

On the Celebrity forum everyone says the service is so much better. However, on most of our cruises service has been consistently good on all lines. The one area I’ve noticed some have provided much better service than Carnival is in the buffet, where some provide drink service. That makes for a much better buffet experience than trying to manage getting your own food and drinks!  Also on Princess and NCL we really enjoyed the service on the sun decks we paid extra to be in. 

We usually don't order room service, but with a full menu who knows. Perhaps we would if we are successful with MoveUp, but certainly not if we stay with our Ocean View. 

We will be celebrating our Anniversary so few kids will be a major plus, especially since I’m a teacher so I have the pleasure of being around children all the time. 

We got got a good deal on our upcoming Summit cruise as well, which is why we booked it. When we were looking, we were planning on using our NCL CruiseNext certificates, but even with $500 off this was cheaper. We have since booked a NCL cruise using those next summer. 

1 hour ago, oskarNZ said:

I haven’t yet cruised Carnival, but I have cruised Celebrity a few times and I have chosen Carnival for my next cruise.The reason I have chosen Carnival is because I want to try a cruise line with a busier activity schedule.  

 

There are many things to love about Celebrity: the food is very good (I’ve cruised on 5 different cruise lines and rate Celebrities food overall as the best), the decor is modern and tasteful with lots of cosy spots to curl up with a drink or good book, the service is very good, and their promotional packages (e.g. included drinks package and wifi etc) present, IMO, good value for money. 

 

However, I feel like their entertainment schedule really let’s Celebrity down.  It’s sleepy to say the least - particularly if, like me, you aren’t into things like art auctions or spa/health talks.  

In saying that, if you like relaxing on a cruise and spending lots of time reading and lazing in a deck chair, then Celebrity is a great choice.  

The entertainment is the only area of concern. It sounds like we will be able to find something to do, but I really enjoy the live shows, comedians, and live music on the Carnival, NCL, and most notably with RCI.