absolutboy20

Congratulations on your first cruise and your engagement!

As this is cruise #1 for you, I guarantee that although you may try to spread things apart for some R&R, as everything is new/exciting you will be exhausted and trying to fit everything in. The sea days are perfect for catching up on some sleep during the day.

One item I would like to say is if either of you are prone to any type of motion sickness to take precautions with you. The ship you are cruising is large with stabilizers, but you will still feel movement while at sea. I've known a few people where most of their vacation time was spent in bed rather than touring the sites. I personally use the prescription patch Scopolamine that's put behind the ear and swear by it. Just remember that if you do excursions, sometimes this involves sitting in a bus or van which can cause the same problems.

Ship excursions may be the way to go for the first few outings as the ship will wait for you in case your trip is delayed. Also check out third party sites that also sell similar packages where they guarantee arrival back to port for a lesser price.

Do all Celebrity ships have this Luminae?

Yes it's a full roll out on their ships except the Xpedition that only carries about 100 passengers. And by the prices on that ship, it better already be Luminae quality :p

Cabanas can be purchased by anyone from any cabin category -- hence, to me, not a class system. I may not like it, but it's not really discriminatory.

A person who could not budget the extra expense for the use of cabanas would argue that these spaces are taking away from the areas that were available to all HAL passengers, not just the ones who are willing to pay the premium for the private experience. Your stating cabanas can be purchased by anyone, well suites can be purchased by anyone, it's just a matter of what one values/doesn't value and of course budget for their cruising experience.

I'm cruising in August with multiple stops in Greece and am not concerned. I would error on the side of caution and book ship excursions or through third party sites that are reputable and offer a fixed rate for the excursion that is refundable if cancelled.

Yes taking out cash prior to arriving in Greece is the best plan.

The "class system" already exists on HAL and every other cruise line. The Pinnacle restaurant is reserved only for suite passengers for breakfast, and the Neptune Lounge is only accessible for suite passengers. The retreat cabanas are only accessible if you pay for premium price. The posts above indicate that they are aware of it but don't consider it s "class system" which would cause them not to sail HAL?

Stating that one wouldn't cruise a particular cruise line because of lack of access to one area is a little over the top.

Is running on the promenade deck technically not allowed? I remember a few people jogging the circuit in the morning , as I could clearly hear them approaching one floor under.

Thank you both your for thorough reviews. Looking forward to the experience now.

One question, was lunch served on embarkation in Luminae?

It depends on the charter.

The chartering company can

- Change dining and make the MDR dining without a specified seating time.

- Pull beverage packages that are normally offered on regular cruises

- Change dress code requirements for dining

- Make reservations for speciality dining and spa appointments only available to be booked once on board

- Change the entire entertainment offerings on board including in the main theater

Those are some of the items that I've experienced.

Thanks Tucson Guy for viewing!

I believe if a cruise is almost sold out a year in advance, the likelihood that the cruise would be converted to a charter would be highly unlikely.

I don't think the cruise lines take chartering and cancelling a current itinerary lightly as it can be risky. I've seen the opposite end where the cruise gets chartered by a company, then cancelled by the original company that chartered it, and either being resold to another charter or being put back on the market.

The HAL community maintains a pretty comprehensive list for its board members that outlines the charters that are occurring on their ships, as well when groups are scheduled to be on board on an existing itinerary. As you'll see if you take the number of ships in its fleet and the dates available for sailings in a year, the actual number of full charters is not large.

http://http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2208867

It still doesn't make the customers who are receiving the calls that their cruise is cancelled any better, but again some cruise lines seem to handle the situation better than others.

Thank you for posting. I do have a question as to whether people who experienced Luminae believe it's the best dining on board, or if there is another specialty restaurant that offers better service/food quality.

I believe that if you are less than a year out from your cruise (10 months out or less), the likelihood that a cruise becomes chartered is highly unlikely, particularly for the larger S-class ships. The charter itself needs to have enough time to make the necessary sales prior to the sailing date.

Charters are going to happen any any cruise line, and with cruises bookable 18 months out, some passengers are going to always be affected. It appears Celebrity's policies in re-booking the affected passengers is not in line with other cruise lines, and it's inflexibility towards their passengers who are wishing to re-book on another ship at the same rate/benefits is disappointing.

Unless there's an employee running the show by the pool and I get to pay a fixed price, then I'm not interested in this offer =)

 

It now appears to be an annual occurrence for Equinox to be chartered during the middle of August. I presume it's Atlantis again as this year's sailing was a sell out? We have booked Harmony instead for next August.

It's pure speculation on my end and I won't know until the last few days aboard my sailing in two months. The start of the itinerary does seem to fit Atlantis's schedule of normally alternating between Eastern and Western Med cruises every year. This year's cruise did sell out quickly, but they only offered one European cruise this year. The Equinox isn't always a guarantee for the sailing but a S-class, August sailing is typically the norm.

But who knows it can very well be another charter or no charter at all and we'll see a revised cruise put up on Celebrity's site in a few days to fill the gap.

I do feel bad for the bumps that happen to early planners, but at least plane tickets/hotels can't be booked this far in advance..

Thank you all for your helpful info! It's interesting that the bag offer isn't available on all sailings.

Does Celebrity offer any type of deals on laundry service on board? On HAL, we had unlimited laundry service as part of the Neptune Suite, or you had the option of paying a fixed rate to have this service for your room. On Seabourne, they had a package where you can fit a bag full of clothes for a fixed cost of $50.

Does Celebrity offer any deals/packages for laundry?

I did try searching through the previous posts but the search just takes me back to HAL comments.

I may be the only one but if the above post sticks with the Equinox sailing on 08/06 reappearing, it bodes well for me in possibly being able to go on next year's charter with the gap remaining in dates.

As you are going to be spending a good amount of time in Japan, you may want to explore further away than the usual sites of Tokyo and Osaka/Kyoto area. The way you are describing the countryside/active lifestyle, I don't think you would enjoy Kyoto as it's filled with temples and quite crowded with tourists. You may want to venture to the northern island of Hokkaido or the southern island of Kyushu to get a different experience.

I assume you are flying into Tokyo (Haneda or Narita). So if you are wanting to venture to Hokkaido for a few days, both airports have luggage storage service so that you can leave your heavy luggage while you travel to the island. Flying would be the ideal way of getting there. If you venture south, Kyushu is accessible via the bullet train and I would also recommend the JR rail pass for a week.

As far as transportation which is primarily the rail network, I would highly recommend purchasing an IC card. These can be purchased at major train stations through the ticketing machines. The hard part of getting around Japan is that there are various train companies that operate all of the lines. So transferring from one network to another, figuring out each fare, buying tickets for each line can get confusing. With the IC card, it is accepted by all of the train lines, some bus lines, vending machines, and even some restaurants so it makes paying for items simple. The card is reloaded with cash at train station ticket machines.

English is readily available in the metropolitan areas, but becomes less accessible in other spots. I would suggest a mobile wi-fi rental in Japan so that you can use your smartphone. Google Maps is an amazing tool in Japan as it will let you know what train/time, sometimes platform, and fare amount through the app. If you are really lost in translation, Google Translate will usually get your message across to a Japanese speaking person.

Safety is really not something I would worry too much about in Japan. I've walked alone in the streets of Tokyo late at night without feeling uneasy.

Hope you have a wonderful time in Japan.

Does Celebrity offer any services where there's a fixed cost per bag of laundry for $XX or as an included benefit for booking a suite?

It was interesting to read as I've heard the Groove cruises are pretty party hardy. How was the load on the ship? Sold out? You stated that the dining room was pretty empty for most of the cruise so I assume most ate at the buffet?

Also was there a gay crowd on board?

I thought about doing these cruises, but now I'm in my mid-thirties your experience tends to to make me think it's a little too much for me. I do enjoy some quiet R&R in between parties, which this seems like on this cruise to be a little difficult. Glad you were still able to have fun without your friends being able go. Thanks for sharing.

This is our first time on Celebrity and we are booked in Aqua on the Equinox. From the difficult map to read on Celebrity's site, my location of 163X seems to be ok. I always try to avoid common areas like a pool, gym, or restaurant being above the room.

I was hoping to snag a CS, but with my cruise sold out and a wait list two months out, I think this is where we'll be situated.

Excited to try Celebrity for the first time. When I first started cruising, this was the line/class of ship that I wanted to experience. Hoping that it meets my expectations.

So there were rumors for some time regarding Atlantis chartering the RCL Anthem for its 25th anniversary cruise and with the accidental leak by RCL late last month listing the May 21st sailing as a sold out Atlantis Charter cruise, it seems to be turning into the worst kept secret. The listing showed a 7 day cruise visiting Port Canaveral, Nassau, and CocoCay.

I'm interested as the dates will work, but for me personally the Anthem and Quantum didn't quite meet its fanfare, and I don't know how the ship would translate for the charter for the theme parties.

Thoughts?

Excellent. Thank you for posting the pic.

I'm very excited about this ship. Can anyone confirm that the lido deck pool when closed will now encompass two stories? I'm looking at the deck plans and see the pool on Deck 9, and then the retractable roof on Deck 11. To me that's a bonus as it will be a much more airy environment than the current setup.

EdmPair, you kind of left your comment open ended. Care to elaborate what happened after meet and greet that is making you postpone your next RSVP cruise for five years??

Interesting! Atlantis is back to two sailings next year in the Caribbean so they probably didn't want to charter a ship the size of Regal again. Third year in a row that the dates don't align with my work schedule =(

Hope you had a great time boytjie besides the unexpected detour. Watched the packed sail away.