kwagmyre

57 minutes ago, JintyGirl said:

For info, welcome glasses of fizz are still available from cafe Al bacio on embarkation day, served on trays from staff or sitting on the counter. 

Good to know, thanks!

1 hour ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

I printed off my cruise e-docs YESTERDAY for my Summit cruise out of NJ and it clearly stated 2 bottles of wine per person.

You are absolutely right - I checked my docs and same - 2 bottles per person.  So at this point, the booking docs and website contradict each other - so I will happily pack four bottles, make sure I have a printed copy of those docs, and be prepared to argue the point if it comes up at boarding.  

Thanks for the info!

With all the cutbacks, I was wondering if there are still robes in the rooms for the more... "egalitarian" sort of passenger.  We are not Aqua or Retreat, hell we're not even Concierge... mostly will be happy with a bed and bathroom at this point, but just wondering if we need to pack robes for the chilly Alaskan weather.

So we are boarding Eclipse tomorrow for an Alaskan cruise, this is something we have looked forward to for years , but I am getting apprehensive with all the bad reviews. 
 

A little background, I have cruised about 10 or so times as an adult, this will be our fourth since covid. The other three post-pandemic were Carnival, NCL and Royal. All were enjoyable experiences, though the post-covid-cutbacks are apparent across the board. 
 

But I had thought Celebrity was supposed to be different. Certainly it was the one time I sailed Reflection around 10 years ago when it was the flagship. From the champagne on boarding, to the sleek and stylish entertainment, to the excellent food and wine list, to the creperie and pastries at Al Bacio, to the stunning art and glass everywhere, it was clearly a cut above. 
 

Now I am reading scathing indictments across the board.  Gristly steaks, pedestrian drinks, long waits at bars and restaurants, poor quality food, wine a activities and entertainment, nickel & diming at every turn, and you sure AF can forget about your embarkation champagne, at this point it sounds like you’ll be lucky to get a comfortable mattress if not just three hots and a cot. 
 

And if that is the way it is, so be it, but it certainly doesn’t make sense to pay these prices for a substandard product. I am extra nervous because I had talked up Celebrity to my wife and her parents who we are sailing with, all of whom have not sailed X before. If this falls flat I am going to be honestly be pretty embarrassed. 
 

Either way, we’ll still be in Alaska and I am sure we will still have a great time. The one bright spot I keep reading about is the service and the efforts of the crew, for whom I have the utmost admiration and respect. It’s gotta be a very tough racket. 
 

With all the negatives any good news to share?  Hoping to alleviate some very real anxiety I should not be feeling 24 hours before boarding a luxury cruise ship. 

1 hour ago, WestLakeGirl said:

There are parts of the website which have not been updated. It’s a sad state of affairs but that’s what happens at Celebrity. It is two bottles per person on embarkation day.

I think this may no longer be the case. Not trying to argue and I hope I am wrong, but as of today, 6/17/23 when I go to check their website, it states:  

“Guests are not permitted to bring alcoholic beverages onboard; with the exception of embarkation day when each guest (of legal drinking age) is permitted to bring onboard one (1) 750 ml bottle of wine (which are subject to a corkage fee) per guest. A corkage fee does not apply to guests with the Classic Beverage Package or Premium Beverage Package.”

Source:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/company/customer-support/conduct-policy#alcohol-policy

Can anyone cite a different source from Celebrity website or documents to contradict this? We already had our four bottles picked out, so I would be super-sad to have to cut this in half. 

Wow, thanks so much for posting this. My wife is getting on board this very ship today with a friend of hers, it's her first cruise without me so I am both nervous and excited for her. Really great to see this morning.

I hope the admins will let this post stand - to be clear, I have technically not been on this tour, but then again, that is only because the tour operator messed up, which is why I am posting this. I am in Homer as I write this and am quite upset, so I can assure you that this is not academic.

Inspired by walleylj's excellent Alaska port reviews, I had been inspired to follow in his footsteps and booked with K-Bay air to do a bear viewing trip. They had to cancel the flight yesterday due to weather, and did not have any availability for today. Understandable. So I called around looking for alternatives, and talked to Joe with Homer Air. He took my information and booked the flight, and was even specific enough to advise that I wear a belt because the hip-waders needed something to attach to (these are worn when walking around the bears). He also suggested checking out a website that had webcams with bears on them.

This is relevant for the next part, as their could have been no chance of confusion of my intentions; yet, when I showed up at the office this morning, they told me that they had me booked for a Seldovia flight instead, and "Joe must have messed up because he is new". All of their flights were full today, so they could not make me any further accommodations. They did try to call around and see if anyone else had a seat available, but of course this being the morning of, everyone was full.

They did state that they weren't even 100% sure if they would make it out today due to the weather anyway, but that of course does not excuse their incompetence in booking me on the wrong flight in the first place. Since their were other people in the office with hip-waders on already, it sure looked like they were going out to me.

Since this was my last day in Homer I have now missed a once-in-a-lifetime chance for the opportunity to walk with the bears, and this was especially heartbreaking since it was the only reason I came to Homer to begin with. Don't risk your time and money travelling here and have it wasted as I did; find another operator that specializes in bear viewing, or at least one that pays attention and trains their employees better, or you take your chances. You've been warned.

Yes we have done it and it does go through Belize City, but it's not the most picturesque of towns. You basically traverse almost the entire country to get to the ruins, they are literally almost on the border with Guatamala and the armed guards are walking around to prove it. It's a little boring to get there about 2 hours each way, but still definitely worth it. You can still climb on the ruins to the top of the pyramid, and many sites in Mexico won't let you do that anymore. Do it while you still have the chance.

Heading out on Reflection tomorrow, brought a couple of cigars to enjoy out at the Sunset bar. How do I bring on a cutter and lighter? Wouldn't those be prohibited? I'm not a regular smoker, obviously, just like a good cigar now and then, so I'm not sure how smokers bring on lighters and such.

There was no brunch on our 7 day Reflection Nov 30-Dec 7.

 

We were all expecting it but alas, no.

 

:confused:

 

[EDIT: I just read another review elsewhere that said there was one on 3rd day on our cruise....Still not sure how I missed it. Many of us in the group were talking the last day about why there was no brunch. Must have been held on a port day.]

Although technically a port day, wouldn't that have been San Juan and thus not docking until 3pm? We are embarking this Saturday and I want to catch this, so I'm glad I read this thread as I was assuming would be on sea-days per past reviews.

That will nice as well. Though I'm really the only wine drinker in our group, so it'll be up to me to drink the bottle (not all that night;)) Have yet to find a Chardonnay that I like so I guess I won't even try that if I already hear it isn't great.

 

Mostly a red wine kinda gal anyway. Anyone know what kind of red it is? Cabernet? Pinot Noir? Blend?

We have sailed Liberty twice, both times 7 day itins and ate at steakhouse on first night both times. It's a great way to go. MDR is usually out of sync on the first night while everyone learns their assignments, and the steakhouse isn't busy, which is why they give you the free wine. Which, to answer your question, is a perfectly serviceable Chilean Merlot. We usually get beef dishes (filet, lamb) and it pairs up just fine.

To answer your other question, I usually wear dark, "dressy" jeans, but this is coupled with black dress shoes and some kind of a button-down shirt and sportcoat, for sort of a "casual-elegant" type look that makes more sense on the first night of a cruise anyway. No problems encountered.

What is the Chocolate Extravaganza? :confused: I've seen pictures in some reviews, but it's not clear what exactly it is.

 

 

As a chocoholic.. I NEED to know this. ;) Thanks.

Ah, well my dear... as a fellow non-recovering chocoholic, let me tell you that this is a thing of beauty and splendor not to be missed... I was able to achieve that elusive "chocolate high", that those of us addicts know and love...

On our 7 day cruise it was held on the last day, and the last sea day, as a section in the buffet around lunchtime. There are some pics in my honeymoon review (page 11), link in my sig. Get there early, it fills up fast.

[

 

/SIZE]

This just in:

Your fiance is hot.

That is all. :D

 

 

after that?? well the food is just ok...not really special. The upsell restaurants are the way to go on NCL

 

 

Didn't like : the food and service in Main Dining room Summer Palace were not great JMO after the first night. One night we went to buffet it was much better IMHO.

^^^ This, right here, is probably the main thing keeping us off NCL right now. We love Carnival, or at least, we love Liberty, since that's the only ship we have been on. Food is more important to us personally than entertainment, and Carnival does seem to still edge out NCL in that category. Most of the food on Liberty was good, and some of it was outstanding. I don't hear that much about NCL unless you are paying the upcharges.

Most of your remarks about NCL fall under the category of entertainment, and I don't think anyone could reasonably dispute they do a much better job on that than Carnival, and probably any other cruiseline period. That is NCL's strength, so if that's important to you, I agree they are the way to go, with RCCL probably being a close second.

We are booked on Liberty in January, and after that, our next cruise we are shooting for is Alaska in summer of 2013. I've started to research the offerings and, while NCL is competitive there, we will probably go Princess, since they so totally own that market. Some of the options they offer in Alaska are amazing. But NCL is definitely running a close second for us right now, and could potentially win out depending on price/itinerary/excursion differences when we get closer to nailing it down.

So, who knows? Maybe we will get to sail NCL someday. The live bands and sailaway party sound awesome.

Hi there!

 

leaving it in my checked bag

:eek: I would *not* put something like this in a checked bag; that's a great way to lose it. What if your luggage gets lost? It does happen sometimes. I like the idea of keeping it in a camera bag - that way it's either on you or in the safe, until it's on her hand. :)

Deli sandwiches are a little skimpy. They were not my "thing", but I have a friend who cruises fantasy-class ships and loves them. He always asks for double-meat (he's a big guy, it definitely doesn't go to waste).

Lots of people advise to take a bathing suit with you in your carryon in case you want to use the pools before your luggage arrives, but I would also advise you to bring what you want to wear to dinner the first night. Luggage often arrives late, even after dinner seating sometimes.

Liberty is my new favorite when it comes to staff attitudes and service!

 

Was on this same cruise and, although my first, would agree 100% on this. I will be talking more about the staff later in my own review. Can't say enough good about them.