J80crew

12 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

If you mean the label, it is unpredictable.  Royal Caribbean is constantly fiddling with which wines they stock in a race to the bottom of the bargain bin.

Not a surprise. Wish they had a Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot noir, but we can make do. The drink package doesn’t make sense for us this trip. 

On 5/8/2019 at 9:09 PM, drewdrewcruiser said:

For my April 2020 sailing, the waterpark cabana is $600.  😫

On 5/16/2019 at 2:17 PM, MELODY4307 said:

That sounds great.....or we could meet on the first day.

 

Does anyone have a list of the wines served in the Diamond Club?  Or those available at the bars and restaurants using the three free drinks preloaded on your seapass?  I’ll be on Harmony this summer and am wondering how restricted I’ll be if I just rely on the freebies. 

Thanks for the quick response, Caralou20. 

On 5/14/2019 at 3:36 PM, CARALOU20 said:

We just got off Oasis on Sunday and everything is working onboard. Aqua Theater show was a go for our sea day. We were able to prepurchase Arcade credits through the cruise planner. 

What are the prices in the arcade?

I enjoyed reading about your adventures as we will be on Harmony this summer, taking our 12 year old granddaughter on her first cruise. It will be our first time on RCCI or any mega ship, and our first time sailing with a child, so I’m interested to know about your son’s experience. Did he spend much time in the teen club, or did he mostly hang out with you?  I assume you keep in touch through the ship’s WiFi. Are there places or activities on the ship that he particularly liked?  Do you know what the prices are in the arcade? What a smoothie costs?  (I’m trying to figure out how much to allow our granddaughter in daily expenses.).  Also, I thought the solarium, including the bistro, was adult-only. Was your son able to join you for dinner?  Don’t mean to overwhelm you with questions, but I’ll appreciate whatever help you can give me. Thanks.

A Royal agent told me that they have discontinued offering the half day pass to the water park. For our Harmony sailing in August, the full day pass is $60 and the cabana is almost $600. 

Thanks to all of you for your help.  I’ve applied and received our C&A numbers, and checked with my TA for the discount. It’s so good to know that the Cruise Critic community is always here and ready to give good advice!

We are Elite status cruisers on Celebrity who will be taking our granddaughter on Harmony this summer. I have heard that Royal honors Celebrity status, but I’m it sure how much that entails. Would appreciate hearing from others who have been in the same boat (so to speak) as to whether we can expect the elite cocktail hour, the free internet, the disembarkation Lounge, etc.  Thanks for your help!

Does the Rendevous Lounge still have its dance floor?  I’ve seen reports that the dance floor is gone, but the photo looks as though it still exists. Would hate to see it go, since we love dancing there every evening. 

2 hours ago, mfs2k said:

Does Celebrity ever discount the cost to upgrade from Classic to Premium Beverage package?  Currently $11.80 per day per person.  I sail in 7 1/2 weeks.   Should I pay for it now with my OBC posted to my account, or wait and see?  

I was able to upgrade the drink package at a 25% discount for my upcoming Edge cruise. X emailed offers a few times for discounted excursions and packages. I don’t know if they do it for every cruise, though. 

I didn’t put a photo in my documents at the time I completed the online check-in. Does anyone know whether it can be added after the fact?  If so, how?  Thanks for the help. 

You’ll not be alone if you choose to dress up, though you will probably be in the minority. I still wear dresses and heels every night of the cruise, with cocktail dresses on chic nights, and my husband wears a sport coat every evening with a dinner jacket on chic nights. 

17 hours ago, vtcruising said:

We haven’t danced yet but have seen others dancing in Grand Plaza. I think there’s more room than on S Class in the 

Grand Foyer. They have had some dance events at the Club and at the Roof Top Garden. My DH has seen people dancing in Eden when there is music there.  I’ll keep an eye out for other options. 🙂

Thanks for your quick response, VT. We’re all lucky to have you as our Edge attaché. 

14 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

We were on the Edge Inaugural, Dec. 9th. One day we had lunch in the Oceanview Cafe. The cushions on the chairs in the section where we were eating were blue. There was a couple at a table next to us who complained to a server that there were stains on the cushions.

It doesn’t make any difference what color seat cushions are unless they are black... stains will show. 

On 1/22/2019 at 12:44 AM, vtcruising said:

Well, I have to say Grand Plaza was less mellow for part of the evening. The Reckless Charms played a set , which was great, but people were talking a lot. We were short some seats for everyone who wanted to be there (around 5:45-6:15). Service was still good - I must have been asked 4 times in 10 minutes if I needed a drink. In between sets of live music they did play annoying canned music that was moderate in loudness. We could have left to see good live music in the Club or RTG so didn't need to stay there, but it was close to our dinner reservation time so stayed. We did like the Martini Bar light and bartender show, which was loud, but lots of fun (about 6 minutes long). Later the duo and then the Reckless Charms were back for another great set so lots of good music there, but I think the Grand Plaza mellowness will depend upon the night. At least there are more choices now. 🙂 Will keep reporting back...

Thanks for the great commentary; you’ve answered a lot of questions for lots of people. Here’s mine:  How’s the dancing?  Is there a dance floor in the grand plaza, and is it used?  It looks from the daily you posted that the Club has dancing (ballroom?) for one hour at 8:30, but that unfortunately is the same time as our dinner reservations. Any other dance options?

We are planning a June western Caribbean cruise on either Oasis or NCL Breakaway for our 12 year old granddaughter. My husband and I have cruised many times, but this will be the first time on a mega ship, so I have some concerns. Are there generally long lines and wait times for the activities such as water slides and ice skating at that time of year (when I assume there will be more kids on board)? Do the activities that would appeal to a tween have extra charges attached? If so, what are the fees? And how many of the dining venues are complimentary aside from the MDR? I have a feeling that reality on these ships is a bit different from the website descriptions, but would love to hear from those with experience.

Thanks, vtcruising and SNJcruisers, for the clarification. Unfortunately, we’re in our less-preferred configuration but there are no others to switch to in Concierge class. Oh, well, it’s a small detail that won’t spoil the cruise.

For AQ Infinite balc...I'd say bed by bathrm is better, it gives a more spacious feel ..we goofed and booked the bed by balc. .you can tell by the little notches on the deck plans..It was too late to change..not that many AQ staterooms and few are obstructed view...

I see the notches on the deck plans, but which is which? If the notch is at the top, is the bed next to the balcony or the bathroom? We, too, prefer the bed next to the bath but when we booked this cruise more than a year ago, they had no information on the room setup.

I’ve just returned from a med cruise on Riviera. What we observed is that about half the women dressed for the evening in dresses and heels, and about 20% of the men wore jackets, no ties. The majority of men were in button down dress shirts and pressed pants. This applies to those who were in the main dining room and specialty restaurants; we didn’t see those in the buffet.

Thanks for the quick and helpful response.

We're also spending the night in Nice and planning to take either the train or one of the buses to Monaco. If we take the bus (longer but more scenic), will we be able to get a taxi at the bus stop in Monaco? I know it's a short walk to the pier, but not sure we want to drag our luggage. I assume there are taxis at the train station, correct?

Thank you for sharing the information about dancing. We are dance lovers (ballroom, Latin, and swing) about to take our first Oceania cruise this fall on Riviera. One of the things we like about Celebrity, which has been our line of choice, is the opportunity to dance to some really good bands both before and after dinner (especially on the Millenium class ships with the Rendezvous lounge), and I was concerned that we might not find something equivalent on Riviera. It sounds as though I needn't worry. I'm so glad I found your post; it's difficult to find reviews that mention ships' dance venues and the quality of the music for ballroom. We dancers should start a forum to rate various ships and bands.

What is the "pour" on Celebrity? In figuring whether a bottle is a better value, it helps to know whether the glass will deliver a chintzy 5 ounces, a moderate 6 ounces, or a generous more-than-that.

Thanks for your observations and for all the work you've done.