ajtaylor29

On 6/9/2024 at 9:32 PM, CruiserQ123 said:

Thank you for re-joining us to answer questions! 

 

Did you go to the comedy shows, seperate from the ones on the theater? How were they? 

 

Do you have any daily schedules you could shares? 

 

Do they make omelets in the oceanview cafe for breakfast? Do you happen know if they use egg powder? 😖

 

It's interesting about the chair hogs, especially in the solarium. On my last RC cruise, the pool staff had cards they put out on chairs that they saw were unoccupied with the time written on it. If you weren't back in a half hour, your belongings were removed and the chair was open to other people. 

I'm not sure how I feel about that or how well it worked. 

 

 

As a frequent RC cruiser (about to do our first Celebrity cruise(s) next May, i can say that i've never seen them putting cards on the empty chairs, or basically doing anything to discourage chair hogs. I think it's very inconsiderate of people to park their belongings on chairs that they won't use for hours, and it's irritating; having said that, it hasn't ruined a cruise for me yet?!?

I just don't know how they can solve the problem. It happens on every ship/every cruise line....

We were in Santorini last year (on Explorer). It is a wonderful place to explore and see all you can see in a day! We weren't able to watch the sunset due to our ship sailaway time (i think it was 8 pm, which means we had to be on board before sunset) but we saw "dusk" from Fira and while riding down the tram.

I don't know about this excursion, but i would suggest that you search in the boards for Greece to find lots of people discussing what they did in Santorini, and reviews of both ship excursions and private companies that can offer different options. Also, look at joining your roll call for this cruise.

Well, i picked a great time to try Celebrity for the first time?!?

Hubby and I are booked for 3 weeks (B2B) next May on Eclipse.

We definitely love our balconies, and for this cruise we have a Celebrity Suite one leg, Sunset Sky Suite the 2nd cruise. We're cruising in northern europe, so not expecting to sit outside and sun for hours like we would on a Caribbean cruise, but still - we expect to use the balconies as much as possible and the idea that we'll only have some uncomfortable chairs to sit on is disappointing!?!

We have 3 upcoming cruises on RC, and as far as i can tell, they have no safety concerns over there with these dangerous loungers.....but i'll report back if i see signs of this policy jumping over to RC!!!!

My thoughts here - this is a brewing cauldron of unhappy customers, and like many other unpopular decisions it will quietly go away in the coming months. Once someone actually listens to the complaints and realizes what a dumb decision this is they will reverse it. Let's all hope so!

22 hours ago, mdcelebrity said:

I am curious about something - no snark intended, genuinely interested:

Is it not possible to get loungers, et al, that are fire retardant?

It is definitely possible. That's my thought as i read thru this long post string.....There are code requirements for hotels, offices, hospitals, casinos, cruise ships, etc - that include requirements for fire safety. If someone is found to have materials that do not meet code, they have to remove them. But then, it is very simple to replace them with items that DO meet code, but that costs money.......oops, could that be the real issue here??!?

Interesting difference between RC and Celebrity (i'm just learning, we've got our first Celebrity cruise(s) booked next year after many on RC).

On RC, if we're staying in a suite, we will be contacted by the suite concierge about 1 week before sailing. They have always been happy to make reservations for us for all specialty dining, then sometimes we tweak it once on board.

We're in suite(s) on our B2B Celebrity cruises, so looking forward to Luminae. And, from the sounds of it the MDR is also good so i'm sure we'll try it out as well. But, since we're on board for 3 weeks, we definitely will want to purchase some specialty dining options, i have time to figure this out! I doubt we'll buy the dining package, maybe just a few nights on each leg.

We sailed on Odyssey for our one and only Star class experience (so far?!) and our genie reserved us the "best" casita (his definition, not mine!) which was right by the main pool, right by the pool bar. We did NOT enjoy it at all! Way too crowded, people walking around us the whole time, scooting their chairs so close to our little roped off area that we could barely stand up.

If we did a casita again we would definitely go for one deck above the pool (that's where most of them are) where you could have a little privacy.

Since we're not huge pool people, we only stayed out there a couple of hours, so i'd say if we'd been paying for it, it wouldn't have been worth it.

But - if you're a group and/or you plan to stay out there most of the day, then i think it WOULD be worth it! No fighting for chairs, or position.

I think you can pre-purchase it, then when you board you go to the activities desk or the excursion desk and ask for them to reserve the one you want.

And yes, if going to the Solarium you might have to get there early, depending on the weather outside....

You should be able to tap the slider at various amounts and decide where you want to land. We usually try slightly more than the minimum....then as it gets closer to sail date my hubby starts raising our bids....?!? Still don't think there's a rhyme or reason why we win sometimes and some times not....? I'm sure there's a formula to it but who knows what that is. 🙂

Just now, DaKahuna said:

 

 Correct.  A Suite comes with Premium Beverage Package and Premium WiFi. 

 There are no laundry perks if you are in a Sky or Celebrity Suite.  There is laundry with the upper suites. 

 

 

 The Premium Beverage Package that comes with the Retreat includes coffee's. 

 

thank you! I was looking for that info and couldn't find it!!

38 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

If you are in a suite , most of the perks are irrelevant 

in a Suite you are getting a drink package and wifi already 

I don’t know if you get laundry as part of being in a suite 

google captain club benefits to see them all 

Oh that's right. I forgot - we get the drink package but not dining package (other than luminae) see, I need a coffee package always!! ❤️ 

We're new to Celebrity (first cruise(s) next May. We're about to achieve D+ next month on RC, so i'm happy to see the new status match but still a little fuzzy on what our perks will be.

We're going to be in a suite (retreat) on Eclipse, so we have those "perks" as well....

but as i understand it, on Celebrity - we still may need to consider a drink package since the only free drinks will be at HH, correct?

And, one free coffee a day in a specialty restaurant?

And 2 bags of laundry?

I read it, and agree that his assignment was to write an entertaining article about how silly everything is on a giant cruise ship, and he succeeded in doing that! It WAS well-written (i'll give him that) but of course was so off the mark for this audience (those of us who love to cruise) as to be laughable.

No one could have such a bad time unless they were really trying (which he was).

It was just the sort of fluff piece that gets cited by non-cruisers as "see, this is why i will NEVER get on a ship"......But those of us who know, know. Don't we??? 🙂

Every vacation we take the weather forecast looms with doom about storms, total rainouts, etc. and i swear every single time we have perfect weather on our trip!!! So, keep your fingers crossed but DON'T change your plans. That's become our motto, because it seems to always turn out well.

just adding my 2 cents here. We were on Odyssey (our one and only (so far!) Star class sailing, and our genie reserved a casita for us right next to the pool and the pool bar. We personally were not fans. It was so crowded that we constantly felt like people were encroaching on our "space" ie pushing their chairs right up next to us, walking back and forth and around us. A couple of times we had to ask people to please move out of our designated area so we could at least stand up?! Bar service was great. But, i will say if we do it again, i would prefer the Casita's one deck up so you get a little space....and like someone else mentioned - at that point, there are usually plenty of chairs available all over without paying the casita price.

Now, if we ever sail Star class again and the Casita is free - well, sure!!

I have to wait a year, but i'll be doing this cruise next year on Eclipse. Will be following along!!

we've loved every cruise we've been on (some more than others!) so i say go and enjoy it!

There are a lot of people who complain no matter which ship they're on....and some of us who can have a great time on any ship!

We're often on older, smaller ships because we're sailing for the itinerary and in many cases those are the ships that take some of the most interesting routes.

If we just want to cruise to anywhere/anytime - like here comes Cozumel again! - then we'll try to pick a new, big ship.

I love them all. Have fun!

No photo, but I've had it and really enjoyed it!

I'm copying a post i made earlier today on RC's page, same problems happening there too:

We've been having issues for months, with both RC and Celebrity sites. I haven't had to reset my password, but i do have to log in EVERY time i go to their website (it used to keep me logged in).

My husband has the problem some others have described, where he clicks on something within the cruise planning and it kicks him out; he logs back in over and over and gets frustrated and just gives up?!

I've reported to RC and don't get any response.

I've also noticed this problem: we use a password manager, and normally you can click on the link in the PW manager site and it will automatically take you to the website AND auto log you in. But, it doesn't work anymore for RC/Celebrity. I wrote to my PW manager help desk to ask them about it, they quickly responded to say they're aware of the problem and are working to fix it on their end....but it's definitely an issue on RC's end.

I have NO idea what this means (i am definitely not a techy!) but for what it's worth, here is their response:

"You're correct, and we've previously identified issues with autofilling on the website. The page is using shadow-root, and that's causing the issue here"

SO, it looks like until RC addresses these issues and fixes their configuration, we're all going to continue to have problems....sigh....

there's another thread going with people talking about all the issues they're having with RC and Celebrity websites. You are not alone!!!

We've been having issues for months, with both RC and Celebrity sites. I haven't had to reset my password, but i do have to log in EVERY time i go to their website (it used to keep me logged in).

My husband has the problem some others have described, where he clicks on something within the cruise planning and it kicks him out; he logs back in over and over and gets frustrated and just gives up?!

I've reported to RC and don't get any response.

I've also noticed this problem: we use a password manager, and normally you can click on the link in the PW manager site and it will automatically take you to the website AND auto log you in. But, it doesn't work anymore for RC/Celebrity. I wrote to my PW manager help desk to ask them about it, they quickly responded to say they're aware of the problem and are working to fix it on their end....but it's definitely an issue on RC's end.

I have NO idea what this means (i am definitely not a techy!) but for what it's worth, here is their response:

"You're correct, and we've previously identified issues with autofilling on the website. The page is using shadow-root, and that's causing the issue here"

SO, it looks like until RC addresses these issues and fixes their configuration, we're all going to continue to have problems....sigh....

We've eaten at Wonderland twice.

my personal opinion: the venue on Symphony is beautiful,the 2 story space with a wall of glass looking out over the ship! it adds to the whole dining experience! We loved the cocktails, loved our server, enjoyed most of the dishes we tried (some more than others, of course!)

But, on Odyssey, the restaurant space is not the same, and to me it felt like just another restaurant. Dark, low ceiling, just nothing really memorable about it. Not good, not bad. But, it also contributed to us feeling, well, just not as magical and fun as we did when we dined on Symphony.

Would be dine at Wonderland again? Sure, if we are travelling with others who have never been for sure. But, if it's just me and hubby, probably not. There are so many other dining choices that i like better on the Oasis class ships.

One tip, tho - you can always go into the bar and have a drink without dining there! We did that on last Symphony cruise, and we all loved the cocktails!

29 minutes ago, ajtaylor29 said:

Hmmm, i guess i need to do some research and figure out what's going on with these upcharges? At some point, if all the specialty restaurants have upcharges....then what's the point of an "unlimited" dining package?!?

We don't always get UDP, but if on an older ship that doesn't have Coastal Kitchen we usually do....

Coming back to comment on my own dumb post. (i can't figure out how to delete or i'd do that?!?)

I don't think anything has changed, i must have read wrong....

I understand that there has always been an upcharge to dine at Teppenyaki (hibachi) grille. We've paid it before and i don't have a problem with that - it's an entertaining meal/event that we enjoy when we go but we don't go every cruise!

The other specialty restaurants are still all included. I do understand that with both Izumi sushi and Playmakers there is a food credit allowed per day. We've eaten at both venues multiple times and i don't think we've ever exceeded the daily amount!

Hmmm, i guess i need to do some research and figure out what's going on with these upcharges? At some point, if all the specialty restaurants have upcharges....then what's the point of an "unlimited" dining package?!?

We don't always get UDP, but if on an older ship that doesn't have Coastal Kitchen we usually do....

20 hours ago, Tom47 said:

We are on the Best of Scandinavia, May 9-22, 25.  There is a roll call for our cruise if you are interested.   See   

 

thank you! yes, i will definitely join the group!

We were also torn between these 2 cruises and finally decided to do both!! 

Our first Celebrity cruise(s), our first B2B. SO excited!

And glad we have a year to plan as there are a LOT of ports so a lot of decisions to figure out!

2 hours ago, D. B. said:

I was just on Eclipse a few weeks ago. Around the bottom of South America.

  I did see a few indications of wear that should be addressed but overall the ship (and my Concierge cabin) were fine.

  I would sail on Eclipse tomorrow with no worries.

I love the M and S class ships as they are less crowded and less Glitzy than newer ships.

 

Thanks! I love to hear this!

We've sailed on older RC and Carnival ships, also the new, bright shiny RC ships. Love them all! 

While i do enjoy some of the variety on the bigger ships, we also seldom take advantage of all the bells and whistles (no slides, flowriders, go-carts needed for us!)

We tend to take the new big ships when the itinerary doesn't really matter (what? Cozumel again you say? Ok Sure!!! Let's go cruising!) But, when we sail for a special itinerary like this one, what's most important is a good cabin, great crew and a few good dining options. I'm sure we're going to have a great time!