indy406

Just guessing here, but maybe no food is available for extended stay passengers because the crew shuts down the OVC and other dining venues for cleaning, etc., between cruises.

Blu is the designated restaurant for all Aqua Class passengers.

It seems certain that large cruise ship access to Norway's fjords is going to be banned beginning in 2026. I'm wondering if Celebrity's M, S and E class ships will be allowed into the fjords in 2025? I see the itineraries but can't be sure if they're going into the fjords or are going to drop anchor or dock somewhere and it will be a bus trip to an overlook. It would be nice to know before putting down a deposit.

I think yes. All-in is becoming prohibitively expensive. Next time we'll do cruise only and watch for beverage package sales. No good BP sales? We'll hit Elite happy hour, pay for the occasional drink otherwise and be way ahead.

Side note on excursions. We had a food tour booked in Athens last month and had to cancel because my wife twisted her knee. Walking around Athens simply wasn't going to happen. I'd booked the excursion on the X app but the app wouldn't let me cancel. No big deal, I went to the shore excursions desk and it was handled quickly. Not particularly friendly, but quickly. Whatever. I mentioned I'd try to cancel on the app but it wouldn't let me. The shore excursions guy, a supervisor, told me "if we let people cancel on the app they'd be canceling right and left." Oh.

We're just back from our 10th X cruise, all AQ. We pay the extra mostly because of Blu. This trip (11 nights on Infinity) our waiter always was ready with the MDR menu. We did a lot of mixing and matching, a little from one, a little from the other. Once nothing much appealed and I had all appetizers. Escargot, shrimp cocktail and French onion soup makes for a nice meal. They really make it easy, especially when you can check the menus on the app earlier in the day. Nothing looks good? Put on a pair of shorts and head to the OVC. Always something there that works.

We also are looking at Norway in 2025 and prefer the longer cruises. Thing is, we much prefer S-class or M-class ships since they have real balconies. It appears we're out of luck and will be on Apex, unless we abandon Celebrity, the only cruise line we've ever used. Apparently it's time to start shopping around.

The Porch. And be sure to make a reservation. Did I mention make a reservation? We stopped by around 1230 one day and only two tables were occupied. They wouldn't let us in because we didn't have a reservation. I peeked in the place an hour later. Only two tables occupied. Fine. We made a lunch reservation for the next sea day with no problem. Just a few tables occupied and we watched as walk-ins were turned away. Only thing we could figure was they staff the place based on the number of reservations. Anyway, The Porch is my favorite.

I've seen it suggested that gratuities are included in the all-inclusive charge (with classic drink page and wifi) when sailing out of Southampton. Anybody know if this is true?

I think it gave me a seizure.

We've taken probably 10 cruises with Celebrity, all Aqua class. Two TransAtlantics, Panama Canal, Alaska, Baltic, couple Meds and have had exactly one negative experience with the condition of the room. That was our first TransAtlantic, on Reflection. We walked in and found a storage drawer on the floor because of a broken slider, fingernail trimmings on the table and — wait for it — a pair of wadded up dirty underwear under the throw pillow on the couch. I had the room steward in there pronto, things were resolved and I didn't say another word about it to him or anybody else. I think today I'd take the hotel director on a tour of the room.

We've been tempted to visit the LPC but the menus don't seem that interesting for the money charged. It's all about the animation, I guess. Tuscan last year on Reflection wasn't as good as before and neither was Blu. We're on Infinity next week, which is thin on specialty restaurants. We still have $250 in OBC and are full up on shore excursions. It's a good "problem" to have and I'm sure we'll figure a way to spend the credit. Always have before. I sound like an old grouch. Sorry. I'll get over that before next week.

Same here, reset (changed) passwords on both the Website and the app and I again have access. A little unnerving a few days before we sail. I would have appreciated an email from Celebrity giving notice this needed to be done. Thanks to all on CC who provided advice.

We're sailing on Infinity (Greek Islands trip) in a few days and I'm trying to find a phone number to leave with relatives back home if they need reach in an emergency. I see conflicting information on the Celebrity Web site so consider none of it reliable. Does anybody know if a good phone number to reach the Infinity from the U.S. — and yes, we pray this isn't something that will be necessary.

We've been on probably 10 Celebrity cruises, all but one on S class ships. We think they're great. Our next trip is on Infinity and I'm sorta ready for a letdown. No Murano, no Lawn Club, no Porch and we just learned the Persian Garden doesn't have the heated tile loungers. Just some kind of a bench and the PG has no outside view. Those loungers are great. We booked the trip because it was going to Israel and Egypt. Well, we know how that turned out. We could have gotten a refund when it was changed to a Greek Islands cruise but stuck with it. Not whining about Infinity, it's our choice and I'm sure we'll have a good time. No Edge class for us, btw. We love the balcony on M and S class. Final thing: Thanks for your post, Hopefulhawkeye. I too am a Hopeful Hawkeye. Fingers crossed for a National Championship tomorrow.

We eat breakfast at Blu or OVC or the Elite at Tuscan. We have never been asked to show our Sea Pass at the Elite breakfast.

We sail on April 15. The upgrade to Premium is now 25 percent off, meaning $10.99 pp a day for the 11-day cruise. Plus the 20 percent gratuities charge at checkout. No thanks.

The gratuities were a 20-percent add-on at checkout. Not folded into the advertised price.

We were going to upgrade to premium during a sale a couple of days ago. Went to checkout and realized we'd forgotten the 20 percent gratuities charge. Decided no thanks. Killed the upgrade. We'll pay the up charge per drink (use onboard credit) if we want something on the premium package. Won't happen that often so we'll be money ahead. We have an AI package so no gratuities charge on our classic package drinks.

Thanks for the info. I'll keep checking for updates. It would be great to hear your impressions of the ports along the way. Curious to those onboard the Infinity. How did the check-in process go in Athens?

Word of advice, from experience. Be sure to make a reservation if you want to have lunch at The Porch. We decided to stop by on a whim one day last year (Reflection, I think) and were turned away even though the place was only half full. Lots of empty tables, but no entry since we didn't have a reservation. We could only assume they staff the place based on reservations and anything over that can't be handled by the day's kitchen and wait staff. Only thing that made sense. We did make a reservation the next sea day and really enjoyed our lunch. Sure enough, we saw empty tables and people turned away.

I really, really wish I would be allowed to wear a nice pair of shorts and a polo shirt to dinner at Blu. I suppose I could give it a try. Turned away? I could head up to OVC and find myself a fine meal.

Yes, they're warm water lobster, not much flavor and kind of mushy. On the upside, they're small.

The OVC is fine (not too crowded) if you have an early boarding time and the weather isn't great. Warm and sunny? A hot dog and/or cheeseburger and fries outdoors at the Mast Grill is just fine. There's even an ice cream machine.

We did while checking in on the app. It was painless.