AstoriaPreppy

Akureyri is a dock, not a tender, which helps. Re: timing, it's important to remember that Iceland at that time of year has like 16-17 hours of daylight, and there's no real closing time for sites... so you're basically able to push the touring as long as you're comfortable. We were docked from 11 am - 8 pm, and didn't feel rushed at all, even with going to Dettifoss which is 2 hours from Akureyri.

That's the one. It's walkable, but just be aware that the walk is up a hill, and then back down the hill descending to the rental agency. There's sidewalks, but we were a bit of a sweaty mess on finally getting to the rental agency at the end of the walk.

I'd make the case that having a rental was totally worth it. Even at $350, the only additional expense ends up being gas. You're on your schedule, and TBH we really appreciated being able to venture to places even private tours wouldn't go (Dettifoss, etc). That money seemed totally worth it when we realized we both beat the tour buses to Dynjandi waterfall, and also had a full day ahead of us (instead of just back to the ship). Iceland is exceedingly easy to navigate on your own, and very tourist friendly. There's also not a ton of cultural interpretation required at most sites (it's not a European "what is this ruin I'm looking at?" thing). I'd recommend picking up Rick Steve's Iceland guide. We found this invaluable in helping us plot out our excursion days, along with our post-cruise stay in Reykjavik.

We used the Holdur branch of Europcar, which is a major rental agency in Iceland and Europe in general. The Reykjavik branch was a full-service location: toilets, coffee, etc. The prices were significantly better than Budget/Avis, and the cars were better as well. We also rented from Europcar in Akureyri and Isafjordur, but these were satellite locations. Akureyri was in a shipping container near the port that was unmanned when we arrived (they thought we came in on the Princess ship earlier and had left when we didn't pick up the car). We had to call and wait for someone to come out and give us the contracts/keys. Isafjordur in a hotel lobby a block or two from the tender pier: we told the front desk we were here for a Europcar rental and a guy showed up with keys and a CC machine. Pro tip: rental agencies provide a booklet about driving in Iceland when renting. I'd highly recommend reading and processing before driving, especially regarding one-lane bridges, roundabouts and livestock.

Free coffee and donuts?

I just want to echo this comment re: Mazatlan. We were on the same itinerary in February, and many passengers had worked themselves up to a level of hysteria regarding the stop. We were shocked at how tourist-friendly and monitored the blue line was, including the areas toward the malecon along the ocean. Police officers every block or two, and tons of American expats (usually old guys) acting as volunteers along the route. It ended up being absolutely the best port stop on the cruise!

Celebrity just got called out in a CBS News report for being amongst the most whale-unfriendly cruise lines on the West Coast. I'm assuming this itinerary change has something to do with that: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whale-safe-ship-collisions-new-technology/

We were on the Solstice a few weeks ago, and our balcony faced the pier on returning. Self-disembarkation definitely was happening around 7:30 am... which I remember because we made a point to get to the MDR for breakfast by 7:45 before it closed. Global Entry was not being used in the World Cruise Center in San Pedro, and with the very reduced capacity on these sailings, it doesn't really matter. Customs screening was done by facial recognition: unless the tablets in the terminal flagged you, there was no interaction with a customs agent. We didn't stop moving from the second we walked off the ship to the second we got to the curb. Ever group was called for disembarkation around 9 am on our sailing. An officer came to Cafe al Bacio and had to clear stragglers (us) out. Re: self-disembarkation, I'd suggest trying to keep it to self-manageable, cary-on type bags. You can certainly use the elevator, but dragging a 50 pound bag down the gangway is a bad idea. Alternatively, you could set your bags out the night before and ask guest services for an early color tag? There's not a ton of people on these sailings so there's a lot of flexibility there. Re: Uber... where are you going? If it's somewhere further away or more expensive, you have a better chance of getting a car.

everyone on Cruise Critic:

(ed. note, this website is regularly the worst place on the internet) As Whitney would say: "show me the receipts!" Well, here's my dining room assignment from 2019. Feel free to pull up the deck plans. Just remember, I'm only here to lie and convince people to fork over their money to get into a cabin with no functional HVAC system, because that's a thing people do on cruise critic 🤷‍♂️ Because that makes it a balcony... you can 1) either open the window and have the HVAC shut off, or you can 2) open the window + close the accordion doors to make it function like a normal balcony. keeping the heating cooling on in the rest of the stateroom. And you don't have to keep the accordion doors closed for the AC/heat to function normally... only with the window open.

Fair. I do live in NY, which is known for having low standards for food and beverage service across the board 😂

Why would I possibly lie about this? If I wanted to troll people on Cruise Critic, I would start topics about how the buffet is horrible, or room service fees.

I will reiterate this until I drop dead: there is no way you went to guest services and they didn't tell you to just close the accordion doors to keep the AC on. If the heating or cooling doesn't function when the accordion doors are closed, it's a maintenance issue or user error... not how the stateroom is designed to work. I sailed the Edge in Europe in 2019 during the heat wave, and they were repeatedly reminding us to close the accordion doors to keep the HVAC on in the room. These cabins would not be usable without that functionality. Imagine being in Alaska and not having the heat stay on in the room every time someone opened their verandah?!

Well, I can't tell you to contact maintenance to fix if you're no longer onboard ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Again, the AC/heat is designed to stay on if the accordion doors are closed... if it doesn't, something is broken. This was clearly noted when we sailed in an infinite verandah... there was a sign that said "close the doors to keep the AC on" or something similar.

Again, if you close the accordion doors to the room while the infinite verandah is open, the room AC stays on.

2023, less than two weeks ago. We were *fully* expecting a sky-is-falling experience based on the reports on cruise critic.... and were shocked when it didn't happen. The only thing that was tangible as a change from the past was not having the room service scrambled eggs included for breakfast without a charge. Knowing how hit/miss these can be, we decided not to risk it. Otherwise, things were great: bars were fully staffed by competent crew, our room steward was excellent and meticulous (wrapping up usb-c cables on the desk, etc), and the entertainment staff was all over the place making sure people were engaged/not.

TBH, I'm completely perplexed by all of these panic-inducing posts about Celebrity being markedly worse in every way. We just disembarked a few weeks ago, and nothing (nothing) was a deal-breaker in terms of comparing Celebrity's current offerings with other lines. The MDR was fully staffed, food was hot and well-prepared, and there were plenty of options. We ate in both Tuscan and Murano. Murano, specifically, was spectacular... both the food and service were excellent, and not noticeably different from our past experiences there. At breakfast and lunch, the buffet was fully staffed and serving a full range of dishes... there appeared to be almost no cutbacks there. We didn't do the buffet for dinner, but it appeared to have a range of options.I can't speak to the very specific issue of getting a cooked to order steak for dinner in the buffet, which seems to be a deal breaker for the vast majority of people posting here. The only place I noticed a staffing issue on the ship was in the casino, where they now offer free drinks while playing. There was only one drink server working the room for the entire casino, and he seemed quite busy.

You can order drinks via the app, which is linked to your account. If you order using the app, the medallion allows a server to triangulate and serve you... so the medallion tells the server you're sitting at X location in X venue. Then the order is sent to the nearest bar/service bar for quicker delivery. Alternatively, you can order drinks traditionally, either walking up to a bar, or with a server. If you walk up to the bar, the medallion triggers at that venue automatically. Wandering servers have handheld devices. Instead of telling the bartender or server your room or folio number, or handing over your card, your image just pops up on a point of sale tablet because of your proximity. Usually, the server will say "John, right?" just to make sure they're charging the correct account.

Compared to the MDR, the food and sauces are definitely lighter. Lots more fish, shellfish than the MDR, and more veg-forward than Luminae. Still a red meat option each evening, and certainly most cruisers can find options on the menu to enjoy. If you're looking for a steak-forward experience, you'd probably need to be dining in Tuscan on most ships or Fine Cut on E-class.

If you want ordering drinks via an app, you'll need to head to Princess... although if you talk to most of their (older) passengers, no one can figure out the system and they just end up screaming their cabin number at servers.

MoveUp has been wonky for me lately. My email to unlock one upcoming voyage took them more than a week to respond to.

It's also worth pointing out that Blu is a "clean cuisine" restaurant. They generally offer lighter, and more veg/healthful options than what you'd get in the MDR/Luminae.

This hasn't been my experience with the medallion (at all)... we never told a server our room number once on our Princess cruise last year. The technology is spectacular: you can order food/beverages/alcohol anywhere on the ship via your phone, and a server will find you, wherever you are. This includes your room. When you walk up to a bar, you don't hand over anything... your face just pops up on their POS system and you get your drink. The WiFi coverage is spectacular... solid, and FAST. It actually flags the room attendant when you're out of the room, so they know when to do housekeeping/turndown. It's really some of the most impressive technology I've ever seen on a ship, and you're doing it wrong if it's just an alternative keycard.

Sorry you were disappointed, but I tend to take "it's like Carnival" feedback on CC with a grain of salt. Carnival has easily the best burgers, tacos, barbecue and fast casual food in the industry, hands down. While the product may not be for everyone, it's literally the one thing they're known for.

I think it's important to remember the niche of the niche of cruisers that Cruise Critic boards ends up being. A great example of this would be Infinite Verandahs. Reading CC, you'd believe them to be like living in a cave, a total miss, and sure to bring down the cruising industry. Oddly, this has not been the case with the general public, who tend to love the rooms. They've been so successful that Royal Caribbean is porting them over to their next new build... the general public loves them, and ~250ish frequent posters on CC hate them! You do the math. As I've mentioned before, I've talked to celebrity execs at some industry events, and CC tends to get a big eye roll, exactly for those reasons. The thing they *do* take seriously are comment cards, and unless passengers provide feedback on those surveys on issues onboard, things are unlikely to change. In many ways, these boards are the long tail of cruising... a tiny segment of a wide audience. Until these concerns reach that wider audience, it's a moot point.