cibumcupio

Hmm, maybe it was just my college that it was popular then. And my grad school. Seriously, had no idea that it wasn't that popular everywhere. At my undergrad a cappella concerts were some of the most attended events, with girls swooning over all the soloists. When I first heard the group on Celebrity, it immediately reminded me of college. As did the buffet. And how much people were interested in meeting other people. It's like orientation week in college.

Oh, I always thought the a cappella groups were part of their thing to appeal to younger cruisers. I mean, a cappella is very popular in college, and these groups on the ship would bring back memories of college for those in their 20s and 30s.

Celebrity Summit or Explorer of the Seas from New Jersey to Bermuda. Correct me if I'm wrong, but only northeast sailings go to Bermuda, so it's more special since you can't do it from elsewhere. And the Bayonne port isn't far from New York. It's basically the same bay, facing the Statue of Liberty. And you can see the NYC port from the Bayonne port to. So the NYC port and the Bayonne port are basically both NYC ports, one on one side of NYC, and one on the other.

Qsine on Celebrity as well. It was so good that it made us book a Celebrity cruise again, and made sure that whichever ship we booked had Qsine on her.

And don't forget the large chunk of time devoted to food. Breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, dinner, afternoon tea! But seriously, meals are serious business on cruises. Breakfast can be getting room service on your balcony or going to Blu. Lunch can be the main dining room for a sit down meal, the buffet, the aqua spa cafe, or crepes at Bistro on 5. Then some afternoon pastries at Cafe al Bacio. Then you dress for dinner, and there's a great show and then a nice leisurely meal. Highlight of the day. At least for me. Oh, and don't miss the beautiful brunch on one of the sea days.

On my first cruise I was very surprised by how much there is to do on sea days, even apart from eating. There are so many different bars, the pool, the other pool, the hot tubs, basketball and jogging, cooking demos, ship tours, trivia, games, entertaining lectures, scavenger hunts, dance classes. And if you're into these things, the spa, the casino, the gym, language classes. And also the daily evening show. At night, walking the decks, looking at the stars, music in the lounges. I remember there was so much going on that I only made it to the hot tub once.

Really? Cool. So about 2.5 hours is enough to travel to and visit both forts? We were thinking of just walking to El Morro so we won't feel too rushed.

Food/Restaurant Reviews – Different Stokes For Different Folks

 

Reviews regarding food is very subjective and in most respects come down to something other than just food alone like:

• A person’s international experiences of different cultures and cuisines will influence a review.
  
• It is a matter of expectations. If expectations are low there is a probability of a good review if the expectations are high there is a probability of a poor review.
  
• An individuals level of education will also influence a review
  
• An individuals level of income will influence a review
  
• Individuals who entertain clients on a regular basses in 5-Star restaurants with unrestricted expense accounts will influence their review.
  
• The type and quality of food a person eats in their day-to-day lives will influence a review
  
• Quality of food from the embarkation port plays a large factor in food quality
  
• Length of the cruise is a factor
  
• One should also factor luck into the equation
  
• Last but not least it is just that everyone is different. I for one do not like fast foods and routinely avoid restraints without white tablecloths.
  
• I certainly do not appreciate hamburgers or pizza’s when a full breakfast and 5-course lunches & dinners are being served.
  

Our personal favorite is of course is the “Murano”.

Thank you. That's one of the best elaborations of the "food is subjective" comment I have read. That is why for me it is helpful for people to give a little bit of background in their reviews before they talk about the food. Or to describe the food rather than say it was good, it was bland, etc.

I'm sure all of the Celebrity specialty restaurants are good. They have to please so many people every week, so nothing will be really bad. Just people have different opinions on what makes something exceptional. I would love to try all of the specialty restaurants eventually, but right now I think Qsine and Murano appeals to us the most. We love to cook, so when we go out to eat, we tend to go to places that has food that we cannot make at home. So that means tapas places, ethnic places, and higher end dining. For medical reasons, I also cannot eat very much so I love places that give you lots of little things to try. Because of this, I loved loved loved Qsine. Lawn Club Grill looks fun, but it's lower on our priorities because we do make pizza regularly at home, and DH is from Texas so he grills a mean steak.

I've searched through this forum and it has been very helpful so far. I still have a few questions though:

1) We will be docking from 3-10pm on the Reflection, and the forts close at 6pm and sunset is around 6pm too. Do we have time to visit both forts or should we pick only one?

2) If we do have to pick, which you would you prefer? El Morro or San Cristobal?

3) When you buy the tickets, do you decide then if you will be visiting one or both? As in, if we buy for one, and later find out that we do have extra time and want to go to the other one, can we just pay another $2?

4) Since there isn't much time, would it be faster to walk or take the trolley? We're both fit and would like the exercise, but timing might dictate which one we do.

Thanks all!

This is just sounds really odd. How can you be away the week before your wedding? Most brides are so busy that last week dealing with last minute stuff that inevitably comes up, and welcoming the family that start to come in. Even if they did mean to stop in Grand Cayman, wouldn't they have at least waited a few days after that to have to wedding? I mean, rehearsal dinner, etc all takes time. Also almost a week long bachelorette party? Why would she want to be away from her groom for so long? This all just seems wrong.

Could the short staffing also have something to do with the recent typhoon in the Philippines? Maybe some of the Filipino staff went home.

I think there aren't as many posts on her because she sails mainly in europe and south america now, and most posters on cruisecritic are from north america. Also, she's Millenium class, and most posts nowadays are on the solstice class ships. More people, and more questions on solstice.

We were on Infinity last summer and it was wonderful. Food was great. Shows were great. The cabin was beautiful.

Even if there aren't many children on board, I feel like RCI has a lot more parties. Like 70s parties, pool parties, Quest, basically loud and rambunctious activities every night. I think that's what some people mean by nightlife, and so they would complain about the lack of nightlife on Celebrity and other lines. If these things don't appeal to you, then you would probably not enjoy Royal Caribbean as much. In any case, a cruise is a cruise and you can still do what you like. You can always try it and see.

Loving you review so far. Sad that you didn't get to try more desserts from the MDR, and the ones you did try you didn't think were as good. I actually thought the Celebrity desserts are a notch above Royal Caribbean's. Especially the creme brulee. Mmm.

Also, what did your in-laws think of cruising since it was their first time?

Can't wait to start reading your review. I loved your other one. What did you think of Celebrity desserts? I know you cruise for desserts :D.

Thanks so much! Sounds like a great option for us. We like to get there early as well!

Oh cool, I see that you are on the Reflection a week before us. Have a great time!

We are also in the same situation (Staying at The Atlantic which is not in the "surrounding area" according to all the shuttle services I've contacted)

 

Thanks for the info. I will contact him as well for our cruise in Jan.

 

If you don't mind me asking....

What type car are you being picked up with?

Is that rate for 2 pp?

What was earliest he will pick up?

We're getting a towncar, and this is the rate for 2 people. It's the same rate no matter how many people you have, though I guess if you have a lot more it's a different vehicle. You can decide when you want to be picked up, and we chose 9:30am. It seems like they can do any time. This is the main reason we went with this option instead of the other shuttle which does pick ups at 12pm. Just really excited to get onto the ship as soon as possible :)

Explorer $349 inside to Bermuda. Plus $75 OBC. That was probably the greatest deal we will ever see.

If you're doing this on your own instead through a reputable agency, I don't think that's a good idea. Giving things away is not necessarily helping people. First of all, it can be really insulting to the local culture. Also, you don't know exactly what they need. You're giving them what YOU think they need, which unless you are very familiar with their society, needs, issues will probably not be helpful. Also like the last poster said, you can create unintended consequences such as teaching children to beg or wait for handouts, which they most likely will sell, etc.

It reminds me of a scene from The King and I, where the King of Siam decides to send President Lincoln 50 male elephants to help him in the war, because how you can win a war without elephants?

Just booked Larry's Limo for $84, including tip. I'm very happy, because I think a taxi would have been about the same, or more. In the end, we were deciding on taxi to shuttle vs the shuttle from our hotel at 12pm vs just a taxi. But taxi to shuttle would have been complicated, and not that cheap. And the shuttle at 12pm is later than we would like to get there. Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions. We can't wait; only about a month away!

Have you also considered Alaska? Or Norway or Scandinavia cruise? You will be in the middle of summer, and the Mediterranean and most cruise locations will be blazing hot. The northern cruises also tend to have a good mix of sea days and port days, and the scenery while you are on the ship is beautiful.

Also nothing like looking at mountains and glaciers while sitting in a hot tub on deck.

The buffet on the Lido deck is the only place for lunch on Embarkation day.

No, that's not true. The buffet (Oceanview), AquaSpa Cafe, Cafe Al Bacio, and Poolside grill are all open for lunch on embarkation day. As well as Bistro on Five and The Porch, both for $5.

I know you must be feeling disappointed, but think of it from their point of view. Almost none of the crew celebrate Thanksgiving, and they probably don't know anything about what to do for it other than what directives come from the top about it. So they only know, okay on this one day a year, we have to cook this turkey, and have some sort of pie for dessert, etc. for the MDR and because it's this American holiday called Thanksgiving and so that's what they want. And every year it will fall on a different day of the cruise, so a different port day or sea day or something so what you do for it is hardly set in stone. It's not they have lots of practice doing this all time since every year it will be different, and since the crew are not inherently familiar with the traditions, no one will "catch" that the buffet doesn't have Thanksgiving food.

Imagine that you own some sort of hotel in America and this big chinese tour group was coming through. You heard from management that it's the Lunar Festival and so you look it up a little, and put up signs saying Happy Lunar Festival and even make some traditional dishes in the hotel restaurant. Then the tourists complain that you didn't gift everyone with mooncakes, that you didn't allow for a proper place in the hotel to gaze at the moon, that you didn't make a certain dish available as well, and so on. We would say that those tourists just don't get it, and maybe are a bit ungrateful and rude.

All in all, it's a simple mistake, and it's easy to see how they did it. And you really can't fault them too much for it. And plus, you get to be in Hawaii for Thanksgiving! And you can still do the "being thankful" part of a traditional Thanksgiving.

Another person here who booked the last cruise with points in mind. No, of course we don't cruise for points, just like I don't go to my local ice cream shop with my punch card just to have them punch my card. But it's still a bit like pulling the rug out from under us if I buy an ice cream and you tell me this kind of ice cream doesn't get a punch anymore, or only gets half a punch. I still want the ice cream, and of course you don't have to give me anything extra. But when I have paid as much as I have paid for a cruise, it would be nice if you honored what you originally said when we paid.

So yes, we did book CC for our next cruise because of the cruise point. I mean, we are actually one of those who do enjoy the little extras that come with it, like the flowers and the upgraded breakfast menu and priority embarkation. Not enough to pay lots for it, but that when combined with the extra cruise point made it worthwhile to pay just a little more for it, especially when after this cruise we will be in the next level. Now we will not be. Oh well.

I like the new system, I really do. But like a lot of people are saying here, it would have been nice for them to only apply the new system to people who paid in full only after the announcement. I don't want them to give us the option of cancelling our cruise. I just want them to give us what they originally said they would give us. Again, I understand that they don't have to, but it would definitely earn them just a little more goodwill.

Is there a waiting time between drinks though? Like, do you have to wait a certain amount of time before you get your next drink?

Here, this thread with the daily schedule on the Reflection might be helpful in determining if the night life is what you want:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1754908&highlight=celebrity+today+reflection

There's quite a bit of music at night.