expattraveler

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Fantastic to have you along.    Were you away on a Cruise?    While it is always fun to be away It is always nice to get back to you own bed.

No not this time. We were on a land trip to Japan. One of our of our top destinations. Although very hot we thoroughly enjoyed our month there.

Wishing you and lain a great new adventure on Ponant!

On 9/1/2023 at 2:17 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

Iain and I will be embarking on our first Non-Celebrity Cruise in 22 years a week from today.  

 

We have been very satisfied with Celebrity and never seen a need to cruise another line because Celebrity was a perfect match for us.   Celebrity has made some major changes in the past 1 1/2- 2 Years and finally reached the point for us to say -  Loyalty is a two way street.    Kinda like catching your spouse cheating we have come to conclude it is  time for a trail separation and possibly a divorce.   

 

It may take me awhile to get sorted out on how I am going to post a comparison between Ponant and Celebrity and Live Post at the same time.    Ponant is a  totally different products.

 

Ponant's Cruise Critic Forum https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/846-ponant/  is also very different to the very popular and free ranging Celebrity Forum.   Ponant's forum is only 15 pages long and their are no Roll Calls.      Most live post only run 1 or 2 pages and have very little banter.   For this reason I want to be respectful of their Forum and at the same time

drive some of you to visit Ponant's Forum and understand their product offering.

Jim,

Just returned to the US and saw you live review. As always looking forward to following your and lian’s travels.

Absolutely love your analogy 😂😂!

All the best….

4 hours ago, TommyD3 said:

Have taken over 165 Celebrity cruises over the last 30 years.Double Zenith. Kids are triple Zenith with over 200 Celebrity cruises each.

Have about a dozen Celebrity future cruises booked. Will not book anymore for about a year to see what the future changes are. If they reduce the Zenith benefits I will cancel all future bookings !!!

Was onboard the Equinox last week. Other than the Zenith lunch on the last day, I was not impressed.

MDR food has dropped significantly (best entree the entire cruise was flank steak).

Early seating started at 5:30, had guests strolling in even at 7:00 !!!

Will stop cruising if conditions worsen. Seems like the Presidents goal is to drive the line out of business !!!

While we are only E level our go to line was Celebrity for quality, cost and experience.
 

On our last three Celebrity cruises in late 2022 and early 2023 the food in the MDR was military mess hall quality at best. From reading the boards, and seeing pictures of the MDR menus for the past few months, it appears the food quality in the MDR has sunk to new levels. Such a shame.
 

What was once a great product, the Celebrity brand is no longer what it was. IMO the two other mass market lines we have sailed since our three past Celebrity cruises exceeded Celebrity’s product and at a better price point.

While we typically have at least two, if not three, future cruises booked on Celebrity, we only have one additional Celebrity cruise booked this year. I fear it may be our last until they change the direction in which they appear to be headed.

Again, such a shame to a once great product….

19 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Who is coming up will all of these stupid ideas?  Perhaps they should be caught before they do a trial?  It seems like they do not know who their customers are and they are trying to be Royal which is a step down from any kind of luxury.

Possibly they’ve recently hired marketing folks from the old Bud Lite team? 

19 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I believe that the difference is that HAL has stops at cities that would be classified as a distant foreign port.    In the case of Celebrity from San Diego to Hawaii the only non-us port was less than 100 miles away.    Celebrity also has the Mexican Rivera out of San Pedro so I guess San Diego would also qualify. 

 

Celebrity has sailed San Diego for a California Coastal and I guess Ensanada qualified as they had a leg from San Francisco to Ensanada.   

 

Like many others -  I would love to see some sailings and a ship in San Diego or any place on the California Coast.

Jim,

Sorry for the delayed response, but currently on the other side of the world. 
 

I’ve been following you and lian’s travels on your many trips around the world on CC for a while. I appreciate your posts very much. Always helpful, insightful, colorful and enjoyable!
 

Although we’ve sailed on other lines, we found a sweet spot with Celebrity a while back. We live part time in San Diego. We’d like to see Celebrity do more cruises out of San Diego, or San Pedro, but that probably won’t happen.
 

As you’re most likely aware, Soltice was in San Pedro recently due to Japan restrictions. Unfortunate for Celebrity, but for us it was wonderful. We took advantage of three 7 day short, but sweet Soltice Mexican Reviera cruises out of San Pedro between January and March. They were all very good. We got to see some of our favorite Celebrity staff/crew and we only had to drive 90 minutes. No airports involved. Wonderful!  

As you elude, with restrictions due to the Jones Act, cruise lines have limited options. They also have to keep an eye on the competition and the balance sheet. In this case I believe HAL has the right ship in the right place out of San Diego for the Mexican Rivera and Hawaii cruises.

Wishing you an lian a great cruise on your upcoming Ponant diversion!

All the best…..

HAL apparently figured it out. We took three HAL Mexican Rivera cruises out of San Diego in the past 10 months. Just saying….

22 minutes ago, nelblu said:

He better be careful as he can wind up like the Disney's x boss.  Disney is feeling the pinch on it's park properties as constant increases in pricing is affecting attendance. 

Disney is feeling monetary increases as well as other self inflicted wounds….

Norris,

Thank you for another comprehensive and light hearted review! Always an enjoyable read when following you and Carol’s travels.
 

Sorry you unfortunately ended up with pneumonia and a hospital stay, but hopefully you’re getting stronger each day.

Agree with your comments regarding Celebrity’s “inventive” corporate pricing models, and pretty much abandoning many folks on the Beyond repositioning. Leaves somewhat of a bad taste.
 

Celebrity was out preferred line, but we started to explore other lines prior to COVID. We were pleasantly impressed with what was/is out there. Celebrity needs to careful with their pricing. There are many other options available. We’ve never sailed in a Celebrity suite; however, we have booked itineraries we wanted on Azamara, Seabourn and Viking with comparable pricing to Celebrity suite pricing, and IMO better food and service. Oh, did I forget to mention, you also have access to the entire ship without being charged and additional premium??

Look forward to your next adventure on Princess.
 

Until then, all the best and stay well!

Norris,

Very happy to hear you are back at home and on the mend. I’m fairly sure you are very happy to be home and out of the hospital as well.

Don’t push yourself too much and too soon.

All the best to you and Carol!

Carol,

Thank you for the update on Norris, and happy to hear he’s improving. Hopefully he will be home soon. Thoughts are with you both.

Carol thank you letting the board know.
 

Norris very sorry to hear you’re sick, but glad you are getting the needed care. Rest and follow the Doctors instructions, and you’ll be back to your everyday activities in no time!

29 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More...

Picture of The Bollard, Mammoet Headquarters building, in the fifth picture above brings back memories of spending many days & nights there reviewing heavy lift and shipping plans. Of course Mammoet being a heavy lift company, they had to fabricate their headquarters at a different site and then ship it and slide it into place where it currently sits.

They did the same with tier US headquarters in the link below. They just can’t help themselves 😂😂.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cjafqoHnh8
 

Hope you enjoyed the additional time once back in Amsterdam. As you and Carol discovered, Amsterdam is a fantastic city for walking and people watching from a cafe seat on a canal.

My wife and I had the good fortune of a work assignment in Amsterdam 2015 thru 2016. We lived in the Oud-Zuid (Old South) about 1KM south of the Rijksmuseum. A truly wonderful assignment.

Norris, as always great review.

25 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I believe if you compare menus before January and that menu you will find a difference.  Too many threads on this issue.

Sailed Solstice twice in the past two months. Had dinner in the MDR each night. Meat and fish offerings very much diminished opposed to many past Celebrity cruises. When offered, the beef tournedos were sirloin beef not beef tenderloin and the fish was tilapia every night. 

I’m following a couple of NCL and Carnival threads. The current thread on the Carnival Magic showing  the current  menu offerings and pictures of the MDR and Oceanview Cafe equivalent. It  appears even Carnival’s offerings in the MDR (prime rib, beef Wellington, etc.) are of a higher caliber than Celebrity. The Carnival equivalent to the Oceanview Cafe also appears to be at a higher level, and has a fairly robust offering opposed to what Celebrity is currently offering.

We cruise on multiple lines. We always felt comfortable, and a good value, on Celebrity. However, if Celebrity continues in the same direction with food and pricing, it makes the decision to look at the other lines we also enjoy much easier

15 hours ago, sixpackeddie said:

1 (866) 461-7170

@sixpackeddiethank you very much!

10 hours ago, Fivelinks said:

I recently had success with the reverse switching from West coast to East coast. I looked up what cruises I had interest in and had plenty of available rooms left then called and simply asked would those cruises qualify for the offer. After a brief hold I was told yes, selected the one I wanted most, picked my room and the booking was made. I echo what others have said in it all depends on who you get and the availability of the sailing at the time you inquire. Good luck!

Fivelinks,

Do you have a phone number for BCC?
 

We have a pending offer from BCC. However, due to a pending medical procedure cannot take advantage of the offer in the time frame offered. Just wanted to reach out to BCC to see if any options available.

Thank you in advance for your help!

1 hour ago, kayehall said:

A little off topic but I have a question.  How does someone who has never been on Celebrity get a casino comp deal?  We have about 8 Celebrity cruises under our belt with 2 of them where I organized groups.  So what does one have to do?

Possibly the casino is tied to all cruise lines like your credit cards???

We’re Elite on Celebrity. We have never been offered any discounts from the casino since we never gambled on cruise ships. 
 

However, we just returned from a Solstice cruise out of Los Angeles and did some small contributions in the casino a few nights. Voila! Three emails from the casino arm of Celebrity in the past two weeks offering a 10% cruise discount on cruise fare along with gratuities, wifi and drink packages included. I can only guess the level of freebies associated from the particular cruise line is linked to your $ play.

Unfortunately the value of being a loyal Celebrity customer for many years doesn’t equate to the valve of casino losses according to the Royal Caribbean computer algorithms. 
 

Just saying…

As the well know comedian was quoted as saying….you can’t fix stupid.
 

My wife and I returned from three cruises in the past three months without COVID. Two cruises were on HAL, and one was on Celebrity. HAL had hand wash stations, and Celebrity had staff with sanitizer offerings.
 

I would estimate less than 10% of the HAL passengers used the hand wash stations. A higher %, (possibly 50% ?) of the folks on Celebrity accepted the hand sanitizer. 

We carry our own hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes, and have for years. We wipe down our cabin daily, the table & salt & pepper shakers, our hands after touching any utensils or common areas. This isn’t new to us because we did the same before COVID with norovirus always being a concern.

Everyone needs to take care of themselves. Do not assume others have the same hygiene and health standards as yourselves before or since COVID.

Unfortunately all cruise lines are trying to dance the fine line between government regulations and what revenue passengers are willing to accept.
 

Unfortunately with the current government policies worldwide, the debit all of the cruise lines are carrying, coupled with the ongoing China COVID situation  (not knowing when the next worldwide shutdowns may happen) I personally wouldn’t commit any deposits for future cruises unless you are not willing and able to forfeit the the total future cruise deposit. 
 

again, just IMO….

For what it’s worth, and just info…

We do not have mobility restrictions, and have tendered in Cabo on multiple cruise lines. Some days the tender process is very calm and not an issue; however, on other days it is very difficult, not only for for non-restricted guests, but for all guests.

You may be best served waiting until you actual date of arrival, and make a safe decision on the actual day.

36 minutes ago, Iggysue said:

I was on board the K-Dam for Christmas, and you are correct about the MDR.  After the 2nd day of extremely poor dinner service from our overwhelmed wait staff, we never went back. We checked out Club Orange for the first time and it was like the heavens opened up. We did breakfast and dinner there for the rest of the cruise.  There were a ton of kids on board, and they were not staffed for the amount people they had.

Christmas cruise sounds very similar to the Thanksgiving cruise on K’dam.

We lived downtown Amsterdam from 2015 to 2018 and traveled to Schipol for flights frequently. The Dutch are extremely efficient; however, even with the pre-COVID Dutch efficiency factored in your timing would be a push IMO. Unfortunately compounded with the recent breakdowns at the Schipol airport…..I would recommend a later flight.

14 hours ago, iflyrc5 said:

We were on the NA for the month of Nov and they had piano playing in the Ocean bar from 4 to 6 every day.

After all the good things we heard about HAL from friends we took our first HAL cruise on the Konningsdam Thanksgiving cruise out of San Diego. Not memorable.
 

We did a follow up cruise on the December 10th to 17th sailing on the Konningsdam out of San Diego to see if the Thanksgiving Cruise experience was an anomaly and ended with better results.
 

Did it get better? Marginally at best. Possibly due to a lighter passenger load, but no wow factor.
 

Overall food quality on both cruises was poor. Even our dinner in the specialty restaurant Pinnical  on the second cruise was not up to what we experienced on the first cruise. We actually deferred. to eating in meals in the Dutch Cafe. Not what you would expect on a high end cruise line, but compared to the other complimentary dining for meals, this ended up as our “go to” dining location for breakfast and dinner.

The Ocean Bar Lounge was one of the highlights for a pre dinner cocktail, but where was the piano player? Nowhere to be found. Only a sign on the piano players stool for the two cruises saying “do not sit here”.

We have another HAL Panama Canal cruise booked in April on the Niew Amsterdam  for the itinerary. It disembarks in San Diego where we live. However, if things don’t get better after that cruise with food and entertainment it will most likely be our last HAL.  We’ll shall see….

On 12/12/2022 at 2:32 PM, cbr663 said:

I don't think I wrote that he shouldn't be disappointed or angry.  I would be also if I experienced that.  My point though, which seems to be overlooked, is that it is a public space that will be occupied by other passengers.  Passengers who may or may not have the good sense to use their inside voice or even respect the fact that there are other people around them and that is why we would never rent it.

sheesh…..

CruiserBruce,

thank you for the reply and advise!

We have OBC. We were going to purchase drink packages and Wi Fi when we boarded; however, HAL is now discounting HIA for our cruise. It is now more advantageous to book HIA via the website prior to booking the beverage package and Wi Fi onboard using OBC.

Question. Can we use our OBC applied to book HIA online, or do we need to “BUY NOW” online with our credit card on file for the discounted HIA price and try to get our OBC credited once onboard?

Thank you in advance  for your help and replies!