canderson

OK. Then sounds like so far, it's just the Ascent that's offering this. Can anyone confirm whether this is across the board on Ascent (all cabins), or just a perk for suites, or ??? Of interest, the sets on Silver Dawn auto detect the connection of a new HDMI device, and switch to that input. Sure did make things convenient there!

If you do find a wave pool, you can bet it has been roped over until the seas calm a bit 😁 Just came in from outside, and it's probably a good thing your in the Philly burbs and not here. We've got 3 wildfires going at once on the Front Range at the moment and the air isn't worth diddly. Wish us well.

@Panzano wasn't describing a casting situation. Rather, he/she said "...watch netflix on the TV without any additional equipment." That implies that the Netflix app is in the native app set of at least some of the TVs aboard ship on Ascent. Did you see THAT on Beyond?

Yes, and while typically assigned much sooner, there's no assurance you'll know where you'll be until 'day of'.

Wow. That IS new. I wonder if they've set up for more bandwidth on Ascent than previous ships??? Lots of cabins streaming would really suck up the available bits! Any chance this is only a suite thing? What cabin class were you in?

Yes. I also remember being offered wines with which I was unfamiliar and just crossing my fingers. No more!

Going to need some clarity to answer. Not sure what is intended by "directly to the tv". If what you meant instead was "directly on the TV", then no. Have not seen a Netflix app on any of the Celebrity TVs as yet, and doubt there will be anywhere in the near future. The line will always try to discourage streaming in one way or another, and a native Netflix app on the TV would be antithetical to that objective. That said, with a premium plan and some decent onboard bandwidth, people have used their notebooks etc to log into Netflix (using whatever VPN works aboard at the time) and then either connected the notebook wired via HDMI or via a 'cast' to the television to do the actual watching.

Your internet privileges are hereby revoked! 😄

No, not potato/tomato. The removal of the CEO post at the top of the Celebrity org chart sends a message that shouldn't be ignored. A CEO is usually tasked with carrying out a company's mission statement, managing its overall strategy, and ensuring its strong financial performance. A president is primarily responsible for the operational management of a company. HUGE difference. Also, a CEO can normally only be fired/replaced by the BOD. Celebrity's new President can be fired by RCCG CEO.

@Norwaylady Yes, Brussels has a very long reach.

Mind you, this is off a sister Silversea ship where they provide 10Mb/sec bandwidth, but note the 66ms latency. Doesn't sound spectacular until you know that this was from the middle of the Atlantic where there are (obviously) no ground stations, so there's a lot of relaying going on. Really good results.

I hope you're more comfortable after hearing from someone who has been there. It's a really great tool, and it's amazing how many people have contributed, sometimes in great detail. There are a lot of nuances involved in otherwise identically classed cabins, and it's always nice to see what kind of anomalies, good and bad, one might encounter. Looks to me like you've got some sweet veranda time ahead of you!

If you'll go up to the top of our threads, you'll find the cabin comments for each class. This kind of question is the reason this nifty but often overlooked tool exists. Fellow travelers who don't even frequent CC can still provide useful and lasting information to others. If you will use the M Class thread, you'll be able to use the spreadsheet to search for 6048 (or just scroll down to line #59). Granted, the one that pops up is for Infinity, but 6048 is in EXACTLY the same position on Constellation as it is on its sister ship Infinity. Read the comment -- line #59 in the spreadsheet. Here are the important bits: Review Date: 2016 Post Ref #: 321 Balcony/Porthole View: No Obstructions. Could see straight down to water Now, check out post #321 - it's on Page 13 of the thread. There you find Ship. Infinity Cabin. 6048 Deck. 6 starboard facing aft Class. 2B deluxe ocean view Veranda Location. Forward Quiet. Yes Obstruction. No. Could see straight down to water Balcony. Oversized on slant. Fantastic balcony. We were on an Alaskan cruise and the wind was blocked by the cabin next to ours which made the balcony amazingly warm when in fact the temperature was in the high 50's to low 60's when we were at the Hubbard glacier. Wind a problem. No Soot. No Bed. Near closet Problems/Comments. Great cabin. Grab it if you can.

No, only a group meeting before turnaround day to discuss logistics of the B2B process. Wow. Just remembering that on our last B2B, we had all to take a 2nd COVID test the day before turnaround so they could decide whether to let us back on the ship! Sure glad those days are behind us. But while no social events, you always have the special pleasure of seeing all of those suitcases departing to head home with their owners, knowing that yours aren't among them.

Still looks high to me. We have a 14 nt WB TA coming in November that isn't as much for equivalent cabin class, and that's 14 vs. 10 nights! Difference is about 10% pp per day. Then again, we've got a one way fare to Europe to add to our bill. You just have to get along the U.S. coast. If you were on Celebrity 9/22, you won't find any major changes apart from your noted drop of gratuities as part of AI. The quality of wine has, if anything, diminished a bit by the glass. If that's your thing, be prepared to pay a bit more of an upcharge than you did before to get a good one, regardless of which package you choose.

Probably, though there are a handful of carriers that don't play the game well. RECEIVING texts and calls by WiFi when someone uses your phone number isn't an entirely trivial thing. Understand that when someone tries to call or text to your phone number in a normal cellular environment, the only way you can be found is because your phone has been regularly reporting itself to local cell towers wherever you are. The system needs that information to route the call to the appropriate tower. Something similar in concept but very different in execution has to happen when you are using WiFi to make that phone connection. Your carrier, who is the authority for your phone number and its current location, has to be willing to keep a record of where you are in the great world of the internet in order to route calls TO you aboard the ship. That means that your phone, when connected to shipboard internet services, needs to regularly report to your home carrier where you are (IP address of the local WiFi you're using), and the carrier needs to keep track of that information if it wants to route texts and calls to you when someone uses your phone number to make contact. In short, somebody has to keep a record that ties your phone number to the WiFi IP address to which you are connected -- all so they can find you when they want to make the connection via text or voice. Most do a great job of this. But not all.

Pretty much so, yes. One thing I miss about the even older menu was their great mac and cheese side. About all that has changed are They've added a Caprese salad. They've added a Cacio E Pepe to the pastas. The Dry Aged NY Steak has moved up from 12oz to 16oz, no price increase (yet) - Still $15 And there's this discussion I keep seeing about half portions. Would be interesting hear more from folks who have gone that route in Tuscan.

"Sometimes" indeed! These are becoming more and more rare in our experience with X. It use to be that you would almost always find a 'pickup band' of crew members who would make up a string quartet or something similar, and would play at various times around the ship through the course of a cruise. Always looked forward to those as they were generally quite good.

Since that's a 12 night cruise, I'd use the app to see what the current Eclipse sailings have for menus in the Tuscan. You won't get the same menu on the same night for your cruise, but you'll have a very good general idea of what's possible. If you were thinking of booking Tuscan reservations in advance for a future cruise, the menu on a specific night is always a bit of a crap shoot until you're aboard and you can actually study the full set in sequence (see the M'd at the restaurant in question). Booking ahead to get a discount, then switching nights (space available basis) once you're aboard is definitely an option.

While you do lose your gratuities perk, you in turn gain a premium beverage and WiFi package by booking the Sky Suite directly. If, on the other hand, you do this via a MoveUp bid, you do not get those two extra benefits that are normally awarded to suites. Note that the daily gratuity rate also increases a bit for suites vs. your original AQ booking. You'll have to do some math to decide what works best for you.

There was a time when we booked FV cabins on M class ships. Those were a real anomaly - you couldn't even book one online with Celebrity's web site because the max pax you can enter is 4 and Celebrity said these cabins were for 5. Our TA was always able to book the two of us into one of these cabins with two (not three) 'phantom' guests until final payment. Celebrity never threatened to boot our reservation when payment was made only for two. When did Celebrity start insisting on payment for some minimum number of guests (beyond the first 2) in any cabin at the time of final payment?

Yes, that's why I said "cabins of a given class". Would be interested in understanding more about the cost structure if you've got the time to explain. Worked with a TA many years ago, and it appeared that they were 'buying up' (not in a literal sense, but there was some cost involved) a large number of cabins in a couple of categories for a group of us here on CC that made the same TA every year. I always thought of it as the agency investing in 'cabin futures', if you will. A small amount of cost to hold cabins for a bigger payday down the road when sold. I had no idea that they pulled inventory back that early. Is it possible to add pax to a group after the inventory has been pulled back? Or would all in a group for a 12 night cruise have to have put down a deposit at least 5 months prior to sail date? Would an agency ever take the financial risk of putting down a deposit to hold group inventory past the 'return' date, betting that the cabin would eventually be picked up by one of their customers? Loophole?

It's become more likely than ever to sell out a category, it seems. That said, how late have you seen inventory left in the hands of TAs for 'under-subscribed' cruises?

Not in any practical sense, no, but helps to explain to the OP why a ship can appear to be "Sold Out" on the public facing cruise line web site when it really isn't, and why even if there were no cancellations, inventory can still move from one bucket to another, with cabins magically available at a later date. If it's really possible to hit the MoveUp site directly by their portal before the emails start going out at 90 days from sail date, one could be bidding on some of this 'invisible' inventory and never know. For other reasons plus this, if you can bid and it makes sense economically, you do so. I've always been curious - are the number of cabins of a given class that a TA is permitted to hold in a group always based upon the prior year's or some rolling average of sales (would make excellent sense), or instead, sometimes a matter of knowing the CEO's brother in law, or ?

Probably because until Edge class, it was a service often offered, and all food was coming out of the same galley at the same end of the ship, regardless of whether Luminae, Blu, or MDR.