canderson

Glad to know it isn't just us!

Our experience has been that sometimes only 3:00pm time slot are shown initially, so being online at 12:01 EST may not help buy you an early embarkation. Only after a time did the earlier slots open up. What's odd is that those of us who don't require a slot are obliged to pick one. I always pick 3:00, avoiding using up an earlier slot.

They do not 'stack' discounts. Take whichever of the online offers or your CC discount is better for you. Once in a while, the online offer is better.

There's a "New Topic" button on THAT page that you'll want to use.

Be aware that the online offerings are shown without respect to your CC status or cabin class, so what is shown often won't make any sense. Why Celebrity IT can't tie the two together is a bit of a mystery. The planner knows both your CC and cabin situation. For example, the online planner presents and would be delighted if I'd opt for a premium drink or WiFi package --- both of which already come as part of my cabin class. So to receive your 15% CC discount, you'll want to have your TA make that purchase on your behalf, or if you're working with Celebrity, call them direct to make the purchase.

That depends upon how you received the OBC. If it shows up online in your cruise planner, then yes, you can use it in advance for any of the items you mention. However, some OBC does not appear in your folio until you board the ship. Again, it depends upon how the OBC was obtained.

First, to the OP and others, these new questions to the CEO need to be placed here - individually: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/454-qa-with-laura-hodges-bethge-president-celebrity-cruises/ Second, there won't be an opportunity to comment on others' questions.

... a few of which would be considered by some to be completely tasteless, no matter the designer or the cost. But if you'll note, the vast majority of the red carpet extremes are on the female side, often with the apparent objective to pay as much as possible for as little fabric as possible. 😄 Nearly all of the males come dressed to an awards banquet dressed just about as you would expect, with only a few tweaks (e.g., collar shapes) over a great many years. Few wear their baseball hats and jeans to collect their awards, even though baseball hats, for whatever reason, seem to be the thing when in the director's chair these days. Yet it seems it's the men here who put up the most fuss about 'dressing for dinner' -- anywhere -- but especially on a cruise. And the standards for men are far more easily written, and hence, more easily followed if one is at all interested in doing so.

Since your father very nearly managed it for me, let me take your first paragraph to reductio ad absurdum, and suggest that there are clients and cultures who would have no issue with topless dining - or possibly beyond. It's only a matter of time, I'm sure, until the Bliss cruises offer topless dining. In 99% of these posts, the real difference is the extent to which any given poster is personally willing to go in their tolerance of dining attire. Just because they haven't reached their limit yet in Atlantide doesn't mean there isn't a limit. And that said, many already have reached that limit while others have not, and you hear them both here.

Or perhaps https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/CEL-Special-Needs-Form-Revised-062221.pdf I can't remember which is more current. This second one leaves space to provide hand-written additions.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/Celebrity-Guest-Special-Needs-Form.pdf

Better than wearing them over your head, I suppose. The relative importance of a comfortable veranda lounger is a function of a whole host of things, including the itinerary (HUGE difference in the visuals between our annual TA where it's sea, and more sea, and the Inside Passage on an Alaskan cruise, which is nonstop gorgeous), the style of cruising one prefers (martini bar or listening to the waves late at night), and so to some, it's a worthy topic. That their absence didn't concern you just indicates that unlike others, you didn't find a good use for them. I'm sure those who don't drink coffee didn't miss the Lavazza units in their suites, either, when they disappeared. Does that help? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Which brings me round to the topic at hand. Of interest, I note that all suites may have the Lavazza coffee (espresso, really) makers available? For a while, not even the Royal suites had them, then they returned. But I have no recollection of them in, say, Sky Suites 7 years ago. @DaKahuna reported this recently >>> If you were enjoying Bistro on 5, note that it's become Sushi on 5 somewhere in the last 7 years. Whether that's a good or bad thing will depend upon your preferences. Qsine changed from whatever it was when it started out to Le Petit Chef, a combined presentation of food and video on your table. Space has been created or converted for the new Craft Social, a sort of pub experience with a good variety of beer. It's a standard on the newest ships, but I believe for Equinox and Silhouette, it occupies what was once Cellar Masters space. We don't find that X is using talented crew members for music much these days. One could often find a three piece string ensemble in the area of Al Bacio in the afternoon on an at-sea day, or before dinner, or occasionally in the Retreat lounge in an evening. Not so these days, and we do miss that. There seem to be more individual entertainers, and the 'production' shows are more often Broadway or rock musical compilations. Shows like Elysium & etc are fewer in number, and not shown at all on many ships. Add to that some tributes to one performer or group or another.

You'll also have access to the Retreat lounge whenever you like where drinks are also free.

? 4 levels, not 3 in the CMS (Court of Master Sommeliers) program. #4 is the real ball buster. 1 is Introductory 2 is Certified 3 is Advanced 4 is Master

If wine impacts your cruise that much, you may want to consider Silversea. Not only are many of their bottles priced at or near shore side retail (some actually a few bucks less than at home!), they have a reasonable depth and breadth in their cellars. And ... we had a L2 and a L3 CMS sommelier available for discussion/choices for some with which I wasn't familiar. They definitely try harder than X does.

You mean Michaels????? ☺️ I do remember the days. FWIW, Silversea still has such a spot - at least on the Muse class that we've sailed - with the goods for sale. It's even indoor/outdoor so the weather needn't be a bother.

Just a FYI: The level of 'peat' in the flavor varies widely among brands and even among different offerings within a brand. There are a quite few you may want to try that are known specifically for being 'very low peat' or unpeated altogether. Here's an article to get you started (and there are others): https://whiskeyreviewer.com/2018/01/seven-peat-free-single-malts-to-try-012931/

What I find interesting is the concept that anything other than resort casual is 'anachronistic'. Looking back through some decades, and even centuries, it's been a very slow devolution to the minimalist in attire, corresponding to other changes in social norms over the same period. I suppose our great-grandchildren will all think we were crazy for not taking time to enjoy Bliss cruises when we had the chance, rather than wasting so much time on laundry and packing.

I got the impression that Zitsky was hoping for something 'on the house' with the inbuilt premium package. Not that you can readily even get Quest now, but at last count, it was running something along the lines of $120 for a 700ml. Might be over the free pour limit unless the bartender has an arm twist moment (see post #176). What few bottles of Quest are left seem to be on auction these days. Retail almost 100% dried up.

That might take some additional "working with" 😄 If you'd be willing to throttle back from their Harmony Collection to something more along the lines of Macallan 12 Yr Double Cask, there's always a chance that might happen.

Hadn't thought of that trade as well, but will certainly do so this next time. Thanks for the 'reminder'.

We've 'worked with' Retreat bartenders to locate and hold a bottle of what little better scotch is available elsewhere on the ship (e.g., World Class or perhaps Rendezvous. You might want to give it a try next time.

On our 'restart' cruise back in 2021, we were B2B, and there was no way we could even begin to go through 4L of booze. To my surprise, I successfully negotiated a trade with the shoreside concierge for all 4 bottles for a very nice Michele Chiarlo Barolo, thinking I'd get the typical Tortoniano. Surprised to discover two of the Cerequio (about $115 per 750ml at home) on the wet bar when we arrived! Perhaps a mistake? And these were replenished for the second leg of the B2B, so we wound up with four bottles of it in the end. I'm pretty sure we got a lot more $ value than had we been drinking spirits. Much seems to be down to what you can negotiate with the shoreside concierge and how generous everyone is feeling.

Celebrity considers all of the following to be "Premium Suites" per their own literature: Iconic, Edge Villa, Reflection, Signature, Penthouse, Royal.

The rotation is set before the cruise begins. No assurance that the lobster has been scheduled to occur on a chic night - seems to be a bit hit and miss ... not that the lobster is really that good these days on X. Would swear some of them have been Langostinos.