galavant3

Thanks for the input. I think we'll stick with our original plan and tour on our own.

 

We are on 5525 - Istanbul to Athens. Ports are Dikili, Kusadasi, Patmos, Santorini, Rhodes, Mykonos and Athens.

 

We hope to be back at some point so we aren't feeling pressured to see absolutely everything this trip.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Of course I have gotten the relevant guide books but nothing compares to someone's personal experience.

 

Thanks again!

We booked our Med cruise for August 2015 quite a while ago. The price difference between then (no included excursions) and now is about $500 per person. Ports are Turkey and Greek islands - all new to us.

 

Our original plan was to walk/get local transportation and tour on our own - there are 4 of us which should make it more cost effective, I'm assuming. For the $500 per person upgrade, any thoughts on the value of including excursions? I'm leaning toward our original plan.

 

This will be our first time on Silversea.

Have a great time. Let us know if anyone can have lunch in Bistro on 5 embarkation day.

 

I think it was open from 2 pm to 12:30 am on embarkation day.

Regarding jeans, this is the wording for the Cocktail Hour dress code from the Summit last week:

 

Dress code: Smart Casual & Above: No shorts, T-Shirts, flip-flops, bathing attire, and no rips or holes in jeans.

Thanks so much for your review! We are on the same cruise in January and in the same cabin. Please tell us how you liked the cabin, did you notice any noise from about? Thanks!

 

We really liked the location, close - but not too close - to stairs and elevator. Also, if you walk to the end of the hallway, aft, and go up one flight of stairs, you are at the Sunset Bar. At that point, you are also in back of the Ocean View Buffet. You can grab a late afternoon snack, order a drink and enjoy sail away and the sunset.

 

I did hear some noise in the morning but I was on the balcony. My husband was sleeping and he didn't mention it so it couldn't have been too bad. Other than that I didn't notice any noise whatsoever.

 

There is a considerable overhang over the balcony which we didn't mind at all. It is still possible to get sun on the balcony if that's your goal.

 

For us, the cabin was perfect. I hope you enjoy it!

Have made a note to consider adding on a walking tour around the Historic District of CA for next time

 

Thanks

 

Cheers!

 

We get a lot of beach time on our non-cruise vacations but I certainly do understand the lure of the beach.

 

We saw a cab giving a tour of the historic section - if you don't want to take the time to walk. One of the highlights for us was the oldest continuously operating Synagogue under the US flag. (We are not Jewish). There is still sand on the floor to silence footsteps during a time of Jewish persecution.

 

The walk is very hilly. At one point you walk up "99 Steps" (really 103 steps). You can google "99 Steps" for more info.

I came across the wine selections for the $20 wine tasting that we attended on the one sea day. I am certain the selections change from cruise to cruise, but this will give you an idea of the offerings. As I mentioned, you could try as many or as few as you wanted. And, if you liked one particularly well, you could just keep going back to that station. Not that I know anyone that did that......

 

Please pardon any spelling errors.

 

1. Mollydooker, Verdelho

2. Cakebread Cellars, Sauvignon Blanc

3. Les Brugueres, Garnacha Blanco

4. Louis Jadot, Pouilly-Fuisse

5. Ca'rugate, San Michele, Garganega

6. Essence, Riesling

7. Byron, Pinot Noir

8. Les Terrasses, Grenache

9. Enamore, Malbec blend

10. Chateau-Mont Redon, Chateauneuf du Pape

11. Blacksmith, Cabernet Sauvignon

12. Pian di Nova, il Borro, Tuscany blend.

I've never heard of the other three you mentioned (besides Oksana). She worked as a team with Sofia. But Oksana was always at our table, too, so we considered them as 3 together.

 

Elena was a slight, thin pretty Russian girl, light brown hair up in a bun, pale blue eyes.

 

I'm not sure but there were several staff members working the back of the restaurant that we never met. I bet they just change teams and she was assigned to work with others on this trip.

Care to share more on the Ports of Call, or your time ashore ? As this is The Summits alternate Itinerary we have not done yet

 

Happily. It seems we are an oddity because, in general, we book through the ship. It is just easier for us and to date, we have been pleased. We took advantage of the Celebrity promotion and since we booked 4 tours each, we had a total of $80 on board credit applied.

 

In St. Croix, we did the Coastal Bike tour. It was very good but for the three hours, about an hour was actual biking. The rest of the time, we stopped and our guide provided us with island information. Not at all strenuous.

 

St. Kitts, we did the essentials tour and liked that as well. Highlight of the trip was Fort Brimstone. If you do this tour, bring walking shoes because it is quite a hike up the side of the fort.

 

We did the River and Ocean Kayak in Dominica and enjoyed that. Just enough "white water" to make it fun. We were early in the season so the river will be a bit higher going forward. It will be just as fun but you probably won't have to worry so much about rock. In the end, we were able to kayak in the ocean for a while and go for a swim.

 

We hiked to the Seven Sisters Falls in Grenada and we really liked it. However, it is a very steep hike and very muddy and slippery. Several people seemed to be struggling with the hike back up and the only option is to hike it...no vehicles could possibly get to the trail. We had a nice swim in the falls. This is one of those times when "strenuous" really does mean strenuous. When you complete the hike, there are men waiting to wash off your shoes. We were happy to tip them for this service because our shoes were caked with mud! Take old shoes if you choose this activity.

 

We didn't do the volcano hike on another stop (St. Kitts??) but we heard from other passengers that it was even more muddy and slippery and at least one person had a fall. If you aren't sure, but want to hike, I would recommend the Seven Sisters.

 

By St. Thomas, we decided to go on our own and I printed out a self guided walking tour. We had never really seen the historic section of Charlotte Amalie and it was awesome. We did a small bit of shopping and then took a cab to Megan's Bay for a swim.

 

I loved the itinerary and would do it again in a heartbeat.

I wonder what happened to Elena in Blu? She along with Oksana and Sofia were our trio of angels at all meals, and it was only Elena's first stint on board so she should have still been there.

 

Do you remember who she worked with? Perhaps we just didn't get seated in her section. I think Alvin and Oksana were a team and Simean and Andres also.

Hi, this is a lovely review. I've just booked Aqua class and have been given a seating time of 6.30 for evening meal. I thought it would be anytime dinning in there.

 

Were you given a time to use Blu restaurant ?

 

Catherine

 

You select a time when you book but you won't have a pre-assigned dinner time when you get on board. The first night, they might request that you dine at a certain time but even that isn't enforced.

 

I think they assign a dining time just so that you don't get assigned "select" dining.

 

We dined at a different time each evening with no problem.

I hope to do a full review but, in the mean time, I thought I'd mention a few things that have been discussed recently. This cruise departed from San Juan and included the ports St. Croix, St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada, and St. Thomas.

 

Cabin 9104 - we did get the sparkling wine, fruit, tea and bottled water. The fresh flowers appeared around day 2 or 3. However, my in laws did not get the flowers so maybe that was an Elite perk? The afternoon canapes are by request and you must be in your cabin to have them delivered. Since we were never in our cabin from 4:30 to 5:30, we never requested them. We received a total of three bags and I'm not sure which were from AQ and which were not. In one of the bags were lip balm and spa slippers. Robes (not to keep) were in the closet. Also in the cabin were binoculars and an umbrella (again, not gifts)

 

Perryton was our attendant and, for us, he was perfect. He was efficient, friendly and the few requests we made were addressed quickly. The pool deck was above us and a few mornings, I heard chairs being moved. However, I was up and on the balcony so I can't say if I would have heard the noise if I were in the cabin and my husband (who was still sleeping) never mentioned it.

 

We received the chocolate covered Oreo and towel animal one night (first formal night) which was fine by us.

 

Blu - was outstanding. Since we sat in the same general area each night, we saw mostly the same staff. Alvin, Simean, Andres and Oksana were extremely attentive and a pleasure to meet. I have to also mention Sofjia who was also great but we saw her mostly at breakfast. We felt the food was excellent. Highlights for us were the lamb chops (a double chop perfectly cooked and also braised lamb wrapped in phyllo with a wine reduction - excellent) and the short ribs which were amazing. A favorite of mine is the braised lamb shank. I didn't eat a lot of desserts but a warm chocolate cake with coffee ice cream was the absolute perfect bit. Just a tiny cake with a scoop of ice cream.

 

We ate breakfast in Blu most mornings and it was also very good. I'm fairly boring. Poached egg on rye toast. However, the egg was always perfect which isn't always the case elsewhere. We had a smoothie most mornings and they were very good. We did eat in Normandie one morning and it was fine. The plates were pre-assembled and the service was very fast. There were only a handful of people there. There were no hot options, just cold plates of cheese, cold cuts, smoked salmon etc and pastries. It was a nice change of scenery.

 

In Blu, most people were dressed in suits or blazers on formal night. I noticed one man in a short sleeved shirt but it didn't appear to be an issue.

 

We didn't eat dinner in the Main Dining Room but I did notice this in the Celebrity Today: Note: T-shirts, swimsuits, robes, bare feet, tank tops, sports caps and pool wear are not allowed in the dining room or specialty restaurants at any time. Shorts and flip flops are not allowed in the evening hours. As a courtesy to our guests, we respectfully require & enforce compliance with the dress code at the entrance of your restaurant of choice.

 

Maybe the wording has always been there and I just noticed it.

 

We had the premium beverage package (after much contemplation) and it was great. Our sommelier in Blu (Onur - who was fabulous) selected wines each night based on our dinner choices. I was concerned that service would be lacking because of the beverage packages but that wasn't the case at all. The martini bar was crowded a lot - mostly the before dinner crowd - but the bartenders (and at one time there were 5 behind the bar!) were working frantically to make sure everyone was served.

 

We did the extra cost wine tasting (which we NEVER do) and it was done a bit differently. You received a listing of 12 wines and there were 6 stations set up, each with 2 of the 12 wines. You tasted as many as you liked. Or you could just keep drinking a few. So, if you had no interest in a Riesling, you just didn't go to that station. Even though we did not have Eren as a sommelier, our few dealings with him stood out. He has very professional, accommodating and went out of his way to help you appreciate the wines. He also "taught" the free wine tasting - I'm not sure at what level this is offered but we went to that also and enjoyed it. (the wines were better at the "for fee" tasting, no surprise).

 

We went to the Elite cocktail hour (Revelations on deck 11) one night for just a few minutes. We missed the passed hors d'oeuvres and we had the beverage package so I'm not sure what drinks were included. It was not crowded at all. In fact, there were no Elite drink vouchers on this cruise. I also attended the Elite tea which was very nice. Small tea sandwiches and pastries and of course, tea. We didn't attend any of the evening events.

 

We were never offered a discount on specialty dining as we have been in the past. It didn't matter because we like Blu and wouldn't have taken advantage of it any way.

 

We took advantage of Persian Gardens once and we were the only ones in there the entire time.

 

Overall, it was a wonderful cruise. My only regret is that I never got a chance to use my free Gelato coupon....

Oh, the bread! On Royal, they had "savoury bites" little morsels of bread with olives or herbs. Oh, they were so yummy, especially when you got a still-warm batch. Do they have those on X?

 

We love those! I can't say I've ever seen them on Celebrity but I'll check this week.

The theft of the $220 actually makes sense to me. If the theft took all of the money and valuables the passengers would have clearly noticed it an reported it. By taking a bit from the two different places, the theft could have been hoping that it would never be noticed.

 

My mother in law (and her neighbors) were being robbed by their cleaning lady. It took a while to figure it out because she would take just one earring, or one bracelet and leave everything else in place. If it doesn't make sense to you, perhaps you don't have the mind of a thief...which is a good thing!

 

I used to take my better jewelry on a cruise. Now I take only costume. We never had a problem but I found myself worrying too much about it.

Just seen this thread and loving it!

This whole topic has been winding me up for a while.

Looking at member reviews and forum posts over the last few months there seem to be more and more people, especially those who've cruised a few times to think that they are special and expect something superior to the rest of us.

Cruising has become one the most popular forms of holiday and is......wait for it.......

mass market. It is no longer for the very rich and very fortunate, it's a holiday camp on the high seas. It may be a very nice holiday camp with lovely food and great entertainment, but essentially that's exactly what it is!

"Staff" from the Captain down to the guy who cleans out the bilges are there to do a job. Praise exceptional service by all means, but essentially for them it's their job. Why do people need to be on first name terms with their waiter, why do people care about the Elite Club hosts, who cares if the Captain doesn't personally ask you about your holiday experience. Who cares whether you get towel animals every day, once or never....did it ruin your holiday if you didn't? Who needs an Orio on your pillow every night, haven't you had enough to eat! Surely, it is the whole experience that matters and not whether you believe you should be treated like royalty.

It seems that too many people are taking cruises and spending their entire holiday trying to find fault and maintaining that their holiday has been ruined by the smallest defect or problem.

And lastly, for those who go round trying to look for any sign of aging and wear and tear, how well would your home stand up if you had 2,000+ people rampaging through it every week!

Rant over!

 

Wow. It's as if you read my mind.

[quote name='Kevin T Brown']I came across one such person on my last cruise. Because they were elite status, they felt like they could just cut in lines, push in to be first, etc. Finally after the 3rd day of this at breakfast, I had to say something about her cutting lines. The response I got was a snooty "I'm elite, you can wait". My comment to her was "your [bad word for crap] stinks just as bad as anyone else's on here, so get to the back of the line and wait your turn."

I got this from her: :eek:

And more than a few people laughing at what had happened.

She steered clear of me the rest of the way and definitely didn't cut line any more. :D

That was the ONLY time I ever experienced that attitude on my 2 cruises with Celebrity.[/quote]

I would be willing to bet she was rude long before she attained Elite status.

[quote name='Chitown12562']
It is only a class system if someone prevents you from paying for the same perks.
[/quote]

Exactly! And that is not the case.

[quote name='ImaginationCruiseBride']As somebody who has booked their first Celebrity cruise and after reading many, many threads for past month or so since we booked, and after reading the message boards for the other cruise lines....our cruise is paid for but I'm pretty sure we will never sail Celebrity again. We worked hard for our money and have been fortunate to be able to retire at 53 for Mr. and 52 for me, and I'm just not interested in snobs....I've read enough on this board to wonder if the cruise critic crowd is an accurate representation of Celebrity passengers as a whole...if so, I really don't want to become a Celebrity groupie...way too many self important snobs on here. I have no desire to put myself in a position to be looked down on. Perhaps some of the snobs on here should read the book The Millionaire Next Door. Those who have it don' t need to flaunt it, and those snobs who are so busy shoving their importance in everybody else's faces have no class, whether they have money or not. I am hoping that the people on the actual cruise will be much more pleasant than the snobs who tend to post here. I absolutely hate the class system and self important people it caters too.

I'm trying to convince my husband to cancel our cruise and book on another line. I cruise for the ports anyway.[/quote]

All the mass market (and luxury lines also, for that matter) have suites with added benefits. I doubt anyone will know or care what cabin you are in. Most people are too busy just enjoying their vacation that worry about someone else.

Afterthought: Twice aboard a Royal Caribbean ship, we've happened to meet people that were in the Royal Family Suite (I think that's what it's called...the suite with the baby grand). Anyway, those people were so excited to be in the cabin they were bursting at the seams. In a very positive, good way. Both groups invited us to tour the cabin which was very nice. I'll never book that cabin but it was fun to see. Neither were snobbish or pretentious. Not that it doesn't happen.

I am (as I'm sure others are also) super picky about personal care products. I avoid sodium lauryl sulfate, parabens, phthalates etc. However, it the shampoo and conditioner aren't too harsh or artificial smelling, I can manage for a week. The shampoo and conditioner are rinse off products.

 

The lotion, because you don't rinse it off, I am much less open to. And, if I recall, there were no ingredient lists on the bottles.

 

Not a big deal either way really. I would love to see them provide some healthier alternatives for AQ since that is the "theme" of the cabin class.

Typically in a "class system" people do not get to select their "class". It is predetermined. This is just a matter of getting what you pay for. I have no interest in booking a suite but if I wanted to, it would be an option for me.

 

We all want (myself included) rock bottom, deal of the day, cruise fares. The difference has to be made up somewhere and the only way they can command higher prices for suites is to sweeten the pot. (pun intended)

From the Celebrity site, it says Aqua Class gets...

 

Custom blended bath products (shampoo, conditioner and lotion), shower cap, cotton balls and cotton swabs

 

I will take my own, but this cruise, I am going to at least try the shampoo and conditioner (not the lotion) and see what I think. It would be nice to have one or two less things to pack.

[quote name='shopper77']We always use our OBC for our tips. Therefore we would not like prepaying.[/quote]

That's what we do. If we don't have the OBC to cover or if we'll be using it on something else, we prepay. Either way, they are "taken care" of ahead of time.

Bring your own! It will be too expensive to buy on board if you aren't happy. I have those little refillable plastic containers and I just take those if travel sizes aren't available.

 

Afterthought...what cabin category are you in? Maybe someone can provide brand specifics to help with your decision.

The beverage package is what would sway me to Celebrity. Then, the itinerary.;)

 

Same here. We cruise Royal Caribbean also but if I can book Aqua and get a beverage package for about the same price, to me it is a no brainer. (assuming the itineraries are comparable).

 

Regarding areas that you won't have access to, unless someone pointed it out, you wouldn't even notice. In my opinion, Michaels is not a great venue because of the location so that shouldn't be a big deal.

 

Keep in mind that they are all mass market lines and while there are a few extras on Celebrity, it is not a luxury line.

Have not done this on Celebrity, but on Royal Caribbean, under "desserts" on the room service menu is a cheese plate. It isn't fabulous but we like order one or two (they are very small) to have as we get ready for dinner.

 

We've also seen cheese plates appear on dinner menus under desserts.