daninwi

Hello - Looking for advice / feedback on making a switch to Celebrity from Royal. My wife and I have only been on one Celebrity cruise on the Silhouette, back in 2014, but are Diamond Plus members on Royal. We really enjoyed our cruise on the Silhouette, but it was only our 2nd cruise at the time and we really didn't know what we didn't know. We remember the dining being amazing and really enjoyed the Lawn Club on two occasions. Fast forward, we are looking at a 20th Anniversary cruise in the fall of 2025. It seems like Celebrity now has an all-in option for most room categories and upgraded options (internet / beverage packages) for cabins in the Retreat. a few questions: 1. does Celebrity offer an 'unlimited dining option' for the specialty venues (we had this back in 2014, but seemed to be a very limited offering)? 2. do you need to be in a Retreat cabin for the upgraded internet and beverage packages? or can you do you that for other cabins? 3. Concierge Class cabins? Yeah? Neah? Is it a better cabin or a better service offering? 4. what else should we consider when looking at Celebrity again? Thanks in advance! dan

We have sailed on the Allure twice and the Oasis once, with our son (now 14) for a total of five nights at 150 CP. Had a great experience each time, but favored the staff on the Allure. Our son had the lobster each time and really, really enjoyed it. He's pretty well behaved and was well received and treated by the staff. Pleases and thank you's go a long way. Enjoy!

We have used Allianz for the past several years, finding it a better value for several trips a year. Fast forward, my wife and I had to cancel a March charter cruise after I had major surgery at the end of 2023. Submitted three documents, proof of payment, proof of cancellation, and surgery report. Filed the claim on a Saturday, and six days later the claim is approved. No back and forth, no calls, no escalations. Very, very pleased with our experience.

IMHO, cost will be the driving factor. The cost of the family suite or a two-bedroom is likely to be significantly more than the cost of two connecting or adjacent rooms of nearly any other category. For the past couple of years, we have been getting two adjacent, connecting, or across the hall cabins. Using one for our teenager. It has worked well. We set out the rules in advance - no one else in the room besides family, back by X time every night, come and let us know your back, etc, etc. We go to guest services at dinner time on the first night to get the extra room keys made up. We choose rooms based on the fare and what we have budgeted, but we do tend to gravitate towards the balcony / inside across the hall combination. For us it works well - everyone has more space and a bit of privacy, and the extra bathroom is a bonus.

I stayed in JS 13238 back in Oct 2021. Loved the room layout and location from a convenience point of view - but being right under Teppanyaki proved to be too much! It was a working cruise and I had to relocate during lunch on sea days. The banging of the salt and pepper shakers and the clapping came through loud and clear!

Thank you! We are booked on the Allure for family cruise September 2024. This schedule will help us sketch out a plan. It will be there third cruise on the Allure for my wife, son, and I, but we will have several first-time cruisers as well. We should be able to take at least two of the shows over the weekend!

Greetings! Need some help with unlinking a reservation in Royal's cruise planner. Searched FAQs and the boards and could not find an answer. We are doing a family cruise September 2024 on the Allure. Currently we have 7 cabins in total, six (6) with one TA and one with an online agency (there's always one who wants to find there on way). Linked the outlier earlier today and it booted one of the six cabins (without warning). With the outlier being under a different agency (group) seems like we can make any combined reservations or purchases, so we'd like to unlink them and bring our group of six cabins back together. appreciate any guidance on how to unlink one particular reservation.

Need a bit of help. Seems like the search function on Cruise Critic is spinning wheel of no results. Tried multiple browsers. I recall a cruise planner look up 'tool' that a board member created and shared, but cannot locate it. would love to use the tool to help pick a late 2024 family cruise. Thanks in advance for the help!

For our family, 150 Central is by far our favorite restaurant on Allure. The lobster thermidor turned our teenage son in lobster fan. Hibachi is another good spot, good food and some entertainment thrown in. Fair warning, we've only been on the Allure twice back in 2021 and 2022 - so much good have changed since then.

As family, we've had three visits to 150 Central Park. Twice on Allure and once on Oasis. By far we enjoyed the service and experience on the Allure. Each of us has a different favorite - the lobster for our son, the halibut for my wife, and the veal for me. But we all agreed on the fried cheesecake bites! enjoy!

A few responses late to the party, but hands down for this family - Playmakers! The fries and the chicken sandwich are absolute favorites for our family. We find ourselves asking.. 'does the ship have a playmakers?' with every search we make for that next cruise.

How does the saying go? It's all in the eye of the beholder. As a Midwesterner, any visit to Coco Cay is a value to us. We've been there over six different times, and each stop has given us something new. We haven't used every beach area yet, tried less than half the venues for food and drinks, never spent any money on additional excursions, we've never not gotten into the ocean and failed to say 'ahhhhh'. Are there better, more beautiful, more awe-inspiring venues. For sure. But what does it cost to get there and enjoy?

Looking for recommendations on wheelchair rental for our father / son LotS cruise this weekend. Son injured his knee during a volleyball game this past week. He's recovering pretty well, but will not be 100% the time we sail this Friday. Thinking it would be good to have on hand if it gets sore, fatigue sets in, or tweaks it a bit more. Hoping there is trustworthy service that can deliver a wheelchair to the ship or that we can pick up during check-in and return during disembarkation. Thanks in advance!

Don't forget to look at the Ultra Spacious Ocean Views, some actually have two bedrooms separate by sitting area, or the Family Promenade rooms with a bunk area and full bath, on the Freedom class ships.

Taking our first D+ cruises this year, are the perks per person or cabin?

After 10 cruises on Royal our standard procedure is to: 1. head to the Schooner Bar for a celebratory glass of champagne 2. I breakoff and secure any needed dining reservations. 3. My wife scrolls through the app and makes our preferred show reservations. 4. Our son heads out and scouts the ship, reports back on what's new and different. 5. Meet back at the Schooner Bar, one more champagne, and get everyone on the same page schedule wise. 6. Muster station visit. 7. Lunch, venue varies by ship, but the default more often than not is Windjammer. 8. Once rooms are ready, unpack and organize. 9. Enter the vacation zone and enjoy

Agree on wanting to see the sea and sky while sailing - and nothing beats the sound of waves. But IMHO, one of the most peaceful and relaxing venues in which to enjoy the sky is Central Park. Grab a drink at Vintages or the Trellis Bar (or both), get seat under the stars, listen to the music, and sit back exhale and enjoy!

My wife, son and I have been on Allure twice - during the summers of 2021 and 2022. Hands down, #1 for all of us would be 150 Central Park. The food and service were very good! Second for us would be Hibachi at Izumi's. I know it's a bit cheesy, but we don't have many hibachi style restaurants in our area. Food is good, especially the veggies, and if the table is interactive, it is a lot of fun too. Tied for third and fourth are Giovanni's and Chops. if the weather is right, we prefer the outside seating at Giovanni's. Enjoy!

Our family has done two sailings on the Allure, during the summers of 2021 and 2022. By far our favorite on the Allure was 150 Central Park - great staff and great food. Enjoyed it better than on the Oasis. Giovanni's and Chops were both very good. We enjoyed the outdoor seating for Giovanni's on both sailings. We'd pass on the Brazilian steak house, Samba, that took over the Solarium Cafe spot in the evenings. Enjoy the sailing!

Not 100% clear on how the BOGO works, as next cruise in Feb will be the first at Diamond Plus. If there are two of us that are D+, do we each get a BOGO? Or is it per cabin? For a three day cruise, this could be a huge benefit, as we usually get the UDP. Understand it may be hard to get into Chops, but never had a problem getting reservations squared away on boarding day - other than our first choice for times might not be available.

Fair points. When we scheduled the trip, we were more focused on a new ship for both of us that fit a four-day weekend in my son's school schedule. Liberty fit the bill. We will make the best of the time we have - worst case is pool time!

Bummer on the Big Screen being out of service! Several years back (2014), my wife and were on the Brillance over the Super Bowl weekend. It was enjoyable, albeit a bit chilly to watch it the game on the big screen. It was Monsters of Rock Cruise, so it was a bit more fun watching game with the members of the bands playing that week.

Short father and son weekend cruise of Super Bowl weekend next February on the Liberty of the Seas out of Fort Lauderdale. With Liberty not having a Playmakers on board what venues are good to catch the game?

with food and fuel costs going up all around us, I would not expect to see much in terms of dining packages for 'far' out cruises. although good for the consumer to lock in the pricing (if you find it a good value), but it poses a lot of risk for RCI.

another revenue enhancement.... a replacement cabin? With the in-room coolers (not true refrigerators) that won't chill a bottle of water, I can't imagine what ziplocked seafood would be like after a couple of hours. 🐟