little britain

5 hours ago, mzk90 said:

I'm sorry to be a PITA, but can either @mil76 or @little britain confirm how many, and what nights of the cruise were formal nights please?

Sorry sweetie, I didn’t do the Canaries one… but sure you’ll look fabulous as always wink 😉 x

On 7/24/2024 at 7:54 PM, Jumping Cruiser said:

 

Ponta Delgada, Azore Islands - Port Bookings (Correct as of 24/07/24)

A new call added for Explorer, likely for her EB TA. Destination is marked as Cadiz.

 

7th March 2026 - Odyssey OTS

27th March 2026 - Harmony OTS

30th April 2026 - Explorer OTS.  *NEW*

I don’t with a TA with pax would end in Cadiz due to the lack of international airports for people to get home? 

47 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

sorry to be dense here....but I guess I'm confused.

 

1.  Have Zeniths always had a pin ?

2.  Are they just now being offered a pin ?

3.  Are Pinn Z's being offered an X pin ?

4.  Are Z Pinn's being offered a Royal pin ?

1.Yes

2.No

3.No

4.No

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-the-benefits-excluded-from-the-loyalty-status-match-program#

48 minutes ago, verizon said:

Does the Pinnacle Pins offer to Zenith member on Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society ?If not this is why Zenith members are so unhappy about.

Seems to me is one way street.

Yes Zeniths are offered Pinnacle perks if they choose to sail on RCI - hardly any Zeniths wear a name badge. It is not a “thing”. 

What does concern me is that they were allocated rooms and then asked to vacate!!  It is not like the rooms were next door to each other so could have plumbing issues, or were needed for a group to be next door to each other ?

LB > who had a gty on Voyager in a few weeks that has not been allocated yet! 

They will be making enough noise onboard with announcements etc there is no chance of a lie in on that last day sadly! You will need to be out of your cabin by 8 and all breakfast venues will close at 8.30.  

If you arrange a driver for 9, that will have let the rush die down, and you should be in Rome just after 10.

I have used Civitavecchia Cab Service several times without issue. They will collect you from the ship side as you leave the terminal.

There will be a little questionaire thingie in the app that you complete with info of what time you want to leave the ship. It usually appears by day 2. 

6 minutes ago, sowhat said:

A statement from Michael Bayley which never happened 

 

Michael stressed the importance of the UK market which he said had been significant to the line “almost since the beginning of the company”.

 

“I don’t see that ever changing,” he added. “In fact, it’s so important that I promise you will bring Icon of the Seas into Southampton. The UK will be the first country and market that we will bring this incredible ship.

Ah yes, we all remember that 'promise' so well.....

1 minute ago, Saab4444 said:

It is not only UK market but all Northen Europe countries they give up.

Agree. Have done amazing itineraries from Copenhagen and loved it when they visited the smaller Med islands 

41 minutes ago, swoopy2110 said:

Any insight into what ship X will have based in Southampton in 2026 ?

Apex to compete against Liberty 🤭

@ticketsunlimited

a few more non money related European quirks….

you will need to ask for the bill/check at the end of the meal. They won’t bring it until you’re ready. They certainly won’t put it on the table whilst you’re still in the middle of the meal! 
 

they won’t clear your table plates until every one has finished eating. 
 

if you leave your knife and fork apart they assume you have not finished. Put your cutlery 🍴 together when you’re finished.

you won’t get water automatically 

you will need coins 🪙 to use public bathrooms  - there may even be an old lady dispensing your allowance of toilet paper! 🧻 

in Italy only tourists order cappuccino after 11a! It is a breakfast drink. 

3 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Not true!

Do you just post the opposite to what everyone else says to get your post count up? 🤷‍♀️

On 7/22/2024 at 7:11 PM, vjmatty said:

What a waste. Mega ships are great for transatlantic and Caribbean cruises but so limited in where they can go in the Mediterranean. Maybe RC can follow sister Celebrity’s example and keep some smaller ships in the Mediterranean year round. There’s more of a market than people would think. 

I hate to say I’m not sure about the winter market in Europe.  
I have 2 X booked in November and February.

I have had over $1000 in price drops on the October once since booking; and the February one is $1486 for 2 in an OV for 11n. That works out at $67.54pppn!  In addition as we are Piniths we get free drinks and WiFi and laundry - and I have my $100 shareholders OBC!  I don’t think they are making anything out of us on this one. 

On 7/22/2024 at 8:08 PM, twangster said:

 

Consider the source though.   The same person promised Icon would visit the UK before coming to America.

Interesting that next years’ Celebrity Presidents cruise will be on the relatively new Apex ( launched 2021) out of Southampton which demonstrates X’s commitment to the UK market ( unlike RCI!) 

11 hours ago, MadManOfBethesda said:

That may be true in southern Europe, but it certainly hasn't been my experience in northern Europe. My wife and I are just finishing up a 3-week trip which included land stays in Reykjavik, Edinburgh, and Amsterdam, and virtually every establishment we visited included a tip line on their credit card receipts. And that was even when there was already a 10% service charge added on. In fact, we went to one bar in Amsterdam where I handed the server a 20 Euro bill for a 9.50 tab, and she returned with a 5 Euro bill and 5.50 in coins, with the clear implication that I not only would leave a tip, but that I would leave a tip in excess of 50 cents. That slick little move is something that I've only heretofore encountered in U.S. bars and restaurants. 

How very strange. 
You tap your card for most payments up to €100 and on the machine you have an option to add a tip.  I have not seen or signed a paper receipt in Europe for years. And I mean years.

I thought it was only the USA with the very strange antiquated system whereby they bring you a receipt, you write in a tip amount and sign it and then they bring you another receipt!!!  How much till roll paper is wasted?!?! 🤷‍♀️

If you tap you don’t need a pin.

Always select the option to

pay in local currency 💶 and let the bank do the conversion. 

Little Miss Amsterdam would have got a €0.50 from us. 

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I don’t know the points structure for X, but on Royal, D+ is at 175 and Pinnacle is 700. That’s a long way to go. We cruise alot, but we’re starting to spread our wings, so we may not get there on Royal.

I am a genuine Elite ( equiv of D) on X

Zenith starts at 3000 so I have 2476 points to go.

Points are allocated based on cabin grade booked. A balcony is 3pn. So I would have to spend 825 nights on X in a balcony to get to Zenith. 
There is 525 nights at a point per night separating D+ to Pin.  
 

So yes, it is much harder to achieve which is why there are about 800 Zs only. And probably explains why us Ziniths are not being welcomed with open arms. 🤗 

4 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

Biker is correct.  If you like Oasis, that probably means you like things like the aqua theatre, ice skating shows, slides and the FlowRider.  X (aka Celebrity) has zero of these things.  Agree the Radiance and Millenium class ships are pretty much the same, the other RCI ships bare little resemblance to X.

 

jc

A refreshing difference I find! 

7 minutes ago, ticketsunlimited said:

Good to know.  We have four days in Rome.  Doing the usual tourist stuff.  Colosseum/Forum booked, Vatican booked,  and Audio tour of Pantheon. We are staying a stones throw from the door of the Pantheon so we will wander around to all the other sites in the mean time. Plan on paying for our dinners with the AMEX and tipping in Euros.

AMEX is not really liked ( some places refuse to accept it and have signs stating that) in Europe. 
Can you get a Chase card which charges no fx fees? 
 

Given the number of thieves and pickpockets I certainly would not be carrying large sums of cash around with me. 

Please remember that tipping in Europe means rounding up ( €66 to €70) or at most 10%.  

9 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I guess I would need to figure out how to do that  

You just need to make sure you log out after each use, to stop the clock ⏰ 

2 hours ago, Southern Dan said:

I thought I read somewhere that Liberty is finally going to get her amplification prior to the European Summer 2026 season so that will be an improvement over the Independence I’m sure!

It’s still Freedom class which is totally unsuitable for English weather !!! Give me Vision or Radiance any day ! 

1 minute ago, Tree_skier said:

So if Indy is in the Caribbean in the summer of 26 what is the speculation on what is sailing out of Southhampton that summer... Liberty?

Yup. The Even Older Than Independence Ship to ensure they capture the UK market … 

8 minutes ago, cruise wizard said:

 

We have been on 4 "X" cruises since the status match and so far - no access to the Retreat Lounge and there weren't many true Zenith's onboard. Our next "X" cruises (B2B) are in late September and first week in October - so we will see what happens.

Yup I suspected that that “discretion” was another word for “ will not”! 

On 6/23/2024 at 10:14 PM, RFerrington said:

Roger.  Thanks !

Retreat Lounge access when not staying in the Retreat

1.        Loyalty Match members will only be permitted to access the Retreat Lounge when not staying in the Retreat based on availability and at the sole discretion of Celebrity Cruises.

Status Match Terms (celebritycruises.com)

On 7/9/2024 at 6:58 PM, FamilyCruiserUK said:

We are back on indy after 8 years away next summer as well from Southampton. Such a nice quiet easy port to sail from. Never had any issues with royal, msc or p&o out of southampton. No whistles, no horn beeping and no need to tip the porter mafia. Cant wait to see how indy is now post her amplification 👍

I went on her first sailing post Amp back in May 2018.  She will be looking a bit tired by 2025!!  

Do they still have that VR bouncy ball shaped thing - that was just an abandoned area on Odyssey and Spectrum now?

21 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

 

 

 

Gotta keep up with the theme to match the frat party..

Only 30 mins instead of the usual 60..?

Just watched the blog lengthy utube video - it certainly is a lot more 'colourful' than your average RCI ship - but wow, that outside seating on Giovannis looks incredible.  Not sure if I would like to be in those first BW balconies though!  I guess they could always throw you a bread stick!