Gishua_

Actually, as I pointed out in the original thread on this, nowhere does it say anything in the press release that he will have anything to do with designing anything. They talk in fancy terms of him being a spokesman.

He is an interior designer... whom which celebrity is paying to be the spoke person when they release the design of the ship in March. They have a "partnership" meaning they are paying him for his design aesthetic, input and opinions. His profession is not a press secretary, he is a world acclaimed interior designer.

As a designer, he works with Celebrity Cruises and will most likely lead the design team on the interior decorations of the ship's public spaces. He has a wonderful collection. To get an idea of his work you can see his target special collection by visiting your local target store. They have a whole area dedicated to selling his items.

I am so sorry for your woes. I am sitting in the waiting room as my dear friend is having open heart surgery. Hope your day gets better.

I personally loved this post. :)

You are on vacation.. enjoy it by making the best of any situation. Not everything is going to go as planned... guess what.. you are on vacation. Most people in the world cannot afford to go on any vacation.

Also in the 5%. We seldom look forward much more then 1 year, when it comes to travel/cruising, and have learned to avoid new builds until they are at least 2-3 months old. As to 2019 Transatlantics, the political situation in Europe is playing havoc with cruise schedules. Even planning trips a few months in advance is fraught with uncertainty and itinerary changes (canceling Istanbul is a good recent example). We will likely cruise 150+ days between now and the Spring of 2019....and have only booked about 60 of those days.

 

But for those really looking at that spring 2019 time frame you might want to start looking at schedules around the end of 2017.

 

Hank

We are the opposite and typically book our travel at least a year out. We are not wealthy but make traveling a priority in our life. Booking in advance allows us to save money over time. Situations like schedule changes and/or minor political issues are not deterrents or deal breakers for us. If we are dead set on visiting a certain city or sight we'll make sure to book a city stay rather than visit the location on a cruise for a limited amount of time.

How fortunate for you though, that you will be able to cruise so many days between now and spring of 2019. Well be lucky to get to get in 28 between now and then.

If I were a gambling man I'd say that Celebrity release EDGE itineraries sometime April/May of this year, with the "mystery" deck plans typical of RCCL and Celebrity for new vessels - Cabin #s and Categories identified but all other areas blank and marked "more to come" with trickled out press releases on the various venues over the following 15-18 months until launch.

 

I have no hard proof of this timeline, but it seems to be their typical pattern with new ship classes for both brands.

Thanks for your input AtlantaCruiser72. Hopefully you are right.

Does anyone know when the spring 2019 Trans-Atlantic cruise schedules will be released for booking? Also, can we assume that the Edge ship schedule will be released soon? Hopefully she will be doing an east bound TA in 2019.

1. The string duet at the Bacio was wonderful.

2. Cabin stewards have been reduced to one per cabin.

3. Bar wait staff get no salary. They split the tips from each cruise.

4. The Production Shows have not gotten any better.

5. Live House music is an endangered species.

6. DJ electronic noise is on the rise.

7. The service staff on the ship work very long hours, always have a smile and a pleasant attitude and deserve every penny they make.

 

 

 

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I find #5 & #6 to be grossly inaccurate. On our recent October cruise on the Reflection, there were so many live house music options that it was hard to keep up.

I think celebrity has done a great job a cycling music options. There was always live jazz, strings, rock, etc to be found each day/ night. Options changed regularly on our 11 N voyage. Location of each was also changed which was nice. DJ music was played nightly as the late music around the martini bar which is more than appropriate. However, if one likes something more tame they could have headed over to the ensemble lounge where there was always great and changing live music being performed.

I think that Celebrity has widened their music options to appeal to a wider target market. I don't feel they have illuminated any option

Did it twice on the Reflection on an 11N med cruise. It was held in cellar Masters both times. It was such a hit, so much fun! Looks weird at first but once you get the headphones on ... you understand.

Hope they keep doing this as it was a blast!

You might want to check Spirit they fly direct to Fll from Dtw daily.

J.

I always avoid any extreme low cost airline like spirit and frontier. Their hidden fees, horrible times and lack of service makes me avoid them. Not to mention their lack of planes and partnerships. If something happens with a delay or cancelled flight on a main carrier or SWA flight, they will reroute or rebook on another airlines or get another plane. When you are going on a trip like a cruise and need to get to a ship.. I personally am not taking risks to save 100 bucks.

We're on Reflection April 1 out of Miami. I just looked at flights the other day and was surprised at how high they seemed. Might still be a little early. We live in Chicago, so major hub. I do have 2, $300 vouchers from American Airlines (they changed our flight home last week), and was hoping that would cover most of our flights. Do you know if you can use vouchers through Choice Air?

I just checked your dates. I did March 31st to April 8th. ORD-MIA. ticket prices are about 415-500 depending on times and direct vs connection and times. This was searched on kayak.

https://www.kayak.com/flights/ORD-MIA/2017-03-31/2017-04-08

I always use kayak to search, then go directly to airline to book. as if something happens the airlines can better help you then a 3rd party. I am not sure if choice air can use vouchers. I personally would book directly with AA with those vouchers. Also, this is Spring break time ... So it is not too early to buy and I doubt prices will go down.

Tip for flights in general especially if you don't live in a city where there is a lot of flight competition. Try to fly out of a major hub. For example: For our last Med cruise in Europe. We looked for flights to from Phoenix. Tickets were about 1400-1600 PP RT. We checked from Los Angeles to Rome... 600 PP RT. Then we buy a southwest ticket from Phoenix to LA about 120 PP RT. Giving us ample time to collect luggage and recheck in since they are separate flights. Saved us so much money.

Also flights are not always cheapest 6 months out. That is the average cheapest. General rule with airfare... if its a deal... buy it!!!

Already booked our tickets to Europe for next year's TA on the Reflection, October 2017. We paid $500 from LA to London direct on British Airways. It is RT but we wont be using the return flight. One-way fares are typically always way more expensive than RT unless you are flying a budget airline.

We booked in advance on the reflection in the med. There were just 2 sea days on this cruise. Our cabana was on the first sea day and it was lovely. You can lay out in the grass. Like one posted stated, not many people even venture on to the grass most look and walk on, or go over to the giant chairs, take a pic and leave. It was very quiet the whole day, very relaxing. Boccie ball is actually not done daily on the grass in front of the alcoves. Its is on the grass that is on the side of the ship by the walkway that lead to the sunset bar. That is where the daily boccie ball was on our cruise as well as the tournament. We left and came all day, took a nap in the cabana, ate lunch there, and even had a drink in the evening. Would absolutely do it again for at least one day of our next cruise.

I was just on the Celebrity Reflection. We had 2 rooms. In one room we had booked with the promotion and the drink package was included. No additional gratuities were charged to our account from our drinks.

In the other room, we had no drink package, so we purchased on board, no additional gratuities were added to the account.

Point is, regardless of when you purchase it, no additional gratuities were added to our bill. The wording is confusing on the website and I wondered if there would be additional gratuities added.

I also have a question. We are booked on next years TA on the Reflection. We dont want the drink package for the first 7 nights. I want to purchase the Drink package for the remaining days only. Can I purchase the drink package that far into the cruise? Has anyone ever done this? Will I only be charged for the remaining days?

any word on $25.00 deposits coming back anytime soon?

Both times we ate there on the Reflection a couple weeks ago, our bill was not over 50.00. We always had an appetizer and 3 or 4 rolls. The second time we ate there on the cruise, they took 20% off our bill for returning. Excellent service and the best sushi I have ever had at sea. I dont mind the charge at all.

Drink package covered drinks up the price of your respective package.

Concierge Class gets 2 more points per night.

That is worth the $100.00 PP more CC is on my next sailing. Thank you!

Sorry, this was our first cruise. We thought they would eat in some sort of employee dining area.

I love seeing the crew around the ship enjoying its amenities. I also love seeing them in port walking around getting time off. They always wave and say hi. Most recently on our med cruise on the reflection, we saw many employees enjoying the OV cafe, The martini bar, and the pool bar. One of the workers informed us they have contests and rewards. Sometimes the rewards are a whole day off or an evening off and during this time they are allowed to participate in certain activities and enjoy certain parts of the ship. I have never seen this on other cruise line and applaud Celebrity for providing their employees with such benefits.

Was just on the last Eastern Med Cruise before the TA. There were no assistants. Service was outstanding.

Everyone always talk about the extra points but how many?

If I am in a 1A regular balcony on a solstice class ship, I get 3 points per night on the ship. How many do I get in CC?

Just had an alcove on the Reflection during the last European cruise before its Transatlantic. We were having a hard time deciding if we wanted a sea or port day. At the end we went for a sea day as it is much more entertaining watching the ocean going by. Even though, yes they face the grass, you can still see the scenery all around you. Also, people walking past or hanging out on the grass was not bothersome, nor that plentiful. I personally would book a sea day over a port day.

My choice for domestic is always Delta. nicer staff, more modern feel, flight attendants are not old mean hags. Plus I find their connecting airports (hubs) more appealing than the competition. Also, delta is nice about missing a flight, refunding a flight or changing your schedule, at least from my experience.

Head over to Princess cruises. We love them as well. Especially the Regal and Royal. They are having a good sale right now.

Having worked in the hospitality business for many hotels in many parts of the world you would be surprised on how many people use the mini bar. You would also be surprised at how many people lie about using the mini bar but claim they have not. It got so bad at one 5 star hotel I worked at the housekeeping manager would inspect every mini bar before check-in and would take a picture of the contents with a time stamp an would do that same every day after the room was cleaned by staff. We made about 500-1500 a day during high season on mini bar sales and that was a small hotel with only 88 rooms.

Not planning on dressing up in formal wear on our cruise in 2 weeks time. I will be looking fabulous though. Love the dress code change. For everyone that misses "tradition" or fun of dressing up... throw a formal party at your house, go out on the town, or dress up on formal night on the ship, no one says you cannot.

Thank you JohnnyT! I really appreciate your answer.