ChampagneandFanfare

Great helpful hint!

I did the tourney on Solstice last week and the rules were explained at the start. They were a bit different than my previous sailing - so I think there is some level of discretion on the part of the host. Most of the rules published above held true - in our case it was the top 7 scores from the preliminary rounds and only one winner. Our final round was $1000 vs. the preliminary rounds of $500. Minimum was $25 bet. Max was set at $500 for final round of preliminary and everything but final last round. Our host allowed 2 people to buy back in on preliminary #4 as that round was 2 people short. (On an April cruise I took they allowed unlimited buy back ins and it really ruined the tournament as he announced that rule after the first preliminary round was completed. Given that - I always ask at the beginning to make sure all the rules are disclosed.)

We were on this cruise too. For what it is worth I will give my take. We didn't find it rocking much - we have cruised many times and did find the first couple days a bit rougher but IMO hardly "hitting the walls" level. We were also on Deck 12 which tends to feel the movement more than lower. Crew told us someone made an error with the time setup on the first time change, so the ship clocks didn't update when they were supposed to and most of the crew was late for work that day. Our room clock got the right time around noon I think - so it was confusing but I knew of the daylight saving time change that was also happening (we came from Vancouver, Canada) so I adjusted my phone manually to what we were told was going to be the time and didn't have an issue. Since boat was 40%, there was lots of room in the specialty restaurants and in Luminea, where we ate many nights. The food there was great and service across the board was really great. Having been on the sister ship in April where it was also about 50% - but suffering from lack of staff, this cruise definitely made up for it. Since we have cruised on Celebrity a lot, we know that the S-sized ships are pretty big - not Oasis of the Sea big, but bigger than a lot of ships and we prefer smaller ships (i.e. 750 - 1200 people, this one was 2400-ish) since we aren't into games, contests or listening to line dancing music while we sit by the pool. (My hubby is the one wearing headphones at the pool, and I like to read but can't take a lot of sun so I am finding cosy places on the ship). We did a cooking class in Puerto Vallarta, and learned a secret to making the tortillas, which we do at home! It also included the tequila tasting - pretty much done for every tour in Mexico. We did the camel ride (and tequila tasting) in Cabo, which was really fun and educational too. In Ensenada we did the ATV (booked through Celebrity) and it was fun. It included a wine tasting (my first Mexican wines) and a tequila tasting. Guides on all the Celebrity sponsored tours were great! Overall we had a great cruise, got exactly what we expected, and put down our deposits (usable within a year!) for next time.

Great reviews - we stayed at this hotel too - but only for a day room. Went home too early 🙂 Have a great end to your vacation.

IMO Oceania is more upscale than Celebrity but there are pro/cons. Celebrity has better cocktails but Oceania is quieter. Food is better overall on Oceania, especially the pastries. We aren't into the shows and always have premium drink packages. We usually stay in concierge rooms with real balconies but with the new Celebrity ships we are not fans of the virtual "window" balcony - we won't stay in one again so we either have to now book a suite, go on older ships or go on competitive ships so we expect to go on Oceania more often. We haven't been on Oceania since COVID but on our last Celebrity cruise in April there were a lot of supply shortages and service was slow - probably because they were re-training so many new people.

Most cruises we end up on a S-Class ship (Just because of route offered at the time I want to go) and As such I can get a real balcony for concierge so its a definite plus (I really dislike the big window "virtual" balconies and if that was all Celebrity offered, I would choose a different line). The 5 points is useful to me since I am Elite and getting close to Elite Plus, but otherwise don't see much advantage.

Well at least you got the sky suite upgrade. They told me it wasn't allowed so I ended up paying full to book a sky suite. I really wish the reps they hire are consistent and consistently know the rules. I usually use my own travel agent who knows what the rules are - but for the comp deal I was forced to use their rep and wait an hour on the phone for the pleasure to get misinformation and essentially nothing.

I think these cruises were added when then cancelled Japan cruises - maybe not much uptake. I still can't figure out if it is for the whole stateroom on only one person (named in the email). Anyone know?

I received a Veranda offer (I'm elite/pearl) but no perks. I wasn't sure if it was for one person or both (that makes a difference). I do spend time in the casinos, slots and tables and participate in blackjack tournaments. I started receiving these offers a bit ago, I never read them - thought it was junk mail. Read this one - but would still have to pay taxes, wifi, drinks (we drink alot :)) and gratuities so it doesn't seem like that big of a savings. Might hold out and see if they "up" the offer over time 🙂

They have different menus on different days when we were on the Eclipse. So you look at the menus (at the specialty booking desk) and then pick the menu you want - then they give you the choice of days for that menu. The animation fits the menu and if you don't like something - you sit through the animation and then they bring you the alternate choice. I did that for something I was allergic to. The animation is timed for the whole dining room - so it is like a fixed time dining.

When we were on the cruise in April, we were told there was no visible lava flows so even the tour boats that go around the island to view the volcano lava to the sea were not operating. If there is no visible lava flow, there is no reason to view that area and they are probably just going faster and therefore don't need the extra day at sea. (There is lava in the cauldron but during major eruptions it used to flow to the ocean). Consider yourself lucky that you don't have to have an extra sea day - we had one too many...

We were on the Eclipse Hawaii Apr 23 and we looked for a bridge view on the tv but couldn't find it. And am I missing something but it seems there is no "guide" channel that shows what's on. (Guide just gives you the channels). Not that it was important but we did discover a couple good shows on the sea days that we could never find consistently (which would have been nice as we like to have appetizers and watch a bit of tv as down-time.)

BTW, One of the things that we noticed most regarding wine was the Cellar Masters. Gone are the high end wines (via the dispensers) and really very little offerings in general by the glass. It seemed the locale was pretty much wasted space because it was hard to get service some nights and what they offered wasn't stellar. This was the first cruise we took with Celebrity since end of 2018, so I am not sure when the loss of the dispensers in Cellar Masters occurred.

Hi kmtoner - I was on the same cruise (first Hawaii) and there were events where some of the white wines were not available. Almost everyone seemed to push the Seeker as a substitute. In MDR it seemed to be impossible to get Mer Soleil but once in the lounge by Merano they gave me it but made it seem like it was a very special event and not what I should have been offered regularly. My husband had a similar experience with the red wines.