Mimiya11

Thanks for your review. We are boarding the Ascent on Sunday. Woo hoo. Two questions - Sounds like you prefer going to the Elite breakfast instead of Blu? We are eligible for the Elite breakfast but never been for some reason. How early did you get to Eden to find a seat for evening entertainment? From being on the Apex twice now, found it crazy busy even an hour earlier. We did go to the Eden Cafe for lunch regularly. Loved it. .

We flew out of Fort Lauderdale to TO in November for a Sunday morning flight. While we made it to the airport well in time for our 11am flight, the airport was a zoo. No place to stand or sit as AC had a flight to Montreal about 10 minutes before the Toronto flight. As a result, the line up was insane (was one line for both flights) staff were stressed and as a result took their stress out on passengers. Won't do that again. In the past, we had a late afternoon flight, so decided to rent a car for the day (at the rental car office near the port) We had a place for our luggage for the day, had a nice brunch in Fort Lauderdale, did a bit of shopping and the day was easy and stress free. Just a thought.

Well completely different set up and ambiance then what I think I saw on either You Tube or some other Celebrity photos of Blu outdoor seating. Oh well.

Well that is a bit disappointing. And based on a photo someone else posted, that area is not very enticing. No biggie, Blu is a beautiful dining room.

Really? I read somewhere that BLU on the Ascent now has some limited outdoor seating for breakfast and dinner. Sigh.....

On the Apex last March, we spent a lot of time having afternoon cocktails on the Magic Carpet. Was quiet, enjoyed the view and breeze, and loved their interesting unique cocktails. On the Apex again in November on a TA, it was dead as it was way too windy to sit there. Not sure why they had it open at all.

Happy to hear that the Eden Cafe is open on both sea and port days. On the Apex it was packed and people were getting creative in finding seats. Any issues with finding seats?

Thank you bookbabe. See you are formerly from Toronto. You are lucky, the weather here is frigid!

Looking for any recent positive experiences / recommendations for purchasing a hotel day pass to use hotel amenities, beach, restaurants for a day in port. Thank you.

Actually have been on two Celebrity cruises in the last year. Both were 7 plus days. Handful of kids the most but not over a school break where I would expect more. Besides am used to kids and agree with what Lemons4Days said

Babies and children are not common on any of the Celebrity cruises we have been on over the years. Agree though, that is a parenting fail and they should have left with the baby.

Loved the Retreat on the Apex. Mind you, we were on a TA, so there were maybe 3 days that we sat outside away from the wind so never had a problem finding a spot as a result. But there were always gracious servers upstairs offering drinks, blankets (doubt you will have that need). The overall experience inside the Retreat Lounge area was great but it did get pretty crowded pre-dinner but never had a problem finding a seat. You can also have a light continental breakfast in the lounge and we spent each night there for pre-dinner drinks as the bars all around the ship were so busy. Plus they served nice antipasto and snacks at that time too.

We were in the Retreat on the Apex but got tired of lunches in the Luminae since we were on the ship for 2 weeks and same old same old lunches. Edge Cafe was terrific but also got crowded. Enjoy. The Retreat is pretty great...

As others suggested, yes she will be ok but....as a heads up, Celebrity can do way better as far as choice. Their bread selection is limited - so at dinner, while the non GF people get a lovely basket of rolls and breadsticks, the GF person (my husband) was given toast (once even raisin toast). When we had cheese and crackers as an afternoon snack, there are no GF crackers. There is GF pizza and pasta at the buffet and Cafe Bacio will have a few options re cookies. Don't think there are GF burger buns at the grill. I have even read that some people have brought their own GF crackers and bagels to fill the void. Trust me she will not go hungry.

Just curious. When we were on the Apex a couple of months ago, we had to circle the buffet a few times but even more frustrating was tables were often left with dirty dishes and a few times, we had to push them to the side with no sight of crew coming to clean up. Was that a problem? .

Thanks. I did find one tour company, which does not do pick up from the port, but does offer a nice itinerary. Decisions, decisions. You are always a great help edinburgher.

Having just been to Barcelona for four days in November (loved it!), we are hoping to find a shore excursion with port pick up to Montserrat. Any recommendations? Thank you.

Oops nope. Realized you had mentioned a date in an earlier post.

Agree that the lecture series were great, especially the commentary as we sailed through the Panama Canal. We also enjoy eating outside so we ended up most nights at the buffet while enjoying the same options that were in the dining room. Plus gelato, breads and all desserts beat Celebrity by leaps and bounds.

We are on the Oasis starting August 8th. Same?

We have but when we booked the Premium package was included. But with Viking you do get wine included at meals and there were a few events that offered free cocktails. Viking Ocean had some great things about it including a smaller ship, nice areas to wander and hang out. We found the entertainment was not really for us, and evenings were a bit snoozy. So we ended up spending most of our spare evenings in the Explorer Lounge, where there was a guitarist who sang songs from the 70's, 80/s and 90's which worked for us. But it did get tedious since we were on the ship for almost two weeks. Depends what you are looking for.

Absolutely!

Well that is disappointing re no acknowledgement. I may seek you out again as we are going on a Scotland Intensive cruise next year. 😉 Thanks again.

Thank you so much Edinburgher! My husband and I spent a week in Provence several years ago, and being retired, I offered to do the research to share with the family. Your various options and detailed information are well appreciated. The easier the better for our group, which will no doubt break up into smaller groups, depending on how everyone feels that day (I do have visions of a few saying they want to stay on the ship LOL).

As expected. With our group of both school children and teachers, our time of year options for the trip were very limited. Thanks for the advice.