Mimiya11

I did some research and yes it seems to be a private beach for Carnival. Based on the port schedule, Viking is the only ship in port the day we are there. Mmm

Just got an email from Viking to say Mahogany Bay is now the port for Roatan. Is that where you stopped? Looks like there is a beach very close by as we most likely will bale the included excursion based on comments.

Thanks. This is our first Viking cruise, so we are really looking forward to the sea days and warm weather (we are from Canada). Appreciate your warning about the Roatan excursion. We are particularly looking forward to seeing the Panama Canal and taking two excursions in Costa Rica. And the World Cafe? .... What I have read on this forum and seen on You Tube, amazing. The sushi and seafood alone sold me.

Thanks so much for responding As most of our cruises have been to the Caribbean (we tend to do Europe by land), we are used to going with the flow. We are booked to go Cave Tubing through a private tour guide found on CC. Very excited. Did you take any of the included excursions? Any highs and lows?

Bumping this thread - Any recent report backs/reviews of the Star's Panama Canal cruise? We are sailing in just under a month Thank you

Plus once downloaded, and accepted, if you don't like how it looks, you can resubmit. Happened to me.

We are doing a TA in November, booking a SS over a year ago. I was shocked to see the prices if I were to book the same next year. The Retreat prices are double! what we paid, making them way out of our budget.

Some of the examples are things I don't need to know in advance. But as you said, there are many things I would be missing if these boards were not around. As we are going on our first Viking cruise, I knew nothing about the cooking classes (not to be confused with the cooking excursions for $$$$) until I saw someone post about their experience making paella on the ship and suggesting we book a class once we get on board. Who knew?

Exactly!

Topper was awful !! Agree on that. No idea re Blu's menu change but going on the Apex next month so will see what other options we have besides meatloaf and squab. But for us, to answer the OP's question - we have never been on a Celebrity cruise that we didn't love from any of our verandah, AQ or Sky Suite cabins. Been on Princess twice, NCL, Carnival twice (years ago when our kids were young), HAL and Celebrity still is our preferred cruise line so we are taking our 9th and 10th Celebrity cruise this year. Am I happy about the changes in fees? Of course not, even though we rarely order room service and never had dinner in the OV buffet. We are trying for the first time, a Viking Ocean cruise next month, only a few days after our Apex cruise. Trust me, those boards are also actively complaining about an increase in beverage package costs. Not exactly a B2B but will be good to compare and contrast the two. Nice that people have choices and book accordingly.

And that started pre Covid. Should be across all lines !

We are boarding the Star in March. Looking forward to any report backs about your experiences on land and sea. Enjoy.....

We rushed to book a cruise on the offer, which was expiring in 24 hours. That was a month ago LOL

Mine too!!!!

My understanding is that chic nights are for the main dining rooms and not Blu or Luminae. Dined in both and never saw any of the passengers dining in these venues dress up as some passengers in the MDR do. My husband has worn a sport jacket maybe once (not necessary and never again) and I have worn dress pants, capris, or a casual dress. Our experience in Luminae has only been on the Reflection. Not once did we see the need to order from the MDR (we loved the menu) especially on a one week cruise. As you will see, many differing opinions but you will love Celebrity.

Thanks everyone! Sounds terrific!!!

First time on the Apex coming up next month. While on the Reflection last year, the track was like an obstacle course of people hanging out in chairs which were pulled out and blocking the path. Hard to tell from the Apex deck map, but can someone tell me if the walking track is possibly clear of tables, chairs? Thank you.

One and done for us on HAL. We were on the Eurodam Mexican Riviera cruise a few years ago, before Covid. We found the food in the main dining room below average so ended up paying for a specialty restaurant which was better. Any staff we encountered seemed bored, not committed to customer service and just lacked the Celebrity quality. For us, contrary to some other posters, we did enjoy the entertainment as it was more unique than Celebrity offers. We loved the Blues club, the Lincoln Centre performances (which we have heard are now being eliminated) and at times, we even liked the two pianists. Found the ship though, dark and strangely laid out. We did splurge for a cabana for the week, which was terrific. Well, except for the Cabana server, who didn't seem to have his act together. And we missed Cafe Bacio a lot!!

Wow that is crazy! When are you sailing?

Consistent inconsistency by Celebrity. My app clearly says AQ Room Services - continental breakfast is complimentary. All other orders are $9.95 service charge plus gratuity.

Excellent point. If it was not for CC, I, for one, would have never known about all these changes. We are inundated daily with Celebrity emails, none of which have informed us about changes to room service, beverage packages, etc on our upcoming cruise. And even worse, as many of have us have experienced, contacting Celebrity customer service or Captain's Club gets us inconsistent or incorrect information. But....in the end, we look forward to our upcoming cruises.

And if you don't mind, can you ask her for the cost to upgrade from Classic to Premium before sailing? I am reluctant to stay on hold once again with the Captain's Club only to get a rep who doesn't know the answer. Thanks in advance if you can.

Exactly! And we also don't want to show up at Cafe Bacio for our daily morning lattes to find out that they are NOT included in the Classic package anymore. Soooo frustrating....

That is for sure!

Thanks very helpful dd57.