Banjo

I don't know who Captain is till I board the ship when I will glance at the bio sheet they hand out. No real favorites, to me they all seem to be fine. After 21 Celebrity cruises I can't think of one bad captain I had.

Now cruise directors is different. I do have several favorites and some I did not care for. Again, I don't know till I board.

Check your browser.

For some crazy reason I cannot check in with Firefox. I have use my Microsoft Start browser, which I never use.

32 minutes ago, whitecap said:

DW and I haven't been on Celebrity in several years and have a few questions if some experienced Celebrity cruisers could help us out.

We are looking at a back to back to back on the Equinox out of Port Canaveral in February 2025.

1.  I know there is a "military" discount on the cruise fare, but is there also "military OBC" offered and if so, a form to fill out?

2.  Procedure for bringing wine onboard; carry on only and how many bottles?

3.  Can you bring soft drinks, i.e. 12 pack of coke and must it be carried on?

4.  Our status provides for a discounted bag of laundry.  What is the discount?

 

Thanks so much.

Whitecap

Concerning laundry:

1 bag each if you are Elite & 2 bags each if you are Elite+. Sometimes on board they do have sales on laundry.

9 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

The tipping situation over the decades we’ve been cruising sure has changed. Back 30 sr so years ago we cruised Royal a bit. We were furnished tip envelopes for our fixed seating waiters and our room steward. We put money in the envelopes and gave them to those people on the last day. We never knew what happened to the tip money. Was it kept by the staff members tipped, or was it pooled and distributed among all the staff? In the old days, all cruise lines we knew of used the rip envelope system. In more recent times, we have cruised in an auto tipping or a tips included situation, and we just go with the program. We consider auto tip amounts to be part of the fare and pay them. And if we don’t like the fare with those auto tips added in, we don’t book. 

Recall those days. Also remember the last day of the cruise in the MDR the place would be empty. 

I had this happen to me on my recent Oct 30th Edge Rome-Dubai cruise.

Soon after the Middle East Oct 7th conflict started, the cruise price dropped like a rock thrown in the ocean. I just had a Infinite Veranda cabin and for the 2 of us lost about $3300. 

I called and all they did was upgrade me to a mid-ship cabin, same class. I tried to slip into Aqua but it was sold out.

Oh well, was a great cruise.

I did take advantage of an upcoming Apex May 2nd Trans-Atlantic on some price drops. The last I checked the price for that (not that matters now 🙂 )is holding steady.

When I was in BLU last March on the Constellation they handed us both the BLU and the MDR menus without even asking when we were seated.

No problem ordering from either menu. Also the food for both came promptly.

5 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

There is no way to reserve times on E class ships. That would be if you were on an M or S class ship but not on an E. You can switch to any time dining and it looks like you are making reservations but once you are on board, you will find that this was Just an artifact of their booking system and in fact you do not have reservations. It’s a very frustrating thing that Celebrity has not been able to figure out how to fix their program so that those who are booked an E class ships all have open seating and no reservations can be booked.

You sure? In the last year I did 2 Edge cruises, both long (a Suez Canal cruise and a trans-Atlantic). I like the idea of rotating my restaurants so I make, by calling, 2 or 3 days of reservations at a time. Many times when calling for a reservation the staff member doing the reservation would say this time is booked & suggest another time is available or an alternative restaurant for the time I wanted.

Other than waiting in line to get to the hostess telling her we are here & the hostess checking us off, I never had any wait. 

On 12/21/2023 at 7:16 PM, luckyinpa said:

 

 

i guess the next question is: can you book using the onboard service then transfer to a TA and get the same perks i just mentioned above?

Yes.

We always booked on board, gotten the advertised perks, and turned it over to our TA. Since it is a big box TA the Future Cruise Staff member dong the booking is able to to turn over to big box TA when doing your booking. I do call big box TA soon after returning from the cruise to get a confirmation from them and to see what we will be getting in the form of a cash card. Also, usually big box will throw in some OBC.

Also, if you have big box black card membership & use big box visa it comes to additional 5% off the cruise.

11 minutes ago, Boston lab girl said:

I really miss the champagne. I cruise Royal and Celebrity pretty much equally and always felt the champagne said you have upgraded. The other nice touch I hope they don’t get rid of is the water and cold towels after an excursion. 

That would be a shame if they stopped the cold towels & water after an excursion. Funny, it was one the major reasons I started cruising with Celebrity.

Back around 2006 I was living and working on the Gulf Coast. All we knew about cruising was the 2 cruise lines CCL & NCL that regularly sailed out of New Orleans. I was on a NCL ship for a Caribbean cruise and we docked next to a Celebrity ship in the Caribbean. It was a really hot humid day and when I saw the Celebrity passengers getting cold towels and drinks, I said my wife that's 'class, they really know how to treat the passengers' and we tried Celebrity. Been doing Celebrity ever since especially after I retired a few years later and the kids were gone. 😊

2 hours ago, gold1953 said:

Itinerary plays a role . I like to sail on a TA and always busy!!

11 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I think it depends on how many people book Always included on the cruise , if you already have a drink package there will be less people there 

You probably right on numbers booked.

We did the Edge TA October of 2022 (Rome-FLL), they had a nice buffet set up but the ship was maybe 1/2 full.

I do recall doing TA's (we done 9 of them) prior to covid and actually lined up to get into the Tuscan. 

The wife and I, not being big breakfast eaters, love the Elite Breakfast.

Surprisingly, we done 4 cruises since covid & noticed not overwhelmingly attended. Recall prior to covid waiting on line at the breakfast buffet table. Now nice and quiet and easy to find a window table.

14 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

I keep scanned copies in a folder on my google drive so I can access from anywhere.

That is a good suggestion. I have copies of our passports and credit cards and leave them in the safe.

Rarely take the passport and always just one credit card when going on a shore excursions.

We just got an email mail from Celebrity regarding our end of October Edge cruise Rome-Dubai. It said if you want to disembark in Aquaba, Jordan you must leave your passport with Jordan authorities. You will get your passport back when you re board. A little leery of that but what are going to do. Want to see Petra, one the major highlights of the cruise.   

1 minute ago, Peteymil said:

If my husband and I are traveling together, and we are both elite plus, Do we each get two free bags or is it two bags of laundry per cabin?

2 bags each

On 3/16/2023 at 2:05 PM, D. B. said:

Elite CC members get 1 Free ( well Included) bag of Laundry and Elite+ get 2 bags.

 Last cruise (Mille-Feb.) I had a long sleeve shirt and pair of pants in the bag and wrote on the slip that I would like those returned on Hangers and sure enough that's how they came back!

 our CC perk included 1 Item Pressed and I had requested that the long sleeve shirt be pressed, and it was.

We are big trans-Atlantic cruise fans and as Elite+ this perk we make good use of. On a East-West crossing (Europe-USA) we usually travel about a week around a certain part of Europe prior to the cruise. Hand the room steward 2 bags soon after boarding 🙂Then a couple days prior to the end of the cruise do another couple of bags. Keeps us in clean clothes ☺️We will be on the Apex this May for a TA. . 

On our BLU level Constellation cruise last March & our Veranda level Edge cruise last October, they both had chocolates and turn down service. . 

10 hours ago, VitaminSea53 said:

Can you order from the Main Dining room menu while in BLU on the Reflection?

When I was in BLU on the Constellation back in March, not even asking, the hostess when seating us gave us both the BLU & the MDR menus. I did not but my wife ordered off the MDR menu a few times with no long waits or difficulty. The waiters did not seem to mind. 

You won't have this issue being on a S Class ship, just curious, what would they do on the Edge Class ships where they have 4 Main Dining Rooms with different menus?

13 hours ago, ebtrip said:

Haven’t been on X since January 2020.  We leave in 4 weeks on the Equinox. We sail in Aqua, so dine in Blu..just checked the nightly menu..included is rack of lamb, filet mignon, and lobster. There is no mention of extra cost. I’m glad they haven’t taken away the fine dining we always had in Blu. We have been sailing on Viking Ocean, small ships and excellent food and service with NO add ons..glad to be returning to X. 

I had the lobster in BLU many times, last March was my last time on the Constellation, and it was good. Always order the lobster with a dish of veal scallopini, which also on the the lobster night menu, the wife and I share that. Nice!

BTW, unless they recently changed it, was on the Edge for a trans-Atlantic back in October and had the lobster for no extra charge in one of the MDRs. In fact, not even asking, the waiter came to our table with extra lobster tails asking if we were interested in another. I obliged 🤗, no extra charge.

On 6/10/2023 at 9:44 PM, mahdnc said:

 

Yes, the two hour window is not new and is something we always managed around because we always had early seating.

 

To me, the downgrading with this is not having a portion of the Sky Lounge set aside for the Happy Hour anymore with the option for others that didn't want to be there to be able to get their drinks elsewhere. The hors d'oeuvres served there were a nice touch, too. It we also nice to talk to the Captain's Club Hostess there and meet other people.

 

I know it wasn't for everyone, but I miss it. 

 

Elite Happy Hour, Solstice Sky Lounge, Jan 1 2020, Tasman Sea

 

Solstice Captain's Club Hostess, Melissa

I traveled in Aqua a lot. Most recently last March on the Constellation. I have never seen them open early. Now a line forming between 430-530, yes. Folks want those window seats. 

We usually showed up around 7ish. Was usually able to snag a window seat with the early crowd finishing up.

As far as it is worth it? We are going on the Edge end of October (Rome-Dubai). It was prohibitively expensive for Aqua and we passed. 

Was on the Constellation March of '22 and again March of '23.  Fog was not an issue coming or going.

We flew in and out of Tampa for these cruises, no problem.

When we did our last October Edge trans-Atlantic, we rotated among the 4 MDRs. I didn't really see much difference other than they twik the menus a little. Enjoyed the food in all 4 of them. 

I been on 4 cruises (2 on the Constellation-in the Caribbean, one on the Edge (trans-Atlantic) & the Solstice (Pacific cruise) since the pandemic I found the food to be excellent except for part of my last March Constellation cruise. Last 3 or 4 days of the cruise we had norovirus outbreak (1st time that had ever happened to us and we been on 23 Celebrity cruises in the last 15 years). Fortunately the wife and I were spared,.

Food both in the OV, where they had to serve you, and in BLU went down hill fast. I attribute that to circumstances.  

I am booked on the Edge (Rome-Dubai) end of October.

I use the Elite+ perk for laundry all the time.

I find the timing for return can vary and a lot depends on your steward. I had times when I had the laundry bag on the bed before the morning clean-up and had it back that evening. Other times I waited 2 or 3 days. The 3 day time I believe was caused by the steward not bothering to check regularly. 

I would give it at least 2 days. Also, if it is a 7 day cruise, it will be minimal demand for laundry services.

I was in Aqua on my last month's Constellation cruise. When we were seated every night in BLU for dinner the hostess automatically handed us a MDR menu along with the BLU menu without even asking for it. No problem ordering from either menu. I have to admit, I only ordered once from the MDR menu.

I noticed on my last few post-Covid cruises (which are 5) they don't really stock the mini-bar to capacity like they used to.

Since bottle water for shore excursions is all need since we have a drink package, I been able to get in 5 or 6 bottles (or cans) in the mini-bar without moving what is in the bar. Replenish the water after I use them. So I no longer bother the room steward with having him empty it.