garyl62

On board and getting settled in before we sail away. Quick check-in like many others have reported.  We brought 3 bottles of wine with us and this time I decided to bring them in my carry-on.  I told the guy running the x-ray machine I had them in there, he just looked at me like it's no big deal but didn't say anything.  He ran the bag through the scanner and never said a word to me the entire time.  I picked it up and off we went.  We had an 11:00 time, and could have been onboard by 11:15 but we sat down and enjoyed an almond croissant before we went onboard!  One thing I missed was lack of an escort onboard and to our cabin.  Maybe they don't do that for Celebrity Suites or below, but getting a little extra direction since this was our first time on an E-Class could have helped.  Also noticed very long elevator lines but nothing that really put a damper on the embarkation process.

Dropped our carryon off and met our room steward (forgot his name and didn't get a card so I'll update later) the room wasn't finished yet so we went to the retreat lounge and adjusted a couple of dinner reservations.  From there off to Luminae for traditional lobster roll lunch.  DW had the steak and said it was very good.  From there we wondered around the ship and took things in.  Oceanview Cafe was very busy and all the stations were open. We stopped by our Muster location, walked around the ship a little more and decided to head to our room.

Back to the room to unpack as luggage arrived by 2:30 and room was clean.  Our Butler Liam stopped in to discuss our desires, and stressed his ability to do anything for us.  We made a couple requests regarding pillows and glassware, but nothing else really.

Suites entry, left door, then left side of elevator as many have said.  Several staff there to make sure you go the proper way.

Snacks in the check-in area

Typical CS

Macallan Quest  in the center on the Magic Carpet

Enjoying an Orange Mojito on the Magic Carpet!

Missed the ship coming in, but nice view from our hotel room. Off to breakfast and a quick walk along the beach before boarding in 3 hours! 

Here are a couple photos.

American terminal at O'Hare at 10:00 on Friday of Spring Break week

Lona Cocina, fish tacos and lobster quesadilla for dinner at a table on the rail with the beach and ocean in the background

Well it was a little longer travel day than we anticipated.  To say everyone the details, ORD was a breeze, 8 minuties from curb, to the Admirals Club including checking bags and TSA!  However due to congestion in MIA our flight was delayed and we ended up over 1.5 hours late arriving in MIA.  Then traffic took an hour 20 to get to our hotel.  We had a reservation at Lona Cocina Tequileria and got there a half hour late but they still had a table for us overlooking the beach so we ended the day with a nice dinner and margaritas.

One thing we forgot about when we booked our room was the spring break crowd in Fort Lauderdale.  I thought it would be a nice afternoon/evening with an ocean view room, dinner overlooking the ocean and a good way to start our trip.  The view is there, but so are a lot of college kids enjoying their time down here as well!  The AC by Marriott is a new nice hotel and it seems to be slightly away from the party zone so we think it will be a quiet night still.

I'll try to post some photos after we board, connection between the phone and computer didn't sync up right away tonight so I'll look into it tomorrow.  We have a 11:00 boarding time so planning to get an Uber around 10:30.  Thanks for the encouragement so far, looking forward to boarding our first Edge Class ship in just over 12 hours!

Thanks for the replies and interest from all of you, finished up packing and taking care of all of our check-ins and paperwork review last night. Getting ready to head out to O'Hare in a couple hours when the trip will finally begin! I will post an update when I have more to share about our travel experience today and plans for tonight.

Well I'm starting out with good intentions, but will admit I won't be making this my main focus on the trip although I'll try to share enough to keep everyone interested and help out with some info along the way.

DW and I are in late 50's early 60's and are sailing for the first time in an Edge class ship and traveling to Key West, Belize, Cozumel and Grand Cayman.  We've been to most of these before (Belize is new for us) so we plan to have a good mix of port visits, but also intend to stay onboard to enjoy the "Apex Floating Resort".  We have a Celebrity Suite, and hope to enjoy the Retreat Lounge and Deck, but also seek out some other places on board to enjoy and relax.  We enjoy Luminae, but also look for a little more variety so we have reservations at Fine Cut, Eden (twice) and Dinner on the Edge and we're looking forward to trying Le Grand Bistro and Eden for lunch too.

Finishing up our packing tonight, fly from ORD to MIA tomorrow and are staying at the AC by Marriott in Fort Lauderdale Beach Friday night.  We're looking forward to some time away and hope you'll enjoy following along!

52 minutes ago, CNSfromHI said:

Not to hijack this thread, but I've wondered if peeps generally bring/pack their own bottles from home or buy them in the port city before boarding? We'd hoped to do the latter last autumn but it just didn't work out.

 

We'd like to bring some from home next time but, if we do, what's the best way to pack them?

 

Thanks for any advice,

 

cjr

We bring them from home, but only when we decide to bring something nice otherwise I don't think it's worth the effort as we usually have the premium drink package.  We use a "Wine Angel" brand packing bag.  Amazon sells them, bubble protection heavy clear plastic, ziploc bags.  I pack them in the center of my checked luggage and seems to work great.  I'm leaving tomorrow and have 3 packed in my bag right now!

Just now, hrhdhd said:

Not correct. It's two bottles per adult, not per cabin.

This is correct. 2 bottles per adult (legal drinking age) regardless of cruise length at embarkation. Policy is any alcohol brought onboard from a port during the cruise is held and provided to you the final night.

On 3/12/2023 at 4:57 PM, mahdnc said:

Most, if not all, of the wines that Celebrity carries on their ships do not require decanting.  I have yet to observe a sommelier performing it (for the limited number of cruises that I have taken).

We had some wine decanted for us onboard.  Granted it was wine we brought with us in 2019 and was a 1994 Opus One.  As soon as I discussed with the Sommelier our plan to have it for dinner one night he immediately said to bring it to him a little before dinner and he would decant it for us.  While they don't usually need to decant anything, they do have the decanter available and are ready to do it should the wine benefit from the process.

Same experience. Only one discount per treatment

While all these answers are providing good information, the way I read the OP is if they book the Aqua Retreat Suite, can they take guests into those dining rooms.  I've never really seen a good answer related to dining rooms for Aqua Suite passengers.  Obviously they can dine in Luminae, but can they also dine in Blu even if other suite guests are turned away due to space?  I doubt they can bring guests into Blu so the answer to the original question is probably into Luminae, but doubtful to Blu.  The reason I say doubtful is because I've never seen an Aqua Suite passenger post about this experience.  While it's doubtful in my opinion there could be chance that if someone is booked into an Aqua suite vs regular Aqua class they get some different privileges.

1 hour ago, alishac said:

Do you have a contact for the shoreside suite concierge? I keep hearing people mention them but I can't find a way to contact them.

You'll need to be in a suite and there is one assigned to each ship.  If you're in a higher end suite they should call you 2-4 weeks before you sail, if you're in a sky suite or maybe even a Celebrity Suite you may just get an email.

19 hours ago, edgekid said:

Cruising on Reflection Sept. 2023...Want to book a multi night restaurant package, however doing it on the website only allows me to choose the “package” but not the nights or times for the different restaurants..The only way I can accomplish that is if I book the restaurants separately, which costs more. If we have to wait until we board, chances are we won’t get the times &/or restaurants we want..Does anyone know if I can do this via phone, perhaps through Captains Club?

Lots of good info here, but to give you a more direct answer to your question, no you can't book them all ahead of time.  That's the trade off with getting the discount, you take what is available onboard.  If you want specific days and times you'll need to book each one individually.  As many have said, book the package and then go to a restaurant as soon as you board and make all the reservations then.  Come prepared with dates and time for each one you want and be flexible as you may have to move a time around a little, or maybe swap nights for a couple, but you should be able to make it work.  Or, just pay the extra and book them all before you sail and don't worry about it again 🙂

Getting back to the original topic, we've sailed the refurbished Summit and are booked on the Millennium this summer in AK.  Looking forward to our trip and the traditional feel, yet updated decor of this ship!  It will be our first sailing in Aqua, after a few Retreat trips and Concierge cabins so that's a new experience for us.

4 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Not sure what route you’re getting but I just did it again with the same results. 
 

Looks like my search is picking up some traffic, but it's dropped a little since my first search.  No worries, at least it's not an hour or more like other places.

16 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I think the point of the discussion was the distance between downtown Old San Juan where the sites are more so than the SJU airport. It's 4.6km and 10 minutes drive.

 

Also, I just did your example and got 11.7km and 14 minutes. A little further but half the time.

One photo shows screenshot of Pan Am Pier to Airport time and distance, other photo shows screenshot of Old San Juan Pier to Airport.  Both are about the same distance from the airport.  If you mean Pan Am to OSJ then yes, about 4 km

Not sure I'll solve anything, but I'll chime in since we've sailed out of the Pan American Pier and made mid-cruise stops at the San Juan Cruise Port Terminal along the shoreline of Old San Juan.

Mid cruise San Juan stops are done at the pier by Old San Juan and you can easily walk the old town area as well as the historical forts and other sites.  If you're starting or ending your cruise in San Juan you will do that at the Pan American Pier and will need to take some form of transportation to get there.

According to google maps it is 10.3 km, or 6.4 miles from SJU (the main airport) to the Pan American pier.  Right now, with the current traffic load, google says it will take 27 minutes for that trip.  I'll let everyone draw their own conclusions about how that fits into your own personal definition of time especially since I appreciate and interact with both @D. B. and @RichYak 😇

Unopened bottles will not spill in your carry on. Nor would I worry about spilling a re-corked bottle in your cabin unless you spill them at home.  I'd recommend carry on what you want to drink and don't worry about how it's sealed. 🍾

41 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

One more reason to give them a deposit on board with a reduced amount.  

Like @NorthStarStateCruiserI was thinking this also, but is $100 change fee new?  I thought if you kept the same reservation # you could avoid that previously.  Maybe I'm thinking about repricing and not actually making any changes.  

@D. B. I know you've talked about how good the breakfast was, but how is the view from the dining car?  I'm debating about having breakfast before boarding and then staying in the glass domed car for the entire trip. Any comments on your experience related to the sights and the domed train car vs the lower level dining car?

On 2/27/2023 at 7:31 PM, juanrod said:

Curious if anyone has been told that the Veranda Guarantee does not include any of the OBC as advertised on the website?  Looking at the T&C for the sale and there is no mention of any Guarantee reservation looses the OBC.  

 

Booked today and was surprised to see we didn't get the OBC on the reservation.

 

Thanks for any info!

There are times I've done mock bookings and the OBC did not show up on the final page, but usually it seems that happened when I used my phone or tablet.  It was always there when I used my PC.  Not to say that was the problem, but it seems there are some glitches at times.  Since the price today is probably the same as what you booked at yesterday, call Celebrity (since it seems you booked direct) and have them look at a possible repricing with today's deal.  You won't be changing your reservation so they should give you the price and OBC for the current sale.  Just do a mock booking before you call to make sure it shows up this time.

I see some outdoor tables on the deck plan and I wonder if anyone knows if you can dine outside if the weather is appropriate.  

33 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Just ladies?

 

Sure would be easy to find everyone for a sail away party 🤣

Any change to the number of bars open while tendered?  

3 minutes ago, bigley said:

How do you sign up for Go Green? Only read about it on these boards.Thanks.

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