MamaFej

FTR: I would not mind good mashed potatoes. Give me a nice, creamy redskin garlic mashed potato side, and I'll eat most of it. I ate one small bite of the lunch tray scoop earlier this year, and left the rest on my plate.

I highly recommend sailing through the archipelago into Stockholm on a small ship. You get amazingly close for hours, much like this.

Yes, onboard everythng is charged to your onboard account. Joan was referring to pre-purchasing your dining through your cruise planner, which can net discounts for the first night or for multi-meal packages.

Sparky!!!! I spent quite a bit of time with Sparky the Fire Dog while volunteering at FD Open Houses over the years. He even came to my classroom during Fire Safety Week, coincidentally, on the same day PapaFej came to talk to the students about fire safety. Sadly, PapaFej had to go back to the station about ten minutes before Sparky arrived. I had hoped the two of them could meet. 😉

I've been eyeing the Viking Longitudinal cruises between the Great Lakes and very South America. Those look amazing!

I agree. That's neither appropriate nor fair. I'd agree anyway, but I may be switching to non-alcoholic wine (if any) and I would like to have the option. Do you have any non-alcoholic wines you recommend on Celebrity? I've never tried any.

TRUE!!!! My great, great.........great grandfather was the first printer in the Americas. He had been recruited by Roger Williams to come to America to print the first book in America: A Key into the Language of America after having been arrested and imprisoned multiple times for printing plays and pamphlets the Church and Government didn't like in the 1630s and 40s. He became a Founding Father of Rhode Island, a colony established (in part) on the principle of freedom of religion. If freedom of speech and of the press had been. a thing early 17th century England, I wouldn't be here to cruise and post about cruising. 😁

Is anyone here RVing to get into a good position for next month's annular eclipse? Some folks on our total eclipse cruise Roll Call are RVing to get to a good spot. We will miss this eclipse... becasue we will be cruising.

With what Delta is doing to their programs, maybe getting taken hostage wouldn't be so bad... 🤔

What a lovely way to create lasting memories for your grandchildren!

We will see you there! Well, not during totality, because it will be dark. 😜

You have just as much right to say that everything is fantastic, that things are not fantastic, and everything in-between, as anyone else. We can all learn from each other.

Hubby worked with a firefighter, originally from Scotland, named Euen. Great guy! They don't let him talk on the radio, though, as no one can understand him well if they can't see his lips moving.

We've had so many wonderful experiences on Celebrity cruises over the last 9 years, each having to do with wonderful crew. I think the one that stands out the most was on Constellation in May of 2022. We were B2B and had won our first MoveUp bid to a suite. We had not planned to go to lunch, but I noticed they had pancit on the menu. I mentioned it to PapaFej, and off we went to Luminae. The pancit was fantastic! We mentioned to the waiter that PapaFej's stepfather is from Guam, and he had grown up on Pacific Islander food. The conversation turned to lumpia, keleguin, and more, including talking about how PapaFej's grandmother cooked in an outdoor kitchen in her backyard in Lemon Grove. The waiter asked if we would like a filipino/Pacific Islander meal one night. We thanked him, but didn't want to be any trouble, so we did not mention it again. Later in the cruise, he asked again, and made it clear that they would really like to do it for us. Well, the next night, we had the best adobo, pancit, and lumpia ever! I said, "It's a good thing your grandmother is dead, because these lumpia are even better than hers, and I wouldn't want her to hear that!" It was so delightful to share this lovely cultural experience with the hard-working folks who take such good care of us onboard!

"So Insane as to Be Inconceivable" sounds like a more apropos tagline than "Modern Luxury" these days. But, seriously, I'm hoping that X will come up with ways to listen to their customers (not guests) and go back, or forward, to a way of doing business that makes more of us want to return to them with our hard earned money, ensuring profitability and ROI for shareholders.

I kind of feel like the Level and where looking/booking would be a good separate thread, maybe as a poll? Zenith and staying with X Zenith and looking elsewhere Elite Plus and staying with X Elite Plus and looking elsewhere Etc. But since it isn't, I'll play, too, We are E+ on Celebrity and Discoverer Plus on Azamara (mostly with X points) and Platinum on Princess. We are very much looking and booking elsewhere, with 6 booked long ago on X, 2 on Princess, 2 on Ama Waterways, 1 on Viking Ocean, 1 on Azamara (which will likely become a B3B in 2025).

We have gotten excellent upgrades from the lowest standard rooms booked to some pretty awesome suites on our last two Marriott stays in Sydney and in Hollywood. Both were for three nights. In Sydney, we had just disembarked and had figured we'd only drop bags, and maybe get soffe and tea in the lounge, coming back later. Nope, they said, "we have a Bridge View Spa Suite available right now, would you like it?" Um... yes, please! We even had a second half bath. The suite in Hollywood was pretty terrific, as well. These were because of Platinum Elite status with a credit card. We are going back to the Hollywood one this month and the Sydney one next month. I'm going to try not to be disappointed if we don't get another upgrade. All we really need is a clean room, but we sure have been spoiled.

Are you on the round trip one, or the one that goes through the Panama Canal after the Eclipse? We are on the round trip on the Coral.

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I think X missed a real opportunity with next April's total solar eclipse. We will be at sea on Princess near Mazatlan during totality, allowing the captain of our ship to find the best viewing site. It seems that having an eclipse cruise on the Eclipse would have been a fantastic marketing opportunity, especially to new customers, and could possibly have gotten more people excited about other West Coast cruises on X. I know Princess has two ships eclipse-chasing, and I think HAL has at least one. I'm looking forward to the 360 degree sunset I've read happens during a total eclipse at sea.

It was fluctuating just above and just below $1.00/gallon when I was in college, commuting from home. I remember loving watching the gallons increase on the pump gauge faster than the dollars, and being disappointed when it was the other way around. Last August, we were in Norway; I did the math, and their price was over $10/gallon.

Somehow, I don't think that someone yelling at you contributed to a peaceful environment. I'm sorry that happened to you.

Agreed. The thing is, Celebrity used to be the first place I'd look. It no longer is, so I may have already found somehting that meets my needs at a price I'm willing to play before I even get round to looing at X. I don't think I'm alone in this.

They are so rude and obnoxious! If you want to take a nap, go to your cabin. Don't take a heated lounger away from someone else who is paying for it, while simultaneously making the environment unpleasant for the other people who did manage to get a lounger. I can't imagine being so self-centered that I honestly believe that people would want to pay good money to hear me snore. Clearly, quite a lot of people are.