nanamobo

Glad you enjoyed your first cruise with Celebrity! We are doing a 4 night from Fort Lauderdale on Reflection 4/29/24. Haven’t been on Celebrity since 2019. We did Carnival from NY last year never again. The food wasn’t up to par. We have done Viking River and Ocean as we are both retired in our early 70’s. They include beer and wine with lunch/dinner and no up charge for their fabulous restaurants.

We will eat all our meals in MDR and we shall see how good their food is. It was very good back in 2019. If not, we will cross Celebrity off our list.

Will let you know…..

I did the upgrade for classic to premium when it was 25% off. I called Celebrity and received the 35% off plus the difference added to our on board credit!!
 

Thanks for posting the flash sale. Can’t wait to board on April 29,

Germancruiser…loved the walk down memory lane. Our first RC cruise was Sovereign of the seas in 1988 and the 2 years later Song of America. We love that ship which was so intimate!!! 

Thanks for the updates. We leave on December 31 and board on January 2, 2024. Let us know how warm or cool it is during the day. We have been on the Orion before which was only 1/2 full but the ship is beautiful!! Enjoy your cruise.

Maureen

On 12/19/2023 at 2:15 PM, Peregrina651 said:

 

We just booked under the Special Promo.  I saw the date and asked our TA to ask for 6 months prior.  As numerous folks have said many times, "It can't hurt to ask."  We asked and they said okay.  

 

Just heard from the Viking agent we booked for the Barcelona cruise that Viking is now doing final payment six months from sailing date. I had to speak with a supervisor when I wanted to change from 2025 to 2026 and was told my final payment would be November 2024. Now booked for 2026. 

5 hours ago, MikeyB said:

I'm surprised no one has replied to you.

Regardless of what promo from Viking gave you the OBC, many but not all TA's will give you the maximum OBC allowed.  Calling it a "gift" is nonsense.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Does Viking give the maximum amount to the travel agent as a commission? Maybe that’s why they are only offering 100.00. If not I guess I should find another agent.

When I booked the Australia/New Zealand cruise Viking had a special of 250.00 p/p OBC. Spoke with my T/A yesterday and they gave us as a “gift” of 100.00 OBC and a bottle of wine. I’m thinking since Viking gave us the OBC up front our TA isn’t able to give us the 500.00 for 14 night cruise.

On 12/9/2023 at 1:48 PM, ScottC4746 said:

My DH and I have been on Princess, RCCL, Holland, and Celebrity.  We are thinking of taking our first Viking cruise.  My concern is if we will fit in.  Both of us are blue collar workers in customer service.  We don't have the fanciest car or home.  We are apartment dwellers in So Cal and our clothes are not the fanciest.  I do like what I see on the website as what Viking offers on board, we both have brains and think and like visiting different cultures not boozing it up.  Currently I am 58 and he is 51.  Are we too young?

We have been on ocean and river cruises with Viking and we are not rich, wear fancy clothes, just retired construction laborer and office manager. Most people we met on the cruises are nice, easy to talk to and enjoy Viking staff and service. You won’t regret going with Viking!!

9 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

I presume that all agents get the same commission but I don’t know.  But the figures I quoted are from a Viking document that outlines how much incentives agents can provide.  Some do it as ours does as refundable onboard credit others do it by including gratuities or the silver spirits package. We have sometimes lucked out by catching a promotional fare from Viking that includes SS so we have gotten a check from Viking after getting home reflective of the unspent onboard credit.  
 

In my opinion it’s certainly worth asking and if they aren’t able to provide, I’d consider looking for an agent who does. As my Daddy used to say, “if you don’t ask, they can’t say yes!”

Thank you for the information. I sent my TA an email as I spoke with Viking today and there was no OBC applied from Viking. Only my vouchers and Viking’s OBC when I booked. Stay tune….

3 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

I agree with what others have posted that you should give Viking a try.  On each of our cruises there have always been at least four or six guests in their 30s or 40s and they seem to find each other so I think you won’t have any trouble being under 60. 
 

if you haven’t discovered it yet, you might want to review this thread which has lots of advice for folks new to Viking:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2416372-tips-for-new-viking-ocean-cruisers/page/62/#comment-62141739

Also want to suggest that to maximize your value, you may want to find a travel agent that provides the maximum kickback of their commission that Viking allows-$150pp on cruises up to 7 nights, $300pp on 8-14 night cruises, and $500pp on cruises of 15 nights or more. This is enough to cover the daily service charge/gratuities and leave a little left over for the bar tab. 🍸

 

Do all travel agents get that much kickback from Viking? Our first ocean cruise was 30 days and the travel agent I use didn’t give any OBC. Our second river cruise was our 50th anniversary and received 200.00 OBC. I don’t know about our upcoming cruise as I haven’t seen and OBC in our MVJ. Do I need to ask our travel agent?

15 hours ago, gizmodog said:

This is celebrity’s thought process to charge for good food. It’s wrong but seems like it will again work for them again

Like everything else if we all pay the up charge for better food why would they offer it in the MDR??? 
 

If you use your credit card in restaurants to pay for your food they add the 3%. This used to be part of doing business. Not since COVID, pass the cost to the consumer. 
The pandemic is over, but the 3% is still here.

3 hours ago, CunucuMom said:

DH ordered the $34.99 MDR surf and turf (lobster tail and filet) on our Equinox sailing last month.  He enjoyed it and the filet was grilled medium rare, as ordered.

Lobster tails and filet were offered for free in the MDR and if you wanted another tail you did receive it. 

The last time we cruise with Celebrity was in 2022 on Eclipse. The food and service was excellent. We have also cruised on Viking river and ocean in the last year. Food was also excellent with no downgrade of quality. We just booked a 4 night out of Fort Lauderdale on the Reflection in for April 2024. We shall see how the food is and if not up to par we will cross Celebrity off our cruising list. We did Carnival this past July out of NY (was a few years since we cruised them) and we crossed them off our list. Food was terrible. Service was good. 
I know the cruise lines lost so much revenue for two years but cutting back on food quality will make customers turn to another cruise line. I do agree you don’t need a menu with 10 different line items. Keep it simple (as Viking does) and passengers will be happy with good quality food.

2 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

I disagree with this premise as I would believe that the cruise lines all understand the huge ramifications if MDR became obsolete and people had to pay for all their food.  Room and Meals and Entertainment are the basic prerequisites for cruising and if you took away meals, I would guess that the number of people that stopped cruising would be significant.  And again, I assume cruise lines understand this

I hope you’re right. I remember back in 1990 RC introduced one specialty restaurant at 10.00 per person. Look now how many cruise lines have them. They are very profitable for the cruise line. 

On 9/16/2023 at 2:10 PM, horseymike said:

That’s exactly what they are trying to get you to do.

You are absolutely correct. The more you spend on specialty restaurants the MDR will become obsolete. Your cruise amount has now doubled for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I always take bonine and wear the bracelets on my wrist. We left from Los Angeles  going to Hawaii and it didn’t dawn on me we were on the Pacific Ocean! One hour after leaving port (I didn’t have my bonine) my sea sickness set in. Went to medical on the ship and they always have motion sickness pills. I took them everyday for the 32 day cruise and wasn’t sick again. They also offered a shot if the pills didn’t work. 

On 7/22/2023 at 7:09 AM, Bonne1990 said:

I’m sorry you did not enjoy it. I found it the opposite. We did have a glitch the first night with dining. We had chosen 6pm but they moved us to anytime. We did use it the first night but were able to move it going forward. I never felt crowded at all. I can understand the changing table situation-I never saw any now that I think about it and we are not pool people so it wasn’t an issue. We always found plenty of seating where ever we went (although serenity did take a bit of wandering depending on the time).  Overall the ship was beautiful and the staff and guests we encountered were lovely. We also did the chefs table and it was an amazing experience. The Venezia is a very different ship from a traditional carnival ship and will not be to everyone’s liking. But we had a blast and hated to leave. 

I’m glad you enjoyed your cruise. We had 9 family members with us and we tried to be seated all together. Going forward on another cruise we will select first seating. My husband and I got spoiled doing Viking Ocean. This was our 50th anniversary with our family. I see your from Kingston, we live in the town of Newburgh.

Back from this cruise and not what I expected. 
1. This ship is too small for 4,000 passengers 

2. Both pools can’t accommodate this many passengers 

3. Anytime dining on their app only works when Everyone from your group are together

    as you only have 10 minutes to show up or you are cancelled 

4. No infant changing table in any of the public restrooms 

5. The food wasn’t up to par unless you do specialty dining

6. The ship smells of cigarette smoke on decks 4 &5

This was our last cruise with Carnival.

The staff was great and very helpful.

2 hours ago, carol louise said:

I was on the June 19 sailing out of NY on Venezia and did not know of any violence. Of course, I was never out and about at 1 am. Did see the dog strolling with his handler a couple times. I agree that length of cruise (therefore, cost) and season are more important factors than the ship. It’s summer, and Carnival has been heavily promoting Venezia for months now with tv ads. I wonder if they also offered some really good (cheap) deals?

I booked back in November for 3 interior’s and 1 cove balcony including gratuity for 9 people and the final cost was over 7,000.00 for 4 nights. I don’t think the rate was any cheaper then or now. I hope Carnival sees that video adds more security and closes the nightclub at a reasonable hour. 

We have the cheers pkg leaving from New York and it doesn’t start until the next day at 6:00 am. Which I don’t understand and if we buy a drink we have to pay tax on that drink. What happened being out 12 miles from the pier and the shops, casino open? Why doesn’t the drinks work that way. Very confusing.

This is really a sad events when adults fight over ridiculous things. Haven’t cruise on Carnival since 2011 and never seen or heard events like this. We have our family going on Venezia July 13-17 and if things like this happen, this will be the last time we ever cruise Carnival. 

Thanks for all the great pics and posting all the events. Can’t wait to be on her July 13.

We have a 7 month old coming with us on this cruise. Did you happen to see any strollers on board? Thanks for any information.

We will be on this cruise with 9 family members celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary!! I hope this cruise will be great as several family members will be the first cruise.

 Maureen 

57 minutes ago, steveknj said:

 

Not saying no, but what I'm saying is that the dishes are common in lots of Italian places in the metro area.   And while people pay top dollar for "trendy" restaurants, often they are just that, trendy.  The better places are often local, unknown places that are probably half the price.   I always argue with pizza lovers who spout this or that Manhattan joint that the best pizza is not in Manhattan but the neighborhood places in the outer boroughs.   Stuff in Manhattan is pricey but no better, because they cater to the tourists and snobs.

 

I wish there was something different in the menu I couldn't get elsewhere.

I love Italian food and agree that each borough of NY has there best Italian restaurant. If     we decide to do NYC anytime soon, Carmines in the theatre district has my vote. 

Can’t wait till you start posting your trip. Enjoy your time. We will be on her July 13 with our immediate family celebrating our 50th anniversary!,