Silvery Seas Cruiser

How soon does Star Vista release next year's schedules, so we can plan ahead?

We have decided to wait and hope that a similar cruise is offered next year. I know that is a risky proposition. Part of the reason is that we are booked on Celebrity Constellation's Mardi Gras cruise to New Orleans next February, a 12-night cruise that stays a little longer in NOLA than this cruise. We really like that great city, but two cruises so close is a big expense. We did soul searching on this. Constellation will definitely not have all those wonderful blues bands. Furthermore, a lone time ago, I used to play in a blues band. We couldn't hold a candle next to these wonderful bands, but the experience did instill a great appreciation in me for the blues. I hope you have a fabulous time. Oh, by the way, we have cruised several times during the COVID period when cruises tried to start up again. We only caught COVID on board once! (Oh well, the fun cruise was worth it.) But I suspect your chances of getting COVID now are slim. I would love to read about how you liked the blues cruise and which bands you enjoyed the most.

Much prefer Labadee to Coco Cay which to me is an island version of Disney Springs. But Celebrity stopped sailing to Labadee quite a while ago. Anyway, Labadee might be too dangerous now with gangs controlling so much of Haiti. In short, Celebrity pushing trips to Coco Cay, where I visited twice last year, is a non-starter for me. Plus, the reason I ended up there at all was it was just part of a better itinerary.

We sailed Beyond in February of this year. For us while the ship is beautiful, full of art and unique sculpture, I would actually prefer Royal Caribbean Oasis Class ships or Odyssey of the Seas. That is, if it is many things to do that you want. Also while Beyond's and Apex's shows are a big improvement on their previous ships' shows, Oasis Class and Odyssey still have them beaten even in that category. But what is the OP looking for? Beyond has a very good variety of restaurants. It has a fun walking trail that slants over two decks for an extra challenge. The garden deck and Garden Grill are very pleasant. At night, the bar men in the Centrum put on an acrobatic martini pouring show. There are live bands. They won't be playing current top ten music. I recall an Abba night, for example. One very dramatic difference is that Royal Caribbean is definitely a family oriented cruise line. You will see far more children than on Celebrity which is perhaps the reason why Celebrity including Beyond seem more staid, more elegant and even products in the shops reflect that. Even at fifty, you will be in the younger median of cruisers especially at certain times of the year such as when schools are keeping. Oh, important too. If you smoke, Celebrity has limited places for smoking, especially not in the casino though I had read some here who said the casino is allowing vaping.

My husband's biggest gripe with Odyssey was that after nine PM, no ice cream is available either for sale or for free anywhere on the ship. I can't remember if Oasis class ships share that disadvantage, but as I recall there was an ice cream shop in the main promenade of any Oasis class ship we have sailed, all except Wonder.

I really dislike infinite balconies. But you don't have to choose a suite to avoid that balcony style. On the Beyond and Apex, we chose sunset balconies which have traditional door openings, plus our balconies were generously sized, certainly far better than infinite balcony size. I really enjoyed those balconies. As to specialty dining, we wanted to do that on those ships, but couldn't get in the ones we wanted at the early times we wanted. That was a disappointment. We often ended up in the inferior buffet, a huge cutback from the sumptuous buffets of Celebrity's pre-pandemic past. No question that suites are luxurious, have more specious rooms, have attractive amenities, and whatever else one might desire, but $5000 could mean another cruise for us, so because we have plenty of time, we choose the more economical and less luxurious option.

We have been regular Celebrity cruisers. I am not pleased with the changes, but where can we go without trading up to higher end cruise lines? As I have read about cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Disney, Carnival, and all of these similar classes of cruise lines, I learn they are all making cuts and removing amenities that we have experienced for years. It seems old fashioned hospitality has jumped ship just as it has with hotels and airlines. Why younger cruisers would not appreciate that same level of hospitality, I can't imagine.

I believe you can have a pleasant experience on both ships, but I was so impressed with Odyssey. I thought the shows were amazing (admit we might not have the same taste). The ship was immaculate. There was lots to do. Well, Wonder has a lot to do too, but Odyssey has the better itinerary of the two ships. Both are amazing ships, but for me Odyssey with that great itinerary would be my choice. I'd choose to go on Odyssey again in a heartbeat.

For me, while I have thoroughly enjoyed the shows on Oasis class ships and thought no ship could beat them, I have to admit I was blown away by the theater shows on Odyssey. That said, I do not know the taste of the original poster. I was amazed at the use of technology, special effects and sound in the Odyssey shows. That may not be in line with everyone's taste. I am eighty years old and found these new shows fascinating, but, as I say, perhaps some folks would appreciate a more traditional approach such as shows on Celebrity.

Have seen the Liberty Saturday Night Live show several times. Am glad they still have it. I can't recall anything questionable in the show, but some folks are a lot more sensitive than I am about what they feel an eleven year old should see. For me it is just a fun, spirited show with great music. At the end the whole cast has a great, fun dancing session and invites the audience to get up and dance too. If you do stay for that, I'm sure your daughter will especially enjoy that ending dance session.

Thank you for your response. I do appreciate it. I'm a big fan of several bands on this cruise and really like the New Orleans port call. My friends were all excited too but one can't get away an entire week and the other is balking at the price. If there is a will, there is a way. Must decide soon. Star Vista emailed me today saying the cruise is already 70% booked!

My son's wedding was in Key West during Fantasy Fest. You probably will not see many of the costumed activities before your ship leaves. That time of year can still be quite hot too. You'll be fine wearing regular street clothes for your tours and shopping.

Has anyone ever done a blues cruise? I am excited about the itinerary, ship and line up of blues and similar artists, but this one is quite expensive. Having never been on a music themed cruise, I am wary. Has anyone here had particularly good or some bad experiences with such a cruise? Are there any caveats or any special advice you would care to share.

My guess is that Celebrity designs its entertainment for what they feel an older audience would appreciate. So hard for them to guess correctly though. I'm certainly an older passenger but I thought Odyssey had a much better take on a broad appeal. And,yes, so hard to beat Oasis Class shows.

Even worse than the theater was the martini bar area when the chandelier show was going on or a live band was playing. We like to sit at Cafe Il Baccio after the early theater show, but the noise below was just plain blasting. We couldn't even converse. We ended up going to the quiet back of the OceanView Cafe and watch the wake.

Hard to guess. Maybe average age was sixty. I might be being generous. I'll be eighty this year, but I saw quite a few who appeared to be older than I am. I saw a few pre-schoolers. Maybe a dozen at most.

When we sailed on Beyond in early February this year we unwisely waited until we boarded to make restaurant reservations. We either couldn't get in preferred restaurants at all or were told only late seating was available but we just don't don't eat late. We ended up eating in premium restaurants at lunch if they happened to be open. That included the bistro and the Raw on Five. It was a big disappointment for us not to eating the other restaurants. There was just two of us. Trying to book for even more people might be even harder. I hope you have better luck than we did.

We stayed in a deck eight sunset veranda on Beyond in early February 2023. The thumping I heard was the partition on the veranda between balconies when the ship was sailing, not in port. I stuck a sock in it and that ended the problem once and for all. Inside our cabin the only noise was the infernal bathroom door which closes with a bang no matter how gently you try to close it. Tough at night when you don't want to wake your spouse or whoever in the room.

We had a similar cabin on Silhouette to the one mentioned above. I love Sunset verandas at night, plus the sound of the wake. In the day, shade is highly dependent on the direction of the sun in relation to the balcony.The overhang is little use in the rain. We also stayed in an aft on Beyond and Edge. Absolutely loved those cabins. I think the overhang is wider giving slightly more protection. Some nights our eighth deck cabin could hear heavy bass booming from the Eden area, but bearable. One big caveat with aft cabins...black chimney soot. If the wind is blowing smoke rearward, you will get some fallout. I always took a hand towel out to wipe down rails, table and seating. Be careful, because if you get that on your clothes, it is tough to get out. One more caveat. If you have mobility issues, be advised that the walk back to the aft is rather long from the elevators. On Beyond I counted my steps. It was 250 steps but I'm not sure that was accurate and I have a long stride. I hesitate to praise sunset verandas too highly because they are hard to book due to popularity. I don't want to increase their popularity and make it even harder to book one.

We sailed on Beyond in early February. The shows were good, but honestly I thought the entertainment on Odyssey of the Seas blew Beyond's shows away. Seven nights on each ship made me want to return to Odyssey too see those shows again. Beyond's theater has awesome high technology, but that on Odyssey was even more spectacular, especially their sound system. But entertainment is so subjective. What I enjoy and want to enjoy again might not be what someone else wants to experience. In short, we had a nicer room on Beyond, but better entertainment throughout the ship on Odyssey.

They are pretty much the same on all Solstice Class ships.

You will be able to eat three meals a day in the lovely Blu restaurant which is open only to those in Aqua class cabins. My sister, her husband and two friends had Aqua class cabins, but didn't like Blu. None of them were interested in the spa either. I, myself have never eaten in Blu, so I can't comment. We usually stay in Concierge class cabins. Having access to the concierge is not that that big a perk, at least for me, especially if you are in the Captain's Club and have access to that person's help. All that said, I think I'd give Aqua class a try. If you don't like Blu, you can eat elsewhere.

I thought it was really strange too, but my husband handled it and told me that is what the extra charge was. It is possible he misunderstood. It is also possible we were scammed.

We had the same email today stating that we owed $144 more even though we had a paid in full statement. We called and were told we owed for tips!!! We were really surprised, but paid it and were sent a revised paid in full statement. This doesn't inspire much confidence, I must say. We thought we were all set for the cruise.