cruzer0007

We have booked a deck 7 aft cabin on the April 30th 2022 transatlantic trip on the Apex (ends in Amsterdam), thanks for all the feedback.   New line of questioning around the transatlantic experience ... how much time do we need to allow for getting off the ship in Amsterdam, and then subsequently getting through airport check-in ?  We will fly back to the USA (Chicago).  It looks like the only departure options leave Amsterdam around 11am ... several flights to pick from, but only 1 is non-stop, and all of them leave around 11am.   If it was a US port, like Miami or Ft Lauderdale, I would do it (book an 11am flight) but since this is international, how much additional headache will we have ?  How much time should we allow ?  We have never done an international cruise experience, only been in and out of US ports.

Thanks for the feedback, pretty much confirms what I had suspected.  We are not concerned about the walking distance to an elevator bank, or from one end of the ship to another, we actually prefer long walks, it helps (even if only minimally) to keep us a little bit active.  Our primary concern is motion in the ship in the open ocean, and how that would affect our general quality of cruise life. Neither of us is really sensitive to motion sickness, but also true that we have never really been tested. I dont think we've been in anything more than 12-15ft seas.  We will certainly stay away from the bow based on the feedback here.  Also probably explains why the bow cabins seem to fill last.

Wife and I are considering a transatlantic crossing cruise, and cabin selection is already tight for 2022.  We have cruised many times, always prefer mid-deck/mid-ship locations, but all our cruising has been in the caribbean region.  Cabins we find for the transatlantic are either bow or stern, we know there is more movement there, but in a transatlantic crossing, is one better than the other ?  My guess is the stern would have (slightly) less movement than the bow, but have zero experience, or friend recommendations, to base that on. Also fully realize the sea conditions vary substantially, from one cruise to another, but for those who have experienced an atlantic crossing, is there anything you can share in regard to bow or stern cabins, and how much motion is typical ?

Many thanks to those who have posted feedback, especially those with direct first hand experience.  The photos were very nice, and serve to increase the desire to get up there and see it in person.  I was not aware of the options offered by the smaller lines (Viking, Hurtigruten, etc) so more research will follow on my part, but it is clear to me now that the Celebrity cruise I first identified is not the right choice given my objectives. It may very well be a fabulous cruise on its own merit, but my primary goal is to see the natural phenomenon, hopefully via a cruise.  Factoring in the wishes my wife will undoubtedly express, the P&O option is probably a leading candidate.  All the normal cruise amenities, larger (more stable) ship, so I will continue checking it out, and I will use my FCC on something else with Celebrity.  Maybe a nice transatlantic if I can find one that works ... thats also an item that is still on the "bucket list" 😎

Here's a link that I started with ...  https://www.celebritycruises.com/destinations/european-cruises/northern-lights-cruise-stress-free-way-to-see-the-aurora-borealis/

The particular cruise that caught my attention is a 12 night itinerary, sailing date of 29-Aug 2022, out of Southampton. Headline says Iceland and Ireland, the photo backdrop clearly depicts the northern lights ....

I have some FCC to use by end of 2022, and one of the items still on my bucket list is a trip to view the northern lights.  I see Celebrity has a select few itineraries sailing out of Europe (Southampton) that they market as northern lights focused but they also clearly cite there is no way to ensure actual viewing can happen.  I understand the natural phenomenon and the impossible nature of trying to predict it (along with the weather that permits a clear sky). The "season" as best I can determine is about 5 months wide, winter being the prime time to get the opportunity.  I am wondering if anyone on the forum has sailed on Celebrity (or any other line) for the purpose of viewing the northern lights, and can you share the experience (it was a good way to do so, or perhaps it was *not* a very good experience).   Keep in mind, my primary objective is to see the northern lights.  Thanks in advance

12 hours ago, Stricks08 said:

My husband and I are on board - happy to answer any question! Or at least will try to, internet is pretty slow 

Thanks for sharing your experiences.  If you are using the main dining room(s) can you share how they handle the presentation of available choices ?  We understand no matter which dining room you are seated in, you can order from the menu of any of the 4 (on any given night), and we also saw a few posts that said all menus were "on-line" only.  Does that mean I need to bring my phone (or tablet) to dinner every night to be able to view the dinner choices ?   Personally, I hate the idea that I am a slave to my phone ... its one of the reasons I like to cruise, to get away from that thing

I realize there are wide ranging opinions on this, but we’re dealing with a highly contagious illness and caution is the right approach in my world.  The pre cruise testing is a hassle/headache, but even if the CDC calls it “guidance” rather than a mandate, I am all for it.  It’s in the interest of public safety, I’m not a medical wizard, so I can’t decipher the statistics and the epidemiology like some can.   I’m just thankful we can cruise without mandatory masks.  If pre cruise testing helps to ensure that (no masks) is ok to do, I’ll take it.

2 hours ago, carbon said:

I bid the minimum bid for veranda and was upgraded from inside 10th deck to veranda on 8, good location. Ship leaves this Friday. 

Could you share what the US dollar minimum bid was for that move?  Your upgrade path is very similar to what I desire, most folks that have posted details  are trying to get to the suite level, I just hope to go from an inside cabin (9th deck) to a balcony or IV (big window).  My opportunity isn’t active yet, we will sail in about 40 days …

On 10/23/2021 at 9:11 AM, jagoffee said:

See below.  I suggest if you really want AC that you cancel your CC bid.  Personally I would be afraid that I would win the CC bid.  Save the $75 a person and buy a bottle of sparkling wine as I do not believe the CC benefits are worth much. (No extra points)

Great idea.

Slightly different inquiry around this … if you bid on CC and win, one of the “features” of CC is early boarding.  Would a move-up bid winner (to CC) be able to enjoy that benefit ?   

Has anyone been successful at getting a dialogue (or even a response of any kind) from email sent to the address listed on the "contact us" page ?  I have sent several in the past week, and have no reply to any of them.   Its frustrating that most of the categories list the engagement center as the place to contact, yet no feedback has occurred.   I am already booked, and fare fully paid, sailing in about 40 days, and we are members of the captains club (loyalty program).  Wondering if anyone else has been successful at getting a response from inquiries sent to that e-mail address ?

I used the “any reason” accommodation/policy earlier this week, to change from reflection to apex (same sail date of 4th dec). I did it all on line, I first did the cancellation of the reflection booking, then I posted a new booking on apex.  The “any reason” policy means you get future cruise credit, and it can take up to 30 days to get it, so the only real negative is I had to put up all the $$$ now (for both) and celebrity gets to hold my refund (in the form of future cruise credits) but at least I could make the change that I wanted. We will cruise again, no firm plans yet, so it’s hard to call that a penalty, especially when compared to the pre-COVID policy for such a change.  I am ~40 days out, your window is less but I don’t see that as a factor other than supply/demand related.  Good luck, hope it works out for you.  The “any reason” policy is set to expire (or be revised) soon, be careful about that.

Thanks deliver42 for sharing those details.  I did see those choices, but they appear under the "Anytime Dining" category, and we explicitly selected the fixed dining time of 6pm.   After drilling down on one of the links, I did finally get the answer to my question, but I have to say I think Celebrity is doing a poor job of conveying the default dining experience for the edge class.  I would have preferred to have this explained more clearly on the primary pages where dining is discussed.  Here is the helpful text I found ... thanks again for sharing your insight, it was helpful in my ability to finally locate this reference. I put what I think are the key points in red below 

Celebrity Select Dining Early and Late on Edge Series
We may have reinvented the main restaurant experience, but we haven’t changed the way you plan your dining in our main restaurants. You can choose Celebrity Select Early or Late seating for your dining times, which allows you to enjoy dinner at the same table with the same waiter every evening. You’ll be assigned one of the four main dining restaurants while having the option to dine in the other three upon request.

You’ll receive notice in your stateroom on embarkation day for confirmation of your restaurant, table number, and waiter.

we are sailing on the Dec 4th itinerary for Apex, and see that the MDR is actually 4 different location options.   Cant find anything about how that plays out, dont see any selections in the cruise planner.  We did get the 6pm time slot, but dont see how the various location options are administered. Does celebrity assign us a different dining room every night, and we dont get to have any voice in that ?   They have to have some kind of system to balance available tables, but I have not found any info to help us understand how that works.   Anybody who's been on a recent edge class saiing and done the MDR every night, can you share some insight on this ?  Thanks in advance

I just changed a Dec 4th cruise from Reflection to Apex (same sailing dates).  The Reflection port change got published today, we thought Key West would have been a lock since it is mainland US and its the primary reason we booked reflection (never been to Key West) but its gone from the itinerary so that was enough to push us to get on the Apex.  Also never been on Edge class, looking forward to that experience.  No penalty, and I did it all myself on-line but I had to do the cancel for any reason, and part of that is you get back future cruise credit within 30  days, so my money is kinda tied up there.  Had to pay the Apex balance in full by tomorrow, so I'm out of pocket for 2 cruises in this window of time.  We will cruise again, so in the end nothing has been lost, but they do get to hold my money (in the form of future cruise credit) due to my change.

Time of day is definitely key … I called in at about 5pm today (central time) and was on hold ~40 minutes before I got to a human.  Once I did it was prompt and very helpful, but the hold/wait time was a let down.

Given the reduced passenger counts in the current covid circumstances, we are wondering if that has affected the variety, and quantity of on board entertainment options. We have seen some posts indicating the main theatre shows has been reduced from twice nightly to once nightly, but what about the various small groups, and individual performers. The primary reason we like to cruise is to enjoy those individual musicians, or duets, or small groups.  For those who have cruised recently, does celebrity still offer the same level of options that were available pre-covid for this kind of entertainment ?   We are considering an early Dec sailing, maybe on Reflection, and that ship has not yet carried paying passengers so there is no way to get feedback on that, but what about the other ships ?  Any insight is greatly appreciated

We are experienced cruisers, all RCCL in past 20 yrs, a few other lines going farther back.   Once evening dinner has passed, we like to kick back in comfortable shorts and casual shirts, attend shows and live music that way, and some forum content we’ve seen suggested evening dress remains more formal on Equinox.  Anybody been on Equinox in the last 60 days that can offer insight to how formal evening attire needs to be ??    Our RCCL experience says no issue, evening casual (shorts) is a very common practice.  Wondering if we need to pack differently due to this .... thanks in advance to anyone who can offer actual recent experience (on Equinox) 

we were on a RCCL ship a few years ago when the Cubs were in the world series ... RCCL made a point of identifying a lounge or similar area when a game was on.  One of the days the viewing was in the ice rink (I think the ship was the Liberty of the Seas), but this kind of thing probably gets determined by the CD while the sailing is in progress.  If they have some private events booked, that constrains the available viewing locations ....

Have a few questions I’ve not been able to resolve or locate related feedback yet, and hope to get guidance from the pool of knowledge on this board. We will be on Equionox in the fall, and it’s been 25+ years since we’ve sailed with celebrity (past 5-6 cruises have all been RCCL).  

1) at the end of the cruise, does celebrity offer the same “walk off” with your luggage option that RCCL HAS ?

2) does the equinox have some sort of food option 24x7 (or nearly so) other than room service ? (Like RCCL cafe promenade ?)

     — or is the equivalent of the windjammer open late evening ? (typical RCCL windjammer closes at 9pm)

3) does the equinox lifeboat deck offer ability for guests to walk a complete circle around the ship ?

4) we are huge fans of live music on a cruise  (individual and small groups), for those who share that passion, is the general consensus that celebrity is equal or better than RCCL in this specific area ?

5) does equinox have a piano bar with nightly live entertainment  (similar to RCCL “schooner” bar) ?

We fully realize there can be a WIDE range of opinions and preferences, please don’t view this as some sort of turf war.  It’s just a simple attempt to fill in gaps of information for a friendly and easy going cruise couple. 

Thanks in advance, appreciate the help