Chanbre

The OVC theme is normally listed in the dailies, in the section listing the restaurants and their opening times.

Look at these images of dalies from the Millenium. Below the "Culinary delights" heading, for the OVC, it says "Dinner buffet - Fish and chips".

If someone really wants to sell a ship for that much money I would expect them to write a proper advert, using terms like "perspective buyer" in the advert is a no-no.

We cruised from Rome to Barcelona in May 2019, including two days pre-cruise in Rome and two days post-cruise in Barcelona. Our whole trip, including flights from and to the UK was organised by Celebrity. They organised four private cars for the four transfers to-and-from the two hotels. My wife and I were the only passengers in each car. All four transfers were great. Three were at the scheduled time, or even a few minutes early. We had to wait about 40 minutes after the scheduled time at Barcelona port, but that was probably due to the traffic as there were three cruise ships in the port. The transfer agent (at the kerbside, outside the terminal building) had our name on his list and said the car was on the way but was delayed due to traffic.

There was a Celebrity representative at the hotel in Rome, we spoke to her to check on our transfer. It seemed that she was looking after people who had book through Celibrity's USA office. She had no information about us as we had booked through a UK tour agent and Celebrity UK. Her USA passengers were going to be taken by coach leaving at about midday. Our private car left at 10:30am and we were onboard the Constellation a little before 12:00.

We stayed at the Empire Palace Hotel in Rome and at the Hilton Hotel (Avenida Diagonal) in Barcelona.

We sailed on the Constellation between Rome and Barcelona earlier this month. We had a one-device internet package and found it very good. It was fine for email, web browsing and Whatsapp voice calls. We did not use it for movies or music or Youtube.

It is expensive.

10 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I don't believe that any ship built in the last century and a half has had a v-shaped hull, or a "distinct" keel.  Every ship is flat bottomed, and most have bulbous bows, including most cruise ships.  There is no wider or more flat bottomed than a supertanker, and nearly all of these have a bulbous bow.  The purpose of a bulbous bow is to create a secondary bow wave that negates the principal bow wave, decreasing the drag of the hull through the water.  Also, without a bulb, most ships will have their bow "rise up" onto the bow wave, sinking the stern deeper and increasing drag.

 

Here is a picture of Oasis of the Seas, the widest cruise ship around, and see the flat bottom and a bulbous bow.  Yes, the bow is v-shaped, but so is every ship with a flared bow (98% of ships today), but 80% of the ship's length is flat bottom.

Thank you for that explanation and for giving some extra details to add to my understanding of the topic.

The Captain of the Constellation gave a lecture on navigation during the cruise last week. He said (although I may have mis-interpreted what he said) that a lot of ships are long and narrow and have an underwater cross section that approximates the letter V. Such ships can usefully have a bulbous bow. Modern cruise ships typically are quite wide and have a flat bottom. That means that having a flat (and non-bulbous) bow makes sense.

Perhaps one of the ship experts on this site can explain the merits of ships with distinct keels versus those with flat bottoms and also how those shapes relate to bulbous bows.

In October 2018 the Aqua Spa Cafe on the Silhouette had some lovely fruit and nut bars for breakfast. About four different versions. I did not ask the staff about their contents, but they looked better and tasted better than any of the supposedly healthy snack bars I have bought in shops. Sadly, these snack bars were removed from the Aqua Spa food counter at around 9am or 9:30am when breakfast was over.

See also This thread about using two or more devices on a one-device package.

They will do special things for a birthday. I suggest you visit guest services on your first on board ship and ask them about what they can offer to make your wife's birthday extra nice. Even if you have booked something before your travel it is worth asking at guest services to check that everything is ready.

There are many posts in this part of this forum that have copies of the "dailies" from various Celebrity ships. A good look through those will reveal the range of activities and whether they are free or at extra cost.

I must agree with MCazer. Be careful what you click when you "kick off" another device. Mid cruise we found that our one-device package had been increased to a four-device package. Unfortunately we did not notice for over one whole day and so we were charged for that period.

If you have a one-device package then you should expect to see the page about kicking off the other device when you know another one is already logged in. If you do not see it then worry about whether your package has been, unexpectedly, upgraded.

We had a speciality dining package on the Silhouette last month (October 2018). For our night in Sushi on 5 we were told our package covered up to 35US$ each, or any combination of items up to 70US$ for the two of us. But we had plenty of food within that price. There was no suggestion of "unlimited" food as some other people have written above.

On the Silhouette in October the exercise room (part of the gym area) was often almost empty. Generally only one or two people doing their own exercise routines. I saw about five people maximum in the exercise room and sometimes none.

We were on the Silhouette 7 to 21 October. There were some free exercise-to-music sessions each day on the pool deck. A small number of participants did their exercises while in the pool. The sessions I saw had about 20 people.

We dined once at Qsine on our 7 to 21 October 2018 cruise on Silhouette. All the fixed signage and uniforms still say Qsine. Menus and other papers also state Le Petit Chef. The ship's dailies state "Qsine - Le Petit Chef".

The older multiple food options of Qsine, selected via an iPad, have gone. The new fixed menu has four courses each preceded by an animation of "Le Petit Chef" creating the plate of food you are about to eat. For people who do not want the fixed menu there is an alternative for each course, although the animation does not change. We really enjoyed the meal and nearly went back, but there were too many other tempting food options.

Breakfast items include cereals and plates of cut fruit. There are also some lovely bars, much like flapjacks or energy bars. Each about 2cm x 1.5cm x 8cm. I saw four versions with different combinations of nuts and fruits etc.

Have just disembarked from the 7-21 October cruise on Silhouette.

We have stayed in SV on both decks 6 and 8 on the Eclipse. I think 6312 and 8353 so both were near the middle of the ship. There is little to choose between them. There was no noise from above or below. We never noticed any soot. Our cruises were in relatively calm seas and we did not notice any movement of the ship as we sat in the cabins or laid in bed. Just outside the deck 6 balcony rail there is an engineers walkway and I think we saw a crew member using it once. Both rooms had great views of the ship's wake and of where we had been. I quite like the higher vantage point of deck 8. When standing against the balcony rails you can see the rails of the higher and lower SV cabins and occasionally see people standing by those rails. Most of the balcony area cannot be seen from above or below so there is plenty of privacy.

A "prepaid credit card" is worth considering. The card works as a credit card but does not link to your bank account. The card can be topped up with money as and when you want, perhaps just before your holiday. You can get them in many currencies. My UK purchased card allows about ten currencies including US-Dollars, Euros and GB-Pounds; but you have to manage each currency individually. I can manage my card via a web site for top ups and also to transfer money between currencies.

Advantages of a pre paid card include: the most money you can lose is the amount on the card; no link to your bank account; it works just like your normal credit card (up to the amount on the card); and, assorted claims about the security of your money if the card is lost or stolen.

I recommend trying all nine kinds of trifle as shown in the pictures in https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2587212

I have to put in a vote for the Oceanview Buffet on the Eclipse for evening meals. We ate there several evenings. While some sections had similar fare every evening, there was lots of variation from day to day. Often the choices featured many items from the country just visited. We had a wonderful selection of food. Additionally, there was no queueing for MDR seats and we could eat at times that fitted well with the theatre shows and other events.

We were on our first Celebrity cruise on Solstice in 2017 for my DH’S significant birthday. On embarkation day quickly bought a specialty package assuming Murano was the place to be on THE night. No fuss wanted! Sadly Murano was full so I explained my dilemma. No probs. Leave it with us! That evening we had a booking! On THE night we had a great table and after our wonderful lobster dinner and rejection of dessert, DH had a covered silver plate put in front of him with their choc dessert underneath! He was impressed and specially with no singing!! We couldnt eat it so they delivered it to our cabin. Made for a special night!maybe we were lucky with the staff involved??

We had an almost identical experience on Eclipse in August 2017. On our first evening went to guest services and booked some birthday treats and a meal in Murano for a few days later. The only meal time offered was not ideal for us. Went to Murano itself, had a conversation with someone there and a few hours later we got a message that our booking had been changed to a good time for us. The birthday flowers + cake + wine in our room were great. The lobster etc in Murano was great. My wife was happy. What more can a man want!

The menu is more than just sushi. You have to pay for the food but items are individually priced, unlike the other speciality restaurants where the meal is a fixed price. We chatted with one waiter at Sushi on 5; he said the portions were large and they were happy for people to share.

Great account of your experiences on the cruise. We were on the same cruise and we had a wonderful time.

In Tallinn we just walked around the centre of the town. Inside the Holy Spirit Church (the one with the clock outside and shown in one of your photos) we were treated to a short concert of Renaissence music. Featuring modern recreations of an old instruments: Lyre, Violin, Hurdy Gurdy and a hand-held drum. They were expecting an audience of two guided groups and we were just lucky to be there at the right time.

Our first afternoon in St Petersberg was an excursion to the Hermitage. The border checks for us were quicker than you reported. We were amused by one girl of about 12 years old. She had to go through on her own and hand over her passport. Her face was a mix of worry and excitement, she frequently turned to look back at her family. Visiting the Hermitage was a wonderful experience but the crowds there were terrible. Even keeping track of our guide was a challenge. The second day we did a canal tour and then visited the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The latter was also too crowded to really appreciate what we were seeing. I guess the message here is to choose the day and time carefully when visiting these very popular places.

The ship left Warnemunde just after sunset. There were crowds at the docksides waving lights, and a few lights could be seen waving from house windows. After the Eclipse's horn sounded there was a chorus of horns from other nearby ships. As we left the harbour several other ships sailed alongside, to starboard, matching our speed. Then there were fireworks from the land. I believe they were fired from the breakwater to the NE of the ship, somewhere between "Ostmole" and the Marine Science Centre. See this map page: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Warnem%C3%BCnde+Cruise+Center/@54.1857948,12.0911641,335m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x47ac5627379d0521:0x92887f801b8266dc!2sWarnem%C3%BCnde+Cruise+Center!3b1!8m2!3d54.1755503!4d12.0936593!3m4!1s0x47ac5627379d0521:0x92887f801b8266dc!8m2!3d54.1755503!4d12.0936593?hl=en

On Eclipse in May 2014 we had select (any time) dining. For us it was always in the upper floor of the two floor restaurant. I believe that traditional dining was mostly on the lower floor. We had no trouble getting a table when we just turned up but most days we booked, at the restaurant entrance, an hour or two before we wanted to eat.