Gracie115

I suspect you will find Luminae even better on the Connie. You will have far more choices as the MDR menu is also available on M & S class ships in Luminae. Also it is a MUCH smaller venue so it is quieter and the service is better. We have had 2 cruises on Apex and were disappointed in Luminae after several cruises on the older classes.

Wow this all looks wonderful!! I bet it tasted even better!!! I love your pictures of doors everywhere!

When do you usually find out if your bid "won?"

That would be great!! I suspect there will also be carpetting replaced in most public areas and perhaps some new seating for the same. I don't think staterooms outside of the Horizon Suites are going to be done...but hope I'm wrong.

The only thing known for sure is the renovation of the 4 staterooms at the front of the ship on decks 7 & 8 into Horizon suites.... everything else is pretty much speculation.

No, it WAS Summit so not sure I would call it a "rust bucket." Stuff happens... We were on Summit 3 months after she first sailed in 2001 and we lost power for about 1/2 hour then on our way to Colon. No big deal, it came back on and we continued a wonderful cruise.

Silhouette (our favorite S class) does not have the hot glass blowing area. Instead it has the Lawn Club Grill restaurant which is great. Agree about the theater on Edge class, other than that, for us S class wins everytime.

Agree on all points, especially the noise factor. If not seated in the front area just off the entry it becomes so loud it is difficult to hear across a table of more than 2 people.

This has been our experience on EVERY Celebrity ship we've been on and we've been on 11 of them. We always opt for the balcony area, generally don't arrive more than 15 minutes before show time and have always found seats, that includes 2 sailings on the Apex (our only E class experience). Perhaps Beyond, with it's additional cabins, makes this impossible, something we won't find out because we don't plan to cruise on E class again.

We also tried Oceania back in December on the Vista. It's just a beautiful ship and we enjoyed it very much. Much more attention to detail, the specialty restaurants are excellent, especially Toscana & Polo Grill. The small amount of entertainment they had worked for us, especially the violinists. It's a completely different vibe than Celebrity and we will sail O again I'm sure. We have one Celebrity booked, a TA from Lisbon this fall, that ends at Port Canaveral, just an hour up the road from us. The price was good and it's on Equinox, the class we have always enjoyed. Will most likely not sail on Edge class again. Bon voyage to you both.

I agree with you. Perhaps it is better in Murano's since they prepare it tableside, not sure since we haven't ordered it there. Other than that it is just mediocre to me. There are other entrees, when prepared correctly, (which doesn't always happen) that are better.

Hopefully it won't be. There are so many options for getting back to Orlando airport from the port, hope it goes smoothly for you.

We are thrilled too! It's just infinitely easier to get to Port Canaveral than Ft Laud or Miami. We are about the same distance from FLL as Port Canaveral but the FAR less traffic and congestion at Port Canaveral makes it a big winner for us. That was actually part of the reason we booked the fall TA on Equinox which ends in Port Canaveral.

I love your live reports!! Can't wait to see/read this one. We love the "S" class ships. Hope you have a wonderful time.

This was our thinking too, normally book a suite but our next cruise is a standard balcony, we booked The Key to get back a few of the amenities that come with suites.

April 29th Allure now going to Nassau instead of Labadee.

Our April29th Allure sailing just got reassigned to Nassau instead of Labadee. Would have preferred to stay at sea..... oh well.....

It's not tacky to tip up front, especially if you are expecting more than the norm from your butler. I would prepare a written list of everything you would like for them to do to take care of your friend. Review the list with the butler at the same time that you are providing the tip. It's helpful for the butler who has several suites to take care of to have a list he/she can refer to and letting them know that you are going to make sure they are well taken care of for their extra efforts I am sure will be appreciated.

I think you are talking about Coastal Kitchen on Royal Oasis class ships. Junior suites are only allowed dinner in them. We were on the very first Eclipse sailing with Luminae and all suites, were eating there. I know this for several reasons, but mostly because we dined nightly there with friends that were in a Sky Suite.

Sky Suites have always been able to dine in Luminae, and still are......

Exactly. As I said earlier I was on the 1st Eclipse sailing with Luminae, no lunch while in ports. And none on any other X ship we've been on. I don't doubt there is an exception here and there but they are few & far between and suspect most were related to sailings immediately after the restart in 2021/22.

Our first cruise was also on Mercury in 1999 over Thanksgiving!! We had a Sky Suite on one of the upper floors. The room was standard but the balcony was enormous, we could have thrown a party out there!!!! I remember the MDR ran out of turkey on Thanksgiving day at the late dinner seating.

We were on the first sailing on the Eclipse when Luminae opened. It was a 16 night TA cruise, with about 5 ports, it was never open for lunch on port days except for embarkation. Every other X cruise we've been on since has been the same.

We are on Allure in a few weeks and just purchased dinner at Izumi on the planner, it didn't say anything about it being "a la carte." Edit... I went to Royal site and it explained the options.

YES! Hopefully not anytime soon.