Gracie115

Really if one has the beverage package included it would behoove Celebrity to let anyone bring 4 as it would generally mean you'd be drinking less of their alcohol.... just saying.

ah....inconsistencies.......so much fun.... I'll still bring 4 and hope for the best. Worst case we will get it back at the end of the cruise.

Perhaps anyone wanting to bring 4 bottles (2 per person) on board should bring the following with them which I just copied and pasted from the Before You Board FAQ's on the Celebrity website: Guests are only permitted to bring alcohol onboard under the following circumstances 1.) Embarkation day when each guest is permitted to bring onboard with them up to two (2) bottles of wine (which are subject to a corkage fee) per guest. A corkage fee does not apply to guests with the Classic Beverage Package or Premium Beverage Package. Security may inspect containers (including water bottles, soda bottles, mouthwash, canteens, etc.) at any time and will dispose of alcohol concealed in such container. We will be bringing 4 bottles when we board Apex next April

It was 4 bottles on the Apex TA that ended 11/12. We brought 4 in our carryons, no problem.

Well, here's an interesting little story that happened to us on the Apex. We had reservations for 6:30PM one night and so did friends of ours, 2 people, same time. We asked to have the 2 reservations combined to make one table for 4 and it took 2 days and the Luminae Maitre'D getting involved for them to do this. We were told the first day it was impossible that there were no tables for 4 available that evening, but we could come at 9PM and they would do it. That didn't work for us so the butler got the Luminae MD involved who spoke with someone at Eden and then it was okay for 6:30. We thought it was funny really because we all had reservations for same day, same time at least 2 months in advance. It became funnier when we actually went and discovered more than half the table empty in Eden the entire time we were there. Weird. Still a lovely evening.

Have to agree with you about the Retreat lounge. It is a beautiful area but we had no personal contact with her at all until night 12 of the TA that ended Nov 12. Never had any with Paolo, actually didn't even realize there was a 2nd concierge. Johnson, the bartender, on the other hand was great and always happy to help us. We visited nearly every evening. The area has a completely different vibe than on the "S" class ships. I hope those ships have retained that vibe as although we do have Apex booked for next spring's TA we will be looking at "S" class for any other X bookings.

I'd like to hear from recent and soon to be Marina cruisers too on the condition of the ship. We are booked on a long cruise on Marina at the end of 2024 so hoping it will actually get the refurb before then.

Princess, Royal, Celebrity all seem to be waiting for December sometime.

We just did this last month..... have wanted to for years, it was wonderful.

This is concerning to us... we have a 38 day cruise on Oceania booked at the end of 2024. One of the reasons we booked it was because of the scheduled renovations. We do like the look of the existing rooms, but can only imagine that a refit was scheduled because the ship is aging and needs the work done. Will be interested in hearing what people's experiences are like on the Marina over the next year or so before we commit to this expensive trip

When we were on Harmony the suites were all full, but the rest of the ship was near empty. JS were allowed then too for dinner only and had to make reservations. We did tell the hostess the first night we wanted to dine between 6 & 6:30 each evening so perhaps they took that as a reservation. We always went to the lounge side and had a drink before dinner and just walked over to the dining when ready. We liked CK on the Harmony, but liked it a lot more on the Anthem. It was a larger venue and not combined with the suite lounge as it is on Harmony.

Our butler told us the first time we met that room service was very difficult in the suites that are very forward as ours was. He stated that those orders come from the MDR kitchen and frequently by the time they got the orders to the rooms they were cold. I gather he had received complaints and that's why he warned us. It didn't matter to us as we never used it but we appreciated the warning.

We were on Harmony last year too in a Sky Loft suite and never had to make reservations at CK for dinner and never had long waits for breakfast. Each cruise is different and as the months go by crew changes as does service/quality. We were very happy with CK, no it's not Luminae, but it's light years ahead of MDR on Royal.

Oh...they were definitely downplaying it. We told the servers with EACH item that they were too large.... so much food. Probably a loser financially for them would be a more likely reason.

No, doubt that's the reason, the TA was near max capacity too.

The tasting menu at Eden is gone? It was just available 10 days ago on the Transatlantic. It was great. We completely enjoyed the Rooftop dinner. There were 11 of us and had a great time. Food was very good and service great. We'll do it again in April.

I suspect you may be right that it "was" intended for upper level suites.....and yet they are emailing, somewhat haphazardly all suite levels. So it should either be redefined as "upper level" only and advertised that way or do it right for everyone, which is not happening. We will not worry about whether we get contacted from here on out unless we happen to get lucky and book something above a CS. Just happy to be able to cruise again...... the rest is all fluff.

I agree with you, we love the Celebrity product. But we recognize that many things Celebrity are not the same as they were "pre-Covid" (also true in the rest of the world). If the Shoreside Concierge is inconsistent as it appears it may be becoming at times, perhaps it should be offered to only the Upper Suites at least until they have enough trained staff to do the job properly. I work in the hospitality industry, managing a resort on the east coast of Florida. To say that finding employees is incredibly difficult these days is putting it mildly. It is near impossible to find and hold onto quality employees, no matter what your pay level is. Our level of service is dependent on having a fully trained staff, which takes far more than a day or two. I am certain that the same is true for Celebrity and all the cruiselines. These days, it seems, we are in a constant state of training and putting some employees not fully trained out to do the job because the level of business dictates we must do it. I have no doubt that Celebrity is in the same position. So we had a lousy shoreside concierge experience. Oh well? It did not impact the cruise one iota because we handled the requests on our own with the butler and the Luminae Maitre'd. Should we report it to corporate as @C-Dragons stated, absolutely agree and we will.... not to bash the employee but to let them know more work needs to be done in that regard. We can't wait for our next Apex cruise in April. Once more in a CS, perhaps things will be better in that regard by then, if not we will hop on board and just be very glad to be there. After all, every day above ground is a good day!!!😁

Our contact was with "Concierge Jennifer," did you work with the same person? No, did not speak to the Retreat Manager, but did talk to our butler John, who was wonderful and to the Maitre'd at Luminae both of whom took care of the issues I had requested from her. I was really disappointed in the lack of response from her. Her first email came on Oct 25, 4 days before the cruise. We responded immediately, no response, and emailed again on the 27th, again no response. I've not had this happen before regardless of what type suite we were in. By the way, I'm sorry we never got to meet on the ship, perhaps we'll find ourselves on another cruise together.

Ours was totally INEFFECTIVE on our TA that just ended a week ago. But that was probably because we were only in a "lowly" Celebrity Suite. Never acknowledger receipt of our requests nor a followup email from us. You should be fine since you are in the top suites.

We were in a Crown Loft suite on Harmony and an Owner's suite on Anthem this past year. We thought Coastal Kitchen was very good. Certainly not chaotic as you describe unless something has changed drastically. Since you are in the best suites on the ship with your own "genie" you will receive the very best service they can offer. Coastal does a very nice job with all 3 meals. Unlike Luminae I would not rate the food itself as good as Chops or 150 Central Park or even Jamie's which we really liked.

We love Luminae. We find the service to be at least as good as any of the specialty dining areas. The food is very good. While we didn't get to the steakhouse on Apex because they were booked we enjoyed the Rooftop Grill, but it certainly was no better than Luminae. At Eden we did the tasting menu which is something not offered in Luminae so hard to compare. It was good, some of the items very good, but overall I don't think any better than Luminae. There are some dinner menus at Luminae that we don't particularly care for but they have several options that are available anytime including a filet mignon which is excellent. I would recommend based on our experience that you try to be seated in the area directly behind the entrance to Luminae on the Beyond, which should be the same as the Apex. It is a quieter area than the rest of the restaurant. We were lucky we sat in this area for every meal we ate there except one and the service team was just outstanding. They will do anything they can to make you happy.

We were just in a Celebrity Suite on Apex and had dinner nearly every night in Luminae. While they were busy we never had long waits during dinner. I don't think you would find Luminae "throttled" on the Edge class ships, it is a larger venue than the M or S class. No Sky & CS suites do not include free specialty dining, but Luminae is better than most specialty dining anyway so it's all good.

We've always been contacted in a CS and all but this last cruise on the Apex they were very helpful. This time they may as well have not bothered. In fact, I wish they hadn't bothered, if I had known the "contact" was totally generic as if coming from a "bot" of some kind I would have reached out to Celebrity myself earlier to handle some of the items I had waited for the concierge to handle. Better to do nothing than to half a... something. Just saying.

It is open seating, show up when you want.