Gracie115

Thanks for the info.

Thank you both very much, feel much better about our decision now.

TAP Portugal to Lisbon and then on to Miami. Tap is the operator of both flights.

We booked TAP for our return next year in Amsterdam. The Business Class rate was very good, but have read some not so great reviews about TAP and wonder if anyone here has used this airline and what your thoughts are about them. Thanks for any help.

Thanks, we booked business with TAP Portugal, but pretty uneasy about it now due to some reviews I've read. Can't bring the reservation up through TAP site, may just cancel and find a different airline. If anyone here has any experience with TAP I'd like to hear about it.

Can you select seats on air you have booked but don't pay for until final pay?

Isn't it true that only the "O" class, Marina and Riviera, on Oceania carry 1250 passengers? Most of the others are half that size, which I believe would present a MUCH different experience.

It would be interesting to see what type of suites everyone posting here were in for their sailing. We have sailed in SS, CS & RS and there is no question that the better the suite the better our service was form our butler.

Yes.... what you said.....

The Harmony lounge on the TA last fall, where the ship was pretty empty but ALL suites were sold, was busy. All the chairs were comfortable, the lounge was busy, and a couple of nights very full, but service was still great. I don't think Pinnacles were being allowed in at that point due to Covid protocols. On Anthem, which again had all suites full and ship much higher occupancy, the lounge was NEVER full. It's also larger than on the Oasis class ships. Originally the "concierge lounge" and now the suite lounge only. The service excellent and the appetizers/snacks offered were quite good. Coastal Kitchen was excellent as I said before. The staff were great and did everything they could to accommodate us.

In May on our TA we were in an Owners Suite on Royal's Anthem of the Seas. It had a coffee maker. After the TA we moved to Grand Suite on same ship. It also has a coffee maker. Coastal Kitchen was not overcrowded on either sailing, we found it to be very enjoyable, enough so that we cancelled all spec dining reservations. The suite lounge was also excellent. Outside of the room, CK & the Suite lounge the ship is just too big for us to book again, but we feel Royal has a very nice suite package, especially if you are either on a Quantum or Oasis class ship.

Royal has coffee makers in all their full suites from Grand on up. Junior Suites get a hot pot.

I agree with that about Celebrity Suites, not so much a Sky Suite.

Interesting, have heard so many negative comments about the IV. We are booked on the Apex this fall, our 1st Edge class sailing but are in a suite, with a "real" balcony, lol. It will just be nice to be back on a Celebrity ship no matter which class.🙂

I know Summit was one of the M class that was renovated before Covid so I don't know what 6145 & 6146 look like now. Prior to that they were furnished much like the Penthouse with rich woods. It sounds like the reno was not for the better. Did you like IV "balcony?"

As far as the suites are concerned on the M class ships like Summit I find the Sky Suites really lacking. Except for the 2 that are next to the Penthouse they are mostly just too small to pay the additional $$. I've read and not just on X that dining post Covid has been hit or miss even in Luminae. Lack of personnel, training and quality product HAS impacted the lines. We haven't been on X since 2019 and are eagerly awaiting our sailing this October on the Apex. Also hoping that some of the reopening issues have been ironed out. I still expect we will be very happy just to be back on X. We have done 2 Royal cruises in the last year which were fine, but not even close to the quality we find on X.

We've sailed in a suite on Reflection and never had an overcrowding or noise issue. We do prefer to sit in the front section rather than the back, but always had great service and if we waited for a table it wasn't more than a minute or two. Just haven't bothered with specialty restaurants barely at all since Luminae began. To each his own.

Thanks for clarifying, I know you aren't a complainer on these boards that's why I asked for more info. It will be very disappointing if we find Luminae on the Apex the same that you experienced on Edge. Fingers crossed they will have enough staff and Covid will not still be making so many of the staff sick.

I certainly hope Luminae on Apex is not noisy, one of the great things about it on the S class ships is the quiet in the room. It sounds like you've had a bad experience on both Equinox and Edge. Is that right?

I agree, while a table with a "view" is nice it's not important for us either. We enjoy the interaction with our table mates AND the staff there, wouldn't spend much time looking through the window at all. So we've hopefully made a few people happy too who like them.🙂

We've never been "assigned" to a specific table in Luminae, and in fact have moved around the room depending on what was available when we arrived. The only time we found it noisy at all was when there was a large group on the back side of the room who were very rowdy. Other than that it has always been a wonderful experience. We haven't bothered with any specialty restaurants for our last cople of X cruises because Luminae was so good. They were pre Covid... I sure hope we don't experience what you are describing on the Apex in October.

You should have tried the octopus.......it's AMAZING!!!

I had many Pisco Sours while in Peru.....but still want that one cup of coffee when I wake up.....😁

I agree with you. Royal has Lavazza K-Cup coffee makers in their suites. I wish Celebrity did too. You can call for room service and they will deliver pretty quickly, especially if you hand a few $$'s as a tip. However, several years ago I was lucky enough to buy a travel coffeemaker, not a press, an actual coffeemaker that when not put together measures no more than 5 inches by 4. It makes a good cup of coffee and we've taken it many places. It has an automatic shut off. I wish it was still available, I found one a couple years ago on EBay for a friend. There are others similar to it on EBay now, hopefully this link will work: Quick Cafe Portable Travel Coffee Maker White Model With Cup Untested | eBay

Interesting, I didn't know this, when did X decide this new protocol? Do you know if it also extends to Royal? People we know that were on the Anthem TA just a couple weeks ago were forced to leave the ship instead of stay on for the following B2B they were supposed to be on even though they were negative at the end of the cruise.