JDPCruisers

Le Grand Bistro has daily lunch specials on a chalk board so you see the choices by the day. We found the food to be good, my wife's was a hit or miss with her.

We were on the same sailing and the pics represent how good the food looked, tasted, and service in Luminae. Cannot attest to the specialty restaurants, other than Sushi on 5 which we did not care for, Luminae was great for us. I will say that the retreat staterooms, SS, sorely need an upgrade. All in all, a good cruise which will be better after the upgrade.

We were on the same cruise in a Sky Suite and agree with her comments re: overall condition of the common areas and the crew constantly cleaning inside and out, the food (hits for me though some misses for my wife) and service in Laminae was very good (Arif the Matre'd, Royce was our server with Hannah assisting, and Zhou as the sommelier). We chose not to dine in any specialty restaurants other than Sushi on 5 and agree with her assessment, as well. In fact, having done Sushi and Raw on 5 we do not care for either. On the other hand, our SS was old, and while kept clean by our wonderful attendant/host Sharon, it was worn and in dire need of a complete upgrade, so glad to see your RS had been redone and looked great. Retreat Team concept is not working to the level of dedicate butler that we experience on all previous X cruises, so we certainly miss that aspect. We have only one more non-E class cruise booked for 2024 and 2025 (the rest are E-class) which is on the Eclipse which has not been upgraded and have considered cancelling until it is in 2025, but we love the Boston to Quebec overnight and back itinerary but after that likely all E-class or upgraded M or S.

Yes, Jiro is from Mexico and was excellent. Penelope joined on the day before we got back to Tampa, we sailed with her on Edge in the Spring, and she is wonderful as well. Hope to sail with them both in the future.

Yes, bathroom on Connie was worn to the extent of mildew/mold embedded in the shower tile grout. No amount of cleaning will take care of that, and the dreaded shower curtain hangers were rusted. At least it did not show signed of mold or they would have had to replace it. The toilet flushed fine, but the stream of water came from only the front part. Sink quite scratched up. The cabin furniture was mismatched and had rips and tears. Frankly, looked like they had used leftover furnishings from pre-revolutionized ships. Same for the balcony furniture, quite stained but we expect a certain amount of that as they are in the salt air but they had almost on padding left. We did like the larger tables inside and out as opposed to the small unusable for much tables in E-class. Our stateroom attendant was great and did the obsolete best to keep it clean but that only went so far. Bottom line, we kept expectations fairly low going in, but the reality was lower. However, all kudos to the crew!

Just off Constellation and I can attest to the revolutionized as a big deal. Our Stateroom, SS, was old and worn in dire need of upgrade in all respects. I got to referring to it as a clean old Motel 6 (just IMHO). Common areas were pretty much fine, but lighting was darker, and they were constantly cleaning both inside and out. Crew was great.

Meant, Preshant the bartender.

Recently on Apex and Edge and they are essentially the same. We liked both and are booked on Beyond in the Spring and Apex again in 2025 for northern Europe. Some things they could change but overall liked it though we like Michaels a lot, but they have a different vibe to me. Our service in Michael on the Constellation recently was great, never lacked on any level by Jiro the Concierge, Preshant and bartender and Michelle the server.

Thanks. From what I have found, she is due for revolutionizing on Spring of 2025. So, if that is the case, she'll be even more worn. Off the Constellation last week and the staterooms are similar, sad to see the condition certainly considering the costs (and we got in before the removal of tips and OBC). But, the crew was constantly cleaning and painting outside. A number of public bathrooms, particularly female form what my wife said, had stalls out of order. If not for the itinerary, Boston to Quebec overnight and back, we would consider cancelling until after being revolutionized.

Just of Constellation, the crew is great and the main areas are fine but we found our SS to be old and worn. Our room attendant, or Retreat Host now, kept the room clean but it is sorely in need an a complete update.

We are booked on the Eclipse next September so interested in the condition of the ship and your stateroom?

Just off Constellation in Michaels Club and we did not experience or witness anyone else experiencing this. Any drinks being ordered were served if they had not it available.

Just off Constellation. There is a TV, but it is on showing the position of the ship.

Having just come off a sailing in a SS the marketing does not match the reality and there now is a lack of value for money with not only the butler change but the removal of tips and OBC.

From others on here, as well, sounds like that is the case and with Retreat lounge and Luminae.

Thanks. We did get a link to a form, but it was very limited, i.e. extra hangers, with no free text to submit additional requests. Oh well, not that big a deal.

We found on a spring cruise to various parts we did not have any issues with our CC exchange rate and doing so on the ship was the same rate as our bank.

In a Sky Suite so maybe it is part of the changes to Sky's?

I agree, too close at this point. Was just thinking we'd be contacted and nothing. Not that big a deal as I like to meet and deal with someone in person. Just hope we'll be able to get service for what we consider to be simple requests that we've had on previous cruises. But, we had the same wonderful butler on 3 separate cruises who we've kept in contact with.

And, when you had a request who did you speak with? The concierges in Michaels Club remain named that and not some other title?

Did not receive anything from the shoreside concierge, another casualty of the recent changes?

Thanks for clarifying!

Another quick question, how many "formal" nights are there?

Thanks! Looking forward to it.

We will on the Beyond (have done Edge and Apex) for the first-time next spring so interested in your experiences. Thanks.