mmsJack

Same

:eek::mad:

Me 3

I was referring to the service. Not the food. Our experiences with Michelin restaurants are as varied as experiences reported for Blu!

 

I will agree with Cangelmd, seats are too close together. We dined in MDR a few times and for lunch one day we were at a table that was literally perched on the top step of the staircase at the mouth of a crescent landing.

 

Ridiculous.

 

As an example

 

We dined at a Claude Bosi in London.

We wouldn’t have agreed with it being recommended never mind a Michelin star recipient. The fact it is suggests our experience was unusual for them.

Due to my job wonderful (& unfortunately not my own personal pocket book) I also get to experience many Michelin’s, mostly in Europe and I whole heartedly agree with you on your service comments. When it’s spot on in an X sailing - and we find it does more often than not, it is indeed reflective of some of my best dining experiences. The X team impressed with their fantastic training and willingness to go beyond and above!

The Food on X though - no, not so much but we know that going in.

Great to hear that others are also impressed with the spectacular service on the ships. It’s such a refreshing change than the service most often received in many US restaurants.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

First time *ChicagoPaul* responder, long time lurker... :D

IMHO, you most certainly deserve such a win - you are the (or one of the) most welcoming, positive, enthusiastic posters on this forum. You never neglect to answer a question or share details in a warm, encouraging and charming way that no doubt adds to why this is such an amazing site.

Congratulations Paul and thank you for all the valuable intel you share with the rest of us. I just get so happy when I see you start a thread.

Can't wait for your November cruise it will be just about a month before we head out and I'm sure I'll be jonesing for lots of juicy details about your trip! :hearteyes:

a great restaurant in Aruba is called Flying bonefish

I still dream of this place... Amazing!

St. Lucia is prob our fav island. Last year we decided to take a water taxi (Feel Good Taxi - plenty of reviews) to Sugar Beach and we loved it so much we're doing it again this year.

This option is much simpler than a more organized excursion but it was great. The water taxi ride, gosh maybe 35-45 minutes (can't really remember) was fantastic and we got a short tour of the island from the water before arriving at Sugar Beach. On the way back to the ship, Feel Good (Cap't Daniel) took us to another small inlet for ~ an hour of snorkeling where we grabbed another cocktail at yet another amazing beach bar before getting back to the ship in plenty of time - he was a great guide!

At Sugar Beach there are some inexpensive (or maybe free?) chairs to the left of the little dock but we bypassed those all together and walked along the beach path (leading from the dock off to the right) to the Sugar Beach Viceroy resort (stunning!) We negotiated chair rentals from the women at the beach hut which allowed us access to the swimming pool, too. We had the best cocktails of our trip at this beach and ended up having a spectacular lunch at the beach front restaurant.

Not really a tour and a bit sedentary :cool: so this may not be a fit but it sure is beautiful...

Whatever you decide, enjoy - Reflection is a wonderful ship!

Our group of 5 opted for Select Dining on our last cruise (Reflection.) Loved our service team on the first night so much we made reservations during dinner on the first night for the rest of the cruise so we could request the same table and service team. We ate in the main dining room probably 5 nights out of 10 & with 1 exception we were seated w/ in about 10-15 minutes of our requested dining time. Yes, we were given a buzzer when we checked in if our table wasn't ready.

We didn't do a call ahead so can't comment on that but we did show up on one evening when we did not make a reservation in advance and were still seated w/ in less than 20 minutes. We just went and got a cocktail and waited for our buzzer to go off.

We like the flexibility of select - early seating is way too early for us and the late seating is a bit too rigid, sometimes we want to go a little earlier or later. We just understood that the plus of select dining is the flexibility, the con is that you sometimes have to wait for a table.

As many other posts suggest, the 1st (and maybe 2nd) nights in the MDR are a little bit chaotic so a little patience is required. Theres lots of table swapping and rearranging to get all guests settled and happy and this seems to make the select dining a little more of a challenge but the X crew gets it worked out and things run very well after the first night or two. (Pre-dinner cocktail seems to fix all woe's...)

Maybe make a reso for the first night or 2 via your cruise planner so you have something (which can be changed if you wish) and once you get a feel for how things work you can adjust for the rest of the trip...

Wow so 38%.

It is extremely unlikely that the full 18% 'service charge' automatically added to a check by X goes to the server, bartender or service team member standing in front of you and directly providing you with service at any venue on a ship.

It's impossible to know so this is pure speculation but some say the server may get ~$5 of this auto gratuity in a specialty restaurant...

If a pax leaves an additional 20% (so on a $90 check or $18) - that amount is split between the service team: server, server assistant, sommelier and possibly maître D and others? Team service and pooled tipping is very common in many US restaurants too. So maybe the server gets another $4.5 so a total of ~$10 for the table plus their regular salary. This for 2+ hours of service work. This doesn't seem terribly outlandish to me.

There is little info regarding the gratuity process on cruise lines. X fine print indicates that 18% gratuity is added for all F & B related charges but there's really no clear information regarding how that money gets distributed and when I've asked I get conflicting answers. While it's reasonable to *assume* most goes to the team who served you your meal, that's actually somewhat debatable so in the case of the pax that leaves an additional 20% - that server is probably not getting a 38% tip.

The 18% collected is very likely spread around to many, many team members on the ship. The service team in front of you at dinner gets some of that tip but it's probable that some also goes to team members you never see and who only remotely have an impact on the specialty dining experience.

Like many here we always leave an additional tip too. We find the service on X ships spectacular, especially when compared to service standards in the US and we are happy to reward the service team that directly impacts our typically fabulous experience. For us this is usually an additional $5+ a person at our table. Not always if the service isn't really excellent but honestly, it usually is... Because we buy a dining package and rarely pay full price for specialty dining, the per person cost plus added tip is, to us, a great value. To others, perhaps not...?

All this aside, I'm not debating what's right and wrong. Tipping is extremely personal so it's always best to do what feels right for you!

Only if you sail in months with a blue moon.

:') :') Winner!

For us, any unused portion of our TA OBC will be refunded to the credit card we provide on our check in/xpress pass at the end of our trip which we confirmed this w/ our TA. We've pre-purchase the 4 night dining package for our sailing because I read that they can sell out and packages are not always offered once on board. We just paid w/ the credit card we planned to use on our trip so the unspent OBC will get credited back to the same card.

I do not know if the 'crediting back unused obc' is always the case for all TA's or if policies vary by agency so please double check with your TA for their policy.

We've always bought our dining package in advance so I can't confirm if they are indeed offered for the same price as pre-cruise but I'm going to check that out on or next cruise.

On our last cruise there were some discounted specialty dining offers but not a lot and our ship wasn't totally full. I've read in other posts that the discounted dining opportunities seem to be fewer on board, possibly because of the go big/better/best promotions. Some speculate that because many cruisers have obc to spend specialty dining venues are more full and less dependent on discounted offers? Again - speculation...

On our last cruise (Reflection/December) we were offered a discount on the first night of the cruise when many travelers opt for MDR and 2-for-1 at Sushi on 5 on our last night but other than that not many deals on board. That said, I'm sure the availability of specialty dining discounts is heavily dependent on the individual sailing, the pax count and specialty dining reservations so others on other ships/sailings may have had a vastly different experience...

Received an email couple days ago about a 20% off sale this weekend on several things, one was bev package upgrades.

Check your cruise planner - your sailing may be offering a sale now too. According to my cruise planner the sale goes through Monday.

We upgraded our bev package to prem during a similar sale in July. I 'believe' the regular price is $16.52 ($14/day + 18% auto gratuity) but during the last sale we paid about $13.22/day ($11.20/day + $2.01 18% auto gratuity) for our cruise.

Not sure, no matter how the muster drill is handled, that there would be a consensus on this forum. Old way got complaints, this way seems strangely to offend (especially those born w/ an extremely delicate nature.) May be the only consensus here may be that no one likes a muster drill? It's the start of everyone's vaca and people are much more interested in getting that first Pina colada (speaking only for myself here...) But boring as it is in all forms, Muster is necessary and a legal requirement and it seems nice that X is trying something new.

The movie does contains all info anyone needs to stay as safe as possible in an emergency. If some choose not to pay attention then they need to take responsibility for that oversight. Taking personal responsibility should be an expectation of adulthood. If you are old enough to travel independently you ought to be capable of understanding that things can & do go wrong. X provides ample emergency info, it's not on them if passengers blow off the muster drill or worse, ignore it because it it is not delivered in a form that some individuals approve. I mean, how much time does the whole process take, 30, maybe 45 minuets out of many glorious days of vaca? So what if the movie is cheesy, & seriously, there's more explicit violence in a road runner cartoon... Plus, in addition to the movie, if there are still questions or ANY confusion an abundance of X crew are always on hand to help.

Muster topic aside, what bravery to insult another person on a forum...! How nice it is to sit in your armchair and sling unnecessary insults at another (while remaining anonymous) because they had the audacity to share a little happiness. This was a positive post - something that seems more and more rare on this forum, why feel the need to poo on that? Whoever you are, I feel sorry for you, you must be very unhappy to be so very unkind to a total stranger.

Had some nice rubys and tawnys on classic package in prev cruises - offering does vary by venue on the ship so don't expect to find the same brands/bottles from restaurant to restaurant. If you let your somm know at dinner and specify that you'd prefer to stick in your classic category she/he is generally able to have something for you on a regular basis. These guys are fabulous at trying to anticipate your needs and adjust to your taste.

As you may know, choosing something that's an upgrade is only the diff in price + 18% if you should decide to try something in a more prem category but you shouldn't 'have to'...

Something to think about - there is a very good chance that there will be a sale on the price of the internet packages (along with other stuff like upgrading a bev package, some shore excursions, etc) between now and next Sept. which could further discount the price of the wifi package. This may make buying the package 'outright' cheaper than paying $420 to upgrade for the 2 perks now.

We have a 12 day cruise in December. According to our cruise planner the price for a wifi package for 2 devices is and has been $404 (which it says a 10% discount.) I bought the 2 device wifi package during a sale in mid-July when it was an additional 20% off paying $323.

We also upgraded our bev packages during this sale. (Total cost to upgrade to prem bev was $159/pp, this included the 18% gratuity so ttl cost = $13.25 a day)

I don't know if all cruises get the same sale offers so no guarantee that you will have such an opportunity but my impression after doing some research is that when these sales come around they seem to be offered on most sailing.

Now - as someone already asked, do I 'want' wifi? Not really but I need it for work, I can be gone 2 weeks but can't be off the grid for 2 weeks so, yes I'll suck it up and answer work emails with an ocean view and a Piña Colada in hand...;):tropical-drink: It's also super nice when on the ship to have wifi for texting each other for meet-ups, etc. since Celebrity doesn't have a text app yet!

My daughter does this every cruise (she also brings her own bread) - its no problem!

You'll find oatmeal at breakfast though (Ocean View buffet or in the mdr.) You can also get it as part of room service breakfast with a great selection of fresh fruit, yogurt, etc if you don't want anyone tempted by the crazy array of foods at the buffet.

Have a great cruise!

Work for a wine importer - keep a couple of these in my suitcase since I'm often traveling with a spare bottle or two for work.

Reusable & works great, lots of options out there but here's one: https://www.amazon.com/Reusable-Wine-Bottle-Protector-Sleeve/dp/B01F6CDE40

Is 9AM too early for a drink? LOL

Gurl, honey, NO, it certainly is not...!

(+ Remember, you are in mandatory cruise-adult-beverage-training sweet heart, You are less than a week from sail away.)

Your shipmates, they are depending on you to be in tip-top shape... ;)

We taxied from the port to Fll yesterday.

:loudcry:

My nerves are impacting my reading comprehension

I am not a pilot but I AM a beverage professional & I feel strongly that it's time for an intervention MlMbar

This is situation has gotten quite serious and there is only one possible solution. Tequila. Immediately. :tropical-drink:

It's also important for cruise-beverage-training. (So... 2 stones, one bird - brilliantly efficient!)

(Wishing you safe, easy, wonderful travels!)

I booked this while on board Eclipse Dec 2016. In Dec 2017 it went down couple hundred and I got price adjusted.

Much Thanks!

Wow, you got your AQ cabin at a great price (at least I think so!) Do you mind sharing when you booked?

We've only taken a few Celebrity sailings and I'm still trying to get a feeling for when it's most ideal to book (as if there's a rhyme or rhythm to it...) anyway - I'd be grateful to know how long ago you booked. Thanks!

I cant bring my leaf blower on to make sure nothing is tracked into my SR

Totally burst out laughing - Thank you Den, I just <3 this so much!

Well from reading this article here on CC... it appears the restaurants on the EDGE will be different in all aspects.

 

I wonder then with the revolution on the S class and M class if the specialty restaurants will change up?

 

Our fav has been Murano. Wish there was more info on the changes as ships are "upgraded" before booking

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8438

I've been wondering the same thing. We've got our eye on a couple sailings that happen to be after the Summit 'revolution.'

We would love to know how/if the specialty restaurant options may change but have found few hints. Not much news or speculation how either M or S ships will *fare* ;) when it comes to changes in specialty dining options...

Anyone with inside info (or a crystal ball) please share!

For comparison if helpful: Booked 2D Veranda 12 night Caribbean on Silhouette via TA.

Got the classic bev package from Celebrity + our TA threw in OBC ($325/room) & pp grats ($348/room)

We use a well known site to compare multiple online TA agencies & then go with the best offer. BUT (as others have already said re. big box stores) we have to do a lot of the work ourselves. We get prompt/fast/efficient service when we call/email our agent for help but she does not watch pricing nor could she 'hold our hand' so I'm not advocating this for all, it's just what works for us.

Disney cruise line is amazing! Pricy? Absolutely - but you get what you pay for & they do it right in so many ways (with plenty of food and fantastic activities...)

My kids are older now and we've moved on to different things so now we all love Celebrity, but Disney is an amazing line for families.

(BTW - my girls... They eat like lumber jacks, baby. Impressive massively hungry manwich eating lumber jacks, all 100# of them, so you boys... just back the truck up :* !)

Just bought a policy via: https://tripinsurancestore.com/ which is a search engine for many insurance policy sites and similar to the site suggested by another poster in this thread (which is also great.) I just liked the comparison chart on this site better.

There was no difference in price for buying our policy via the link from this search site or going directly through the insurance company, I checked. These search sites are basically like an insurance agent so they likely get a commission on the policy you buy via a link from their site. They do have live people you can call if you have questions which is pretty helpful if it's your first time and are not sure what you need.

We wanted a lot of (admittedly prob over) coverage, extra med-evac coverage, an A or better rated insurance company and we wanted to be absolutely certain the policy we were buying would be the primary policy in the event that anything happened vs. having to file w/ our US based health insurance first which for us would mean paying the claim ourselves and then having to personally file with our insurance company privately. Some policies only offer 'primary' coverage if purchased w/ in a certain time frame from when you make your first payment on a trip - this varies by policy.

Most policies will cover pre-x conditions but ONLY if you purchase w/ in a couple weeks of paying your downpayment. This time frame varies by policy - just fyi.

As someone above suggested, there is section on CC that is completely devoted to insurance questions/experiences/etc and there's amazing info and tons of posts available to read and learn from, I found it super helpful.

Good Luck and have a great trip!