phoenix_dream

I agree the answer is maybe. I've had a bottle of liquor confiscated,  and then broken before returning to us. They gave us some cheap  c**p in its place. 

21 hours ago, paulh84 said:

People do give away a huge amount of money in the casino, but as already mentioned, there are many who are tactical in their play. Our friends are not big gamblers but will generally spend $4000-$5000 in the casino knowing that they will get comped cruise(s) out of it. they may win some but ultimately they would spend that same amount on another future cruise anyway. As someone myself who isn’t a casino person, there is a really good YouTube video a lady did that explains what to do and what to play in very simple terms. 

Curious - do they always get comped cruises if they spend that much?  And what type of cabin - inside, balcony, suite?  

I always tip extra at the end for great service. Some people do; others do not - a personal decision.   I do not tip the dining room waiters every day.  I do give the bartenders or cocktail waiters a tip with every drink.  Be advised that in some cases tips are pooled.  For example, if you tip your waiter the tip will be shared with others in the dining room (at least for Blu and Luminae - not sure about the main dining room).  Sommeliers are usually tipped separately.  The tip you give to your room steward will be shared with behind the scenes workers as well.  

After reading this thread all I can say is wow!  It amazes me how much $$ people are willing to spend to gamble on the ship, where the odds generally are horrendous compared to land casinos.  As has been said, there is no "free" cabin of any sort.  You are definitely paying for it.  That said, if I could gamble $10,000 or so and know for sure I would be offered a Sky suite I would go for it as booking one outright definitely costs more than that (assuming the offer is for a couple - not clear on that point)

I've been on a couple.  The advantages are usually some extra events.  Also, you will likely find the best live entertainment on these cruises as they want to impress the higher ups.  Service will also likely be spectacular - a step up from what is already excellence.  We also got a nicer tote bag noting the occasion.  Years ago (not happening anymore) we got a little gift of some sort in our cabin every single night.  

It is EXTREMELY rare these days.  If you are a first timer, there is a slight chance it could happen to you.  Anyone else, forget about it, unless you luck into some kind of special circumstance where they ship needs your particular cabin for some reason.  It happened quite a bit during early sailings after restart for people who were booked in the quarantine section.  Those days are past thank goodness.  Once Move Up started, the upgrade fairy went on hiatus never to return.  Even in the olden days when it happened with some frequency, it generally only happened to people who were brand new to Celebrity, or nearly so.  I've sailed 80+ times since 1992.  It has never happened to me.

15 hours ago, steamboats said:

The helicopter can´t land onboard anyway. The patient is winched up in a stretcher. So with a bit of wind, that might be too dangerous.

 

steamboats

This is likely exactly the issue.  They built these new ships with no helicopter pads - better I guess to have more income producing areas than to prepare for a passenger or crew emergency.  Anyway............I'm guess that's the issue.

I don't know the exact itinerary but I can describe my many experiences on Alaska cruises.  The only really rough seas we've ever had were crossing the bay of Alaska - I don't think you do that on this cruise?  The Inside Passage has always been very calm.  Occasionally the seas might be a bit worse than calm heading up/down from Seattle, although honestly we have yet to find that to be the case.  

On 5/2/2024 at 7:43 PM, mom says said:

You can check the FAQs, but basically you can bring on as much non alcoholic beverages that you can hand carry ON EMBARKATION  DAY. Feel free to include bottled water if you wish; but the tap water on board is perfectly drinkable, and you can get a glass of ice water at any bar or dining room, or from he dispensers in the buffet. You might want to bring a reusable  water bottle  instead of disposable bottles.

Not sure why you had to shout it, but you are not limited to embarkation day for soft drinks.  You can bring them on at any time while in port.  I have not cruised extensively outside of US ports or Caribbean, so perhaps a particular port may have a different restriction, but generally speaking you can bring on soft drinks or water any time

Lately, there are many more kids on Celebrity, period, as they are trying to attract a younger crowd.  Will definitely be more on shorter cruises.  

On 5/1/2024 at 10:35 AM, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Well said!! 

 

I don't have kids, but I've never understood the "no balcony because of my kids". First, as has been said, there is always a lock up high (or at least on every ship with balcony cabins I've been on. Second, the door can be tough for even adults to open. And third - and most important - WATCH YOUR KIDS! And teach them to listen when you say no!

I do have kids - three of them, now grown into fine young men.  I was always a very careful, watchful parent.  Actually probably over-diligent.  But sometimes stuff happens.  If you had kids you would know this.  Off the top of my head I can think of three instances where despite "watching kids" if not for a very quick interruption very bad accidents could have happened. So scary I remember them to this day and they were NOT due to negligence or lack of being a caring parent.  Parents are human and even with extreme care and careful attention all it takes is literally a split second for things to change.  No one, no matter how careful, no matter how caring or diligent, can ever 100% 24/7 every single second of the day ensure no accidents happen.  Please don't preach to parents until you have been one.

11 hours ago, the penguins said:

Be honest. The survey differentiates between “service” and “quality”. If you mark the staff are good marking the qyss as quality poor has no affect on the staff.

If the quality is poor or excellent we tell the Maitre D on the day.

Good staff reports help with promotions (we had an outstanding Assistant Waiter who we spoke to the Manager about. A few days later the Manager came back and told us he had checked the person’s assessments, watched their performance for 2 days and they had now been offered a place on a training course to be a  Waiter - The Assistant Waiter was on tears when she found out. 

Actually, from what I have been told numerous times, including by staff members I have come to know and sail with many times, you are incorrect.  Marking the food as poor definitely has a negative affect on the staff.  I do agree with you that the best approach is to address the situation promptly with the correct senior staff person.  

And in response to some of the other posts on this thread advocating answering honestly or why answer at all - yes, normally I would agree with that.  But not in this case.  I 100% refuse to allow a great, very hardworking employee to suffer because of situations out of their hands due to the unfortunate way that Celebrity designs their surveys.  I honestly don't think Celebrity really wants to hear anything about improvement.  If they did there would be a question (like there used to be years ago with their written surveys) about how they can improve things.  There is no such question.  The only place to add comments is written such that it is asking for compliments.  I always use that space to specifically name and extol the great employees who served me on my cruise.  That is the one and only reason I bother to do these as those mentions definitely get management's attention.  If I have any issues I address onboard, and if they are not resolved and are serious I follow-up with Corporate.

I hesitate to agree with the whole be honest philosophy.  Why? On more than one occasion I've had wait staff tell me that they get dinged if you say anything bad about the food as it is their responsibility to ensure you are happy with the food.  Doesn't seem fair or even logical for that matter but more than one person has said that to me.  Personally I would express any concerns of that type by an email to corporate.  If you give a lower grade but put notes in a comments area is that enough to mitigate the damage of a bad rating? Honestly I don't know. 

6 hours ago, larry_s_taco said:

It would be a hazard for anyone in the event of an emergency. Some cruiselines even post cards in the room stating this.

Agree. If they can remove footstools and loungers from balconies claiming they are hazards, how come they allow (or encourage) people to dump their dirty dishes in the hallway!!

20 hours ago, gold1953 said:

A green 'open' on a bathroom stall is not always a green light. Every cruise I manage to walk in on someone who forgot to slide the lock over

same here.  It seems so simple, and yet..............

23 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

It may be allowed, but it’s still a problem for those of us using scooters so I hope people will not put barriers in our way.

I don't use a scooter but I totally agree.  Sometimes people leave them sticking out so far in the hallway they are a tripping hazard for everyone.

23 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Concierge, Aqua Class, and Retreat cabins have Bigalow branded toiletries. Some of the M & S class ships that have been Revolutionized may have other toiletry brands in Retreat Class. Someone Else can confirm whether that's true for M & S class Retreat cabins. 

Actually, at least on some ships, higher level cabins have an even more exclusive brand of toiletries, whose name escapes me at the moment but when I researched them on Amazon they were very expensive and very nice.  I've only been able to afford to sail a higher level cabin once, but as I am also lucky to be at Zenith level sometimes they will let us use those as well (and sometimes they claim they can't - consistent inconsistency as is common on Celebrity)

5 hours ago, Moonarino said:

The basic answer to your question is no, it's (still) not likely that X will be a prime target for spring breakers. They might be trying to court younger cruisers as phoenix said, but it could take a good while for them to catch up (if they ever will). Reputation is what it is, and Celebrity is not that. Possibly over-optimistic, but I'd be willing to bet money on it.

 

Two Novembers ago we thoroughly enjoyed the quiet, relaxing atmosphere on our 10-day Silhouette cruise. Of course as others have mentioned, the longer the cruise, the better the odds for avoiding spring break insanity.

 

After 16 years of cruising, Celebrity is our first choice for an almost-guaranteed pleasant and relaxing cruise. I'm here in the X forums today because after our most recent cruise on Carnival, I'm seriously thinking of changing our next Carnival booking to Celebrity, even it if costs me.

 

Edit to add: Thinking back on all the ways we enjoyed Silhouette a year and a half ago, I'm even more adament about recommending Celebrity over the others you mentioned. Just getting a cup of (very good) coffee was entirely effortless and thoroughly stress-free.

 

I guess a lot depends on how you would quantify a lot of spring breakers.  As I mentioned, my two cruises had around 500 kids of various ages each.  Definitely less than on lines like Disney or Royal, but to me it was a lot.  We will specifically be avoiding any March cruises next year unless we could find one with more than 7 or 8 nights.  Wondering if you have sailed Celebrity recently, particularly on E class?  I am finding the age demographic even on non-spring break cruises is definitely not like the Celebrity I have come to know and love for 30+ years and 80+ cruises.  I am honestly not trying to be argumentative.  Just talking about how different things are than just a few short years ago.  So I think there is already a lot of "catching up" sad to say.

I did a quick check for spring break for colleges in 2025.  Your timeline fits right into their schedules, and it includes lots of Florida colleges.  

To those who say it's not an issue on Celebrity, I say you may be speaking of the Celebrity of a few years ago.  These days Celebrity is deliberately going after a younger crowd and that is evident on my recent sailings.  I sailed two Celebrity cruises this March (one 6 and one 7 nights), beginning March 3, on two different ships.  There were around 500 young people onboard each cruise, primarily teens and young college age adults.  They were generally well-behaved and often traveling as groups with their families.

Years ago I sailed a 5 night during a college spring break and it became infamous for the outrageous behavior.  There were 700 college kids from 2 different Florida colleges on the Connie.  They were loud and drunk and causing chaos everywhere such that the Captain held a meeting with the senior officers to "take back the ship".  I am not exaggerating.

So I would say overall yes, you will have some college age kids in particular on an early March cruise.  How many depends on many things, including the number of days.  Shorter cruises always equal more kids during March.  Will there be as many as other lines like Carnival or Royal?  No.  Will they be well-behaved like those on my recent ones, or drunken morons like those on my 5 night sailing?  No one can say for sure.

4 hours ago, justcrusn said:

This is SO TRUE….

If a smoker gets on an elevator everyone that’s not a smoker, immediately knows.

And the smoker is oblivious that they stink to everyone else because they don’t smell it.

100% agree!  Sometimes at public places like stores or the like someone will walk by me and it literally chokes me because they smell so bad.  So as not to direct this exclusively at smokers, the same thing can happen when some people (usually but not exclusively older ladies, and I am one so I can say it without prejudice🙂) seem to take a bath in perfume and just REEK of it!  Our relatives (may they rest in peace) were lovely ladies but loved their perfume.  I distinctly remember walking down the hallway one day towards their cabin and I could literally smell their perfume at least six doorways away.  They used it so much they were immune to the intensity of it.

On 4/15/2024 at 10:38 AM, twins_to_alaska said:

I was able to use the same password I already had when I 'changed' it.

I did as well.  Another example of their fine IT service.  Thank goodness the onboard experience is nothing like their other automation!

Another option is to bring a small plastic soap holder - the kind that drains the liquid so the bar soaps don't get all "ooey and gooey"

7 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

Not true!  I witnessed a helicopter landing on the bow.  Only once but it does happen on Celebrity.

Agree.  Have seen it a couple times on my cruises.

3 minutes ago, hcat said:

on E CLASS ships..there were very limited offerings ..

And yet on E class ships they have the most offerings!  So you can just imagine how poor the offerings are on other classes.  On our Connie cruise, there were no movies at all, other than those that occasionally happened to be playing on one of their very limited channels.

To the OP - surprised the people haven't come out yet to chastise you for wanting to watch tv in your cabin as they usually do - you get lectured about why go on a cruise to just spend time in your room.  But I'm on your side - I cruise a lot, often long sailings due to b2b, and at the end of the night I often just want to lay in bed and catch a little tv.  Sadly, it's been one of my complaints for years that Celebrity tv choices are severely limited, primarily to news, more news, soccer, maybe a tennis match, and a few cartoons.  

I've sailed to Jamaica many times including several stops in Falmouth.  Inside the gates is nice.  I would never, ever go outside without a tour.  One trip we were in Jamaica at the Ocho Rios port with our teenage son.  People swam up to us in the ocean trying to get us to buy drugs.  On the street walking back to the ship, people approached our son and kept following us trying to sell him drugs while he was walking with us!  

Not to say all Jamaicans are criminal as they are certainly not.  Did my first ever snorkeling trip on an excursion in Jamaica at the age of 60.  I was pretty scared.  The Jamaicans onboard that boat couldn't have been nicer to me - patient and kind.  It's a shame there is so much crime on that island that you can't be safe just walking around.  I know many other places in the world have the same issues (hey, I live outside of Chicago!) but there is really nowhere on the island I would wander alone.