phoenix_dream

DH and I have Android and no issues with the app - onboard Eclipse this week

We were on the cruise affected by Fiona. Missed 2 ports, but added overnights in Quebec City and Portland which were nice. Seas were actually very calm. Service and food on Summit in Blu were some of our worst ever strangely enough as usually it gets good reviews. And then we came home with Covid.....But there was a lot to love about it. Our favorite was Quebec City and sightseeing in Boston before we sailed. On Eclipse now and really enjoying the cruise. Not revolutionized but in good shape and staff is very good, as is the food (we're in Luminae).

On Eclipse now. Haven't noticed any changes in the Luminae menu. Didn't do a before and after comparison but they seem to be the same as before. I can't speak to specific items but everything I was used to ordering was there. Food has been generally good to very good, and great service.

Pills only work so well. I can vouch for that. But intolerance is way different than allergies and the like. At most eating some dairy might cause some unpleasant digestive tract issues, but not put me in the hospital like an allergic reaction might.

That's how it was for awhile when cruising resumed . That is NOT how it works now.

You're right. When booking a 5 year old ship everything should be perfect. Geez. A few nonremoveable stains on a coffee table. The horror. Bad draining? Yes that definitely should have been noticed and fixed. We agree on that. So should the toilet ring thing but as long as it works OK wouldn't give it a second thought. Not flushing for 15 minutes? That is almost always because some ignorant guest flushed something they shouldn't and it stopped up the vacuum system. If this summary is not considered complaining I don't know what is. No five year old ship, hotel room, restaurant, and so on is ever going to be perfect no matter how much maintenance is done. It's like expecting my 72 year old body to look like a 20 year olds. No amount of Botox or exercise is gonna make that happen. If you need perfect, only sail brand new ships. Peg me as a Celebrity cheerleader if you want (Although if you read all my posts they would belie that). But I'd rather say I'm a realist about what is reasonable on a 5 year old ship.

I'm on Eclipse now. I don't see a lot of rust or wear and tear anywhere. Our cabin has older furniture but overall in good shape. Some minor scratches and so forth but I'm definitely not seeing a lot anywhere onboard. Overall service has been good. We are in a suite and Luminae has been very good with great service. Lunch at the buffet is similar to what I've seen for years. Entertainment so far has been better than average. Have not seen a production show yet so don't know about the singers and dancers. Overall so far so good.

Agree. Much higher price. Much lower quality and quantity of offerings. And we're the ones being criticized for not being happy with that equation??? Where's the logic in that?

I get your point. But what is wrong is the signicant increase in price coupled with the significant decrease in quality or level of offerings (meaning, for example, less steak and a lot more chicken, pasta, and cheaply priced fish) and number of options.

Agree.

I haven't seen much in the way of onboard discounts on recent cruises. Sometimes midcruise you can check in with one of the restaurant Maitre'ds and if bookings are low they might negotiate a deal for you, especially if you are flexible with times. With the elimination of suite OBC going forward you might see bookings decrease but that will take awhile to present itself.

It definitely is different if changing cabins, especially if you have a different room steward. In fact, sometimes they are re-assigned to different cabins which could also affect things. I sail a lot, often on b2b, and I really don't see the issue with following guidelines.

The casinos are contracted out on Celebrity. Not sure to whom.

Agree. And we even had a recent cruise that had to do the same routine inspections even though it was not just back from a TA. It just happened to be time for the inspections.

The Hilton will shuttle you to the Carnival port for free.

They run very small FYI. I could wear the xl top but the bottoms were not comfortable at all. The idea is nice but for us larger size people they often don't work (and I am not all that large - a woman's xl or xxl depending)

You must have been in a high level suite?

Which is what it takes with any cabin. We always come in several days ahead of our cruise so quick laundry turn-around in the beginning is important to us. A small thing in the scheme of things, but when many, many small things happen that becomes a big thing!

(I read through your whole post, but kept just some of the wording so as not to clog up the postings here.) Anyway, I disagree with a good part of it. My PERCEPTION (why are we shouting LOL?) is that I will get what I paid for. My perception is that I will get the perks that were promised to me, in writing, when I booked my suite. My perception is that I will get the same kind of service I have always gotten in Sky Suites. Yes, it is an entry level suite. Also an entry level suite that I am paying $8-10,000 for. It has nothing to do with how many YouTube videos I watch. I've sailed a number of times in Sky Suites and know what the butlers have done for me. Yes, some were a little more diligent than others, but overall I got really good service and a lot of attention. Do I expect the same level of service I got on my one and only sailing in a Royal Suite (heaven knows I could never afford one now!)? Of course not. But I do expect to get what I paid for and was promised. And for them to promote this as an improvement in service is so disingenuous to alone really annoy me. If it was such a big improvement then why didn't they institute it for the highest level suites?

While he is a credible source, I think I would want to hear more than one person's experience before I decide to never book a sky suite again. I have a b2b in sky suites - one port side aft, and one corner S1. I'll see how it goes and then make my decision going forward. I'm hoping for the best and anticipating something less than that, but hopefully not much less

That's an interesting thought. I do not want to short change the room stewards, aka Retreat Hosts, but if we are not getting the same level of service as higher level suites, why would we still be asked to pay the same amount of gratuities?

I remember when Celebrity had topless decks! I don't recall ever seeing anyone using them as such, but they were there.

First of all, not all Aqua Sky Suites are on the hump with a bigger balcony (at least on M and S class, not sure about E class). All they did was take Sky Suites and re-categorize them. So as far as the room itself, there is no difference between Aqua and regular Sky suites. If you luck into a hump cabin then you get the bigger balcony (not sure the cabin itself is any bigger - I think not but never measured so couldn't prove it). What you get with an Aqua Sky Suite is basically the spa access and whatever the heck is a spa concierge (I guess can book spa appointments for you?). All else is the same. Any suite passenger can eat in Blu on a space available basis.

Sometimes we have been contacted and often not. Even when we were contacted and asked for certain things they were usually not taken care of anyway. That said, once we boarded and talked to the butler all was taken care of quickly (exception being one butler who was not good at all, but that was definitely the exception to the rule)

Even though there are alot of people doing PUP IMHO it doesn't really add up to a whole lot of points, especially if you are talking getting to Zenith. It's already pretty easy to get to Elite or Elite Plus, especially if you sail more than once a year. One thing I think did up the numbers alot quicker was the double points they were giving right after restart for awhile. Those helped us get to Zenith probably 6 months sooner than we would have.