phoenix_dream

This has morphed into a discussion of manners when using a scooter and when around those who do.  Here's my take after 80 cruises on Celebrity, including a couple where a relative of ours needed a scooter to get around so I am not unsympathetic to the challenges.

It is a fact that it is difficult to get an elevator when using a scooter (and even a walker).  These days ships are 100% full and it is often hard even for walking folks to find an elevator they fit in.  There are inconsiderate people who refuse to move back and allow the elevator to be full (including some who are afraid to step onto the glass portion at the rear).  There are also other inconsiderate people who try to jam into the elevator when there is clearly not room.  I sympathize with those on scooters who need to find space.  Don't assume though that we're ignoring you - there just may literally not be room.

As to manners around the ship - apologies to those who use appliances and are respectful of others around them (and I know there are many of you!) but I can honestly say I have been nearly run over, or run into many, many times by people riding scooters or using walkers.  I find this most often on longer cruises with lots of older people (and less you think I am ageist - I am an older - 70+  person myself).  Too many times it seems like there is an attitude of "get out of my way, I have a disability so my needs should come first".  Again, no offence meant to the many who don't operate that way, but I've seen it time and again.  One of the few things I dislike about longer cruises with more of us seniors onboard.

7 hours ago, TomMMD said:

We have an upcoming cruise in a few weeks from now?

 

When we did the remote check in, it gave a 12:00 time for me and a 12:30 time for my wife.  

 

Will they actually make my wife wait until 12:30 and will I have to hang around for 12:30 after I am checked in?

 

by the way, I am not use to being assigned a time.  I am used to just walking up to the Concierge line and later in life to the Aqua line.

 

As people have said, check-in is totally different now.  Only priority is Suites and Zenith.  That said, it also goes very quickly now.  Do your check-in online before you get there and you should breeze right in.  By 12:00 the ship should be clear and it is likely there will be little in the way of lines or waiting.  Your wife can definitely board with you.

2 hours ago, lmklimmek said:

I have had something pop up that requires me to log in for a two hour call while on our cruise.  We will be at sea that day. 

 

Does anyone have experience working/being on calls while onboard? 

 

Thanks, 

 

Lana Klimmek

Definitely get premium Wi-Fi.  It should work with some exceptions depending on what part of the world you are in.  We have had issues with reception on Alaska cruises.  No issues on Caribbean and Pacific coast cruises.  Have only done one other region so can't really advise beyond that.

On 2/23/2024 at 7:05 PM, bandp407 said:

Fellow Cruisers, 

 

DH  and I recently returned from an 8 night Reflection sailing and again DH ill with a horrific cough. Fine the entire cruise but started coughing on disembarkation day. We were on deck 8 and yes did smell a mild musty odor. Housekeeping Dir had the AC filter changed and had the return vacuumed. Yes, full of dust. Nearly 2 weeks later he is still ill and has seen a pulmonologist. Tests have been done. 
 

we also sailed on the Reflection end of November, deck 8, and similar, developed into Bronchitis. Did not report the musty odor this time& it was worse!! Stupid Me!! 
 

We have the Silhouette booked for April and at this point not  sure if we will go. Last year he got the Flu on Beyond and this summer on Equinox he got Covid. And now this!!! It was our 40th cruise and obviously we love cruising BUT !!! 
 

Is it the cabin AC for our last 2 on Reflection? Should we bring a humidifier? Any and ALL suggestions will be much appreciated! 
 

Many thanks! 
 

 

I am sincerely sorry your DH got sick and hope for a speedy recovery.

As to my opinion or suggestions - Given his history of catching illnesses onboard I have to wonder if the cause is a lowered immunity system as opposed to anything wrong with the cabin or the ship itself.  I have sailed over 90 cruises, 80 of which on Celebrity.  I would say that on virtually 100% of them I noticed a slight musty odor.  Perhaps he has some kind of allergic reaction that leads to illness?  Perhaps he is catching viruses from other cruisers?  Every cruise I have been on in the past year is 100% full - and sometimes even more than 100% (due to multiple people in cabins).  Anytime you are going to be around 3,000+ people (staff and crew) there will be a certain percentage that are sick, coming down with something, or getting over something and still potentially contagious.

On 2/23/2024 at 10:44 AM, samofam said:

This totally sums it up. 'Pampered paying passengers, you may now do your own fetching'!!!

We take a bag with us to the retreat lounge to stock up on evian and pelegrino for our 'suite'. It's a bit like a scavenger hunt getting the various supplies to the room. Even the glasses for red wine were no longer supplied automatically.

Now, for a mere $30 (approx.) per day one may purchase 'Premium Access' . Check it out on the web-site. Selling some of the perks that come with suites and Zenith, although Zenith level passengers no longer board with suite passengers, an elimination of a benefit which had been very enjoyable and special.

I just sailed last month and Zenith definitely boarded with suites.

Every Alaska cruise I have been on (probably around 10) on Celebrity has had a naturalist onboard who gives talks, and as Jelayne says will likely also narrate in certain situations like when visiting the glaciers.

23 hours ago, sofietucker said:

Well, we're close to Elite Plus but have never done a B2B. Stay in Sky suites. We get all kinds of wine, flowers, and stuff like a fancy wine tumbler with coral etched on it, a fancy coaster, special leather-covered stainless-steel water bottles, lanyards, masks, etc.

You're saying you've received all these things staying in Sky Suites in Celebrity??  In recent years??   Other than cheap wine and a couple of flowers (never a bouquet) I have not received any of these and I've stayed in Sky Suites or above (Including Royal Suites a couple times, as well as a Celebrity Suite) many, many times since restart after Covid, including 9 such cruises last year alone, when I was sailing as Zenith.

I am a fairly recent Zenith and so far out of around 15 cruises since reaching that level it has only happened to us once, in an Aqua Sky Suite, with a note from the Hotel Director and an $8 (retail) bottle of wine which we couldn't bring ourselves to drink.  

So it really all depends.  They could be much higher rated Zeniths than me.  They might have gotten it from their travel agent.  They might be in a high level suite.  They might have sailed on the same ship many, many times and developed a relationship with the HD or some other high level officer.  It is definitely not a stated perk.

I already gave one response but some of the responses are really getting to me as I sailed for years with my now adult kid on Celebrity so I feel like adding more.

THIS IS NOT NEW.  Celebrity has been doing this for years and years on cold weather cruises.  People are acting like the world is coming to an end if kids are able to spend two small hours per day in an indoor pool as they would not be able to swim at all without that privilege, an activity kids love and on Celebrity in particular really would benefit by it (without a lot of other kids activities like some lines).  This does not mean it is the beginning of allowing kids in that pool all the time and on every cruise.  Again, this is not new - it has been going on for years.  It is now just being made official and consistent (consistency being something Celebrity needs to do more of!).

Am I as concerned as the next person over the continued "Royalization" of Celebrity?  YES and I have stated so many times on these boards.  But skeptic as I am I really, truly do not believe this is just step one of allowing it as a regular benefit on all cruises, or increasing hours etc..  

We took our son on Celebrity from the time he was around 6 years old.  Would he have preferred a Royal Caribbean ship?  Possibly.  But did he have a great time anyway?  He says he did.  He loved being treated like royalty (the staff is very nice to children in particular).  He enjoyed dressing up for dinner believe it or not.  He liked joining us in the pool and playing board games with us.  He enjoyed reading his books and comic books, and playing games and watching movies on our laptop.  Sometimes kids need downtime too!  He loved going to the shows, and enjoyed the music in the bars before dinner.  He is more introverted, so didn't really make a lot of use of the children's club.  He enjoyed going to the beach with us in ports (and we tried to book cruises that had more ports than sea days).  DH and I much preferred Celebrity to other lines we sailed, and all 3 of us had a great time on Celebrity.

I have zero issue with this as long as it is confined to cold or bad weather cruises, is limited in hours, and the parents monitor the children.  IMHO it is incredibly unkind (I am actually thinking of other words, but they'd probably get me kicked off this thread) to not allow children to do this.  Swimming is one of the activities children most enjoy and to completely deny it to them due to bad weather is just unkind.  For heavens sake, it's only a couple of hours.  I just can't believe some of the opinions on this.

16 hours ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

I'm not sure why people think that this is funny....

 

On an upcoming fall cruise, I too booked Concierge as it was the only way to get a footstool/ottoman on our large hump veranda. For the small price difference, it was easier than lugging my inflatable ones .... I could care less about the swill, I mean Sparkling Wine-oid product, embarkation lunch or  daily cheese poofs.

 

I guess the inflatables are going back into my luggage! 

It isn't funny for many of us. I spend hours on our balcony reading and relaxing and I want to be comfortable!

On 2/10/2024 at 6:55 AM, Dr. Cocktail said:

I’m weighing in on this again because I feel so strongly about it!

 

Odds are - you’ll be fine but you’ll likely start stressing the night before arrival and continue to do so until you’re off the ship!

 

If you’re NOT fine and you miss your flight, you’re on your own.  You’ll have to buy a new ticket unless the agent takes (unlikely) pity on you. None of these CC members extolling you not to be negative are pulling out their Visa cards to pay for your new flight.

 

And…. Most flights are beyond full these days - no guarantee that you’re getting on a flight that same Sunday.

 

Again, I have witnessed people FREAKING OUT on board on arrival day as we’re one to 4 hours (medical emergency) late and they’ve missed their flight.

100% agree. I've had 2 cruises with delayed disembarkation at around 9:30. Also agree about getting on another flight. Has anyone flown lately where the plane wasn't 100% full or darn close to it? I know I haven't.  Early flights these days are just not worth the risk.

17 minutes ago, nbturfman said:

Realistic is having done it year after year roughly 20 times now, enough said

And I have had two cruises sailing from US ports where disembarkation didn't even start until 9:30. Relatively rare? Yes, but I've encountered it twice so that is realistic to me. 

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

Not true. March 17 2015 on the Constellation before Celebrity started marketing to a wider demographic and going to Cococay. 

Having said that it was a bit less crazy than the Royal ship a week before on a s2s. 2nd & 3rd and 4th photos are on the Royal cruise a week before. 

Was this by chance March 7th rather than March 17th in 2015?  I was on that cruise.  A 5 nighter on Connie with 700 college kids from two Florida colleges.  Just after drink packages were introduced.  The 21+ year olds were loading up on shots, putting them in their own containers, then giving them to their underage friends.  Tables of kids in the MDR were having shouting contests between tables.  Kids were getting drunk and running down the hallways knocking on doors at all hours of the night.  Young "ladies" (and I use the term loosely) were in tiny bikinis standing on lounge chairs at the pool doing dances that would make Miley Cyrus blush.  Kids were being wheeled in back to the ship in wheelchairs at some ports because they were too drunk to walk.  A couple of kids were kicked off the ship in Cozumel because they were drunk and broke some of the deck furniture.  Eventually the staff had a "take back the ship" meeting to try to figure out how to manage the chaos (I was told this by one of the senior officers).  

So anyone who thinks this can't happen on Celebrity is being naive.  One reason I am so unhappy about their decision to add so many short cruises to their Caribbean offerings.  Not saying they would all be like this of course as most will not, but anyone who thinks oh no, not on Celebrity can get back to me for more horror stories.  

2 hours ago, Loracpin2 said:

I could be way off base but I honestly don't think Celebrity is the choice for Spring breakers!!!

 

Tell that to the 700 college kids who were on a 5 night cruise with us on Constellation a number of years ago!  It was a madhouse beyond belief.

20 hours ago, lovescarborough said:

7pm and 9pm just over a week ago. The cast productions were new and quite good too. 

Just to clarify so as not to get anyone's hopes up. The cast was new. The shows have been around for years. The new cast did a good job I thought 

23 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

They don't always have them and is decided by the Captain and CC Host.   Most of the time when they open them for sail away is a port with an interesting Bridge, Statue or view.  

Possibly due to the ports they decided there would be little interest.

It was Bonaire each time where I know we've done them before.  But the Captain attended each of our two Zenith lunches and I'll take that over a sailaway every time!

On 2/2/2024 at 9:20 PM, D. B. said:

We were just on Equinox and it was Concierge guests Only.

 Sometimes we were invited just by being Elite+?

We also were just on Equinox.  Zenith level and Aqua Class.  No invite. On now in a suite and Zenith no invite. Not sure if they even had one this sailing? I usually don't attend anymore but found no invites strange.  Overall experiencing great service though. 

On 2/2/2024 at 9:31 PM, D. B. said:

Herer's a hint on something that worked  for Me.

 Before we got to Elite CC statis we would go to the Theater and when the first Ships Excursion group Number was called we would just blend in with them as they went to the gangway and off the ship and onto the Tender. .

 No one ever looked at any number stickers or ask us for them.

 The old saying is "If you Look and Act like you Belong nobody  gets suspicious"

And if you do something selfish and inconsiderate it's OK as long as you don't get caught? Geez. 

If it's for safety reasons I guess they don't care if their suite passengers fall overboard! They all have footstools still (at least on S class). Or are they considered too sophisticated to do that???  Very disappointing for those of us who spend a lot of time relaxing on the balcony. 

We have always gotten notified one way or the other, sometimes within a couple days of sailing 

2 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

They need to put a bulletin out for my hometown of Chicago.  Sadly, we have 23 murders YTD.

As a Chicago suburbanite I don't disagree,  but at the same time when one compares population numbers, even including vacationers, I would say the Nassau numbers are way more proportionately. 

21 minutes ago, 018041 said:

Fantastic! Is it common to see this request or is it difficult for the wait staff ? I guess I want to make sure that I am not holding up the rest of my party while I order something from a main dining room (escargot, French onion soup, shrimp cocktail). Or from BLU (lobster, scallops etc.)

Most E class ships will not let you do that as their kitchens are literally at almost opposite ends of the ship. Haven't sailed Ascent.  Sometimes they may accommodate you if you give them a days notice 

Onboard now. It's been a little different this sailing as they have a new production show staff who just joined. They did Life earlier and tonight I think is the Broadway show ( forget the exact name). We were hoping for Topper but nothing yet. On this cruise they have only updated the app the day before or even day of. We've had a lot of guest entertainment,  mostly very good- more than usual I suspect to fill the gap while the new staff gets fully acclimated