go.without.you

I didn't take pics of food tonight because this was the 1st time in 5 days that I was actually hungry. The chocolate lava cake from MDR is amazing. Plus sunset pics.

So breakfast in Luminae....I am not a breakfast eater, just not hungry until 4 hours after I wake up but today I finally perfected the Luminae breakfast. I ordered the potato waffle with only 2 waffles (not 3), and it comes with cheese and a fried egg. They add syrup on the side and I order bacon or sausage. It's a fancy McGriddle!!!

South Beach is overrated and overpriced. If I'm spending $6k for 6 nights I expect decent food, great service and better than grocery store wines. Period.

Cozumel today and normally I stay on board cause "been there done that" but celebrity had an excursion I had never seen before. The "Small Group Luxury Catamaran". One of the best excursions I have done. Small Catamaran (gorgeous) and about 30 people total. The boat was wonderful, the staff was exceptional. They took us to a reef to snorkel then to a small beach. About 4.5 hours total. When we boarded they had a huge fruit and veggie tray and they also made us lunch after snorkeling. The lunch was local caught fish ceviche, guacamole, salsa and cheese quesadias plus an open bar. I met a new friend and she got a little sick and the crew could not do enough for her. The rest of the passengers were also so helpful and kind. We were all basically thinking, "Glad that is not me, what would I want in this situation?". Humanity is not dead! Came back to the ship and we received invites for 2mro to tour the bridge plus a magic show in Michael's. We wanted to see him the 1st night but were too tired. We finally made it to a show last night! It was holiday themed and Nate the CD sang and has a lovely voice. The rest was the cast singing and dancing. We lasted about 30 minutes and left. Again, the shows are not my bag but I have that one a 7 out of 10.

I think it was just done about 5 years ago

There is a charge. It hasn't shown up on my account yet so cannot confirm the price.

After lunch we were full. The pool was crowded since it was a sea day and too warm in the solarium so we went to Michael's. We got tired so we went to the deck right there and laid in the chairs. We both took a nap but awoke in time for tea. Went to dinner late because we were still stuffed from lunch. We both had the escargot and lobster and shared the beef wellington. 2 thumbs up. Gwen had the baked Alaska and I had the chocolate pill again. No photos, sorry off my game. Went to the holiday show, I am not a fan of the shows, ever. We enjoyed the 1st 30 minutes then left. 2mro is my "luxury catamaran" in Cancun.

We had lunch in Tuscan today. It did not disappoint. I had the calamari and the Branzino. Gwen had the crab cake and chicken parm. We shared a half portion of the carbonara pasta. We both had the pistachio creme brulee with the chocolate center. Everything was fabulous.

I'm currently on Constellation and they had sports playing on the tvs in the casino bar yesterday.

Luminae maitre d is Arif from turkey

I put in $40 cash

Lost $40 in the casino and quit. Came back to the room to our xmas gift. A silky soft robe with the Celebrity Retreat emblem.

Poolside today I won the daily trivia contest by answering what year Connie set sail. 2002. I won a pop up knob for my phone which I love because I bought this case last minute and hate it because it doesn't have a ring on the back. Kismet. They invited us to meet Sr officers in Michael's tonight. The captain popped in and we got our photo taken by the ship photographer, we were told they would send us the photo. We also met Sr hospitality Mgr. They served a few apps but I was saving room for dinner. Tuscan xmas eve dinner was amazing. I had the lobster salad, pumpkin soup, crab stuffed sole and lamb chops. Also had a flambee dessert which mostly tasted like alcohol. Head chef Paulo entered the restaurant to greet customers, spoke to two tables then addressed the rest of the restaurant. Thanked us for coming. Then he spotted us and said, "ahhhh....ladies here you are! I saw you at the pool today". He spoke to us at the pool today and remembered us from the lounge last night. Then he SAT DOWN to talk to us!!! All eyes were on us like, "who are they and how does the master chef know them?" Idk, we were just nice to him and told him how amazing everything has been. Honestly, 31 cruises and this is the 1st time I've met the captain and the head chef. The Sr officers are making themselves known and its awesome.

The butler brought us 3 more bottles of water this morning. We put out our laundry since I get the 2 free bags, will report when it gets back. I keep forgetting to ask for the wine menu, sorry. We were told by pool waiter that we would be charged the difference in a drink price but we haven't ordered anything that qualifies. The wines we have been getting are very good. Last night we had a Chilean pilot noir that was wonderful. We enjoyed the ship today while most left for Grand Cayman. The burgers were very good and I did a walk thru of OVC and there were a lot of options. We've been referring to it as "The trough". Service by the pool has been great. I got up only once to order a drink since we got here at 10. It's 330 and the area is filling up again. Last night we ran into the head chef and told him we did the galley tour earlier and were doing Tuscan x-mas eve dinner and xmas lunch. He asked for our cabin number so I don't know what that was about. I'll report on that special dinner later.

Dinner tonight was wonderful. We both had the lamb. We stopped at the lounge afterwards and enjoyed the band. I can see where some would be bored on this ship but we are not. We hit the martini bar for the flight and then to Michael's.

No. We got "you can drink all the coke you want, everything else you will be charged after the 2 bottles of water". We went thru 1/2 of the 1st bottle and today he brought us 3 plastic waters.

6130 aqua sky suite

I ordered the burger for lunch and Gwen had the salmon. Burger was perfectly cooked and juicy. Now I'm hanging at Michael's because it's a bit windy outside and I'm trying to finish reading "Spare" before the digital loan disappears. That happened to me twice on the cruise last month and I was beyond upset.

So Gwen forgot her phone charger for her apple phone and I'm an android girl, so I can't help. We asked the retreat host Penelope if they had one. She offered her personal charger to use in Michael's. Later that night we me our room steward Meggan and he brought us one to keep in the room. So today we did breakfast in luminae at 830. A little late start, everything was lovely. Then we did the galley tour since it was free. I've done the tours several times but Gwen never had so we went. Great tour and there was a push for booking the specialty restaurants but no pushiness. We were able to book Christmas lunch in Tuscan so we canceled the regular dinner. After the galley tour we popped into Michael's to relax. Over comes the bartender to ask if we needed the charger that Penelope left for us. 5 minutes later she comes over to ask again. Talk about follow up!!! Some pics of Michael's club.

Some photos of the ship on our sea day.

Ok, reporting late because it's been a long day. Woke up at 530, went to work for a few hours then to the ship. Boarding took about 15 minutes. No issues, love it. Lunch in luminae. Was fabulous. Had the lobster roll and Gwen had the steak. No pics cause we were hungry and just wanted to eat. Explored the ship. Love it! She's beautiful! Our aqua sky suite is gorgeous and we met our butler and cabin steward right away. We were invited to the sail away on the helicopter pad. I've done this before but was Gwen's 1st time. We really enjoyed it. Had dinner in Luminae. Escargot was fab (was never an option on MSC) and also had the shrimp cocktail. We both ordered the filet mignon which was very tender and came with a mushroom sauce. She had a chocolate caramel dessert and I had the chocolate pill. Both were amazing. Service so far had been top notch. Zero complaints so far. 200% better than last cruise. The sommelier (yes they have one unlike MSC) was right on, in fact she's my new bff. So, I wrote all that last night then fat fingered my phone and it all disappeared but I just found it again. Full disclosure: between waking at 530a, excitement of boarding, great food and drinks...I was wiped out and in bed at 8pm. My motto is "party all night....or 930 whichever comes first". Plus they were passing out tequila sunrises on the helipad and I didn't want to be rude and reject them. Some photos from dinner and sailaway.

I will do my best to answer the above. I'm curious myself about the wine list. I've never asked for one on past cruises, I've always just told the sommelier what I ordered and trusted whatever they gave me (never steered me wrong). But after the lack of a wine list on the last cruise I'm curious as to what they offer and the price increases. So hoping they didn't eliminate the sommelier because MSC didn't have one in YC and no one knew what a non oak chardonnay was, probably because they didn't have one.

Another live(ish) report from my 31st cruise! Tomorrow I board the Constellation for a 6 night cruise from Tampa. I’ve previously sailed on RCCL, Carnival, Celebrity, NCL, Viking River and lastly MSC. I prefer to cruise in the Retreat but the prices are just ridiculous so I booked this cruise in Aqua class and my move up bid to Aqua Sky Suite was accepted 10 days prior to boarding. Last month I did my 1st live review on MSC’s Seashore in YC during the week of Thanksgiving. Spoiler alert: hilarity did not ensue. Here’s a link if you’d like to see how it turned out so I don’t have to rehash any of the drama here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2974643-nov-20th-seashore-liveish-review-retreater-goes-yacht-clubbing-for-1st-time So I booked this cruise for a few reasons. 1) It sails from Tampa, which is less than an hour from my house. I used to live within 30 minutes of Port Everglades and boy was that convenient. 2) Size of the ship. After being on the MSC behemoth last month I am looking forward to a much smaller ship with a lot less people. I’ve sailed on Millennium twice but this is my 1st on Connie. 3) I’m not one of those people that “loves” Christmas so if I can be away from all the hassle the happier I am. 4) My company closes the week between Christmas and NYE so why on earth would I stay home? I did NOT book this cruise based on ports of call. Once you’ve cruised the Caribbean over 15 times you have pretty much hit all the ports already. So when I tell people I’m going on a cruise the first thing they ask is, “Where are you going?" Half the time I don’t even know. Last month I only left the ship for the private island and stayed on thru Cozumel and Costa Maya. So basically I go on a cruise to be on a cruise ship! This time I will be skipping Grand Cayman and I have an excursion booked for Cozumel that I may cancel. It’s one of Celebrity’s “Small Group Luxury” tours and I was able to get a discounted rate during the last sale. We will be dining in Luminae thanks to the move-up and I like that on M class we are also able to order from the MDR. We booked 1 dinner at Tuscan Grill and a special Christmas Eve dinner also in Tuscan. I’m hoping they have a special lunch on Christmas which will fall on a sea day. This time I am sailing with my friend Gwen who has only done 2 or 3 cruises I believe, so she is about to learn from a master. This cruise has got to be better than the last one right? RIGHT??!!

@CruisingWalter I'm definitely going to check them out. The problem is getting across the state the day before the cruise without taking off another day of work.