mac_tlc

We are well beyond sailing anywhere in the Caribbean for the itinerary. That’s not our motivation for a Caribbean cruise. There are other places for that. I’ll see next week how the changes impact the experience. Until then, others individual opinions are informative but not conclusive. We can discuss “value” until the cows come home, but IMHO that price is worth considering. Can’t find a balcony in YC for that, certainly can’t approach the Icon, Star, Wonder or Utopia for twice the per day price. Or almost any Royal ship. Enjoy your cruise—- have a Bourbon & Peaches for me! mac_tlc

OBC was $600 on Beyond last year ($4,687)and grats are worth $322, so, yup, $922. Unfortunately those days are gone and the economic bar has been moved. Given current pricing and policies, $5,100 for a suite guarantee on Ascent is a good price. We used our OBC for the specialty restaurants —- now, no OBC, no specialties mac_tlc

Our journey will begin tomorrow with a flight from CT to Orlando. We will spend a few days at our house there and then “enjoy” the “E-ticket” ride known as I-95 on Sunday morning. We will rent a car one-way down and then again back to Orlando after the cruise. Gives us a little time to unpack and then unwind afterwards . mac_tlc

Well, here we go again. It is time to escape the northern winter snow and cold, at least for a while, and try out Celebrity’s latest billion dollar lady. So much has changed since our last Celebrity voyage, a mere 8 months ago. We will finally experience those changes for ourselves. I will be with my wonderful traveling partner — my wife of 40 years. We will be is a Sky Suite and plan on getting off the ship only once . I can’t go to Cozumel and not go to Nachi Cocum!!! Here is our itinerary: We booked this cruise a while back and got what ended up being a great deal. I know there are a bunch of other CC’ers that jumped on the deal —— please feel free to post and contribute your observations — the more the merrier. I’ll answer any questions I can — I do really enjoy posting our experiences and hope others can benefit. We can probably be found at Cafe alBacio !!!

Well said. They keep hanging on to the “this enhances the cruise experience” , “our guests like it” BS. It’s not the same, it’s not as good, it just saves them money—- just say it. Too bad it won’t be restored by this Sunday when we are on Ascent or next month on Beyond. mac_tlc

March 17, 24, and 31 are all under $6K for a suite on Ascent. Some suite guarantees are around $5200. Almost the same time last year the Beyond suites for late March, early April were going for less than $5K. Looks like it’s only three weeks. I’m tempted for the 3/31 sailing, can’t do the others. Here we go @Mrs_Tiki, @KKB, @Silkroad, @GenerationX, @Irishredhead21 ! mac_tlc

We are on the Edge in August and look forward to your and @Georgia_Peaches reviews. We do have a SV cabin as we really enjoyed our aft cabin the last time we did Alaska many many years ago. mac_tlc

We also have the Vista booked for 11/20/24 out of Rome to Miami. As you, we are really looking forward to trying a new line and smaller ship—- but not too small. mac_tlc

Mid-level.... do you consider that a GS, OS or Crown Loft?? Or basically a Sky Class on Oasis/Quantum class? We are also D+ and have done all of those, but lately those prices seem to be as bad as a SS on X. I guess it depends on ship/itinerary. The Galveston sailings are cheaper. We will investigate the Symphony out of NJ for summer 2025 for our family adventure, but may gravitate to Disney for that one. All of a sudden, Disney's prices are not as wacko as they once seemed. mac_tlc

Like you we have not dumped Celebrity but are looking around more. We have also booked two Oceania cruise since X started their series of changes. Deducing from your post and signature, we may be missing you by one voyage in November 2025. We are on the Oceania Vista TA departing Barcelona 11/19/225. After reading so many of your wonderful reviews, it would be great to to meet you and Iain. mac_tlc

There were a bunch of us that booked a suite at a great price. Plan is for a 2pm meet up in Retreat Lounge on departure day. I am sure that @Mrs_Tiki will be there 😜. mac_tlc

Thankfully, we do not drink wine so this latest absurdity does not affect us —- but it certainly affects our decisions. This is just the latest in an almost year-long string of changes that reduce the value of an X cruise. The list is now too long to remember. And almost all done after someone has booked a cruise with a certain expectation of what the deal is. All accompanied by much much higher base prices and removal of previously included items for the future, which for us has the largest impact. Cumulatively, they put X off our preferred list. They have dramatically reduced the value of their offerings. Does it mean we will never cruise them? No. But it would take quite a deal to make us jump. We have booked 2 Oceania cruises since the craziness started and are looking at Viking and Regent. Also booked the Xcel because we caught a great deal that lasted a matter of hours. We are on Ascent in 11 days and will see for ourselves. Having done a number of Retreat cruises since the restart we will have a good basis for comparison. mac_tlc

@GenerationX thanks for the final review. We are in a SS on the Ascent in a couple weeks, along with @Mrs_Tiki and other CC folks. At this point I do plan on doing a “LIVE” while onboard. This will be our first SS since the myriad of changes, none of which seem good, but we will let our experience form our final opinion. Although, at the current prices, we will not be booking any Retreat experiences. We got this sailing at what now appears to be a ridiculously low price, and we snagged a very similar price for the 1/4/2026 Xcel sailings. Absent prices like that, we will sadly bid adieu to the Retreat. Too bad, we could have been very happy continuing our time on Celebrity. Hope to sail with you again, our plans are always in my signature. Thanks again, mac_tlc

Thank you for your review. We are doing the same itinerary in February and are booked with Dora in Cartegena.

My wife cannot walk long distances so she has a wheelchair on the ships and in port. We are taking our first O cruise in November on Vista. I just booked three shore excursions last night for our TA. She can get on and off a bus, so I booked a tour that said it accepts collapsible wheelchairs and has minimal walking. I am there to push anywhere I can! I told her a few years ago I would gladly push her to the end of the earth, so when I was pushing in Honninsvag this summer, I thought I was done !😂😂😂. Thankfully I am not——-. We do what we can do, and accept that the strenuous ones are in the rear view mirror. If there is a lot of walking, she will stay on the bus and wait for me… I almost booked the Valencia and Tapas tour but thought it may be a bit too much walking…. mac_tlc

Still 7 left at $10,771.

After I saw your note I took a look and noticed it didn’t include Princess Plus. But it’s a small refundable deposit, so no harm no foul. We were thinking of doing the 4/18/26 Apex and then maybe staying on for the transatlantic, which should be the next one. Not fond of the deposit T&C’s, so that may stop us from booking so far ahead. May wait until we are on Ascent next month. mac_tlc

We have been looking at some Apex itineraries for Spring 2026 out of Port Canaveral. On many, you can get a prime ocean view with AI for about $3K for two. We are looking at a sunset verandah —— Retreat pricing just too high at about $8500. mac_tlc

Did you miss your trivia partners 😂😂😂? Glad you had a good time and thanks for the review—- I was hoping it was coming. Hope to sail again with you and DH again! mac_tlc

Well, the price you quoted of $10,980 includes airfare I believe, my quoted number does not —— nor do the Celebrity prices. Sounds like a “logical cartwheel” to me. That brings your calculated $853 to $2,653, or roughly 20%. The size of a PH2 (420 sq ft) is closer to a CS than an SS (300 sq ft). Not sure of the relevance of the $1200 OBC is, I included none on either. And I did intentionally leave out the $1000 excursion credit on O. I have no “purpose” here, other than to provide an example as you were looking for. I also did not mention the true butler on O, versus whatever X calls their current SS approach. The CS has a butler. I also didn’t mention the minibar differences, tough to put a dollar figure on that. My only point here is that Celebrity’s current retreat prices are no longer guaranteed to be cheaper than a higher level cruise line. The comparison I have shown is a specific one that we have done. We chose O, and have a PH2 — even with an extended huge balcony. Enjoy whatever choice you make, but there are alternatives. mac_tlc

How about this: Celebrity Ascent, transatlantic, Oct 31, 2025. 13 nights, Sky Suite = $12,458 for two Celebrity Suite = $25,511 for two Oceania Vista, 14 night transatlantic Nov 19,2025 PH2 = $9,180 for two I’ll let you decide if the PH2 is more comparable to a CS than an SS. Given the size of the cabin and the removal of individual butlers from the SS, I would say it’s more comparable to a CS. Both ships are currently the newest for each line, and each line has another similar ship debuting in 2025. Neither one includes gratuities, Oceania includes all specialty dining. Celebrity includes premium drink package. Add another $750 or so to the Oceania price to make it comparable. So, $25,511 is a lot more than $9,930. And it’s one day longer. There are many more examples. mac_tlc

We also like deck 17, although my DW prefers the one floor room. Prices are so variable lately. I have found that Royal suites are even more then Celebrity in many instances. For instance, I was just puttering around looking at March/April 2026. I looked at three options: Oasis of the Seas - 4/4/26 8 nights from FLL Grand Suite for two = $13,700 Sky Junior Suite for two - $10,400 Silhouette - 4/4/26 8 nights from FLL Sky Suite = $5,801 Prime Verandah with AI = $3,801 Celebrity Apex - 4/4/26 7 nights from Port Canaveral Sky Suite = $8,530 Sunset Veranda with AI = $4,590 These prices are very similar for all of March and April 2026. For the heck of it, I looked at Star of the Seas leaving 4/5/26 from PC and a Grand Suite is about $20K. Those Silo prices are not horrible. mac_tlc

I hadn't seen the press release, thanks. That is good news. Although I'm trying to find Bimini on my globe in the Western Caribbean............. mac_tlc

I am hoping that the lack of Apex itineraries out of PC today doesn't mean it will be doing 3 and 4 day cruises and the deployment will be in February when they show "Short Bahamas". Not a fan of those short trips. mac_tlc

We are also on Ascent in January (I believe we will see you there) and Beyond in March. Grabbed a Sky Suite on Xcel in Jan 2026 for about $390 pppd. Also a brand new ship. A far cry from $1000 pppd for a GS on Star. Apex is definitely coming to PC since its Fall 2025 TA ends there. Let’s see if the pricing is reasonable…. A lot of their suites now are not, IMHO. mac_tlc