RTShaker

11 minutes ago, CaribbeanBound said:

Can't say I've ever stayed on the ship while it's in port.  I have to get out and explore and people-watch, even I've been to that port before.

In Grand Cayman all I do now is get on an early tender, snap a pic or two of the ship, as shown, walk a short bit, get back on a tender and enjoy the quiet ship.

1 hour ago, bnurick said:

No worries @Bo1953 I voted three times. 😉 

Like they always say - vote early and vote often🤣

That must apply to new novice drinkers. I am pretty sure that if I survived this long that it doesn't apply to me or anyone else in my generation.

23 minutes ago, northwoods2 said:

We are on a 15 night Panama Canal cruise in April. We will be dining in Blu but interested in menus for both Blu and MDR.  When I go to the app it has MDR menus through day 7 then nothing - it says ‘Venue Closed’.  No menus for Blu - just wine and breakfast showing.

trying to decide what night we should book Tuscan.

 

Is there another source for menus?

I'm on there with you. It's too early to see any useful menu info on our cruise. The menu that shows up is only a 'generic' one.  You could try looking for any other 15 day cruise, but that likely wouldn't help either.

Yes they are included.

4 minutes ago, Chardonnay Char said:

...

   Please tell me there is a reason for this.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$

5 minutes ago, ShelleyQT said:

...

 

Did I notify the maitre'd myself?  No.  ...

Seriously? At a minimum you should have stated your displeasure as you left the dining room. A big group has no special privileges.

8 minutes ago, kathynorth said:

You may have something here. The # of water bottles/cans being passed out around the ship is incredible. Do they crush the used containers to save space?Yes. Makes you wonder about where all those bottles/cans go at the end of each cruise. Offloaded and recycled.

1 hour ago, Ridget said:

... they are charging $9.95 a day plus tip for room service...

That's per delivery, not per day. Continental breakfast is still free.

On 1/12/2023 at 10:21 AM, DaKahuna said:

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences.  We are certainly looking forward to it.  We have two sailing on Millie scheduled for this year -- April Panama Canal transit (East to West) and 12-night Best of Japan in November.  In Sky Suites for both, but may consider an upgrade if the price is right.  Concerned that my DW will have issues with storage on the revolutionized ship the same as we had with Silhouette.  She really missed the shelves behind the corner mirrors in the bathroom.  I missed the decent height table that we could use for in suite meals.  I think I saw a video of one Sky Suite that did not even have a coffee table.  We enjoyed eating lunch on the balcony on port days on Silhouette. 

It appears that I will be sailing along with you in April and are continuing on to Vancouver.

1 minute ago, smplybcause said:

I swear when I was looking at solo pricing a few weeks/months ago the All Included pricing for a solo was a good deal. Now when I'm looking at it there's no way it make sense. If two people in the cabin want All Included it's $500 more a person - a pretty good deal if you do drinks. But if I switch it to 1 person it's $1000 more. I was expecting the fare portion to double going solo not in a studio - but why is the All Included price doubling? Definitely no savings that way, especially if you have status that gives you discounts on drinks and wifi. With the current obc they're offering I can add everything a la carte for cheaper than their "savings" price. 

 

Any solo cruisers notice whether this is across the board or is it just on the sailings I'm looking at?

That's the norm since AI was intrduced. Ticked me off plenty.

9 minutes ago, bluetardis said:

As a solo traveler Virgin prices are on the high side

But then so is Celebrity...

When I took it in 2018 there were no restrictions for still cameras. Video is prohibited though, they will admonish you.

11 hours ago, DancersImage said:

We have been assigned this stateroom 8102 as a guraranteed cabin on the Summit.  We have read various reviews and understand it is a smaller balcony with some privacy issues. Our question pertains to whether or not two people can sit on the balcony at the same time comfortably. If anyone has any recent experience with this stateroom, we would appreciate their input. Thank in advance and happy sailings.

As you can see in the pics, I have shown the balcony location, and the one chair that was on it. There is not room for two chairs. These pics are from 22016, but the physical layout has not changed.

There is no difference other than location on the ship.

12 minutes ago, garyl62 said:

So many threads about reduced experiences since the first of January.  Yet most days I see the stock price going up so I just did a quick evaluation and as of noon EST today the stock price has gone up about 18% this year.  I guess the investors like the cutbacks most CC posters are complaining about.

Although the stocks have increased this year, they are still lower than two years ago and marginally better than at the collapse at the start of the pandemic. They are still well below 1/2 of the pre-pandemic amount.

4 minutes ago, SororitySue said:

This will be our second cruise overall and first with X. We chose the inclusive option when booking, which is supposed to cover tips, wi-fi and classic drinks package. When reading over these forums, I noticed that they charge and 18 percent gratuity for drinks - is this in addition to the gratuity we pre-paid or is it covered under the inclusive option? 

Also, we are listed as Anytime dining but we wanted the 8:30 sitting - how difficult is this to change?

The extra gratuity is only charged on the cost difference between a standard drink and a premium drink you may have ordered.

1 hour ago, bonagrad said:

Again, depends on who is doing the research.  Some companies do it on their own and that creates bias.  Companies should be using a reputable research firm.  That guarantees you are going to get good unbiased data.  

 

Unbiased data from a target audience. As much as a reputable firm may say unbiased, they are still given a target demographic to research by the client. There are so many disqualifiers when being polled, that a given result is inevitable. If they were to poll every Celebrity cruiser without any qualifiers, the result would vary significantly from suite guests to last minute cruisers to AI guests.

38 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

As far as the research goes, I wonder how different the opinions of standard cruisers compared to many of us on here that cruise a lot and will move around once a line doesn’t meet our expectations?

 

Guessing cruise critic is a small percentage of their cruisers, but I feel most of us are better informed and have higher expectations. 

The big problem with market research is that many times there is a desired outcome and the surveyed group is driven to this preset result by skewing questions and the available responses.

28 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Suggest watching closely till a cabin in your class opens.

And then do a courtesy hold on that cabin. It let's them do the reprice easily.

13 minutes ago, Taclin01 said:

Hi, does anyone have current pricing on laundry? Also, does anyone know what kind of detergent is used? I have sensitive skin so that is a concern on mine! Thanks!

I can't comment on the detergent, but if you have cruised with X previously and  didn't have any problems with the linens or towels you are most likely okay.

Gee, a little more specificity would be great. Something new, or repeats of this weeks threads?

17 minutes ago, blackshirt said:

In my opinion, no. Booking onboard just gets you some OBC and the deposit is less. If you see a price you like now, don’t wait.

@rodndonnaAnd then check the pricing again while onboard.There may be a case for repricing at that time, if not, then you have your cabin choice and fare already

Good on them. Make a reservation and don't show, pay a fee. Why hold a table for someone who isn't coming while there are people in line waiting for a spot? I think they should also add a time limit - maybe 15 minutes before you are considered a no-show.

Yes.