RedIguana

There have not been any complaints about the upper level suites. It is wonderful to hear you had a great experience, and Celebrity (the whole RCG actually) does seem to do a pretty good job keeping their ships looking good. The issues are with the majority of us in steerage class, and to some extent the sky suites now. So once you mention you were in an upper level suite, your experience as something to expect (except for shared areas of the ship) are not realistic for 90% of the passengers on board. No butler to compliment, no retreat hosts to take care of us, and completely different food than Luminae. Even before the cutbacks you have an enhanced experience (you paid for it, you deserve it!).

Brought home a Balvenie 16 and a Glenmorangie 19 with the excess 0BC last year. After wife bought some earrings of course.

well if you see someone in a dinosaur shirt the first day say hi! The 11 of you is almost as many as on the roll call....

Are you on the 19th sailing with us?

I will be there next week with a family of 4. There is no way I could justify the cost of that excursion. I have a private van and driver booked for 4 hours at a cost of $225 ($37 per hour to add hours if needed). Entrance fees are about $13 per person, and it looks like you can hire a guide there for about $20. From what I have seen on several forums, you could probably rent a taxi for 4 hours for under $100. It might make more sense for a party of 2, but I just can't see the "local historian" to be worth over $100 per person, especially since the cynic in me assumes they are the same guides available at $20 a group. Obviously only you can decide whether your individual circumstances and comfort level is worth the additional costs, but if your goal is to visit the ruins there are much cheaper options. I know this comes from someone who has not done that excursion, so I have no knowledge of whether the historian is really worth it, but I will happily write up a review of my experience when I get back if that would be of any help. For comparison that tour is still available on my sold out cruise next week for over $180 per person.

Well if you had not upgraded you would be stuck with the wines on the classic package. Which appear to now consist of only freeze-dried........🤪

I use my Amex for the ship account. That card stays in the safe onboard. I'll carry a Visa or MC, one in my party will carry the opposite (I'll take MC if they have Visa, I'll take Visa if they have MC). I think the worst card I have for foreign transaction fees is only 1%, so that doesn't bother me much. I'm probably way to OCD about having the right card or having a few spares in case one gets compromised. I think the MC came from one of the European countries being MC only a while back. Or it could be the wine and scotch (can't be age!). 🤪

Please no. Boarding Pina Coladas and pictures are taken before heading to the stateroom to drop off bags. Muster station check-in is on the way back down for lunch, or after lunch if there is no crew member providing check-in at that station yet.

The tickets types you listed are an apples to oranges comparison. Excursions really ARE different. All of the tickets you mention can be resold at short notice, often at a profit (well maybe not Zoo tickets, but I don't think I would be purchasing those in advance without same day cancellation available). I don't think I have ever booked a private tour that has a cruise ship sponsored analog without a 24 hour free cancellation policy. I realize there are some excursions with longer cancellation policies, but typically the cruise ship analog will also have those added restrictions. Ship sponsored tours are nice as a way to use up OBC, if the tour is a long one arriving back close to all aboard, or travels a fair distance away from the ship, as these are instances where the ship guarantee may give some peace of mind. I see this as nothing but a money grab to prevent people from canceling the day before if the weather is predicted to be marginal.

Using the lowest class available to anyone on the ship vs passengers, sure. I believe today's crew cabins would roughly compare historically to second class on the old liners from photos I have seen. Minus a few modern amenities of course.

I think a designer Speedo would be acceptable for cheek night, but would have to relegate regular Speedos to resort casual nights.

Compared to the literal historic use, no modern cruise line could legally sell steerage class. Using the definition of lowest available class, yes, there are inside cabins. In my case, I was using steerage class as a humorous way of distinguishing the suite class experience (and cost) versus what the other 90 percent of the ship passengers experience. I was in no way attempting to criticize Celebrity or their ships, and certainly was not trying to offend anyone. No actual steers were harmed in the posting of this message

Will be trying them in a few weeks. Anyone have Cantaro as their driver? Suggested tip amounts for a 4-5 hour tour for a family of 4 (all adults, no mobility or other problems)?

If ya got it, flaunt it. Nothing wrong with a little eye candy for both men and women. Unfortunately I am at that age where I just don't have it, so my Speedos are board shorts style. No reason to traumatize my fellow cruisers. 😂

I think I would prefer the printed version if my only other choice was an iphone. Thankfully I build my own desktops, have a gaming laptop, 2 in 1 touchscreen chromebook, fire tablet modified for playstore, and a galaxy phone. 😈

As @mrgabrielhas eloquently described, this is also my take on the post pandemic changes since a somewhat return to normality after pandemic protocols were lifted, along with some price increases. There is hope they will improve though, as I don't think Celebrity wants their reputation to go from the best premium mass market food at sea to the lower end of all mass market lines. Between March 2022 (HAL), several August/Sept 2022 RCI, Sept 2022 Celebrity, and May 2023 Princess, HAL and Princess came out ahead for MDR food, with Celebrity pretty even with RCI. I am hoping for a little better on Celebrity in a few weeks, but I booked this not expecting much.

Not sure how much I trust the app until onboard. My Equinox cruise in less than 2 weeks has Decoy cab at $14 in the MDR menu and at World Class bar. But with my luck yours has updated and is correct.

With them sailing in upper level suites, they are pretty much buying different cruises from us steerage class folks.

They said they sail in upper suites. 10 nights for 3 in an upper suite is probably over 20K, not sure where you came up with 3.5K.

Any issue ordering it as a side to an adult entree?

If you make the drinks ridiculously overpriced it makes the ridiculously overpriced beverage package seem like a bargain.

Well I can usually talk my wife through how to push the right buttons to get the remote to turn on the cable box again. Not saying this has ever happen a few times....... 🤣

If I remember my astronomy correctly, that would be true except for the end of April til the middle of August, when the sun is above roughly 10 degrees north.

Don't panic! Your Sky Suite butler team will save you!

Although I do have some of the thin ones specific for RCL ships, the fatter ones for the Carnival group will also work for RCL, but not the other way around. So if you cruise multiple lines the fat ones may be the way to go if you don't want a gaggle of different tag holders in your cruise tote. I think I need a bigger tote........ 🤪