rjrpar

7 day Caribbean, balcony guarantee, 2 people, 49 days out.

 

$875 pp. no obc or prepaid grats.

 

Never been on Celebrity. Should I book it?

We won't pay more than $150pp for a std balcony. Anything around $125 is a very good deal. Europe and Alaskaa are a little higher.

Carnival is not "so much better", in my opinion. They both have their strengths and weaknesses. They are both mass-market cruise lines. They are generally more alike than different. In my opinion.

This post says it all, 100% accurate.

In my opinion, celebrity is not a luxury cruise line, but on the higher end of mass market. If you are looking for "luxury" you may be disappointed. With the right attitude and expectations, you will be pleased.

Enjoy

M

Celebrity most definitely is not a luxury line and some are disappointed when the luxury treatment is not there as expected.

Formal nites are usually all indoor events. What has warm weather got to do with the way we dress. I would like to see a ban on ball caps, flipflops and tank tops in any indoor venue. I started cruising X for the attire most people wear. On last weeks cruise found out their is no longer a dress code.

You chose a cruise line based on what others wear to dinner - wow!

A 5 day cruise is not the best way to judge any cruise line. That being said, Carnival, RCCL, Princess, and X are much more alike than different. Food and entertainment are very similar (and subjective) but the atmosphere on each line is more of a differentiator.

Interesting topic. I was thinking we were cruising too frequently, and that is why it seemed less compelling.

 

Murano is nice, loved the old goat cheese soufflé, but it's preparation is different now. Somehow the main courses are the ones that don't seem to work for me.

 

We have been blessed with good service at Tuscan. It is a rich experience though and could not imagine going more than once a week.

 

Qzine does not seem to have great food to me, just novel food. Had one poor service and food experience at the Asian resturant and haven't been back.

 

I think if I wasn't onboard so often, I would be less picky about it.

We have noticed a change in quality in the Starters. What happened to the jumbo shrimp cocktail? Seems like too many choices are comprised of cheaper ingredients - pears, melons, pastas. RCCL has done the same in their specialty restaurants. Bad enough getting inexpensive starters with fancy names in he MDR.

Food quality has gone down, and the price has gotten out of hand. We are done with it. It is no longer worth it. I believe Celebrity has over priced their specialty restaurants.

Agree 100%. The decreasing quality is most annoying.

Either are fine so wear whichever you prefer. However, tuxes are worn by less than 10%. Probably on standard 7 day cruises, about 15-20% don't even wear jackets.

I just read another post "live" from the Eclipse. Vouchers are being used for the current 2 week sailing.

I agree that most of the time priority lines don't really work out much quicker but personally if we were travelling with friends who shouldn't be in the priority line I would be in the normal line with them.

 

I just like to do things by the book :)

Good post, totally agree. This whole thread is much ado about nothing

I like the lounge when it works. I just got off the Eclipse. The Elite event in the Sky Lounge was a disaster. It was too crowded. If you got there before 6pm, there were no seats. After 6, some people left for dinner. Entertainment left at 6:15. Service was extremely slow. It was tough getting service. Sometimes the crowds were so dense, I left. I would have preferred the coupons. Never met the Captains Club host at any elite event. The elite functions on the Eclipse were not as good as other ships.

Did you just get off the Eclipse on 1/25? We leave on her on 3/8 and was wondering if they are currently offering the Elite party or vouchers.

thanks

The boarding process has been very efficient for our last 5 years of cruising. I don't think the standard or priority lines have taken more that 5-10 minutes.

It makes no difference what line you choose.

I agree with Larry. My DH and I are from the Boston area and love seafood. I am consistently disappointed by the fish that's served in the MDR. It seemed slightly better in Blu, but we usually sail in regular verandah cabins and don't have access to Blu. And as far as the lobster is concerned, most New Englanders would think it misleading to even call what they serve lobster. Feh!

 

Sheila

I agree that the seafood is only fair. I would think that Blu and the MDR serve the same quality frozen seafood; maybe the preparation is different. The lobster anywhere on the ship is not very appealing except possibly Murano.

As a previous poster noted, try some seafood in port, often it is quite good.

I will be cruising the Baltics with my Wife and will be in St. Petersburg in late May.

We have been recommended to use DENRUS for the 2-day excursion in St. Petersburg as they have smaller tour-groups and reasonable prices with excellent guides.

I see there is a thread running from 2007 about difficulties getting off ships (Celebrity) using "external" excursions like Denrus and I'm wondering if anyone has more recent experience of this especially using Denrus from a P&O ship in St. Petersburg?:confused: Thanks for any advice.

No problems in 9/13, 15 minutes to get thru Russian immigration. Just go and have a great time, no cruise line is trying to ruin your vacation.

With the focus on cold weather I'm sure Royal Caribbean considered the fact that the existing ones require outside walking to be reached. An inside central location will also likely increase it's usage for breakfast. It would also be great if they did late night snacks in there. Charge for all the drinks, a for fee sundae, but have no cover charge, make it counter service, and offer chilli cheese fries for free along with hot dogs.

Just what most cruisers need, late night cheese fries and hot dogs. Assume you are joking.

Are they using vouchers for the Elite cocktail event?

Thanks

We did a private tour in Rome, RomeinLimo, and loved it. Instead of big busses with 45 people that can't navigate many of the small streets in Rome, you get a 8 person minivan with experienced drivers. Also much cheaper. Go to the Roll Call boards to join a group.

That being said, we think we would do it on our own the second time, but happy we had a guide our first time.

Help please trying to decide on the 10 night caribbean 13 feb or 6 march

 

would prefer to avoid florida spring break also

 

thanks

March 6 is probably safer but 10 day cruises don't attract spring breakers or lots of kids.

You condemn the entire cruise line because of one cruise that was a wee bit off, seems a bit unfair. Crews change, chefs change, HD's change. Different ships are run quite differently. I can't imagine the things you described occurring on every ship in the fleet or even in EC a year later, JMHO, Eh. ~ Rick

Just how many bad cruises does it take to make you look at other options?

Celebrity is a step up in elegance from NCL but not in a league with Oceania. Celebrity is a good compromise and a good value; good food, beautiful ships, and a nice mix of passengers

The non-refundable (from -X-) is always used first. We had some of both on our last cruise, used most of it, and the balance was credited to my charge card within a day or two.

That is what my experience has been, good to hear it confirmed

I have read on these board that you can transfer a booking to a travel agent. The price of the cruise I want just dropped so I can get a balcony for the price of the oceanview I was looking at (Our first balcony!!!). So i want to pounce now, but I also want the OBC that many travel agents offer (and the ones I am looking at are now closed for the weekend. So can I just book now on the celebrity website, then transfer it to a travel agent on Monday morning to get the OBC? Is that really how it works? {I hear people talk about it on these boards, but it doesn't really seem logical to me}

It is very easy and worth the 10% that some TAs give back in benefits. It does make sense if you think about the relationships between the cruise lines and the travel agencies

We have done late September/early-mid October for the past few years. It worked out well. We also like May. We like Istanbul as an embarkation port and we prefer eastern Med cruises.

 

One reason we have gone in Sept/Oct for the past few years have been the lower fares. We would normally do land tours but the cruise fares were so low compared to previous years that we decided to incorporate them into our travels. We watch the fares through July/August and then book in August or early Sept. if an attractive offer comes our way. So far this has worked. Not certain about this year as the economy is getting better.

 

One thing is for certain...avoid the summer months if at all possible.

This post says it all. Avoid the summer crowds

Many cruisers go to Orient Beach in St. Martens. It's about a $8.00 cab ride per person. Chairs and umbrellas are about $25 for 2. Big beach with lots to do. Some nudity.

People dress the same way on Celebrity as they do on Carnival with one exceptions. More people dress for dinner in the MDR, on Carnival about 15-20% underdress, whereas on Celebrity it is much lower, maybe 5%. Just my observations.