jules815

I know this is sort of beating a dead horse, but currently are there any drinks at Venchi, something like a specialty coffee or milkshake, included with the Premium package? We'll be on Seascape in September in the YC. Just watched a ship tour on YouTube (I know....lots of misinformation out there) and the person specifically said "drinks at Venchi aren't included with any packages."

It may have to do with transferring to the TA. I'd call your TA.

We're in a GS on Seascape in September. Balcony looks pretty big but with no lounger. I know it's not considered one of the larger suites but looks like the balcony could definitely accommodate at least one, in addition to the chairs and the is it a foot stool or is it a table thingie. Was definitely planning on asking for one. I love lounging with my Kindle on the balcony.

We've had grilled fish, shrimp and lamb chops. There's always some type of meat on a carving station, a salad area with lots of toppings, a few other hot items, breads and of course desserts. If you're still hanging around the pool later in the afternoon, they come around the loungers and serve things like bowls of fresh fruit, cookies, etc. We were on Meraviglia out of Miami in 2021 and loved it.

Are the Celebrity tags the same size as RC? I bought plastic holders for our last RC cruise in 2016, but haven't sailed with them since then. Just found the holders in the side pocket of a suitcase the other day.

Yes, aware non-refundable. Didn't know about the 1 change for a booking. I guess all they can do is say no. I'm going to call in the morning and see what they say.

Thanks about retirement. Enjoying...sort of. I'm still in the cleaning out all the closets phase of retirement. Amazing what you accumulate over the years. I also really enjoy doing our travel planning on my own. It's part of the fun for me actually, so handing over the job to another person seems odd to me. If I could do all the leg work like you mentioned, then just hand over the booking for a little obc, I'm good with that.

Yeah I'm going to just let it go. If I try to cancel and rebook, I take the chance of the cabin getting snatched up in the process and there aren't any left in our category. (Seascape YC Grand on deck 19).

I was trying to transfer my booking to a TA to get some extra obc. That's one reason.

Ugh. I'll remember this. I've never used a travel agent before, but thinking we might start since we're newly retired and see more travel in our future. JAGR, do you always use a TA? Do you have them book your flights and hotel as well? Even though it's too late for this TA to get our booking (it's a transatlantic next year on Celebrity), she wants to help us with our flights and post cruise hotel in Barcelona. Trying to decide if this is smart. Can TA's get better deals on flights (which are outrageous at the moment) and hotels?

Noticed MSC is now offering up to $200 obc per stateroom for the cruises we have coming up in September. There's no chance I'm going to get this if I call, is there? 😩

As long as you booked less than 30 days ago, you would call MSC and tell them you want to transfer your reservation to a travel agent. I tried doing this for the first time yesterday on an upcoming Celebrity cruise, and missed the cut off by one day. (Pretty sure 30 days is the standard, but I could be wrong.) I read all the horror stories about dealing with MSC customer service, but honestly have never had an issue. Might be because there's the "if you're in the Yacht Club" option when you call? I always get thru pretty quickly and they've been helpful.

Sounds nice. Fjords is definitely high on our list.

Safe travels!

Wow. Sounds like quite the trip. And yes, hauling luggage is proving to be a problem on our upcoming B2B next year. We're going to be in Ft. Lauderdale pre-cruise for a wedding so we'll have that and whatever we bring for a B2B. I know I'm guilty of over-packing, something I intend to work on. My husband thought it would be fun to take the train somewhere after the B2B, but then there's all the luggage. As much as I'd love to, I know there's no way we could just do carry-ons. Even looked at shipping most of our bags home from Barcelona, but Fed X office is closed on Saturdays. (I'm also a fan of the 70lb first class limit!)

Interesting. Are you starting out in Barcelona or is this a TA? We're interested in trying out VV as well. Their food is supposed to be very good and all included. (no uncharge specialties)

When I mentioned cruising to England my husband mentioned doing it on Cunard. We're not opposed at all to dressing up, but no sure if we want to, if that makes sense.

We wouldn't rule out Carnival at all. They have a nice itinerary that included the ABC's. We also know there's a difference between a shorter and longer sailing on any line. Anyone been on a transatlantic on Carnival?

Not the cold. I'd love to do a New England into Canada cruise more than going to Alaska. My husband used to travel on business to Vancouver and always talks about taking me there someday. He loved it. Thanks for your kind comments.

Amazing!!

Hi neighbor. We're in Cary. Yes, Norway/Fjords is definitely on our radar. I guess never say never about Alaska.

My husband and I are recently retired and finally have the time to do some longer itineraries. We were just discussing our next cruise, a B2B on an MSC ship in their Yacht Club, eastern/western Caribbean (yawn). This cruise is more about us getting away after caring for my 97 year old father in-law for the past couple of years and we know 2 weeks in the YC will still be a nice getaway. My husband's referring to this trip as our "Caribbean Swan Song." (Although we haven't done the ABC's yet. 🤔) We also have a Transatlantic booked on ASCENT for next year. Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona. (We did our first TA in 2016 and loved it.) Still haven't been to England, so thinking our next TA would be something starting or ending in Southampton so we could add some days there. We've sailed the most with RC, Celebrity, and a few times with Carnival and MSC. Have no problem with trying a different line. Don't really have any interest in an Alaska cruise. So where's your next cruise, and if you could do or recommend something other than an eastern/western Caribbean itinerary, what would it be?

Is the menu different each day, and are you able to see what the menu's going to be before making a reservation? Looks like something we'd enjoy, once.

I would probably give the edge to Luminae, but it's been quite a while since we've sailed with X, so not sure if that's accurate anymore. I will say that on the 2 cruises we've done so far in the Yacht Club, we really enjoyed the food. It's not just the dining room either. That entire YC pool area where you can also have breakfast and lunch is just lovely.

We started sailing in the YC back in 2019. Prior to that our cruises with X had only been in suites (pre "Retreat".) Had been reading a lot about Yacht Club here on CC and wanted to see what all the buzz was about. Loved it! We have a B2B in the YC coming up in September and we can't wait. Our next cruise with Celebrity is a transatlantic next year on Ascent. The price to go from our Sunset Veranda (we're really excited about this cabin!) to a Sky Suite is over 7k. 😮 We got a fantastic deal and even with having to add premium drinks and wifi on our own, it still doesn't come close to what The Retreat would cost.