jules815

A few years ago we were sailing on a RC ship, I think it was Freedom of the Seas. I was standing out on our balcony and could smell someone smoking. Not sure if it was directly next to us or a couple away. It was daytime and the ship was moving. Just as I'm standing there noticing the smoke smell, I saw their butt get flicked off their balcony and it caught the wind and landed on a balcony a few decks below us. This is exactly what I'd heard would happen and I saw it with my own eyes. I went to security. Not sure if they were able to do anything though, because I couldn't be sure which balcony they were on. So dangerous though. Seriously, if you're going to break the rules and smoke on your balcony (which you shouldn't do!) at least throw it in an empty pop can or something. Sorry for the thread hijack. whenever I hear of someone smoking on a balcony, I remember what I saw.

This is the second time I've heard about continual creaking. Are you also talking about the Infinite Veranda? We were on a cruise once on a different line during a hurricane and experienced very rough seas and a horrible clanging sound from either the window or the balcony door that they had blocked off. (Cove Balcony room on Carnival) Has anyone else experienced this creaking with the Infinity veranda? We have one booked for a transatlantic next year on Ascent.

And Ascent will be very similar, right?? 😃

Are those shakes included with the Premium drink package? (Whatever one comes with YC)

Yes, understood. We're over a year out and I will definitely be keeping an eye on those suite prices.

Just watched a YouTube video. Nice room! The Magic Carpet doesn't go up and down all the time like that bar on some Royal Caribbean ships, right?

What does this mean? Is it obstructed?

Great thanks. Exactly what I thought the answer was going to be.

We're currently booked for the April 2024 transatlantic on ASCENT. Our last cruise with X was on Reflection back in 2018, pre-Retreat. We did enjoy Luminae and Michael's Club. We'll be in a Prime Edge with Infinite Balcony room. Got a great deal, but it's for room only. As of today, even if I add on Premium Beverage Packages and Internet, we're still getting a good deal compared to a Sky Suite. As the cruise gets closer, if we were to bid on a suite, say the lowest level suite needed to get us into the Retreat, would we get all those things included with a suite? (Premium Bev, Internet, gratuities, etc.) Conciege Class doesn't get you into Luminae, correct?

Are those milkshakes available on MSC in Venci??

Store them in the safe. (How easy was that?) Have a great cruise!

Another live review...yay! I'll be following along as well. We'll be on Seascape in September. Have a great cruise!

They took your macaroons?! (and I'm not being snarky here. why would they do that?)

Just like my husband. He's used to making lobby runs to the Starbucks at our favorite pre-cruise hotel for his coffee and my morning tea, and he knows just how I like it as well. After 40 years, I guess I'll keep him!

So is the Elite Breakfast basically the same MDR menu but a different location?

Thanks everyone. Not a big deal if it wasn't, but this is better. 😃

Glad I read this. My husband's recently on Medicare (with a supplement).

Sailing on Ascent next year on a transatlantic. We're not in a suite and understand there's now a charge for room service. Fine with that, but would there also be a charge for an early morning pot of coffee/tea and danish basket? Watched a YouTube video last night about current changes on Celebrity (she was on Beyond) and it sounded like something light like that is still included without a service charge. Is that true?

I'm seeing 2% back with Rakuten on the Celebrity website. How often do they do this and does it ever go higher than 2%?

Do the suites always include things like beverage packages, internet, etc., or is that only with included promotions? I know when we sailed in suites in the past, that was all included with a promotion. The current promotional rate we have, which isn't in a suite, is for room only. Pretty good deal though. So if we did bid to upgrade, we'd still have to purchase our drink packages, etc? I'm not at all familiar with The Retreat. Why would we want that? This is a transatlantic cruise in April.

Wow Radio, that's a really nice video! Looks like an Oceana (?) ship pulling in early with you.

That's good to know. I guess I have time to do some research to see if for this particular cruise it would be worth it for us. Haven't sailed with X since pre-Covid and also pre-Retreat. (Retreat replaced Michael's Club??) This transatlantic wasn't even our radar initially. We have a wedding to attend next year in Ft. Lauderdale, thought it would be nice to tag a cruise onto the end of that, and here we are.

Curious how the bidding process works. My husband and I are booked for a TA next year in a Prime Infinite Balcony. If you're given the option to upgrade, is it only to the next available level up?

Oh that's great to hear. We love the Sunset Bar on the other Celebrity ships we've sailed on. I really thought the ships in that class were all the same. I usually do all my research on ships prior to booking, I'm going to have to get busy.

Thanks everyone! We're booked. Still can't believe we're doing a transatlantic. We did one back in 2016 on a RC ship and loved it. Since we booked with a sale, we opted to go a little nicer with the cabin without going suite class. We'll be in a Prime Edge with Infinite Balcony on deck 9. Funny though, the Celebrity website is selling this as a cruise on APEX. After I booked, my booking confirmation came back saying we're sailing on ASCENT. I called Celebrity, and she confirmed we're on Ascent and not Apex. I told her that it really makes no difference to us, same class ship, newer, we're good with it, but they may want to have someone in IT change their website. Anyway, all good we're booked and very excited. We've never been to Portugal, but got close when our last (and only) TA had an emergency evacuation just off the coast of Funchal at 2am. We also have a stop in Tenerife (new to us) and Malaga. We end in Barcelona and will spend a couple of days there before flying home to Chicago. Very excited to be sailing with Celebrity again.