med_cruising

Apologies if this question is not in the right place, I just thought that you lot would have a lot of experience!

I was supposed to be spending my birthday on a cruise in July this year, however it is looking likely we will be postponing this cruise until next year. Now instead I would like to throw a cruise themed party (on firm ground!) that feels like i’m on a cruise; any advice from people that have previously done this, or any fresh ideas from people? Im looking for little things that you experience on a cruise that make it feel like you’re on a cruise!

thanks in advance, and i hope everybody is keeping well.

We have never cruised with Celebrity before so have never seen a drinks menu from them! Are the smoothies and milkshakes clearly on there or do you specifically have to ask for them? What sorts of flavours are available?

Are you expected to tip whoever brings your room service even if you have prepaid gratuities? On our previous Royal Caribbean cruise with prepaid gratuities we would often order continental breakfast items and we never tipped? Obviously I know it is not mandatory, but is it “the norm” to tip room service?   

8 hours ago, rwdennis said:

My question is whether this is only for Caribbean sailings or more broadly available?  We are sailing on Reflection in the UK in July and it is listed as available in my cruise planner.  My kids will be all over this if it is truly available - I'm tempted to go ahead and book it and hopefully X will honor it.

It’s in the cruise planner for my Eastern Mediterranean cruise in the summer, and they are only going to put it on the cruise planner if it’s actually available for you!

does anyone know whether this is for under 12s only or under 18s too?

Thank you for all of your replies, and an extra thank you to those who went to the trouble of digging their photo out! 

18 hours ago, Lisah101 said:

A91F9CDA-A3C4-4286-B03D-669C2184DFB8.heic 1.66 MB · 43 downloads

Love this picture! Thanks!

14 hours ago, Bejay219 said:

My favorite memory is being in line to get back onto Celebrity after a long hot day in Port. We were next to a Carnival ship so our lines were next to each other.  As we were snaking through, the Celebrity tent came into sight, complete with iced towels and cold flavored waters. Imagine the faces of the Carnival guests faces as Celebrity was bringing us the towels and drinks down the line!  All I heard was..... Nice touch... Why don't we have that....... 

haha this is a great story!😂

3 minutes ago, 2theship said:

It may not sound like much but it's a welcome sight when you're returning from a hot day in port.

It sounds great! its a small touch but considering you get nothing of the sort on RC then its actually quite a big deal, and thoughtful too!

3 hours ago, marycruz said:

What if everyone decided that their 14 year old was quiet enough to use the solarium?   This is precisely why you have some of those complainers "policing" the area.

I think you have missed the point of the post - if a teen wants to silently read a book with their headphones in, what is the problem? it isn't so much parents deciding their child is "quiet enough" - the teen is being quiet (probably silent!) and their parents have paid an adult fare for them if they are a teen

However, i totally agree that not every 14 should be allowed into the solarium - it is a place to escape noisy children (and people)

20 minutes ago, Kwaj girl said:

Generally cups of cold water od lemonade and sometimes moist chilled face cloths 

sounds great, thanks!

I've heard about a "welcome station" at the dock when you re-board the ship when it is hot - this is not something that Royal Caribbean do so I was unaware of this!

Could somebody please provide a photo? (if you have any) and maybe some more information - are drinks complimentary if you have a drinks package? what is actually offered to you?

many thank in advance

15 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

You can easily get a table for 2 with Select dining, just request it when you get there. You can also go into your cruise planner and under the dining tab you can make reservations for each night or you can make reservations once you're on board. Celebrity offers 2 shows nightly at 7 and 9 PM to accommodate early and late diners. No reservations are needed and there is plenty of seating. 

 

X offers a more laid back relaxing atmosphere than Royal. You will only hear one daily announcement, made about 10AM by the Master and sometimes by the Cruise Director as well. The rest of the info about daily activities will be found in your Celebrity Today that will be left in your cabin each evening after the nightly turn down service. On X there is no indoor smoking allowed and so you will find a smoke free casino (a big difference from Royal). You'll be greeted when you board with a complementary welcome aboard glass of bubbly, or a mimosa. You'll find hand rolled cloth hand towels in all the public restrooms. When you return to the ship in warm weather ports you'll find a welcome back station at the dock with cool drinks and chilled towels, always a welcome touch. Little things like these aren't much on their own, but together help to build a relaxing ambience. If you have any other questions, just post them. Folks at Cruise Critics are generally very helpful and have lots of tips and good suggestions.

I had no idea you could book on the cruise planner! Can we book in advance for every night or is it just something you can do during the cruise online? There will be three of us (a family not a thruple lol) - will we still be able to get a table okay?

The welcome back station sounds great! does anyone have any pictures? The whole experience sounds much more personal and enjoyable than Royal Caribbean - we didn't find the staff to be too attentive and there was defiantly not as much attention to detail!

I can't wait now!

Thanks so much for your help.

13 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

What ship are you sailing? Do you have any specific questions? What kind of cabin category did you book? Did you choose fixed or Select dining?

 

We will be sailing on the Celebrity Infinity (before the renovations 😞 ) - we have only been on one cruise before with Royal Caribbean. 

I can't think of any specific questions now but I will let you know if i think of any.

We have booked an inside cabin, deck 9.

We currently have Select dining - on our previous cruise we had the fixed early dining time; we personally hated this as our cruise was quite excursion heavy and it meant we had very little time in the sun on the pool deck as we returned from the excursions quite late. Would you be able to give some more details on how Select dining works? Will we have to sit share a table with other people? (we don't really like doing that) Would we be better switching to a the fixed later dining time?

We had a disastrous experience last time as our airline lost one of our large suitcases which tainted the whole experience, so we are hoping that this cruise experience will be much better, and more relaxing as the ports of call are less intense (Valletta, Kotor, etc. as opposed to Rome, Pompeii, Florence, etc.)

Thanks in advance!

2 hours ago, Luvcrusn said:

It is complimentary in concierge class and above. They leave it in your room. Since this thread went for a sabbatical they've switched from the blue to grey and have eliminated the magnets.

Thank you!

I have recently book my first Celebrity Cruise (have previously sailed with Royal Caribbean) - is there any tips or heads up you could give me?

On 3/21/2018 at 4:21 AM, JRWLOBO said:

 

We dislike these sea pass holders as well. Do not understand why there is a sticky back on them. Like you, we will continue to use our old ones.

I've just stumbled across this thread as I was curious about the tote bags, and remembered seeing a picture of a Celebrity Cruises rubber card holder somewhere, and I've managed to find a picture of it; if its the same thing you're talking about, then the sticky adhesive backing is to stick it to your phone. I've attached a photo below (sorry about the quality it's all I could find)

If it is the same thing, could I ask where/how you got it?