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What makes the MC suite different from a regular Sky Suite?

I’ve always been cautious with MDR food because regardless it’s mass produced in the galley and there’s only so much that can be done through that process. Now I understand limiting portions, options and cuts of meat has made it take a step back but I only expect so much. Honestly the real limiting of appetizers is my biggest disappointment. There’s just little variety anymore which leads to burn out. I have always had a good experience in the specialty restaurants but considering the price has suddenly gone from the $30+ range to the $60+ range my expectations are going to take a big step too. Now it’s eating one of those meals vs. what can be found on land in a comparable restaurant and the ship might not win that battle. We’ll see, it’s been nice to mix it up and leave the MDR on occasion but we don’t have that kind of OBC to dine at that price point multiple times per cruise now. My opinion of Blu was the quality was no different than the MDR, just the nice thing was more options to choose from in combination with the MDR menu. I also found the same thing where certain dishes were hit and miss. Also, I’ve never seen anyone mention the bizarre no butter in Blu but instead some veggie purée to go with your bread. We thought it was strange. I know I could have asked for the butter from the MDR to be brought over and I’m sure they would have obliged but at some point you just want to sit down and eat without asking for everything.

Each bar in the Celebrity app has their menu listed of their “specialties” to give you some ideas of what you can order there. In general my favorites are the martini bar, lots of fun flavors to try. The Mast Bar has been my go to for the frozen fruity drinks. On my last cruise they had peach, mango, strawberry, lemon (or just plain daiquiri), and pina colada. I now now about French Caribbean I’ll give a try. I’m also partial to mojitos, you can ask for just about any flavor they have syrup for. The Casino bar is another one with extensive supplies that’s easy to hit in the evenings while walking about the ship. Cosmopolitan, Amaretto sour, Lemon drop are some easy drinks that any bar should be able to make.

That sounds like a great menu for $35, I wish that was an option for my sailing.

I don’t think there is a difference at Sushi between lunch or dinner. Also, my cruise is showing a Murano lunch on one of the days so that could pop up too or maybe only on longer cruises.

I have taken the cruise ship transfer from Ft Lauderdale and it was fine. As others have said the airport is very close so there shouldn’t be much concern with not getting to the airport on time. In our experience we took the transfer to Miami airport and from Ft Lauderdale there was only one bus for that route and we waited nearly an hour until it was full to depart. To the FLL airport they should have multiple busses and will depart once one gets full. In General I am not comfortable with a flight after a cruise that departs before noon. In most cases you can easily arrive at the airport even with more of a ride from the cruise port between 9-10am. One time departing a Princess cruise from Galveston we didn’t get on the shuttle bus until 11am, it was horrible but that’s the outlier. Some folks on the boards here will even book 10am flights after a cruise but that’s cutting it too close for me. Another thing to keep in mind there are a lot of cruises that depart from Ft. Lauderdale meaning after a cruise on certain days there’s a sudden influx of thousands of people making it very busy at the airport. Might be worth checking into exactly how many ships are in pier that day and planning accordingly. Long story short, if you want to use a transfer they are in some ways easier, someone tells you where to go and you get to the airport just fine. I would not have a problem with a 1pm flight out of FLL.

There’s so much talk about specialty restaurants but the majority of cruisers eat in the MDR. So, what are some of your favorite offerings from the MRD that future cruisers should keep an eye out for? Sometimes the best offerings are the least expected. Which are the best cuts of meat to try? How about favorite desserts? My favorite entree is the pork schnitzel. Also anything with Thai chilis has been wonderful such as the soup.

October 1. So all the evidence adds up it’s not likely to be offered on the Solstice.

The extra amenities were fun but we decided Aqua wasn’t worth it. You aren’t really getting better stuff just more of the same stuff. If it was a really good deal maybe but not for the increased price. We also are not spa regulars. I found the food quality the same in Blu. It’s a pretty restaurant but is it worth paying extra for, not really.

We were in Aqua on Silhouette, the room number starts with 15 but it was actually deck 11, which I found confusing but that’s just how they do it. If you get Jason as your room steward he’s excellent. You can check the menus for any restaurant in the ap and they will bring you any dish from the MDR no problem, we basically used it as a secondary menu to expand our choices. So no need to go to the MDR if you specifically want something from that menu. Blu is a smaller restaurant and beautifully decorated, I wouldn’t leave it just for the MDR. I found the quality in food similar though but with a few more healthier/continental choices in Blu. A specialty restaurant would be of higher quality and as such things can be hit or miss but the food was generally good. The afternoon snacks are delivered around 3pm to Aqua guests, nothing extraordinary but something to get a bite of.

They have a discount for booking before your cruise, maybe the discount wasn’t applied or the flash sale ended. Worth a phone call to customer service I’d say. There should not be be a service fee or tax situation. If you pre buy speciality restaurants or spa treatments they do add gratuity though.

From what I can determine this is only currently (as in currently sailing) offered on the Eclipse and Silhouette. I was on the Equinox over the holidays and it was offered there then but I was too late to book it because it was a darn secret. I was holding out hope this would be offered on my upcoming 17 night sailing on the Solstice but I have yet to see any evidence that it’s ever been offered on the ship. They currently do a specialty Alaskan Seafood lunch which I figured wouldn’t be applicable to my transpacific but that’s where the logic ends. I basically know to have expectations of varying quality but was hoping to have this option as my husband would do it and we need a break from the MDR. We do have a Tuscan and Murano night booked but we are not repeating there.

Sorry to bump this up but can anyone confirm if the Taj dinner is offered on the Solstice? It doesn’t look like it’s an offer on their current Alaska sailing but instead they have a special seafood lunch. Every review I look up references other S class ships but never the Solstice specifically. I’m wondering if this will be an option on the upcoming 17 night transpacific. If anyone has insight please let me know.

There are now multiple docks in Cozumel, several cruise companies built their own so while it will be busy it’s not all 32k going through the same terminal/shops.

celebrity is known for very quick embarkation. If you never sailed with them you will be surprised. I have not been a retreat guest but we selected 11:30 as our arrival time when we did the check in on the ap and were easily in our room on the ship by noon. The earliest arrival time is 11 am I believe and you could probably try to get on board at that time, they don’t even check what your boarding pass says. simply put, you can pretty much arrive at your convenience. As far as when to travel to Southampton, that’s up to what you feel comfortable with. We usually prefer staying by the port but if you value a day in London more that certainly has merit. It’s a fairly lengthy (and expensive) ride, about 90 minutes and mostly along highways but we didn’t encounter any traffic. We stayed at the Harbor hotel and it was nice accommodations, just walked around the harbor a little. Not a ton to do there. Other hotels many people stay at are more in the town. All very close to the cruise port, 5-10 minutes away at most.

Why not try a 9 night cruise on the Equinox to Aruba in Jan/Feb?

We handle our arrangements ourselves. Twice I noticed a price decrease for our upcoming October cruise, I believe it was around March and May and got a reduction of about $600 each time. I just called Celebrity, it was quick and easy. I call early in the morning, maybe that helps the wait time. They made the change right away. There should be no concern with booking too early. As long as they are still selling your cabin category then you can get the price reduced.

I’d guess the South Pacific

Martini Bar is our favorite embarkation hang out. It’s not as crowded as it will be later on. As other have mentioned it’s a good time to make sure everything is in order so that the cruise begins smoothly. Any reservations or snags to iron out are good to get out of the way right when you board. my other piece of advice is to think about what you are bringing on the ship in your carry on. Celebrity is usually pretty quick with bag delivery but I like having at least one toiletry bag and an outfit suitable for dinner just in case the checked bags don’t come quickly.

I booked a cruise in 2022 while on the Silhouette and the only OBC given to us is what was referenced in the chart above. It’s a 17 night transpacific in a Veranda, so we get $100. There was no extra on top of what’s given based on the chart.

There was a big Memorial Day sale, perhaps there will be a Labor Day sale. One note on the rebooking, they can’t just refund you the difference. I was told you have to buy the excursion again at the new price and the refund will be processed on the cancellation in like 7-10 business days. Also this won’t work for sold out excursions. So something to keep in mind.

The aft porthole verandas look to be deeper than the ones forward going by the ship deck plans. Can anyone confirm if this is true? Because I too am not all that interested in booking an IV.

I am very confused about this too. It is now very difficult to compare because you can’t even look up specific shore excursions unless you are booked on a cruise. I have an excursion booked for “East Coast Highlights” on Raiatea and I had no idea it would be considered strenuous until my husband commented about it. The only thing is walking around some grounds. The whole excursion is 3.5 hours long with multiple stops, it’s not enough time for any sort of hike. I just don’t get it. Then on the other hand in St. Lucia we went on an excursion, I forget what it was exactly called since I can’t look anything up but the description literally said “take a stroll to view the Pitons” and it ended up being a 300 ft hike up a mountain. Stroll! And that one wasn’t marked strenuous.

How much does it cost to play?

I preface this by saying I have not been on Carnival since the pandemic but we found their food is actually creative and has flavor variety. This menu is trending toward assisted living offering. There’s really nothing beyond soup and salad for appetizer. The main entrees are just very basic and standard. If this is how it’s going to go on my upcoming Solstice cruise my husband won’t go to the MDR half the time. It’s not because we need an expensive piece of meat it’s because there’s probably only one item we’d each order. I don’t mind the surf and turf up charges, I agree with those who have said it’s at least an option over needing to book a specialty meal. The cheeseburger is one item and my husband would probably order it so that’s not an enormous issue either. It’s that I could probably count on one hand the number of dishes I’d be excited to order and that’s a problem going on a 17 night cruise.