AbbyCruiser45

Okay so the escargot is strange. It’s shown up on some mobile menus, but never in person. I personally don’t care for it, but Kaleb loves it. He finally asked for it last night and our server told us that we can order it ahead for the next night. So we did that last night, and he should have it today.

I’m excited to follow along!! If you’re flying Delta, I don’t think this will be an issue because this was in North terminal, but when we checked in at ATL, they directed us to a “new” security area below the checkin level. There was not a separate line for TSA pre-check (if you have it) and it took over 20 minutes for us to get through.

I’ve sailed only inside and balcony on X and I always feel taken care of by the crew. I’ve sailed Disney and NCL before and the quality of X is way higher. My family has also booked (and can regularly afford) AquaClass and Suite Class but choose to sail in a regular class balcony most often because the experience is really fine. I guess I just want to say to newbies viewing this thread, everything is fine. Celebrity is still a good quality product. You don’t need to sail in a suite to have a great time with good food and service.

Okay I am not sure what we expected with the MDR breakfast, but it is just the buffet food 😂 I thought maybe the French toast would be a fluffier bread than the buffet, but nope. We normally eat outside, so all we got from this breakfast was the same food, with a longer wait, in a noisier environment, with no view. The service was good, but never again for us! The plus is that if you order fresh eggs, you can wait while sitting instead of standing. Oh well, onto other sea day activities!

There was a wide range of attire last night! I wore a long, cotton dress and kaleb wore a dress shirt and khakis. Some people were more dressed down, others were more dressed up. I saw some women in formal dresses and men in dark suits. Whatever you want to wear that fits “evening chic” will be fine and there will be others in similarly wear!

I fell off the live posts yesterday because we were really just enjoying a lazy day at sea! There is not too much to report. We read for more than half the day and enjoyed some drinks at the Sunset Bar. I do have one small complaint and it’s about the smoking at Sunset Bar. I love that spot but when a few cigar smokers get up there, the smoke becomes too much. I get a sore throat and headache within minutes. It’s only happened a few days we’ve been up there. Otherwise, we enjoyed our evening chic night! MDR service was excellent and we got a great window seat. I don’t have pictures but I got the lobster and a half order of the mushroom risotto. Afterwards, we watched the sunset, listened to live music, and won some money on slots! It was a great sea day. We’re starting off the day with something new, breakfast in the main dining room! I’ll let you all know how it is.

It was not rocky at all! It was really sandy with an easy entry. There were some chunks of old coral here or there but nothing too difficult. Kaleb forgot his water shoes this trip and he was perfectly fine. The waves aren’t huge either because the beach is technically in a bay, so the “main ocean” (I don’t know how else to describe it) breaks on a sandbar way further out than you would need to go.

Holy cow, Bonaire! The water was absolutely stunning. We didn’t end up trying for the golf cart because we just wanted to get to the beach. And wow. The water was stunning. We went to Sorobon beach and the Sebastian Beach Club. It was only $5/person taxi ride and then $10/person chair. There was not a lot of shade, so that was disappointing. But we were mostly in the water. At first glance, the water seems murky but that’s because the sea grass is protected. There is a path to walk through and then you are in shallow, crystal clear water. The beach is super windy and it must always be because there were tons of wind surfers. They were great to watch. It looks like you could also book lessons if that’s something you’re interested in. We got there around 9 and stayed for about 3.5 hours because we didn’t want to buy lunch out and we’re getting a little sun sapped. My sun allergy reaction is already all over my hands, the rash guard is working for my arms though! The taxi was $5/person if we wanted to wait for two more people, but people didn’t seem to be leaving so we were able to pay $20 total to leave right away. Lunch in Oceanview was my favorite theme day today, Taste of Italy! Basically, all the capresse and fresh mozzerella you want. Now I’m enjoying the shade on my freshly cleaned balcony (state room attendant just came by with a hose, not by request, just routine) enjoying this view!

I’m not sure because we were in and out before the first tour started. I think it would be worth checking out though! I would imagine it includes the kayak. I didn’t see any signage indicating otherwise.

Reservations are not required, but depending on how large your group is, you may want to try to make them. For this trip, with just the two of us, we’ve been seated immediately between 6 and 6:30. I’ve traveled with family before, in a group of 5 and 6, and we made reservations every night since it’s harder to get a table that size.

We had an excellent dinner in the MDR last night. We started the evening with wine in the ensemble lounge and listened to live music. We were seated immediately for dinner, around 6pm. I had the BBQ spring roll and the cream of chicken to start, both were excellent. For my main, I had the braised beef brochette and a side portion of the linguine. We then ran up to the top deck to watch the last of the sunset and our sail away. It was a nice, peaceful night! While I’ve been typing this, we’ve just been sitting off of Bonaire waiting to pull into port. The engines just kicked in though and we’ll be there for an early, 7AM arrival. I think we’ll plan on getting off the ship and heading to Sorobon beach. We’ll likely get back to the ship for lunch.

“Ma’am you could go to mast grill or the buffet for that” 🤣

Sad news/ good news? No more burger on the menu. It never even saw the light of day! I wonder what happened. It got pushed from day 2 to day 6. This is the day 6 menu on the app. We’re on day 5 now and it’s not there for any other day.

Last night we hung out at the Sky Observation bar a bit, chatted with some fellow passengers, and played a very close game of Boggle. We opted for the buffet for dinner because we wanted something easy after a long port day. It was good! We also went to the comedian, who was great. He has an 18+ show on one of the sea day nights so we’ll try that out too. Curaço has been a great port so far! I woke up to a great sunrise and enjoyed the sail in on the balcony. We got off the ship just before 9 and went straight to the Mangrove Park. I highly recommend this. It’s walking distance to port, only costs $10/person, and took about 30 minutes. There was a lot of wildlife to see and it was just peaceful. Afterwards, we just walked through the town. We ended our trip out at Iguana Cafe for some coffee and a snack of bitterballen. While there, we got to watch the bridge swing open. I had no clue it could move with people on it! We got back on the ship for lunch and it was Caribbean day in the buffet! This is one of my favorite themes they do. I had fried yucca, plantain, beef patties, and jerk chicken. We will go to the MDR tonight, so I’ll let you all know how it is! For now, we’re going to read, play cards and Boggle, and drink a little 😊

Kicking myself over this. I’m on the Equinox now and went down to the Future Cruise desk a few days ago with an ABC Reflection in mind for next year for a family trip. My parents went ahead and booked it while in the Silhouette a few days ago because the had a fair BCC discount. I didn’t have one so I decided to wait since I could still earn points on this sailing. Then this changed happened and the sailing is about $600 more. My parents, of course kept their prevailing rate (plus extra OBC) and will be switched over but nothing that can be done for me because intent to book counts for nothing lol. Oh well!

They were only on the nature trail! So stay away from that and you have the perfect day!

Yes! Burgers, wraps, chicken salad, and Reuben’s. Seafood options were actually the minority!

What a day on Renaissance Island in Aruba! We got off the ship a little after 9 and we were able to walk off with no lines. Renaissance Island is the private island for hotel and spa guests of Renaissance Wind Creek Resort but Marriott. It was about a 15 minute walk from our ship, but the Royal ship was much closer. We were the furthest. We checked in at the spa at the hotel and then you board a boat in the atrium for the island! There were flamingos were on the beach as promised! We explored the island a bit and then swam and lounged until noon. They provided towels, which was great. Since we were there early, it was easy to find a pair of chairs in the shade. This would be more difficult later in the day, but it never felt crowded. We tried to go on the nature walk trail but it was super buggy. We got swarmed by mosquitoes. Somehow, Kaleb didn’t get bit but I got probably a dozen. We dove in the ocean right away and that helped. Most of my bites aren’t noticeable now which is great because one was right on my face. We talked to another couple afterwards and they said the nature walk is their favorite part because it leads to a secluded beach. They said they haven’t been able to do it the last two visits because of the bugs. So proceed with caution if you go! At noon we had our massage and oh my god. It was fantastic and so relaxing. It was open air with the waves crashing and the wind hitting some chimes. It felt like we were there 5 minutes but it was actually an hour. Lunch was included in our package. It was just one entree, but they brought us some chips on the house. We had the perfect ocean front seat. Service was slow but we did not care since we had our free drink (only 1 per person) and the perfect view. I had shrimp tacos and Kaleb had a whole, grilled snapper. We hung around the island a bit more before heading back. On our way off the ship in the morning, we each got $10 vouchers for free for the Windcreek casino. So on the way back to the ship, we tested our luck. I made $30 off the free money! Pretty good luck. Now we’re back in the ship without a plan, which is a great place to be. I’ll update later tonight or tomorrow about dinner!

Good morning from Aruba!! We had a beautiful sunrise this morning. I caught it around 6:10 and then went back to bed for another hour. The main dining room was uneventful last night! It was a fast meal, only about an hour and 10 minutes. I feel like the portions sizes were large last night. I normally do fine ordering a pasta and another entree but I couldn’t finish the pasta or steak last night. Has anyone else noticed this? The server didn’t acknowledge the premium selections. I went with the yellow corn soup, Cesar salad, pasta primavera, and the steak. The steak was medium instead of medium rare, but not bad enough for me to return it. We ended the night by watching the sunset up by the basketball court and listening to music. It was a perfect night! We had a smooth sail in to Aruba this morning. They started letting people off about 10 minutes early and we’ll be following soon to head to Renaissance Island!

Here is the paper menu!

We’ve had a slow, relaxing day so there hasn’t been too much to report! When I woke up this morning, the water was the calmest I’ve ever seen it. It was beautiful. I finished book three of the trip, so that should give some insight into what I’ve been doing! The weather has been nice but the ship has been moving a bit this afternoon. I’m not one to get sea sick, but for some reason sitting at a bar top in the theater this afternoon upset my stomach. We did try our luck at Bingo today! I was happy to see this on the schedule. Apparently, they’ve just brought it back after 3 years. It was a lot of fun. I think there were 10 winners across three games. The total pot for each game ranged from $1,400-$2,500. I came so close in the last game! Just one away on one board and two away for the other. It’s the first evening chic night of the trip, so we are heading to the main dining room for the first time. I’ll share later how it goes!

Wow if this is the case, I had massive bad luck to be on one of two trial sailings right now. This is my third cruise on Celebrity and I’ve never chosen the buffet over the MDR but I did last night because there was nothing appealing on the menu. I’ll definitely contact them!

Thank you for jumping in! I asked around yesterday, and yes @lovetocruisee Heineken Zero seems to be the only other NA beer they have. The supply changes all the time though!

Can you not have two accounts? If you’re with Amazon Prime you should be able to have at least two separate logins per account. My parents and I spilt a prime membership and I have a different login than they do. Also if you don’t know, Libby books don’t leave your device if the return window passes while you’re in airplane mode. It is still “returned” in the ether, so the person behind you in line still gets it on time. I stack my holds to release all at once, then I shut my kindle into airplane mode for a month or two at a time. You just have to be careful though because if you ever take it out of airplane mode, you’ll lose access to the expired books immediately!

It’s been a great day at sea today. I’m almost through with my book and I plan to finish it over coffee tomorrow. We didn’t make it to the gym (promise already broken) but I do take the “no elevator challenge” and got over 10,000 steps. Did anyone onboard here the horn around 11? We were at the front of the ship and did not see anything. I’m assuming it was someone that was allowed to blow the horn on a tour. I’ve never heard the horn on a sea day without fog! Lunch was great in Oceanview Cafe. They had fancy corn dogs which is a first that I’ve seen at the buffet. I feel like the selections are better than last year, so far. The salads are nicely done and the desserts seem more varied. Like today, there were different types of pies instead of the same type of cake with Different flavored icings. We spent most of the afternoon reading, playing cards, and bar hopping. The seated bar service has been slow in both Cafe Al Bacio and Craft Social. Both times we’ve been, we’ve ended up ordering at the bar. The drinks are worth it though! We spent some time looking over the menu for MDR and honestly, nothing really stood out to us. I’ve included the pictures below. They still do offer the sirloin, it just did not make the screenshot. Instead, we did DIY 3 course MDR at the buffet. It was not bad at all! We had the made to order ceased salad, cooked to order steak, and it was French night. There was beef bourguignon, ratatouille, a white fish, and a couple other options I can’t remember. Of course there was also a lot of American grill food, like burgers and hot dogs. The dessert was also great with a fresh crepe and various other small, French themed desserts. After our dinner, we went to the show. It was a singer, Crystal Stark. She was on season 5 of American Idol and played songs from powerhouse women singers. There were quite a few “oldies” hits, which made Kaleb and I wonder what these shows will feature in 40 years! I ended the night watching the Yes or No game show. It was fun to watch, but I don’t think I could do it! The goal is to have a 3 minute conversation with the host without saying yes or no (or adjacent words like “yeah”). Only two people succeeded out of about 10! We’ll have another sea day tomorrow doing about the same things, but I think we will go to the MDR tomorrow since it’s a chic night. I can hopefully provide a good update on it then!