CalTexCruiser

although couched as a question, all 8 of your points are correct. this is identical to Celebrity's Moveup program.

And to answer the OP's question, yes you get free access to the thermal suites in the Edge Villa. We went to the thermal suites everyday when we stayed in the Edge Villa...nice and large and very few people in there on our sailing. There is a circular stairway that leads from deck 15 (where the EVs are) directly to the spa lobby area on deck 14.

I got comped for Mexican Riviera but excludes drinks, Wifi, and tips. Besides, we are already on Princess' newest ship Discovery on a casino deal on the same itinerary. The Princess discounted casino rate with all included (drinks, Wifi, tips called Premium Plus in Princess lingo) came out to be the same if we were to add all included to our "comped" Celebrity cruise.

You can see Luminae's menu with the Celebrity app in the weeks before the sail date (don't look too far ahead as sometimes those early menus are inaccurate). Then when the shoreside concierge contacts you 2 or 3 weeks (sometimes 1 week) before the sail date, you can ask the shoreside concierge to book your first two or three specialty dinners. Then once you are onboard, your Retreat Host (i.e. butler) can make the remaining dinner arrangements, and by that time you can be sure the app will have accurate menus. And yes, for the most part, your Retreat Host or the Retreat Concierge can most likely get you a reservation in a specialty dinner even on short notice--I have never been told no even when booking a specialty dinner on the day of. But of course never say never.

Yes unlimited specialty dining. We first look at Luminae's menu to determine the entrees served each night, and skip those nights that we don't fancy. I think it is good to mix it up a bit. The service provided by Luminae is great and we quite enjoy meals there as well. On one cruise we tried the specialty dining every night and got tired of specialty dining after night 4, and spent the remaining three nights in Luminae.

Good advice above. Edge Villa specific info: 1) the plunge pool is heated when initially filled, but cools down after a few hours. Let your room steward know ahead of time when you want to use, and he/she will fill it up for you. 2) thermal suites access is complimentary and you have easy access down the circular staircase from deck 15 directly to the spa entry area on deck 14 (or you could use the regular stairs next to the elevators) 3) there is a private entry from the hallway outside your suite straight to the Retreat lounge...you don't need to enter through the main entrance of the Retreat lounge... very convenient to grab drinks/h'orduvres. Don't bother with setting up tea time with your butler, as it's more convenient to just pop in the Retreat lounge to grab whatever you want that's not already in your suite fridges (there are two of them) 4) the second floor (the bedroom floor) door to the Retreat sundeck is great and easy for accessing the sundeck, and more importantly, the Retreat sundeck bar where the great bartenders can make cocktails of your choice for you to take back to your suite/private plunge pool to enjoy

Holy crap. I'll have to ask our butler for "crackers" on our next cruise. I'll be disappointed if all we get are crackers. 😉

I was just trying to offer some suggestions to hopefully help turn their experience around. Why make yourself miserable with unmet expectations when you can take practical steps to make the rest of the trip more enjoyable. On our last cruise our Retreat Host had to cover 18 suites. The cruise before that the Retreat Host had to cover 14 suites. They try hard but they are not super-humans.

For breakfast you can order using the breakfast order form that you can hang outside your door the evening before. You can write in breakfast menu items not listed, and they'll likely prepare it for you unless it's not available. For tea, ask your Retreat Host to bring an electric key kettle and tea bags, and you can make your own tea whenever you feel like it.

Has a cruise ship ever lost a collected passport? Out of up to 3,000 passports collected, I can't imagine that they have never misplaced a passport. And if so, what happens to the passenger of said lost passport?

Don't forget the gym...it's got a nice expansive view upfront across the entire front of the ship. What better way than to enjoy sailaway then on an elliptical while staring ahead at the beautiful view.

So back to the OP's OP (original poster's original post), will you really go to one of the nicer specialty restaurants on the ship in a short with built-in underwear? And do you own open-toed sandals to accessorize? And do they sell such sandals with built-in socks?

I lived in East Texas for a bit...tractor pulls are popular among the trailer dwellers and other like-minded folk, who also like to yell "yee haw" for no apparent reason.

Not that fancy...my $ 20 swim trunks from Walmart have built-in underwear. And even a back pocket to hold my wallet for those times I just can't be bothered to change after a swim.

Hope the Harmony captain does better in docking a ship in inclement weather than he did in Jamaica. Fingers crossed for everyone on board.

Yes the plunge pool is heated and is a jacuzzi. But the heat only lasts for 2 or 3 hours. Just let your room attendant know when you would like to use it so he/she can fill it up for you--I didn't time it but I recall it took at least an hour to fill. Unlike a normal jacuzzi, they'll have to drain and refill each day to get it heated.

Reminds me of when I was learning how to parallel park a 25' power boat in the SF Bay. It was windy and as I was trying to dock a gust of wind drove the boat laterally and slammed right into the dock. I can't even begin to imagine how a giant cruise ship can manage when there are gusty cross winds.

We were on the Eclipse in a RS right next to the elevators. Not only could we not hear the elevators, we could not even hear the music blasting from the Grand Foyer in the evenings that was pretty loud when in the hallway but once we shut our door, nothing. Also cleaning staff would line up right outside our suite everyday yakking away loudly, and we couldn't hear that either. Pretty good sound proofing.

Thanks all for your responses. I guess I have a bit of a philosophical issue with fronting so much cash to any business for almost 2 years, even if refundable. I noticed that the V5 and V6 veranda suites are no longer available on our sailing, so that could be a sign that I may need to act soon.

Ok definitely TMI, now I need to remember to bring a bottle of Clorox spray to hose down the shower floor with disinfectant. Or bring disposable sandals I can wear into the shower

Never sailed Seabourn before and am interested in an itinerary on the Encore in Spring 2024. (We usually do suites on Celebrity but the itinerary I am looking at on Seabourn is quite interesting) I see that Seabourn is offering a 10% discount if I pay in full by June 1. Does anyone know if this is refundable? i.e., if I change my mind after payment in full but prior to the final payment deadline, can I get a full refund to the original form of payment? And how quickly does Seabourn process refunds? Also, generally, is this offer a good deal, or does Seabourn have better deals closer in to 2024? Any insights from experienced Seabourn cruisers would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your efforts @Steelers36, but I'm afraid it'll probably be for naught. I voted to ban smoking in casinos. I believe the survey the casino operators really care about is of gamblers, and especially of slot players who are the most profitable. If you walk into any casino, you will most likely see many slot players with cigarettes dangling from their mouths while pounding on spin buttons for hours on end. Cruise lines such as Carnival, Princes, Royal Caribbean, NCL have decided that the profit from those players outweigh any potential loss of business from people who dislike smoking in casinos.