BazingAu

Did you end up doing this tour? What was your opinion of it?

I had embarkation lunch (not on edge class though) last month and the time was noon to 1 pm. They closed the doors for entry at 1 pm, but anyone already seated could order past 1 pm.

The Celebrity site doesn't say this explicitly, but you can get the mocktail or non-alcoholic versions of the classic alcohol drinks. I was able to get virgin mojitos, virgin daiquiris, virgin pina coladas, etc. You cannot get virgin versions of premium drinks - nothing made with redbull or whatever else they categorize as a premium drink.

We were on a 9 night cruise and didn't get to try the carpaccio, short rib, or wellington. Was not served at all - even our Concierge embarkation lunch was a stew instead of short ribs. Grrr. But out of the items we did get, the prime rib was great! We did not love the lobster tail in the MDR. It was very small and rubbery. The lobster tail in Qsine/Le Petit Chef was much better!

I was in Concierge Class on the Reflection a few weeks ago. The Concierge desk was only open very limited hours of the day, so I actually found myself having to go to to Guest Relations directly. I also had to go to the Shore Excursion desk directly because the one time I went to the Concierge desk when it was open, they couldn't answer any of my questions. And when I had to print tickets, the desk was closed again, so I went to the iLounge and did it myself (I had a wifi plan).

We did June 1 on the Reflection in Concierge class. It was lovely! Try to get seated in the MDR with Orly and his team. They're wonderful!

My parents' Princess cruise to Alaska has been their favorite. It is the cruise which they compare all other cruises to.

Oh, sorry, I misunderstood your initial comment. Yes, you are correct. Many different cabin clothes are washed together, then they sort the clothes by the little tags they glue onto each piece of clothing. I don't think I'll be doing it again.

I don't disagree with you. This was pretty gross, and I will likely just bring my Tide fabric sanitizer spray for longer trips instead. (I usually bring it with me on shorter trips, but like using laundry for longer ones.)

They glue little tags on them. Every single piece of laundry came back with a tiny tag glued on them.

I wanted to confirm that the 3 bag "Take Home Laundry" comes with 3 coupons that you attach to your laundry when you send it in. We did one bag every 2-3 days. One of the bags did take longer to come back and the clothes smelled faintly like vomit. It was the last bag of the lot and we didn't have time for them to redo it since it came back on our last day. I brought along some Febreze and used that to cover up the smell. It was faint, but you could smell it since you're wearing it. I was continuing onto a work trip immediately after the cruise, so these were the clothes I had. At least the first 2 bags came back fine, so 2/3 of my clothes were ok.

I don’t have an exact number of total pax, but was told between 2600-2700 from our waiter in MDR.

I’m currently on the Celebrity Reflection sailing in Europe. We just finished up Day 4 in Ajaccio Corsica. Next is Genoa Italy. We booked 2 rooms in Concierge Class and did not bid on Move Up. I think there’s been some confusion of what’s included in Concierge Class after the “Changes of 2023” took effect. Here’s what we have received or observed so far: Embarkation lunch - no short rib. They replaced it with Beef Bourguignon instead. It was nice because the buffet was crazy packed, but would have definitely preferred the short rib instead. Celebrity tote bag (can take home) - one in each room. I was very happy to see this! It’s my first X cruise, so I’m happy to add this to my collection. Celebrity card case (can take home) - one in each room. Again, very happy to receive this. Umbrellas - a small and large umbrella is provided for use (cannot take home). Binoculars - a set of binoculars are provided for use, but ours was kind of broken (cannot take home). Lounger chairs, ottomans, and table for use on balcony. Massaging shower head in shower. Upgraded bath products to use from CO Bigelow. Plush robes for use (cannot take home), but no slippers. Cloth laundry bag for use (cannot take home). We have not asked for our bottle of wine - we don’t drink, but the insert card describing the concierge benefits says no substitutes. I find the daily canapés kinda neat and is nice to get something everyday, but I guess maybe they’re not for everyone. I think those were all the things people ask about, but feel free to ask me anything (AMA). Will reply when I get a chance.

Spa Cafe on the Reflection was closed during embarkation day.

@Mrs_Duffy @hickmald Did you guys find out about the timing of the 3 bags?

I just read in another post that they were denied - only one discount type allowed, no stacking. I think you got lucky.

I always bring Clorox wipes and Lysol spray. Been doing it before pandemic too. I DNGAF if some rando thinks I'm a germaphobe or whatever. Getting sick on vacation is the worst! So I like to reduce my chances as much as I am able to reasonably wipe/spray down my room and enjoy the rest of my vacation!

Celebrity allows you to drop off your luggage in your stateroom while it's still being cleaned.

Will miss Jim Van Fleet. He (and our captain) was on top of the tropical storm that was headed to Cabo on our Navigator cruise in September. We were always 1 step ahead of the storm. The Carnival ship that was on the same/similar route was caught in it. Van Fleet was definitely a differentiator for RCCL, and IMHO getting rid of this position is a huge loss for the company.

Was this just near the port or did you catch a shuttle/cab to a downtown area? We are trying to decide what to do in Marseille. We originally booked a petit train tour, but some of our party guests were not interested due to the limited sights on the tour.

I posted a shorter version of this earlier today in the roll call, but it's not very active, so hoping to get more responses here. We will be staying in a local hotel prior to the cruise in Barcelona (roundtrip). We will probably end up taking a taxi or similar to get to the ship from the hotel. However, we have to head to the airport right after the cruise to catch our flights. What is the easiest way to get to the BCN airport from the cruise terminal? I didn't see any options for a transfer or shuttle from Celebrity online. Only a "tour and transfer" which wouldn't work for us because we have a noon flight. Basically, I want to avoid a situation where we are fighting other passengers for a taxi or uber, or waiting forever for a public shuttle bus because the lines are around the block, etc. We want something pre-booked and hassle free. Is there such a thing?

Looking forward to this live journal! We board in a few weeks!

Midnight in time zone of departure port. For example, we have a cruise upcoming in Barcelona. It opened at 6 pm EDT the day prior, which was midnight in Barcelona.

@JayBird7 Someone else posted about a cruisetour cancellation on this forum. You should search for it, but it sounds like only the land portion was cancelled due to a lack of local vendors available. Did they offer you a partial refund so you can do the land portion on your own? The cruise is still going, so you really don't have to scrap your vacation altogether if you can be flexible about the land portion. Good luck!

I love seeing vloggers! I have never seen them to be rude or disruptive. Do they sometimes take 30 seconds longer to do something? Sure, sometimes. But who cares? I find them much better than line cutters, chair hogs, show talkers, and whatever other annoying traveler/guest/passenger. I consume a lot of content when researching for cruises. Maybe all the people commenting negatively here has cruised so much that nothing is new to them so there's no value in additional information? However, for people starting to get into cruising or switching lines, I find the content on YouTube and Instagram to be invaluable. A lot of the vloggers give us a perspective that we can't find in commissioned marketing materials. It's literally the live blogs or cruise reviews on Cruise Critic, but shown in video format. They're great when you have 20-30 minutes of downtime and don't want to scroll on a computer screen all day. In fact @Chris Wong was the vlogger that got us to try out Royal Caribbean and now Celebrity. (We were a Princess family prior.)