Waterlily777

Thanks to everyone for their help. I appreciate your comments and feel that I have a grip on what will be appropriate.

I have cruised the Baltics with RCI and a tie/jacket isn't necessary or required regardless if it's formal night or not..shirt and slacks are all that will be needed and that is what my DH (along with most cruiser's) did and never felt under dressed. Enjoy this amazing itinerary.

 

Leave the jacket/tie home and save the room/weight in your luggage for the souvenier's.

Thanks so much for your help. :)

On formal nights, what did people usually wear in:

(a) the specialty restaurants and

(b) the theatre?

Thanks.

I am travelling on a Baltic Cruise on the Serenade this summer, with several friends who have never cruised before. They would like specific recommendations on what to pack for dinner in Reflections and specialty restaurants. They are respectful folks, and want to fit in, but don't want to be overdressed and I'm guessing the men want to know if a jacket and tie is really necessary for smart casual and formal nights.

 

I know what the dress code is on the RCCL website, but wonder what the reality is likely to be on the Serenade in the Baltic. I know that Brits and Europeans tend to take the suggested dress code more seriously than North Americans do.

 

I want to give our friends good information about what the reality of dress is likely to be for smart casual and formal nights.

 

I know there are tons of threads on this topic, but I really don't have time to go through them all. I appreciate any help from anyone who has cruised in the Baltic in the last year or so.

I just reread my post and thought that maybe my last comment was a little annoying, and made me sound as if I was just too lazy to look up the dress codes for myself. :rolleyes: What I meant to say was, I was looking for specific information about dress recommendations for cruising in the Baltic. After doing quite a bit of searching of dress code threads, I just couldn't find anything on the Baltic specifically. I thought perhaps that posting a specific request concerning the Baltic would give me a sense of what is appropriate dress for dinner in Reflections, or in the specialty restaurants, when cruising on the Serenade in Northern Europe. It's been quite a while since I cruised on RCCL and I don't know how far actual dinner dress has departed from what is recommended on the RCCL website.

I am travelling on a Baltic Cruise on the Serenade this summer, with several friends who have never cruised before. They would like specific recommendations on what to pack for dinner in Reflections and specialty restaurants. They are respectful folks, and want to fit in, but don't want to be overdressed and I'm guessing the men want to know if a jacket and tie is really necessary for smart casual and formal nights.

I know what the dress code is on the RCCL website, but wonder what the reality is likely to be on the Serenade in the Baltic. I know that Brits and Europeans tend to take the suggested dress code more seriously than North Americans do.

I want to give our friends good information about what the reality of dress is likely to be for smart casual and formal nights.

I know there are tons of threads on this topic, but I really don't have time to go through them all. I appreciate any help from anyone who has cruised in the Baltic in the last year or so.

KLM, oneway 346 Euro. Layover in Amsterdam. Great airport, won't be bored. See http://www.skyscanner.com

Yes, that is the one we are looking at, but it's $500 one way, and just over $300 return. :rolleyes:

Thanks to everyone that replied. Your responses are reassuring.

We need the route and date to help you out.

Thanks....

It's kind of an odd flight....Norwich International to Barcelona, September 30, 2015.

I have my main tickets booked for my upcoming cruise, but I will need a one-way ticket for an internal European flight.

The price for a one way ticket is 20% more than the price for a return trip ticket for this intra-European flight.

Does anyone have any experience with booking a return ticket, and then not showing up for the return portion of the flight? Will there be any problems if I phone and cancel the return portion of the ticket after I have completed the outbound leg of the trip? Will the airline try to charge me for the difference in price, i.e. charge me for the extra 20% the one way flight would have cost.

Does Choice Air ever sell tickets for an intra-European flight?

I appreciate any help or suggestions you might be able to provide.

Thanks!!

To add another anecdote:

 

We sailed (on another line), took family, the upshot was my in-laws 50th anniversary, my father's 80th birthday, and our daughter's graduation from high school.

 

We were SO SICK of getting the free cakes, we were sorry we had mentioned anything.

 

Honestly, while it's nice to "get something" for a milestone occasion, what you do for each other (like my trying to get "our song" played) means so much more than a commercial token from the cruise line.

That WAS the gentleman trying to do something for his wife....he thought he had arranged for a cake to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary. I'm pretty sure it wasn't about the cake as a comestible, but about the honoring of the day by having the cake presented.

I wonder if the OP has had a change of heart since reading the comments?

The OP probably feels brutalized. He seems to be a nice, caring, romantic gentleman who was told that he could expect a special treat to honor his wife on an occasion that is clearly dear to his heart. He was probably expecting a little support and compassion here, and instead has been told by many that it was his failing that the occasion wasn't marked in the way he had been led to believe would happen, and which he clearly hoped would give some joy to his bride of 50 years.

And as far as the TA is concerned, yes, she could have done more to insure that the occasion was marked for this couple. But if she hasn't been on a Celebrity ship in the last two years, she might not know how things have changed. I have been sailing Celebrity for quite a few years, and up until two years ago, we would always have received a cake if it was marked as a special occasion on our reservation. Now I would absolutely expect to have to follow up myself on board, and more than once, because staffing is significantly lower in the MDR than it used to be. Staff are stretched thin, and if you speak to anyone who has worked for Celebrity for more than a few years, they are quite unhappy that they can't provide the level of service that they used to give.

Thing is it wasn't until post #38 in this thread (like your 6th or 7th) that the nursery suddenly became your big problem. Up until that it was all the room is smaller, they told me I had a bigger room, the room was in a different place. Yes you made mention of a nursery at one point saying it was to be near your cabin, another time saying it was right next to your cabin, but that wasn't your real complaint until you started talking about possibly getting the recordings and until after another poster told you there was no nursery.

 

Your initial post, it's clear you are miffed you didn't get a large cabin you had hoped for - it wasn't about your child and its care and needs. It was about yor comfort having 3 people occupy an interior cabin.

 

Now suddenly you are concerned about your child care needs. That's why so many here are brining that to your attention. You're trying to cloud and bolster your argument with things that were not really a part of the initial issue trying to make that issue seem far larger than the reality of it

I think the OP has been completely clear, and completely open, and he has my sympathy.

Your rant makes absolutely no sense to me. In the beginning, he was only concerned about the size of the cabin he received, relative to the size of the cabin he had contracted for, because THAT was his issue. Until a poster told him, half way down the thread, that Explorer didn't have a nursery, he thought (with very good reason) that there WAS a nursery, so why would he be complaining about it? He didn't have an issue about the nursery until he found out from a helpful CC member that there WAS NO nursery. THAT's when it became an issue, and he explained very clearly why it mattered to him.

Sheesh.

To the OP, you have been very logical and forthcoming. I understand the points you have made, and have compassion for your situation. I would feel very much the way you do, if something like this were to happen to me.

I very much hope RCI does the right thing and refunds all of your money. Best of wishes to you and your family for a wonderful, relaxing family vacation, after all of your hard work.

How do you KNOW you are wait listed.

 

I asked this similar question month or so ago, and we basically determined there is no formal wait list.....

 

Can you share what makes you think you have some sort of official wait list? Maybe you have new info we couldn't get to....

 

Travel agents claim to "wait list" but seems they just keep a list of passengers and periodically look for open inventory...nothing automated at all.

 

Are you taking about " cabin guarantees" when you book bout don't get a cabin assignment?

Actually, there is an bona fide category called WAITLIST within Celebrity.

I actually have a booking confirmation from Celebrity at the moment that says 1A-WLT.

You can also WAITLIST a specific cabin within Celebrity, but that is a different issue.

These are actual Celebrity terms, and they are built into the Celebrity booking process. They are not made up by travel agents.

I have been watching a cruise for some time. Inventory is now down to 3 non-suite cabins available for sale. All other categories are waitlisted. It started me wondering...

Can anyone with live inventory management experience explain how wait-listing works? I know that computer systems uses algorithms, but what is the logic behind the programming?

How do they know how many wait-listed cabins to sell? If it's based on historical records, how often does a current reality depart from history, and a ship become oversold? I hear of ships being oversold from time to time, but it doesn't seem to happen often. How can they factor this so accurately?

Most ships that I have sailed on have been sold out, so they have this figured out pretty closely.

To what degree do last minute interline sales, etc. factor into this?

Enquiring minds would like to know. :):):)

Should First Class airline passengers get anything more than their larger seating area? Free drinks, a lounge, priority boarding?

You betcha!

Sissy, congratulations on your wonderful victory. You and your family deserve this special time together, and have chosen a wonderful way to celebrate as a family.

One thing that I don't think I have seen mentioned is that sometimes AQ cabins can be a bargain. I have sailed in AQ when they were less costly than Concierge Class, and once when our AQ cabin was even cheaper than an 1A cabin, so do check to see what the relative pricing is.

What cabin category are your children in at the present time?

We love Aquaclass and Blu, which for us is always the main reason to book Aquaclass. We do appreciate the little AQ perks, though, such as access to the Persian Gardens, the enhanced shower, the bottled water, etc.

One of the nice things about having Blu as your main dining room is that you can go to dinner at any time that is convenient to you, without making a reservation. We always find the service is more personal, and a little less rushed in Blu, and we really like the way food is prepared and served in Blu.

If you decide to switch out of Aquaclass, look for cabins "on the hump". We often find that 1A cabins can be a great choice, although we do miss the sun loungers that you get in AQ and Concierge class, that you usually do not get in 1A's and other non-suite cabins.

Also know that, if you keep an eye on cabin availability, you can switch cabins within categories at any time, without extra charge. Close to the final payment date, be especially vigilant as great cabins can pop back into inventory as people change their plans.

FWIW, Facebook Terms of Service requires you to use your real name - so if they notice or anyone reports it, your Facebook account could disappear.

FB doesn't require you to use your real name as your USERNAME.

"If you select a username or similar identifier for your account or Page, we reserve the right to remove or reclaim it if we believe it is appropriate (such as when a trademark owner complains about a username that does not closely relate to a user's actual name)."

Has no one ever heard of Gastropubs? This is not all that new.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastropub

Oh, I am well aware that gastropub is a British term, and that it has been around for some time. Didn't like it when I first saw it in Britain, either. Look up almost any other word that starts with "gastro", or "gastro" itself, and almost all definitions are very icky.

I like the ideas of the new venues, but don't care for the names at all. Both have a very negative connotation to me...."Gastro" is most always used around here as a short form for "gastroenteritis" and "slush" is that yucky brown stuff you get on the roads when the snow starts to melt.

I am surprised that there is so little mention of the ever-increasing number of Exciting Deals (Tuesday specials).

This week there were 9 pages of them, the most I ever remember seeing.

I think this is fallout from the increasing prices that began in 2013.

I don't think you can judge how well sales are going at the beginning of a deployment. Even if people think the prices are too high, they may book the cabins and wait, hoping that the price will come down. If prices don't come in line with people's spending criteria, then many bookings may be cancelled and we will see a proliferation of Exciting Deals.

 

• All the cutbacks in food and music allow the basic cabin rates to be kept low and attract those who look at price above all

 

In all my years on Celebrity and on these boards, I have never felt that Celebrity clients were, as a group, people who considered price above all else. I do feel that they looked for good value, but for a better quality product. I am certainly not looking for fare reductions achieved through lowering the quality of food, service and entertainment, and I know that I am not alone.

 

• The drinks packages attract those who want to party hearty

 

Luckily, the drinks packages are attractive to many more people than the "party hearty" types, and for different reasons. I don't understand why Celebrity would want to attract that group specifically, as they don't contribute to the "modern luxury" ambiance that Celebrity is trying to portray. On my last Celebrity cruise, a very senior officer told me that Celebrity wanted to move to the type of "40-something client that booked at Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton hotels". How does the party hearty group fit in with that?

 

• SPE Certified cuisine attracts the health conscious

 

• Ditto for Blu, which also allows them to charge top dollar for cabins that most websites advise against (not buffered by cabins above)

 

I think this has always been the case for Concierge Class and Aqua Class. It's a good marketing move, but certainly not a new one. And as far as Blu appealing to the health conscious, my experience would lead me to believe that the appeal derives from a number of converging factors... the smaller, quieter, casually-elegant dining room, the "cleaner" style of cuisine (which is NOT spa cuisine), the better quality ingredients and the fact that, in general, food arrives hotter to the table. It used to be that the service was more attentive and more personal, but that may be changing with the cutbacks in staff.

 

• The new private dining room for suites passengers, combined with the other suite perks, hearkens back to the golden age of cruising (at the golden prices of that golden age)

 

I don't think it has anything to do with trying to replicate "the golden age of cruising". I think it has everything to do with the bottom line, and charging what the market will bear.

 

Celebrity is increasing, significantly, the charges for suites and they are going to have to provide extra benefits to justify the increase in prices. I don't have a problem with that, and do not think it's a "class" issue, in the traditional sense. I think it is a "get what you pay for" issue. I do think that Celebrity should be careful to "add value" to what is given to suite clients without taking away specific amenities that have previously been available to those who do not travel in suites.

 

So I think Celebrity is aiming to be all things to all people. Whether they can manage this on one ship is the question, but at least there does seem to be a method in their madness.

 

In my opinion, there is more madness than method. Only time will tell.[/quote]

 

On several occasions, Michael Bayley has said that he felt that Celebrity fares were too low and that he intended to drive them up, and so he has. When you add cutbacks in product and service to higher prices, I think that can be a very volatile combination. Stir into the mix those initiatives that are intended to change the onboard culture in an significant way, and the results may be unpredictable.

 

I think that Celebrity cruisers, by and large, are well-travelled, discerning people, with a broad world-view, regardless of their age or other demographic factors. I don't think that Celebrity can keep cutting back while raising prices with this group of people. And who is this group that Celebrity thinks it is marketing to...an inexhaustible supply of 40-somethings that stay at the Ritz Carlton, cruise 3-4 times a year, enjoy music all over the ship that is uncomfortably loud, and who don't notice, or don't care, when prices go up while product and service standards diminish. All the 40-somethings that I know are much smarter and more worldly-wise than that. They enjoy quality and good value too, and they know it when they see it. (And you know what, they are all at the peak of their careers, working really, really hard, and don't have time for 3-4 cruises a year. Now those 50-somethings, they are another issue ;). And I don't know what the panic is anyway, those 40-somethings will be 50-somethings soon enough. :D)

 

I don't think Celebrity can be all things to all people, and I think some of the recent changes are simply not helpful. The bulk of these changes will not attract any of the 40-somethings that I know, but do run the risk of alienating much of the current loyal client base. I would like say that I am encouraged by Celebrity's intention, reported by "Celebrity Cruises", (the official Celebrity rep to these boards), that they are prepared to review the loudness-of-the-music issue. And I do commend them on the content of the revisions to the Captain's Club loyalty program.

Do they have a gelato bar on the Century?

As far as I know, the big problem with the Pacific Coastals was the stop in Ensenada and the bussing back to San Diego. Otherwise, everyone seems to love the Pacific Coastals.

Now that the Solstice has been altered so that it can go under the Vancouver Lions Gate Bridge, I was surprised that they didn't book a Solstice Pacific Coastal into or out of Vancouver in 2014. For me, the Vancouver-Hawaii run is of more limited appeal.

The West Coast ports are great: Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, Astoria (for Astoria and Cannon Beach), overnight in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Monterey (for Monterey and Carmel), Catalina Island, San Diego.

What is MDR?

Main Dining Room.

That is what postage is for. You can mail reasonable gifts. A new set of collector silver, no, but some items can be done within cost concerns.

Send the suit home by mail. :p

It seems to me that the bulk of the cutbacks have coincided with the Michael Bayley regime. After years of sailing 3-4 times per year, predominantly with Celebrity, we have seen the value sharply decrease in the last 18 months. Due to the continual downgrading of the onboard experience, and the sharp increase in prices, we have cancelled our X bookings for 2014 in favor of two land vacations and two cruises on other lines booked for 2014.

I just feel that Bayley does not know who his client base really is, or what they value in a Celebrity cruise. AquaSpa Café was a signature Celebrity venue, and was well-loved by almost everyone. Why would you tinker with something so successful? On both of my X cruises in 2013, since the downgrading of the Aqua Spa Café, any time that I went there to check out the offerings, it was almost or completely empty. I just can't see where the changes are an improvement, and it can't be a financial improvement. Judging from posts online, and the people I know personally, the Aqua Spa Café no longer seems to be the draw it used to be, and it doesn't seem as if there are very many who want to pay for those $5.00 smoothies or yogurt parfaits either.

First of all I don't think a hot tub is a good idea for a baby or toddler. I don't even like it for myself!

 

Pampers has swimming diapers which are specifically made for pools and beaches. I don't know what kind of diapers these pax used' date=' but I wouldn't worry about the Swim Pampers. They are virtually leak-free.

 

I am sure some of you have little ones (or grand little ones) who take swimming lessons in pools. If they were contaminating the pools, do you think these lessons would take place?

 

It sounds like the Spanish-speaking pax you encountered come from a culture which is rich or poor and the rich are spoiled and used to having their own way. The crew are not from their class and they are teated accordingly. That is probably why the crew can't speak up to them.

 

Over the years I have heard complaints from pax and crew members expecially on holiday cruises (I was on the following cruise and got an earful!) Not necessarily about diapers, but other kid-related issues.[/quote']

 

Swim diapers do NOT prevent bacteria from urine and feces from entering the pool water.

 

From the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention website:

 

http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/protection/swim-diapers-swim-pants.html

 

Swim Diapers & Swim Pants

 

The use of swim diapers and swim pants might give users, parents, and pool staff a false sense of security regarding fecal contamination.

 

Some research has looked into how well swim diapers and swim pants are able to keep feces (poop) and infection-causing germs from leaking into the pool. Even though swim diapers and swim pants might hold in some solid feces (1), they are not leak proof. Swim diapers can delay diarrhea-causing germs like, Cryptosporidium, from leaking into the water for a few minutes, but swim diapers do not keep these germs from contaminating the water (2). No manufacturers claim these products prevent leakage of diarrhea into pools. (My bolding.)

 

I support the efforts of the OP and hope that he/she sends her video into Celebrity Head Office with a strongly worded letter of protest.