Cruising89143

No. If the ship has a Coastal Kitchen and you’re booked in a “full suite” (not JS) then CK is open for lunch.

Watched the trailer. Not going to even try watching. 

We were on the Anthem last month out of Southampton and CK was great. Better than the specialty dining that we tried and have experienced on other RCI ships. We also found CK to be just as good as Luminae on Celebrity. 
 

We have a TA coming up in early November and we have only booked one evening in a specialty restaurant. The other nights we plan to dine at CK. I agree that it can depend on the chef. Our last cruise on Celebrity,  Luminae left a lot to be desired. 

Based on your first post, I don’t think Celebrity is for you. Two good cruise lines but polar opposites of each other. We prefer Celebrity over Royal. No smoking ANYWHERE inside of the ship. No annoying announcements about art auctions, bingo and other stuff. No belly flop or sexy men contests because Celebrity doesn’t have them. Celebrity is geared more for adults. Royal has better perks until you reach Pinnacle/Zenith then Celebrity is better. 

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

For me it was a flashback to dinner at Grandparents.  Hands in lap, talk when spoken to and then very softly, and reminders to be careful to not break anything

im sure many enjoy the more formal ambiance, it’s just for me.

Not just you. We feel the way.

Thanks for your comments. 
 

We’re on the Apex out of Southampton next May but to the Norwegian Fjords. Eight nights. Had it booked and then found out that this will be the Presidents cruise. That should lead to an interesting group of passengers. 

Of course knowing the exact truth may never be possible but we have been told that the butler and room steward are allowed to keep any amount extra given by the guest. Dining room staff of every kind plus bar staff pool gratuities. 

Wow…….Refreshing to read a review where the world is not ending. Thanks for taking the time to share. 

We were on the Anthem in early August for nine nights. The only person that mentioned the survey was our server in Coastal Kitchen. Never saw any signage asking for 10’s. 

While I think ALL cruise lines should keep their ships in good operating order, this video just came out today about NCL. Honestly it sounds as though you don’t want any comments that doesn’t match yours. That’s not how it works here. Yes, I see issues in some of your photos and yes I would bring it to Royal’s attention but it happens in other lines as well including NCL. What is being shown in this “new” video is disgusting. 
 

Celebrity’s fleet is half the size of Royal. Overall most ships are doing well with bookings. You’re not going to see the yo yo pricing that one sees on Royal. 

Well, more to the story…..

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/08/conservancy-plan-to-reef-ship-not-set-yet/

The latest.

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/08/okaloosa-county-sings-deal-to-acquire-united-states-for-reefing/

We got off the Anthem OTS on 8/11 and then our roll call started to blow up with other guests testing positive for Covid. We caught it on a ship a few years back and since then we try to stay out of crowded elevators/spaces and we avoid tours where they pack you on buses. It’s hard to 100% avoid it though. A roll of the dice. We have a fourteen night TA coming up in early November plus three nights in Rome pre cruise. We will take the meds like Tylenol and NyQuil/DayQuil with us just in case along with masks.

We’re going next week for our annual next booster. Obviously it’s up to each person if they boost up yearly. We do. The booster will not stop the virus but we have had it three times each and it has been mild each of those three times. My doctor attributes that to the booster. 

33 minutes ago, bikerunner said:

I would think bookings are down they keep sending me new bcc offers for them like every 2 weeks. 

Agree. I don’t think these three and four night sailing are doing well at all but X seems determined to make them work. 

On 7/25/2024 at 11:38 AM, Nathan Graveson said:

From what I know:

 

Icon 4 - Fall 2027

Oasis 7 - Summer 2028

Discovery 1 - Spring 2029

Oasis 8 - Summer 2029

Discovery 2 - Spring 2030

I think that you have nailed it. I think we will see the Discovery orders soon but they will be booked at the Meyer Werft in Germany. I’m guessing it’s already a done deal. 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/port-canaveral-thinking-outside-box-after-cruise-terminal-reversal

2 hours ago, thebutlerdidit said:

I say there’s zero percent chance that Celebrity will follow this route. But Princess is sounding interesting to me. It really sounds all-inclusive, and that’s appealing to me. 

We have not tried Princess but their specialty dining is far less expensive than either Celebrity or Royal of which both continue to raise their price while the quality has declined. Overall that’s a pretty good price. I doubt that Princess specialty dining is below that of Celebrity in quality. 

4 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Only if you are D+ 

It is still a perk. Listen, I could care less who likes what. I am laughing my butt off at some of the so called “high brow” Celebrity passengers who think that they cruise on a luxury line when in reality it’s a mass market line and their worried about having to rub elbows with the less common folk of Royal Caribbean. Some need to get over themselves. They are only special in their own minds. 

41 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Sorry sent to soon

wifi:

Royal: 2 days unlimited, travel with a partner and share gives you 4 days. we normally cruise for a minimum of 12 days which leaves 8 days no wifi.

Celebrity: Elite 90 minutes per person, Elite + 240 minutes. These minutes can easily be spread over a 14 night cruise. For us another clear win for Celebrity

Laundry:

Royal: Zero?

Celebrity: 2 bags per person for Elite+, plus some pressing and dry cleaning. For us a clear win for Celebrity.

Enjoy the differences.

Royal does give free laundry in their perks. 

Here’s the article for the new Princess deal and I have my doubts that X will follow.

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/marketing/princess-cruises-enhances-premier-bundle-pricing-goes-90day

1 hour ago, Orator said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but many feel that Celebrity is more like RCCL every day.

We like both cruise lines for different reasons but IMHO the newer RCI ships are nicer than X. Balconies have much better deck furniture than the cheap crap that X has placed on the Edge class. Entertainment on the Quantum and Oasis class cannot be beat. We have found that the food in Coastal Kitchen is just as good as Luminae and specialty dining is equal. Not great on either line but good. 
 

In the end we have found the two cruise lines to be more alike than different. Many like to think that Celebrity is a luxury line. They’re not. They’re mass market just like Royal but catering less to families. 

Following along. We just returned Monday from a nine night cruise on the Anthem out of Southampton and have the Alex booked next May for an eight night Norwegian Fjord cruise. We watched your sail away yesterday on YouTube. 
 

Sounds like you had a much better experience at Heathrow than we did. No gate for our plane upon arrival so they parked us on the tarmac and we had to wait thirty minutes for shuttles to arrive to take us to a terminal for our luggage. Took one and a half hours to get luggage with no AC. Our original flight home was canceled very late in the evening and getting to a hotel at one of the terminals was a work out. Was not impressed with Heathrow. 

4 hours ago, Straughn said:

I would agree. Before I relate my story with a group of Pinnacles, let me say that I don’t judge them all by this experience. However, I have seen similar behavior on other RCCL ships; we just weren’t subjected to it. 
 

My partner and I were on a Royal cruise, in a suite, and made friends with another couple, also in a suite. We decided to meet in the suite lounge for a pre-dinner drink. We got there first and sat at a nice window table for four. Shortly after our friends arrived, a group of 6-8 people arrived. They looked around and then had brief “pow-wow.” A very officious woman came over and informed us that we were sitting at their table. The male half of our new friends said that he didn’t know there were assigned tables in the suite lounge. She then said. “You don’t understand. We are all Pinnacles and we have sat in this area every night this cruise. You have taken one of OUR tables.” To which our friend replied, nicely, that as far he knew, it was first come, first served for lounge seating and he saw no reason to move.”  She then replied, “I guess I will have to get the concierge to make you move.”  By now the four of us wouldn’t have left our seats for anything.

 

The woman huffed and puffed her way to the concierge desk, where she had to wait while the concierge helped another guest. When it was her turn, she loudly explained to the poor concierge that he must make us move as she and her friends were Pinnacles. The concierge, as far as we could tell told her politely to “pound sand.”

 

By now, the lounge is full and there are no seats together, let alone an area that would accommodate 6 or 8 people. The group left the lounge with the woman telling the concierge that  she would have him fired for not respecting her Pinnacle status.

 

Let me repeat, that I am sure most Pinnacles aren’t like that. But we did notice that Pinnacles seemed to announce their status to staff and other passengers a lot. I have yet to witness that behavior from a Zenith on X.

Exact same thing happened to us on the Oasis when it was a brand new ship. At this time D+ was the highest level. No Pins. This lady came up to us in the suite lounge and stated that we were sitting in their chairs. She proudly proclaimed that they were D+. Guess what, so were we. We did not move and she gave us the evil eye the entire time. I just smiled back. I enjoyed that evening.
 

Two years ago we were having pre dinner drinks in the suite lounge on the Symphony. This man who was proudly wearing his pin name tag loudly stated that Pinnacles should have priority over Suite guests for both the suite lounge and Coastal Kitchen and he stated that if Royal could not accommodate all Pinnacles in the suite lounge and CK then they should be allowed to rebook without any penalty. I looked over at the two suite concierge who looked up at him a then put their heads back down. His friends sitting with him looked as though they wanted to crawl into a hole. 
 

We were on the Anthem last week out of Southampton and we only used the suite lounge twice the entire week. We would much rather enjoy the bars for pre dinner drinks. 

5 hours ago, chemmo said:

My experience with Pinnacles has been on RC ships. We are D+ as well as being E+. One of the differences we have noticed between the lines is how little loyalty level is discussed on Celebrity and how much on RC. I wonder if that is just our experience?
 

We have never been massive users of the suite lounge or Diamond lounge etc but it is nice to access some of the time. I am sure, like so many changes, we start of talking about possible negatives that may not materialise. 
 

I am sure you will be welcomed aboard for who you are not what you are…

 

 

No, it’s not just you. This happens much, much more on Royal than it does on X. I could add more, much more but I won’t. I will say that not all Pinnacles are created the same. A few are friends and they do not act like they own the ship.