Cruising89143

Makes two of us. Add drugs to that as well. 😳

I think that I’m trying to book too soon by a month. I have contacted the Albergo and enquired.

Looking to stay close to the Pantheon for three nights before our TA next November. Both the Albergo del Senato and the Abruzzi are booked. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

There are several on the X website. Do a search for Europe and not the British Isles.

I don’t see people complaining on Facebook about not being allowed in the Schooner Bar because it was full but I do see a lot of complaints about not being allowed in certain lounges with the recent changes.

I just tried to contact our CVP as we booked a cruise with her about a month ago. Her number now goes to a call pool. Looks like they’re using the same call center as RCI. I think my CVP moved to the Executive offices as she called me one recent afternoon and the number came up as that on my caller ID. I had the number saved from an earlier issue from a year or two ago.

RCI created a monster with the lounges. At some point that had to rip the band aid off. We usually avoid the lounges with the exception of the suite lounge last year on the Symphony. Due to the location and CK, it was great. The drink vouchers work great and we can choose the lounge of choice.

Thank you for your post. Like a breath of fresh air here on this board. So the sky is not falling. 😉

Thanks for the photos. We did this cruise back in April on the Solstice. A chilly but great cruise.

I have been dealing with RCI’s third party call center with both their regular bookings and their Casino Royale department for years and have had no issues. A few times it was difficult to understand the agent but overall nothing that we could not deal with. I do have a Celebrity CVP that I booked with a few weeks ago. I have not tried to contact her to see if she’s still with X.

We had a cruise booked last year out of Civitavecchia on the Apex. We canceled just prior to the final payment due to the continuation of Covid and testing. United give us a travel certificate good for our full amount paid. We had until December of this year to use the certificate and it could be used in segments. No, not a cash refund which we knew not to expect but we did receive the full amount back in some form to use at a future date,

SMH. If you book non refundable air who is that on?

I’m not expecting X to put a lot of money into the Infinity or Connie due to their age and RCG’s current debt load. I think they will turn their attention to updating the entire S class.

This will be an issue for us as well. Our next X cruise is on the Edge and seafood is out for us. I hate to book more specialty dining restaurants. Hopefully X will make some changes to the Luminae menus if the negative feedback heats up.

I haven’t stepped foot on a Carnival ship since the fall of 2004 and I don’t really see us cruising with them again. We had over twenty cruises with them but they no longer appeal to us. I won’t make any comments about the current situation as I have no first hand knowledge so it would not be fair to them. We simply grew tired of their product and I’m not a fan of their newer ships. Believe it or not we liked the old Farcus designs. The designs were “out” there and fun. Loved the Holiday and Fantasy class designs. We receive several emails weekly from their casino department for cruises. We have yet to take them up on an offer. We like RCI and X but prefer X a little more. We’re over the Oasis class. Simply too big. We prefer the Voyager class on RCI and the S class on X. The perfect size ships for us. Finally based upon my remembrance of the Carnival product, X is not the new Carnival. Not even close.

Agree 100%.

I guess everyone is different. We usually avoid the private lounges on both RCI and X. The only time that we have used a lounge within the last ten years was on the Symphony last year. The suite lounge was part of the former Viking Crown and it was very nice and expansive. Since we always have the drink package we prefer one of the bars and avoid Michael’s or the Retreat lounge. Again, everyone is different but glad to see X reinstate this perk.

I would take Coco Cay over some of the other Caribbean ports. Also, there were questions from Elite Plus answered on the call. I don’t remember specific questions but they were there.

He was and thankfully he ended up talking to himself most of the time as everyone tried to ignore him.

I have been cruising for many years and I can tell by VV’s current marketing and itinerary choices that VV is not for us. Their standard staterooms look like they made a huge shopping trip to IKEA to dress a college dorm. Suites look nice but nothing else makes me want to board their ships. I’m glad that many like them and I read that they were looking to provide more interesting itineraries. They seemed to have found their niche. Celebrity on the other hand seems to still be confused as to where they belong. The pandemic certainly did not help.

Heard this exact comment from a Pinnie on RCI last year. He loudly stated that he was Pinnacle and if RCI could not accommodate Pinnacles in the suite lounge on a particular sailing then they should allowed to cancel at the last minute and then he loudly proclaimed that Pinnacles should have priority over suite guests in the suite lounge. The looks from the other guests and the two suite concierge was amusing.

MSC is back on the radar for us. We had five cruises booked with MSC during the pandemic and all canceled due to shutdown. We want to try the YC experience and see how it rates versus the Haven and Retreat. There is a huge price difference between MSC and the other two so if MSC provides a nice experience, they might pick up another customer. I do recall that their FLL shoreside customer service left a lot to be desired. Hopefully that has improved.

We avoid the MDR at all costs and have on ALL cruise lines for about the last fifteen years. We enjoy the smaller specialty dining venues where we’re not rushed. It’s all about choice. If a person enjoys the MDR then go and dine there. Same with the Oceanview buffet. If we don’t have Luminae available then we book specialty dining. If you have an issue with a particular venue then voice your opinion and with your wallet.

We tend to gravitate towards the Voyager class ships. We used to really enjoy the Oasis class but feel that they’re too large now. Since the Navigator is on the west coast we cruise this ship often. Perfect size. Other than that we love the Solstice class on Celebrity. It was great to finally get them out here this year.

Agree. My last 6-8 cruises, calling room service to pick up the trays resulted in being told to leave them in the hallway and they would be picked up at a later time.