ScubesDad

In reading through this thread, two general themes keep popping up, value and quality, and then the catch all of luxury. Having first sailed with Celebrity in 2001 and having sailed with them exclusively for the past 20 years  it was certainly the quality of the experience and the pricing of the experience that kept us coming back.  However, in my opinion (and to be honest, that is all that really matters) the experience was closer to luxury for the first 10 years than it has been for the last 10.  Until recently we have always felt we were getting good value for the money spent. For the past 8 or 10 years we have sailed in suites, sky suites as we did not perceive any benefit in moving up, and have been extremely pleased.  Things have changed, it feels like the bean counters have more input and are trying to squeeze more out of each passenger. In fairness, i trained as a bean counter then took a different career path in the world of finance. If you are going to call it luxury, and price it as luxury, then you better deliver luxury. In my opinion they have failed in the delivery.  Pricing right now is the focus, and so it should be as they need to generate cash flow asap. The Retreat experience on M & S class ships is nothing like the product provided on the E class.  The retrofits are great, just not a complete experience. However, the price charged on a M class is excessive given the limitations of the offering compared to the standard established on the E class, and similarly on the S class. Also, only a few of the ships have been revolutionized, yet the pricing is inflated across all ships. However, as far as our decision making process is concerned, i recently compared a Celebrity cruise against a Seabourn cruise, similar itinerary incouding departure and embarkation ports for Jan 2023,....the Celebrity trip is 12 night vs 14 night, but the cost is almost identical on a per night cost, with Seabourn being C$15 per person per night more expensive, however Seabourn is including economy airfare.   The decision is made for you. My conclusion is that Celebrity has priced themself into the luxury category, and is hoping no one asks too many questions about the product.

24 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

I plan to go ask Alice, will let you know what she says

Just make sure, she is ten feet tall......

That was a great commercial, but I am not sure it was the message they wanted to send.

16 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Standard boilerplate language when someone is leaving.  At the large company where I worked prior to my retirement, his departure would have been described as POO'd.  Pursuing Outside Opportunities.   If he was leaving for a specific job, that would have usually been noted.   People seldom wanted to be POO'd.

I agree with you.  Based upon 32 years of corporate life, the two line comment atttributed to LLP is rather terse. It references "working closely with me" which implies a short leash, no thank you for the job well done, no best wishes for future success.  I interpret it as a difference of creative vision..since he was the first CMO for Celebrity, maybe he didn't have the autonomy he required to do his job. It will be a matter of wait and see if the marketing program stays the same or takes off in a new direction.

We have the same cruise booked for Jan 2022, and currently feel we are around a 25% chance of sailing. Last time I checked, Hong Kong has a 21 day quarantine requirement for entry, and that has not changed in over a year.  Hong Kong is essentially closed to travellers.  Singapore is similarly locked down, as entry to anyone other than a Singaporean resident is not allowed.  We are somewhat optimist that things will improve , however, given the cold relationship between China and the west, we do not see anything changing in the short term.  

On 4/11/2021 at 8:44 PM, nocl said:

Lets see most of the 100,000 passengers that Richard Fain like to point out that have sailed have been on Royal ships in Singapore.  A country that has extremely few Covid cases.  The cruises have been short cruises to nowhere. 

Very poor example.  the ships sailing out of Singapore are for Singapore residents only solely because they have a very low infection rate. If you are not a resident of Singapore you cannot enter Singapore.

We have attended the Chef's Table on both M and S class ships but not on the Edge. The reservation system although it indicates the first evening, it is just a placeholder, if memory serves correctly it was mid cruise, and i believe it was a sea day in both cases.  As far as dress code, in one instance i wore a jacket, no tie, button down dress shirt and dress trousers and my wife wore a cocktail dress.  the second tim i wore a button down dress shirt and dress trousers, and my wife wore slacks and a flowing blouse. Both times no one was over or under dressed....sort of like  a nice evening out.  I always will do the wine pairing, while my wife uses her PBP to order what she prefers in a wine. On the M class it was held in Tuscan Grille, on the S class in Murano. The evening will start with cocktails at one of the bars. On one occasionit was a full table, so the Chef and sommelier acted as hosts, the other time we had two hostesses from the guest relations department, it wasn't a full table. We have done it several times and will do it again. Do not eat before you go, it is a multicourse meal served over a couple of hours.

No, not anything we are interested in.  At one time yes, our reason for cruising was to get away and relax, now it is actually to tie together land destinations, and travel with a purpose.

We are also booked on the same cruise, and are currently feeling it has about a 50% chance of sailing in a format we would be able to accept.  We are sure it will sail, just not sure what conditions will be in place. We have previously done this trip, and enjoyed both Ireland and Iceland.  We are building a plan "B" which will be a direct trip to Iceland, and then touring the island on our own for 2 - 3 weeks.  "Surprisingly" under the new AI scheme (in a Sky Suite) we can vacation longer at a lower daily cost without compromising the travel experience.

15 hours ago, coaster said:

Booked a cruise on Constellation out of Tampa for last November which didn't happen. Lifted and shifted to Reflection as there were no cruises out of Tampa for 7 nights around the same dates. Called today to try to add 3rd and 4th passengers to our modest cabin with a window. Teenagers who can't drink. Quoted a price at over a thousand dollars for each. Insane! Cancelled our cruise all together. What is going on with Celebrity?

As mentioned in a few posts the financial paradigm has shifted, and all cruise lines are trying not to leave any $$ on the table.  They will continue to push the envelope and price their product until they see push back and then back off a little themselves.  Given the massive debt load cruise lines have had to assume to manage their way through the pandemic, there are probably some significant debt covenants attached to loans that they need to satisfy.  As well as the unknown as to how the resumption of sailing will unfold.  Yes prices are higher.

Since we only sail as a couple, and there have only been 2 exceptions once in 2015 and the other upcoming in 2020 where we sail with a third person, I was curious as to the actual difference in pricing.

Comparison is done on S1.  In 2015 the third person fare was 38% of primary.  Do not believe at that time suites were including the three perks- I can't remember.  For our upcoming 2020 the third person pricing is just above 50% of primary fare, this does include the perks prior to the new AI.  I added the third person back in November. at the prevailing rates; however, the original booking fare was not amended for the original booking, and since the original was booked onboard, they honoured the lower deposit.  To compare to the current AI pricing, the third person ratio is essentially the same at a shade over 50%.  So on this example yes the extra person pricing has increased from about 38% of full fare to 50%.

I did price out an Oceanview and the prices for the third and fourth passenger was ??? the third person pricing was 75% of the first person, and number four was 83%.....

Increasing the revenue per person is absolutely necessary if they are going to have to sail at reduced capacity, it didn't matter as much; now it does, because the revenue on two people in two rooms or 4 people in one room needs to hit the bottom line at the same amount.

18 minutes ago, jelayne said:

We are booked in that suite for 12/22 and  those pictures are disappointing.  

Hopefully they will make some modification to the balcony furnishings as those chairs and couch on the balcony look very uncomfortable.

A few more pictures.  The bathroom made up for many of the shortcomings. Hopefully they have corrected the lighting over the vanity - it was very difficult to shave...my wife never attempted to apply any sort of makeup.

There were no bedside lamps either; however, that was an oversight and the lamps were ordered.

As it was the second cruise out of the refurb there were many oversights which had to be corrected.

Overall the room was dark; however, we were very seldom in the room other than changing and sleeping.

We sailed on Millennium Feb 2019 the second sailing after the refurb.

We were disappointed with the makeover as we found some of the furnishing to be next to useless.

Things may have changed since.

We were in 6146, the S1 attached to the penthouse, so things may have been a bit different in a regular S1/S2.

We did not have loungers on the balcony,  there was a couch type of seat which was not very comfortable, we did ask for a loungers and received them from our attendant. Not sure if they stayed; however, our balcony was very large.

The table and chairs on the balcony were a disappointment, and the table was quite small.  I carried the table into the room, and used it inside - it was ok for breakfast but it wouldn't accommodate two people for a regular meal.

We provided some very pointed comments both during the cruise and left some written comments for the suite manager as to our disappointment with the furnishings.  Hopefully they made changes.

There was not a sit down bar in the Retreat Lounge, it was more of a service bar for the staff.

We did not have a sofa bed per se, it was a "sofa" where the back cushions could be pulled off and then the seat made up into a single bed.  Uncomfortable to sit upon.

28 minutes ago, Merly said:

We were in the Captains Club when it was very busy and staff were running around trying to serve everyone.  They had drinks set up on a table and guest were going up to it to get their drinks quicker.  One gentleman had got his drinks, one in each hand, and was walking back to his seat when his pants fell down, to his ankles!  He calmly placed a glass on a table next to him, gathered his pants up, picked his drink up and went on his way.  He had been relaxing and undone his pants and then forgot to do them up again.   
 

Ooh, tough call.  Not sure which I would have done first, pull up my trousers, or drink both drinks. Definitely, the third thing would have been to go back to the bar for 2 new drinks.

This was probably about 10 years ago.

First night on a Bermuda cruise, wander in to the MDR for the second seating and we go through the ritual of being escorted to our table, which was a 10 top with two other couples already seated.

We sit down and one of the ladies said to us, "Well I guess you are going to get up and leave. "

I immediately replied, "You haven't done anything to pi$$ me off yet!" Which immediately caused two things to happen, my wife kicked me in the shins, and the lady burst out in a great big laugh.

It turns  out prior to our arrival the other two couples arrived, separately, which leads me to believe they were not traveling together, the first couple sat down and left within a minute or so, and the other couple  walked up to the table and just left.  No idea why, the people at the table were fantastic, we enjoyed dinner every night and had great conversation.

No idea why?

31 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

All I can surmise is that the ship will be sailing empty between Florida and New York but the poster wants to book that segment, which isn’t bookable

You are correct.  NCL Escape sailing round trip out of Port Canaveral April 16 - 23, then sails out of New York April 25.  No posted sailing for April 23 - 25....non revenue re-positioning.

Nothing like a good mystery.

2 hours ago, wnwr12 said:

Can you do Reykjavik on your own and see more in 24 hours?

I am unclear as to your question; do you just want to tour the city of Reykjavik or start from there and go out into the countryside.

We did the Iceland cruise in 2019 and booked 2 tours in Reykjavik and Akureyri with a private tour company.  The days were long, to jam as much as possible into them.   The first day's tour was about 12 hours and we grabbed about 5 hours sleep and did the second day with about a 6 hour tour.  The days were long, and a great deal of time was spent driving. It would be possible to rent a car and drive yourself.  The main roads are paved however, some of the secondary roads are not.  Road signs are fine and most rentals will provide a GPS unit. It can be done, but it is doubtful if you would see more. The long tour out of Reykjavik took us well along the southern coast, and most of us in the minivan on the way back had a nap. 

If you are only asking about Reykjavik proper, then yes it is very easy to self tour the city.  We did a stopover for 3 days in Reykjavik on the way to the cruise embarkation and spent the entire 3 days exploring the city.  There is a shuttle from the cruise terminal into the city; however, I don't think it runs all night.  We took a walking tour and then explored the other days on our own.  We were looking to enjoy the food and get a feel for the culture.

The advantage for the time the cruises stop in Iceland is the midnight sun.  The sun does set until almost midnight, and it doesn't really get dark as sunrise is somewhere around 3 am.

We currently have Iceland booked for June 2022; however, we are seriously considering cancelling and just flying to Iceland and renting a car for 2 weeks and self touring on a circumnavigation of the island..

Iceland is an expensive country.  A car rental is probably $100.00 per day and gas is about $7.50 per gallon.

Iceland is a very beautiful country, and I am not sure you would see more if you were concentrating on driving.  Also, many of the "things" we passed, our driver/guide was able to explain what we were looking at.  You may miss some things not knowing what they are.

Like the OP I am a purist and drink my coffee black.  I agree with all the comments posted: room service is awful, buffet is a step up but still very poor.  Have not dined in the MDR for many years so I am unable to comment.  My go to coffee is an Americano from Cafe al Bacio.  Not the best I have every had but up among the top 5.

On our last cruise, oh it seems so long ago, on my way back from the gym at about 6:30 or so I would stop at al Bacio for my coffee, and the only exception to anything going into my coffee is Jameson's, and they would provide a healthy pour' I regularly met an officer, who turned out to be the chief engineer, getting his morning coffee....he commented how envious he was and wished he could start his day off properly.

22 hours ago, Vicki'sMom said:

To anyone who has cruised Solstice in the Retreat, would you please share your opinion?

 

We are looking at an Alaska 2022 cruise (have a 2021 booked currently which is "on hold"; that was after our AU/NZ April 2020 Solstice cruise was canceled!)  We last took an Alaska cruise in 2010.  

 

We have never cruised Celebrity (we're NCL Platinum and MSC Diamond) and since we love The Haven and The Yacht Club, we are very interested in The Retreat!  We would book a Sky Suite, on Deck 12.  

 

Appreciate any insight you can provide.  Thanks!

 

 

 

It has been a couple of years since we sailed on Solstice, and we have one scheduled for Jan '22.

As others have sail, it is not the full Retreat experience as the ship has not been revolutionized.  It does have Michael's Club/Retreat Lounge and Luminae, but not the Retreat Deck.  We have not sailed either NCL or MSC and cannot compare except to say it is not a ship within a ship experience, but rather dedicated areas set aside for suite guests.

The crew assigned to the Retreat areas are very attentive and will do their utmost to accommodate any request you  have (within reason) to the best of their ability.   I am not sure if this is unique; however, recently when we dine in Luminae we have always had the same service team assigned to us at dinner, regardless of where we have been seated in the dining room.  This is quite nice as they have already memorized your preferences for certain items. The lounge staff as well are very attentive and will quickly remember your preferences. 

The experience is certainly not that which is advertised as the physical premises have not been converted, but the staff and service are not lacking in any way.

Our prefered cabin is at the aft, love looking at the wake.  however as mentioned there is significant movement at times. Even in what appears to be calm seas there will be a swell running which also may cause significant discomfort. 

56 minutes ago, ORV said:

What are you doing? Are you trying to get this thread shut down? 

 

Here's the issue I have, maybe someone that understands can explain. On the deck plan for Edge the Pool & the Pool Bar are on 14, yet the info says the smoking area is on 15 by the Pool bar. I'm not getting this. 

 

 

You are absolutel correct, the pool and Pool Bar are on deck 14.  Typical quality control observed by Celebrity, no one noticed the mistake.

I am a cigar smoker and there are two smoking areas on each ship...at least there has been on the last 8 sailings or so.  The smoking area on the S class is the Sunset Bar (port) and that is the designated cigar area.  the other area, on the pooldeck is an area protected from the weather, and cigars are not allowed.  so it makes sense it is on the pool deck by the pool bar, as that area is weather protected.

I think that anyone who believes this indicates an early return to cruising is fooling themselves.  Yes while the industry may be able to produce 8 million doses by the end of 2020, many of those are for double dose vaccines, and the vast majority of the production will not come into play until the second half of the year. Effectively, there may be 5 - 5.5 billion individual immunizations taking into account double and single doses; the world population is somewhere between 7.5 - 8 billion individuals. If anyone believes that a publicly traded company is going to obtain vaccine before the vast majority of sovereign states receive any, then you have much greater faith in the capitalist system than I do. Many of the sovereign states that may not have received the vaccines, may very well be many of the locations ships cruise to.  Also the effectiveness of the vaccine has to be considered.  With the potential for multiple mutations, it may require an additional booster vaccine to create the immunization level needed to slow the progress of the virus.

A month ago I was optimistically thinking that by the end of Q3/21 things would be starting to  return to normal, now I am even hesitant to think that Q1/22 is feasible. 

A recent mailing from Celebrity included a significant explanation of Cruise with Confidence, and in the fine print it contains the following:  "Cruise with Confidence applies to individual guests and guests in non-contacted groups who booked a cruise on or before 1/31/2021 for cruises sailing between 06/12/2020 - 05/04/2022".   The programme is available for cruises booked out to May 2022.  A good sign that Celebrity does not think there will be an early resolution to the virus.

The implementation of the vaccine roll out has not been what was envisioned and will surely encounter a few more problems before process works as intended.

While I concur this is a good sign that the process is being worked on, I feel that over optimism will lead to disappointment.  The people represented on this board are the committed die-hards, who will sail at the drop of a hat; however, the general population views cruising as a luxury, and certainly not as representing an essential item.

2 hours ago, Basketball wife said:

Well, weather will definitely be cooler in October (although it will not be a beach vacation in September either🤪); however, if you are interested in viewing the vibrant tree colours in NS, NB or QC, the best time is generally early to mid October https://www.bonjourquebec.com/en-ca/explore/seasons/fall 

Having said that, it only takes one big windstorm and then, leaves are on the ground...
 

 

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

We lived in Halifax for a good many years and now return every couple of years on holiday, always in September. In 2015, we took a New England - Canada cruise and decided that mid-September would be optimal. While a bit early most years for fall colours, we live in a region with gorgeous colouring so this wasn't high on out list of priorities. As it tuned out, we had glorious weather for the entire trip, although Bar Harbor was shrouded in fog for a good part of the day.

 

While September would be our choice, you really can't go wrong with October. Here's a weather comparison for Halifax; not a big difference, but definitely cooler in October.

 

Of course, weather throughout the itinerary can be very unpredictable and September has seen many more hurricanes than other months, more than double the count for October. On the other hand, the majority of those that did come in October came late in the month.

 

In your shoes, I would go with the October 2022 cruise rather than waiting for September 2023.

 

45 minutes ago, poffles said:

The weather here is definitely getting cooler in October but every year (every day) is a toss up of what you might expect with respect to weather.  As others have said, October is when the leaves are turning more so if that plays into your plans at all (scenic tour) then lean to that month.  I personally prefer September for the anticipated slightly warmer weather but I think you would be happy with either month if other things weigh in more as higher deciding factors.

 

Early October is pretty in the Martimes.

You have three great opinions as to the best time and the reasons for that choice.

My wife and I both have family in Atlantic Canada, and we generally visit in the months of August, September and October.  As previously stated there are pro's and con's of each month.  Atlantic Canada is impacted in Aug and possibly in early Sept as part of the hurricane season. As you get closer to the end of Oct the weather will get cooler, particularly if you are coming from a warmer climate you may think it is cold.  Our preferred time is late Sept through the middle of Oct.  As mentioned earlier the colours will be at their peak sometime during this period; however, no guarantee as much of the colours are dependant on weather.  Depending on what you are planning on doing while in port, the tourist volume will be lower in October than in September.

The south shore of Nova Scotia is a fantastic area; however, each region of the province is beautiful in a unique and different way.

11 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Well born in the US, but my dad was born in Nova Scotia though came here as a very young boy, he never remembered living there, so yes 100% on his side of the family tree so on that it makes me a first generation American I suppose.  Me and my siblings always say we feel like honorary Canadians.  

It shows. LOL

My F-I-L was from Nova Scotia, and my wife still has one uncle living there.  We visit quite regularly. Wonderful part of the world.

Cheers.

14 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Whoa, as I said, I had only seen snippets, perhaps for one reason or another I was not able to watch the entire vid at that time, though frankly, I don't even recall seeing it or commenting on it back in October.  Good thing you have the time to go back review what folks have posted or commented on.  You really spent your time doing that, WOW, I can send you a jigsaw puzzle or something if you'd like.  Nice of you to take something meant to be positive and turn to a negative.  Have a lovely evening.

Are you Canadian?  This was a very polite rebuttal.