ksmcali

Thanks for the feedback on the Escape Room Tabletop game! My family and I would very much like to try this, and yours is the first and only comments I've seen about it, other than another report from this week that said that they were turned away because it filled up before they got there.

We’re having a similar experience. This is my first time back to celebrity in 10+ years. We’re in a Penthouse suite on the Beyond and very close to our sail date. I’ve received nothing, no email, no call. I even called them myself 2 weeks ago and they said someone would be in touch. Still nothing. Since then, I’ve come to realize through these boards that I called the main line vs the Retreat line. I understand that I can call the Shoreside concierge myself (which I will do if I haven’t heard from someone by Monday), but it certainly impacts first impressions. We’ve been loyal NCL Haven cruisers and decided to give Celebrity another try based on all the positive Retreat reviews. I can’t help but compare and NCL has always been very proactive with communications in higher end suites. It’s been disappointing to hear others being contacted and think we somehow got overlooked. I understanding this is first world problems, and take it in stride, However, given the price tag that this suite comes with, there is a certain expectation of service that has not been met, and it’s unfortunate to have not even embarked yet and experience disappointment.

Thank you for the comparison! I've been keeping up with Explora Journeys with some curiosity about the line since its so new. It's good to understand how they stack up against Celebrity.

This has been a very interesting thread. We (my husband and I) are Gen-X and have never sailed a luxury line....yet! We started on Carnival long ago for our honeymoon, tried Holland America and Royal Caribbean, before migrating to Norwegian for many cruises in The Haven there. It provided a level of luxury for us that still presented lots of kid friendly activities for our daughter. Most recently, as our daughter is now older and about to graduate high school, we've moved over to Celebrity in upper level suites in The Retreat. Again, it provides an overall family fit for us at this point in our life. But, daughter is about to head off to college and we will be empty nesters able to travel anytime of the year, although as mentioned earlier, likely not for more than 10ish days, since hubby still does have a job. We're mid-40s looking for a luxury line that we can enjoy, but don't want to be the "youngsters" onboard. I certainly don't mind an older demographic, but prefer not to be the anomaly, which was the case for us when we sailed Holland America. I had originally planned for Oceania to be our first "Just You and Me Again" luxury cruise, as it seems to fit our profile most. But, Explora Journey has piqued my interest. Certainly after reading through this thread, I do feel like we may be their target demographic. The cabins certainly look attractive and shorter 7-day itineraries (few and far between on other luxury brands) fits our needs, as it allows for us to better squeeze it into his work schedule. I've been following along with reviews since the ship set sail and was a little put off by the negative comments, but was hesitantly optimistic that the kinks would get worked out. I popped over here today specifically because some else posted on the Celebrity boards how much they enjoyed their Explora Journey cruise. Thank you all for the advisement! I think I'll keep a close watch on EJ 2025 itineraries!

We’re in a PH on the Beyond. I couldn’t find any details regarding Craft Social in relation to upper suite benefits. It’s not a big issue for us, it’s just my husband appreciates good bar food and it seemed non-sensical that our suite included the high cost of all specialty restaurants, but we can’t get chicken wings at the bar covered in the cost of the cabin. On a separate note @Tom-n-Cheryl, you likely won’t remember me, but you helped me 15 years ago on these boards! With your advice we were able to snag the “secret” suite on Carnival Victory. It created a problem that my poor husband is still paying for! Thank you and all the other lovely contributors to these boards who provide a wealth of information.

Can anyone confirm if the snacks/food in Craft Social are included as part of upper suite all-included Specialty Dining?

This is our first cruise since Covid and it’s been 10 years since we cruised Celebrity. Are there additional excursion slots held out for availability to book once you’re onboard? Or is everything open for online booking in advance? Just curious, as we’re two months out and a large majority of tours are already sold out online. Prior to Covid, we had a long history with Norwegian and we wouldn’t book excursion until we boarded. We’d usually do it on day 1 shortly after boarding for the best variety of options. Of course, it’s been nearly 5 years and times have change, so this may be a thing of the past. I do have my excursions booked, but there is one that I’d like to switch to if the opportunity arose.