DCPIV

My wife loves that tub. She probably spends a couple hours per day it. Not at all a waste of space, especially considering how much space you have with the RS balcony. As mentioned, it is not temperature controlled, but it does run hot water if you like. Alaskan cruises aren't always frigid. You may find you enjoy the tub very much.

One of the best perks of the Retreat is that you likely won't even need to know where the Guest Relations or Shore Excursions desks are. The Retreat Concierges or your Butler can handle just about anything. If they cannot handle your request for some reason, they likely can get you to the front of the line. If you do want to make or change any reservations (dining, glass blowing, excursions, etc.), so do through the Retreat Concierges rather than through your butler. The Concierges can make it change a reservation right then and there. They have direct access to the systems, so you will know right where you stand. The butlers are wonderful, but they have to go through someone else, and it might take a while for them to get around to it and then let you know. Better to just get it done. There's no harm in making some dining reservations before sailing. You always can cancel them if you find you'd rather just stick with Luminae. However, it can be difficult to get a reservation after you set sail, at least for your preferred time. They do book up.

It may not be listed, yet, as the cruise is so far out. I suppose there is no guarantee that there will be one, but there usually is. I'd just keep checking.

Don't forget to add in any bottled water, soft drinks, specialty coffees, and whatever other NA drinks you might be considering. And, as pointed out, the AI package often is a great deal if you were already considering getting wifi. In many cases, it's still a good deal even if you weren't going to get wifi.

Until they know you, you may want to let them know that you know that you don't have a package. That will avoid them coming back and asking "do you know you don't have a package?"

Just be sure to get your "guest copy" invoice when you make the reservation abs whenever you make any changes or payments (especially final payment). That way, you have a record as well as something to compare should something go awry.

I am glad you mentioned that. We had the same issue, and I had forgotten about that. I had no issue with volume in The Den, but it got to be too much in The Living Room. The volume increased with every set. It would be okay earlier in the evening, but it was far too loud after dinner. I hated that because we enjoyed the band very much, but I couldn't take it. The volume in the theatre was pretty dadgum high, too. We also remarked to bartenders and officers and even the band, and we got the same "nothing could be done" reply. Apparently, someone pretty high up has the idea that it's to be this way. We also did mention it in our post-cruise survey. I say we keep fighting the good fight.

Unless you are trying to get a loyalty discount, the easiest thing to do is upgrade once on board. Any bartender can do it, and the one who does it gets at least a piece of the gratuity (so you might make a friend).

We've used Uber or Lyft many times and recommend it. The only issue I've ever had was my driver missing a turn because we were having such a good conversation! 🤣

It's just flat since it's RO with nothing added back in. Toss in a little whisky, and it's all good.

You absolutely will make it as long as you there are no delays with debarkation, immigration, transportation to the airport, checking bags, or getting through security. That's the trick. If you walk off a soon as you are able, you should be able to get to the airport around 8 AM (assuming no delays).

Our first and (so far) only Azamara cruise was aboard Onward last December. It is a different experience from Celebrity, abut we enjoyed it very much. The ship was gorgeous. The food was sort of all over the place but at least good. Service was largely excellent. It was obvious that many of the crew were new (or, at least, new to this level of service), but it also was obvious that they wanted to do a good and proper job. Where service did fall down, it wasn't due to apathy but rather inexperience. We saw marked improvement just on the 11 nights we were aboard. The officers were visible and listening. It's a small ship with a number of places you can be, so crowds typically weren't large anywhere unless it was something like White Night. We enjoyed that VERY much--both the size of the crowds and the variety of places to be. It was not the case that everyone was funneled to only one or two places. You going to have something like the Martini Bar. I enjoy gambling some, but I did not miss a casino at all (none on board). It was a friendly crowd (at least, enough of it was), and we enjoyed meeting folks. We typically aren't a big fan of the nightly shows, so we only went to a couple. Not bad, but we prefer smaller acts, and we enjoyed the ones on board very much. I completely agree that the wine offered by the glass was not very good. The complimentary wine was pretty awful. We had an "ultimate" package and found a few things that we enjoyed enough and stuck with those. The good news is that you can bring aboard pretty much whatever you want. If you happen to be travelling in a good wine area and you want good wine, you might want to do some shopping. We did find plenty of other value in that Ultimate package, though. Sea days were very quiet, but I don't mind that. I could use a little more boredom in my life. 😉

It was terrific on Reflection a few weeks ago and Equinox a few weeks before that.

Everyone needs to choose an arrival time to the terminal. It will not affect when you board the shuttle. It's all about when you would arrive to the terminal for final check-in. Just do your best to estimate when you would get there via the shuttle. It's really no big deal if you are off a bit.

That's a very fine time. Boarding rarely begins before 11 AM (and then only, maybe, a few minutes before). As mentioned, things probably will have calmed down by the time you arrive unless boarding has been held up. Things probably are at their craziest from around 10:30-11:30. Regardless, also as mentioned, check-in and boarding goes very quickly.

You're just more likely to get an early arrival time, if that's what you want.

Casinos are in the Silversea fleet. Whisper still has one, though it's very small. I don't recall tournaments on the schedule, but I also wasn't looking for them.

That's not merely "corporate speak." That's English.

You often can search for the same excursions online and find reviews through other travel sites. You also can scroll down to the "Ports of Call" area on the "Categories" page here on CruiseCritic and see what you can find. Celebrity only contracts out with the local outfits just like everyone else. There's no guarantee whatsoever that your tour will be organized by the same outfit as you might be reading about, but it should give you some better idea about what may come.

I've had "custom" cocktails from World Class Bar, as well. If they have the stuff to make it, they'll make it. I've even given them recipes.

I agree that it's a bit of a crapshoot whether they take and hold the wine or wave it through. We recently were permitted to bring on two bottles of wine when we came back on the ship in Nassau. That was a pleasant surprise. I get the feeling that dealing with wine isn't worth the hassle for them. That could continue or change. No telling.

We've done that in an Uber. The ride was about $70 before tip. I don't recall the price of a shuttle, but you may do better. We didn't want to wait on the shuttle, so we just grabbed the Uber and went.

We were booked on that one, too!

An UberX from terminal to FLL runs about $15. A cab is about the same, typically (some try to bully you into a flat cash fare of $20). The ride is about 15 minutes.

Our December sailing has a theme each night.