This is like the Star Wars movies when you think stormtroopers are bad and then you meet Darth Vadar and you're like OOOOH HE'S BAD and then you meet Emperor Palpatine and you're like OOOOOOOOOOOOH SNAP!  NOW I'VE SEEN THE DEPTH OF YOUR WAYS!

It's like every post gets further to the dark side!

On ‎6‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 9:18 AM, sjb317 said:

Nice review and based on our experiences with Celebrity, my opinion is you are pretty accurate.😀  We enjoy Celebrity but Royal is our first choice.  However, When Celebrity offers a better price, we grab it!

 

We will be on Equinox in 2 weeks so will see how our week compares with yours. We may be  among the “counting dancers” but our’s is Fred Astaire instead of Arthur. 😂

 

Sherri🙂

I'll be waiting for your views!  Have a great time.

On ‎6‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 7:53 AM, oceangoer2 said:

Some of the service.  I don't want to sound entitled or bratty in any way, but my wife and I looked at each other last night as we were packing and said that we never felt special AT ALL on this entire trip to that point.   What...no red carpet? Someone forgot you were coming?

• Elite status.  After the goodies you get as a Diamond on Royal, being Elite on Celebrity was like being Gold on Royal.  You really don't get much at all.  The Captain's Club event on 5 of 7 nights was like the Diamond Lounge's ugly stepsister.  They had 3 canapes each night and the options on the drink list were really light.  It's no wonder the place was a ghost town!  Finding a seat wasn't a problem, you could have almost any seat!  You counted the canapes??
• The oldens.  Holy crap was the age of this cruise INSANELY HIGHER than any cruise we've been on in the Caribbean.  So many hover-rounds!  So, so, so, so many smashed feet because the people driving them were crazy!  So many wheelchairs and canes!  So many Arthur Murray dance lesson graduates!  My wife said it was cute to watch them dance their routines and watch them mouth the step counts, but it was also very Stepford.  I'm no dancing judge, but it seems like dancing should be about feeling and not counting.  But if a song was playing, there was an A-M graduate couple out there counting! You seemed to have spent a lot of time watching;  must have been enjoyable making fun of those getting exercise while you were sitting.  So much perfume in the elevator!  AS A SIDEBAR, the i-Lounge was so funny and great for older folks.  There was always a line in there of older folks asking for help on their phones or tablets.  They had daily classes to teach people how to use them.  Now getting beyond the absurd that you canvassed so many venues looking for 'oldens' - is there such a word? - to 'review' their habits.
• The specialty dining or our lack thereof.  We tried to get in and they simply don't return phone calls.  I called the day of once and managed to get a real person, he told me that I could ONLY get Le Petite Chef and ONLY at 9pm.  No thanks.  But then we spoke to several people who said their specialty dining was mostly empty.  I called twice more and was forced to leave a message... no returned calls.  They must not have wanted our money.  The second-to-last night we were walking the hallways after dinner and peeped in on 3.  Tuscan was 1/2 empty.  Morano looked like pretty empty.  Sushi on 5 was empty except for 3 tables.  A guy offered us lunch the next day for $30 or dinner for $25... we were on it!  Why did it take until the last day? Staffing depends on preceding reservations in almost any 'fine dining' venue...being the special person you are, you must have known that.  Or did you expect, because you were so special, that a table would be set especially for you.
• Everything cost more, or at least almost everything.  Then again, it's the upgraded line, so people with more money come on it?  Bland sarcasm here.  Money doesn't buy class...again, you must know that being so special.

 

It was our first experience on X.  I think I'd like to try Edge or one of her sisters at some point in the future, but from this very limited experience, I'm not seeing how X is the future for us.  We'll try again, for sure, but after several people IRL told us we'd never go back to Royal after we "moved up to X" I think that it just isn't the case.  It's not going to be a regular thing for us.  Not sure you will be missed.

Wow.  I missed the red parts.  That's a deep level of bitterness you've got there.  I'll just leave that alone because that's a whole different level of crotchety.  WOW!

On ‎6‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 7:53 AM, oceangoer2 said:

 

Bullet point style is very effective when reviewing;  generally agree with your opinions with the exception of alluding to those older than you (or am I guessing you're on the brink and afraid that will be you in a few years?).  You seem to enjoy demeaning those who must use these equipments in their later years.  If you are so young and agile, it should be easy to evade the oldsters' bumper cars hitting your knees.

 

That being said, you also come across as somewhat uppity.  You say you never felt 'special'...that may be because you aren't 'special'.  Staff responds to the way they are treated by the guest.  Doesn't help if the guest ensures, in some manner, that the staff member feels he/she is there to serve a very 'special' person and the guest is somewhat condescending to them.

Like another poster, you totally went another direction on the special comment.  I don't want to be treated like a special flower or like my cruise is more important than anyone else's cruise.  What you aren't grasping is that EVERYONE should feel like they are special on a cruise.  I understand what you're saying about how a person gets what they give.  We are extremely friendly and outgoing.  I'm in no way condescending to anyone in the service industry, mainly because half of my family are in the industry.  I live in Orlando, most of my friends are in the industry in some capacity.  That's a massive jump to make from a simple comment and a wildly incorrect one.

Also, I have no issues with my age or my journey into my later years.  As I said in a previous post, being an olden isn't necessarily about your age. 

On ‎6‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 7:39 PM, hcat said:

definition of OLDEN....Merriam Webster Dictionary

 adjective

old·en | \ ˈōl-dən  \

: of or relating to a bygone era

 

Not a Noun!....there are better  words to decribe older adults or seniors

The more I think about this, the more I think it's just crap.  Young'uns isn't a word either.  No one is crying over that.

On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 11:23 AM, mayleeman said:

I think it was more than one. When a comment gets over a dozen "likes" it seems to not be an outlier as you might think.

 

But I think if you hadn't put the comment in your section with the things you disliked or found lacking, you might have found a more receptive audience. Context is everything.

 

When I saw the comments about counting, I was reminded of the waltz lessons my wife and I took before our wedding so we could do our dance to Bette Midler's "The Rose".  Everyone was smiling and cheering (they knew I was the most reluctant dancer ever), and afterwards we all laughed when people good-naturedly kidded me about being glad I could count to 3 so many times.

 

Reading your post about the dancing was right next to the gripe about bad oldens driving scooters badly. So it felt like disapproval--pointing and laughing AT someone rather than appreciating and sharing the joy of someone concentrating hard to enjoy what is likely one of the few physical activities available to them at an an advanced age. The AM comments are cute--but misplaced: older people with memory issues may also revert to counting unconsciously to help them.

 

I think you probably meant your comments good naturedly. But it wouldn't hurt to acknowledge that to many it came across as "they should not be out there if they can't do it right" and thus was a bit tone deaf. When a lot of people don't understand your meaning, it is on you, not them.

 

 

I think anyone should be able to dance however that want to dance.  That doesn't mean it wasn't odd to watch.

I actually bet that it is a bit counterintuitive, though.  I bet the dance lessons probably keep some who just want get out there and shuffle with their loved one off the floor.  Like since they didn't bother to take lessons, they aren't good enough.

It's all about your perspective.  I'd rather just see someone enjoy themselves than technically hit the counts.  That's just me though and everything I wrote was from my perspective.

On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 1:49 PM, mayleeman said:

By the way, what type of cabin is J2? I cannot find it anywhere in cabin code lists. 

Apparently, the J wasn't part of the cabin type just on the same line.  My apologies.

Closer view says 2A

I'm going to stick with Oldens.  It's got a good ring to it.

I appreciate the definition, though.  Thanks!

8 hours ago, irishgal432 said:

We just did our first Celebrity Cruise to Alaska.  The demographics were not that of an older crowd probably due to the itinerary.

 

 

I will say the Suite Amenities/restaurants/retreat were far better than anything Royal offers.  I am looking at booking further with Celebrity for those amenities, but  am now aware to watch the ship and ports based on your review.

 

I am hooked on Celebrity and will probably not be booking many Royal Caribbean Ships unless I am with my family or a group of friends.  

 

 

I think the Alaska part is the key there.  And the suite part.

You've lost me there.  Sorry.  I don't see the jump you made with that comment.

9 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

 

Did the OP give his age, or did I miss it? 

 

Any drink package or bar comments? 

 

 

It's directly in my name.  I'm 45, although, I'm generally told that I look (and act) younger.  My wife just turned 35.  She is more mature than I am, as some wives tend to be.  We're extremely active people and make our own fun.

We never get the drink package on Royal and now X because I can drink all I need in the DL or CC Happy Hour.  If I need or want more, it certainly wouldn't be enough to justify an entire package.  So I can't comment on it.  Not having that luxury on NCL, I did get it.

We got a few drinks at a few bars, though.  I liked Craft and the wings were TINY, but tasty.  The bar with the ice top was too crowded most of the time.  They were mostly nondescript cruise ship bars, though.

Just now, BigHouseFootball said:

Thanks for adding nothing 

You, too!  We're both equally good at it.

10 hours ago, Cyber Kat said:

@poncho1973 thanks so much for your review!  We will be first time X and Equinox cruisers next spring.

 

Though we have never set foot in an Arthur Murray studio, nor butt in a hover round (shudder) and both of us are retired computer geeks, we were born quite awhile ago and our bodies don’t work as well as we’d like  - but we are not OLD 😝. I never heard the term “olden” before, except in combination with the word days, either. I thought it was a typo. 

 

We like rock music - both contemporary and classic - so we are hoping for a decent cover band. That’s our after dinner activity. We don’t much care for shows, although the arrangement with ABT is intriguing. During the day we’re happy if we can find a challenging trivia game. We don’t need all the other bells and whistles like rock climbing or bumper cars. 

 

I think you might be able to see what I mean when I say olden by now.  I'm not just making a blanket statement about older folks, although, it does seem like it has been taken that way by at least 1 poster in this thread.  It's a state of mind.  My dad was just at a blues concert the other week, sitting on the barricade until the wee hours of the morning, rocking out.  One of my buddy's dad is 67 years old and just hiked some random mountain in Italy just to try some funky bottle of wine that smells like Orange Dreamsicles or something.  That sounds a lot like what you're describing.  My mom messed her knee up in a car accident and sometimes busts out a cane for support, but her and that cane wanted to climb Chimney Rock and so she did.

10 hours ago, Cyber Kat said:

I’m so glad to hear that there are lots of shady areas. I love the sun, but it does age your skin. It’s how I keep my youthful appearance 😜

 

I’m interested in the lawn. It seems kind of a cool idea. Are there chairs other than the cabana things or do you just grab a towel and sit on that?  Are there activities like lawn bowling or bocce. I thought I saw an ad where people were playing croquet - which should be interesting on a moving ship.

On the actual lawn part of the lawn (AKA behind the 1st funnel) it is exactly as the other poster described.  No chairs except those insanely expensive cabana domes which were almost never used.  Although, two younger Russian dudes were in one by themselves on one day and they were trying to convince random people to buy them bottles of booze to join them in their cabana dome.  They definitely cost money to use.

I will add something important.  There were PLENTY of chairs further forward and still plenty of grass up there.  The chair were on the pavement, but you could play bocci or croquet up there.  The grass was long and skinny. 

ETA:

I wanted to add that my special comment wasn't about making me feel special... my favorite saying is that "you can't spell awesome without ME" because I'm pretty cool.  It's just that feeling you get on a cruise where you feel like it is reaching inside you and like the cruise (despite the thousands of other people) is really all about you.  You know... without all the legitimately crappy Veruca Salt attitude of it being all about you!  Maybe?  Does that make sense?

19 hours ago, hiccups said:

We were also on this sailing, and it was our first cruise on X.  We've sailed on Carnival, HAL, RCI, Oceania and Azamara.

Your assessment of the theater performances was spot on, especially about Kristen.  In fact, without the wacky aunt comment, that was pretty much what I said to my husband after the show (he didn't attend).  The sound board person did need some work.  We enjoyed both of the comedians, but preferred Fred.  We also really like the solo guitarist, Sashi, that played in the bars a few times a day.  Very talented guitarist and singer.  We felt the other live performers (usually playing in the foyer) were a little too loud.

I didn't notice as many scooters as you did, and didn't think the cruise was overrun with seniors.  Based on your parents' ages I'm older than you, though, so that might skew my opinion.  We were more often on the elevator with people that had kids in strollers rather than scooters or wheelchairs.

I think because we've most recently sailed with Azamara, in comparison, X has way more activities than we were used to seeing.  We did a few of them--trivia, hot glass class, putting competition.  There were others I was interested in attending but never got around to it.

I did eat at the Spa Cafe a few times and liked it, especially the quinoa salad and soba noodles.  I discovered on Friday morning that it was also open for breakfast, and they had some snack/granola bars that I really liked.

We booked under a promo that included Go Best, so we were scrounging around trying to find something to spend our $300 OBC on.  We had dinner at Murano, but probably wouldn't do that again because it took so much longer than the MDR, and we were generally fine with its food.  My husband had wings at Craft Social (he liked them... said the sauce was good), and then we wandered the shops on Friday to spend the rest of it.  We also watched a PPV movie.  I wish they had more included movies, or that the PPV price was lower than $14.99, because we like watching a movie if we aren't interested in the show.

I agree with you on the service.  Our needs were met, and the service was fine, but nothing special.   Everyone worked hard, though!  We feel that way about the service on Azamara, though, too, and it supposedly has outstanding service.

Overall, we enjoyed the cruise and will keep X on our list.

It's funny that we felt the same about the singing during the ABT show.  That ballerina was SOOOO TINY!!!  You could just put her in your pocket!

We saw a couple of strollers, but really not many.

Sashi was pretty good. 

The band with the female Filipino singer, what were your thoughts?  We liked a few songs and then the wheels seemed to fall off.  We saw them probably 15x throughout the cruise (poolside, Captain's Club, foyer, etc) and it seemed like they'd just nail one song or two and then it was like "have they ever played together?" and then they'd nail another song.  We found it a bit confusing.  They COULD be good and the COULD be bad.  I told my wife I was convinced the drummer was a theme park animatronic.  A couple of times he just stopped drumming during a song, looked down at the floor like he shut down, then he rebooted back to life and BOOM was back on beat!

19 hours ago, tallyho8 said:

My wife drives a very small scooter that we bring with us on flights and cruises. She uses it at various places we go and is pretty efficient with it since she is used to it. However, there are companies that rent scooters to people on cruise ships who have never even driven a scooter before. Driving a scooter for the first time on a crowded cruise ship is not a very good idea in my opinion.

 

I don't know if I would recommend special scooter licenses for people to be able to rent these scooters but as the population ages and the scooters get more popular and plentiful, I feel it is only a matter of time before an inexperienced or incapacitated driver, goes down a flight of steps on one of them. Some people who use them would be much safer and less risk to others in a wheelchair or transport chair.

Someone on our cruise saw someone pull a table for about 20' or so.  They were telling us about it on the boat out to Stingray City.  I agree with what you said.  Great comment.

16 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Strikes me that the CD was not up to much.

I have never been lost for something to do on either Eclipse or Silhouette on Sea Days. Mind, Sue Denning was CD on our last 3 sailings.

Unfortunately, last summer we had 2 extra sea days as we were unable to get into St Petersburg due to wind. An extensive programme of activities was quickly arranged, which included screenings of World Cup matches, together with an extensive finger buffet.

Also extra ‘Beyond the Podium’ lectures. I also attend the very informative IT lectures where I always pick up extra tips or work arounds.I believe Celebrity are unique in providing these Apple at Sea lectures. 

The CD was Martin and he was a bit odd, but seemed like he was around a lot.  His pants were about 5 sizes too small and he spoke like a cartoon character, likely because of said pants.  I saw some English spelling, so I mean TROUSERS, not underpants.  I didn't inspect his underpants.

I can't say that we were interested in any lectures at sea, so we didn't really count those as activities.  I wouldn't really need any IT lectures, unless they were done on a professional level, so that's a moot point.

21 hours ago, hcat said:

 

  Aegism  is alive and well in this thread.  More so than I imagined.  Use of the term "oldens" is also a new one on me.... 

 

No it isn't. You aren't being persecuted in any way.  It's just a little ribbing AND a solid dose of things we legitimately encountered.  You'll be fine.

10 hours ago, BigHouseFootball said:

It’s actually pretty common knowledge that theme parks always overshoot the height restriction by a couple of inches just to be extra safe.

 

Oh it's pretty common knowledge you say, well then, you've changed my mind completely. 

- no one ever

8 hours ago, Fogfog said:

TY for the review. We may try RCCL sometime

We had heard so many things that it was a "step down" from Celebrity and perhaps that has been wrong

 

 

FWIW On our recent TA there were MANY MANY "oldens" -- scooters, walkers, chairs. I did worry about any emergency and lifeboat needs. WHO was gong to be climbing over whom...   WHO is responsible to get people on/off the ship at ports? Family members?   (Did see one couple-- he was in a chair and being pushed by a crew member--she--also very elderly was pushing two large wheeled suitcases on her own. She was struggling a bit. Self assist is supposed to be down without crew--so she was determined for certain. )

 

Have wondered if in general Celebrity's pax have really aged and if that is why with the revolution, new ships and new decor etc--that Celebrity is fishing in new waters?  We were often the youngest in the room by 20 yrs and we are AARP members! Ha!

 

Thanks again for your insight and the time you took to write a review

 

BTW since we like smaller ships--which class / ships in the RCCL are closer to that experience? 

We are trying YC in MSC to see how that fits/feels as well

 

I wonder the same thing.  If the ship needs to be evacuated, who on board is going to get these people off????? 

I don't want anyone on this forum beating the crew member up so I'm being vague, but we had a chat with one officer who basically said what you are talking about.  They as a company looked around and realized a lot of their passengers likely aren't going to be sailing anymore in the next 10-20 years and need to up their game to make sure the ships still sail full.  They think this upgrade series and the Edge-class ships will eventually skew a little younger and they need it.  They made a comment that BASICALLY (paraphrasing) was saying they aren't looking to nail the 18-34 bracket, they are looking to rope in the 35-55 bracket.  I know some of the olden cruisers will be annoyed by that, but if they look honestly, they themselves were probably in that bracket somewhere when they first started sailing with X.  The officer told me to make my next X cruise on an Edge-class ship and see if I'm not much, much more impressed.

To whoever was asking about the shows:

They weren't really our thing for the most part.  We watched part of a few: Topper, Hard Day's Night, and Elysium.  Sat near the back and left respectfully & quietly.

We like the comedian Fred Klett and they had a brand new thing with the American Ballet Theater that was pretty impressive.  They combo'd the ABT with these two singers (who I had to review my daily planner to ID) Greta Salóme & Kristen Hertzenberg. 

Greta is an Icelandic woman who apparently was on Eurovision, a singing contest in Europe that most Americans probably either don't know about or just vaguely know about.  She was pretty good and did a Lindsey Sterling-esque stomping violin song, too.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xQxQRdZasQ

Kristen is a theater singer (she was the lead in the Las Vegas version of Phantom, I think she said) who did a few normal songs in the style of Broadway and it was pretty awkward like when your wacky aunt thinks she's awesome at karaoke and you pretty much cringe through it... THEN she busted out some classical opera & theater songs and you saw she could really sing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9bBeYzMFuw

Regardless of these womens' talent, whoever was on the soundboard was bound and determined to screw it up.  Too much echo.  Too much reverb.  Too much treble.  The mix sounded like a person who has never heard music was on the board.

20 hours ago, drrich2 said:

What did you think of Equinox's evening shows? Just wondering if it's a similar scene to what I recall.

They weren't really our thing for the most part.  We watched part of a few: Topper, Hard Day's Night, and Elysium.  Sat near the back and left respectfully & quietly.

We like the comedian Fred Klett and they had a brand new thing with the American Ballet Theater that was pretty impressive.  They combo'd the ABT with these two singers (who I had to review my daily planner to ID) Greta Salóme & Kristen Hertzenberg. 

Greta is an Icelandic woman who apparently was on Eurovision, a singing contest in Europe that most Americans probably either don't know about or just vaguely know about.  She was pretty good and did a Lindsey Sterling-esque stomping violin song, too.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xQxQRdZasQ

Kristen is a theater singer (she was the lead in the Las Vegas version of Phantom, I think she said) who did a few normal songs in the style of Broadway and it was pretty awkward like when your wacky aunt thinks she's awesome at karaoke and you pretty much cringe through it... THEN she busted out some classical opera & theater songs and you saw she could really sing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9bBeYzMFuw

Regardless of these womens' talent, whoever was on the soundboard was bound and determined to screw it up.  Too much echo.  Too much reverb.  Too much treble.  The mix sounded like a person who has never heard music was on the board.

1 hour ago, drrich2 said:

Actually, there's a lot to be said for letting parents take a look at the prospective ride, consider their extensive first hand knowledge of their own kids, and make a parental decision, instead of having the company pull a 'Big Brother' move to disappoint and upset kids who got all excited looking forward to something special the brochure said they could do.

 

Thanks for posting and letting us know. Pretty much nothing's perfectly safe, and the extent to which some things are taken at times suggests more about placating legal liability concerns than 'safety.'

 

Growing up as an often free-range kid in the rural south, I imagine my childhood would've looked like a litany of near-death experiences by today's standards...🤗

 

Richard.

1. I was kind of a free-range kid who did all sorts of stupid stuff, but we (as a planet) have gotten a bit smarter about safety in 2019.  I don't think the world needs to be coated in bubblewrap, but we can be/are smarter.
2. I think there have been some books and a couple of movies about what you are describing... reference some terms like "Willy Wonka" and "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory" and "Roald Dahl" for instance.

20 minutes ago, bighairtexan said:

haha I'm an "Olden" and though I very much enjoy Celebrity I DO find the MDR on X to be not much better or worse than the MDR on RCI.  Mostly I agree w/ most of what you said and got a chuckle out of a lot of it.  On some X cruises (I'm in my late 60's) I find myself in the older half but just as often I find myself feeling like a youngster.  So you could do another cruise the following week and find yourself with a different demographic. 

 

HOWEVER if you ever want to spring for a suite experience, then Celebrity blows RCI out of the water (and for a commensurately higher price on many of the ships) .  Butlers. A dedicated suite restaurant even w/ a Sky suite which is kind of similar to a Jr Suite on RCI (which gets almost NO perks). 

 

I'm still laughing about the "oldens" counting off the steps as they dance.  I enjoyed your review.  

My folks are in their mid 60s and they still love to party, too!  I'm thinking most of the oldens were probably a good bit older than you on this cruise!

Thanks for the info about the suites.  I'm guessing the Sky Suite on Edge is probably a wonderful thing for us.  I'll do some research on it when we give her a try.

10 minutes ago, hcat said:

From your review it appears you have correctly  concluded that Celeb is not a good fit for you .

 

 Btw...Someday you will likely  be  one of the  "oldens" you ridiculed in your review. It may  just be your writing style but it did not come across as  respectful of older cruisers.

It's probably just my writing style, but you seriously need to laugh more. 

I'm 100% serious about the hover-rounds though.  I saw so many bad drivers.  This morning getting off the ship I saw a lady (an olden herself!!) get pushed to a tabletop by a man who had no idea how to drive his.  He ran over her foot and knocked her into the table.  He yelled at HER for his doing it, too.  He was a jerk.  I saw one women cut in front of people 2x on the trip.  She said "oh, I have issues and need to go first" and then later we saw her laughing about it with another woman in the dining room.  This morning I saw a woman on one run over a man holding his daughter.  Slammed right into his knee.  I didn't go into it in detail, but frankly the way people operate those things is appalling.

Other than that, it's mostly in good humor.  The Arthur-Murray dance graduates comments are spot on, though.  Watch the dance floor for 10 seconds and you'll know it is true.  The perfume is just an age thing.  I think people's noses become less sensitive as they age and so older folks bathe in perfume because they can't smell themselves like we can.

In short, though, laugh more.  There are plenty of oldens who have wonderful senses of humor!

On 6/6/2019 at 1:02 PM, hcat said:

It may be the angle but the table top  sems very close to the mattress

It was directly next to the bed, but we never hit it in any way.