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safein

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    It's official! Formal nights gone, evening chic in! (3 Threads Merged)

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    I am very disappointed that Celebrity has gone this route. While we haven't been able to cruise for a while, my husband and I enjoyed dressing up. Yes, he was in a job where wearing suits was a must; yet, he enjoyed dressing in his tux. Even when they went casual, he didn't mind to dressing up on formal nights when we cruised. It just made what he wore more special. We're in close to retirement age (not there yet, though :p) but because we dress casual every for work, we don't mind the dressing up on formal nights. And, I enjoyed dressing in my gowns too.

     

    Celebrity, you've disappointed this long time fan. It was the formal nights that made us decide to stay with you and not go to your sister line, Azamara. Now, I'm not too sure any more.

    Fire on Freedom?

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Glad everyone, both passengers and crew are OK. It's fortunate that this happened as they were just pulling into port.

     

    As far the missing passengers are concerned regarding the muster check in, that's why it's so important that everyone attend the muster drill when you first board, no matter how many cruises one's been on. I know that it's impossible with the mega ships nowadays, but the tightest muster drill we've done was our one and only cruise on NCL. At your muster station, roll call was taken. Heaven help you if you didn't answer or you joked around when your name was called. The officer doing the roll call guilted you and made you feel real small. It's a far cry from the drills nowadays.

    Female Captain Announced

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    I'm also more surprised that Celebrity is promoting a non-Greek to the position of Master, than the fact that it's a woman, getting the job. Although it's sister line, RC, has Captains from many different countries (and, at least one is female), I've never seen any Master of the Chandris family's line who was not from Greece! :confused:

     

    But, kudos to Captain McCue -- for breaking through all sorts of barriers! Look forward to cruising with her in the future! :cool:

     

    I applaud Celebrity for promoting a woman to Captain.

     

    I'm with wwcruisers and that I'm surprised it's someone from NOT from Greece that they promoted. I don't exactly remember the terms of the sale (not a merger) between Chandris/OSG and RCI about how long that agreement regarding Greek Captains being the Masters aboard the Celebrity fleet, but I'm not surprised. (and yes it was a sale! I worked for OSG at that time and, heartbreakingly, Celebrity was sold to RCI)

    Summit has azipod problem leaving from New York

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Captain put on the turbos! I was monitoring the Summit's progress to Bermuda and while the Breakaway was doing a steady 11.7 knots, the Summit was speeding at something like 15-17 knots. Having done this cruise several times, I knew Summit would more than make up the time. I'm just wondering how the ship felt going at that speed. Glad it made it to Dockyard on time.

     

    (remembering the nightmares of the Azipods!!!:eek:)

    Do you remember? Celebrity Nostalgia

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    I haven't been posting to Cruise Critic since we haven't taken a cruise since 2012, but finding this thread is bringing back some very fond memories. Funny that my husband and I were talking about Mark Preston (we got to meet him on our 2nd Century cruise) and his pic got posted here!

     

    I do miss the old sailings to Bermuda. Sailing in and out of St. George was one of the most memorable experiences, wondering how we didn't scrape the paint off the sides. Being moored in the Dockyard on the Summit just wasn't quite the same. Speaking of the Dockyard, the Meridian was the only ship that moored there and not Hamilton and St. George. As she was first built as a transatlantic ship, she had a very deep draft that made it impossible for her to dock in anyplace other than the Dockyard.

     

    Speaking of the Summit, I remember when she had that blue paint job. We were on her 4th sailing and I remember the culture shock when we spotted her awashed in blue and not the familiar white and blue.

     

    I do miss the old days!

    Butler Service

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Do they have docking stations......Ipod takes up less room than CD's.......but I definitely like the idea of a little Nora Jones pre-dinner music. :)

     

    No docking station, but it's a Bose system that's mounted to the wall. The sound is great!

     

    Anita

    Butler Service

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Dr. Pam,

     

    Just don't forget CD's you want to play! One great thing about bring in a Royal Suite is you'll have a nice little nook that has a vanity (Right by the second sliding door to the balcony! I used it a LOT on our last cruise.

     

    As I mentioned before, talk to Customer Service and also try to figure out the time of your party well in advance. Your butler will be made aware of it and you can go over the fine details when you meet him.

     

    Anita

    Butler Service

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Here's answers to some of the questions asked here:

     

    1) Yes, you can have breakfast in your suite every morning. You won't be able to request it that AM, but will have like a room service type menu that you will need to leave on your door before you go to bed. If there's anything not there, you'll need to ask. Also, you can arrange where you have your meals in advance, like the dining room in the suite or the balcony.

     

    2) When you first meet your butler on the first day, make sure you have a list of things you would like him to do: Pre-arranging for a party would be the first; if you want to have some of your Cruise Critic friends over at some point during your cruise this is most important. Just make sure you give him your exact date and time and how many. For a pre-sailaway party, I would suggest you talk to Customer Service in advance and make you get your confirmations back in writing. Just remember one main thing, just don't make it too elaborate!

     

    3) The norm for tipping your butler is like the cabin steward: $3.50 per PERSON, per DAY in your suite. We gave ours a little extra on our sailing on the Infinity because we were travelling with another couple who stayed in their own cabin, but we gave them unlimited access to our suite. One thing I will say is if you have some real things you want your butler to do that goes above and beyond (like for us, having our breakfast table set for 4; getting enough hors d'ourvres for 4 every day, etc) you just might want to give him something extra when you first meet him. It worked wonders for us!

     

    All you have to do is to talk to your butler when you first meet him on the first day. As soon as you arrive in your suite, he'll just about pop right in!

     

    ENJOY!!!! and don't forget: JUST ASK!

     

    Anita

    Butler Service

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Nice to hear about Dan the Man again. Yes, I know the feeling about loosing a ship so close to home. We lost the Mariner of the Seas last year when she was deployed away from the West Coast. Fortunately, we sailed on her twice before she left.

     

    Was wondering if you or anyone else on this thread have ever used the butler for assistance in unpacking and packing your suitcases, which, is advertised as a service the butler will perform if so desired?

     

    Bob

     

    Not us! Especially the packing! I have a method to my madness when it comes to packing to go home. (one bag is used strictly for dirty laundry. :eek:)

     

    And I'd rather do my own unpacking. We've traveled so many times that I have the unpacking down to a science, so it's pointless to have someone else unpack for us.

     

    Anita

    Butler Service

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Most definitely make a list of what you want and don't want from your butler. He's there to help. We had a small problem with our shower in the Royal Suite. Luckily he was right there and helped out. Once you ask, he'll be more than willing to help. We'll be sailing on the Silhouette in a Concierge Cabin, but our last 3 cruises, we were in a Celebrity Suite and a Royal on the last one.

     

    If you also want to have a small get together in your suite, he can help too!

     

    Enjoy your suite! (once you sail a suite, you'll be spoiled rotten!!!!!!!!!)

     

    Anita

    Newport, RI and local questions can be asked here.

    in Canada/New England

    Posted

    Sailor JM, like you, we went to the Red Parrot for lunch. I had walked into one of the souvenir shops who said they had the best chowdah, which they did. We also had the lobster club that was also good. Only went there the once for lunch, so I can't say anything more about the dinner service. A lot of locals went there as did a group of dancers/entertainers from the ship too.

     

    Anita

    Russian Ship Mikhail Lermontov

    in What Ever Happened To........???

    Posted

    I've been reading this thread with great interest. I'm glad that there are others here who've sailed on the Russian cruise ships. My mother booked the cruise, taking me along and leaving my father home. The things I remember most from this cruise was:

     

    - being about to take Russian language lessons.

    - the food, especially the Captain's dinners where we got to taste Russian food. Never had brown bread or borscht before until then. And then were the grumpy tablemates!:p

    - the crew's performance night for the passengers. The theater/showlounge was not conducive to the high flying dancing.

    - not getting proofed in any of the bars or the casino. I was 14 on my first cruise and was able to drink. I'll never forget trying the Russian vodka (my mother was OK with this.) at the welcome dinner and the burn I suffered afterwards (to this day, I can't drink vodka!) I had wanted a shawl from the gift shop and my mother wouldn't let me buy it. A gambler at heart, I walked into the Casino (well, I did look older for my age), played the 25 cent slot, won $25 and marched right into the gift shop. I told my mother after the fact and she was shocked.

    - the crew being very reticent and shy. My guess is that they were not allowed to talk to passengers, especially on my first cruise because it was one of the first cruises with American passengers.

     

    On the second cruise, I teamed up with about 15 - 20 teenagers. (Very few on the first cruise) We (more accurately they) drove the crew crazy from getting the elevator stuck to being bailed out by the Captain in San Juan because, at that time, it was very dangerous to walk Old San Juan. The cops picked them up and were taken into the police station.

     

    But the best one was when my mother and a friend who we met on the first Gorky cruise wanted to see how low we were and where our cabin was. They decided to put the room service door tag on their cabin windows. They got off the ship (this was in St. Thomas) and went right back inside. They came back to find the empty suitcases pulled out and drawers searched. more likely than not, it was the KGB who thought they were signalling to someone on shore and not 2 crazy touristas who were curious to see where their cabins were.

     

    Anita

    Ocean Liners In Movies

    in What Ever Happened To........???

    Posted

    Another movie that starred Omar Sharif and Richard Harris on a ship was "Juggernaut." The actual ship was then called the Hamburg and is now called the Maxim Gorky. If you notice my sig line, I was indeed on the Gorky twice.

     

    There was also an episode of Colombo filmed on a ship. Not sure which one.

     

    FYI, "Table for Five"was filmed on the Sagafjord.

     

    Anita

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