New Hampshire

I tried checking in for my February cruise today on my computer. The website would not go to the check-in at all. The sailing ship icon just sailed on and on and on. I then tried it on my iPad and had no problem at all going through the whole check-in till completion. The express pass came up and when I printed it, a bunch of unrelated junk is what printed out!!! What' shown on my screen as the pass and what printed had no relation to one another! Now what??

I'm well over 55 and I don't expect discounts on Celebrity because of my age. When a 55+ discount has popped up for my booking it has never been enough to make me change the alresdy great price and perks that I originally booked.

I live in the present and love current music. I would enjoy a night of 60's 70's music but a daily diet of it, no way. Celebrity has to continue to appeal to the younger generation. I was a member of it when I first started cruising! Face the fact, that cruising days will end for all of us eventually as we age and those younger folks will someday be the seniors! Everything changes and I love that about cruising.

Fo years we have gone to St John on our own via taxi to Red Hook, ferry to St John and then rented a jeep. This is a fairly expensive day and the timing has to put you on the 9 AM ferry to St John and the 3 PM ferry back to make it at all worthwhile. We used to take the 4 PM ferry back until the time that the ferry was filled to capacity with people left at the dock when it pulled out. I have no idea how those people made it back in time to their ships. After that we moved our departure to 3 PM.

Last year we decided to try the self explore option offered through Celebrity. It certainly was an economical way to get to St John. Unfortunately, it was a very windy day and the ferry could not come to the pier where the ship was. We had to walk to the Marina to get it. What should have been a ten minute walk turned out to take 30-40 minutes for the passengers to all make it to there and board the ferry. The ride over was very rough and wild and when we got there learned that all the beaches were closed to swimming except Caneel Bay. Our departure time back to St Thomas was moved to earlier than it was supposed to be because of the walk back to the ship from the Marina. We only had a little more than three hours on St. John which was disappointing.

My experience does not reflect what others might have experienced on a normal weather day when the ferry comes right to the cruise pier. I would give it another try the next time we're on a ship in St Thomas.

St John is my favorite place on the planet and we have been taking an annual land vacation there in rental villas since 2008. Next one is in April. If your only experience with St John is a visit from a cruise ship, youndon't knowvwhat you're missing! Happy hours, restaurants, night life......PARADISE!!!

Real formal nights when the entire ship was required to be in formal wear in all public rooms for the entire evening died years ago. The "new" dress code is actually what the reality has been over the last four years or so. I have seen every manner of dress over that time period on formal nights in the MDR without anyone being turned away.

The most formally dressed passengers I have encountered recently was October 2014 out of Southampton. The passenger makeup was 50% or more Brits. I bet they will still dress formally when sailing out if UK ports.

I don't know why anyone is surprised by this change. The only place formal nights have existed in recent years has been on Celebrity's website.

I'm not sure there is anything wrong with the level of dress matching the preferences of the cruise line customers.

 

I agree, it would be better if the cruise lines changed their policies but the current state of affairs is perfect for the cruise lines. They can say they have formal nights to attract a certain class of passenger. They can fail to enforce the dress code to attract another class of passenger. It's a win-win situation for them.

I agree with your assessment completely. There will still be very unhappy old timers who will simply never accept anything but the stated guide lines on the Celebrity website. The reality of what is happening on the ships is very far removed from those guidelines.

I've been sailing since the 70's and loved the days when the entire ship was dressed to the nines in all public rooms for the entire evening. Those days are long gone and are never coming back. I really wish Celebrity would just go to Smart Casual all the time and truly enforce the no shorts, t-shirts, ripped jeans in dining rooms in the evening.

I agree that in the U.S. that would be very troubling. But pretty much everywhere else in the world, physicians do sell the drugs to treat what they diagnose. So seeing as these are foreign flagged vessels, so be it.

 

The irony is that as a physician, I have never made a penny for a single prescription that I have written. But on occasion, I have had patients go to one of the numerous homeopaths or naturopaths now hanging their shingles around here. Every time they come back, they've purchased a bunch of supplements, vitamins and natural remedies at the "practitioners" advice. Who sold the items to them? Yep! The provider that diagnosed them!

Which is exactly why I see them as scam artists! Unfortunately, they have co-opted the treatment of chronic Lyme disease. Thousands of people suffering from this are being sold a bunch of magic remedies by these charlatans. Standard medicine is failing these suffering people.

I hate Miami Airport and avoid it wherever possible. I would definitely do self disembark.

I wouldn't even self disembark. I would request being in the first few disembarking groups, #1-5. You should make an 11AM flight with no trouble.

My experience over the last three years of cruising on Celebrity is the same as what was observed by the OP. On cruises in Europe, Caribbean and Bermuda, I have observed more and more men without jackets in the MDR on formal nights. They really don't stand out any more because the numbers are increasing.

The one exception was our cruise last October out of Southampton, England. The passenger make-up was more than 50% Brits and I saw more tuxes on formal nights than I have in years. There were men in shirtsleeves on formal nights, but on that cruise they did stick out like sore thumbs.

If it's more than 20 minutes away, we'll probably pass. We've been to Jamaica many times, but never to Falmouth. Jamaica is our least favorite island, the only place where we have felt uncomfortable. We might just stay on the ship.

How far from Falmouth is Sunset Beach?

I've used the third one down for the last eight years. Love them! Great deals, discounts over Celebrity pricing, and other perks like OBC and gratuities. I've had wonderful customer service. I had one cancellation for which they waived the fee due to my past business with them.

The physical agency is just a few miles from my home. It's reputation as a workplace is excellent.

We were on the June 7-14 sailing and the only place we found AC issues was in the MDR, Select Dining section. It was too warm there every evening.

We had long waits in Select Dining every night. Behave rose issues been resolved in the last month?

On recent cruises, I have noticed the line of self disembarkers growing longer and longer. Better be in the front of that line to have any chance of making that flight. I would never take the chance.

Its more likely they will offer to give him a jacket which he doesn't have to wear, just put on the back of his chair. I did however see a couple of men turned away without a jacket last month on Summit.

I haven't seen loaner jackets given out in a number of years.

On our June 7 Summit cruise there were people in Select Dining on a formal night in shorts. No one stopped them.

Exactly - and it's not just to do with the queue, surely its also about the number of suite guests already seated?

 

I think when Celebrity have gone to the trouble and expense to create an exclusive, special dining room for suite guests, that's what they should use. Like a previous poster, if I get flamed for saying that, I don't care either. Feeling that your own 'exclusive' dining room doest have the atmosphere or certain dishes you like, doesnt mean it should be OK to use another venue, and maybe take the place of someone who can't do the same.

 

FWIW, having eaten in Luminae, I don't think anyone could be disappointed. We thought it was fabulous.

 

Lou

I sailed Summit in June with Select a Dining. It was a mess! They would not allow reservations to be made between 5:30 and 8 and there were long waits every night, from 20 minutes to 45 minutes. There was signage on a line that gave priority to suite guests. So they now can eat wherever they want and

Have priority over those who signed up for Select Dining at time of booking.

Thanks for the update. The al baccio overflow area is a great idea. Let's hope the changes get settled to work out well.

I sailed Eclipse last October and they were using Bistro on Five as an overflow for Cafe al Bacio then in the morning hours.

Sailed Summit in June and was not at all impressed with Mills. Talked much too much and I hated the daily 6 PM PA announcements. One of the things I've loved about Celebrity has been the one PA announcement daily from the Captain. We have the Dailies and don't need to hear announcements from the CD at all.

I have noticed a big change in the informality of how people are dressing for dinner, even on formal nights, with no enforcement of dress codes. I even saw people with shorts in Select Dining on a formal night. On the last night of our cruise a couple came into dinner looking as if they just came from the gym in workout clothes, workout shorts, t- shirts with writing, sneakers. No one stopped them.

Just back from a Summit cruise where a section of the lower MDR has been carved out for Luminae with what's left as traditional dining. The upper level has a section carved out for Blu with the remainder being Select. Select dining was a nightmare on our cruise. Waits every night, usually around 20 minutes with the longest being 45 minutes. We went at varying times between 6 and 7 and always had a wait. They would not allow reservations between 5:30 and 8.

Reflection without question. Beautiful ship, numerous specialty restaurants and time to relax and enjoy the ship between ports. We did the Summit sailing out of San Juan last year , had lots of fun, but very hectic with just one sea day. Stay a day or two in Ft. Lauderdale at one of the lovely beach hotels. There are some very nice ones.

I tried booking online three months before sailing and could not get any reservations between 5:30 and 8. They would not make any reservations on the ship between those times either. I never had this issue with Select Dining reservations before on any ship including two previous Summit sailings.

The anytime dining was open at 5:30 I think and we had no problem ever walking right to a table, no matter what time we went.

Not on my sailing of June 7-14. Select Dining was a mess! They would only allow you to make reservations up to 5:30 or 8 PM and later, nothing in between. Anytime we showed up at various times between 6:15 and 7 PM we were given a beeper and had to wait, never less than 20 minutes and the longest wait of 45 minutes.

There were two lines with signs on each, one for people without reservations and the other had a sign that specified it was for people with Reservations and Suite Guests. So any Suite guests could just walk forgo their own dining room and walk right in while those of us who chose Select at booking had long waits.

I have enjoyed Select ever since it was first offered and have loved it, have never had much if any waits in the past, including on two previous sailings, even a prior one that had the Blu carve out of the space.

I really hope they do something to address the problems they are having. The demand for Select is exceeding the space they have for it. to

We have been sailing Celebrity since 1994 and in our early years loved traditional late seating dining. As we got older we preferred eating a bit earlier and switched to Select Dining when it was first offered.

We have been extremely pleased with Select on every ship we've sailed both M and S class. We have sometimes made some reservations pre- cruise and some while onboard. Sometimes we have just shown up when we felt like it. Whether we had reservations or not, the longest we ever had to wait was 10 minutes.

That is until our just completed cruise on Summit to Bermuda, June 7-14. The Select Dining experience was awful. I tried to make reservations on the website for the first night's dining about two months pre-cruise. There was no ability to make a reservation between 5:30 and 8 PM. Once onboard, we attempted to make reservations for each night of the cruise and again no reservations could be made between 5:30 and 8 PM. We waited every night, buzzer in hand, anywhere from 20 minutes to the longest wait of 45 minutes.

The Select Dining space was packed every night. It's popularity has grown and the carving out of the existing space for Blu and now Luminae has made the situation impossible. I sailed on Summit in March 2014 when the Blu space was already in existence. All worked beautifully. The carve out for Luminae seems to have been the tipping point for that particular ship.

Personally, I hope the rumor is true and Dining becomes all Select.

We are sailing on Summit on Sunday, June 7. What was the cost per day to upgrade to Premium Beverage Package? Do you know if tax is charged if the upgrade is done before sailing?