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As you will soon find out, the Hot Glass Studio is only available on three ships: Solstice, Equinox, and Eclipse. The same space on the other two sister ships, Silhouette and Reflection, is occupied by the Lawn Club Grill specialty restaurant.

Thanks for letting me know about your experience. I am glad you caught it and got it fixed. Yes, it might have been resolved properly in your favor later, but I hate arguing that I should have something when I don't have it in writing. David

These cigarettes were available on Constellation last November.

YATB! Have fun ashore tomorrow, assuming you go ashore.

There was some geomagnetic activity a day or two ago and they are forecasting possible aurora sightings today: link However you are heading towards Bay of Islands which has a latitude of 35.2 deg South. Northern Hemisphere-wise that is similar to Huntsville, Alabama (34.7 deg North). So I would assume you are out of Aurora Australis range. Nevertheless, it is nice to see the stars of the Southern Hemisphere. Since the moon sets pretty early after sunset, you should have very nice dark skies--hopefully with no clouds.

The extended cruise length assures that your cruise will not be over run with families and kids. We sailed during Easter week--coincidentally on a 10 night Caribbean cruise--but it was a long time ago. There were families and kids on board (including ours), but nothing crazy.

You get real good at mock bookings--to check for price drops with air fare (FBC) and for cruise fares.

@DaKahuna, could you kindly post the front page of the Celebrity Today, but only if the opportunity and convenience arises? I don't think I missed it this time!

Here is the latest requirements per the Celebrity website link. There is no mandatory mask requirement for crew nor passengers. If you come down with COVID you are quarantined in your own cabin.

I have some personal experience with a non-COVID cruise cancellation that can serve as one data point to compare compensation and stories against. We were booked on a 14 night Caribbean cruise on Silhouette for Jan 31, 2020. On May 17, 2019 (8.5 months before we were to sail), we were informed that our cruise was cancelled. The cancellation was the result of a change in drydock schedule because of a severe accident at Grand Bahama Shipyard. We were all offered a refund on our deposits along with a Future Cruise Certificate good for 50% of the cruise fare to be used within a year of issue (Celebrity ended up extending that deadline because of COVID). Celebrity also offered up to $300 travel reimbursement (the cruise was to start and end in Ft Lauderdale). Here is a link to the initial cancellation letter which detailed the compensation and options. Because the cancelled cruise was the only 14 night Caribbean sailing that season (in fact it has never been offered again since), the lift and shift options all appeared to be inferior because they were shorter for one thing, certain islands not visited, etc. The roll call for our cancelled cruise began sharing our grievances and enough of us contacted Celebrity (and escalated the matter) that we were able to get them to significantly expand the number of price protected sailings that we could shift our booking to (link to the revised cancellation letter with expanded lift and shift options). A couple of other things I remember learning from this incident. First, it is easier to negotiate concessions on a case by case basis early on before Celebrity's compensation position becomes more rigid. That may not make sense to you since the initial compensation is outlined in writing. For us, there was a "fog of war" consisting of conflicting/ambiguous information from Celebrity and ensuing confusion with the call center that initially existed that provided an opportunity for a very few people to make a case to Celebrity to have an exception made. Here is one example. I have another example: I am not sure how she did it, but my travel agent was able to negotiate to have my FCC applied against an existing booking for a Christmas cruise to New Zealand even though the FCC fine print excluded it. What my TA later told me was that she had notes of a conversation with someone at Celebrity that said I could use my FCC for a holiday cruise (this was when the cancellation was first announced) and was able to use that to get Celebrity to make an exception for me when it came time later to apply the FCC. Fog of war or not, I encourage you to ask for an exception if you have a good case. Escalate if necessary. It is not a formula for guaranteed success but concessions can happen and it usually comes from persistence. Secondly, because of the large number of people who were shifting their reservation to an existing sailing, it was important to act quickly before the good cabins from the remaining inventory got snapped up by other displaced customers. For those of you affected by the oversold situation, I feel for you. I hope you are able to get things worked out.

You will have to remember to take a break from enjoying your Retreat benefits and look at the Alaskan scenery every now and then.

When you say unfortunate confusion of names you make it sound somewhat unintended or coincidental. Carnival Corporation has the same thing. Similar corporate group name as the cruise line brand.

That is a shame. You should definitely follow @DaKahuna's live trip report which he posted the link to earlier in this thread. He and his wife are staying in a Sky Suite on Millennium and he is posting frequently with photos. They just started a 15 night Panama Canal cruise and I think you will find the information about the suite perks (Luminae dining, the Retreat areas on the ship) and photos to be extremely informative. It also gives you an opportunity to ask questions since you are new to Celebrity. Enjoy your cruise.

You should definitely post this on your roll call if you haven't already.

I am sure you will enjoy it. There are those that say once you are spoiled by Celebrity's Retreat product, it is hard to go back.

@bucky0926, sorry for the delay. @wonton, thanks again for the reminder. Here are the dimensions of our Wavy Bowl: The wavy crown measured 9 inches at maximum diameter. I measured the crown across two different points to make sure. The height is 5 3/4" (note in the photo that there is about a 1/4 inch gap between the end of the ruler and where 0 begins which I took into account). The base of the bowl is about 5 inches in diameter (in the photo that dimension is not that clear, but I measured 5 inches). Tap or click on the individual photos to make them larger and the ruler more readable. Please remember that these pieces are custom made by hand and the dimensions will vary. When it is made, there are no rulers or weigh scales used. For that reason, it would be valuable if others posted dimensions of their Wavy Bowl.

Normally any suite booking comes with an alcohol package, Wi-Fi, and gratuities included. I am not sure about a Suite Guarantee booking. Definitely ask about it. AND if it is included, make sure your booking documentation reflects that.

It's a nice problem to have. You cannot go wrong either way.

Celebrity should allow you to switch after final payment if the change is cost neutral or allows Celebrity to charge more. It is worth looking into. The other question you have is whether it is worth swapping your FV for a SS guarantee. I am a big FV fan and I think having the large corner balcony is perfect for Alaska. However I would probably recommend choosing the SS guarantee because Celebrity's Retreat product is pretty good. Millennium did undergo a Revolution makeover during its pre-COVID drydock which includes changes to enhance the Retreat experience. It's worth giving Celebrity a call to explore the option to change to a SS guarantee.

Thanks for the reminder and saving me from having to find this thread. I'll post the answer later this morning.

That is one nice thing about this forum. Many of us understand the disappointment when cruise plans get disrupted. Discuss these same problems at my workplace and I would get very little reaction.

Yes, you're right--the large number of extra oceanview cabins do not guarantee a thing. I feel very bad about your situation with the six cabins and the stress that goes along with waiting for the Resolution Desk to get back to you. I would not be taking this well. I really wish you the best of luck and I hope you keep us informed of how it works out.

What I mean is that if you decide not to volunteer, you are taking your chances that you could still get your cruise cancelled--if there are not enough volunteers--and you have to wait that out. It's the uncertainty and the not knowing about what will happen next.

I didn't realize it was your first M class sailing. There are three things related to glass that I like about M class design: 1. 2 story windows in the MDR looking out over the stern. Century class had them, too. 2. Glass elevators looking out over the port side of the ship. 3. And those interesting port hole windows installed on the floor of the Oceanview Cafe.

Hey since the interior design from the Revolution has been derided as favoring form over function, that thermostat could be ornamental and not connected to anything. Does it say Fisher Price on it anywhere?