Denny01

13 minutes ago, kittyraptors said:

I was being a little facetious with my use of “nervous”. Just seems like no one has anything positive to say about Celebrity anyone. But Bo1953 is right - time to stop reading and start getting in vacation mode. I’ll have a great time either way! Heck, a hurricane could hit and I’ll still be thankful to not be at work 😂😂😂

Great! Wish we were joining you!  Excellent attitude. 
 

24 minutes ago, hcat said:

hope this is true.

now lets get those chocs back in AQ Class!

Nooooo! I spend all my time ashore trying to lose weight getting ready for the next set of cruises; get onboard and drink more than I do; dine more than I do; eat a big breakfast; snack at El Bacios!

I then try Not to use the elevator; walk all around the decks to burn it all off; try Not to grab that last warm cookie…and I step into my SR that night and there it is….sitting there in the middle of my pillow!! And I cant control myself. 

So Nooooooo! I have no control so they need to do it for me!!! I once said I was not tempted by the milk chocolate bites. My steward overheard me and there they were - Dark Chocolate!!

Den

6 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Hi Den.  Where have you been?  I have missed your intelligent comments here!

Now you’ve done it!! I was quiet for a good long time and I just posted a half dozen times. It’s a disease! 

Den

1 hour ago, hcat said:

hoping that Ascent being, fairly new will have alot of the  good stuff.

Just had to try Ascent and booked their 4N Thanksgiving pre-cruise! Hope it goes. Watching to see when Ascent goes out for its sea trials.

Den

6 minutes ago, Islander500 said:

You win the funniest comment today.  My husband had started researching battery powered microwaves to warm our dinners at the MDR.  Whew!  

i bet some staffguy took existing cookies laying around and put them in your husband’s battery driven microwave to heat them up and then charged everyone….and pocketed the $2!! Got caught after X read the 3,218 posts complaining!!!

den

16 minutes ago, kittyraptors said:

I board the Equinox tomorrow (we’re driving to the port right now actually) and that post made me super nervous. Glad to hear that they reversed it - hopefully that holds for the next week! It’s our first Celebrity Cruise and some of the posts on this board have been making me really nervous. 

Just a quick question. Why would a charge for a cookie cause someone to be ‘super nervous’?  I dont want to be ‘judgy’ but so what. Id get nervous if there were reports of a hurricane in my cruising area; or if the ship had gone dead in the water the cruise prior; or….. but a charge for a cookie? 

The whole idea of charging for warm cookies was pretty dumb and it went where many other dumb ideas go…..overboard! But then again, some do stick around.

den

I guess we do this type of thread so we can feel miserable, and then feel soooo good when we cruise because none of the ‘cuts’ even affect us.

Lots of these are really funny…..which I dont think the OP was thinking would occur. But could be wrong.

Den

Ahhhh, this is tough. I LOVE sea days. We’ve done a number of TransAtlantics and unless it is a specific itinerary For the ports, we look for max at seas. And one of the reasons Celebrity is our current Line of Choice is what we find onboard during extended times at sea. I may go with a smaller ship for specific itineraries where that ship makes calls in ports these type ships cant, but at sea, I prefer Celebrity.

Now to actually answer the question of my perfect sea day:

1. The night before, mark off All the things I want to do…..and then miss most of them because we sit and just relax or meet very interesting people.

2. Start with a breakfast on the balcony!

3. Join Behind the Podium speakers. Always very interesting and one of the major Celebrity draws for us.

4. If on M-Class, a dip in the Solarium Pool. Love that thing with all the warm active water and steel pipes on the side with bubbles!!

5. If on E-Class, lunch at Eden Cafe. 

6 If on S-Class, relax up forward and watch the horizon. 

5. Try to remember to join one of the Trivia games.

6. Meet up with Roll Call friends to play card or table games. Learn something new

7. Again Just Sit and watch the Horizon. 

8. Evening. Walk the deck and enjoy the open sea. 

Den

3 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Hi Den.  Where have you been?  I have missed your intelligent comments here!

Thanks TeeRick…..Ive stepped away a bit. Got too tied up with ‘cheeky’ responses sometimes and it seemed the threads here had become a list of complaints as cruising recovers from the Pandemic. So Ive backed off a bit, but I’ll be getting more into it once things become more ‘fun’ to talk on.

We seem to forget this is about vacationing and enjoying instead of us trying to run businesses we know little about, at least on the actual business side. For example. Ive not spent much time comparing pre-Pandemic and current pricing, but with the 75% off and my TA having group packages, the pricing Ive experienced is quite acceptable……and I dont worry too much about cherry tomatoes if their cut or not. Not a put down, just an observation of what is not interesting to me. It just leads into the ‘but you should see….’ And of course the threads with LISTS of complaints. That is soooo much fun to experience when planning on enjoying life. 

Enough. Im stepping into the cheap shots. Ive been more on the Roll Calls for my cruises. Since we will be meeting face-face there is much better level of discussions. 

But now you got me more interested in some of the threads here…..so watch out!

Den

On 8/22/2023 at 8:10 AM, swjumbo said:

It’s the small cherry tomatoes or even a small whole beet but everything is chopped. As I said it’s first world problems!!!!

 

Chemmo, we’ll do that for you in Tuscan this evening! X

You are right, it is a 1st World Problem considering all you have to do is Ask for More…..considering how much is wasted by us 1st Worlders. 

And I bet if really wanting a nice whole cherry tomato (or 2ish), you just ask and the staff will accommodate and will remember and do again. But this is one Ive not actually tried. 

Agree on how X handles kids. Love it. Our kids loved and now our grandkids love Celebrity…..but they dont need climbing walls and surf boarding (lines for those are usually longer than it takes to Do them).

And if I want to ‘enjoy’ Central Park, I’ll go to NYC. I cruise for the ship experience, not fake venues. But I did enjoy the full Broadway plays RC ships have. 

Den

28 minutes ago, jwlane said:

Today's award for resurrecting a 5 year old thread goes to.....

Along with the post quoting my 5 year old post where I listed an LNG cruise ship and the post referenced other LNG ships built 3 YEARS after my original post. 

Love it. 

Den

15 minutes ago, PinkSandGirl said:

I have sent e-mails before.  I actually sent one at the 1 hour mark yesterday but I continued to wait another 1 hr and 45 minutes.  

 

That's good you haven't had to wait and get what you need taken care of efficiently. 

 

🍹

I meant I sent my TA an email. 
 

den

I’ve never had an issue waiting on the phone when calling about any of my cruises……I just call my Travel Advisor and they get back to me with the fix….the info….the changes….whatever. They are the ones who make the calls!! 

Edit: I truth, I usually just email them and all goes well. 

Den

Have used the laundry many times and never had any real issues. A few items went missing and the steward found them the same day. But I dont send in any delicate or very nice things.

And communal washers?…..well yeah. A poster once said she would

 never have her clothing washed with other people’s things. She saw that as a major ‘contamination’ issue even saying how she didnt want to even think what people ‘do’ in those clothes. I thought that was hilarious and pointed out her bed sheets and shower towels she used were all washed ‘communally’ and I didnt want her picturing what ‘people did’ between the sheets and people rub those towels All Over Their Bodies!!!

And said how sad she’d have quit vacationing; not only have to quit cruising, she shouldn’t stay in Any hotel.

Den 

Pricing is always tricky when comparing. With the 75% 2nd person discount and so on and other options, it’s best to run through the entire booking to see the ‘real pricing’. And our TA always seems to come up with more discounting then what I see on line. 

The Edge itself is dropping in pricing as the other Edge Class ships become available and I agree we Love the S and M-Class ships. So not tied to the newer ones…..but you’ll notice I bit the bullet and booked the Ascent for its 4N Thanksgiving cruise which is one prior to its ‘official’ start. 

And yup, bookings are getting more expensive on All the Lines with cruising recovering…..but it’s not an ‘exponential’ increase, just more costly….which is expected. 

And for us, still much better than other options. 

Den

And even non-suite boarding was very quick and efficient. We got a taxi and arrived close to our check in time. No Celebrity line. We walked by the RCL dock and the line for that ship was just about the length of the ship. 
 

no problems for any of us and sufficient porters who came up to our taxi and took care of our luggage. 
 

every Celebrity departure port I’ve used has had special handling for Retreat. 
 

den

WestLakeGirl is right. I went to my booking on line, and checked excursions there. Went to Plan My Cruise. then at the top right corner was my Initials which showed Order History and that showed my bookings. 

Den

One way around waiting on line is to use a reputable travel agent…and Im Not one. They can solve a lot of issues if you get one who isnt just a’booking agent’. 

Den

18 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Given that it's co-ed, I would HOPE that people wear at least a swimsuit. I'm not paying AQ prices to look at someone's junk.

Mine isnt ‘junk’, its Jewels!

And yes, swimsuit is the dress of the day, and a robe is fine for going around the area, and I use a towel on the warm lounges but no robe…and trunks.

Den

2 hours ago, miched said:

I have heard this from many that have sailed with children.   They said that the staff really catered to them.    They felt that the workers deserved more in the way of gratuities because of all the attention, extra work,  and patience.  

I love our grandchildren that are 9 year old twins but there is no way that I could put up with them for 1 week confined in suite, and being in a regular cabin would be miserable.     I am selfish.   I go on a cruise to enjoy it and don’t think that I could with having to put up with them.  I am like Becker, no patience.

 

This is my opinion based on my grandchildren and I know that others may be different because theirs are angels.  😇

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅
 

 

That’s why when we sail with grandkids, we sail with their parents…..in their own SRs!

we will take our teen granddaughter sooner. 
 

den

My opinion is ‘little children’ are more work for the stewards. A bit more messy; dippers in the trash and other such things. Our kids with a little granddaughter sailed with us and it was a real joy, but also more work for the staff. The waitstaff had the highchair all set up for her; had a snack ready for her to dive into and focused on her. The steward worked the room more and so on. 

We had joined friends who had one woman who had invited others and felt she ‘ran’ the group. She went to the desk and asked that gratuities for our and other peoples’ kids be removed since they were ‘just kids’. Did this without asking. I was extremely upset. No 1, that wasnt her place; No 2 as stated above, babies, toddlers and such make more work for the staff. I immediately added our gratuities back and told the woman to mind her own business. 

Enough. 

Den

You can also have the reservation you make on line transferred to the Agent you booked the cruise you are on, or to another. You can also do that after you get off the cruise and have to transferred. 

You can also add ‘open’ reservations for booking in the future, ie agree to book a cruise within a set time, usually  yrs ahead, on board with the lower deposit and get the OBC. And even if you dont use them, you get reimbursed after the time runs out. 

Den

One poster said theyd been cruising Celebrity a long time and the TP quality has changed…..been cruising X since 1997 and onboard TP is onboard TP as it is on many other Lines Ive had the occasion to use, in both sense.. And just finished (pardon the visual there) our first Suite cruise and TP is the same. 

Good suggestions here: fold it a few times; Do Not bring your own (you were kidding right??); bring a portable bidet (my favorite idea); my suggestion - realize we are starting to work Very Hard to find things to complain about. 

I find little difference in shipboard TP than I find in many public ashore BRs. And I kind of chuckle as I see All the various TP variations in our local store….marketing. 

If you dont like 2 ply, make it 4 ply, or 6 or 20…..whatever.

I use to list out posts I thought were very entertaining. One was how Disney ships didnt creak as much as Celebrity ships - their X cruise was in high seas!; another about Suite TP was too thin; another about some guy who complained about staff service when he was loaned a personal umbrella by a staff person because one wasnt available for him and he didnt bring his own….and he ‘forgot’ to return it, but he still complained.

Wow. 

I guess I’ll quit listing those since two of the three have been repeated recently. No, I’ll drop all 3 because Ive read way too many threads about ‘poor service’ because the staff can’t mind-read or become a personal valet when someone cant do the basics.  

Den

20 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

We embark March 4th and can't access yet.  I seem to recall that in the past one could do the preboard check in well before 45 days out...perhaps I'm recalling wrong.  Lots of mention about the app...can you sail without the app or is the cruise experience now so woven into the app that it's not feasible...

Based on my limited experience of 3 cruises since restart, the 45 days prior has now settled out to be the Norm. 

As to not using the App, it makes accessing much very easy prior and on the ship, but isnt required. You can register on the X website and set up all as done prior. Once on board, you’ll get a Daily and use the phone or staff to make reservations and so on. 

But the App is much more handier now.And more reliable from my most recent experiences. 

Den

3 minutes ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

Oh, yeah?

 

Well I'm triple double axis elite+ zenith menith. 

 

I'm so high up in priority I board from the pilot boat as the ship returns to port.

 

I'm on the ship before it even arrives!

 

Nanee nanee boo boo.🚣‍♂️

Its fun watching them drop at least one of your 8 pieces of huge steamer trunks they try to pass off the pilot boat!!

den