roquejo

I am going to the  Ovation Dec 12 sailing and booked the Ultimate Dining Package, It was originally $240, then it went down to $180 during the Black Friday sale so I just cancelled and rebooked.. After Black Friday it went up to $199 and today it is back to $240.

Unfortunately, packages are not  available on holiday sailings.

With Serenade moving to Alaska for summer 2020, any idea of a ship replacing it, until now I tried searching for Serenade's sailings from either Copenhagen or Sweden for 2020 and found no results. 

The main problem with the TS here is he thinks whatever his view is the majority view. Enough said.

Any info on D and D+ internet perk on Symphony?

I will also be sailing Radiance in a few weeks from Sydney...this cruise is also sold out since final payment deadline but cabins are popping up from time to time..

And when I checked the cruise planner also yesterday, I was also upgraded from a Large Ocean View cabin in deck 4 (opposite of the solo cabins few steps from Atrium where the large window Oceanviews are) to a D1 midship Balcony at deck 10 where the JS cabins are.

Are we on the same sailing? Who knows this might be your room.

It is actually my first time to be upgraded, and also happened to be my first cruise as a D+, so what they have written on the fine print that D+ and Pinnacles have greater chances of upgrades might be true.. as I have been Diamond for quite a few years... never been upgraded until now.

I've read that the studio oceanview of Harmony is unusually quiet even if it is in a high traffic area near studio B, casino, dining rooms, and theatre...but how about particularly room 4670, checking the deck plans, it is the room facing the passageway that leads to this area of SO staterooms.

I only found one review saying it is great location.. but will it have a noise issue considering its location facing the passageway towards this cabin area?

Sure then leave.. but don't drag others with you..

The prices are very high, what's wierd is the studio oceanview for 1 person is priced double than a regular oceanview for 1 occupancy.

Still sushi in the buffet . And very nice too .

 

 

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Just came back from Celebrity Solstice 2 days ago. No sushi in buffet. Was told they discontinued it since Sushi on 5 started operating.

I find it odd that that Diamond members cannot get specialty coffee at Latitudes.

On Ovation, we lost our Diamond lounge in the Asia setup as this was converted to a Casino VIP room.

The happy hour is being held at the 2nd floor of the music lounge, which is better was we have an entire bar and pool table to ourselves.

We can get unlimited specialty coffee either at Starbucks in the Esplanade, in Seattle's Best at Cafe Two70 or another brand at coffee shop in Winjammer.

For the Diamond breakfast, it was held at Chops..

We didn't lost any benefits. Perhaps it differs from ship to ship.

Or to see both Fjord and Glacier, take a Tracy Arm sailing this year (e.g. Solstice), as you will be diverted to Endicott Arm, as Tracy is still full of ice until now, where seeing Dawe's glacier sighting is guaranteed unlike Tracy Arm's Sawyer.

Ford's Terror is not always accessible, you got lucky the timing is right. It should be high tide if not you'll run aground.

Just returned from Carnival Legend's 8/9 sailing and Tracy Arm was still clogged with ice. The small boat tour to Endicott Arm was wonderful.

 

 

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There isn't much advantage taking the small boat tour in Endicott if you compare it with Tracy Arm. Because Endicott is pretty straight forward and the glacier is wide open. It just gets you closer.

Unlike Tracy Arm, the small boat takes you to North Sawyer as well, something that is rarely seen from a cruise ship. And unlike Endicott where the cruise ship will get you a full view of the glacier, sometimes cruise ship can't even get close to the Sawyer Glacier...

This gives the small boat tour a tremendous value of as you can see both South and North Sawyer glacier on most years except for this year's unusual ice conditions

Explorer's quality of product dictates the price. The Solstice is buying your business.

It's the IT as well, Explorer's 7 day Alaska IT doesn't call Ketchikan and it is a major stop. I'm a natural D with RCCL and just got my Elite status in X because of RCCL. But among the Voyager classes, Voyager of the Seas is my favorite having sailed her 3X already, excellent service by the crew.

It really depends, case to case basis. On some sailings and cabin types it is not even bundled pricing and is given completely free.

For example, Celebrity Solstice is not my initial choice for Alaska this year. It is either NCL Jewel or RCCL Explorer of the Seas.

But for my choice of balcony cabin, Celebrity Solstice veranda cabin with 2 free perks is cheaper per day vs NCL with only 1 perk, and equals RCCL's Explorer of the Seas with no free perks.

So how do you explain Solstice vs Explorer of the Seas having equal prices for Veranda/Balcony but X has 2 free perks vs RCCL with no free perks?

That is why I ended up with Solstice.

If the perks are treated as bundled pricing, then Solstice prices should be more expensive than Explorer.

Personally I don't think that use of smaller ships is a real sign you are on a luxury line.....there are many limitations on smaller ships an, i don't feel that they offer better service. They certainly do not offer better entertainment options. The only thing you can say about them is you can get into destinations with shallower ports. This does not make for a luxury distinction. Smaller ship...smaller cabins, smaller entertainment venues and smaller casinos. Food and personal service depend on the line....not the ship size

One thing common about these smaller luxury 6 star ships is everything is included, the food, the drinks, the shore excursions, the gratuities etc... you actually pay nothing more other than the cruise fare. And they are very expensive.

Perhaps it is the intimate setting, more crew to passenger ratio, that make them expensive.. but true the amenities and entertainment are lacking as they are smaller ships.

And yes some of them are expedition ships that gets you close to nature with the use of zodiacs like Celebrity Xpedition in the Galapagos or the Stella Australis in Patagonia.

But some are just smaller non expedition cruise ships like the Azamara Quest/Journey, Silver Shadow etc...

Well, I'm a D with RCCL and will try the Solstice for the first time in Alaska few weeks from now.

Having read so many comparisons with RCCL vs X in this forum. I already know what to expect with Celebrity: generally less entertainment quality than RCCL but better food quality.

So will focus more on the food and drinks this time.

I note that Celebrity Solstice ends it's Alaska season with an August 12-19 sailing to/from Seattle - with the next cruise the start of the repositioning cruises back to Hawaii and Austrailia - from Vancouver - on Sept 9th.

 

The dry dock is scheduled for October which makes me think this gap is due to a private charter. Can anyone confirm this - as I'm on the cruise to Hawaii out of Vancouver Appreciate any info

Now where did you get that false info? We are in the Solstice Sept 2 sailing from Seattle to Vancouver and that is its final Alaska sailing... you are way off.

Everyone is already paid in full, it is a sold out cruise so no longer appearing in the search results unless a vacancy appears once in a while, we already received our cruise documents. The port schedules are all in line. Even independent operators are offering tours to match with Solstice's schedule.

And the Alaska roll calls for very active on Alaska sailings after Aug 19.

Next time verify your info correctly or you risk being flamed/roasted alive in this forum.

Back to topic though. I guess for me it depends what other lines are in the Premium category. I still rate X higher than HAL and Princess, but they are not Azamara, Oceania, etc. - so as long as these lines are in a different category, I'm in agreement.

I agree as well if we make the classification clear. Celebrity is a notch higher than mainstream family cruise lines like its sister company RCCL, NCL, Princess etc. Their food quality, especially the buffet, is slightly higher.

I don't even eat in the buffet anymore in both NCL and RCCL but Celebrity is still passable.

Drink wise Celebrity have more drink types and brands to choose. For example, you can't find ginger bear is almost all RCCL and NCL ships to make Moscow Mule, but they are widely available in Celebrity. You can't also find premium bars in either RCCL and NCL in the mold of Martini Bar or the former Molecular Bar.

But Celebrity is not a 6 star, all inclusive line, utilizing smaller ships like Azama, Oceania, Crystal, Silversea etc. Except for Celebrity Xpedition and the 2 other newly acquired ships sailing the Galapagos.

With this, there are only 2 popular cruise lines in the premium market segment. Celebrity and HAL.

I have sailed HAL and if you compare Celebrity vs HAL. Celebrity is much better. So with not much competitors around in the premium line segment, Celebrity takes the title.

Btw, just also found out that Disney consider themselves as a mainstream family line competing directly with RCCL and NCL, not a premium cruise line as I earlier taught. Disney has been winning so many awards lately no wonder it is not affecting celebrity as they are in the different market segment.

It's my understanding that unrestricted OBC can be used for gratuities on Celebrity, but restricted OBC cannot. Since the Go Big OBC is restricted OBC it cannot be used for gratuities.

It's sad that someone would post false information like this to mislead others.

The cruise I know that you can't use the OBC for gratuities is NCL. Both sister cruise line RCCL and X allows OBC to use for gratuities.

There are now 13 reviews on Trip Advisor, but that's not very many. The company must be doing an excellent job to get the 5-star reviews. However, you can't miss what you haven't experienced, so the folks on Liquid Alaska's tour likely haven't been on a tour that spends twice as much time on the glacier for a comparison.

 

Like you, I'd be concerned about missing the ABAK tour and losing my money if I arrived late into port. Good luck with your decision!

From what I read in the recent reviews, might be the tour guides assigned on this tour are really entertaining and good as the reviewers kept on mentioning their names.

Same case when I took that Ultimate Santorini tour, even if the tour is shorter and pricier than others, the guide was really good and I am very satisfied and the money is well spent even if it is short and pricey.

Yeah, hate it when we are tending and booking an independent excursion. My experience is it is really better to book the ship's excursion on tender ports.

But unfortunately, both are not offered by our ship.

One thing going for the shorter tour, given all the experts are saying that going to ice caves and walking on this glaciers is risky and not many tour operators are willing to bring guests there except these 2 given the risk....

As a cave already collapsed in July 2014 and there are already fatalities in other 2 ice caves in the US..

You mitigate risks by spending shorter time in it.. just enough to take some great pictures.

Thanks. I know it would be very tight if you don't have priority tender ticket.

I need to know about the experiences of those who had priority tendering benefit with Solstice in Juneau. Will it really helped in this case?

I've read in some cases, the priority tender tickets will be delivered to your stateroom by the attendant, in other cases, you need to ask for it from your concierge/hostess anytime before the tendering port.

I would have booked via the ship, I preferred it actually due to the OBC given by the GO BETTER promo.. but the problem is the excursion is not available in the ship's tour in all of Celebrity's 3 ships sailing Alaska.

Kind of weird that it is being offered by their sister company Royal Caribbean as I saw it as part of the excursions being offered in Explorer of the Seas sailing almost the same route as Solstice.

You are definitely being shortchanged with only 1 hour allotted for the glacier hike and ice caves exploration: http://www.mendenhallicecaves.com/#tour-info I would email or call Above and Beyond and ask if you have enough time to make their 2:30 tour.

 

This is what one reviewer said about this tour on Trip Advisor: "The hike itself was mostly on a rocky hillside, not on the glacier itself. We split into two groups to go into the ice caves and just spent a few minutes inside of them." https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g31020-d10342096-r396907074-Liquid_Alaska_Tours-Juneau_Alaska.html#REVIEWS

Yeah, I've been in contact with Above and Beyond for days already and they won't wait for me in case I am late as their tour duration is until Solstice all aboard time. So in case Allen Marine gets delayed or I got delayed in the tenders. There will be no refund.

I will normally book ABAK without 2nd thoughts as they are very reputable, doing this for more than 10 years, better value for money due to longer excursion, and I already have communicated with this company since 2014 but didn't go to the ice cave as it collapsed that year.

But the time is tight, and there is a an option for a later tour at less risk of not making it at 3:30pm but shorter and felt being shortchanged.

That is why I am still undecided.

But what intrigues me is this shorter has been getting 5 stars consistently in all 12 reviews made all last month.

There must be something that satisfied the guests... perhaps it is a smaller group? Perhaps the current guides are really good and entertaining or efficient? On smaller tours and better guides, in my experience, can make up for the shorter duration even at premium price.

Here is the video of their tour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSNqjPxCR38

So hopefully there is someone here who actually have taken Liquid Alaska tour to shed light and give more information on this based on their experience.

And again as of now, I am still undecided. As there are some risks involved in not making the tour at 2:30PM.

I'm really in a bind on which providers to take. Of course I prefer Above and Beyond as they are doing it for so long already but their excursion is too early at 2:30pm as Solstice arrives in Juneau at 1:30pm and still have to tender. And I am coming from Allen Marine boat excursion so that will make it tighter.

Alaska Shore Excursions is actually Liquid Alaska Tours, it seems to be a fairly new company but so far all of their TripAdvisor 12 reviews are rated 5 stars

https://www.tripadvisor.com.ph/Attraction_Review-g31020-d10342096-Reviews-Liquid_Alaska_Tours-Juneau_Alaska.html

They have a tour at 3:30pm so this gives me more allowance coming from Allen Marine boat tour and I can even eat a short lunch at the ship.

But I feel shortchanged that their tour is only 5 hours vs 6.5 hours of Above and Beyond for almost the same price.

Anyone has actual experience taking it with Alaska Shore Excursions?

A few questions, how do we obtain priority tender benefits for Juneno?

 

Ladytee

Either you book a suite or you are Elite or higher in Captain's Club.

Or a Diamond member or higher with Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society as it gives you Elite status with X via reciprocal arrangement once you register in Captain's Club online using the same credentials as your Crown and Anchor profile.