360Guy

We are sailing first time on Serenity 7/2 Vancouver RT. If you wouldn’t mind elaborating further with respect to your thoughts on the “mixed” food. Reviews on this board for Waterside have been very positive. Thanks!

Very grateful for the daily Reflections and menus! We will sail Serenity for the first time July 2nd round trip Vancouver. Can’t wait….I have been so impressed by the variety of the daily Waterside menus! Food looks amazing!!

We are booked for Onward June 2025 from Lisbon to Southampton including Bordeaux overnight. We plan to bring local bottles of wine onboard and pay the very reasonable corkage. So grateful Azamara gives this option to their guests. Looking forward to our cruise!!

Hi CruisePfan, We live part time in San Diego. There is a Rite Aid just a couple of blocks from the cruise terminal: https://www.riteaid.com/locations/ca/san-diego/1411-kettner-boulevard.html Hope this helps! Have a wonderful cruise!! Bob

Thank you Rob for posting these wonderful pictures of your dinner! A fantastic food and wine pairing. Can’t wait for our Vancouver cruise…

We have been loyal for 15+ years. Just finished a Best of Japan cruise in October 2023. Great itinerary and hard working crew as always. The MDR food was fine but limited. Gone were many favorites. Have not see the menu “revamp”. Now booked on Azamara, Viking and Crystal. The per diem on these are higher for sure. But the same “Best of Japan” cruise in 2024 is 50% higher. If Celebrity has an interesting itinerary we would likely book. The cruise industry is imho trying to recover their COVID losses and have massive debt to service. The ships are full and prices are way up. If people are not happy then try another cruise line….they would all love to have you and I think Celebrity corporate hasn’t figured it out. Staffing is very tight. Our Millenium crew worked very hard and were fantastic. So….despite our Elite Plus status we are going to see if the grass is greener….

Keith, Thank you for sharing your experiences on this cruise and the effort you put into providing the various pictures, daily reflections and Waterside menus. Much appreciated! It looked like a fantastic cruise in every way. We were already booked on the Serenity Quebec City to New York late September, and your feedback as well as others we have been reading motivated us to book the Vancouver-Vancouver cruise in early July! The suite upgrade was very enticing…and frankly I am just impatient to experience Crystal for the first time! Have a safe trip home and looking forward to our upcoming cruises with Crystal! Bob

Hi Keith, We are booked 9/24/24 on Serenity. Really looking forward to the cruise! We understand about the reservations from the helpful thread above. Should we contact Crystal offices to see which night is formal? I think we have a sea day after sailing from Quebec City (overnight first night). We want to dine in Waterside on formal evening. Thanks for your help! Bob

We are sailing next year on Azamara. We may pick up some wine in Porto and Lisbon to bring aboard. Can anyone advise the current corkage charge? Thank you! Bob

Hi…question….why a color copy vs B&W? Thanks!

Thank you for posting! Looks wonderful. We are on the Best of Japan 10/12 sailing and have bid for an Aqua upgrade….fingers crossed! Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Thank you canloan….yes that is what we are seeing also, we booked this cruise about 18 months ago and survived the ship switch with a number of folks on our roll call getting cancelled. And we booked before a lot of changes both pricing and food, etc. We just made Elite Plus which now seems like free 2x laundry/pp is the real perk. We’ve booked a Viking River, Crystal (yikes $$$) and an Azamara for 2025. Need to try some others. This cruise will be a test of sorts. Seems like food in the MDR has taken a real hit in terms of offerings that were standards for many years. Sad as I looked forward to them. Hoping the sailing you are on is going well…Millenium is a lovely ship…we were last on her in October of 2021 with 700 total passengers…..something we will never experience again and it was just wonderful all around.

Will be on Millenium 10/12. Is the app correct for the MDR your transpacific cruise? If yes it looks like some of the regular menu items are gone like lamb shank, beef short ribs, rack of lamb, etc? Just thinking that the menu on the app for your cruise will basically be the same for our 12 night Best of Japan on 10/12. Really would be disappointing if those items are part of the menu changes. Thanks for your feedback….I like mashed potatoes but not every night! Bob

We just booked our first Crystal cruise for September Quebec to New York on Serenity. Technically our second booking but our first was the same itinerary for October 2020 and we all know how that turned out. So very grateful for all the posts on this thread and others about their experiences. We are longtime Celebrity and have been anxiously following Crystal’s return and are excited!

Greetings….it has been 11 years since our last Azamara cruise on the Quest along the Croatian coast. It was really very nice. The past 12 years have been on Celebrity including a 10/2021return to service on Millenium and a 4/2022 1st sailing on Solstice out of Southampton with a very full ship. We’ve never really had a bad experience on Celebrity but the recent noise volume on their CC boards is pretty stiff. We sail on Millenium Best of Japan 10/12 that has been sold out for almost two years (oversold at one point) so will have an opportunity to provide feedback. After this long winded intro we are looking at the Azamara Onward June 1, 2025 Lisbon to Southampton 10 night. Getting some quotes and hope to book soon. Wonderful itinerary and we really like that we can bring wine onboard as we make stops in Portugal and France and pay the reasonable corkage. It has a great itinerary. We also booked a Crystal Serenity Canada Quebec to NYC in September 2024. This will be our first foray into the luxury space and their return to service has been very good as CC posts are reporting. The per diem on this cruise is multiples of Celebrity and Azamara, but we had one booked before COVID and then they went bankrupt. I really enjoy and appreciate the time everyone takes on these boards sharing their experiences and recommendations!

Keith, So very grateful for all the posts along with amazing pictures. We were originally booked for a Crystal cruise in 2020 but COVID and Canada closed the ports. Now looking at a similar Lisbon to Dover in July 2024 you just sailed on Symphony or the Quebec City to New York late September 2024 on Serenity. Any thoughts on these for Crystal first timers? Thank you! Bob and Ray

Glad the OP had an acceptable quarantine experience. We had about a 180 degree different experience on the Silhouette in April out of Southampton. Have cancelled cruises since. Continue to see a large variance in quarantine experiences that demonstrate Celebrity is struggling to deliver a consistent model. Staffing shortages seem to contribute along with each ship doing some things well and others do not. Giving the industry more time to settle. Looking forward to returning to cruising.

Glad to hear the room service experience was great and that you are feeling better!

That is very encouraging and pleased to hear the response was proactive. Gives us hope the process is improving and we will consider cruising next year. Hope you are both fully recovered!

As Jim and Suzyluvs2cruise have given excellent information, my comment is why does Celebrity continue to make the process of quarantine such an administrative ordeal? Why do people have to beg for lab test results or clear written communication regarding a refund (or FCC if that is what the customer wants?). It all seems as though return to service creaks along and COVID experience is sometimes a complete 180 depending on your ship passenger load and crew staffing. We loved our Silhouette crew on 4/21 but COVID overwhelmed the ship’s ability to handle the needs. I know others will say it was fine and be prepared, etc. Just find it frustrating to see others still going through similar stuff three months later.

So very grateful for this wonderful news. Wishing you a smooth and safe flight and finally being home! I know your family and friends are overjoyed! Many hugs!

You can sail with a certificate of recovery. You will need to research providers online and provide your identification and a formal COVID positive test report. Cost varies. Check the Celebrity webpages for details on what the certificate requires. You are within the time frame (10-90 days) prior to cruise. I assume you can get one in Canada. Best wishes!

Thank you TBC for emphasizing that after 5/1/22 Celebrity will only cover onboard Covid care from medical and the FCC/refund for quarantine days. You should strongly consider trip insurance to cover interruption if disembarked and require quarantine past your scheduled return date. No hotel or food per diem. No air deviation cost coverage although they will assist with rebooking. And cruise with confidence ends 9/30/22 also. Factor these and all other aspects noted on previous posts as you make your decision.

We were on 4/21 Silhouette sailing. 2700 passengers. Mostly British first cruising out of Southampton for the season. No masking, coughing started by day 2-3. Captain daily announced “a few cases…mild or asymptomatic…wash your hands(!)”. We wore KN95 masks anytime out of cabin only removed for food and drink. No shows. By day 6 my partner tested positive and we self reported. Last 3 days in quarantine in our cabin. Rumor was deck 3 was full and we also guessed since very mild symptoms we stayed. Time in quarantine was what you would expect. Staff tried very hard but they were short staffed…we love them. Every day was a battle with room service…how long for food? 1-3 hours depending on meal. Phone would ring for 2 minutes then disconnect, call back, repeat. Usually after 4-5 attempts a lovely lady would answer..she was always so nice yet I knew she must be losing her mind. Over 100 positive cases “reported”. Many were not. A number post cruises reported on FB positive. We were stuck in London until obtaining a Covid recovery certificate. No more overseas cruises until test to return is lifted. Almost all support except onboard medical and credit for quarantine changed.5/1/22. Better have insurance for interruption and a very clear understanding of what quarantine is and is not. We have hit the pause button so far and have a 7/6 final payment for a TA we really want to take but not so sure now…