keesar

17 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

Unfortunately, hair color is not listed on the menu provided at plan my cruise. I have a hair color done on nearly every cruise and it runs just over $100 usually

On the Ascent, Color and Consultation was free.  Permanent Color is listed as $99 and up.  Prices can vary port versus sea days. This is from a brochure provided on the ship.

12 hours ago, handbellplayer said:

Celebrity has added this venue on its newer Edge-class ships.  We are sailing on Beyond in November and are looking forward to checking it out.  I looked at the deck plans and its looks like they have replaced the Casino Bar with Craft Social.  My recollection is that the Casino Bar on Edge was very small. For those have been on the newer Edge-class ships, was it hard to get a seat in the the Craft Social Bar?  Just don't want to be disappointed

In the late afternoons and evenings on Beyond and Ascent, the place was really busy.  The area serves as a sports bar with many televisions.  When we were there, there was basketball, hockey and tennis being shown.  It is not a large area. Get there early...

I believe the goal is to increase participation.  Silent Disco truly does that and it is alot of fun. I was initially skeptical but give it a try.  One of the problems with the traditional dancing is the small size of the dance floor.  Just count the number of  cruisers dancing to the sounds of the Silent Disco and that is your answer.  

4 hours ago, mafig said:

Which would you take for a Caribbean cruise in January;

 

I haven't been on the X boards for a few months.  When I was last here, the threads were filled with complaints about noisy cabins on Beyond.  I don't see them much, if at all now.  Has the problem been fixed, or are we not allowed to talk about that anymore.

 

Also haven't been on Celebrity for a while.  We had a E-class booked that was cancelled because of Covid and I tried to get the same pricing for a suite, but to no avail.  So we might just bite the bullet and pay a little (a lot) more.

 

 

There were many complaints of noise in rooms on Beyond.  Choose your room carefully.  Or make sure you bring ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones just in case.

I would go with Reflection.  Longer is better especially in an S class ship.  Loved the specialty restaurants on the Reflection.  Beyond would not be my choice due to creaking in rooms.   I am sensitive to noise.   

I would be more concerned with bad weather if one were flying.

As for the ship, we departed around this time of year during hurricane season.  There was a major hurricane and our itinerary was  changed.    Our Western became an Eastern cruise.

It could be just luck for me but I have not had difficulties getting a pool chair on Royal.  It has been a different story for me on Celebrity.  On our last several cruises, people are up at the crack of dawn reserving chairs and not showing up until after their excursions had ended and had lunch.  .  

At opening night, the Cruise Director will often talk about the  performers that will appear that week.  As mentioned, the shows will remain the same.

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Have you tried getting your butler to handle getting IT to your cabin to fix?  Each cabin has a Starlink router which is probably the cause of your outage.

Great tip.  We had poor internet on the Equinox.  After speaking with IT, a technician came to our room with a "signal booster" which made a huge difference.  We no longer had to leave the room to get decent service.

19 minutes ago, LEMJMcC said:

Thanks so much for all the input.  Celebrity certainly looks to be more in line with our interests when cruising, though I admit I enjoyed the waterslides on Wonder, so did my wife, after some coaxing from me!

 

We particularly like the Central Park neighborhood on the Oasis class - I'm wondering if there is similar atmosphere to be found on some of the Celebrity ships.  We enjoyed the live musicians that would play in the evenings in CP and would often find ourselves there after dinner just relaxing and enjoying a coffee and some dessert, okay maybe second or third dessert for me...

I also miss the Central Park area on Celebrity ships.  I would say the biggest difference is the energy level on the ships.  There is a lot more to do at night on the Royal ships.  More people participate in the late night activities on Royal as well.  

Burgers and pizza are not a reason to cruise on Celebrity. 😥     Better on Royal.  Also, we really enjoyed the Junior Suites on Royal on the rear of the ship.  Huge veranda and great views.

Tuscan Grille is a Speciality Restaurant on your S class ship, the Eclipse.

Tuscan Restaurant is a main dining room on the newer E class ships.

The views from the restaurant on the Eclipse are the main attraction to us.

5 minutes ago, IDL said:

Agreed, appropriate question: “is anyone sitting there?” and if the answer is no the seat is available. 

You offer great advice.  What I  typically say is  "Do you mind if we join you?"  Next time,  "Is anyone sitting there?".   

Another factor to consider is your location.  We had Premium and in certain areas of the Caribbean I could not do FaceTime or even send photos.  In other areas, no problem.  

Surely, you cannot rate the pizza as being  even close to an 8.  I found the weakest foods as being pizza and the cake desserts.

Favorites include the ethnic foods, carving stations, and the fruit/salad bars.  

1 hour ago, drakes2 said:

Understandable. I'm the opposite. I talk to everyone and anyone. If they're not interested in conversation that's ok, I can move on. 

The issue is that on sea days, the buffet was jam packed.  I found it selfish that an individual was sitting alone at a table for 6 and would not share the end of the table.  It was obvious that many of us were walking around looking for a place to sit.  I cannot figure out why someone who  apparently wants to be alone would dine in a crowded buffet, never mind at a table for 6 when there were singles available.  When we are at a table for 4, we will ask others if they would like to join us.  

Solution:  We ended up leaving and having an enjoyable lunch at Eden.

On 7/26/2024 at 5:58 PM, sayok said:

After reading this thread I called on a reservation that I made (online) 2 weeks ago to inquire about the upgrade related to my status as Elite. The person was very helpful and explained that since I'm booked in a C1, the "perk" would be to get it at the C2 price; however, when she looked closer she said the price had gone up during the time since I booked, and that the C2 was now more expensive than the C1 I have. I asked, for future cruises, how to secure the upgrade/discount, and she said soon after making the reservation online (like within 24 hours or so) I need to call to have it repriced. Lesson learned!

I make the request at the time of making the reservation either on the ship or via phone.  If you are making the reservation online, then call asap.

On 7/27/2024 at 8:29 AM, Abernhar said:

Hi

Living in Norway (Europe). Earlier today i called Celebrity to order a drink pack. Upgrade on a cruise i january 2025.

They are having a sale this weekend (-35%) - but they refused to give me the Elite discount (-15%) on top of that.

On previous cruises this have never been a problem - so i just wonder if this is something new or someone at Celebrity have found a new rule?

In the past, I was able to stack discounts.  However, that is not the case now.  

24 minutes ago, michri said:

The English breakfast items were surprisingly good.  The bangers were very much like the ones you find in the UK.  We will be in Aqua class for our cruise on the Solstice.  I hope I will be able to get them in Blu.

You will have to go to the Buffet to get your bangers.  None in Blu.  

3 hours ago, seb530 said:

Hi all, we are looking at Asia 2026 and choices of cruise lines seem limited to Princess, Celebrity and Norwegian
Having looked at a few videos of Solstice it seems, in my wifes words, a little dark and dull - i realise the ship is fairly old but is that the realistic view?

From reading the material, celebrity seems to employ a class type system which seems to mean all passengers dont get equal access to all restaurants etc, for those that have sailed "steerage" 😉 how much of an issue was that? is it simply a couple of venues or are fairly large sections of the ship closed off

As for Solstice, it is a nice ship.  Have sailed it many times and have enjoyed our vacations.  There are  specialty restaurants available to all in addition to a main dining room and buffet..  However, the ship shows signs of her age.  

4 hours ago, omahabob said:

Is this the one where you send a deposit to Nigeria first?  

No, the agent said no deposit is needed as long as I provided my Social Security number and date of birth to prove it was me.  💰

On 7/27/2024 at 9:32 AM, jrbeccles said:

I have a group of 36 neighbors going on the Reflection four-night cruise (M-F) in October. We have the 6pm dining time. Can anyone tell me when, and what are, the late shows on the Reflection? If you know the day also that would be wonderful

Thanks as always

jrbeccles

Typically, it would be 9:30.  

13 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Because it is very common for travel agents to "hold" a block of cabins that are exclusive to booking through them.  The cruise line will not show them as available because they are "taken".  At some point (if the TA does not book them) they will be returned to Celebrity inventory and all of a sudden you see a bunch of cabins that weren't there before.

You are correct.  I was having a discussion with a Celebrity Vacation Planner as I had inquired about a room in a certain location.  He was able to tell me that the rooms in that area were not booked with passengers by Celebrity but by a third party.  He said some of those rooms could be returned to inventory.

I believe the policy will be to have you have breakfast in your assigned breakfast area for the first leg.  

On 7/25/2024 at 6:53 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

 Thank you.  That is certainly a change as we were not charged.  

 Not that it matters, I'd pay the fee just to not have to deal with bags. 

 

The charge is something new for that class of cruiser.  It was well worth it as we did not have to deal with the chaos at the airport.  It was a sense of relief especially seeing all those people waiting for the time to be allowed  to check their luggage.  

Instead of ducks, how about hiding plastic colored Easter eggs onboard?  Inside, there could be candy, coins or words of inspiration.