floatel_lvr

2 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Almost always. 

Figured... but wasn't sure since our last sailing was in '19. Thanks!

Do the D/D+/P drink vouchers get "used" when having beverages at the nightly DL event? Is it always? Sometimes? It depends? 

31 minutes ago, mafig said:

 

We did the maiden voyage of Coral Princess back in 2003.  Coral is sister ship to Island.  Probably the same itinerary.  Those are two lovely ships.

We loved that cruise!

Since the Radiance Class are one of our favorite ships as far as look and feel we felt right at home on the Island.  She was fabulous.  Not all the bells and whistles of the bigger girls but a great class of ship none the less and a very comfortable layout.  Easy to get around, never felt crowded and great service.

We sailed Princess once into the Panama Canal back in 2009.  It was a wonderful cruise on the lovely Island Princess.  Food was excellent both in the MDR and specialty.  The chef's table experience was the best we have ever done by FAR. There were things we liked better than Royal and things we liked better about Princess.  One thing I remember to this day was returning to the ship on a very hot day and being greeted on the line with a frozen towel and cool drink.  Nice touch.

15 hours ago, remarcm said:

Glad to hear you like X Rich, hope Patti did also. We made the switch and have enjoyed the change. Have 1 more Royal scheduled and 9 Celebrity so tells you my opinion.

Marty,

Nice to hear from you.  We have one more Royal booked and have not made other cruise plans yet.  But Celebrity will be at the TOP of our list for sure.  We really had a wonderful time on the EQ.

Looks like you have some fun times ahead.  Hope to bump into you guys again soon.  Happy holidays!

29 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

Do they give you the block of the ship that you're sailing on/recently sailed, or is it a random draw from the fleet?

They give you the block of the ship that you are sailing (and attained the required number of days).

On 10/10/2019 at 8:16 AM, chemmo said:

 

We always say we get three levels of pleasure from a cruise...

 

The anticipation (much helped by Cruise Critic).

The cruise itself.

The memories (aided by such photographs)...

Absolutely agree!

3 hours ago, aml3679 said:

Thank you for your positive review.  There are so many people complaining right now:  no tote bags, no footstools, etc.  It is refreshing to see this.  We are on her in 2/20 and 2/21.  Cannot wait.

Appreciate (and understand) the feedback.  Our feeling is that a cruise or any vacation is what you make of it.  We always try to focus on the positive.  There are always little niggles but there was nothing that went wrong in any big way.  Even the weather was wonderful which was not the way it looked prior to sailing.

5 hours ago, ShawninFL said:

Thanks for posting.  I'm glad you enjoyed your first Celebrity experience.  We've only been in a Suite once and it was also on the Equinox.  It was an amazing experience.  We have our second Suite experience Thanksgiving week on the Infinity.

 

Happy Cruising!

I am sure you will love it as much as we did.  Great product.  Can't wait to give them another go.

21 minutes ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

We are first time Celebrity cruisers next month and appreciate your summary of your first time.

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk
 

I hope that my experience from the perspective of a seasoned Royal cruiser helps others in some way even if just to help with the pre-cruise excitement... 

My wife and I just returned from the 11 Day Caribbean sailing on the Equinox.  The itinerary could not have been any better.  2 Sea Days to get into Cruise Mode and then 6 port stops to be followed by 2 more Sea Days.  The Equinox is a beautiful ship that is kept VERY clean!  The entire crew were very attentive and gave you a sense that they truly wanted you to enjoy your holiday. 

We were fortunate to be in a corner aft Sky Suite on Deck 10, number 1403.  Being in a Suite we were able to dine in Luminae for most of our meals.  The food and service were both excellent.  In Luminae Richie and Paul (waiters) and Yan (bar service) each provided amazing service for the entire trip. The full staff in Luminae were all wonderful and welcoming. We also dined with a group in Murano one night and had a spectacular meal.  We also used the Oceanview (buffet) a couple of times for lunch and found it to be full of options and also seemed very well maintained and organized. 

We also enjoyed many of the entertainers and live music.

Some other things we really liked:

Being handed a glass of champagne upon boarding

One sunny sea day there was in impromptu sorbet service parade poolside, an actual parade of waiters served sorbet to anyone interested

Being greeted port side with cool drinks and or chilled towels

Cleanest vessel we have ever sailed on

Due to the ship design and implementation live music played in the grand foyer in the evenings was able to be enjoyed from floor 3 through 5 in many venues (martini bar, café bacio, Craft Social etc...)

Activities such as putting in the grand foyer and archery were welcome new events.  As were Yes/No and Filthy Feud.

I had read/heard that the entertainment was not at the same level as Royal.  Maybe there were no broadway shows but the entertainers did a very good job and there was a show each evening. We also saw two very funny comedians.  When the show is not to your liking just move on the next event...

We enjoyed the Sunset Bar/Lawn area for a nice place to chat lawn side and have a cigar.  The occasional live music out there was also a very nice touch

Glass blowing class was an amazing experience. Josh and Justin were both excellent.

The retreat lounge was excellent but we did not partake very often due to so many options.  Alexandra and Ute (sp?) were both delightful.

The only real downer was the Suite Sun Deck.  It really is a shame the refurb was cut short because that area NEEDS water.  We went up there a couple of times and walked right back out. I guess if you just want a quiet place to bake it is fine but there is no bar (but there is service) and no pool or hot tub or shower or sprinkler....

When the cruise ended the debarkation process was also seamless.  We did luggage valet and were at the airport by about 8AM without any struggle at all.

All in all, this was a wonderful cruise vacation.  Thanks to all the folks who answered all my questions and provided input leading up to this. 

Does anyone know if Delta participates in this in FLL?

Boarding next week and following along excitedly... Thanks for posting/sharing!

8 minutes ago, JFontaine said:

I wouldnt call this shoreside concierge.   As far as I know this is on Edge a d Equinox  - any others?  Questions are limited, there is nowhere to add anything not listed, and there is no follow up.  I look it as a marketing opportunity. 

I am not sure I agree.  Questions ranged from what beverage do you want upon arrival and do you want extra blankets or hangers?  Not sure what they would be marketing...

We got the same email for our upcoming trip with a Sky Suite.  I made my selections and am looking forward to sailing.  🙂

1 hour ago, poffles said:

I have all my dailies for my recent Equinox B2B 7 day Eastern/Western but not sure if posting that here would help you much since your cruise is not going to match it exactly given yours has to be either 6 or 11 day.

 

I used the Celebrity App before (and during) my sailing and it was pretty useless with stuff and felt very clunky to use, just isn't user friendly in my opinion and I have worked in IT for over 20 years so I am not new to technology.  It feels like a game of find and seek and when I found something I would not remember where it was when I went looking again.  Oh and if you use it on the ship, make sure you connect to the WIFI (and validate it is connected each time you go to use the App), otherwise you will be in the App wondering why it seems limited.  I was looking for menus and the option that my friend could see in her app was not appearing in mine and I thought it was an Android vs iOS difference but after being challenged for a while I checked my WIFI again and had to select to connect 'again' and viola ... the App will not complain to you so just thought I'd mention.

 

Have a great cruise!

Exactly the way I felt on the Oasis.... These apps are NOT ready for prime time.

1 minute ago, Mike981 said:

 I get all fired up and look at the agenda for the next day, I highlight things of interest for DW and myself. Next day we start on the balcony with a little food from room service, read a little, linger over some coffee and THEN get ready to take in the ship. Of we stop at one of the bars to replenish the soul. By that time a few highlighted items have passed, the musician I wanted to see is playing his last song, or already finished.

For some reason, once we get on the ship we turn into bags of lazy bones.  And we are perfectly fine with that. 🙂

We are aggressive highlighters too.  But we do make about half of them.  😉   But there are many distractions that pop up and it is all good.

1 hour ago, Mike981 said:

A few months ago, the app was hit or miss.

Last time I was on Oasis the app there was useless.

Thank you both.  Royal has the Daily Compass so I knew there would be something like that.  I will be on the Equinox and it recently came out of partial dry dock.  Not sure if that app works for that one.

Is there a place to see what activities, shows or entertainment will be available?

This thread has been very informative... I am now looking forward to our first suite experience even more!!!

Is this the one that goes to Honeymoon Beach?

Thanks for all the input... We are going to book Cosol's for our September trip.  We had done a full tour of St. Lucia years ago but I can't remember with who.  If we did the exact tour again I would be in heaven.  Such a wonder island experience.

15 hours ago, blueboro said:

 

Just curious as to what is missing from the dry dock that you are upset about?

I have to agree that many are complaining like they think Celebrity is pulling one over on them.  Also, they didn’t shorten the dry dock reparations on purpose. 

On 2/5/2019 at 1:24 PM, PTC DAWG said:

The Bride and I are booked on the 11 day Southern Caribbean leaving 9/23/19...looking forward to it, first time on Celebrity...have a hump balcony cabin on Deck 9...I hope they don't cut off too much for the plebeians either...

We are on the same sailing and it is our first on Celebrity as well.  Long time Royal cruisers with on Princess.  Looking forward to the Equinox and all she has to offer.