Sigyn

We'll be in the Haven for a spring break cruise on the Joy. I wouldn't normally consider booking Vibe, but it is a spring break cruise and that will give my husband and I some peace away from all the youngest kids (our son is 16, so he won't care that we aren't at his beck and call.) And I know that Joy is redoing their Vibe deck to expand it, so that might be nice. My question is, have you ever booked Vibe when you're in the Haven? Is it overkill? 

We're cruising with a teenager - he'll be 16 - in March on the Joy, but I don't mind these changes. He liked the Galaxy Pavilion on the Prima when we were on that in December, but he'll be okay without it, and I will definitely like the Thermal Spa. I loved the one on the Prima. As for the removal of Laser Tag, well, we would have used it, but probably only once, so that's fine. My son mostly spends his time on spring break cruises hanging out with new friends his age and going to the pool and relaxing around the ship. 

5 hours ago, jlowe420 said:

The haven elevators are to die for.

really??? do tell. how are they different? We'll be in the Haven for the first time in March. We just cruised Celebrity in The Retreat, so it will be interesting to compare. 

On 7/19/2023 at 4:43 PM, jlowe420 said:

 

My past few cruises on the Prima and upcoming on the Viva absolutely are at Ritz Carlton prices.

I was just gonna say, my Haven room even NOT on the Prima is comparable to the Ritz!

Answers:

1. 3-4 & 5-7

2. Tallest

3. South Beach

4. True

5. Cabana

6. Oasis Lagoon

7. Thrill Waterpark

8: Helium Balloon

9. Fort Lauderdale

10. Celebrity Beyond and Celebrity Reflection 

I was just on the Millennium to Alaska. They offered Bingo.

We started in Vancouver, northbound to Alaska, and it was seamless at the Vancouver pier and it was easy disembarking in Seward, too, and getting to the Anchorage airport. No complaints. We stayed at the Auberge, which is a 4-5 minute walk to the port, if that, and asked the bell desk to help us get our luggage to the pier. So they sent someone with us from the bell desk with a luggage cart and he walked with us and took our luggage with us from the hotel all the way to where we dropped off our luggage at the port in the garage underground. We tipped him for his help. No additional charge. Then we went back upstairs at the port and checked in for our cruise. We had him meet us at our hotel room at about 10:10 am, we walked over, checked in our luggage (there was a short line for luggage, maybe 3-4 people) and no line for check in for the cruise. We had a 10:30 am check in. We whizzed through customs and we were on board the ship before 11 am. 

In Seward, we had to disembark very early to make the train to Anchorage, which we booked through Celebrity. We had to be off the ship at 6 am. They opened up the Ocean View buffet at 5:30 am for breakfast, so we stopped in there first. All of our luggage we'd put out the night before was already on the train so we didn't have to deal with that. We just had one carry on that we'd put our toiletries and extras in. We walked right off the ship at 6 am and onto the train by 6:10 am and got our seats. The train was right next to the ship. It was a beautiful train ride and we arrived in Anchorage at the airport around 11:30 am. There was breakfast and lunch to purchase on the train, too. We were able to keep our bags at the airport in the luggage storage room with Celebrity until 3 pm for no extra charge, since our flight wasn't until later, and even put our extra carry on in there with the ones from the train, and we went out for lunch in the city and came back in time for our flight. It was so easy. 

 

12 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

So did you say something like, "that was easy" after you finished printing?  And aren't you back from your cruise now--and if so, don't you have something more insightful to post other than how the luggage tag crisis was dealt with?  I want details.  Lol.  You didn't change your avatar picture so I take it nothing traumatic occurred.

I'm still jet lagged, so my brain is only able to process very simple things. 🤣

As for my friend, she has clearly convinced herself for literally 20 years that their printer (clearly, multiple printers over that time span) doesn't work, despite her husband and son telling her that it works fine, so for me to pile on to that would just make her feel bad. 

Update: I was able to print at my friend's house. She had a printer. For 20 years, she'd told me she didn't have a printer that worked. I casually mentioned to her husband that I needed to print something and he said, "oh, we have a printer. My wife just doesn't know how to use it." It did wireless printing from my laptop and a minute later I had my luggage tags. 🙂 

3 hours ago, KellyCz said:

Cherry Lane martini was my go-to on Summit earlier this year. Delicious!

Yes, that one was good, too! I also liked the mint chocolate martini. It wasn't on the menu, but was SO GOOD. 

I book directly through Celebrity. I don't think I get the very best deal, I'm sure I could save a few hundred through a TA, or get more OBC or other extras through a TA. However, I like doing it myself and not dealing with a third party. So that's why I opt for booking direct. 

3 hours ago, NanaPam00 said:

We LOVE the 25th Anniversary martini - it's not on the menu on Edge class ships and we missed it greatly!

It was fantastic!

@JLMcruise it was our first stop, too!

My husband wanted something with bourbon, so Guna made him a martini he called "Sex on Pier 69" 🤣 with peach bourbon and it was delicious, too. 

It's a real thing. Use it for anything you want to purchase - excursions, restaurants on board, things you buy onboard, etc. I've read others use it for gratuities, etc., too, but I'm not sure how you do that. 

There were no hidden costs as long as you pay your gratuities in advance, and those aren't hidden since you're told you have them due. We just got off our cruise and we paid nothing extra other than an excursion we bought on board. 

1 hour ago, nighthawk2008 said:

Got it, thanks.  I am also doing Alaskan northbound sailing, don't see too much activities for my two kiddos (7 and 12), so was hoping there are movies to keep them entertained.

There was trivia, including family trivia, and silent disco, including some family silent disco. There weren't a ton of teenagers on our northbound cruise last week, but those I saw seemed happy enough. As the mom of three ages 15, 20 and 22, I know happy vs. not-happy faces on teens. 

17 minutes ago, Cruise Gopher said:

They are the best bartenders! I love the Fresca Martini. 🍉

oooh, that was the ONLY one I didn't try! I clearly need to book another cruise, 

2 minutes ago, nighthawk2008 said:

Thanks for the response.  No rooftop terrace movie at all?

Not that I recall seeing. It was an Alaskan cruise, so I don't think people wanted to hang out in the great, chilly outdoors. I saw one posted for the theater mid-day most days.

9 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I'm 55 and I NEVER play music without my earbuds. If I need to take a call, I move to somewhere private.  Are you saying I'm an outlier?  If so, this has not been my experience but I will defer to you and your experience.  Not saying it's not so...just not in my neck of the woods.  And for reference, the offender in the Solarium on my cruise was a millennial...  who I guess, should have known better.

Same - I'm 55 and I would never, ever use my devices without my earbuds. 

We just did an Alaskan cruise from Vancouver to Seward on the Celebrity Millennium and it was utterly amazing. We did the closeup excursion to the Hubbard Glacier and it was spectacular. I loved the food, the staff on board, the cabin...everything about the cruise. I have cruised on NCL and RCL, but not to Alaska, and the Celebrity experience was hands down far superior. Better food, better service and a better ship (and we were on NCL's newest ship, the Prima, vs. Celebrity's oldest!) I did sail in a suite, but the only "suite" things that I experienced was Luminae for food and having a butler bring extra things to our room. I would have been quite happy in a regular veranda, too. We also dined in the Ocean View buffet for lunch sometimes and for breakfast twice, and the food there was quite good, and we spent time all around the ship in various bars and lounging areas and just loved the atmosphere. The onboard naturalist, Celia Garland, spoke four different times and gave updates the whole time the ship was at Hubbard Glacier and she was utterly fantastic. 

They played movies in the Celebrity Theater during our Alaskan cruise last week. 

3 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

Last September we were on the Solstice and tried it.  Really fun when you have a group to sit in the pods of chairs.  One night I was there solo and so I sat at the ice top bar.  I accidently bumped my glass and a little martini ran down the stem to the base.  Just about never got the glass off the ice after that, took some doing.  I was afraid of breaking the glass.

The bartenders have a special tool they use to pry the glass off. Mine got stuck, too. 

Thanks for the input. I booked the cruise with these ports, so I'll get to experience them firsthand. Maybe we'll just go ahead and dive at every port. 

I absolutely LOVED the Martini Bar on the Millennium. Krishna and Guna were the bartenders and they were so much fun. I already miss the Lycheetini. Here is the current bar menu if anyone is interested. 

We found Liudmyla to be fabulous. She said she's taking a break in August, then she'll be back for the new Ascent in November. It's tempting to do a cruise just to experience her amazing service and charming personality again. 

All of the info was much appreciated. We ended up using my husband's older Canon SLR to see how much we'd like using a separate camera since we'd gotten out of the habit. Turns out it was fine, we didn't mine the extra effort. So now we'll do a bit more research, etc., before our next cruise. 

1 minute ago, mitz18 said:

Is it possible she was also the sommelier for Tuscan (directly below Luminae) & therefore part of their team?  She has to be under some restaurant manager I would think.

I'm not sure - she was in Luminae every single time we were there, whether for lunch or dinner, and was there for the entire meal. I can't imagine she was doing dual duty at another restaurant. But of course it's possible.