kearney

17 hours ago, Galaxy2004 said:

We were on this same sailing and can confirm seeing servers walking around selling the pre-made drinks the last 2 sea days. I even said to my cruise mate that I wasn't used to seeing that on Celebrity (15 cruises). We didn't hang out around the pool so can report on that, but lounging in the solarium and chairs leading on both sides to the Sunset Bar we had servers coming around regularly to take orders, especially near the Sunset Bar. Almost impossible to get servers during lunchtime for us so I always picked up something on the way in or at the Oceanview Bar. Maybe repositioning some of the servers would help. Definitely agree with there being staffing problems in the main dining room during dinner, at least the anytime dining section. Staff always friendly but definitely rushed, rushed, rushed.

I have not seen that before either...but now that they have done away with the Always Included..for virtually everyone... they may be pushing drinks... targeting the 'cruise only' crowd.

If you really like to enjoy the art on a ship... the E class is the way to go. But we prefer the S class. There seem to be more places to enjoy a drink and different live music. S class has the Martini bar in the atrium and the Passport bar..tucked a bit back on a lower deck in the atrium (louder music and sometimes dancing). Ensemble lounge on 5 is quite with usually a trio.. near the specialty restaurants. The world Class Bar... a bit further away from the atrium and the Sky Lounge in the bow with large windows with a view out front (Edge has no forward view like this)...and the Sunset bar on the top deck aft. Edge main indoor bar is the Martini bar... which is in the atrium. What I don't like on Edge is that the atrium has a mall feel...with the specialty restaurants opening to the atrium and the loud music... not the nice quiet feel of the various specialty restaurants on S class (except Sushi on 5..which is on the atrium). Eden is nice to visit..but seats were so uncomfortable that we spent little time there... and while you have no view out the front of E class.. Eden does have a nice view out back with three story bank of windows. the hallways in the public areas and elevators on E class are better if you have a scooter.. but if your cabin is forward and you want to head to the Martini bar.. you either need to change elevators on 4 or drive down the passenger cabin to get to the aft elevators. I liked the 4 dining room options on Edge, but DH didn't care for it... because we had a different wait staff each time. DH did not like the IV cabin... since he likes to sit outside... I always burn so actually liked the IV. I would sail Edge again...but not at a premium to S class. Another thing about S class... if you want a quiet place to read... someplace outside your cabin..there are lots of places... from the library, card room... to Sky Lounge in the afternoon (except perhaps during trivia). E Class ships are worth trying but if you are just going to do one to try Celebrity.. I would go with S class. One more thing... if you want to purchase a Tiffany or Cartier product... E class is the way to go.. BUT be warned.. prices..at least for Cartier are the same as in the US...and when you arrive back in US port... the crew will likely take you to customs so that you can pay duty on your ship board purchase... so if you think you will save a lot... I think the duty limit is about $800. So keep that in mind.

I like ParknGo as well... my husband has mobility issues... can't walk long distances... so it is nice to just pull in to their lot..go right on a shuttle and head off to port... and at the end of the cruise their vans are there waiting for us... quick and easy. however, you need to leave your keys... which has not been a problem..but it would be nice if we could park it ourselves. However the lot is not that large and it would not be nearly as fast as the system they have. I just leave an AirTag in the car.. 🙂  If you pay in advance it is cheaper... and if you have to cancel. they will return the fee.

What type of cabin and is the pricing PP?

16 minutes ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

It's Day 2 and I can happily report that our "first impressions" have held true so far. We are having a great time and are delighted with the "feel" of this cruise.

 

We have seen a few children--and by "few" I mean seven total--but they were welll behaved and being supervised by parents and grandparents. The median age of passengers is definitely higher than we've experienced before and it makes for a much more relaxed cruise. 

 

We had dinner in the MDR last night and service was excellent. I would consider the food quality to be fairly standard banquet fare, with the standout being the French onion soup...YUM!

 

We went to a comedy show that was really good and thankfully lacked the crudeness of some of the recent shows we've seen on Carnival. The 80's party was a lot of fun as well, with it being pretty obvious which party goers have already had hip or knee replacement and which of us would likely need one of them soon (raises hand). 

 

We are in Nassau today with three other ships--two MSC ships and the Carnival Mardi Gras, which we were on last summer. After roaming around the port I can't tell you how happy we were to come back to the Reflection, where we were greeted with a refreshment station, rather than to the Mardi Gras.

 

As for those two future Carnival cruises listed down there in my signature...well, if the rest of this week is on par with our experience so far, those are likely to get canceled when we get home. 😉

We now have sailed Celebrity for the past 5 years or so..almost exclusively. We never had an issue with children on Royal.. but our Celebrity trips have had very few children...even a 2 week Easter cruise one year had perhaps 100..but like the other sailings all well behaved and hardly noticed. Try going to Sky Lounge as the ship pulls out of various ports.. great views out of the front of the ship... and in the late afternoon a nice quiet place to relax with a drink... Also.. Tuscan grill around sunset is a nice place to go for dinner.

2 minutes ago, horseymike said:

You would be surprised. At the end of the day $$$$$ always matters.

What I meant was..that they don't really care if it upsets anyone... they know that they can get it $.. and if they lose a few tourists..no matter... Back in the day tourism was about 90% of the economy..last I heard it was closer to 10%

3 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

A prime example is Bermuda. A lot of people became very angry at Bermuda’s imposition of a $40 fee for every passenger visiting there, whether you got off the ship or not. I know several who had vowed never to visit Bermuda in the future.   Is it enough to make a difference, that is will the numbers show? I doubt it.

 

There are several transatlantic each year. Some visit Bermuda, some don’t. I’ll be choosing the one that doesn’t. But it’s a drop in the bucket and I don’t think it’ll make a wicked of difference to anyone but me that I am making that choice.

 

There are plenty of Caribbean cruises that don’t visit Grand Cayman. Will there be enough people mad at Grand Cayman to show in any sort of statistical fashion? I don’t think so

Was this in addition to whatever port fees Bermuda charges? I had not heard this..but having traveled to Bermuda a number of times..it does not surprise me. Now that they are a global financial center (after Hong Kong went back to the Chinese)..tourism is not of top priority.

On 1/14/2023 at 5:10 PM, BeachTunes said:

Pure speculation but I'm wondering if this is a new regulation by Grand Cayman to attempt to lure passengers off the ship to spend money ashore?

 

Like many other islands that rely on tourism, they were hit really hard by the pandemic and I believe it was one of the last Caribbean ports to reopen in 2022. On top of that, before the pandemic Seven Mile Beach suffered a period of severe erosion diminishing its picture-perfect appeal. The handful of charming beach bars (like Calico Jack's) and some of the beach clubs formerly available to cruisers have since closed. 

 

Again, just guessing. 🤷‍♀️

 

Side Note/Grand Cayman Lunch Ideas: We were looking at an Apex itinerary that visited GC and were sad to see that beach lounger options seemed limited. We since chose a different itinerary on the Millennium but when we do return to Grand Cayman we plan to go for lunch at this cute new restaurant: Ms Piper's Kitchen and Garden. It has fun retro Floridian decor with a great Caribbean/fusion menu. Not on the beach but has a gorgeous little pool. Apparently a delight for foodies and Instagrammers! 🙂 We were last on Grand Cayman in 2016 and had lunch at the casual beach restaurant at The Kimpton Hotel. It was brand new and beautiful. The menu was Mexican-inspired at the time. Highly recommended for the views alone! (No chair/lounge rentals there though as they're for hotel guests only.)

I wondered the same thing. I know recall discussions before Covid about banning cruise ships... now this would seem to have the opposite effect...more passengers getting off the ship...but perhaps impact of Covid closures is resulting in encouraging passengers to get off the ship... will have to look into this more. We have never experienced closed bars there in the past... service is usually reduced during port hours..but always open.

Update..my memory may be off..only banning I can find related to Covid..but I thought I had read that there was some frustration with cruise lines... but can not find that...maybe only Key West.

On 12/29/2022 at 9:00 AM, chemmo said:

Lucky you! Getting a three course meal in a decent pub in the UK for £35 is hard to achieve for one person let alone $35 for two!

 

We love the S class speciality restaurants, especially on Silhouette and Reflection. I think you are thinking about this the wrong way around…Each of the restaurants on the ship has something above/different than your usual resort restaurants and indeed Luminae and Blu…

 

Murano…The ambiance of fine dining, not stuffy but definitely classy. It always feels like a special occasion when you dine there. The  table side presentation (So nice to watch the waiter flambé your lobster), the over the top dome delivery, the food taste and presentation…Visiting is a highlight of every cruise for us.

 

Tuscan Grill…Book early evening as you are leaving a port. From the fantastic windows see the ropes come of the ship as you sip your first glass of wine and peruse the menu…Enjoy your starter as the port fades into the distance and your entree as day turns to night. Sip coffee and liqueurs still gazing at the wake of the ship, perhaps spotting a distant ship on the horizon.

 

Lawn Grill…Dining outside at sea. Partially protected from the breeze but still feeling and smelling the sea air. A laid back dining experience, no need to dress up, think of it more as a family BBQ event. Choose a range of skewers and ask to dine family style sharing a range of dishes so you get to try a bit of everything. 
 

LPC…Okay the novelty has worn off for me now but I giggled like a five year old the first time I visited! It is fun dining rather than fine dining but an experience most people don’t get the opportunity to do at home…

 

To us it is the ‘unique experience’ of each of the speciality restaurants that make them worth the up charge not just the food. Good as your food may be in your resort restaurants I doubt if any can match the experiences Reflection’s speciality restaurants offer. 
 

It has always been our motto to not put off until tomorrow something you could enjoy today…Put your hand in your pocket and pay out for some new experiences! If you don’t try you will never know…

Nice summary. We like booking Tuscan grill the first night... and if timing is right... try booking around sunset.. ideally leaving port. And if that is full... try when leaving another port...again around sunset... Really nice experience. But for the full service experience.. Murano with the lobster served tableside...is wonderful..but no view. Lots of nice quiet specialty restaurant choices on S class ships... Alas I think the experience on E class is a bit more like eating at the mall in the food court.. noisy 

4 hours ago, mikeysed said:

 

Can someone explain what the Revolution did to Equinox vs non revolutionized Reflection? I am not familiar with the updates.

 

Thank you!

We don't sail in suites..so I can't address changes there ... but most of the revolution was a color change and new furniture in the public spaces. Equinox only had a partial update because the dry dock in the Bahamas had a situation where a crane fell onto Oasis of the Seas..and that shut down the area... Equinox had to go to Europe for the update..which took time and I suspect some materials were in the Bahamas. As a result some of the structural changes...like taking some of the Sky Lounge for suites (yeah) did not take place and not all of the cosmetic changes were made. I believe Reflection was supposed to be updated in 2020.. and well we know what happened there. Basically they were moving from the warm color scheme built around earth tones..to the cooler gray and blues of Edge. Now... if I recall ...Silhoutte..which did go through the changes..still had the warmer maroon and cream colors in the bathrooms.. with the cooler gray blue in the cabins... To be honest the walls remained a cream color...which kinda looks dirty next to gray..but that may be just me. 

13 hours ago, D C said:

A 1 bedroom vs a veranda is perhaps not the best comparison.  A studio or efficiency would be a better comparison.... or bump up to a suite room on the cruise. 

Alas they did not have one available for comparison with a water view for the time period... but it would be a bit cheaper....not a lot based on past experience..

1 minute ago, LMaxwell said:

 

Yes, seniors are dropping $100K - 200K a year on extended several months long cruises because they are destitute and nothing but SS coming in.

 

Land based vacations are great and all but water covers 2/3 of the Earth. 

DH has mobility issues...so what I like about cruising..is that they take you from place to place. Our first cruise was of the Hawaiian Islands back in '91. It was great not having to pack and head to the airport to head to see another island. And with DH mobility ..we just get to the ship and from there.. he can relax. I am not surprised at extra charges..but since we don't use room service, and have seldom been to the OV after 5.. the changes may make MDR more crowded..but other than that.. limited impact. 

 I was curious about land vacation vs a cruise... so I tried cost comparison for a 6 day cruise in June vs a 6 day stay on Hilton Head overlooking Harbortown marina. Selected a mid priced veranda vs a one bedroom condo with a view. The cost of accommodations including various fees and taxes was $1750...vs the cruise of $2860 (including gratuities)... but when I factored in meals... (I used Ihop menu for breakfast..Appleby's sandwich prices for lunch...and a nice local restaurant for dinner... meals per day with 20% tip was about $225 for two.. In total the 6 day HHI trip was a tad more expensive than the cruise and you could always drop a meal or cook in the condo..to reduce costs... but using a sample of one... cruise still better value..with entertainment and change of scenery ..Of course I am looking a prime veranda vs a condo...not sure how a suite would compare to a house on the ocean.. but for my money it is still a value. What I don't like the dramatic switch from Always Included (which was a misnomer to begin with)...to a number of additional charges... when you get used to not having to look at the bill on a daily basis..it is annoying to have to keep checking to make sure no unplanned extras popup.

Out of curiosity.. I checked Costco travel for package to Grand Cayman..one of the stops on the June cruise I used for cost purposes... since you have to fly there.. the package they had with air fromATL and transfers ..exceeded $5,000..before considering meals.... So while not a full analysis.. cruising still seems like the better deal

Reflection has an additional deck of cabins...so when closer to capacity.. Reflection is a bit more crowded. The Sky Lounge view is impacted by them taking some of the view to make suites. Some of the interior areas like the apple store is now inside cabins... both are nice ships... I really like the Sky Lounge and prefer the wide open views on Equinox. 

I have not done this analysis recently... so things might have changed..but a number of years ago.. I was considering a one week stay on Hilton Head with a water view condo... factoring in meals I realized that cruising was a more cost effective vacation... assuming driving to both destinations. Given the price increases I have seen at my local grocery store and local restaurants... I suspect this still holds true. People can talk about going elsewhere for their vacation dollars... you might try pricing both out... recognizing how many drinks you really have when you have an AI package...vs what you would be paying for at a land resort. Now camping is likely cheaper... assuming you are using a tent. Face it... inflation sucks..and while people talk about it being reduced to say 5%... the base prices generally don't go down.. unless demand hits various industries and then..look for even more cuts. 

The cruise lines did not sail for well over a year..but had to keep ships moving incurring costs for limited crew, upkeep, some port charges etc. Then supply chain issues impacted supplies and quality of supplies (eg liquor) .. and higher energy costs (although some long term contracts may have helped)... and add to that recent increases in inflation due, in part, to the war in Ukraine ...make running a business difficult and impacting decisions on pricing and product features. I understand the balance they are trying to keep. Unfortunately these same issues impact my personal economics..but I can't raise revenue so I have to focus on the cost aspect.. and this means fewer cruises... and more likely to go with 'cruise only' fares and off season sailing... eg back to hurricane season... Sept-Oct cruises... which can be exciting...

Welcome to "shinkflation". I have noticed product quantities reduced while prices have increased as well..across a number of categories...  And we will likely reduce number of cruises we take each year...given noticeably increased prices. 

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

well since this is Celebrity threads I hear ya.

But for the big ships on RCI or some on NCL, the shows do book up.

However, good news is they are starting to let us reserve on line ahead of time too.

Sorry, I assumed you talking Celebrity..

You can tell if your room has been updated... the new color scheme is built around a blue gray color...vs older design was a Maroon and cream color scheme. Cabins not updated have new blue gray drapes, bedding and blue decorator pillows.. but carpet is still mainly maroon... the warn color scheme kinda clashes with the cooler blue gray scheme. But unless you really look for it... you might miss it. Also... I wonder if the refurbishment extended to bathrooms... because our Equinox bathroom still had the maroon cream tile scheme... not sure if the plan was to update that area or not.  I vaguely remembered Silhouette still having the older scheme in the bathroom..but not sure

1 minute ago, mickeysgal said:

Yes that was the policy last summer/fall. Looks like it has changed to allow people to stay in their cabins. We too were moved down to deck 3 - we chose to stay together- and it was an absolutely miserable experience overall (apex) and wouldn’t wish it on anyone. In the event we get it again with our upcoming cruise, it’s nice to know they are allowing people to stay in their original cabins. 

Frankly one of my fears in cruising..is being stuck in a cabin on deck 3 for more than a day. We were lucky.. and is some ways Covid improved our trip. How you ask...well...DH needs wheel chair assistance and when getting off the ship..while the crew does a good job of getting you to the terminal... We have had to wait up to an hour for a volunteer to take us down the elevator and through customs. By getting covid... we were taken off via crew elevator..straight off the ship on deck 3 and into a limo..which took us to our parking spot... best departure ever. Ironically..

On 1/3/2023 at 9:12 PM, mickeysgal said:

For those that get quarantined, are they still making them move out of their cabin to a lower desk with ocean view cabins or are they finally allowing people to stay in their own cabins? 

Last Sep I got covid on the last day of our cruise... My husband tested negative..we were given a choice... I could go to deck 3 to isolate.. or we could stay together in our cabin on deck 6. Since we planned on driving 11 hours home the next day, we decided to stay together in our deck 6 cabin. Policies are fluid as the disease changes.. but that is what we experienced. Earlier comment that cruise lines 'don't want to know", I am not sure this is valid. CDC regulations changed which is one reason we don't see figures. Also, lets face it ..it is everywhere... and if you are concerned... Stay home. 

On 1/4/2023 at 5:55 PM, Oceansaway17 said:

I swear it works that way when flying. If I check in at the 3 hour mark, my luggage is towards the back.

 

But for ships, I wonder if getting on later means any issues with reservations for specialty or shows.

I see lots of people rushing around or on phones to do stuff.

I make any specialty reservations before boarding.... when not having a package... shows are first come first serve and I have never had an issue... really try to stay off the phone and internet while cruising.

I am wondering if your butler could read English... it is one thing to speak a second language and another to be fluid when it comes to reading and writing in that language...just a thought.

1 minute ago, drakes2 said:

That may have been a coincidence.  The kleenex is right beside toilet and so easy to throw in accidentally. I'm guilty of doing that on occasion myself but I'm not sure if that alone would cause clogging issues. 

It might have been a coincidence ... I think it happened early in the cruise.. so perhaps everyone got one.. I just don't recall seeing this before...

Last Sep I got it on the last day of the cruise... felt a dry itchy throat at night...by 10 I started feeling like I was coming down with something...by noon Medical told me I was positive. We had somewhere between 44 and 54 onboard. DH tested negative..but we stayed together in our cabin... We had a guest relations person assigned to us... got our pass ports photographed for advanced customs clearance and we were escorted off the ship the next morning to an awaiting limo..which took us to our car at ParknGo. Celebrity handled this very well. The worst of the illness was the first 36 hours... then some congestion and tiredness. DN got it a few days later.. his symptoms were also mild.