kearney

Boy we had some great discussions..speculating on Edge before she launched... good times... I was so sorry when she passed.. she was a great asset to the Celebrity CC boards.

We arrived for our April 24 cruise... and discovered...after the wheelchair pusher took us to our cabin..that is was not the one we had booked. I realized right away that our deck 6 cabin was likely a quarantine cabin..but would have appreciated advanced notice. I had specifically selected that cabin for its larger veranda and it was close to an area where we could park the scooter without interfering with hall traffic... Fortunately the Dec 8 cabin..while it did not have a larger veranda.. was close to a similar spot for the scooter. The other problem came when our luggage didn't arrive... not surprising since the bags had tags for our original cabin. But they were found just before dinner. A bit late if we had planned on changing.. I also had a photo of the bags to help the steward identify them. The cabin moving has been going on since they restarted cruising. If you are on deck 3 or 6 ..it might be a good idea to reach out shortly before the cruise...to see if they know what the plan is. Not sure they will have any better info..but worth a try.. but if on either deck..don't be surprised at a move... Did I read that OP got OBC? We didn't.. but I didn't complain either.

Just make sure that the cruise features are the same as the ones you purchased... ie AI. I have found that when I booked..AI was the basic deal..unless you were close to cruise date...now the base price is cruise only and Also Included..is a higher rate.. just keep an eye out for that

I was using the list price vs discounted.... I assume the price you paid was the pre sailing discounted price... I didn't use that because it can vary...but if you do go with that it does save you...assuming you aren't much of an alcohol drinker. We never used to get a beverage package..but our last few cruises have included it...Frankly it is probably a breakeven for us... I end up having many more coffees and fluffy drinks than I did before

I did a mock booking for a Dec 10 day sailing... used gross classic package price for my upcoming 10 day sailing in Aug: 1A cabin cruise only/pp AI (gratuities, classic beverage, basic wifi)/pp price/person $1345.00 $1849.00 Port tax 167.36 167.36 Gratuities 155.00 incl Classic pkg. 690.00 * incl Total $2202.36 $2016.36 and includes wifi * I think you may be charged an additional 20% to this fee. So for this particular sailing and cabin type... AI is a better deal. May differ on other sailings..but here is an example If you go with the classic non alcohol package is about $18/day (before any prebooking discount and I believe before 20% gratuity) this reduces the total to $1692.. so will save several hundred dollars.. for an occasional bottle of wine or cocktail..outside the cc cocktail hour if you are Elite.

Really, he did this on at least two cruises that I recall..but they were during the covid restart period when crew was particularly happy to see passengers. Now if I recall it happened after several days into the cruise and we had established a relationship at the bar we hung out at...so it may be unusual

Dh tips bar servers...so he had no issues getting doubles

What got us on Celebrity were the longer itineraries... and we stayed for the service and overall experience. Good point about longer cruises and children... another advantage is longer cruises tend to be more expensive than shorter ones are less likely to get the party boat type of young adults. I do wish they would add more stops to islands less traveled..

I really didn't mean to suggest that the kids on Royal are a problem..but there are so many more than on the Celebrity cruises I have been on..they seem to congregate more and act like kids... doing kid stuff..running around..nothing bad, necessarily. Our experience on Royal is you see one or two at a time and so less running around on the pool deck. But I have never seen bad behavior on Royal except perhaps for that kid that hit all the stops on the elevator and then left 🙂

We tend to sail during school year.. although one cruise was over easter. Most of the cruises have had a dozen or so children..up to 18 and the Easter cruise had about 100. Given the size of the ships..even the 100 were hardly noticeable. I see no need for an all adult restriction. The kids on board have been better behaved than the usual Royal crowd. The lack of flow riders, zip lines, etc.. has a limiting factor without having to say no kids. I don't have kids..so take my comments with a grain of salt..but it seems to me that kids who are able to entertain themselves do well on Celebrity. If parents need to constantly find things to make their kids happy, Royal is better for them. But the kids I have seen on Celebrity tend to be more mature...not sure that is the right word. When I was a kid..back in the 50s-60s...my parents took my sister and I all over Europe..there was no focus on kids entertainment... yet we still had fun and it was an adventure... which I am glad I experienced...

The library is only books... however on the S class ships I have been on there is a card room on another deck. Now it has been a while but as I recall there were board games. Not sure about Solstice but this was true on other S class ships...however, with covid the games might not be there. I hope someone with more recent experience can update us on the game situation on S class ships.

I am attaching a copy of a photo of what a similar cabin on Silhouette looks like (Dec '21)...which has the full refurb... So you can see the new bedding and curtains on Equinox..but carpet and sofa (sorry I did not take a photo of full cabin). I believe the bathroom had not been changed either. I really don't care..but when you move from earth tones to gray... it helps if you complete the look in the bathroom..or pick colors that work better together...

Interesting... so something to consider when looking at posted prices for CC vs AQ..

We were on just after the refurb..which had been cut short because they had to have it done in Europe instead of the Bahamas (crane fell on Oasis in Freeport)... taking more days at sea and missing supplies. At the time our cabin had new curtains and bedding and pillows in the new bluish gray... Edgish colors.. the carpet was the beige and rust colors and same in the bathroom. When we sailed on her this past April.. the cabin looked much the same in terms of level of refurb..... and I noticed that many of the hall carpet colors were the same..but in main public areas they were all the newer scheme. It is difficult for them to find the time and resources to finish the job. As profitability improve they will likely finish or use whatever the latest scheme is... who know..maybe by then we will be back to the rust and other earth tones. It did not impact our cruise... I only noticed..because I made a point of checking.

Try another browser if online.

We were on Equinox back in late April. We had the weirdest boarding experience we have ever had. Now I did all the planning for the cruise... filled in all the paperwork .. used my credit card etc. DH needs wheelchair assistance in boarding. When we arrived at port Everglades terminal... we had a fabulous pusher. She took charge and brought us to the first stop for check in.... the woman with the I pad..looked at DH in the chair and said "Mr Kearney are you sailing solo today?" I was thinking..hey I am standing here!.... Anyway .. she did not have any record of me... I showed her the app and the pusher immediately took charge and announce we were heading to the counter to see a port agent. The folks at the counter were all very pleasant but seemed perplexed. I had hard copies of everything and after 10 minutes or so... they told me that I was in one system..but somehow was not in another... I was told my key card would not be at the cabin and I would have to go to guest relations. Onward and upward... we than had our crew pusher who took ups to our cabin...on Deck 8. Which was a surprise since...like OP I had specifically selected a cabin near the elevators on deck 6. Knowing the moving quarantine situation ... when I went to get my key I asked if we were moved due to quarantine reasons...and the answer was..yes. After getting my key card.. we headed to the Martini Bar to recover from the odd check in.... later up to the Sky Lounge. Staffing was a bit short up there..so I went to the bar to get DH and myself a cocktail... the bar tender noted that while DH card noted the classic package..there was no such notation on my card..... so back to guest relations for a new card.... and the next day after noting a charge from the Martini Bar..I was back again to get the charge removed. As I say it was the oddest start to a cruise... the final frustration was...as OP experienced...the missing luggage. So I showed our steward a photo of the luggage... (I usually do this to aid in locating lost luggage)... and suggested that the bag might have been delivered to our original cabin.... Just before 5 the bags showed up.... all was right with the world. It was still a great cruise... just got off to an odd start.

I try to book Tuscan grill around sunset on evening. It is nice to sail out of Ft Lauderdale...watching the sun set with the Florida coast in the back ground. However, lately instead of doing this the first night... I look for a port where we are leaving near sunset...so that we can replicate this experience. I do prefer Murano... but you can't beat the view out the aft windows of the Tuscan Grill. We just turned 70 and began sailing Celebrity about 6 years ago. It is a laid back atmosphere. They do have fun activities like silent disco... but it is not as active as a Royal or other cruise line...which is fine by me. During the fall school season we have seen very few kids.... There are some younger couples..but the age is generally older than Royal and families tend to be adult children with the occasional grandchild.... but I don't think that would have bothered me back when I was in my 30s to be with an older crowd.. I was never big into belly flop contests and doing shots... There is some smoking on Dec 5 outside... can't recall if it is port or starboard... and by the Sunset bar on deck 12 or 14... You can't do it on the balcony and someone will report it if they smell the smoke. Also I am pretty sure the casino is smoke free... it is not really isolated from public areas ... so smoke would travel everywhere if it was allowed there. My husband needs wheel chair assistance so we always bring extra cash for the pushers, porters, various drivers and tour guides and extra tips for room steward, wait staff and periodically type bar servers. I usually make a list and estimate needs... I am particularly mindful since most of the crew were without work for well over a year. You can always hit the ATM near guest services...there is a $6 fee to do so. I believe the gratuity money that is part of the AI package is spread out amongst the crew.. I am sure you will enjoy Celebrity...

Our first cruise was in '91 on the Constitution..one of the two ships of American Hawaiian cruise line. We flew in a few days early... spent one of those days at Pearl Harbor. The islands are so different..that a 7 day cruise of the islands is a great way to sample Hawaii without having to pack and repack every few days. In later years we came back on several trips spending more time on different Islands. If you want to see Hawaii and don't have the time or money to sail celebrity and spend additional time island hopping... the NCL is a great way to go. I haven't sailed NCL since our Noro experience...not that I blame them...but it does impact your view of a cruise line. Regardless of my preference for Celebrity... I like the island hopping that you can do with an American flagged ship.

We sailed on a post Thanksgiving cruise and for several mornings we woke up to more decorations... it was quite nice to see the ship decorations evolve.

Given flight issues... some of the missing passengers might have been still sitting at an airport someplace... eg Amsterdam's airport has been a mess from what I have read.

I found this link a few days ago..it is a 360 degree view of one of the forward facing cabins with the square windows http://thecelebritycommitment.com/360/EDGE/Deluxe_Ocean_View/Deluxe_Ocean_View.html

Personally I think the Ensemble lounge is just what you want...they usually has a trio performing more quieter music than what you will hear in the Grand Foyer. Nice place for an after dinner drink. Before dinner we like the Sky Lounge which is also quieter than ..say the Martini Bar. But after the shows... I think it may have louder dance music... the Passport bar is not as noisy as the Martini bar...but the seats are more comfortable and a bit out of the flow of traffic... so you might also consider that..and see if the DJ music in the Grand Foyer, post shows, is too loud. Haven't tried the World Class bar..but it is located in the main flow of traffic on deck 5 and the bar stool set up doesn't seem as conducive for a relaxing drink..but others enjoy this bar... so I defer to their judgement.

We too are close to D+ on Royal.. one or two cruises away... but switched to Celebrity a few years ago.. we tried for the longer itineraries and stayed because we really liked Celebrity. Not knocking Royal.. it is just Celebrity was just right. Anyway..if you are D+ on Royal... you will still be considered Elite on Celebrity. For that reason...we didn't bother to take the additional cruises.. and after a few years .. we are now a legit Elite on Celebrity. Likely won't be cruising enough to get to a higher status..but no matter.

For our Aug 29th... right on day 45 on the dot

True and but something to consider... may not be a big deal to you... but could impact someone who thought they were being discreet.. Bringing weed on a ship