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I've only had to use the ship's physician once and it was fine and handled well. I did have the Cruisecare insurance but was required to pay for the service upfront. I was reimbursed from the insurance company when I got home and submitted the paperwork. I do remember talking to a passenger about her experience in Greece and she raved about the care she got and the way the ship took care of her, both in the hospital and getting her and her boyfriend home. They even paid for his hotel while she was in the hospital. We wouldn't go anywhere without it.

We make a beeline for the Boatyard Beach every time we are in Barbados, have loved it for years! It is super clean, friendly and fun. It is by far our favorite after 24 cruises in the Caribbean. Don't be quick to judge it from the entrance. It is funky and crazy, but once you are on the actual beach you will love it. My husband and I are old fuddies. It doesn't matter.

We just returned last night from our 14 night Silhouette cruise and had the same problem every single night. Three nights we were completely ignored after waiting for a long time and finally walked out without our coffee. The bleeper was used almost every night. One night we waited 90 minutes. I think part of the problem was caused by Celebrity changing the times for the shows which we also missed two or three times because of our late dining times. We love Celebrity and always have but this shouldn't happen. One night they sent us downstairs and it was even worse. I feel bad for the waiters. Our cruising buddies were in a suite but chose to eat with us. They were told that they "should" be going to Lumenaire (sp?). They tried to make reservations to be with us but were not able to even months in advance. This is the first time in many cruises that Celebrity has disappointed us. We are Elite plus, not that is matters, but we are not happy about this.

Bellinis. champagne, bloody Marys, all kinds of nice coffees, also smoothies, pastries, and other goodies. It's quiet and very nice.

We got the transfers from Choice Air. They were not cheap but it's kind of a tight squeeze time wise between arriving in Rome and driving to the port.

We also had a lot of onboard credit due us and waited until we were onboard to book our tours. When we got to the desk on the first day two of the tours we filled completely. The girl at the desk told me not to worry and that she would put us on a waitlist. She winked and told me it would be okay. I think what happens is that they do reserve tour buses for the "early birds" and once they are fully booked they find more buses. Money is money and they make a good profit on these ship tours. We got our tickets by the second day and all was fine.

We took a guarantee 2-D (6252) a few years ago on Equinox in Europe. We saved $2,000 which we then spent on great tours. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We looked out, from the balcony over the tops of a lifeboat. No big deal as far as I am concerned. I'd rather have an unobstructed view but for that price I'd jump on it in a flash.

We get about $100 worth of Euros onboard. It usually is enough for small things. The rest I put on my Capital One card. They don't charge for conversion. Just make sure you call them before you go and tell them exactly when and where you will be. I forgot one port in October (Gibralta) and they wouldn't accept the charge. It was reassuring to me.

On our last cruise, a European 13 night Med. Cruise, I decided to wait until onboard to book some of our tours so that I could use a lot of our credits. When I went to the desk shortly after embarkation , I was told the tours were full but they put me on a wait list. We were told a day or so later that they could book us. So, all was fine and dandy. I did see that the tours were all about 10% higher in cost than if I had booked online from home. So....from now on, if my heart is set on a particular tour I will try to book online. Of course, as we all know, the "X" website is horrible!

I kind of go for the Greek food idea but depending on the area the ship is in, it might be nice to have something regional offered at the Bistro. Italian, French crepes, Spanish tapas, Caribbean jerk chicken, English fish and chips. Change the menu depending on where the ship is. I think the sushi idea is crazy. You can't keep fish fresh on a 14 night cruise, and not everyone likes it anyway.

We are not big drinkers, nothing at all during the day and only a wine or two for dinner or before. With 31 cruises under our belt it has never been a problem. There's always something to do even if it's just relaxing with a book on deck, listening to music or one of the other activities they do to keep us happy. We are Elite passengers so do enjoy our wine or cocktails at the Captain's Club lounge but we don't over indulge.

I agree! We both miss the Caribbean live music by the pool. Considering the amount of passengers and the fares we are paying it wouldn't really be a stretch to have these musicians.

Bistro on 5 has become a tradition for us. The food is very good and at $10 it is still a bargain. It's nice and quiet and also a good place to wait for the all cabins clear announcement.

Extra laundry bags. They usually leave one and we need four.

I called from Old San Juan, no charge and clear as a bell. This is on Verizon with no extra charge. I called home from the top of Mt. Washington (20 miles away) and couldn't get through. Go figure.

After our last cruise a few weeks ago I've decided it's best to book online ahead of time. We also had a lot of credit due and would have liked to use it beforehand. We found that the prices on board were about 10 % or more than booking at home. So, next time we will book ahead of time, cash in the credit at the casino and pay the 5% fee. We will still be a little ahead of the game and won't be put on a wait list.

I would give it a shot. We were loyal to Royal for years, about 16 cruises, but a few years ago they started messing around with the Diamond benefits so we decided to give Celebrity a try. Now we are Celebrity fans but would go back to Royal if the itinerary was tempting. We kind of like the passenger mix on Celebrity, not as many unsupervised kids running around. Also, not as many announcements and the service and food is better. That's just our opinion but if you see a nice cruise on Celebrity you should maybe give it a try.

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Yes. We have applied it to the gratuities and also got cash at the teller in the casino to use for slots or to keep. To keep, there is a 5% charge. For slots, I'm not sure. You can also use it toward tours or in the ships shops.

We were on the same cruise/itinerary but Oct. 2nd for 13 nights. We both loved it but the weather wasn't absolutely perfect. We had clouds and sprinkles some days in port but by the end of the day it had cleared up. Having said this, we booked a similar cruise on the Silhouette for next year at a later date. Fingers will be crossed here! Don't miss the tour to Alhambra. It was great. As for port or starboard, we had port side but it really doesn't make that much of a difference. It's all good.

I think it's good news. It's going to make hauling baggage around airports a lot easier. My husband took me to the Senior Prom many decades ago and we have dressed "to the nines" for our children's weddings. We don't feel the need to impress anyone. For people who think this is downgrading the image of Celebrity as better than an average cruise, that's nonsense. A lot of the higher price cruise lines have done away with formal wear a long time ago.

I'm curious about the Pre-cruise hotel arrangements, tours and transfers offered by the cruise line, particularly from Rome. Have any of you done one of these? Was it worth it?

First of all, we love the Celebrity product and will continue to cruise with them. One thing does irk me though. First, we had planned to book some tours, the cruise was Oct. 2nd out of Barcelona on the Equinox, but was unable because of the website being "down for 20 minutes," for many hours. Anyway, as soon as we got a minute after boarding, I chose the tours we wanted and also noticed the price was considerably higher than they had been online a few weeks earlier. My fault for not booking way in advance. I did notice that the prices are back down to the cost I noticed and would have paid if the site wasn't off-line. What bothered me is that I think there should be a fair way to cancel when the weather is very bad, or to rebook something else where weather wouldn't be a huge problem. We had two tours that were not great in the rain. One was Montserrat from Barcelona and the other was White Villages from Cadiz. I wonder what would happen if a passenger booked a 6 hour beach tour and it was pouring.

As off last week there were two shows with two different female singers, both very nice, two or three production shows, pretty good, a good comedian, Beatles group, pretty good, first nights show we missed, juggler we missed on purpose, also magician was missed on purpose, and the last night the violinist was horrible. We walked out. One night, no show.

We've been having a heck of a time getting the obc from Visa and finally got confirmation a few days ago in writing. I will be taking it with me just in case and might be changing my credit card of choice soon as Celebrity Visa seems to hate parting with the money promised.