markeb

From Lauderdale to Orlando?

Assuming you're leaving your autogratuities in place, there's no "need" to tip every night. The food service tips appear to be pooled, so everyone shares. That is "probably" true of cash tips, although there are reports in this and other threads of people getting to keep cash handed directly to them, and by name gratuities on the additional gratuity form. If you want to give more, that's fine, but I wouldn't worry too much.

How long are you in Brussels and what do you plan on doing? My last trip to Brussels is now well pre-pandemic. Just looked up a couple of places that appear to be closed at least for now. Across the Grand Place and about 10-12 minutes walking (lots of cobblestones in Brussels, so dragging a rolling bag can be fun) is the Marriott Grand Place. I've stayed there several times and it's a very nice hotel, close to but not in the Grand Place. There are a number of hotels close to the train station but I have never stayed in them. The Warwick has a nice location, but so does the Novatel. It's probably going to be hard to get first hand recommendations on this board; I don't really think of Brussels as a cruise destination.

I tend to stick with the auto tips. I've given extra to our cabin attendant and our butler. I've never asked enough of the Retreat concierge to tip extra. And I've never asked a Maître 'd do anything above and beyond. (The places on land where the Maître 'd COULD do that I know I'm not even in the bidding pool...) I'm now really curious about something that will be unanswerable. In the US, managers cannot participate in a tip pool. In some states they can accept a tip if and only if they alone provided the service (and even then I'd hope they'd drop it in the tip jar anyway). And I realize it's different, but 30 years in a military uniform as a commissioned officer make me psychologically incapable of tipping an officer. You eat last... Since much of the shipboard tipping culture seems to be a direct derivation of US customs and law, does anyone know for sure that the Maître 'd or Retreat concierges are part of the automatic tip pool? I think of the Maître 'd as more management than direct service; the Retreat concierge is a bit of both so I would tend to tip them (like I would at a hotel) if they did something special. The Retreat functions largely as an extension of guest services, and does anyone try to tip them? Giving me an MTA map and circling the subway stops is just doing their job. Getting me last minute good seats to Hamilton is tippable at a percentage of what the tickets cost (never did that, but...). I just haven't had that kind of experience on any cruise on any cruise line. I generally assume tips are pooled and think it's appropriate. It's pretty rare that only one individual helps me. It is a little different on the ship as there's something of a culture of one server/one assistant covering a single table, but not universally. In most nicer restaurants where I've eaten there's a team, and clearly there's an agreed to structure for distributing tips. And I have to think that even if the person in Luminae accepts your cash tip, they'll be tipping out (sharing the tip with) others who help them. The sommelier seems to always be the outlier. In nicer restaurants on land the sommelier typically takes over all drink service (at least once you invoke the sommelier) and I assume receives a share of the gratuity proportionate to the wine and alcohol charges. Harder to figure on the ship, especially with drink packages. What I've normally seen (three Celebrity cruises so far, so a limited set of observations) is the server may bring a cocktail, but the sommelier usually handles the wine. And given the variety of experiences and opinions (polite, I might add!) on this thread from a group who all live in a tip obsessed country, is it any wonder our friends from cultures that don't normally tip are confused?

That would be a loin roast. They're using an OK but lesser cut of beef, cooking it as a roast, and slicing it after cooking. Roasting it (cooking in the oven) probably also breaks down more connective tissue. This is effectively a prime rib, but not from the prime cut, and probably choice grade (hopefully not select) instead of prime grade. Which also points out that the word "prime" gets used too much in the meat industry with totally different meanings...

Depends on the age and grade of the beef. Also depends on the location of the cut in the carcass. The muscle itself has little flavor. The flavor comes from the marbling (fat withing the muscle, not around it). I've never heard marbling referred to as veining; you tend to cut the veins out of retail cuts of meat. But they all come from the rib primal cut. Some are better than others.

This was a new one to me... A little hard to find a definitive source, but a "roasted ribeye steak" is a ribeye roast that's roasted intact, like a prime rib, then sliced. But prime rib comes from a specific rib range (6-12 apparently) which is the least used and typically best marbled part of the animal; there apparently is no industry requirement for location to call it a roasted ribeye steak. It's not the same as the ribeye in Blu because it's not cooked as a steak but roasted and sliced (assuming that's how they're preparing it, but that's how the process is described in recipes on the 'net). Good cuts of beef have gone way up in price (and to some extent availability), but I'd have just done something different (not beef) on the menu, especially in Luminae...

Benefits are here https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/staterooms/suite-class/royal-suite Twice per cruise, apparently.

The minibar would have been included in the RS. I don't believe the perks have changed since 2018 (in this case) so it would not have been included in the CS in 2018; it's not now. People, including you, keep bringing this up as a loss of benefit on Celebrity's part. It's not. "What happened" was your butler and probably the suite manager on Eclipse decided to replenish your minibar with things you could get for free anyway. A nice service gesture, but a bonus. Big bad corporate RCG in Miami did NOT take away this "perk"; it never officially existed. When I stay at a Marriott property I can grab as many Diet Pepsi's as I want out of the M-Lounge for my room for free. But if I take one from the minibar, I'm paying for it. Lest I be accused of being a cheerleader, I think it's a pennywise and pound foolish policy (both for Marriott and Celebrity) and they should restock the minibars with items available in the Retreat Lounge, but this isn't a policy change.

That is not now, nor to the best of my knowledge was it ever, a perk of either a CS or a SS. (Restocked beer, water, and soda ARE listed as benefits of Signature Suites and above.) There was always a card in our Sky Suites informing us that the minibar contents were NOT part of our drink package. What many of us saw was our butler offering to restock the minibar (presumably from Retreat stocks) and not charging for its contents. What's been reported is that the butlers in CS and SS have been told not to do that. They didn't take away a free minibar because you (as a matter of policy, although not always practice) never had a free minibar in those suites.

They're better at a bar that makes actual martinis...

The no age statement MacAllan's are usually available. Not so much the 12 and 18. Craft Social and the World Class Bar have been my go to bars for whisk(e)y, but I don't think Millie has either one. Maybe try Cellar Masters? They do at least tend to carry Scotch Whisky. Finding a better bourbon on the other hand...

I realize this. I just find it strangely ironic that a martini bar doesn't list traditional martinis on its menu. It seems funny to me.

Oh well, they have a pale ale and an IPA listed as amber lagers. Under ales…

If you've got OBC to burn, there's nothing wrong with doing a flight. But you shouldn't have to. You can get a full size martini and not finish it (it's in your package) or ask and they'll probably make you a small one. I mean if it's an hour before first seating and they're in "show mode" at the Martini Bar, they'll be on autopilot and that may be easier said than done. But if there are several people at the bar and you just want to try some different styles, it's pretty simple to make more than one at a time and "sell" you a small one to try. Is there a current martini bar menu anywhere on the 'net? I found one on someone's site that I was looking at. I find it fascinating that the martini bar actually doesn't have a traditional gin martini on the menu... (They have a "classic" with vodka, not gin. No dry martini, no vesper, etc. Or am I missing it?)

Need someone from the Bay Area to chime in. All the news releases show Anchor out of or going out of business (which is what I remember). There's essentially a "Thanks for 127 years" splash on their web page, but the web page is still there. Supposedly they're selling existing inventory, but yes, I'm pretty sure they're effectively out of business. Kind of odd Anchor Steam would be on a shipboard beer list in the fall of 2023...

I wonder if they can just spend a night and try Monday? “Might” be better, although I think Thanksgiving now starts the Sunday or Monday before and ends about Wednesday of the following week! Back to the OP. You live in the Mid Atlantic. Is there anyway on earth you’d choose to drive on I95 on the Sunday after Thanksgiving? How bad is the Acela priced that day?

Agree. Just don't overdue the statistics or numbers. The verbiage is probably much more relevant. And there's software to do that, of course. It would be interesting to see a word cloud, for instance... But in some ways this is a blinding flash of the obvious, isn't it? Whether we're representative of the population at large (probably not) CC members have been pretty vocal in their opinion of recent changes. My big hesitation in jumping on the band wagon is until next month I have no first hand experience, and I think there are a lot of moving parts beyond Celebrity's control. I've never done a review; don't know that I will, but I'll report back after Equinox in November. I suspect I'll enjoy it regardless, so I may be horrible as an objective observer...

There will be differences depending on where the ship is provisioned. Assuming they locally source perishables such as meat and poultry, they'll likely be different than US sourced products. You're probably most likely to notice that with beef since the beef will likely be older and may not grain or corn finished. That results in texture and taste differences. Meat gets really complicated, especially poultry (Avian Influenza) and pork (African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease). Moving pork products even around Europe used to be a major hassle. Probably still is. In some cases you'll see "quality" differences, and in some cases you'll just see differences that you may interpret as quality. Back in the day, all my UK military colleagues would go crazy on beef on any trip to the US. Corn fed and cheaper. Which is what we're used to...

The size of the sample is pretty typical of many surveys. That's really not an issue. It's a nice set of descriptive statistics, but it's an inherently biased convenience sample, so you can't really extrapolate it. If you understand that limitation, the results suggest the raw scores have dropped. And doing statistics on a biased sample is a waste of time, so it is what it is. You can do the math to establish statistical significance, but you can't correct selection bias (convenience sampling in this case) with statistics. A 5-30% sample with inherent selection bias would still be a bad sample.

Not if they know anything about sampling and statistics…

Where are sneakers or trainers mentioned in the dress code? They are not prohibited, so they’d fall under suggestions, and they’re not mentioned there either. This isn’t a discussion of medals or ribbons on your Class A’s. That’s a dress code. This isn’t.

Luggage has to fit through the screener. 22 inch carry-ons should be fine. Not sure about 24 inch or larger. Pretty sure you enter and exit on Deck 5, but it's been a few months.

Where in London? How many people? The two car services mentioned both have good reputations. Depending on where your hotel is located, there may be good (and less expensive) options other than a car service.

I didn't think Ninga cruisers ate in Murano, which was the actual question, not the OVC.