bigbenboys

After doing the math for myself it just does not add up. If I only look at what I would normally drink. On a 2 week cruise I would buy 5 glasses of wine and 2 Pina Colada. If I had the package I would drink a lot more of everything. I would make it worth my while. We are Elite Plus so we do get some other drink perks. The big plus would be the convenience of the drink packages. Richard

Very clever blabbing about how to smuggle on a board that is monitored by Celebrity. You put a bladder in YOUR bag. No thanks. A friend told me about a guy on his cruise who had tried just that, was called on the carpet, and the checker had the bladder leak as he was pulling it out of the passengers luggage. Guess where it landed. I have no desire to spend my cruise in wine stained clothes because of cheap wine.

Why is it smuggling if your only bring the amount allotted on board. Does Celebrity specify how you are to bring your 2 bottles on board? Richard

From Celebrity website

No beer or hard liquor may be brought onboard for consumption. If you wish to bring personal wine onboard with you on the day you board your cruise, you may do so, limited to two (2) 750ml bottles per stateroom. When enjoyed in any shipboard restaurant, bar or dining venue, each bottle shall be subject to a corkage fee of $25. The only exception to this policy is on our "Wine Cruises," which depart on the following dates:

Hopefully a little common sense applies.

You dress within the guide line that Celebrity has set. Formal only required in the MDR on formal nights. Richard

I really enjoy the glass shows. I have taken 4 cruises with glass shows and 3 more booked. I took a glassblowing class during the holidays. It was a lot of fun. I'm now thinking of taking a 6 week class. Richard

I booked direct with a Celebrity rep for my Aqua class room.

I was told that Anytime Dining is assigned to Aqua and therefore gratuities are to be prepaid.

 

It doesn't really matter to me and as the Celebrity currency rate for Canadian currency is great, I certainly don't wish to change.

Our last cruise we were in Aqua. We prepaid as we thought. after final payment I was a thread here that you dont have to prepay gratuities if in Aqua. So I call my TA after final payment. She call Celebrity and changed us to 1st or 2nd dining. As Blu is dine when you want having us listed as 1st dining means nothing. Our Visa was credited back our gratuities. That why we could use our OBC to pay for gratuities. Richard

Hi,

 

Could anyone tell me if all C3 balconies are the same size or if there are any with bigger balconies.

 

Your help would be appreciated.

 

Many thanks

If I remember right. On the Solstice class ships they are C2 near the elevators. On the Cruise Critic Celebrity site the 1st 2 Sticky are about cabins. You should be able to find the info their. We book cabins 2105 and 2107 a lot on the Solstice Class ships. We love the cabins so close to food and the pool. Richard

What sticker are you talking about? I am a Global Entry/Trusted Traveler Member and do not have any sticker; only the GE credit card-sized card that was issued. So what are yo talking about?

Sticker? I dont even have a Global Entry card. I have had my Global Entry seems like years now. I use it mostly at SEA, LAX and ATL. Out of my 30 cruise I never remember having any real lines once I have my luggage. What cruise ports are you having these problems at? Richard

Southern Exotic itinerary. It is 14 days and it going to warmer weather. Mar will be our 3rd time doing this cruise. So not that port intense for us. I love staying on the ship when most people get off. Richard

I came across this thread while looking for info on Azamara brochure. I have requested brochure twice now and still nothing has arrived.

What some of you here are tell us. Yes the 6 months before your Azamara cruise is going to be full of frustrations. But the 7 to 12 days on the ship is great. For some of us it just not worth the problems. When there are others out there in the same market and have better pre cruise service. Richard

Hi all,

 

My fiancé and I are booked in AQ for our honeymoon on Aug 1st on Connie (Scandinavia and Russia). I have some questions about the dinning options (tried to email celebrity about them but got a very unhelpful response). Sorry if these have already been asked before, I tried to search the forum and didn't find anything helpful.

 

I know that the main dinning room for AQ is Blu, but are you able to eat in the MDR as well? I'm specifically wondering if the dinning rooms post menus during the day so you know the offerings of both before dinner, therefore being able to choose which dinning room menu seems better to us that night. Can we even choose to eat in the MDR if that menu looks better? I ask because I would consider us "picky" eaters, my Fiancé is a vegetarian and I'm just plain old picky (also don't eat red meat)! So I would like to have as many options as possible.

 

Thanks for the help! :)

http://eclipse2011ta.webs.com/blumenus.htm This is from Janet987. It is a great list of the nightly offering in Blu.

If the only thing you dont eat is red meat, then Blu might be for you. Here is a list from the Blu menu. The list here are just items they have that I dont want to eat. There are many other item to eat on the menu.

So far Blu is not my thing. We have only done AQ once. We are doing AQ in May. I'm going to give it another chance. Because it was cheaper than a C2. For me the best thing about Blu is that you eat when you want. I'm just not that fond of some of the items that are on their menus. Here are a few items that I just wont eat. Grilled Tamarind Glazed Quail, Sherry Glazed Pheasant Breast, Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb, Pan Seared Pheasant Breast, Grilled Lamb Chops, Pomegranate Glazed Duck Breast, Slow Braised Colorado Lamb Shank, Roasted California Squab(Pigeon), Roasted Semi Boneless Quails, Honey Roasted Squab (Pigeon). Lets not leave out the Kobe meatloaf. I tried the meatloaf and it was bad. I saw here on CC that someone just love the meatloaf and was able to get it again. Great for Celebrity and for him. Richard

You can also get some orange juice and vodka (screwdriver) at the Elite breakfast.

Thanks for the info about vodka with oj. It is a breakfast favorite of mine. We try to get to the event about 9am after having breakfast in Blu or the Buffet. Have some drinks or two. Richard

It's rather amazing that folks don't look in the mirror! Many folks who loved RCL have moved to Celebrity for the very reason that it is perhaps a bit more sedate. The young moderns will be getting older...as a matter of fact, more younger folks will be getting older than old folks who die off at least for the next few years. There are always folks getting older. Celebrity is at no risk of not surviving.....so let's not get melodramatic...

 

Celebrity needs to find a way to fit between RCL, the "family" cruise line with rock climbing walls and such.....and an "old person's" cruise line. If I were looking at a market niche (and I did that for many years for a major corporation), I'd focus on the 40-60 year old crowd where the kids are off to college, some folks are retiring a bit earlier (I know, many are now retiring older or not retiring), and they have (at least after the kids leave college) more discretionary/travel money.

 

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what draws that group....clearly Celebrity marketing is focused on "modern luxury" which hopefully they can define....but the fatal mistake is if they get folks on their first cruise and they don't like it...or it doesn't live up to the marketing.

 

That means you have to have some good entertainment, some good music, and some good food. The issue I see is that all of these areas seem to have been cut...and that may prove counter productive. Or it may not, if the folks in the target market think that the current level of offering is good enough to try again. I come from cruising where we saw better entertainment, music and food, so I'm sensitive, I guess, to cutbacks. Perhaps the new folks without my background will develop a new base level and continue with Celebrity. The risk is that celebrity gains new cruisers and loses older ones...and if the new don't equal or exceed the old who leave, that's a problem.

 

It's a balancing act....I think Celebrity is near the edge of losing some of it's repeat customers based on reading here....and they need to focus on the experience on board a little more than the bottom line in order to keep those customers.

 

One way to do this is to do honest customer surveys....NOT the ones they do on board where you are pleaded with to give folks high marks, irrespective of your real feelings. Those surveys, if they look at them at all, are useless. I'm not sure how they get good opinions and honest results, but I hope they have some other process for input.

I've been cruising for a while now. I'm still very happy with Celebrity. I'm in that 40 to 60. I'm 55 and 3 years from retirement. This year we are doing 3 cruises on Celebrity with a total of 33 day and a 2 week land trip in England. I live in Seattle. The music is ok on Celebrity, but it wont get me to stop and listen. I would like more music of now. Songs from Lady Gaga, One Direction, One Republic, Pink, Katy Perry, Panic at the disco and Fun. I have to put one other group in that has been around awhile, No Doubt.

Celebrity has been making changes and will continue to make them. Do I miss some of them yes. We will see where Celebrity wants to go. Keep on rowing the ship into the 21st century. Richard

I would try and get the Porter to move your luggage and give the porter a $20. that way you can walk. Richard

So far Blu is not my thing. We have only done AQ once. We are doing AQ in May. I'm going to give it another chance. Because it was cheaper than a C2. For me the best thing about Blu is that you eat when you want. I'm just not that fond of some of the items that are on their menus. Here are a few items that I just wont eat. Grilled Tamarind Glazed Quail, Sherry Glazed Pheasant Breast, Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb, Pan Seared Pheasant Breast, Grilled Lamb Chops, Pomegranate Glazed Duck Breast, Slow Braised Colorado Lamb Shank, Roasted California Squab(Pigeon), Roasted Semi Boneless Quails, Honey Roasted Squab (Pigeon). Lets not leave out the Kobe meatloaf. I tried the meatloaf and it was bad. I saw here on CC that someone just love the meatloaf and was able to get it again. Great for Celebrity and for him. Richard

Can you use OBC in the casino?

You can get money off your sign and sail card (room key). Go to the casino cage and get a draw. I think it cost you 5%. It is the best way to get OBC that you might lose if not used. Richard

Royal now has unlimited internet for $149 for the cruise. Will Celebrity follow suit?

I was able to get unlimited internet on Royal for one cruise and I think it was $149. I thought I prepaid for it, but maybe not. But that was years ago (I'm thinking 2006) They had stopped the unlimited package. When did anyone last get a unlimited internet package from RCL? Now that we each get 200 free mins on Celebrity per person. I'm not going to need any packages on Celebrity.Richard

This is my favorite deck for getting some sun. I'm away from the pool and I'm able to listen to my own music. I'm more into the music as of now not yesteryear. Richard

We done only a couple inside rooms in the Seattle/Alaska area. As we are in the Seattle area and can get great last minute deals. I will say I did get some good sleep on the inside room for it is so dark. Yes a bright clock will be helpful. I do think a TA would be a nice place for a inside room. Richard

I have booked on board for friends twice. I'm not sure if I had all their info. It would be a good idea. But they are Captain Club members. I used my credit card for the deposit. Richard

We always transfer to our TA. We give her our reservation numbers. She handles everything for us. She is with a large travel agency and she has gone for bat for us. Mostly with good results. Richard

What about this new info from Celebrity. I thought someone would have start a tread.We can combine one other offer. Is this old news? Richard

Your Cruise Now offer includes:

$100 reduced deposit per person

Onboard credit up to $500

Choose the stateroom you want

Combine your Cruise Now offer with 1 other offer

Flexibility—you may cancel your sailing up to 75 or 90 days prior to your sail date

Reservations are automatically credited to your travel agent

Hello everyone, we are going on the Holylands cruise. Just checking to see if anyone did excursions for this cruise. Can you recommend any? We are Christians so the tours are really important to us. Thanks!

Jerusalem

Mosque of Omar (also known as the Dome of the Rock, the third holiest site in Islam, after Mecca and Medina); the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (marking the site of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Christ); and the Western ("Wailing") Wall, once part of Solomon's Temple. Outside the walls of the old city is the beautiful Franciscan church, the Church of All Nations, on the slope of the Mount of Olives; the church is built around the rock in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Ephesus

House of Virgin Mary is located on the top of the "Bulbul" mountain 9 km ahead of Ephesus, the shrine of Virgin Mary enjoys a marvelous atmosphere hidden in the green. It is the place where Mary may have spent her last days. Indeed, she may have come in the area together with Saint John, who spent several years in the area to spread Christianity. Mary preferred this remote place rather than living in crowded place.

DH and I are researching one of the cruises that has stops in Haifa and Ashdod. When we have done a land vacation to Israel, when we have made purchases in Israel and paid tax on the purchase, upon arrival at the airport for our return to the US we went to a VAT booth to be refunded the taxes.

As to VAT tax. I have never seen it at a cruise terminal. I have only seen it at LHR airport. Most stores wont deal with it. You have to spend about 100 Pounds or Euros. Richard

Bringing full bottles of wine to the dining room, Really? Takes a lot of guts. Do you take your wine with you when you go out to eat at home? What's the difference? What's next, packing a lunch and go eating it in a spevialty restaraunt? We drink wine, but always buy it on the ship.Maybe they should not allow any wine or liquor brought on the ship.

Yes I have brought wine to a restaurant at home. Yes they had a corking fee. You can also take a bottle bought at a restaurant home with you. Though it may be different in some states in the USA. Richard

Yes they should have what you want at room service or at the buffet. You just cant remove food or drink from the breakfast or evening event 5-7pm. Richard

Are last cruise in Sept 2013 on Solstice had Bingo, but it was on hard cards. I only play Bingo on machines or paper. So it saved me some money. Richard