chemmo

Well if you can get over here….A trip around the UK followed by an 8 night cruise should prevent a fire!

In our experience they start check in at Southampton at about 10.30/10.45 We book suites and tend to arrive at about 11am. Occasionally there can be delays on boarding but it doesn’t happen frequently. Luminae offers lunch usually from midday. After boarding your parents can take their hand luggage to their suite, pick up their room keys, secure valuables in the safe and have time for a glass of fizz before dining. Whilst you can access your room at that time it may not be fully finished. For example, towels may not yet have been delivered. Luminae tends to get busy at about 12.45. We tend to skip breakfast (or have a very light one) and then lunch early. This leaves plenty of time then to complete muster, unpack, unwind and settle in before it is time to get ready for cocktails and dinner. There is usually a discount for specialty dining first evening. If the parents are interested Tuscan Grill has fantastic wake views…Lovely to start your cruise dining first night overlooking the sea! Alternatively Murano has a more formal feel and our favourite food. I wouldn’t recommend Lawn Grill on leaving Southampton as it can be quite gusty.

There have been some posts where other suites have received emails calls. Perhaps a bit hit and miss…

We have usually received an email or phone call about 2/3 weeks prior to cruise. You can ask them to make reservations for the speciality restaurants, spa appointments etc. They usually ask about room set up, pillow types, extra coat hangers…Some suites come with a bar set up so they ask about that too but I don’t think the sunset suites have this. If you don’t receive an email any requests are quickly dealt with on boarding by the room attendant or butler. If you really do want contact with the concierge before boarding and haven’t received a mail either phone your Celebrity agent or your TA (if you have used one) and they will arrange for a shoreside concierge to contact you by email or phone. Your parents can arrive and check in any time they like. Tell them to look for the suite check in. There are plenty of staff to guide them. Once on board they have access to three specific suite areas… The Retreat Lounge. This has a nice club atmosphere, has different little snacks during the day and is a pleasant place to chat to fellow guests. There is a concierge who will sort out any queries or concerns. They often arrange special events like galley tours, helipad sail aways etc. Tell them to look out for letters and phone messages. Luminae, this is the suite restaurant. The service is excellent. The menu is written rather playfully often making it difficult to be exactly sure what you are ordering. Tell the parents to simply ask the waiter to explain. The Retreat Deck. This is an area of upper deck reserved for suite guests. Comfortable loungers, bar service, simple lunchtime food menu. No pool but there is a jacuzzi. Remind your parents of the areas but encourage them to enjoy the full ship, she is lovely. Some of my favourite areas are none retreat ones!

We cancelled this cruise a week or so ago. As there have been very few suites available for this cruise I did post this on the roll call. I have noticed it is still available so if anyone is interested…

Thank you for the beautiful pictures both of the food and sights, a pleasant browse with my morning coffee! I must say the MDR menu reads quite balanced and looks very nice. How good have the wine offerings been? Assuming you drink wine…

Thanks for the information on the CC breakfast. Lovely pictures of your tour!

So were you offered nothing? Previously if we haven’t had a discussion a selection has arrived at 4pm…(PH and RS)

I thought as long as you were sharing a cabin then none elite guests could attend all events with you…What was on your Mum’s card wouldn’t matter as long as she was with you…

Sorry if I have missed this but have you had the Captains Club breakfast at all? If so where is it held?

Totally agree. We have access to Luminae but don’t want a heavy breakfast most days. I tend to go for the salmon plate and a Bellini! Definitely the best place to have a chat with the CC Host too.

I think the unwritten rule is if you want anything other than standard snack delivery then request in advance. We make our afternoon snack delivery part of the first conversation with our butler. We would never phone the butler or catch him at 4pm and ask for snacks there and then. If we did want something last minute we would go and get something from the buffet or Retreat lounge. If I had asked the butler to sort daily afternoon snacks and received this response I would have had a quiet work with the concierge. I would have politely asked if afternoon snacks were no longer being served in suite and expect the concierge to ask what we wanted…. I do think sometimes communication can get tangled in situations like this, however. For example, a few years ago when they started serving afternoon tea in Michael’s/Retreat and stopped the cart we told our butler we didn’t want the afternoon delivery of ‘daily delights’ we simply wanted a small afternoon tea selection. Our butler did try to dissuade us saying afternoon tea was now in the lounge. Trying not to criticise the butler, simply the change in service, we discussed it with the concierge and we received our afternoon tea selection and have every cruise since. Making reasonable requests, giving the butler time to arrange has always been our guideline.

Perhaps those who have cruised on E class could recommend good places around the ship for a family group to gather…

This tends to be usual for cruises up to and including Christmas and the New Year.

On boarding you will find a card in your room with your restaurant and dining time on it. You can change it. Just head to one of the speciality restaurants. Rather than use the app to book the rest of your meals I would head straight for one of the speciality restaurants and sort the rest of your dining in person. Simply because you can then ‘negotiate’. For example if you say you want Wednesday at 8pm they may not be able to provide but can offer Thursday at 8pm or Wednesday at 7.30pm… Sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise. We loved the speciality dining on Silhouette. On a sea day lunchtime we really enjoyed The Porch. Worth asking if they have any lunchtime offers when you sort out your package..

Totally agree. Also, with reference to reviews, different things matter more to different people. For example, I can live with a bit of rust but not with shabby bedding, good service is important to me but I can cope with more indifferent shows… In the ideal world cruises would be 5* across all parameters…With cut backs and a cost aware climate in cruising I guess the important thing to do when you read reviews on any line is to focus on what is important to you…

Whilst Nuts About Golf was talking specifically about calzone pizza I think the end of his post is the best bit of advice… Look at all the options and make variety the spice of your lunchtime experience…

We usually cruise in suites so have the option of Luminae on sea days but rarely go there. Quite simply we don’t always want the ‘formality’ of a sit down three course meal. Instead we go for the buffet…I do so think many people underestimate the buffet and the range of choices. We look for the daily specials like ‘pie day’ (I will miss breakfast to enjoy pie day) or they will sometimes declare a region like ‘Italian day’. Special days are listed in Today. At least once per cruise we go for the Indian selection. Reliably good in our opinion. When having full meals like these we tend to sit in the outside area at the back of the ship. Dining outside is always nice. We will usually on these days have a very light breakfast then have our lunch at 12ish before the cafe gets busy. No queuing, no waiting for drinks at this time and time enough to digest a larger meal before dinner. The cafe at this time has fresh food, good service and a pleasant ambiance. So different from between 1pm and 2pm where ‘hectic’ tends to describe the ambiance… Alternatively we will often go to the buffet and get a made to order sandwich add a few chicken wings and a side salad and take it back to enjoy on the balcony or poolside. Then of course there are burgers poolside too and as you said the spa cafe if you want a light meal. We also like to visit sushi on five at lunch. Sometimes they have lunch offers but as it is pay per item you can just pick what you want. We tend to order things to share… Finally, if you really fancy crashing on your balcony the charge for room service is worth paying. I do like their chicken noodle soup and their sandwiches with some of the best fries on the ship… We never bother with the MDR as again a sit down more formal setting isn’t what we want on a sea day. However, it is another choice…

I assume they must have done a risk assessment of some sort. We dined one night in Tuscan when the bikers had booked a large table. What a lovely, polite and interesting group.

Look and see if there is a tour and drop off option for Athens…I tend to think though your flight usually has to be after 3 pm for that… Alternatively, are there any pay for lounges at Athens? Waiting doesn’t seem so bad in a comfortable chair…

‘To making it count….’ Get looking for that PH…

One of the highlights of our itinerary is being in Santorini until 10pm…Sunset in September will be about 7pm. The plan will be to prearrange with the butler to drink and dine on deck that night. I can think of nothing more spectacular than sitting on that wonderful deck, drink in hand, watching day turn to night and seeing the cliff side villages light up as darkness falls… So sorry for your loss. I will be ‘semi-solo’. My first cruise without my wonderful husband but I will be sharing the PH with my wonderful son and his fiancée. Needless to say we will feel choked most evenings as we make our family toast ‘To making it count’. When people come on this board saying ‘Should I upgrade?’ or ‘Is a PH worth the money?’ I always say if you can stretch the budget go for it. You and I are blessed with wonderful memories. This time last year we had two cruises booked. Little do we know that they would never happen. No one knows what tomorrow will bring so my advice will remain, to the most of everyday and every cruise!

It is so nice when someone asks a question on the board and then comes back to relate their experiences to help others in the future. Hope you had a great cruise and some wonderful rides!

Will the airline home allow you to board with it?

You may still be able to book a package. As higher suite guests get unlimited speciality dining and usually book through the shoreside concierge about two/three weeks prior to the cruise places are held back. At this point (about two weeks prior to cruise) a few packages may then be released. Worth it to keep checking. Once on board there are still chances for bargains. Simply chat to the M’D of the speciality restaurants and ask if there are any special deals. If you are happy dining early or late then the chances of getting a discount is improved. One word of warning, however, friends of ours were in a RS, booked Fine Cut day 2 through the shoreside concierge, enjoyed it so much they tried to book it again later in the cruise and couldn’t so certain restaurants are more popular than others. Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise!