chemmo

Agree about the view on S class. One of our cruise highlights has always been first evening dining in Tuscan slowly watching day turn into night…

We became very friendly with a couple on Equinox one cruise who had a ten month old baby girl. At breakfast time they ordered their evening meal and told the waiter the time they would be arriving meaning that as they sat down their starters and first drink were immediately served. The little one also had a plate of finger food she could enjoy independently. As their starters were cleared a dish of something or other would be brought in for parents to feed to the little one then as the parents mains arrived the little one had a couple of small toys on the table. Depending on how settled the little one was they either stayed for dessert or had it sent to their room. It really was an excellent bit of choreography by both parents and staff. I write this simple so that the OP knows there are ways around the meal being too long for a little one to sit still… As others have said the staff were fantastic! Most of the guests were welcoming too. Most evenings as I was dining I would also be playing peek a boo across the room with ‘the little princess’ as the waiters called her. Unfortunately, as others have said, not all guests were pleasant. One guest in the Retreat Lounge started complaining to me about ‘that baby’ being allowed in the Retreat Lounge expecting me to agree. Unfortunately for her I said I couldn’t wait for the little one to arrive as I loved my evening cuddle! Also as a side note on another ship there were two couples both with toddlers (2ish) and most nights you saw one or the other couple but rarely both. One couple each evening seeing to both children and the other being free. That seemed to work well too.

I think it is about 10 years since we were last on M class. I guess we have simply become ‘comfortable’ with S class. We will board Infinity with our eyes wide open to her status as a refined old lady with a few wrinkles…I bit like me really…I should fit in really well… Seriously we have no intentions of comparing her to the S class, we aim to enjoy as a different experience but hopefully still that lovely relaxing ambiance we book Celebrity for…

Agree! So nice the number of people on this site that will really make the effort to help others…

We stayed at a country farm house in Yorkshire some years ago. At breakfast the lovely farmers wife asked us at breakfast if we would like “Moa mil”…We needed a man from Leeds to translate it to ‘more milk’…Later in the day I went into a lovely local bakers and I asked for two barm cakes and confused the lady serving. When I pointed to the desired items she said “You mean our floury baps”…One country and many dialects! As an ex teacher it is signs that really get to me… ”Please switch of the lights” being one in our community hall (couldn’t change or alter or I would have offended someones wife or mother) and “Help yourself to desert” in a local hotel… I had to pin my husband to his seat to prevent him asking what flavours of sand they had…

I thought you just paid the difference…So if your Classic limit is $10 and the drink you want is $12 you just pay the $2 + service…Never had a classic package so maybe I am wrong. It may help the OP if someone can confirm…

One of the main reasons for us not cruising on M class for some years has been the removal of the ‘liners’ restaurants. They were beautiful and always felt special. I can remember them doing a champagne afternoon tea with a string duo as well as that lovely Murano style evening service. Well we are now booked on Infinity for next year! A mixture of an itinerary we liked plus a yearning to return to M class has made our mind up. We plan to do the following to ‘fill the gap’. We are in a suite so we will have access to Luminae. We are aware you can order from the MDR so will consider, also we have read that with 24 hour notice Luminae will prepare off menu items. We have only ever done this once but may utilise more. We will visit Tuscan and Sushi at least twice each. Possible visit LPC once. Look for the chefs market tour excursion which is a trip to a local market followed by a special meal for the group later using some of the produce bought. Use evening room service at least one night and dine on the balcony (Santorini when we don’t leave until 10pm). Look out to see if Sushi does a ‘Taste of India’ special night. Use the buffet one or two evenings if we are tired… Consider doing a Chef’s Table again. We were put off this after dining with Mr Talk a Lot and his wife Mrs Drink a Lot but I think they are the exception rather than the usual… I don’t think we will starve… Can I suggest you look at the recent Norwaylady live B2B report. Lots of great Blu pictures from the first cruise and MDR from the second. The MDR food looked very nice…

Yes, there is a point where the logistics of cruising can outweigh the pleasure. We have had to cancel a few cruises over the years either because of my health or my husband’s. Each time we have cancelled, however, we have booked another for the soonest opportunity! Totally agree to always thinking positive and every day I count my blessings for the wonderful cruises we have enjoyed. Sincere best wishes for the future!

Recent reviews have indicated that LPC has been very quiet and some second seatings have been cancelled. This would imply that all the more OBC is heading to Tuscan and Sushi. We are on Infinity next year and have speciality dining included with our room so I think I will book in both restaurants in advance for the nights we plan on using them.

Can I suggest you contact Special Needs at Celebrity and ask them if they have any real toppers on board rather than just the thin things? If they haven’t then you know to take your own but I seem to remember the one they provided me with on Eclipse was quite thick and bouncy. I had contacted them pre cruise as I was going to be in an orthopaedic boot and asked if they had anything that may help when I put my feet up. When I boarded they had the topper in my room ready for approval and a selection of pillows for me to choose from. Nothing to loose! Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise!

We have done three cruises on M class all deck 6 far aft…Only one really stormy night, we felt it!

Junior suites do not get full suite perks. It is a few years now since we did Oasis class so hopefully someone else can confirm what you do/do not get in a junior suite. I seem to remember they had access to CK but not the suite lounge. As for the suite lounge on our cruise it was difficult to get a seat because it was full of elderly Pinnacles. Re CK we found it very basic…Nothing like as good Luminae for food choice, service or ambiance and I am not a major Luminae fan! When comparing suites on different lines it is easy to forget you usually want the full ship experience too. We found the entertainment on Oasis excellent, the food (even in the speciality restaurants) just OK. Don’t get me started on the Genie program, give me a butler any day!

Look at Norway Lady’s recent review, lots of MDR pictures and comments. Personally I thought the menu looked quite nice. The dishes looked well presented. If you haven’t done Le Petit Chef before it is worth going. It is fun rather than fine dining. Much as many people find it a ‘once and done’ most thoroughly enjoy that first visit. I have never seen it open at lunch. Many people are put off Sushi of Five because they don’t like sushi. However the menu is far more eclectic. We find it a great choice for a light lunch and as you can pay per item then you can order as much or as little as you like. It is never really busy, even in the evenings in our experience. On a few cruises they have had a special ‘Taste of India’ meal once per cruise. This is served family style, I have never done it but have read good reviews. Sushi is usually open sea days and on some cruises we have found it open on some port days. We find the buffet can give a good option, especially on evenings when you are tired. They do have themed days, look at the Today sheet. Look out for an excursion called Chef’s market. This involves a small group going with one of the executive chefs to local markets to buy food, return with it to the ship and later enjoy a meal including the bought produce. One of my friends did this and loved it. Chef’s table is another nice dining option. We have done two, one was excellent the other was marred a bit by a loud couple but well worth a go if you haven’t done it before. Remember room service is a nice dining option too and at very little cost. A great option for balcony meals lunch or dinner. I think their chicken noodle soup and sandwiches with fries is exactly what I want some lunchtimes. Hope I have successfully given you lots of ideas, food wise, to spend your $$$!

Thank you for the review on Infinity’s condition. As you may remember from an earlier post I have been dithering on booking…I am much reassured. Booking in place now and looking forward to my first ‘semi solo cruise’…We are booked in the PH so I don’t think we will miss the Retreat deck. We had also been concerned about the lack of speciality restaurants but your MDR pictures have made my feel that the Luminae menu can be well supplemented… Sincere thanks again!

Wonderful!

We looked at this when we did our TP but in reverse! We decided instead to spend time in Hawaii and Australia…That’s what is wrong with us, we like land based holidays too!

Wasn’t there a man who more or less lived on the Summit? I seem to remember some people were disgruntled that every cruise he got the bouquet for the highest Captains Club points… I have a pathetic maximum in one year of 25…in 2016. Most years something between 12 - 20.

It is a case of needing to stay alert….Not something new but definitely seems more world wide and prevalent at the moment. I also think because of the frequency of disputes at present in Europe it is getting less media attention meaning you need to be more alert as unless you search you may not know…

Agree with the above comment if you are in a standard cabin. However, there are more differences if you are in a suite. Silhouette had a more comprehensive suite deck conversion. Equinox has a one deck suite area with nice sun beds and good service. Silhouette has a suite area over two decks and includes a bar, jacuzzi and a variety of seating areas. We have cruised both and found the Silhouette much better. However, this additional deck area on Silhouette took over the basketball court so if your family party includes children Equinox may have an advantage…

We have cruised mainly S class for several years now. The speciality dining limitations on M class being one of the main reasons… Getting rid of the ‘liner’ restaurants (equivalent to Murano) was in our opinion a mistake on M class. As others have said Tuscan on M class is not the light, spectacular venue you get on S class although the menu is the same. LPC is fun dining rather than fine dining, entertaining but not a venue we would visit regularly… We have booked on Infinity next year for itinerary and a desire to experience the M class ambiance again…The ship does have its strengths… We have booked a suite so our dining options will include Luminae. However, I have been pleasantly surprised by the MDR pictures and menus shown on ‘Norway Lady’s’ recent cruise on Infinity…I can see us opting for the MDR menu over Luminae some nights… Perhaps you could look at some of the special dinners to complement the speciality restaurants. For example, Chef’s Table and Chef market tour (which includes a special meal made with bought produce). At the end of the day it is all about sometimes having to make compromises…If we were given the Infinity itinerary on an S class ship would we go for it? If we were just looking at dining options then probably, yes but we aren’t just focusing on the dining we are looking at the full M experience… Sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise!

It depends on how you look at something, what is important to you…I think we often get so distracted by small things we forget to look at the product as a whole… I am not a fish connoisseur so I don’t care about the tilapia…Much as I enjoy good food dining to me is about venues too and about good service. Celebrity to me still offers a very pleasant experience. Not too stuffy but not too casual. Dress is not too formal but not generally over casual. Guests are generally well mannered, well traveled and a pleasure to be with. Not masses of children and those on board tend to be well supervised and well behaved. The style of entertainment continues to appeal, we much prefer duos and trios in bars to big shows. We like the drinks package and can accept they make our E+ perks of less value. Sometimes one can focus on individual trees and forget to see the forest….Yes, we can all see little niggles, little changes but as long as Celebrity provides the on board ambiance I love I will continue to keep booking.

We invariably cruise in a suite with access to the Retreat Lounge and a drinks package but I miss the cocktail time in the Sky Lounge too. Whilst we didn’t go every night we would enjoy it a couple of times per cruise. We simply liked the venue with the views and by the nature of it being filled with other regular Celebrity cruisers you always enjoyed chatting with others. We had many happy conversations about cruises past and upcoming. I must confess I tried to avoid the hot nibbles, just too tempting when you are about to go and dine…

It never fails to amaze me how quickly Celebrity staff can fix issues. I remember a really bad leak on Millie, literally flooded corridors as we headed to dinner. When we returned the only evidence was two maintenance guys and what looked like two large dehumidifiers… Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise! Remember the Sky Lounge is a big area. I am sure they will be able to at least part open even if they need to partition a bit off for a day or two…

No water features in the Equinox Retreat deck unless one has been added since I was last on board. Simply lots of nice sun beds and not enough shade…

Actually I think that is one of the strengths of the design of the ships. We have done cold weather cruises and places like the Sky Lounge (S class) and Constellation lounge (M class) really come to their own. I haven’t cruised E class so cannot comment. Whilst most sea days they are near empty on cold cruise sea days they are a great place to sit, relax, read, chat…To say nothing for gazing out at angry seas… Unfortunately the ships can seem crowded when some guests want to sit in the cafe all day preventing those coming in for a coffee being able to sit for a short while…