ScottC4746

On 5/16/2024 at 7:27 AM, Maclet said:

Long story short, my original flight in business class was cancelled very last minute while at the airport on departure day.  By the time a same day replacement flight could be arranged, only economy seats were available.  I have requested a partial refund from Flights by Celebrity and am waiting for a response.

 

Has anyone else experienced this issue and were you successful in getting some compensation?  TIA.

So a couple of questions.  Why was your business class flight cancelled?  Was it equipment change in which there may be less seats on the new aircraft so someone had to get bumped, tag you are it?  Did the flight completely cancel in which there may not be any other business class seats to get you to the cruise in time?

Even if you booked directly with the airlines, both scenarios could happen.  Please keep us posted on the outcome.  Hope everything works out refund wise.

43 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

The only ships I've ever been on with a big production sail away show (and show the first night) is Disney.

 

Others might have had a DJ or a band, but no show for sail away.

Well, I guess what I have as a reference is at least on Solstice in September 2022 they had something in the daily schedule along the lines of, "come to the pool deck for tunes and join your fellow travelers as we depart from Seattle for Alaska." 

2 hours ago, Tom and Ingrid said:

The shows (two of the same per night) are timed (and stay essentially the same) to correspond with either an early seating or a later seating in the MDR.  It would be hard to miss a show if you chose one or the other time for dinner.  At worst, at a really chatty table where folks are talking more than eating, you may look at your watch and decide dessert can wait(!) until later, and head to the show. The flip side - show first - is a little "messier" as you might be in a bit of a rush to get to the MDR prior to a line forming at the entrances.

We usually do:

5 PM Happy Hour

6 PM Dinner MDR

9 PM late show and sit where we can make a quick exit for...

10 PM Disco night, 80's night, Abba Sing along and other stuff along those calibers. 

39 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Celebrity has never had a production show every night of the cruise. They are interspersed with comedians, magicians, guest singers, piano players, etc.

I thought it was a big show the first and last night as a welcome aboard and thank you for sailing and maybe one other big show.  I guess I mistakenly called everything a production show.

1 minute ago, Team Stag said:

We just returned from a cruise.  We were used the app during the week prior to make plans.  Heck one night they had an 80's party schedule (and many of our role call brought 80's outfits) just to find that on sailaway day it had been replaced with a late night comedian show.  Same thing with menus - we signed up for speciality dining to miss some of lesser favorite dining room menus only to have them all on wrong nights.   Just sharing our most recent experience.

I know things change last minute.  My first RCCL cruise in 1994 two days before the group The Turtles were to be featured in the main show room, they removed all signage and posted due to an illness it was cancelled.  Fortunately, that morning of the show, whoever was sick got well and the signs were back up and the show went on as planned.

2 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

 

I agree, very strange 🤨 That's why we only had dinner at Luminae one night...it all seemed strange to us. Here is carrot cake from Cosmopolitan - I thought it was so pretty and DH said it was the best carrot cake he ever tasted!

Bleh, I don't mind carrots as a vegetable but when you turn them into a desert, yugh!  LOL

Seriously, I am not a fan because I worked 10 years in a hotel/casino in Vegas and the employee dining room our choice of desert was carrot cake yes or no.

How was it?

5 minutes ago, Team Stag said:

Don't trust the app until boarding day.  Some stuff is accurate, a lot of it is garbage.  Much of the data you see weeks before your cruise is populated from the current cruise that ship is on.

But what about the live thread being posted?  Is it because it is the first week? 

Stressing this won't be a fun cruise.  It WILL be relaxing however.

2 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Last night I was watching a documentary on the Norwegian Joy's trip to Alaska.  Same itin as ours.  They showed clips of their sail away party up on the pool deck.  Looked like a lot of fun!  One thing I noticed was the weather appeared to be warmer and nicer...looked like it was a late summer time frame and people were in the pool and in summer attire.  Maybe a sail away party on our cruise is weather permitting?

This thread has the schedule posted for the first night.  No sail away listed AND no big production number the first night, just a comedian.  I hope it just might be a first week thing and couldn't get the performers to the ship in time thing.

I am leaving for Alaska Dawes Glacier Friday which is the second week and have been following someone posting a live from for the first week.  It seems very strange and disappointing:

• There is no sail away party.  We had one Sept 2022 on the same routing. They posted the schedule, and nothing listed.  Nothing in my app either.
• There is no traditional production show the first night.  They posted the schedule and shows a comedian.  Nothing including the comedian in my app.

Has X gotten away from production shows each night?  Is this due to the itinerary? Is this because it is the first week?  Hopefully the second week will be better.

Thank you for posting the photos of the schedules.  That is really disappointing there is no sail away nor is there any big production show on the first night.

Did they have any traditional big production shows?  I hope this is just either because of the first week, or the Alaska destination and not this is the direction Celebrity is heading.

We leave Friday 31 May and hopefully the schedule will be a bit different.  Based on the app I am seeing so far, not much.

On 5/25/2024 at 12:12 PM, prmami said:

We’ve been sailing on Royal Caribbean for a couple of years now. We are looking for a different cruise experience. What’s  the difference between the two cruise lines.
Thanks in advance.

We did the same thing after trying Holland (HAL) before Celebrity (X) and we are hooked.

We are in our 50's when we did the switch.  Our last X cruise I was 57 and DH 50 and we both loved X.  HAL we felt like someone's grandkids on that one.

The service on X was amazing.  We did Alaska Dawes Glacier in September 2022 and we were floored with the service.

Let's back up to RCCL and why we left in our opinion and others will disagree.

• We got tired of the "summer camp at sea for adults" feel.
• In the evening, we had a hard time finding a venue for a drink and being able to sit and talk to each other without the thumpa thumpa thumpa music.
• We got tired of the belly flop contests and always spring break vibe at the pool.
• Ships are getting too big for us.
• With larger ships, service is slowing down at bars, obviously, because of more customers.
• Food was, well, banquet food.  Not to knock banquet food because that style of cooking works best on cruises in the MDR.  I have been to many a banquet with stellar food to bleh food.

Now for X:

• To us they seem a bit more refined and sophisticated without being stuffy.
• While venues (Solstice is the only ship we have been on), have entertainment, it was not deafening. There was one venue that had the thumpa thumpa thumpa going on, but not the others.
• We did not see the belly flop contests or spring break vibe, but then again it was Alaska.  People with a higher tolerance to cold were swimming, I was in the solarium where it was warmer.
• While X has larger ships, nothing like RCCL.
• I did not experience any service issues.
• Food while still banquet food was very good.  Concierge Embarkation lunch was meh. The canapes you receive in the state room for Concierge Class was awful.
• Walking down the corridors in the stateroom areas, all stateroom attendants gave you a hello, good morning, afternoon, evening.  It did not matter if they were your attendant or not.
• Our waiter in the MDR was amazing.  We did the anytime dining and always showed up 6 - 615 for dinner.  After the first two nights, he was tripping over himself to get to the hostess station when he saw us to get us on his table.
• What impressed us was when you reboard after going to the cold wet Alaskan ports, they had vats of real homemade chicken broth to sip on to warm up.  I can tell the difference between homemade and canned.  Canned this was not.
• Production shows, they still have a live orchestra.  One of the few lines that still does.
• Depending on what ship you are on, watch out for the infinite verandah cabins.  Search out on YouTube for video reviews.  They are a love/hate thing, and they seem to be heading that way on their ships.

In the end, we are hooked on X.  Am I saying I will never do RCCL again? No, I will never close doors like that, but they are not my preferred. 

On 5/25/2024 at 8:02 AM, Escruiser1962 said:

We just returned from the Summit last fall and Reflection this spring. We really don't want to return for another cruise with the crowds we've found when trying to find a table for meals and for trying to find a lounger anywhere. 

 

Are there any Celebrity or RCCL ships that are best for feeling less crowded? I think cruising is back to 100% which is great for cruiselines but not so much for vacationing on one. Thanks!

The Galapagos Islands has three ships Flora with 100, Xpedition with 48, and Xploration with 16, but as you can imagine with this itinerary, this is very expensive.

Generally that is early on to ensure those with shore excursions are able to disembark in a timely manner.  You should be okay to just walk off at that time, however as every port and ship is different, always listen to on board announcements and your daily printed schedule for the most accurate information.

How tight are the machines?

On 5/23/2024 at 1:50 PM, CruisinRoxy said:

I just got an email from Celebrity advising us that they are switching out Labadee Haiti for Nassau. On our Apex sailing next February. Not thrilled about Nassau and we have been there many times.  But that’s not the point, we can always make it a ship day.  But does anyone know any further information about Labadee?  Given the unrest in Haiti, which I have not been following.  It’s more than 6 months from now, so it must not be good. 

If you have been following the news, it does not seem like things will be safe again in 6 months to who knows how long.  My second cruise was in 1994 on RCCL and we were only given 1 month noticed Hatti would be skipped all together, but the did not do an alternate port...it was an extra day at sea.  That decision came very quickly after things collapsed so I am sure they did not have time to secure a different port in time.

1 minute ago, Northern Aurora said:

It has been a while since we disembarked in Seattle, but this certainly is a perk enjoyed by folks using porters in other ports.

Well worth the tip then.

Our last X cruise was September 2022 on the Solstice in Seattle.  When we disembarked, it appeared people that employed a porter for their luggage in the terminal were whisked to the head of the line for those waiting for the airport shuttle.  Did my little peepers deceive me or is this a perk of using the porters?

Celebrity's website has always been a crap shoot if it will work or not.

16 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It is very limited and number per cruise is strictly limited.   They also get Priority Embarkation/disembarkationa and Suite Seating.

How does one sign up for this?

On 12/5/2023 at 7:23 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Be sure to check if their used watches are essentially "savaged" or repaired at a 3rd party repair company possibly using aftermarket parts; X does this with its used Rolex.  When this happens the maker will no longer service them and the value plummets

Make sure if you get a Rolex you know a few things.  First, if the sweep hand ticks, something is wrong.  Rolexes sweep.  If it has been refurbished and they offer you a Rolex warranty.  Be suspicious.  If it has been repaired by a third party that is not Rolex approved, no such Rolex warranty exists.  Any warranty it had is null and void by Rolex.

I have only been to Tokyo via the airport for a connection to Singapore in 1999.  We had a bit of a language problem there in the airport.  I worked with a lady born in Tokyo at the time and she said they try to find English speakers but because of where Narita Airport is located, you get alot of rural employees so it makes it a challenge.

Singapore we loved.  We spent so many meals in the food halls instead of regular restaurants.  It was a foodies heaven. 

Sanger nailed it.  I was curious which language they favor on board even though Singapore speaks English officially and if on board drinks, food, entertainment would favor east over west or not.

2 minutes ago, Octavias said:

Nope.  Only shows a show on night 2 and 6.

Guess that is why everyone says go with the printed schedule instead.

DH want to go to Vietnam and I really don't as a land only vacation.  I would be willing to do a cruise that stops there.

I see X does some that has three ports in Vietnam.  The only one I would consider would be between Tokyo and Singapore.  I refuse to do one that starts or ends in China, even on this one Hong Kong is a port of call, but we don't have to get off.

Has anyone done a cruise between Tokyo and Singapore?  How is the cruise experience?

This is going to sound awful, no matter how I ask it, but what percentage roughly would be locals, Japanese or Singaporean?  I've never done a cruise that started or ended in a foreign port.

Be very careful as I found out on another cruise line who shall be left nameless.

I bought what was made out to be Thomas Kinkade.  When it was delivered it was a different artist.

Before you bid, make sure you know what you are doing.  Same with buying jewelry in the shops.  Rolexes in particular.  I was on another cruise line who shall be left nameless that had "Rolexes," which I will put in parenthesis as I doubt they were really Rolexes.  These ticked.  Rolexes sweep.  Also be leery of refurbished Rolexes.  If it is an unauthorized repair place.