ScottC4746

I have been trying all mornign to get on X's website and it keeps freezing. I have no issues with any other website. As we all know, this is nothing new. Anyone else having problems this morning?

Standard rule of thumb is no, unless you are lucky to have a priest traveling on the cruise, but they are on vacation and may not want to preside over a mass. Some ports such as Ketchikan there is a local parish Holy Name Catholic that has a Port to Pew program that states: "We have a Port to Pew van that will pick up cruise passengers and bring them to Holy Name and back to port throughout the season. If you gather at the Visitors Center by the Rain Gauge and look for our tan or blue Holy Name minivans at 8:30AM Sunday mornings or 4:45PM Saturday you can ride for free (donations are accepted). We will make several trips if needed between port and the church. We also have a beautiful Mary Garden you can enjoy if you arrive early for mass. Please call or email the office for more information or to let us know when you are arriving! 907-225-2570 churchoffice@holynamektn.org" I don't know if they will return you to port after Mass or make you go back to port on your own.

We get there before our scheduled time so we are amongst the first to board. As our larger cases are handled by the cruise line, we are left with carry on baggage. We take those to the stateroom straightaway and then either do the Concierge lunch if we qualify or buffet. We then stroll the ship until we are notified our stateroom is ready for us to relax in. Since you have children, I would opt only for the buffet and when you go to drop your bags in the room, do a very quick change to swimwear but don't forget coverups. Males have to have a shirt and women with a covering.

I think it comes down to where am I cruising. IF I were going to the hot and humid tropics and the Caribbean, I would probably think about it, but after reading this thread, I won't book one again.

We too were blown away by X having been on HAL and RCCL and Princess. The others I had to remind them I was paying for the rum, not the cola. My old fashioned on X I could tell they pack the drinks.

We noticed the same thing Sept 2022 on Solstice, but once we started taking all the meals in the main dining room and avoiding the buffet, WOW WHAT A DIFFERENCE.

I have a cruise in May 2024 to Alaska. Our Sunday is a port day. Will they have Catholic Mass on board or do we need to get ourselves to the local parish?

We are in a concierge class on Edge to Alaska. This will be our first time using one. I like the idea in cold/hot weather. My DH hates the idea.

Yes as you cannot travel, should you miss your ship, on a photo copy.

We didn't either last cruise and we had our wonderful two top, same table, same staff the entire cruise.

I have no problem doing what I was doing or planned on doing in the area. So what if I photo bombed their video. They video bombed my vacation. Unless Celebrity has roped off the area for them to film in, not likely, it is fair game for me to enjoy the area.

We went last year on Solstice to Alaska September 2022 just as the industry was digging out of the lock down. 1. We had lobster. 2. We, or at least my category of a Concierge State Room, had make up in the morning and turn down at night. 3. We were given 11 AM to board. We arrived at 9:30 AM and had no problem boarding. We threw things in the room and were messaged when the room was ready.

Our first X cruise was on Solstice to Alaska. While they kindly request that you adhere to the dress code in the public areas, I never saw anyone NOT adhere to the dress code. The old days of cruises people wore suits and dresses or tuxes and gowns in the evening and as time marched on, people were rushing after dinner and changing. Sad really as I enjoyed dressing up for the night. Having been an officer for 6 or 7 years in a fraternal organization and having to wear a suit to 3 meetings a month, and a tux to 1 meeting a month, I appreciated the chic nights. At night, I wore nice clean dark jeans with a collared sports button up shirt and the chic nights nice slacks and nice button up dress shirt with no tie. No tennis shoes however. I dressed up the footwear in the evenings and on chic night was black dress shoes.

On the Solstice they were scattered throughout. Ours was on the second tier along the railing so we had a lovely view of the entire dining room.

At the height of lunch service with many passengers circling like vultures?

Yes but at least you all were eating. We had groups of people at lunch playing games and not eating.

The last time we cruised was the first time on X going to Alaska round trip from Seattle and was on the Solstice. We were not a full capacity then and hearing cruises are now 100%+ now, which brings a questions about the Edge. We are a couple and had a hard time with the buffet. First, we started being "polite" and both going through the line together and then trying to find a seat. When we got up to get seconds, we both got up to avoid us looking like table hogs and lost our table and had to go through everything again. The second day one of us would be a table hog and hold the table while the other got their food. While they were eating, the other would get food. By the time they made it back the first was ready for seconds so we never got to eat together, really. By lunch time the third day we decided to try all three meals in the MDR and boy what a difference in the quality and choices as they seemed to be rotated out where in the buffet they were not. Is the buffet going to be the same on the Edge?

The $18.99 is the result of the 5%.

Last time we cruised with X, also was our first time, was last September on the Solstice in Alaska. The main dining room was trying their best, and doing a great job, of seating people at tables the size of the travel parties. We are a couple, and me having social anxiety and an introvert, much prefer a two top and it is a breath holding game with us in hopes we get a two top. Every breakfast, lunch and dinner in the MDR it was not a problem. There was one other couple upset they were sitting by themselves and were told it was a COVID thing. Are they still doing this, I hope?

Not sure about the opening thing, but you can purchase any beverage at any bar and take anywhere on board. I couldn't finish my predinner martini one night and the MDR had no problem me bringing it in.

They will assign departure time based on your flight. Based on Seattle last year, if you booked a shuttle bus through X, it appeared to us that when you exit the gangway, look for a porter, now matter how few bags you have. They were whisking those using porters to the head of the line. Not sure if it is the norm or because it was the year of Covid Startup Cruises.

Hopefully they use the first in are safe method. I booked Alaska for May of 2024 back in Nove 2022, the first day they went on sale. Hopefully they account for that if it happens to me.

I like having the coffees and wider selection of other drinks is why I upgrade.

From RCCL Cruise website: Equivalent Recognition or Loyalty Status Matching is a program that offers Crown and Anchor and Celebrity Cruises Captain’s Club loyalty members the opportunity to receive recognition and similar benefits when they sail with one of the two brands – both pre-cruise and onboard with matching tier status; however, Cruise Points will remain according to actual cruises taken and calculated using the Program level accrual system for Crown & Anchor Society. Members of one program must enroll in the sister program to receive equivalent recognition benefits. Credits earned on one brand are not combinable with credits earned from another brand. The benefi ts of the Captain’s Club and Crown & Anchor Society will stay independent and not be combined. Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society Platinum and Emerald levels will be equivalent to Select in Celebrity Cruise’s Captain’s Club. Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Club levels will be equivalent to Elite in Celebrity Cruise’s Captain’s Club. Gold membership status in Crown & Anchor Society is not part of this benefi t. Pinnacle Club membership tier level can only be obtained through earning the appropriate number of Cruise Points on Royal Caribbean ships