Tom-n-Cheryl

Glass half full 👍

We usually shoot for their first (actual) suite - GS, though have splurged a couple of times up to a Grand Panoramic Suite, or some such labeled cabin, lol. With Celebrity, they might as well rename sky suites to junior suites, as they do seem to be the red-headed stepchild of the suite lineup...

Yep, parking there will include a bit of a trek to the garage. I believe it's garage "D". Not a major issue. It's not as bad as our last two sailings on celebrity out Port Everglades though. There, for the Reflection at least, you had to take a shuttle to and from the terminal to get to the parking garage. Another reason I prefer sailing from our home port! Tom

The only thing that comes to mind is the per minute cost of calls (to land) from your cabin phone. I recall it used to be something like $9.99/minute, then several years ago some ships started dropping it to $6.99. Now it's, what, $1.99/min? Is this the only thing that costs less now? Tom

I agree, with our daily drink coupons and the open bar in the early evening in the suite lounge, that covers a majority of our drinks. I used to think that making Zenith was a reasonable goal, and likely achievable without significant effort other than time. However, I don't see that being in the cards going forward.

And, to me, the experience is just OK... and too long... Once and done. Well, or 5 times and done. (or so) Tom

We opted for a wine pairing (upgrade) on our first Celebrity cruise 15+ years ago. One of the wines was a glass of Château Lafite Rothschild. Prior to that, I wasn't much for red wines - but that was the turning point! For reference, they no longer offer that on their wine pairing menu. Further, the Steakhouse (probably back in the Supper Club days) on Carnival used to have multiple vintages of that wine still available by the bottle (I can't recall if was actually on the menu). We sprung for it a couple of times - and now they're all a thing of the past. Those were the old Bob Dickinson days - he enjoyed his wines. Back then we even opted for their Wine Club, and had a few nice bottles show up throughout the year. Tom

FWIW - as long as we're talking about revenue sources - I'd be happy to pay for an actual room service breakfast. They've come a long with with the breakfast sandwich offerings now, but I'd still like to see fresh egg options. Tom

Perhaps they need to consider a meaningful "senior" discount. 😉 lol Tom

But, it's an upgraded experience... 😉

Hopefully with a decent non-smoking area! Tom

I was thrilled when I heard that Celebrity was bringing a ship here - then happy to learn that it was at least a Solstice class ship, less so that it wasn't the Reflection or Silhouette (really love those two lunch options). Having said that - I predict we'll be getting back on the Equinox, just because it's going to be so convenient ! Around that same time (ballpark) Princess also announced that it would be brining its first ship to PC - sadly, it was the Caribbean Princess... the only Princess cruise we've been on, and a ship we didn't care for. Hey, we have to take the good with the not so good !! 🙂 Tom

"upgraded" experience = hogwash

I see that there are several dates where these two ships are doing 3 and 4 night runs, with either 0 or 1 sea days. Does that mean that the Porch and/or Lawn Club Grill are only open for lunch once during each cruise, if at all... or, have they made any changes to that policy for these cruises? Tom

(for the record, I'm 61 also) I'll note that most of the people I see in the marketing from Celebrity don't accurately reflect the guests I typically encounter onboard. I just noticed this image from the Carnival page - I will say, they're not far off the mark here... I've been curious about the "luxury lines" as well - but I also prefer bands that have a bit of edge to them. I was on a sailing earlier this year where the house band (Carnival Liberty) was playing great sets, finishing off with a great rendition of Zombie. Tom

Any chance their casino is smoke-free (or other premium lines)?

Thanks. Of course, there's usually the added fun of communication challenges with many of the stateroom attendants. Tom

I've briefly looked over this thread - can someone summarize what's happened with those booking Sky Suites (or, more specifically, what's been taken away perk-wise)? I think that Aqua might be our sweet spot - save a few/several grand and pay for our own drinks and specialty dining, while still having a "private" dining room. The last suite we paid for was two weeks in a RS on the Reflection (Thanksgiving '22). Thanks to the Blue Chip Club, it came to about $10k total - with all associated benefits. Fast forward to today (well, most of this year) and all that I get from them is an offer for a "Free" inside cabin on a select few sailings... Honestly, they're wasting their postage if they think I'm going to bite. Tom

Stay on the ship - we did that twice, and on our third trip there we opted for a resort/lunch excursion of some type. In retrospect, I wish we would have stayed on the ship !! 😉 Tom

I've been pleased with the the Carnival Excel class casino. They have one side smoking, one side not (the larger side - go figure 😉 ). They join in the middle at a bar. That bar is pretty smoky, but at least further down, in the non-smoking table section, I can't detect even a whiff of smoke - and I'm pretty sensitive. My wife, a former smoker (now over 35 years "clean") is even more sensitive/vocal, and does not have any issues. If she's happy, I'm happy !! Tom

It's tough to beat the non-smoking casino, and Rudi's, and Emeril's, and Big Chicken, and Loft 19, and..and... We pretty much go back/forth between the Steakhouse and Rudi's each evening. I do wish that the Alchemy bar was not in a narrow thoroughfare. Back on the Liberty next, and we'll miss all of the above - save the Steakhouse. That said, I do miss the variety of chef's compliments each evening - even though I do enjoy the little burger (and the one Cheryl gives me too) 😁 Tom

Back in the day... the Milestones program awarded a Cat 11 cabin for up to an 8-day cruise in celebration of 100 sailings with the company. Those Spirit class aft corners used to be categorized as Cat 11's. That's no longer the case, and the "free" cruise is only up to an OS cabin now as I recall. I wonder if they'd grandfather us in, when the time comes !! 🙂 We've enjoyed those aft corners a few times. It's rather funny, but the first time we were in 4228, we were such newbies that I didn't even know it was a suite until months (or more) after we cruised.. lol Tom

If they'd just bite the bullet and pull the plug on indoor smoking altogether (where HAL cruisers won't have another ship within the line to jump to), a majority would still find a way to donate $ to the casino despite being restricted exercising their addition. Just like what happened with restaurants, when they all went non-smoking (state by state). You'd hear the occasional grumbling about "I'm never coming back here", only to find that the places were still - for the most part - packed. It's HAL's FOMO on the smoker's $... Tom

That's sad to hear... 😞 Tom

Well, outta south Alabama came a country boy He said, "I'm lookin' for a man named Jim I am a pool-shootin' boy, my name is Willie McCoy But down at home they call me Slim Yeah, I'm lookin' for the king of 42nd Street He drivin' a drop top Cadillac Last week he took all my money, and it may sound funny But I come to get my money back" And everybody say, "Jack, ooh, don't you know