Mark_T

Love the AirTags, we have a set ready for our flights to Australia later this month... Have a great flight and looks like you are leaving just in time.

Same for Eclipse, not likely to change before/if they get revolutionized, but it is certainly an improvement on Silhouette, so something to look forward to eventually...

That is our preference these days as well. We don't value The Retreat sun-deck, and the Luminae food/service really doesn't justify the prices they are asking for suites recently...

I would imagine it is the same reason that no other events happen on embarkation day, they give everyone the time to get their luggage delivered, unpacked and complete the 'lifeboat drill' etc. Ships officers all have a lot to do on that day as they prepare to depart and so it doesn't make sense to hold any events that would potentially require their attendance or attention until day 2... I know the 'event' is now merely a free drink period, unlike it used to be, but the history is still there and giving the bar staff a little space to deal with those who are looking to arrange drink packages onboard does make sense on the first day.

We were onboard in September last year and the bar menu ('bar bites') looked good, but perhaps under advertised. Hope it is still in place.

If you've not been on Silhouette since she went through the revolution process you'll love the changes when you are next onboard I'm sure. ... and yes, Craft Social has all the atmosphere of a traditional sports bar, including the TV's and the food (at a cost if you're not in a high level suite). A vast improvement over the always empty and dismal 'Cellar Masters'

Don't forget 'Craft Social' which replaced 'Cellar Masters', and the 'Lawn Club Grill' which replaced the hot glass show.

Excellent! ... always enjoy these posts and ever grateful that you take the time to make them... We are just about 4 weeks away from our Australia/New Zealand cruise on Eclipse, another un-revolutionized 'S' class ship, so we look forward to your comments on Solstice.

In our experience the butlers tend to get nervous if you are a few days into a cruise and you've not asked them to do anything... From their perspective no requests = no opportunity to deliver excellent service = reduced chance of extra tips.

The wording is clear, it is bottles not volume that is the limit. I would happily argue if they tried to deny 2 bottles per person, I would not try to defend multiple smaller bottles as that is not what the rules state.

We had the same experience with 'Go Green' last year... It appears that the staff onboard fear the reduced cabin service will result in reduced additional tipping, so they are reluctant to take that risk...

... which will still leave you fighting to get a reservation once onboard... We don't use the packages just for that reason alone, booking well in advance seems to be the requirement these days if you want any certainty regarding where and when you will be dining...

It is in all the country variations of the FAQ section that I have checked, including USA/UK/Australia... https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/before-you-board Under 'Alcohol Policy' ...

Elsewhere the revised policy has been followed with a little occasional nudging based on other reports. The change to remove the corkage fee for those with one of the alcohol packages should be easy to sort out onboard though if not everyone got the memo...

Just to add to the confusion, the FAQ section under 'alcohol policy' (https://www.celebritycruises.com/au/faqs/all-faqs) you'll find this:

A wonderfully descriptive old English word... Quaff, or Quaffing...

...both of course have been 'fixed' with the Revolution process, but sadly it hasn't reached all the ships yet... 'The Retreat' on Millennium for example is bright and no sign of old leather armchairs anywhere. Similarly replacing 'Cellar Master' on Silhouette with 'Craft Social' removes a dark and often empty space and replaced it with a lively well used sports bar complete with typical bar food (extra cost).

... it certainly feels like it has got a lot worse recently though... 3 years ago we were able to make significant savings over the course of a few months as there were various 'sales' and other promotions on our excursions and we cancelled and rebooked several to get the lower prices. Our next cruise is early January and the prices of the excursions have almost doubled since we first booked them around June this year...

That isn't an entirely inaccurate impression of the pre-revolution ships, but take a look at more recent reviews of Silhouette and Millennium for example and you'll see they have a different vibe. On the 'E' ships, again based on the videos and reviews, there does seem to be a lot of noise around almost all the time and if that is the atmosphere you want then great, they have nailed it... Here's an example of 'Raw on 5' while service is in progress, and it sounds a lot too loud for our comfort levels...

Similar situation here, although my wife does enjoy some sushi, she much prefers the noodle options, and gyoza etc. It is a sufficiently diverse menu to allow non-sushi eaters a good choice, so people shouldn't avoid it just because someone in their party doesn't want 'raw fish' 🙂

Until you get very close to sailing, the app will usually reflect the pattern of the itinerary the ship is currently on, so number of days, port/sea days etc. will reflect that cruise, not yours...

Perhaps that was 'Raw on 5' which does have the seafood tower (... and sushi)... ? Sushi on 5 does not.

Same here... many years ago I used to work for a large international hotel chain, and rule #1 was that when we were staying in our hotels, eating in our own restaurants etc. it was imperative that we always complained (to an appropriate level of manager) about any service or product failings as so many customers fail to do so, allowing a failing to be perpetuated affecting many other customers instead of getting fixed or at the very least, explained.

It is a bit concerning for sure. Like you, we are used to sailing out of the UK at all times of year and rough seas are far from uncommon, but despite getting all the expected sounds of steel under stress, never experienced anything of the scale being described here with Beyond...