terrydtx

In FLL you really do not need the priority suites luggage drop.

@GenerationX We will be in the Retreat this summer and our 12-year-old granddaughter is cruising with us, do you know if she can come into the Retreat Lounge with us? Her first cruise and we are introducing her to the Suite Life.

WHAT, no shorts and t shirts in the MDR???? Next you are going to tell me they have unlimited prime rib, prime steaks, beef wellington and more than one lobster tail on SS, unbelievable!! Please don't tell me room service is free too!!!

There is a separate entrance for all suites passengers that will take up upstairs to the VIP lounge for check in then boarding. Our last time we got to the entrance at 11:15 and we were on the ship by 11:35 and on our way to our cabin to drop off our carry-ons.

The OP didn't state anything about their booking being a casino/BCC one, so I was wondering if they may have the Aqua Class AI and just are not aware that they do. In that case bottled (canned)water would be included from any bar.

In the next twelve months we have 5 cruises booked with 47 days total sailing time and 23 days on land with some expensive airfare. My wife and I are both in our mid 70's and very fit and healthy. I have seen many fellow CC members recommend buying annual travel insurance policies and we had out TA look into this for us. She has recommended a policy with Allianz insurance that would provide the coverage we would need for a lot less in cost over buying individual policies for each trip. I am interested in experiences from this forum on both annual policies and with Allianz Insurance, or if any other insurance company is recommended. We have always purchased travel insurance from our TA and last year we had our first ever claim because of getting Covid at the end of our cruise in Italy. Thank in advance for any help and opinions.

Our first retreat experience was on the Equinox, and we found both Murano and Tuscan grill to not be that much better than Luminae to justify the cover charge. In both cases the service was not even close to what we got in Luminae. On our Apex cruise in September, we are only going to try Eden because it is unique to E Class and the rest of our dinning will be in Luminae.

I was under the impression that Aqua class bookings only were with the AI which included the classic drinks package.

Our November K'Dam cruise shows no excursions or dining reservations on the ap, it says to come back later.

That is why I said "Claiming" to be who she said she was. I also reported her to that group's administrator and she disappeared from the group that day.

It was not on CC, this was on another well known social media site. It was in a private group on that site for Celebrity Retreat passengers.

I just checked this hotel out online and it looks fabulous. We will have to try it out next time we are in FLL on our own. Pricing is very reasonable too. We are staying at the Hilton Ft Lauderdale beach resort in June for 3 nights pre cruise with our young Granddaughter who wanted to stay on the beach. Using points and some cash for the Hilton 2 room suite.

Agreed, but the discussion was also about waiting until 6 months out to book with O for air, which IMO is just ridiculous. I was trying to point out we got better deals and flights on our air in November than we could have gotten currently, almost 6 months out from our September cruise.

There has been a similar discussion about Butlers providing adult beverages at no cost with the premium drinks package on the popular social media site we are not supposed to mention here. I posted about our experiences with butlers providing us wine and beer in our Sky Suites at no cost for our 3 post covid cruises. I got a very nasty private message from someone claiming to be a Celebrity Shore concierge service representative, who is a member of that group. She basically called me a liar and that Celebrity's policy is clear butlers are not supposed to do this and that I was misleading people in the group by lying about what we got in our SS. She left a very bad taste with me and I sent here a very nasty response back.

No, that was for a Celebrity cruise, and we booked with Celebrity air. Prices have continually gone up since last November both with cruise line and with booking directly. From all the issues I have seen on CC, I would never book BC with Oceania. I like having control over my flights, seats and airlines, which it doesn't seem you get with Oceania's air. We have a South America cruise booked with O in 2025 and I can already see that prices are going to be high to fly.

Celebrity is pulling out of west coast (Calif) cruises in 2024, so HAL has this segment pretty much to themselves and if they keep the Koningsdam on the west coast they have an even bigger advantage.

Waiting makes no sense at all. We have a cruise from Amsterdam to Athens in September and we booked our business class airfare last November. We booked at more than we wanted to pay, but since then prices have only gone up and BC today on the same flights is $3000 more than we booked back in November.

You are correct the Celebrity Suite will be so far above your Carnival experience. Once we did our first Retreat cruise it made it impossible to go back to anything less on Celebrity.

Have a good flight and even better cruise.

Hawaii no longer has any Covid requirements. Here is the HAL link where you can find health protocols for your cruise. Booking or Voyage Lookup (hollandamerica.com)

We did a tour to Orvieto in 2007 from on a Med cruise and love the village and they make a spectacular white wine from local grown grapes that we love when we can find it at our wine store.

I wouldn't be surprised since they are both part of NCL holdings. I would think NCL use them as well.

What the butler will provide in the mini fridge is always a hot topic, is it or is it not included in the drinks package. Before Covid Celebrity had a "Drinks and More" package that did include premium bottled water and some adult beverages in the cabin fridge. After Covid that package disappeared. I can only speak from my experience post covid in a Sky suite. In 2021 on the Equinox, the first day our butler asked us what we wanted in the mini fridge and we told him that we do not drinks soda but preferred Evian bottled water, red wine and beer, which he kept stocked the whole cruise at no charge. Last year on the Reflection from Rome when we boarded the mini fridge was totally empty and when we met our butler the first day I mentioned the fridge was empty and he said since we had the premium drinks, he would keep it stocked with whatever we wanted, again we got wine, Evian water and beer the whole cruise for no extra cost. Our butler also left a bottled of prosecco on two occasions in an ice bucket. On both cruises our butler also told us that if we wanted a drink from the bar he would be more than happy to get them for us and bring them to the cabin, which they did several times. Is this something I expect going forward? I do not but if it happens I will not complain. My big fear with all the discussion here and Celebrity's greed for more cash this extra from our butlers may end by them cracking down on butlers who give away too much. BTW, I did give extra tips to both of our butlers the last day of the cruise.

Following along with your live thread. We are on the Apex in September from Amsterdam and in a Sky Suit.

Our first stop is Portland. I would love a real lobster roll, not the phony ones in Luminae with hardly any lobster and mostly mayonnaise. We were last in Portland in 2001 and got these for a lobster festival and it was awesome. Our friends who lived there did a real NE Lobster and muscles bake, with a huge cast iron pot over a wood fire. The lobsters he bought that day from a lobster fisherman, and it spoiled us from lobster any where else. Nothing like lobsters in NE, thanks for the help.