terrydtx

We stayed at the Hilton Marina once, but they charged us a $65 resort fee for one night before the cruise and there was nothing close to walk to for food other than the hotel. In June we are spending 3 nights pre cruise at the Hilton Ft Lauderdale Beach Resort before our Equinox cruise. It is expensive but they have one bedroom suites with an ocean view. They also have a full service beach facility with pools and swim up bars.

Eden is dinner with a show and you will need reservations and it costs $$. The main theater does not take reservations, if you are in a Suite on Chic nights a section in the main theater is reserved for suites. Here is the description of Eden for the website Eden Restaurant Dinner at Eden Restaurant isn’t just a meal. It’s an extraordinary culinary journey, featuring an open kitchen, innovative dishes, and three levels of design excellence. Simple. Natural. Delicious. The experience in Eden restaurant is inspired by the cuisines and regions of the world.

True and you can use OBC pre cruise for the package too.

$89 plus 20% in gratuities.

It says in the fine print all adults in the cabin have to purchase the package. Highlights Each adult of legal drinking age assigned to the same stateroom must purchase this package.

Next year we are doing a Boston to Montreal cruise, and I am looking forward to some great cold water lobster and scallops at our ports. Not holding out much hope we will get any on the ship.

Last year on the Reflection our waiter in Murano discouraged us from ordering the lobster, he said they were very small and he was getting many complaints about the size and quality.

We will be disembarking in September in Athens and we have a noon flight to Santorini. We have 4 in our group and have hired a private transport to the airport for the 4 of us in a mini van for 109 Euros total. We are using Welcome Pickups. It is 40-60 minutes to the airport from the ship depending on traffic. Keep in mind that most of the good connecting flights back to the states leave before 11am. The airport is located pretty far outside of the city too. Here is a link to the transport: Welcome - Making travel easy, friendly, personal (welcomepickups.com)

In 2021 Celebrity wanted $16pp for transfers from the ship to FLL airport, sold onboard. We did an Uber for $28 total and didn't have to wait for a bus to fill up. We probably got to the airport while the bus was still loading at the ship.

My Celebrity App for our June Equinox cruise shows the following for Murano entree and no extra charge mentioned: "Murano Lobster, cognac flambeed warm water lobster tail, fresh basil applewood smoked bacon, Dijon cream"

On our last 3 post covid cruises Murano has only offered warm water lobster tails (AKA Caribbean spiney lobster) and they are nowhere as good as cold-water New England Lobsters and for lobster lovers they can be very disappointing.

When you board the crew will try to direct you to the Lido for lunch, but the MDR is open for lunch but the hours are usually limited. Last year on the Oosterdam when we boarded in Trieste the MDR was open for lunch from 11:30 to 1:00pm. The Lido gets so busy and packed during the E-Day and I have never seen the MDR that busy.

On our Oosterdam cruise from Venice last year we had HIA excursion and Specialty dinning credits that showed up in our HAL online account. We were able to book both online and use the HIA credits. We also had $300 OBC from a booking promo for that cruise, but we couldn't use them until we boarded, which is really frustrating. My wife wanted a spa service on embarkation day but we had to pay with a CC before we boarded and once on board we couldn't use the OBC for the Spa reservation and get our CC payment back.

When we fly home from Rome we always stay the night before at the Hilton Hotel at the airport. The next morning you can just walk out the hotel and enter the terminal. The best and fastest flight to the US leaves in the mornings. The hotel also has a free shuttle that will take you to the center of Rome for the day and bring you back to the hotel.

It is an older hotel but still Hilton quality and good for a stay the night before a cruise. They have a nice hot cooked to order breakfast and a bar. Last time we stayed there was August 2021 and the bar was not open because of Covid. I am a Hilton Diamond member so we always try to book a Hilton when we can.

You can also use OBC pre cruise and take advantage of the pre cruise discounts.

Just have to love the Celebrity IT department!

You could take a taxi or Uber, last time in FLL we used the Embassy Suites on 17th street and a taxi cost us about $25. The airport in FLL is very close to local hotels and the cruise port.

The Celebrity app has so many errors pre cruise. No way it would be open those late hours.

We were on the Reflection last year from Rome in a Sky Suite. From conversations on board with senior officers, the earliest if ever she will be revolutionized is 2025. It is all about having the cash reserves to do this and being able to take her out of service for at least a month. Celebrity and RCL has so much debt from the pandemic that will need to be paid down before major refurbishing of the unrevolutionized fleet can happen. The Reflection was still in excellent shape last year and we enjoyed our Retreat experience in Luminae and Micaels Club. Many cruise lines have had to postpone major refurbishments for the same reasons as Celebrity.

Blu should be able to provide you a meatless dinner.

Thank you for the review, we will be on the Equinox in June with our 12 year old granddaughter, her first cruise experience. We did you ABC Islands cruise on the Equinox in 2021 on one of the first cruises after covid lockdowns.

If you are booked on a cruise, you can use the Celebrity app to see all the dining options for your cruise along with hours and menus. The Mast or pool grill is mainly burgers, hot dogs and fries and is normally open from 11:30 am to 6:00pm. The only late-night option is a limited menu at the OVC from 9:30 to 1:00am. The other late option is room service and you will be charged a $9.95 plus 18% tip for delivery. Cafe Al Bacio has some desserts and sweets and is open until midnight.

The other sneaky thing Celebrity has done for more revenue is taking about 40% of the Sky Suites and redesignating them "Aqua Sky Suites" and pricing them within a few hundred dollars of a Celebrity Suite. I have not been able to see the added value of an Aqua SS for the price they want over a standard SS.

That is just dismal that the MDR is still that understaffed. I do not remember service like you describe on any cruise line we have sailed with, even Carnival. I am glad all of our future booked X cruises are in Suites so we can dine in Luminae.