terrydtx

You can always upgrade while on the cruise if needed. I found we had good cell service even while we cruised the inside passage in Canada and my ATT cell plan covers Canada and Mexico for everything.

You may want to consider whether you will need the premium Wi-Fi. In ports you will be able to use your Cell account and most will be 4 or 5G. I found that we didn't need to upgrade to premium when we did Alaska in 2019. More time is in a port and less at sea.

Welcome to the future of Celebrity pricing, there is no reason why an Aqua class cabin should be $3000 more than a standard Verandah. At that much difference you could dine every night in a Specialty restaurant, have better food than Blu and still be way ahead. Pre Covid when we booked AQ cabins the price difference was maybe a couple of hundred dollars.

I think this was a great well written and honest live review and see no reason to complain by CC members. There has been enough bashing by CC members who have not been on a Celebrity ship this year to witness what is really happening with all the changes for themselves.

Our first cruise with HAL in 2007 was on the Volendam to the Panama Canal.

I would like to meet you on a cruise as well, I just will have to stay out of the pools, LOL We decided to book future cruises based on the itinerary first and to stay with 3 cruise lines, Celebrity, Oceania and HAL. We now have future cruises booked with all three. Choosing the Volendam NE/Canada cruise came down to the almost same itinerary with HAL and Oceania, both were 11 nights. The O cruise was on one of the older O ships with small cabins. We could save about $2000pp on the Volendam in a larger Vista Suite and dine every night in a specialty Restaurant and be way ahead. Bigger value was added with the Premium HIA, paid gratuities early booking promo with Mariner $200 OBC. Our 2025 South America cruise choice came down to Celebrity for 14 days and 18 days on the Oceania Marina. The Celebrity Sky Suite for 14 nights was about the same price as a Concierge Verandah cabin for 18 nights on the O Marina with 3 more ports, so Oceania won out. One problem we are seeing with Celebrity is their future pricing which is pricing us out of their sky Suites when we can book on Oceania for about the same. Our Celebrity New Zealand/Aus cruises next year that we booked early last year are today 20-30% more for a Sky Suite than what we are booked at.

Chair hogs and wearing shorts in the MDR at night, two things that will never go away, but are entertaining to read on CC.😁

It will be interesting to see if Celebrity orders any more E Class ships after the Ascent launches this year. Nothing on E Class ships have been anymore controversial than the IV balconies.

At least it wasn't Pork and Beans like in the MDR.

We booked the Volendam today for the September 2024 NE/Canada cruise for the itinerary, but I am concerned that this 25-year-old ship may not be in the best shape. I cannot find any information about when she had a full interior refurbishment with updated interiors, TV's, electrical and USB plugs. Our first cruise with HAL was on her in 2007. Our other choice for this itinerary was an equally old ship on Oceania for a lot more money.

I appreciate your concern but I fully believe we will be happy with a Concierge cabin on the cruise. The PH cabins may have a butler and more room but we book Celebrity Sky suites not for the butler but for the suites only restaurant ( Luminae), sun deck and lounge, none of which we would get with a PH on this cruise. The A2 cabin on the Marina will have all the room we need and all dining venues on Oc from what I have read are far superior to the Luminae on Celebrity in quality. Remember we are getting 18 nights on the Marina for what we would pay for a Sky Suite 14-night cruise on Celebrity and 3 less ports.

Last year we had a terrible experience with HAL on the Oosterdam because of Covid and the way HAL treated and mislead us. At that time I had a long rant against HAL on CC and swore I would never cruise again with HAL again. I am still upset with HAL over what happened but they did come through with a generous FCC which is giving us a free one-week cruise in November on the Konigsdam. We also were made whole cash wise with our travel insurance which has made the taste in our mouths a little sweeter. After we looked back at the Oosterdam cruise last year, other than the last 5 days of the cruise with Covid, it was a fabulous cruise with great service and food. Today we decided to book an 11 day cruise in August next year on the Volendam of NE and Canada from Boston to Montreal. HAL out of all the cruise lines we considered has the best itinerary and cost. We are now booked in a Vista Suite on that cruise. We were able to book the early booking HIA promo which gives us the Elite Drinks package, Premium Wi-Fi, crew appreciation and a $200 OBC. The lesson for us is never say never and I apologize to anyone in the HALL CC forum if my rant ruffled any feathers. As we go forward in our travels for now, HAL will stay in our top 3 cruising choices with Celebrity and Oceania.

Business Class

Or booked in one of the highest end suites?

Good information, we booked a midship A2 cabin on the 9th deck for our 2025 Marina cruise.

One question about dinner times in the MDR, did you make reservations or just show up when you were ready? Did you experience any excessive wait times for tables? Thanks

Walk up at the time you want in the MDR you want (4 to choose from) and at most you may have to wait a few minutes. I have read recent reports form CC people on E Class ships and some report that the MDR's do not honor the prebooked times, it is all first come first seated. Showing up at 6:45 is a good time for seating as the early diners are finishing and the table are turning by that time. Here is one of those comments from a current passenger posting on the Edge. "We never made any reservations for MDRs. Only one night we were asked to wait for five minutes, but it was actually more like one. All other nights we were seated immediately". This why we prefer anytime dinning.

We are on the March 6th 2025 Marina cruise and we faced the same questions, this is our first Oceania cruise after several years of Celebrity Retreat Sky suites. We decided on the Concierge level cabin, it is a little smaller (20sq ft) than A Sky Suite on Celebrity and we have been in SS for longer B2B Celebrity cruises with no problems. The cost of airfare was the deciding point between A2 and PH2 cabins. We are looking at fares for next January as a barometer for what to expect in 2025. We may be flying Copa Airlines form Houston to Santiago and home from Buenos Aires in BC for next year they have very attractive fares Rt in BC and get high ratings from our TA. Next year Premium economy on United is more than what we are paying this year for BC to Amsterdam and home from Athens. We originally booked this itinerary for 14 days in a Sky Suite on the Celebrity Equinox. Then we found this cruise for 18 days on the Marina and the A2 cabins were the same cost as the SS on Celebrity, but we get 4 more days and 3 more ports.

I need to correct my above post #2, I was confusing the table in our cabin on the Oosterdam with the one we had in the Celebrity Reflection just before we boarded the Oosterdam. The Reflection had the height adjustable table. Here is the table in our Oosterdam cabin

We had that table on the Oosterdam in our Signature Suite last August. Not sure about the hooks.

More information on the cruise port: Istanbul Turkey Cruise Port (whatsinport.com)

We have been hooked on Sky suites, but the current future pricing is driving us to look at more premium alternatives like Oceania, which we have booked in 2025. We did a 14 night Oosterdam cruise from Venice last year and found the lack of entertainment very disappointing, not one comic or magician or any production shows and most nights just showings of the same lame BBC world films. Other nights some very amateurish dancers, but we do not cruise for the shows, fortunately.

Before Covid we booked only Aqua Class with Celebrity for Blu, after Covid lockdowns we used a 125% FCC to book our first Sky Suite and now we only book suites with Celebrity. We have one short 7 day cruise booked on the Koningsdam in November in a standard aft facing veranda as HAL has nothing dining or major amenity wise to elevate the cabin class for. We usually book Signature Suites with HAL for the bigger cabin, but for our Nov. California Coastal cruise we wanted an aft facing cabin.

Having followed you on several of your cruising live threads, I am convinced you and Lain would like the more premium lines like Oceania and Viking Ocean. We are dipping our Retreat only toes into the Oceania pool in 2025. If it is everything, we suspect it will be, our Edge cruises next year could be our last on Celebrity.