terrydtx

Don't waste your money, unless you are in a Pinnacle class ships (Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam). All other older ships have a roped off reserved section in MDR for dining with only one entree not on standard MDR menu. Pinnacle class ships do have a dedicated CO dining room, but you still only have the one extra entree item with the standard MDR menus. The one cabin upgrade is only within the category you booked, ie: you do not go from a standard balcony to a Signature or other suites categories. The concierge is totally useless. Club Orange in MHO is a waste of money. This is HAL's lame attempt to compete with NCL's Haven. MSC's Yacht Club and Celebrity's Retreat.

We took our then12-year-old grandson on an Alaska cruise in 2019 with Celebrity and he loved the teens club, he couldn't wait to go and be with his newfound friends. I would expect a Holiday cruise to be similar to the Alaska cruise with a lot of families and teens on the ship. Next June we are taking our 12-year-old granddaughter on the Equinox in the Retreat. In 2024 we plan to take our 2nd grandson, on another Celebrity Alaska cruise, he will be 12 then too.

We unfortunately, we did a 14-night HAL Oosterdam cruise last August of Greece. This cruise followed a fantastic cruise from Rome on the Reflection. There were no free lobster nights on the Oosterdam cruise, but for $30 extra, one of the Dressy nights you could get a 3oz frozen lobster tail and 5oz beef fillet. On other nights you could get a shrimp cocktail for $8.50 extra and a lobster tail for $15 extra, we were shocked at all the addons that use to be included on HAL cruises. On one of the dressy nights HAL's surf and turf offering was grilled shrimp and sirloin steak. We have never been impressed with the quality of lobsters offered on any cruise line, including Celebrity, so having to pay extra for lobster on the Oosterdam was not a problem or even an option for us. This was our last HAL cruise for many reasons other than the food.

We are booked on the Apex next September from Amsterdam and have enjoyed your review. I am curious, you said you are booked in Aqua Class, have you not tried the AQ Class exclusive Blu restaurant for any diners?

A big Amen, these endless dress code threads just get so self righteous. I never let how anyone dresses for diner effect the enjoyment of my meals or the cruise.

If you look this thread goes back to 2019 and what I described in March 2019 is pretty much what I I saw on our July 2019 Alaska cruise. So how do you know what I or others saw on our cruise or others report is false. I saw one guy wear the same farmer's blue jean coveralls in the MDR every night and by the end of the cruise they were dirty and rank. The current trend in cruising of dressing down is on all cruise lines, but I never let what others wear bother me or effect my enjoyment of the cruise. In the 2 Italy and Greek cruises I took this last summer on HAL and Celebrity, I saw everything in the MDR's from shorts and t shirts to suits and Tuxes on formal nights. Nothing I saw has changed since 2019. Not once did I feel underdressed in slacks and golf or Hawaiian shirts, even on the dressy nights.

On the Reflection in a Sky Suite last August, I couldn't get either Mexican salsa or picante sauce for over my eggs with room service so I may bring a jar on my next cruise. The best my butler could get were the tiny bottles of Tobasco, which is not the same.

We stopped doing traditional fixed dining years ago when we were stuck with tablemates who were 100% jerks, and the Maitre D wouldn't move us because of a sold-out cruise. 10 days of pure hell and several nights in the OV. We now dine when we want not when they tell us too.

I agree, I stay away from Lobster and scallops on cruise ships as they are never as good as we can get here in the US. Frozen warm water lobster tails are not lobster, if you normally eat cold water live lobsters. The best Lobster and scallops I ever ate were in New England and I hope to get to Nova Scotia someday.

There is more to the "Retreat" than a sun deck. All ships have Luminae for suites only and non-revolutionized ships have Michaels, which is the private suites only Retreat lounge, just not named as such. I actually like the decor of Michaels over the revolutionized Retreat lounge. We have cruised on both Revolutionized and non-Revolutionized S class ships in a suite and find the Retreat Sun deck to be way overrated and very underutilized by suites guests. If you are not into sun worshiping and possible skin cancer, the sun deck is a waste for most of us in suites. The newer E Class ships have a totally different Retreat experience from Luminae to the Retreat deck. The Beyond and Ascent have the best Retreat facilities, IMO.

After seeing passengers on the Reflection last August wheezing and coughing all over the buffets, we decided to skip them all and dine in restaurants or room service. The first day I saw one old guy cough on the breads and wipe his hands on his shirt, just no hygiene at all.

Reflection August self serve for all except entrees.

We did visit the other new Central market; it was just a couple of blocks walk from our hotel and it was excellent. I have read the book you suggested, it is an excellent book on the medieval history of Florence and the region.

We were in Florence in August to visit the market and wild boar, I did rub his nose. This was my 3rd time to visit Florence and can't wait to go back. We were there in the evening and the market was closed and all the stalls gone.

I did try the Moroccan Chicken on the Reflection in August and it was worse that the same on the Equinox last year. This time I took one bite and ordered a different entree and had it removed. Daniel Boulud needs to update this menu or remove his name from this terrible dish. Because of these two experiences I would never waste my money in one of his land restaurants.

We had a lot of Noro cases on our Reflection cruise from Rome in August, including the people in the Sky Suite next to us.

We have decided for all future cruises, to only book private tours when possible. The other problem several of the included lunches began after 2pm, finished after 3pm and when we got back to the ship, we were not hungry for dinner. Every private tour we did in August had no more than 6 people which included the 4 in our party. all but one was in 6 or 8 passenger vans, the one that wasn't was in a full-sized bus with just the 6 of us. We were able to let our guides know we wanted lunch before 1pm.

We spent 34 days in Italy and Greece on two cruises and 10 land days. Our experience was all of the ship tours we did that included lunches, had meals at restaurants that were not impressive, we found doing lunches on our own to be much better. Also the several private tours we did, had much better food for lunches. We did a private winery tour in Florence that included a fabulous 4 course lunch at a Tuscan winery with unlimited sampling of their awesome wines.

In August we were on the Reflection from Rome. We had the premium streaming Wi-Fi and had no problems using the Wi-Fi calling on my Samsung phone on days at sea. I was able to receive and make outgoing calls with pretty good quality. I even got a couple of calls reminding me my cars warranty had expired, LOL. I suggest you upgrade the ship's Wi-Fi to premium streaming if you have to make or receive calls while at sea.

We had 1200 in August on the Reflection, but all suites were booked 100%.

We were in the Retreat on the Equinox in August last year; it was so hot with zero shade that we couldn't stay long, and bar service was from the pool bar and by the time we got our drinks the ice had melted, and it was not worth staying. On the non-E Class Revolutionized ships, IMHO the Retreat sun deck is a joke and not worth what Celebrity spent to do the conversion.

Unless Celebrity returns to profitability in the next couple of years, the Revolutionizing of the remaining M & S class ships may never happen as the older ships in the fleet age and possibly get sold off. Over $300 million dollars in net profits are needed to finish the Revolutionizing program.

I hope you do follow my live thread. February will be a little cooler than January. A couple of Auzzies we met on the Reflection warned about how hot it will be in January. Oh well it was hot on the Reflection last August.

We love Tamarind and believe it is the best specialty restaurant of any cruise line, if you like Asain fusion food.

We sailed on the Reflection in August from Rome in a Sky Suite, loved the ship, Luminae and Michael's Club.