alenushka

The Viking Crown Lounge (Cosmopolitan Club) is still there.

Thank you !

Viking lounge is still there. It is called the Cosmopolitan Club. Should be fine for sail away. At night it is closed from about 4:30 to 8:30 as it I used as the overflow lounge from the diamond club. Admission was checked each night to admit diamond/diamond plus only.

Thank you very much. We are all set now! Sail away in two days!

Is this for embarkation? Actually, I think that's a great spot for 100 people as the Solarium is often unused and empty on embarkation day. Both Starboard and Port side of the Solarium have a lot of space under cover so you should still be ok there even if it rains a bit.

It's good to know that there is some rain cover in that area. Thank you

Viking Crown is a nice large indoor area that is usually not crowded during the day.

In one recent review, someone mentioned that they don't have Viking Crown area any more.. are there any other large indoor spaces?

Is this for embarkation? Actually, I think that's a great spot for 100 people as the Solarium is often unused and empty on embarkation day. Both Starboard and Port side of the Solarium have a lot of space under cover so you should still be ok there even if it rains a bit.

Yes, embarkation day

Hi, we planned our roll call meet and greet in Solarium pool area. In case it rains, can anyone suggest indoor location for about 100 plus people to meet? TIA!

following....I have the same question about renting a car in GC...

we considered buses...However, we are considering going to the Rum Point and Star Fish Point..I am not sure the bus is the best option....

Hi Heather, I am enjoying your review as we are getting ready for our cruise...in 9 days! Do you know how much it cost to rent this "bed" for a day?

What were some of the major differences you found between them. In which department was the service lacking on the Indy?

1. Everyone makes mistakes; how they fix it - makes a difference. RCCL never admitted making mistakes even when people complained and pointed them

2. 3 times we went to guest relations to fix our SMALL issues...3 times we had to involve a supervisor. Unbelievable how rude and not helpful guest relations people were. We are spoiled by X. They always smile and do their best to help and to solve any problem/issue. Not once (3 cruises) we had to involve supervisors on X.

3. My roommate has severe food allergies. Her dining experience was awful. If she ordered a night before - they lost her order next day and she would have to re-order. If she did not order a night before, they would give her "a lecture" how she should have and bring food she could not eat. Again, she had to call MaterD (spelling?) a few times to help her to get "eatable" food.

Food in general was 3/10 compare to X. I only enjoyed one dinner - lobster was delicious :)

4. RC does not impress as a company that strives to please. X - we always felt they were doing everything possible to do their best. Example: one time our breakfast took over an hour at Bistro on Five. We DID NOT complain at all, but we mentioned to our waiters at dinner (joking around) that we would rather go to the buffet next morning. Within 10 min, the manager from Bistro was by our table - apologizing and inviting us to come back to Bistro (free of charge!) to let them show that they could provide better service. In addition, they removed charges from our account for that breakfast and when we came back to our room, we found a plate of chocolate covered strawberries from her! That's customer service of X!!!!!

5. Also, on RC, very strange and unknown charges from the bars (e.g. tips of $5 that we never added) appeared on our accounts A FEW TIMES. We had to stay on line to fix it and to prove we did not authorize it. It was annoying. Lines were ALWAYS 30 min long! Never more than 5 min on lines on X (also, we very seldom needed to be on lines on X).

6. X, Disney, Princess, HAL - if we put our luggage outside late, they still picked it up. They told us on X that they had a person walking all night long any way, and it was OK to put it out past 11 pm. On RC, when I called to let them know I was late with one bag, they gave me another lecture and told me I would have to carry it myself. It got picked up by the time I woke up. Did they have to be rude once again?

The only thing i think RC is a little bit above X is entertainment. That's it.

We ignored most RC's issues (just sharing with you since you are trying to compare and choose) and we had a great vacation because we had amazing company and it was a chartered cruise - official ZUMBA cruise :D. We had so much fun. However, I would stick with X (favorite) or Disney or HAL for family cruising and avoid RC.

Hope it's helpful :)

Make sure to check their smoking policy (especially for European cruises)

Personally - Silhouette without a doubt. I just took my first RCCL cruise on Indy.. Not impressed with their service at all. Celebrity is my choice.

And, by contrast, I've been hearing repeatedly here on the X board that Celebrity boarding is a breeze.

 

So, I'm sitting here in our hotel at Ft. Lauderdale Beach, and am looking forward to our cruise. Thank you all again for all your helpful information and experiences. It has really helped give me a good idea how to handle the disembarkation process to, hopefully, minimize the anxiety. Can't wait to explore this beautiful shop, and the fantastic features and venues I've been reading about for years. :)

Yes, boarding is always a breeze on X

Have a wonderful cruise on one of my favorite ships! Let us know how your disembarkation goes. Have fun!

Please be aware that on our disembarkation on the Silhouette on Jan 24th that while the arriving passengers were embarking at terminal 25 the disembarking passengers were going through another terminal, not sure of the # but this is what caused the long walk outside in the unseasonably cold, 45f weather for over an hour that was described above.

 

 

We were on this cruise and were some of the last people off the ship, the reports of being in line, outside, for well over an hour are no exaggeration.

 

The best advice I could give is do luggage valet and get off early.

 

In almost 30 cruises I have never experienced such a long disembarkation.

we disembarked on Jan 30

I have NEVER experienced such a horrible process.

1. we exchanged our luggage tags from 36 to 10 so that we could get off as soon as possible ( our train was at 12:30 pm)

2. we could not even get off the ship until 9:30

3. It was a huge line OUTSIDE!

4. the only reason we did not miss the train, was because someone advised to talk to a security person at each station and to show them our ticket.

5. we were among first and we got to the taxi by 11 (and had to cut the line again showing our ticket)

6. other people reported it took them 6 hours...a lot of missed flights...a few people had to stay an extra day in Fl

7. it sounds like it was not cruise line fault - something went wrong with Customs (one of the ships was still floating near a port at 8:30, which is very unusual)

8. that said - if you have a similar situation, remember, if you show your ticket, you might get off much faster

We still don't know what happened there that day. Does anyone have any info?

I believe in Labadee the ships always pull in forward and the starboard side would have the view of the island. One other item to consider is smoking is allowed only in public areas on Freedom class ships on the port side decks 4 and 5. This sometimes leads to some smoke smell.

thank you. :)

.... Labadee is an exception to that as you can only see a very small portion of the island if you are on the wrong side of the ship.

which side will be the "right" side for the nice view in Labadee?

wrong thread

sorry...

mistake

thank you so much!

I found the information about glass shows and Zumba classes in the dailies you posted. All are printed already.

Helped greatly! :)

Thank you for a great and positive review.

Would you happen to know at what time they have glass shows and if Zumba classes are offered?

We have never seen it where all of the tables are taken. We also would let people sit at extra spaces at our table. We only stay until about 1:00 or 1:15. We would get up and go somewhere else if the place was packed and people needed the table. I just have never experienced that on any of the cruises I've been on.

Unfortunately, we did.. Once... We kept walking around and around... A lot of people finished eating but were still sitting with their carry ons... We even asked for assistance (to find us a table to share with someone) from X employers but they could not help much... We left and learned our lesson ... It was very unpleasant...

 

We have tried them all, but tend to prefer Bistro on Five only because it's a great place to relax, and the food is good.

We prefer Bistro on 5. The first day at Oceanview Cafe is a mad sea of people behaving as if the ship is going to run out of food.

 

:eek:

Agree with the above posts.

First time on X (Silhouette) we were not able to find a table to sit at for over 15 minutes at the Oceanview Cafe :eek:....people finished their lunch but kept sitting there waiting for their rooms to be ready- not a nice way to start a vacation. From now on, we have a tradition, embarkation day = lunch at Bistro on Five :)

Maybe we will meet you there, Madisonmom :)...we will be easy to recognize

does anyone know what movies they are showing in their movie theater? Thank you.

there are taxis and "private" cars that work as taxi drivers - be aware of second! Public transportation is great, but yes, you need to speak Russian or find someone there who speaks English (which is very easy these days....especially younger generation).

First off, I am not one to complain, I don’t expect perfection and usually roll with the punches and try to make the best of things….

 

However, I was shocked when it literally took me FIVE attempts with Celebrity to simply upgrade from the Classic Beverage package (that I got as part of het 123 promo) to the Premium Beverage Package.

 

Attempt #1: Went on Celebrity website and looked up Beverage packages and the system knew that I already had the Classic Beverage package so it showed me an option: “To upgrade to the Premium Beverage Package for $10 per person per day, click here”. So I clicked it and then I clicked on check out. It then showed that I had a new balance owing of $1.062.00!!! Wait, what???? :confused: My balance before was $0. I immediately called Customer Service and the woman on the phone said she would take a look. She said it should only cost $87 per person. She asked me to log out as she couldn’t get in to my account while I was logged in. I logged out but she still couldn’t get in after several minutes she told me to call back in an hour.

 

Attempt #2: It was late so I called back the next day, spoke to another rep and asked to have my Classic Beverage package upgraded to the Premium Beverage Package, he said "no problem it will cost you $87 per person" I said great! and he asked if there was anything else he could help with and I said no and then he said, please hold. After a LONG wait, he came back and said “I’m sorry but you will have to call back in one hour we are having a technical issue”.

 

Attempt#3: Called back later, got another rep and made the same request. she said, “I’m sorry, the only way you can upgrade your beverage package is to cancel your original package completely and then you pay the full Premium Beverage Pkg price”. Wait, what???? :eek: When I explained that two other reps had already said that I could upgrade by paying $87 per person she became very condescending and said “I don’t know what you were told M’am but this is our policy”. I then said that it doesn’t make sense since I received the Classic Beverage package as a free perk and that even their own website indicated that I could simply upgrade for a small fee. She then said, “let me take a look at your account” – I gave her my reservation # - after several minutes she said “you don’t even have the Classic Beverage package”. Wait, what?!! I knew I did as confirmed by my final invoice receipt from my TA and by the previous reps that I spoke to. I said, “thank-you, goodbye”

 

Attempt #4: Called back and the next rep said, no problem it will cost you $87 per person, and I said “great, I’d like to upgrade now please” - then she said she couldn’t get in to my account because someone else was logged in. I hadn’t logged in that day and so I assumed that it was the previous rep that I had just spoken to. I was asked to call back in an hour.

 

Attempt #5: Called back the next day and the next rep said, “no problem it will cost you $87 per person, are there any other enhancements or excursions that I can help you book at this time?” I ended up booking an excursion as well. FINALLY!!!:)

 

BUT, I went online today to double check my account details and the upgrade to the Premium Beverage Package was there but my excursion was not! But the cost WAS reflected on my credit card. I am bracing myself before I call them again.

 

This is only my 2nd cruise, first with Celebrity. I’ve already decided Celebrity is NOT the cruise line for me. Too much stress.:(

 

This whole ordeal has me worried and has put a real damper on my pre-cruise excitement.

 

Just wanted to vent. :rolleyes:

I don't know why, but the whole situation is so crazy (and you have a nice sense of humor) it makes me laugh reading your post...this is crazy.....I am so glad you finally got the upgrade.

I think i will ask my TA to upgrade for us or just wait and do it when we embark. Thank you for sharing your story and saving us a lot of time - not calling them!. I hope you have a wonderful cruise! We love Celebrity

I wish that I had a contact for you, but we only cab between Grantley Adams airport and our home and Barbados is only one of the three islands that we now winter on so we have limited contacts that would benefit you, unfortunately.

 

Perhaps there is another resident or recent visitor that will have a name for you.

 

However, I can almost guarantee that you will find a great driver within 30 minutes of your docking.....He may become a friend by the end of the day.:)

you are very nice. Thank you! can't wait to visit beautiful Barbados island!