beltane

I am confused what you mean... my email confirmation was from "Choice Air". I'm looking at my old reservation confirmation right now (I save everything.)

No matter. For me, I will book my flights myself and never do the fly in the morning thing ever again.

Yes, it certainly does sound like a series of unfortunate mishaps. We've flown Air Canada many times and never had such a problem. Each time I spoke to someone on the phone this time I was reassured that we absolutely would be on that flight... and in the end we were.

But it certainly left a bad taste in my mouth.

We have never had a problem....we always book on a name airline and get the airline record locator from choice air. It sounds like you had some different deal where perhaps the air was included in the celebrity price quote.

You could be right. I'm not that experienced with Celebrity. We booked the cruise ourselves directly through Celebrity in August. At that time they offered to arrange our flights and we said we would like to see what deals we can find on our own. The fellow said "When you are ready to book, would you please give us a call and give us the opportunity to beat whatever price/flight you find?" So in October we did just that. We found what we thought were good, direct flights. He found flights, Air Canada, and gave us a better price. At that time I did ask about them having us fly in the morning and board the cruise ship that afternoon and he assured us that "folks do it all the time". I figured Air Canada, which is a large reputable airline (we're Canadian and use it all the time) we would be fine.

It was nerve wracking. Thank goodness it worked out, but I don't think I will give Choice Air another chance to put me through that again. I'm sure we were one in thousands of good experiences, but when you're that one, it's not fun.

It's didn't put us off Celebrity... we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and have now booked our 3rd Celebrity cruise.

We had a bad experience with Choice Air last year. We allowed them to book our flights and I thought it was odd that not only were we flying on the same day we sail, but we could not book our seats even though we were booking our flight 6 months in advance. They told me "you can't do it until 30 days before your flight." So 30 days before I phoned and was told "You can't reserve your seats until 24 hours before." I thought it was odd, I phoned Choice Air, I also phoned Celebrity. They told me not to worry that it was standard. So 24 hours prior to take off I went online and it would not allow me to reserve seats. I phoned again and was told "Don't worry, we will make sure you are sitting beside your husband when you check in at the airport." I am a nervous flyer and do better when my husband is beside me.

We arrive at the airport to check in and find we are on STAND BY!!! Celebrity told us that if we didn't make the flight that they will put us up in a hotel and fly us to the first port to meet the ship two days later... which of course is a horrible way to start a cruise you've been looking forward to for months.

Thank goodness a couple was willing to give up their seats for us, but right until 20 minutes before our flight we did not know if we would be sailing out later that day. As it was we we seated at the very back of the plane on the seats that say "crew only". At least we did get there but we learned that from then on we will book our own flights.

We got nothing but "we're terribly sorry" from Celebrity when we complained about how stressful the experience was.

We will never use Choice Air again.

Husband and I just got off the Constellation 5 day a couple weeks ago. Because it was a short cruise we were not interested in the extra luggage and care of bringing his tux and/or a suit and dresses and heels for me. We still dressed VERY nicely and decided to try the MDR and if they turned us away we would happily go down to Bistro on 5. We are early eaters and at 6 p.m. we were not turned away at the MDR. We had a lovely dinner by the window.

Enjoy! SO jealous and I just got home from the Constellation 2 days ago! LOL :D

Yes Capt Tasos was hilarious and VERY personable. My husband had the opportunity to speak with the new Capt Nikolas, who was eating in the regular seating in the Oceanview Cafe! He too was friendly and chatty and quite a sense of humour.

I'm such a wimp when it comes to bringing up issues with service. I worry, I see how hard these young people work on the cruises and I guess I feel guilty if I get them in trouble. On the other hand, yes, I too work hard and save for my vacation and pay quite a bit to enjoy my cruise. I find for me, I do make sure I fill out a detailed survey afterwards and if something is especially bad, I follow up with a letter.

I must admit, I was so disappointed with the cabin care on last week's cruise it is really making me question the extra fee I pay for Concierge class and whether there is any value to it.

Hi... my husband and I were on the same sailing and I've got to agree with you on many of your points. Obviously it didn't stop us from booking another, we do enjoy cruising, but I did have some disappointments too. I'll post here, not to thread-jack, but for ease of conversation since it is about the exact same sailing.

Boarding for us was easy and quick too. We were greeted with a glass of champagne in the main lobby.

We had cabin 8170 straight off the back. The room was nice, the balcony was huge and wonderful. I immediately noticed the bed skirt on our bed was torn, worn and hanging off the bed. It looked sloppy. The curtains too were missing some hooks and not hanging properly. Again, slovenly looking. Last year in Concierge class we had fresh flowers each day. None. We had a bucket of ice with a bottle of Celebrity's OWN champagne, not a name brand. Our steward immediately came by to say hello. I mentioned the few little details and he said he would get on them. I asked if it would be possible to exchange the champagne for a bottle of red wine. My husband is diabetic and cannot drink champagne but is allowed red wine. Celebrity has done this for us before. He said he would "look into it". We never saw him again for the rest of the week. Seriously... until 7:55 a.m. on the day we were leaving we didn't see him again. To his credit, our bed was made every day, and fresh towels replenished in the bathroom, but that was it. The bedskirt was never replaced and the curtains were never fixed. We had to remove our own dirty dishes. We had to bag our own garbage bags and put them by the door to get him to empty the buckets. He never cleaned the balcony, not that it got that dirty, but you'd be surprised what blows over on an aft balcony. The first night I returned to our room around 10 p.m. to find our lunch dishes still on the table, even though the bed was turned down, so clearly the steward was there... so I phoned and said "Hi, I don't mean to be a problem at this late hour, but our lunch dishes are still here and I would like to use our coffee table" he told me to "put the dishes on the floor in the hall outside the door." !!! The door is heavy, the ship was swaying and the tray was quite full... it was quite difficult to do (my hats off to the stewards who carry full trays so successfully!) I ended up taking the dishes to the hall in several trips.

He was obviously telling our neighbors to do like wise, and they had toddlers, so several times each day we had to walk past their trays of dirty dishes and BALLED UP DIRTY DIAPERS. All week.

We had a terrible dinner in Tuscan Grill on the first night. Last year we had a wonderful experience on the Reflection, the Constellation did not meet it. We immediately felt rushed in spite of the restaurant being empty. I said to our server that I would like to take my time and rest between courses and she looked a little puzzled. I ordered a martini and said I will look over the menu while I sip it. You'd think my head spun around on my shoulders. They wanted the entire order right away. I refused because I knew they would rifle it out of the kitchen bang bang bang. I explained to them that I will order what I want when I want it. Their panic calmed a bit. We enjoyed apps, salad and then our steaks arrived. I ordered medium rare. My steak arrived well done. The sides come in little dishes, which by then I had placed on my plate. So they took away my steak, vegetables and all and did bring me back a medium rare steak quite quickly. But just the steak. No vegetables. So I asked if I could please have some vegetables and my gravy replaced. Off they went again. All this while my husband is eating his dinner. They finally brought my dinner, steak done right, vegetables, sauce and I enjoyed it. My husband sipped a glass of wine while I ate. We did not get to dine together. Another thing I noticed different from our experience on the Reflection... on the Reflection the servers and sommelier were very gracious that we MERELY had the classic alcohol package and still treated us like high valued customers. This time, on the Constellation, upon seeing we had the classic alcohol package we often felt brushed off. "I'll see what I can do." "You just get one wine. That's it. No choices." "You need to go get your own martini. I don't do that." Had a similar response at Bistro on Five. I asked for a glass of rose. The server said "We don't have any. You can have white." So I did. Then across the bistro I see him pour a glass of rose for another patron. I called him back and said "That looks like rose..." and he said "Oh, THAT's what you want. One moment..." and brought me a glass of rose.

Tuscan Grill was such a big disappointment this time that we had booked it for later in the week for my husband's birthday and cancelled it.

On the other hand, we ate in Ocean Liners and it was WONDERFUL. Lovely, delicious, memorable dinner.

The main dining room was VERY good. I almost wish we had simply dined there and saved our money from the restaurants.

I thought the live music on this cruise was fabulous this time! The shows were very good too. I loved all the opportunities to dance with my husband.

I was always able to get a lounger by the pool.

We did the little train tour in Key West and thoroughly enjoyed it. Loved Key West, would go back any time. We only perused through the shops on the pier in Cozumel. We've done Cozumel many times. We did walk over to the Carnival pier as it is bigger and has a few shops and restaurants we like better. Lots of opportunities in both ports for free wifi.

I love blackjack. I'm not good, but I enjoy it. Celebrity blackjack starts at $10 which is too rich for me. I noticed all week that the blackjack tables were always empty. On the last night, while again walking past an empty table I leaned over to the pit guy and said "You know, if Celebrity had a $5 table it would be packed all night long!" He said to me "THAT would be a cardinal sin!" I said "Well obviously you know better..." and pointed to all the empty chairs and winked at him. He looked away.

I would think twice about Tuscan Grill. Don't know what more can be done about room stewards that need direction in all things. I know I should speak up to them, but I'm not confrontational. Fortunately hubs and I are fairy tidy people and don't need much clean up. (Honestly, we have had better cabin steward service on Carnival cruises!) I found on this cruise, compared to last year's Celebrity cruise, that we often felt "looked down" on when we presented our basic alcohol package. Almost a slight "snub" by the servers that we never felt on the Reflection.

I think my disappointment is mostly a bad dinner in Tuscan and a cabin steward who perhaps is needing a break. They do work very hard.

In spite of my criticisms, we had a wonderful week. Very relaxing. Loved the live music. Met some great people. The ship was clean and lovely. Nothing deterred us from booking another cruise. We had a great time.

Wow! You are in for a treat with cabin 2170 on the Mediterranean! It's nice and central, and close proximity to the elevators.

We did not hear a thing all week from up above. Yes, the Oceanview Cafe is directly overhead, but we never heard a thing! And I'm a very light sleeper.

The room is set up: balcony, bed, sitting area, bathroom, door.

The balcony is MASSIVE! You will have plenty of room out there. We enjoyed it because there is always sun and always shade, depending on what you prefer.

Enjoy!

Just got off the Reflection last week and only $10 and up tables. I asked if they ever have $5 tables and was told each afternoon they open up a $5 table, but hubs and I didn't want to waste precious sunshine time in the casino in the afternoon.

I must admit, I'm like your husband. I love keeping in touch with home, sending photos, making sure the kids are fine and my elderly parents are fine. I get it.

I purchased the $199 package and it did me fine for 7 days. I was able to get on quickly, upload photos to facebook almost instantly, chat online with the kids, remind them to change the dog's water, etc. I worry less, so I have a better week. For me, that's money well spent to have less anxiety about home. Plus, hubs wanted instant information on the Olympics.

Not sure which ports you are visiting... we did San Juan, St. Martin and St. Thomas and there are LOTS of cafes/bistros/bars where you can sit, enjoy a $2 beer and use their free wifi.

Here is a photo of the shelves I brought from home (I hope it's not too large.) I got them at the Dollar store for $2 each. Thanks to other reviewers I had been forewarned that there was plenty of hanging space, but no shelves and few cupboards. Problem solved! :)

Storage - you mention you are shelf people? You did find the two huge overbed storage cupboards/shelves? :D

Yes, our trouble is, hubs and I are short statured people. I'm 5'3" and he's 5'7", so to reach those cupboards meant we had to stand on our bed. Not easy or nice. I can't imagine if I were a senior, those cupboards would be useless for my elderly parents.

Deal breaker? No way! I would live out of my suitcase all week for a bathroom as nice as that one was! :D

LOVED it! Hubs and I had a wonderful time. The ship was beautiful, the food great. Probably our best cruise ever... except for our first one which was magical because it was our first :)

We had Concierge Class cabin 2170 on the hump

LOVED:

--ease of transfer from airport to pier (went through X)

--ease of embarkation at the terminal

--the layout of the ship, easy to get about

--lots of elegant maps everywhere in case I did get lost

--the decor

--how clean everything was

--the bed

--LOVE LOVE LOVED the bathroom! :eek:

--our hump cabin had a huge balcony

--MDR was elegant and understated

--reserved seating in the MDR. I booked online a table to two each night for 6:00 p.m. and we were seated immediately every single night

--often someone was personally squirting the Purell into diners' hands to ensure sanitation

--ambiance in the MDR was lovely, no 'clanging' pots and pans, noticed that servers never rushed or appeared to be hurrying... all calm and in control

--the food in the MDR, very good quality

--service in the MDR, very good

--our sommelier in MDR Jennifer was helpful and personable

--waiters and assistant waiters worked very well together, checking and suggesting

--the classic alcohol package... never missed the premium at all, can't think of another drink I would have wanted

--the cold fresh towels to wipe up upon return to the ship from port

--the thin crust veggie pizza from the Oceanview Cafe!!!

--LOVED seeing so many people enjoying getting dressed up in the evenings. My husband brought a tuxedo this time (daughter was married this past summer, so he bought a tux instead of renting) and we really loved that feeling of having a special romantic night.

--love the variety of live music all over the ship in the evenings all evening long. We could wander through the ship at any time and find talented live performers. It was the best we've ever enjoyed!

LIKED:

--bar service was fine. Sometimes a little slower at peak times, but not as bad as I feared. There were VERY few servers wandering the pool. No biggee, we don't mind getting our a**es out of the lounger to get another beverage.

--we were never pestered to "buy this" "buy that" as with other cruise lines we've been on

--didn't need a credit card to open and lock the room safe

--could leave the cabin patio doors open and the A/C would stay on in the room. We don't do it often, but sometimes it's nice to leave them open and come and go and not have the room get hot

--easily switched the bottle of champagne for a bottle of red wine

--plenty of nice towels at both pool areas

--TV was fine. I like to watch at night while hubs sleeps and I was able to find lots of stuff to help me get drowsy.

--lots of choices for music on the music channels

--internet speed was fine, never had trouble getting on, never found it to be slow

NOT SO MUCH:

--our cabin stewards were not terribly on the ball, but I think that was THEM and not Celebrity in general... had to ask for basic things often, fresh ice, enough towels for two people, took 3 days just to get binoculars which were supposed to be standard in the room, twice found our room not tidied from breakfast and not turned down when we were exhausted and ready for bed at night (one night it was still a mess from morning) ....not a big deal, but certainly a nice cruise "perk" that I enjoy when I'm on vacation. I honestly expected a little more attention to detail with a concierge class cabin. I plan to address this in my follow up with Celeb. I didn't want a confrontation with them, not wanting any discomfort with the stewards taking care of our cabin.

--didn't care for the fragrances of the bathroom products, just a personal thing. Was glad I brought my own just in case

--didn't enjoy the brunch buffet -- found that it was chaotic and crowded, long lines, all to simply find a repetition of all the foods that had been served all week at the cafeteria up top. Some cruisers can be ruthless in their pursuit of the all mighty food! Buffet was 3 hours long, but you'd think they were worried we'd run out of food the way some guests push and shove to get to the cattle trough! The time my plate was full and I was seated, my food was cold. (Mind you, I'm just never a big fan of lots of people having sneezing access to my meal. Hubs and I will probably forego the brunch buffet on our next cruise.)

--to be honest, seen better shows on other cruises... but we really don't cruise for the shows, so that would never be a deal breaker for us

--wish there had been $5 blackjack tables, really enjoy easy fun blackjack, but I'm not a big player

--wish there had been a light on the balcony

--cabin was a little smaller than I had imagined, though I had been warned

--found the CC afternoon appetizers teensy and meh, never bothered after the second night

HATED:

--the hair dryer. I've got long thick hair and the hair dryer was horrible. I will bring my own next time. Again, not a deal breaker. None of these are.

--the lack of cabin storage space. Hubs and I tend to be 'shelf and drawer' kind of folks, not much on hangers for us. Fortunately I was forewarned and I brought two collapsable hanger-shelves (photo to follow) which helped. Still, we found it hard to manage our shoes and clothes in the tight space provided.

--the keyboard for the internet. I'm old, and that little thing was beyond frustrating. Fortunately I brought my ipad for reading, and ended up using it for my internet needs

--the debarkation after off the ship, but that is not Celebrity's fault, that is the Miami Pier's fault. It was slow and chaotic.

--the Miami airport. Again, not Celeb's fault. Not to offend anyone who lives there, but not my fave airport.

I think that's it... hope the not-so-much's and the hates don't give the wrong impression. I simply wanted to say what crossed my mind. NONE of those critiques would cause me to avoid Celebrity in the future. On the contrary, as I said in the opener, we had a great experience. Just enough fun happening here and there, just enough fun the the bars, our kind of music, no pestering to buy things, lots of pampering. Celebrity has two new devotees.

I pack every medication known to Humankind. I could probably do a couple of appendectomies, if I had to. LOL. Everything goes in my carry on.

Me too! I want all my favourite dependable "go to" meds available immediately, just in case. I want my favourite decongestants/cold meds if I get a cold, or favourite strength of Tylenol and/or Advil, or diarrea meds, or constipation meds, or eye drops, orpolysporin, bandaids, etc, you name it. Not just for cruising, I've always done that... I guess raising 5 kids made me pack a M*A*S*H* unit for the entire family. :D I'm not a hypochondriac, I'm just fussy about my favourite treatments for common ailments. My husband used to tease me, now he's grateful.

YThe bus from LAX got us and another couple to the ship but they would not let us board. Had to catch up in Los Cabos.

Oh you must have been SO heartbroken!

On a cruise about 5 years ago, I was already in Florida staying with my retired parents. My husband was to fly in and meet us for a cruise. He booked a day-of flight that was to go from Toronto to Chicago to Tampa. He made the Toronto to Chicago leg fine, but when it came time to take off in Chicago, the plane fired up, and then shut down. Waited. Tried to fire it up and shut it down again. Pilot comes on the speaker system and says "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have good news and bad news... the bad news is this plane is not taking off for Tampa today. The good news is, and this is a miracle, we happen to have another plane sitting right here at the airport that we will be able to move over to and continue on our way." So they had to debark the plane, unload all the luggage and move everyone over to the new plane. Hubs took a moment to phone Carnival and let them know of his mixup and what flight he will be on and his ETA to Tampa Intl. They were great. He had to RUN! Landed at Tampa, had to go get his luggage, as he was running through to the taxis he saw the Carnival rep closing up shop. "Cutting it a little close, aren't you?" she laughed. She assured him she would call the ship. He hopped in a cab and said "Look, I don't want you to break any laws or get us killed, but there's an extra $10 if you can get me to the pier PRONTO!" The driver did a great job.

Our ship was to set sail at 4:00 p.m. and my husband, to my GREAT relief, walked in our cabin at 3:40 p.m.!!! :eek: Carnival was wonderful, because our paperwork was already done they mostly waved him through to get him on the ship.

So glad to hear you had a great time! We leave in 10 days to sail on the Reflection and now I'm more excited than ever! :D

Our favorite bar on the ship was the martini bar, both for the ambiance and the drinks. The classic package would not work there and thus for us, the upgrade is important.

I only drink gin martinis, and don't mind Beefeater. Can I get one of these in the martini bar on the Classic package? Or do they only serve fancy martinis priced over the classic pricelist?

Great review. Hubs and I are on the Reflection in 2 weeks... first Celebrity cruise, and I am very excited for it now! Off to read your specialty food reviews now... Thanks!

Similar question... What about HAIR irons? My friend was on a Costa cruise a few years back and her cabin steward took away her hair iron saying it was not allowed. Does Celebrity allow hair irons?

I appreciate all this information too, since hubs and I will be enjoying our first Celebrity cruise next month. Sounds very similar to Princess. I, for one, very much enjoy dressing up and feeling pretty on the formal nights. My husband, however, usually prefers casual casual casual when he's on vacation. "Why would I want to tie a noose around my neck when I'm supposed to be relaxing?" is what he likes to say. BUT... our daughter got married this past summer and he purchased a tux for the wedding and this time he is actually looking forward to wearing his tux on the formal nights. We were so busy at the wedding that we neglected to get nice photos of ourselves, so we are hoping to take advantage of a photographer on the Reflection when we are all gussied up! :)

I am certainly no expert, but hubby and I cruised on the Ruby Princess last year (after several busy Carnival cruises) and were looking forward to some luxury and elegance... well for us it was TOO quiet! (We are mid-50s.) Seriously, 9:00 p.m. and you could practically hear crickets in the halls of that ship! :eek: We went up to the club for their 'big Valentine's party'... I think there were 8 couples total! I took a photo of it I was so amazed having never seen a completely empty club on a ship on a special night like Valentine's. As much as we were looking to be pampered, for us we found it TOO quiet. I'm not a party animal, but I am on vacation and would like a bit of fun and maybe stay up a little later than usual. It will be a few more years before we cruise Princess again. The quality of food and cabin, etc, were superb... but it was WAY too quiet for us.

We are looking forward to our first Celebrity cruise next month. I'm hoping it will be a good balance of something between RCCL and Princess.

I'm on the Ruby Feb 10-17 and just got an email saying our MUTS will be Lincoln and Argo... so I'm happy! :D

(On a funny memory, we did a Carnival cruise once where the only channels on the tv were the irritating diamond sales, the view from the bridge, and 4 channels of Meryl Streep in Mama Mia-- ALL 4 IN SPANISH. *groan*)

You both looked SO lovely! Looks like you had a wonderful wedding!