lovescarborough

7pm and 9pm just over a week ago. The cast productions were new and quite good too.

Equinox

The limited menu card is on all the tables when the elite events are taking place in sky lounge. The other bars on the ship will show you the old list of drinks. Just to further add to the confusion at the captains cocktail party event last night they put out menus printed for the cocktail party with the new reduced list and refused to serve anything off the old menu ! We left and went to the Ensemble lounge where they served what we wanted. You couldn’t make this stuff up 😂

Sorry but you’re wrong there. Although the elite cocktail hour menu is shown in the lounge you can still ask for the drinks on the old menu and they will bring them, no charge. You can also go to most of the other bars and get the old menu. The only difference we’ve seen is that they usually scan your card but no charge. I agree it’s typical of Celebrity nonsense!

Currently on Equinox and can definitely report that Murano has not been full on the three nights we’ve eaten there ( booked on a package pre sailing and pre the new prices ). We sat down at 8pm and by 9 pm had been served three courses and only a few tables occupied. The current price for Murano onboard is $70 plus gratuity. Tuscan is $55 plus grat. Much as we love Murano this is just too much and it is obvious many people feel the same. In the past we have sometimes struggled to get a table but not this time.

We are currently on Equinox 9 nighter. Our first cocktail lounge event was last night and there are two more scheduled plus the Captains cocktail party. We were looking forward to having the lounge again but it really isn’t worth bothering with now. They roped off an area of sky lounge . There was no one on the door, in fact we haven’t seen anything of the captains club host at all. The waiters take your card each time . There are no canapés at all. We arrived at 5.30 and left an hour later . Most people had gone by then although not that many there in the first place. No atmosphere at all, not even background music. We had our usual gin and vodka tonics but looking at the card on the table they are no longer on the list of drinks ! Happily we haven’t been charged for them nor at other bars, so we’ve no idea what they’re up to. Are they just trying to restrict the menu so much that nobody comes and they can cancel them again ?

We used to love the Elite happy hour events and enjoyed meeting and chatting to new people over a drink and canapés. I’m sure I saw somewhere that they might resume this month although not every evening. Can anyone who has sailed this month confirm this and how many events there were ? We board Equinox next week.

The EU are supposed to be starting this sometime in 2024 but no specific dates yet. It was originally mentioned for 2023 but didn’t happen. It is free for under 18 and over 70 and lasts for 3 years. Very similar to the ESTA that Europeans and UK need to enter the US. There is talk of facial recognition and fingerprinting on entry but not confirmed yet.

This is where I’m confused as the order doesn’t mention gratuities. In the small print it mentions drinks and extras such as chefs table drinks and gratuities aren’t included but there is no mention of gratuity on my invoice or indeed how much . Have things changed since we last used a package in January this year ?

Having just booked a dining package for our next cruise in January, I am a bit confused about the gratuity. Is this included in the package price ? It was when we cruised in January but I’m not sure whether it is now?

No speakers at all on Silhouette in January. Over the years we’ve been to quite a few interesting talks so I really can’t understand why Celebrity have stopped them. Surely it doesn’t cost much to produce. In fact we’ve seen some cruise directors doing interesting talks too. Who remembers the good old days, not that many years ago , when they put on cookery competitions and audience members helped the chefs and acted as judges ? My hubby volunteered on one of these and I’ve still got the photos. They were great fun at little cost. Best of all were the crew talent shows .Some amazing singers and talented musicians !

Correct. We chose Azura for the Canaries itinerary . Over the years we have done the Caribbean nearly every January and are getting a bit fed up with long haul flights and Miami airport in particular! We love Celebrity but prefer the Solstice class ships to the Edge class. This January we were disappointed with both the food cutbacks and service on Celebrity ( Aqua class which is usually really good ) and decided that the big price hikes are just not acceptable. We used the speciality restaurants for half of the cruise. They were still very good. It seems like all cruise lines have gone the same way with the cutbacks and as such we wouldn’t want to be stuck with MDR for the whole cruise and certainly not with a fixed early dining time as we like to eat late. We’re disappointed that, unless we pay extra for the saver fare , we can’t be sure of our dining arrangements and whilst we’re happy that we would then get OBC it seems we may or may not be able to get bookings in the speciality restaurants.( You can use OBC to pre book on Celebrity. ) I really don’t care for the take it or leave it attitude when we’re spending over £3000 for a holiday. Still undecided whether to chance it or book a land based holiday instead.

Many thanks for your replies. We would only have OBC if we go for the select fare so maybe would be best to forget that and go with the saver fare, then we could book speciality restaurants in advance as we would be looking to dine there for at least half of the cruise. I’ve been reading other posts on here regarding MDR long waits for tables and am concerned we might not be able to dine in there at our preferred later time. Is there a chance we might be given early fixed dining which we absolutely wouldn’t want ?. I’m amazed that cruise lines are making things so difficult for people whilst all reducing quality and choice as well as service levels. They should be trying to retain their customers. We want a holiday not an obstacle course !

We’re looking at booking Azura for a Canaries cruise next January. We sailed on her on a Med cruise 10 years ago and although we enjoyed it we have stuck to our preferred Celebrity cruises since. However on our last cruise in January there was a noticeable decline in quality which I believe is happening on all cruise lines. Together with much higher prices we have now decided to try P & O again. So things I’m not sure about are , I’ve seen pictures of the superior balcony cabins but am not sure exactly what is extra over the normal balcony cabin ? Does it have a seating area ? If we book the select fare we get OBC which we would want to use in the speciality restaurants. I remember loving theEpicurean and the Glass house. Are these bookable before boarding using the OBC ? any idea of the cost ? Is anytime / freedom dining available? Do they still have wine packages ? I think we had a package of six bottles of wine that we used at dinner. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks

On Silhouette at the end of January we were very disappointed with Blu. Although there were plenty of empty tables at around 8 pm we were always given a pager and told to wait, sometimes 20 or 30 minutes. It seemed more of a problem having the wait staff than finding a table. Indeed once we were seated it was always a 15 to 20 minute wait before anyone took our order or even offered a drink. We have used Aqua class many times and never had this problem. Unfortunately we weren’t alone as we spoke to several other couples, all with the same opinion. With regards to the menu, we also found it to be much reduced and some poor dishes, ( anyone like octopus? ). For the first time in 12 years cruising Celebrity ( Elite Plus ) we didn’t book another cruise onboard. Quite sad, but things need to improve.

We are just off the same Silhouette cruise. There was definitely a staff shortage on the ship. We were told they were 150 down . We were in Aqua class and as we had quite a bit of OBC we had booked a five night speciality dining package ( pre the huge price increase) . Service in Blu wasn’t great. Having waited 20 minutes just to get in, it was obvious they just weren’t coping as there were plenty of empty tables. Most times we sat with the menu for 15/ 20 minutes with no waiter and nothing to drink. The two sommeliers would be topping up wine for those already served and just not noticing others without a drink. Food in Blu was mostly good but choices were limited. The fillet mignon on the first night was outstanding. The veal chop was so tough my husband couldn’t cut it and it was sent back. I tried to order the duck breast one night but the waiter said I shouldn’t as it was too greasy. We spoke with several others at nearby tables and the comments on service were all very similar. Murano was lovely as usual but service at our first visit wasn’t good. Our waiter didn’t seem very experienced and our food was twice delivered to the wrong table. Two later visits were much better with a different waiter. Only one sommelier and she was run off her feet. Tuscan was the worst. After finishing the antipasti board our waiter asked if we were ready for starters then totally disappeared from the restaurant for 20 minutes . We complained to the Maitre D but he just wasn’t interested. The restaurant was barely a third full. Lawn Club was great. A waiter who knew his job and great food. We are Elite plus with Celebrity and have always booked onboard for our next cruise but not this time. Maybe things will improve if we all give Celebrity honest feedback and refuse to accept substandard food and service whilst paying ever higher prices.

We board the Silhouette in 10 days time. Checked in weeks ago using the website and given a boarding time of 11 to 11.30 am and express passes issued. Yesterday we received a message on the app reminding us to check in. I checked again and it showed we had already done it. As we paid for a five night speciality dining package I wanted to decide which nights to book once we boarded but the menus in Blu say unavailable. I really wanted to see which nights the menu didn’t appeal so we could dine elsewhere. Despite what has been reported on the boards the app says room service is free apart from the usual very late night deliveries. Any idea when I can get some accurate information?

We have done lots of cruises with Celebrity but none over the last two years and have never used the app. I downloaded it to my phone and thought it would be interesting to see how it works ready for our next cruise in January. It made me laugh so much, I thought I would share it with you. First I clicked on Health, where the information on our upcoming cruise helpfully gives a link to the locator form we will need for entering Belgium at Zeebrugge. Okay, but actually this is a Caribbean cruise. Couldn’t see anything about the COVID testing or vaccination requirements but thankfully I already know these. Now click on the Calendar to see our 5 night dining package shows our first night speciality dining booked for 3pm ! Might not be quite ready for dinner by then. Finally I tried the Welcome Aboard link. Lots of information on how to get to Terminal 25 at Fort Lauderdale. The only problem is that we sail from Miami ! Funny yes, but is this the best that a multi million dollar company can produce ?

We’ve used Premier Inn several times including last month. It’s the nearest hotel to the cruise terminal and easy to walk into town. Food in the adjoining pub is pretty poor . Would recommend Dinos Italian restaurant in easy walking distance. Breakfast is just about acceptable in the premier inn itself but there really isn’t much alternative. Dover itself is rather run down . A walk along the seafront is quite nice.

Actually I lost a dear friend to Covid earlier this year. Although she knew the risks of mixing with people, her view was that she wanted to live her life freely and not behind closed doors. I share her philosophy on life.

No, that’s my opinion of it 😂 The email detailed just the removal of testing etc.

Just had an email from Princess. From September 6th no pre cruise tests required for US, UK, and EU cruises with a few exceptions such as Panama Canal , Canada, and Greece. Also unvaccinated can travel but need pre cruise test. The whole pre cruise test is useless. All it gives is a snapshot in time. I know people who’ve been negative in the morning and positive in the afternoon. Having finally caught COVID myself a month ago, it was nothing more than a sore throat and a summer cold that lasted two days. Husband didn’t catch it from me either.

We live near Scarborough and always fly from Heathrow. It’s really easy to drive to Heathrow the night before our flight and stay in one of the hotels with parking. The prices are competitive and very little difference in price to parking at Manchester. We love the Renaissance hotel. Miami airport is a pain getting through immigration but after a nights stay near the airport and a good nights sleep we’re ready for the cruise next day ! All being well we’ll be there in January.