Espn

3 hours ago, CarolCoupon said:

Got the last one, all unpacked! Heading to the Sunset Bar for sailaway. 

We contacted DePalm about shaded areas available, and booked the flamingo beach seating. DH is doing a helmet dive excursion there.

Looking forward to a great cruise!

If anyone has Beyond Retreat questions,  please ask away. 

Abbydancer, enjoy Eden!!!

We are considering the same cruise on Beyond for our 40th in October in the Retreat so I would love to hear your opinion of how it is, like Luminae, Blu, and the sun deck. Also if you have any of the noise in your suite and general impressions of the Retreat.

And thanks AbbyCruiser for the ES info! Have a blast and I look forward to your updates.

2 hours ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

A small update and I’m probably preaching to the choir but always fly in the day before at least! Flight is delayed because the flight attendants are coming from another gate. Delayed an hour so far and still waiting for them. 
 

It’s been a long day so far. Up at 4:45 for the rest of the family’s early flight that I changed to make a meeting. The meeting was supposed to be mandatory but it turns out they recorded it for people that needed to miss….annoyed with that but such is life. The good news is that I was able to hang out in a delta lounge for most of this time. 
 

I’ll update tonight or tomorrow with how the Embassy Suites is doing and what the status of the renovation is! I’m looking forward to that happy hour so much!

It is interesting that the hotel web site doesn’t mention anything about the renovation and even in response to trip advisor reviews that say it needs an update, no mention. A renovation has to cause some inconvenience and they should let people know. We last stayed there a few years ago and it was tired then so I hope they are making updates, interested to hear what you see. If I do actually book a cruise on Beyond I may have to find another hotel. Enjoy the happy hour!

Following. We haven’t been on Celebrity before but are considering the same itinerary in October for our 40th anniversary, but I am a little concerned looking at the Beyond reviews on CC. I think they are mostly a lot of complaining but curious to read your impressions. Also curious about the Embassy Suites, we have stayed there a few times and have already booked a room just to make sure we have it before we even book the cruise.

On 10/5/2022 at 3:03 PM, A&L_Ont said:

They are a floating ring with a mesh inside to rest on. They even have cup holders. They are tethered down as well.

 

It is called a sunchill pad. We have one at our lake house, very cool.

Andrew, I don’t look at CC for a week and you go on a cruise. Looks like you have had a great time, sorry it is almost over. And no run ins with any of those pesky Gator fans. Go Dawgs

16 minutes ago, Cayman Turtle said:

Wow 1900! Ship must have felt empty!

It did feel pretty empty most places. Suites were still at full capacity but SL and CK still never felt crowded and were great.

14 hours ago, Cayman Turtle said:

Guest count this week:

5202

 

Wow, we had 1900 on our Allure cruise last October, I guess those days are gone. Full capacity is good for everyone but it was fun.

Yes you can get all beverages that are being served in the Suite Lounge while you are eating in the CK, so soda, beer, wine most of the day and cocktails if you are eating during Happy Hour. You can either walk over to the bar and get what you want or ask your waiter. Our experience has always been that the waiter will get you whatever you want from the bar.

Love today’s door sign. 😂

Following. You will love the Suite Lounge and Coastal Kitchen on Allure. We have done Sky Class a few times on Allure and were on last October. The staff has always been great. I am sure you will have a wonderful time.

Just love Allure, hope you have a wonderful time. Will be following.

2 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I'm not ready for this cruise to end. How about you head down to the Next Cruise deck and look into next week?😇

Agree. I miss being on Allure.

You are going to seriously earn some brownie points for this, and deservedly so. Your are an example for all husbands. I told my wife about your thread and she said she would KILL me if I ever did something like you are. I can’t wait to follow your adventure. You got this!

28 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

Nice win for the Bulldogs

Scary for the first 40 minutes or so but yes a great win!

We were on Allure the day of the GA-FL game and streamed the game on an iPhone in the suite lounge, so if you have an internet package that should be an option.

There were quite a few people in Dawg gear that afternoon and most of the servers in the SL were for the Dawgs btw.

Our concierge email for Allure on 10/24 did not mention the 11-11 beer/wine, but it was available all week. I believe Symphony is the only ship I have heard was not doing it. You should just ask if you reply back for dinner and show reservations.

13 minutes ago, dad son team said:

Save the money.  Go to the casino on a quiet sea day and the dealers will be more than happy to explain it to you

I agree. We booked this on our Allure cruise last month. We asked three workers in the casino who to see and what we were supposed to do. Finally one person told us to go to a particular casino host. The guy was a total jerk and had us sit at a couple of tables and then disappeared, we left and I got my money back at guest services. I think we would have been there all night if we hadn’t left.

I thought I would share our experience with RoyalUp just for info purposes. Sailed on Allure October 24th, booked in a 2 BR GS, nice cabin that we have cruised in before, so we were happy with it. At 60 days out we got the RoyalUp email to bid, all the options were suites above ours and all the Star class levels. Because we had 4 people, our options were limited so I bid on a 2 BR Aqua Theater Suite and the Royal Loft Suite. Minimum on the AT suite was $850 pp and I bid $1600 pp, so almost double, and there was one of these available. On the RL suite the minimum was $3200 pp and I bid that just cause it would be amazing, but expensive. Neither of my bids ever changed from pending and neither one become locked even as I saw people on the roll call saying theirs had changed. We got the sorry email about 8 pm on the first night, so no luck with either.
 

There were 10 Crown Loft Suites and several Star suites available a few days before departure so there was a lot of room for people to move up, and all the suites were occupied by the time we left PC. It would be interesting to know how many upgrades were made with so many at the top of the pyramid. We had 2650 passengers on our cruise but as the numbers go up the success stories will become fewer and fewer.

There was a thread a month or more ago started by a woman who answered YES to a question for her daughter because she had an asthma attack, I believe, and even though she had info from the doctor they were denied boarding. They went up several levels of managers and maybe even a call to RCI and the answer was Sorry. Maybe search for “denied boarding” and you might find it. I think that was in the thread title.

14 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

We have done a JS,GS,CLS and AQ suites on Royal ships. The Suite lounge at least on Oasis class is very good as is Coastal Kitchen. On Edge, the Retreat area is a step up —- mainly because the ship was designed for it. The lounge is spacious and awesome with large door to ceiling windows on one side and an outdoor seating area on the other. The retreat is deck is huge with a pool, bar and food. 
 

I think Luminae is a bit better than Coastal Kitchen. Dress is casual every night. We like to get dressed up a couple nights and I wore a suit and tie both nights. Some did, more didn’t. My only “ding” on Luminae is that the menu has fewer choices than the MDR and on Edge-class it hard —- but not impossible—- to get stuff off of the main dining room menus. The atmosphere is relaxed, and a bit more subdued than CK which I find sometimes to be a bit chaotic and loud. 
 

The ship is stunning, and as we also get older, we find th e size more manageable.  We have done Oasis ships probably 10-12 times and the size is getting a bit big. Edge is a perfect size. 
 

The live music has been tremendous with a good variety. The shows in the theatre were excellent. The group last night, Bailiamos, was one of the best I have ever seen on a ship. Such energy!!

 

In summary, I think you will like Celebrity Edge class. We have been making the same move you are contemplating.

 

BTW —- How Hawaiian😜😜😜? 
 

mac_tlc 

Thanks for the info. We just want something better for the amount of money we spend on suites. I will have to do more research.

@mac_tlc just curious about some general info since you have been on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. The wife and I have only been on RC and in suites on Allure the last 3 cruises. We love the Suite Lounge and Coastal Kitchen but feel like we have outgrow RC and are looking for a nicer experience. I am sure RC suites don’t compare to the Retreat, but we don’t want anything stuffy or formal. If I can’t wear shorts to breakfast and lunch and nice jeans with a Hawaii shirt to dinner then I am not interested, we really only dress up for funerals. We just got off Allure 10/24 and had the Apex in port next to us twice, very nice looking ship. I am just starting to look around for some other options but wonder how would you compare the two lines as far as formality and atmosphere?

No change to my bids for Sunday on Allure and no change to the suite inventory. It is probably still a day or so too early.

1 hour ago, FrankLasVegas said:

Espn:  Did anything happen with your bid(s)?  My GS is still expired and my JS still sits at PENDING and non-modifiable after almost a week.  I sail on this Saturday.

No nothing has happened with my bids, both are still pending and can be modified. I have changed one of them several times in the last couple of days to see if anything would happen but no luck. At this point I am over stressing about these bids. We are in a 2 BR GS and are totally happy with that. Now I am worried about the covid test Friday, LOL.

Your JS bid will probably be taken, at least being pending and locked is a good sign, but it will probably be Wednesday at the earliest before they tell you. Good luck.

2 hours ago, George C said:

On celebrity I actually lowered my penthouse bid and then it was accepted,  as soon as it was I got notified that my credit card was charged.

Funny but interesting. Maybe I should lower my SC bid. 🤔

My wife thought so, LOL. I am driving her crazy with RoyalUp stuff and she says we are not going to get Star Class and I need to forget it. 
 

With a pending locked bid I would say you are sitting good. I think human nature is to wait it out and not feel like you are bidding against yourself and up the bid. I am sure not going to bid more now.

1 hour ago, FrankLasVegas said:

jtappend - kind of what I was thinking - seems logical but not sure exactly what logic the Royal Up program operates on. 😆  And if that is an indication of an accepted bid, how long before they would notify us I wonder?

 

When is your sail date?

I have a theory of what they do based on my 40 years of experience as a systems analyst and programmer, purely from the anecdotal posts I have read over the last few months. I could be completely wrong of course. It seems like a couple of weeks from sail day they run their program to do an initial mock upgrade. Some people have a bid stay pending and others become expired, and all their bids are locked. I think this means at that time they would accept your pending bid, but not yet. I think the bids are locked so you cannot cancel or lower your bid. Others do not have any bids locked or changed to expired and this enables them to up their bids if inclined. I have read posts where people say their bids were locked and then a few days later they are able to change them again. I think that happens because someone out bids the previously locked bid and that new bid becomes the most likely winner at that moment. At some point they are probably running their program daily and updating locked and unlocked constantly until several days before the cruise when they start awarding upgrades. It seems to be a good sign when you have a pending bid that is locked but you will not know for sure until 2 to 3 days before your cruise. We have 2 bids that are pending and not locked for our 10/24 cruise and at this point I don’t expect those to change. I know some people on our cruise already have locked bids.