the penguins

Shorts are not permitted in the MDR in the evenings.

The M and G has been well attended on TA's. We found it ideal when finalising other onboard activities and our last pre Covid TA we had 80 participants for the Slot Pull, 60+ for the Godiva Group ( chocolate sharing) numerous other activities and Monty the never to be forgotten invisible dog (even the Hotel Director joined in with Monty by providing dog biscuits). I believe Royal has restarted the M and G so hopefully X will soon follow.

If these are S line ships 85% of cabins have balconies and, at least in the UK, there are regular promotions offering "free upgrades" to balconies". Usually the so called "partial view" balconies are on deck 6 and basically it means you look out over the life boats and have no view directly down to the water. Some are slightly more restricted as the life boat supports also obscure more of the view. Certainly not bad cabins although we prefer deck 7.

See you on the ship. We just love TA's and this one has an interesting selection of ports before we settle down for the wonderful sea days.

Thanks - so another anomaly in X's system to add to the confusion.

What cabin type did you book? Retreat is for Suites only?

How can it be in Retreat when the confirmation shows Select Dining?

Sorry I'm confused. I quoted the requirements as stated in X's booking conditions not 2nd hand accounts. The definition of adjacent is "next to or adjoining something". Opposite is totally different. Personally the only cabins we would consider are "connected" I.e. With a door that directly connects the two. This works particularly well on S line ships.

I love your travelling but not so sure about your maths ( sorry math ). Your daily figure is only achieved by excluding the amount you spend on gambling to get the Comped Cruises. If you included your gambling the figure would be way way higher especially as you must be paying the full price on Viking as they don't have casinos.

Celebrity does have longer cruises but you have to work at it. An example: Cruise right around South America boarding in Buenos Aires and disembarking in San Diego i.e. a back to back cruise: Benefits especially for Elite and above: 1) book as Sail only you get 2 X times all your Elite benefits. 2) if you are a Shareholder you also get 2 times these benefits. 3) air fare often cheaper to book to Buenos Aires and back from San Diego instead of out to Buenos Aires and back from San Antonio in Chile - the saving helps pay for the second cruise. However many sectors you do your Elite benefits restart on each one.

We pick a time and book the same for every day - has to be done a day at a time which is a pain. On arrival at the Host Desk we give our cabin number and say " sharing please table for 6 if possible". We always include the "please" after night one the Host usually greets us with " sharing as usual?". Sorry haven't cruised an E class so I don't know how choosing the 4 dining rooms is handled. I assume it's only the decor that changes and not the menu but that maybe wrong. Enjoy.

Yes so if your chosen drink is above the Classic limit just pay the difference.

We always share as for us it's one of the joys of cruising. We prefer tables of 6. We also prebook every night for 6.30 pm as we prefer to go to the theatre at 9.0 pm. Generally it works out very well but if you really do have an issue with a particular passenger as you leave have a quiet word with the Hostess at the desk and ask not to be seated with them again. You will find them very helpful particularly if you are prepared to share what particular issue you had.

Celebrity 's booking conditions specifically state the cabins must be adjacent to or directly connected to i.e. not opposite.

This would leave you with all sorts of issues if there was a problem in the night. Much better to book truly connecting cabins then you can move to your heart's content.

Or just pay the difference in cost which would often be a much cheaper option. And the teas and hot chocolate. Also the iced versions of the coffees.

The longest we have done is 5 B to B boarding in Auckland and disembarking in Seattle so not many repeat stops until Hawaii. Our tips to keep it fresh: 1) change dining - we did fixed for first 2 sectors then Any Time. 2) in Any Time always share a table 3) save Speciality Dining until the last sector. 4) book private guides at special ports and share with one other couple from the Roll Calls. 5) remember every 7 to 14 days most of the passengers will change. 6) Live shows will never be the same you can even have fun spotting the changes. 7) get to know the crew more you can build up a good relationship on longer voyages. An example we were talking to one of the girls in Al Bacio about the ports and she said the sad thing was she never got a chance to take pics to send back to her family. From then on, after every port, we gave her a copy of some of our photos on a stick which she transferred to her computer. She was thrilled to bits. We enjoyed every minute of our 60 days.

So our grandson, who is 100% American (we still think he's English), tells me usually as he fills up with waffles 😂. However on our TA's the breakfast has always been so popular that it regularly spills over into Qsine and a good 80% of the participants are Americans. As always it's all about choice.

We joined a full charter classical music cruise on Reflection out of Southampton absolutely fantastic. Ask Celebrity who has chartered it, for what type of cruise. If you can book it could be that an extra cost would be well worth it.

Minimal? Look at the menu (post 7). A very healthy (?) selection: fresh fruit platter, a pile of smoked salmon, a few croissants with great marmalade, a couple of Danish pastries all accompanied by delicious smoothies and washed down with 2 possibly 3 lattes. And for those who like to mix alcohol with breakfast a selection of drinks.

Not on the list but they do it for you if you ask

See post 7 for the full menu

No you can't

Our favourite way to start the day. On sea days and particularly on longer cruises (Transatlantics for example) it is a great social hub. The Captain's Club host attends every day which is handy if you have a question. If you have booked Sail Only the free lattes, cappuccinos , bloody Mary's etc are a bounus. If you have AI the "free" drinks are not really of any value.

I wonder what caused the 10.30 to 11.00 to run late? To many passengers turning up outside of their alloted times? You said you arrived at 11.05 and had to join a queue for your slot so unless clearly some of your group had arrived early.