Silkroad

I see menus for the first 7 nights on my December 4th sailing on Silhouette. Ditto for Cosmopolitan on the current Apex cruise.

We certainly wouldn’t pay these upcharges for meals in the MDR (or Blu & Luminae). We board Apex next month. I’ll certainly post if I see new upcharges on the app or once I board. Haven’t found them on the app yet.

Interesting. I don’t see these on the app for my December sailing on Silhouette, but they don’t seem to roll out such changes to all ships/regions simultaneously.

Beautiful photos! The viewing platform looks very appealing. OK the Caesar looks appealing too😂

I don’t know how you get all this in a standard carry on bag and a personal (under seat) bag. There’s no way I could do this. I would ditch the hair dryer for another pair of shoes. I wear a pair of trainers, long pants, and a short sleeved top on the plane and pack amphibious sandals (similar to Keens) in my carry on. I also pack shorts, capris, tank tops, flip flops, windbreaker, raincoat, and spare underwear/socks in my carry on. I pack an iPad instead of a laptop. Power cords, eyeglasses, silk scarves, jewelry, and meds fill up most of the remaining space. That’s it. No more space. I have tried the wrap packing method, as well the the roll method and various folding techniques. Ditto for plastic bags and packing cubes. I found the wrap method ok for keeping things less wrinkled, but no better at making more items fit the space. The wrap method is also a real PITA when one packs for a 3-4 week trip (as I usually do) with land stays before and after a cruise. I must repack everything before leaving the first hotel.

I’ve been on five cruises since October 2021. Two in Sunset Verandas, one in Aqua, and two in Sky Suites. I’m a foodie in that I won’t eat something I dislike unless I’m quite hungry and have no other options. I’m also choosy about beverages. That said, I like a wide variety of foods. Though I have noticed some food and beverage differences since the start up, I have never had difficulty finding something appealing to eat or drink. My DH feels the same. What hasn’t changed one bit is the fantastic staff and crew, the scrupulously clean ship, and the fact that absolutely no smoking is allowed indoors. We’ve enjoyed our Celebrity cruises enough to book three more this year, followed by four next year😎😎 I would bet that if you embark on your cruise tomorrow expecting a few minor differences, while also expecting to have a great time, you’ll have a great experience. I hope you post a review once you’ve had time to assess things for yourself. Bon voyage🥂

Having made my previous journey through portions of Alberta and some northwestern US states by car, I know how much beauty one misses while taking one’s turn in the driver’s seat. I had already been trying to convince my DH that we should consider prefacing our 2024 Alaska cruise with a Rocky Mountain Explorer journey when I read your post. I must say that, based on the website, I expected your luggage to be handled for you. I hope the rest of your journey lives up to the marketing blurbs on the website! The train does look very nice. I hope you’re having a great day as a passenger🙂

The posts about the original specialty restaurants on M class ships brought back memories of our very first cruise, which was on Millennium, departing Venice in late May 2006. We celebrated our 15th anniversary in the gorgeous Olympic restaurant. Everything about our meal was superb. I found the menu copy that was provided to guests in those days. I’m posting photos of the menu. We have since celebrated many special occasions in Murano, but Murano is simply not comparable to the Olympic Restaurant.

My DH warned me not to inspire the creative photographers among us. I believe his term was "provoke"😂

Could be worse😂 At least there aren’t any photos😱

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Indeed. I flashed back to the time we checked bags and tried to board with one legal size carry on each. The flight was full. We were both required to gate check our carry on bags. We were able to remove electronics, prescription glasses, and medications and stuff them into our personal bags and a small folding tote bag. I had to stuff my medium sized personal bag- a cross body travel purse - into the tote bag with our gear to be allowed to use it as my personal bag. When we landed, I saw people pulling down oversized “carry on” bags the size of our checked bags! So no, I don’t care for the extra “larger than necessary bag” for a cpap.

Great idea! We're still thanking you for our fantastic cruise on Beyond this April😎😎

Lovely photos! Thanks for sharing your journey with us. Banff is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. I enjoyed some fantastic hikes while there.

I’ve been looking at similar potential cruise options. I’d love to visit Australia/NZ and Asia without flying any further than the west coast or Hawaii. I’ve realized our best option would be to combine one or more X cruises with land segments and cruise segments on another line. Having only sailed X, I’m unsure which of the other lines would be most appealing to us. HAL has some very interesting itineraries in the Pacific.

Me too😂 Mine are reflected in the point total on the app. Still working toward the E in Zenith😜

Ah, that wasn’t clear in your previous post. I’m having no problems with the app. Good luck.

I just logged into my X account without problems. However, I don’t bother to log in to check PUP updates. Instead, I pick up my phone and check the app. This may be a good option for you also.

I'm waiting, though not patiently😂 We're well past final payment on two Sky Suites, and I'd love to see price drops. Alas, one cruise is booked pretty solidly. I think there's more chance on the other one. I've seen more price drops on Caribbean cruises. Our two are European cruises.

Same here. To date, we've booked only Veranda, Aqua and Sky Suite categories. We have all three categories booked in 2023 & 2024. Prices haven't decreased on any of our seven future cruises.

We haven’t a chance at the record, but I was amused to realize we’ve hit our maximum of 26 nights during three calendar years (2017, 2019, and 2022). We hope to finally break 26 this year with a grand total of 38 nights😂

Thanks so much for taking us along with you on your mother/daughter adventure! Wishing you safe travels home.

I agree. Having worked in service industries during college, I am well aware of the challenges service employees may face. I tip very well for exemplary service. I always mention people by name on the cruise survey. I also praise stellar employees while on board, via direct conversations with management or written comments. Having myself benefited from glowing verbal and written comments from customers to my own management, I take every opportunity to praise outstanding employees while still on board. I have several times been thanked for verbal and written comments made while on board. I have been told that positive comments can make a difference in rewards and opportunities for employees. On Apex last December (not in the Retreat), I had the opportunity to praise a small group of wonderful employees to their upper manager. Despite the cutbacks, supply chain and staffing issues already well documented and debated on this forum, this splendid group created a lovely, welcoming space that we enjoyed very much. Later that day, the team lead thanked me for my conversation with their manager. He said it had already made a difference for the team.

The straw sandals? I think they were zori sandals. We wore those in the 70’s. I’d forgotten they had another name.

This is a large country. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. When I was a small child in the 60s, we wore thongs (rubber beach sandals) to Santa Cruz beaches. In the 70s we began wearing flip flops. BTW my dad, who was from Brooklyn, called the rubber beach sandals thongs. He had served in Korea, so maybe he picked up the term in the navy.