DallasCruiseCouple

What are Elite cruises? We got an offer for ULTRA cruises and the cruise we are taking for this year for $100 balcony will cost $2300 next year. It has $1000 fun play, and priority boarding with slot pulls tournament but crazy jump in prices!

We have done that cruise and it will be chilly in a few places. I remember I wore boots and a scarf in Mykonos. It started off warm in Kusadasi but then turned overcast in Ephesus. I bought the most beautiful Burberry and LV look alike scarfs that I use every winter! They are pretty close to my authentic items too! 🙂  Naples...lots of graffiti and look out for your belongings. Don't forget to try the first ever pizza place there! Santorini is divine but places may close early due to the end of the season. You will need a vacation after this vacation. We did that cruise and then spent five days at a villa in Tuscany to relax!! Safe travels!

Sailing out of Texas on Carnival Vista and three major baseball games will be playing during the week of October 14th cruise. I don't think Carnival shows games on Fox or FS1. Just making sure. The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros are vying for a chance at the World Series! 

We loved Infinite Verandah. We did the 11 day Panama Canal and ABC cruise and had rain every day! We loved having a panoramic window view on port side while it was raining and could not get off the ship in Bonaire. We were also delayed in Cartagena with a deluge and we could sit on the port side and see all the views without getting soaked. We loved the IV since the Caribbean is so humid and rainy. Worked out perfect when our room steward left us a nice setup for our anniversary! If we did not have the IV then this set-up would be in the middle of the room while we are getting ready for dinner. We also had breakfast in our room a few times to enjoy the peace of the waves without everything flying everywhere. We have done regular balconies and aft (sunset) balconies and all are wonderful. Plus we got this on an upgrade that made our price still about half the normal price rate. 🙂

3 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

You do realize the nightly menus are on the phone app?

I do realize that the app  is quirky and it was having trouble on the ship. Even our debarkation was a mess because the app did not work correctly. So, we never needed to see the menu since we enjoyed Blu. 🙂 For other people that don't want to use the app or if it doesn't work correctly then going to the guys on level 5 should help you to see the menus. Plus you pass them every day on the way to Oceanview!

On 12/11/2022 at 7:51 PM, keesar said:

We always cruise in Blu and we do not get the same waiter every night.  A lot may depend on the maitre'.

That was the case on Edge. We ate at different times based on the show schedule and the evening activities. They have so much to do on the Edge that the entire night gets filled pretty quick with dinner, show, silent disco, martini bar show and the amazing singers in the Grand Atrium!

2 hours ago, sdnich said:

Thank you for sharing !! we will definitely check out the situation when we board our cabana is not till the third day on the edge. So we can cancel.For us it’s a nice place to know you don’t have to worry about a place to sit and the extras that come with it .With out having a beverage package the  beer and alcohol covers most of the cost of the cabana.

Yes, that sounds like a good trade-off! 

We just got off the Edge and it was everything you can fit in one bag for about $40. It sounds like the same special. The bag is the size of a pillow case, maybe slightly larger. We got the offer around the 5 day mark on our 11 day cruise.

32 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

 

We will not want to sit with others, especially since most will be couples or families and it will be 3 friends having a good time.  

 

We made some good friends on our last Celebrity cruise.  Still talk to them all the time and even went to visit one for a major birthday.

 

 

I'll see if we can figure out something to celebrate!  lol  It's just 3 of us, but we have been friends for many years.  This will be our first trip without the guys.  We are super excited about it!

 

Oh wait.  One of my friends has a January birthday.  We can celebrate that a bit early. 

PERFECT!! The waiters especially loved making girls trip groups feel special!!

let the Maître D know your wishes and he will make sure your waiter knows! I hope you love Blu as mush as us. 

5 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

This is just a little girls trip, only 5 nights so 1 chic night.  What did they serve for the first?

I can't remember! We were still figuring out the flow of Blue and we did not have a regular waiter yet. You always have a starter (I typically chose salad and a soup) and the main. Plus fabulous desserts! They also have the Signature Blue items that have a little more flair than the traditional dining items. Ask the Maitre D' if you will have lobster on the chic night. Also, the Maitre D' runs the house. He will get you the best table and the best waiters. If you have a group of friends then make sure to celebrate something so that they bring you out a cake and sing to you. 😉 We saw lots of friend groups having a great time in Blue. Their tables were closer to the fake windows and a little more room. You will love it. Also, get to know the Spa Director so that she tells you the best time to visit the thermal suites. It gets busy!  

5 hours ago, actuarian said:

I am pretty sure that it would require cancellation and rebooking. However, all of the components that make up AI (drink package, internet access, and prepaid tips) can easily be purchased separately. That will cost a little more than AI would have cost but, under the circumstances, it would almost certainly be better than cancelling and rebooking.  Another (more expensive) way would be to upgrade the reservation to a higher room category. If you do that with Celebrity (or the travel agent who booked the reservation, if any), you should be able to include AI with the upgrade. 

If you call Celebrity, they can add it for you and charge the difference. The rep spoke to a Supervisor and said it is possible to add and charge the difference.

Our friends had deck 10 forward and loved it. We had Aqua deck 10 midship and had a small obstruction to the left with the rooms butting out. Not a big deal as we could still see the Captain parallel parking in some ports.

We had 11 days on the Edge and loved it. We did have some rough sea days. Our friend did say that their infinite verandah made knocking noises. So much that they had to be moved. We had a little bit of knocking noises on 10 midship.

If you go for early dining then expect to wait maybe 15-20 minutes. We typically went for dinner around 7:30 and then tried to grab the 9pm show...don't miss the Headliner shows! A few times, we went to the show early and then had dinner at 8:30. Still great service.

We had a "seating preference". We chose the tables near the gold curtains. A few times we had the sofa style tables which are not comfortable and once, we sat next to a couple a few inches from them and it was awkward as the pace of the meal was different.

Make sure to go for breakfast on sea days and on the last day...debarkation! Also, they have lobster on the second chic night! It was unbelievable! I wish I had ordered two lobsters. 

You can also order any dish from any of the other dining rooms. We loved the onion soup from the Tuscan restaurant. 

Blu was our favorite and we pretty much tried all of them besides raw on 5.

1 hour ago, Dancing Shoes said:

This gives another reason to cancel my shuttle from Port Everglades to FLL.  Sorry about your luggage. Our big boy Samsonite hard sided has scuff marks/black.  

Our big boy Samsonite made it fine. We have a small BMW hard case made out some kind of special material and that one was scratched up pretty good but it was a gift and not replaceable. The bag that had the worst damage was our Lipault Paris bag. We bought it because it weighs nothing and holds so much. Plus super durable...until someone throws it across steel floors. It almost looks like the floor had to be ripped up as the casing has jagged marks on it. Here is the bag...so sad it happened at the end of our cruise...nothing on American or Celebrity port handlers happened like this. 

https://www.lipault-usa.com/luggage/checked-luggage/lipault-plume-medium-trip-packing-case/135951XXXX.html?dwvar_135951XXXX_color=1359511041&cgidmaster=lugaz

2 hours ago, BigAl94 said:

We always put these on our cases when travelling, total protection for little outlay 2 pcs Clear PVC Suitcase Cover Clear Waterproof Scratchproof PVC Luggage Cover Suitcase Protector Cover Travel Luggage Trolley Case Cover (26) : Amazon.co.uk: Fashion

These would be great at Port Everglades! It rained when we boarded and lots of luggage sat outside getting soaked. Ours was not too bad. Not sure how this would do if they slid it across the steel bottom of the shuttle bus. I have never seen anything like it! 

On 12/8/2022 at 10:40 AM, sdnich said:

I booked a two person cabana on the edge for next March on a sea day when I put in a port day there wasn’t a difference in price? $150.00 I feel that it’s fair and we don’t have the Bev package on that cruise so will take our bottle of vodka back to our cabin .

 

I booked a port day on our Celebrity Solstice Mexican Riviera for $99 for four people.

PTC DAWG still searching couldn’t find info including a bottle of alcohol on Solstice Alcoves ? We have the beverage package on that cruise so that’s OK but wouldn’t mind a nice bottle of champagne.

 

i’m just seeing the response above about sending a message on Facebook I will try that.

We were just off the Edge and the cabanas face the Magic Carpet...not the pool. 😞  Every day, we saw names on the cabanas (reserved) but no one ever sat in them. They have sofas covered up by large planters and the cushions fly everywhere. I don't even know how you could have drink without it going all over the place. It's more like a cubby hole with no view. You have to walk all the way around to get to the pool. Just wanted to share since they are so pricey!

All holiday cruises are more expensive. We sailed Aqua for $5K on the Edge but it was $8K for the same sailing but during holiday. I will say that the BEST pricing is on the ship. We got the Black Friday sale with an extra $400 USD off per cabin and an EXTRA $400 OBC. Plus, only a $100 pp deposit. No brainer to book on board. Just FYI.

17 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Sorry, I know the disappointment.  I received new luggage as a gift and after a single use someone at Delta managed to break a wheel off my roller bag.  Pretty much useless with only three wheels.  Mine wasn't as expensive as yours and I didn't file a claim.  Am just wondering why you have to first file a claim with Celebrity?  By whose instructions?

We always buy travel protection in case we should have to get lifeflighted off the ship. Never used it in 20 years.The travel insurance requires a report that Celebrity is not paying and that is my proof of loss. I will email Celebrity Support and see what they say. I have no idea if the travel insurance will pay but we will see. 🙂

18 hours ago, jelayne said:

It is that way on every large shuttle bus we have used both in the US and abroad.  The last cruise our luggage was fine when it was taken out of the shuttle bus storage area, however when we picked it up after our AA flight it looked like it had been hit by a truck and dragged across the pavement.  Just a risk of travel, I guess.

FYI the back of the transfer ticket states the service is provided as a convenience and the operators are independent and not representatives or agents of the Cruise line and the cruise line is not liable for any harm or damage……..  

We should have just UBER XL'ed it but we thought Celebrity might offer a nice shuttle option. It was a cattle call on the Edge. We did not even have a shuttle ticket. We had to find someone who had a clip board and he said to get on the bus. He did not even check off our name. The Edge was having debarkation issues (the app did not work correctly) and it looked like massive lines of people going nowhere fast. LOL! 

3 hours ago, bebe08 said:

Thanks for the info!  DH is not a seafood fan so sounds like it wouldn't worth the money for us.  Hopefully we can get on the Magic Carpet for drinks.  

Agreed. The couple next to us left all of their seafood options on the table and that is the first thing I thought about. They show you the menu and you think that there will be options but they really only have one set menu.

The Magic Carpet gets very busy and very windy. Our sea days were rough so it was SUPER windy at times. I only saw a handful of times when a person was eating on the Magic Carpet. It was mostly drinks at sunset or hanging out during the day. 🙂

Go look at instagram stories for @travelwithcaptaintasos. He just posted on the Edge. The funny thing is that people all go on the same channel and they all SING. SO it is not really silent. They had it twice on our 11 day cruise on the Edge.

You have to call Celebrity and they will give you the CURRENT price for the All included. I tried to do this with Aqua on the Edge. I thought Aqua had everything included but found out it was "cruise only". I have no idea if the prices are lower now or when you first bought it. For us, the price difference was too much so we kept it cruise only. The tips is the same price, and we wanted upgraded wi-fi so it was better for us to pay for upgraded wi-fi. Then we added one device on the cruise and we got a 25% discount with Captain's Elite. For the drinks, we waited to see if we would really use it. I had read reviews about slow service and I calculated that I had to drink about $70 per day per person to get the full benefit. I like a nice cocktail but I saw so many couples fighting on the cruise (after one too many drinks)...one guy said he had 22 drinks in one day! LOL! My husband was going to add it after day two at a reduced price but we didn't miss it. haha! I hope that helps. I priced it out separately, and you can save $1,000 if you only use the basic wi-fi. If you upgrade the wi-fi then the savings is $500, but it all depends on the current pricing when you call Celebrity.

We opted for the shuttle after the cruise not even thinking that something could go wrong. The shuttle puts your luggage under the seating so they grab your bag and throw it into the steel tank. They took a $200 bag and it is all scraped on all edges and it was filthy when they gave it to us. Our last trip was on an airline from DFW to Dubai to Maldives and there was minimal scratching. 😞 I have insurance and they said they would cover the bag but I have to file a claim with Celebrity first. Does anyone know what department to contact? If you arrive last at the shuttle then your bags will be at the front of the steel cabin. If you are in the back, then your bag is thrown in and then pushed out with feet to get out of the steel bin. ugh

We had Dinner on the Edge on the Edge during our 11 day cruise! We found out about our specific day when it was day two on the cruise. The dinner has to be scheduled in port and based on weather conditions. It was the best dinner we had during our entire cruise, next to Blue. They move out the casual chairs and bring in nice two top tables. The starter was a charcuterie board followed by the biggest seafood tower (with lobster). The main course was chateaubriand and grilled lobster with amazing vegetables. The desert had three favorites and my favorite was the chocolate cigar! The one thing I remember is they did not provide the small forks for the crab legs. Other than that, the service and food was superb! No wind issues since you are in port.

Just now, DallasCruiseCouple said:

It is not a la carte. You get everything on the menu!

There is a set menu for Dinner on the Edge. Charcuterie board followed by a huge Seafood Tower (with lobster and crab legs) and dinner is Chateaubriand with Lobster. Desert includes 3 items but my favorite was the chocolate cigar.