huskerc

We used to request a cheese plate instead, however on our cruise last week we took the standard canapes and by my accounting they have improved. Oil-infused olives, typically chips and hummus. Much better than the questionable origin of some of the previous canape trays we received.

We did the 12 night Equinox cruise out of Barcelona this year. We were in simply a standard Veranda. A suite would have been an absolute waste for us. Most of our time in the cabin was spent sleeping. We ate several meals off the ship, so the value of in-suite dining is lower for this cruise as well. We love our balconies and typically use them a lot, but on this cruise were hard-pressed to get much use out of it.

Based on this cruise we have altered our booking strategy somewhat. The MDR food and service quality seem to decline with every cruise, so these days we are looking at either a standard balcony with the unlimited dining package, or else Aqua class depending on pricing. You might reconsider Aqua if you think there's anything romantic or "couple-y" about it. There really isn't.

After our most recent cruise on Celebrity, this is our assessment as well. Service and quality have simply declined to the point that the MDR is no longer enjoyable for us.

At this point we consider the minimum we can book and really be satisfied to be Aqua, or a veranda with the Ultimate Dining Package, whichever is cheaper.

Between bottled water and coffee, at least 1/3 to 1/2 of my value from the drink package comes from non-alcoholic drinks. Yes, tap water is fine, but taking it out on a port day doesn't work so well. Runs right through my fingers. Ditto having a cold water to drink after hopping off the treadmill, etc.

I would skip it. It's nice enough, but nothing worth stressing over.

Fresca Picante, one of the newer drinks. As for it to be extra spicy if that's your thing.

My partner and I are doing back-to-back with this and the previous cruise. Looking to see who's onboard.

Looking to see who's onboard. My partner and I are doing back to back with this and the next cruise.

We had a 10AM flight with a 6AM arrival on a Monday morning. We walked ourselves off (turns out we could have even gotten off a bit early if we had known we had already been cleared) and were at the airport and through customs by 7:30AM. That was even with a few hiccups--AA's automatic checkin machines were acting up, and the desk agent had some trouble printing the right tags for our checked luggage.

Of course something could have gone really wrong--problem disembarking, traffic, customs issues, etc. Another hour or so would certainly make things more comfortable, but I should point out that this flight was booked through Choice Air, so Celebrity felt it was a reasonable time.

We've often seen it in the martini bar but it will be listed in the dailies.

I had a few experiences with this, but they were several months ago.

After final payment I was able to add the drink package to a Silhouette sailing by paying the difference between a resident rate and 5 star.

Before final payment I was able to change the promo on our upcoming Equinox sailing. Recently, after final payment we inquired about upgrading and were told that upgrading to a GTY would not allow us to keep the drink package (we knew this) but that if we payed a full fare, we could.

Like the OP, we were underwhelmed by the quality and variety of food in Blu. We did enjoy the atmosphere and the ability to converse with other tables at times, but also to sort of retreat to ourselves when the meal came. It's like the best of both worlds.

The soups on the whole I found to be the best things on the menu. I tried several I wouldn't normally have and enjoyed every one. The entrees were...lacking most nights. Just not great quality and didn't live up to the hype. Not a great selection, but I didn't push for alternate choices--which I'm sure they would have tried to accommodate.

I agree it's a small step up from the MDR on the whole, but definitely not a large one. I will pay more for aqua and Blu, but not a lot more. We're doing it on a B2B in January but not on the Equinox next month, and I expect we'll be fine both ways.

For the person speculating that the bar staff will not know whether you paid for the classic package on land or onboard, they actually will. A package purchased in advance is pre-printed on your seapass. One purchased onboard will be a sticker.

I'm not saying I have definitive info that you will pay more to upgrade, but they do have the ability to know.

Bumping as the date approaches.

We had 1-2-3 for our Feb 17 sailing on the Silhouette. I never bothered to call and upgrade to premium even though we both wanted it. This would have been one of the earliest sailings where anyone had the drink package promotion (started for Feb 1 sailings).

We had no problem whatsoever upgrading. After check in, we stopped at the drink package table that is set up in the port building (before the ship) and were given a receipt for the cost ($161 for 2 including gratuity), and stickers were placed on our cards.

No one in the bar staff will have any idea that you had the drink package because of 1-2-3. Our cards said "CALL" for our original package, our sticker was the same premium sticker anyone would have gotten, and others on the ship who had upgraded in advance had "PALL" listed as their package.

So, there is no way the bar staff is going to stop you from trying to upgrade just one person. However, what may happen is that guest relations may review it, or it may be automated in the computer system that the second person on the reservation would be upgraded automatically.

Lots of people on the ship did have the package because of 1-2-3 and we never saw any issues with overcrowding or poor service.

With 1-2-3 you don't really get to "pick" a package. The classic alcohol is included and you can upgrade to premium for $11.50 per person per day. So while you wouldn't buy the premium alcohol package for yourself regularly, the upgrade cost might make sense if there are items you want that aren't covered in the classic package.

We booked our February 10, 2013 cruise through our TA and were able to add the beverage package after final payment. We did receive a revised invoice from our TA indicating that we had the beverage package, but it never appeared on the Celebrity website. When I logged into my reservation today it was listed under My Cruise Extras. I was very relieved to have it confirmed on my reservation since we leave on Sunday! Can't wait for that first Pina Colada!

The same is true for me with our Feb 17th sailing. Booked through a TA, got it changed several weeks ago (after final payment), and just today I see it online with Celebrity.

I do *not* have the option to upgrade this to the premium package online though.

Is this a change for the classic package in general, or just for this promotion? The classic package would be a lot more attractive if you could pay the difference for the drinks outside its price range.

Looking at my reservations, does it show somewhere that the drink package has been purchased?

 

My TA was supposed to purchase the drink package for me for the 123go promotion and he said he did it yesterday but I don't see it anywhere on my reservations online. Yesterday my reservation said on hold for 24 hours. (Its paid in full, I cruise next month) It doesn't show that now but I still don't see where the drink purchase has been purchased.

I don't see it anywhere online with Celebrity. I do see it in the updated invoice from my TA. FWIW I have never seen any Celebrity OBC or other promotion on their website when I look at my reservation.

Interestingly enough I once had (obviously by error) the "Upgrade to Premium" option listed online, before I had the classic package added. Now that I've had the classic package added, I don't have an upgrade option--just the full-priced premium.

I'm not terribly worried about it--if nothing else I'll just upgrade onboard.

Just wanted to add my experience to the list.

Well past final payment for our 2/17 Silhouette cruise. Today I called my TA who called X. In exchange for paying the prevailing rate and giving up our previous $100 OBC (from having booked onboard), we were able to get the drink package.

What we ended up with as a price difference is:

+$300 more cruise fare

+$100 lost in OBC

-$25 extra OBC from TA

-$50 dining credit

------

+$325 more for a classic drink package for 2. Still below the cost even if X offers a 10% discount.

We're pretty happy. They didn't have to offer it, since we're past final payment, but I'm pleased that they did.

Hi Huskerc,

 

The upgrade is mentioned throughout this thread, and in the fine print in my first post. If you enjoy the premium package, it's nice of Celebrity to allow upgrading. Just let Celebrity (or your TA) know, and it will be added to your booking.

 

I hope this helps !

Thanks Andy. The point I wanted to make (and maybe I didn't make it well, or maybe it's already been explained and I didn't understand) is not that upgrades are possible (which, I agree, is nice), but that the upgrades can actually be purchased directly on Celebrity's website as part of your reservation. Personally I can imagine calling my TA and being on hold for a long time while everyone tries to figure out exactly how they should do that, so to me it's nice to be able to take care of it myself.

I may have missed it, but in case no one else has mentioned it, I see today there is a "upgrade from classic" package option in my reservation at Celebrity's website, in the usual place with the other beverage packages. So for those who have taken advantage of this promotion, it looks like upgrading is easy.

Pretty far away, but I wanted to get this one started. There's an active roll call in the Celebrity forums but I didn't see one here yet.

Our concierge class menu on the Summit in November was similar but a bit different from the one you found on your cruise. We had a section with three or four items called, I believe "Signature" items. I think one of them was some kind of french toast (not the one on the right hand side of your menu) but I can't say for sure because I didn't order any of those.

Good to see the differences, which IMO are not large and certainly not worth paying much for in terms of cabin class.