chloe45

On 6/13/2020 at 10:26 AM, Ride-The-Waves said:

Nice, however mostly fantasy.

 

Live in Florida and yesterday at a Publix supermarket about 20 percent of customers were not wearing masks and belligerently going the wrong way down aisles.  Just one example of the impossibility of having even a 50 percent passenger compliment cruise of people following directions for everyone's safety.  What does a cruise line do with non-compliant passengers?  Lock them in their cabins?  

 

"Private" islands have a similar challenge.  While they may be "private" in the sense that a cruise line owns the land, they are still under the jurisdiction of the country from which the island is leased.  "Crew" for the islands still come from local towns/cities.  We do not cruise to travel to a "private" island, rather cruise to experience the world.  So far have been north of the Arctic circle, south of the Antarctic Circle and set foot on all 7 continents.  Experiencing new and revisiting "old" cultures is the reason we cruise, not to drink or eat on a ship.  That said, the shipboard environment is very important for comfort and security.

 

Maybe changes which reduce passenger capacity, improve dining and offer varied and excellent entertainment will entice people to return to cruising in a "new normal" fashion.  I would be willing to pay more for a better on board experience.

How do you go down the aisle the wrong way in a supermarket?

There is a very small cigar bar inside that is standing room only in the evenings. By the end of the cruise half of the regulars had cruise cough.

The area up top and outside was not under cover.

There was smoking on one side of the promenade deck (I don't remember if there was seating).

I believe there was a small area in the casino also.

I was on Celebrity out of Ft Lauderdale in April and no health forms. Also didn't have to bring life jackets to muster.

I usually sail Princess and I'm not familiar with Concierge priority boarding with Celebrity. How does that work? Is there a separate line like Princess has? Does Concierge class board after suites and those with loyalty levels?

What else does Concierge class get you?

I was looking for them for a 9-night on Silhouette and found a thread that had all 14 menus, which I reposted here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2571803

 

Celebrity uses its "primary" seven menus for all 7-night cruises, so you'll only see the others on cruises that are longer than seven nights.

Those menus are so awful. I don't eat seafood or game meats(lamb, duck) and I'm allergic to mushrooms. We are going with 2 other couples. Hopefully they will be up for going to a specialty restaurant or the buffet some nights.

Got 2 perks. We are in a balcony on the Silhouette. I think the 4 perks were for suites.

That is what I thought. Thanks for the replies. I like Tito's and it's looks like that is available via the classic package.

We choose the beverage package for one of our perks, but I'm not sure what we got. Standard, classic or premium.

In suite dining is my favorite perk!

DH is a veteran. When I was working we always did a cruise around veteran's day because I got that day off plus my birthday which is in November. Princess always had an event for the veterans on the 11th. DH never missed one. He said they were we nice.

I circle the buffet, looking at what is available before taking anything. Then I go directly for the items I want, of course, being respectful of anyone who has been waiting in line for an item.

I do the same thing.

My doctor says cruise ships are notorious for cause URI infections. It's almost like legionnaires disease. I've have got a URI 3 of my last 4 cruises. Husband got pneumonia on our last cruise.

I didn't prepay but have a $200 deposit.

I booked before the price on the UBP increased. Will I be asked to pay more for the gratuity?

The first night is always Prime rib night in the MDR. I think it's pretty good.

My anniversary is 8/25. We live in Michigan and they are having restaurant week and Ruth's Chris is included. They are offering 3 course dinner for 41. That seemed high to me but we've never been there. Is it that good and worth the money? Thanks

Yes. We first tried it for that special. It was $40. I always get the filet w/shrimp (give the shrimp to DH, no swimmers for me), Caesar salad and creamed Spinach. You can get any of their side dishes that aren't on the list for an upcharge. The best part is that the steak arrives on a plate that's over 500 degrees. The steak stays hot thru the whole meal. The filet is 6 ounces which it more that enough for me. There's also a yummy dessert.

Had a nice stroll in Las Ramblas last year. Disembarking again in Barcelona in May 2018. Not cancelling.

We are too. Not cancelling but there are several couples joining us. Don't know what they will do yet.

One time we bought more than the allowed amount and declared it. Customs agent couldn't be bothered to fill out the form for the extra duty.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll be on the Star. On deck 11 there is a spa with an indoor pool. What hoop do you have to jump through to be able to swim in that pool?

Also, I'm in a mini. With this upsell bid process will I be able to bid on a suite if invited? (Sorry kind of high jacking my own thread)

I've seen threads about this but when I look at cruises I don't see where you can pick a Haven suite, just suites. If you book a suite are you automatically in Haven? Or is Haven an add on of some sort. Can a mini suite be a Haven cabin. Are they just talking about access to the spa? Or is it like the Sanctuary on Princess where it is an area on the ship with loungers, plus spa access.

Confused...

I've never had bad service during BOGO. If your concerned about not getting served more than once, order doubles. I found on longer cruises it's not as crowded later in the cruise.

Can you order a bottle of booze for the room? Yes, call customer service before the cruise and you can order a liter bottle with set up for about $80-$90. I don’t know if you can do this once on board.

Wow! On Princess you can get a pint of Skye for $18. So for a liter that's $36 (almost a liter). That almost 3 times as much!

Thank you so much for your response.

We are joining friends on the Star for a transatlantic in April. We have the Beverage and Dinner package.

I've heard NCL was the nickel and dime cruise line. Don't mind this if I know it up front. We got a great deal prices wise. We we're charged a service fee for the packages. I expected this on the Bev package but not on the dinner package. Princess doesn't require tipping for specialty dining so I was surprised by that. I have a bunch of questions...

Can you order a bottle of booze for the room? (Princess this is an extra charge even with the bev package).

Can I get cranberry juice on my bev package at the bar to take back to the room.

What else can I expect to be charged for? Cover for shows etc.

I've read you have to make reservations for everything. Kind of takes away from the free style thing but we'll go with the flow. There will be 6-8 of us. What kind of issues can we expect to run into?

How much are the ships gratuities (for cabin steward, dining room folks etc) for a mini suite?

What extra perks if any to you get with a mini. On Princess it's only a glass of champagne?

If you have been on Princess is the size of the cabin comparable?

Our friends are highest loyalty level. We are on Princess. Can we get early boarding with them? (Different travel agent so I don't think we can tie the reservation together). If not then when is a good time to get to Miami and board right away (or with limited wait)?

Do any of the specialty restaurants have lobster tails?

Does the main dining room have steak?

How is the buffet? What are the hours?

I see there is a charge for room service except for morning coffee. How extensive is the menu? Can you order dinner?

Are there robes in the room? How about shampoo and conditioner?

Is there enough room on the balcony not have to sit sidewise? (on the Princess Royal class ships the balcony is very shallow)

Where is a good place to hang and play cards with friends (on the Star)?

If you get a spa treatment i.e. message can you use the facility afterward to shower and maybe take a dip in their pool (if there is one)?

Any secrets I need to know about the Star?

I guess that's enough questions to start. LOL.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Another reason you should have insurance. We had to cancel a cruise with a non refundable deposit for medical reasons, and the deposit was refunded.

 

Unfortunately I think that people who book several cruises with the intention of cancelling some of them have caused the cruise lines to rethink the policies. I've seen people bragging about it here on CC.

We always have FCC's so that we only pay $100 each for the deposit, but then again, we only book cruises that we intend to take, and we always get insurance.

I don't pay for the travel insurance until final payment. If I was going to cancel a cruise it would be before final payment. The travel insurance is more than the non-refundable deposit so your post doesn't make sense to me.