Wichenford Wolf

On 12/19/2023 at 6:19 PM, Midpacpl said:

You don’t have to use BLU if you’re in Aqua - we were just in Aqua in June - we used open seating and I reserved those time slots ahead of time online 

I’m sure this is true, but the main reason we book Aqua is so that we can eat in Blu!

4 minutes ago, bikerunner said:

Wish they could go back to these, unfortunately I believe Michel Roux has passed away a few years back.  

I’m pleased to say that Michel Roux Jr. (also a Michelin starred chef) is alive and kicking so perhaps he’s taken over the menu 😎

22 hours ago, IndyKid said:

For those recently aboard the Caribbean Princess, are the 2 formal nights in the MDR scheduled during the sea days?

We are currently on board Caribbean Princess, journeying from New York to Quebec. There is only one sea day on this cruise and it may well be the second formal night will be then (the penultimate night of the cruise).

The first formal night was on the second night of this voyage. We did leave Newport quite early and that might be the reason it was chosen.

Hope this helps.

In response to the OP, by now you’ll probably be addicted to cruising. Enjoy many years on board like most of us have. I only wish we had discovered this type of holiday years before 2008 (when we went with our two daughters to the Caribbean on the very nearly new Ruby Princess).

We’re on CB a week on Monday with two friends from Colorado Springs we made on an Alaska Cruisetour four years ago. We plan to have a very special vacation 🛳🍹

 We are booked on Infinity in November. All but one of our previous Celebrity cruises have been in Aqua, basically because we love Blu restaurant. This time the difference in price between Aqua and Concierge was just too great for us. It was quite a recent booking and Concierge was actually cheaper than a regular veranda stateroom. 
 

I have put in a Move Up bid at what is described as a “weak” level, but at least I don’t have previous MDR experience on Celebrity to compare! We do have lots of Princess cruises under our belt, always using their MDR on most occasions. 
 

Whatever experiences others have had, and however disappointing MDR might be, we will surely have a fantastic cruise. 
 

Karen and Paul 

I hope that when you were in Oia you picked up a takeaway cocktail from Boozery Bar, undoubtedly the best, friendliest and most reasonably priced bar on the island? It looks as if you might have passed it as it is at the bottom end of the passageway in the first photo of your girlfriend. 
 

We spent a week in Santorini in July and it’s a much nicer island to stay in awhile than the brief cruise ship visits (of which we have done three). And you can sit in the cool of Boozery Bar, watching the cruise ship masses!

Interesting to read your comments on Infinity. We are doing our first M class cruise (on Infinity) this November. 
 

I hope MDR is satisfactory because I persuaded my wife that the Aqua cabins (which we have previously taken on Silhouette, really just to enjoy Blu) at £800 each extra weren’t worth it.

7 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I keep mine with the cards from the other cruises I've been on.

Ditto.

On the occasions when I open that drawer I do think they’re not much use in there. Mind you, they’re not much use on the ship either.

20 hours ago, MissP22 said:

In past years, I've typically see a decrease in participating in dressing up on the 2nd formal night.

 

This was certainly the case on our 7 day cruise from Athens to Barcelona on Regal in June.

The second “formal” night was called Dress to Impress and was the night immediately after the first formal night.

Apart from the Cruise Director, who wore a flashy suit, everybody else seemed to revert to smart casual.

22 minutes ago, WestLakeGirl said:

 

That works on some ships but not on e class ships

OK, my experience has only been on S class ships.

Strange how it differs!

When in Blu you can if you wish order a dish or dishes from the day’s menu in MDR.

In our experience one benefit of Blu is that the wine flows more freely, almost as freely as the iced water!
 

All part of what is a more personalised experience in a small restaurant. It’s the principal reason we generally choose Aqua on Celebrity. 

57 minutes ago, richstowe said:

I'm disappointed . Months ago I booked Reserve for the same time each day option using the Dine My Way . I looked at the first night and the second and assumed that picking this option meant what it said . Wrong! Today I looked up my reservations while booking the Crown Grill and only  the first night is reserved . Now all options are either way too early or too late . I called Princess up but nada . The agent wasn't rude but said it was on me for assuming anything .

I now realize that dine same time each day option isn't . Lesson learnt .

Worked for us on Regal earlier this month. In reality the time reserved seemed to be irrelevant!

16 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

That's a bit scary.  If you book your own flights, and they are cancelled, you miss the cruise?

We are doing a similar cruise in January next year, a fly-cruise around the Canaries organised in full by P&O and starting from Birmingham (no extra cost under the current deal). Flight details not yet confirmed.

You can make your own flight arrangements if you wish - with the possible “scary” consequences - but you get no reduction in the total cost of the cruise so, unless you are coming from somewhere nowhere near a P&O airport, why would you?

49 minutes ago, Gramma of Boys said:

Just thought I'd throw in a positive comment on our experience.  We were on the Royal from June 4 to June 11.  We (three couples) made reservations on the app in advance, but I warned my traveling companions that we may have trouble due to all of the posts I've seen.  We had absolutely zero problems.  They had our reservations and we got the same table and wait staff each night.  No begging required.  Everything was as smooth as it could have been.

We were on Regal from 4th June for a week. I had pre booked via the app 7.40 pm in Allegro for each day. We observed this time on the first night but after that dined at different times; they quickly recognised us as “regulars” in Allegro and we weren’t concerned that we had a variety of tables and wait staff. It was, in effect, Anytime Dining. 
 

My wife can only drink organic wine and Princess only serves it in bottles in the MDR. We’ve come across this before and although the staff were insistent that the 25% off meant that a bottle was a good deal, a quick word with Arturo the restaurant manager resulted in glasses of organic wine being sourced from Vines each evening.

All in all we found the dining experience to be a very good one.

13 hours ago, BouncingWheel said:

They may look dangerous but they are skilled "drivers". My family have done it and if there had been loads of accidents then I'm sure you would know about it.

However, our experience is that you cannot ride all the way down. It takes you about halfway where there are taxis waiting to rip you off to get you back to the bottom.

Agree with all this. However you can ignore the taxis and walk - it’s not that far and of course it’s downhill all the way 😂

9 hours ago, Newbury newbie said:

Following this thread. We’ll be doing this itinerary 14 Feb 22! Need to pay our balance soon, so starting to think about Port activities. The golf carts sound interesting!

We’ll see you onboard then!

Still seems a long while away just because it’s next year but it will soon come round. We rarely do excursions, preferring to just get off the ship and wander round the local area. This of course assumes that we’ll be able to do that everywhere, so we might look at Celebrity excursions as backup.

3 hours ago, hasentreelake said:

Much of the crew have been onboard for seven months and are going to be leaving in the next few weeks

When we were onboard at the beginning of this month a number of the staff told us they were completing their contracts November/December but hoped to back by the time we cruise again on Silhouette mid-February. 
 

They were an exceptional and enthusiastic crew on both cruises we took this year and hope we’ll see them again soon!

1 hour ago, Cruise a holic said:

Pre Covid, the tables for two had inches apart from each other-  I assume they have removed some of the tables allowing for more room between guests.

I’d never been in Blu before the summer but you might be right. Tables were close enough to talk to your neighbours if you both wished but the restaurant was never full. This might be because the ship was at 40% capacity, although most Aqua cabins appeared to be taken.

We enjoyed it so much we booked a 3 night cruise in the English Channel at the end of October. Blu was again splendid, with good food and wine, and excellent service. 

On 11/20/2021 at 7:36 PM, jagoffee said:

Did you have a refundable deposit?

There are no refundable deposits for bookings in the UK, for any cruise line.

130

Keeping a watch on your reports as we are on a similar itinerary from 14 February next year. We’ve been on Silhouette twice this year (UK cruises) and the ship was in great condition. 
 

Have a great cruise!

1 hour ago, markyb said:

Just a question for those who sailed on the previous Staycation cruises, was a 2 Day Arrival Test required on your return as it is for the short 3 night Staycation this weekend?

As isdoo has said, only if you return to the port from a country outside the UK do you need to arrange a Day 2 test and a PLF. For “domestic cruises” as defined by HM Gov, there are no such requirements.This is (now) a domestic cruise. Perhaps Celebrity still think the cruise is going to Zeebrugge?

Actually, perhaps we should check with the captain when we get onboard 😂. 

1 hour ago, brockmom said:

Interesting reading this now as we hope to cruise in November.

My hubby’s practice has always been given the old handshake and thanking our waiter’s, sommelier etc…and slipping the cash….so that they could simply pocket it and not feel obligated to share.

Guess with covid….lol…..we will have to go to plan B.

let you know when we come up with it …lol

😉

 

Not sure why COVID stops Plan A - it’s exactly what we did!
 

Have a great cruise, you’ll know what to do when the time comes.

7 hours ago, RICCruisers said:

Not sure exactly what you are saying.  Are you saying the Cover Charge does or does not include the tip/gratuity?  This topic pops up every couple of months and the comments are always mostly the same as this thread and divided. Some say yes and some say no to the question of the tip being part of the Cover Charge. Celebrity could clear this up with a simple answer that the Cover Charge Does or Does Not include a gratuity.  They are very clear on items where a tip/gratuity is automatically added, but on this one they leave up to the customer to decipher their intent.

 

I agree that Celebrity would not leave their servers with no tip which is another reason I personally feel the Cover Charge does include a tip. It would be beneficial if the amount was made clear as to how much of a tip is included.  Without that information I have to assume that the server is receiving a minimum of 20% since that is the standard charge for drinks.  

I must be missing something. Celebrity makes great play of the “Always Included” deal. “Drinks. WiFi. Tips. Always included”.

We prepaid Murano for one evening on our cruise in August and never considered tips - they’re always included. 

Having said that, our service from the waiter and wine waiter in Blu was so consistently good that I slipped them a few pounds in cash on the last evening. 😂

15 minutes ago, Cellen said:

We are on the Silhouette in October and as I understand it we have to wait for an email from Celebrity giving a reference before booking our free PCR test with Eurofan.  Can anyone tell me how far in advance you received this reference to book your test? Thanks.

We got our email on 25th July for our 14th August cruise, so about three weeks before.