Im A Happy Cruiser

We were on the Silhouette in corner Sky Suite 1665 Feb 26-March 7 and thought it was in great shape.  It has lots of storage space, extremely quiet, very bright with the large port hole window...and you can't help but LOVE the balcony!  We have stayed in a corner sky suite on different ships and on different levels, but we thought the 11lth level was perfect.  I have photos of our cabin as well as the balcony if you would like to see them.  I'll also be glad to answer any specific questions you might have.

In the past my husband and I have always flown to Ft. Lauderdale a day early before cruising, but this year we are driving from North Carolina.  We will be spending the night before the cruise in West Palm Beach, leaving us about an hour to drive to the port the next morning.  We will be sailing on the Silhouette on February 26th, which I think means we will need to find how to get to Terminal 25 to drop off our luggage.  Then comes the problem of parking.  Can anyone advise us on the parking situation at the port...such as which parking garage is the closest to the Silhouette, do we need to make reservations to park, will there be handicapped places to park in or near the garage, do the garages ever fill up and where do you park if they are already full upon your arrival?  Any answers to these questions will be much appreciated.  Also any extra advice or information that I might not have addressed will be welcome.

Can anyone presently in a SS on Silhouette say if or when Butler service will return for SS?  Curious because I'll be sailing on February 26 in a SS on Silhouette.

You assumed correctly... we will be boarding the Silhouette at Ft Lauderdale.  Thank you all for your explanations. 

My husband and I have stayed in various sky suites in the past, but I feel like we are in the dark about what to expect next month when we once again sail in a SS. (We've not sailed in 4 years since Covid changed the world).  When we used the app to get a time to check in, the earliest time slot offered was 12:30 - 1:00.  As suite guests will we be allowed to check in earlier than that?  If so, do we go to a special location? (We are not the kind to just assume that we should have special privileges, but would like to know what is allowed.)  What about our luggage.... do we give it to the workers in a certain location or just the first workers we see that are accepting luggage? We thank you in advance for any info you can share!

Happy Cruisers

I was on a cruise a few years ago when two ladies brought their scrapbooking on board because they were way behind.  As it turned out, the cruise director asked them to teach a scrapbooking workshop on one of the last sea days.

I would suggest that your wife contact Celebrity's Special Needs Department.  There is a form that you can download and email back where she can make them aware that she must eat gluten free.  This should be done at least one month prior to your cruise.  I have been doing this for eight years since becoming allergic to several things, (other than gluten).  They always have me go to Blu immediately after boarding the ship to meet with the matra'd and/or chef to pre select my meal choice for the first night.  Then each night at dinner I preselect for the following night.  In the ocean view cafe I am to find one of the supervisors (I think they will have a red scarf around their neck) and they will tell me what I can safely eat.  I hope this is helpful.

I think I've read all the comments on this topic to see if anyone said they don't use the hand sanitizer before entering the buffet because they are allergic to it.  I'm allergic to an ingredient found in almost every kind of sanitizer, so I take my own sanitizer with me everywhere I go.  It's the only one that I've found that doesn't contain propylene glycol.  The tough part about checking the ingredients in sanitizers, (and soap, shampoo, cleaners, foods, laundry detergents, etc. ) for propylene glycol is that some companies call it another name such as propanediol, methyl glycol, E1520, and over 100 other names, but they are all propylene glycol, which causes me to break out from head to toe.   Several months before going on a cruise I have to contact Celebrity Special Needs Department and inform them of my extreme allergy.  I give a big " thank you" to various departments at Celebrity because they cook my food separately,  clean my cabin in a special way,  wash the sheets, towels, bathrobes, pool towels as well as my personal clothing in a special way...all to keep me safe.  So please don't judge me too harshly in a few weeks when I'll be on a cruise if you see me avoid the sanitizer on the ship, but please notice that I will often be spraying my hands with my own sanitizer.  Thanks!

Hi cruisestitch

I would like to hear more about your cruise such as what type cabin you were in, your opinion of the menu choices and quality of the food, a review of your excursions and anything else you might like to share.  I'm curious because we will be on Silhouette in February.  Thank you in advance!

Can you tell what words to search on that unnamed site to read this info?

How many locks are there at aqua clara?

What are the perks (rewards) for owning RCI stock if you sail Celebrity exclusively as I do?  Do you get a certain % off cruise fare?  Do you need to own a certain amount of stock for it to be beneficial?  I'm not much of an investor but would seriously consider buying this stock when it gets a little lower if I understood the benefits of such an investment.  Any comments regarding this would be appreciated.

Great job so far with your blog!  I'll be extremely interested in following along each day since my husband and I will be getting on the Reflection the day you depart.

Can anyone give me an estimate of the cost of transportation from FLL cruise port to PBI airport.  I've never flown out of PBI so I have no idea of what types of transportation are available or the cost for these two locations.  Thanks in advance for any help in planning you might give!

Thanks for the info!  You can always count on people who post on CC to help you out!

We will be sailing this week (aqua room) so I was hoping someone presently on board the Equinox could check and say for sure.  I will be using my CPAP at night so having USB availability for charging phones/kindle would be helpful at night.  Thanks! 

I would like to find out if the tv's on the Equinox have USB ports to allow for charging of phones, etc.  Thanks to anyone on Equinox that can provide this information.

Many of the ship's shore excursions are on sale for a limited time for up to 30% off.  I just got through booking 2 excursions for my February 16 and 23 back 2 back cruises.

Stevenr597  My husband and I are also booked in Aqua (with all 4 perks) on Equinox, but in February 2019.  We usually stay in a Sky Suite (S1) but didn't feel we could justify the difference in cost of a S1 vs Aqua this year because of another trip we made this fall.  We still would love to be in a suite so we checked with our TA a few weeks ago to see how much it would cost to pay for an upgrade.  It would have cost us $1100 per person for the upgrade.   We have never checked into making a Move Up bit in the past so I'm curious to learn more about it.  Did you book your cruise with Celebrity directly or through a TA?  Do you feel comfortable stating what the minimum bid requirement was for you particular cruise (either in $ amount or % of actual cost listed for a suite if you were to pay to upgrade)?  Were various specific amounts listed for making a minimum bid on different suite levels or was there only one specific amount listed for making a minimum bid on a suite level without knowing which kind of suite you were bidding on?  Did your notification verify that should your Move Up bid be accepted, that you would keep the same perks from your original booking (as jelayne stated)?  Do you know if you would receive the additional loyalty points per night that come with a suite (I think you get 8 points per night in a SS and only 5 per night in Aqua)?  Also please share any other info you learned from your Move Up notification.  Thank you!

Can anyone give me a ball park figure as to how much a minimum bid would be for a Move Up bid from Aqua class to Suite class?  Is it based upon the price of each particular type of suite?  If so, we paid $1400pp for aqua and sky suites are $2500pp.  I would welcome any info you might share about your experience with making a Move Up bid.

.My husband and I both seen to have caught some type of upper respiratory infection while on the Eclipse Feb 4-18. We have had a cough, body aches, headache and a fever ever since the last day of the cruise. I've been in bed ever since getting home. I noticed a lot of other people coughing last Sunday morning before getting off the ship so I was wondering if anyone else is having any of the same symptoms.

Thanks for letting me know about Nenad. If his replacement is half as good as he was, I'll still be well cared for in Lumina e!

I understand that many of the crew on Eclipse rotated off on January 21 due to the conclusion of their contracts. Could someone on the present cruise tell me if Nenad is one of the ones that left or is still the Maitre'D in Luminae? I have food allergies and Nenad was a tremendous help to me last year on the Reflection. Thanks in advance!

Has anyone recently used lggage valet while flying Southwest? We will fly out of FLL to RDU on February 18th at 7 pm and do not want to have to keep up with our luggage all day after getting off the Eclipse. We sent Southwest an e-mail with several questions about luggage valet (we've never used it before) and used the words "luggage valet" in almost every question.

We received a general type reply stating they did not accept checked luggage more that 4 hours before a flight's departure time due to limited secure facility space. The e-mail went on with general information about what would happen if luggage was not checked at least 45 minutes prior to a flight. No where were the words "luggage valet" used in their reply.

Is it possible that someone pushed the wrong button which generated our reply letter that contained only general info but never addressed luggage valet? After all it seems that mashing the wrong button caused every one in Hawaii to believe that they were about to be attacked by a missile. Or is it possible that no one at Southwest knows anything about Luggage Valet?

Hello Paul,

I have just finished reading your review and have enjoyed it immensely. I am thrilled to hear that Nenad is now on the Eclipse because I will be staying in a suite on February 4th for the same itinerary as your cruise.

Eighteen months ago I found out after allergy patch testing that I am allergic to several things that are in many foods, clothes, toiletries and cleaners. I was literally scared to do so but booked a cruise last February on the Reflection and Celebrity came through for me. They laundered the linens and my personal clothes in a special manner and did a double cleaning in my cabin each time (once with their normal cleaners then a second time with vinegar to neutralize the chemicals I'm allergic to). But more important they cooked my food specially for me. That's where Nenad came into play. He spent time with me before my first meal in Luminae to find out exactly what I could and could not eat. Then he went and got the chef to talk with me to make sure that my needs would be met. He found out that I loved the Museli that they fix at the table side in Blu, so he personally went up to Blu several mornings and prepared museli for me with only things I could have added. He said he would not take a chance on having someone else make it and perhaps put something in it that I was allergic to. He came to my table before each and every meal in Luminae to make sure that my food was prepared properly.

So, after all that useless information, do you know for sure that Nenad will still be on Eclipse for the February 4th sailing? I will feel so much better if I know that he will be on the Eclipse for my upcoming cruise!