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23 hours ago, Bill B said:

 

I was able to book immediately (but my cruise was then 143 days until sailing). Is you cruise far in the future?

Maybe that's it, we're 188 days out so will see if I can get in at 180 days!

7 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

You should be able to book it.  Did you try on the website version of the App?

 

Does the downloaded App show your Elite status? Click on your photo

lower right corner, is the sea-witch black?

 

 

oops, it's been so long and I'm Elite on Celebrity/RCCL, right now only Platinum on Princess.  How far out can I book dining, if you know?

How far in advance can you book specialty dining?

Although I'm Elite it says 'check back closer to sailing'!

13 minutes ago, slanik said:

We did The Chefs Table on The Beyond in October.  There were only 4 of us, but it was held in a separate room in Le Voyage.  I think it was a table for at least 8 people.

I booked Le Voyage for the Beyond, do you recommend doing both Le Voyage and Chefs Table?

20 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Perhaps someone who recently had it can share their experience.  Pre pandemic it was buffet style.  The real downside is the ship will probably be moving and therefore there will be wind; sometimes it’ll be very strong

What was buffet style?

For over $100pp they do a buffet?

Question, have Le Voyage and Eden booked for our Nov cruise.

Wondering if we should add Magic Carpet and/or Chef's Table?

Have so much OBC to use but would like to enjoy Luminae as much as we can too!

Suggestions?

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

There is no such thing any longer as a DR set aside for early/date dining or AT dining.  You can get the TD experience of same time/table/waiters, but you need to request it from DR mgmt on board and they should be able to help.  DMW App is of no help in delivering the TD experience. 

Thank you!

If we enjoy our table and wait staff we always request to continue with them!

4 hours ago, memoak said:

There is no such thing as traditional dining anymore if you mean a set table at a set time with strangers   All MDR’s have the same menu

What I meant was early/late seating dining.  I should have My Time Dining and I thought Ketchikan was not the My Time Dining room on Discovery...

Anyone have info on this it's appreciated!

I apologize if these answers are buried in this conversation!

I am on Discovery in August and have 7pm every nite in Ketchikan dining room which, I read, is traditional dining room?

Not able to book specialty yet but can anyone confirm the prices for Crown Grill, Sabbatini's, Bistro Sur Mer and Lumiere?

Is Lumiere good?  A few years ago we did a 'wine dinner' on Royal and it featured Gallo wines, which is not what I would expect for an specialty dinner!!!

Thanks for the info!

Thank you!  Excited now to wait the next 2 years before we go!!!

On 4/7/2022 at 3:14 PM, SandyR5 said:

Now that would be perfect! 

trying to decide between end suite with side window or middle for transatlantic, any suggestions?

I've watched all the videos, comments were made that those with orange wall to the side have less air flow?

Try Rome Cabs, they are excellent and their service is the best.

Easy to communicate with, use your Cruise Critic Roll Call to organize a group transfer if you want to lower the price...best way to have a mindless experience!

Rome Cabs is the best!

I used them to pick us up from FCO to our hotel, exactly on time and excellent price.

Then booked 3 cars for my group at two hotels to transfer to the port, all on time,

great service.

Booked another 3 cars for pick up from the port to FCO and were waiting when we disembarked at

6:45 am....

Professional

Helpful

Great vehicles

Wonderful Service

They are the best!!!

I started working with them on this cruise in 2019/2020 which was cancelled due to Covid, their service and responsiveness is excellent!

Calicakes,

Thanks for posting.

We're headed to Rome next week, 4 days in the city then board Reflection on the 26th so please leave us some great wines!

We're also doing a walking food tour of Trastavere, looking forward to that. 

All our tours are private and we did book an early 'before it opens' tour of the Vatican, hopefully we can escape the crowds!

Enjoy and will be looking forward to your updates!

2 minutes ago, jelayne said:

I was told Le Voyage isn’t included in the dining package.  Eden sells out quickly and although they hold back some spots for onboard booking even those fill quickly.  Our Apex sailing the Retreat Concierges had a stream of people on the first couple of days wanting a reservation in Eden, there were none

We will be on the Beyond TA in October and no openings showing for LeVoyage and Eden has only 2 nights with 9 30 open.  We booked Eden 6 months ago and Le Voyage 2 months ago. The only day LeVoyage had a opening before 9 was not our 1st 2nd or 3 choice but we took it. 

 

So we're on Beyond Nov 2023 (planning REALLY far in advance!) and thinking it's better to do it now so we can get what we want.

How much is Le Voyage and how far out do you think they might open up?

Thanks for the info....

Thank you!

I'm worried because we want to do Eden and maybe Le Voyage on Beyond, already done Le Petit Chef 5 times so we're good on that!!!

Maybe it's worth the extra money to book in advance?

We're in Suite Class so lots of OBC to use on?

19 minutes ago, canderson said:

Checked the specs on that one, and it's ideal for cruise ship use.  Be SURE to take the docs in case you have to convince anyone.

Thank you so much!!!

We are thinking about booking a dining package in advance of our cruise and have questions:

1. Can you use OBC to purchase the dining package before you sail?

2. Can you make reservations through the dining package before you sail?

Not sure it's worth it to go this route but never hurts to have the details!

Thanks 😀

We took this on Milennium in May, had no issues.  Now I'm concerned as headed to Italy for Reflection and have bought these for everyone in my group, why would they pull these?

I feel your pain re: trying to get back refunds and FCC's.

Celebrity cancelled our Galapagos cruise 5 days from sailing in 2019 with 100% refund and 100% FCC.  We rebooked for 2020 with FCC and cash, that was cancelled.

Then we rebooked for 2021 again and even though they were sailing 1/2 the itinerary was gone due to Covid so we cancelled.

Refunds were all over the map dollar wise and I was managing 3 pairs of reservations.

Took over a year and 100 booking confirmations to figure out the numbers along with a special person at Celebrity who worked exclusively with me to figure it all out.

Their refund system makes no rhyme or reason. 😰

On 6/4/2022 at 2:53 PM, janbear said:

Hello! Also from Las Vegas 🙂 I personally love that the suites have actual King size beds rather than two singles that join up to make a quasi-king. I sailed once with a friend on Celebrity in a shared cabin and wow those single beds were so narrow it was ridiculously uncomfortable - worse than a dorm room single bed! I would much rather share a legit king if I had to but that is just me

Having sailed multiple times on all the Celebrity Ships, Azamara, RCCL and Princess with girlfriends the twin beds aren't an issue. 

The beds that split into an L are old school (I remember that on my first cruise in the 80's) and the fact they are limiting the upper cabin/suites to unseparatable beds relegates those of us not sailing with a partner/spouse into the lower catagory cabins and that's not a good marketing tool.

Oh, well, will watch for their changes moving forward as I'm sure they'll make quite a few 'tweaks'!

Thank you for this review!

Being a fan of Celebrity and Windstar as my top picks, we were ready to book on VV two weeks ago.  I have a group of 50-60 year old ladies and we sail every year together, thought this would be a fun change for us in 2024.

However, what I found very strange is that they said their beds don't separate?  Considering they market to 'bring your friends' this means everyone has to be a couple? 

We were all prepared to book Rockstar Suites but this along with the fact the deposits are non-refundable was worrisome.

Being from Vegas and enjoying the entertainment on a weekly basis the quality of the shows is all over the map for me, especially since Covid and I understand they have huge challenges with staff.

Thank you again for sharing!

41 minutes ago, divamimi312 said:

I was trying to book Octopus Aruba yesterday only to find out we don't dock in port until 9AM so it is a no-go for us.  Octopus Aruba told us it is about a 12 minute drive from the cruise port so if you get off the ship at 8 you should be good.

That's what we did...docked at 8, quick taxi ride over to Holiday Inn, it's behind them on the beach.  We left right at 8 and were there before anyone was at the Octopus Palapa.  Easy Peasy.  Was a great day, and this was my second time with them (once pre-Covid and this time again).

They do a fabulous job and take such good care of everyone!

1 minute ago, Whinenowine said:

Just one more thought.  Might be worthwhile calling  the 1-800-RETREAT line in advance of your cruise and noting your party size and how you'd like to sit.  Doubt they can do anything about it then and there, but they can note it so that hopefully the Luminae staff are already aware of it when you speak to them on the fist day as levramosis suggested above.

That's a great suggestion, and yes, I will do that closer to sail date!

Thank you!!!

31 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

I would not trust that as being formally accepted by the cruise lines if they are "sold" in that manner.  The seller may receive something for them but I would question their validity with the people that purchase them as far as the cruise lines are concerned.  In other words, buyer beware.

It's totally legit.

There are many who have used it, and they explain how to do the transaction.  Both parties need to be on the phone with the cruiseline so the owner of the FCC's can release them to the buyer.

I think the cruiseline's might have changed their policies since they probably have thousand's of FCC's out there that are running out of time to be used.

And I have a friend who has already done this process.😉