scifimonkey

Great photo link wpgcycler. very comprehensive set of photos.

Suddenly makes our next silhouette cruise seem too far away. Need to go check the late deals again!!!

. Having them take a seat at the actual bar would be in IMHO inconsiderate to other passengers. [/color][/size][/font]

 

Why inconsiderate? Over 12 and they pay an adult fare? Why should they suffer limits on the real estate beyond what is specifically banned like the casino, elite events, spa pool etc. Might accept 'inappropriate' as I know that the bar in the US is generally considered an adult domain but I have to say that few would bat an eye in Europe as long as they were not actually knocking back a Martini.

Celebrity prices were already ridiculously high for wine compared to many competitors. As Brits our other cruise line of choice is P&O and a comparison of wine lists already showed a massive difference in price. P&O also allow you to bring your own on board for consumption in your cabin. This is just taking the mickey and likely to swing our focus back to P&O if itineraries are similar.

We would normally buy a bottle a night and have another couple in the fridge for sailaways etc but will certainly question this policy on our next x cruise in October.

Our family - two parents, three teenagers - are going to be on a two-week Baltic cruise on the Eclipse this summer. It just occured to me to wonder if when we want to go for a pre-dinner drink in the Martini Bar or such our children will be allowed to accompany us or are the bars viewed as adult-only spaces? They are lovely, sociable, well-mannered young ladies, by the way, just in case anyone is worried about bad behaviour!

 

No problem whatsoever!

They are indeed fantastic photos but I am afraid she's not going to win 'rear of the year'. The stern is not quite as ugly as Azura & Ventura but not far off. At least she looks like she will have some very stylish interiors though.

 

Funny how beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I have always thought the vertical stern of Ventura and Azura is much better looking and more aesthetically striking than the standard tiered back approach of many ships. I also think their long projecting prows are more attractive than the more vertical prow of Britannia and it's sister ships. In the end though I am happiest when I can see neither as it means that I am on board!!:)

We will have the classic drinks package next cruise which will be a first for us as we have never booked early enough to get the one,two, three offer before. It seems that many posters have recommended upgrading to the premium package on board.

How much does this cost and how do you go about it?

How good is the 'by the glass' service at dinner. We would normally order a bottle but assuming the by the glass wines are ok and the service is attentive it seems that it might be be more economic on the premium package to order by the glass ?

If you look at exciting deals page 5 for next week you will see that the Solstice is leaving from Venice,she is in Alaska at the moment

 

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Sounds like a great idea for a screenplay. Cruise ship disappears from Alaska and reappears in the Venice lagoon after a 120,000 tonne alien abduction!! Now where did I leave Stephen Spielbergs number............?

Please post any positive experiences from your forthcoming summer cruise together with any 'real world' observations on the changes. We are returning to Silhouette in October, having had a brilliant time on her last year, and even if there really are some negatives I would rather be forewarned as nothing ever seems as bad if you know what to expect in advance.

There is a great review by SixOneTwo on this board that you might want to read after a cruise in August 2013.

Think it was called ' better late than never' hopefully if you search on the poster or the title it will come up.

Here we go, up pop the 'don't bring the kids brigade'.

Countingbackwards - please ignore it! Celebrity is great for kids! And if as you seem to imply you cruise in the school holidays there will be plenty of children on board.

Your disappointment with this raft of changes post booking is perfectly valid and Celebrity do need to be a bit careful about making quite so many cost saving changes in such a short time.

Unfortunately there is little you can do and the terms and conditions are fairly consistent across the industry. Even in the UK I doubt if our so called customer protections would cover any of these changes.

The difference between the OP and those of us responding is that we have been on Celebrity and know how good the experience can be ( even allowing for the changes the OP refers to) this is the OP's first X cruise and hopefully once they have had chance to experience it they will still feel that it is ahead of most of its mass cruising competitors as most of us do.

There are a lot of changes in progress since our last cruise and whilst those published so far do not make me want to stop cruising on X they never the less are nibbling away at the edge that they have compared to other lines.

As a suite passenger the suite lounge does not sound like it will offset the loss of Michael's as a specialist beer outlet for me but I await seeing what Cellermasters will be like as a specialist beer and wine outlet. Both venues used to be a bit too quiet for me despite my enjoyment of the beers, so trying to be positive, the combination of both in one location might just liven up the experience a little.

The brunch was an impressive spectacle and photo opportunity however it was also a bit of a bun fight and not something that I will particularly miss and I have to admit that the loss of the Zumba class will not impact on me at all. The other changes are basically price rises ( including the bev packages change) and that is a risk in any early holiday purchase along with currency changes and even port changes which we will have to put up with on our next X cruise.

I hope that the OP, being forewarned of the changes will be able to set them aside and settle back and enjoy their cruise rather than carrying the negative vibes on board. There are too many good things to enjoy to let a few negatives blow the holiday that you clearly value highly. Oh and depending on the age of your kids do not pass on Qsine too quickly, I know that it is pricy but if they are 8+ and handy with a tablet they will love it and it's a memorable family experience.

Celebrity do listen up however because if you do not maintain your USP's against Princess, Norwegian and even RCC you will start to lose market share rather than gain it. Please do not get involved in a race to the bottom in search of additional passengers at reduced cost.

Casual gear is fine at lunch and breakfast, just not swimwear.:)

Just off the Constellation yesterday. Michael's has been converted to PH, RS, CS and Zenith only.

 

It was wonderful. No offense meant to anyone but you get what you pay for.

 

Concierge was excellent. I highly recommend this experience.

 

What food was available in the new Michael's suites/zenith lounge?

We have got ourselves into the Russian bad books because they think that we are trying to bring Ukraine into Europe. I don't think we can afford to fall out with the US as well by annexing Alaska. There is probably some bureaucrat in Brussels working on it though. Sarah Palin better start learning French.:)

If we are getting back to the point then I think that the 'breaking the rules when allowed to do so by celebrity representatives is ok ' group were never suggesting wholesale rebellion against rules. Most of us only waded in and got upset when children started to be stereotyped negatively. There was not even any suggestion of pressuring host/ hostesses to say yes to children in the elite events! That was an extrapolation of an early 'rules is rules' poster who along with others insisted in bringing the 'children spoil my cruise' argument into play.post 10
It has been interesting if a bit disheartening to read some of the subsequent posts but I think the OP has had a good breadth of views and thankfully my actual experience of celebrity on board for families counteracts the negativity evidenced here so I think I will sheath my sword for now and leave you all to it (it's getting late here). No doubt that by the time of my morning commute tomorrow there will be pages more to scan through( one of the joys of a US centric board).
Be assured though that I will be back if there is any hint of anyone trying to promote Celebrity to OP's as an adults only line at any financial or status level.
To those that have that agenda, I am sure we will meet again!

On the other hand, maybe as a father I wouldn't want to expose my daughter to this toxic environment that I now envision after reading all these comments.[/QUOTE]
I tend to feel the same way except for the fact that I suspect that that is just the image that these sad people would wish you to have. So as you do not even consider intruding upon their Elysium. In the same way that I have seen similar people( actually maybe the same people!!! But I cannot be bothered to spend the time checking) tell other posters on other threads that they should not bring children on X because it is not a child friendly line, directing them to Disney 'where children belong' .....apparently.........
Frankly that is (insert your chosen expletive).......
Sorry to tell all the child detractors that unless they can persuade X to change the rules for their hosts and remove their discretionary powers they will continue to have to live with kids at elite events whatever they say here and whilst at the outset of this dialogue I would almost certainly have read the invite and not bothered attending with my boy because, like most people, I would accept the rules, I now feel almost compelled to test the system just to be bloody minded and thumb my nose at these people.:D thank goodness the vast majority of cruisers that we have come into contact with on celebrity have had nothing in common with this group of posters. Please can they all avoid the school holidays and then perhaps we can all get what we desire from our cruises.

The point I was trying to get at was that I do not really attend a the business class lounge at the airport or the elite events or the suite facilities for the freebies and I do not expect any of them to be adult only spaces, only that all those in them of whatever age act accordingly to the environment. I therefore have no issue if a host uses their judgement to bend the rules for the benefit and convenience of a fellow passenger as long as if their judgement proves wrong they then do something about it ( assuming the parents have not already done so which we certainly would!) It's much more about the ambiance, convenience, the company (hopefully good and interesting)and service in the facility for me and if that is not compromised I have difficulty seeing the problem that others raise. It sounded however from some of the posts that that the free drinks were the primary driver and this seemed at odds with the desire to keep them exclusive of children - to get back to the OP.

Most people to are not me, me, me, people and most people are prepared to allow latitude on rules as long as it has no big impact on them, it just seems that for some people the mere sight of a child in what they determine should be an adult domain brings on an allergic reaction and it is those people I have some difficulty with. Whilst they are perfectly entitled to their opinions, they do seem at times to have a disproportionately large voice on these boards.
If you have spent a lot of time and effort and in some cases money on bringing up and educating your children to be comfortable and to know how to behave in all settings and company's then the knee jerk and simplistic response of some posters who portray all children as all being 15 seconds from a tantrum or some form of misbehaviour is a red rag. Hence my strong feelings and probably some of the other parents/ grandparents posting here.
Most of us simply want to spend as much time with our families as possible and probably regret not being able to spend more time with our families outside of holidays. It's not about dumping them off to the kids club or climbing walls or water slides it's about spending quality time together and sharing together all the experiences that the cruise has to offer. I can therefore absolutely understand why some might wish their children to attend elite events with them and the older they get the more this is likely to be the case. Maybe in the US the sight of children in a drinking environment is not very common and that unnerves some US passengers? In Europe the sight of families in pubs and wine bars and brasseries is commonplace and maybe that influences my and some of the other posters acceptance of the presence of well behaved children.
I cannot however see why anyone gets hot under the collar about breakfast events? That to me is completely unfathomable in fact I cannot understand why X put any restriction on breakfast events let alone why they should turn families of elite passengers away.

The key to this is knowing in advance and for that I thank the OP. We clearly had a narrow escape last year when drinking at the molecular bar as my wife and I ordered off the menu and our son said he did not fancy the soda I was going to buy him. Consequently we didn't have the apparently inevitable no to the soda , rudely or pleasantly delivered.

Will know in future to organise any non alcoholic on the way there as I am not sure I can pass up the chance to try a few more off the menu but am not going to drink there on my own!

Maybe X could make it a little bit clearer in all their marketing for that particular bar to save their passengers having to rely on message boards or risk them being upset by being turned down a the bar itself.

[quote name='Ma Bell']Would there be anything called an Elite function if you had to pay for the drinks? By definition these are "perks" and it wouldn't be likely that they would charge for a party that is supposed to be a loyalty reward.[/QUOTE]

So would elite cruisers not go to a elite event just to share an evening with similar status similar interest cruisers? I had always assumed that it was the exclusivity that was the attraction and that was why it's rules were being so jealously guarded. If the elite/private nature of the party is not enough and it's all about the free drinks then I find it much more difficult to be sympathetic about it being interrupted by any X sanctioned infringement of the rules. Particularly given that the kids are not exactly going to move in on the free drink!

If that attitude prevails amongst the suite guests then it seems to put the kibosh on the celebrity concept of a suites only bar/lounge. I had not understood that suite guests would receive free food/drinks in the new lounge? May be I am wrong in this? But if not then working by the above criteria no one would turn up just to mingle with people of the same 'status' and it will be a bit of a flop. Or do ' high wealth' suite guests act differently from 'high mileage' elite guests? (Some of them must be the same people??):confused:

Devil's advocate here: I'm not allowed to hang out in the Fun Factory, no matter how well-behaved I am. Can I ask for an exception?

 

I'm sure they would let you stay if you wished. You could bring your post as a reference.

 

I do not think that a single poster has suggested that unruly kids should be allowed to stay and those that have been allowed to bring kids to the events have clearly stated that if their kids misbehaved they would remove them. So where is the problem here.

'Kids' in the context of this post might be in their late teens and being in such ' exalted' company will be great experience for them. (how to spot and converse with a crashing bore, how to speak pleasantly with a bigot without being tempted to stick one on them, how to appear to laugh at statements that are patently not funny)..... Loads of great stuff to set them up for later life.

 

Seriously though, the host or hostess has a job to do. Let them do it.

There is a whole range between babes in arms to 17 year olds (maybe even 20 year olds in US waters) and a range of elite activities from allowing children to have breakfast with their parents to visiting the helideck or attending pre dinner cocktails, surely you cannot apply a blanket condition across the range and most parents would not choose to expose their younger children to say, the cocktail party, that is presumably why they give the host/ hostess some latitude. It's called applying common sense.

 

Most parents would read the invitation and not take their " children" to the event so we are already taking about a fairly rare occurrence and they do always run the risk of being turned away either at the door or, if their children misbehave having been let into the event, asked to leave. The embarrassment factor alone will apply a further natural constraint. The chances therefore of you having your perfect adult environment disturbed are therefore pretty low and really not worth fretting about.

 

As for frankt's comment. Any kid over 12 pays full price for their cruise on X and are therefore just as entitled to that bar stool as he/she is. There is no rule about not being in the bar or lounge nor should there be. The limitation is only on what they consume and no one is suggesting that that rule is being broken.

 

I reiterate the point I made earlier, if you want an adults only environment, go on an adults only ship - they are provided specifically for you and you will probably find a lot more bad, rude , bigoted and rowdy behaviour on it and will be happy as pigs in sh-- being able to moan about it!

Interesting to see the criticism of the Freddy Mercury tribute act in some earlier posts. We were on Ventura in 2010 and Azura in 2012 and Steve Larkins 'Mercury Rising' show went down a storm on both cruises. Maybe the previous posters saw someone else ??Having seen Freddie at Wembley and being a fan Steve clearly isn't as good as the real thing but then neither are any of the other tribute acts. The fact is he puts on a tremendous show which offers a good enough portrayal of the music including playing the piano as well as singing, mixed with some great humour and a portrayal of the man which I'm sure would have Freddie laughing his socks off. I wasn't aware of anyone walking out. People were too busy singing along, clapping their hands above their heads and rolling around at each outrageous segue from hit into hit. There are a few clips of his act on you tube which IMHO don't do him full justice but they give an idea.

If our cruises were anything to go by, then I suggest that if he is on your cruise and you want to see him you get there early. Certainly the most enjoyable tribute act we have ever seen. If I want accuracy then I will watch Freddie himself on bluray.

Jeez how bitter can some folk get. If there are rules then it's fine to suggest that we abide by them but why the vitriol? If those in charge of elite events are given some latitude to use their judgement in relation to children at elite events then it is clearly not expected that all children would disrupt the event which is patently correct. Why not just let them get on with their job as they are almost certainly a better judge than any of the rest of us as they do the job all the time. if you are desperate to be in an adults only atmosphere then for goodness sake do us all a favour and go on adults only cruises, there are plenty of them and they probably carry a complementary set of dinosaurs you will be at home with. It's strange how it's now outrageous to use sexist or racist stereotypes but some people seem to believe that it is fine to characterise all kids as brats. You are sad sad people!

I still do, the price of connection is a great help in stopping me from trying to monitor everything and actually have a holiday!!:)

What happens if you turn up in Metropolis in your evening casual stuff after midnight on formal night? Is it still formal night? do you get thrown out? Do you turn into a pumpkin? :confused:

 

I can vouch for the fact that formal night extends beyond midnight in Metropolis and that it is enforced.

On our last Ventura cruise my wife and I and our son were just finishing a late night drink on a formal night around 00.15 (my son of course had a non alchoholic drink! with special dispensation to stay up as there was a sea day the next day) There was a kerfuffle in the entrance to the bar. A couple were being asked to leave as they were in short sleeved shirts and jeans. In the course of the argument the chap pointed at my son and said 'how can you set such standards when you let children into the bar'. Quick as a flash the waiter replied 'yes sir but he is properly dressed!'

Note that Azura had a midnight curfew on children in The Planet Bar (much to our annoyance..though we abided by the rule) not sure whether since its Azurification, Ventura will now be operating this rule. Shame if it does, I would rather a specific bar were set aside for adults than have to rush my evening to a conclusion just because I have a family.

Watched the World Cup final in Havana on Ventura 4 years ago and premier league games are generally shown in the pub so I would be surprised if they would not show a reasonable amount. It is our national sport after all. The lounge was pretty packed even though it was a formal night and the atmosphere was quite good however, after 45 mins of watching the Dutch kick lumps out of the Spanish I was far more interested in my drink.

Our 12 year old loved the Silhouette even though he didn't get a lot of chance to spend time in the kids club due to the port intensive nature of our cruise. Unfortunately there are people on all cruise lines who for some reason seem to believe that children should not be allowed. Given the wide choice of adults only ships it is astonishing that they choose to sail with family friendly lines.

Thankfully this post illustrates that even in a group of cruiseaholics these people are in a sad minority.

Don't have any concerns about Celebrity the kids will love it! take them to Q-sine and you will be the best parents ever!!