Bizylizy1123

Most of the excursions for our 3/4/23 cruise didn't show up until about a month prior to the cruise date, not just for Half Moon Cay but for many of the ports.  I'm sure they will show up eventually.

Has anyone been to Half Moon Cay and reserved a cabana with a butler since the start up after the pandemic?  All the reviews I can find are pre-pandemic and I'm wondering if the services have changed.  

Any recent experiences?  Thanks for the input!

We are going on our 1st Celebrity cruise in an RS cabin on the Equinox at the end of September.  I've been in contact with the shoreside concierge a few times already and Phillip has been a wonder.  I sent him a note mentioning that the price of shore excursions had dropped considerably since we booked them and asked if we should cancel and rebook or if he could work some magic.  I must have caught him at just the right time because about 10 minutes later I got a reply saying he had added an OBC for the difference in pricing.  I'm a trust but verify kind of person and yes, there was the OBC on our account.

Other cruise lines we've been on have forms you can complete for staff and crew who go above and beyond.  Does Celebrity do the same and do you know if there is a way to do the same for shoreside staff?

On 8/18/2022 at 2:44 PM, canderson said:

I'm curious...

Did your SSC send menus for Le Petit, and if so, did they indicate which nights were using which of the Le Petit menus?  

He did send the menu for La Petite Chef but did not indicate which nights it would be available.  Both options look very good!

EQ La Petite Chef.pdf

We are in our first RS next month and I've heard from the onshore concierge already.  He sent menus for the speciality restaurants and said he can make reservations for whatever date and time we would like.  He also sent lists of beers, wines and bottles of liquor you can choose from for the room.  Suite guests can also eat at Blu, the Aqua Class restaurant, but that has to be coordinated with the maitre d' at Luminae once onboard.  You can also tell them what you would like stocked in the mini fridge from a list of what's available.  

He also said he can reserve date and time for the Peloton bike in the gym, and you don't need clip on shoes to ride the ship bikes.

I am beyond excited for this cruise!

On 3/23/2022 at 4:40 PM, Redokie said:

I booked this offer on the Millenium April 18 to Panama canal for $50. also.  

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!

On 3/23/2022 at 4:34 PM, Mommacos said:

Thanks for asking the question!  I am on the May 21 Equinox cruise, and I saw the same offer.  I booked it now too based on the responses from your post!

 

Please let me know how it goes on your cruise.

We lived in Lansdale for a whole bunch of years, I kinda miss Philly.

Thank you all for your responses - it does seem too good to be true but I took your advice and booked it!  

I hope all your upcoming cruises are wonderful!

Has anyone had experience with the photo package options post Covid shut down?  We are cruising in September on the Equinox and would like to pre-book a photo package.  I'm seeing mixed reviews about options for getting the pictures taken, timeliness of delivery of the digital download and whether or not there are prints included.  We are specifically interested in the $50 Unlimited Digital Photo Package with Prints.  Any input from more recent cruises would be appreciated.

We have been on the Gem in cabins 10000 and 10500, they are our favorite! I would grab one in a heartbeat for a Panama Canal cruise (and I will as soon as I get the money saved). As others have mentioned you get the all the Haven perks except the pool and sundeck. Since we haven't done the Haven on Jewel class ship I can't say if it's worth it or not. The down sides of the forward cabins on deck 10 are rather windy conditions while at sea - some days are fine, some you can get blown away while the ship is under full steam. Going through the canals the view should be priceless and totally comfortable. The 2 center cabins (mentioned above) have an overhang where the bridge sticks out over the deck so you have some shade and a larger interior. One other note - the curtains need to be kept closed at night as the light reflects off the bridge windows. You will get phone calls or the butler will come and close them if they are left open. Enjoy the cruise!

Thank you!!

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I don't have pictures to post but I have stayed in the Gem 10000 cabin and can tell you the youtube video shows the layout perfectly, though the color scheme is a little different. The great thing about the 10000 and 10500 cabins is the bump out under the bridge. You'll notice there is a sofa by the window in the bump out area, in the other penthouse suites the wall goes straight across and there is a chair rather than a sofa. This also means that the balcony is smaller, but there is still plenty of room for 2 lounge chairs and 2 chairs, though you will notice your next door neighbor has room for all that furniture and lots of room to walk around.

Additional notes about the deck 10 penthouse suites - you are directly under the bridge and after dark the drapes need to be kept closed so there is no reflected light up to the bridge. Not a big deal but you will get phone calls if the drapes are open and lights are on. There are 2 doors out to the balcony - a regular looking door on the inside then a bulkhead door that seals up nice and tight. During the day the bulkhead door can be hooked open. If the doors to the balcony are open and someone opens the door out to the hallway you get a major 'breeze' through the cabin. Something to keep in mind if you show your cabin during the cabin crawl.

We love the Gem deck 10 penthouse suites, especially 10000 and 10500. I hope you have a great cruise!

CruzinMel - thank you for your thoughtful review. Your writing style is better than the book I'm currently reading. As someone else mentioned, as time goes by I hope it is the happy moments (and it seemed like there were many) that you remember most vividly.

And never going to Nassau again is probably an excellent idea.

We were on the Gem in December...

Yes - O'Sheehan's is complimentary restaurant and the menu is a bit different than Blue Lagoon - in the Pub fare genre - but still has some of the Blue Lagoon favorites. O'Sheehan's covers the area that used to be the Blue Lagoon and Moderno. Moderno moved to where the Star Bar and the Cagney's overflow area were. The Star Bar changed names to match the Moderno theme but there is still a bar in the same place. The Host station for Cagney's now serves both Cagney's and Moderno and the Cagney's kitchen is where the Moderno meat is prepped.

They are working on changing out the carpeting and freshening up the furniture in some of the public areas. The Spinnaker Lounge has new furnishings. The rock climbing wall will be closed until Feb or March as they work on scrubbers.

I didn't notice major work being done to the cabins. The iConcierge app doesn't work on the Gem yet - I think they need the dry dock to get the routers installed in all the cabins.

We had a great time as always on the Gem (we've sailed on her once a year for the past 3 years).

We are sailing on the Gem in December. Does anyone know if they schedule appointments in the salon (I'm thinking mani-pedi type service) on embarkation day?

Thank you. It's my first NCL cruise and I'm looking forward to experiencing it. :D

 

I'm surprised my roll call is so quiet. We're 40 days out, you'd think we'd be chatting it up!

We are cruising on the Pearl in September to Alaska, the roll call was very quiet until about the 4 week mark, now it's jumping. Hopefully the others will catch up soon.

One evening a few nights into the cruise my husband wore nice shorts to dinner at the aft MDR (the Grand Pacific on the Gem) and was politely asked to change into long pants. Not a problem, I like that the dress code is reasonable and enforced.

We are booked on a 9 day cruise on the Gem in December 2014 leaving on the 13th - most of the November cruises were cancelled but the December ones are still intact at the moment. In fact one person mentioned on our roll call that the cruise directly before ours, leaving at the beginning of December was adjusted from a 9 day to a 12 day for no additional cost if you were all ready booked.

Don't worry about a January date!

Aft would have been my first choice and the 2 other family cabins are both aft, but we needed a 2 bedroom. We could be spending some time with the other family members though, great pictures!

Another question on the Alaska cruise on the Pearl next summer - all the ports are US with the exception of Victoria BC. Does stopping in one non-US port allow for duty free shopping and booze purchases? If there is duty free shopping, is the shop open throughout the whole cruise or just at specific times?

We are going on an Alaska cruise next year - which side of the ship is better view wise, or doesn't it matter since you basically go up and come back down again? We will be on the Pearl Glacier Bay 9/14 cruise.

Please excuse the non-ship verbiage (I can never remember which is port and which is starboard, I also have a hard time with left and right), but we are currently on the left side as you face forward, so the balcony view will be out to sea as we go north and towards land as we go south.

Our last cruise I requested a few things to be ready before the cruise (fridge cleaned out, coffees stocked-no tea required, a bowl of M&Ms (can't hurt to ask)), though I sent it in by e-mail. When we got onboard none of the items had been taken care of when we first got to the cabin, but the butler had the list and took care of it all very quickly. I love the Suite life!!

We have a 4 hour drive to get to the terminal. During that time I get all my work aggregation out of my system with a 3 hour monologue to my poor husband of everything I'm leaving behind. This is accompanied with the consumption of Twizzlers - the vacation candy of choice (and the only time of the year they are allowed). Once we get to the terminal we spend the wait time chatting with the cruise critic friends in person. Once we get on board - (and finally the answer to the original post) - we have lunch at Cagneys with our cruise critic friends, then find our cabin, have an intimate interlude (seriously, no reference to sex from anyone else?) then watch the sail away from our balcony. Can't wait for our next cruise!!