shellunderwater

On 7/7/2023 at 7:59 PM, jsmariner said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey.... who gave you permission to take a picture of my clock?   LOL

Just kidding.

But, it was heavy.  They delivered it to the cabin in a box.  Then we put luggage tags on it and had it out with the other suitcases.  And it arrived in the terminal no problem.  Then we had a porter take it to our car.  He was well compensated for that.  Ironically, we also had two pieces from glassblowing we had to get off the ship.  

Fortunately, we drove to the port.

It is now on proud display in our house.

On 7/7/2023 at 8:09 AM, jsmariner said:

Embarkation Day - Saturday, June 24

Stopped by Cafe al Bacio before dinner. DH chose a vanilla éclair that didn't live up to expectations as there was almost no cream filling, and a lemon tartlet that won him over. I had a chocolate tartlet that was pretty good and a fruit tart which was a hit with me. I got one every time they were available from then on out.

 

 

We'd opted for a table for two and traditional late dining at 8:30 PM, so we were on Deck 3 for Silhouette. I'd hoped for a window seat, but we were seated right next to the wall for Luminae. It turned out to be the perfect spot, however, as most of the dining room was very dark but we had lights directly above us so we could actually see our menus and food.

 

 

DH ordered a Mexican Firing Squad for a pre-dinner cocktail which he decided was okay, but wouldn't order again. He let me try a sip but, as I'm not a fan of tequila to begin with, it didn't suit me.

 

We'd been following the menus (and all the changes) on the Celebrity app for a little while, so we were pretty disappointed to find out we were going to be guinea pigs for a stripped down menu. Several of the items we were hoping to try were missing. We always found something tasty that suited us, but did feel a little cheated. When we got home, the app showed the previous menus had returned for the next cruise. Grrrr!

 

The menu:

 

For starters, DH tried escargot for the first time and decided he like it. I stole one off his plate to try and decided that I did not. He also had the cream of wild forest mushroom soup, which he also liked.

 

 

I had the roasted red beets which were delicious with the creamiest Feta I've ever eaten. But my French onion soup (that I had been so looking forward to trying) was a slight let down. It had excellent flavor and wasn't too salty, but it was all broth with only a couple of onions. Not sure what happened there.

 

 

For the night's main entrée, we both selected the aged prime rib and it was perfect.

 

And rounding it out with dessert, DH had the cheesecake with strawberry and I had the chocolate cherry trifle. Both were excellent.

 

 

 

After dinner, we went up to the Sky Lounge hoping for some late night dancing, but the floor was absolutely packed with a younger crowd that seemed to be slightly inebriated and/or high on life. It wasn't our scene and I was a little disappointed, honestly. I hoped this wasn't going to turn out to be a "party" cruise.

We wandered the upper decks for a bit enjoying the fresh air, then went back to my favorite spot in front of the fitness center on deck 12. It was midnight now so I figured we would've surely cleared the coast of Florida, but there were city lights looming up before us. Then someone above us on deck 15 (in front of the sports court) mentioned to the passengers around him that there had been a medical emergency and the captain had turned back to Miami. We never did find out what the emergency was or the outcome for the passenger, but I hope he or she is okay.

 

Once we reached the buoys marking the entrance to the Port of Miami, we felt the engines stop and a Coast Guard vessel came out to meet us. DH's brother is retired Coast Guard and had told DH some vessels were equipped with rocket jets. At the rate of speed they were traveling, he guessed they were using them. I was surprised they were going to do a vessel-to-vessel transfer at sea, but it was interesting to witness. The Coast Guard pulled right up along our port side. As we were on the bow, I didn't feel comfortable leaning so far over the rail with my phone, but DH is much taller than I am and snapped a pic.

 

Once the Coast Guard vessel was clear of the ship, we started back up again and she really got to moving, then. I'm guessing the captain was trying to make up for lost time. We did make it to our first port, Aruba, as scheduled.

 

At this point, it was after 1 AM and time for bed.

I discussed the Miami diversion with the captain briefly.  He said doing the boat-to-boat transfer was faster for them than going to the dock as the dock option would require the pilot to come out, slowing and maneuvering to the pier.  He said doing the boat-to-boat may have saved 1 - 2 hours for the patient.  And it got us back enroute quicker.  I originally asked about this being a result of the boat collision that occured in MIA, but he said that was 1 -2 hours after we left.  It didn't impact their decision to do a boat-to-boat tranfer.

On 6/8/2023 at 12:12 PM, MCC retired said:

I dislike looking at hairy legs while at dinner.

That goes for the men also.

Then just don't look down.  🫨😎

If I may jump on with a question.... sailing Equinox soon, first time with Celebrity but Diamond on RCL.

We bought the 4 night dining package for an 8 night cruise.  We are in a Concierge Balcony.  Do we contact the concierge for our dining reservations or do we hit a restaurant to make the reservations?  Never had a concierge before.  And, don't know where I'd find the concierge to have them make reservations. 

We have preferences for our dining times and restaurants, so prefer to get them booked efficiently when boarding.  But maybe the concierge means we don't have to worry so much about it.

Thanks.

14 hours ago, Turk1 said:

Are you still able to cancel excursions you reserve before boarding when on the ship?

 

There is a time limit, one to two days in advance.  And they may add the refund to your onboard account.

I love my owners' OBC and MyVegas OBC. Nothing like free money.

4 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

This says it’s for Xbox? This will work? Because that would be so much easier for DH

It doesn't matter what its for.  So long as the shape of the cord where it plugs into the power supply matches.  This part of the power cord is not specific to a machine or brand, its generic.  From the box to the machine, it would be much more specific, in general.  This cord is much like the cords used for amplifiers, cd players, dvd players, etc.  Very common, used man places.

8 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

So, ya brought home 2 ducks from a prior cruise ?? OK . 

LOL--Let's say I'm going through Security into the USA with all those ducks in my suitcase and the US Boarder Security Agent says " Pinboy, WHAT the hell ya doin with all them ducks " ?

I tell him/her/ they ( whatever ) - " I'm going on a cruise and gonna hide 'em and hang around waiting for someone to find 'em ". 

Here's the question :

Who d'ya think the US Boarder Security Agent is gonna talk about at his/her/they ( whatever ) coffee break ????

 

Don't let it bother you.  Let it roll off like water on a duck's back.

Quack!

I'm re-hiding two ducks from a prior cruise.  Left their tags on so folks know what cruises they've been on already.

And putting out 10 others.

On 12/28/2021 at 1:30 PM, LGW59 said:

So much more fun and whimsical to grasp an adult beverage or 5

Or do both.

We take blue painters tape to tape down the cord for the week.

Also bring a simple 3 way splitter to add, either on the desk or on the night stand.

https://a.co/d/cI9rtep

8 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

Two weeks is a long time for it to be there though. They should call again. 

It's just pending.  Nothing to do until it posts.

This is why you NEVER use a non credit card.  These holds hit a debit card and tie up your cash.  Not an issue with a true credit card, as they don't impact things while in pending status.

22 minutes ago, bandp407 said:

Hello fellow cruisers~just called and the flash sale does not include upgrades from classic to premium when holding the all included. 🥲

Yep.  Upgrade is 18.99 plus tip.  Package price difference is 10.00n but we have AI.  So we'll pass .  Eh, no worries.

1 minute ago, Daveywavey70 said:

Ive just booked mine! fantastic. Does anybody know if you can spread a dining package over 2 B2B cruises please? Asking for a friend.

 

No you can't.  Each cruise of a B2B stands by itself from an onboard account standpoint.

7 minutes ago, bigAWL said:

Should I be wary of canceling an excursion in order to rebook for a discount, if it is currently sold out?

 

I wouldn't cancel first.  So if its sold out, yeah, I wouldn't.  I don't know if calling would help.  Not experienced with booking excursions really.  If you have a travel agent for the booking, let them work on it.

There it is, the edge of my limited knowledge.  Its cold and lonely out here on this cliff looking over the abyss.

Yeah, I need a cruise, badly.

Our first Celebrity cruise coming up after 15 on RCL.....

Will calling to ask for the $10 drink package upgrade work rather than the $19?  I know its a long shot, but I have to ask the question since I'd rather have premium but don't want to pay the 19 pp/pd.

And lets not even discuss the cruise after certain charters..............  🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍

22 hours ago, Ret MP said:

Just another revenue stream.  Or should I say, a loan we provide to the cruise lines but don't make any interest from the loan.  

Question though, not really, just an observation:  RCCL's usual sale is 30% off the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th passenger in the same stateroom.  Or whatever the sale is at the time, sometimes even better.  So, the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th passengers aren't required to pay as much deposit as the 1st passenger.  I liked the set rate better, obviously. 

 

I wonder what they are going to do with the "Next Cruise Desk"?  Isn't one of the benefits of the "Next Cruise Desk" a lowered deposit rate? 

The new policy only applies to suites.  All other cabins remain the same, I believe.

On 5/18/2023 at 9:43 PM, OnTheJourney said:

DW and I just did the May 6 sailing on the Summit out of Bayonne. It was the 2nd time we elected to do Aqua Class being that the first time, several years ago, we really enjoyed eating there. This time, however, it wasn't quite the same experience. My main complaint is that, instead of opening at 5:30 as stated, they decided to always open much earlier because of the line of people that forms. What seems to have happened on the cruise is that people start hanging around already by 4:30, and by 4:45 there's already a line. That's crazy. I think Blu got themselves into a bad situation by opening early for these folks. Then, if you get there by like 5:15 or even shortly after 5:00, forget about any hechance of getting a window seat, which is one of the things we really enjoyed the first time. I was dumbfounded to get there one of the first nights close to 5:30 and saw that the restuarant was not only already open but basically nearly every table full. I questioned it several times but was always told that "since there's a long line that forms they decide to open early". I say...the heck with these people that show up nearly an hour early. Let 'em wait!  I think they should stick to the 5:30 time. People would quickly come to realize that there's little point of gathering with their cocktails that long before the scheduled opening time! It was most disappointing. 

 

We're thinking that we might not even do it again and instead go back to MTD unless it still only starts at 6:00. So another issue is that, by letting people in early, they're really not ready. Several evenings the wait staff came around apologizing that the bread wasn't made yet and so would arrive a bit later. My wife had salmon the one night that was way undercooked. Another somewhat unrelated issue is that the food was, for the most part, barely warm most of the time. Same for breakfast. Everything cooled off really quick. We've never done suite level so maybe that would be worth a try. NO complaints about the service in Blu (except for being considerably longer between courses than was the case on other cruises) and the food was, generally speaking, quite good.

 

As to Aqua in general, not sure it's worth it as much as before. We don't use the spa at all, and I generally get to the persian garden at least once. We chose Aqua both times basically for Blu. Used to be (really good) iced tea in the room each day and always some sort of 'nibbles' brought to the room in the afternoon. This time, nada. I realize all lines have cut back on amenities, but, what was I paying all the extra money for? Several nights I ordered from the MDR menu anyway. It just was not quite the experience we expected for the extra money. Anybody else experience similar? 

So you'd rather they not open early and the people who got in line ahead of you still get in before you and still get the window seats ahead of you.

Got it.

1 hour ago, TMLAalum said:

Took a photo of my cut and pasted brokerage statement indicating my RCL shares, attached it to the electronic form and received this reply that benefit was denied because Unable to open/read Stock Statement, please resubmit. 

If its in a photo... try adding the photo to a word document, making it as big as you can.  Then print the document to a PDF.  They will be able to open that.

Of course, I'm assuming you have access to Word, or the google free version.  If not, not sure I was of much help.  🙂

On 5/17/2023 at 6:42 PM, daka said:

As you can see from our signature, we have been on a "few" cruises 😂

We always book an AQUA class cabin, well worth the extra charge for one reason....

The BLU DINING ,,,this is the small dining venue that is ONLY available to AQUA class guests

I think that they only allow the "best" of the staff to serve in the BLU dining room

On this past cruise every meal in BLU was OUTSTANDING, Gourmet quality, go with what your server recommends

Also, if you see something on the menu from the MDR, they will get that for you...Shrimp cocktail is always available 

along with excellent Onion soup...

Absolutely fantastic cruise..... 

 

 

So your post isn't about the food generally available on the Equinox, just the food in Blu?

Since most of us will be eating in the other larger dining venues.... thanks.

Just submitted and was approved for two cruises, one end of June - 5 weeks out, another on RCL at end of September, so outside final payment.  Submitted April statement - cover page and one detail page with non-relevant information blacked out.

Received email notification for both bookings including updated invoice.  Alse went to the cruise planner and verified updated OBC available in the planner.

Submitted thru the website, easy as can be. 

I know at one time the app didnt work on Android tablets.  Is that still the case?

On 4/21/2023 at 10:42 AM, cruisestitch said:

My advice is to use the points differently. Instead of applying them for OBC, apply them to a reduction in the cost of the cruise.

 

My thought is based on assuming that you intend to cruise Celebrity Again. In that case, you want to maximize the charges that go onto your credit card.  
 

So if you plan to spend $300 on board, instead of using the points for OBC, charge that $300 to your card.

 

Use the points for the cruise fare reduction option. This will take $300 off your next credit card statement.

 

With both options, you go through the credit card company, not Celebrity.

After speaking with a rep at the credit card company, he advised I contact Celebrity's Captains Club to redeem points to OBC. A wonderful lady there handled the request for us.

Thanks.

How much was the taxi for this trip... one way, if you recall?