toho

November 27, 2017

Nope, Eclipse has Eddy until April 2, then John for two months, then Eddy comes back

We hope Eddy is with Eclipse for Sept. 11 med cruise!!! Superb CD!

November 27, 2017

Here is the review I submitted for the November 6th sailing on the Celebrity Equinox entitled 'Almost Perfect':

We are a couple that picked this sailing to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We do cruise often across different cruise lines and have sailed on the Equinox 3 times prior to this cruise and once earlier this year, so knew pretty much what to expect. Celebrity is definitely our favorite cruise line but we sail on Princess more often due to the close proximity of one of their embarkation ports to our home. As with many Celebrity cruises, there were very few children onboard. I saw one, someone else told me there were eight. Most passengers seemed to be in the over 50 crowd.

We flew in the day prior to the cruise and stayed with friends that live in the area. They also drove us down to the pier in the morning so no transportation or pre-cruise hotel comments to make. We arrived at the port at approx 11:15 AM and were onboard well before noon, so I was surprised by some of the comments on our roll call stating that the embarkation process being unacceptable. I believe it was well organized and moved along rather smoothly. We were directed to the priority line due to the number of times we have cruised on Celebrity. When one of the workers at the port noticed our line was getting long, they redirected a number of the awaiting passengers to the concierge line, which might explain why we were allowed to board rather quickly where others may have had an issue.

In taking care of business first, we headed to the Hostess, Paola, at the MDR to make our dining reservations for select dining and for Murano. She did allow us to make reservations for the specialty dining at the dates / times we wanted, however, she was incorrect in telling us the date of the second evening chic night. Well, no matter, one mistake is forgivable ... and it was a small one at that. She also allowed us to make reservations for the night of embarkation and the following night. However, this is where her helpfulness ended. She would not allow us to make reservations more than one night out and we would have to revisit every day to make the reservations for the following night. Well, this still would not have been so much of a problem except she would never allow us to make a reservation from that point on throughout the remainder of the cruise. She said there was simply nothing she could do for us. I asked if that meant we wouldn't be able to eat in the MDR the entire time throughout the cruise but she said, of course they could seat us but we would have to just show up and wait until after 8:30 or maybe 9:00. We cannot eat that late so a couple of times, just gave up waiting and went to the buffet instead. Once, we even asked in the evening 2 days ahead of time and she said they were completely booked. In over 50 cruises, I have never experienced this before. I am not asking to be treated any better than anyone else, however, everyone else we spoke to said they were allowed to make reservations for dinner for the entire cruise on embarkation day or were given a reservation the day before their dinner, so it did seem as though she singled us out with her uncooperative attitude. Finally, we realized that Kataryna on the other side of the room was much more helpful and she was able to find us a table, and on elegant chic night to boot ... now, how was that possible when there was nothing Paola could do for us in the same dining room? Next time, we will know better. I love the concept of anytime dining but looks like we may have to go back to traditional dining instead or be relegated to eat at the buffet instead. Don't get me wrong, we had excellent meals in the buffet but it is not exactly why we book a cruise on Celebrity. More on dining later ... back to embarkation. After getting our only reservations allowed for the MDR, we parked ourselves at the Passport Bar when we boarded and ordered ourselves a welcome aboard drink. Soon, the announcement was made that our rooms were ready so after finishing our cocktail, we headed to our cabin to unpack our carry on bags. We've seen inside this room before, side aft on the port side in a 2C category. Our room steward, Adi, knocked on the door soon afterwards, introduced himself and asked if there was anything he could get us and inquired about our normal schedule. Adi was awesome ... so efficient, kept our cabin very tidy, always anticipated our every need and slipped in and out of our room when we headed out for breakfast. A+++ goes to Adi!! Also, Bagus, down the hall, was so friendly with a kind word and smile when passing by on our way to the midship stairs. Actually, all of the room stewards on this deck that we encountered daily were very friendly.

Our cabin was on the port side, as mentioned and had the blue awning from Blu just out from our balcony. I actually loved this cabin and the balcony was larger than the standard verandas, which was nice. Our neighbors were door slammers but that can happen anywhere on the ship. A few times, I noticed a strong paint / varnish smell, though, while out on the balcony. I think it is hard to maintain the ship without someone smelling this but it seemed to be stronger than when on any other cruise so maybe it all just wafted back. The other smell that I noticed, which is usually why I sail on the starboard side, is the smokers on deck 5. It was a faint smell on our balcony but there was a strong concentration of smoke in the hallway on the port side. One of our fellow passengers had a room just aft of the stairs on this side and we stopped to talk to her one day in the hallway. I mentioned that it smelled like someone was smoking in the hallway ... it was very strong. She mentioned that it was from the deck below and if anyone left their balcony door open and then opened their cabin door, it would permeate the hallway. Guess there might have been a number of smokers using the deck 5 smoking area as I never really noticed this before, but then again, as mentioned, we usually stay on the starboard side and will do so again next time. I don't mind that so called obstruction at all in the 2C aft cabins but it may bother some if you want to look straight down onto the water. There was slightly more vibration way aft, noticed with my light fixture by the bed rattling, as did the shower doors, but opening them on both sides remedied that. It certainly wasn't bad enough for me to not consider one of those cabins again ... everything else was quiet way back there.

After we unpacked, we went up to the buffet to grab a bite to eat. I thought the food in the buffet was consistently good, if not great! The service there is also quite good ... from the bar service to the crew making sure tables are immediately cleaned an available for the next guest to sit down, to the food servers behind the counter. Everyone seemed happy to help and very friendly in the OV Cafe. I love the Asian stir fry station but that is only available for dinner now. Good thing the dining room couldn't accommodate us so I could try it out again....a bit of sarcasm. Anyhow, I don't think we ever made it to our roll call meet and greet. After lunch, it seemed to be time for the muster and then sail away. We attended a gathering in Quasar right after that to learn about the casino promotions from David, the casino host. There are some changes being made to the Mlife promotions that are available on Celebrity, so glad we attended to learn about them.

Soon after that, it was time to clean up for our dinner reservations in the MDR. We noticed a long line and they no longer has a separate line for those with reservations. Nonetheless, we were seated at Jorge's table within 15 minutes of waiting. He was a fabulous waiter in the two times we were seated in his station. Our sommelier, Belinda, in that same section was also fantastic. Two other times, we were seated in Zavia's station. We had him as a waiter our first time on the Equinox nearly 5 years ago and he is just as great as we was back then. Lewellyn was our sommelier in that section and she was equally as sweet and awesome as Belinda. The food was also consistently excellent up until the last 2 days of the cruise ... never a great note to end on but certainly will not judge my entire cruise on the bad dining experiences. On the 2nd chic night, we gave up on Paola finding us a table after waiting and waiting and that is where Kataryna sat us right away in a table for 4. We sat in Roger's section and we had him as a waiter last year on the Equinox. Again, he impressed us with his fabulous service and sense of humor. Lewin, the sommelier in this section was also amazing! However, this was chic night and the food was just so so. I guess I understand it, especially after comparing it to 3 dinners in the specialty restaurants. Now, they've replaced the lobster dinner with a half a small lobster tail (not so great), 1 large seared scallop (that was excellent) and 4 in the shell shrimp (not too bad). Service and wine were great, however ... so not writing if off as a failure or even close ... just not the excellent food we've been getting the entire week. The last night, we were eating with dinner with a couple (and two other ladies we met) that wanted Zavia's table. But, we were again turned away by Paola and Kataryna found us a table for 6. Unfortunately, we sat at Errol's section in the back at a table for 12, which was not conducive to conversation without shouting. But, at least it was a table to sit down for dinner. The dining service at this table was very poor. Ivan, the sommelier in this section was also unacceptable. He told us the wine we ordered was out of stock, which was a lie. Then, he told us another one was not chilled so couldn't get it for us. When nothing else was acceptable, he showed up with a bottle that was chilled but never came back to refill our wine once. For dessert, I ordered a glass of port with a slice of blue cheese ... never got the port and the cheese wasn't blue cheese or anything close to it. The food for dinner was not that great either, some of which wasn't even what we ordered. Again, I won't rate the cruise on this one bad experience but it is too bad that was the last dining experience of our cruise. But, between that one hostess and this poor service, I rated the cruise a 4.5 instead of a 5. But I also wouldn't want to take anything away from all the previously experienced excellence from everyone else that gave such stellar service.

We most of our breakfasts in the Tuscan Grille. This is where we met Marko, who is the Maitre'd at Murano but manned the entry way at the Tuscan Grille in the morning. Elaine, the Captain's Club hostess also would check on everyone there. We just loved her. Oleh also served us our morning drinks in the Tuscan and was busy serving us in Murano as well. Shane, the executive sous chef, would also come by to check on things. All were so awesome!!

Every evening, Michaela, at Cafe Al Baccio would make me what my DH calls my nightcap, steamed milk with cinnamon. After the first night, she would see me coming and have my drink ready for me. She was a kick!!

Marko made our anniversary in Murano very special. Nenad, our waiter was also spectacular. The food was absolutely amazing in Murano both times we went.

We were invited to dinner at the Tuscan Grille one night and it was also outstanding. I am not usually a huge fan of the Tuscan Grille but there was a special menu and wow, was it ever fabulous, as was the service. Madalina the sommelier there and we've sailed with her before. Needless to say, we loved her then and again on this cruise.

I nearly always book one night at Silk Harvest but we never got around to it on this sailing. We also heard the noodle dishes in Sushi on Five are excellent but have not yet had the opportunity to try it. We usually hit the Aqua Spa Cafe but not on this cruise. We did go to the Mast Grill twice and both times were excellent. Very hard working and friendly staff in that area. I do wish they would have a few turkey burgers available at all times instead of the 15 minute wait ... but not a deal breaker!

The entertainment onboard was excellent! The house band was so good and the singer / guitar player, Sean, was also great. We've seen some of the production shows before but Elysium was worth a second viewing. We went to see the magician, who was quite good and funny to boot. The comedian was pretty funny but even more entertaining for us was the couple sitting next to us that was complaining about him the whole time. Yikes!! The comedian definitely had a style and that obviously didn't conform to what some thought was funny....but he got a standing ovation from some so just goes to show, you can please some of the people some of the time .... well, you know the rest.

The cruise director was awesome ... so full of energy and always a pleasure to hear his daily announcements ending with 'I love you'. Him and his staff made the cruise a lot of fun ... a definite improvement from the previous one on that ship. We also had fun in the tournaments offered in the casino. Vladka (sp?) at the casino cage is such a asset! David set up a lot of fun events for guests ... usually taking place after the second show. I also loved the live music in the grand foyer at night. Such a great venue!

We never made it to the pool, spa, fitness room, seminars, bingo, etc. Not sure where the time went. We did go to the Gastro Bar once or twice. I much prefer Cellar Masters that is available on the Solstice. The Gastro Bar didn't have a big following on this sailing ... or the last one I was on either ... maybe they will consider changing it back. Hoping!!

We had the premium package on this cruise and was looking forward to some good wine. I was pretty disappointed because never had that experience except when we were in the dining room or the specialty restaurants. No good wines were available in any of the bars or lounges throughout the ship, though.

We did visit the World Class bar once ... Marija helped us. She was also awesome. They have a very limited menu in there and mostly very potent drinks so we only went by to say hi.

The big surprise of the cruise was that I loved having the unlimited internet. It was not very obvious how to set it up on your own device but they did have a tutorial in the iLounge where there was a line out the door waiting to see how to set it up. It may have been available on the stateroom TV and if not, it should be. The internet speed was more than adequate and only dropped my connection once during the entire cruise. I had quite a bit of OBC and was going to look into getting an iPad mini but they are evidently phasing them out so none available onboard. There was very little available in the iLounge but the staff manning it was helpful in assisting me in spending some of my OBC. I ended up with a bluetooth speaker for my iPad. Between the casino, extra gratuities, our embarkation photo and the excursions, I had no problem on spending all that OBC ... and even a little more. BTW, the staff member at the photo area was also very helpful in finding our photos. Love those kiosks with facial recognition., too.

We had all great ports of call on this sailing. I booked a couple of excursions online ahead of time so had no direct experience with the excursion staff but tickets purchased are what we received. I don't care much for tendering so stayed onboard in Grand Cayman but there was a very poorly attended cornhole competition set up on the lawn. No matter to us if nobody else showed up, we had so much fun anyway.

We've been to Aruba several times before and had early dinner reservations for Murano so just walked around a bit and visited a couple of local casinos. The small one on the water was so much fun.

In Curacoa, we booked a tour of the Hato Caves and the City. The bus was very comfortable with great air conditioning .... a great driver and a good tour guide. The caves were so interesting but hot inside. The guide was so good, though and they do have fans set up in there. But, it isn't set up for anyone with mobility challenges so we noticed a couple of people that stayed at the entrance on chairs. When reboarded the bus, it was so hot out! We headed back for our tour of town but then were told the remainder would be a walking tour. The bus driver was kind enough to take several of us back to the ship without finishing the walking portion of the tour. I don't deal with the heat really well so was most appreciative that she was agreeable to taking us back to the dock. i hope our guide wasn't too offended ... it didn't have anything to do with her.

In Bonaire, we had a fabulous tour of the salt pans, slave huts, beach and that area of the island. It was one of the best tours ever ... I believe it was called the Best of Bonaire.

In Key West, our cruise was the first one to dock in Key West on the Equinox since the hurricane. It was also extremely hot in this port but well worth our efforts to walk down to the Hemmingway House for a tour. We walked back down Duval and heard some great live music along the way, stopping in at Sloppy Joes for some air conditioning. We walked down to the water front and saw a little of the damage from the hurricane. We walked back to the ship through Mallory Square ... all in all, a very nice visit to such a cute and wonderful port of call. Oh, after leaving Bonaire, there was a medical emergency onboard so the captain was moving the ship pretty quickly to allow the passenger that was ill to disembark in Key West. I understand there was an evacuation while at sea. We all were invited to go through immigration before we were allowed off the ship in Key West and it was a seamless process ... quick and easy!! Way to go, Celebrity!!

Disembarkation in Miami after already having gone through immigration in Key West was the best!! Again, Kudos to Celebrity for making this a very positive experience.

I love the way Miami has their luggage retrieval process in place. Gone are the customs forms we used to fill out and turn in at disembarkation.

We took an Uber from the POM to Fort Lauderdale Beach area. We had reservations at Lago Mar for 2 night post cruise. Fabulous hotel!! I will try to write a review of this on Trip Advisor but have a lot of unpacking and laundry to contend with now.

All in all, we had a great vacation ... I would say 'almost perfect'.

. So who was your cruise director and will you rate him?

November 15, 2017

Am new to Celebrity an am currently doing my homework before booking a cruise with them.
On this site I have seen lovely photos of what looks like a Patisserie, are these treats included in the cruise price or are they extra? Or are they included in the Premium drinks package?

Many thanks

Swabs.

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Classic beverage package and they ARE wonderful as are the myriad coffees and teas. Cafe al Bacio is a popular place.