beerme1

My wife is consoling me by saying if I would have clicked purchase last night I might very well see the same sold out message. Maybe. BUT MAYBE NOT! Lol.

Ah well sob. I saw this last night and thought too good to true and procrastinated. Ready to do it tonight and it's sold out. Damn it.

Hire a car service or take an Uber. Although I guess it depends on how many people you are to begin with.

I've been avoiding shuttle services because we are travelling in a group of three or four so why pay $30 each when we can get car service or Uber for much less. And not have to wait on other people or multiple stops. Way more convenient. 

Curious if there's anywhere still tracking current cases because I can't find any. I am onboard and contracted covid on the Dec 22 holiday cruise.

2 hours ago, tntornadox said:

Not as much as they once did. They used to make regular calls on Labadee and occasionally Coco Cay but I have not saw either on a Celebrity itinerary in quite some time. I wish they would either start stopping at those again or X could get its own island destination. I am tired of Nassau on every Caribbean sailing and I am sure I am not alone in that. 

Really? X did Coco Cay stops? Coco Cay Rocks. It is a great experience. Been there on Royal once.

13 hours ago, Pinboy said:

LOL ( Big time )--

But, -----This site is Cruise CRITICS --- You gotta criticize everything or you will never receive a Lifetime Critic Award.

You mean to say that nobody pushed in front of you in the OVC , or, getting on/off the elevator, or going out of the theater, or , bumped into you at the silent disco, or you had to wait an extra 3 minutes for your drinks/dinner or your waiter forgot to bring your 3 shrimp cocktails at the same time, or your Butler was 6 minutes late to " draw " your bath , or , or etc etc.

What a great review -- Really excellent !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

"bumped into you at the silent disco" LOL!

On 11/26/2022 at 9:47 AM, cantgetin said:

Having done a cruise that ended in San Juan, will never do that again.  The Customs "service" there was a joke and the line was over 3 hours long.

On 11/26/2022 at 2:56 PM, cantgetin said:

On our cruise that ended in San Juan, we had a 3pm flight, and I was beginning to worry about making it.  The cruise personnel were aware of the long lines, so we were kept on board till a bit after 10 (they served juice, coffee, pastries, etc.), and then stood in the Customs line till 1pm.  We did make our flight, but that was no way to end a cruise.  There were many unmanned stations standing empty, and the agents were taking regular breaks!  The people on the next cruise wrote all sorts of reports about their late boarding/departure too.

What happens to the ship from now till next year is that they finish building it.  They basically float out a "shell."  They will now do all the pretty, fun stuff.

Hi, we cruised out of and returned to San Juan I think in 2018 on Royal and I could see your issues with the lines and such for luggage and customs... An amazing tip I picked up on cruise critic in the Royal forum, was to simply pay for a porter once you get down to the luggage area.

They have separate lines that the porters use for customs and you won't wait more than ten minutes to hit customs and your out. 

I don't remember how much the porter cost, not much, but I damn sure know it was worth every penny to get out quickly and not have to suffer what looked like hours long lines. Meanwhile I'm going back to the Celebrity form. Cheers!

4 minutes ago, pink tulip said:

We were thinking of trying Royal next.  I have always been deterred because of the kids and the 6000 guests and the logistics that go with that. But I think we are ready to try it.  The Edge, from what I was told, was at 80% capacity which I believe is 3500 and it never felt crowded except at the pool on sea days.  I would like to sail an itinerary I don't really care about so we can make it all about the ship and really take advantage of all that Royal offers for fun.

In that case book the Icon on Royal next year.

The itinerary is why we booked the Celebrity cruise. 11 days and has six ports. Five of which we've never been to. Ultimate Southern Caribbean. Our ass's on a beach in Antigua for Christmas and at sea for New Years Eve. Party on! 

2 hours ago, johnnydeo said:

Taking a cab from FFL to cruise terminal.

Guess I'll have to have taxi driver stop when I see a store.

Are you landing and going straight to a cruise?

Stupid question on second thought lol. I can't do that. In fact this time we're spending two days in FT. Lauderdale before our cruise. I'm relaxing...

Enjoyed your review. Thank You Pink Tulip!

We have only cruised on Royal three times and are going on Celebrity Equinox in December. 

From what I have seen and read it is an older class mid size ship that is loved for the attention you get from the staff. Looking at the cruise lines you have cruised on, it would seem to me Celebrity is your preferred line. We've been on Oasis, Jewel and Symphony on Royal. Truth be told we probably had the most fun on our first cruise which was Oasis but Jewel was a fun trip and Symphony exceeded that. 

I get that we won't get water slides, zip lines, flo riders and rock walls that we never used anyway but they were always good entertainment.

Speaking of which, that is one concern I have switching to Celebrity. Comedy and broadway shows, and the aqua shows are all GREAT fun on Royal. I have reservations about what we're about to experience on Celebrity Equinox. That said. we have no kids and while I can't say we were ever bothered by kids on Royal, I'm damn sure I won't miss them either lol!

Thanks again for your review. Makes me wonder if I would do Edge next or stay on Equinox.

Ultimately, teh basic bar package is included. I'll be alright 🙂

I have always done the dollar deal. Tips included yea, but leave the guy an extra buck each drink so he gets it.

Love your servers. Tip well for good service. The gratuities included thing I think is a bit of a scam. So cash to your bartender is always desirable. If you don't have it, you don't have it and just write a $1 tip on the receipt. They will always appreciate it. And remember you as well. Do it!

On 11/4/2022 at 9:48 PM, Cruise Gopher said:

We are RCCL Diamonds and made the move to Celebrity about 8 years ago and never looked back. Royal just isn’t for us anymore. 

Because? Getting older? Need less excitement onboard? Entertainment?

We have done three RC cruises and are about to do our first Celebrity on Equinox in December. 

I am concerned that the shows wont match anything on RC and I mean from Comedy, Ice, Broadway and Aqua shows. 

We're 56 and 68 and no kids but we have loved our experiences on Royal.

On 10/21/2022 at 10:24 AM, Pinboy said:

LOL--- I think you are having a little laugh--- ( all good ).

If you are " serious "---- you can find it " exactly " --anywhere in the province of Quebec, some places in Toronto, --- NO place during your cruise.

If you are having a little " fun " re ( fine cuisine ) comment---- I will not wear my Josh Allen shirt for the next Bills game.

 

Sorry for the delayed response. C'mon man.

Montreal smoked meat and poutine is fine cuisine! Even here in Buffalo. I would die if I could get it on a cruise. People rave about the roast beef sandwiches on Royal and while they're not beef on weck, they are pretty decent. 

But man if I could get a Montreal smoked meat sammy and poutine on a ship I think that would be reason enough to book again.

All good brother. Born in Ontario, spent many nights in Quebec and living in Buffalo for the last 25 + years. Please keep wearing your Josh Allen shirt for games. He's freaking amazing! 

On 10/21/2022 at 8:14 PM, SusieAV8R said:

Ok NY, which ship has poutine.?.......And how does it compare to Quebecois poutine?

When you find one let me know please. I will book it! Poutine for me is the simple version. Fries, beef gravy and curds. That's it. No frills. No proteins no nothing extra. Simple is simply the best to me.

11 hours ago, Pinboy said:

We have always found the food on Celebrity ships very good most of the time.

Food and tastes are very subjective---- 

( If I can't pronounce it---- forget it )

However----- Everybody loves a hot smoked meat sandwich, large fries (poutine optional), a couple of dill pickles, 2 diet cokes and a May West for dessert.

 

Everybody here. On Equinox over Christmas. Just where exactly can I get this fine cuisine? especially with poutine!

On 10/16/2022 at 6:26 PM, weregoingcruising said:

Correction there from Jamica.

I like Jamica. It's great for a band to be from Jamica I think! 

Does Celebrity Equinox have buckets of beer available by room service? TIA.

On 3/24/2022 at 9:11 AM, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

You're correct, a pool towel does not reserve a pool chair.  That's why you go to the library and get a book.  A book mark's the spot as yours.

The beach boys at the Ritz in Aruba use this specialty trick also. They just keep a bunch of ragged ass paperbacks in the towel hut lol!

aring75 I too would like to say Thank You!

I read the entire thread and learned a few things. We will be first timers on Celebrity, graduating from Royal. We'll see how that goes but we have an eleven night itinerary that includes Christmas and New Years next year. 

Your pictures and details were awesome! Thanks again.

Oh, almost forgot, we got an aft cabin and I'm psyched about that for an eleven night cruise. This will be our second aft cabin. You simply cannot beat a private balcony on the very rear of a ship.

7 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

 

If you took the time to read the whole thing, that’s exactly what I did, spoke for myself. The hint should have bee the part that said “Maybe he does what we do.....”.

lol.

Whoops sorry. Didn't mean to offend Diamond.

It was your last line that I saw humor in. I'm thinking top deck sail away is most certainly enhanced while I am enjoying a Miami Vice so alcohol certainly enhance my cruise. Good day. 

9 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

Who says he would go an entire cruise without a drink? Maybe he does what we do, enjoy the 3 1/2 hours of free drinks you get from being a diamond member and buy a drink, now and then, in a port.

Life does not revolve around drinking and it doesn’t improve the cruise one iota.

Speak for yourself lol. 

22 hours ago, Agavegirl1 said:

Oh great.  Now I have the song stuck in my head.

I was washing my damn hands to it today lol

Hey, we know what to do!

John thanks for continuing to post. It's been nice to read something to take my mind off some of our issues.

I seem to remember Fine Corinthian Leather lol

Hmmm, I'm leery. Remembering you could buy GM stock at a great price before bankruptcy. I'm looking at JC Penney stock but have decided even at bargain bin pricing it's not worth it as they will likely fail.